(New Leaf) Solo-Interlude - Kiba (Patreon)

AN: Finished updating the final scene. It's not really plot important but I was dissatisfied with how rushed and subpar it was before, for characterization. Only the last scene was changed, so If you've already read this chapter previously, you can scroll down to the bottom if you want the read the new version of the scene. Like I said though, it's not "plot-affecting" important.

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Kuoh Gremory Mansion
(May 16th, day after the Rating Game)

Drinks were flowing, while food and snacks of all kinds kept rotating in and out to keep everything fresh for the partygoers, all made by Gremory family private chefs that Rias had commandeered for the celebration of their victory.

Unlike the semi-weekly breakfast get-togethers that Rias and Sona hosted for the two peerages, where the mood was relaxed and relatively calm for gathering more than a dozen people together, the energy at the mansion was chaotic and full of cheer. All around him, Kiba’s fellow devil classmates engaged in the merriment to their hearts’ content, himself included.

Despite having lost his final battle against Riser without amounting to anything more than a distraction, he had done his part in taking out three [Pawns] and keeping Riser busy long enough for the others to finish their own fights, arriving in time to keep up the pressure. Just that much was enough for him to be satisfied.

Even so, without the pressure to perform hanging over him now that it was over, Kiba could admit that the battle against Riser himself had been some of the most fun he’d had in quite a while.

There was something exhilarating about pitting your mind and body against an insurmountable challenge and seeing how far you could go, testing your skill and reactions and strategy against a monstrously powerful but straightforward opponent to see how much farther you still have to go. It was a bit different than fighting another swordsman, where it was skill against skill primarily. In a way, it was like fighting a boss in a video game. Even when they outclass you heavily, there’s always the possibility the player’s ingenuity and skill can thread the needle and win against overwhelming odds.

He wasn’t personally much for gaming himself, preferring to do something hands-on like cooking or training, but he did sometimes dabble on his own. You could only be friends with someone like Koneko for so long before picking some things up here and there from the gaming sessions she’d silently pressure you into joining.

“Get fucked, rotisserie chicken.”

“Pfft- bwahahahaha!”

“Kehahaha!”

Naruto’s and Saji’s laughs rang out from the other room, watching the Rating Game replay alongside Yura and Meguri in a watch party. Mixing in with their noise, the entire ground floor and outside patio was filled with music from a playlist set up by Koneko, the acting DJ. Akeno had sat beside the smaller girl, the two chatting quietly about something personal based on the rare hesitation of his [Queen], and the subdued motions of Koneko’s nekoshou traits. The miko had been acting noticeably off ever since the end of the Rating Game, so it was probably related.

Although, they’d been sitting together for a while now, and Akeno’s countenance had gradually brightened since the beginning of the interaction, so Kiba was willing to bet that whatever they were talking about was well on its way to being resolved– or at least the burden lessened.

Outside, a net had been set up across the yard, and Rias had begun playing a game of badminton against Sona, with Nimura watching and cheering on her [King] as a counter to Issei’s own loud yells of support.

Kiba smiled in amusement.

He gave it even odds both sides would start cheating with magic within five minutes.

Kiba made his way out onto the patio with Asia, Tsubaki, and Kusaka, the four of them having been talking about their hobbies prior to the spectacle of their [King]s’ competition starting.

“Kiba-kun,” Asia tugged on his sleeve, getting his attention. “Um, what are they playing? I’ve never seen it before, but it looks very similar to tennis or volleyball I think, even though I’ve never played either…”

“It’s called badminton,” he answered, looking at the shorter girl with a smile. “Would you like to try it out after Buchou and Kaichou are done? I can teach you.”

“We wouldn’t mind joining you, if you would like to make it a two versus two to play on the same team as Yuuto-kun,” Tsubaki added, volunteering herself and Kusaka as opponents.

Asia beamed up at them with a nod. “Mm!”

Kiba smiled gently at the girl’s excitement. The fact that she could find such joy in the small things in life after what she’d been through warmed his heart.

They weren’t related by blood like Asia’s cover identity at school claimed, but he would do everything in his power to protect her happiness anyway, as if they were siblings.

-------

(Friday, July 6th)

Kiba took swift steps backward, twisting his body to the side just in time to let a metallic crimson gauntlet shoot past him at a break-neck speed.

[Boost!]

The slightly echoing tone of Ddraig’s announcement registered in his ears after he’d reacted to the change in pace and dodged.

‘That’s the fourth!’ He thought with a competitive grin, dashing to the side to get out of arms-reach and warding off the immediate attempt at a grab with a pair of swipes at the offending limb, dual-wielding [Flame Sword] and a preternaturally sharp demonic sword he hadn’t given a name.

“Get back here, you Damn Handsome!!” Issei shouted as he gave chase, a distraught look of anger on his face as his Boost turned the spar’s odds in his favor. “Because of you, I won't get to play with Buchou’s naked oppai tonight!”

For the past month, they’d been sparring against each other with specific objectives in mind, beyond just winning. Issei was trying to use as few boosts as possible to beat Kiba, an opponent that massively out-skilled him, while Kiba was trying to force Issei to use as many boosts as possible before beating him, pushing his skill advantage as far as he could against an opponent that would inevitably become too strong for him to defeat if he didn’t end it quick enough.

In order to motivate Issei to improve as much as possible, Rias had set a goal for him, and if he met the conditions, she’d give him a “reward”.

If Issei won against Kiba while beating his personal best minimum boosts used, Rias would let him grope her. If he won, but didn’t beat his record– currently standing at four Boosts, or sixteen times his regular power and speed– then nothing would change. If Issei lost though, then Rias would wear pajamas to bed with him and Asia instead of sleeping in the nude as was usual for the trio.

All Kiba needed for motivation was the thrill of melee combat against someone who could push him to the limit. Naruto was his superior in pure skill, but the human wasn’t quite at a level of physical ability that that Kiba couldn’t handle just yet, being slower and weaker than Koneko going all out as well as not having access to the absurd energy-based abilities she used. Issei on the other hand, could boost his power and physical attributes to a level enough above the [Knight] that the skill gap stopped mattering, giving Kiba valuable experience against an opponent stronger than himself.

The spars usually became sort of like a game of chicken, or tug-of-war– at least, that was the case for the first half of each fight. 

Because Issei wanted his lewd rewards, he tended to delay boosting past the threshold for his record in an attempt to beat his record. Because the [Boosted Gear] drained stamina faster the more it doubled the users power, If Issei waited too long to boost himself higher, he’d run out of stamina and lose the fight no matter what he did. Kiba, wanting to push himself against Issei at his strongest, tended to dance around Issei and give him a lot of minor cuts early on, trying to avoid doing significant damage to his friend so as to burn through the [Pawn]’s stamina without diminishing his fighting capacity too much.

Kiba put on all of his speed and just barely managed to duck around a wild haymaker, and the next one, and the next one, constantly swiping h+is swords in for attempted cuts and deflections while relying on Issei’s style as an untrained brawler to weave the strikes too fast for him to maneuver his way through.

‘Just need a single moment!’ Kiba kept back-pedalling with a fierce grin until Issei had almost pushed him back up against the backyard’s hedge.

Despite Issei’s still-shoddy and amateur footwork, with all the training he’s been doing, three [Pawn] pieces-worth of his power unsealed, and stacking four Boosts, Issei was now faster than Kiba to the point that he was able to neutralize almost all of the slashes that should have had him dead to rights. Maneuvers and cuts that even Kiba would have been hard-pressed to avoid with perfect footwork and understanding of technique and positioning, were blocked by [Boosted Gear] or dodged by the slimmest of margins simply as a matter of that much higher speed and reflexes.

“Haahhhh!” Issei yelled out a battlecry with his next attack. Just as the [Pawn] chambered his fist for a lunging uppercut with his gauntlet, Kiba pulled his limbs close and did a pre-emptive pirouette move in an attempt to disorient and reposition around his opponent, swiping his [Flame Sword] mid-spin at the now-speeding fist to try redirecting it, while sending a small wave of fire up towards Issei’s face.

There was a loud clang as [Flame Sword]’s blade bounced off of [Boosted Gear], nudging the speeding fist just enough for Kiba to fully slip around it with his spin.

“Gahh!” At the same time, the brown-haired teen yelped as he reached up with his ungauntleted hand to block the fire, getting the limb burned in exchange for protecting his face.

‘There!’ Kiba extended the arm holding his nameless sharp sword, transferring the momentum of his spin into one powerful slash that cut through the air with zero resistance towards Issei’s back. Mid-swing, a flex and hefty expenditure of demonic power dismissed the relatively light sword construct, and created another in its place with all the same speed.

In an instant, Kiba went from swinging a standard, if exquisitely crafted, longsword, to swinging a massive two-handed demonic sword– slightly curved, with a blade as wide as his forearm and as long as he was tall– at Issei’s back, without any need for a windup or time to accelerate.

[Partner!]

Almost as if by reflex, or maybe instinct, Issei managed to twist around and throw his arms up in an “x” in front of him, [Boosted Gear] in front to take the brunt of [Destruction Sword]’s power.

Clang!

A massive blast of force that would leave a normal person’s ears ringing left his blade, kicking up dirt and throwing the Red Dragon Emperor back, sending him crashing through the hedges and shattering the tall wooden fence behind the bushes with a loud crack and clatter of falling planks.

Kiba stumbled for a second at the recoil, not used to using this particular weapon and even less used to using it in the manner he did. The amount of power it took to create, especially while forcing it to preserve the speed of a previous sword during its creation, left him feeling more drained than expected, but still good for another exchange or two.

“Heh…” Kiba let out a breath, not quite letting the exhale become a laugh while the match hadn’t been called yet, and reset his footing before jumping back several times to the other side of the yard. ‘It somehow slipped my mind; I’m not just up against Issei, Ddraig’s also my opponent!’

Despite the knowledge that he messed up what would probably be his last chance to win, he grinned excitedly and dismissed the cumbersome blade in exchange for the needle-like void of pitch black that was his [Impulse Stealer], holding it behind his back while he held [Flame Sword] in front of him in a ready position to prepare for what was coming.

‘And now–’

[Boost!]

‘–that’s five!’

Issei shot back through the fence right towards him almost faster than he could track, fist cocked back. 

He reacted as soon as he saw him, spraying a wave of fire between them that covered the ground, hiding [Impulse Stealer]’s piercing tendril shooting out of the ground to meet Issei head on. The wave of fire blotted out his vision of Issei, but that was fine; he could barely track him anyway, and Issei was attacking head on, assured in his overwhelming power and speed advantage at the moment.

Kiba’s eyes widened a split second later when a hole was blown through the side of his billowing fire in a blur, and [Impulse Stealer] didn’t shock his hand with redirected bio-electric nerve signals as expected.

Almost as if in slow motion, Kiba twisted to turn his head and look behind him.

With one hand planted into the earth and trails of dirt showing where his feet dug through the ground to stop his mad dash, Issei crouched behind him with a victorious fire in his eyes and a fist cocked at his side, coiled like a spring and about to explode forward in a lunge at Kiba’s unprotected back.

‘So this is the end,’ Kiba thought contently at a battle well fought. ‘It really is my loss.’

[Boosted Gear] disappeared in a flash of light, and Issei collapsed, faceplanting into the dirt bonelessly.

“... Eh?” Kiba blinked, caught flat-footed.

“Since Issei-kun is unable to fight anymore due to exhaustion, the win goes to Kiba-kun,” Rias announced from the sidelines with a smile, gesturing for a waiting Asia to go ahead and heal up the two fighters.

A piteous groan came from the teenage boy slumped on the ground.

“Don’t worry too much, Ise,” Rias said comfortingly to her downed servant, smiling mischievously. “I’m sure Asia-chan wouldn’t mind having more of your attention tonight than usual.”

“Eep!”

Kiba chuckled at the sound Asia made.

The end of that fight was a bit unsatisfying, and the win felt totally undeserved; watching the amusing antics of his three not-quite-dating friends was the perfect distraction.

-------

Hyoudou Residence
(Saturday, July 21st)

“Thank you again for having me, Mrs. Hyoudou.”

“No, no, the pleasure is all mine. And please, just Miki is fine.” The middle-aged woman gave a wide and pleasant smile that pulled on the slight wrinkles at the corners of her eyes as she walked into the living room with a steaming plate of chocolate chip cookies in her hands. “It’s so rare that my Issei brings over friends besides those other two boys, I was beginning to believe he didn’t have any others!” Hyoudou Miki chuckled, before waving one of her hands at her face with a smitten expression. “Of course, ever since our sweet darling Asia moved in with us, and that lovely Rias began coming over, my Issei’s been seeming to grow more and more into his own as an independent young man.”

Asia curled in on herself a bit, face reddening slightly embarrassment at the praise of her newly adoptive mother.

The housewife set the plate on the table in front of the couch where Kiba and Asia sat together, and walked over to a side table.

“These smell delicious, ma’am,” Kiba commented appreciatively. “Is this a personal recipe?”

“Thank you, feel free to have as many as you want, you two. And yes, it’s a recipe my mother taught me,” Issei’s mom said, grabbing something from the table and making her way back to the couch to join them on Asia’s side. “Now, you’ll likely be waiting another fifteen or twenty minutes before that boy is done cleaning up– heavens knows he likes taking his sweet time in the bath for his ‘private moments’– so now is the perfect time; would either of you like to see Issei’s baby pictures?”

Kiba wasn’t sure if it was normal for parents to allude to their children’s perversions so openly, or show their children’s friends their baby pictures during their first time meeting, but as he listened to Asia make her interest known, and then her reactions to the pictures of the admittedly innocent-looking kid-Issei, he couldn’t help but find the experience charming, and found himself laughing along with the two women as the mother recounted a particularly funny tale of their friend’s childhood.

-------

“Mom?!”

Issei came rushing down the stairs ten minutes later with his hair still damp, and Kiba saw a concerned look in his eyes that turned into alarm when they saw the photo album out.

“Oh, Ise, you’re back!” Asia called to him cheerfully. “Mother made cookies for us, and was just telling us about the time you and your old friend came home covered in mud and had to be cleaned with a hose. Little Issei was so cute!”

Kiba grinned, chuckling to himself as he watched the boy’s soul metaphorically leave his body from embarrassment.

Soon the boy joined them on Kiba’s side and Miki got up to make refreshments, leaving the swordsman in the middle.

“So Issei-kun–” The [Pawn] made his customary gagging sound at the way Kiba addressed him, to the [Knight]’s amusement. Normally he just let the Language ability carry his intent across with Japan’s honorific system, but after the first few times Issei reacted to his friendly calls, Kiba made it a point to deliberately use the honorific for the boy in his own speech, before the translation ability took effect. At this point, their friendship was more natural with friendly ribbing, rather than being mostly one-sided with Issei showing actual disgust.

Kiba continued without acknowledging the exaggerated reaction. “–What happened to this friend of yours? It seems a bit strange that this is the first time we’re hearing of them.”

“There’s not much to it, really,” Issei shrugged, glancing at one of the pictures with what looked like nostalgia. “Irina and I hung out a lot as kids, but then he and his parents had to move to England for work or something, and that was that. We were about ten or eleven the last time we saw each other, I think. We used to take turns sleeping over at each other's houses, even on school nights sometimes. We were pretty close.”

Issei reached over and turned the page as he spoke, and one photo in particular caught Kiba’s eye. In the picture, Issei and his friend Irina were sitting on the floor next to a closed fireplace with Gameboys in their hands. Mounted on the wall behind them–

‘Is that-?!’

–was a golden coat-of-arms and an ornate longsword. The weapon’s wide, white sheath was trimmed with gold and adorned with an emerald gem, while its hilt had an upward-curved golden crossguard, and an emerald-green lacquered handle.

The sword in the photo wasn’t an Excalibur, but it was undoubtedly a Holy Sword.

Images flashed before his eyes. His comrades, the other children test subjects. The researchers, faceless men in lab coats. That man, the head researcher and the one who orchestrated the entire thing, Valper Galilei; the man who ordered the deaths of himself and all of his first friends.

“-out of here, Isaiah!”

“Isaiah, run!”

The echoes of their voices and cries for him to escape as they choked on poisoned air rang in his mind, their words and faces distorted by the passage of time.

It felt like a wound on his soul that had never fully healed, only been taped shut and kept out of sight and mind by his new bonds, was pulled open again, stinging and raw.

“Isaiah!”

Rage flooded his veins, hot and fiery, stoked from long-ignored embers into a bonfire once more. The Holy Sword Project, Valper, the Excaliburs…

“–!”

Isaiah- no, Kiba snapped back to reality when Asia’s hand came to rest on his arm. He looked down to see Asia looking up at him with a concerned expression, and the flames of his hatred disappeared as if doused by cold water, leaving him feeling tired and numb. “Kiba?”

“Are you alright dude?” Issei added from the other side in confusion. “What happened, did you get dizzy or something?”

Kiba’s fists were clenching tightly, body tense and jittery from the fading adrenaline his past memories induced.

He took a slow, deep breath, and released it in a sigh, letting a portion of the tension in his body drain away with it.

“No,” he shook his head. “No, I’m…” ‘fine’ he was going to say, maybe try to wave off his distraction as just being lost in thought for a moment before excusing himself to the bathroom to collect himself.

Sitting between his two friends, hearing Issei’s straightforward concern and seeing Asia’s naked worry, he recalled the day they first met the former nun– the compassion and innocence that the girl continued showing even after being cast aside by the Church– and he couldn’t bring himself to lie to that same girl. If it was just Issei… probably, but Kiba got the feeling that the boy would have seen through the lie anyway.

The perverted [Pawn] could sometimes be unexpectedly perceptive about some things that he wouldn’t have guessed.

Kiba sighed again, and instead shook his head. “That sword, in the picture. It’s a Holy Sword.”

Before he could explain the significance of that fact, Miki’s footsteps approaching from the other room reminded him that it wasn’t exactly the best time and place to open up about his past.

“I’ll explain later tonight, in a more private location,” he said with a small, resigned smile, glancing over his shoulder towards the kitchen. Even without having managed to get anything off his chest yet, his mind already felt calmer now that the decision had been made.

“Alright, if you say so.” Issei shrugged, accepting the [Knight]’s words without a second thought.

Asia was visibly slower to put her concern to the side, but after Miki arrived to set down the tray of drinks and sat down across from them, they were quick to settle into a warm atmosphere of cookies and chatter.

-------

Sitri Peerage Home
(Late Monday night, July 30th)

Kiba stepped through the property’s active defensive barrier with Issei right by his side, the two having been in the general area for their patrol already when the meeting was called. He clenched his fists so hard that if he didn’t keep his nails trimmed, he was sure there would have been blood.

They’d both received texts as part of a massive group message with all the members from both peerages, informing everyone of the basics of the meeting; that the Fallen bad actors were likely tied to the Grigori cadre Kokabiel, the Fallen in question were in possession of multiple Excalibur fragments, and that the Church had sent in a pair of young exorcists to retrieve or destroy said Holy Swords.

It took all of his self control and some of Issei’s simple logic to not go running off searching for the blades himself to destroy. After all, as Issei said; why not work together with the exorcists if they shared the same goal?

While a part of Kiba wanted to refuse working with the Church on principle, the bigger part recognized that there was almost zero chance that two random exorcists would deserve any of the blame for the Holy Sword Project or Asia’s excommunication. He didn’t have to be friendly to them, but it would be self-destructive to run off half-cocked in his quest for vengeance without at least learning what he could from them.

Kiba took a calming breath and unclenched his hands as they approached the front door, and they walked inside.

The two made their way towards the living room where all the sounds of their friends' voices were concentrated. When they entered the main lounge, most of the expected familiar faces were there, minus Naruto and plus three unfamiliar girls. One of them, Kiba somewhat recognized as the weird blonde lolita Fallen that threw her team under the bus for amnesty, while the other two were obviously the exorcists mentioned over text, the blue haired girl currently receiving healing from Asia.

What he didn’t expect was for one of the two to somehow look vaguely familiar. Even though he was one hundred percent certain he had never met the twin-tailed girl, something about her light brown hair and purple eyes seemed like he had seen it before, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. For some reason, she also seemed to perk up when they entered, her eyes tracking Issei with a cheerful smile and a wave.

Issei gave an awkward wave back with a confused expression that had the girl pouting, before they both moved to stand behind the couch that Rias and Sona were sitting on, facing the guests. Issei chose to lean back against the wall.

The living room was big, but it wasn’t “comfortably seat two peerages” big, so while the two [King]s, the three guests, Asia, and a few others were sitting down, everyone else was standing around the edges of the room

“It seems everyone’s here. Good. We have a problem.” Sona cut to the chase, standing up from her seat to address everyone. “As you have all been informed through text, the Fallen who have been agitating the Principal Clans and flagrantly disregarding the diplomatic ceasefire by flouting our authority over Kuoh, are in possession of multiple Excalibur fragments. Two at the absolute minimum, likely four at a near certainty.” She gestured to the two girls seated across from her and Rias. “These two exorcists were sent by the Church to attempt to retrieve, or failing that, destroy the blades to deny their enemies access.”

She proceeded to explain the timeline of three separate Fallen attacks within less than an hour period, and Kiba felt his expression tighten and fists clench in barely suppressed hatred at the mention of the Excaliburs being in town, something that didn’t go missed by the blue-haired girl that Asia had finished healing. It was explained that Naruto managed to defeat an ambusher and confiscate Excalibur Transparency, and that shortly after was attacked again at the Gremory mansion at the same time as the Exorcists were being ambushed, before he took Transparency and disappeared to keep it away from the Fallen.

Kiba’s did raise involuntarily though when it was mentioned that Naruto defeated the flying invisible swordsman who ambushed him. He honestly didn’t think anyone in the room aside from maybe Koneko or Akeno would have had the skills to do that, and even then that was only a maybe, depending on if they managed to sense something off before being assassinated effectively out of nowhere.

‘Are they hiding something?’ He wondered while eyeing Koneko and his [King] curiously, before changing his focus. ‘From which one?’ His gaze flickered between the tiny Fallen in the room– who was boredly kicking her legs back and forth– and the two Church exorcists. 

‘Ah… of course.’ He mentally deadpanned, having forgotten just how odd and docile that particular Fallen was. There was no way she was a mole. Whatever was being hidden, it was being hidden from the Christian girls.

The fact that the two exorcists did their jobs worse than a ‘civilian’ human– losing both of their own Excaliburs within hours of entering the town– wasn’t lost on the group, causing the blue-haired one to glare back at him when he smirked directly at her.

There was a brief mention of strange, seemingly-mindless chimeric Devils that attacked Akeno, how they seemed to be attracted to targets with unique abilities, and how a significant portion of the frankly absurd amount of ‘Strays’ they’d encountered recently seemed to match certain behaviors and observations, but it was mostly just a footnote.

“These Fallen,” Rias took over after Sona caught everyone up and sat down, “have all been observed wearing the same or similar uniforms, confirmed by Mittelt here to belong to a sub-sect of the Grigori answering only to the eight-winged Cadre, Kokabiel of the Stars. The Five Principal Clans are in agreement; we all know our shared enemy now, and we have a rough idea of their combat strength. All that’s left is to find their base of operations and go on the offensive.”

Rias crossed her arms under her bust and began tapping a finger on her bicep. “We’re still trying to get into contact with both the Underworld and our Grigori liaison to see what we can expect in terms of reinforcements and reprisals from both sides now that a conflict is guaranteed, but something in the dimensional gap is interfering with the connection between worlds, so it’s been slow-going getting through the official channels.” She stopped tapping. “Regardless; we believe that between our own strength, the mobilizing Clans sorcerers, and promised support from the Kyoto Youkai faction should the situation develop further, it’s unlikely we’ll need the reinforcements if Kokabiel's men are acting against the greater Grigori’s interests as we think they are.”

“We could just call your brother, you know,” Sona cut in with a chiding tone. “Even with the interference, it would only take a couple tries to get the most of the message across.”

“We could also just call your sister,” Rias shot back. “But I don’t see you doing that, so that must mean you agree with the assessment. Besides, if we do need reinforcements, we’ll have them a day or two from now at the latest, at this rate. There’s no  reason not to do things by the book in this case.”

Sona scoffed. “Using all your available resources is just as important for good leadership as it is to follow the rules.” Notably, she didn’t actually refute Rias’s point.

“Now, as for our strategy, we’ll need to make sure the search teams are all well rounded to make sure everyone is prepared for anything. Xenovia, Irina, would you two mind being split up?”

Kiba was almost as confused as Issei was at the name drop when the boy’s jaw dropped beside him.

“HAHHHHH?!?!”

Kiba and Issei were the last two to arrive, and no one had remembered to introduce them.

-------

In order to make sure each team had at least one member each capable of contending with with the known abilities of the missing Excaliburs, as well as doing effective searching and tracking, teams were split to have at least one physical powerhouse capable of tanking hits from Mimic if needed, one speedster or swordsman capable of keeping Destruction or Rapidly busy, one person capable of fighting through Nightmare’s illusions, and one person capable of ranged reconnaissance and searching.

Some people counted for multiple roles, like Koneko who could arguably count for all four, or Issei and Saji who could only really fill two roles, both thanks to their [Pawn]s’ Promotion ability.

In the end, the two exorcists agreed to being split up, mostly due to the fact that the definitely-a-girl Irina Shidou was in need of a weapon– something that Kiba could most easily provide– and having three swordsmen on the same team would be extremely lopsided. While he and Issei were paired with Irina and Tsubaki, Xenovia was paired together with Koneko and Asia.

“Ise!” As everyone was breaking into their groups before heading out for the first search, Irina jogged over to where he, Issei, and Tsubaki were waiting for her. The twin-tailed girl paused, turned around, and bowed deeply in Asia’s direction. “Ah, thank you once again for healing me, Miss Argento!” She called out, giving a final wave as she straightened, which Asia returned with a wave of her own and a smile. Xenovia watched the interaction aloofly, looking like she might say something, but she simply scoffed and turned her head away when Koneko stared up at her menacingly.

Kiba didn’t know what to make of the odd behavior. ‘I wonder what that was about?’

Irina turned on her heel with a noticeable jiggle, still in her skin-tight bodysuit.

“You– and the bounce on those– but–!” Issei stammered with his head tilted slightly down, eyes locked onto chest-level.

She finished approaching the still-stunned Issei much more calmly with a smile on her face. “It’s been a while since we last saw each other, huh?” She mused with obvious nostalgia. “To think my best friend would’ve become a heathenous Devil in the years I’ve been gone…” Her smile turned somewhat melancholic and apologetic. “Sorry I wasn’t able to keep in touch with you all, but my training with the church has had me bouncing around the continent, so it’s been difficult to send and receive mail consistently. How’s Aunty Miki been?”

Issei straightened, his expression unconsciously slipping into an amicable smile. “Mom’s been doing pretty well. Recently, she actually got into going with some other women to– Wait a minute, I won’t be distracted!!!” His confusion came back in full force. “You have boobs! Fantastic shape, by the way- You mean to tell me you’re Irina?! That Irina Shidou– my childhood friend that I used to have sleepovers with and wrestle in the mud– has been a girl this whole time?!?!”

“Eh, what was that about my boobs…?” Irina’s head tilted, before an expression of astonishment overcame her suspicious stare. “Wait, you mean you thought I was a boy? Then that means that night we- when I k-k-...” Her face turned red and she shook her head.

Kiba glanced at Tsubaki, and she glanced back. They shared an amused look for a moment before going back to watching the reunited duo, who were still animatedly getting reacquainted with each other’s changes in looks and personality.

“Aren’t you going to interrupt them so we can move on with the search?” He asked.

“He’s your peerage member, thus I believe you should handle it.”

“Ah, but as a [Queen] and the team’s highest ranking member, wouldn’t it fall on you as team leader to make sure the party is ready?”

“Of course. And as team leader, I have decided you are best suited to do so.”

Kiba chuckled. “Touché.”

“You should probably get to it,” Tsubaki sounded amused, hiding her mouth behind a palm as she glanced his way again.

As amusing as the sight of the two childhood friends reunion was, Kiba knew Tsubaki was right.

It was time to get back to work.