Acknowledgement

"You know most people wouldn't have the luxury of this."

Taking deep breaths, Saji kept silent in bed as the back of his hospital gown was pushed open to accommodate the rough chi-infused hands of Son Kai. Like the boy had read, retiring in the Rating Game automatically ejects them to a predetermined hospital set for that match, and said hospital that he was in just so happened to be in one of the Sitri family's highly advanced medical facilities.

The moment that he woke up, Saji had found that the worse of his injuries save for a few aches and bruises were already healed. He almost felt so fit to fling himself out of bed and rush to see his recovering companions, especially Ruruka. The guilt he had for being late and leaving her to face Michael and Koneko alone weighed on his mind, and as her senior it was only right that he apologized and be by her side.

This enthusiasm was curved though because as he attempted to pull the sheets off him, a frightening wave of exhaustion hit him like a truck. Given the reminder, Saji remembered the toll that he had placed on himself just to assure Sona's victory, and the extremes that meant for him and his now shortened future. Jumping up in fright as the door slammed open, he was visited by Son Kai himself, and he was utterly intimidated when the man waltzed with that usual closed eyed smile of his.

It was really hard for him to get a read of the guy, but his worries were calmed when he came in rolling up his sleeves to announce his being there to essentially rejuvenate the unseen self-inflicted wounds in Saji. He also had news to bring of the outcome of the Rating Game between the Pawn's master and Rias Gremory, which Saji keyed in on rather than his own heavy exhaustion.

No sooner did the words leave his mouth that all of his exuberance was sucked out of him.

'We…lost…' The [Pawn] sadly thought to himself. All of their hard work, planning, sacrifices; all of them was for naught. Though the news of their group gaining more positive ratings over the Gremory group lessened the blow, at the end of the day, a loss was recognized as a loss in the eyes of Devil Society, and no positive comments would change that.

"…"

*SMACK!*

Saji let out a piteous groan of pain as a boring Kai smacked him against his naked back while continuing to heal the damage done to the young man's soul.

"You paying attention?" Kai playfully asked, "Because I don't necessarily mind doing it again just to break the silence."

"N-No, *COUGH!* S-S-Sorry, Kai-sama!" Saji tearfully coughed trying to regain her composure. Hey, his was getting better and his exhaustion might still be mind-bogglingly bad, but now it was at least manageable enough to move around.

"Well, its nice to know that you're not that down on you and everyone's loss to Gremory-san's team. You all fought hard and really gave me some enjoyment that I was almost tempted to jump in and join you." Kai mischievously laughed, leaving Saji to wonder if there was truth in his words, "You clearly wanted it more and took out nearly half of their numbers in just the very beginning of the match, and YOU, Saji-san really pushed Michael-kun in your heart racing fight. You've made leaps and bounds this past month and I've got to almost admit that Jirou did half as good as training you than I would have done, but almost though…ALMOST…"

Kai was still recovering from his blood lurching apology/request to the De Facto Leader of Kyoto. After things were settled when they separated his malicious devil wife from his oblivious angel wife, he went back to his old ways to mess with Foxy as a form of self-rehabilitation.

"Kai-sama, you know Ji-?" Saji stopped himself, of course they knew each other. They were both youkai and Kai was obviously in such a high standing as a descendant of Sun Wukong, so it wouldn't a stretch to assume that his mentor knew of Sona's brother-in-law.

"I was the reason why he trained you in the first place, but that's not important. You can worry about him barging in here to slap you silly with his fox fire later." Kai lightly laughed, acting as though he didn't gloss over something very foreboding.

"Wh-Wh-?" Saji blanched at that.

"Back to what I was saying before, Saji-san. Not everyone has the luxury of having a competent master of Senjutsu to help recover their lifespan." Like re-stitching more threads to a thinning cloth, Kai poured his chi in steadily restoring Saji's lifespan…to a point.

"I don't know if it's a bad habit shared between friends, but I really must ask that you don't follow, Michael-kun's reckless behavior because this is exceedingly more foolish than anything he's done." Kai shook his head.

'Well, that was until he did that…" Kai thought to himself, remembering the past urgency that he and Azazel were in after they individually noticed two things wrong during the latter half of the game.

"I really hate to see such powerful, potential youngsters like yourself die so early." Especially when there were so many other powerful upcomers that Kai wanted to see him fight, "And so pitifully by their own hand too. If you were still just a human, the toll of sacrificing 100 years of your life expectancy would have killed you on the spot."

"…Ngh…" Saji bit his lip, even with that much he sacrificed, they still lost?

"Risking your life just to inch Michael-kun that much closer to defeat may have paid off, but in the long run, do you believe it was worth it? Sona-chan still lost the match and your sitting here with a good chunk of your life already thrown out the window. Were the stakes higher than a simple competitive Rating Game, I'd hate to see how much you'd give just to ensure your master succeeds." At this point it sounded like Kai was giving Saji a speech that needed to be said for "somebody" else. But he remembers that unlike his own pupil, Saji was logical like Jirou and would take his words more to heart.

Based on the bitter contemplative expression on the boy's face, he'd say that his words were having an effect on the young man.

"The power that you've attained is already is enough for the price you've paid by training like hell this month. Asking for more than that is just begging for trouble especially with that complete set of Sacred Gears in ya." Removing his hand from Saji's back, Kai completed the procedure to the degree that he wanted, "There. I've officially restored back 25 years of your lifespan."

"J-Just 25?" Saji asked and received a painful flick to the forehead from the elder man.

"Just 25. Fully mending it is like me encouraging you to sacrifice more of your life, and I can't have that happen. Any other practitioner in Senjutsu would agree with this sentiment. So, live with the knowledge that you'll die a bit earlier than most devils, it'll give you a new perspective on life." It was a VERY hard lesson to instill on the young man, but a needed one.

'…He's right…' Saji admitted, he might have been desperate at the time, but that half-measure to close the gap changed nothing. He was ecstatic that his last attack was the glancing blow that edged Michael to retire, but overall, they still lost and now he would have the knowledge that he'll one day pass before all of his other friends.

He couldn't let himself go any further down that road. His face hardening, Saji looked to Kai and nodded, "I understand, Kai-sama, I'll do my best to carry this weight with me." During the Game, he might have formulated plans, but he was quite shocked with how effectively he executed most of them. He didn't have to rush anymore; he's already making strides his own way and getting better. His dream to become a Maou may seem far off, but now it didn't seem so impossible.

"Excellent, then I won't have to worry about Sona going into grief in the future so keep doing a good job." Kai yawned and made his way to wash his hands off of the icky back-sweat of the recovering teen.

"I promise as Kaichou's [Pawn], I'll do anything to avoid giving her grief." Saji seriously bowed his head.

"Really? Just as her servant, and nothing else…?" Kai relished the shock that was on Saji's face as blush began to form on the blond's cheeks.

"I-I don't know what y-your-!" Saji stuttered.

"Hm?" Kai teasingly raised an eyebrow.

"..." Pausing his stuttering, Saji looked to the side in thought before dryly looking at Kai in defeat, "Michael told you, didn't he?"

"No, actually you pretty much inferred about your feelings by talking about helping the "woman you love" and most of us were able to piece two and two together." Kai explained.

"O-Oh…" Saji looked deflated and a bit embarrassed. He pretty much shot himself in the foot on that one.

"Yep, but I did hear from Michael-kun that you wanted to impregnate and marry Sona-chan."

Doing a spit take, Saji coughed up a fit as he did his best to avoid eye contact with a smiling Kai while angrily cursing his best friend for being so loose lipped to Sona's brother-in-law of all people. If he wasn't already in pain, he'd rush out of the hospital room to find Mike and give him the dirtiest of slaps.

"L-Look, Kai-sama, I can explain that…" Saji began.

"No need, in fact, I actually find the sentiment to be both hilarious and healthy." Kai snickered.

"R-Really?" Saji blinked in surprise, he expected some disdain for accidentally saying something that inappropriate.

"Saji-san, your 17, and filled with so many disgusting hormones. Do you think me, a man born into a race of monkey demons, who kidnap and rape maidens, has any reason to judge you?" Kai said.

"W-Well, when you put it like that…" Saji sweatdropped.

"Besides, if I had any problems with you in the first place, I wouldn't have made Sona and her entire peerage move into your newly reconstructed house." Kai revealed.

"Y-You really did that just for me?" Saji asked.

���Nah, I just wanted to mess with Sona-chan for being spoiled. She may not look like it through that new hard exterior, but just like any other up and coming family heir, she's her own category of spoiled rotten. Its just now she's old enough to find and exploit loopholes." Kai laughed and decided to tell the confused Saji the whole story, "You might remember hearing about my wife, Serafall-chan intending to get a job at Kuoh Academy. Well, that idea wasn't wholly her being overprotective, the other Maou voted in agreement to temporarily station her there to watch over things. So not having that, Sona-chan gave up Gremory-san's club to Azazel to make things fair and impartial since being Leviathan's sister would be like giving her special treatment."

"I-I see…" Saji was speechless, was all of that really happening in the background?

"I did convince Sera-chan to rescind the offer since Sona-chan's point was valid, but I had to give her a pyrrhic victory in the form of moving her and her entire peerage into your home as a last minute decision. It was either that or I convince Sera-chan to go through with her plan to become a teacher at her academy." Kai shrugged, "And that really got under skin…" Kai dirtily laughed as he couldn't help but remember how steamed the girl was.

"O-Oh…"

'So that explained why Kaichou was running me ragged that first week... She was venting out her frustration…' Saji bit back the tears as he now had Kai to blame for his past suffering.

"Look, I could care less what your feelings are for Sona-chan. She's a big girl who can take care of herself. I'm not gonna stop you from pursuing her, and if you do two hook up, good for you. You're fine in my book." Saji released a sigh of relief at the man's words but fearfully stiffened as Kai finished, "But…my lovely wife begs to differ…"

"L-Leviathan-sama knows about…?" Saji couldn't even get the words out, his fear for Kai was now dwarfed by his fear of his master's older sister, which was odd because he never expected to ever be afraid by a woman who cosplays as a magical girl.

"She was the first one to immediately pick up the signs when you were retiring." Kai explained.

"Oh…" O-Okay, so she knew that he had feelings for Sona, it wasn't that big of a deal. Sure things may get awkward but at least they can't be that bad.

"Also, I may have let slip what Michael-kun told me to her when she asked how long I knew about yout feelings for her…" Kai says "slip" lightly here, he was honestly happy that Serafall's objective was no longer set on killing Gabriel anymore. Now she was dead set on opposing and challenging the boy, who's impure thoughts threatened to steal her darling little sister away.

"O-Oh…okay…I…that's fine…" Saji blanched, futilely trying to find an upside, "I'm good…nothing's wrong…I'll at least die a quick and icy deat…oh god!" Saji covered his face with his hands.

"If it helps, she and I have no intention on telling Sona about your impregnation thing. All Sera-chan really wants to do is wipe you off the face of the earth, so be thankful for that at least." Kai shrugged.

'That's like asking me to look for the dimmest light in an endless tunnel!' Saji whimpered.

"I can see that your coping with everything so I'm about to…"

*SNAP!*

"Huh, Kai-sama?" For a split second, Saji looked up to notice Kai's expression darkening and his once brown eyes flickering to appear oddly red. In fact, that gave him a bit of déjà vu back to the Khaos Brigade attacking the conference, but the effort of trying to remember along with some details kept leaving a sharp pain in his head as if someone knocked the memory right out of him.

"Sorry about that, I was just distracted with something real quick. I'll leave you to collect your rewards now." Kai waved as he made his way to the door, grabbing his staff that leaned against the wall along the way.

"Wait, rewards?" Saji gasped but didn't receive an answer as Kai pushed open the door and looked to the side in the hallway with a knowing smile as he reached out to furiously pet something as he appeared to mutter "Good job" before walking off. Just before the door could close a lithe arm kept it open as the one person that Saji's happily familiar with walked in carrying three black cases.

"Kaichou!" He got a good look at her to check her current state, and barring a few bandaging and her ruffled up hair, she looked leagues better than him, which wasn't saying much.

"Saji." She gave him a curt nod, "I see that Nii-sama's business with you is over. Good, it will make the task of presenting to you these rewards that more efficiently." Saji in confusion blinked at the mentioning of "rewards" as Sona placed the black cases on his bed side and individually flipped them open to reveal three different medals. One medal resembled a golden lightning bolt, which emanated an electric aura; the next medal, to him, oddly looked like a Norse Rune from one of those Norse history books that he read, the object carried with it a protective aura surrounding it. But the last medal, it was one that Saji was more aware of, it was one of the major things that he read when studying up on the devil's caste system.

'A Signet of Valor…?' Saji couldn't believe his eyes, these kinds of medal were only given to devils, be they pure blooded or not, who've shown themselves to be truly exceptional in the eyes of the upper echelons of devil society. This kind of medal was only given to Professional Rating Game players and devils, who've actually contributed in wartime. It's a known fact that anyone given the signet is given unreputable permission to promote themselves into the next class. To actually see such a thing in person that's "implied" to be his reward shocked him.

"K-Kaichou is this really for-!?" Saji's eyes bugged out as sweated profusely at the sight of all of the medals.

Seeing that her servant pieced things together, Sona stoically, while convincingly concealing her pride in the young man, began to pin each medal to his hospital gown consecutively, starting with the lightning bolt one, "Saji Genshirou, I present to you an honor given to you by the Chief God of Mount Olympus, Lord Zeus, who has complimented your tenacity and spirit in combat.." Saji's jaw fell at that but that was only the beginning as Sona went on to pin the rune shaped medal, "From the Chief God of Asgard, Lord Odin pays you with an honor to commend your tactility in combat and your endurance against the Red Dragon Emperor."

And finally, the Signet of Valor, "And for putting on an astounding display of assertiveness and display of skill and power that has wound a big impression upon officials, and even one of the Maou. You, Saji Genshirou have been graced with the Signet of Honor and thus you are now eligible to take the Promotion Test to become a Middle-Class Devil whenever you're ready."

But none of what came before surprised Saji than the gentle smile that brightened Sona's stoic expression, "Well done, Saji…"

'…'

"…" There were no words to describe how Saji felt, everything was coming at him so fast. The fact that he was given commendations from not one but two Chief gods, being recognized by a Maou and getting the opportunity to promote, and most of all, Sona was actually giving him a genuine smile. Not one given for just simply completing tasks or following her plans to a T.

It was an actual smile filled with pride in having him as a servant, and that almost pushed him to tears.

"…" In prolonged silence, Saji dumbly looked at Sona with wide eyes, which began to turn her smile back to her usual stoic look, but with more confusion etching its way onto her features.

"Saji?" She snapped him back out of his daze, "You do not find these gifts pleasing?"

"Hu-Huh? No, no, no, no! I'm actually experiencing one of the best moments of my life!" Saji shook his head at light speed as waved the mere thought aside.

"Good, it would be foolish to spit at the gifts given to you by such important people, who've acknowledged your efforts." Sona coldly said.

"Yeah…" Saji had to agree on that one, but, "However, I'm wondering did the others also receive such commendations, too? I wasn't the only one giving it my all out there as most of what I was able to do was because of them helping to make the path that much easier…" He might have contributed with hacking into the security cameras and adding his own formulated plans into the mix with Sona's, but half of the success in steadily retiring the Gremory group came down to everyone else going above and beyond to push forward even if it meant sacrificing themselves to do it.

Shaking her head, Sona dulled his worries with a sigh, "Sadly, no, no else besides you had received specific compliments from the Chief Gods and the Maou, which is to be expected since their opponent wasn't the Red Dragon Emperor." In comparison to what the others had to endure, Sona could have only imagined what Saji had to do when up against Michael Hanamura. The Gremory [Pawn] has always a wild card to Sona ever since that Dodgeball game and the Gremory-Phenex Rating Game. Against such a powerful, unpredictable opponent, it would be a surprise that Saji's efforts wouldn't be recognized, "But don't fret. Their efforts were positively mentioned in the official ratings, Tsubaki's most of all. Such positive reviews were able to at least lessen the blow of…our loss…" Saji weakly sat on the side of his bed.

'R-Right, that…' Once again all of the life was sucked out Saji as he was now back to realizing their loss but with his master by his side this time. Now he felt a tad bit guilty for getting so caught up in his own achievements when the woman he loves was still recovering from her recent defeat.

"Kaichou, I-I'm sor-."

"Don't apologize." Sona lowered her head and shook it.

"Huh?"

"…I'm thankful." Sona breathed in and raised her head to look up at the white ceiling, "Thankful to have such dedicated servants like all of you put everything imaginable that they could scrounge up just to help me. I truly am blessed."

'Kaichou…' Saji remained silent, knowing it would inappropriate to speak after hearing such heartfelt words. It didn't make it easy that he couldn't read her expression from the angle she was at on the bed.

"…"

"Forgive me…"

"Huh?" Saji could have just sworn he heard Sona just apologize.

"As your [King], I couldn't reward you all with the victory that all of your efforts deserved." Taking a shaky breath of air, Sona pushed up the frame of her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, a self-depreciating laughter slipped past her lips, "At the end, I couldn't give any worth to each of your sacrifices."

"But that's not true, all of us gave our sacrifices enough meaning by dedicating ourselves to you, Kaichou! When you first chose each of us to serve under you, it was already a given that whatever hell we put ourselves through would be for you…" Saji exclaimed.

"And again, I'm blessed, but it doesn't change the fact that all of your shed blood and…" Sona looked to Saji and this time the young man got a better look at her eyes. From afar it was easy to miss how puffy her eyes under her glasses. It was recent but sometime when he was unconscious, Sona cried.

"Your shaved lifespan was all for nothing in the end." She glowered.

"…!"

"Surprised? Nii-sama and Jirou-sama told me about the lengths you had to go through in your fight against Michael Hanamura. I'm proud that you were able to attain your Balance Breaker, but I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't touched by your sacrifice. Were things different, I would already be reprimanding you for doing something so stupid, but since I failed to gain the victory that you expected of me which led to you doing that, I don't believe I possess the right to do such a thing now." Sona sighed, then bowed her head to Saji, which put him in further shock.

"I was told to put my all in achieving my dream and my very first step to attaining it came at the cost of your lifespan shortening along with my failure to grasp victory. Saji, I want to apologize for failing you as your [King]."

With his fist clenched, Saji took a deep breath and tiredly exhaled. His eyes closed to process and give him a bit of respite to avoid being too overwhelmed by Sona's gaze. He couldn't allow himself to be infatuated by her because he desperately needed to get some things off of his chest.

"You don't have to apologize to me, Kaichou." Opening his eyes, Saji gently smiled at his [King] with renewed vigor.

"…?" That look of question in her eyes made him know that he needed to elaborate.

"I put my all out there and gave up a hundred years of my life just to see you win. I might be haunted about the fact that I'll pass before most of my friends, but I'll never regret the cause I sacrificed myself for, the selfless dream that pushed me to do it in the first place." Saji placed a hand to his chest, "Even though there were some plans I couldn't go through with that you dubbed would make me a fool if I didn't make use of it…like the one about cursing my friendship with…"

"Say no more, at the end of the day that was your decision to make at the time on whether you wanted to use it or not." To ask her servant to spoil their close friendship with the enemy just to gain an advantage, Sona knew of the ramifications it would have on Saji's psyche, but when it came to claiming victory, she saw that any means would justify the ends. Except now that she's lost, she became to be a bit plagued by that dangerous ambitious mindset and regretted giving Saji such a choice to begin with.

Saji nodded, appreciative that he wouldn't get chewed out by his [King] for disobeying her and continued, "Even so, if I knew of the outcome during that fight, I would still gladly use my life energy to get you that much closer to building a Rating Game School for any class of devil to join without fearing oppression, a school for your nephew."

Knowingly, Sona looked to the side of the room and at the door as she muttered, "Tsubaki told you, didn't she…?" There was only a few people she told that secret to in confidence, and her best friend was on the top of that sparse list.

"It was during the middle of my training that she revealed it after already telling the others. After hearing such a moving reason like that; how could we just shrug it off and go about our business like normal ? From all of us learning that forbidden Reverse spell to me…y'know… Everything was worth it just to get you a little closer!"

Saji continued.

"After hearing that I'll now live a lesser life and burden you all, I'm not going to put myself at risk like that anymore, but that's not the only thing that's going to change." The mental images of the high-class devils laughing at Sona popped into his head and infuriated him. Gripping the Signet of Valor on his chest, he declared, "Its going to take a long time, probably even decades, but I'll keep striving to be better and rise past being a simple low-class and middle-class devil, heck, I won't even stop at just being a High-devil like you Kaichou. I'm going to become a Maou."

"…!" Sona was honestly surprised by the declaration. Up until now, she was led to believe that her [Pawn] was still hung up on comparing himself to Michael Hanamura and his impeccable growth but to hear him speak of such an ambitious goal was a very stunning development for her.

Saji nodded, trying to keep up this momentum of passion, "I'm still learning and have a ways to go before even comprehending the position's sheer duty for the betterment of the Underworld, but I'm going to do it to prove to myself that I can keep getting better. And when I do make it, and you'll have me, I'll do my absolute best to help create an Underworld free of prejudice against the lower class and hybrids like your nephew."

Raising his fist to Sona much to her bewilderment, Saji lit with the flames of determination, brightly grinned, "You don't have to keep doing this alone, So-Kaichou. I swear that until your dream comes true, I'll be by your side no matter what and use everything I have to help fulfill it." Saji had to catch himself before he slipped and spoke of Sona's name so casually. That would have been such a Michael thing to do and unlike his master, he knew that such disrespect wouldn't be taken so lightly by Sona.

"…!"

"Huh?" Focusing his sights on Sona, Saji was confused when she immediately turned the away from him. This had him worry that he might have gone too far with that speech of his. It probably might come off as an offense by saying he'll surpass his own master in rank so easily like that.

"Ahem! Well, I…*AHEM!* Good, that's very good Saji. To think you've grown this much this past month, you've truly gained the confidence that you needed…" Sona continually coughed to try and maintain her usual stoic tone of voice, but there was no denying the warmth that filled her chest and cheeks.

"I'm *COUGH!* very…proud of you." Sona nodded to herself, still facing away from Saji, "K-Keep up the good work."

"O-Oh…" Saji blinked, he was a bit disappointed with how underwhelming the response to his speech was, but nonetheless was proud of himself for even attempting to say it out loud to his hardass [King] in the first place.

'I guess I still have a long way with being seen as her equal, too.' Saji bitterly thought but kept a smile on his face.

"Thanks, Kaichou, I'll keep doing my best…" He quietly bowed his head.

"You'd best…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Now, before I forget…"

A moment of silence soon pass them before Saji notices a chill going up his spine, and without warning Sona gave him one of the most frigid looks imaginable and ordered, "Any use of the Reverse spell is forbidden, any casting of that ability will be punished with deeds so hellish that you'd be begging for death. Are we clear?"

"C-Crystal!" Saji didn't want to die so he quickly complied.

"Good. I've already told the others so that makes you the last one to receive news of this warning." She began to make her leave.

"Kaichou, you're leaving already?" Saji asked.

"A few of the others and I have already been healed quite enough. All we need is rest while the likes of you, Nimura, Tsubasa, and Tsubaki have been diagnosed to remain on the premises by the doctors until you've made a full recovery." Sona explained, "We'll discuss the matter of your promotion test later, but just know that I'll expect you work thrice as hard to succeed and prove just how worthy you are to receive so many commendations from the top. No pressure."

'I-I can literally feel myself crumble under it…' Saji remarked and gulped as he watched Sona finally make her leave.

"When you've find yourself fully rested, contact the staff, and they'll be sure to have a chauffer ready drive you back to my family's residence, understood?"

"Yes, Kaichou."

"Good."

"…"

"…"

Sona's hand latched onto the doorknob but didn't budge it open, she remained quiet and still.

'Kaichou?' Saji curiously tilted his head and keened in his ears to pick up on anything faint that she may have been saying.

"…Thank you…" It was gentle and soft, but Saji was still able to hear her words as they resonated within him.

Joy.

He was completely overtaken by the feeling that he responded to his master, who probably said those two words for only herself to hear.

"Anytime, Kaichou!" Saji was smiling like an complete fool and now was starting to realize why Michael would do just the same, all the time.

"…!" Sona stiffened in surprise as he replied and followed it with a stiff nod of the head as she quickly left the hospital room and entered the hallway.

Taking deep breaths, she tried her best to compose herself and yet her growing blush wouldn't subside. It was like a whiplash of emotions that experienced once she crossed through the doorway. She expected to come out feeling just as depressed like her past visits to her other servants about letting them down with her defeat to Rias and of course like Saji, they did their best to dash said notions, but Sona wasn't one to be so easily swayed by their kind sentimentalism even though she recognized that it came from the right place. But unlike the others, Saji took it one step further and spoke of how admirable her dream was and vowed to never…

She shook her head, trying her best to compose herself before getting too caught up in the memory of that moment but the heat in her chest and that sudden throb of her heart made it difficult. He declared his dream with such confidence and so much ambition that almost made her own pale in comparison. He's even grown so much that she even found it hard to believe that he was the same bumbling [Pawn] that she allowed into the ranks of her peerage.

Grown so much that she was finding it harder to see him as simply just a little brother especially after she saw the way he looked at her with so much passio-.

'No… Stop that…' Sona dismissed any distracting thoughts in her head as tried to establish a concrete reason against…oh, even thinking about addressing it would made things harder, 'You have to consider to Nimura and Hanakai's feelings…'

Those two have already made it known their affection for her [Pawn] and she couldn't just allow herself to dash their attempts for his affection by cutting in…could she? Devil society does support poly-!

'Stop. It.' Sona had to stop her lingering thoughts from clouding her mind, she hasn't been this overwhelmed with distracting thoughts ever since…her…brother-in-law…Kai…

Facepalming, Sona groaned, "What a mess…"

"Kaichou?"

"Hm, Tsubaki?" Sona looked over her shoulder to spot her hospital gowned friend make her way over to her, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting after your treatment was finished?"

"I'm more than fit enough to simply take a walk, Kaichou. You have no need to worry…" Tsubaki said.

"As your [King] it should be my need to consider the health of my servants, but you are not one to lie of their condition just to save face, so I'll allow this…" Sona sighed.

"Thank you, Kaichou." Tsubaki bowed.

"…"

"…"

"So aren't you continuing with your walk?" Sona asked.

"Yes, I should get back onto that…" Tsubaki nodded, but remained in place, looking wistful.

"Well?" Sona leant back against the door.

"This wouldn't happen to be, Saji's room now would it?" Tsubaki asked, her sights now on the door behind Sona.

"It would…" Sona raised an eyebrow at that.

"Good, good… I just wanted to know…" Tsubaki coughed, her cheeks flushed as she still remained in place.

"…" Suddenly realization dawned on Sona's face as she took a quick glance at her best friend and back at the door leading to Saji's room.

'…Now this is a surprise…' Sona didn't expect her [Queen] to be infatuated by the [Pawn] like the other two, she figured her to think of Saji as just a little brother like her. Though she's one to talk considering her current conundrum with the budding feelings that are beginning to surface within her, but the idea of her [Queen] falling for her [Pawn] wasn't that farfetched considering the pair have been getting along well after Saji along with a few of Rias' servants helped her out with that one mission involving her excommunicated uncle from the Shinra clan.

Not needing or wanting to infer into Tsubaki's motives any further, Sona simply smiled at her friend and moved out of the way.

"If you're here to visit then don't let me keep you, Tsubaki…"

"K-Kaichou…?"

Her [Queen] was speechless by her gesture as Tsubaki's blush only grew.

"You know where the chauffer is. Make sure to help him find it when he's fully recovered." Sona knowingly smiled and winked, "Good luck."

"…I…thanks…" The [Queen] was flabbergasted by the notion that Sona was making but rather than deny it and delay things, she flustered gave her friend a quiet yet grateful nod of the head.

*Gacha~!*

"Saji?" Tsubaki breathed out as she peered into the room, seeing Saji carefully putting each of his medals back into their cases.

"Ah, Fuka-Kaichou! Thank maou that you're okay!"

"M-May I- *AHEM!* Would it be fine if I allow myself in?" Tsubaki tried to put up a more serious front but her blushing cheeks was making it hard to believe her.

"Of course, come in!" Saji happily waved the [Queen], who happily accepted the invitation and closed the door.

*Slam!*

Sona, who was out of view when the door opened added another precaution to ensure that her "good luck" to her friend would be more than just pure luck. So, erecting an isolation barrier around the hospital room, she ensured that no one would enter the room until the pair were done with their business together.

'Once Tsubaki exits the barrier will be broken, it may make things harder for the doctors to enter, but they shouldn't be in there for too long…' Sona thought and began to walk towards the elevator, 'Now… I believe I promised Shura that I would play with him before I get ready to prep for my trip back to the human world.' She couldn't possibly deny the chance to spend time with her nephew especially after he was so happy and excited to see her dedicate herself in Rating Game for his sake. So she mentally prepared herself for the mountains of games that she'll have to endure just to make the young second heir happy.

Also there was another matter of her sister, Serafall, who was interested in having her permission to having a congratulatory talk with her [Pawn], so she still had to figure out if she wanted that to happen. Also, she probably has to spend most of her time searching for Kai just to say a quick goodbye in advance since her brother-in-law is always fickle and "busy" like that as always. Yup, Sona could definitely say that she was going to have an eventful few last days of summer before taking off back to school.

"Ooof!"

Crashing into cap wearing custodian carrying many rolls of toilet paper, Sona apologized, "Sorry."

"No, please forgive me Sitri-sama, it's my fault for giving myself too much load of work to handle…" The custodian coyly laughed as she readjusted her which looked to struggle with containing her hair.

"Hm…"

"I-Is there something wrong…?" The custodial tipped the brim of the cap to hide their features from the inquisitive Sona, who simply wanted to confirm a quick observation.

"No, its nothing, I was just surprised with your eyes, they're a nice shade of blue…" Sona remarked.

"W-Why thank you, I've always been told that I received some good genes from my family, ehehe…" The custodian nervously laughed.

'They look a bit like Rias' but the shape of her eyes also looks familiar too, but why…?' Sona thought, but shrugged it off once she reminded herself of her already busy schedule, 'Questioning strangers should be the last thing on my mind right now.'

"Forgive me if I took your time, I'll be on my way and leave you to your business." Sona apologized and continued to stride towards the elevator but was stopped shortly by the call of the custodian.

"Sitri-sama, you wouldn't happen to know where the patient known as Asia Argento is staying, do you? I was told that her room's bathroom was running low on TP and I'd really like to take care of it before any inconveniences arise for them."

Narrowing her eyes, Sona said, "I would have thought that all of this medical facility's staff would be informed about the Rating Game and its retired participants."

"S-Sorry, Sitri-sama, I'm still fairly new to working here and I still haven't gotten the lay of the land yet. Forgive me…" Sweat began to bead down the dark skin of the female custodian.

"…I see, then I ask that you do a better job of getting acquainted with your workplace. Were I your superior, I would have a penalized for asking a patient where another patient's room is." Sona folded her arms and scolded the custodian, "The Gremory group is on the floor above us, but you won't find Asia Argento in her room."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because her wounds have already been tended to as she already took her leave of the facility with others in her peerage. At least you won't have to inconvenience yourself with bothering her when you enter the room now…" Sona sighed.

"Y-Yes…that is a real…relief…" The custodian groaned but quickly put on a happy expression once Sona noticed it, "Well, Sona-sama, I'm off! Thank you!" The custodian rushed off leaving Sona to question who they were before going on with her own business of returning back home to the Sitri Residence.

But if Sona was curious enough to do it after entering the closing doors of the elevator, she would have noticed the ominous glowing wristwatch that slowly pushed back the custodian's sleeve and the few strands of crimson hair that peaked out past the side of their cap.

XXX

Unfortunately, Sona, who obviously was the most capable to realize everything didn't fully pay the custodian much mind…

On that day, any mentioning of a new custodian in the medical facility was met with confusion by the staff as no record of a new employee was ever made and any traces of them were next to nonexistent.

Whether this was a blessing in disguise or a tragic slip up, this will remain unknown until the anomalous stranger and Michael Hanamura finally meet.