They arrived at Issei's house a little before the clock had hit 7. Issei was concerned that her parents would be worried about her current state, and rubbing a bruised arm on its side, she asked Serafall if she knew any healing spells or magic that she could use on her. Of course, being a magical girl wannabe, it wouldn't be right for her to at least have a few spells that could heal wounds. It was an honest question that she had whenever watching some of that old magical girl anime that had the main characters interact with the common people. Like, was it really a good idea to leave them behind, potentially bloodied and sick after getting ambushed by the monster of the week? She ordered her to sit down for a little bit and take off her shirt, revealing the pale and pinkish flesh underneath.
Sitting down on a chair her father left behind on the porch, she ripped open her school uniform top, expecting a lot of bleeding underneath, but gasped upon realizing that there was basically nothing there. In fact, besides the few scratches scattered all around her torso, it was almost as if she never got hurt at all. She asked Serafall-senpai to confirm this, then realized that being a half-servant was absolute bullshit when it came to regeneration. Even if it wasn't necessarily part of Nobunaga's skill set, it was usually enough for a servant to be in constant contact with their masters for her to heal so easily.
A few bruises and bleeding would have been expected, and there certainly were plenty of injuries underneath. But it wasn't as many as either of them expected, with the majority of the minor scratches and wounds having already been covered up and filled in, and the only laceration she could see was already well in the way of healing completely. In fact, ignoring how pale and weak she looked at the time, it was as if she had never gotten hurt at all. Serafall was deep in thought at the time, wondering about whatever part of Issei's skill set she already knew about could cause such a drastic shift in fortunes. The magical energies that covered the park that faithful day were already pooling in energy from both its user and the environment, and very efficiently filled in the injuries. Then she got slapped in the face, eyes blinking as she tried to process the current state of affairs.
She realized then and there that she was slowly approaching Issei, scaring her off because of her curiosity, and she was already defending her honor to the bitter end. Quite literally in fact, if the wand she used just about everywhere didn't know she was holding at the time was any indication. Quickly sputtering an apology, she approached Issei carefully this time around, cautiously approaching her body, then channeled some of her energies to hopefully heal the rest of the wounds by the next day. She didn't really intend for something like that to happen. It just did, and her obsession over this new pet project of hers kind of scared her to be quite frank.
The creepy look on Serafall spooked her more than a little bit, but she chose not to dwell on it for now. Despite the trust she had given to her so quickly, the grim reality was that there were no real alliances that she could trust giving away so easily. Well, at the very least she wasn't hurt as much anymore, despite still having an obvious limp, but she wouldn't blame either of her parents if they were worried about her after the Elementary school incident that had happened just an hour ago. In any case, she stood up and walked to the door, clicking on the doorbell and waited for mother or father to walk to the door and greet her inside. The lights to her home lit up just as they entered the porch, so obviously one of her parents just arrived home.
As it turned out, it was both of them that came. The lights in front of the door lit open, and both of them heard shuffling about behind it, and the squeaky sound of a pair of flip flops being put on. The wood floor she knew was behind the door creaked, and she heard a tap just after, and an eyeball peaked through the peephole that she knew for certain was her mother. She waved her hand through the glass, smiling weakly but showing that she was very much still alive. Beside her, Serafall happily followed with her own introduction to her parents, then chuckled to her own little dirty joke. The feminine eye widened, then it disappeared to blackness, as the wood floor quietly creaked as she could slightly hear the sounds of both of her parents' mumbling behind the door.
A click and a clack, the doorknob was unlocked, and the door slowly opened. Her mother, holding the hand of her father, both looking very worried, acknowledged that her presence was well and true. Her eyes teared up, then the older woman practically jumped towards her daughter, the sound of joy at her survival evident in her shaking voice. Her father joined in as well, but not before taking a quick glance at the large breasted and actual god forsaken magical girl who was standing just 2 feet away, and his suspicions of a shoujo fantasy were suddenly realized. Taking into account the typical hallmarks of a first mahou shoujo monster that they were pretty sure was taken down the previous day, he was ready to open his mouth to talk about it, but shut it tight when considering the current context. His eyes rolled, and chose not to dwell on it for now, reserving his snark for the dinner that they will eventually have.
A minute had passed, and her mother released her, tears staining her blouse from both mother and daughter. Afterwards, she finally took note of the stranger that their child had brought with her, the eccentric attire giving some amount of concern from the mother. She gave the (apparent) teenager a dirty look, and with an unreadable face, poked the younger girl on the shoulder to ask her about the guest that she came home with.
"Who is this girl you came home with, Issei? I'm guessing from the eccentric attire this girl is supposed to be a magical girl of some sort, but why did you feel the need to invite her to our home?" Putting her index finger on her chin, she thought of something that might explain the situation. "Aren't you a magical girl yourself? Does that mean that this… deluded high schooler is supposed to be your senpai?"
Issei looked at the closest thing she has to a friend in the supernatural half of the world—not like she knew anyone else besides that mean fallen angel—and gave her a questioning glance, if it was okay to go ahead with this assumption. Before she could answer, she turned her eyes from the devil to her mother once more, and began her response. "Yes," the girl muttered, "she kind of is…"
"But that's not the whole story, of course. I asked her to come with me so that she could give you and dad a crash course on the other stuff we don't quite know yet." She rubbed the backside of her neck as she had grown accustomed to for the last few days as she thought of anything else to say. "I don't necessarily have the right to give you the introductions myself, though. Miss Leviathan does. … You can go ahead, Serafall-san." She scuttled away for a bit, to give her mother and Serafall some room.
Serafall watched the silly exchange with a smile of her own, the interaction reminding her of the time when she had to awkwardly explain to her parents about the whole magical girl gimmick she went ahead with. Issei's signal to let her speak brought her back to sobriety, which was enough to be caught slightly off guard and stumble a bit. She caught herself just before she could slam her face on the tiled walkway, and immediately decided that going with the ridiculous entrance she used just the day before would not be a good first impression to her would be ward's parents.
Serious first impression it is, then. She hadn't done one in a while, but Sona-chan would be a good enough inspiration for this, but she couldn't possibly attempt to make an introduction without adding in at least a little bit of her personality into the mix, right? Coughing into her fist, she gave the parents a sincere smile before she began.
"Good evening, Mister and Missus Hyoudou. My friend, your daughter Hyoudou Issei, had a bit of trouble today and yesterday. I came to her assistance when she needed some help with taking down a demon yesterday and with another one just this afternoon. I was also responsible for helping take care of the school she goes to after they were all knocked out." She let her words sink in for a few moments to gather her thoughts, to think about her next move. … For whatever reason she went a hundred percent Sona despite already making her decision. She really had to thank centuries worth of etiquette classes for that, and the accidental shift in tone was enough for the girl's parents to change their opinion of her if the subtle change in posture was any indication. They were stiff necked and concerned at first—probably worried that she was making a bad impression—but now it seemed like they were looking at her with some respect for once. Honestly...
Oh well, seems like she had to go full steam ahead with this ladylike and demure attitude. She supposed that if she acted any stranger from this point forward, they would most likely chalk it up to her feeling a bit more casual at the time like she didn't feel the need to go all formal anymore. Which was fine for her, she could be dead serious if she needed to, she just didn't feel the need to most of the time because it didn't fit in with her magical girl philosophy. Pointedly ignoring the deadpan stare that Issei was giving her, who was already mildly familiar with her antics if the few games they did to pass the time was any indication, she continued with her introduction tapping her chest with her fist.
"My name is Serafall Leviathan, ma'am. I'm a magical girl, who for all intents and purposes from this day forward, is indeed her senpai. It's really nice to meet you after all this time." She bowed, still ignoring the blank look on Issei's face. "I'd love to discuss about this further, but I think that the rest of the explanation is best kept inside, where no one else could hear us. It felt best that we kept most of this private after all."
Understanding the older girl's intentions, the mother nodded, and closed the gate behind them. She followed after her husband who went back in first, and gestured for the both of them to follow after. Before they did, however, Issei couldn't hesitate to ask. "Was she always capable of appearing mature?" Realizing how mean the question sounded, Issei put her hands to her face, muttering a "sorry" and "you know what I mean" to the older girl. Serafall smiled, rubbing her palm on the grade schooler's long and silky hair, not at all offended and understanding exactly what she meant.
"Don't sweat about the little things, Issei. I know what you mean by that. Though to answer your question… Hmm." She thought of the serious younger sister trope, which suited their situation very well. "Well, best I could describe it is that my little sister was my main inspiration. She's very mature for her age, you know, and the situation called for something serious for once. Then I thought to myself, why not her? She's a sweet girl, believe me, and she was always a bit better at the formal stuff than I ever did. Hehe." Issei didn't really know what it felt like herself, but somehow she felt like agreeing, laughing a little bit herself.
They were satisfied just sitting down and basking in the moonlight, but the sound of her father shouting at the still open door startled them both, realizing that they might've used up a little too much time outside. Startled, she quickly stood up and took Issei's hand to lift her up, and they walked inside the household. They nodded off her father who was standing next to the door after calling for them, sighing with a palm on his face.