Chapter 4

The park was a bit away from school, enough that I knew that it wouldn't be possible to go running all the way, especially while dragging Asia with me.

For that reason, once we left the park I calmed down and started walking normally.

"Um… Sir, could you please tell me where you are taking me?" She was a little out of breath.

"As I said, I'll take you somewhere safe. A place where those fallen won't be able to hurt you."

She seemed to understand, however, I felt her stopping and pulling my hand so I'd do so as well.

"I don't think this will be needed, I'm sure that they will not want to hurt me."

She's such a sweet girl, I won't let them hurt you, Asia!

"I think they will… I've heard that they have an artifact that can extract Sacred Gears and transfer them to others, I think that is why they want you to go to the old church."

Her surprise when I mentioned the extractor was evident on her face, it was different from when I first mentioned that the fallen wanted to kill the both of us, this time she believed me.

"I also heard that when someone loses their Sacred Gear, they die. That's why I don't want to take you there."

Once more she showed disbelief, it seemed to show whenever I mentioned their desire to kill us.

"But… Why would they want to take my Sacred Gear?"

At her question I had to hold myself, I wasn't supposed to know what it did exactly, only that it healed others, after some thinking I tried convincing her again.

"Because it can heal others, this power would be very useful to people who want to fight in a war, and they may think that it'd be better for one of them to have it instead of you."

I could see that she understood, but at this point, I don't know what she'd do, I don't know if this would be enough to convince her to not go to the fallen.

She started to think about what I said, so I used the opportunity to continue walking towards our destination.

We were unperturbed, Asia was still in deep thought, her body moving as if in autopilot, guided by me.

Once we stopped at a traffic light, she finished thinking.

"If they want my power it would be to help others, so it shouldn't be that bad."

This girl…

"Yes it is bad, firstly because you'd be dying, and secondly because they would only heal their comrades, and it'd be so they could continue killing other people."

When I said those words, I unconsciously held her hand tighter. I only realized it when she looked down at our hands, and a sad expression adorned her face.

"I don't think anyone would miss me… Everyone I knew stayed back in Italy, and now that I'm not serving the Lord anymore, they wouldn't want anything to do with me."

Ignoring the pain that his mentioning caused, I looked at her face, she still was staring at our hands.

I decided to take a risk, with my free hand I lifted her head, so we were looking at each other.

"They might not miss you, but I will. We haven't known each other for a long time, but I will miss you!"

The smile that she showed me was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. Alongside it, came a hug, somehow she didn't release my hand during all of these.

"But I-I don't even know your name… How could you miss me?" She whispered, her thoughts seemed to catch up with her actions.

At that I realized a mistake, how would she trust me if I didn't even introduce myself to her?

"That… My bad." We separated ourselves, and I took the initiative to do something I should have done a while ago.

"I am Issei Hyoudou... nice to meet you." I wanted to tell her that I was a devil, but we're in the middle of the street, and I'm afraid of what she'd do if she knew.

"Hello Mr. Issei, I am Asia Argento, nice to meet you too."

"So Asia-san, would you like to go to the place that I think would be safe for you?"

Her hand went towards mine, and with a bright smile she answered me, "I'll go with you!"

We continued our walk, now Asia seemed more at ease, she'd look around and ask what the buildings were, when we passed a group of friends she'd squeeze my hand and show me a smile, the same happened whenever we saw children playing.

-O-O-O-

The school was empty, as was every weekend, the gate was closed, but Rias had shown me a spot where I'd be able to get in when that happened. This side entrance was closer to the ORC club room, so I couldn't show Asia around.

As we got closer I started to get more and more excited, we'd have a new peerage member, we'd also have an opportunity to test our strength against the fallen. I didn't know what Rias wanted to do with them, but I'm sure that I can convince her to go after them. Thoughts for later.

We were finally in front of the door, I turned to Asia and said, "This is where someone I trust lives, she's nice and I don't think she'd reject you being here until we take care of the fallen angels."

I saw her getting nervous, I just didn't know if it was due to the prospect of meeting someone new, or the idea of me going against the fallen. However, I had more important things to do now than to think about these things.

I tried reassuring Asia, but I didn't think my smile was enough. I didn't look at her reaction because I barged into the club room after.

Rias was there, holding some snacks, she was the only one in the room, and by her body's posture, she planned to go inside. She also saw me, not a surprise, considering how I opened the door, her reaction though wasn't one that I expected.

"Issei, why have you brought a nun to my home?" I couldn't even begin to explain, she asked me with a bit of an angry tone.

"Good mourning, Buchou." I tried to ease her a little bit, but I failed. She didn't humor me, she just kept staring at me waiting for an answer.

Seeing the situation that I was in, I brought Asia in and closed the door.

"This is Asia Argento, she was a nun, but the church sent her away. I found her in the park, she was looking for the church..."

Rias' demeanor changed, now standing in front of us was a King, I guess the mention of the church and the implied association with the people who took that over was enough for her to take this seriously.

"Issei, that is even worse… You brought an enemy to our base, what now? We'll keep her hostage? We can't let her leave, she'll inform the fallen and I don't want things to get complicated."

What? No… She misunderstood, I can't let her harm Asia… What should I do?

I looked around, Asia was uncomfortable, Rias was staring at her with such anger that I didn't think she could show.

I had to calm her down…

"No! That is not what I meant… Asia doesn't have anywhere to go, she was only going to the church because those were the only people who were willing to take her in."

Now the glare was on me.

"She's a sweet girl, I think she'd be a victim just like me. We can't let them keep killing humans in our city."

My words were enough to calm her down, she dropped her snacks on her table and took a seat on her chair.

"Haa… Issei, must you really do this to me? On a weekend…" She looked tired, I don't get it, me and Akeno do most of the work during weekdays.

"You! Asia, right?" She said, pointing at the former nun.

Asia only bobbed her head up and down, she was the least comfortable out of us three.

"Very well Asia, tell me why are you here in Kuoh? And also tell me how you left the church."

The blonde was too nervous to answer her. I had to do something for this to work, but I don't think Rias would let me answer those questions.

"Asia-san, take deep breaths, don't worry about her, I won't let her hurt you," I whispered in her ears.

My words had their desired effect. She calmed herself down and looking straight at Rias' eyes she answered, "I was called the Holy Maiden, I lived in a small city south of the Vatican, I grow up there, my parents left me at the doorsteps of the local church and the nuns there took care of me."

As she began to tell her story I wanted to give her strength, the way I chose to do so was by holding her hand, which seemed to work earlier.

My movement took her attention away from Rias, when she looked at me I smiled at her, just like she did whenever she'd hold mine tighter.

She smiled back and continued her story.

"When I was a child, I found out that I had the power to heal others. The nuns at the church were happy and they started to train me to become a Holy Maiden, I got famous… People would go to our church just so I could heal whatever their injuries were. That was until I found a man lying on the way to the church.

I was returning from a walk in the village, and he was there bleeding out. I ran to him and healed his chest, he woke up after that, thanked me, and left. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it wasn't common to find people who were that hurt, but sometimes there were some.

When I got back everyone was distressed, the Head Priest walked to me and said that I had to leave because I had been excommunicated, when I asked why he said it was because I healed a devil, everyone said I was a witch, that my power wasn't a gift from God, but instead was witchery."

The mentioning of him gave us a headache, it was enough for us to lose focus on her story. Rias looked at me, she wanted me to confirm it. I gave her a nod, which seemed to be enough.

Once again Asia continued, "I didn't know where to go, I grabbed my things and walked away from the city when I left it a man was there on the path, he had long black hair and red eyes, he told me that he knew a place that'd benefit from my power, so he sent me here, and told me to find the church of this city."

Her story was done, she looked hurt, she hadn't overcome it and it showed.

"Take a seat Asia-san, I'll bring you some water," I told her, Rias was thinking about the story she heard, she didn't even notice me leaving for the kitchen.

When I got back I saw that nothing happened, Asia sat on one of the couches, and Rias hadn't moved a muscle.

I sat beside the blonde and gave her the glass, she took it, and her free hand searched for mine once more.

After she drank the water, I tried to start some conversation, but Rias had finished thinking about the tale and was ready to talk.

"I don't know whether to trust you or not, I heard of the excommunication of the Holy Maiden, now I know where you went… Considering that I trust you, and all of that is true, what do you want from me?"

Before Asia could answer, I threw in my opinion, "I think we should help her, we can take her in."

Both of them were surprised, Rias' stare made me nervous which made me look away, my free hand automatically scratching the back of my head.

"Do you two know what it means to 'take her in'? Have you explained to her what we are, Issei?"

This isn't going very well. Once more both of them were looking at me, I guess I'll have to be the one to tell Asia.

"We are devils, Asia… But, I'm still your friend and I'll help you even if you don't want to."

I couldn't look at her, she had grown up at a church, another one from my race had been responsible for a very bad period of her life, as naive as I knew she was, I think this will not be seen in a good light by her.

"You two are devils? Then what does it mean to bring me in?" Her words brought me out of my mood.

I looked up, Rias seemed as surprised as I was. Wasn't she angry at us? Why is she taking this so smoothly?

"That means to transform into one of us, you'd become a member of my peerage, my family." Rias was the first one to get over the surprise.

I turned towards the blonde, she was thinking hard about the offer, I don't know what she'd say, I could only hope for her to agree.

"Can I have some time to think about it? This has happened too fast." Asia said after some time.

"Yes, you can. In the meantime, go to a hotel in the center of the city, you can stay there while you think. Don't worry about the price, I'll pay for it."

That's strange, Rias didn't seem too happy with Asia, now she's paying for her to stay away from the fallen.

I looked at her, but as if she read my mind, she shook her head, a sign that I shouldn't ask about it now.

"Issei, why don't you take her there? It is the one where you went for the last contract, you can teleport, they won't mind."

I understood her orders, and after checking to see if Asia was okay with the arrangements, we left, but not before hearing, "Issei, come back as soon as you can, we have some things to discuss."

-O-O-O-

When we arrived at the hotel Asia was thoughtful, so much so that I had to guide her to the check-in table.

It wasn't hard to get a room for her, they knew of Rias and what was her position in the city, as well as her ability to pay.

Asia's room was one of the common ones, it was similar to a one-bedroom apartment, her thoughts stopped when we discovered it.

She had always been in humble places, a room like this was something new to the nun.

"Take your time to think about it, we might be devils but Rias is a nice girl, all in the peerage are nice… If you choose not to join us, I'll still be your friend, so don't worry about that while you consider your options." I said to her after we got in her room.

Her answer was to hug me and say, "Thank you for being my friend. I'll think about it."

After that, I left, now I had to battle against a possibly angry devil who had her fun interrupted by me.

I got back the same way I left, Rias still sat at her chair, but now she had started eating some of her snacks.

"Good, you didn't take long… Tell me Issei, why did you bring her here? From what she told us she got in Kuoh today, and it is early, you couldn't have heard her story before coming here."

Oh… This will be hard.

"Well, she's a human with a Sacred Gear, and the fallen are targeting Sacred Gear users, that is what Yuuma told me. So I figured that they were calling her to the church to kill her, maybe recruit her, but I don't think so."

"And why is that? How come you are so certain that they'd kill her?"

Why can't Rias be this meticulous when she's working? Is this some sort of revenge for making her do her job?

"She is a nice person, the group that is here are not nice, if the Grigori wanted to recruit her they wouldn't send her to devil territory, she's new she wouldn't be useful in a fight against us."

The redhead didn't accept my words, at least it didn't sound like she did. I have another thing I can try, maybe this will be enough…

"When I first saw her, I felt something, it was the same with you, during the first time I came here. I don't know what it was, it was some sort of intuition that told me I could trust both of you, that is why I accepted your offer in a day, and it hasn't been wrong. So please, trust me this once?"

She let out a long sigh, I don't think this was enough to ease her worry, but by her expression, it was enough for her to give Asia a chance to prove herself.

"Fine, I'll trust you… But, you're responsible for her. We poaching her like this from the fallen will not be a good thing, and I'll make sure to make you take responsibility for this."

"Okay, I'll make sure that everything ends well for us. Don't worry Rias-sama."

She smiled at me... For now, this is good enough.

"And call me Buchou, Rias-sama reminds me of the servants of my family."

All I could say to that was, "Yes Buchou!"