Old Schoolhouse, Kuoh Academy –
POV: Hiyama Oreki –
Once I arrived at the old schoolhouse, I led Kiba to their main clubroom telling him to lay back down on the couch while I took the other. There I waited until someone got back from class, it wasn't until school ended there was the creaking of the door opening. Through the door cam Rias, accompanied by Akeno and Koneko. At first, she was startled but seeing it was me she relaxed.
"Your peerage member are quite the handful, Rias." I said as I gestured to Kiba who quickly stood up at the presence of his master.
Rias immediately rushed over to Kiba, "Kiba, are you okay? You should have told me you woke up…"
"I'm sorry president, something happened to me- I think…" Of course, Rias then immediately looks at me.
Smiling, I said, "Kiba-cakes here fell under the influence of my sister's holy sword, Clarent, it amplified his desire for revenge causing him to attack Shiori in a rage earlier. Don't worry I helped him overcome its effects."
"I'm sorry president, I don't know what came over- well I do know what came over me, I just didn't at the time." Kiba apologized as he attempted to bow before Rias stopped him. He then turned to me with a serious face. "So, where is Tosca?" He asked.
"In the basement of the secret church facility that Galilei performed his experiments. In other words, out of reach. I will work on getting her out, but you have to help me out by not attacking my sister every two seconds." I said with half-feigned frustration. He at the very least had the curtsey to look apologetic at attacking Shiori.
"Alright you two, what's going on?" Rias asked perturbed. After a long explanation from me and Kiba about everything that transpired earlier and an explanation about the whereabouts of Tosca I sat in front of Rias, no doubt prepared for the inevitable invitation in her peerage. I also used this conversation to confirm the exact location of the facility.
"Would you like to join my peerage, Hiyama?" Right on time.
"Not a chance in hell." I said with a carefree tone.
"Why not? There are many benefits to-"
"I was raised a good Catholic, like hell I'd betray my own faith for power, I'm not Kiba-cakes here. You may be an outlier, but the rest of your faction is not. Devils earned their reputation." I said seriously. Rias and Sona may be good people, but pretty much everybody else was not. Even Sairaorg was a battle-crazed maniac who would kill just for the sake of a good fight. Issei might have been willing to entertain the whims of devils, but I wasn't.
"I think you have a tainted image of devils, but I understand. It isn't uncommon for humans to have your opinion…" She seemed a bit dejected, but I knew just the thing to cheer her up.
"However, that doesn't mean I won't help you rid yourself of one such devil, Riser Phenex. It will take me time to get things ready for Tosca's rescue, so in the meantime, I suppose I can help you out with your unwanted marriage." I wasn't intending on fighting Riser myself, even though I likely could with a little more training.
"So how do you plan on helping without joining my peerage?" Rias questioned, though not without a hint of hope.
"Issei Hyoudou" I said. "He is this generation's Red Dragon Emperor. You should be able to reincarnate him in your peerage with your pawn pieces." All of them looked shocked at my revelation.
"I already expected something special about him, but I only just noticed today. How do you know about him being the wielder of the Boosted Gear?" Rias asked.
"As I established to Akeno when she visited my home, I just know things..." At that I looked at Akeno who had a genuine smile on her face. Jesus Christ, she was incredibly beautiful…
"As for why I would tell you... Well, it isn't much difference to me whether devils have the Red Dragon Emperor on your side." Rias gave a pretty smile. "The Red Dragon Emperor could certainly be powerful…"
Akeno spoke this time, "If it was between you and the Red Dragon Emperor, who would win?"
"If he entered the Juggernaut Drive, I may have a little trouble…" I responded with feigned consideration.
"But would you lose?" She pressed.
"Nah, I'd win." As I gave a confident smile. Damn… I'm so cool, thank you Gojo.
Rias seemed to have bought my bullshit. "I never did thank you for helping us." Rias said.
"You're welcome" I smiled. "I will work on getting Tosca out. In the meantime, reincarnate Issei and begin his training. Should you need additional help I am always here." At that I say goodbye.
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Just as I begin walking down the hallway I am stopped by Akeno.
"Wait, Hiyama." Akeno called out. I turn to look at her to find a serious face looking back at me.
She continued, "I wanted to thank you again for letting me confide in you. I would like to see my father, if you could arrange it."
"I will make contact with the governor-general once I get home." She had a complicated look on her face. "Is there something more, Akeno?" I asked gently.
"Yes… When I learned all about what happened to you from Sona, I had questioned why you were so kind to the fallen, or me…" She said sadly. "I wondered why you helped. Then you go out of our way to Rias and even Kiba…" Her eyes shone with gratitude as she grabbed on to the front of my shirt, and clung close.
"You're so terribly good Hiyama…" She whispered as she hugged me. I hadn't really considered how my actions would look to other people. I mean, I am just running around helping people with major problems at random. To Akeno it probably seemed I was akin to a saint who had come to save everyone. The whole point was to gain allies, by fixing their problems I could endear myself to each of the main cast. If I am good friends with the main cast that will allow me connections and opportunities, I would otherwise have to get on my own.
Not really knowing what to say I hug her, "I'm not really sure what to say…"
"You don't have to say anything." Pulling away from me she backed a few steps away. Bringing a smile to her face she said, "I have a surprise for you~ but I can't say just yet. You'll just have to wait until I reveal it…" I was taken off guard by the sudden switch to the typical flirty nature of Akeno.
"Well, I'll see you later Akeno." I said with a wave.
"Goodbye Hiyama~" Akeno teased.
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Hiyama's house, Kuoh town –
Arriving home I had a bunch of things to think about. First and foremost was how I was going to get Tosca out of the hands of the church. To be honest, I was kind of winging it with Kiba, so I wasn't forced to harm or kill him. So, I didn't exactly have a plan for her, but what I did have was another connection to the church.
With Issei now pretty much assured to join Rias' peerage, I now turned to her would be bishop. However, I had no intention of having her join Rias, she was much too important. I would have her join me instead.
A part of me felt my decision as it relates to Asia is from God inside Logos Reverie. She had such faith, and it was repaid with betrayal by the very church that would call her a saint. She needed to be protected.
So, I made a call.
I messaged Azazel first to make sure he was free, then I called him after getting confirmation. The conversation didn't last long, I informed him of Akeno's wish to talk to her father, and about my desire to have Asia placed in my care.
Of course, he agreed to tell Baraqiel about Akeno. What wasn't so easy was convincing him to send Asia my way. It was understandable why he would be hesitant to hand over such a valuable asset, but after I explained to him some of my plans for Logos Reverie he caved. In particular, I planned on seeing if I could upgrade or interact with sacred gear to make them stronger or obtain their abilities.
I refrained from telling him about the Tosca situation, as I didn't want to become overly reliant.
Baraqiel would probably visit Akeno on his own without my participation, and Asia was being delivered to me as we spoke. He said it would take a week or so for her to have her stuff prepared. Apparently, when I revealed Kokabiel, Freed Sellzen, who had been accompanying Asia, had escaped custody when the fallen showed up leaving Asia to be in a Grigori facility somewhere in Sicily.
Now, if I wanted to get Tosca for Kiba-cakes I'll either have to infiltrate the facility and get her or get in contact with Heaven and convince them to do it for me. I had no idea how to contact Heaven at this point still, so I had no choice but to go myself to get her.
Teleporting to Northern Italy was easy enough, getting in was the problem. I was going to bring Raynare and Kalawarner with me to attack the building, I trusted them the most to keep things clean and efficient. However, they weren't strong and that was a problem I intended to fix. I was planning on using the Voice to strengthen all the fallen and Shiori.
But first I needed a test subject to find out how much I could change a person with the Voice. It just so happens Viser should be operating in the town. I also could use her to test some of the books Mittelt got from the Grigori. Particularly the Biomancy parts, I wanted to move forward with my plan to create more than one mouth; I got distracted by Kiba-cakes going ape-shit.
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Kuoh town –
So, after talking to Azazel and making sure everyone was in order I tell Kala to accompany me tonight. I chose her because I hadn't really spent much time with her, unlike Mittelt who followed me everywhere and Raynare for obvious reasons.
I used the image of the building as I remembered it from the anime to find the layer. Between me and Kala it wasn't long till we found ourselves in front of a warehouse with the distinct feeling of Demonic Power.
"Kala, we are here to capture this stray, not kill it. I have reasons I will enlighten you about later, for now just wait at one of the holes in the roof. I will draw her out and you ambush her form above." With the power of Light Kala didn't have much to worry about from Viser. Viser may have been stronger slightly stronger, but Light will easily cover the difference.
"Yes master, I will capture this stray for you." With that she spreads out her wings and flies up to enter through the roof. I walk to the front door and walk in slightly before stopping.
"Hey little stray~ Where are you?" I was interested in what version of Viser would show up. The light novel version had short white hair and two spears, while the anime had long black hair and breast acid. If I'm honest I preferred it if the anime version, was it but it really didn't matter, I was just interested in acid-based attacks.
After my taunt I hear a sweet feminine voice come from the darkness of the warehouse, "I smell something delicious, it seems a young little thing has come to be my first meal~" Stepping out of the darkness was as I had hoped a long black haired woman with quite a pair on he chest. Though revealing herself further revealed the centaur-like body.
Without missing a beat or even flinching I say, "You can attack now" Viser looked confused for a split second, but my words weren't meant for her.
In an instant a spear of light had pierced the back of her monstrous lower half. She screamed out in terrible pain. Her jaw extended beyond its normal range as her teeth morphed to be razor sharp. She didn't have long to recover because another spear came down hitting her arm taking it off, with Kala following.
As Kala descended into the room, she used her wings to gain speed and bring a light spear in her hands slashing down on Viser cutting her from good shoulder to the ground. The battle was already over, the Light was poison to a weak devil like Viser.
Viser collapsed to the ground in pain though still tried to get at Kala. Stepping forward I used the voice to knock her unconscious and cause her limbs to twist into knots in a sickening fashion to restrain her.
"Kala, see to it that she is placed in the holding pens in the basement, expand the pen if needed. I will begin my experimentation on her tomorrow. I'm headed home to go to sleep." With the final command I did exactly as I said. I think I have successfully planted all the seeds I need today.
So, I went home and went to sleep…