High School DxD: Fox of Ill Omen

Rias

The noise in the dining room had barely settled after Ise's parents had left when I decided it was time to tell everyone.

I ushered everyone up into Ise’s room to talk privately and called Gasper to come over as well. 

We had all gathered for breakfast with Ise’s parents in the new dining room.

Everyone had ate together and discussed the renovations to the house.

It had been fun to watch Ise’s reactions to each detail about the house that his mother mentioned.

She explained that the house has six floors above ground now and three below ground as well.

The first floor had guest rooms, a large living room, the dining room, and kitchen.

The second floor we had already covered before but Ise still looked shocked at how loathe his room was compared to the rest of the house. 

The third floor had the study room, some storage rooms, and Isse’s parents room.

The fourth floor was where Xenovia, Akeno, Yuuto, and Koneko’s rooms were.

As well as a room for Gasper whenever he felt comfortable moving in and another empty room for my other [Rook] once I found them. 

The fifth and sixth floors held empty rooms for guests since they had no other use at the moment. 

The first underground floor had a gym / training room and a movie theatre

The second was an indoor pool and baths.

The third underground floor had a storehouse and library.

Ise had looked shell shocked after hearing everything.

Asia had looked excited and overwhelmed.

Yuuto had given me an amused look after hearing how large the house had become.

Xenovia and Koneko looked unbothered by all of it.

Yuki seemed like she had expected something ridiculous and wasn’t surprised when she was right.

Akeno looked pleased by the interesting reactions.

And now that we were in the privacy of Ise’s room I needed to move on to an important topic.

If I waited, Ise would only get distracted by the renovations again.

Or by the girls.

Or by the fact that Yuki’s room was directly opposite his.

Probably all three at once.

Once Gasper had arrived and everyone was seated comfortably on some sofas I had placed in Ise’s room, I set down the tea Akeno had made and began.

“I will need to return to the Underworld.”

Ise’s reaction was immediate.

“You’re returning to the Underworld!?”

His voice echoed through the room in perfect disbelief. 

Asia jumped slightly beside him, then turned toward me with wide eyes.

Xenovia looked interested rather than shocked. 

Koneko remained still, though I could tell from the angle of her gaze that she was listening closely.

Yuki sat with her cup in both hands, posture composed. 

Her eyes lifted to me at once.

She tensed slightly and watched me more intently. 

“Yes,” I said. “We’re returning to the Underworld.”

Ise let out a breath as he relaxed back into the couch.

“I thought you were leaving us behind to go to the underworld.”

He sat upright again.

“Wait, all of us are going to the Underworld?” He asked

I chuckled.

“Yes Ise we are all going to the Underworld. There are multiple reasons why. First, I head back every summer break and as my servants you’ll all come with me.”

“We are going to your home?!”

“Yes we will be staying with my family.” I glanced at Yuki. “And Onii-sama will not be staying there with us. We will be there until a few days before school begins again.

“The Gremory territory,” he said. “As in your territory. With your family. With actual noble devils.”

I picked up my cup and took another sip of tea.

“Ise, I am an actual noble devil.”

Asia tried not to laugh.

Yuki lowered her eyes to her tea.

I thought I caught the faintest movement at the corner of her mouth.

After last night, I was pleased to see even that much.

“Which brings me to my second reason, events. While we are there we will be participating in multiple formal events.”

That got a groan out of Ise.

Akeno chuckled at his reaction.

“The third reason,” I said, before the table could drift too far into nonsense, “is training.”

Ise slumped in his chair. “There it is.”

Xenovia nodded in satisfaction. “Good.”

“How are you the only one happy every time that word comes up?”

“Because training is useful.”

“Maybe for you, but I had things I wanted to do this summer.”

“Oh, like what Ise-kun?” Akeno asked while smiling.

“I was going to go to the pool and spend some time at the beach.” He replied sadly.

I had expected it to be something more lecherous knowing him.

“Well if it’s any consolation my home has multiple pools and a hot spring. I know it’s not the sea but it’s something right?” I asked.

He instantly looked interested.

Then he started to smile like he was thinking of something perverted.

“….Perverted delusions are not allowed” Koneko said while glaring at Ise with narrowed eyes.

Ise flinched out of his daydreams like he had been struck.

Gasper peeked out from his box.

“Senpai seems to be enjoying himself. You must have a vivid imagination.”

Ise frowned at him.

“I was imagining paradise Gasper! If you took the time to leave your box you could try to witness it yourself.”

“But the outside is scary! I’ll just stay in my box where it’s safe!”

Ise sighed at our hikikomori Vampire.

“Im excited to see Rias-Sam’s family. And it will be interesting to see her home as well, but I’m nervous about going to hell! Though I’m glad I’m not going there after dying!” Asia said.

I shook my head at her flustered panic.

“I’m excited as well.” Xenovia said. “I’ve always been interested in the Underworld as a servant of the Church. I had always viewed it as the hell our enemies crawled out of, but now that I’m a Devil myself it feels like a cruel irony to be heading there. I guess it suits me as a former servant of Heaven.”

Asia went to comfort Xenovia when she heard her gloomy voice.

she would see that there was nothing wrong with the Underworld when we arrived.

It was just hard for her being a former exorcist and someone raised by the Church.

I noticed that Koneko was looking off as we spoke about returning to the underworld.

It was understandable that she was upset at the thought of returning considering how she had ended up in my peerage in the first place.

If Onii-sama hadn’t intervened and allowed me to offer her a place in my peerage, I don’t know what the other Devils would have done to her.

Yuki had been silent as well.

It was not because she was upset with the plans to head to the underworld though.

She was watching Koneko after noticing her mood.

I don’t think she was aware of what had happened between Koneko, her sister, and her old master, and it wasn’t my place to share it if Koneko didn’t want me to yet.

Yuki shifted closer to Koneko on the couch and poured her more tea while pulling a plate of snacks closer. 

Koneko looked up at the cup and plate and then to her before accepting the cup and taking a sip.

Yuuto’s voice brought my attention back to the group, “There will also be a Young Devil gathering. That part should at least be interesting.”

Ise looked at her, then blinked as if he’d only just remembered that she, of course, knew the Underworld far better than he did.

“A Young Devil gathering?”

I nodded.

“Yes. It’s one of the reasons the timing works. You’ll be seeing a great deal more of the younger generation of devils than usual.”

He frowned. “That sounds like trouble.”

“In fairness,” Akeno said, “that does describe some of them.”

Asia shifted slightly beside him. “Will… will there be many people there?”

“Yes,” I said gently. “But you won’t be alone in any of it.”

That reassured her a little.

Only a little.

Xenovia asked, “Will Sirzechs Lucifer be present at the events?”

I answered carefully. “At some point, certainly.”

Yuki’s posture changed by the smallest possible fraction.

The table did not need that name lingering in the air longer than necessary, so I kept moving.

“We’ll be leaving soon,” I said. “That means everyone should finish preparing what they want to bring. The house is already set. What matters now is being ready to travel.”

As though summoned by the conversation, I heard movement from the hall a moment later.

Footsteps. 

Before I could say anything, the door to the dining room slid open.

Grinning, as if the entire morning belonged to him, was Azazel.

That certainly was good timing.

Ise straightened immediately. “Azazel-sensei?”

Azazel lifted one hand lazily in greeting. “Yo.”

“I didn’t even sense you before I heard you walking down the hall.” Yuuto said. 

Azazel let out a small chuckle.

“Thats because you need a lot more training.”

His entrance changed the air in the room at once.

Azazel never arrived without bringing a different kind of momentum with him.

Casual, shameless, and impossible to fully trust even when he was being helpful.

Which, unfortunately, somehow made him very effective with this group.

Azazel looked around the renovated room and gave a low whistle.

“Damn,” he said. “They really went all out with the house.”

Ise pointed at him at once. “You knew about this too!?”

Azazel grinned. “I’m the Governor of the Fallen Angels. It’s kind of hard to hide a massive construction crew appearing in the middle of the night from me.”

“How many people were at my house?!”

Azazel smiled instead of replying.

Akeno laughed softly.

Azazel looked at the table, then at me.

“So, you told ’em?”

“I was in the middle of it,” I said.

“Good, good.” He rested a hand briefly on Isse’s shoulder. “Then I’ll say the rest plainly so the pervert doesn’t get too many wrong ideas on his own.”

“I always get the right ideas!” Ise protested.

“That’s the single least convincing thing you’ve ever said.”

Which, from Azazel, was really saying something.

Asia turned toward him. “You’re coming with us too?”

Azazel nodded.

“Of course. Did you think I was gonna let you head off alone? Underworld politics and training season without supervision? I'm your teacher so of course I’ll be overseeing the group. ”

Azazel looked at the rest of us and shrugged.

“I’m coming along,” he said. “Partly because there’s business to keep an eye on, partly because I’ve got other trainees who still need work, and partly because if I leave you brats alone too long you’ll get neck deep into trouble”

Ise crossed his arms. “That feels like a really unfair estimate of us.”

Azazel gave him a flat look.

Ise paused.

“…Okay, maybe only a little unfair.”

“Much better.”

Then Azazel’s eyes shifted across the table and landed on Yuki.

Not in a threatening way.

But not empty, either.

He’d been too interested in her since the summit for me to mistake that look for casual.

“Yo, Omen-chan, your arm looks much better. We are matching again.” he said.

Yuki looked at him and inclined her head a fraction.

“Thank you, Azazel-sensei.”

Then his attention moved on.

Azazel took out a notepad from his pocket and flipped it open.

“Let’s see… the schedule for the Underworld starts with a visit to the Gremory estate and introductions of servants to the current head of the family. Next we have the annual meeting of the young Devils. Then there is a training session, which is where we will mainly see each other. While you're all at the Gremory estate I’ll have to meet with Sirzechs. Which will be a pain.” He sighed after he finished speaking.

Azazel had always acted like he found his responsibilities annoying.

It’s a surprise that the Fallen Angels have been able to do anything with him as a leader.

It’s most likely due to having multiple competent  subordinates. 

Fallen Angels would come to him for his duties and other concerns and he wave them off and order them to leave

But he’s been their leader since long before the Great War, so I guess there is no real issue. 

“Then, Azazel-sensei, since you’ll be joining us shall I make the travel reservations for you?”

He nodded.

“I would appreciate it. It all be my first time entering the Underworld from the Devil’s side. It should be interesting.”

Ise wanted details immediately.

“So when are we leaving?”

“Soon,” I said.

“How soon?”

“In the next few days. You’ll have plenty of time to get ready, Ise.”

Ise began to grumble while Asia tried to calm him and Akeno egged him on.

I glanced at Koneko.

She still remained quiet, more so than normal.

Whether it was because of her past with the Underworld or hearing about Yuki’s past, her mood seemed low.

She seemed to be in a better mood now that Yuki had shifted closer to her, but she still was acting off.

I decided to leave it alone for now.

Conversation turned naturally toward what to bring, what not to bring, and what sort of things awaited us in Gremory territory.

Ise got caught between excitement and dread as soon as he realized “Underworld summer” included both exciting new scenery and noble Devil interactions.

Asia listened earnestly, trying to prepare herself for an unfamiliar place.

Xenovia asked practical questions.

Yuuto answered some before I had to.

Akeno encouraged all of Ise’s worst imaginative mistakes just to watch him react.

Gasper peaked out of his box to ask Azazel or Ise questions.

Yuki and Koneko sat quietly together, watching the other conversations and commenting occasionally.

Azazel, of course, only made everything worse.

But it was a controlled chaos.

It looked like everyone was excited, or at least ready to go on the trip.

Then Ise asked a question that made me want to hit him.

“Umm, Yuki-san, I just remembered something. Azazel-sensei and Serafall-sama mentioned that your first [King] wiped out your village at your request. Was that true?”

“Ise!”

“What? I was going to ask yesterday when we were talking but we stopped talking for the night and I forgot until now!”

I was going to berate him for asking something insensitive but Yuki spoke before I could.

“It’s fine Rias-Buchou. I don’t mind telling all of you about it. There isn’t really much to say regarding what happened.”

I frowned.

“You don’t have to if you’re not ready to tell us Yuki.”

“Like I said, it’s fine.” She replied.

She seemed unphased by having more of her past brought up, but I couldn’t tell if she really wasn’t or was just forcing herself to appear calm.

“I’ve read the reports from what happened, and I know Orutho well enough to assume that they weren’t completely true.” Azazel said “It will be interesting to hear your side, Omen-chan.”

“I am curious about what happened as well,” Xenovia added.

Everyone turned to Yuki and waited for her to begin speaking.

She looked around the room before sighing lightly.

“So, I already told most of you about what happened before I was reincarnated as a Devil by Oruthou Raim. When I regained consciousness after being reincarnated I was in a hunting cabin that was close to my home village. Orutho explained that he had reincarnated me as a Devil after I had died and asked what I wanted from him as he would be my master from then on and Devil masters are supposed to fulfill a wish or desire of their servants in return for serving them.”

She pauses to take a sip of tea.

“I had seen him before then. A few times in the village as he passed through. It was a fairly remote place so we rarely got visitors. Especially ones that weren’t Youkai. I hadn’t known that he was a Devil until then though. So, I asked him for something I wanted. He told me that he couldn’t give me what I wanted and asked if I wanted anything else. After I told him no, he decided that he would take revenge for me instead. He left me alone in the cabin, and when he returned he told me that my village was destroyed.”

“He made you his servant and informed what you desired as a Devil? That’s disgraceful as a [King].” Akeno said.

Yuki turned to her.

“He did and since he had brought me back to life, and I had nowhere to go, I didn’t have much of a choice but to accept it.”

“H-How did you know he wasn’t lying about your village being gone? Asia asked. 

“Because he took me there. I didn’t have to wait very long and he wanted me to see that it was gone. When we arrived there were corpses scattered across the street and there wasn’t a single building left standing. One man had managed to destroy the people who had ruined my life in an hour.”

“If he was that strong, and was close enough to reincarnate you, why didn’t he help you and your family?” Ise asked with a frown.

Yuki sighed.

“I asked him the same thing,” she said. “While we were standing in the ruins of my village I angrily asked him why he hadn’t saved my parents. He explained that he had taken notice of me when passing through the village because he was interested in rare and unique beings. He had wanted to take me as a servant when I was older so he had been staying nearby after seeing my treatment in the village. Then after I went to the remains of my home and said goodbye to my parents, we left and I never went back.”

Yuki looked down into her tea.

The room was silent until she spoke again. 

“I later learned that he had claimed that I had asked him to destroy the village. Whether it was to avoid backlash from the Devil and Youkai side or to paint me in a negative light for some reason, I don’t know. I also learned that the real reason he destroyed the village was to keep me ‘unique’. He believed that our small intermingled community could have produced another Kitsune like myself, so he ensured that it wouldn’t happen. He was obsessed with rare and unique things to the point where he would slaughter a village on the chance that it would make one of his servants less rare in his eyes. It made me wonder if he had been responsible for or helped with the shift in the village’s perception of me, so that he could isolate me and make it easier to add me to his peerage. But I don’t think I’ll ever know for sure.”

“The reason for destroying the village does sound like Orutho.” Azazel said. “He was as interested in his ‘collection’ as I am in Sacred Gear. It caused us to cross paths enough that I was able to get to know him a bit. He had no interest in politics or the faction disputes. He only cared about his collection and expanding it.”

“But why do you say you’ll never know?” Yuuto asked.

“Y-yeah!” Gasper added. “C-Couldn’t you find him and ask yourself, Yuki-senpai? Maybe he would tell you the truth.”

Yuki looked at Azazel.

“Because he’s dead, isn’t he Azazel-sensei? You’ve been talking like he’s no longer around whenever you speak of him.”

We all looked at Azazel who wore an awkward grin.

“Yeah, you’re right. Orutho was killed in a conflict with some Fallen Angels over a human with an interesting Sacred Gear. He wouldn’t accept that we were going to take them into the Grigori and it led to a fight that ended with him and five fallen Angel’s dead. His peerage died with him or fled.” Azazel said.

Yuki looked up to the ceiling.

She seemed more tired after hearing that.

I don’t know if she had wanted revenge or some sort of closure of her own, but now she would never get it.

Koneko took her hand in her own and gave it a small squeeze before letting go.

Yuki glanced at her before looking back to Ise.

“Do you want to know anything more?” She asked.

“No. I’m sorry I brought it up all of a sudden.” He said.

Yuki gave a small tired smile.

“It’s fine Issei-san. I had meant to tell all of you about it yesterday, but we didn’t get to it before we stopped. And now I was able to learn something myself.”

She glanced at Azazel who gave her a small nod. 

Then Gasper nervously called out.

“Y-Yuki-senpai? What was it you asked for that Raim-san c-couldn’t give you?”

Yuki let out a tired sigh.

“I asked what any child would have in my position. I asked for my family to come back.”

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