It was an important meeting.
World-changing, even.
The three biblical factions were ceasing their never-ending war and tense cease-fire in favour of an official declaration of peace.
Koneko knew that it was very important and knew that the world of tomorrow would be different than the one of today, no matter what happened.
That didn't change the fact that she was tired.
Not only was it a school night, but she hadn't been sleeping well recently. The nightmares had been worse ever since the Kokabiel incident.
Usually, she could supplement her lack of sleep with naps with Eren, but Koneko had been busy lately, between regular duties, helping Gya-kun, and the additional training they had all taken after the Excaliber disaster.
It was seriously cutting into her nap time.
The leaders of the factions had been talking a while and, after calling upon Buchou and Kachou for their testimony, had spoken to the pervert for a bit before deciding that they all wanted peace.
It was all Koneko could do not to yawn.
Of course, they wanted peace.
They wouldn't be here if they didn't want peace.
But from there, things got even duller, with the conversation shifting to even more boring topics. Trade deals, personnel movements, what the Grigori were doing with Gear holders, yadda yadda.
This chair was so damn annoying. Would it have been too hard to ensure the audience had proper seating instead of using the standard chairs Kuoh used for students? Koneko had to spend the entire day in these things, and they were terrible for naps.
She would know. She tried.
Koneko wished she was on the bench with Eren.
The damned thing was uncomfortable as hell, but Eren let her lay her head on his lap when they napped.
He had already gone home for the night. She had made sure of it. It was for the best. Koneko had almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Lord Lucifer and Lord Michael walking through the park, but they had left the human alone, so she had hurried to get him gone before someone started asking questions.
Right now, the entire grounds were crawling with security forces. No need for him to draw attention.
Still... Koneko was tired.
It shouldn't matter if she closed her eyes for a moment, right?
Just a little bit. A few seconds. Nobody would even notice.
Even Nee-san and Obaa-san, usually so attentive, were more focused on the table full of leaders with their Kings.
Just a minute. Or two. Nobody would know.
...
Koneko would swear that she only closed her eyes for a second, a brief moment, before she was brutally shaken from her doze by Akeno.
"Koneko! Koneko!" Her Queen said urgently, shaking the Rook awake.
"...Huh?" Koneko murmured blearily, looking around the room with uncomprehending eyes.
It was a mess.
All the leaders had left the table they had been sitting around and were staring outside to Kuoh's grounds through a hole in the wall that Koneko would swear wasn't there before.
Magic of various types flew through the air beyond them, and Koneko's sensitive ears picked up screams, and she could smell blood in the air.
Yuuto and Asia were also blinking in surprise from the seats beside her, as were Sona, her Peerage, and the other attendants, while Akeno leaned over them.
Notable were the absences.
Buchou and the pervert were gone, as were Obaa-san, the White Dragon Emperor and Azazel.
"Are you alright?" Akeno asked, looking Koneko, Yuuto, and Asia over in turn as if expecting them to be injured.
"What is going on?" Yuuto asked, standing from his seat and summoning his Balance Breaker to his hands as he readied himself for combat.
"The conference was attacked," Akeno said simply. "They managed to get a hold of Gasper and did something to him that made his Gear run wild. You've been trapped for a while."
"...Gya-kun?" Koneko asked, slipping her gloves on and readying herself for a fight.
"I don't know," Akeno said worriedly. "Lady Ackerman took Rias and Issei to try to get him from them, but we haven't heard back."
"Mi-chan's got them," Serafall Levithan said proudly, puffing out her chest. Koneko wasn't jealous. There was a crisis going on. Being jealous would be stupid and childish. "Look! Here they come."
Sure enough, all the leaders stepped away from the hole in the wall to allow Mikasa to land in their midst. She had Gya-kun slung over one shoulder and Rias in her other hand.
While the Gremory Peerage felt relief at the sight, Mikasa Ackerman's following words chilled the room.
"The White Dragon Emperor has betrayed us," she declared, even as new swords appeared in her hands from nowhere. "The Red Dragon Emperor is delaying him."
With no more words, the Pawn disappeared back out of the hole in the wall faster than Koneko could track.
"Well," Sirzech Lucifer said wryly. "Now that we don't have to worry about keeping the barrier up, shall we deal with our uninvited guests?"
"I am so going to pew-pew Katerea so hard," Serafall said as she gave a little twirl and shot off sparkles into the distance. "How dare she insult Magical Girls!"
"I believe Lord Azazel has that matter in hand," Nee-san told the Satan. "Might you please instead deal with the insects?"
"Mou~" the strongest woman in the Underworld pouted. "I don't want to be on mook duty! Miracle Girl Levi-tan is the star!"
"Sister, please?" Sona asked, her voice a touch lower than usual. "I don't want my subjects getting hurt or my school getting destroyed."
"Gah!" Serafall stumbled back, dramatically grasping her heart. "So-tan's heartfelt plea! Levi-tan's one weakness!"
"Looks like you have to do it now," Sirzech teased. "You don't want to see So-tan cry, do you?"
"NO!" Serafall cried, standing tall and posing for cameras that weren't there with her wand raised high. "Levi-tan will never allow So-tan to cry! Begone evil-doers! The power of cuteness compels you! So-tan Vult!"
Even as the two Satans and the Seraph left, it was incredibly clear that they were not worried in the least and considered this attack more of a curiosity than a genuine threat.
Now that the hostage had been secured, they were more interested in getting information than defending themselves.
Of course, Koneko couldn't appreciate all this.
She was too busy being squished in an incredibly tight hug by Rias.
Which wouldn't be so bad if the redhead wasn't trying to hug her Rook, Bishop and both Knights at once.
"I was so worried," Rias said, her arms struggling to hold them all.
"Uh," Asia squeaked. "I don't understand what is happening. Where's Issei?"
"He's fighting Vali," Rias said, finally letting them go.
"We should go help," Yuuto said, resuming his sword after he had dismissed it before Rias could impale herself on it in her effort to hug them.
Koneko nodded, smashing one fist into another for emphasis.
"There is nothing to fear," Grayfia, who had remained behind when the leaders left, told the group. She closed up the hole behind them with a thick wall of ice. "Mikasa will have no trouble. Please remain here, and I will protect you."
"But-" Rias made to say something, but the maid interrupted her.
"Your Rook will be fine," Grayfia reassured. "His specialty is defence. A unique path for a Red Dragon Emperor that ensures even if he cannot beat his destined rival for the moment, he will last until Mikasa finishes him off. Trust her and trust Lord Lucifer."
Rias still looked mulish, but Sona grabbed her attention when the Sitri heiress approached after checking over her Peerage.
"What about..." Sona never finished the sentence, but her worried gaze toward the direction of the park conveyed the topic of her concern.
"Don't worry," Akeno was the one to answer instead of their King, shooting a look at Koneko. "I made sure he left before the conference. He's at home and safe."
Sona let out a sigh of relief.
Xenovia, on the other hand, was not ready to sit back and let others fight for her.
"We are not helpless. Let us fight."
Koneko wanted to stop the new Knight.
Clearly, she didn't know Grayfia Lucifuge was voted number one on the list of 'Devils you don't want to piss off' for seventeen years running.
"You will only get in the way," the maid said impassively.
"Let us at least get Issei," Rias joined her newest Peerage member. "We'll come right back."
"No." Grayfia's face might as well have been carved from her own ice magic. "The enemy has already demonstrated a willingness to use hostages. We let you go last time because of the unique circumstances, but not again. It is too risky."
Then, the facade cracked for a fraction of an instant, and the woman peeked through the veneer as she spoke in a softer tone.
"Your brother will make sure nothing happens to him, I promise."
As if God wasn't dead and had been waiting for that exact moment, the ice wall shattered, and a figure clad in draconic red armour passed beside the maid to smash into the far wall.
""ISSEI!"" Multiple voices cried out in worry.
Koneko recognized Rias' voice, of course, but she was surprised to notice that brown-haired girl had also yelled. Had she always been there? What was her name again? Iri- something or other. She had come with the church, right?
It wasn't Koneko's fault. It was Iri...na? That sounded right. It was Irina's fault. Why was she so forgetable?
"I am OK!" Issei said, giving the room a thumbs up as he stood from the wreckage.
"Nyayayayaya."
Koneko froze, eyes dilating in fear as her breath and heartbeat picked up.
No.
No, she couldn't be here. Not her. Not now.
"Not bad, boyo," Kuroka laughed as she sauntered through the hole in the ice. She moved with feline grace, a sensual flow that spoke of absolute confidence despite the battlefield and the enemies that faced her. "Vali'll have fun with you."
"Black Cat Kuroka," Grayfia intoned gravely, the air around her misting as her magic seeped into it. "What are you doing here?"
"Visiting Shironya~" the Stray devil admitted casually, dismissing the Strongest Queen as her eyes found Koneko. "There you are."
Suddenly, Koneko was in her sister's arms again.
The familiar scent, the nostalgic warmth, and the heartbeat she knew as well as her own.
It was like Koneko's worst nightmare had come to life.
"Let her go!" Rias shouted in fear and anger.
Dozens of small yet incredibly dense spheres of destruction converged on the feline woman from behind, her power trying to blast the Stray away from her Rook without hurting Koneko.
Six black tails batted them away like a cat with balls of yarn.
That shouldn't be possible. At her sister's age, she should only have two, maybe three tails.
"RIAS!" Grayfia shouted in fear as ice covered the room, separating the kimono-clad woman from the devil heiress' and their Peerage.
Only because of the hostage did the maid keep her magic defensive instead of trying to attack the threat.
Koneko was too busy having a panic attack to notice any of this.
Her sister.
Her insane, dangerous, and insanely dangerous sister was here.
Here with her new family, here attacking the peace conference.
She was here for Koneko.
In her panic, Koneko instinctively tried to free herself from the prison she found herself confined to.
She squirmed and wiggled, struggling with all her might to get even an inch of space to attack, defend, flee, or anything. She needed to get away get away get away awayawayaway.
Kuroka did not allow her an inch.
"I missed you, Shirone," the Black Cat rumbled affectionately, rubbing her face against Koneko's cheeks and not giving the younger girl the slightest possibility of escape.
It was a familiar action, one the older sister had done hundreds of times before.
Koneko felt nauseous.
"...go."
"Nya?" Kuroka asked, stopping her nuzzling to look at her younger sister.
"LET ME GO!" Koneko shouted in her sister's face, redoubling her effort for even an inch of freedom.
"Do as she says," Grayfia ordered. She had wrapped herself, Kuroka, and Koneko in a box of ice meters thick, trapping them together. Rias and her Peerage tried to smash their way in, desperate to reach the Rook, but the maid did not allow it. "Release her and surrender. You will be detained. If you do, I will guarantee your survival."
"You're annoying," Kuroka grumbled, looking less scared and more put out as she glared at the devil. "Don't interfere, nyaa~."
Even as Koneko tried to free herself from her sister's grasp, two more versions of the Black Cat appeared in the ice box and launched themselves at the Strongest Queen.
The ice around them pelted the clones at speeds Koneko couldn't follow, but the other Kurokas surrounded themselves with balls of black flame, laughing lightly as they burned their way closer to the maid despite all the ice.
Kasha. Flames that served to guide the dead. A powerful ability of the nekomata.
The Kuroka Koneko remembered had never been able to summon them.
But then again, the Kuroka Koneko remembered couldn't make solid clones either and only had two tails.
What she saw should be impossible for such a young nekomata, nekoshou or not.
"See Shironya," Kuroka said proudly to her still-struggling sister. "Onee-sama is strong!"
"Let me go," Koneko said again, eyes starting to water in frustration.
She hated this.
She hated how she was being used to ensure Grayfia could not use her full power.
Hated how scared Rias and Akeno and Yuuto and everyone looked as they desperately tried to reach her.
Hated how weak she was, unable to free herself.
Hated how scared she was.
Koneko hated how comfortable she felt in her sister's arms once more.
Kuroka looked at her younger sister and, amazingly, did as she asked.
Koneko stared, wide-eyed, as Kuroka put her back down to the ground.
The older girl leaned forward, lowering herself slightly till they were at eye level.
Even her clones stopped trying to attack Grayfia, keeping their Kasha burning to deal with the ice, but otherwise, they were not actively attacking anymore.
"Shirone," Kuroka said, far more serious than she had been since she had appeared. "I am sorry. It was necessary, but I am still sorry. Sorry that you were hurt. Sorry I had to leave you alone."
"...what?" Koneko hated how her voice cracked.
"I can't explain right now," Kuroka said, her black ears twitching from a sound Koneko couldn't hear. Her six tails writhed behind her in agitation. "But I will. Someday, you'll understand."
"You left," Koneko accused softly.
All her betrayal, all her heartbreak, all her fear, and all the love she had once felt were packed into two words.
"I did," Kuroka nodded gravely, and the tails sped up in their agitation as her ears drooped. "I will explain everything when I can. I am also sorry I scared you now. I just wanted to see you again. I am not here to take you away. I am sorry I have to leave again."
"...Why?"
Why did Kuroka leave her?
Why was she here now?
Why was she leaving again?
...Why wasn't she insane?
"Onee-sama wanted to see Shironyaa," Kuroka laughed, perking back up. "It's not time yet, but we'll be together soon. All three of us. Onee-sama promises."
A part of Koneko, the part that yearned for her older sister once again, the part she hated, wanted for it to be true. Wanted to believe her sister had her reasons. Koneko wanted the promise to come true.
But Kuroka had broken promises before.
"...Three?" Koneko couldn't help but ask. Who was she talking about?
"Onee-sama found herself a man, nyaa," Kuroka said proudly, her playful demeanour returning. "He's scary and strong and a bit too serious, but don't worry, Onee-sama will have amazing kittens."
...Was her sister actually insane and just been covering it up until now?
"Nyaa!?" Kuroka stumbled away as if she had been stabbed. "Don't look at Onee-sama like that! He's real!"
Koneko continued to watch her sister doubtfully. She didn't doubt Kuroka could find herself a man, she was beautiful after all, but why bring it up now?
What did that have to do with Koneko?
Did she think Koneko would go with her to meet him?
"I am never going with you," Koneko said firmly, the moments of calm giving her time to recompose herself slightly after her world had crashed around her. She looked to Rias, still blasting away at the ice that separated them. "I am staying with Buchou."
Kuroka looked like she was to say something again, but her ears twitched again, and instead, she summoned a wave of black fire to melt a part of the ice wall.
Right away, the wooden wall behind it collapsed, and the second armoured form crashed through. This one was white instead of red.
The figure didn't land on his back but skidded along the ice-covered floor, armoured feet carving a groove as his wings flashed.
[Divide]
For a brief moment, Koneko saw a flash of a blade that threatened to take the White Dragon Emperor's head off. Then it disappeared, and Mikasa stood beside Grayfia, a pair of shattered swords in hand.
"Nyaa?" Kuroka said curiously as she looked the pair of new arrivals over. "Vali? You're losing? Who's she?"
"Don't know. She's weak," the White Dragon Emperor said, and there was a note of glee in his voice. "Fast, but weak. No power at all. All I can divide are her swords as they hit me, and she must have hundreds."
Koneko heard her sister sigh and mumble something about 'battle maniacs.' Now that Koneko had a moment to look, she noticed the blue wings of Divine Dividing were surprisingly small. Much smaller than the massive blue wings they had been when he had taken down Kokabiel.
"Grayfia?" Mikasa asked lowly.
"I'll distract them," Grayfia said grimly. "Get Koneko."
Mikasa nodded, throwing away the destroyed swords and pulling two more European straight swords from who knew where.
Vali prepared himself with a laugh, more than ready and excited for the upcoming fight.
Kuroka wasn't having any of it.
Before any sort of conflict could begin, Vali slumped forward as a fourth Kuroka, hidden under an illusion until now, smacked him behind his head.
Koneko felt it. She felt the senjutsu pass through the armour of Albion's Balance Breaker and disrupt the brain within the skull, rendering him unconscious.
"Vali's an idiot, nyaa," Kuroka sighed as she slung him over her shoulder. "Instead of distracting the guards, he brought them near Shirone. No noodles for him for a week. But we need him, so I can't let you kill him."
"What are you doing here, Black Cat Kuroka," Grayfia asked again, not lowering her guard. "Have you joined these terrorists?"
"The Khaos Brigade? You have it wrong, nyaa~ They joined us." Kuroka paused, tilting her head, ears flickering as she grinned sadistically. "Not that they had a choice. Nyahahahaha~ This whole attack is that idiot Katarea's idea. She's not needed, so please kill her. Ah! Please kill everyone else who attacks you. You'd be doing us a favour, nyaa~."
Then she completely disregarded the two devils and looked back to Koneko, the White Dragon Emperor slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Onee-sama has to leave now, Shirone. I'll introduce you to brother-in-law later. I promise," Kuroka told her younger sister. "Just not now. Onee-sama needs to have a... talk with him about running off without telling anyone."
For a second, Koneko felt the malice she so feared. It practically radiated from the older girl before she and Vali dissipated in a shimmer of magic.
A part of Koneko wanted to reach out, begging her sister not to leave her again.
But she didn't.
Seeing Kuroka again brought it all back.
The confusion. The abandonment. The sting of betrayal. The pain.
Just because her sister seemed slightly sane and claimed to have a reason for her actions didn't erase everything Koneko had gone through.
And it didn't change what she had gained from that pain.
Even now, as Kuroka gave Koneko a quick hug before teleporting away, her new family was fighting to reach her.
Kuroka's farewell remained unanswered.
Koneko remained silent as her old family disappeared, and her new one embraced her in worried concern.