Author's Notes:

Merry Christmas guys!

After a year and half away, I've finally returned to writing. Hopefully you missed my stories just as much as I missed writing them.

I won't clutter the AN with the reasons why I've been away (please look at my profile if you're interested), but I've finally managed to get some free time to start writing in a regular basis again. Disregarding any unforeseen circumstances, I expect to release a new chapter for my main stories every couple of months or so (if not more frequently). So expect more future updates before long.

I'll be spending the next couple of days answering any questions on my forums, followed by the backlog of PMs I haven't replied to. So if you have any questions please feel free to pop on in.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter (I worked my ass off trying to get it out in time for the holidays), and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy holidays wherever you are in the world.

And now, onto the story.

---

Chapter 25: The Destined Fight

---

"I…" The voice of Rias Gremory broke the awkward silence that gripped the room, only to drift off almost as soon as she had begun.

It took a genuine effort to pull my attention from the couch we were all starting at, or more precisely from the pair sitting on it, but somehow, I managed to gather the will to drag my eyes away and spare a quick glance to my right, where the young Gremory heiress stood not an arm's length away.

Unlike every other encounter I'd had with her on the school grounds, the red-haired Devil was not wearing her usual school uniform. Instead she was dressed in a white and maroon coloured tracksuit. Considering that the first round of the Young Devils Gathering was about to begin in a couple of days' time, I'd wager she had been in the middle of some last-minute training when she answered my summons and hadn't bothered to change.

Chin held in her right hand, while the left cradled the other arm's elbow, the red-haired Devil gazed at the scene before her with an utterly dumbfounded look on her face, her head tilted slightly to one side as if that would help her make better sense of what was happening.

To be fair, I was pretty sure I was wearing a pretty similar expression on my face.

"I…" She began once more, only to stop again. A second later she shook her head and pointed at the scene that held the attention of the entire room. "…I have no idea what I'm looking at."

That wasn't much of a surprise. There were just so many things wrong with this picture that I was also having trouble processing it all. And by looks on the faces of the others in the room, they too seemed to face the same problem.

"I think," I ventured, turning back to stare at what she was pointing at, "and I'm only guessing, but I think that Karasuba just might be a cat lover."

That might have been a bit of an understatement, if anything.

Karasuba was lounging on the couch before us, her eyes closed in what appeared to be total contentment. Her legs were tucked partially beneath her and to one side, completely restored along with the rest of the injuries she had acquired over the course of our fight. All in all, she looked remarkably healthy for someone who had been missing both of her lower limbs less than a day ago. However, it wasn't her legs that had us so mystified.

It was what was sitting in her lap.

Or more precisely, who.

"…Help me."

Trapped in Karasuba's embrace, Shirone's face had turned a ghostly white, nearly matching the shade of her hair, her whole body trembling so much from within the confines of the elder Hyoudou twin's arms that she almost seemed to vibrate. Her chin would occasionally wobble, valiantly fighting back the urge to cry while her bright yellow eyes darted around the room, shining even brighter from the tears that threatened to spill any second.

"…Please," Shirone pleaded, gazing up at us with wide, desperate eyes while her voice quavered with fear, coming out little more than a strangled whisper, "…help me."

Seeing no one moving to help, she once more drew a trembling, terrified breath and pleaded in a voice hardly above a whisper, just as her eyes gave up the fight and a lone tear ran down the side of her cheek.

"Somebody…anybody…. please, help me."

Unfortunately, her desperate actions only seemed to entice her tormenter as Shirone soon discovered when the arms wrapped around her tightened their hold even more, causing the poor Nekomata to squeak in terror.

Under ordinary circumstance I would have been among the first to leap in to help, but seeing as the cause of her distress was my newly-minted Queen, it made the predicament a little more complex.

It didn't help that while all of this was going on Karasuba was…well, purring.

I swear on my very soul I'm not making this up. Karasuba was honest to goodness purring, as if she was some kind of overgrown feline. Even now she was happily nuzzling her face into the crown of Shirone's snow white hair, a look of contentment upon her face as she blocked the rest of the world out.

The same couldn't be said for her...well, normally I would say cuddle buddy, but seeing as the 'cuddle buddy' in question was currently terrified out of her wits from having Karasuba so close to her person, it might be more accurate to call her Karasuba's victim. And seeing as Karasuba's already inhuman strength was further enhanced with her transformation into my Queen, well, there was nothing that the tiny Rook could do but tremble from head to toe within the deceptively slender arms that held her captive.

When Gremory told me that Shirone kept fleeing whenever Karasuba was nearby, I had always figured she had been scared away by her raw power or maybe even her maddened battle lust. Turns out there may have been more to it than anyone expected. Knowing what I know now, I don't blame her in the slightest for wanting to run away. I knew very well how it felt to be on the other end of Karasuba's obsession.

Unfortunately for the white-haired Nekomata, she hadn't noticed Karasuba was close by until it was far too late.

Karasuba's entire presence had been drastically altered by her reincarnation into a Devil, making her all but unrecognisable to esoteric senses when compared to her previous self. Which meant that the little Nekomata had no way of knowing that Karasuba was waiting in the Student Council room with me until she stepped into the room and saw her with her own two eyes. If she had known, I sincerity doubt she would have so brazenly strode into the room ahead of the rest of the group, tail and ears out in the open in her excitement.

Shirone barely had a split second to widen her eyes in terror before Karasuba pounced.

And now, the newest member of my Peerage held the terrified girl in her grasp, her arms wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her to the front of her chest as she buried her face in hair, blissfully nuzzling against the Nekomata, paying no heed as Shirone whimpered and trembled like a leaf.

It was the morning after my fight and subsequent recruitment of Karasuba, and after a long night to recover from our wounds, I decided it was time to deal with the consequences of what had happened. Which was why we were all gathered in the Student Council's office after I had asked the two young Heiresses to join me here.

The Red Dragon Emperor had been reincarnated as a Devil, and considering the last time that happened it resulted in the greatest disaster to befall Devil-kind since the Civil War, I knew I had to act fast unless I wanted things to spiral out of control.

Luckily, for once in my life I actually had a plan… of sorts.

First things first; run damage control, and try and stall for time until I could finish setting things up.

With that in mind, I contacted both Sona and Gremory, the only two Kings outside of myself that knew of Karasuba's existence, and asked them to meet up with me in the human world as soon as possible. Fortunately, the official start of the Young Devils Gathering was still a couple of days away, so it wasn't too difficult to persuade them to come back to Earth – especially when I told them Karasuba was involved.

However, it looked like they had ended up picking up a few unexpected tagalongs with them. Among whom was Ilya, much to my surprise. My deceptively young-looking sister had thankfully decided to forego whatever clothing Serafall had given her and came dressed in her usual style of clothing.

At the moment she was kneeling on the ground beside the couch, clearly enjoying Shirone's predicament with a large grin, making no attempt to hide her delight. Her eyes, however, did not remain on Shirone alone, and she seemed to constantly alternate between snickering at Shirone's predicament and gazing up at Karasuba with unconcealed awe, mouthing what sounded suspiciously like 'Berserker' to herself every couple of seconds.

I tried very hard not to dwell on that.

Standing not too far away from me, a little way behind his King, was the only other male Devil in the room: Issei.

The young Pawn's mouth hung open as he stared at his sister with a look that was a cross of utter disbelief and clear abject terror, seemingly petrified, his face white as a sheet. I wasn't sure whether it was her transformation into a Devil that caused this reaction, or if it was the cloak of power she openly now wore, hovering just barely below that of Sona or Gremory, and that was without the use of her Sacred Gear.

I wonder if he knew that Reincarnated Devils were at their weakest in the days following their reincarnation, their new bodies not yet having adjusted to handling the influx of power provided by the Evil Pieces inside of them, and that in the coming days her power would only continue to grow, steadily rising as her body adapted to its new form.

Probably not, and I wasn't about to tell him. The poor kid didn't look like he would take the news well. Not that I could blame him considering the relationship between the two. As it was it was unlikely he would contribute to the conversation until his shock wore off.

Then of course there was Akeno whose reaction was the oddest out of everyone in the room, and by far the most disturbing, and that was saying something.

The raven-haired girl was standing at little bit to one side of everyone, blankly gazing at Karasuba as she held a trembling Shirone with a peculiar expression on her face that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

It was odd, how the usually talkative Queen had not uttered so much as a single word since she had entered the room. Instead she simply gazed at my newly reborn Queen, an absent smile on her lips, not once looking away. Though unlike her fellow Peerage member she did not appear tense… rather she seemed almost too relaxed as she stared at Karasuba. Her eyes were glazed over, her cheeks flushed, lips slighted parted and she looked more than a little bit out of it.

After trying and failing to guess what was going on in the Gremory Queen's mind, I shook my head and looked away. I had a feeling that, whatever it was, it would be something disturbing, and I really couldn't deal with anything more at the moment. I already had enough to deal with as it was.

The final occupant of the room was standing beside me, her face set in a mask so expressionless that it might as well had been carved from stone for all that it revealed.

"Shirou." Her familiar voice, cool and collected as always, broke the silence that fell over the room.

Glancing to my left, I took in the sight of Sona Sitri as she too stared at Karasuba.

The second of Kuoh Academy's Devil heiresses was, unlike her red-headed counterpart, dressed in a freshly pressed and ironed school uniform despite the school being closed for the holidays. Not a hair or button was out of place as she presented her usual image of the impeccable Student Council President. Not that it came as much of surprise to anyone who knew her.

"Shirou." Sona's voice was tranquil and deceptively calm, her eyes never once looking away from Karasuba.

"Yes?"

"There is a Dragon sitting on my couch." She spoke lightly, sounding to all the world as if she were talking about the weather for all the inflection in her voice.

"No, wait." Sona held up a finger, cutting me off before I could reply. Her eyes narrowed slightly before she gave herself a tiny nod and adjusted her glasses. "It seems that I was mistaken, there isn't a Dragon sitting on my couch." She paused. "There is demonically empowered Dragon sitting on my couch."

A day earlier, it would have been easy to pass off Karasuba as an ordinary human at first glance. Even a second or third glance might have failed to reveal anything out of the ordinary. Her magical reserves had been so tiny that most would not have been able to notice it was there. Passing her by on the street, even the most skilled sensors would have been hard-pressed to notice her true nature.

Now?

Now there was no hiding what Karasuba had become.

"Yes." I nodded densely, knowing exactly what was coming and feeling no desire to hurry along the confrontation. "Yes, there is."

"Shirou." This time there was a hint of something leaking into her voice, and Sona must have caught her slip because she paused and took a moment to collect herself. Taking a deep breath through her nose, Sona regained her self-control before continuing. "Why," she couldn't help stressing the word, "is there a demoniacally empowered Dragon sitting on my couch?"

"See, that's kind of the reason why I called the both of you over."

For the first time since she had stepped into the room Sona looked away from Karasuba, slowly turning her head towards me to level an unamused gaze in my direction. "Explain."

"Well," I began, suddenly feeling oddly nervous of the tiny slip of a girl who was less than half my weight and whose head didn't quite manage to reach my shoulders. "You remember when you told me to take care of the Karasuba problem?"

"Yes," she replied blandly. "I remember that conversation vividly."

I waved an arm towards Karasuba. "Well, I took care of it."

If someone had told me that Sona's face had turned to stone at that moment, I would have believed them.

For a long, tense minute, Sona simply stared up at me, unblinking. Then slowly, almost mechanically, Sona shut her eyes and took another deep, calming breath. "I see."

A second later, she snapped

"What-did-you-do?!" Sona screamed, whirling on me as she punctuated each word with a surprisingly painful slap on my shoulder. I gave a half-hearted effort in blocking her hands as Sona, driven by righteous fury, still managed to land every hit as she strode forward, driving me backwards. "I told you to take care of the bloodthirsty city-destroying monster wandering in my town, and what did you do?" All her usual composure lost, the Sitri heiress all but shrieked, "You make her even stronger! What were you thinking? No, Really! What were you thinking!?"

Before I could even think of saying something in my defence, Sona suddenly paused. "No. No, wait." She held up a hand. "I'm not being fair. This isn't your fault."

"It isn't?" I blinked, nonplussed. Actually, I was pretty certain this was entirely my fault for once.

"No." Sona shook her head and pulled out a chair from a nearby table. "Clearly this is my fault."

Dropping herself into the chair, Sona buried her face in her hands. "What could I have possibly been thinking sending you to fix a problem? You're my sister's Queen, the damn woman who actually believes that the power of friendship is an actual thing, and who, with all seriousness, once claimed that you can turn any enemy into a friend if you punch them in the face long and hard enough. So of course, you'd somehow manage to befriend the breathing walking weapon of mass destruction who was actively trying to kill you. You're every bit as crazy as she is!"

Before I even had a chance to take offence at the insinuation that I was anywhere near as crazy as Serafall, which I wasn't, Sona's head abruptly shot back up, eyes widening in realisation.

"I must have been high," she muttered, barely loudly enough for me to hear, sounding entirely serious even though I knew for certain that the girl had never touched anything stronger than watered down wine in her life. She began nodding to herself. "That's it. That's it, isn't it? There is no other explanation. That must have been why I asked you for help. What the hell was I smoking when I thought sending you was a good idea?" Sona wailed before crossing her arms on the table and burying her head in them once again. The rest of her words came out muffled. "Whatever it was – I want more of it!"

"Come on, Sona," I said, trying and most likely failing to console the girl who looked to be in the middle of a nervous breakdown. "It's not that bad."

"Yes. Yes, it is," came the muffled reply. "We're going to be banned for life from the Underworld. I just know it."

"Okay, now I know you're overreacting. There is no way you're going to get banned from the entire Underworld, not over this. Serafall and I will make sure of it," I promised. No matter how things had begun, this was my responsibility now and I wasn't going to let anyone else take the fall for this. And certainty not Sona. "On the other hand, I admit that there is a really high chance of that happening to me."

"Not helping, Shirou."

"No," Gremory chimed in, finally managing to break the spell and tear her gaze from Karasuba to me. "Sona's right, Shirou, this could be really bad."

Gremory gave Karasuba one quick glance before she shook her head, sending red locks swaying, and turned fully to face me, giving me her entire attention. "I don't think you understand how rightfully terrified most Devils are of the Two Heavenly Dragons. They were already feared, exalted even, for their prowess during the Great War, and after the Valantine that fear has evolved into irrational terror."

"Well," She paused, giving Karasuba a side-long look before amending, "it would have been irrational if it wasn't completely justified. There is a good reason why trying to bring either wielder of the Boosted Gear or Divine Dividing to the Underworld is considered a capital offence. Had you tried to bring her into any part of the Underworld without permission, you would have both been put down on the spot by the territory's lord. And no one would have blamed them."

"Shirou," Sona lifted her head off her arms, her hair mussed up and glasses perched crooked on her nose. "Just having her in your Peerage is sufficient grounds to bar your from entering the Underworld. Permanently. You can't even bring her to the stadium we're holding the Gathering in if you do, by some miracle, manage to get permission. The moment that everyone realises what she is, the Red Dragon Emperor empowered with the Queen Piece of an Ultimate Ranked Devil, every single Devil in the stadium-" Sona paused, shaking her head. "No, forget the stadium- every Devil in the city will run the minute they realise what she is. And honestly? I can't blame them. I'd be running right along-side them too if I realised that there was a weapon of mass destruction pretending to be a person, just waiting for someone to say the wrong thing before going on a killing spree."

"Karasuba isn't going to kill any-" I was half-way through finishing the sentence when the absurdity of what I was about to say hit me.

"...Alright," I conceded. "She's almost certainly going to end up killing people eventually. Probably a lot, I admit, but not indiscriminately or without a good reason. I promise you, Karasuba's never going to go about randomly murdering innocent people."

It wasn't some baseless claim either. During our battle and subsequent talk, I managed to gain a solid understanding of Karasuba's true nature. She was never going to go around needlessly killing people, if not for her own sake then certainly for her parents'. Actually, I was fairly that she wouldn't anyway if for the simple reason that most people were too far beneath her notice to bother with. It may not have been the best reason not to go around killing people, but at this point I was willing to take what I could get.

"How can you promise that?" Sona demanded. "You can't even control her!"

"Yes," I lied through my teeth, somehow managing to keep a straight face, "I can."

Even though it had only been a few hours since she had joined my Peerage, I was beginning to gain a deeper appreciation for why most Devils were reluctant to have a Dragon in their Peerage despite their famed strength.

"Really?" Sona quirked a disbelieving eyebrow. "Then by all means, this I have to see."

She waved an arm towards Karasuba, who was still enthusiastically nuzzling Shirone on the couch. "If you're so sure can control her then would you kindly ask her to stop terrorising poor Koneko?"

Feeling the expectant look Sona was bearing down on me, I gave her the most reassuring nod I could manage under the circumstances before I turned towards my newest Peerage member. "Karasuba," I began, trying to strike a chord between gentle but firm, something that I heard was the best tone to use on children and wild dogs, "I'm going to need you to let Koneko go now."

"Hmm," Karasuba hummed, not even bothering to open her eyes as she continued to nuzzle Shirone, burying her face deeper into her hair, "Go fuck yourself, Emiya."

No one said anything for a time.

"…We're doomed," Sona deadpanned before dropping her head onto the table with an audible thud.

"No. No, we're not." I turned to the distraught girl before she had another mental breakdown. "I know this looks bad, believe me I do, but I can fix this. I have a plan."

"Great, now we're really doomed." Sona didn't even bother lifting her face off the table, speaking directly to the wooden surface.

Despite Sona's lack of faith in my ability to develop a reasonable working plan, I did have one. And not some desperate long shot either. There was a way, a method that stood a genuine chance of working. One that would not only save Karasuba, but so many others out there.

It wasn't a spur of the moment idea either. It was a choice I had been sitting on for the longest time, one that I refused to take because I felt unworthy of it. In the end I was nothing more than a fake, an imitation of the real thing. Who was I to walk down the same road she had? What right did I have to follow in her footsteps, let alone to try and go beyond it?

It had taken an Angel under swaying leaves of green and a crying Dragon to remind me of something I had forgotten.

I may have been a fake, a forgery, an imitation, but there was no rule that an imitation couldn't surpass the original.

I was done hesitating. I've already decided long ago. This was my only path.

However, I was going to need some time. Time to set things up, time to prepare. Time which I certainly wasn't going to have if I was locked away from the Underworld at best or behind bars at worst. Which meant that if I wanted to gain the time I needed, I was going to need to keep everything that happened in the last couple of days under wraps.

Of course, I didn't need anyone to tell me how foolish it was to think that I had any real chance of keeping Karasuba's existence hidden from the entire supernatural world for any real length of time. Every supernatural organisation had been on the lookout for the next wielder of the Boosted Gear since the last one died, and that wasn't even taking into account a Dragon's natural inclination to draw in trouble. Only an idiot would think they could hide from them all and, despite what some people liked to claim, I wasn't stupid.

However, I didn't need a lot of time. Only a couple of weeks, that was all. Just until the end of the Young Devils' Gathering at the very latest. After that, one way or another it wouldn't matter if someone were to discover Karasuba's existence.

But that brought up the issue of where I was going to hide her until then. The Underworld was obviously out. Leaving aside the consequences if it was ever discovered that I tried to illegally smuggle the Red Dragon Emperor into the Underworld, there was no way I would be able to sneak Karasuba in. All the official channels into the Underworld were heavily monitored by both magical and technological methods, none of which I knew how to bypass, and I didn't have access to any of the unofficial channels.

So, by process of elimination, that just left the Human world to hide her in.

And the easiest place to keep her hidden was the same place she had been hiding in for all this time. Kuoh.

Unfortunately, with the Khaos Brigade already after her I couldn't risk leaving her at her parents' home. And with my current house under renovation, I couldn't ask her to stay there. Fortunately, that still left a couple of places in Kuoh that were both magically fortified and far away from any bystanders where Karasuba could remain without putting anyone else at risk.

One of which was Kuoh Academy.

And I just happened to have some urgent business with both of its owners. A part of me hoped that after I revealed her status as a newly Reincarnated Devil and asked them to keep her existence a secret for a couple more weeks, convincing them to let her stay in what is essentially their castle wouldn't seem like a big deal in comparison.

But it seems like I have vastly underestimated how much of a shock Karasuba's Reincarnation would be.

Seeing as Sona still had her face pressed flat against the table, and showed no sign of moving any time soon, I decided that the best thing I could do under the circumstances was give her some space. With that plan in place, I turned to look at the other heiress, who was dealing with the news with far more composure than her counterpart.

I even told her as much.

"Ah, well." Gremory giggled as she looked at her friend and rival who appeared content to remain face down on the table, and gave me a small shrug. "Unlike Sona, I already had months to mentally prepare myself for the worst back when we still thought Issei was the wielder. And compared to some of the worst-case scenarios that could have happened, having someone else reincarnate a highly aggressive Boosted Gear wielder is nowhere near the top of the list." She gave me an apologetic smile. "No offence, Shirou, but Karasuba is your problem now. While I'm more than happy to lend you a helping hand of course, the moment you made her into your Queen she became your responsibility."

Her expression grew serious. "A word of warning, though. The only reason why I was ever allowed to recruit Issei was because his personality was so different from the previous wielders of the Boosted Gear. If he had behaved in the manner typical of the others, I would have never been allowed to even consider recruiting him." Her blue eyes darted to Karasuba. "And now I think I understand why."

She looked away to send a concerned glance Issei's way. The younger of the two Hyoudou twins still looked like he was having trouble coming to grips with his sister's newfound status, if the persistent deer-in-the-headlights look he was sporting was any indication.

"Honestly, I'm just relieved that I never made the mistake of trying to recruit her," she admitted, biting the nail of her thumb. "Leaving aside the problem of what she is, I don't think there ever was a chance of her integrating well into my Peerage. Not with how Issei and Koneko are reacting just being near her."

"Speaking of which," I glanced over her shoulders towards the couch, "I'm surprised at how calmly you're handing…" I found myself trailing off into silence.

In the time I had looked away, Karasuba had apparently switched her hold on Shirone. Where before she had been wrapping both her arms around Shirone, reminiscent of an octopus latching onto its prey, she now had the Nekoshou sitting on her lap, one of her arms wrapped around the white-haired girl's waist while her other hand was cupping the right side of Shirone's face. Currently she was using that hand to push Shirone's face against hers, rubbing her cheek together with the younger girl's. And by the sound of it, at some point Karasuba had resumed her purring.

"…that," I finished awkwardly, having tried and failed to fish for a word to adequately describe what I was seeing. Hell, I wasn't sure if anyone had yet to invent a word that could describe what was happening.

All things considered though, I was surprised by just how well things were turning out. The Gremory clan as a whole were famed for their over-protectiveness of their Peerage members, and Rias was no exception. So, when Karasuba had latched onto Shirone I was so certain that Gremory would tear into my new Queen the moment she took everything in, but to my pleasant surprise nothing of the sort happened. Which was a relief. While I was reasonably sure I would have been able to stop the girls before they took things too far and brought down the school, that didn't mean I was looking forward to throwing myself between the two over-powered teenaged girls.

"Oh, that's nothing." Gremory waved away my concern. "Believe it or not, Shirou, this is not the first time a girl couldn't resist trying to cuddle with Koneko. It's actually a pretty common occurrence at school." Sounding like a proud parent talking about their children, she shrugged a shoulder. "Admittedly, Karasuba just happened to be the only one fast and strong enough to get away with it without using food to bribe her."

Gremory flashed me an almost patronising smile. "Shirou, you're just a boy so you may not have realised but," she declared, clenching a fist a before her face, "my Koneko is ridiculously cute, you know."

The look she was giving me told me she was being completely serious.

At that moment she reminded me so much of Sirzechs when he was speaking about her that I had no trouble believing they were related. In fact, I think he used the exact same line once when he pulled out an entire album of baby pictures.

"Besides," she carried on after a second, turning to look at Shirone with a contemplative expression, "after Gasper was finally released from the basement, I think I finally began to realise something." Her eyes seemed to lose their focus, lost in her memories.

"I had been smothering him," she admitted quietly, sounding as if she was talking to herself more than me. "I was so afraid of seeing him get hurt that I stopped him from getting better. All this time I thought I was protecting him, when I was only coddling him."

She grimaced, her features contorting in sorrow. "Gasper, he had been hurt so badly so many times before that I never wanted to see him hurt ever again," she admitted, before shaking her head. "But that was a mistake. I tried so hard to keep him away from all the bad things in the world that I didn't realise that I was only making things worse. I realise that now. Ever since he's been let out…" Something approaching wonder touched her voice. "He's grown. That child, he's grown so much that I can barely recognise him." She laughed softly. "I never realised he could be so strong. My Gasper is finally beginning to grow, and no one needed to do anything but let him."

A tiny smile appeared as she spoke, one that managed to light up her entire face. She spun to face me fully then.

"Emiya Shirou." Staring straight into my eyes, her expression was as open and earnest as I have ever seen it. "There is something I've been meaning to tell you."

Then Gremory did something I would have never expected.

She bowed down to me.

"Thank you."

Earnestly, sincerely, she thanked me.

I was so taken aback that I was left speechless.

It was when I realised that she was still bowing that I realised I was silently staring, and I hurriedly formed a reply.

"Ah, there is no need for that," I told her hastily. "I didn't do much, Gasper pretty much took care of himself." Which was mostly true. Gremory had been right that Grasper ended up blooming all on his own. All the little vampire needed was a place to grow. "Besides, I did what I wanted to anyway. So there is no need for anyone to thank-"

"No, there is." She cut me off. She was still bowing, refusing to lift her head. "If it wasn't for you, that child would have still been there, in that basement. Hiding, afraid of the world." She continued, not raising her head. "Whatever your reasons were, it does not matter. I just wanted to tell you-"

And once more she-

"Thank you."

Thanked me.

It was odd. It always felt strange to be thanked, it happened so rarely. I had never done what I did for gratitude, nor did I ever expect to receive any, which was why I was never quite sure what to say when it happens.

A warmth flushed through my chest, an involuntary grin making its way to my lips. "You're welcome." I told her warmly.

I did not know why but for a brief second it almost felt as if I was the one thanking her, instead of the other way around.

Finally rising up from her bow, Rias flashed me a wide smile.

"Anyway," she coughed into her hand before crossing her arms. "I've realised that my Peerage will never grow if I never give them the chance, and they can't do that if I'm constantly hovering over their shoulders. Which is why I've decided from now on that I'll take a step back and allow my Peerage the chance to face their demons. I'll be by their side the entire time of course, ready to jump in when they need me, but I'll give them room to fight their own battles from now."

"Which is why," Rias looked at the couch, "I'm not going to interfere and allow Koneko to get over her fear of Karasuba on her own."

At the sound of her name, Shirone's eyes swirled towards her King, unable to move her head due to Karasuba's hold. Her golden eyes glistening with tears, she looked up towards Rias and mouthed 'Help me.'

Catching sight of Shirone's silent plea, Rias simply smiled down at the tiny rook and held up a determined fist. "Don't give up, Koneko! Think of it as training!" She advised, before punctuating her statement by punching the air and cheering, "You can do it. Fight-to!"

I don't know how she did it, but somehow, through all the fear and the terror she must have been feeling, Shirone still managed to send her master an incredulous expression that screamed, 'Are you shitting me right now?'

You know, I had wondered why Rias had been so lax toward Xenovia's training method that she put Gasper through, what with her chasing him around with a drawn sword, or why Rias allowed Shirone to follow Gasper around with a bulb of garlic, but if this was the new attitude she was taking it did begin to make some sense.

"Ah."

It was as if a steel blade had been drawn.

With a single word, the relaxed atmosphere had been shattered, such was the malice it contained.

"I remember you now," Karasuba murmured, peering up at Rias with those grey orbs of hers. In the time I'd looked away the contented smile she'd been sporting had melted away, leaving behind a cold, almost predatory, expression. For once Karasuba's eyes were fully open instead of their usual slitted state, revealing her grey irises, and she was staring at Rias with a frightening intensity.

Rias, with her fist still hanging in the air, seemed completely taken aback by the sudden change in my new Queen. She sent the grey-haired girl a baffled look in response to the glare levelled her way, before she sent me a questioning look.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what had triggered the sudden animosity from Karasuba.

Rias lowered her hand and turned back to the seated teen, "I'm sorry but I-"

"It's your scent, you see," Karasuba explained, before a cruel smile slowly made its way to her lips, though her eyes remained as cold as ever. With exaggerated care Karasuba took a deep whiff, her eyes never once leaving Rias's. "I could never forget such a vile stench."

Her words were so unexpected that it caught us flat-footed, Rias included. For a handful of seconds Rias wore a genuinely perplexed expression, which quickly hardened as comprehension began to sink in.

She may have had no idea what Karasuba was going on about, but she could easily tell an insult when she heard one.

"…Excuse me?" Rias replied, an edge of warning leaking into her voice as she levelled her own glare in response.

The room slowly began to fill with Prana, as Rias loosened her hold on her magic. To anyone with any esoteric senses, which was everyone in the room, she now appeared to be cloaked in a thin crimson miasma of power.

With slow, deliberate steps, Rias approached Karasuba, stopping only when she stood before the seated girl.

"I'm afraid I misheard you." Rias spoke lightly, looking down at the newly Reincarnated Devil. "Did you say something to me?"

To most people, Hell, to most Devils, Rias would have been a terrifying powerhouse of barely restrained energy. From her own generation, there was almost no one who could hold a candle to her in terms of raw magic. In response to all that magical energy levelled her way, Karasuba simply levelled back a look akin to what one might wear when gazing at a bug.

With utter disregard for the Devil looming over her, Karasuba reclined further back into the couch, pulling a still trembling Shirone down with her, and holding her to her chest. Through it all Karasuba's cold grey eyes never left Gremory's angry blue.

"I said," a vicious smile stretched her lips as she spoke, "that you-"

"Okay, enough!"

Before she could finish uttering another word, I cut her off, physically forcing myself between the two girls. Rias, thankfully, allowed herself to be pushed back without resistance and I immediately spun to face the one responsible for the situation. "Alright, what the hell was that about?"

For a long moment, I almost thought that Karasuba wasn't going to answer me, so intent was she in glaring at Rias.

"She touched something of mine," she answered at last, and though the words were meant for me she never once looked away from Rias.

I waited for her to elaborate. And waited. And waited. When it finally sunk in that was all I was going to get out of her, I turned to Rias to see if she had any better idea what she was talking about.

For her part, despite her own irritation with the girl, Rias seemed to make a genuine effort to comprehend Karasuba's words rather than lash out. Taking a deep breath, she reeled in her temper along with her magic, before taking a moment to think.

A second later, her eyes darted to Issei, who stood only a few feet away, looking completely lost on what was happening.

Karasuba snorted, having followed Rias's gaze. "No, not the worm. I couldn't care less what you do to him." Karasuba was about to look away, only to catch herself at the last second as a thought occurred to her.

"However," the corner of her lips curved down into a frown, "my mother is rather fond of the little worm, so I suppose I would have to kill you if you end up hurting him," Karasuba admitted with an air of great reluctance, scowling as she did so. However, her mood immediately seemed to perk up as she cheerfully added, "…too badly."

Then in utter disregard to the rest of us, Karasuba shut her eyes and turned her attention back to Shirone to resume their snuggling, much to the younger girl's obvious displeasure, acting as if she hadn't just threatened to kill the little sister to one of the Maous and the most dangerous living Devil.

Speaking of Shirone, she hadn't been sitting idly by while all of this happened.

While Karasuba had focused her attention on Rias, the young Nekomata had decided to use the opportunity to try and escape. For the last minute or so, she had been trying to stealthily free herself from Karasuba's grip, only to discover that the arm that held her was unmovable as an iron bar. At first, she had tried to be subtle about it, afraid of catching Karasuba's attention, but as time went by and no progress was made she had been getting more and more desperate, until she abandoned all pretence of subtlety and was now literally trying to pry Karasuba's fingers off her with both of her hands, frantically yanking and clawing with all her might, only to whimper in despair when Karasuba resumed her snuggling, her ears falling flat against her skull.

Ilya continued to watch Shirone from the floor with silent glee.

"Emiya," not even bothering to open her eyes as she rubbed her cheek against Shirone's, Karasuba called out to me. "It was her. Deal with it or I will."

"Her?" I blinked, lost. I had no idea what she was going on about. However, when one of Karasuba's eyes cracked open and she sent me a half-lidded glare, something clicked in my head.

"Oh! Her!"

All of a sudden Karasuba's abrupt shift in attitude was beginning to make a lot more sense.

"Rias," I said, quickly turning to face the Devil in question, "I need you to be honest with me. Did you at any point do anything to Karasuba's parents?" When all I received was a confused look, I gave up any attempt at being subtle and cut straight to the point. "Did you alter their memories?"

Mind control had always been a field of magic I could never bring myself to feel entirely comfortable with, even if I understood the need for it.

Back in my home world, the only law that all Magi willingly observed was that of keeping the existence of magic a secret. It was a law the Magi obeyed zealously, to the point where anyone unrelated to the Moonlit World who had the misfortune of stumbling onto its existence was immediately put to death. Presuming, of course, that they even managed to survive their first encounter with any of the Moonlit World's denizens.

The unluckier still were the ones that ended up becoming part of a Magus's research.

While erasing their memories was always an option, there were only a handful of Magi that were moral enough to bother with the hassle of doing so. Not when killing them off could get the job done just as well, with only a fraction of the time and effort.

Thankfully things were nowhere near as extreme here.

Perhaps it was because the Age of the Gods had never truly ended, heralding the decline of magic with it as had happened back home. Or it could be the lack of a counterpart to the Mage's Association here, an all-encompassing organisation dedicated to the preservation and concealment of Magic in my original world.

Whatever the cause may be, magic was simply not concealed as zealously here.

However, it was concealed. For myriad reasons, some of them less obvious than others, the supernatural world at large was content to remain hidden from the knowledge of the common man. Devils were especially eager to keep their existence hidden, considering their race's not entirely unearned reputation.

Which is why all True-Born Devils were taught mind control spells at an early age.

While true mind control was well beyond the ability of anyone but a true master, and was easily guarded against by anyone with a hint of magic, minor feats such as memory manipulation and simple charmed-suggestions were well within the reach of most Devils. To High-Class Devils such as Rias and Sona, it wouldn't be a surprise if it came as easily as breathing to erase the memory of an ordinary human. It was a necessary skill to have if they wanted to live in the human realm.

It was a spell they likely used often. To keep their nature as Devils a secret.

And the most common targets of the spell were the immediate family of the Reincarnated Devils they recruited to their Peerage.

It didn't take much to reason out why. What kind of parent would not notice their children gaining the ability to speak several languages overnight? What mother would not notice her son growing strangely lethargic during the day only to be brimming with energy at night, or father would fail notice his daughter suddenly becoming several times stronger than him. That was not even counting the times the newly minted Devils accidentally revealed their abilities in front of them.

However, the existence of the supernatural needed to remain a secret. And someone needed to make sure bystanders conveniently forgot what they had seen.

Which was why, if Rias had done what I thought she did to the elder couple of the Hyoudou household, no one would have believed she did anything wrong.

Were it not for just one tiny problem.

Both Ichirou and Aiko Hyoudou were already aware of the supernatural world.

By the look of dawning horror on Rias's face, she managed to piece it all together as well.

"I swear, I didn't know," she said, looking genuinely stricken by the realization. "I didn't know they knew about magic! If I did, I wouldn't have done anything!"

And I believed her.

There was no way she would have knowingly done what she did.

Ichirou Hyoudou.

Karasuba's and Issei's father.

A man that had threatened to kill me if I were to ever hurt his daughter.

A man who faced a Dragon's wrath to bring his child back home.

A man who had never even realized that his son had died.

I should have realized it right away.

I talked with Ichirou Hyoudou, just before I fought with Karasuba and made her into my Queen, and while it had been an enlightening experience, there had been something odd about the entire conversation. Something was off that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Something that I failed to notice until far later.

He didn't seem to be aware that Issei had become a Devil.

How?

How could that man not have noticed?

How could the man who had run after his daughter even after a Dragon had taken his arm not realised?

How was it possible for that man not to notice that his only son had died?

The answer was simple.

He had noticed.

He had simply been forced to forget, along with all the memories of Issei's transformation into a Devil.

And thus, Ichirou Hyoudou would never know how close he had been to forever losing his son.

Or at least that would have been the case, were it not for his daughter.

The daughter who had been away training at the time. The daughter who had returned home days afterwards to find traces of Devils lingering in her home, that her brother had been reincarnated into one of their kind, and that her parents had marks of magic clouding their minds.

That said daughter was territorial, overprotective, had a viscous streak a mile wide and, above all else, had both the power to kill the ones responsible and willingness to do so, did not help matters at all.

I wonder if Rias realised how close she had been to dying?

It had been a tiny thing. Something we had all missed, that only hindsight made clear.

Many weeks earlier, an Angel had descended onto this very school, bringing a host of Fallen with him, intent on reigniting an ancient war. And as all of that was happening, there had been someone else in the school, a person uninvolved with either side of the conflict, but who had stood close enough to have been drawn into my Reality Marble.

Karasuba had been there.

Why?

Under the circumstances, we could be forgiven for not noticing her there, for not questioning why she had even been there in the first place.

She couldn't have snuck into the school during the battle, not when it was surrounded by a host of Fallen. Not even she could have slipped by all of them unseen. No, Karasuba had never needed to sneak past them in the first place because she had been there the entire time, long before Kokabiel or any of his host had arrived. Searching for the ones that dared defile her parent's minds so she could exact her revenge.

Karasuba had entered Kuoh Academy with the intent of ending every single Devil even remotely involved.

It was only by pure chance that it had happened on the night that Kokabiel arrived. A coincidence, that some might even call fate, that she had been there that night to be drawn into my Reality Marble to see me pull the sword that promised her everything.

It was only afterwards that her target had changed from them to me.

How had I learned of all of this? Simple, Karasuba had told me. Including the part where she had been planning on gleefully killing every last Devil in the school. Needless to say, I decided it would be best if I never mentioned that little titbit to anyone.

Ever.

I never wanted to find out what Sirzechs, or worse Serafall, would do if they found out that Karasuba had been about to murder their little sisters.

"Don't worry! It's reversible!" Rias said, cutting through my thoughts and bringing me back to the present. Her eyes kept jumping from me to Karasuba and back again with a guilty expression, so I couldn't say for sure which one of us was she trying to reassure. "I'll fix it right away, I promise."

"Good." I nodded, trying to keep the relief from my face.

Giving Karasuba a sidelong look to see how well she was taking this, I found that was completely ignoring us in favour of Shirone, which I decided to take as having received her tacit approval.

It had taken a lot of convincing, but I had managed to persuade Karasuba to drop the entire issue if whoever had erased Ichirou's and Aiko's memories were to restore them immediately. I would have tried to break the spell myself but, my own ineptitude with mind magic aside, it seemed whatever was cast on them was a step above a basic memory block. It wasn't anything too intricate but, considering my meagre skills, anything more than the simplest of spells was well beyond my ability to remove safely. Which was why we needed the help of the original caster.

There was a reason why I had set up the meeting with both Sona and Rias, rather than just one or the other, or even forgoing meeting them altogether and keeping Karasuba's reincarnation a secret while they were still distracted by the Young Devils' Gathering. It was because I needed to know for sure who was responsible for erasing the elder Hyoudous' memories.

While Rias was the most likely suspect, it was also possible for Sona or even a member of her Peerage to have been the culprits if either of the elder Hyoudou couple had been unfortunate enough to catch them in a compromising position.

"Good," I repeated, this time not even trying to hide my relief. That could have easily gone very badly. To think, all this trouble could have been easily avoided had they been a little more careful around Issei's parents.

"Speaking of which," I gave Rias an enquiring look, "what exactly were you caught doing that made you cast something that complex, rather than a simple memory charm?"

Had she been simply caught casting magic or with her wings out, all she would have needed to do was block that particular memory. But whatever spell she had cast was effective enough to continue preventing the Hyoudous from realising that their son had been turned into a Devil long after it had been cast.

To my utter astonishment, Rias began to turn bright red at my question.

"Well, you see," the Gremory heiress began, a sheepish smile making its way to her lips as she refused to meet my eyes, "a few weeks ago, Issei had gotten injured during one of our training sessions. I was worried about him since it was the first time he had really been hurt, so I stayed over to make sure he healed properly."

I simply continued to stare at Rias, who squirmed under my gaze, not understanding what the big deal was.

"What does that have to do with- Wait!" I felt my jaw drop a little as I remembered how Devils healed among Peerage members.

Devils, both Pure-blooded and Reincarnated, were born with innate magic resistance. And while this was normally a boom to surviving magical attacks, it came at the cost of blocking all foreign spells, even benign ones such as healing.

It was why healing items such as Phenex Tears were so valued in the Devil community. They were sometimes the only reliable solution to a grievous injury, especially among the more powerful Devils with equally power magical resistance.

Then the Evil Piece system came along and changed everything.

Every member of a Peerage gained their magical energy directly from a single source: their King. Due to this, members of a Peerage had remarkably similar magical signatures to each other. So much so that their bodies no longer considered one another as 'foreign'. This allowed members of a Peerage to freely share energy between themselves without their magic resistance getting in the way, a normally impossible feat.

It wasn't quite true healing, but it effectively was about the same.

Devils healed far faster than humans and, while not instantaneous by any means, could recover from wounds in hours that would normally take months. That is, so long as they had enough energy to heal with. So by sharing energy from a healthy Devil to an injured one, the injured Devils would be able to recover from their wounds far faster than they would otherwise. In some more extreme cases, it could also end up saving their lives.

That said, this method required direct skin contact to work. The more skin contact there was between the recipient and the donor, the better.

Which meant….

"Wait," I began, gawking at the redhaired Devil, "are you trying to tell me you-"

"Nudist." Sona's muffled voice cut in, not even bothering to lift her face off of the table. "They're all nudists."

Rias only gave a slightly embarrassed laugh at Sona's words as she rubbed the back of her head, not denying the accusation.

"Anyway." She coughed into a fist before changing the subject. "His mother happened to walk in on us before I could leave, and I just thought we could all save each other a lot of unnecessary hassle if they considered everything they saw as normal." She folded her arms. "That way I could introduce myself to them without explaining what I was doing there in the first place. I even ended up joining them for breakfast…and Aiko was a really good cook." She looked to one side and muttered the last bit quietly to herself.

While Rias spoke, I had been only giving her half of my attention. The other half was firmly on Karasuba to see how she was taking all of this. So, when my grey-haired Queen stirred, I was the first to notice.

"And what," gripping the couch's armrest with the hand she'd previously had wrapped around Shirone's waist, Karasuba pulled herself up to a sitting position, "precisely were you doing while all of this was happening, worm?"

There was no question who the words had been aimed at.

For the first time since he had stepped into the room, Karasuba's gaze settled on Issei. And seeing as how he flinched as if he had been physically slapped, I don't think he appreciated the attention.

Not that his feelings seemed to matter one bit to Karasuba. She just kept watching him with that unsettling half-lidded gaze of hers, never once looking away or even blinking. And Issei couldn't seem to bring himself to look away as her gaze bored into him, hypnotised, a mouse frozen by a serpent's gaze.

Karasuba broke out into a smile.

It wasn't something pleasant to look at.

"Let me make one thing clear," she began, the smile never leaving her face and her never gaze wandering from his own, "I don't give a shit if you decided to sell your soul away, worm, so long as you left our parents out of it. But you couldn't even do that, could you?"

Leaning forward, the armrest creaking in her grip, Karasuba's eyes burned with an eerie intensity as her gaze bored into her twin's.

"Not only did you bring Devils into our home, into our parents' home, you allowed them to mess with their minds! What were you doing while all of this was happening?!"

Finding himself on the other end of his sister's ire, Issei desperately tried to stutter out a response.

"…. I was …. I didn't think… I mean…. There were boobs!" He yelled out at last, as if that explained everything.

Crunch!

The armrest gave way under Karasuba's grip, dissolving into hundreds of tiny splinters under her clenched fingers. The damage was made even more impressive when you took into consideration that all the furniture in the Student Council Office had been built with a Devil's strength in mind, making them far more resilient than their human counterpart.

I would also like to point out that while all of this was happening, Shirone hadn't been sitting idly by either.

When Karasuba had first unwrapped her arm from around Shirone to grip the armrest, the younger girl simply sat rock still, too stunned to believe what happened.

Slowly her eyes lowered down to stare at her suddenly free waist, at which point she wasted several precious seconds staring blankly down, before it dawned on her that, yes, she really was free.

Hope blazed in the young Nekomata's eyes like a bonfire on a cold winter night.

Karasuba only had one hand gripping the young Nekomata at the moment, the one she had used to grip the side of Shirone's face to push her cheeks against hers. Shirone realised she could finally break free if she moved fast enough. I could see the exact moment she made her choice to flee.

Her ears perked up, face scrunching up in determination, her entire body tensing as she prepared to make a dash for it.

Then a loud crunch reverberated throughout the room.

Shirone's eyes somehow managed to widen even further than they already had been as she stared at the ruined remains of couch's armrest, before slowly swivelling her focus up to the hand still gripping her head, and went very, very still.

Ilya snickered.

The blank look Karasuba gave her brother made clear how she felt about his response.

"… I swear, if our father had not made me promise never to kill you, I'd kill you." And I had no doubt she meant every word, too.

"And believe me, no one appreciates that more than me." Came Issei's equally sincere response.

"…Yeah." Rias added blandly from my side. "I'm definitely not regretting not recruiting her."

In the brief silence that followed, a new voice made itself known.

"Umm," calling attention to herself, Ilya eagerly sat up, raising her hand up and waving it in the air as if she was in a classroom. "You know, I once hated my brother just as much as you do."

"Sure, you did." Karasuba's reply was condescending. She snorted, still glaring at her brother and not even bothering to turn to look at the girl kneeling by her feet. "What were you going to do, tell your parents on him?"

Ilya shook her head vigorously. "No," she replied, placing a hand on her chin and tilting her head cutely to one side as she gained contemplative look.

"But I was going to have his arms and legs chopped off, leaving just his head behind. That way I would be able to torture him forever and ever without him dying. I even prepared some nails to drill into his skull when I finally got bored." Ilya perked up, breaking out into a happy smile. "I only stopped because Onii-chan turned out to be really, really nice."

She looked back up at Karasuba, an inquisitive look on her face. "Does that count?"

I never knew it was possible for a room to become so silent so fast.

You know one of those moment where everything just seems to stop, as if the entire world suddenly drops what it's doing to sit up and take notice? That was what it felt like when every single head in the room turned to stare at the innocuous looking slip of a girl sitting on the floor.

Sadly, not a single word she said had been a lie or even an exaggeration.

"No, really," Ilya huffed out, crossing her arms and pouting at what she perceived as disbelief in her words when everyone stared at her, "I think I still have the nails stashed in my closet somewhere. Tell them, Onii-chan."

As one, every eye in the room turned to me. Well, every eye except Sona's. That girl still had her face pressed against the table.

"…Its true," I admitted reluctantly under the collective weight of their gazes.

Ilya had once gone as far as to show me the nails she had planned to use. They were long, wicked things with spiralling grooves running down their spines, cheerfully gushing about how glad she was that she never ended up going through with it.

I loved my sister more than life itself, but even I had to admit she had issues. Even Karasuba looked vaguely disturbed...no wait, that wasn't disturbed.

"Oh~" Karasuba hummed thoughtfully, her mouth splitting into a smile with far too many teeth, while her eyes gleamed with something that I couldn't quite place but instinctively understood didn't belong anywhere on God's green earth, as she turned to look down at Ilya.

And when I said she looked at her, I mean she really looked.

It was hard to explain without experiencing it yourself, but Karasuba had this tendency to look through people rather than at them. As if you were no more remarkable than the wall behind you. It didn't help that most of the time, you couldn't even tell where she was even looking at with her eyes perpetually narrowed till they were mere slits.

That wasn't the case now.

Her grey eyes were peering down at Ilya with open interest, examining her with the same intensity I normally reserved for one of my swords. For her part, Ilya preened under the attention, appearing so excited that she looked like she was about to start vibrating.

I swear, sometimes I have no idea what goes on in that girl's head.

"Interesting." Karasuba, having finished whatever evaluation she was doing, broke out into a small chuckle and turned to look at me. "You Emiyas really are interesting."

Then without any permeable, Karasuba released her hold on Shirone.

Shirone looked stunned. For a few seconds she sat there on Karasuba's lap, blinking rapidly at her sudden freedom, then she-

"Ouch! Claws! Claws, Koneko!" I hissed as the little Nekomata somehow materialized behind me, all but teleporting from how fast she moved.

She scrambled up my back, cunningly placing me between Karasuba and herself, and unfortunately in her apparent panic Shirone had unsheathed her claws, which were digging painfully into my back and shoulders, almost breaking through skin as she climbed onto me

A second later Shirone's head popped over my right shoulder, where she proceeded to hiss at Karasuba, her hair standing on end as she bared her teeth, looking so much like an enraged cat.

Karasuba paid her no heed, her attention now reserved solely for my sister.

"I have a feeling you and I are going to get along real well," she promised with a very disturbing smile, before reaching down to Ilya.

"Berserker!" Came the joyous reply.

Rather than flee, as any sane person in her position would, Ilya threw her arms open in welcome and allowed herself to be picked up by Karasuba, who proceeded to set her on her lap. The same position that Shirone had just vacated.

A shiver ran down my spine.

I had a sudden premonition that something truly horrible had just happened. Somehow I knew I was going to regret letting those two meet.

At least, I consoled myself, Ilya was managing to make friends.

And as if there wasn't enough happening already, Rias looked as if she was having a crisis of her own.

"Is…is this normal?" she asked, sounding mildly horrified, staring between Issei and Karasuba, only to jump between Ilya and myself, before briefly lingering on Koneko. "Is that how normal siblings act?"

She actually looked as if she was genuinely expecting an answer.

My mouth was halfway through forming an automatic denial before I paused to actually consider the question. Now that I think about it, there have been several siblings that I have known personally who have tried to kill each other.

There was myself and Ilya. And now Karasuba and Issei. And if I recalled correctly, hadn't Caster been forced to murder her own brother?

Hell, even Saber had been killed by her own sister's machinations.

Now that I really stopped to think on it, how many pairs of siblings did I personally know that have never legitimately tried to kill each other at one point or another?

Seeing my hesitation, Rias must have reached her own conclusion because her face gained a grave expression. "I am never complaining about my brother ever again," she promised solemnly.

Somewhere in Hell the Devil broke out into a little dance, and had no idea why.

"-Underworld we can go for a ride in my car. Then after that-"

"Wait, what!?" The words left my mouth without thinking, my head snapping in Ilya's direction, where she was eagerly chattering with Karasuba, who for her part looked completely tickled by the physically younger girl's enthusiasm. "Ilya, what did you just say?"

Because I could have sworn I just heard something completely outrageous coming out from her mouth.

"Hmm?" Ilya tilted her head my way, the picture of naïve innocence. "What do you mean Shirou? I was just telling Kara about the things we can do when we go back to the Underworld. Like drive around in my car, and-"

"Yeah, that part." I cut her off before she could get carried away. "Leaving aside the fact that you're already on a first name basis, you own a car?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded vigorously, excitement shinning in her eyes. "It's just like the one Mama used to drive. You know, the one with the weirdly shaped triangle thingy in a circle on the bonnet. It's white and-"

"Ilya," I cut her off before she went on another tangent like she was prone to do whenever she got too excited. Pinching the bridge of my nose as I felt the start a headache coming along, I exhaled deeply before carrying on as calmly as I could, "How did you get your hands on a classic Mercedes-Benz?"

I would be the first to admit I didn't know much about cars, but didn't those things cost in the range of hundreds of thousands?

"I bought it of course," Ilya answered, giving me a look that clearly said I was being an idiot. Which, I admit, coming from Ilya of all people made it just that much worse. "At a car dealer. You know, the place where they sell cars. They have loads there."

"And where exactly did you get the money for it?"

"From my allowance, of course," she shot back as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You have an allowance?" I blinked, almost taking a step towards her, and consequently Karasuba, before the sinking of claws into my back and a hiss by my ear reminded me why doing so was a bad idea, and I decided I was fine staying where I was for the moment. "Serafall is giving you enough pocket money to buy a classic car?"

Serafall promised me she would take good care of Ilya while I was away guarding Sona and Rias. However, it looked like I needed a quick word with that girl on what was and wasn't an appropriate amount to give as pocket money. Though I suppose it was partly my fault for presuming that a girl who grew up in the lap of luxury would know any better.

"Of course not, silly." Ilya shook her head. "Onee-chan isn't giving me my allowance. Aunty and Uncle are."

"Aunty and Uncle?" I parroted, nonplussed for a moment as I racked my brain and tried to figure out who the hell she was talking about. The only people I could possibly imagine Ilya calling that were- "Wait, are you talking about Lilliana and Stheno Sitri?" I asked, before clarifying, "Serafall's parents?"

"Yup." Ilya chirped.

Well, I supposed that made more sense. Those two did adore Ilya, but I didn't think they liked her that much.

At the mention of her parent's names, Sona's head popped up from the table.

"Wait." Her glasses sat crooked on her nose, her hair a frazzled mess, appearing more as if she was someone who had spent the night on a particularly lumpy couch rather than the dignified Student Council President she was. "My parents give you an allowance?"

"Uh-huh." Ilya replied with a happy nod

"How much?" she asked, her voice holding an odd note as she stared intensely at my sister through her skewed glasses, making no attempt to fix them.

Ilya then proceeded to rattle off an obscenely large number.

Sona blinked several times behind her skewed glasses, before shooting up to her feet. "That's more than they give me!" Sona shrieked, slamming her hand on the table.

"Well," Ilya smiled sweetly, "I guess that just goes to show who's their favourite."

Sona stared blankly at Ilya for a long second.

"…Bitch, I'll cut you."

Her voice sounded dead to my ears, as if the strain of all that had happened in the last ten minutes finally caused her to snap, and before I knew it she was halfway around the table walking with a mechanical gait towards my sister even before the words had finished clearing her mouth.

"No! Sona, don't." I lunged at the girl, managing to catch her before she got much closer. "She's just trying to bait you."

As if to prove my point Ilya gave a clearly exaggerated cry of fear that was immediately ruined by her giggles as her scrambled around Karasuba's body, placing her between Sona and herself.

Karasuba simply quirked an eyebrow at my sister's action, a placid smile sitting on her lips.

A second later Ilya's face appeared over one of Karasuba's shoulders. "Kara, help! The mean old lady is trying to hurt me!" she cried, flashing Sona a taunting smile.

If Ilya's strategy was to enrage Sona then it worked perfectly, because the diminutive Student Council President redoubledher efforts to reach my sister. Her hands were outstretched before her, open as if attempting to strangle her from a distance.

"Alright, that's enough, Ilya," I scolded my sister, shooting her a warning glare which thankfully got her to settle down, while I held Sona back.

It was then that my eye happened to catch sight of a door set near one corner of the room, partly obstructed from view by a bookcase, which if I remembered correctly led to a side office.

Seeing a way to both quickly defuse the situation, and gain the opportunity to converse with Sona in private, I began to gently but firmly drag the diminutive Student Council President towards the door. While she resisted, considering the gulf of difference in our strength, I had no more trouble moving her than I would a child.

Though I had to give her credit, she was determined.

Even as I dragged her away in the opposite direction, she kept marching towards my sister with determined steps, which essentially gave the image of Sona doing a rendition of a moonwalk. I might have even found the image funny had it been in any other situation.

Once I was in reach of the door, I popped it open and forcibly pushed Sona in, shouting over my shoulder. "Ilya, could you show Karasuba around school or something while I talk to Sona in the private?"

"But Shirou," she asked, "doesn't she already go to the school?"

"Don't care," I replied as I followed Sona into the office. Reaching behind me, I gripped the doorknob and prepared to slam it shut. "Just go find something to entertain yourself for a couple minutes, it doesn't matter what. Just don't leave school grounds and stay out of trouble."

"'Kay~"

The last thing I saw before closing the door was an excited Ilya dragging Karasuba from the couch by the hand, leading her to the exit door.

---

As the door slammed shut behind the second of the two Emiya siblings, along with the newly reincarnated Dragon she had pulled along with her, the three remaining Devils in the Student Council Office could only watch the door through which they had left with various amounts of exhaustion, overwhelmed by what had transpired over the last few minutes.

"Well," Rias spoke up, more to break the silence than from having anything meaningful to say. "All things considered I suppose that could have turned out much worse than it did, right Akeno?"

No answer came.

"…Akeno?" Rias blinked, surprised. She turned to look at her best friend and Queen, only to find her staring blankly at the door. "Akeno, did you hear me?"

There was no response.

Feeling a little bit worried, Rias reached out to touch her elbow. "Akeno?"

Akeno started at her touch, as if waking from a spell. "Huh?...Wha-?" Whirling to her King, Akeno stared at Rias as if she had only just noticed she was even there. "Ah, yes… yes, of course," she replied, blinking several times, sounding as if she had just been woken from a dream. She made an attempt at her usual serene smile, only to stop and blink again. "What where we talking about again?

"Akeno, are you feeling alright?" Rias examined her friend with real concern, noting her abnormally flushed cheeks and slightly dilated pupils. "Now that I think about, you were awfully quite the entire time. That isn't like you. Are you sure you aren't sick?" She reached out to place a palm on her friend's forehead, finding it cool to the touch.

"I'm fine." Akeno waved her hand away. "Really, Rias, you can be such a worrywart sometimes."

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Rias asked again, fussed,

"Yes." Akeno glanced at the door and sighed. "Yes, of course I'm fine. Never better. Why do you ask?"

Rias stared at her friend, unable to keep the incredulity from her tone as she pointed at her face. "Well, your nose is bleeding for one."

The Lightening Queen looked startled at the proclamation. Reaching up to her face, Akeno touched the spot just beneath her nose with her fingers, finding it moist to the touch. Holding her finger before her eyes, she found it smeared with a crimson fluid.

"Huh, so it is." She sounded oddly unconcerned as a trail of blood ran down her nose all the way to her chin. Rather than dwell on the matter, she instead turned back to gaze at the door that Ilya and Karasuba had just departed through with a look of longing. A moment later she took a deep breath and released a wistful sigh. "Wasn't she amazing?"

Rias started at her best friend, her sadistic – machoistic friend, and all of sudden everything came together in her head to paint a picture. A very disturbing picture.

"…Oh!" Rias mouthed, her eyes widening as she realised that her Queen had a crush. Only for her eyes to widen even further as she realised who her Queen was crushing on.

"…Oh God," Rias swore, and not even the searing flash of pain she felt invoking God's name was able to distract her from the anguish she felt.

---

Sona glared up at me through her skewed glasses.

Her hair was a mess, her uniform slighted rumpled, and she was huffing and puffing as if she had just run a marathon. So when she glared up to point a finger at me, I didn't have the heart to tell her that she looked like nothing more than a demented chipmunk at the moment.

"I just want you to know," she intoned gravely, making her only appear that much more adorable, "that I utterly loathe your sister."

I didn't allow my thoughts to show and simply nodded in reply. "Noted."

And to be fair, I understood where she was coming from.

Ilya did have that effect on some people.

I still remember how Taiga-nee reacted to Ilya moving into my home. Or how badly she took it when she found out that old man Raiga had taken a real shine to her. I swear, towards the end there it almost appeared as if the old man was one step away from declaring Ilya his heir and retiring.

It was far too easy for me to imagine Ilya as the head of a Yakuza gang. Sadly, I think she would have done too good a job at it.

Sona nodded once at my response, tugging at the bottom of her shirt before running her fingers through her hair. Setting her glasses straight, she gave me one final nod before turning and stomping away to the worn desk tucked away in one corner of the room.

The office we found ourselves in was nowhere near as luxurious or spacious as the one we had just left. Honestly, it would have been more accurate to refer to it as a storage room than an office. Filling cabinets lined both walls, taking up even more of the limited space, giving the room an almost claustrophobic feel. And the desk sitting in the corner had clearly seen better days. Its mahogany wooden surface was covered with nicks and scratches from all the hard use it had seen over the years.

If I remembered correctly, this room doubled as both a storage space and as a place the Student Council members could work in when they didn't want to be disturbed.

Reaching the desk, Sona pulled out the only chair and dropped herself into it, muttering incessantly under her breath the entire while.

I was about to take a step in after her, before I remembered something important.

Or more precisely, someone.

"Kone—Shirone," I switched names at the last second as I remembered we were alone now, "she's gone now. You can get off."

Like a limpet, or an overly attached baby monkey, Shirone clung to my back, steadfastly refusing to let go even after I had left the Student Council room. The tiny little Rook was so light that I barely noticed her weight, however, that still didn't mean I was comfortable walking around all day while I carried a little girl on my back as if she were a backpack.

While I couldn't see her from my angle, I felt her shake her head between my shoulder blades.

"Not leaving," she muttered into my shirt.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore," I reassured the young Rook, "Karasuba can't get-" was as far as I got before Shirone released a hiss at Karasuba's name. Sighing, I decided it would be less trouble to leave her where she was at the moment, and walked up Sona.

"Sona," I called out to the girl when I reached the desk. Currently, Sona had her head buried in her hands, but she peered up at me between her fingers at my approach. "I didn't get the chance to ask you back there but I'm going to need a favour."

"No."

"You haven't heard what I'm going to ask."

"It's probably going to be something asinine which, if it does not get me killed, will make me lose the last remaining shreds of my sanity."

...well, she wasn't entirely wrong, though probably not in the way she was thinking.

"You owe me one," I pointed out.

"I don't care," she replied frankly, tossing her hands in the air. "I have the Red Dragon Emperor, a creature so dangerous that it is one of only two creatures in all of existence that Devils have been banned from reincarnating, sitting in my office, looking as if she was about to slip her leash at any second. And going by how nonchalantly you're acting, I don't think it has full sunken in just how serious this is, Shirou!"

On my back, I felt Shirone vigorously nodding her head in agreement.

"I understand, really I do." I decided to ignore Shirone for the moment and focused my attention on Sona. "Which is why I'm asking for your help. I know of a way to fix all of this, but I'm going to need you to trust me." When all I received was a scowl in response, I added, "Please?"

Sona kept scowling at me. "Fine," she huffed, throwing her hands up in surrender. "But I swear, Shirou, if I really do end up snapping and start prancing around in a Magical Girl outfit I'm going to be taking you down with me."

"Thank you." I said, giving her an appreciative smile. "You won't regret this I,-"

"Oh, I'm going to end up regretting this, alright," Sona began rummaging through her pockets. "The only question is if I'm going to be able to live long enough to regret the decision and learn from it, or if this will be the one that will take me to the grave." Pulling out a folded piece of paper from a skirt pocket, Sona held it out to me. "Here. This is yours."

"What is it?" Taking the offered paper, I unfolded it and examined its contents.

One glance told me all I needed to know.

"It's for the Young Devils' Gathering," Sona answered, confirming my thoughts. "The matchups have been decided."

The Young Devils' Gathering was a single elimination tournament.

All 64 contestants were to face each other in a one-on-one battle along with their Peerage. The winner would go on to fight in the next round while the loser would drop out. This would go on until only one Peerage remained.

There were no second chances for those who lost.

On the paper in front of me, the entire matchup for every single contest was drawn up.

From the looks of it, all the contestants were divided into 4 separates blocks, labelled as Block A, Block B, Block C, and Block D, with each block containing 16 contestants. The blocks were then further organised into two groups, the East Group, made up of Blocks A and B, while the West Group held the remaining C and D Blocks.

The way the tournament was set up was that the contestants of each Block would fight each other until only one remained. And then the champions of each block were paired off against each other, A Block vs B Block, and C Block vs D.

And the winners of that fight would end up facing each other in what was essentially the finals.

I searched for my name, spotting it just a few seconds later.

"Block C," I muttered, slightly disappointed but unsurprised. "It looks like I won't end up facing Sairaorg until the final round."

The Bael Clan's Golden Lion had been placed in A block. The first name on the entire list, actually. With the way the tournament was set up, the only way he and I would end up facing each other, and I had no doubt that we would end up facing one another, was when we both made our way to the final round.

No surprise there. I was fairly sure whoever set the rounds up wanted to leave our fight until the very end. Both Sairaorg and I were the favourites to win, which was the most likely reason why they wanted to save our fight for last. To play it up for the crowd if nothing else.

That was just fine by me.

If things went as planned, then the final match would be the time when I revealed my intentions to the world. For things to work out how I wanted them to, I would need a lot of people to be watching. The more the better. And it looks like whoever's in charge was giving me exactly what I wanted.

"I'm in Block B," Sona added in before I had the chance to spot her name. And sure enough, there she was in B Block. "Along with Rias. Your first match is against Seekvaira Agares."

"So it is." I stared at the name set just below mine. Seekvaira Agares. I tried to dredge up whatever information I had on her.

By all accounts Seekvaira Agares was a promising Devil by modern standards.

The heiress to the Agares Clan, one of the remaining 72 Pillars, whose bloodline gifted them with a modicum of control over time. Known for her keen intelligence and skill rather than her raw magical power, she was more akin to Sona than Rias in fighting style.

She was also rumoured to have a fascination with machines, almost an obsession. It was said that she had spent the last several years pouring money into projects in an attempt to develop high-tech machinery that could be used in battle. However, with the lack of official Rating Game battles, there was not much data to confirm how successful she was.

Though I had no intention of letting my guard down, I did not expect much trouble from her.

"What about you?" I asked, looking up Sona's opponent and not recognising the name. "Who are you up against?"

"Reeder Al'Bisolah," Sona answered, waving off my unspoken concerns. "Don't worry about him, he comes from a small but old Clan of Pure-Blooded Devils. I've already looked up his examination match and I don't expect him to pose much of a threat. He's decent and his tactics are sound, if predictable. He managed to pass the examination more due to luck than anything. I anticipate no problems beating him."

She sounded certain, so I decided to trust her judgment in the matter.

"Unfortunately," Sona gained a conflicted look on her face, her hand reaching up to fiddle with her glasses, "I cannot say the same for Rias."

"Why?" I furrowed my brows and scanned the sheet. "Who did she end up…oh," I mouthed when I caught sight of her name, understanding why Sona appeared so worried.

This certainly wasn't going to be an easy fight.

Printed in clear black and white text on the page, the name 'Rias Gremory' was set right above that of 'Riser Phenex'.

*Chapter End*