Ch 4

Early in the morning we see a young man,Sho sitting on a chair besides his bed,reading a book about The great Hero Θraētaona.Besides on the bed is a sleeping blond girl,Asia Argento.

"Huh?"

Asia's voice.It broke Sho's concentration as he was the book.

"So,you finally woke up,Asia."Sho said as he closed the book and place it on the table near him.

"Sho-san,where am I?And,How did i get here?..I thought i was with Lady Raynare…"Asia asked but as she said more her voice stated getting smaller remembering the situation she was previously in.

"Let's calm down.You are in a safe place."Sho said as he looked at Asia's sad expression.

"And,as for your questions.We are in my house and I brought you here."

"What happened to Lady Raynare and the others."Asia asked.

"Don't worry about them they will never bother you ever again."Sho said to Asia which did calm her somewhat.

"Are you alright?Are you hurt anywhere?"Asia immediately started worrying again,She knew any normal human couldn't take Raynare and her group without getting seriously harmed or dying.

"Sigh.I am alright,you don't need to worry about me."Sho said as he brought his hands up and started patting Asia head.

A few minutes passed away in silence,which was disturbed by the sound of the door opening.

"EEEEKKKKK"

A scream escaped from Asia as she hugged Sho,when she saw what had entered the room.She saw an extremely large beetle with characteristics of both stag beetles and rhinoceros beetles entering the room.

"Pffff,Hahahaha."Sho immediately burst into laughter seeing the situation.

Asia looked at Sho with her tearful eyes then towards the enormous beetle,she hug tightened as she saw the beetle approach nearer.

"Ha.You don't need to be scared of him,he means no harm."Sho said as wiped his tears pointing at a now depressed beetle.

"Umu."Asia nodded as she separated from Sho.

"Zegion,Come here."Sho said.

The beetle now named Zegion nodded and followed his master's order.As ordered Zegion flew to his master's side then sitting on the bed.

"Don't be scared of him,he is quite a shy and gentle one."Sho said as he slowly took Asia and brought it near Zegion.Zegion seeing this brought his head to the palm,as Sho released Asia's hand.The nun and the beetle seemed to have become friends and started playing with each other.

Sho smiled having removed Asia's fear of Zegion.

"Asia,I want you to stay inside the house and not go anywhere outside until I return."Sho said as he looked at Asia,to which the latter nodded understanding its for her own good.Sho then turned to Zegion.

"Stay by her side."To which the the beetle nodded.

"Umm."

"Yes Asia,Is there something you want to ask?"

"Where are you going?"

"Me,I am going to School."

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We see Sho going towards the Academy followed by someone whose presence he knew all to well.

"Sigh,What do you want Hyoudou?"Sho asked loudly enough for the stalker to hear his words.

Just like he thought,the one following him was Issei Hyoudou.

"Uh-h..Hey.."

As Issei said that both stood there in silence.

"Look,I just wanted to know how Asia is doing?Is she alright?"

Looking at the genuine concern for Asia in Issei's eyes,Sho decided to answer the question.

"She is alright fortunately I arrived just in time before they could start their ritual."

"At least she is alright."Issei said as he released a sigh of relief.

"So,how did you stop Raynare and her group?"

"Magic."Sho replied with a short yet simple answer.

"What are you?"Issei asked the question that has been plaguing his mind.

"A human."

As the two continued their conversation the two of them reached the School's gate and went to their their class and sat on their respective seats.

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"Yawn..."Sho found himself yawning during lessons again.He had spent all the night eliminating any stragglers which were left except one.Combine this with the looks he was receiving from one Issei Hyoudou,today definitely wasn't a easy day.

Soon,the class ended and the lunch break started.

A couple of minutes later, Shirou was already on the rooftop, unwrapping his bento.

He was able to sense a new presence following him in the school.He was able to get a glimpse of the skirt of his stalker. Sho now had a guess who this new "stalker" of his is.

After that, Koneko Toujo started to stare intently at him, or more exactly, at his bento.He lifted his bento as started moving his bento left to right to find his stalker's eye solely focused on the bento.

"You can have some if you want."

Koneko Toujo hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, she ended up approaching him. And even so, she was really cautious,she had seen what the man infront of her could do.

The little girl finally took the chopsticks, and after inspecting in search of anything suspicious, she dug into Sho's bento. After staring at the food for a few seconds, she slowly put it in her mouth.

After savoring it, her entire body winced. Her eyes widened, and she... purred?

Sho let Koneko finish the bento.

"Delicious..." She mumbled. There were some grains of rice and sauce over her cheeks.

"Let me clean the food on your face. You don't want to show up in your classroom like that, right?"

Sho took out a handkerchief and brought it close to her face. Koneko flinched and nearly jumped, but in the ended she conceded.

"Kind senpai..."

"There you go."

After cleaning her face,Sho wrapped his bento and set to go to his classroom.

"So,Rias was the one who sent you wasn't she?"As sho uttered those words Koneko immediately went on alert

After turning around, golden eyes met yellow ones. The two stared at each other for a few moments without moving a muscle.

"Don't worry I won't do anything unless you try something."What Sho said did calm Koneko to some extent.

"And,If you want i can bring a bento for you."

At that moment, a ghost of a smile appeared in Koneko's always stoic face, and her eyes shone with excitement.

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As the day ended,Sho packed his things too, but he remained at his desk. Just as he expected, Issei decided to visit him.

"Buchou told me to bring you to the old building, Saji-san. She and Kaichou we'll be there for the negotiations and that stuff."

Issei spoke firmly, but Sho could see he was wary of him despite the conversation they had this morning.

"I see. Lead the way then, Hyoudou."

The journey to the ORC building went in silence.As the two reached the destination,Issei knocked on the door.

"Buchou! We are here."

"Enter."Rias's voice came soon after.

Rias and Sona were already sitting on one of the sofas, and he assumed he would take sit on the other sofa across the table. Akeno and Tsubaki were standing right behind them just like right-hand women. Kiba and Meguri were standing at each side of the door, their swords already ready, and Koneko was standing on one of the room's corners.Issei went and stood by Genshirou Saji's side.

Sho did receive looks from Genshirou Saji,which was to be expected.

As these were the ORC's main quarters, it was to be expected to have all the members present, while Sona just brought three members. The other ones were likely doing Student Council stuff.

The room was silent, that is until Souna decided to cut straight to the chase.

"I know you have many questions about us, as we do about you, so let's cut through the chase by introducing ourselves. My real name is Sona Sitri, current heiress of the Sitri Clan, member of the 72 pillars of the Underworld.They are my peerage members; my queen, Tsubaki Shinra,my knight, Tomoe Meguri and my pawn, Genshirou Saji."

She stopped at that only for Rias to continue in tandem.

"My real name is Rias Gremory, current heiress of the Gremory Clan, member of the 72 pillars of the Underworld.They are my peerage members Akeno Himejima, being my Queen, Yuuto Kiba, my Knight, Koneko Toujou, my Rook, and my adorable Issei, my only pawn. We, all of us, are Devils"

"…Who are you?"Sona Asked.

"My name is Sho Saji, second year student of Kuoh Academy." when he said that the two girls before him let out a sigh of frustration; however he wasn't done talking " A magician."

"Then, you say you're a magician,sho-san. What organization are you from?"

"I don't work for any organization. I was self-taught." A half-truth, as it was his father Azi Dahaka but was no longer around anyway.

"In other words, you are a stray magician that settled in our territory without asking for our permission. We have a problem here,Sho-san."

"Huh? Do I have to ask you permission to live in a human city? From my point of view, it should be the other way around."Sho said with a frown on his face.

The tension filling the atmosphere sky-rocketed.

"This city has been owned by our kind for many years, and now our families are the ones controlling it. There should be no problems for you to live here as long as you don't cause trouble,Sho-kun. However, we have to register you as someone aware of the supernatural and discuss the terms for proper cohabitation."Sona said trying to decrease the tension.

"In normal circumstances, a magician would form a pact with just one devil, a mutually beneficial relationship of the sort. But, that kind of contract is regulated by the magician's organization, so that option is not available for a stray magician like you. That's why we propose a regular contract, just like the one we have with the other humans aware of the supernatural attending to the school. You know, you scratch my back, and I scratch yours, that sort of relationship. We won't tell you to fight against our enemies, but we can ask you some favors, and you can ask us favors in return."

After finishing her explanation, a blue magical circle appeared in her hand, and a moment later, a paper appeared in her hand.

"Before I put my sign here, I have a favor to ask of you Sitri-san?"

"Is it related to the nun you rescued?"

"Yes that is correct,I want to ask you if you could help her enroll in the academy?"

"As you wish; from here on out you shall be treated as a contractor under the Sitri Household, but know that you will be in my debt and when the times comes, I will ask for a price of similar value."

"Good. After that, we can proceed to register you. But, if you want, there is a way to skip all the procedures,the contract and help the dear nun of ours."

Everyone in the room looked at her surprised. Only Sona and Sho knew for sure what was coming.

"I see a but coming."Sho decided to go with the flow.

"Well, of course, everything has a price when dealing with a devil,Sho-san. But I don't think it's that big of a price. You just have to join my peerage."

The entire room fell silent, just before everyone widened their eyes.

""WHAT!?""

"Ufufu. You are so bold, Buchou."

"So, in other words, you want me to reject my humanity and be your servant?"

"That is correct." Rias answered as if that was just a trivial matter. "You would do a fine knight alongside Yutoo with that power of yours or you could be a bishop."

"And about the offer-"

"I refuse." He didn't even let her end her line. His answer was short and blunt.

Rias' expression turned into one of shock. From her perspective, her offer must be a bargain everyone would accept, but from Shirou's perspective, it was a no, and any words could convince him otherwise.

"Bu-but it's all advantages! You'll live longer, you'll be more powerful... If what is troubling you is the part of serving me, you don't have to worry. As a Gremory, I'll take care of you as my family. I swear it on my name as the heiress of the Gremory house."

"I said no,RIAS GREMORY."As Sho said that a incredible pressure fell upon everyone one in the room.Everyone except the two heiress found themselves on the floor,even the heiress were struggling to get up.All except Koneko who was not affected.

The pressure slowly disappeared,as Sho got up and left the ORC room after having signed the contract.