Chapter 163: The Blonde Nun

–

"But… How?"

Issei asked back as he thought about everything that Erik had told him.

"That is my secret to keep."

Erik replied to Issei, making the boy let out a groan in frustration.

"Come on, teacher. Please, tell me how."

Issei asked again while trying to make some very pitiful puppy eyes. That was something that would never work on Erik. At least not if you were not one of his kids, and even so, the boys' puppy eyes were not working anymore on him. Erik's princesses still had him wrapped around their little fingers and would continue to have until the end of times.

"Nope."

Erik replied while smiling and putting some emphasis on the 'p' of the word.

"Can't you at least tell me some tips for me to get to that stage too?"

Issei asked Erik again, trying to pry any information from the man that had 'accidentally' reached his dream. Erik went again in a thoughtful pose.

"I suppose that I can give some advice to make your path a less tortuous one…"

Erik said while scratching his chin. Issei, hearing that answer, got his hopes up and concentrated to pay attention to the words of knowledge that would come.

"First, be respectful to them. No woman likes douchebags. The ones that do like, you would not like to have a life by their side for long."

Erik started saying to Issei, who was fully concentrated on the words of wisdom. The boy nodded his head at the word too, showing that he had understood them.

"Second, be successful. A lot of women mean a big family, which means a big expenditure. Nowadays is not only the man that has to provide for the home exclusively anymore, but it helps a lot to have good financial health."

Erik said again, keeping the boy's attention to his words.

"And third. This one is for you that have just discovered to possess a Sacred Gear: Strenght. In the supernatural world, strength is safety. The more strength you have, the safer you and your family will be. There are people in this world that would kill and destroy everyone and everything that you like just for the laughs. And no, Issei, I am not kidding about it. I had my fair share o douchebags that I had to get rid of during all my years of life, so take this to your heart. Be strong. Not just for yourself, but for the people that you like and want to protect."

Erik said to Issei again, who was at his teacher with a serious face. The boy then gave Erik a nod with his head in understanding. Rias Gremory had explained to him what was the meaning of possessing a Sacred Gear. He would eventually cross paths with the supernatural world, and if only half of the things that she said to him were true, then the supernatural world was not a place where the weak could thrive. He would need strength! Seeing the determination build inside the boy's eyes, Erik felt that his job was done with the pieces of advice and decided to call Issei for the original reason that he had looked for him.

"So, Issei Hyoudou, you wanted to originally talk to me about what exactly?"

Erik asked, calling for the attention of the boy. Issei looked at Erik again and blinked slowly while thinking about the original reason for him searching for Erik.

"Ah, yes. It would be about the invitation that I received to join Rias Gremory's peerage. I wanted to get some advice about it, teacher, but now, after our talk, I think that I already have the answer that I needed. Thank you, teacher."

Issei said to Erik, who nodded his head in understanding.

"No problems at all, Issei Hyoudou. Rias Gremory's peerage is indeed the best option for you right now. I don't think that you would do well in Sona's peerage."

Erik said to the boy, whose eye went wide with the information that he had just heard.

"Teacher, when you say Sona, you mean Sona Shitori? As in the president of the Student's Council Sona Shitori?"

Issei asked Erik, who nodded his head in a positive answer.

"You mean to say that she is a Devil too?"

Issei asked again to Erik, who, again, nodded his head in confirmation.

"Yes, she is a Devil too. But her true name is Sona Sitri, heiress of the Sitri clan. She is a King with her own peerage, that is most members of the Student's Council, and she is my little sister too. Well, sister-in-law really, but I see and treat her as my little sister."

Erik replied to Issei, who was now remembering all the sermons that he had to hear from the 'stuck up' president. As he thought about that, a chill come down his spine and he looked at the man in front of him. His teacher, Erik Ravenclaw, was looking at him with serious eyes. The same eyes that he had when he had found him, together with Matsuda and Motohama, peeping in the girls' changing room.

"Careful with what you think, Issei Hyoudou. It is my little sister that you are thinking about."

Erik said in a low voice to Issei.

"S-Sorry, teacher. It is just that she was really a pain with all the sermons…"

The boy said while trying to justify the thoughts that were going through his head.

"And are you going to tell me that she had done it without reason? Has Sona 'bothered' you with her sermons after you changed your ways?"

Erik asked the boy, who stopped a little to better think about the subject.

"No… You are right, teacher. President Shitori didn't call for me after the incident from last year…"

Issei said cautiously after thinking more about it.

"Sona is a follower of rules, Issei Hyoudou. That is why I said to you that you would not do well with her. She knows when to break the rules if necessary, her sister and I were very thorough in teaching her that, but she does it only after thinking about all the pros and cons of it. She does not like to take impulsive decisions, something that you are very prone to do."

Erik said to Issei while looking at the boy's eyes. Issei gulped at that and hurriedly nodded his head. He didn't even know why he was nodding his head, he just did it.

–

Before the clock struck midnight that day, Issei Hyoudou had cast away his future as a human and reincarnated as a Devil in Rias Gremory's Peerage. The usage of her six pawn Evil Pieces to do it was what raised some questions about the true identity of Issei's Sacred Gear. After all, Gasper and Valerie, who were Longinus holders, had only cost one mutated bishop each. That only showed Rias Gremory that the perverted boy was a good choice and had some seriously huge potential.

–

The next weeks passed by quickly for Erik. After being reincarnated as Devil, Issei Hyoudou was making all that he could to learn everything that his 'seniors' wanted to teach him. In that regard, Rias Gremory was doing very well in her role as a King and was providing all the resources that she could to her new Pawn.

Almost at the same time that Issei Hyoudou entered the command of Rias Gremory, just some days later, Sona Sitri had too found a new Pawn for her peerage, a boy named Saji Genshirou that had cost two of her Pawn Evil Pieces to reincarnate. Erik didn't like the boy. Maybe it was his protective brother's side talking, but he didn't like the boy and because of that he would keep an eye open for him, something that Serafall had agreed vehemently with.

As Erik continued to observe the changes around him together with the growth in strength of Sona and Rias' peerages, he received an alert of a new arrival in town. Two days after Issei's reincarnation as a Devil, Azazel called Erik to tell him about what he had discovered with a more thorough 'conversation' with the Fallen Angels that were in Kuoh. Apparently, Kokabiel had tipped them about a certain nun that had just been excommunicated by her church. The girl had been the victim of a plot coming from a perverted Devil who had a thing for nuns and a corrupted church member who didn't like her being more popular than him. Alone in the world and in possession of a very useful Sacred Gear, Raynare had approached her with sweet words while harboring the intention of stealing the nun's sacred gear for herself. Of course, Azazel had not told Erik about the nun from the goodness of his heart. He decided to give the information to Erik instead of keeping the girl within Grigori in hopes that he could gain some 'good faith' points with Gabriel, and, maybe, a pot or two of her honey. While laughing uproariously, Erik had promised the man that he would talk with Gabriel about the nun.

And he had done it. On that same day, Erik had contacted Gabriel, who was very happy to know that Erik had located Asia Argento. News of her being excommunicated had already reached Gabriel, who had then glared at Michael while pouting, putting the Great Seraph in a tight spot to find the lost nun. With the help of God's system, they could have quickly found the girl every time that she prayed to God, but because of a spell that Raynare had put over her, they could not find her exact location. After discussing what would be done, it was agreed that Erik would receive Asia Argento when she arrived in the town and her future would then be decided with her input.

Erik stood up from his chair, said his goodbyes to the other teachers, and exited the teacher's room. As he walked through the corridors of the school, Erik waited until he was alone and disappeared with a silent crack.

Taking in the change of the surroundings in his senses after the use of apparition, Erik watched as Issei Hyoudou, just like how had happened in canon, met with Asia Argento. It seemed that their meeting was something fated to happen after all. But that was as far as it would go following his past life' timeline.

As Issei watched as Asia Argento healed the wound of a child's knee, he heard a voice from behind him.

"Asia Argento, I presume?"

Erik asked in a loud voice, making the Issei and Asia turn to look at him, distracting them from the boy who was now running away.

"Teacher Ravenclaw?"

Issei said in a tone of surprise.

"Hey there, Issei Hyoudou."

Erik replied to the boy. The blonde nun then walked to Issei's side and gave a little bow to Erik.

"Hi. Yes, I am Asia Argento. How can I help you, sir?"

Asia Argento asked Erik in a very adorable way in Japanese full of an Italian accent.

"Hi, Miss Argento. My name is Erik Ravenclaw, and I am here to bring you to a safe place."

Erik replied to the gentle blonde girl with a smile and in perfect Italian.

"Sorry, but I can't go with you, sir. I have to go to the church in this town."

Asia Argento said again while giving Erik a small bow and replying in Italian this time.

"The church in this town is abandoned, Miss Argento. The Fallen Angels that were waiting for you there had already returned to their Headquarters due to some internal circumstances in Grigori."

Erik replied to the girl, making her eyes go wide. A hint of despair then appeared in her eyes.

"But… But Mistress Raynare said that she would take care of me."

Asia Argento said in a low voice while the despair started to grow inside of her. Issei, hearing the gentle blonde mutter Raynare's name got some fire in his eyes. He made some motion to say something about the maniac Fallen Angel but was stopped by Erik.

"Asia, Raynare had not the best of intentions when she first contacted you. Proof of that is that she had cast a spell over you to hide your location from Michael and Gabriel."

Erik said in a soft voice while lowering his body to look into the girl's eyes. At the mention of Michael and Gabriel's names, some hope seemed to return to her eyes.

"Michael and Gabriel? As in the Angels?"

Asia Argento asked Erik, who nodded his head in confirmation.

"Exact as in the Angels. Gabriel got very upset when she got word of your ex-communication, and asked her brother, Michael, to search for you. Unfortunately, it was too late since Raynare had already hidden you from his 'eyes'. So we had to wait until you appear here in Kuoh."

Erik explained to the girl, who now had a beautiful smile on her face.

"Oh, Thank you, Lord, for keeping an eye over this sheep."

Asia Argento said after joining her hands in a praying position and closing her eyes.

"Urgh."

Issei groaned at the side after hearing Asia Argento's prayer, startling her. Erik, seeing her reaction immediately took it in his hands to calm the girl.

"Calm down, Asia. Issei here can be a Devil, but he is one of the well-behaved ones. I think that his behavior since meeting you does speak for himself."

Erik said to the girl, who stopped to think a little and then nodded her head in agreement.

"Yes, it does. I am sorry about taking precipitated conclusions about you, Issei. Even after all the help that you had given to me."

Asia said to Issei while bowing in his direction. Issei smiled at that.

"No problems at all, Asia."

Issei said to Asia with a smile on his face. Issei was a just reincarnated Devil, and because of that, he cared very little about such grudges between races and factions. Just as he finished, their attention was caught by the little kid that was back together with his mother. The boy approached Asia Argento and bowed to her.

"Thank you for helping me, big sister!"

The boy said with a big smile on his face and then ran to where his mother was waiting for him. Asia watched the scene with a big smile on her face. She loved it the most when people got happy after being helped by her.

"See Asia, I told you that there were people who would not be afraid of your ability."

Issei said to the gentle girl.

"Yes, Issei. Thank you."

Asia replied with some moisture forming in her eyes. After some time had passed from the fluffy moment, Erik called for Asia's attention.

"That was nice of him to come back to say thank you for the help. So, Asia, are you ready to go? I can bet with you that Gabriel is already waiting to meet you."

Erik said and asked the girl, who snapped to look at him with wide eyes.

"Angel Gabriel wants to meet with me?"

Asia asked Erik, not believing in what she had just heard. Erik nodded his head in reply.

"Yes, she wants. She would have come herself to meet you, but since we are in a territory governed by Devils, she didn't want to intrude, and asked me to take you to meet her."

Erik replied to Asia, who nodded her head and took her briefcase from the ground.

"Yes, please!"

Asia said with a voice full of happiness, making Erik smile again and nod his head.

"Let's go then."

Erik said and snapped his fingers.

*snap*

A blue magic circle appeared just above the ground, encompassing Erik and Asia. The blond girl then turned to Issei and gave him a bow.

"Thank you, again, for your help Issei. I hope to see you again anytime."

Asia said, thanking the Devil boy for his help.

"No problem at all, Asia. It was nice to meet and talk with you. Good luck.

Issei replied to the blonde nun, wishing her good luck in her new journey in life.

"Thank you."

Asia said again while giving the boy a wide smile.

"See you, tomorrow, issei Hyoudou."

Erik said to the boy, and both he and Asia disappeared in the middle of motes of blue light.

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a/n: About Issei costing less of Rias' pieces, eight in canon, six in the fanfic, it was not said before, but due to Erik's influence on Sona, Rias ended taking her training a little more seriousthan in canon due to not wanting to be left behind by her best friend and rival, Sona, resulting in this Rias being stronger than canon Rias. That extra strength influenced when she got her evil pieces, resulting in two mutated bishops instead of one., which were then used in Gasper and Valerie. I'm just writing this here because I read some comments of people asking that htye don't know how Rias could have reincarnated Valerie with only one piece since she is the holder of the Holy Grail longinus. Sona's change in strength influenced how many piece she spent with Saji too. And no, Asia will not become a Devil.