Childhood Friend

The next day, Issei and Asia went home from their school activities without Rias as she has an urgent meeting with the Student Council President.

Just as they're about to open the door to their house, both suddenly froze. They felt a very familiar aura coming from the inside of the house, the aura of an exorcist.

Issei hurriedly opened the door and called out to his mother in a panic due to remembering the first time he met Freed who killed someone who made a contact with a Devil, "Mom!!!"

He and Asia ran through the corridor and reached the living room. They were greeted by Issei's mother and two unfamiliar girls who wore a standard priest clothing with one of them has a sword-like item covered in a bandage, "Oh, welcome home Issei, Asia. What's with that look?"

"M-mom?" Issei checked the condition of his mother first to see if she's hurt anywhere. Asia from behind sighed in relief after ensuring that Issei's mother is safe.

Issei then switched his attention to the two guests, 'Are they, exorcists?' He raised his vigilance to the maximum and got ready to call out his Boosted Gear if something is about to happen.

One of the girls stood up and greeted Issei with familiarity, "Hi there, Issei-kun~."

'She knows me?' Issei looked at her with a serious expression and confusion, "Nice to meet you..."

The girl a beautiful young woman with violet eyes. She has long chestnut hair that is usually tied into twintails, each held with a blue scrunchy.

Beside her, sitting quietly is a similarly beautiful young woman with chin-length blue hair with a dyed green fringe on the right side and dark yellow eyes.

The girl with twintails noticed Issei's confusion and pointed to herself, "Huh? You don't remember me?"

Seeing that Issei is struggling to remember her, Miki put up the photo album they are view just a moment ago and pointed to the picture with the Holy Sword, specifically, the boy aside from him and Kisuke, "This girl here is Irina Shidou-chan. She might have been a tomboy back then, but she's grown into quite a lady. I was surprised too."

"...Huh?" It took Issei a few seconds to process her words, 'Girl?'

"Remember now~?"

"What!? I was sure you were a boy!!!" Issei couldn't believe it.

"I guess there was no helping that. I always liked playing with boys and I was kind of a trouble maker." Irina smiled wryly at his expression but it's her turn to be confused, "But I remembered that I dressed like a girl just a day before I went overseas."

"Ah... that... I thought for sure that you have some strange hobby like Kisuke..."

"What!? How rude! Stop putting me on the same level as that guy!" Irina retorted but she calmed down immediately, "Ehem... Anyway, a lot has happened since I left." The girl with blue hair beside her suddenly stood up prompting Issei to call out to Ddraig in his mind to materialize the Boosted Gear the moment they make a move. But as much as possible, he didn't want to do anything in front of his mother.

'I don't know how strong they are and looking at them makes my skin tingle. But the real danger here is coming from that wrapped up item. It feels like it'll kill me if that thing hits me.'

Irina saw Issei's expression when he looked towards the bandaged sword and said, "It's true. You never knew what will happen when people reunite."

'She knew that I'm a Devil... If she's anything like Freed, then I would have to risk my life to take away Asia and my mother out of here.' Taking a stance, he waited for their next actions.

Irina chuckled at his actions and said, "Don't worry. We're heading out now. I haven't been back to Japan in a while, so I'm feeling nostalgic and just had to come by and say hello." Irina faced her companion, "But it's about time we left, isn't it, Xenovia?"

"Yes." Xenovia answered curtly.

They then both faced Miki and bowed down as a standard Japanese ethic and thank her for her hospitality.

"I wish you could've stayed longer." Miki escorted them to the door.

"Oh, we'll probably be by again at some point. But until then, see ya, Issei-kun~." They turned around and left. But before they could leave the backyard, Xenovia turned around while holding the wrapped sword and eyed Issei, "I'll be ready at any time." There wasn't any interruption this time and they left for good.

Those last words of her gave Issei a chill and now he knew he couldn't win against her. They went back inside and Issei hurriedly reported what happened.

A few minutes later, Rias came running after them, "Issei! Asia!" She hugged both of them tightly, "Thank goodness you're all alright. Are you hurt? What did they do to you?"

It took a few minutes to calm Rias down. She explained that Sona called her earlier because some church affiliates made contact with her. They hoped that they could talk and negotiate with the Devils running the town which is them.

"Why would people of the Church negotiate with Devils?" Issei asked.

"In all honesty, I have no idea what they want. They are going to meet us in the clubroom tomorrow after school."

"Is that really a good idea?"

"I heard that they vowed on their God that they won't attack us. For members of the clergy to come to Devils for help, they must really be in quite a pinch." Rias sat down on Issei's bed and put on a serious expression, "I've also heard that priests that visit the town were massacred. I wonder if they're here about that bit of trouble." She muttered.

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.

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"Where do you want to go next? Should we find a place to stay?" Xenovia asks Irina as they walk on the streets on the outskirts of the town.

"I want to go to another place. I was surprised that Issei-kun became a Devil and I hope that's not the same case with him. And more importantly, I want him to make something clear." Irina replied with a disappointed face, 'I guess we're enemies from now on... I hope Kisuke didn't become a Devil...'

"Is it the other childhood friend of yours? What do you want to ask him?" Xenovia looked at her curiously.

"Remember that time we first encountered a Devil and a stray one at that?"

"Yes... We almost died from that thing."

"I'm pretty sure that isn't the first time I met one... And one with more hostility from the one we first met."

"What...? Then why are you still alive? Did the Devil let you go? Why did you keep this a secret?"

"Because I also don't know how to interpret that event on my own..."

"I see... So you wanted to ask that another childhood friend of yours who I assumed is with you that time?"

"Yes... Issei-kun is also with us but it seems that he doesn't remember something like that ever happening..."

"Tell me your story..."

"When we're still small, I always played around pretending to be a priest like my father and would go around 'exorcising ghost'."

"So you've been like this ever since you're small."

"Let me finish!"

"..."

"There is one instance that I dragged Issei-kun and Kisuke with me to go to an abandoned factory that I accidentally found. And as usual, I pretended to be a priest while the two acted as my assistants. It's also served as a test of courage for us. Although it's really annoying that Kisuke would always walk around a scary place with a nonchalant attitude... He's a strange kid." Irina ended up laughing a little as she reminisces the past.