"You let him get away?!"
When Raynare had been made aware of the recent turn of events regarding Dohnaseek's encounter with Namikaze Haru and his subsequent failure in ending his life, she was most definitely not happy. The fury in her eyes was enough to make even someone as sadistic as Mittelt nervous as she stepped back, easing behind a half-broken bench.
"He was under the protection of someone from the Gremory Family." Dohnaseek replied coolly as he lit a cigarette in his mouth. He wasn't a smoker, per say. Rather, he simply enjoyed the foul taste and fumes the little thing gave his mouth. A reminder, however cruel, that he was no longer among his brothers and sisters in the pearly white gates far above this rock. "And in case you have forgotten, the Princess of Ruin is the younger sister of Lucifer. I am many things, but I am not suicidal."
"Did you forget the reason why we're here?!" Raynare demanded as she attempted to grab him, only to let out a grimace and a pitiful whine—a sound that she detested and loathed with all of her heart—at the sudden movement. She wasn't fully recovered from her run-in with Tamamo. She hadn't even regained her wing yet. "Azazel-sama told us to kill him! I don't give a damn about that princess!"
Kalawarner frowned, folding her arms. "Raynare, be reasonable." she chastised her companion. "Think for a moment. We're in Devil Territory. One wrong move and we spark another Great War. Which, in case you have forgotten, we are not prepared to go through again. We're still recovering from the effects. Our numbers are just as low as the Devils, if not worse. If we spark a war, we become extinct. We have to be smart about this."
"What Kalawarner said." Dohnaskeek smiled thinly, taking in the sight of Raynare's fuming expression at being talked down to like a child. "Also, he is under the protection of Tamamo-no-Mae. Between her and the Red Princess, any fool who tries to take his life has a death wish. Unless, of course, you have a way to get him alone. Which you do not, considering you can no longer pose as Amano Yuma."
"Are you making fun of me, you bastard?!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just stating facts. You had several ways of going about your plan, but instead you chose to be idiotic. And you tried to start a fight you had no chance of winning. If anything, I am insulted that I have to work under a woman who has no smarts whatsoever."
Raynare's face twisted. It was ugly, unfitting for even the most beautiful of Angels, fallen or not. "You son of a—!"
"Alright, that's enough." Kalawarner interjected before the two decided to kill each other. "We all know that Raynare's plan had kinks to work out, but in her defense, none of us ever expected Amaterasu's Avatar to descend and help the boy."
Raynare gritted her teeth, obviously still angry over Dohnaseek's remarks. "I don't care how we do it!" she hissed. "I want that boy dead!"
"And we will." Kalawarner told her. "In the meantime, let's focus on getting the girl's Sacred Gear. What was her name?"
Dohnaseek grimaced. "Asia Argento. The Holy Maiden of the Protestant Church."
"So, what's this I hear about you hanging out with the resident Prince of Kuoh? Ooh, wait, don't tell me! Have you finally decided to trade your love of breasts for boy love?!"
"God dammit, Aika!" Haru exclaimed in irritation. Ever since word got out that he wasn't hanging out with Yuuto during lunch, pretty much the whole school(fangirls) thinks he and him are a pairing! Seriously! What is wrong with them!?
And Aika being included in that population didn't help things! It's even worse as she's a person he's acquainted with, so she has liberties in teasing him with this! The only good thing was that she hadn't made any inquiries or jokes about him and Tamamo or his Haru Jr. Those were the last things he needed right now. On that note, "Why are you following me?"
"I'm not. We're simply just following the same path to home is all." Aika responded with a grin, tilting her head while he turned his away with a scowl. "Do you not enjoy my company? I'm rather hurt, Haru-kun~"
"D-don't call me that! It's creepy as hell!"
"But aren't we good friends?"
"You know we're only acquaintances at best, Kiryuu..." He reminded her.
And that was just putting it mildly. They had pretty much known each other since last year. And since then, she's been an utter bane to his existence. Honestly, at first, it was very bizarre. Meeting a girl so perverted. Don't get him wrong, Aika was cute in her own little way and was easy on the eyes, but her personality was just so out of left field that she was constantly thrown him for a loop. He could never prepare himself for her!
… Didn't stop him from sneaking a few peeks at her ass, though. He was more of a boobs man, but damn if she didn't have a nice round bumper.
"Ara? Thinking about my ass when you have that sexy little fox back home?" Haru flinched and recoiled away from her, hands forming into a cross. What the hell?! Was she a mind reader now?! Seeing his reaction, the perverted minx smirked. "I'm not psychic, if that's what your thinking. Your just too easy to read, Namikaze."
Dammit! Was he really that transparent and predictable?! "Yes, yes you are."
"Stop that!"
Aika giggled mischievously as they walked down the road. Haru grumbled to himself, wondering if there was any actual way for him to catch this minx off guard when they reached the park. Hopefully, by this point, they would separate and—
Alert! Alert! Cute girl off the port bow! Twelve o'clock!
His female attraction radar went off as his line of sight whipped around for the source of the signal.
The girl that caught his attention was a foreign beauty. She wasn't drop-dead sexy, but she wasn't gorgeous either. She was more along the lines of "cute" or "adorable". Better yet, she was dressed like a nun, complete with a gold cross around her neck and a white shroud atop her head, platinum blonde hair spilling out from beneath it and emerald green eyes looking around the plaza nervously, a large suitcase in hand.
Noticing the girl caught in his gaze, Aika grinned and adjusted her glasses. "Ah. The classic Pure Sister trope. A man of culture as always, Namikaze." she said, albeit with a somewhat mocking tone before flashing him a predatory smirk. "But, aren't you in a relationship with that hot mama from the other day?"
Normally, Haru would find some way to retort that, somewhere along the lines of "look but do not touch," but upon that train of thought reaching his mind, he couldn't help but feel as if his family jewels were in grave danger.
He felt a chill run down his spine. It was the same chill when he was present when Tamamo came close to killing Rias, Sona, and the others a few days ago. In the dark recesses of his mind was a very, very intimidating image of said fox girl.
With a fist clenched.
And for some reason, he could picture her saying, "First, strike the crotch! Next, REALLY strike the crotch! Repentance through crotch violence! Behold my Polygamist Castration Fist! Other deities may allow harems, but never will I!"
… Yeah, on second thought, he'll just stick to his fantasies about Tamamo.
"Still, I didn't expect to see a foreigner here." the she-devil remarked with light surprise. Haru looked more closely. Sure enough, the nun was foreign. "She looks like she's around our age... A foreign exchange student, maybe?"
"Eh? But, if that were the case, wouldn't we have heard about that?" Haru asked. If there was one thing that could beat the infamous housewife gossip network here in town, it was the gossiping and rumors that circulated around Kuoh like wildfire. They were your best chance at learning the top info at school, with the Perverted Trio, of course, being your main source of perverted desires. Motohama practically made it his mission to spread the entirety of the female student faculty's three sizes. Even if he found himself under the scrutiny of Sona and the beatdowns of Katase and Murayama. "I haven't heard anything about a new student. Have you?"
Aika pursed her lips, tapping her chin. "Not that I can recall. Hm. Perhaps a business trip."
As much as he wanted to believe that was the case, the redhead doubted that as he glanced at the church sitting atop the nearby hill. That place hadn't seen any worship or maintenance since Shidou's family moved out years ago. "Shidou…" he recalled his childhood friend fondly, a sad smile touching his face. "Man, it's been so long since I've seen the guy. I wonder if he's gotten any taller. Maybe I should call him up sometime soon. How long has it been since we last talked?"
A cute yelp caught his ears. Returning to reality with vigor, he saw that the poor girl had fallen flat on her face, causing her shroud to blow off in the wind and a gust to pass by. When it did—
"P-Pure white!"
"Ow-owie..." The blonde girl,whined in a cute manner that made Haru's chest hurt. He felt conflicted on so many levels. The purity of her panties, her adorable demeanor that nearly gave him sweetness overload, the fact she was a nun meaning that he'd get smited, and...
Tamamo's image lingered. Once again, a shudder passed through him. "Damn she has you whipped." Aika whistled, now wishing to meet Tamamo and speak with her before looking back at the nun. "We should probably go help her. Watching her try fruitlessly with talking to strangers is just kind of pitiful." Haru balked at her, staring at her as if she was some foreign entity. Took him a moment to realize he was looking at her back as she was already walking away.
Thinking back on this decision in the present, Haru thought it was stupid of him to actually go along with Aika's ideas. He sounded very much like a jackass at this time, but he had absolutely no reason to help a stranger. Besides, he knew that there were at least a few people who knew a foreign language. Kuoh was just that small. In the future, however, Haru would one day silently thank Aika for this suggestion while also at the same time lamenting his idiotic decision to escort the girl to her destination as it had set in motion the events that he would mourn for the rest of his days.