Archive of Our Own ^beta

Makoto slammed the door shut and staggered back. He quickly tripped over his own feet, only halfway to the living room.

The red spear penetrated the door with a crashing sound.

As he stumbled further back, the spear retracted before plunging once again in the wood.

He's breaking down the door. Even though that front door was solid oakwood, the spear slashed through it as if it were made of cardboard.

He heard his name, somewhere.

By now, Itou had crawled his way backwards to the living room.

The tall man kicked against the wood. Another large chunk gave way. Half of the door was in splinters by now.

Soft hands grabbed him and pulled him up.

"Get behind me," Kotonoha ordered.

"Are you insane?"

Kotonoha narrowed her eyes on the door. A purple aura started gathering in her hand. It was similar to the light effects he saw when he used his own powers, but distinctly different from that winged man. The spear of light was blinding, while their light was a much warmer kind.

The light formed itself into a knife. No, not a knife. It was bigger, with a jagged edge.

A dozuki. The Japanese hand-saw used by carpenters.

"How did you…?"

"You didn't think you were the only one with powers, do you?"

A final kick from the winged man sent the remains of the door flying.

The spear left his hand and raced for Kotonoha, however, she simply cut it apart with her blade.

The fallen angel frowned.

"That's an unexpected development," he said, as he created another bright red spear of light.

"You could say so," Kotonoha responded.

"I've never seen an aura like that. That Sacred Gear must be pretty rare."

Sacred Gear. He had heard those words before. But where?

"Makoto-kun. Time to go," Kotonoha announced casually.

Go where? He's blocking the only exit.

She threw her dozuki towards the winged man. Instead of hitting him, as would seem logic, the blade shattered before hitting its target.

The man, who had protected his face with his free arm, now looked to check why the expected impact wasn't coming.

The shards were floating around and formed some kind of screen. They blocked the hallway in a thin layer of floating metal pieces. Each of them still emitted a dull purple light.

On the other side of the shielding screen, Kotonoha grabbed her boyfriends hand and half dragged him to the balcony.

What were they planning? There was only one...

Wait. There was another way out.

The fallen angel cursed and threw his spear. Upon hitting the screen of shards, the light was reflected in all directions. It bounced of the pieces of metal and hit the walls, creating tiny burn marks.

Left with no other choice, the winged creature jumped through the shielding pieces. He felt them cut his skin, but the wounds were very shallow. Like he had simply crossed some haywire.

Outside, the couple made for the fire escape. The stone of the balcony was icy cold to their bare feet. Not to mention the strong wind tugging at their bathrobes and swirling around their legs.

Makoto went first. He grabbed the cold steel of the ladder with his hands. Cursing under his breath, he descended.

Their feet constantly slid away on the iron bars.

He had done a lot of strange and scary things in his life, but this definitely made the top ten.

Kotonoha's breathing was ragged again, but for different, less pleasant reasons this time.

They made it down one floor before a spear of light rushed passed Kotonoha.

She looked up. The winged monster was standing on the balcony. Blood leaking from dozens of tiny wounds on his forearms and body.

Makoto quickly took the last steps and climbed on the balcony of the apartment beneath them.

"Jump, now," He yelled as another light spear barely missed her head. It burned a few hair locks on the way.

Without hesitation, she jumped the last part. Makoto's strong hands caught her.

He set her down carefully.

The dark angel jumped down. He flapped with his strong wings and managed to hover around the balcony. There was no stopping this guy.

Another spear of light raced for Makoto.

It barely missed him. Behind him, the window scattered when the spear hit it.

Makoto took his chance and jumped through the smashed window. He felt rough edges cutting him on the way.

He quickly scrambled back to his feet and ran through the empty apartment.

The spear combined with the stars gave enough light to make out the form of the apartment.

It was much smaller than their penthouse. A single couch, coffee table and television took up a third of the space. Behind those was a small four-person kitchen table. Against the wall was a small kitchen. To the right was the hallway leading to the front door and one other door to the right, behind the kitchen. Most likely, this lead to the bathroom.

He heard Kotonoha behind him.

With a crashing sound, another window scattered.

The dark angel used his spear to clear away the glass edges remaining and then jumped through the window. He had to fold his wings to manage this.

Damnit. There was no stopping that monster.

The door to the bathroom caught his eye.

"Kotonoha. Can you keep him busy for two minutes?"

"I'll try. Hurry up."

Aura gathered back in her hand and her blade formed itself once more.

Makoto opened what could only be the bathroom.

Inside, it turned out he was right. This bathroom was much smaller than theirs. It contained only a toilet and a shower with a curtain.

In the living room, the dark angel stood face to face with the long haired girl with the strange Sacred Gear.

"You should have just-" He stopped mid-sentence and frowned.

That sound, was that, falling water? He looked at the door behind her. Was that idiot taking a shower at this moment? He had seen a lot of strange things but this? Or did he think some water could stop him? Foolish kids.

He created another spear of light. He had already lost count of how many he had created.

As he had expected, the girl cut his attack apart with her dozuki.

He took another step forward. This time, he created a sword of light.

The fallen angel surged forward and lashed out with his sword of light.

Kotonoha managed to block it, but just barely. She had to use both hands. As the man pushed, her hands started shaking.

The door behind her opened.

"Get in."

With a supreme effort, she pushed the angel back and got in the bathroom.

Makoto jammed the door shut behind her.

It was quite warm in the bathroom. Steam was already starting to fill the small room. Makoto was holding the showerhead in his hand. Water splashed in the ankle-high shower basin. She started to realize his plan as she looked at the steam coming of the water.

Outside, the winged man had lost his patience. He took a few steps back and then started running. Before he hit the door he twisted his body so his shoulder pointed forward.

The door was pulled out of his hinges under the impact.

The fallen angel regained his balance and searched for his target.

A sudden stream of water hit his face.

He screamed loudly as the hot water scorched his skin.

The dark angel staggered back.

He fell back behind the door, outside of the reach of the burning water.

He heard them turn the shower off and make for the door.

Blindly, he swung his light sword, but a sudden kick hit his face. He fell back against the wall and hit his head hard.

As he lost consciousness he heard their running steps fading away.

"I suggest we don't stay here," Kotonoha said as she threw some random clothes in her sports bag.

"Agreed," Makoto said. He opened the closet and took out the emergency bag.

This was Japan, so people were prepared for earthquakes or tsunamis. Although 'winged assassin' was most likely not counted as a natural disaster.

"Let's go," Makoto said, swinging the bag over his shoulder.

She took the keys of her car and made for the door.

The one minute waiting on the elevator was torture. For a moment, Makoto was afraid the winged creature would be in it, but luckily the elevator was empty.

Apparently, showers could become absurdly hot for a reason.

With a *ding*, the doors opened on the ground level.

They crossed the hallway and got to the parking.

At this hour, there was no one out, which was a good things since both of them were still in their pyjamas, with bags and cuts on their arms.

Makoto threw his bag on the backseat of the red convertible and got in the passenger seat.

Kotonoha sat behind the wheel and started the car.

With screeching tires, the sports car got on the deserted road.

Makoto released his breath. They were safe. It was a miracle they had escaped relatively unharmed.

He suddenly felt cold.

"Turn at the next alleyway," Makoto said. "We need to put on some clothes."

At the next small alley, she stopped the car.

He got out and grabbed the sports bag.

Kotonoha looked around if anyone was here, but the street was deserted. It was already dark outside, the only light coming from the street lamps and the stars over their head.

Kotonoha changed her grey sweatpants for a tight fitting jeans. She threw her bathrobe in the back of the car and put a cozy hoodie on. It was light grey.

"Makoto-kun?"

"Huh?" He had paused halfway his action. Considering this action was putting on pants, it looked quite ridiculous. He quickly looked away and put his pants on the rest of the way.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, fumbling with his belt. "It just occurred to me I never saw you wearing regular pants. Always skirts or sweatpants."

"Oh. Yeah, that's true."

"Anyway," Makoto said, putting on his own pullover. "We should be going."

Kotonoha sighed and walked over to him.

"Maybe you should close this," she said as her fingers pulled his zipper up. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek and then got back in the car.

Lots of strange things were happening today. Kotonoha's sudden confidence came in first. Winged assassin was a close second though.

"So," Kotonoha said, putting the car in reverse. "Where are we going?"

"Good question."

They could not go back, that much was certain. They would need a place to hide.

"Sakakino Hills?" Kotonoha proposed. "We can stay at the hotel until we figure something out."

Makoto nodded.

There was a lot to figure out.

As she shifted gears, he was pushed back against the seat. The engine roared as they drove through the night.

The wind played with their hair.

A lot had happened today. First that strange redhead that defied his powers and then the winged man that tried to kill him. Not to mention the sudden display of Kotonoha's hidden powers.

"That… thing. How did you do it?"

"The dozuki?" Kotonoha asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Yeah."

"I discovered it after our first kiss. I don't know how it works either."

"Did anyone in your family ever display something like that?"

"I never asked. I don't think they have. Wouldn't that attract a lot of attention?"

"True. But it could have passed down."

"Like your powers?"

"What do you know about my powers?"

His sudden outburst startled her. He considered apologizing, but his hunger for information was stronger.

"I...nothing." Her sudden confidence was gone. "I just noticed you were very...popular...with the girls and uhm… good."

"So you assumed I would need some kind of supernatural powers to be popular?"

"No." Her answer came very fast. "It's just. A bit weird. Sometimes it feels as if…"

"As if what?"

"As if you're hypnotizing them."

That would be one way to put it. They were silent for a moment. It was Itou that finally broke the silence.

"And…" Makoto was searching for his words as well now. "Do you...have that feeling as well? Do you feel like I'm hypnotizing you and...forcing you to do things… against your will?"

"No… but...if you were...would I be able to tell?"

Probably not.

"Maybe we should-"

"No. Please, don't leave me."

"Look. That crazy half-bird is trying to kill me. I'm not letting a hypnotized girl die for me."

"I… maybe he was looking for me."

"Why would he do that?"

"Why would he look for you?"

"Because of my powers."

A short silence fell. And then he realized. "Oh, right. Good point."

She had powers as well. And arguable, that knife was much more dangerous.

"There it is," Kotonoha said.

In the distance, he could see the large apartment building.

"We can only hope we'll be safe there."

Kotonoha left the highway.

Fifteen minutes later they parked the car outside the hotel.

"We don't have reservations," Makoto pointed out.

"My dad build this hotel. I'm sure I can arrange something."

"Shouldn't we keep a low profile? You do realize that we're technically running away from a dangerous winged assassin?"

"You want to find out how dangerous your girlfriend can be?"

"..."

"We were surprised, that won't happen again."

Apparently her plan wasn't to hide, but to wait.

"But-"

"I highly doubt we can run away from something like that. Besides, we were hiding before, from my parents. If dad can't find me, no one can, yet that winged monster could. In other words, no matter where we go, he will find us."

"Yes, but what if your dad finds us?"

"I think you need to sort out your priorities, Makoto-kun." She turned and made for the doors.

"How do you mean?" Makoto said, lagging behind. "If I have to choose between a winged assassin and your dad finding out I got you pregnant, I prefer the first."

He could see her smile.

And then, they were inside.

Expensive looking red carpets covered half of the marble floor. At the ceiling, a large chandelier hung down. It was gold, with crystals hanging down like droplets, reflecting the light in a complex pattern.

Behind the reception desk hung three clocks specifying the time in Tokyo, London and New York.

With confident steps, Kotonoha walked over to the desk.

Just when did she get so confident? Makoto wondered as he walked behind her with less confident steps.

The receptionist, a gangling boy that looked about twenty with black hair neatly combed over his ears, squinted as she walked up to him. As if he was searching his memory to determine where he had seen this girl before.

"We need a room," Kotonoha said.

The receptionist gave her a 'we don't rent rooms per hour'-look. But he remained quite professional.

"I'm afraid we are fully booked, madam. Unless you have a reservation, I'm afraid I can't do anything for you."

"I see."

"Kotonoha, what the hell are you doing?" Makoto whispered frantically.

The receptionist looked confused. Then, realization dawned on his face.

"Hold on," he said. "I need to check something."

He stood up and walked away through a door at the back.

Kotonoha looked satisfied.

A minute later, he returned with another man.

This man was much older, with a three-piece suit that strained to contain his big belly.

"Miss Katsura," he said, bowing slightly. "What an unexpected surprise."

"We had some problems with our car," Katsura said.

"Your car? I thought that red convertible belonged to your mother?"

Makoto felt a cold creeping up his spine. He had never asked how Kotonoha got that car, but now that he thought about it, it seemed highly unlikely her mom had simply given it to her.

"That was last year. Are you suggesting my mother drives the same car every year?"

"Of course not," the man quickly said. "My apologies. I'm sure we can get you a room."

A minute later they were taking the elevator up.

Makoto briefly wondered if they would find out the bag he had been carrying was technically designed to survive natural disasters.

The elevator stopped. With a *ping* the doors opened.

A penthouse once again. We've come full circle.

The hotel room looked quite similar to their old penthouse. The main difference was the color of the expensive carpet and couches. The view was also different.

The rest looked surprisingly similar.

"Now," Kotonoha sat down on the bed. "How about you finish what you started before we were interrupted?"

Makoto smiled. Un-be-lievable.

"What are we doing here?" Sekai asked.

"Researching," Caleb replied, a slight annoyance in his voice.

"Here?" Her voice was sceptical.

"You might want to keep your voice down." Where else would I research? Intelligence is clearly not her strong point.
But he needed Sekai. His body was designed to destroy Sacred Gears, not hold them.

Other people were already glaring at them. Their eyes told them they weren't supposed to make that much noise and he agreed with them.

Sekai sighed. "How long will this take?" She was careful not to speak too loud this time.

"A while. I'm looking for a particular Sacred Gear. One that should be mentioned in legends."

"You said that Kotonoha wouldn't stand a chance against you, even with a Sacred Gear."

"She managed to hold off a fallen angel. I'm not taking any risks. If I underestimated my enemies I would be dead by now."

You are dead. A living relic. She didn't say that though. "How do you even know which Sacred Gear she holds? Yesterday we didn't even know she held a Sacred Gear."

"Based upon your description of her personality, I'm guessing it's Vengeance Blade."

"If you already know then why-"

"Why don't you go read some manga? This might take a while."

Sekai sighed and left Caleb to his research.

Manga should be on the first floor.

The large wooden staircase was hard to miss.

Research, what was that idiot thinking? She didn't need research. She would crush that cheating bastard. And he was lucky. That Katsura-bitch would have it a lot worse. If she got her hands on her she would-

What the…

She was on the first floor now. Bookshelves formed neat corridors with some low tables and couches breaking the pattern every once in a while. There were only two people present. A girl with long blonde hair and a boy that looked awfully familiar.

She stood there, nailed to the ground for a few seconds. Then, she blinked.

How was this even possible?

Sekai quickly went into a corridor so he wouldn't see her. Then, she sneaked around until she was in the row next to them. She could see him from the side through the shelves. Not a doubt possible. That was Makoto. But what was he doing here?

/

Now would be a good time, Makoto thought. There was no one else here but the two of them. The girl looked innocent enough. A perfect test subject.

But how was he supposed to start?
"Hey uhm. I'm testing to see how far my hypnotizing powers go. Could you-"

No, that was stupid.

"My lady, would you be so kind as to do me a favor?"

Maybe that would have worked, fifty years ago.

He sighed.

Enough time wasted, let's just roll with it.

Makoto closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath.

Slowly, he released his powers.

The girl responded, although, very subtly. She turned her attention from the bookshelf to steal a glance at him. Makoto pretended he didn't notice.

Some more would do the trick.

Focusing, he released more. He thought he saw a faint glow flicker around his arm for a moment, but then it was gone.

The girl took a deep breath and turned around. She looked like she would say something to him, but then she grabbed a book of the shelf. Her motion was too rough to be natural. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she pretended to read the back. She didn't even notice she was holding it upside-down.

Just a little push.

Makoto crouched down and took a manga from the shelf. When he rose again, the girl set her book back and their arms brushed against each other.

He could feel the spark of his powers.

"Hey, uhm," the girl finally spoke to him. "Do you know something about manga?"

"Well, not that much," he replied. It quickly hit him that this wasn't a very smart reply.

He pushed his aura to the limits. When he did this, he felt some kind of disturbance. It came from the row next to them.

Was there someone hiding behind the bookcase? That didn't make any sense.

"Well, you see, uhm-"

Makoto saw it first. The shelf tilted slowly towards them.

On instinct he pushed the girl away. Due to the force of his push, she fell on the ground, outside of the corridor formed by the shelves.

The large bookcase tilted further.

He was just in time to roll out of it before an avalanche of books fell down.

The bookcase tilted further and crashed against the second one. He could hear wood cracking, but it held. The first bookcase was now leaning against the second one.

He thought he could hear someone running away, but then, a loud siren went off.

He grit his teeth and held his hands over his ears.

Was that a fire alarm? Just what the hell was going on here?

Suddenly, Kotonoha was next to him. He couldn't hear what she said, but she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her, so the message was clear.

She half-dragged him off the stairs, still holding his hand.

At the entrance an ominous looking person stood. He was very tall, with smooth black hair and a leather jacket. On his tight jeans, a chain dangled and his boots seemed to be taken straight out of an army uniform. He looked like some sort of delinquent, but the grey aura told them he was most likely something more.

His eyes scanned the people running outside. Most likely, they thought there was an actual fire.

Kotonoha mumbled something and took him in the opposite direction.

At the end, there was a glass door.

They went through it.

Outside, the siren was much quieter.

"Luckily, there was a backdoor exit," Kotonoha said, breathing hard.

"I suggest we don't stick around."

"Yeah, I'll just have to make do with this." She held up a book. He had seen her holding it in her free hand the entire time. It was a reasonably thick book titled 'Gardens of the Moon'. It was an English book so maybe he didn't understand the meaning, but as far as he knew, the moon didn't have gardens. Must be a different moon.

"Does the librarian know you have that?"

She chuckled. "I'm sure he'll understand."

"We should go, before someone else tries to murder us."

"Agreed."

They made their way back to the car. Luckily, they had parked it two streets further so the dangerous looking delinquent didn't see them.

"Did you make the fire alarm go off?" Makoto asked once he sat down safely on the passenger seat.

"No," Kotonoha said, starting the car.

"Then who did?"

"That weird looking biker boy at the entrance?" She suggested.

Makoto sighed. "Looks like our assassin has gotten himself a helper."

"Two. The one who made the bookcase fall was a girl."

"You saw who did that?"

"I caught a glimpse from the back, but I'm certain it was a girl." For a moment she had thought it was Sekai. But that was impossible of course. Sekai was gone. There were lots of girls with black hair.

"So now there are three people who want us dead. The list grows by the hour."

"Don't worry, Makoto-kun. I'll protect you."

"Of course you do," he deadpanned. As if he needed a reminder that he was useless. Without Kotonoha, he would already be dead, twice. And the week was barely halfway.

/

The blonde girl stood up. Her mysterious savior had disappeared.

It was certainly a strange day. No, a strange week actually. First the things with Alex, and now this.

Her knee had scraped against something when she had fallen. With a sigh, she summoned the ring on her finger and healed the minor wound.

Still ignoring the fire alarm, she summoned a magic circle.

Buchou would definitely want to hear about this.

/

The librarian looked like he wanted to say something, but the look the large biker boy gave him quickly changed his mind.

The fire alarm was still going as Caleb walked through the library.

That was stupid. Extremely stupid.

He should have felt the aura immediately, but he was too occupied with his search.

Maybe if he had found the fire alarm faster, he would be in time. He could have caught Makoto. But Sekai was just a bit faster with her plan.

"There you are," he said. The fire alarm stopped just as he found her.

Sekai looked at him defiantly. "Don't interfere with me, Caleb. I'm gonna kill that monster."

"You can, but take out his Sacred Gear first. Your plan was stupid."

"I don't need your help."

"You're lucky that girl didn't find you first."

"You ruined it by setting of the alarm. I had him."

He grabbed her collar. "Listen to me, stupid bitch."

"No." She pulled away. A ripping sound tore through the air. Suddenly, he was only holding a piece of fabric. Her bra was exposed for just a second. It was striped in alternating dark and light blue. Then, her hands covered it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"I'm leaving." Her tone was harsh.

He didn't stop her as she half-walked/half-ran towards the exit.

Stupid. Really stupid.

Caleb sighed. Seems like there weren't much options left.

"Did you find anything?" Buchou asked.

"Well," Asia stuttered a bit. "I was looking for manga for Alex, and then, something...happened."

Rias' eyes narrowed. "That doesn't sound good."

"A bookcase fell down. I almost got crushed. But there was a boy who saved me, and then, suddenly, he was gone. And the fire alarm went off, so I jumped back here."

"A boy? What did he look like?"

"Uhm. Well, pretty normal. Black hair, kinda cute looking, uhm… his eyes were light brown and he was wearing sandals and a plain shirt."

That description seemed awfully familiar.

"Did you feel an aura?"

Asia nodded. "Yes. A very strange aura. Uhm, Buchou? What's going on?"

This couldn't be a coincidence. It had to be that boy she saw at the beach. The boy that had demanded a strangely large amount of her attention despite being extremely plain. Was this connected to the other man on the train? And the rumours Onii-sama had mentioned? Or was she making things up?

She got a headache just thinking about it.

One thing was certain though. There was something going on. Bookcases don't randomly fall down, apartments don't show signs of angel attacks and the rumours certainly came from somewhere. But there was nothing she could do, she had no leads to follow.

"I'm sure it was just a coincidence. Don't worry about it, Asia."

"Everything clear outside," Kotonoha reported as she entered their hotel room. She had changed into a light pink blouse with a darker pink shirt beneath it, along with a white knee-length skirt. That was the same outfit she had worn on their first date.

"Good," Makoto said. He put her book down.

Itou wondered what the meaning of her outfit was. Those weren't clothes you took with you when fleeing from an assassin. Unless, of course...

"You like it?" She asked.

"Huh? You know I do."

She smiled. "I was talking about the book, not me."

"Oh. Well. It's a bit too complicated for me I think," he admitted.

"I wonder why all these people are trying to kill us," Kotonoha said, overly casual. She sat down next to him on the bed.

Makoto shrugged. "Maybe they are jealous of my hot girlfriend."

She smiled and took his hand. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

"Hey that's my line."

She chuckled and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

Makoto looked away.

"What's wrong?" She asked, immediately reading his mood.

"Nothing."

"There are three people trying to kill us. Are you sure there is nothing wrong?"

"Nothing more than usual," he insisted.

"You can tell me." She held his gaze.

Makoto tried avoiding her eyes but found himself unable to.

"You don't trust me?" She asked. He saw something momentarily vanish in her eyes. Some kind of light. He had seen this before, but way worse. This was only a little flicker, then her eyes were back to normal.

He took a deep breath. "I've been thinking," he admitted. "There might be a way to get some answers."

His girlfriend raised an eyebrow. "And you're telling me this now? People have tried to kill us, twice."

"My family might have some answers for us."

"You mean...your father?"

"Yep."

That explained why he hadn't mentioned it any sooner.

"Why do you think he has any answers for us?"

Makoto took a deep breath. "My powers. I think I inherited them."

She pondered it for a moment. "We should go then."

"It's dangerous," Makoto insisted. "They might be waiting for us there. And even if they aren't, I don't want to talk to my dad."

The second reason was probably the most important one. Still...

"That's just a risk we'll have to take," she said. "They found us at the library, that can't be a coincidence. No, we can't keep cowering in here. We need answers, as soon as possible."

He sighed. "We should go then."

He put the book on the nightstand.

Makoto prepared to stand up, but his girlfriend stopped him.

"What is it?" Makoto asked.

Wordlessly, she gave him a long kiss.

"Be careful," she whispered.

"Says the pregnant girl."

She chuckled. "In that case, you can drive me."

"I don't have a license," he reminded her.

"Yeah, me neither. But you can drive, can't you?"

"Yeah, mom taught me."

Kotonoha handed him the keys.

Both of them made their way down to the parking lot. Luckily, no one bothered them on the way.

They got in their red convertible (technically her mom's convertible) and drove off.

It took them less than an hour to reach their destination: a large apartment block very similar to the one where he used to live with mom.

"He lives in the penthouse," Makoto said.

Kotonoha chuckled at the doorbell sign. It simply said 'Itaru and Tomaru' but both names were spelled with the same kanji, so it might as well say 'Itaru and Itaru'.

"Inside joke," Makoto explained. He took a deep breath. Why was he even doing this?

But they needed answers, and his father could most likely provide some of them. So he had no choice.

Makoto pressed the doorbell. There was a buzzing sound and then, a familiar voice came to the speaker.

"Hello?"

"Itaru-chan. It's me, Makoto."

"Onii-chan?" Her voice got excited.

"Can I come on?" Makoto asked. "I brought you some parfait." As if he needed any more convincing.

With a buzzing sound, the door opened.

They took the elevator up to the correct floor.

Itaru was already standing in the hallway. She hugged her brother when he came in sight.

Kotonoha smiled. This reminded her a bit off Kokoro.

"Makoto," a deep voice said.

He released his sister. "Hey dad."

This was Tomaru?

He wasn't at all like Kotonoha had imagined him.

Tomaru had long brown hair with bangs to keep it neatly on the sides. He also had a goatee and a small mustache. He wore a pair of sunglasses which hid his eyes.

Makoto's father was reasonably tall and quite muscled. His clothes only added to this. He wore a red loose shirt cut deeply so half of his muscled chest was exposed. Over his shirt he wore a weird looking piece with a leopard print and no buttons. It just hung over his low cut shirt. Beneath all that, he wore simple black pants, which were about the only normal thing about him.

However, the thing that had immediately captured her attention was a necklace. A big gold medallion with a round ruby set in the middle. A fragile looking chain kept it on his chest.

Makoto swallowed his fear. "We need to talk."

His father sighed deeply. "You found out. Well, come on in then."

/

/

Rias hazily opened her eyes.

"I see you're awake," a voice said.

The smiling face of Azazel-sensei slowly formed itself before her eyes.

"What happened?" She asked. Her head was bursting.

"You were cursed. A Sacred Gear, Curse Writer, wielded by Rayner."

"Rayner." Memories flooded back in.

"It's my fault," Azazel admitted. "I assumed you killed him along with Raynare and the others. I should have confirmed this."

"I never even met him before."

"He must have stayed in the shadows."

"He was...Raynare's lover."

"Yeah."

"She didn't seem the type to have a lover."

"Oh, she did. They were really close. One of the few fallen angel couples. In fact, both of them fell down precisely because they were a couple."

"Her last date...was with Ise."

Rias was behaving weird. But those were probably after effects of the curse. "You guys can't be blamed," Azazel quickly said. "You did what you had to do."

"She wanted your approval if I remember well. That's why she went after Asia. Ise was just in the way."

"Asia was an innocent girl. Maybe Raynare was yearning for approval from someone, anyone, but this certainly wasn't the right way to get it."

"Maybe it was the only way."

"Don't you see? He's playing you. This is exactly why he came here. He wants to drive a wedge between you and Issei. And you're still vulnerable to his suggestions because of the curse he put on you."

"I don't feel right about this. I'm starting to understand how Raynare ended up doing what she did. But still, I would never betray Ise." Her voice suddenly changed. As if a spell was broken, which was probably quite accurate.

"Buchou?" Ise entered the room. "You're okay."

Before she could reply, he hugged her tightly.

Rias smiled weakly. "Don't worry Ise."

"I thought I lost you for a moment."

"I would never leave you in this world alone."

It looked like it would take a lot more than a simple fallen angel and a curse to separate these two.

Azazel smiled approvingly.

He eyed Itaru for a moment. After she had eaten her parfait Kotonoha had taken her to the kitchen table. Both of them were drawing with crayons now. Itaru seemed to be occupied, but he could tell Kotonoha was secretly listening in on them.

"Ironically, she was the reason I found out," Tomaru said.

"Kotonoha?"

"I never really questioned my powers," he continued as he kept staring at Kotonoha and Itaru. "I could get any woman I wanted, no matter what, and that was normal to me, since that was the way it had always been. Others told me that this wasn't normal, that there had to be some kind of trick I used, but I really didn't. It just happened." He paused for a moment. "And then, I met her mother, and I couldn't get her. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get Katsura-san. And I couldn't figure out why."

"So Kotonoha inherited her powers as well?"

"What do you know about the Katsura family? Did you figure out why I couldn't get her?" His father looked at him now, but his eyes were still hidden by the sunglasses.

"You mean...you never figured out?"

"No," Tomaru said. "But because I couldn't get her, I figured that I probably had some kind of power and she was for immune to it. When I realized this, I quickly found I could control this power. I could channel it through my eyes."

"And then you lost it."

"Yes. To my first son: Ayumi. And then it passed to Shun and then, to you."

"It skipped a few people then."

"Yes, I figured that out as well. It must be bound by some kind of rules."

"If only we could figure out what those rules were."

"I tried, but I never found out."

Makoto was silent for a moment. "How powerful is it?"

His father smiled. "Basically limitless once you learn how to control it."

"Can you teach me?"

"No. You must find your own way. The power is very strong within you, I can feel it."

"Someone tried killing us. Multiple people actually. You know anything about that?"

His surprise looked genuine. "I know nothing about that. I could give you some protection, if you want."

"I can handle it myself."

"Sorry for being such a lousy father."

"There has to be a reason behind this power," Makoto insisted. "It started with you, why?"

"I have no idea."

"Makoto-kun." Kotonoha's voice interrupted them. "I think you want to see this."

She was looking out of the window.

Curious, Makoto joined her.

He looked over her shoulder. Their faces were really close together. Close enough to feel the heat coming of of her.

He saw two people walking towards the apartment.

One was a tall army guy with a two handed sword that sent out waves of grey aura. The other was a winged creature that looked very familiar.

"Them again."

"You can leave through the fire escape," Tomaru said. "I'll keep them busy."

"Those are dangerous creatures."

"I can handle them. Now go."

Makoto went to his little sister. "Sorry Itaru-chan. Onii-chan needs to go. But I'll be back soon."

She nodded. "Okay, Onii-chan."

They quickly left the apartment and took the fire escape.

This was the second time he used a fire escape to escape an assassin rather than an actual fire.

He had no idea what Tomaru had done to keep them busy, but it had worked. They easily made their way back to the car and drove away.

Makoto wondered how they had found them. In the hotel, they were safe apparently, which was very strange.

"This is the third time they tried to kill us," Kotonoha said. "It's getting pretty predictable."

"Yeah," Makoto said, still lost in thought.

"What are you thinking off?"

"Why they never find us at the hotel. It doesn't make any sense."

She shrugged. "Don't break your head about it."

"Still…" He was determined to find out. This might be the key to finding out why these people were trying to kill him.

"They are gone," Caleb said. His hair and clothes were slightly burned on the right side. "Probably somewhere in Sakakino Hills."

"Out of our reach you mean?" Rayner noted, his voice sceptic. Rayner's clothes were a lot more burned and he was completely out of breath. "What was that monster?"

"Sawagoe Tomaru." Caleb's voice was calm. "The previous wielder of what you're searching for."

"The thing I'm searching for doesn't give you any powers like that," Rayner said. He seemed to be very convinced. "Those were flames."

"Phoenix flames to be precise," Caleb said. "What you plan to use it for is not even a thousandth of its true potential. In the wrong hands, it could destroy the world."

"Or every Sacred Gear user in the world."

"Yes. And that is exactly what you will do for me after your little revenge plan is done." Caleb's voice was hard.

"I know our deal. But don't you think I should know the full potential of what we are searching for? If I'm going to use it."

"How about we get that thing first? Then you can worry about its potential."

"Well, answer just one question then. If this thing has so much potential, why isn't it classified as a Longinus?"

Caleb took a deep breath. "Technically speaking you can't call it a Sacred Gear. Sacred Gears were created by God and granted to humans or half-humans. This thing is not sacred."

"What do you mean?"

"It was created long after God died. It shouldn't be able to exist. It's a bug in the system, a forbidden Sacred Gear. Tomaru isn't just the previous wielder, he is the first wielder. There was no one before him because it never existed back then."

"Then, who did create it? Michael?"

"I can't tell you, for the simple reason that I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Rayner felt his blood turn cold for a moment. So they were searching for a Sacred Gear that wasn't a Sacred Gear, created not even a hundred years ago by an unknown person, who somehow had access to the system in heaven and had used it to create this massively powerful Sacred Gear, which could somehow use Phoenix flames as well. He didn't like this. He didn't like any of this.

The fallen angel swallowed hard. Something told him he would not survive plunging into something like this.

If only he knew just how right he was.

But the only clothing available to her was a bathrobe, in case she had to go to the bathroom or anything. Obviously, she couldn't walk around the house naked.

If she wanted actual clothing, she would have to search through the closet, and 3 am didn't seem like the right time to do that.

She didn't like leaving Issei alone with Akeno and Asia, but she couldn't keep checking on him all the time of course. Issei was fast asleep so there was no need to worry.

She took the stairs down to the living room and then made her way to the kitchen. Once there, she took a glass and filled it at the tap.

The curse was particularly nasty. It had left her mind and body vulnerable and even now, she still felt quite weak.

The glass started slipping through her fingers, but she managed to put it down on the counter before it fell on the ground.

"Rias-oneesama?" A voice said.

She looked up. "Alex. What are you doing here?" He was dressed in his light-blue pyjamas.

Alex shrugged. "Thinking… I couldn't sleep."

"You're perfectly safe here, Alex. I don't know who is trying to harm you yet, but we won't let them." She hadn't told him anything about Caleb's visit.

"It's not just that," Alex said. "All of this secrecy is...tiring. How can I ever be a King if no one will let me outside?"

Rias didn't feel like reminding him he was technically a half-devil. Lord Bael would kill him if he sniffed Alex was still alive, not to mention that all the other high class devils wouldn't like their little secrets exposed.

Caleb might hold a grudge as well. Lord Bael had used the death of Alex' older twin as an excuse to attack Caleb's Warrior Angels and by extension, every other angel. Of course, Alex wasn't involved in any of that, but he would have a hard time convincing Caleb of that if he ever came across him.

"You're a dangerous existence, Alex," she said. "Too many people want you dead."

"But my disguise…"

"Is a last resort. You know that, don't you?"

"I guess."

According to the 'official' story, Alex was the younger brother of Milicas that was studying in the human world. But if anyone actually investigated this story, they would find out the truth very quickly.

Someone cleared his throat from the shadows.

Rias narrowed her eyes. She couldn't quite make out who it was. Had Caleb come back?

Her heartbeat rose sharply and cold sweat broke out. The Power of Destruction gathered in her hand. In the dark red aura, the stranger was illuminated.

"Oh," Rias said. She recognized the girl. "Sorry." She reprimanded herself for overreacting.

"It's okay," the half-vampire-girl said. "My vampire powers naturally gather shadows around me, that's why you couldn't see me. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I didn't mean to eavesdrop on the two of you."

"Serana," Alex said, dead-serious. "You're my princess. I have no secrets for you."

"Princess?" Rias asked.

"Well, since I'm not really a King, she can't really be a Queen, more like, a future Queen, so, princess," Alex explained.

"I don't think that's how chess works." What kind of relationship did these two have? It almost looked like...

"Anyway," Serana said, her face was flushed now. "I have an idea."

"You do?" To Rias, it looked like an insurmountable problem. Alex could never be a true King without exposing him to the devil society, and there were few children, so if some child appeared out of nowhere, questions would be asked. These questions would lead to answers, and those answers would get Alex in trouble.

"If Alex wants to feel more like a King, how about we get him a familiar?" She proposed. "That shouldn't be too dangerous. And the Familiar Master is known to be very discrete."

"That's actually a great idea," Rias said. Why hadn't she thought of that?

"Let's go then," Alex said, smiling broadly. "I want a familiar."

"Uhm, Alex. You do know that you can only get a familiar during a full moon, right?" She hated spoiling his mood.

"Oh." He cleared his throat. "Uhm, yes, of course I knew."

He looked to his Queen. "Come on, Serana. We need to prepare ourselves."

She watched as Alex took the half-vampire's hand and went to the door.

There really was something going on between those two.

A half-vampire and a half-devil. A perfect match.

"So," Kotonoha asked. "How do you feel now that you've spoken with your father?"

"Well," Makoto said. "We got what we wanted. More or less. The questions it raises are more interesting though."

"How so?"

"We've seen what that winged monster can do, yet my father managed to keep him busy while we fled. He was a confident, too confident. Tomaru would never risk his life, not for me, not for anyone actually."

"Then he must have been very certain he could handle them. But how did he do that?"

"I think he has some kind of power, or maybe, remnant of power."

"His sunglasses," Kotonoha said. She stared at the wall behind him.

"What?"

Her eyes met his. "Tomaru mentioned he channelled his power through his eyes. What if, there is still some of it left? Why else would you be wearing sunglasses indoors?"

"But, my powers only make girls like me, they don't stop winged male assassins."

"Tomaru did say something about how the power was basically limitless. So maybe there is more behind it than we thought."

"Wait a minute. What if…"

Could it be?

"I need to try my powers on you," Makoto said, determined.

"Okay. What do you want me to do?"

"Uhm, just keep looking at me."

He should have asked more things of his father. Not that there was any time left, but well…

Makoto tried focusing.

"No pressure," Kotonoha said, she smiled at him encouragingly. "It's just an Audience of One."

Was that a reference to something?

He felt it. The power was surging within him, just waiting for him to release it.

Makoto saw blue sparks running around his right arm. They flickered so fast in and out of existence he wasn't sure they were real.

Itou raised his arm. He had seen these flashes before.

"Makoto-kun." She took his hand.

Immediately, a shiver of electricity went through his arm. His powers roared. The next moment, he felt power surging through his body.

Now, the sparks were unmistakable. Blue lightning was crackling around his entire right arm.

Kotonoha's touch had done something. Awakened something inside of him. Not the usual kind he got when she started touching him, but something else entirely. Something strong.

The lightning got even more intense.

"Uhm, Makoto-kun? What's happening?" She asked, slightly scared.

"I don't know," he admitted.

A blue flash blinded them. He saw little stars drifting over his vision. At the same time, he felt something coiling around his arm.

When his vision cleared again, Kotonoha was holding his hand, but further down, on his wrist, was a bracelet. A simple blue bracelet that depicted a dragon coiling around him three times before biting his own tail. There was an inscription that read 'ouroboros'.

Kotonoha studied the bracelet. "Ouroboros, the snake. This is from Greek and Norse mythology. The serpent that eats its own tail."

"What does it symbolize?" This had to be some kind of clue.

She shrugged. "Introspection. Cyclic events. Infinity."

"That doesn't help us."

"This must be some manifestation of your powers. Try using them."

"How?"

"The same way you got into Sekai's pants. Focus, Makoto-kun. You've been using this power for months."

"I wasn't…" Oh, what did it matter. He closed his eyes.

Power. He had to find his powers.

Suddenly, his eyes shone brightly. Soft blue light radiated from them.

"It's working," Kotonoha said.

"I doubt he scared them off with shiny eyes," Makoto said. He noticed the snake's eyes were glowing as well.

"There has to be something."

"You don't sound hypnotized."

"Well you haven't given me any orders."

"Fine then. Uhm…" An overly large amount of indecent things filled his mind.

This was ridiculous. Kotonoha was his girlfriend, he could just ask for all of these things...probably.

"Uhm, give me a kiss," he said eventually. That was a simple test.

She leaned forward and planted a simple kiss on his lips.

He felt something. There was something coming from her lips and going into his body. Something that felt like electricity, only it didn't hurt. But it felt powerful.

The flavor was distinctly different from when the bracelet had appeared. This power felt darker somehow.

"I did that because I felt like it," Kotonoha said, apologetically. "Not because you ordered me to."

"Well that doesn't help us," Makoto said, he sounded annoyed. "How do I know this is not some tsundere-excuse and it actually did work?"

"Well make up something I wouldn't do otherwise."

"Uhm...easier said than done."

She smiled. "Take your time."

"You would probably kill people for me."

"Obviously. But maybe don't think in that direction when you're doing a hypnosis test. I'm not in the mood to kill people."

"Wait, I got it." He cleared his throat. "Don't kiss me."

"What?"

"You heard me. Now test if you can defy that order."

"Wait, if you're asking me to defy it, than it's kinda contradictory, isn't it?"

"Could you stop discussing semantics and get on with it?" He snapped. "Please," he quickly added.

She smiled again and planted another kiss on his lips. This one was longer.

Her lips left him again. "Looks like I can defy your powers."

"This crap doesn't work at all. How on earth did I get this far with you?" He looked away from her eyes.

Maybe I just love you and all of this has nothing to do with it? Did you consider that, Makoto-kun?

Of course you didn't.

The bracelet vanished, along with the glow in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Kotonoha said. "You just need some practice. Maybe on some other girls as well."

"As long as they don't try to kill me."

"Now now," she said. "Don't be so picky. Where are we supposed to find a girl that doesn't want to kill you?"

"I'm sure you'll manage to find one. Maybe Kokoro is still available."

"You're not hypnotizing my sister," she said.

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because I say so, idiot."

The glass shattered against the wall.

"I'm not cleaning that up," Caleb said calmly. He eyed his companion who had just thrown his empty glass.

They were in a hotel at Haramihama. The receptionist had thrown them some weird looks when they entered, but she hadn't asked any questions (she was probably too scared).

"How can you stay so calm?" Rayner asked, his voice was anything but calm.

Caleb shrugged. "Throwing glasses doesn't help. Now sit down and listen to me."

For a moment, it looked like Rayner would argue, but then he seated himself on the couch. His foot tapped restlessly.

"Itou Makoto has slipped through our fingers," Caleb said. "You tried at his apartment, I tried in the library with Sekai and we tried together at Tomaru's apartment. We failed three times."

"The girl stopped me the first time. She had some kind of knife."

"Look at me," Caleb said. "Are you absolutely sure it was a knife?"

Rayner thought for a moment.

"Yes," he said. "She used a knife to deflect my beams. They fled to the floor beneath with the fire escape. I followed them, sparred for a moment with her and then Makoto sprayed hot water in my face."

"He did what?"

"He turned the shower on maximum heat and aimed for my face. I fell back and someone kicked my face. I hit the wall and lost consciousness. By the time I awoke, they were both gone. What happened with you and the girl?"

"That particular girl wanted revenge against Makoto. So we made a deal she could kill him after I extracted his Sacred Gear."

Rayner chuckled. "You mentioned extracting it would kill him?"

"Obviously not. But she double-crossed me as well. While I was searching about that knife, she tried burying him beneath a bookcase. I pulled the fire alarm so everyone would leave and I could take him prisoner. I guarded the door, but he never came out. It was only later I discovered there was a back exit as well. A stupid mistake, I know."

"Did you find out what is up with the girl protecting him?"

"It must be a Sacred Gear. From what I gather, I think it's the Vengeance Blade. It's a knife that can be summoned as a weapon of revenge as the name suggests. That's why she could summon it when you tried to kill Makoto."

"Is it powerful?"

"No match for my sword," he said, tapping on the massive blade.

"You're usually keeping it in a separate dimension," Rayner said. "Why is it out now?"

"After my...dismissal, it lost a lot of its power. However, it still has one very useful mechanism. It can show me the approximate location of Sacred Gear users. If I know more, I can also search for a specific power signature."

"So you're searching for Itou now?"

"Yes. But I can't find them, so we can only assume he's in Sakakino Hills."

"He will have to leave eventually."

"Maybe."

"What do you plan to do with that Alex boy?" Rayner asked.

Caleb shrugged. "Kill him, obviously. But first things first, Rayner. I need the thing Makoto holds. Well, to be specific, I need you to wield it. My own body cannot hold a Sacred Gear, it was designed to destroy them."

"Do you really intend to kill every Sacred Gear user?"

"That's my mission."

"Your mission was to kill users that misused them. I remember well, Caleb. Back then I was a real angel."

"The rest are just future misusers. They will die, all of them. Sacred Gears cause nothing but despair. Look at what they've done to me, Rayner. They've made me the Angel of Vengeance, the Left Hand of God, the Angel of Darkness. Well I intend to do exactly what that name says: vengeance. They will die, all of them. And these wings will become pure white once again."

Caleb was insane. Completely insane.

But Rayner needed him, for now.

When the time came, he would double-cross him. Caleb had to die. If he let him loose, the world would burn.

"Okay, so, follow the pendulum and breathe steady. In and out."

This is ridiculous.

"Relax," he continued speaking with the soothing voice. "In and out."

Why am I even doing this?

"Are you hypnotized yet?"

"Keep going," Kotonoha insisted.

He sighed. Last evening, they had spent hours going through all kinds of dubious blog posts and articles about hypnosis. Eventually, he had fallen asleep.

When he woke up again, somewhere in the late morning, he had found Kotonoha with some kind of pendulum she had gotten somewhere. Apparently this thing was supposed to focus his powers, but he really doubted whether it would work. Whoever had made it probably didn't know anything about him or his family.

Her eyes followed the amethyst stone, but she didn't seem to be drifting off to sleep like the instructions said she would.

"In and out." Some disbelief was leaking into his tone.

Complete and utter bullshit.

"Are you even trying?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I'm trying. Look, I'm holding a magic pendulum. Now please get hypnotized so I can stop this crap." He was starting to get angry.

"Makoto-kun," she said, breaking eye contact with his pendulum. "Put that thing away."

"You insisted I had to try."

"And now I see I was wrong. Your father said you had to find your own way. So find it. It won't work like this. We need to try something else."

"It's just not working," Makoto insisted. "I can't hypnotize people."

"It has worked...before."

Wait a minute. It had worked before, but those were specific situations, catalysed by…

Her powers manifested themselves when Makoto was in danger, in other words: they responded to her feelings. So what if...it was the same for him? What if his powers needed certain feelings to manifest themselves?

Her ears started burning a bit when she thought about it.

The snake-bracelet had only formed after she had touched his arm. So that must be involved. She had felt a sudden urge to kiss him when he ordered her to. It wasn't strong and would have been easy to deny, but she wanted to encourage him. This type of thing had happened loads of time before, but less strong. However, the situations were always very similar.

Yet, when he gave her the order not to kiss him, she had felt nothing. His words held no power. Maybe the nature of the words played a role in that. His feelings fueled the bracelet. Obviously, the feelings behind the words had been completely different in both situations. That's why this wasn't working now. He wasn't feeling like he had to feel to access his powers.

"Kotonoha? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking. Maybe we should try something else. It did work on that girl at the library. Well, before we were interrupted, it seemed to be working."

"So you're saying I should try it on someone else?"

"Your father said you have to find your own way. I doubt it's gonna work if we stay locked in this apartment and keep trying the same thing over and over."

"You know, I don't really need to develop these powers, if they even exist in the first place. Maybe I'm just popular."

"You've unconsciously used them, don't deny it."

"It could be as you said before. Maybe you just wanted to kiss me. How do I know these girls don't just happen to want the same thing as me?"

"Then why would anyone want to kill you?"

"Maybe they are after you and I'm just in the way."

"The bookcase fell down on you. If they aimed at me, why would they try to bury you beneath a bookcase?"

"Uhm." He didn't really have an answer for that. If they were after Kotonoha, they would have attacked her at that moment. The winged assassin could be explained away as him not wanting to leave behind any witnesses when killing Kotonoha, but the library attack was specifically aimed at him, not Kotonoha. And they hadn't bothered about the innocent blonde girl with him.

"Still, this doesn't prove anything," he insisted. "You mentioned it was a girl. So it could be one of the girls I screwed around with in the past."

"A normal high school girl who just happened to find a winged assassin that can create spears of light? Doesn't sound very convincing."

"Still, it's possible. I thought you were a normal high school girl as well, until you made that dozuki appear out of nowhere and held off an assassin."

"Oh really. That's when you considered I was special?"

"I always thought you were special," he quickly said. "Just not, like that. I never thought you could make weapons appear out of nowhere."

"Okay. So we are going then?"

"Going where?"

"You'll see."

"You know, every time we go out, we get attacked."

"That's just a risk we'll have to take. Besides, I said we are going. You're safe with me."

"Good point."

"Sensei? Can I ask you something?" Issei asked.

"Go ahead, Issei."

"How did they get in here? Caleb and Rayner I mean. I thought we had shields up to protect Alex."

Azazel took a deep breath. "I'm not supposed to tell you this actually, but, Caleb cannot be stopped. He could take Alex whenever he wants."

"What? How is that even possible?"

"He has a special sword. Usually he keeps it in another dimension."

"Is it a Holy Sword?"

"Yes. The only two-handed one in the world. The Devourer."

He felt a chill going through his body. "I don't like the sound of that."

"It can cut through everything. No shield nor person can stop it."

"You mean…"

"Caleb is on an entirely different level. If he didn't kill Alex we can only assume there was a reason for that."

So, all of them were at the mercy of Caleb from the very beginning? "But...Alex doesn't have a Sacred Gear." So, why had Caleb visited their house? To scare them?

"He couldn't kill Alex without killing you and Rias. So I'm thinking he has a plan for the two of you. He probably made some kind of deal with Rayner."

"Why would someone with that kind of power need a fallen angel?"

"I don't know," Azazel said. "But I intend to find out." He didn't feel like sharing his suspicions with Issei for now. Especially because these suspicions would most likely mean that Rias and Issei were in grave danger. Rayner would want vengeance for the death of Raynare. But simply killing them both wouldn't be enough, that much was obvious.

"Whatever he's planning," Issei said. "It can't be good. We have to stop him." He made a fist as he declared this.

Azazel-sensei shook his head. "The Devourer absorbs the powers of everything it kills. It has the strength of thousands of Sacred Gears inside of it. He could obliterate a small island with one swing. You can't stop him. No one can."

"I've done more things that couldn't be done. When I took Vali's power they said the same thing: impossible. Everything is impossible, until it is done. Caleb himself is only an angel. Without his sword, he can be defeated. Vali beated me even though I had Ascalon and Ascalon is a Dragon Slayer. It can be done, I'm sure of it."

Something told Azazel they would have no chance at all if they didn't even know what Caleb was planning.

And whatever it was, it couldn't be a good thing. Caleb was called the Angel of Darkness for a reason.

"I don't like it in here," Serana said.

"I would have thought this to be a natural environment for a vampire," Rias said.

"Half-vampire," she corrected her.

The Forest of Familiars was permanently dark. Some moss covered the dark ground, but little else seemed to be able to survive here. The woods were dominated by large jet-black trees without any leaves. They were crooked and lopsided with fingerlike branches that fit better in a horror movie.

The others had stayed behind, or, more accurately, Rias hadn't told them they were going to get a familiar for Alex. Last time, Ise had been determined to make 'slime-taro' his familiar because it could eat women's clothes. Technically, his Dress Break had made this obsolete, but Ise still didn't have a familiar, so it didn't seem like a good idea to take Ise with them. Obviously, everyone else would tell Ise, so it was just the three of them. Well, the three of them and…

"Gotta Catch 'Em All."

"Good evening, Zatouji-san," she said. She made a slight bow for the Familiar Master.

Zatouji was a weird looking guy. His arms were very muscled, but his body was thin. He wore a white tank top which accentuated his bare arms even more. On his legs were dark undescriptive shorts with pockets that were filled with whatever a Familiar Master carried around. He had a dark blue hoodie bound around his waist in case it got cold (even though the Forest of Familiars had a very constant temperature). On his back was a yellow bag filled with...something, probably. He had fingerless gloves and a blue cap. His cap was put on backwards with his brown-red hair sticking out on top.

Technically, Zatouji was a devil, but very few people actually treated him like that. Zatouji spent all his time studying familiars. On full moons, novice devils would come with him to catch a familiar and bind it.

"So," Zatouji said. "Another devil wants a familiar."
"Yes," Alex said, he was trying to sound confident, but she detected a slight tremor in his voice. He must be nervous.

"What kind of type are you looking for?" the Familiar Master asked.

"Well uhm," Alex said. "Rias-oneesama has a bat. I kinda like that one."

"Yes." The Familiar Master studied Alex. "I can see you have a large affinity for darkness creatures. A bat would certainly be suitable for you." He paused for a moment. "Well, let's go then. Bats tend to hide in the darker parts of the forest, so we have a long way to go."

They followed the Familiar Master into the forest.

Rias came walking next to Alex.

"Say Alex," she asked. "How exactly did you meet Serana? She couldn't have summoned you." Considering you don't have a familiar.

He shared a look with his Queen. She nodded.

"I became the First King during the war, a couple hundred years ago," Alex said. "After Onii-san and Okaa-san died, Sirzechs-sama took me in. He and Ajuka-sama took me to Agreas where they developed the Evil Pieces system, along with the Rating Games. They agreed to test it first on someone who was dying, someone who wouldn't be missed. Although the war of the Three Factions had ended in a stalemate, there were still lots of battles all over the world. I was sent there, to walk along the dying and find a suitable person to make into a servant."

She already knew most of this, or could have guessed it. Seems like Alex wasn't keen on telling the details of his actual encounter with Serana.

"So," she pressed on. "You arrived in a battle between the Tepes and Carmilla faction of the vampires?" Rias asked.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Eventually, I ended up resurrecting Serana. We spend the next centuries travelling around the world, relocating whenever the danger became too large. Until now, Lord Bael still thinks I am dead. I don't know what Caleb thinks, probably the same."

"And when I came to study in Japan..."

"I was sent as well, and you were told to keep an eye on me in case I needed help, which is now, apparently."

"So Onii-sama didn't give you any information either? About what's going on? Why you are suddenly in danger?"

"No. To be honest, I think he doesn't really know what's happening either. If something is happening that is. Maybe we're all just getting a little paranoid."

But she had seen Caleb, and Rayner, so she knew there was a real danger.

"Look," the Familiar Master interrupted them.

They had arrived at a big lake. An array of light fell clean through a hole in the clouds.

"Undine," Rias said, slowly. She had seen this a few times before.

Undines were a weird kind of water spirits. They looked like huge muscular bodybuilders with blonde corkscrew hair that gave Ravel Phoenix a run for her money. They always wore little pink dresses and had reasonably sized breasts.

She had never seen anything else than these androgynous creatures which, the Familiar Master insisted, were all female. If they were, what did a male look like?

Ise had almost received a nervous breakdown when he saw these monsters.

He was probably thinking of other things when he heard 'female water spirit'. More perverted things.

Undines tended to fight for territory with each other.

"Show offs," Alex murmured. "Let's keep moving."

They left the Undines to their battles and continued moving deeper into the forest.

It occurred to her that Alex had never truly answered her question.

She's sure taking her time, Makoto thought.

His girlfriend had entered the bathroom quite some time ago. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why she would need so much time to go to the pool.

Unless she was seeing this as some kind of date of course. But now wasn't the time to go on dates. People were trying to kill them, and he still had no idea why.

Their powers had to be involved somehow. It couldn't be a coincidence that two people with strange powers were both being attacked. But Makoto had never misused, well, consciously misused his powers. He had certainly taken advantage of the strange power he had over girls, but he didn't really know what he was doing back then.

Could one of them be involved? As some kind of revenge?

That didn't seem likely, but still. Kotonoha had powers, so who was to say one of the other girls didn't have powers as well.

Kotonoha had mentioned there was a girl involved, so it was possible. But then who were the winged assassin and the gray aura army-guy?

It was all very strange.

His dad had certainly given him some valuable answers about the nature of his powers, but he still felt like he was missing out on almost everything of importance.

"I'm done," Kotonoha said as she came out of the bathroom.

She looked good. Her hair was put up and he saw light makeup on her face. Her purple eyes stood out more than usual.

Kotonoha was wearing a short skirt with knee-length socks and a white tank top with a baby-blue cardigan over it.

They followed her curves so naturally he almost wondered if she was wearing anything underneath it.

"Are you done checking me out?" She asked. A sarcastic note had sneaked into her voice.

"Almost."

"Have you ever seen something like that before?" Rias asked. The creature looked at them from its spot high in a tree.

"A few times," Zatouji said. "It's really rare."

The bat was spherical, with cat ears and little bat wings. There was also a forked tail and two little crow legs. The eyes were different though. Their form was more catlike, as opposed to the more round shape of her own familiar's eyes.

However, the most important difference was the color. Instead of black with light grey, it was crimson on top with a lighter shade of red on its belly.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"A bloodbat."

"I want it."

"I'm not sure what its abilities are to be honest," the Familiar Master said. "No one has ever caught one."

"Does anyone have any clue how to get it like, out of that tree?" Alex asked.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Serana said. "It's coming."

"How do you…"

She was right. The little familiar hopped a few times and then jumped down.

It flapped with its wings and came hovering in front of Alex. Its eyes blinked innocently. As if it was just curious.

Alex cautiously raised his arm.

The batlike creature landed on his arm and looked at the young boy. The curious look was still present.

"That went very smooth I must say," Zatouji said. "Something must have drawn her to you."

So the thing was female?

Alex and Serana shared a strange look which Rias couldn't place.

It didn't take them long to set up a magical circle to formally bind the bloodbat to Alex. It almost went a little too easy.

"Now you're a real devil," Rias said.

"I guess. Thank you, Rias-oneesama."

They teleported back home via magical circle.

For some reason, Rias still had this nagging feeling that she had forgotten something, something important.

Oh well, it probably wasn't that important.

Right?

"I still think we should tell Rias-ojousama," Serana insisted.

"Don't worry about it," Alex said. "She doesn't need to know." And she would be angry with him if she found out.

"I'm concerned about you. What if something happens?"

"All devils use their familiars to hand out flyers. How else are people supposed to summon me?"

"Yes, but...why now?"She asked. "After all this time?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I guess, after meeting all of them. Rias' peerage seems so nice. I want that as well. I want to be a true King."

"But, what if someone finds out who you really are?"

"Humans have no clue about what happened. They don't know who I am. I'll just tell them I'm part of Rias' peerage."

"I still think it's way too dangerous."

"I won't stay in hiding forever."

"Have it your way then," she said. She couldn't do anything about it anyway. Well, she could tell Rias, but then she would have to betray Alex.

Still, she just knew this wouldn't end well.

"It's strange," Makoto said, still looking at the sunset.

"Do you know the story of the boy who went to see the sunset with his father?" Kotonoha asked, ignoring his comment.

"Obviously not. Is it a long story?"

"Not really. It's very simple actually. There was once a boy who went with his father to see the sunset. When the sun had gone down completely and they were sitting next to each other in silence, the boy suddenly said: 'dad, do that again.'"

He frowned. "I don't get it."

"Well it's not the point of the story, but we should go see your father again."

"I doubt he'll have more answers for us."

"He has to know how your powers work, he's used them before."

"As have I," Makoto said. "As you pointed out earlier, that's how I 'got into Sekai's pants'. But the bracelet never appeared back then. I think he used them passively, like I did before."

"How did he fight off those assassins then?"

"I don't know. But he would have mentioned the bracelet if it was important. And it didn't work at the pool, remember? I asked her name: nothing. I gave the girl an order: nothing." He paused. "But it did work on you. Her eyes remained blue, yours quickly became normal again and then-"

"That doesn't mean anything," Kotonoha quickly interjected. "If you passively used your powers, you may have hypnotized me before. You never met the girl before, so it's different."

"Good point," he said. Kotonoha was hiding something from him.

She sighed inwardly. He bought her explanation.

"But that doesn't get us any further," Makoto said. "Would that mean I need to use my powers multiple times to make them work? Where are we supposed to find a test subject for that?"

"We could abduct someone," his girlfriend suggested.

"Are you serious?"

"Uhm, depends. Do you agree?"

"No."

"Then I was just kidding." She gave him an apologetic smile.

"This isn't a joke, Kotonoha. People are trying to kill us. And this power, which we barely understand, is the reason for it, I'm sure of it."

"So you agree? We need to do further testing."

"Yes."

"So we need to capture a test subject?"

"No. I'm not abducting some innocent girl."

"You realize those questions are mutually exclusive, right? You either agree with both or disagree."

"No abductions," he insisted.

"Besides," Kotonoha continued. "You had no problem knocking Saionji-san up. Nor did you have any problem fucking Otome, Setsuna, Kuroda, did I forget anyone?"

"Not my fault you were such a prude," Makoto said. "If you hadn't been so absurdly shy, none of this would have happened." Why was all of this suddenly his fault? He hadn't gotten Sekai pregnant on purpose. It had just, kinda… happened.

"Oh, so now it's suddenly my fault? You're a sex-addicted selfish bastard, you know that?" She was obviously angry with him. And he couldn't blame her for it.

She was right. He was a self-absorbed boy who was endangering his pregnant girlfriend at every turn. They wanted him, Kotonoha had nothing to do with it. He was sure of that now. Every minute he stayed with her, she was in more danger. It wouldn't be long before these assassins finally succeeded.

Tensions were rising, they had been for several days. Kotonoha knew more, that was certain, but she didn't share her knowledge with him.

Furthermore, they had ignored his escapades with the other girls for months, yet somehow, Kotonoha never brought it up. She even consciously steered away whenever he wanted to bring it up.

Did she simply trust him not to cheat on her? That didn't make any sense. He had given her no reason to trust him, ever.

"I know that," Makoto said. "Which is why I'm leaving."

"You're what?"

"You heard me." He made for the door. She would be safe without him.

"Wait, Makoto."

The door closed behind him before she could do anything.

He wasn't paying attention where his feet brought him, but somehow, he ended up in Haramihama.

Had he taken the train? He couldn't remember. He must have since he had no car keys on him.

"Here you go," a female voice said.

"Huh?" He looked up. There was a girl in front of him. For a moment, he thought she was an illusion, but further inspection learned she was quite real.

The girl wore a short puffy dress with lots of frills. It was dark red with streaks of black. Her eyes had a dark red shine to them as well. Her hair was short, with razor sharp edges. It was black with a few locks painted bloody red. Heavy mascara adorned her face and he spotted a piercing on her lip.

She wouldn't stand out at an emo gathering.

Hesitantly, he accepted the card she was handing him.

It depicted a red rose with angels and devils lining the edges. At the top, in frilly letters, it read: 'we grant your wish'.

"What is th-"

The girl was gone.

He put the card in his pocket. Strange things were happening today. Was he hallucinating?

Maybe the beach would clear up his head a bit.

The cool beach air did indeed clear up his thoughts somewhat.

Kotonoha was absolutely right. After three attempted attacks on his life, no one could blame him for abducting a girl to find out why. He had been searching for answers for far too long. Drastic measures were justified by now, his life was on the line after all.

Yet…

The last few months, he had been faithful to Kotonoha, but he hadn't been given much of a choice in it. After Sekai had publicly announced her pregnancy, well, no girl wanted to go near him anymore. But when summer break was over, things might calm down a bit.

Makoto knew he did not have the strength to stay faithful to one girl and would jump at the next opportunity whenever it presented itself. If he experimented on a girl, it wouldn't be long before he would do indecent stuff with her.

Yet, strangely, sometimes he felt like Kotonoha didn't mind about that, in fact, she even seemed to encourage it at some moments.

But that didn't make sense. Kotonoha was his girlfriend, of course she didn't want him to cheat on her. No way that could be true.

It was better to leave her, he decided. She would be safe if they weren't together. The assassins would find him soon and no one would stand in their way. Kotonoha could go back home, with her family, where she belonged.

He had to disappear, somewhere she wouldn't find him. This beach would be the first place she, or for that matter, anyone who knew him, would go looking.

It was time to go...somewhere.

Makoto turned around, but someone was blocking his path. Someone with a kitchen knife in her hand.

"It must be fate," she said. "Without any fancy tricks, I came across you."

"You know I spend most of my time here in summer, just lazing around," he said, bored. "Before I met Kotonoha that is. It only makes sense that you would find me here."
"Yes, and now I'm going to kill you."

He didn't pay any attention to her threat.

The effects of his power probably wore off when they were away from him. Kotonoha was right. Prolonged exposure got them there, and the reverse would make the effects wear off. It all made perfect sense.

"What did you do with the child?" Makoto asked.

"Had it aborted, obviously. What else would you expect me to do with it?"

"Personally," a new voice said. "I think you weren't pregnant at all. You just pretended hoping Makoto-kun would stay with you."

Kotonoha. What was she doing here?

"Don't get any closer," Sekai warned her. She aimed her blade at the newcomer.

"But I am pregnant with his child," she continued, still walking. "And I intend to keep it." She kept walking closer.

"I can see that," Sekai said. "Too bad you're gonna die as well."
"Is that so?" With a purple flash, Kotonoha's dozuki appeared. She was taking a defensive stance in front of her boyfriend now. Sekai hadn't stopped her from crossing the distance. Maybe she was too surprised by her sudden arrival.

In her eyes, he saw Sekai weighing her options, her eyes dancing back and forth between Kotonoha, the dozuki and Makoto.

This wouldn't end well.

"Things are getting quite busy here," another voice announced.

He saw the winged assassin come up to them, along with his gray aura army-guy friend.

They were surrounded now. Sekai on one side, the other two closing in on him in a triangle. Kotonoha was on his side, carrying her dozuki, but they were coming from three sides.

"Unfortunately," the winged assassin said to Sekai. "I can't let you kill him, yet. I need to take something from him first."

"Go to hell," Sekai said. "I'm killing this bastard."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," he said. A spear of light appeared in his hand.

"Neither can I," army-guy said. He reached out with his hand. A gray portal opened. From it, he pulled a massive sword with a very scary aura.

"Hey guys," Makoto said. "I understand why she wants to kill me, but who the hell are you two? What have I ever done to you? Did I fuck your girlfriend?"

"It's nothing personal," the winged creature assured him. "I just need to borrow your powers for a bit. Unfortunately you'll die if I take them out, but well, collateral damage is inevitable." He created another spear of light in his left hand.

"You never mentioned that part," Sekai said, glaring at the army-guy.

He shrugged. "Would you have helped me if I had?"
"No. But I see you've found a different helper."

"Oh, do shut up," Rayner said. He threw his spear at full force. This would be his only chance.

The spear of light pierced straight through Caleb's belly.

The Angel of Darkness looked completely stunned as he fell onto his knees. His sword fell down on the sand. Blood dripped down on it.

"You're crazy if you thought I would actually help you," Rayner continued. He created another spear of light. "I only needed you to find him for me. And now, you've outlived your purpose. His Sacred Gear is mine." He turned to Makoto. "And no one will stand in my way."

Caleb's fist hit his face from the side. He could feel his jaw break. Rayner was sent flying backwards.

"You'll regret that," Caleb growled. He was bleeding heavily from his belly, but he didn't seem bothered by that. His sword was back in his hand.

Rayner scrambled to his feet. This thing was tougher than he thought. He wouldn't be able to get Makoto right now. He had thought a simple spear would take him out, but he had made a grave mistake it seemed.

Aura gathered around the massive two-handed Holy Sword.

"I think it's time for me to leave," Rayner said, not keen on being hit by that aura. A magic circle lit up beneath his feet.

"You're not going anywhere." With a tiger jump, Caleb closed the distance. There was a flash of light and the two of them were gone.

"That leaves just us then," Sekai said, a smile played on her lips. "Now step aside so I can kill this monster."

"Go ahead and try," Kotonoha said, readying her stance.

"Stop!" Makoto called.

Sekai sighed. "What is it now?"

"I case I don't get the chance afterwards." He cleared his throat and looked at Kotonoha. "I'm sorry, Kotonoha. You had every reason to be angry with me. And what you said was entirely true."

"Thanks, Makoto-kun," she gave him a quick peck on the lips, like he had hoped she would. Kotonoha understood his plan without words.

He felt something inside when she kissed him. A little spark that quickly spread around.

"Can we get on with it now?" Sekai asked. "I've been waiting for months to kill the two of you."

"Both of us? What did I ever do to you, Saionji-san?" Kotonoha asked.

"You took him from me."

"Did I now? If I remember well he confessed to me. You're the one that kissed him without even asking, bitch."

"How dare you," Sekai hissed. She still didn't move, but her fingers twitched around the handle of the kitchen knife.

"All this crap about seeing love grow," Kotonoha continued. "You were just waiting to take him from me. Well too bad, he's mine now." She looked at her boyfriend. "Are you ready?" She whispered.

"Ready when you are," he whispered back, trying to keep his lip movements minimal.

"Makoto-kun is mine," she announced loudly. "Take a good look, Saionji-san." Those last words were filled with venom.

Kotonoha wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck and kissed him. It was a deep kiss, filled with passion. It was only a few seconds before their tongues were dancing back and forth in each other's mouth. Makoto let his hand slide down from her lower back to her buttocks and pulled her closer. His other hand travelled upwards to rest on her breast. He gave it a soft squeeze.

Kotonoha moaned in his mouth and-

Sekai surged forward in a fit of rage.

His girlfriend smiled. She had been watching from the corner of her eye, waiting for this exact moment. "Now," she said, releasing her boyfriend.

Sekai's blade raced for his head, but he grabbed her wrist before she could reach him. Sheer power was surging through his body.

Blue sparkles ran around his arm and went through Sekai's body. She screamed, as if she was hit by actual lightning.

The snake bracelet appeared in a blue flash, but this time, it didn't just coil around his arm to bite its own tail. With a hiss, it slipped over his hand to coil around Sekai's arm. It started at her wrist, but the snake kept going in circles until her entire arm was covered. Then, it bit her in the neck, injecting its venom into her bloodstream. Sekai released her blade. It was gone before it hit the ground.

A blue light shone brightly in both the snake and Sekai's eyes. Then, the snake pulled his head back. Sekai's eyes kept glowing.

The snake-bracelet slowly went back. Its body grew shorter as he did. Then, he went back to Makoto's arm, made his usual three circles, bit in its own tail, and vanished.

"I didn't know this snake-thing was poisonous," Makoto said.

"Venomous," she corrected him.

He shrugged. He didn't even knew there was a difference.

"That went better than expected," Kotonoha said. "Sekai has been exposed to your powers before, that must have something to do with it."

"As have you. But I didn't see any snake crawling on your arm when I tried it on you."

"I don't like snakes," she said, ignoring his prying. "Now, I believe we have found ourselves a test subject."
"Uhm, yeah, sure. Let's go." Before another assassin comes. "Sekai, come with us."

She didn't move.

Makoto sighed. "What now?"

"We can throw her in the back of the car," Kotonoha suggested. "Come on, you grab her hands, I'll take her feet."

"Not too concerned about her, are you?"

"Obviously not. Come on, let's get moving."

He sighed. Then, he grabbed Sekai and slung her over his shoulder, like he had seen a firefighter do in a movie. Only he did it a lot more gracious.

"She's heavy," he said.

"You're sure you don't need any help?" Kotonoha asked.

"Just check whether anyone is watching us. This would be hard to explain to passersby."

She checked, the dyke was empty.

They crossed the short distance to the car.

Kotonoha popped open the trunk.

"We could lay her down on the back seats you know," Makoto pointed out.

"I'll think about it once she stops trying to kill you, Makoto-kun," she said. "Now throw this bitch in the trunk and lets go."

He shrugged. Kotonoha did have a point there.

They laid her down in the trunk and then closed it again.

Kotonoha didn't make any effort to drive carefully, in fact, he even suspected she drove wild on purpose, to make sure Sekai would bump her head as often as possible.

"How do we get her in?" Makoto asked as they reached the hotel. "The receptionist doesn't look like he'll leave."

"Can you drag her to the elevator?"

"Uhm, I think I can, why?"

"I'll distract him, you get her up."
"And how do you plan to distract him?

She brushed a loose hairlock aside. "Leave that to me."

Together, they carried Sekai to the entrance without anyone seeing. They were hiding behind a wall now. A few steps further sliding doors gave access to the hotel, but the receptionist would see them if they entered through there. And they couldn't stay here. Other guests might arrive. This had better work.

"Wait ten seconds," Kotonoha said.

He counted to ten and then dragged Sekai in the hotel.

In the distance he heard Kotonoha arguing with the receptionist. She seemed to be complaining about room service or something.

While they argued, Makoto dragged Sekai's limb body to the elevator.

He pressed the button, then pressed it ten times extra as if it would make the elevator come any faster.

"Please be empty," he whispered to himself.

Luckily, the elevator was empty. He quickly dragged her in and closed the doors.

Then, he released his breath. They had made it.

He pressed the button for the top floor.

The elevator sped up, but it started slowing down way too early.

The doors slid open.

Oh no. Not now.

Two blonde girls were waiting for the elevator. Their eyes found Sekai. She was leaning against the wall, held upright partly by Makoto. Her expression was neutral, but her eyes still glowed suspiciously blue.

"She had a bit too much to drink," Makoto explained as the girls got in.

"What's with her eyes?" One of the girls asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Makoto insisted.

"They are glowing," the girl continued.

"You drink too much, Gail," the second blonde said.

"You don't see it?"

"I've seen crazier things when I had a few drinks," the blonde said. "Now focus, our client is waiting."

Client?

Wait. Those short skirts, black heels, heavy make-up. Were these...prostitutes?

Makoto hid his smile. He wouldn't have to worry about these two.

They got off a few floors further up.

That could have ended badly, really badly. His luck never seemed to run out.

The elevator reached the top floor.

Makoto dragged Sekai out. She was still in her trance.

He fumbled to find the keycard in his pockets. He thought he had found it, but it was the strange card the suspicious girl had given him on the beach.

Sighing, he laid Sekai's limb body down on the floor.

He searched his pockets and finally found the keycard.

Makoto unlocked the door and dragged Sekai in, quickly closing the door behind him.

He threw her down on the bed.

He wondered how long this trance would last.

What if she woke up and took out a knife or something?

He would have to search her body.

Sekai was lying on the right side of the bed, on her back. He came standing next to her and searched her pockets.

Cellphone. Hm.

He flipped it open.

Her phone asked for a password, but he didn't have it obviously. He put it on the nightstand and searched on.

Wallet.

Only a minor sum of money and some cards were present, but nothing particularly helpful. He put it on the nightstand as well.

Her pockets were empty now. No handbag or anything. Strange.

He continued frisking, starting from her legs and going up, but he found nothing.

Makoto's hands lingered when he reached her breasts. He remembered what had made the girl at the pool wake up from her trance. What would Sekai do if he-

"Having fun?" A voice asked.

He jumped. Kotonoha was suddenly next to him. "I was checking if she had any weapons on her," Makoto said, he suddenly felt uncomfortably warm.

"You would call that weapons?" She asked, eying Sekai's chest.

"The damage breasts can do, you have no clue. There was this one time-"

"I leave you alone for one minute and you're already feeling her up," she said.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Kotonoha sat down on the bed, next to Sekai (on the other side). She took Sekai's hands and pinned them above her head.

"Continue," she ordered.

"Uhm, what?"

"Keep touching her," Kotonoha said. "I want to see if she wakes up. The girl at the pool did, so we should check if Sekai responds the same way."

Wait, what? It almost sounded like Kotonoha was only angry because he hadn't waited on her. That didn't make any sense.

"And what if she wakes up?" He asked.

"I've got her," Kotonoha assured him.

"She might scream," Makoto pointed out.

"Good point. Do you have a ball-gag or something on you?"

"Who do you take me for?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You want an honest answer?"

"Just put something in her mouth," Makoto said.

"Fine." Kotonoha took out her handkerchief and stuffed it in Sekai's mouth. Sekai didn't resist at all.

The trance must be quite powerful.

Hesitantly, he reached out once again.

I'm just testing if she wakes up, he assured himself. Nothing more. Besides, Kotonoha's chest is clearly superior in size and softness.

Sekai didn't wake up. Under normal circumstances, any girl would have slapped him for touching her like this. But Sekai just laid there, expressionless with a blue glow in her eyes that never even flickered.

"Powerful trance," Kotonoha commented. "You think pain will wake her up?"

"Look, if you're searching for an excuse to hurt her-"

Kotonoha's free hand slapped Sekai's face. It just rolled to the side.

Still no response from Sekai.

"I don't need an excuse, she is our test subject now, I'm gonna do whatever I want now."

He nodded. He suddenly had a desire to hit Sekai as well.

His hand hit her other cheek. He saw her skin turn slightly red, but her eyes still kept glowing.

This trance was much more powerful than the one at the pool.

"What now?" Makoto asked. They wouldn't get anywhere if he couldn't get her to wake up. The girl at the pool hadn't followed orders or answered questions.

From his earlier experiment on Kotonoha, he suspected that any suggestions given during the trance retained, but only executed after waking up from the trance. Or maybe it was more complicated than that.

"Wake up," he ordered.

Nothing happened. She didn't even blink.

"Any ideas left?" He asked his girlfriend.

"Plenty," Kotonoha said. "We could-"

A knock at the door interrupted them.

"We're screwed," Makoto said. "They found us. We're gonna-"

"Room service," a voice said.

Kotonoha chuckled. "Sorry I didn't mention I ordered something," she said.

"It's okay. I'm used to getting heart attacks by now."

She smiled and made for the door, confident that they were perfectly safe at Sakakino Hills. Whatever was chasing them, it couldn't reach them here.

"Makoto-kun?" Her voice was very soft.

He hazily opened his eyes. "Hm?" He had been drifting to sleep before she spoke.

"How long do you plan to keep this up?" She asked, uncertainty in her voice.

"Keep what up? I can't wake Sekai from her trance, we'll have to wait until it wears off." He had put her back in trance after her shower, just in case. From here, he could see the soft glow in her eyes. She would most likely be out until the morning.

"That wasn't what I meant," she clarified. "We're hiding here from those guys, Caleb and the one with the wings, and apparently, we're safe as long as we don't leave Sakakino Hills. But what do you plan to do once summer break is over?"

"Go back to school." He sensed where she was getting at.

"At Gakuenmae."

"Which is technically speaking still part of the Sakakino area."

"We don't know how far this protection stretches. What if they can find us at school?"

"Then we have a problem." Did she really need to talk about this now? It was…he looked at the clock. Five minutes to midnight.

"They'll keep hunting you as long as you have that snake-bracelet." He thought he detected fear in her voice, but it could be something else. It was hard to say in the dark.

"I know that. But what do you plan to do about it?"

"Uhm. We could fight them?"

"That sounds dangerous. We don't even know what that winged thing is."

She suddenly gasped for breath.

"What is it?" Makoto asked. "You realised something?" He raised himself on his elbows.

"No, it's nothing," she said, her voice sounded very distant.

"Don't make me hypnotize you, just tell me."

"Oh," she got up as well. "Pretty confident you can hypnotize me, huh?"

"I can hypnotize every girl."

"Well go ahead then." She puffed up her chest.

He quickly leaned forward and stole a kiss.

"Hey," she pushed him back. "That's cheating."

With a blue flash, the snake-bracelet appeared. He was getting good, a small peck on the lips was enough to summon his bracelet.

"All is fair in love and war," her boyfriend said, he smirked.

"Oh, is that so? Well I should defend myself then, shouldn't I?"

"Hey, what are you, oh damn." Her sudden tickling-attack made him lose focus.

As he was laughing, she pushed him on his back.

"This...isn't...fair," he forced out.

"Hey, you're the one who's trying to hypnotize a helpless, innocent girl."
"Innocent," he chuckled even harder. "Don't make me laugh please."
She tried resuming her tickling attack, but he managed to grab her hand. With supreme effort, he rolled over so he was back on top. He pinned her hands down over her head.

Their eyes locked for a moment. Both of them bathed in the light emitted by the snake.

He hesitated for a moment, but then, blue electricity crackled around his arm.

It ran through her body and illuminated her eyes for a second, but then, just as fast as it had appeared, the glow vanished again.

He frowned. "Why isn't it working?"

Itou summoned his electricity again, but there was only a minor flash in her purple eyes, even shorter than the previous one.

"You tell me." Her heart was raging in her chest. She knew the answer. The bracelet was transformed love. It made girls love him so much they followed all his commands, a warped and twisted kind of love. So the reason it didn't work on her was because-

"Must be because of your mom," he said.

Something shattered inside of her. She blinked several times.

"Idiot," she mumbled. Why did he have to ruin this perfect moment?

"My dad said it didn't work on your mom, so that must be it. Hereditary immunity. Maybe your dozuki has something to do with it."

"Sure." She gently pushed him off her and turned her back to him.

"What's wrong? Aren't you excited we found something out? This immunity might mean-"

"I'm tired," she cut him off. Her voice was very cold now.

"Oh, uhm, sure. We should go to sleep." He lay down next to her and wrapped his hand around her pregnant belly. She didn't respond to his touch. But someone else did.

They lay in silence for a moment.

"Are you angry with me?" He asked.

"No."

Not angry, just disappointed.

She felt tears stinging in her eyes.

Azazel looked around. The entrance to the Spiritforge should be here.

In his research, he had come across many references to the Spiritforges. He had even travelled to Alaska to find one, but to no avail. Who would have thought that one was so close by?

But where was the entrance?

It had to be…

The altar caught his eye. It stood slightly askew.

Azazel walked closer. Yes, no doubt possible. Someone had shifted this altar from its usual position. Curious, Azazel put his shoulder against it and pushed.

Slowly, the altar moved.

This was it, he realised. There was a hole beneath it. Stairs had been cut into the stone.

Azazel smiled and released the altar. Finally, he had found one, a true Spiritforge.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"Church at Kuou Town," he replied. "Raynare's old base."

She looked around her. There was moonlight spilling in through the shattered windows, along with cold air. This building must have been abandoned for years, or even decades.

In the middle of the basement was a large basin with ankle-deep water. On the side, there were steps leading up to the rest of the church.

"You live here?" She asked.

"Home isn't safe now," Caleb replied.

"And here is?"

"It'll have to do for now." He grunted and grabbed his shirt.

"Caleb?" She came closer.

"It's nothing," he said.

"You're in pain."

"It's just the wound that has opened up again. My body is sturdy enough."

"It looks like-" Her hands stopped him from falling over. He was really heavy. "Sit down," she said. "I need to look at your wound."

Caleb tried standing, but his legs were shaking too much. Without her support, he would have fallen down. "Really it's-"

"Not a question," she finished, her voice was suddenly stern. "I said sit down, and take off your shirt."

"Not very subtle, are we?" A twisted smile played around his lips.

Caleb seated/collapsed on the edge of the basin and took of his leather vest. Maybe he had misjudged her. This sudden stern tone was very strange.

"Happy now?" He asked.

She raised an eyebrow and folded her hands.

With a sigh, Caleb took the hem of his shirt. He didn't bother taking it over his head, instead, he simply pulled on it. The already ripped shirt tore further until he was holding just some fabric.

The miko swallowed hard. She tried her best not to look at his body.

Caleb was tall and very strong. His toned and muscled body wouldn't be out of place in a commercial for underwear. A body fit for a Warrior Angel.

However...

There was a rather large hole in his abdomen. Blood dripped out of it, blood with a color that was way too dark to be good.

She knelt down and studied the wound closer. The tissue around it showed heavy signs of inflammation and his veins were jet-black. They traced webby patterns around the wound.

"Blood poisoning," she said, slowly.

"Impossible. I'm immune to infections."

She looked at his face. Her hand brushed away his hair and touched his forehead.

"You've got a fever as well."

"No, my body is cold."

She noticed he was shivering. This wasn't good.

"Caleb, look at me. You've got an infection. If we don't do something, you'll die."

"I'm telling you," he was starting to lisp a bit. "That's impossible."

"Look at yourself! You're dying here."

"Okay, okay, calm down. Just get me some medicine."

"Simple medicine won't solve this." If she even knew where to get some. "You need to get to the hospital."

"No," he quickly said. He tried getting up, but he found he didn't have the strength for that. "They'll find me if you take me to a hospital. In this state, I can't defend myself."

"There is something, I could do," she said, hesitating. "If you're okay with it."

"Please," Caleb said, his breath was getting labored. "Whatever it is, do it. I'm starting to-"

The rest of his sentence was lost in the sudden kiss.

What the…

What was she trying to…

He felt like something was being poured into him. Something soothing, like a pain-killing drug.

Her lips left his. "This is gonna hurt," she warned him.

"I can take some pain." He was still puzzled about that sudden kiss. How had she calmed him down like that?

Her head quickly went down.

"What are you…" Caleb started to ask, but then, his words went over in a scream. The pain was back, worse than ever.

"Sorry," she said. Her face looked up at him. Black blood was covering half of her chin. The veins around her mouth were ash-grey, but as he looked, color returned, drowning the grey away. Then, she went back down. Her tongue traced his wound.

She's taking it in, he realised. This girl was taking the infection into her own body.

A gasp for breath drew his attention back to her. Miko's hands went to her stomach. Fresh blood was coming out of it. It soaked her little white dress. She bit back the obvious pain.

"Stop," Caleb said. "You're killing yourself." He looked at his wound and saw that half of it was gone. The black had retreated and a crust had formed over the hole.

"No," she said. Her mouth went back to his wound and sucked.

It hurt like hell, but as the pain raged through his body, he felt his power returning.

Finally, her mouth released him and she fell down on the ground.

He quickly pulled her upright with his returned strength. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, out of breath. "Just, let me catch my breath for a moment."

"How did you do that?"

"Power of Chichigami-sama," she said, matter-of-factly.

"But the wound, your stomach," he insisted.

She gave him a weak smile. With supreme effort, she lifted herself to her feet. "Like I said, I'm fine." Her hands grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled upwards. It was so short it didn't take her long to expose her...perfectly smooth belly.

"How…" His fingers touched her around her belly button. It was perfectly clean, no trace of any wound or even scar. In fact, it was so clean his fingers were dirtying it with residual soot so he quickly stopped touching her.

There was blood on her dress, but how had it gotten there?

"Uhum," Caleb looked away. "You're not wearing anything underneath that."

"Of course not," she cocked her head to the side. "Is that weird?"

"Well, you know…"

"You don't like my body?" She bit her lip, clearly on the verge of crying.

"No, I do...uhm, you know." He scratched the back of his head. How could he put this? Miko was pretty sensitive to...

She moved her hands in a crossing motion.

"What are you doing?"

"You said you liked my body, so I want to show it to you," she said. The miko tossed her dress aside. She was stark naked now. Caleb felt his ears burning.

"Come on," she knelt down next to him. "Take your pants off, I want to see your body too."

"Hey, calm down."

Her hands started undoing his zipper.

This wouldn't end well, he had to do some-

A sudden crackling sound interrupted them.

"What was that?" She asked. Some fear had sneaked into her voice.

Caleb stood up. "Lightning."

"A storm?"

"Of a sort. I think I know what this is." He walked to the stairs. "I need to check something, stay here."

"Okay."

"And put on some clothes please."

Caleb walked up the stairs into the church.

He let out his breath. That had been a very close call. He still didn't understand what had happened. Clearly, she had some kind of power that could transfer his wounds to her own body. Considering she hadn't died, this would also imply she had a very strong healing factor to burn off the effects.

But he shouldn't have been in that situation. His body should be completely immune to any kind of infection. Clearly something was going on.

Another sound reached him. Thunder again.

Wait…

He sniffed the air. This smell was very familiar.

Of course. This was Dulio's work. Michael had released his trump card.

Did they really think a little storm would stop him? By the time they found Itou, it would be too late.

He saw nothing suspicious around the church, so he went back down to check on Miko.

He found her in the middle of the basin, still naked.

"I thought I told you to get dressed?" He said.

"I need to wash myself, don't I?" Miko said. She continued splashing water over her skin, not even bothering to hide anything.

"And how do you intend to dry yourself off afterwards?"

"I'm sure you'll find me something," she said. "Won't you?"

He swallowed. "I'll search for a towel."

He longed to take a bath as well, but the water here was icy cold and only ankle-deep, so he had no desire to wash himself in that.

But he didn't intend to stay here for very long. His wound was gone, and his strength had returned. He would rest for a few hours until it was the middle of the night. Itou and his girlfriend would be fast asleep and powerless.

"Uhm, hey," Azazel said.

The girl looked at him strangely. "Are you with Caleb?"

"No, quite the opposite in fact." He didn't ask why she was naked or why she held what looked like a Holy Sword loosely in her hand.

"High Priestess?" She called over her head.

Someone entered the hallway. At least this woman was dressed. She had a sword in either hand.

"Who are you?"

"Azazel, Governor-General of the Grigori."

"A fallen angel, I see," the woman said. "I'm the High Priestess. We serve Chichigami-sama."

"The...Breast God?" She was joking right?

"Yes," the woman confirmed. "Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all." So a rival order had taken over the Spiritforge after God's demise? Interesting.

"Is it true?" He asked. "Did Caleb destroy the Spiritforge?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Then the jamming effect should be gone," Azazel contemplated. They were in trouble.

"What do you mean?" The High Priestess asked.

"You don't know? Caleb is trying to harness a certain Sacred Gear, the one that belonged to Sawagoe Tomaru."

Her eyes went wide. "The Cursed One."

"It was created here, wasn't it?" Spiritforges were rare, and this was a very special one, the one where God had died. And given her reaction...

"Yes," she confirmed. "Governor-General, if what you say is true, then you must stop him." There was a certain desperation in her voice.
"I'll try. I think he plans to use it to wage war upon Sacred Gear users, so we can't let that happen, obviously."

"That will be the least of your concern."

"Excuse me?"

"You seem to know very little. Let me enlighten you a bit. The Cursed Gear wasn't created by your Christian God at all, as such, it doesn't follow the rules an ordinary Gear would. You think just anyone can wield it?"

"I know Caleb can't hold it, his body was designed against them, but he might have an ally to hold it for him."

She shook her head. "The Gear only answers to a trueborn heir, so unless he has one of those, it won't work."

"Heir?"

"Tomaru's heirs," she clarified.

That explained why all the previous holders were related.

"Then we're safe, right? I can't imagine Caleb just happens to have an heir as his ally."

"You're not safe. It can't be held by any other person. But there is something else there, something closely connected to the Gear itself. Governor-general, you must stop him. The Cursed Gear can only be controlled by a person, not by an object."

"But what kind of obj-" Oh no. He realised what she meant.

Something closely related to the Cursed Gear, of course.

"What happens if they merge?" Azazel asked

"Let's just say that some Sacred Gear users dying will be the least of your concern."

"I should be going then." Did he really have any chance to stop Caleb?

"Indeed. Please, hurry."

He quickly ran back up. The situation was a lot worse than he had anticipated. If those two things merged, they were doomed, the world was doomed.

"Where did you get that?" She asked as he handed her a white fluffy towel.

"The people a few houses further were asleep, so I borrowed some stuff from them."

"That's stealing," she said, there was judgement in her voice.

"Shops were closed I'm afraid," Caleb said. "And I don't have the time to wait. Don't worry, I'll return it afterwards."

"You should wash yourself as well, you're really dirty."

"In cold water? No thanks."

"Cold? What do you mean?"

"Huh?" He crouched down. "Of course this water is...cold."

It wasn't. The water had quite a good temperature. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't icy cold either. More like the sea in early summer.

"I'll wash this dirt of me then," he decided.

He shrugged out of his pants and boxers and sat down in the water.

"Please stop staring at me," he said dryly.

"Sorry." She averted her eyes. "I see you brought some food."

"Yeah. I only took some bread and water, sorry."

She looked puzzled for a moment. He really hadn't taken anything more than strictly necessary. One loaf of breath, a bottle of water, one bath-towel and a shirt that looked too small for his figure.

"There's a knife in my belt," he said.

She took it out and cut a piece of the bread. It was very dry. But she knew Caleb didn't intend to stay here long.

He was struggling a bit to properly wash of the dust in what was basically a kiddie pool.

When he was finished, she handed him the towel.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Go ahead."

"What exactly do you plan to do? I can feel you plan to do something soon. What is it?"

"Sawagoe Tomaru had a certain power. His son holds it now. I plan to take it from him."

"What will you do with it?"

"I was hoping I could insert it into your body, and you could, use it for me."

"I don't understand. Use it? How?"

"It will be clear soon. Do you trust me?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Yes."

"Okay." He pulled the white shirt over his head. It really was way too small. A part of his stomach remained exposed.

She held back a chuckle.

"I don't have time to find something else," he said. "We're leaving in a few hours, get some rest."

Miko nodded.

A magic circle lit up in the room.

Azazel stepped out of it. Only Rias and Alex were in the club room.

"There's a situation," he said.

"We know," Alex said. "We kinda, broke into your archive."

"Alex!" Rias said.

"We need help," Alex' voice was angry. "I'm so done with this secrecy."

"You know about Itou?" Azazel-sensei asked calmly.

"We know he has some kind of Sacred Gear which makes girls fall in love with him," Rias said.

"Yes," Azazel said. "That's what Rayner and Caleb are after."

"And they found him, didn't they? That's why you're here."

"More or less," Azazel-sensei said. "There was something hiding his location, but now that's gone."

"So you know where he is?"

"Uhm, Sakakino Hills."

"Could you be more specific?"

"No. Oh, and we need to hurry, all of us are in big danger."

Rias sighed. Sakakino Hills it was then.

She prepared a magic circle. "You stay here Alex."

"What? Why?"

"Because you're one of Caleb's targets. Get Issei, Gasper, Asia and Kiba and hide somewhere. Oh, and take Saji with you as well. We'll need to hide all the Sacred Gear users, they will be his first targets."

Azazel decided not to tell her anything about the much bigger danger. It wouldn't matter anyway. Rias was planning to battle Caleb, but Azazel already knew that was impossible. Caleb would destroy them utterly. His only option was to kill Itou before Caleb could take out his Sacred Gear. Issei and the others would certainly try to stop him, so it was better they didn't come along.

"Tell Akeno to join me at Sakakino with Koneko, Xenovia and Rossweisse, we'll need all the help we can get," Rias continued.

"Okay," Alex said.

Rias quickly prepared a magic circle.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Whenever you are," Azazel said.

The magic circle lit up, but they didn't teleport.

"It's jammed," Rias said, frowning. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know." Azazel walked to the window. He tried opening it, but it didn't bulge. Then, he noticed some small writing on the window sill.

[No one leaves.] The disembodied voice came out of the ceiling.

"Who are you?" Rias asked. She had a nagging feeling.

[Already forgot about me, Ria-tan?]

"Rayner." Of course, the workman, that was him, undercover.

[Very good. Now, unfortunately my original revenge plan was cancelled, so you'll have to be satisfied with just good old-fashioned vengeance. Don't worry, your dear Ise-kun will still recognize your body when I'm done with you, that trademark red hair is hard to miss.]

"Bastard."

[Now now, no need to be so rude.]

"Caleb is closing in on Itou," Azazel interrupted them. "You don't care about that?" They had no time to deal with this, Caleb was closing in on Itou.

[No one can locate Itou at Sakakino.]

"He can. The Spiritforge is destroyed."

[Even if you're right, Sakakino is big. Caleb will find him long before I do. And after my previous fight with him, I don't plan to stop him. But thank you for this information, Governor-General. Now I know I'll have to kill Issei-kun quickly, or there won't be anything left of him.]

"Well done, Azazel," Rias mumbled.

"We need to get out of here," Azazel said.

"You think?"

"Here it is," Caleb said. He looked at the massive building. "Top floor of the hotel, at least, according to my sword."

"I didn't know your sword could do that," Miko admitted.

"It has some nice perks," Caleb said. He checked his watch. It was 3 am, a perfect time for a midnight attack.

He turned back to the miko.

"Maybe you should wear something less suspicious," he said, eying the big red spot in her dress.

"You're one to talk," she said, pointing at his overly short shirt.

"Good point."

There was a short silence. He couldn't wait much longer, another chance like this one would never come.

The storm still raged all over Sakakino Hills, but it wouldn't be able to stop him.

"Hey uhm… thanks for saving me," Caleb said.

"You're the one who saved me."

That was one way to put it.

Caleb focused back on the building. He took a deep breath. This was it: the final battle.

Sekai yawned. Her painful shoulders reminded her that her hands were still cuffed behind her back.

It was dark inside the room.

She shifted a bit so she could see the clock.

A few hours after midnight. How strange.

Makoto had put her in a trance after she had showered, and it had been quite late then, so she should be out until the late morning at the very least.

Were his powers weakening? If anything, it felt as if they were getting stronger.

Maybe this was her chance to escape. If only she knew where they kept the key.

She wouldn't get much better opportunities. Makoto and his bitch were both fast asleep.

Just as she was planning to get up, she heard a sound. A door, and footsteps.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest. She tried her best to remain as still as possible. Her breath was forcibly slowed down to make less noise. An eerie sensation crept up her spine. Who could that be? No one knew they were here.

Through her eyelids, she saw two shadows walking in the apartment. One was tall and broad shouldered, the other smaller and clearly feminine.

With a flicker, a little flame appeared in the man's hand. It illuminated his face from below.

Caleb. She recognised him immediately. He was wearing his usual jeans and leather jacket, but this time, he had a different shirt. A shirt that was clearly two sizes too small.

She didn't recognise the girl with him. It was a beauty with porcelain skin, long silvery-white hair and a big chest. Why were all these girls so buxom?

The only piece of clothing she wore was a skimpy white dress with a disturbingly large blood stain on her belly. Just where did this girl come from?

More importantly, what were they doing here?

Her question was answered because Caleb made a move with his hand. A portal opened and he pulled out a huge two-handed blade. It glowed dingy grey. He extinguished the flame and looked at the sleeping couple.

With slow steps he crossed the room. He was careful not to make any noise, even the chain on his jeans stayed dead silent.

Once in reach, he took the blade with both hands and raised it high.

No, he was going to kill them. She couldn't allow this. Itou-kun was hers to kill, and hers alone. It was her vengeance, and no one would take it from her, especially not Caleb.

"ITOU!"

Lots of things happened at that moment.

Itou jerked upwards and looked around, obviously very confused. He mumbled something she couldn't understand. Kotonoha sat upright as well. She brushed her hair out of her face and looked around. Her eyes went sharp very fast. Fast enough to pull Makoto out of the trajectory of Caleb's blade.

The weapon cut into the bed and got stuck somewhere in between the mattress and the wood underneath.

She didn't see how that fight continued, because at that moment, someone hit her face.

The slap made her skin tingle and burn.

The silver haired girl grabbed her collar and pulled her upwards.

"You're ruining everything." The girl spit out the words. Her hands crept higher and wrapped around Sekai's throat.

Where on Earth had Caleb found this crazy girl?

The fingers around her throat tightened their grip. She felt her air supply being cut off.

Fuck. She had to do something, quickly.

Her hands struggled against the cuffs, but they didn't bulge.

Power, power, I need power.

Wait.

Of course. Why didn't I think of that before?

She would be the one to kill Itou. She would cut him apart until even his own mother didn't recognise him anymore.

Sekai felt the familiar tug in her belly. Her fingers flexed as a handle formed itself in her right hand.

Caleb wasn't the only one with powers.

She twisted the blade around. When it connected with the chain, the metal broke with a clang.

Her hands broke free.

The girl was just in time to release her and jump back.

If she had been a second later, Sekai's violent swing would have cut her throat.

The cuffs were still on her hands, but the chain connecting them had broken in the middle. In her right hand was a big kitchen knife.

Caleb could have mentioned that, Miko thought.

But Caleb was struggling as well. In the time it had taken him to pull his weapon out of the bed, Kotonoha had summoned her own weapon. It looked like some kind of oversized knife that glowed dim purple. Even though the sheer strength and weight of Caleb's swings should disarm her straight away, the blade somehow managed to deflect all his blows.

With incredible speed, Sekai leapt forward and attacked. Before Miko could do anything, the knife slipped between two ribs.

She felt white-hot pain. Stars drifted in front of her hazy vision.

She would live, the Miko realised. Her mind was strangely disconnected from her body. No heart or lung damage, she observed calmly. If she didn't bleed to death, she would be fine. Her powers were working hard to heal the wound.

She vaguely felt her legs give in and her body collapsed on the ground. In the distance, she heard Caleb screaming her name. Well, not her real name of course.

Strong hands grabbed her.

"You'll be fine," a desperate voice said. "Just stay awake."

"Idiot," she mumbled

"Miko, stay with."

"Lara… my name… is Lara."

Unfortunately, Sekai took that moment to plunge her knife into Caleb's belly. She stabbed him three times in quick succession.

Caleb's massive body fell down. Blood poured out of his wounds.

Miko raised herself with supreme effort. She had to stop him from bleeding to death.

The shrine maiden managed to hold his hand. His pain flowed towards her body.

This was dangerous. Her body was in no state to take his wounds. And these wounds weren't regular ones. That knife wasn't a simple kitchen knife, it was something more, which meant these wounds could be cursed to prevent quick healing.

"Caleb, stay awake."

Caleb opened his eyes. "Time to go."

Grey light spread around him forming complex patterns on the ground. With a flash, the both of them disappeared.

"Well then." Sekai cut through the cuff on her left hand. The metal ring broke and fell down on the ground. "About high time I got my vengeance, don't you agree?" She shifted her blade and cut through the other cuff.

"Don't you dare touching him, bitch." Kotonoha raised her dozuki.

They stared at each other for a full second, then, the fight broke loose.

"He put a curse on the windows," Azazel said. "We can't leave."

"What is this power?" Alex asked.

"Curse Writer, Sacred Gear."

"Is there any way to stop it?"

"Kill the host. Unless you plan to wait until it wears off."

"We can't wait that long," Rias said. "Caleb is closing in on Itou. Issei is at home, he's in great danger."

"I still don't understand," Alex interjected. "Yes, that Sacred Gear looks very interesting, but it can't be used like a weapon."

"You could make powerful girls fall in love with you and use them as an army," Azazel explained. "Like Rayner planned to do with Rias."

"In a few hours?" Alex said. "Just how extensive are those powers? Is it capable of mass hypnosis over such distances?"

Azazel hesitated for a moment. Then, he took a deep breath. "I might as well tell you now. That love/hypnosis part is only a fraction of it's true potential. It has some other perks as well."

"Like what?"

"That's all I know," the Governor-General admitted.

"Not much to go on," Rias said.

"There is more. It can only be held by trueborn heirs of Tomaru."

"What? But, that means Caleb can't hold it, or Rayner, so-"

"But there is something else that can," Azazel quickly added.

"Something?" Alex noted. Not someone?

"The Cursed Gear was created at the Spiritforge, along with something else."

"I don't understand," Alex said.

"It's possible that Itou's Gear merges with Caleb's sword, the Devourer. After all, as the name suggests, the Devourer is designed to devour Sacred Gears, and while this Sacred Gear wasn't created by God, it does follow the same rules, until that point at least."

"Meaning…?"

"Under normal circumstances, the Devourer destroys a Sacred Gear and adds that power to its own aura. This destroys the original abilities of the Gear itself and changes its power into a holy aura, a sort of corruption so to speak. But this Cursed Gear is something else entirely. It's possible the Devourer isn't capable of controlling that kind of power."

"And what happens then?"

"Bad things. It's possible that all the power stored within is suddenly released, which would annihilate Japan most likely. But to be honest, I don't know. Anything could happen if they get close enough."

"In short: we need to get out of here," Rias finished.

"Indeed, and we better do it fast."

Kotonoha was in pretty bad shape. Under normal circumstances, she could easily beat Sekai, but by now she was four months pregnant and it was obviously slowing her movements. Countless cuts criss-crossed her arms and dripped blood on the carpet. She had given Sekai a wound, but her weapon had hit a rib which prevented a deep cut.

Makoto was standing quite useless behind them. He couldn't get passed them due to the intensity of the fight and obviously, he was unarmed. To activate his powers, he would need Kotonoha and bothering her now seemed like a bad idea.

The army-guy and his big breasted girlfriend had teleported away in a flash of grey and from their wounds, it didn't seem likely they would return anytime soon.

Sekai pushed past Kotonoha's defense and managed to elbow her in the face.

Her lip started bleeding, but more importantly, she stepped back, forgot the bed was right there and fell down on it.

Sekai immediately turned to Makoto.

Damn. He looked around frantically.

His eye fell on a lamp on the nightstand.

Before she could do anything, he grabbed the lamp and threw it at her.

Sekai shielded her face with her arm in time. The lamp shattered glass all over the carpet.

Her knife raced for his throat.

Makoto jumped on the bed and rolled over it to get on the other side.

If he was quick, he might make it to the door.

Sekai raised her blade, but Kotonoha kicked it out of her hand.

The kitchen knife tumbled through the air and fell down on the carpet two steps further.

While Kotonoha got up, Sekai dove for her weapon. Makoto backed up to the door even more.

She got her weapon back and stood up. Now, Makoto and Kotonoha were both on the side of the door.

She cursed inwardly. They might escape. She couldn't let that happen.

But she was breathing heavily now. The fight had exhausted her and the one cut that had bounced of her rib hurt like hell. This fight would have to end soon, or she would be in trouble.

"Time to finish this," Makoto said. He held out his hand.

Kotonoha took his hand. She didn't need any explanation

What were they…

Blue light shone brightly in Makoto's eyes.

How…?

Just holding hands was enough now?

His bracelet was already coiling around his left arm.

Sekai raced forward. This would be the only chance she had.

She was fast, but would it be enough?

Makoto gasped for breath when the knife entered his belly. He hardly heard Kotonoha's scream.

His hand grabbed Sekai's throat. Before he could release his powers, Kotonoha moved. Her dozuki slashed open Saionji's face. It started from her right cheek, cut straight through her nose and cut her left eye before leaving. Blood splashed everywhere.

Makoto tried choking her, but as he did, he felt his strength slip away. His hands lost all force.

Sekai managed to get free and blindly pushed him aside. He fell down on one knee, blood still dripping from his stomach.

Despite bleeding heavily and only seeing from one eye, Sekai made it outside. Kotonoha was too busy with her boyfriend to stop her.

She didn't remember how, but she had stumbled into the elevator and pounded on some buttons before collapsing. She lost consciousness before she hit the ground.

"It's useless," Azazel said as he watched Rias struggle with the window. "No one can enter or leave until the curse wears off, and that won't be for several more days."

"You helped me back when he used the curse on me," she said.

"That's different. I merely amplified your natural healing, that window doesn't have a regenerative capacity."

"What is he planning? What's the point of locking us in here?"

"I don't know. He must have some kind of plan."

"Then he should get on with it, we don't have time for this."

"There are three of us," Alex said. "He can't handle us all, he's just a fallen angel."

"No, so-" Azazel stopped mid-sentence. "You smell that?"

"It smells like…"

"Smoke," Alex finished.

"He's burning down the building," Rias said, slowly.

"Then why isn't the fire alarm going off?" Alex asked.

"Electricity. Alex, switch on the lights."

Alex flicked the switch, but nothing happened.

"He plans to burn us alive," Azazel said. "Not a bad idea actually."

"Could you stop getting impressed and do something?" Rias' voice dripped with sarcasm.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Alex sighed and opened the door. He was greeted by a blazing inferno. The hallway was in fire.

Alex quickly closed the door again. Smoke was coming from the cracks and the wood was blackening on the underside.

"Yeah, he's trying to burn the building down."

"But he can't leave either."

"He designed the curse, of course he can," Azazel spoke quickly. "We need to do something."

"The water-magic from Sitri would come in handy now," Rias mumbled.

The door wouldn't hold out long and then they would be in trouble.

"Anyone has an idea left?" Azazel asked.

"We don't stand a chance," Alex said.

"Let's see about that." Rias aimed her hand at the window and unleashed the Power of Destruction. It should have blown a giant hole in the wall, but instead it was absorbed completely. There wasn't even a scratch in the glass.

"The curse won't allow you to damage the window," Azazel said.

"What about the ceiling?"

"Hey, wait-"

With the sound of an explosion, a hole was blasted in the ceiling. It was circular, about an armspan wide. When the dust cleared off, he could see the clear blue sky above.

In the distance, he heard Rayner curse.

"Quick," Rias said. "We need to get up there." She grabbed the couch.

Alex quickly took the other side and together, they pushed it beneath the hole.

"Come on." They stood upon the couch and, with a leg-up from Rias, Alex could reach the ceiling. Luckily he was half-devil which gave him enough strength to hoist himself up on the roof. Once up, he was careful not to lose his balance.

Inside, smoke was already starting to fill the room and the door was half burned away.

"What about you?"

In answer, Rias spread her wings and flew upwards. In one gracious move, she landed on the ceiling.

"Oh, of course."

Azazel spread his wings as well and joined them.

Then, there was a rumbling sound and the entire building started shaking.

"Hold on tight," Rias said.

She spread her wings once again. With Alex in a tight embrace, they lifted off.

From this angle, they could see the ground level was already a huge inferno, and the flames were starting to lick their way upwards.

She saw people outside trying to contain the fire, but they were unable to get inside.

"You little bitch."

Rias was just in time to dodge a light spear.

Rayner was standing on the roof, blazing with anger. His clothes were slightly scorched.

Unfortunately for him, a large part of the roof collapsed at that point. He lost his footing and fell back inside the building.

On the ground, she could see the Sitri-Peerage take off with their wings.

They would be able to handle this, they had more urgent concerns.

"Makoto, look at me. Stay with me." Her voice was desperate. She was clutching his hand in hers.

"I-" He coughed up blood. "I'm sorry… Kotonoha."

"You know what I felt last night?" She spoke quickly, sensing she might not have much time left. "I felt the baby kick, our baby."

He smiled weakly. "Why…" He grimaced at the pain. "Why were you… angry with me?"

"Because you're an idiot," she said. "Your powers never worked on me."

"But… the pool. And…"

She shook her head. "I just played along, your powers feel like simple suggestions to me, and I like making you happy. I didn't really know how to explain it so I just kinda, went along with it."

"I-Impossible." He was struggling more and more to form words. Blood was trickling down his chin.

Tears were in her eyes now. "I think I know why your powers don't work on me. It's because-" His hand had left hers. "Makoto?"

No, not now. She still had to tell him. He couldn't leave her now.

Shock was quickly replaced by anger. She felt her powers whirl around inside her body, stronger than ever before. Her dozuki glowed, but not purple this time. This time, a jet-black aura burned around the weapon.

A single tear fell down, and then, the purple in her eyes faded. The usual sparkles that danced around in her pretty eyes vanished as well. They had changed until only two lifeless orbs remained.

She didn't notice Makoto's eyes were identical to hers now. This could only mean one thing…

Both were dead inside.

Makoto would surely like this, Kotonoha thought as she admired herself in the mirror. She wore a nurse outfit, complete with a stethoscope around her neck and a cap. For a moment, she had been worried her pregnant belly would be too obvious, but it wasn't.

Hospital security was lacking here. Which was pretty ironic since this hospital was actually owned by Makoto's father.

In her nurse uniform, everyone let her roam free without asking questions.

Picking up the aura wasn't hard.

The fake nurse moved to the second floor and walked to the end of the hallway.

There was a cop in front of Sekai's door, but he was reading a magazine. He glanced up, saw her uniform and then went back to reading.

Kotonoha closed the door without making a sound and then walked towards the sleeping girl.

She had a huge scar on her face that was neatly stitched together. Saionji had probably lost sight in that eye. The thought gave her a perverse satisfaction.

Kotonoha took out the needle.

Sekai seemed to detect something. Her eyes slowly opened, but before she could do anything, she felt something. Something in her arm.

Injection? No, that wasn't possible. This was…

"Been a while, Saionji-san," a voice said.

Katsura? She tried moving, but her body did not respond. Then, she tried screaming, but no sound came out.

"Don't worry," Katsura's soothing voice said. "I'm not here to kill you. I was planning to initially I have to admit. I was gonna kill you and then kill myself, but something happened. Did you know that Makoto-kun and I have such a strong connection we can feel whether the other one is still alive?"

Sekai's eyes went wide.

"Oh yes, you probably thought you finished him, but he still lives. And you'll meet him soon enough. You see, I've decided what I'm gonna do with you. It's even more fun." She paused for effect. "You know what they do when a computer system crashes?" She waited for a response which obviously didn't come. "They restore it to the last version, back when it was working properly. So I've decided to restore you to the last version Makoto liked. How does that sound? Before you became a psychopath who tried to kill him, he kinda liked you. Not as much as me, obviously, but still, he enjoyed you. So we'll just have to restore you back there. What's wrong?" She smiled at the fear in Sekai's eyes. "You don't think he can do that? Oh, silly girl, of course he can. His hypnotic powers are infinite. Why shouldn't he be able to wipe some memories? What? His powers wear off over time? Well, we'll put you in a trance whenever they do. Hey, that's even more fun. I can't wait to see your face as you slowly start remembering what happened and then, just as you remember enough, we'll take those memories away again."

Her eyes were pleading now.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll get you out of here. And then I'll contact Makoto. You'll think he'll be happy with his new toy? I think he will. Boys like toys after all. He'll probably want to kiss me all over. Come on." She dragged Sekai out of the bed. There was a wheelchair ready near the bed.

Kotonoha strapped in Sekai with the belt.

"Oh," she said, leaning into her ear. "I know you're completely helpless, but if you so much as look the wrong way, you'll lose the other eye as well."

They went outside.

"Miss, where are you going?" The police officer asked.

"She needs some fresh air, we'll be back, don't worry."

"But, I have orders-"

"Now now, who is the nurse here? The doctor asked me to take a walk with her. The fresh air will do her good. You wait here, and we'll be back in a short while."

"Uhm, yes, of course. I'll just wait here then."

She pushed the wheelchair further in the hallway.

"Such a valiant protector," she mumbled. "If only he knew I was the one that gave you that wound."

They continued, down with the elevator and out the front door. No one stopped them or asked them any questions.

Kotonoha walked through the parking lot until she reached her shiny red convertible.

She put Sekai in the back and used the seat belt to strap her in place. Then, she folded the wheelchair and put it in the trunk.

The engine roared to live and they were gone.

It was even simpler than she had thought.

The drive wasn't that long. Kotonoha stopped in front of a large apartment in Motehara. Sekai was certain it was Motehara, since they had passed her own apartment a few minutes ago.

Sekai had idly hoped the drug would wear of and she could attack Kotonoha, but her muscles still didn't respond to her commands. She was helpless as Kotonoha took out the wheelchair again and put her in it.

They walked inside and took the elevator up.

Kotonoha opened the door of an apartment on the tenth floor.

"This apartment is owned by my father, but he never comes here, so we don't need to worry about visitors." The apartment was smaller than the previous one, but still quite big. Kotonoha put her prisoner on the bed. She took out something from a bag: a set of handcuffs and ankle cuffs.

Sekai was securely fastened to the iron frame of the bed. When Kotonoha was satisfied she couldn't move, she took out her phone and dialed a number.

Makoto had just finished putting on his trunks and was planning to go outside when he heard it.

His cellphone? Who could be calling him right now?

He took it out of his pants.

Kotonoha?

His heart started beating faster. He picked up.

"Kotonoha?" His voice was out of breath.

[Glad to hear you're still alive. Although I do have some questions as to how you did it.]

"My dad saved me. He used some kind of devil-method to resurrect me. I'm with them now, they seem to know more about my powers."

[Come see me once you're done. I'm in Motehara, at the old apartment from my dad.]

"I know where it is. I'll meet you there once I've learned enough about my powers."

[Be careful,] she warned him.

"I already learned something interesting. The first assassin is dead. The one with the wings."

[That's a relief, but there is still the other one.]

"And there might be more coming, that's why I need to learn how to use this power to defend myself. And if that fails, I have a backup plan."

[Gathering a harem of girls to defend you?]

"You know me way too well."

[I'm pregnant with your child, you should hope so.]

"Good point. So, what have you been up to lately?"

[I captured Sekai.]

"You what?"

[What did you expect? That I would just let her go?]

"I expected you would kill her."

[I was planning to, but then I thought of something better. You think you can use hypnosis to wipe some of her memories?]

"I suppose I could. Why?"

[Then you could make her return to the time when she was crazy in love with you and not just crazy like she is now.]

"That… you-" What the hell was she up to?

[You don't want a threesome with the both of us then?]

"Well, uhm, I suppose… we can talk about this later." He would be lying if he said he didn't want a threesome. But still, this was a bit… sudden.

[By the way, I'm wearing a nurse outfit right now. Don't keep me waiting for too long.]

"I won't, I promise. I just need to-"

"Uhm, Itou-kun?"

Asia stood in the doorway.

"Sorry, have to hang up."

[I love you.]

"Me too."

He hung up the phone.

"Sorry about that, an urgent call."

Asia shook her head. "Don't bother. How do I look?"

"It looks good on you," Makoto said. He looked at the baby-blue swimsuit. It was a fairly complicated design. The bottom was connected to the top through two iron rings on either side of her belly. Her top consisted of two V-shaped pieces tied together with a neat string. This exposed her entire belly and quite a large portion of her breasts. Not that they were that large, but still, Asia was a cute girl.

"Let's get outside."

They left the dressing room.

The pool at Kuou Academy had a simple design. An olympic pool with five starter blocks. He saw that there had been six once, but one of them was destroyed.

"What happened there?" He asked.

"Oh. Akeno-san and Rias-oneesama were fighting over Issei-san."

"This 'Issei-san'. You spoke of him before. Is he popular with the girls?"

"Well," she turned slightly red. "If I remember well, Rias-oneesama asked Issei-kun to rub sunscreen on her chest. Then, Akeno-san hugged him from behind and asked him the same thing. Then they started arguing and throwing demonic powers back and forth. So I guess… "

"And both of them were topless during all that?"

"Uhm, yeah."

"I guess that means they really like him. Do you like him?"

"I, uhm," she turned bright red. "A little bit."

"I see. He's probably jealous that I'm with you at the pool."

"He… he doesn't know. Azazel-sensei send him on a sword training mission with Xenovia-san."

"I see."

It was very strange that Issei was so popular with the girls they would fight over him. Not that Issei would ever match him when he released his powers, but still, he could be dangerous. And he seemed to be carrying some legendary weapon.

"The wounds are closing," Lara said.

"Yeah, looks to be that way," Caleb replied. "Tomorrow I will leave to execute my plan."

"You're too weak to fight."

"I'm not planning to fight."

"You think they'll just hand him over?"

"Something like that. Trust me, I have a plan."

"I trust you."

 The bat landed on his shoulder.

"I hope you found something, cause I haven't."

The red bat telepathically sent him images.

"Kuoh Academy?" Strange.

After Alex had regained consciousness he had followed the aura trail outside where it had split. His familiar had followed one trail and he had followed the other.

His path had let him to the first guy from the pictures, the original holder of the Cursed Gear. Apparently, some power still lingered in his body since his aura scent had been the strongest. His familiar had followed the weaker trail which apparently led to Kuoh Academy.

This boy was now technically part of his peerage although Alex hadn't been the one doing the resurrecting.

He had to go home. If the Cursed Gear was at Kuoh Academy, Rias-oneesama could use all the help she could get.

"Hey," Makoto shielded himself with his arms. The water splashed against him.

Asia laughed.

"Uhm," someone interrupted them.

"Oh," Asia looked up. "This is Akeno-san, our Queen."

"Hey."

The girl was a real beauty. She had a very buxom figure and black hair put in a ponytail which cascaded all the way down to her legs. She was dressed in her PE-uniform: bloomers and a white shirt.

"You mind if I join the two of you?" She asked.

"Of course not," Itou said. "Go ahead."

She smiled and took of her shirt. Beneath it, she wore bikini in shades of pink and purple. Her chest was really big, so big Itou couldn't help but wondering…

"Uhm, Akeno-san," he tried. "Can I ask you something… quite personal?"

"Ara ara," she smiled. "We just met and you're already asking for my three sizes."

"Well uhm," he looked away. "That is exactly what I wanted to ask. Only the first one actually."

She chuckled. "You're just like Issei, always thinking about perverted things."

"No, I uhm, just want to confirm something."

"Well why don't you make a guess?"

"102-60-84," he said immediately.

"That was quick," she said. "And almost correct. Its 102-60-89."

Almost the same as Kotonoha. That was why her figure looked so familiar to him.

"You're not comparing me with someone else, are you?" She asked.

"Of course not," he lied smoothly. "And if I was, I think you would win."

"Uhum," Asia interrupted them. "Can we get back to swimming?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

Two down. This would be easier than he expected. But he needed a catalyst if he wanted to use his real powers on them. And where would he find one here?

Part 1: three days before

"Thinking about the old times, Rias-oneesama?"

She looked up. "Oh, Alex. What are you… hey wait. How do you know what happened here?"

Alex sat down on the second swing. "I don't know what happened here. But I can sense a memory. A strong memory." Something must have happened on this swingset.

"Oh." She smiled sadly. "Actually it's not that special."

"It's fine if you don't want to tell me."

"I already told you: it's nothing special." She looked away. "Issei's first training session was right here. I woke him up at 4:30 and made him run here. Then he did some push-ups with me on top of him." She smiled. "You should have seen his hip movements. I think his thoughts were somewhere else."

Alex smiled as well. He could imagine it. Although he hadn't talked much with Issei-senpai, he had observed him a bit. Issei-senpai was very honest about his desires. A bit too honest perhaps.

"Times were simpler back then," Rias added.

"I don't think that's true," Alex said. "I heard what happened. Maybe it just seems a lot simpler in retrospect."

"Caleb came here," she changed the subject. "He's given us three days to hand over Itou or he'll take him by force."
"Can we stop him?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, at great cost. He's very powerful. Not to mention patient. Even if we stop him, he'll flee when it becomes obvious he'll lose."

"And then he can wait out a proper moment."

"Maybe even the next wielder. We need to deal with him now, or he'll succeed. It's just a matter of time."

"How does he know Itou is with us?"

"I have no idea. He must have some way to track the Gear." She searched her memory. Had Rayner mentioned something like that? Yeah he had. When they mentioned the Spiritforge was destroyed, Rayner had been confident Caleb would find Itou before he did. That would mean that he had some tracking method that was superior to the one fallen angels used.

"If we could find out how he did it, maybe there is a simple way to stop it," Alex said. "Then we can avoid a fight."

"If we could find that out. But I killed Rayner. Who else could possible know?"

"Maybe Itou-kun has a clue," he proposed.

"You trust him?"

"Not really. But he knows his life is in danger. He knows that unless Caleb is beaten, he'll never be save. And I do believe he can sense auras, so he also knows how strong we are and how strong Caleb is. The logical conclusion is that we are his best shot at defeating Caleb."

"That sounds very risky."

"You have a better idea?"

She did not have an answer to that.

"Sacred Gear?" Itou asked.

"Yeah," Akeno said. "You must have one, since Alex needed eight pawns to bring you back."

"I do, but I need something to make it appear."

"What do you need?" Asia asked. "I wanna see it."

"Well..."

"Itou Makoto." A blonde man interrupted them.

"Kiba-kun?" Asia looked confused.

"She wants to see you," Kiba said. "Right now."

Itou was quick. Before Kiba could react, he had taken Asia and put her in front of him as a shield. His arm was around her neck.

"Calm down," Kiba said. "She just wants to speak." His hand went to the handle of his sword.

"Well, I just want to make sure of something," Makoto said.

"I-Itou-kun," Asia struggled to speak.

"Shut up." His voice was suddenly very scary.

Itou bit his lip until he tasted blood.

"You're not that big, but I'll have to make do." His hand went down and roughly fondled her breast. She gasped, but seemed unable to make a sound.

His eyes locked on Akeno, who was stunned by this sudden display.

Kiba unsheathed his sword, but was unsure of what to do. What was going on here? Was Itou actually planning to…

Makoto's eyes emitted a blue light.
"You wanted to see it, didn't you?" He said, as he released her breast. A snake-bracelet coiled around his arm and bit its own tail. "Well, this is it." He grabbed her throat and released his powers. Blue sparkles ran through her, and then, her body went limp. Only his hands kept her from falling.

"If something happens to me," Makoto said. "If I am taken prisoner or die, you will kill yourself."

Asia didn't reply, but she didn't have to, he already knew his order would be retained. Of course, it would wear off eventually, but that would take some time. And there was no need to bother them with that information.

"Now then." He slowly put Asia down. "Please lead the way."

Kiba slowly put his sword back. "Take care of Asia," he said to Akeno.

The half fallen-angel nodded.

Both of them left.

"If Issei-kun finds out about this, he'll kill you."

"For what? Threatening to kill her or touching her breast?"

"Both."

The rest of the way they were silent. When they arrived at the clubroom, Kiba knocked once and then opened the door. The redhead was waiting for him, alone.

Kiba went to her and whispered something in her ear.

"He did what?" She exclaimed.

He whispered a few more sentences. Then, she nodded and dismissed him. The door closed behind him.

"So," Makoto said. "Why am I here?"

"Seems I have underestimated your powers," Rias said. "But maybe that's for the best."

"I'm not about to take any risks. You don't trust me."

"Indeed I don't."

"And my powers don't work on you."

"No, they don't." She looked away.

"Do you know why?" Her body language told him she did.

"I'm not allowed to tell you."

His bracelet sparkled and he felt a tingling sensation. Low current electricity, a warning. As his dad had said, he would have to find the answer on his own.

"Why am I here?" He asked again.

"I'll be honest with you. Caleb was here. The tall army-guy with his chain."

"Yeah, we met a few times." The most dangerous of the assassins.

"He wants you. Well, he wants the Cursed Gear inside of you."

"Obviously." What else could he want? What could anyone want from him except for his powers?

"We have people protecting you," Rias said. "But I'm not sure if it will be enough. If Caleb gets his hands on your powers, lots of people will die, innocent people."

"I don't particularly care about them."

"But you do care about yourself. If he takes your Cursed Gear out forcefully, you'll die. If you don't believe me, you can ask Asia, the one you threatened to kill."

"She already told me most of her story." Her point made sense. "It would seem that keeping this power in my body is in both of our interests. I'm not planning to die."

"I'm not planning to protect you forever while you sit around and seduce my friends."

"Then what are you planning?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm gonna defeat Caleb."

Itou's eyes narrowed. "Can you do that?"

"Kill him? Probably not. But…" She stood up and looked out of the window. "Lots of strong people are observing the Cursed Gear. Caleb is not unique in wanting that kind of power for himself. The real difference is that he is much stronger and has a way of locating the Cursed Gear before anyone else. Now, the first point we can't get around, but the second one is a different story."

"So you want to find out how he locates me? And find a way to stop him. Back when I was at Sakakino-"

"Doesn't work anymore. There was something disrupting everyone, but that's gone now. You must have felt it."

"Yeah, I think I did."

They were silent for a moment.

"Do you know how he does it?" Rias finally asked.

"No," Makoto said. "But I may have a way of finding out."
"We only have three days."

"I'll hurry up then." He stood up.

"One more thing," Rias said as he walked to the door.

"Yeah?"

"If you harm Asia, I'll kill you myself."

"Then I suggest you make sure I come out of this alive."

He went outside and took out his phone.

"Kotonoha? I need you to do something for me."

Part 2: two days before

"I've confirmed it," Makoto said. "It's his sword."

"Are you sure?" Rias asked.

"Yes." Under the right pressure, Sekai spilled everything. Kotonoha did have a lot of fun questioning her. At one point, she had threatened to cut out Sekai's remaining eye and even Makoto had feared she would actually do it. But it hadn't been necessary. Eventually, Sekai had broken down and confessed everything she knew.

"His sword allows him to track Sacred Gears as long as he knows the specific energy signature," Makoto added.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Azazel-sensei asked.

"I didn't know we had a choice," Alex said dryly. He looked at his Queen. "What do you think, Serana?"

"I uhm." She fidgeted in her seat. "We should probably trust him. Why would he lie?"

"You're strong," Alex said, eying Makoto. He didn't seem pleased with the reply of his Queen. Although he couldn't deny her point made sense. Like he had said before: it was in his own best interest to help them.

"It's growing every day," Makoto said. "It's well beyond my control by now."

Now that he mentioned it, Azazel felt the air around him was loaded with magic. It leaked out of Itou's body in pulsing moves.

"If his sword is the key," Rias said. "All we need to do is take it from him."

"No," Azazel said. "There is a connection between him and that weapon. He'll find his sword no matter where you hide it. You mentioned it before, Caleb is patient. What if he takes it back in ten years? We'll start all over again?"

"That leaves us only one option then," Serana said. "We have to destroy it."

"Is that possible?" Makoto asked.

"I don't know," Rias said. "Kiba did it once, but that wasn't a complete sword." She turned to the fallen angel general. "Azazel?"

"Now that God is dead, the balance between holy and demonic powers is brittle. Theoretically it could be done, but we're talking about the Devourer here."

"Theoretically?"

"If you have a stronger weapon, you can break it, similar to what Kiba did with Freed. But this is a complete weapon, and not just any weapon. Maybe the ultimate Holy Sword, Collbrande could do it, but even then."

Collbrande? She had heard that before. "That's Arthur's sword. From team Vali."

"Yeah," Azazel confirmed. "But it's just a guess. And Vali is currently busy, we won't get him here in time."

"There has to be a way."

"I may have an idea," Azazel said. "But I can't guarantee you anything."

"Whatever it is, do it," Rias said. "We don't have any other options left."

"If I don't return in time," Azazel said. "We'll have to fight him with what we have. Excalibur was broken using Kiba's blade, so that is probably our best hope. We have Ascalon, Durandal and Kiba's Balance Breaker. Maybe that will be enough if we combine them."

"I'll get them together," Rias said.

Azazel nodded and then summoned a transportation magic circle.

Part 3: one day before

"What are we even training for?" Issei asked as he dodged Xenovia's strike.

"Maybe there is a rating game," Xenovia suggested.

"I still think it's weird," Issei said. "She suddenly sends the two of us away to train all by ourselves without any explanation. And now that message."

"Make sure to train with Ascalon and Durandal. I'll get you guys tomorrow. Yeah, I admit, a strange message."

"If there was a rating game, why doesn't she just tell us?"

"Look, Issei. We should just trust in our King. I don't know what's going on either, but I trust in Buchou. Don't you trust her?"

"Of course I do."

"Well then. She'll explain everything, when the time is right. And I'm happy I have you all to myself for a change."

"I know you are."

She still went on about her whole 'let's make babies' thing. It had taken him all his willpower to stop her not so subtle attempts at seducing him.

"I went to the ruined Spiritforge to speak with the High Priestess," Azazel said.

"And?" Rias asked.

"According to her, destroying it with a normal Sacred Gear or Holy Sword will be very hard to do. All of these things were created by God at the Spiritforge, so they align. It's hard to explain. Because their origin is identical, they have a hard time destroying one another, too similar so to speak."

"So what do we do?"

"There are a few Sacred Gears which were not created by God or not even at the Spiritforge. My Downfall Dragon Spear for example is an artificial Sacred Gear. Unfortunately, it's not strong enough for this. The Devourer will, well, devour it. What we need is a curse-type weapon that doesn't allow him to absorb the power, like the Curse Writer Rayner used, although that one is a regular Sacred Gear of course."
"And gone," Rias added. "I killed Rayner after all."

"There are a few powerful Sacred Gears created by a spirit of vengeance, Nemesis. They have a different aura-type so they might be able to damage his sword."

Nemesis?

That made sense. Nemesis was the one who had created the Cursed Gear, the Greek vengeance spirit from the story. So it wasn't that much of a stretch to assume she had created other Sacred Gears as well, or more accurately: Cursed Gears.

"Can we get our hands on one of those?" Rias asked.

Azazel shrugged. "Only two have been described, both lost: Vengeance Blade and Yandere Dozuki. I doubt we can-"

"What did you say?" Makoto interrupted them. "The second one?"

"Yandere Dozuki?"

"Dozuki," he slowly repeated. "The hand-saw used by Japanese carpenters?"

"Yeah, that's its form. Do you know who holds it?"

"I have a suspicion."

"Will that person fight for us?" Rias asked.

"I'll have no trouble convincing her."

"That still won't be enough," Azazel interjected. "It's power is insufficient as long as the limiter is present."
"You mean we need a Forbidden Move? A Balance Breaker?"

"Yeah."
"How does that work?" Makoto asked.

"A certain mental state is required. A state which will make the wielder push. Something that makes them go against the natural flow of the world."
Makoto pondered on that. Back when he had 'died', something like that had happened. Kotonoha's aura had changed to pitch-black and become exponentially stronger. Had that been a Balance Breaker? It had to be.

He swallowed hard. "There is a way. But it's risky."

"What are you planning?"

"We'll have to fake my death."

"Okay," Azazel said. "Let's go over the plan one more time."

"When Caleb arrives, Issei, Kiba and Xenovia will try to stop him with their Holy Swords," Rias said. "They probably won't win, but you never know and regardless, we need to contest him one way or another, or he'll grow suspicious."
"If he defeats them, he'll go into the old school building," Azazel said. "That's where we'll keep Itou."

"I'll hold Itou hostage here," Rias said. "And when Caleb arrives I tell him I've found a solution and stab It-… Makoto."

"Be very careful where you stab him," Azazel said. "It has to look as if he is going to die, but don't actually kill him."

"Yeah, I'd prefer it if you didn't actually kill me either," Makoto said. "Or stabbed me for that matter."

"Anyway," Azazel brought them back. "You hypnotised Katsura-san. She'll wake up when you get stabbed. Upon seeing you supposedly dead, she'll go into Balance Breaker and break Caleb's sword. Then, Asia comes out of hiding and heals your wound before you actually die. If anything goes wrong…"

"We'll come in," Alex said. "With the cavalry: Sirzechs, Michael, Dulio Gesualdo…"

"Let's hope it doesn't come that far," Azazel said. "But if the plan fails, we can't let Caleb leave the building, no matter the cost."

Part 4: the fight

"Are you sure about this?" Rias asked. She looked at the vacant expression of the girl with silky black hair.

"Of course I am," Makoto said. "She's hypnotised completely. She'll wake up just after you've stabbed me."

Kotonoha did not resist as they dragged her into the shower room (next to the clubroom).

Asia got in as well. She seemed nervous, which made sense.

"Remember," Rias said to Asia. "You'll have to come in fast so he doesn't bleed to death. But not too fast, Katsura-san needs to break Caleb's sword first. Her Balance Breaker might vanish when she realises we've tricked her."

"If the plan should fail," Makoto told her. "Climb down through the window." He handed her a rope.

"I…" she hesitantly accepted the rope.

"I don't want you to get caught up in the fight," Makoto said. "If the plan fails, it'll be a fight to the death. You don't have to be part of that."

"T-Thanks," she managed to say.

"Since when do you care about her?" Rias asked as they went back to the clubroom.

"I'm trying to win your trust," Makoto said. "Given you'll stab me with a knife later, I wouldn't want you to 'accidentally' stab me somewhere else than planned."

"The thought hadn't crossed my mind," she said dryly. Her hand went to her ear. "Is everyone in position?"

[Team A, standby,] Sirzechs said.

[Team B, standby.] That was Michael-sama and Dulio Gesualdo, the trump card of heaven.

[Team C, standby.] Xenovia-san with the other Holy Sword users. They hadn't told them everything. She had told Issei Caleb was planning to get Alex. They were supposed to keep him busy for a while and hopefully weaken him. Of course, team C knew there was a trap and Caleb would be locked inside the building, only they didn't know that was actually plan B, nor did they know about Makoto being their actual target.

[Team Darkness, standby.]

"Stop messing around, Azazel-sensei."

[I still think we should have cooler names for our teams. 'Team D' come on, at least the D should stand for something.]

[It's short for 'Rias wants the D',] Xenovia said. [Strange Issei isn't in team D.]

"Enough joking around. He'll be here any minute."

[You think he'll just fall for our trap?] Issei asked. [I mean, we kinda count he'll just walk in through the front door, but-]

"He's confident in his abilities, Issei. He'll fall for it. Caleb may be a man of strategy and patience, but once he's actually in the battle, he tends to charge right ahead without thinking. A bit like you actually."

Outside, they heard heavy footsteps thump on the ground.

Caleb came strolling towards them. He was dressed in his usual attire: dark skinny jeans, a white shirt and a leather jersey that seemed to be taken from a biker. A steel chain dangled from his hip, as usual. His black boots shined in the early morning light. Across his shoulder was a massive blade with a scary aura.

Caleb stopped in front of them.

"There is still time to step aside," he said. "I know he's in there and no one will stop me. Anyone who surrenders will be spared."

Issei made a fist. His Boosted Gear was already present. "Blade," he whispered. In a bright flash, Ascalon appeared, the handle was fused with his Boosted Gear.

"We're not stepping aside," Xenovia said. Durandal was shaking in her hands.

"There are thing we have to protect," Kiba added. His holy-demonic sword appeared in front of him.

"Too bad," Caleb said. "But well, let's make this short, shall we? I have stuff to do." He stabbed his sword down in the ground. A shockwave went through the earth which threw them all of their feet. Issei landed hard. His free hand managed to break his fall, but it made an unsettling sound and pain was sent through his body in waves. He had probably broken his wrist, or at the very least sprained it. As they regained their footing, Caleb casually took of his leather jacket and put it down. Then, he took his weapon with both hands and had ample time left to block Xenovia's strike. In one smooth move, he spun around and slammed his blade down. Xenovia blocked in time, but her arms were shaking. Clearly, it was taking all her effort to block the weapon. Said weapon slowly pushed closer and closer to her face.

Kiba joined her and forced Caleb to retreat a step, but it was only a momentary relief.

Even three against one, they stood no chance. Caleb was incredibly fast and managed to block all their strikes. They could do the same, but every parry took their full strength, which quickly wore them down.

Xenovia was already breathing hard and they had hardly exchanged a couple blows with the Angel of Vengeance.

Eventually, she made a mistake, Caleb closed in and elbowed her in the face. Blood spurted out of her nose.

She retreated and clutched her bleeding nose.

Issei took her place, but he wasn't that good at battling with swords. Caleb slipped under his defenses and slashed across his chest.

The wound wasn't mortal, but enough to incapacitate Issei for the remainder of the fight.

Kiba was momentarily alone now. He was battling with a blade in each hand, none of which could hit Caleb.

Xenovia joined him again. Together, they drove Caleb back a few steps.

"Enough of this," Caleb growled. He made a wide swing with his sword.

Kiba blocked, but the swing also held aura. A wave of magical power knocked both of them back. They crashed against the old school building, almost going through the wall. Big cracks were running upwards.

Kiba had taken most of the damage. He was bleeding heavily, but the soft heaving of his chest told her he was still alive.

Xenovia got on her feet. She had seen stars for a moment and her muscles screamed everywhere.

"Step aside, girl," Caleb said. "A second strike will kill you."

"Bastard," she mumbled. Blood bubbled out of her mouth. "I'll find you again, and take my vengeance." Durandal fell down on the pavement.

"Sure you will," Caleb said. He made another swing with his sword, but not at Xenovia.

The wooden doors were blasted out of their hinges.

Caleb casually stepped inside over the ruined doors.

Now, he had to find a staircase. The aura he was looking for was on the second floor.

[He's coming,] Xenovia said into her communication circle once he was out of sight. [Oh, and we'll need some healing later on I think.]

"Understood."

Moments later, the door was kicked in. Rias had taken her position in front of the only other door leading to the shower room. She held Makoto in a chokehold with a knife in her free hand. The same way Makoto had held Asia not that long ago.

"I see you've made your decision," Caleb said.

"Indeed," Rias said. "I have." She put her knife on Itou's throat.

"Don't be silly," Caleb said. "If you kill him I'll just find the next holder."

"And what if we just kill all the heirs?"

"There's too many of them," Caleb argued.

"We'll see about that."

Now was the moment.

She had to stab him, right now, before Caleb grew suspicious. Yet, for some reason, she hesitated.

The weapon found its way between two ribs.

Rias gasped. Her own weapon fell down on the floorboards.

What the hell? How…

Warm blood seeped out of her and her vision grew hazy.

"Kotonoha? What are you doing?" Makoto demanded.

"Buchou!" Asia knelt down next to Rias. A green aura appeared around her.

Caleb took his chance and swung his sword.

Kotonoha stood in front of her boyfriend and lifted her weapon. A semi-transparent shield appeared around her. The holy aura was blocked completely. Although he could swear the shield had flickered a few times.

"I don't understand," Makoto said. "How… she was in trance, so…"

"You're an idiot," Kotonoha said. She was battling Caleb now.

"You're the idiot . If you knew what I was planning, why did you stop me? You can't defeat him without a Balance Breaker."

"Because I couldn't bear to see you hurt."

He opened his mouth, didn't know what to say and then closed it again.

What if…

The Cursed Gear was some kind of love power. It made girls fall in love with him. When he used his hypnosis powers he could take this pretty far and make them do whatever he wanted. But Kotonoha had defied him, multiple times. Even though she knew his plan was solid and would probably work, she still charged ahead without thinking rationally. There really was only one reason why she would do that.

She was in love with him.

"My powers," Makoto slowly said.

"How could I possible love you more than I already do?"

His powers had nothing to do with this. She just… loved him.

Makoto's entire body emitted blue light, stronger than ever before. Electricity crackled around him, but it didn't hurt.

He instinctively understood what had happened. His father had urged him to find the answer, and now that he had, the Cursed Gear had fulfilled its purpose.

The bracelet hovered in front of him for a moment, and then it went up, through the ceiling and was gone.

Caleb howled in rage and violently swung his sword.

Kotonoha was thrown back and landed next to Makoto.

"Are you okay?"

She smiled. "Time for my Balance Breaker."

"But-"

She pressed her lips on his. He felt her power.

Her aura changed from purple to black.

She released him and stood up. The black of her weapon was leaking out and formed scales around her belly and then up around her curvy breasts and waist.

Caleb took a step back, fear evident on his face. Makoto's gear was gone so there was nothing left for him here.

He turned to the door.

"Going somewhere?" A voice asked. Sirzechs blocked the doorway. He was dressed in his armor.

"You," Caleb hissed. "I'll take you on as well."

"I'm your opponent," Kotonoha said. She jumped in front of him and attacked. She was now dressed in a full scale armor, completely back with a few purple accents.

They sparred for a moment. Caleb's sword was shaking heavily every time their weapons connected, but it didn't break.

Then, she spotted it. A small nick three-quarters of the way down. A weakness in the weapon. It must have been one of those three fighters below. One of them had created a weakness which hadn't been there previously. A weakness she intended to exploit.

Kotonoha swung her weapon. She hit the little nick. Cracks appeared in the steel. Caleb looked with a horrifying expression as the cracks grew. The blade splintered like glass. Shards rained down on the floor and Caleb was only holding a handle with a few inches of steel now.

Black smoke rolled out of the steel.

An explosion shook the entire room. The black smoke was everywhere now.

People screamed and Kotonoha thought she heard a window breaking.

It took a few minutes before the smoke cleared and by then Caleb was gone. The metal shards of his Holy Sword were still on the floor, but he had disappeared.

A window had indeed broken. Most likely, Caleb had jumped through it.

"I'll send out search parties," Sirzechs said. From his tone, she guessed he wasn't confident they would actually find Caleb.

"It doesn't matter," Rias said. "His weapon is destroyed, now he's just a stray angel. Not our concern anymore." She turned to Asia. "I think Issei and the others need healing too."

Asia nodded and went outside.

"That went reasonably well," Makoto said. "Not according to plan, but well."

"Sorry for stabbing you," Kotonoha said to Rias. Her armor was gone, as was the dozuki.

"Get out of here, idiots," Rias snapped.

"Come, Kotonoha." He grabbed her hand and they went outside.

"Isn't he technically part of Alex-kun's peerage?" Sirzechs asked.

"I don't think any of them wants that."

"Still, eight pawns wasted."

"Not exactly." She walked to her desk and found, as she had expected, pawns.

"He was resurrected with eight pawns," she said. "But as with Issei, most of those were actually for his Sacred Gear. So when it was forced out, the pawns were forced out along with it," Rias explained.

"Then why are there only six of them?"

"Six?" She counted them. He was right. "Strange. I'm guessing there is still one is his body, but where is the second one?"

"I could ask him."

"Don't bother, you'll never find him again."

Sirzechs was silent for a moment. "I have work to do," he said eventually. "Caleb was not the only one who wanted to get his hands on that Cursed Gear. We need to start searching for the next wielder before our enemies find him."

She nodded. "I'll see you around then, Onii-sama."

"I'll come to visit again, don't worry."

She was left alone in the room.

It was over, she realised. It was finally over.

She smiled. Alex was right. In retrospect, it wasn't that big of a deal.

The door opened. "Buchou?" Issei walked up to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Listen, Issei. I need to tell you some things. Actually, not just you."

"Wait, where are we going?" the miko asked.

"Alaska," Caleb replied. "I would suggest you wear clothes."

"What are we gonna do there?"

"There is a second Spiritforge over there. I'll see if I can forge another Holy Sword."

"But, the Devourer-"

"Is lost, true. But I can forge a regular Holy Sword."

"To do what?"

"Exorcisms," he said casually.

"You're gonna be an exorcist?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna protect people against vampires and evil spirits. Is that a problem?" What else was he supposed to do? With the main source of his powers gone, he couldn't fight Sacred Gear users anymore. So he could only circle back to the initial reason he was created: to protect humanity.

"Can I be your assistant?"

"Sure."

"Will you forge me a sword as well?"

He smiled. "Of course."

"I still can't believe you kept all of this secret," Akeno said. "I'm your Queen."

"What was I supposed to do?" Rias argued. "All of you were busy with Itou and Issei would have been way too jealous to act normally."

"You bet I would be," Issei said.

"Ara ara, Issei-kun," Akeno said seductively. "I think I would have liked that. Two strong boys fighting over me."

"I thought the effects of the Cursed Gear wore off?" Rias said. It had been quite some time since Itou had left them.

"I still think he was kinda cute," Akeno admitted. "And I don't think his Cursed Gear had anything to do with that."

Issei grit his teeth.

"Don't worry, Issei," Rias said. "There won't be any more males coming here. Especially now that Alex is gone."

They were all silent for a moment.

After the events with Caleb, Alex had announced he would go to Europe. He had mentioned something about vampires in Romania, but it was clear he didn't really want to talk about it. Maybe he wanted a peerage filled with hot vampires.

Whatever the case, he had left a few days after the fight with Caleb.

"I thought your powers were supposed to wear off," Kotonoha said.

"I thought so too." Makoto said. "You think I damaged her memories too much?"

Kotonoha shrugged. "Whatever."

Sekai handed them their drinks. Her face was devoid of expression and her eyes were blank. She looked like a walking doll. All her memories seemed to be gone.

Makoto leaned back in his chair. "I still have something else to do tonight."

"A different girl?" Kotonoha asked.

"Of course not. You're the only one for me."

"Who are you going to see then?"

"My uncle."

"Oh, I see. For him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm going there too later. Kokoro wants to see me."

"I'll see you there then." He kissed her forehead and went outside.

His sandals made dull noises on the cool sand. A breeze of cool air went past him.

Summer was almost over.

The lad entered the beach cafe.

A girl greeted him.

"Good afternoon, welcome to Radi-" her voice trailed off. "Itou-kun?" she cocked her head.

"How are you, Kiyoura-san?" Makoto said, looking at his classmate. She was dressed in a skimpy cat-uniform complete with ears and tail. It was pink with dirty white.

Kiyoura blushed pink as well. "I'm fine. Hey, do you know what happened to Sekai? She went missing."

"I don't think she'll be coming back," Makoto said.

"How do you know that?" She cocked her head, looking even more like a cat.

He paused for a second. "I heard some rumours."

Kiyoura nodded. "I'll take you to your table."

She guided him through the tables to the terras.

"What would you like to order?" she asked once he had sat down.

"Parfait. A peach parfait."

She looked stunned for a full second. Then she nodded. "Of course."

The girl went off.

A few seconds later, another customer entered.

He was in his mid thirties and dressed in a pink shirt with a gold necklace dangling off his neck.

"Good afternoon," Setsuna greeted him. "Welcome to Radish. Shall I lead you to an empty table?"

"No need," the man said.

He walked past her and out to the terras.

Then, he sat down opposite of Makoto.

"I didn't believe it at first," he said, without introduction. "But here you are. You've broken the curse."

"Just as you have." Makoto said, looking up. "Tell me. Who was it?"

The man pointed at three girls.

Makoto knew them. Karen-chan and her two friends, Futaba and Kazuha. They were young. Really young. Young enough to be his daughters, and, quite ironically, two of them were. But the man did not know that, and there was no need to tell him.

"You?" he asked.

Makoto pointed at Kotonoha, who was sitting with her little sister a few tables further.

"She's pretty," the man commented.

"Aye."

"Do you know where the Sacred Gear will move now?"

Makoto nodded. "Taisuke."

"Is he…?"

"Yes. He's the son of Ayumi-san. Grandson of Sawagoe Tomaru."

"You think he can manage it?"

"I don't know," Makoto admitted. "But we can't help him, not directly. The curse will never allow that. He will win, or he will die."

"You lost before, but you were granted a second chance."

"Yes." He took out a red chess piece. It was a pawn. "He'll get a second chance as well, if necessary. I'll take care of that."

The older man nodded. "Then we can only wish him good luck."

"Here's your parfait," Setsuna said, trying to smile.

"Still practising your smile are you?" Makoto asked.

"A little," she admitted.

"Can I get you anything?" She asked the older man.

"No thanks."

She bowed and left them.

"I was a manager here once," Shun said

"I heard," Makoto replied.

"Why did you order a parfait?" He changed the subject.

"It's not for me."

At that point, two more people entered. One of them ran towards them.

"Onii-chan." Itaru hugged her brother.

"I got you a parfait," he said.

She smiled broadly and started eating it.

"I see everyone is here," another voice said. Tomaru sat down with them as well.

"What is he doing here?" Shun asked.

"I called him," Makoto said simply. "He's broken the curse too."

"On who I wonder," Shun said.

"Look," Tomaru said. "That lad can use all the help he can get. People will want to take that power from him. It's up to us to protect him and help him find his Echo."

"It's Kuroda," Makoto said. "I'm sure of it."

"Well," Shun said. "Let's get on with it then."

Makoto took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, Taisuke. You want to go swimming this weekend?"

[Who's coming?]

"I've invited some girls." Kotonoha could probably convince Kuroda.

[All right. Count me in.]

Makoto stood up. "Come on," he said. "We have work to do."