Chapter 2

Raynare hated her job.

That had already been established.

It was for that reason that she was both elated and terrified when Azazel showed up one day without warning while she was half asleep staring at the building and asked how she was doing.

"Yo Raynare."

"Wah!? Ah?! Azazel-sama?!"

Dressed in a casual, yet clearly stylish getup consisting of tan slacks, a black undershirt under a white buttondown and designer shoes, the twelve winged leader of the Golgari looked more to be a wealthy middle aged entrepreneur or business owner on his day off than a supernatural powerhouse. His nearly perpetually easygoing expression complimented the scrubby facial hair he had on his chin and his odd hair, which was completely black save for his blonde bangs. One that was clearly amused by his underling's reaction if the smirk on his face was any indication. "Long day I take it?"

However, more than anything else, it was the man's eyes that were always considered his defining feature. Regardless of how he spoke and looked, his gaze was perpetually that of a hunter's. It was said that Azazel was always planning and on the hunt for something, be it a woman, an enemy, or a traitor, and that his mind was as sharp as his piercing gaze.

"I! That is! I mean!" The two winged woman stumbled over her words in an attempt to find the right excuse for her poor conduct.

"Hahaha. Don't worry. I'm familiar with how badly boring jobs like this can eat away at you. Boredom can be maddening, even to the strongest of us." Her boss snickered and took her image in.

Raynare was beautiful. There was no question about it. While female Fallen Angels always seemed to have the greatest genetics designed for seduction outside of the succubi species, Raynare seemed to exemplify this more so.

Large breasts and hips with a small waist. Hair almost as dark as his wings. A face that was almost intoxicating and capable of dropping any guard. She could seduce almost anyone she wanted with incredible ease. Her rather useful ability to adjust her physical age a good decade up or down only extended the range of her prey and beauty to new heights.

Unfortunately, her beauty could do nothing about the rather concerning personality of hers. Her loyalty was unquestioned, but the hunger she had to prove herself was just as vicious if provoked.

She was outfitted rather simply today, deciding to forgo her sadistically tantalizing garb that consisted of little more than a black leather bra and panties that barely functioned as such, accompanied by a matching spiked polder on her shoulder, gloves and thigh high boots. Instead she was in a black skirt and top with a thick white pullover over it.

Then again it was early March. It got chilly up here where the wind speeds were higher, and despite what other land based beings thought, Fallen Angels, like Angels and Demons, got as cold as everyone else if they were stuck up there for long enough. Oh sure they had magic and energy to keep themselves warm, but not even the most dedicated of their forces would stay up at high altitudes for extended periods of time with little to nothing on without a damn good reason.

Speaking of which, they should probably land on a building soon. Thanks to a common spell, they weren't at risk of being seen by the mundane on the ground below, but this still was Devil territory and they could see past the spell if they bothered to look.

"A-Azazel-sama! What are you doing here so suddenly?" The underling finally found her tongue looking around nervously. Clearly this wasn't the first time she had been nodding off on the job.

"What? I can't come over again and see how my adorable Raynare is doing every now and then?" He grinned. They both knew he was teasing her, but neither really cared. Azazel's whimsical personality was well known among the ranks.

"Yes! I mean no! I mean, you're our leader!" She frantically tried to come up with the right thing to say. "Not that I'm ungrateful for your attention, but why have you shown up to visit me so suddenly when you tend to be so busy?"

Her question was a valid one. Everyone from all three factions knew that Azazel was a bit of a workaholic. When he wasn't managing the Fallen, making plans, or searching for Sacred Gear users, he was often tending to one of his dozens of pet projects that he had just for fun.

"Well, who said I wasn't just here for fun?" He shrugged helplessly, turning his attention down to the building that had been the focus of their attention for the last half a year. "I know you send in reports, but I decided to check things for myself. Take things on from a different angle."

"A different angle?" She had no idea what he was talking about.

"Mmm." He seemed to be more focused on the building as he lowered himself down onto a nearby roof. "Raynare, care to tell me what you've learned so far?"

"What I've learned?" She landed next to him, confused as to where he was going with this. "There's not much to them. Two humans live in the building. A mother and son, Asami and Issei Hyoudou. Asami is a pretty standard single mother. She works. She gets food. She goes out on dates sometimes, though the relationships rarely last past two or three outings. Other times, she goes to a local salon to get a manipetti. Issei on the other hand…"

"Go on. I know enough of the situation to be aware that you won't have much." Azazel sighed, already knowing why she hesitating.

"… He's a shut in." She relented. "I've never seen him leave the building. If I didn't go through the mail and hear him sometimes argue with his mother, I wouldn't even know his name."

"He yells?" He sounded genuinely intrigued with her comment.

"You can hear him from here sometimes. It's hard to miss." Raynare shook her head in embarrassment, recalling the arguments and the vulgar language used. "The local police have been called over at least twice because of it by the neighbors, which is surprising considering how the people in this country tend to stay out of the business of others. On a side note, Issei is bilingual and occasionally switches to English when agitated. There's more ways to swear in it than in Japanese."

"No kidding." She didn't know why her boss seemed actually pleased by what she told him, but there was no mistaking the glint of amusement in his eyes and the eager way he rubbed his chin in thought. "That kid always did have a viper's tongue when pushed. No restraints at all. He's probably worse now than back then too."

"Back then? You know them?"

"You could say that." He evaded the question as if it didn't matter, though it was obvious to anyone that he knew more than he let on. "Anything else? You said you went through their mail."

This time Raynare donned a disgusted grimace and didn't bother to hide it. "It's mostly porn. Honestly, I didn't even know that there were so many magazines still publishing these days, what with the internet and everything around. DVDs and paraphernalia. He gets a ton of packages from other adult sites as well. I think he might be bisexual or have an addition to odd fetishes because one of his packages actually had vibrators in them."

"Hahahaha! Ah. He's screwing with adult toys again? That takes me back. I actually forgot he used to do that." Whatever Raynare was expecting from her boss from her report, that clearly wasn't it. The Leader of the Grigori was not repulsed at all by the news. In fact, for some bizarre reason he almost appeared to be relieved.

"Ahahah. Ahah. Eeeeeh." She clearly had different thoughts on the matter, but laughed along, more out of confusion than anything.

"Right. Enough talk." The man clapped his hands together as if trying to psyche himself up. "Care to join me?"

Under normal circumstances, Raynare would be over the moon and ecstatic about hearing those words from her beloved leader. Under normal circumstances, she would not have just talked to her boss about a teenage hikikomori shut-in and discussed about his daily XXX rated postal deliveries.

"Hah? Yes! I-I mean, what? Where are we going?"

Azazel ignored her confusion and walked to the edge of the building they were on, lazily pointing to the house that she had been stalking for the past half year. "Dinner. I'm somewhat expected, but I don't think they'd mind my adorable niece to come alone with me."

"Dinner?! N-niece?!" Never had her hopes skyrocketed and then shattered so quickly in tandem.

"Better hurry. I'm getting pretty hungry. I was working on a new project today and missed lunch in the thrill of things." He casually hopped off of the roof and landed effortlessly onto the streets below without anyone noticing him.

"There?! W-Wait!" She honestly had no idea what was happening. Things were moving too quickly to get a grasp on. Azazel himself had warned her never to enter the property without permission from the tenants and here he was just walking up to the front door, knocking on it, and waiting as if it was just any other place.

She barely managed to speedwalk to his side, straighten out her clothes quickly, and reduce her age to that of a teenager since she was supposedly pretending to be Azazel's niece when the door opened.

"Hello? Who is… Azazel-san? Is that you?" Asami Hyoudou opened the door and greeted them first with confusion then surprise.

"Hey Asami. Long time no see. Hope you don't mind if I drop by a bit early. I know you wanted to get together later but I was in the area and well…" The Leader of the Grigori laughed as if he was just an old friend of the woman's, smiling nervously as if he was pushing his luck and scratching the back of his head.

"Oh! No! It's no trouble at all! Not after all you've done to help us out." The woman shook her head in denial with a faint blush of embarrassment on her face. It took her a few moments to notice that he wasn't alone. "Oh! I'm sorry. How rude of me. I'm Asami Hyoudou. You are?"

While she was a bit flustered with how quickly Azazel dragged her into things, Raynare was at the very least capable on improvising and adapting quickly. She bowed politely and smiled kindly. "It's nice to meet you Hyoudou-san. I'm Yuma Amano. Thank you for allowing my Uncle and I into your home on such short notice. I know how much of a handful he can be at times."

She didn't mean to let slip that last bit, but honestly Azazel did deserve it. He seemed to agree with her cheeky comment too if his clearly amused laugh was any indication. "Haha. Yeah. I do get carried away on occasion. Wouldn't be the first time someone in the family complains about my habits."

"Yes well. I know someone that could do with a few dozen less bad habits myself." Asami dryly agreed and made no effort to send a mild dirty look up the stairs. "Come in. Please, don't let me stop you."

"I assume that Issei's still being difficult." The elder guest noted, taking off his spotless shoes in the greeting area.

"And then some." She sighed. "He leaves his room without too much issue at least, but getting him outside takes a war and a half. I had to prod him for half a day just to go out to get some milk just last week. It was past nine by the time he set his foot outside."

Raynare looked confused on the outside, but inside she was screaming her head off and seething in rage. The perverted nutjob actually left the house after she left?!

"You don't say." If he had any thoughts on his subordinate's screwup, he didn't show it through the bitter smile he gave his host.

"You should have seen it. I finally managed to get him out of the house to do some minor shopping and errands about half a year ago, and the 'genius' winds up completely lost. He barely managed to find his way back home after wandering around town for five hours." There was no attempt to hide the vindictive pleasure she had in recalling the story. "You have no idea how good it feels to hold it over his head to get him to shut up when he gets out of hand."

"He actually got lost getting groceries? We're talking about the same Issei, right?" Azazel genuinely had trouble holding back a belly laugh from the story. "Well at least he's leaving the building now. Last time we talked in person he barely left his room."

"That part wasn't hard to be honest." Asami shrugged. "All I had to do was cook for myself and feed him ramen and other cheap microwaveable meals for a few weeks. Set up a few fans in the right spots and finally cracked under the pressure. Speaking of food, I haven't started on dinner yet."

Azazel gave the woman a wry grin, as if planning a mean joke. "Well, I could eat here, or we could go out."

"We could. But knowing Issei…" Asami's smirk matched his. "Let's ask him. Shall we? It's only fair."

Standing in the background, Raynare could only fume. She had no idea what was going on, or why her leader had dragged her into this place to begin with, but she did know that she hated to be ignored and brushed off to the side like this.

"Issei! Come down! We have company!" The matriarch of the household called upstairs.

"Go away! I'm watching Porn!" Despite living for over two millennia, Azazel was fairly certain that he had never heard anyone ever say that before and actually mean it. Raynare was of a similar opinion.

"It's Azazel-san! He's come to visit!" Asami didn't give up.

"That probably explains why I'm smelling shameless-post-prime-man-whore and cheap cologne from way up here!" This time Raynare didn't bother to hide her expression of complete and utter disbelief. True, the leader of the Golgari occasionally grated on the nerves of others and prompted some unkind things to be said about him, but she had never seen or heard of anyone tear into the Fallen Angel so viciously while he was right there.

Yet despite the absurd level of disrespect he was being shown, Azazel seemed to progressively just grow even more amused. "First of all, you know damn well that Creed is anything but cheap! Second! Your mother and I are thinking of having dinner together and if we can't eat here we'll have to go out for it! Together! Alone!"

The two grownups shared knowing and amused smirks when Issei didn't respond to Azazel's ultimatum. Together, the pair held up open hands and counted down.

Three.

Two.

SLAM!

Raynare didn't know what to expect, but she clearly didn't anticipate a clearly not out of shape sweaty slob to blur past her down the stairs, around the others, and straight into the kitchen. The disappearance of the unidentified body was soon followed by the sounds of cabinets being opened and pots and pans being moved in great number.

"Do you think he noticed that we weren't exactly alone when he came down?" Azazel smirked, glancing at his "niece".

"Wait for it." Asami grinned.

"… Son of a bitch! Zaz you lying fucker!"

"Zaz?"

"At least that part of him hasn't changed. To be fair, the word "alone" is pretty subjective and flexible." Azazel snickered, clearly amused by Issei's predictable reaction and the bewildered look that his underling was shooting him. "I'm not going to push my luck and expect anything extravagant, but I'm assuming that he hasn't let his culinary skills go to waste?"

Raynare was more worried about Issei remembering to wash his hands before he started to handle the ingredients than his supposed skills getting rusty.

"He hasn't gotten better if that's what you're asking." The woman sighed, resting her cheek on a hand. "He did get a little sloppy when he finally decided to start cooking again, but as soon as he realized it he spent a good few weeks cleaning his skills up. He made a wonderful dinner and cake for my thirty-fifth birthday. Honestly, it's one of the few skills that I'm glad he worked on in that bizarre conquest to…"

The third wheel in the group blinked in confusion as Asami trailed off and stopped talking. It was obvious that the subject was highly sensitive to the family in general.

"Hey. Cheer up. We all have odd habits from time to time. What happened, happened." A mature hand patted the mother's shoulder in a comforting manner.

"He didn't do it." She crossed her arms and hugged herself, as if trying to provide extra warmth. "You know he didn't do it Azazel-san."

"Mmm. We all do. But there's little we can do about that now." His almost perpetual smirk of amusement dropped. "Best thing we can do is move on. One step at a time. That's why I'm here after all."

"You got it done already?" She blinked in surprise. "But I only forwarded you the papers yesterday."

He winked. "I know a few people. People that also know the truth and want to help out in their own way. Issei's a special kid. He's worth the extra effort."

Special kid? Raynare definitely heard that right. Did that mean all the hell she had gone through and this secret treatment was all for him? This shut in porn addicted loser?

"Thank you." Asami attempted to dredge up a smile. "Though, I don't think Issei wants to be seen or treated as that anymore. Honestly, he still doesn't want to deal with people in general, let alone spend enough time with someone long enough for that to happen."

"He's completely fine with locking himself away from the rest of the world." He shook his head. "Can't say I blame him for wanting that after what he's been through. Still, that's no reason to pull you down with him. We need to drag him out, for both your sakes."

"Drag?" The woman cringed.

"Yuma" blinked in confusion. The woman's reaction was odd. She didn't seem to be worried about her son's welfare at all, rather she seemed to be under the impression that forcing the rude little shit outside was a bad idea and would lead to a good deal of problems.

"Ok. Wrong word to use, but you get my point. Both of you can't keep on with this." Azazel backpedaled, clearly knowing what the single mother was getting at if his matching cringe was any indication.

"He's the one you need to convince. Not me." Shaking her head, Asami noticed Raynare and flushed. "Oh. My apologies. I shouldn't have ignored you for so long. Please, let's go to the living room. Would you like something to drink?"

"Ah. Some water would be fine please." She really was a bit thirsty. Cold dry air at higher elevations was murder on the throat, mystical disposition be damned.

o. o. o.

It was a pretty normal house, all things considered. The furniture was comforting, and relaxing. Not expensive, but not cheap either. A fairly up to date television in the living room. Pictures on the walls and furniture. Plants every now and then to add a little color. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary. It was a very welcoming environment.

It made Raynare want to shoot herself out of boredom. She wasn't particularly used to or attracted to this sort of setting.

She should have at least allowed herself to be eighteen for the visit. At least then she could ask for some alcohol and get herself plastered enough to make this annoying play tolerable.

"He didn't."

"He did. Idiot completely had no idea that his wife was right behind him when he said it too." Azazel chuckled, a half drunk glass of wine in hand.

At the very least, Azazel could have waited until she was out of the room before he started hitting on the human!

"So Yuma-chan. You're Azazel's niece?" The conversation unexpectedly turned to her.

"Ah? Um, yes…"

"She's a distant relative, to be honest. She calls me uncle more out of formality than anything." Her boss came to her rescue. "She's actually closer related to Baraqiel. You remember him, right?"

"That large stern man with dark hair? The widower, right?" Asami looked sympathetic. "What a shame, losing his wife and daughter like that. He was gruff, but kind. How is he faring?"

"Baraqiel-sama? He's… busy." Raynare had to scrounge up what little information she had on one of the other leaders of the Grigori. It wasn't a lie. She was distantly related to him, very distantly related, but she barely talked to him for that to matter in the first place. "He's not an easy man to speak to and keeps to himself most of the time."

"Poor thing. Working yourself to death to forget the past is no way to grieve." Asami shook her head. "And what about you? Why are you here in Kuoh Yuma-chan?"

"I'm here with Ojii-san helping him out with a few small projects. Almost like an internship." Now that she had gotten her bearings, she managed to come up with a solid vague story that could cover her actions and position.

"Working under Azazel-san himself? He must work you relentlessly, what with how successful he is."

Relentlessly was one way of putting it. Oi. What was with that amused look in Azazel's eyes?

"Food's done! You can stop hitting on my mom now you George Clooney wannabe!"

"Hey! That's uncalled for!" The accused shouted back with mirth. "Everyone knows Clooney's gay!"

"And he still gets more pussy than you do! Practice your failure on someone else!"

She wasn't in the habit of doing this, but thank God.

She didn't know what was being made, but Raynare wasn't particularly excited for something that a single kid made that could feed four people in under an hour is that a prime rib roast?!

Indeed. Despite being in a Japanese home, the meal served was without a doubt western. No, it was more of a hybrid mixture of Eastern and Western cuisine. The prime rib was half intact and cut up on a wooden board in the middle of the table, glistening with juice and red as can be, but there were other dishes around it as well, some were at their seats already served and others were free to access whenever they pleased. Miso soup. Green Bean Shiraae. Fried rice. A whole range of assorted sides to compliment the beautiful main course.

"Not a bad spread." Azazel and Asami didn't seem too surprised by the meal as they sat down. "The roast is a nice surprise. I'm guessing you had to cheat a little to thaw it out in time."

"No. I used magic. With a magic wand and skirt." The chef sarcastically grumbled as he washed his hands in the kitchen.

"Don't let Serafall know. That's her territory you're stepping on." The elder fallen muttered under his breath before drinking to avoid the questioning look that his underling gave him.

"Can you use that magic to get me another roast? I believe I told you that I had plans for this one, but I suppose you just weren't listening. What a surprise." Asami sighed, clearly not surprised by what had just happened.

"You had this thing in the freezer for over a month. Everyone knows you have to cook top quality cuts as fresh as possible. Any longer and it wouldn't have mattered if this was top end or bottom cut. I'll order you another rack from Kobe tonight." Issei shook his head as he finally walked into the dining room and made way to his seat.

Raynare was pleasantly surprised. The hikikomori not only had a useful skill, but he wasn't terrible to look at eitheeeeewait a second. "I… I'm sorry. Did you just say that we're eating Kobe Beef?"

"Yeah. It's not the best prepared since someone decided to leave the thing in the freezer for a month and I had to dethaw it using unorthodox methods, but yeah. Alcohol money cow everybody. You can practically taste the mortgage money in the au jus." Issei shrugged as though he hadn't just scrounged up a meal using literally the most expensive and infamous cut of beef on the planet.

"Glad you think I'm worth the effort." Azazel grinned. "Looks great as always Issei."

"Prime Ribs are quick and easy. Just rub, bake high, and bake low." The teen yawned. He clearly didn't seem to notice or care at all about the significance of the ingredients he had just used. "Spent more time working on everything else."

"Well it certainly looks like Yuma-chan is appreciative of your efforts." The mother grinned as she saw her other guest unconsciously start to drool and stare at the meat like a starving dog.

"Women learn how to cook to keep men around." Azazel preached wisely. "Men learn how to cook to get women to come over in the first place."

That apparently was the wrong thing to say if the nasty look Issei gave him was any indication.

"Kobe… beef." Raynare didn't seem to pay attention to the conversation. It wasn't that she didn't eat well over her lifetime. Azazel had always ensured that his fallen brethren had enough financial support to live somewhat comfortably if needed, and their ever useful magic often covered the minor things that said finances couldn't.

But even many of the higher ups balked at the idea of whimsically having something as extravagantly expensive as Kobe Beef as a meal except for the most elaborate and important of occasions. For people near the bottom of the totem pole such as herself, she was lucky if she even had a chance of being security for such events.

She took back everything she had said and thought about Azazel recently, this mission was worth it.

She also would deny to the end of days that she got a bit wet when she had her first bite of the succulent meal.

In fact…

"… Ah?" She blinked in surprise as she reflexively put down her knife and fork, looking at the empty dishes in front of her and the mostly eaten spread in the middle of the table.

"Back with us I see." Azazel smirked, the dishes in front of him empty as well. "That sometimes happens when people try Issei's steaks for the first time. The good ones at least."

"It's… gone?" Already? That was unfair! Unreasonable! Inhumane! Give her back her happiness!

"Funny. I seem to remember a certain middle aged has-been mooching off of my generosity a while back because he can't cook or clean for shit." Issei grumbled, prodding the last of his food with a fork, ignoring his female guest crying crocodile tears and staring at her empty plate like a kicked puppy.

"Issei!"

"No. Let him have that one." Azazel didn't lose his good mood. "It's true. I did kinda abuse him a bit for his talents way back under the pretense of giving him more practice."

"Kinda abuse?" The Sekiryutei scoffed. "Only 'kinda'?"

"It wasn't that bad." The fallen defended himself, hands up in surrender.

The younger male glared at him, his dead eyes never wavering or faltering from the falsely amicable eyes of the predator in the room. "… Chandelier."

Surprisingly, the latter flinched. "Ah. I uh, ok. I may have forgotten about that one."

"Chandelier?" The females in the room blinked in confusion. Neither had any idea what they were talking about.

"He knows what he did… or he claims he does at least." Issei didn't back down, his voice ominously even.

It did nothing to hide the clearly vicious and evil aura that hovered around him, or the unsubtle murderous glare that was directed at the Ultimate Class Fallen.

"It was a pretty wild night. I never said I remembered all of it." Raynare doubted that even the upper echelons of the Grigori had ever seen their leader shrink like a guilty child as much as he was now. "… Like how we managed to get the jacuzzi and my 78 mustang on the roof before anyone noticed, or where the hell we got that dog that Shemhazai took in. Should not have thrown away the original collar."

Wait. What?

"And you wonder why Vali doesn't respect you anymore. I'll give you a hint. It wasn't puberty. What do you think was going to happen when impressionable youths have you as the one they look to for advice?" The teen's words were visibly stabbing the powerhouse in the heart.

"The youth of this generation are so cruel." Azazel literally wept.

"There there." Asami patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, knowing full well just how harsh Issei could be at times.

She probably wouldn't have comforted him if she knew about the incident in detail.

The room was full of awkward silence before Issei sighed deeply. "All right. I give up. What the hell do you want from me?"

"Issei?" His mother looked at him confused.

"Don't "Issei?" me. Zaz never comes over on the fly unless it's either important or planned. You've been avoiding eye contact with me for the past few days, meaning guilt, sorrow, or reluctance, so obviously you know what's going on. Not to mention you are barely putting up a fight when we've been arguing lately. And the clueless 99-60-90 eye candy is clearly as in the dark as I am when it comes to what's going on. Either a spontaneous decision, or she's going to go through the same thing as me." The teen dryly picked apart the situation.

"Eye candy?" Raynare grunted, clearly not amused with her new label before pausing. "Wait, how did you get my sizes? … And my waist is a 58!" Did she gain weight? She couldn't have! She was a Fallen! It took forever and effort for one of her kind to pack on pounds!

"You two clearly have something in mind for me, and the third wheel is being dragged along for either convenience or to play a role in whatever you have set up. The fact that you haven't gotten to the damn point already is means that it's either something bad or something that I'm going to want to murder someone for as soon as I hear it. Making me cook dinner was a way to distract and calm me down before breaking the news so that I'd be less inclined to actually go through with reacting in full force. A nice try, but if any of you care to remember, I'm not stupid and I refuse to be led around like some gullible fucking dog again."

The beast stirred.

"What the hell was that?" Raynare flinched and looked around frantically. For a moment she had just felt as if there was something much bigger and vicious than a human was in the room. Every one of her instincts were suddenly on full alert and screaming at her that she was in danger.

"I'm here in peace. No need to fight. Was just trying to set the mood." Azazel surprisingly backed up and lifted both hands in surrender.

"Issei. Issei, honey please calm down. We didn't mean to hurt or trick you. It's not like that, I promise." Asami rushed to her increasingly agitated son's side. The physical contact between them seemed to calm the young man down.

"You're right. We should have told you earlier. But you aren't exactly the easiest person to break unexpected news to either Issei. I'm not blaming you for it. Just stating facts. We were simply playing it safe." Azazel regained some of his composure.

The short tempered young man breathed out harshly before closing his eyes. "Just get to the damn point already."

The mood in the room was tense. It was as though if something was pushed too far, something would happen that would be impossible to take back.

What on earth is going on? Why am I here for this? Raynare screamed in her head, watching it all unfold.

Azazel shifted uncomfortably. "Well. We've all known each other for a while now. Your mother and I have been talking…"

"If the next words out of your mouth indicate that she's pregnant or you're getting married, I'm murdering you here and now before going on a worldwide crusade of fire and blood." Issei held up his right arm, completely covered in wrapped cloth, and reached out with his left hand.

Raynare's eyes widened as she noticed the fabric for the first time. It was blatantly obvious to her that the arm was encased in an absurdly powerful seal from the markings stitched into the fabric. Judging from the marks, the material, and the feeling, it was something straight from Heaven itself.

What was this nut doing with something as high quality as that?

"Agh! Son of a bitch!"

Oddly enough, before Azazel could plead his innocence, Asami reacted first in the form of yanking on her son's ear hard. "You are damn right you are. I'm the head bitch in this household, meaning when I say you do something, you do it with a smile on your face young man. No I'm not pregnant or getting married. Who I get with ultimately is none of your business regardless. I believe we've already had that discussion. Now, you are going to shut your mouth and let Azazel-san finish or you're not going to use this ear for a week if I have any say in it."

"Heheh. While I wouldn't be against spending more time with you Asami, I know better than to touch forbidden fruit." Asami Hyoudou was a very appealing woman, there was no doubt about that. However those that knew her were fully aware that even if her unstably protective son wasn't a part of the picture, she wasn't going to think of marriage anytime in the near future.

"You're too kind Azazel-san." The single mother smiled a kind and gentle smile. The one that any husband, father, child, and male in general knew and feared from the bottom of their hearts to be the harbinger of doom and pain.

"Ow ow ow ow ow! I get it! Zaz isn't playing homewrecker! Get off me already!"

"Then drop. Your arms. Now."

Grimacing, the boy complied, though not without a few dirty looks and vulgar words to show that he wasn't particularly fond of being manhandled.

"Continue." The Matriarch smiled as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Yes. Well." Azazel coughed, pretending to not enjoy the surly pouting Issei had while rubbing his ear to make sure it was still attached. "Issei. Seeing as you don't want to beat around the bush, I might as well get to the point."

Instead of saying anything, Azazel took out a thick manila envelope and handed it to the teen. It was the sort of thing that most people would see when dealing with important documents or forms.

Appearing the very definition of skeptical, Issei stared at the parcel for a few long moments before quietly taking it and opening it up. As expected, there were a good stack of papers inside that slid out rather easily.

On the top paper, in big letters, it said "Kuoh Academy".

"… High School." The young man's voice was as dry as the Sahara. "You are sending me to High School. If this is a joke, then it's sick and twisted on at least half a dozen levels."

"Issei, just listen. The new year is about to start and…" Asami tried to speak, but was cut off.

"How do you think this will actually work?" The young man wasn't giving them any room to argue. "Unless you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly good with people, period. Let alone outside. And you just expect me to waltz into a place filled with dumbasses that are too busy learning how to aim their dicks right or gossiping about half assed five minute idols and not start something up the moment I open my mouth? Seriously? Hell, I'll probably be kicked out the first week for reaming the secondhand teachers into inconsolable messes! Couldn't you have just tried stuck me in some city club or organization to waste my time outside of the house?"

"The catch is that we can keep a better eye on you there." Azazel dropped his easy going demeanor and leveled with the young man. He was no longer playing the role of the old family friend, but the leader of a powerful organization. "We have left you alone for a good while Issei, and you know that all of us intend to keep you out of our side of things for as long as you want. You've been through enough. No one is arguing otherwise. But on the flip side of things, you are still considered a significant person by a good deal of powerful individuals out there that are still interested in, and weighing decisions, on your health and condition. There are many loose ends that still need to be tied that only you can do. Sooner or later, you will have to show to a few key events, for everyone's sake, regardless of what you or I want. Don't pretend that you are not aware of this because we both know that you are a terrible liar. I admit that we are controlling some of your actions by doing this, but we both know that all things considered, I'm not being unreasonable with this approach."

Raynare didn't miss the skin contact that Asami made with her son just before he began to work himself up again, cutting him off instantly. "You need this Issei. You barely had any friends your own age growing up, even before what happened. I'm not saying you have to do well at Kuoh. I know you better than to judge you on stupid grades. But please, just try to enjoy yourself again. I don't want to forget what you looked like when you were actually happy."

"Someone has to remember, I guess."

The Fallen in the room doubted that Issei intended to say it out loud, even if it was under his breath.

"Jasmine's with us on this too. She actually was the one that came up with the idea." Azazel threw in, bringing up a name that Raynare wasn't familiar with. "She wanted us to do this last year, but you had yet to even leave the house then and thought it was a bad idea. I believe her words were to 'kick your mopey ass to the bus stop and chain you to the post if needed'. She'd do it herself, but you know how busy she is these days."

Issei brought a hand up to his head and cradled it. "… Yeah. That does sound like Onee-chan."

"I'll see if I can free up some time in her schedule to visit." Azazel negotiated. "It has been a while since you two have caught up in person. I bet she'd like it if you showed her around the area."

"Don't push it, Zaz." The growl indicated the opposite intended effect.

"Pulling back."

"… So?" Asami started with some hesitance.

"So, I'll… think about it." Issei grimaced, clearly not liking the decision before turning to Raynare. "I take it you're going to be his faithful mole dog snitch thing following me everywhere?"

Asami facepalmed. "You got my hopes up, and then you just had to stab it in the face, didn't you Issei?"

"Excuse me?" She didn't expect him to turn his attention to her so quickly, but then again she had not expected this roller coaster of a conversation either.

"Sorry. Mole dog snitch thing is too demeaning, long, and unsexy." Issei sarcastically apologized. "I'll just call you Zaz's old dusty pet cougar. Cougar for short. That's sexier, right?"

She saw red. The boy must die.

"To answer your question, yes. She is going to join you to Kuoh." Azazel shot his arm out to keep Raynare seated before she could explode or say something, although that wasn't needed. The instant he confirmed Issei's suspicion, her head snapped in his direction.

"What?!" When the hell was Azazel going to tell her this?!

"Sweet. I have my very own pet cougar. What's the lease? Do I get a collar and leash too? Does she have her shots? Is she checked for ticks? Is she trained? What tricks does she know? Wait, what are the laws in Japan when it comes to exotic pet ownership?"

"Issei. Darling. You're doing that talking thing I told you not to do."

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?" Azazel deadpanned, moving closer to his underling so he'd be in a better position to hold her back.

"You're the one that said I need to enjoy things more and act my age."

o. o. o.

The door closed behind them.

"Well, that went better than I thought." Azazel smiled, chipper and happy as though nothing odd had happened. "I think he likes you."

"Azazel-sama. When were you going to inform me that I was going to have to go to a mortal high school?" Raynare ground out irritably. "And why, more importantly, do I have to keep an eye on that loud mouthed, perverted, human dumbass?"

"Well, other than the fact that you clearly need to be in a better position in order to watch him properly…" The leader casually sniped, not missing the fact that she had been skimming on her duties, "I suppose you should have a better idea of who Issei Hyoudou for this."

She was reaching the end of her patience. She had no idea what the hell was going on or who this brat was, and she wasn't going to do another damn thing until someone explained to her what was going on. "And?"

The man made way to the street. "… Yy Ddraig Cysgu."

She paused, not expecting the sudden change in dialect to old Welsh. "The Sleeping Dragon?"

"That's what the guys in the know refer to him as when they don't want to draw outside attention to him in general." Azazel nodded. "Issei's special. He's human for the most part, but instinct wise, he's all Dragon. So much so that other dragons recognize him as one of their own with just a glance. I've even seen Ophis treat him as kin believe it or not."

That had her stop in her tracks. "O-ophis?! You're kidding right? Why on earth would the Infinite Dragon God bother with that loud mouthed brat?"

"No clue. They met before I even knew he existed, and they never explained how." He shrugged. "Desire. Obsession. Possession. Hunger. That kid acts on his wants and needs regardless of who or what is in his way, and its damn near impossible to change his mind when it's made up. Problem is that after a certain event a few years back, he's pretty much gone into hiding and as you can see, really does not want to go outside again. To be honest, I'm surprised we managed to convince him to go through with going to Kuoh on the first try, and without Jasmine's help no less. I might be from the old man's loins, but Asami is the real miracle worker here."

"Why call him the Sleeping Dragon though? And why is he so important in general?" She frowned. She had a whole slew of other things to call the brat, and none of them were flattering.

They stopped at a cross walk. "… There's a whole slew of reasons why we call him that. I guess the best way to put it is that it's his nature in general. You heard of the old saying "don't wake the sleeping dragon", right? Well, Issei's essentially that sleeping dragon… no, more like the personification of all sleeping dragons, but more so. And his house can be considered his nest. Had you tried to sneak into his home or wake him up, we likely would not be having this conversation."

She scoffed. "Him? Kill me? Azazel-sama, that boy is just a whiny little brat of a human. I could take him on easily."

"Mmm?" Her superior rose a skeptical eyebrow. "Does that mean you're confident enough to go back in there and kill the guy that destroyed my arm?"

"Of course I am. It would be easy to…" She paused as his words caught up to her. "Y-your arm?"

"Yep." Casually reaching with his left hand, he grabbed his right forearm, twisted, and pulled off everything from his elbow down. "This one. You know the story how I got this, right?"

She knew the story. Everyone knew the story. There was not a damn person remotely involved with the mystical world that didn't know the story.

"But, but you said that h-he was called the-"

"Those in the know call him that to keep his anonymity." Azazel shrugged, putting his limb back in place and flexing the mechanical fingers to see test to see if it was working. "Me, Michael, Sirzechs, Ajuka, Serafall, and Falbium. And a scarce few others. It wouldn't do to bring up Issei's name in public after that episode he had. While he did do a good deal of damage, none of us hold a grudge against him for it. If you think this is bad, you should have seen the shiners he gave Ajuka and Michael."

Raynare swallowed heavily. "Y-you mean, in there, that we just had dinner with, that that perverted hikikomori jackass is the…"

"The current Sekiryutei. The bearer of Boosted Gear and Blind Eternity. The one that called nearly all the world's dragons to arms in a blind fit of rage almost five years ago, nearly collapsed all the major factions in a single sweep, and fought all six faction leaders at the same time to a standstill."

He was talking to her as the Leader of the Grigori. The master of plans and owner of the most devastating and vicious mind in the immortal realms.

During the Great War, the Devils had the Satans. Heaven had God.

And the Fallen had HIM.

Unlike the others mentioned, he was still around.

"And he is the person you are going to follow, keep an eye on, even help if he asks, and most importantly, keep him calm. And this time, you are going to do it without question or sleeping on the job."