Interlude (Koneko At the Banquet)

As Koneko sat back down at her seat beside Kiba and Gasper, she looked down at the gloves she had been given. Then, putting them in her pockets, she took a peek under her chair to see the box of cookies there. Spotting them, she broke into a smile and, looking at her plate that was now magically filled with food, she said something that set off the entire table. 

"He's nice," and after saying that, she started eating. 

"Yes, he is very nice, isn't he, Koneko?" Akeno said, also starting to eat her food. 

"You're only saying that, Akeno, because you want to fuck him," Kiba said. 

"And?" Akeno responded. 

"I think Mister Eden is nice. He helped me a lot," Gasper said. 

Not expecting her statement to stir up her fellow peerage members, Koneko looked at all of them across the table. Kiba wore an angry expression, Akeno had a blush on her face, while Gasper appeared determined for once. Issei and your master, Rias, displayed the most conflicted looks on their faces.

"He helped me train even if he did not know much about Ki; he helped me control mine better," Koneko said. She knew Eden wasn't a martial artist but more of a mage. Still, he had learned Ki and some Ki techniques just to assist Koneko in her training. She felt that was a very kind thing for him to do when he could have spent more time training Gasper, who had an affinity for magic.

"You forget the part where he literally sent us to our deaths."

"We didn't actually die; stop being such a crybaby, Kiba," Akeno retorted.

"Why are you sticking up for him so much, Akeno? Has your lust driven you mad?" Kiba snapped back at her.

"Stop arguing. The whole reason Eden left is so that we can enjoy this meal as a peerage, as a family. Let's not fight, please," Rias said, glaring at both Akeno and Kiba.

"Yes, Master," Kiba said. "Anything for you, Rias," Akeno responded. After that, there was a bit of silence as they all ate.

"What's his deal anyway?" Issei said, speaking for the first time during the entire dinner.

"What do you mean?" Rias asked.

"Well, I'm the wielder of the Boosted Gear and the current Red Dragon Emperor, and I use the Longinus. But what is Fateweaver? Is it a Longinus or a holy sword or a divine artifact or whatever? And also, what's up with this house or the Mansion Infinitum or whatever?" After saying that, Issei continued eating while everyone else, including Koneko, thought about what he had just said.

"Fateweaver is a weird weapon. It's been in the hands of every old major faction at some point and has been used on every old major faction. When I knew he was living so close to us, I decided to do some research, but I only ended up with more questions. All I knew is that Fateweaver is ancient by god standards; it's even older than the titans and primordial deities."

"That didn't really answer any of my questions," Issei said while eating. 

"Does it really matter? Even if I am definitely biased, we have a contract. He trains us, and we do something for him. His personal business is not something for us to look into," Akeno now said.

"That's right, Issei. Speaking of the contract, we will most likely be challenging Rias on Wednesday and having our rating game early on Thursday in Earth time, so be ready."

"Why so far? Why don't we just challenge him tomorrow or on Monday while this training is still fresh in our minds?"

"Plans change, something needs to happen before we challenge him," Rias explained.

After that, the banquet went smoothly once more, with more food being brought out and Rias changing the subject from Eden to weekend plans. Everyone seemed to get along again.