Harbinger of Ruin: Ch.17

“You were attacked?!” Rias asked with a concerned look as we sat in the living room, the others looking both concerned and cautious as I nodded while letting Asia use Twilight Healing to heal me even though there wasn't any damage.

“Yeah, by the same Freed Sellzen that escaped me when I got these three.”

“The fucker survived? Urgh, of course he did. The guy's a damn cockroach.” Raynare grumbled and I smirked at that before feeling my face being turned back as Rias checked me over for any wounds.

“Have you found anything, Asia?”

“J-Just a bit of internal damage to his muscles from the holy aura residue he was attacked with.”

“What? What sword did he use?” She asked and I frowned slightly before answering.

“It looked to be an Excalibur fragment.”

“…Fuck.” The three former Fallen Angels and Asia looked surprised to hear Koneko being the one that cussed as Akeno frowned while Rias' gaze shifted to concern.

“Any reason why Koneno of all people just cussed out loud considering she doesn't like that?” Mittelt asked and I sighed before nodding as Rias looked at me.

“The reason for it is because when I was ten, I was at a church orphanage that wanted to create Holy Sword wielders out of everyone of us. However, when they found out that none of us would be able to wield any of the Excalibur fragments, they decided to kill every kid involved and get rid of the evidence. I was the only survivor.”

“The Holy Sword Project.” Kalawarna spoke up and I looked at her to see her looking back with a sympathetic frown.

“I've read the files we had on it. The church had counted up the bodies, but they found that one was missing and that one was in a coma.”

“Wait, what?” I asked in surprise as I looked up at Kalawarna, who smirked and nodded.

“Yeah, a girl by the name of Tosca.”

'Wait, what? I know for sure Kiba was the only one that survived the Holy Sword Project in the anime unless…did this survivor show up in the last season of the anime or did they perhaps show up in the later stages of the books? I know DxD had books, but I never cared for them. Then again, this could just be a difference in this alternate universe compared to the one the story took place.'

“How sure are you of that?”

“I was one of the many knowledge keepers to the assistant of Lord Azazel when I was younger before I requested for work on the frontlines of the Grigori and I remember reading about it. Then again, I may have just read it wrong.”

“…Well, even if you did, I still thank you for telling me.” I spoke with a smile and a nod, which she returned before I looked to Rias as she turned my head.

“Promise me you won't go after them.”

“You won't have to worry about that from me. I've learned to control myself when the swords are involved.” I spoke with a smile, but she didn't seem convinced as she simply sighed and nodded.

“Okay, I believe you.”

“Good, because we need to go to sleep early for our date tomorrow.”

“Wait, that's tomorrow?! Crap, I still have to call Sona to tell her we're taking the day off!” Rias exclaimed as she leapt to her feet and we watched her run out of the room before I chuckled as Akeno spoke up.

“And she's completely forgotten that you were attacked. Isn't that lovely?”

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“And you guys are sure you can handle things here?” Rias asked as she looked at the rest of the peerage, who rolled their eyes while I smirked as Akeno sighed.

“For the last time, yes, we can handle things. Even if we can't, we'll contact Sona before we contact you.”

“Okay and make sure that Gasper knows we're away or he's going to be searching all day long for us.”

“Don't worry, I've already told him. He said we should have a good time.” I answered and she looked at me with a thankful smile before taking a deep breath and looked back at the others.

“Then, I guess we'll see you all when we get back even though I don't know where we're going.”

“Don't look at me like that. I did tell you that it was going to be a secret. Now, we are on our way. Let the house still be standing when we get back.” I spoke with a grin as a teleportation crest appeared below us and Akeno rolled her eyes as Rias giggled before we were whisked away.

As the light died down, Rias looked surprised at the numerous people walking past us, giving me a panicked look only to pout as I waved the dagger I had in my free hand.

“Illusive Temptation. It hides us from the senses of normal people until…” I dismissed the dagger and smirked as people immediately noticed us, most of them whispering and pointing as Rias giggled while tucking a strand behind an ear.

“Nice. Wait, where are…we…?” She trailed off as her jaw dropped the moment she caught sight of the sign in front of us and I chuckled while gesturing with a flourish at the giant mall in front of us.

“Welcome to Animate Ikebukuro, the biggest mall for anime in Japan.” I spoke with a smirk and watched as she slowly looked between the mall and I before my eyes widened as she grabbed my face and gave me a searing-hot kiss.

“Mwah! You! Are! The best! Boyfriend! Ever!”

'How…am I already…the boyfriend…?' I thought as she continued kissing me, a bit dazed as I watched her squeal and rush into the store before shaking my head and following after her.

“Wait for me!” I called out as we rushed into the mall, but I was just as shocked and excited as she was when we entered only to be greeted by the nirvana for any anime fan.

Ten floors filled from head to toe with anime figurines, plushies, games, limited edition collectibles, limited edition console designs and so many more things that I felt I would die before I could buy all of them.

“Rias, no~ Your mom would kill both of us.” I said as I slowly lowered the black credit card she held up and she simply snorted before nodding.

“Rias, yes~ Besides, Father is able to cancel my card at any time and he has not done so even after I bought the fifty million yacht.”

“You have a yacht?!” I whispered/ shouted with wide eyes and she giggled at my look of shock and nodded.

“Correction. We have a yacht and yes, I bought it for my 18th birthday.”

“Okay, I feel like you're taking this a bit too fast between us. Not that I don't mind, but I don't want people thinking that I'm going out with you just because you have money, okay? Besides, I told you that I would be paying for today and that is non-negotiable. Now, give me that.”

“For what?” She asked as I took the card and I smirked as I put it in the pocket dimension where I kept all of my own cards.

“I never said I would be paying for it out of my own money.”

“…I like the way you think. Let's go.”

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“…You sure this is all you want?” I asked with a raised eyebrow and she giggled while nodding, holding only three bags that each had about two manga and a figurine inside of it.

“Yeah, most of the other stuff I already got and signed first editions at that. It would feel nice to have these that aren't limited edition.”

“You're going to go find and order them, aren't you?”

“Without a doubt.” She agreed with a nod and I rolled my eyes as we continued walking through the mall, taking another lick of my ice-cream while looking around at the store.

“Are you sure you don't want anything? I mean, we've only been buying from me.”

“I'm sure, Rias. Besides, I'm not as big of a fan as the stuff around here as you are especially since I don't read manga like…at all.”

“What about that? You like swords, don't you?” She asked as she pointed to the right and I looked over at what she was pointing at only to raise an eyebrow at the sword she was pointing at.

With a skull design near the hilt, the blood red blade and the dark grey hilt that had torn bandages around it, my mind instantly went to Rebellion from DMC as I reached forward and caressed the blade.

“Slightly off-centre, but it's still quite the impressive sword nonetheless.”

“Of course it's off-centre. It's supposed to be in order to let Daniel handle spinning it around his body like a whip while also cutting through his opponents.” Rias chimed with a roll of her eyes, blushing slightly as I simply raised an eyebrow before looking over as a smiling attendant walked up to us.

“How much for this?”

“¥7,500 sir.”

“Sold.” Rias said before I could and I sighed before nodding as the attendant looked at me, to which she smiled happily and nodded as she lifted the sword up with a bit of struggle and walked over to the counter.

“Really?” I asked as I rang it up and she giggled before shrugging as I lifted the blade with one hand and we walked out towards the restaurant floor once again.

“Yeah, I know that you would want to negotiate and we only got…two more hours before our movie starts.”

“Hah, very well. Let's go.”

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“You actually liked it?” Rias asked with a surprised look as we sat down in restaurant and I nodded with a smile as I placed our gifts down next to our table while thanking the waiter with a smile.

“Of course. Rom-coms are some of my favourite genres and that one was pretty good.”

“And here I thought you wouldn't like it. So, what else do you like?”

“Anything to do with swords and medieval warfare so fantasy with a bit of sci-fi. Also, war movies are pretty good too and action naturally. What about you? What does Rias the young woman like other than anime of course?” I asked and she blushed slightly before answering with a huff.

“Well, if you must know, I do love anything to do with Japan and the Shinto Mythology in general and recently, I've even begun to love psychological anime.”

“Really? Are we talking the dark psychological kind or the anime that focuses on the MC manipulating the people around them?”

“The former. Anyone that likes the latter is a cool person in my books, but only up to a certain point. Once you start making excuses for the flaws of a character, that's when I stop listening to what you say.”

“Hmm, can't agree more, especially when they try to get you to follow their opinion instead of having your own.”

“I know, right?! Jeez, it's like people don't understand the concept of no.”

“Oh, they do. They just don't care to learn about it.”

“Hah, reminds me of Riser too much to be honest. Maybe we can do to them what we did to Riser?” She asked with a smile and I chuckled as I shook my head.

“You and I both know most humans would cry before we can even get started on them.”

“Yeah, that's true and with my luck as a Gremory, that goes double for me.”

“I've never asked. What does that term even mean?” I asked and she raised an eyebrow at it before giggling and shrugging in response.

“I'm not surprised you did. It's just an old saying that originated during the time of the Great War. Essentially, my ancestor kept surviving the numerous battles of the war in the most stupid and dumbest ways and so everytime a Gremory gets hit with some good luck in the weirdest way, we call it the luck of a Gremory.”

“Such as?”

“Getting hit with an explosion next to me only for the rubble from the explosion to fall around me and protect me from the following explosion while also hiding me from the other soldiers. Also, the soldiers fall in such a way that I'm able to still get out whenever I want even if it wuold be a slight struggle.”

“…Sounds more like good luck than bad luck to be honest.”

“I know, but it is much more fun than one would think it to be.”

“Sure. So, I never asked. What are you going to do now that you're a free woman?” I asked with a smile while taking my order, Rias doing the same as she shrugged and placed hers down on the table as well.

“Not sure to be honest. For now, my eye is on either Psychology or Business since I am to inherit the family business.”

“I'd say Psychology. You've had to deal with three people that have a crap ton of baggage so you already have some experience in that aspect.” I answered with a shrug and she hummed before nodding.

“That does sound fun and I could also learn a few ways of letting someone feel bad for themselves.”

“Of course you would say that.” I muttered with a sigh, ignoring her giggle as I took a sip from my tea only to look back as she spoke up.

“What about you? What do you want to do when you're with high school?”

“Either teaching or going into a sport.”

“Ooh~ I thought you didn't want to partake in sports because it would be too easy?” She asked with a smile as she ate a bite of her pork and I chuckled as I nodded.

“I did, but now I realize that doing so may hurt my chances when I do decide to do something along the lines of that so…eh, why not dominate a few sports while I'm here?”

“And the teaching?”

“I'm already teaching others how to be better with their abilities. Why not apply that to my actual job? Also, I could mark a test in like ten seconds so there's no need to worry about it affecting my actual work.”

“Hmm, the handsome and polite teacher that's in a relationship with the beautiful yet stern businesswoman? I quite like the sound of that.”

“Are you already drawing up fantasies in your mind?” I asked with a deadpan stare before rolling my eyes as she giggled in response, deciding to not answer my question as she simply shrugged.

“A girl can dream, can she not?”

“Sure~ So, you've decided on the businesswoman route then?” She nodded at my response while taking a sip from her soda and I hummed as I finished off my tea.

“Yep! I'm already being trained to inherit the family business so why not go all the way and learn everything I can to prepare myself?”

“And I'm guessing Akeno's going to be the hot secretary at your side?”

“Without a doubt. Most of her usual clients are either a CEO or a board member of a company so she has experience in manipulating them to get what she wants.”

“Looks like they'll have to watch out for the Gremory demoness.” I spoke with a smirk and she rolled her eyes before I looked to her hand as it lit up, Rias looking a bit confused and concerned as she looked at it and back at me.

“It might be important.”

“Hah, you're right. Rias here.”

“Rias, it's Sona. We have an emergency.” Sona's voice came from the magic crest as I created and activated an Illusive Temptation, creating an illusion of us talking normally as Rias frowned.

“What do you mean an emergency? Is it the peerage?”

“No…I have two exorcists on Kuoh Academy grounds currently looking for you. Apparently, your Knight may have information on a target of theirs.”

“…Do you want to get this to go?” I asked while gesturing to our meals and she shook her head with a sigh while creating another crest below us, simply speaking one word before I found us being carried back through space-time once again.

“We're on our way.”

A/N: Some changes made to the story like Kalawarna having some knowledge and Kiba learning about Tosca as well as a short date between Rias and the Knight in question.

Next chapter, meeting the exorcists and getting jumped~!

Also, sorry for the late upload. I was going to upload this last night, but fell asleep half-way through and finished it this morning so I'm posting it while busy with other work.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!