Healing the Past

Chapter 7

P.S this story starts a few years before the start of our favorite DXD verse!

AND I DON'T OWN ANY DXD MATERIAL, ALL CREDIT TO THE ORIGINAL WRITERS!

"Talking out aloud"

'Thinking with ones mind'

"Spirits inside the sacred gears talking"

Healing Facility

Soon after leaving the ORC clubroom, the group appeared in Sona's healing facility.

"This way, if you would," Sona said as she led the group of Devils out of the arrival bay to the healing rooms. 

"Where are we, Sona" Marid asked curiously as he looked around the facility. Intently observing the healing equipment in the facility. 

"We are in the healing facility, which is installed in the basement of my own house. It was originally planned to be a recovery center for my peerage after their training, but right now, it is being used as a healing area for Rias queen and knight," Sona answered as she led the group to the Kiba's room. 

"You have my thanks for that, Sona. If not for your help, both Kiba's and Akeno's injuries could have been far worse. You truly are a great friend" Rias gave her childhood a grateful smile. 

"Installed in here, huh? Am I right to assume this facility is a gift from your sister?" Marid asked slyly. 

"No, Marid, this facility wasn't a gift from one-sama, but rather a way to calm her down nerves. You see, when me and Rias first moved to Kuoh, both Sirzech sama and Onee-sama had been suitably nervous about the prospect of us moving here. Which is why I had this facility installed so that one-sama wouldn't worry too much about us," Sona explained calmly. Her stoic appearance cracked slightly under the pressure. 

"I see" Marid nodded at the explanation as he and the group were led into Kibas's room first. 

Soon after entering the room, Marid and his peerage were left stunned after seeing Kibas's condition firsthand. Kiba had an ugly gash that covered most of his torse. His right shoulder was completely destroyed, and he was missing a small chunk. It was clear to them the Devils had been trying some form of treatment, but so far, they had been unsuccessful. Due to the Ki attack, Zill had been able to land on the knight. Furthermore, much to their horror, Kiba was deathly white, while his demonic aura was almost nonexistent. If not for the heart rate monitor attached to the Devil Knight, the group could have thought they were looking at a lifeless corpse.

Yumi gasped, and then a sudden cry broke Marid out of his stupor. 

"Yumi, are you alright?" Kenta, who was the least effective of the trio, was the first to respond to her new teammates' cry.

"What happened t-tto him?" Yumi was barely able to get words out of her mouth as she couldn't stop herself from tearing up

"We believe that the Ki attack Zill used is the cause of Kiba's injury. So far, all of our healing methods have failed to correct the Ki manipulation. We were hoping that the Phoenix tears could eradicate the Ki manipulation Kiba is suffering from. Admittedly we are unsure if such a method would work since Devils can withstand the most basic Ki manipulation due to our genes," Sona admitted with a sigh while she carefully inspected Marids Bishop. She didn't like being kept in the dark, and it was clear as day to her that Yumi somehow knows Kiba, but from where….

"Yumi, you don't have to be here; me and Kenta could administer Kiba's recovery. We have other doctors over here as well," Marid carefully said as he observed his Bishop. 

"N-nooo, I would like to be here to help in healing in any way I can," Yumi said as she brought her emotions back under her control with great effort. 

"Hmm- Zill got him good for sure," Kenta commented as he closely inspected.

"What do you mean? What did that Lion do to my Kiba?" Rias asked worriedly.

"Apart from the massive gash on his chest and shoulders? He turned his Ki flow inside out. While most pure blood and reincarnated Devils don't really have Ki, or perhaps the correct explanation would be Devils don't really develop their Ki. Which is why they are really vulnerable to precise Ki strikes. Since they don't really have the natural protection Ki provides, a precise Ki strike is almost as damaging to a Devil as a mid-level magical attack made out of Holy light," Kenta explained, much to Rias horror.

"Right now, what your knight is experiencing is something called the Ki poisoning, which I assume is similar to the poisoning Devils feel when they face are injured by holy elements," Kenta explained further.

"That would explain why our regular healing methods aren't working on Kiba-san. I assume you have to drain out the dark Ki, which is currently poisoning Kiba-sans body" Sona threw a questioning look toward Marids newest recruit.

"I can't do it on my own. Apart from the fact this type of healing is considered to require extremely precise control, which, as you can tell, isn't my forte, with the amount of dark Ki I can sense within the Devil, I would like at least one more Senjutsu user to completely heal the Devil" Kenta sighed as he closely inspected the Kiba's poisoned body.

"Where will we find another Senjutsu user right now," Marid thought aloud.

"Luckily for us, we don't really have to go too far to get a Senjutsu user," Kenta replied, much to everyone's confusion.

"What do you mean, Kenta-san?" Yumi, who had been quiet the whole exchange, asked in a hopeful tone.

"Well, we do have a Senjutsu user right there," Kenta replied as he pointed out a certain white-haired cat.

"Mee?" Koneko squealed, which was very unlike her stoic attitude, as all eyes turned on her.

"Yea, you, it took all of my heightened senses to pick up on your Ki signature. You are Nekoshou, aren't you? They are precise users of Ki; with her, we will be able to heal both Kiba and Akeno in the next two hours," Kenta said as he looked over to Koneko's direction. To his surprise, Koneko was shaking, not in anger or nervousness, but in fear. 

Looking at her Rooks's fearful look, Rias decided to step in, "As much as I would love to see my Rook get past her fears, I could never force her to do something that she doesn't want to. Kenta-san, would you be able to heal my knight on your own?" Rias asked, much to Kentas growing shock.

"I won't be able to do much on my own other than keep Kibas Ki stable. To clear out the poison, we need two people, one to extract the poison and the other to keep the Ki stable. If we mess up anywhere during the operation, then Kiba may never recover from these injuries," Kenta replied to Rias query, much to Rias horror. 

"Can the Phoenix tear clear out the poison while you keep Kiba's Ki stable?" Marid asked out of nowhere.

"I…. I don't know about that? This is the first time something like this will ever be attempted. But worse comes to worse, the tears would just heal his entire body apart from the spiritual damage caused by the Ki; other than that, there are no bad consequences that could come out of this," Kenta replied as he considered the question placed in front of him. Marid, however, actually cringed as he heard those words come out of his newest servant. Unknowingly, Kenta had challenged the very Gods of Irony Marid had come to fear from his time away from the underworld. 

"You sure you don't want to see your Rook wants to give this a go?" Marid asked Rias one last time before he asked his peerage to begin the operation. 

"I will never ask any of my servants to do something they are not comfortable doing," Rias replied firmly, leaving no room for arguments from Marids side.

"I am sorry, Buchou" Koneko apologized silently.

"I don't know why you don't want to use such a gift that a few in this world receive, but I hope in time you will learn how to use that gift," Kenta replied while looking towards Koneko with a solemn expression. If there was one person in that room that could understand why Koneko was scared to use her own powers, it was Kenta, and in the brief moment he looked at Koneko, he knew why she was afraid. Even though he didn't know her history, he just knew enough to understand what kind of troubled past she must have gone through.

"Alright then, Yumi and Kenta, you are you up. Don't mess it up!" Marid gave a hilariously short pep talk before standing at the back of the room with Rias, Sona, and doctors who wanted to watch the healing combination of the Senjutsu and the legendary Phoenix tears. 

"Let me stabilize his Ki first before you add drop the Phoenix tears. Once the Phenix tears start taking effect on Kibas's body, add your own healing magic into the mix. This way, we can hopefully redirect the tears to heal the dark Ki poison in Kiba's body. If it all goes well, Kiba should wake up in an hour or so," Kenta told her his plan. After getting a nod of acknowledgment from Yumi, Kenta drew out his first form, in which only his tail and cat ears came out. The sudden reveal of his tail and cat-like ears earned a surprised gasp from the doctors and Koneko, all of whom were quickly silenced by Sona. 

"Ready?" Kenta asked once he had managed to stabilize Kiba's Ki with his own Ki. 

"Drop the tears and start healing now," Kenta whispered as he concentrated on his task. 

The second the tears landed on Kiba's bare chest, KIba's whole body went rigid. The ugly gash on his torso started to heal while his shoulder began to mend with the help of Yumi's healing. 

"There you go, Yumi, do your best to heal all of his wounds. If the Tears don't affect Gash dark Ki, then the tears would be essentially a waste," Kenta said seriously as he struggled to keep Kiba's Ki stabilized. 

"Shit, his Ki is mixing with the dark Ki remaining in his body. Yumi, keep up with the healing as much as you can. If we aren't able to redirect the tears to the spiritual part of the body, then all could be lost," Kenta replied as he started sweating profusely. Kenta redoubled his efforts before jumping in his second Youkai form, his fighting form, to stop the Dark Ki from mixing with Kiba's regular Ki. 

"What is going on?" Rias shouted worriedly as she tried to move towards her injured knight, only to be stopped by her two childhood friends.

"Let them do their work, Rias; they are the best we have at the moment," Marid replied seriously as he, too, looked over the operation his peerage members were performing. 

"No, I won't let him die; I won't let Kiba die again," Yumi, who was panting and swearing profusely, whispered to herself like a mantra as she used all of her magic to heal the Devil knight in front of her. Even going as far as using the magical boost she got due to her Bishop piece.

"It's working, keep pushing Yumi. We got this," Kenta shouted as he tried his best to keep up with his own task. 

"At this rate, your Bishop will use her own life force Marid," Sona said calmly as she understood what Marid Bishop was attempting to do. 

"I know, but if I pull her off the operation right now, she will never forgive me. Not to mention most of Kiba's injuries that are unhealed at the moment will become permanent," Marid replied grimly. He wanted to help in the healing process since he was by no means an amateur when it came to healing. But he didn't know what effects it would have on Kibas's body if he joined in right now. 

"A little more push," Kenta said aloud as he did his best to heal and stabilize Kiba's Ki.

'We both have lost so much in our lives. Now Kiba is fighting for his life again. I swear on the past we had been forced to live; I will not let this be the end of him,' Yumi vowed to herself as she started using more of her power.

Kenta, who sensed her growing power and the strength of her resolve, was caught off guard by the sudden influx of healing magic. 

'Where did she get that boost from? She was almost at the end of her limits a moment ago,' Kenta thought to herself before refocusing his senses on Yumi and her magical aura.

"Yumi, what are you doing? You will perish if you keep on this path," Kenta shouted furiously as he realized what she was doing.

"What is she doing, Kenta?" Marid asked worriedly.

"She is using her own life force to heal Kiba," Kenta replied, much to Marids horror.

"It is working?" Yumi barely managed to get those words out of her mouth due to the strain her body was under.

"Working or not, Yumi, stop using your own life force to heal Kiba; we will find another way. Stop before I forcefully pull you off the operation now," Marid bellowed after realizing what her Bishop was doing. He could understand why Yumi had decided to use her own life force to heal Kiba due to the past both Kiba and Yumi shared, but he couldn't agree with the reckless actions Yumi was willing to take to heal Kiba.

"No, it's almost done, Kenta. Is it working?" Yumi asked in a tone that was barely above a whisper as she fought off the encroaching darkness. 

"Yes, the tears are clearing out the poison. It will only take a few more moments," Kenta admitted.

"Yumi," Marid warned as he walked towards his Bishop. 

"Just a… second" Yumi wasn't able to end her sentence as she collapsed, from sheer exhaustion, in Marids waiting for arms. 

"You truly lose all sense of self-preservation when it comes to helping people you care about," Marid replied with a small smile as he started to heal Yumi to the best of his ability.

"Kenta, are you good?" Marid turned towards Kenta, only to find him sweating heavily.

"All good here, boss" Kenta gave Marid a thumbs, showing he was indeed fine.

"What about Kiba? Is he good?" Rias asked worriedly. 

"He should be fine. He should wake up in the next few hours," Kenta replied after he checked on Kiba briefly. 

"Thank Lucifer," Rias sighed gratefully before turning towards Marids. "She went above and beyond when she started using her own life force to help Kiba. Who is she, Marid?" Rias asked Marid seriously. 

"I will answer that question once I can get her in a stable condition," Marid replied as then both Kenta, Marid, and doctors (on Sona's suggestion) started to stabilize Yumi.

Later

It had been a few hours since Kenta and Yumi completed their surgery on Kiba. The end of the said surgery was chaotic, to say the least. Even with the joint healing of Kenta, doctors, and Marid himself, it took a good hour to get Yumi stabilized and another to get her to wake up from her comatose state. 

While Marid was furious at her Bishop for being so reckless, he couldn't deny the fact that his peerage members were able to help Kiba since he was on his way to recovery himself. But unlike Yumi, he was still in his comatose state. 

"No matter how successful your method was, Ms.Yumi, no one can deny that your method and actions were incredibly reckless. You could have cut your near limitless age line by three-quarters or worse, could have died," One of the senior doctors of Sona's facility sternly scolded the now awakened Yumi. 

"I do apologize for my actions, everyone, but I couldn't have stopped when there was a chance to heal Kiba" Yumi tried to justify her actions, only to be met by a harsh glare from Marid. 

"You could have died, Yumi! Do you think Kiba would have accepted if he had learned that you practically traded your life for his? You are lucky that me, Kenta, and the other doctors were able to stabilize your life force before you suffered permanent damage," Marid scolded her Bishop angrily. While Yumi was being scolded, Rias was by her knight's side making sure he was fine. However, that didn't keep her to keep her eye on the events that were transpiring on the bed next to her knight.

"I truly apologize for my actions Lord Marid" Yumi replied as she looked on the verge of tears. 

"I am going to withhold your punishment for such actions until after both you and Kiba have recovered" Marid sighed as he knew her Bishop well enough to know that she didn't want to upset him or go against command. That being said, he could bet his own soul on the line that if the event were to be repeated, Yumi would have done the same damn thing he just scolded her for. 

"I think it's about time we get to know what is going on over here, Marid," Sona asked.

"I guess you deserve some answers," Marid replied as he looked at Yumi to see if she wanted to reveal her past to others. 

After receiving Yumi's permission, Marid asked all the doctors to leave the room for the time being, much to the shock of others present. Not wanting to disrespect the son of the Lucifer, all the doctors followed Marids command and left the seven Devils alone. "What do you all know about the Holy Sword project?" Marid asked, much to Sona and Ria's shock. Rias obviously knew one of the darkest experiments of the Church's history, considering Kiba was part of the said project before it was disbanded. 

"It was a project started by the Church to find and train Holy sword and Excalibur wielders. However, the project was disbanded when the project didn't produce any Excalibur wielders in the 3 years it was operational," Rias answered back as she wondered what Marid was getting at.

"If by disbanded you mean the leader of the project decided to eliminate all the test subjects to ensure no one from Heaven finds out about the project, then you would be correct. Luckily the leader never exceeded in wiping out the entire group on their own. The one who survived that extermination was your knight. Isn't that right, Rias?" Marid replied with some underlying darkness in his voice. 

"How did you know about that? The information regarding the project is kept confidential by the Satan themselves," Rias asked, shocked her nephew knew so much about the church darkest project. 

"I know about this because Yumi is the second survivor of the holy sword project," Marid replied, much to the shock of everyone present.

"How did she survive?" This time it was Sona who asked the question. 

"Unlike Kiba, I never escaped our training facility at the time of the attack. When the exorcist came to kill us because we were unworthy of God's grace, everyone was so scared," Yumi said as she started sobbing after remembering her darkest memory. At that, Marid forgoes his prior anger towards her and lays a comforting hand on her shoulders. Even Kenta gave her a small comforting smile. After taking a few breaths, she continued, "At that moment, something caught my eye; it was a door latch that led through the basement to the forest surrounding our facility. Call it luck or a miracle from the Bible God, I was able to lead a few of us through the latch. Unfortunately, we weren't quiet enough during our escape soo…" Yumi finally broke down in tears. Marid hugged her tightly as he tried his best to comfort her. 

"I think you can guess what those exorcists did after they heard the noise of a few kids escaping," Marid asked, and he got solemn nods from the others. 

"To cut things short, one of the exorcists caught up to Yumi and slashed at her. In her last moments, she made Kiba, or rather Isaiah which was his name back then, to run and live a free happy life. Kiba managed to escape and find his way to you and started doing the very thing Yumi made him promise," Marid continued. 

"How did you manage to save Yumi though?" Sona asked, confused. 

"During her last moment, she wished hard for someone to protect her friends. In those few moments, she wished so hard that it actually summoned me to the site of the holy sword project," Marid replied, much to Sona's shock.

"How was she able to summon you? She was part of the church back then, so how was she able to summon a Devil out of the bloom?" Sona asked, shocked. 

"I don't know about that. Call it fate, luck, magic, or a miracle, but through some weird phenomena, she was able to summon me," Marid replied, just as perplexed. 

"Thankfully, when she summoned me, I was able to get rid of her attacker and then revive her since that was her last wish," Marid continued sadly.

"What happened to the others?" Koneko asked softly, her tone just barely above a whisper. 

"The exorcist had gotten their bodies out of there by that point. Any further actions from me could have announced my presence to them. And if the word had gotten out that a son of a Mao was there, the church would have turned the entire blame on me. So to prevent a war, I retreated along with Yumi once I ensured Kiba escaped his attackers," Marid explained. 

"Wait, how did you manage that Kiba escaped? And if you knew that Kiba's life was in danger, why didn't you revive him" Rias questioned her nephew. 

"Well, to answer both of your questions, after I revived Yumi, I saw two other exorcists running in Kiba's direction. By the time I got rid of them and managed to catch up to Kiba, you had already revied Kiba as Devil by that point," Marid answered calmly to Ria's question. 

Rias nodded at that; she knew her nephew would never lie to her about something that serious. 

"Well, someone is finally waking up" Kenta's announcement brought everyone out of their depressing thoughts after hearing out the heart-crunching history both Yumi and Kiba suffered through.

"Kiba-san, how are you feeling," one of the doctors monitoring the Devil Knight asked 

"Weak and sleepy," a groggy Kiba as he struggled to gain his sight back.

"Well, that is to be expected; you were severely injured when you were brought here to us" The statement reminded him of the last moments of his battle before he lost consciousness after taking a powerful strike from the Lion named Zill if he remembered it right. 

"Buchou?!?!" Kiba screamed as he instinctually created a sword using his sacred gear, as he looked around the room wildly. 

"I am right here, Kiba; I am fine," Rias said tearfully as she walked up to her knight before hugging him into her breast. 

"Buchou, you are safe. What happened? Is Koneko-chan safe? And Akeno-senpai?" Kiba tried to make sense of what happened that night.

"I am good, thanks to you, Kiba-senpai" Koneko also replied tearfully before hugging one of his Kiba's arms. After seeing him and his new family weren't in any danger, Kiba relaxed and put away his sacred gear. 

"To answer your question Kiba, we all are safe. After you got knocked out, Sona arrived, and we were able to kill two out of the three lions," Rias replied calmly as she felt her knight calm down. 

"Then where is Akeno-san?" Kiba asked as he looked around, not finding the queen of their peerage.

"Akeno is still in her comatose state. We are going to go to Akeno's room to heal her once Kenta has recuperated enough," Rias replied calmly. After hearing that name, Kiba's eyes widened, only to find Kenta talking to Marid about something. 

His body must have tensed, which caused Rias to look at her knight worryingly. 

"Kenta was the one who healed you alongside Marid Bishop Kiba. I hope you will keep that in your mind and give Kenta a second chance" Rias looked into her knight's eyes to see what he was thinking.

"Why would he heal me?" Kiba asked, confused. 

To his surprise, it wasn't Rias who answered his question, but rather the very man he was talking about, "Apart from the fact Marid asked me to heal you, I heard how Zill got you. Sacrificing yourself for the greater good of others, huh? Can't say I can relate to, but it is something I can respect," Kenta replied gruffly before laughing, "And if I didn't try to heal you, Yumi would have defiantly would have tried to do so on her own, even if it cost her, her life" Kenta laughed as he pointed to the last person in the room he hadn't met. 

"Yumi," Kiba repeated the unfamiliar name before he followed Kentas gaze. To his shock, the person he was now looking at looked very familiar to him. He just couldn't put his finger where he had met her.

"I am so happy to see you again, Kiba, or should I say Isaiah" Yumi, who looked to be on the verge of tears yet again, replied. Unlike the other times, her tears this time were out of pure happiness rather than sadness. 

"How do you know that name" Kiba couldn't complete his sentence as his eyes widened as he saw the person in front of him. The resemblance of the person he saw was unbanning to the person he once knew in his previous life. 'No, it couldn't be, she was killed by those monsters' Kiba wanted to deny the sight in front of him, but his heart couldn't deny the sight in front of him. He knew those angelic blue eyes. 

"Tos…Tosca?" Kiba asked hesitantly. With all of his heart, he wanted the person in front of himself to be his very first person. The same friend who had given him hope when the light in his life looked the dimmest, the same person who had saved his life even before Rias ever did. 

"Yes, it is me, Isiah" Tosca/Yumi nodded as she got off her bed and walked towards Kiba. She, for now, avoided all the exhaustion she felt. She had always dreamt of reuniting with her childhood friend forever. 

Kiba, who was sitting up on his bed, was also now crying. Not even in his wildest dreams did he ever think he would ever be reunited with his childhood friend. He truly prayed to the Maos themselves that this was not a dream. But if it was, then let him sleep for a little while longer. 

"How did you survive?" Kiba asked, shocked. But his shock didn't prevent him from hugging Tosca/Yumi as soon as she was in the hugging distance. 

Tosca, who returned the hug with just as much passion, replied with a smile, "Marid is the one who saved me" Tosca replied with a smile as she pointed out Marid, who was standing by a tearful Rias and a Sona who was giving the duo a heartwarming smile. 

"But the attacker was already killed all of our brothers and sisters when I escaped," Kiba replied with some shame. Shame and guilt he had carried all of his life that he had essentially abandoned his brothers and sisters even though they had pleaded with him to escape. 

Tosca, who was somehow able to sense Kiba's true inner feelings, laid a comforting hand on his shoulders, "Don't blame yourself for leaving me and the others behind. We never blamed you for leaving us behind. We wanted you to live for us," Tosca replied with a smile.

"Others, did they escape as well?" Kiba asked with a hopeful tone.

"No, they didn't make it," Tosca replied with a solemn expression. Not a day goes by when both Tosca and Kiba don't miss their brothers and sisters. A family they had gotten when they arrived on the doorstep of that orphanage. 

"If not for my sacred gear, I wouldn't have survived as well," Tosca said, much to Kiba's surprise. 

"You have a sacred gear?" Kiba asked, shocked. 

"A barrier-type sacred gear, to be exact. Now you don't have to feel bad about me for not having sacred gear like yourself," Tosca replied with a smirk. Her statement earned her a blush from Kiba, who indeed felt bad for her brothers and sisters for not having sacred gear. A fact he only shared with Tosca since he never truly trusted the orphanage keepers. 

"We should probably give them some time to talk," Marid whispered to Rias and Sona. Both of them agreed with his decision. 

"I am going to check on you tomorrow, Kiba. Until then, rest well and enjoy," Rias replied with a smile.

"Where are you going, Buchou?" Kiba asked curiously. Not that he minded getting some personal time with his childhood friend. 

"We are going to go and heal the queen of your peerage," Marid replied to the shocked knight, who had just remembered that Akeno wasn't there with them. 

"I should go with you, Lord Marid," Yumi said as she fought off her exhaustion and tried to stand back up.

"With the condition you are in, Yumi, you will pull a hip or something," Marid joked, much to her Bishop's embarrassment. "I agree with Rias on this. Rest well, Yumi. I will come back to pick you up once you have recovered enough. Until then, rest well and have fun" Marid winked at the reunited duo before heading out of the room.

Hallway

"I think I owe you and Kenta a big thank you. Not only did you save my knight with terrible injury but also reunited him with his childhood friend" Rias replied as she gave Marid and his Rook a small bow of gratitude. 

"You don't have to say thank us Ms.Gremory, we still have to heal your queen" Kenta awkwardly tried to wave off the gratitude he got from the Gremory Heiress. 

"You did far more than you thought you did Kenta. You protected Kiba without care for your own safety. That is something, the Gremory's respect and appreciate. As a Gremory Heiress it would be bad off me not to reward such a selfless action" Rias gave Kenta a small smile. Much to the shock of everyone there, Kenta actually blushed at the compliment. 

"Then I will accept whatever you give me with gratitude. But please keep it in mind, this is not necessary. I have done very bad things in the past. What I did over here today helps me make up for it, even in the smallest amount" Kenta sighed as Rias nodded at his explanation. 

"Sona would you be opposed if I left my Bishop here in this facility?" Marid asked his childhood friend. 

"Not that I have a problem with it, but can I ask why?" Sona asked curiously.

"Apart from the obvious reason of Yumi finally being reunited with her childhood friend/adoptive brother, Yumi still hasn't recovered from her exertions after what she tried to pull off a few hours ago. The doctors over here would be able to keep an eye on her better than me and Kenta back at our house" Marid explanation earned him a nod and then a suspicious look from Sona. Something he didn't understand in the moment. 

"If you all are done with your little planning, lets go and heal Akeno. I am getting hungry" As if to prove his point, a grumble came from Kenta stomach which earned light giggles from everyone present. 

"Alright one last person to heal before me and Kenta head back to our house" Marid replied as he followed Sona to room of the last person. 

Once entering the dimly lit room, everyones attention to Akeno's comatose form. 

"Has she gotten sick while in her comatose state?" Kenta asked professionally while he moved towards Akeno to observe her condition.

"No, She hasn't gotten sick while in her comatose state. The worst thing she has gotten is that her skin has gone paler" Sona stoically to Kenta, who was acting as a healer for the group for the time being. 

"A person's skin goes paler once they are hit with a Ki based attack" Kenta replied as he started to study Akeno's Ki signature. 

"Is Akeno-senpai going to recover? Why did you ask if she had been sick" Koneko to surprise of many asked worriedly.

"Vomiting during a comatose state could potentially tell you the severity of the Ki attack/curse placed on the person. If she has not been vomiting during her time here, then it means Zill only wanted to keep her in a comatose state until he had dealt with others that night" Kenta replied with barely hidden disgust. The disgust everyone else shared with him since they all knew what Zill wanted to do to them, was satisfy his own lust with their bodies. 

"Will you able to heal Akeno Kenta? We can always come back once you are well rested" Marid suggested after noticing signs of exhaustion all over his body. 

"No, this should be simple enough. All I have realign Akenos Ki flow and she should be good" Kenta replied dismissively as he started familiarizing himself with Akeno's Ki signature.

While it was a completely a innocent and entirely reasonable action on Kenta's part, the others couldn't help sound their displeasure at how Kenta was familiarizing himself with Akeno's magical signature.

"What are you doing" Rias raised her displeasure as she saw Kenta rubbing his hands all across Akeno's body. The effects of his actions were instant as everyone saw Akeno's body relax while a rather dopey smile came across the face. But they didn't know whether or not Akeno was feeling better after been released from toxins, or her masochist side was subconsciously responsible for her body's actions. 

Kenta stopped his ministrations as he turned around to see annoyed looked plastered across faces of all of the female devils in the room while Marid held an extremely amused expression, "You did ask me to heal her didn't you?" Kenta asked indecorously. At Kenta's dismissive tone, Marid almost started laughing, but he was barely able to hold his tongue due to being in the presence of a certain bespectacled Devil. 

"Yes, I did, but that doesn't explain why you have to rub your hands all across Akenos body like that" Rias exclaimed protectively in her queen's defense, who still wore a rather dopey smile on her face. 

"That rubbing is helping me release the nerve toxins that Zill planted on her body when he striked her down. If you don't want me to do it, then I can leave. I have already filtered out most of the toxin from Akeno's body. Even without further cleansing from me, she would wake up in the next day or two" Kenta explained with a slight huff. 

"And just to make it clear, I am not one of those perverts that try and take advantage of woman like that" Kenta further defended himself much to Marids amusement. 

"What he is saying is true Buchou I can also sense Akeno-senpai's Ki more clearly" Much to everyone's surprise, it was Koneko who supported Kenta and his actions. Sona and Rias were even more shocked due to the fact they knew who much Koneko hated a pervert and even a sexual minded person. 

"Ok then I allow you to heal my queen but try to minimize touching her" Rias pouted.

"I don't need to heal her anymore by the looks of it" Kenta replied with a light chuckle, finding Rias actions rather cute. 

"Didn't you just say you needed to heal her more?" Sona asked confused.

"I did say that but as it turns out Akeno over here has some natural born talent in magic. And since most of the curse/or the Ki manipulation is now gone, the body is essentially fixing everything on its own now. I would recommend letting her heal her on her own from here onwards. This way her body may develop some form of natural resistance to Ki based attacks. Something that might turn out handy if you guys come across Zill again" Kenta advised. While Rias had to admit, Kenta's advice had a lot of merit, but it was her desire to see her queen and best friend at her 100%, made this whole thing a rather difficult decision. 

While Rias was contemplating on what to do, Marid on the other hand was rather interested in his Rooks finding, "Kenta did you said that Akeno's innate magical power is now fighting against the curse, or what remains of it?"

"From what I can sense yes. She has some kind of natural resistant magic that is able to fight against the Ki based toxins from the start. It is one of the reasons I was able to heal her so quickly" Kenta explained to his King further. 

"Do you know what kind of magic could create a natural resilience to Ki and Senjutsu attacks?" Marid asked excitedly.

"I don't know" Kenta replied with slight hesitation, not sure should he continue on or not.

"Ohhh" Marid said aloud, now deeply interested in the story. 

"I can sense some form of holy magic from Akeno. Now if that is something that is created a natural resilient to the said magic… I don't know" Kenta admitted with some hesitation much to Marid surprise. 

"That would make sense. The God of Bible was said to be quite loving and endearing person to his followers. It could be that he modified Holy power to ensure his followers could have a better chance surviving against the dangerous elements of the world" Marid eyes widened at the implication.

"How can He modify an entire field of magic like that?" Sona asked shocked. 

"I mean the Holy essence does come from Him. It shouldn't be that hard for someone like Him to tweak his very essence to suit himself and his followers" Marid hypothesized. 

"So does she have natural capability to use Holy magic, or does she have a sacred gear?" Marid asked his rook with an unexpected gleam in his eyes. 

However, before Kenta could respond to his Kings question, he was beaten to the punch by a certain Red head, "As much as I find your fascination with the unknown amusing Marid, I believe we still need to heal my queen" Rias put her foot down, abruptly ending the conversation. 

"Yes right lets get her up then" Kenta nodded as he slowly started to massage Akeno's forehead while focusing his Ki to wake Akeno up from her slumber. 

Moments later Akeno slowly opened her eyes much to Rias and Koneko's delight.

"Easy there Devil, you are still not a 100 percent" Kenta said calmly before helping Akeno in a sitting up position. 

"Who are you?" Akeno asked curiously. She had already noticed Rias and the others in the room, so she knew whoever this guy was wasn't there to hurt her.

"My name is Kenta Maki, I am also a Rook to Marid over here" Kenta pointed out to Marid who was standing nearby with a curious expression planted on his face, and odd gleam in his eyes. 

"Weren't you the Lion that was attacked the other night" Akeno asked innocently. Her question which had no bad intent, clearly upset Kenta since his face gained an intense look and his body stiffened. 

"Yes he was Akeno-san. And while I would love to continue this conversation and personally let you know of everything that had transpired ever since the battle with the Kuroshishi, it truly has been a long and trying day for me and Kenta. I am sure Rias would be more than happy to fill you in on other stuff" Marid smoothly cut into the conversation to redirect the conversation away from his Rook. 

While he trusted Kenta; Kenta was still too aggressive towards others. Too much for his liking. In that moment he had subconsciously decided to have Kenta's venting session first thing tomorrow. He had to drain Kenta's malice before he did something everyone regrets. 

"Again, I would like to thank you for healing both Akeno and Kiba. You truly have done a great service to us" Rias thanked Kenta.

"You healed us?" Akeno asked, shocked.

"I had the ability to help you guys out, so I did. There are no ulterior motives for me to help you" Kenta replied bluntly making Marid cringe. 

'I think I need to schedule sessions for him for Both public speaking and venting' Marid thought to himself. 

"Ara Ara, does that mean we are indebted to you" Akeno asked innocently which masked the sultriness in her voice.

While Rias could only sigh at her queen antics, Kenta on the other handheld a stoic expression as he blankly looked at Akeno. This went on until Kenta flicked Akeno in her forehead before returning to his Kings side, "Don't use any offensive magic spells for the two days. If use any powerful magic spells, then you will be out of commissioned for a week. Your body is healing now. Let it heal" Marid replied stoically. 

"I think we all are good here. I also appreciate you keeping an eye on my Bishop Sona" Marid gave a quick nod to his fellow Kings. 

"Its not an issue. This is the least we could considering your help in Zill's case then the healing of Rias peerage members" Sona replied stoically. 

"Do you need me for anything else today" Kenta asked slightly uncomfortable around the emotional scene that was developing in front of him. 

"No, Kenta. You are free for the day, so take some time off and have some well earned rest. I will see you tomorrow for your training sessions" Marid replied while giving his rook a proud smile. Despite only having Kenta for only a day, he was extremely impressed by his rooks work. 

With a slight nod Kenta disappeared in a magic circle. 

"I am sorry for his curt response everyone. It is going to take a little bit of work to get him to be more comfortable in a social environment" Marid apologized for his rook's odd behavior. 

"Its understandable considering what he has gone through recently" Rias sighed as she remembered what Kenta had told her a few hours ago. 

"So what now?" Akeno asked the three Kings in front of her. While she was still reeling in from the aftereffects of the Ki attack, she was attentive enough to understand there has been some underlying tension. 

"For now nothing. You and Kiba need to rest. I am sure Rias will fill you in of what is going on and what has happened during the last few days. For now, just live your lives as you would do but do keep your guard up, now that we know there is someone that will be gunning for us now" Marid advised to the group. 

"I will improve the wards around the school and residential complex for my peerage members" Sona nodded at Marids sound advice. 

"I would do the same thing for my peerage once they get out" Rias nodded along.

"Alright if all is good then I will be heading out too. I need some research that needs to be done" Marid let out a tired sigh knowing the day wasn't over for him.

"Research" Sona crooked her eyebrows at that.

"Yeah. Part of my deal with Dad and the other Satan's regarding the Olympus mess; I will be getting a copy of all the research regarding the cure of the Devil sleeping disease" Marid informed the group much to their shock. 

"The Devil sleeping disease? That disease is known to be incurable. Even Lord Ajuka have failed to devise a cure for that disease" Rias asked shocked that her nephew would demand something like that as part of, which was sure to be a rather lucrative deal. 

"I have a habit of doing the impossible Rias. I am sure I will be able to do something that my uncle and the rest weren't able to do" Marid replied with a cocky smirk which caused Rias to roll her eyes and Akeno to giggle at Marids self confidence, or perhaps over confidence. 

"Do you need some help with your research?" Sona asked much to Marid's surprise.

"They do say two are better than one" Marid smiled back at her. 

"Rias can you send me word through your familiar if there are any changes in Yumi's health?" Marid asked Rias as he finished creating the teleportation circle. 

"My familiar is out delivering summoning circle at the moment. I will give you call once your Bishop is all healed up" Rias replied as she remembered that she had her familiar on security patrols, in search for Zill and his whereabouts, before giving him his new direction to deliver some summoning circles to humans. Humans who are willing to summon a Devil. 

"Send me a text, I wont receive a call through the wards of my house" Marid asked mysteriously. Rias stopped herself asking the obvious question, 'what do you mean you wont receive a call through the wards of your house', but she knew better than most people, Marid always played his cards close to his chest. 

"Ladies, have a lovely day" Marid gave both Rias and Akeno a slight bow teleporting himself and Sona out of the healing facility.

"Those two couldn't be more obvious, could they" Akeno asked her King of the relationship she saw blooming. 

Rias couldn't help but agree with her queen on the said matter. While she knew Marid loved to play cards close to his chest, she knew he was awful at hiding his true emotions, especially where people he cared about were concerned. Maybe it was a Gremory's trait to be loving and caring towards people they considered family.

"I don't know about you, but I am dying to meet this Kenta again" Akeno said mischievously as she rubbed her legs again. Something Rias picked up on.

"Did you have to be so crude in your first conversation with Kenta Akeno?" Rias asked her queen slightly annoyed as she remembered what Akeno had said to Kenta. 

"I don't know what you are talking about" Akeno smiled mischievously. 

"Be careful around him Akeno. While I have complete faith in Marid's leadership, Kenta right now is too much of a wild horse to drop your guards against" Rias sighed at her queens antics.

"Whatever do you mean?" Akeno asked genuinely curious. At that Rias decided to share what her and the others had learned regarding Kuroshishi, Zill and Kenta in the last few days.

Meanwhile

While the Devils were settling down after a long days work, on the other side of the town, a certain pervert was preparing for his first date.

'Man I can't believe Yumma-san decided to go on a date with me' Issie thought gleefully as he remembered what had transpired the day before. 

When he had told his two best friends about the date, they laughed at him, but those laughs turned into emotions of shock and then betrayal once they were introduced to Issie's new girlfriend. 

'I swear to whatever higher power is up there, if this date goes all well, then I will stop doing everything perverted. You know what I would even burn my porn stash' Issie thought gleefully before looking mortified at the thought that had just crossed his mind. 'No it's too early to do something like that. I cant just destroy my secret stash just yet, but I swear I won't do anything perverted on the first date' Issie thought. In his thought, Issie never realized that he had walked into this weird looking person. 

"Uff I am sorry" Issie apologized to the weird looking girl he had just unknowingly collided with. The woman in front him had red eyes and pointed ears, like the ones he had seen in that Hobbit movie. 

The woman in front of him didn't reply to his apology, rather she looked at him curiously for a second before handing him a rather small paper. The paper had some form of weird artwork that he had seen in some movies and games, but he couldn't remember for the life of him what it was called. 

When he looked up after observing the artwork, the person who had given him the artwork had disappeared in the busy station he was currently in. Before he could look around for the person who had given him the art work, his date called out to him.

"Issie-san" Yumma came from behind as she looked very happy. 

"Yumma-san, you came?" Issie replied with a smile as he slipped the weird sheet of paper in his pockets. 

"Of course. So are you ready for our date?" Yumma asked innocently, something Issie found extremely attractive. 

'Damn she is so cute' Issie thought.

"Hell yea, I even have an itinerary made up for our date" Issie said as he proudly took a book out of his bag to show off the itinerary, he had planned for them this evening. 

"Perfect. Then I will be in your care Issie-san. Please take care of me" Yumma gave Issie a warm smile before giving Issie a light bow.

Elsewhere

"Damn those Devils and Damn that Kenta. I swear I will have my revenge," Zill cursed in a dark alleyway on the streets of Kuoh. He was still licking his wounds after his battle with Kenta and the rest of the Devils. 

"Oh hooo, those filthy Devils really did a number on you, didn't they" an ominous voice from behind him. Zill furiously turned around to see where the voice had come from. But all he could find was a hooded figure with the most blood-red eyes Zill had ever seen. 

"Who is there" Zill growled as he unleashed his battle form and took a fighting stance. He fought down the fear that was creeping within him. He still hadn't recovered from his ordeal with the Devils, and this person had somehow managed to track him down and get a jump on him without him ever realizing the said person's presence. 

"Who am I? That does not matter. What matters is our plan. You and I both want to kill those Devils. Why not you come work from me here, and we can make sure both of our dreams come through," the ominous replied, a certain darkness that even sent shivers down Zill's spine. 

"How can I say no to such a generous offer. But I do have a condition for our alliance," Zill smiled. 

"OH, what is that," the ominous asked amusedly. 

"When the time comes, I will be the one who kills those filthy Devils" Zill's grin turned into sadistic glee. Something that was reciprocated by his new master. 

"Oh boy, we both will have our fair share of violence, battle, death, and Khaos," the ominous replied with a toothy grin as he walked towards his new ally. 

Chapter End

This chapter was a tough one to write. But finally, this one is in the history books. Lets have a recap shall we!! Kiba is finally awake, and we get to learn his history with Yumi or rather Tosca. We also saw Akeno recover and see her little scene with Kenta. Am I going to make Kenta and Akeno couple…. I don't know, I haven't really thought about it. But am I going to make Yumi and Kiba a couple? HELL TO THE F**** NO! That shit would probably be incest since Yumi and Kiba were brought up in the same orphanage and are considered brother and sisters. 

Next chapter is a big one as well since we are officially starting our first arc from there onwards. You can also expect two dates in the next chapters as well. If you know what I mean ehh 'wink' 'wink'. 

  Since I only added a small chunk to this chapter, I will be uploading the next chapter in the next few hours!!!

  P.S I also upload this story on the Fanfiction as well. Since that is the primary site I upload to, all the new chapters are first uploaded there! Nothing personal but that's the web where I first started on fanfic.

P.S 2 Keep an eye on my profile page since that is where I will be posting updates regarding my chapters. Like if there is a delay or something. Since we are heading into the exam season, I will be posting less and less for the time being, but once June hits, it's going to be open season people. 

Until next time people!

Dragon God Zalama

Words :-  8909