"Uh," Asia 'whispered' to her King. "Why are we hiding?"
"We're gathering information," Rias explained to her Bishop, lowering her binoculars.
They were enchanted, as regular human tools wouldn't help devils.
Not that they helped that much, with all the trees in the way.
"Rias is nosy," Akeno piped up, not lowering her own binoculars.
"I am not," Rias huffed. "Proper information gathering is essential to formulating a battle plan. I learned my lesson from our game against Sona. I don't want to be taken by surprise again. So we need information before forming a plan."
"...Nosy," Koneko agreed her set as she surveyed the bench from a nearby tree.
"While I am happy you are seeing the benefits of proper scouting," Sona sighed, rubbing her eyes under her glasses in exasperation. "When you said you wanted to all meet Eren and Aunty together, this is not what I had in mind and is a violation of their privacy."
Sona did not have binoculars.
No, she was not salty about it.
"There is nothing wrong with peeping," Issei defended, though he wasn't trying to spy on the couple(?).
Friends?
Isekai'd soulmates?
Rias didn't know how to categorize Mikasa and Eren's relationship, seeing as she was still missing a lot of details.
One thing she knew was that there was definitely a history there that made Sona's honorary aunt a fierce rival.
"I do think there is something wrong with that statement," Yuuto said, awkwardly scratching his cheek in answer to the Rook's comment. "But as far as I know, they are not doing anything inappropriate, right? And I admit I am curious about Senpai's relationship with Ackerman-sensei."
"Exactly!" Rias agreed with her Knight. "Nothing inappropriate at all. They are just sitting on the bench. I don't even think they're talking. Eren might be napping, but I can't get a good look. Can either of you?"
"No."
"Not on Eren from this angle," Akeno denied as well. "Aunty is leaning on him, though. It is pretty cute."
"Enough of this," Sona sighed. "I am going to talk to them. You are free to join me if-"
Sona's words were cut off as Koneko fell out of her tree with a small 'Eep' of surprise, hitting the ground solidly.
"Ara?" Akeno gasped in surprise, though it wasn't at the Rook's uncharacteristic clumsiness.
"What? What happened," Sona asked hurriedly.
Rias didn't answer, eyes wide in surprise and mouth slightly open, a bit of drool leaking out of her mouth.
Asia was already racing to heal Koneko, though the Rook wasn't hurt by such a pitiful fall.
"Buchou? Akeno-senpai?" Issei asked worriedly.
"Ufufufufufufufu," Akeno started giggling like a creepy old man.
"Maybe we should leave after all," Yuuto said slowly, looking at the reactions of the three girls who had been watching through the binoculars. "If something inappropriate is happening, we can-"
"No we will not!" Sona said strongly. "I will not have lew... improper activities happening on school grounds."
"Nothing like that, ufufufu," Akeno denied, still giggling as she lowered her binoculars. "We just got caught, is all. Eren looked right at us."
It took a moment for the implications of that statement to sink in.
"...Eren?" Sona asked hesitantly. "Eren looked at you?"
"Yep," Akeno answered with a broad smile, eyes alight with mischief as she popped the 'p' for emphasis. "And guess what? You know the photo on his passport we have on file? The fake one he used as a mercenary?"
"....Yeah?"
"Did not do him justice."
Before Sona could ask what the Queen meant, a voice interrupted them.
"What are you doing," Mikasa asked, appearing in front of the group in a burst of speed that sent a few of their members scrambling back.
Judging by the look on her face, she wasn't happy.
"Every pervert for themselves!" Issei yelled, taking off running.
Mikasa caught him by the back of his shirt, quickly holding the Red Dragon Emperor in place as everyone else looked at him in confused surprise.
The Rook stopped struggling and looked around, seeming to realize the situation.
"Sorry," Issei apologized with a sheepish smile and a shrug. "Instinct."
Koneko punched the pervert in the side, and her fellow Rook winced at the blow.
"Ignoring that," Sona sighed, looking at her aunt. "I simply wished to speak to you two. They are the ones who set up this whole... thing."
"Traitor," Rias muttered under her breath at her rival, having put down her binoculars at the Pawn's arrival.
Mikasa turned her glare to the Gremory Heiress, and Rias grimaced.
Hells, Aunty could be scary when she wanted to.
Still, Rias was unrepentant.
"Eren is my friend," Rias said simply, staring back at Leviathan's Pawn. "Human or devil, from another world or not, Eren is my friend. Our friend. We won't stay away just because you told us to."
Her Peerage looked buoyed by their King's firm stance and nodded fiercely in agreement at the older woman.
Or as fierce as a newborn puppy could look in Asia's case.
Mikasa's face turned from a glare to a look of pained regret.
"I wasn't trying to stop you-"
"Mikasa."
Eren's voice was gentle, yet the Pawn closed her mouth with a click as the older boy walked into the clearing, leaning on his cane.
"It's fine," the older boy said as he approached. "You don't need to baby us."
There were a few gasps as most of the group got their first unobstructed look at Eren's face without his bandages.
Rias fully understood the reaction.
As long as they had known him, Eren had given them the impression of a sickly and frail man, with the top half of his head completely wrapped in white fabric.
Without it, the impression was completely different.
He was still thin, but now it only looked like he was on the skinnier side rather than appearing a few minutes from death. He still leaned on his cane, but Eren held himself with a confidence and surety that was wholly lacking in most men his age.
And his face...
Eren wasn't the best-looking man Rias had ever seen, not even close.
Most supernatural races were just better looking than humans. It was the simple truth. Partly because of magic, but many also had some form of limited shapeshifting. There would never be an ugly devil, for example.
Still, Eren wasn't out of place even beside Mikasa, one of the prettier devils Rias knew.
Long dark hair in a knot framed an angular face with aristocratic cheekbones and grey eyes that seemed to pierce Rias' soul. Those eyes, so long hidden, were further emphasized by long curving markings that stretched from below his eyelids to the middle of his face.
Issei said it best.
"Damn handsome," the Red Dragon Emperor muttered under his breath, eyes wide in surprise.
It was probably one of the better reactions.
Akeno had started giggling lewdly again, and Sona looked like she had forgotten to breathe.
Rias knew the reactions were exaggerated due to a Cinderella-like effect.
The shift of perception from 'weak, sickly and blind' to 'thin, good-looking, and not blind' gave them more whiplash than if they had just seen Eren without bandages for the first time.
Still...
Come to mamma.
Mikasa's glare darkened, but Eren was utterly oblivious to their reaction's subtle(?) nuances.
"It's good to finally put faces to names," Eren said simply, looking around at each of them, his eyes ending up on Issei. They lingered on the pervert for longer than the others, still trapped in Mikasa's grasp. "I'm sure you have questions. Come on."
Eren turned and started walking back toward the bench, and Mikasa dropped Issei to offer an arm for him to lean on. The boy accepted it gratefully, and soon, the pair disappeared into the trees.
"...Damn," Koneko eventually broke the silence, startling everyone from their shock.
"They're grey."
"What was that," Rias asked Sona, shaking her head to get herself back together.
"His eyes," Sona explained with a frown. "They're grey. The passport said they were green."
"I think it's pretty obvious it was fake," Yuuto shrugged helplessly and started following the older pair toward the bench.
"I can guess why and how Eren would use a fake passport," Sona muttered as they followed. "Those marks would stand out. But why lie about his eye colour."
"That's what you are worried about?" Rias asked incredulously. "We've thought he was blind this entire time! He acted blind! I am glad he can see. I am. But I could have introduced him to anime months ago!"
Sona deadpanned at the Gremory, but Akeno stumbled slightly. When Rias looked at her Queen, the half-fallen looked away, ears slightly red in embarrassment.
Before she could ask about it, they reached the clearing with the bench, both Eren and Mikasa having taken a seat, though they were slightly further apart than Rias had seen while spy... gathering information.
"So you're really not blind," Issei asked with all the delicacy of a raging dragon as soon as he caught sight of the pair.
"And you're all devils," Eren said simply.
There were a few winces and sheepish looks, both recognizing they had been keeping secrets from the other.
Still, Rias felt there was a bit of a difference between not volunteering information and actively pretending to be disabled for over a year.
"Why'd you pretend?" She couldn't help but ask.
"I didn't plan on it," Eren sighed, looking away slightly in embarrassment. "My face is pretty... distinctive."
He gestured at the marks around his eyes for emphasis.
"I use the bandages to cover my face while travelling. With my condition, most people don't ask too many questions. By the time I decided to stay here, it was a bit... awkward to suddenly be able to see. For all intents and purposes, I have been blind for the last year. I really hadn't seen most of your faces before today."
Ah.
Was this it?
The fabled Gap Moe?
Seeing the ordinarily stoic or scowling Eren acting all embarrassed and cute was doing things to Rias that suddenly gave her a much greater understanding of her Queen's preferences.
"It was... nice," Eren continued softly, no longer looking away but down at his cane. "Not having to See. It was peaceful."
Ah, Satans, what were they supposed to say about that?
Were they supposed to get mad at the child soldier who decided he had seen enough cruelty in the world that he chose to live blind?
And who knows what his past life had been like? Probably not great.
"Well," Sona coughed slightly. "Now that we know, no more of this facade. At least during lessons. School starts again tomorrow, and I will be busy for the first few days, but after that, your lessons will resume. Now that you can see, we shall begin with hiragana and katakana. The Japanese writing system is much more complex than many other languages, though once we move on to kanji, you might find it easier to distinguish between homophones."
Eren looked at Sona in slight surprise but eventually nodded in agreement.
"I'd like that."
Mikasa looked at her niece, a complex look on her face as the Sitri met her sister's Pawn's gaze. Eventually, the older woman simply sighed and nodded, looking more resigned than mad.
The tension eased slightly after that, and the group of young devils started to relax, taking their own seats where they wished.
Rias brought out the blanket she kept in the storage box under the bench, laying it out for her, Akeno, and Sona while Issei and Asia sat together in one of the hammocks. Yuuto stayed standing, leaning against a nearby tree.
Koneko surprised everyone when she grabbed a few snacks from her pack instead of joining the other girls on the blanket and plopped herself on Eren's lap.
The Rook's blank face looked increadibly smug as she munched away under everyone else's disbelieving stares.
"Comfortable," was all the younger girl said in between bites.
Rias gave Akeno a thumbs-up when her Queen snapped a picture of the cute moment, Eren's face set in a bewildered expression as he looked down at the small girl in his lap.
Mikasa looked around the clearing, a conflicted look on her face.
"Don't mind it," Eren told her softly, placing a hand on hers. "I know you're worried. You don't need to be."
Mikasa looked at their hands for a second but eventually nodded slightly and relaxed against the bench, leaning slightly on Eren's shoulder.
Rias felt a twinge of jealousy at the intimate sight and couldn't help but speak up.
"So, how do you two know each other," she asked. Then, realizing how that could sound, hurried to clarify. "We know Aunty is from another world, and we guessed you were too, right?"
"Aunty?" Eren asked, looking at Mikasa in surprise. The Pawn flushed slightly, pulling up her scarf to cover her face as she looked away. Eren shook his head and looked back at Rias to answer. "It's... complicated. But yes, we are both from another world."
"That's so cool," Issei said, leaning forward. "Were there dragons in your world? Devils? What was it like?"
"It was hell."
Eren eyes were distant as he scowled.
"For the longest time, humanity was prey—cattle. And when it wasn't..." Eren's voice turned bitter, angry, regretful, and full of self-loathing. "We didn't have dragons, no. But we did have devils."
It was Mikasa's turn to reassure the boy, her fingers squeezing his hand as she looked over the bench at the Red Dragon Emperor, who had paled at Eren's words.
"There were no other sapient races, just humans. But you don't need other races to live in hell," Mikasa explained softly. She wasn't glaring at the Rook, but there was a note of warning in her gaze. "Island Devils. That's what they called us Eldians. A racial slur."
"Why would they do that?" Asia asked sadly, the sheltered nun unable to really understand humans hating other humans on a racial level.
"Our ancestors," Eren spat, voice full of loathing. "The Eldian Empire ruled our world for two thousand years. They committed unspeakable acts on anyone who didn't have Eldian blood. By the time we were born, the empire had been gone for a century, but the rest of the world still remembered everything Eldia had done. And they took it out on us."
"They were afraid of a new Eldian Empire," Mikasa continued, her hand squeezing Eren's once more. "It didn't matter that we had no idea about any of that or that nobody alive had been responsible. What mattered was the possibility. Fear and anger will make devils out of anyone."
Eren flinched.
Aunty's lips thinned, but she didn't move her hand or take back her words.
"... Penguin?" Koneko offered, looking sorrowfully up at the scowling boy and offering him a cracker.
Eren blinked down at the girl in surprise.
Then he sighed, his muscles untensing as he opened his mouth. Koneko fed him the cracker, looking pleased with herself.
"...Sorry," Issei apologized regretfully.
"Not your fault. You had no way of knowing any of that," Eren shook his head dismissively. "Just a sore subject. Our world was mainly like this one, though about a century in the past, technology-wise. Even the geography is largely the same, though with differences. No magic, though."
"Closer to forty or thirty years behind," Mikasa corrected gently.
"Really?" Eren asked in surprise. "They got that far? After everything?"
"Some places were better off than others initially," Mikasa allowed. "Armin spent a lot of effort trying to ensure everyone was as close to equal. People felt better that way. Less likely to do something drastic."
"Huh," Eren grunted in thought.
"You know," Akeno singsonged in the brief silence that followed. "You never answered. How do you know each other?"
"Yes, I did," Eren deadpanned at the half-fallen. "It's complicated."
"That's not an answer," Sona said, adjusting her glasses.
"It is," Eren denied with a scowl.
"Not a good one," Rias joined in.
While she was still slightly jealous, she was also dying of curiosity.
They usually didn't pry when Eren clearly didn't want to talk about something, and it was the same with Aunty, but this was too important to let up.
Had she been right that first day? Were they childhood friends who promised to marry?
Rias could picture it in her head.
Two young lovers, cruelly separated by death, only to reunite in another world and finally have a chance together.
Rias would have proof that anime was real if that were the case. She could hold it over Akeno's head for the rest of time.
Which might be worth some jealousy.
"It's the only one you're getting," Eren said, his scowl back in full force as he glared at the Queen, who acted innocent.
Eren was a stubborn mule—they all knew that. He wouldn't explain if he didn't want to, no matter what they did.
But all three girls on the blanket knew someone else who, despite acting strong and stoic, had a surprisingly soft side.
Three pairs of eyes turned to look at Mikasa Ackerman in supplication.
"It's... complicated," Mikasa said softly, looking away and raising the red scarf further to cover her blushing cheeks.
Unfortunately, she had looked in Eren's direction.
And Koneko, whose watery eyes looked up at Mikasa with all the cuteness of a wet kitten, silently begging for an answer.
The woman caved.
"His parents took me in after mine died," Mikasa explained with a sigh, hand resting on her scarf. "Brother and sister, in a way. Best friends. Then comrades when we joined the military together after they died. Eventually, we got older and... well, things happened."
That was probably all they would get, but Rias could piece things together from there.
Mikasa had been the one Eren had loved, the one he was ready to run away together with.
But either she hadn't felt the same way at the time, was too shy to admit it, or other circumstances stopped the woman from reciprocating.
Eren had gone on to enact that plan of his, the one that had collateral damages he was so regretful of, and the pair had never been able to be together.
And Eren had died.
The discrepancy in knowledge about their home world, Eren's rebirth, and Aunty's shock at discovering he was alive.
It all pointed to Eren's death.
Eren had died young in his home world, but Mikasa had lived a whole life afterwards. She had married, had children, and died an old woman before becoming Serafall's Pawn.
The idea filled Rias with mixed emotions.
On the one hand, it wouldn't be too out of place in an anime, though one a bit grimmer than she usually preferred. If she wanted, she could definitely use it against Akeno.
On the other hand, Rias was a romantic at heart. Eren and Mikasa had clearly loved each other, and still did to this day. To not be able to live together with the one they loved, to be separated by death, even if they were reunited later, it filled Rias with a sense of melancholy.
More than any jealousy, she felt sadness at the idea.
It wasn't right.
Both Eren and Mikasa deserved to be happy.
The world Rias dreamed of, the one she had promised, was one where the people she cared about were free to be happy. Where they weren't forced by other people or circumstances to live in pain, loneliness, and sadness.
Rias, lost in thought as she was, wasn't the only one to realize the implications of Mikasa's words. Sona, too, was grimacing in sympathy, but it was Akeno who had the most surprising reaction.
Far from teasing the pair about the possible illicit implications of their relationship, of having the same parents even if one was adopted, the half-fallen had paled and was looking between Eren and Mikasa.
"Akeno," Rias asked in concern at her Queen.
"Nothing," Akeno shook her head hurriedly. "It's nothing."
Nobody was buying that, but only Eren seemed to recognize what was going on with the girl. His scowl turned into a look of profound grief and self-loathing as he looked away from the young girl and to the ground.
That seemed to be enough for Mikasa to at least get an idea.
"Oh," the Pawn said softly, looking away from Eren to Akeno. "Right."
Akeno looked at the older woman in surprise, as if not expecting her to know about something.
Rias would admit to be dying of curiosity about what the three were thinking about, but even Issei could see how much the topic distressed all three of them.
An oppressive mood settled on the clearing as nobody spoke up.
"I have been curious," Yuuto eventually said in an apparent effort to change the topic. "What are those scars, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I don't mind," Eren shrugged, not bothered by the question. On the other hand, Mikasa bit her lip and clenched her fist tightly. "You could call them a side effect of my condition. I also had them in my last life. They do nothing besides make me more recognizable if that's what you're wondering about. They're not magical tattoos or seals or whatever you devils use."
"That's... not really how magic works," Sona couldn't help but put in. "While human magicians use precise magical formulas to enact various effects, a devil's power is much more malleable. While devils do have house seals, they are more like shortcuts to make certain spells easier and act as identification badges."
"I can't use magic," Eren shrugged again. "A holdover from my old world, I guess. And, to be honest, I tried to stay away from devils when I could. Most of the ones I had to deal with as a mercenary were not... Well, we didn't get along."
"Did you know we were devils?" Rias asked, morbidly curious if all their precautions had been for nothing.
"Most of you, sure," Eren nodded easily. "Not Sona, but the Gremory name is pretty famous, even if I tried to avoid devils. The rest of you were pretty clear about your relationship with Rias. I might be thick-headed, but I'm not stupid."
A pit formed in Rias' stomach.
If Eren had always known she was Rias of the Gremory, didn't that mean he...
She tried to shake off the thought, trying to focus on the positives of Eren's knowledge of devils and magic.
They could talk more openly now and get to know each other better without so many secrets.
There was also a greater chance of saving Eren now. He might have turned down becoming a devil, but they could work on changing his mind.
If he and Mikasa really were together, then surely he would like to spend more time with her.
Devils lived tens of thousands of years—more than enough time to make up for all the time the pair had lost together, to make happy memories instead of sad ones.
And Rias was happy. She was.
She was happy she could return to the bench with her friends.
She was happy she could finally look Eren in the eyes.
She was happy he was more relaxed than she could remember him ever being.
That afternoon, in that small park clearing, Rias Gremory was happy.
Still...
A traitorous part of her mind could not help but ask.
Had it all been a lie?
Utterly oblivious to her rival's inner turmoil, Sona took the opportunity to explain devil magic, culture, and history to the boy on the bench.