18. Small Stars
Rias stirred herself awake, and two turquoise eyes open blearily. Blinking to clear her sight reveals the ceiling in all its old stout wood, and lack of decoration. She realizes she's lying down in her manor's bed.
She pushes yourself up. 'How did?'
She remembers... the hot spring. Rias suppresses a scream in her pillow. Stupid, stupid girl.
She was entirely naked before the man she liked... okay, well— fell in love with —and she could do nothing but faint like some inexperienced amateur.
Which isn't an unfounded description.
The Gremory coughs unexpectedly as the desert of her throat makes itself of note. Some water would do her well. Getting up from under her sheets, she realizes she's in her red negligee. Anos must have clothed her and the others before bringing them to their respective rooms.
It's what makes the most sense.
She appreciates the sentiment but Rias is a girl who will always be friendlier to the idea that being bare during slumber is all that is right with the world. The crimson beauty thinks this as she trails toward the kitchen. Its is most certainly the second day of ten and the moon is still out if the slight strength in her bones is any indication.
It takes a glass or two of water before Rias feels secure enough to sleep again, but a peak from outside puts a pause to that idea. Out at the pavilion near the balcony is Anos, who's fully clothed, thankfully. He seems to be engaged with the moon, she didn't strike him for a star-gazer, or moon-gazer.
She should join him, the thought doesn't make her feel as if anchors have been tied to her feet so goes along with it. Her nightgown and laced-panties would brave against the cold, surely.
Before long, Rias finds herself pushing past the door to the outside and walks with enough grace to make Gaia wonder if she had taken any steps at all. Still, there's a time where she looks at him like he is the most fascinating thing in the world - like she could stare at him forever.
"You're staring." Anos remarked out of the blue and Rias blinks.
Slowly and surely, she realizes she had in fact been staring at him for some time, her face turned scarlet, rivaling her hair before matching it.
Stay calm. Look calm. Act calm. Take a deep breath.
"Sorry, I was thinking about a few things." Rias replied almost too quickly. Inside, she was mentally berating herself.
"No need to apologize." Anos says, turning his gaze skyward.
She liked him, that much was obvious, but she wasn't sure if he liked her. In the way she wanted. The man made it hard to believe he'd hold any opinion of her past just being a girl with beautiful red hair and an impressive young King. Something she appreciated.
"The moon looks amazing tonight, doesn't she?" Rias says, snagging a spot next to him.
"She does," Anos casts his eyes to her, smiling, "I feel she watches over me."
Something in his voice caught her breath. Not the usual sunshine grin. Just that quiet, gentle smile that never quite meant what it looked like.
"Let's go for a walk." he says, as sudden as rain.
"A walk?" Rias thought she heard wrong. "Why a walk?"
"It's a nice night." Anos states, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It'll be worth it."
Looking at him right now. Rias knows that he's already won, and he's aware of it.
He offers his hand. She lets him tug her up from her spot of the pavilion, momentarily surprised by the warmth of his hand, but he has already let go. It is transient; she wonders if it will ever happen again.
Rias watches Anos for a moment longer. Just a moment. Cerise and azure eyes lock. A simple glance that sets a tone in her mind. Their gaze breaks when Anos decides to cast Gatom. It was like he'd headed for a door first. Opening it so she won't have to. Rias smiles.
They head out in intersecting spaces of white.
The air is still warm with the long lasting vestiges of summer, but cooler days will replace this soon enough.
They eventually reach a park. A familiar one for the both of them but the reasons for why were worlds apart. They couldn't be compared.
Among shrubs and nestled lines of trees they find a spot where the grass seems a little greener and a breeze wafts through the air.
There is a single water fountain there, tall and proud, spreading its canopy all around and bathing in the moonlight. A bench perches a few steps next to it, so purposefully placed for a night like this.
And it is beautiful.
Rias follows Anos, slowly, heart in her mouth. It feels like she is walking through some kind of gateway and entering a place where no one else may step.
She could make that happen. She owns this park after all.
"Anos." She calls in a tone that sounds so... pathetic.
The former demon turns and looks at her. She never called him in such a tone before. Her voice, fragile like glass, so he looks a little surprised.
Rias' hand lightly rubs her arm while her eyes hastily dip to the ground, hard, anything to evade looking at the man.
She wanted to say something. No, she needed to say something.
"Anos." Rias repeats herself, finally looking at him again. "My hair. What do you think of it?"
"Your hair?" Anos questions. Now giving her his full attention. His eyes were searching for meaning in her words.
Rias swallows. The words are not right; they don't communicate what she is feeling. Nevertheless, she persists because he doesn't deserve her meekness.
"When we spoke initially. You said my hair was beautiful. Is... is that truly how you feel about it?" Rias breathes in deeply before something like panic takes over. "It's not too long, right? A-And the shade of red isn't too much?"
"No. It's beautiful." Anos says without hesitation. "Don't you dare cut it or stain it with dye. If you do, I won't forgive you."
Anos didn't know what kind of weight his words had on her but that was really how he felt. He didn't want it to be baseless sweet talk.
The two reach the fountain in silence soon after. Anos lets the warm breeze lightly lift the hair over his forehead, his eyes are closed. He looks so peaceful and Rias envies him.
He's so blissfully unaware of the impact he had on her in so little time, and now, she couldn't help but be so easily flustered.
This was something she so desperately wanted and didn't know how much she'd long to keep. It was just the devil's blood in her momentarily making her feel that, she assumed. But it meant that... it meant that... What did it mean?
She'd be lying to say that she didn't have a clue. She knew what it meant.
It meant that whatever this was. It was genuine. Her feelings were real.
'What do...' Rias pauses in her mind. 'What do I say to him?'
She wonders in her head. She wants to share this feeling. To let him know.
Anos guides them to and settles next to a bench. And Rias jolts when she feels his hand onto her own. He pulls her gently to the bench as well. He sits; she, too, sits beside him.
Something feels endless about the dappled starry light coming through the leaves above. It is fragile and unceasing. Now, both feel the breeze on their skin and take in the moonlight.
Rias leans against Anos' shoulder, close enough to see the lack of wrinkles on his shirt. The air is now cool and warm all at once and she watches him look up into the branches of the tree, leaves swaying and rustling in the breeze. The scene is beautiful, but it is her indescribable presence within it which makes it sacred.
She wants this, she realizes. Rias wants this to continue indefinitely; a moment of peace and fragility with him, glowing in the gloom of her mind. It is a star in the lonely pall of her existence.
But she knows it will pass. A moment cannot be grasped in one's palm like a sword. It will end. It is futile. This is something she cannot have; not forever.
What if... she loses to Riser? She'd felt stronger than she had ever been in a while thanks to Anos' training on just the first day no less, and still, doubt held her heart. Intense sorrow blooming beneath her ribs.
Rias gets up. She steps forward; her mouth opens; she speaks. She breaks the moment and it shatters to the wayside.
"Sometimes..."
Anos turns his head just slightly so that she knows he's listening.
"Sometimes, I get scared that... this. That this will disappear." She looks far into the distance; her voice sounds strange and defeated to her own ears.
"I thought I knew already, that I couldn't have it last." She says. "But I'm still scared it will be gone. I don't believe fate will humor me for much longer."
She looks at him now, not backing away. "You'll do your best." he says.
"My best." Rias pauses, looking into his deep red eyes. "What if it isn't enough?"
She steps forward, "If your fate was already decided, what would you do, Anos?"
"If I didn't like it, I'd change it." Anos answers, honest. His gaze softens. He looks up at her with his kind, smiling face.
"How?" she breathes.
The words he says next. She could only define it in one word: right—
"It's simple, you destroy it with your own two hands."
—and so very Anos.
She nearly giggles despite herself, because she knows he means it.
She'll believe it if that is what he has willingly done so himself.
A voice within her speaks: 'Burn this into your mind. Memorize it. Engrave this moment into your very being, for someone has just spoken the words you have always wanted to hear.'
Before she knows it, she is smiling back at him.
Rias feels dazed but relieved, because Anos' words do not disappear. The sight of dappled light in his scarlet eyes does not fade. She is relieved, and locks the hopeful memory away, carefully, for a time when she will need it the most.
She resolves herself. Sitting down on his lap, facing him. Her arms around his neck. He grew a bit stiff, but eventually looked her in the eyes.
"Rias, you..."
Wordlessly, she leans in, and for the first time, they kissed under the snowy moonlight.
—————
It is almost twelve hours later when the sun resumes its near ad infinitum rise that etches its presence on the Earth.
Today begins the one on one exercise briefings. Secluded spots away from the larger group and around the mountain for Anos to instruct the devils for a day. The first participant: Himejima Akeno.
Currently, she adorns the threads of her priestess apparel. She looks lovely, but she does not look happy. To see her as the same Yamato Nadeshiko she resembled was to make the same mistake as missing the ocean for the lakes.
"Are you trying to make me mad, Anos?" Akeno's voice had all the politeness of someone who had the gall to stab you in the front versus the back.
For her palm are a myriad of torchlight bolts that seek to sear a hole in Anos' chest, each larger, brighter and faster: angrier too.
"It was true today, Akeno. It'll be true tomorrow." Anos answers, her lightning shattering across his wards.
"You don't just tell a girl who you locked lips with! Especially when it's her best friend!" Only the small, sharp sneer remained across her face, "Why would you tell me something like that?"
Anos quirked a brow. "I thought you would want to know."
She takes a step forward, "Did you think it was that simple?" Akeno says, the sparks between her fingers wane, aborting the magic she's needlessly firing. She knows it is petty, but Anos can take it, and he doesn't mind to either.
"Yes." he says.
There is a pause between them— Anos speaks again, just as she opens her mouth to protest.
"You never do anything at all simple, Akeno." he continued, with his familiar grin that knits at her chest.
Akeno is more miffed than anything now. Her chest rises, and then, she actually laughs. It is a sweet laugh. Anos too, joins in. The moment is short and the jest is an early one, between friends. Best to embrace it instead.
"I'm still mad at you." She says, eventually. Even if her King had been the one to initiate the kiss with him, that minute detail didn't mean much of anything to the Himejima.
For as kind, and amazing as Akeno could be— and is, she could also be rather dull at times.
"I know," Anos says, middling red meeting soft amethyst.
"I also fell for you." Akeno confesses, unprompted to anyone else; but not to Anos.
"I know." he repeats, gentler than before. "Did you really think I'd never know, simply because you hadn't told me?"
What follows is her uncontrollable giggles, with an occasional hiccup, she takes another step closer. "I knew you would say something like that. But I feel as if you still don't get it."
She shakes her head just a little, "It's just— it isn't just me. Rias, obviously. Sona, and Tsubaki as well. Maybe... no, definitely more."
There is shifting in her expression to uncertainty, and there's a weight behind her gaze, like the curvature of the Earth viewed from above.
Another step forward. Every literal step of the metaphorical road is one worth taking after all.
"My magic is respondent, and intimate. I felt your soul or something close to it. Even with just a fingertips touch from when we first met. I noticed something." she says.
Anos is always better-informed than other people— he's almost all-knowing. Even he did not know what the Queen would say next.
"You're tempting, and ancient. But you're also lonely, Anos. A cold, lone star."
She... isn't wrong. She isn't done either.
"When we met, and you agreed to have me along. With all of my poking, month in and month out, it made me feel so unique, that someone like you— with a soul like that, would keep me along. I didn't mind if you decided not to love me. But... with what happened with Rias."
Akeno ceases the distance. She is so close that she can see the rise and fall of his breath near the needle length between them. Anos has seen stones with more subtlety than that – and they weren't as blunt either.
So, she pulls him in, hand on his cheek sliding to the base of his skull. Their lips met and Anos didn't tear her away. Akeno moaned both from surprise and his acceptance. As they kiss, wet smooches sound in the rustling winds. She pressed up into him, pulling him down with her own hand in his ebony hair.
When they finally broke for air, it feels like light and static.
"I was starting to think you didn't have an interest in women, but after a kiss like that..." Akeno could not help but lay a single dainty finger to her supple lips, the corners of her mouth lift, "my first kiss."
"How was it?" Anos asks, having an idea of an answer when she licks her lips.
"It felt like fire and lightning," Akeno brightens, "and it was wonderful."
"I'm glad to hear it." Anos liked seeing her happy. This happy even, "it felt the same for me."
"Good, may I have another?" Akeno asks.
"Hmm, for a devil, you're not very devilish; asking instead of taking?" he says and Akeno huffs, she steps up and pecks his lips again.
When she separates, she looks a little serious now. "I had an idea but I'm not too sure you'll like it. A way to give everyone a chance: Me, Rias, Sona, Tsubaki and potentially others."
Anos looked more than interested. "Let's hear it."
"A harem, for you."
Somewhere around, Issei's head was shot to Hell for seemingly no reason.
And Anos? The idea obviously wasn't foreign to him. He has been offered numerous invitations for concubines back when he was ruler. Accepting any of them was another matter entirely.
"If the other's agree to it, sure. But you'll have to do something for me before I fully accept."
"Anything."
"A question. Your fallen heritage. Why do you neglect it?" Anos questioned. Akeno is as still as a statue for some time, until her mind and then mouth catch up, slipping past the shock.
"How... long have you known?" Her gaze is lowered, not facing him completely. It seems the charred grass, dull soil, duller stone, and patches of dirt -- is somehow, someway a little more interesting than his eyes.
"How long have we known each other?" His question is, of course, the answer to her own.
'That long,' Akeno's mind wondered, seemingly after some reflection on her part.
Akeno's voice has found its way passed her lips. "Hate and disgust. I just find that part of me... to be so vile because it's the part that he was. Fa— Baraqiel. He turned his back to my mother and I. He abandoned his wife and child and knowingly left us for dead."
Akeno was lucky, her mother was not.
The part her father was -- had been the part of her that left them to die when they needed him most. The fallen part of her is what convinced those who she once called her family to decidedly murder her mother and herself over it.
Akeno rather forgets that day exists.
"There's a great many words to describe you, Akeno. Hate and disgust do you no justice."
Anos' hand reaches out, and he glides it over her face, brushing away the tears from the corner of her eyes and draws her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her back. He holds her like how her mother used to, when Akeno was small and alone.
"We've known each other six months, and in all that time I knew you were fallen. It never hampered me from accepting you, not a moment." She buries herself deeper into the black fabric of his shirt and listens.
"I will never detest others for something as trivial as the blood between their bones and I won't begin now. Show me that side of you, Akeno," He tilts her head upwards, shy of a kiss, "I'm not asking as a friend anymore."
Her heart beats like a drum at that last sentence, in all the ways she's wanted it to for the time she's known him.
"You're lucky I love you." For all the tension springing within her, Akeno's smile was far more benign and directed towards those far more deserving; like her boyfriend of twelve minutes ago.
"If this is what luck brings then I want every part of it." Anos replies and Akeno feels the warmth nestling within her.
Akeno wipes the blush off her face and steps back after being guided by Anos from the shoulders. A good thing, too, because otherwise she might have fallen given her shaky figure.
The Queen takes breath not entirely of air and so it was - wings spring from her back in all their glory; one side of inky feathers, the other is bat-like obsidian. "So what do you think?"
"Darker than sin and twice as lovely." Anos says as easy as he can breathe it.
At those words, Akeno doesn't start to smile, she hasn't stopped.
"Ara ara. Such poetry. If they please you so much then I might bring them out more often." She purrs, but the words hold the weight of promise.
"Nothing would please me more," he says, just before drawing a magic circle, "now then, to commemorate the occasion, I suppose I could teach you some magic of my own. Be warned, it's going to hurt."
Violet irides fixated on the magic he drew, curiosity and wonder filled in them turned to something else.
Excitement.
Black lightning tendrils ripple into reality, roaring a darkened blacklight that is bright and furious and burning.
Origin Magic: Jirasd.
It would fit her.
—————
When the demands of a new day had come around, and the morning is warm and welcoming, the one who takes the time to appreciates it is not, in fact, Koneko.
But that is perhaps the least of her problems. She is a nekoshou-devil hybrid. Her power, compared to most of the supernatural world, isn't bad. But it is not particularly eye-catching. Koneko is strong, sure. She could— and has— taken a stray's head off at the shoulder's by punching mildly harder than usual.
There are those who can do the same thing to mountains.
She isn't one of those, yet.
The young Rook digs her feet just that little bit more securely into the grass and braces herself. Her thoughts are book-ended by a fist that never came.
"I take it you've lost your focus for a reason," Anos notes, he lowered his fist before he squatted in front of her, resting his elbows on his knees, "If you have something on your mind, I'm willing to listen."
Koneko didn't answer, but Anos didn't expect her to. He obviously wasn't finished speaking yet.
"Is it because you find yourself lacking?" He finishes.
It is a truth. Especially now that Issei could currently be argued— and does — have the most physical strength in Gremory's peerage.
The white-haired girl nodded, it was a gentle admittance. There was a greater purpose to this confession, after all.
"I'm not surprised." Anos says. He stood up, at his full height, "I'm going to be direct with you, Koneko, in the way Rias refuses to be. It's going to be difficult. Endure it."
The Edonica training didn't bare as much fruit as it could, and there was a reason for that. Knowing that, he looked down at her, and as always, the full weight of his eyes made her wonder if she'd cease to exist when he took his attention away. Wordlessly, she nods her permission.
"Your aversions for rejecting who you are as a nekoshou are your own. You're like Akeno in that respect. But tell me honestly, what exactly prevents you from using your nekomata heritage? Your senjutsu? I won't claim to comprehend your reasons, but you must have them, surely."
For a time, Koneko could not speak. When she finally found her voice, her words were faltering, like a bird with clipped wings over the waters. "You knew?"
"If I must say it so obviously, yes." Anos is blunt, the sort of blunt cruelty even she needed to learn.
"Senpai," She pauses, "I have reasons. But they are not for you to know."
"Why not?"
"What would be the point?" she says, golden orbs filled in wry, "I just know no one would be able to convince me otherwise."
"Don't mistake my patience for acceptance, Koneko." Anos remarks. "I value you as an underclassman; a friend. Not a coward."
This conversation hurts, Koneko surmised in the surface of her thoughts, "The way I am now is preferable to how I will be once I embrace my other self. It's better for me to stay like this."
"Maybe, but it isn't. I know this," Anos gestures to her, "isn't what you want."
"Why?" It is all she can say, because she does not understand how, after all this time, someone who hadn't even known her story could come to care to even hear it.
Anos' next words hung in the air, "You aren't as secretive as you let on, Koneko. Everyone deserves a chance, and nobody's ever bothered to give you yours. Not even yourself."
Her face is a little damp, and there might have been a tear or two that fell, but when the third one is out, so is her voice.
"She changed," she starts hesitantly, placing her words with the same care she's taking to not visibly tremble, "my... sister, she went mad because of senjutsu. I can't— no, I won't endanger the others. I've resisted the urge for a long time. I won't give into temptation like her."
While she speaks, her legs are jerky, almost abortive, like her whole body's a blade rattling in a sheath.
The former demom approaches her with all the caution someone else might use to not startle a wild animal. If there's one thing Anos' extensive skills rarely accounted for, it is how to comfort. It doesn't mean he doesn't know how. He palms the back of her head to push her face into his chest, "You'll be fine, I give you my word."
She's silent for a time.
"You sound so sure," she actually manages a sentence, still, her voice is lower than low, "how come?" she asks.
"You're strong and not at all the type of girl that wants or needs to be protected, right?" Anos smiles softly, one to flutter the heart.
"Now, when I give my word, I keep it. I do hope you treat me with the same respect." He moves a hand up, he gathers the unmistakable energy that is senjutsu and it snaps into his palm with a crackle.
It forms like a flickered flame. All the warmth, clarity and order it can give.
"As you can tell," The smirk he has is filled with the confidence of ten men put together, "I am a lot more sane than one would think."
"Oh..." she utters, before giving a laugh that is indistinguishable from a sniffle, "you know... this is the first time anyone's actually helped me with any of my problems."
Rias tried, but she had no idea what she was doing. Barely even a teen back then. But Rias had come to her. She tried to be the light in what is the worst night Koneko had ever known. Koneko could try to be the port in what is the worst storm her King would likely ever know in eight days time.
The ivory-haired girl surrenders a shuddering sigh, before leaning forward. She rests her forehead against his chest, her closed eyes successfully hiding her golden orbs. She mutters something quietly, but there's no bite in it; the words fall out of her mouth like ash.
Then, she looks up, and like her eyes, her words are clear; receptive even.
"Alright," she resolves after some time, "but if anything goes wrong, please take responsibility, senpai."
There's a nod from him and she knows he means it more than words could manage. Which is why, before Anos' visage, she lets the high, ringing chime of the world wash over her mind. It is the inner workings of senjutsu; from the specks of dirt up to something as glaring as the sun, and it resonates between her body and soul in a vast harmony.
She's a rare sight indeed. The kind the world itself tries to hide away— with her fauna-like appearance.
"How do you feel, Koneko?" Anos asks, he still hasn't let her go.
"Shirone."
Anos hums his inquiry about that, noticing how Koneko doesn't smile, or frown -- for that matter. But there's an edge in her eyes that wasn't there before. Good. She'll learn to grow into it.
"My name is Shirone," she repeats it. Less with a sigh, half with pleasure and half with relief. "No point to that secret, at least with with you, senpai."
She imagined pushing a continent would be easier than gathering the will necessary to admit that, but eventually she did manage it.
"I needed this," Koneko almost purrs, "it feels good, the Earth feels like it's singing. Thank you."
"Likewise," he says, "hold onto that feeling, Shirone. It will give you purpose."
She nods, now smiling. Anos returns it, "Let's take it slow."
He lets go.
The next moment, Anos blurs into a pair of fists that the Rook can't afford to dodge, so, she doesn't. Choosing to defend, Shirone flows natures energy around herself and hopes it is enough to deflect his strength; only through sheer will and a great deal of luck does she keep the force from knocking her fifty meters to the side.
And in the end, it is only about ten.
"Not bad, Shirone." Anos can tell she is about three times more than she was before today.
At her surprise, the young nekoshou finds it all the more pleasant the way that Anos says her name over his small praise. She doesn't know how he manages it, but the hold he has over the hearts of women is not something she wholly disapproves.
Especially since he's beginning to take hold of her own.
—————
Two blades crash against one another with enough precision to cleave through atoms, which is why all the hissing sparks and building heat create explosions with each clash.
One of the two blades back off at a distance of no less than twenty meters. It isn't a retreat per say, but the growing pants of the wielder is evident. Every breath inhaled is a second to think before moving in once again.
The sword of the opposition flickers ever closer and the one who initially backs off responds by drawing his sword back. He meets the opposing blade head-on, and the moment he does, his own sword is sliced in two, hitting its user in the nose with enough force to be sent flying back.
Kiba adjusts mid-air despite being discombobulated and lands harshly, skidding his broken blade across the ground to come to a stop.
Anos analyses the downed Knight like prey, each movement shows weakness and strength. Kiba nurses his broken nose for a moment before shakily materializing a new sword out of the air itself.
"Not good enough," Anos remarks, "but you aren't as glaringly terrible as before."
The Knight flinches with a steep frown. It's little more than an expulsion of air from Anos, but the words still manages to strike Kiba like a punch to the gut. Even after the Edonica training does his swordsmanship give out to an unserious Anos.
"I know you feel the need to impress me," Anos says, dissolving his steel blade into the daylight, "But you march beneath Rias' banner first and foremost. And for one, I do not hold your mistake against you like you do yourself."
The Knight shifts under his painfully-accurate monologue, "I just... don't want to fail Buchou, not again. Not anymore. Please, forgive my mar."
"I suppose I could," Anos says, in his left hand is the brightness of a million tiny suns. The light disperses and in his grasp was born a familiar holy sword.
Kiba's face is lop-sided glower when his eyes adjust to the blade, in his mind he attempts to do something foolish, so what he really does is look down at the grass as if he's never seen such a thing before.
"Tell me, Yuuto, does the sight of this holy sword provoke you to anger?"
"No, it's nothing like that, senpai." Kiba's speech is quick, deliberate, and entirely unconvincing.
"Perhaps not," Anos muses, "we have a whole day ahead of us, so pull yourself up and face me. We've burned enough daylight as is."
Kiba does so, and to his credit, he maintains composure. He sighs what Anos can only assume are his frustrations and angst and readies himself. Then, he pushes off the ground with the kick off of dust.
The time after this is a brutal lunge from Anos. He travels at Kiba's back; somehow, in the time the Knight is still making the first strike, Anos has practically teleported— given how ludicrously fast he's able to move— behind the blonde and Kiba is afforded the pitiful chance to whirl aside, maybe.
If that holy sword cuts him even once, he will perish utterly. Now seeing the holy blade bearing down on him like an avalanche of heat. It sizzles his bare skin, and the time is way too brief to swing so he instead blocks. Using his sword like an improper shield with both hands to the hilt for extra support.
Kiba's sword shatters on impact, and with a wild rush of air blasting his body to an airborne spiral. Kiba is just lucky enough to not have been cleaved to pieces from chest to torso. He is instead, simply sent across the field with the wind out of his lungs and the growing pain that makes up his body now.
It takes a long couple of minutes before Kiba shoves himself out of the dirt grave he's found himself in, and by the time he does, Anos has a blade to his neck. It burns.
"If there's one thing in the world I understand, it's hatred. And what sort of teacher would I be if I let you go gallivanting around with hate in your heart? Righteous or otherwise." Anos declares, his voice is perfectly even.
"Do you understand me, Kiba?" he follows up and the boy nods because that is the only thing he can do.
Anos casts Ent soon after.
"Do you wish to take a break?" Anos says, expertly seeing the mental exhaustion in Kiba's visage.
"If you wouldn't mind, senpai."
"Granted." Anos allows with a pause, "under the condition that when you next make your swords, imagine more than the sword itself. Create the atoms before even the object."
The boy looked stunned through his tiredness, but he replies. "I'll see what I can do."
"See to it that you do. You have three hours to reinforce your swords well enough to last ten swings."
Kiba thinks on it, "That's doable."
"Ten swings from a holy blade," Anos adds.
The blonde freezes, all too observant of the uphill request. "How many swings are expected in succession?"
"Fifty."
Immediately, Kiba's mouth hangs. "Ten multitudes of fifty is..."
Five hundred swings in an instant.
"That's how much I am willing to go easy on you." Anos states. Kiba is the perfect picture of horrified. That was going easy?
Still, Anos does not relent.
—————
"Forgive my excitement, but I didn't know you were raised in the church!" Argento beamed with the backing of wonder and familiarity in those bamboo-green eyes of hers.
It was curious. In his previous life, Anos had lived for so long that he sometimes regarded a year the same way he would a day. So, whenever he takes note of Asia, he could she is genuine — genuine in the way where someone could take and use it before spurning her away.
"I could tell you, if you'd like? I know curiosity is a very strong thing." Anos offers.
Argento looks like she's going to proceed but then reconsiders. "A-Ah, no, no. I couldn't ask you for something so personal!" she says, shaking her head in the same motion as her hands.
"If you say so." If Anos had shrugged, it would be the very face of casual.
The ex-nun has been nothing but kind to him -- which wasn't out of the ordinary mind you, but it was even to the point of being too unresisting around him. Anos had traced this behavior back since the days prior at the hot spring; how interesting.
"Asia," Anos says. "want to guess what you'll be learning today?"
"Urm..." The lost look in her emerald eyes is quite possibly the most adorable she's looked. "The abyss of my magic?"
In all honesty, it is not a bad answer, shows she notes his words.
"Close," Anos replies. "I'm going to teach you how to improve your ability to heal not only the body, but the mind, and the soul as well. Depending on how well you do, maybe all three concurrently."
Her eyes widen eagerly. She straightens out, looking more determined than she's ever been. But, first thing's first.
"Listen, Asia," Anos says, looking her straight in the eyes, "I commend you for having evolved your Twilight Healing. Being able to create constructs from barriers to bows through restoration magic is indeed impressive given your lack of experience."
"I couldn't do it without your Edonica training," she says, the words are firm too.
Anos nods. "That may be so, but you are quite talented. Asia, be honest with yourself: if I had to ask you if Edonica was difficult for you, especially compared to everyone else, would you have said yes?"
Asia resembles a plant missing its sun, she taps her index fingers against one another. "You're right. I couldn't say yes."
Of course Anos was right, if there is a world in which he wasn't, then it is a world that doesn't exist.
She actually huffs, unreserved, "I didn't want to upstage the others. They were giving it their all and I thought I would look out of place more than I already am."
"I see," Anos reaches over, and tilts her face up by her chin. She doesn't resist, "your worries are unfounded. They're nothing overbearing, and it is to your benefit that I advocated Rias take you in. That, and Hyoudou's plea. You make him - and by extension - them, better."
The blonde maiden in Anos' grasp makes an admittedly valiant effort to not lean in and close the distance — which she is doing. Anos doesn't give her the opportunity. He did not let his hand linger because he must see what it does to Asia and the flaming upon her face. He interrupts her advance.
"Shall we get started?" Anos says forthright, as if in supplication.
Argento stops and looks stricken. Probably over the impure idea of what this was that so suddenly arose. Her heart, even now, will not stop beating in haste. Had Issei ever made her feel this strongly for his person? No. She would like to experience this feeling of warmth from Anos, but it would have to be put on hold for a time after this.
"Okay," Argento says eventually, a surprising shine in her eyes. Her resolve is a tangible thing. "I'll do my best."
—————
Today, Anos has chosen to educate Issei at a mountain's summit.
The Pawn himself seems rather cheerful, and Anos doesn't vocally comment about it as much as he might want to. He is actually impressed with the boy and his growing resolve. Issei was unknowingly already approaching Super-devil tiers of power.
"So, what's for me to do today?" Issei says, his Boosted Gear already active, passively raising not just his power, but just about everything to do with him.
Anos replies, amused. "There are plenty of things I want you to accomplish. But firstly, I'll need to wake the freeloader in your Gear."
"Huh?" Issei blinks, and then looks dejectedly down at his gauntlet. "...I thought I was doing well without that lizard."
"Keep your head up, Hyoudou," Anos says, hand over the emerald gemstone of his Sacred Gear, "the way to your Balance Breaker is to enhance your connection with its inhabitant."
A magic circle glows over it and Anos' power seeps into the invisible space between Issei and Ddraig, twisting around the anchors that graft to the ancient dragon's source. The binding is so incredibly tight until it isn't any longer, loosening and breaking at once.
"You may speak, Welsh Dragon." Anos orders.
"Pardon me for my prior insolence... I now understand what you were trying to tell me," The red dragon spoke, his haughty tone ceased when addressing Anos, "You hold my leash."
Anos lowered his hand, choosing to place it at his hip, his grin is a satisfied one. "I'm glad we came to understand each other, Ddraig."
"What do you require of me? You do not strike me for one to do things out of the kindness of the heart."
"That's correct. Consider this a test then." Anos said. "Figuring out why I loosened your bindings."
"It must be for the boy of course."
"Close, I called him your owner the last time but it would more fair to refer to Issei as your partner." Anos replies, "now get to the reason behind the why."
"Do you intend for me to comply with my host? Surely you can see the lack of... proper character in my current wielder?"
"So you say," Anos says. "Point is, to figure out the right way to treat a potential ally, you need to know them. And the best way to do so is to fight alongside them. Issei isn't particularly unusual for a host, so if you want to learn what to do and how to act as you're bound together, pay attention to the other."
"I see... your point is a fair one."
"Hey! This is interesting and all, but can you guys please stop ignoring me?" Issei pouted, like a child.
Ddraig's sigh is sung through the telepathy, poor dragon, "I believe I can make good on this arrangement. How powerful has my host become?"
"I can destroy mountains without your help you know! Probably more too!" Issei informs his draconic companion.
"Is that so?" Ddraig directs the inquiry to Anos who confirms. "Impressive for a hopeless runt."
"More seriously, I figured I'd open it up to you. Help the boy access his Balance Breaker. The Scale Mail. He's somewhere close to ready." Anos remarks this confidently, enough that Ddraig himself does not question the idea. But he does warn of the potential risk.
"The boy will die if his body isn't conditioned well."
"Issei has experience in that field. Death isn't an issue." Anos exclaims, Issei pales.
"Then let it be done." Ddraig's voice reverberates from Issei's arm, "Balance Breaker, Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker!"
The Boosted Gear shone with an intense ruby light that blanketed the Pawn entirely from view.
"Boosted Gear Balance Breaker: Scale Mail!" Issei's voice suddenly erupted from within the light, the mountain itself creaked with a shockwave.
The once-before-seen hulking crimson covering appeared as draconic armor on Hyoudou's body. Massive reptile-like wings, and a long whip of a tail too. Adorning the helmet were a pair of sharp golden tusks, and two beading emerald gems in place of eyes. The entire body was made up of the same material as Issei's gauntlet.
"This is amazing!" Issei's fist rocketed in the air and he roared out, "With this power, I can even defeat you, senpai!"
He lowered his arms and pointed one metallic-clawed finger at him, "Let's go! You and me!" he demanded, leaping back at a distance before his legs crouched down as if to push off.
"Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!" Ddraig's voice erupted with chant after chant, the green gems on the crimson armor lit up in emerald rays.
Issei's body blurred forward - with enough power to sink islands and raze a continent. Exploding off the ground at the speed of light was indeed impressive too. However— if Issei had moved at the speed of light then Anos simply needed to move faster.
So it no surprise when Issei's charge comes to screeching halt and an imprint of Anos' fist, punched right through the chest of the Scale Male, shattering the crimson armor to fragments like clattering ice, returning Hyoudou to his typical self.
"I commend your resolve. But engrave this into your skull for when you may need to remember: Those who challenge me, never win."
Wide eyed, mouth agape, Issei felt mystified awe before his body gives out into unconsciousness.
—————
The last three days had all been dedicated to Sitri's peerage, it was the usual, Hell disguised as improvement with a cheaply-placed bow atop.
But it was necessary, and things had progressed better than okay. Their blood, sweat and many tears -- had been the reminder that it was worth it at the end. Maybe it was even fun... maybe.
Sona glances over at the pavilion where her peerage and her co-King's peerage have all recovered from the events of the final day of ten. For as brutal as Anos is, he is also rather fair in allowing moments of respite and leisure when he deems it. The man clearly knew his way around the foundations of strength and how to best sow it into those who are willing.
"Anos," Sitri calls. Tsubaki flanks alongside her, both walking tidily around the table where Anos sits, "I believe it's time we should discuss what Akeno has brought to light with us."
"Go on." Anos says.
Tsubaki's voice is the one to carry over with that natural grace of hers. "After discussing Akeno's proposal with Rias, we've decided to accept it with the following caveats: we are all adults - we know what we've agreed to and we bear equal account. So as such, no competition, no other males, and in regard to any potential future female inclusions, all sides are to be informed and sanctioned."
Anos nodded along with it all, somewhere in his mind he knew harems were preferred in current day devil society. What he has are the heirs of the Gremory and Sitri clans. The respective little sisters of the two most influential Satans the race has ever known. They could likely recite all the net positives of something like this. Or try to, anyway.
"Is... there any grievances with such a compromise?" Sitri asks in what is most definitely a hesitant push.
"No." Anos replies. His words hadn't been loud. Just calm; assured. "Curious is all. Is there nothing in me that you would find unwilling or un-wanting?"
"You're worried we can't look at you impartially?" Sona carries the weight of the inquiry.
Tsubaki interjects, "You've never given anyone a reason to doubt you, Anos. Our decision speaks for itself."
Coming from Tsubaki who has only ever known Anos in strides and from a distance, those words are a telling gesture. There was a time she regarded another the way she did Anos. That time was left in the past with her inhibition.
Tsubaki always held her true thoughts back. Now, it was different. Not perfect, but not a mess either.
"Naturally," Sitri agrees, "rest assured, our consent is entirely our own. Not of pressure or misplaced haste."
A thought about that occurs to Anos, he locks it away for now.
"Well," comes Anos' response, he lets their intentness speak for itself, "there are two things I've never known: the impossible and regret. With me, you'll never know either."
The translation being, of course, that they'd not be a moment in which they would regret being apart of this. Giving back was the rational choice. And it felt right. They'd already known that, of course. It was just a matter of figuring out how.
"I'm glad to see this is all going so well."
Rias' voice came up, strangely like sunshine. She turns to her own Queen who is not too far back from her. "Is this everything you came to expect?"
Akeno leads her response with a familiar smile. How very like the redhead to know she wanted in on the fun. "All this and more."
A brief urge to raise a brow is quickly quashed by Rias; she'll someday learn to completely read Akeno for all she's worth, eventually. Ah, well. A King can't always expect to know everything as much as the thought might be nice. Heavy is the crown and all that.
"So a harem?" Rias turns to Anos now. She didn't expect his approval. "I wouldn't have picked it."
"As little as I might show it, I do like to surprise others."
"Fair, I suppose." Rias casually returns. She would shrug if she had been raised to do so for casual talks such as this.
Then, she stiffens, they all do, aside from Anos who's already directed his gaze to the source of it.
A great magic circle glowed a blinding epithet crimson luminescence. The devils shield their eyes and Anos stares at it, unbothered. Two figures, one familiar, one new.
"Good day, everyone," A dashing man in a pale griseous suit and a verdant tie spoke. He must be related with Rias what with that crimson hair. Besides him was the ever-loyal Grayfia in her stunning reservation.
Sirzechs Lucifer, the Crimson Satan, Hero of the Civil War had arrived in the human domain. His gaze, falcon-sharp, cuts across them all.
"I didn't expect to see you here, my Lord," Rias spoke, inclining her head to them, though mostly to her brother. All the devils follow in accordance.
"No need for such formality. This is a social visit, and a personal escort to the Games," Sirzechs smiles graciously, "and never from my dear sister and her cherished friends."
Rias handles her blush of embarrassment better than most.
"Ah, you must be Anos," Sirzechs fastens his stare, the man was standing as tall as he is before the Satan. Sirzechs tilts his head to look Anos in the eyes. "I've been meaning to speak to you myself."
"I suspected as much," Anos remarks, here he thought the Satan was just here for the introductions. "Yes, I think you'll want to speak with me far more than anyone else."