Azazel sat behind his massive desk, rubbing his temples. Papers and research notes were scattered everywhere, but his attention was focused on the serious-faced fallen angel standing before him.
"Let me get this straight," Azazel said slowly. "Raynare and her team tried to steal a Sacred Gear from a girl who was friends with Hyoudou who was under Leon Mishima's protection?"
"Yes, sir," Shemhazai confirmed. "It was a complete disaster."
"And how did Leon respond?"
"Fortunately, he left them all alive…" Shemhazai said with relief.
Azazel felt a surge of gratitude.
The fallen angel numbers had never recovered from the Great War. Every death was permanent, irreplaceable. Devils could create new devils with their evil pieces. Angels had their system that continued functioning even without God courtesy of Michael. But the fallen angels were finite - brothers and sisters who had known each other for centuries, family in the truest sense.
Which meant they owed him. Again.
It goes to show how Leon has grown, and Azazel can't help but feel proud seeing the young Mishima.
The kind of growth Azazel had once hoped to guide personally, back when they'd been...
He pushed that thought aside. Those days were over, ended by his own choices and the secrets he'd kept. The warmth that had once existed between them was gone, replaced by professional civility and careful distance.
Which made Leon's restraint tonight all the more remarkable. And more meaningful than Azazel cared to admit.
Even after everything that had happened between them, Leon was still choosing the path of restraint. It made Azazel both proud and deeply regretful for what their relationship had become.
"Send a message to Raynare and her team. They're reassigned to the European division, effective immediately. And make it clear that any future contact with Leon Mishima requires my personal authorization."
"Understood, sir."
His thoughts drifted to the peace treaty negotiations that had been stalled for months. It was proving harder to push through than he'd anticipated. Some of the fallen angels were deeply dissatisfied with the idea of formal peace. They still harbored grudges from the Great War, still remembered the pain of being cast out from Heaven. For them, the idea of sitting at the same table as Michael and his angels was nothing short of betrayal.
The same resistance existed among the devils and angels. Old guard devils who remembered when angels were their mortal enemies. Angels who still saw fallen angels as traitors and devils as inherently evil. Centuries of hatred and mistrust couldn't be erased with a simple treaty.
That's why they were still stuck, unable to proceed despite the obvious benefits of cooperation.
Azazel sighed, his expression darkening as frustration gave way to something more dangerous.
The same principle applied to the angels and devils. Michael and Sirzechs understood what was at stake.
Hopefully they'll come to their senses soon.
Because if they don't...well, there are ways to make cooperation less optional.
=====
It had been seven days since the church incident, and things had settled into a surprisingly normal routine. Asia had found a small apartment just a few blocks from the school - and coincidentally, right down the street from Issei's house. She insisted it was just convenient for her part-time job at a local clinic (which I bought and now owned), but I suspected she just liked being close to Issei.
I'd also given her some money to start fresh. She'd refused at first, but one look from me was enough for her to accept it.
"Leon-san, would you like some of my sandwich?" Asia asked softly, holding out half of what looked like a very simple creation.
"Thanks, but I'm good," I replied, gesturing to my own lunch.
"Oh, okay," she said with a small smile, then turned to Issei. "Issei-san, would you like it instead? You said you were still hungry..."
"Really? That would be awesome, Asia-chan!" Issei's face lit up as he accepted the offered food. Their fingers brushed briefly during the exchange, and I caught the slight blush that colored both their cheeks.
It was cute, in a painfully obvious way. Over the past week, I'd watched their relationship slowly develop from friendship into something deeper. The way Asia's eyes would seek out Issei's when she laughed. How Issei had become genuinely protective of her, not in his usual perverted way.
The problem was that neither of them seemed willing to take the next step. And I had a pretty good idea why.
"Leon," a familiar quiet voice said beside me. I turned to see Koneko approaching with her usual measured steps, carrying a bento box that looked almost too neat to eat.
"Koneko," I said, shifting slightly to make room for her beside me. She settled down with typical feline grace, close enough that our shoulders almost touched.
"You're late today," I observed.
"Rias-buchou wanted to discuss something after the last period,"
I nodded.
"Everything alright?" I asked quietly.
"Nothing urgent. Just preparations for... the future," she said as she glanced between the three.
There was something she wanted to say but not in their presence.
I nodded.
Future events. Given the timeline, I had a pretty good idea what that meant. If my memory of the canon timeline was correct, the Rating Game arc was approaching. Which meant Rias was probably dealing with engagement-related pressures from her family.
Riser Phenex would be making his appearance soon and Rias was probably getting pressure from the devil nobility about fulfilling her obligations.
"Leon," Issei said suddenly, his voice taking on a whining tone that had become all too familiar. "Please tell me we're taking it easy in training today. I'm still sore from yesterday's 'light workout.'"
"Light workout?" I raised an eyebrow. "Yesterday we did basic conditioning exercises."
"Basic? BASIC?" Issei's voice cracked. "You had me doing push-ups until my arms gave out, then made me do sit-ups until I thought I was gonna die, and then - THEN - you made me run laps while carrying weights!"
"That was the warm-up."
"THE WARM-UP?"
Koneko made a small sound beside me. "...Weak," she observed matter-of-factly.
"Koneko-chan?!"
"You asked for training. Complaining about receiving what you requested is... illogical."
"I know about that, but I'm starting to think Leon's trying to kill me through exercise," Issei continued his complaints to Asia, who was listening with patient amusement.
When Asia reached over to pat his shoulder comfortingly, his complaints immediately quieted. "There, there, Issei-san. I think you're doing very well," she said softly.
"Asia-chan…"
Then I heard familiar footsteps approaching across the rooftop. We all turned to see Sona walking toward us, but something was off about her usual composed demeanor.
"Sona," I said. "You're later than usual."
"Sorry," she said. "There was an... issue that required immediate attention."
"Everything alright?"
"There was a situation, but it's resolved now." Sona paused for a moment, glancing at Asia and Issei before looking back at me. " I'll tell you later."
I nodded.
Then she took position to my right side as Koneko was on my left.
"Here." I said as I gave her one of the packed lunches I usually bring.
Sona thanked as she took it.
We spent the rest of the lunch period in comfortable conversation, with Issei continuing to complain about training while Asia listened with gentle patience. Koneko made occasional snide remarks, and Sona gradually relaxed from whatever stress had been bothering her earlier.
When the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, we all began gathering our things.
=====
Later that afternoon.
I sat in front of Sona in the student council room, my leg over the other as I sipped my coffee sona brewed for me.
"So," I said, setting down my cup. "What happened today?"
Sona took a moment as she gathered her thoughts.
"Vatican representatives are here in Kuoh."
I blinked, feeling a flicker of surprise. That was... unexpected and early as this arc should still happen a few weeks from now after the Phenex clan events.
In the original timeline, the Excalibur fragments had been stolen by Kokabiel's faction, leading to the Church sending representatives to retrieve them. But Kokabiel was dead now, and Freed was a cripple living in exile somewhere in Europe.
Yet if the Church was here with what sounded like holy sword wielders, it meant the theft had still happened somehow.
Which raised an interesting question: who had taken them this time?
There was only one person who came to mind.
Valper Galilei. The priest who had originally worked with Kokabiel on the holy sword project. In the original timeline, he'd been the one with the actual knowledge and motivation to steal the fragments. With Kokabiel gone, it was possible he'd found other backing for his obsession with creating the ultimate holy sword.
The question was who?
Was it Loki? It's not impossible as that bastard wouldn't let things end quietly, especially after I'd killed his children. The Norse god of mischief would definitely want revenge, and using stolen holy swords to cause chaos while targeting me would be exactly his style.
"Vatican representatives," I repeated, setting down my cup.
She nodded. "Yes. Three of them. They arrived this morning and immediately requested a meeting with me. Two appear to be standard Church exorcists, but the third...The third has an aura that suggests they're carrying something significant. Possibly a holy sword."
"Did they say what their objective was?"
Sona shook her head. "They won't say. told us that their mission was classified Church business. What they did ask for was permission to stay in Kuoh temporarily while they... investigate recent supernatural disturbances.'"
"Recent supernatural disturbances," I mused. Of course they couldn't just say 'someone stole our legendary holy swords and we think they might be in your territory.' The Church preferred to keep their embarrassments quiet.
"Or it could be something else entirely." Sona continued. "Leon, do you perhaps know why they are here?"
I nodded. "I have an idea."
Sona leaned waiting for me to continue.
"The Excalibur fragments have been stolen."
Sona's eyes widened in shock, her composed demeanor cracking for the first time. "The Excalibur fragments? Are you certain?"
I nodded.
Sona didn't question how I knew this information. Given my power and the resources at my disposal, it was only natural that I'd have intelligence networks that could uncover such significant supernatural events.
"Who would be bold enough to steal from the Vatican? And skilled enough to succeed?" She wondered then paused as she saw my expression.
"You know, don't you?"
I smiled wryly. I can't really hide things from her.
"Yes…" I sighed helplessly.
"Who?"
"Valper Galilei." I replied.
"Who?" Sona asked.
"He was a priest who specialized in holy sword research. Kiba Yuuto would know him very well." My expression grew grimmer. "He's the one responsible for the Holy Sword Project that killed Kiba's friends."
Understanding dawned in Sona's violet eyes
"Valper was excommunicated from the Church for his experiments, but his obsession with the holy swords never ended." I leaned forward. "He'd have both the knowledge and motivation to steal the Excalibur fragments - he's probably planning to fuse them into the single ultimate weapon."
"But he'd need backing. The Vatican's security isn't something a disgraced priest could overcome alone."
"Which brings us to the real problem." I continued.
"I suspect he's working with someone who has a personal vendetta against me."
"Loki?"
"Probably." I nodded.
Sona was quiet for a moment, processing the full scope of the situation. "What do you want to do about the Church representatives?"
"For now, we cooperate. They're here to stop Valper too, even if they don't know about Loki's involvement."
She nodded.
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