chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD.

Chapter XXIV – Comforting An Heiress

'This is such a drag.' A young man with blonde hair, green eyes, and dressed in priest clothes said to himself as he walked through the halls of the Vatican. This young fellow is Dulio Gesualdo, an exorcist and a reincarnated Angel under the Archangel Michael's employ as his Joker.

He was very much enjoying his travels to find the most delectable cuisines the world has to offer which landed him in Brazil, and then this happens. Being called back to this place under the direct orders of Uriel and Raphael.

Do you know how much time he spent in that plane when he should be sampling foods?

As much as he wanted not to, Dulio had no choice in the matter. That, and they threatened to lock him up and only feed him mediocre meals. He couldn't risk that one.

The Joker let out a bored sigh. Contrary to popular belief, he was not travelling the world in search of the most mouthwatering meals just for his own personal enjoyment…well…maybe just a little. But real reason was that he could learn how to make them and bring them back to the children in the orphanage.

An orphan himself, he knew all too well what it was like to grow up without the love and care of a parent. Dulio just wants them to experience at least one good thing life has to offer.

But he won't be able to do that now.

Eventually, he came upon the main church and was briefly surprised at the amount of angels and priests moving about. What happened here?

His curiosity got the better of him and the Joker flagged down a passing priest. "Excuse me, sir, but what happened here?"

The priest recognized that this was Dulio and bowed his head in respect. "You haven't heard? A group of Fallen Angels broke in and stole all but two of the Excalibur swords."

At that, Dulio's eyes widened in surprise. Now he knew just why he was called back, this was deadly serious. Nodding his thanks, he raced into the church.

He cut corners, passing through bewildered Angels and priests alike before he entered the inner most parts of the church exclusively used for Angels.

"Sir, the Archangels Raphael and Uriel are waiting for you inside." A guard said as he opened the door.

"Thanks." With that, he entered the chambers to find out what the hell was going on here.

Inside was Raphael and Uriel, they were conversing on something that the Joker couldn't make out, and decided to make himself known. "Lords Raphael and Uriel, what's going on here? Why am I hearing Fallen Angels stole the Excalibur swords?"

The two Archangels looked at him before sighing. "You heard right, Dulio. The Excalibur swords were stolen right here." Uriel said before nodding towards the chairs. "Take a seat, we have much to discuss."

Dulio did what he was told and made himself comfortable. Raphael passed him a folder containing a copy of the reports and the Joker began sifting through it.

"About forty six hours ago, a group of Fallen Angels somehow managed to breach our defenses and stole most of the swords and then just vanished without a trace."

"But how did they manage that?" Dulio asked. "We should've detected them the moment they entered the city."

Raphael and Uriel nodded. "Yes, that's true, but they had some…help." Uriel muttered and at the same time, Dulio found out what that help was.

The Joker was a kind, carefree, and compassionate fellow; he rarely got angry with anyone. But this one truly made his blood boil.

"Valper Galilei." He growled, glaring the photo of that monster. Oh, Dulio knew of this psycho – how the hell he became a priest was lost to the Strongest Exorcist. When he found out what Valper was doing some horrific experiments on children, he was the first to volunteer to end it.

In fact, Dulio led the team to destroy any and all traces of that accursed project and to rescue the children. Unfortunately, only one of those kids survived and Valper was pronounced dead even though he would've gladly run that maniac through with his sword.

It pained Dulio to think that this was done in the name of their God…and it pained him even more that he had done nothing to stop this from the beginning. At first, he did not want to subject the children to experiments, but Valper said that they were only taking blood samples and the like.

It was hard to swallow, but Dulio stayed his hand for now. And for a while, the reports being given to them proved satisfactory, the children were being treated nicely and humanely.

But they found out too late that they were being treated like animals. The Joker wept and prayed for forgiveness for a month for his inaction and for the souls of those children to find peace.

"Yes, we believe that he had joined up with the Fallen Angels to help them steal the blades." Raphael said. "Initially, we believed that this was the work of the Devils and Fallen Angels, but we dismissed those ideas."

Uriel nodded. "Devils could never enter here because of the residual Holy energy and even if they did, merely holding the sword would harm them. Governor General Azazel has stated numerous times that war was not in his interest."

Dulio hummed in thought. "So...this could be a set up or something. A rogue group maybe?" It was the only explanation he could come up with the given facts.

The two Archangels nodded their heads in agreement. "Our thoughts as well."

"What do you want me to do?"

"The truce between the Three Great Powers is unstable at best. We can't just go accusing someone without definitive proof or we risk another war. But Japan is our only lead at this point." Uriel handed the Joker the note that was in a plastic bag. "Our men managed to track them to a safe house and immediately stormed it. Unfortunately, they were long gone and this was the only thing left."

The note was written in Japanese, that much Dulio can confirm. So it was more than likely the culprits were heading there as well…but this doesn't feel right. Why leave something that basically says, 'we're here, come and get us'?

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that they want us there."

"Yes, there seems to be something going on there. Specifically Kuoh Academy, the territory of Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, the younger sisters of Lucifer and Leviathan."

'Yep, this is definitely a set up.' The Joker mused to himself. Someone was trying to pin this on the Devils, but why, and more importantly, who? "So you want me to go to Kuoh?"

Raphael nodded. "We need you to establish contact with the two heiresses and warn them that someone is trying to provoke further conflict between us. We have already contacted a local priest to investigate, he'll report to you what he finds when you get there. And if you can retrieve the swords, you take that chance."

"For this, you'll bring the two remaining Sword Users with you as back up." Uriel saw the sour look on Dulio's face and rolled his eyes. "I know you like to work and travel alone, but you'll need all the help you can get. Xenovia and Irina are two promising swordswomen, I'm sure they'll be a great help."

Dulio wanted to argue that those two were newbies and borderline fanatical in their devotion to God at this stage. If anything, they'll see the Devils in Kuoh as the enemy and make things even worse.

But it looked like these two had already made up their damn minds.

So with a resigned sigh, Dulio nodded. "All right, where are those two so I can get the briefing over with?"

"They should arrive within the hour. You have your orders, Dulio, and for God sake, don't slack off." Raphael glared at the glutton in front of him. "There's too much at stake here."

"I understand, chief." Dulio said with a chuckle.

"Good. Once Xenovia and Irina have arrived, you get them up to speed. The three of you leave in two days." The Joker gave an understanding nod before he was dismissed.

Once he was outside, Dulio let out a sigh. The Holy Swords stolen, someone trying to pin this on the Devils…man, he shouldn't have left Brazil

It was the end of the school day and the raven haired teen was not particularly happy how this day had gone.

Kyuren was walking back to his car to go home with a small frown adorning his face. Today, Tsubaki, Saji and the rest of them were present which was a good thing, but Sona herself was not there.

When he asked about what was going on with her, Tsubaki just said that her king was not feeling well and could not attend today. But the way she said it...Kyuren was actually getting worried about his partner.

She's been gone for three days, maybe something caught up to her or something.

Well, he could go over there and see for himself. Kyuren entertained that thought for a little while before deciding against it. Whatever it was, the raven haired teen wouldn't interfere unless he was asked.

It was probably a personal matter and Kyuren respected his partner's privacy.

Letting out a silent sigh, he clicked on his keys and entered his car. If Sona needs help, then he'll do what he can, but for now, it was time to go home.

RING! RING!

"Hmm?" Who could be calling him at this time? Reaching for his phone, he raised a brow in mild interest when he saw that the Sitri heiress was calling him.

'Strange, but let's see what she wants.' He said to himself before he answered the call. "Ms. Shitori, what can I do for you?"

"Hey, Kyuren...can you come to my home for a minute."

The raven haired teen furrowed his brow for Sona sounded a little gloomy. "Of course, but are you all right? You sounded like there's something bothering you." He asked.

"I...I just want to talk...how soon can you get here?"

Okay, something was definitely bothering her. Well, comforting someone was never his strong suit, but he was confident he could pull it off...hopefully. "I'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Thank you."

Sona sighed as she laid her phone down on her night stand before onto her bed. She didn't have the stomach to go to school today because of the things that were on her mind.

Now while she couldn't go, the Sitri heiress ordered her own peerage to attend; this was her problem and not theirs, they should not be help back by her own misfortunes.

She didn't know what Rias was doing, but Sona could hazard a guess that she was also home.

There was no denying it, Sona was distressed. Once again, her family reprimanded her for her stupidity in handling the Fallen Angel situation and decided that she needed to be punished.

And that is what has her so bothered.

The Sitri heiress had a strong will. Few things could actually make her falter...but what her family said shook her to the core. For all of her self-control, Sona could only hold the wave of emotions for so long before she cracks.

She needed someone to talk to...and the only one who she trusts enough for that would be Rias, Tsubaki...and Kyuren. Rias was out because she had her own problems, and Sona didn't want her own peerage to worry.

That only leaves her partner, Kyuren.

At first, she was hesitant in asking him to talk to her. She didn't want to trouble him with her own problems and thought that Kyuren had already given them enough.

The Satans know she tried, but she couldn't help it anymore and she called him. Asking for him to come here and talk to her. And thanks to her lucky stars that he agreed.

"What am I doing...? I shouldn't even be this troubled..." She said mostly to herself. This was her burden to carry and no one else's.

Deciding that she needed to do something to take her mind off it, Sona rose from her bed and made her way to the workshop. Maybe she could tinker with the armor or something.

Kyuren arrived at Sona's mansion and made his way to the door and knocked on it. Quite frankly, he was curious and a little bit concerned about what's got Sona bothered.

Has there been a change of plans? Have the Devils grown a backbone and finally decided to hunt down Kokabiel? Well, that's not the best choice because of various and obvious reasons even if the Fallen Angels denounced Kokabiel as one of their own.

But that couldn't be it. If it was, then good. She doesn't have to risk her life as bait and he won't be needed to protect her.

No, it had to be something...something personal.

Knocking on the door three times, Kyuren waited for a few seconds before a servant came and opened the door for him. "Welcome, Kyuren. Lady Sona is expecting you in the workshop." He informed the raven haired teen.

"Thank you. But what is going on? When she asked for me to come, she sounded...troubled."

The servant sighed. "It is not my place to say, sir. But I can tell you it is because of her family."

Kyuren furrowed his brow but nodded all the same and made his way to the workshop to check on his partner. Punching in the code, the mighty human entered and saw that Sona was tinkering with the armor.

"Nothing's broken, I hope." Kyuren called out, gingerly walking towards the Sitri heiress.

She stiffened a little before going back to her work. "Not at all. I just wanted to familiarize myself with the armor." She said, not looking back at her partner. "You had a safe trip?"

"Of course." He chuckled amusedly before stopping a few steps from her. "You called me here to talk to you. What is it?" He already had the general idea thanks to the servant, he just wants Sona to say it for herself.

Sona stopped her tinkering and sighed. Of course, she did call him here to talk. But she didn't know if she could really do it. This was still her problem after all, and Kyuren didn't deserve to listen to her grievances.

She stood up and turned towards him. "Yes, I...I did."

"Then what is it?"

The Sitri heiress averted her eyes from him and bit her lip. Could she really go through with this? "I...I just..." At the last moment, Sona decided that Kyuren didn't need to hear this. "You know what, there's nothing to talk about. I'm sorry you had to come all this was. You can go if you want."

She was about to leave the workshop when she felt something grab her hand.

The moment Kyuren saw that Sona acted like this, he knew something was up. The hesitation, the minute fidgeting...something was definitely bothering her.

When she said that there was nothing to talk about and was about to leave, the raven haired teen stopped her by holding onto her soft and smooth hand. 'Focus, you idiot.'

"Sona, you can tell me." He spoke gently to her. The Sitri heiress shook her head and tried to pull her hand away.

"No, you don't need to hear it. It's not your problem, it's mine." She tried harder to pull away from him, to get away from the one man her feelings are getting confused over. "I...I don't want you to worry about me."

Kyuren frowned and gently held on to her, taking care not to accidentally crush her hand. "Remember, Sona, I said I would watch your back until this is over. And I keep my word."

Sona, still with her back at Kyuren, bowed her head as tears slowly formed in her eyes. "But...But this has nothing to do with you..."

"Be that as it may..." He let go of her hand and waited on how she responded. "Sometimes I do know compassion."

The Sitri heiress let out a silent shaky breath and bowed her head. Slowly, she turned towards him and moved closer until they were only a few inches apart. Her lips quivered as the emotions she so desperately tried to suppress was starting to break through.

Kyuren watched her with concerned eyes before she did something that surprised him…and probably her as well.

Sona leaned forward and laid her head on his chest and began to sob softly. Kyuren had no idea how was he going to approach this; like he said, he had no experience in comforting someone, he usually leaves that to someone else.

'C'mon, use that brain of yours. What the fuck should I do?' He thought to himself, wracking his brain to find out what to do in this very delicate situation.

Kyuren looked around, trying to figure out what to do here, but he was stumped. And that rarely happened to him

Deciding to just go on what he saw on those cheesy commercials, the raven haired teen tentatively gave her a hug. He half expected Sona to shrug them off, but instead, she welcomed them and seemed to bury herself deeper into his chest.

With nothing left to do, Kyuren just kept her close and let her sob until she was ready.

After a few more minutes, the Sitri heiress managed to calm herself down and moved away from him who let go of her.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Sona said, turning away from Kyuren while wiping her eyes. She felt so embarrassed that she lost control of herself and broke down right in front of him.

What's worse, she essentially cried on his chest like some damsel in distress. How humiliating…

"Don't be. Now you mind telling me what's got you all like this?" Kyuren had no problem with that, but he was very interested to know what has gotten her like this.

The Sitri heiress sighed before motioning for him to join her to sit at the couch.

"You know what happened when I said that the reason you may have gotten the information from the Fallen Angels. I had to tell my parents about what happened months ago…the situation with the nun."

'Ah…of course.' The raven haired teen mumbled to himself.

"As you can imagine…my family didn't like that I almost risked the fragile peace by not reporting it."

Kyuren hummed. "Well, you can't really blame them for being upset."

At that, his partner nodded. "And I don't. It is mine and Rias' fault to begin with. We should have sent it up the chain, but we didn't." Even now, Sona regretted her decision of leaving it to Rias.

The raven haired teen opted to remain silent for now and just nodded. He would let her speak what she needed before he would give her his own.

"My family demanded that I come back to our home in the Underworld and gave me a stern lecture. To which I completely understand, but…they decided to give me severe conditions."

At that, the mighty human raised a curious brow. What could these…severe conditions be.

"As punishment for my incompetence, my parents ordered me to report everything I find suspicious…"

'Okay, sounds reasonable to me.'

"But if I commit another stunt like I did before and endanger myself, my peerage, or any other…my family would take me back to the Underworld."

'…Alright, a fair condition-'

"And I would be married off regardless of my wishes. Even my sister threatened to not support my school." Sona said, lowering her head.

'I take it back.' So that's what got her so bothered. Her parents were very displeased with Sona's rashness and mistakes that more than likely could break the fragile truce. Kyuren could not fault them for that because he would have done the same thing if his child had done something that stupid.

But…for them to basically threaten to take away his partner's chance at happiness and her dream…that was a bit too harsh.

"Well…you have to admit, you must have seen it coming." Kyuren began and Sona lowered her head further in sorrow. Way to go, Kyuren. "But you must understand that what you did put your life in danger, any parent or sibling would be extremely worried for you. At least they care about you, but those conditions…even I must admit that those are pretty harsh."

The Sitri heiress just sighed in a depressed manner. "I…I just don't know what to do. I don't want my dream to be taken away from me…and I don't want to be stripped of my chance at happiness."

Kyuren frowned, not used to seeing the usually stoic Sona Sitri like this. He had to do something to cheer her up…but what?! He could tickle her, that always – nah, she'd kill him for that.

"Maybe…you just do what your parents want." He said, moving closer to her. "You are their youngest daughter, of course they would be just looking out for your safety. That's means that you mean a great deal to them and love you very much."

"Then why did they threaten me to take away my freedom and dream?" She challenged, giving her partner a teary eyed glare.

"Put yourself in their shoes and find out your own daughter had acted the way you did and almost started a war. What would you do?" Kyuren threw the question back right at her.

Sona opened her mouth to rebut but no words came out. She already knew the answer to that, she would've done the same exact thing her parents did. The life of her child was at stake, of course the Sitri heiress would've done anything to ensure her safety.

"I…understand your reasoning." She whispered in agreement. Her family was only looking out for her safety after the stunt she pulled. "Thank you, Kyuren. I feel a little bit better." She gave him a grateful smile.

Hearing this, the raven haired teen released a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

"What?"

"Truthfully, I had no fucking idea what I was going to do when you started crying. I just did what those cheesy romance commercial do and winged it."

Sona let out a small laugh. "Well, you did admirably."

Kyuren chuckled. "Good, because I had nothing left to say at that point. Comforting someone was never my strong suit."

"I'm sure you'll get there if you managed to cheer me up." The Sitri heiress chuckled as well before they enjoyed a peaceful silence between the two of them.

Sona felt a whole lot better compared to before thanks to her partner. For someone who has supposedly suck at comforting someone, he actually did all right.

Kyuren had already grown on her, but if this keeps going…she may end up liking him even more.

She knows it wasn't right, that her starting something with the raven haired teen. But why is she starting to like the idea of being in a relationship with him?

The Sitri heiress cast a sideways glance and saw him silently whistling a tune. It as adorable if that was an extremely powerful human with brain to match his strength.

'This is wrong…I shouldn't be thinking about this.' If so, then why does her lips show a small smile?

"Well, I got to go, Sona." Kyuren stood up as did his partner.

"All right. But you could join me for some snacks." She suggested, silently hoping that he would agree. Sadly, he shook his head.

"Normally that would definitely work." He gave her a smile. "But Pip gets quite cranky when she has no one to torment so…" He shrugged.

Sona returned his smile with her own. "Okay, have a safe trip, Kyuren."

"Aw, you do care."

"Just go, you dolt." Sona rolled her eyes when he laughed but thankfully, he didn't notice the minute blush on her cheeks.

When he was out of the door, the Sitri heiress could only smile. Her mood was greatly improved by her partner and she was happy about that. She knew that a relationship between them was wrong, but if this keeps up…

She may welcome it all the same.

It was already dark outside when Kyuren was driving back to his penthouse after coming to Sona's home.

Why was it dark out already? Well, he decided to treat himself to some sushi before going home. Time flies by when you're enjoying yourself.

Don't tell Pip.

Anyway, he was leisurely cruising down a small bridge and it was pouring outside. Another thing he didn't notice that there was a small monsoon coming in, but he didn't need to worry about that.

He was listening to some ACDC on his MP3 player when just when he was halfway across the bridge, something at the corner of his eyes grabbed his attention.

Turning to his right, he saw some big dog with something in its mouth jump into the raging waters below. 'Either that dog has a death wish or he hoped he could get across…doubtful.'

The gap between the banks was 8 to 10 meters apart, the animal had no chance.

He looked down and saw that the dog was struggling to keep its head up and try to make it to shore. It would clearly die if it could not manage to make it to shore or no one helped.

It was time to make a decision. Should he save the animal or just go on his way?

Well, it wasn't like he would be judged or anything. This was only an animal after all. But there was one problem…he had a soft spot for animals due in no small part of his cat. That and his conscience would never let him live it down.

'Argh, forbanne min myke siden.' ('Argh, curse my soft side.') He grumbled to himself before he ripped off his scarf and took off his overcoat, and tossed them to the back seat.

He opened his door and stepped out into the rain and leaned over the railing. The dog was still struggling to keep his nose up, but he was getting weaker by the second. He looked down and saw that there an angled support there, almost like a slide.

After doing some quick calculations, Kyuren concluded that the dog would pass through that support just close enough for him to grab it.

Making his decision, he jumped the off railing and slid down the support, and just before he could touch the water, he dug his fingers into the concrete, stopping him.

He timed the dog's approach and it was coming in fast. Ten feet, five feet. The raven haired teen lunged his arm forward and managed to grab the dog by its neck fur. With the animal in his grasp, the raven haired teen hoisted it up his shoulders and clawed his way back up. Fortunately, no one was out in this particular stretch of road…how odd.

Safely on the other side of the railings, Kyuren laid the dog on the ground. It had lost consciousness the moment he grabbed it and he hoped it was still alive. It would have pissed him off if he went all through that for nothing.

And he had to make a correction, this wasn't a dog…but a fairly large wolf. Curious, what was it doing in the city…and why did it jump into the water like that?

Deciding that those questions were irrelevant for now, Kyuren shook the wolf, trying to wake it up. "C'mon, wake up you dumb mutt." He muttered, feeling for a pulse. Anything to indicate the animal was alive.

Just then, the wolf's eyes snapped open and it began hacking up water from its mouth. Kyuren smiled, glad he rescued the wolf from death.

He was about to take it to a veterinary clinic when their eyes met…and the wolf hightailed it out of there.

The raven haired teen watched the wolf run like hell from him and huffed. "Well, talk about gratitude." Not even a lick to say thank you from that mutt.

And look at him, all wet and he smells!

"Ugh." He groaned, standing up and shaking his arms. Well, no use complaining about it now. He better get home and get cleaned up.

Tadashi was busy organizing the hotel logbook. They were quite a few new guest that have booked a room here, most of them were the rich and wealthy. After all, this was a high class hotel.

People were lounging around the lobby, socializing and mingling with each other and Tadashi smiled. He loved his job, the pay was well, but he loved to meet new people.

And what better way than to be the receptionist of this hotel.

As he finished his work, the doors opened. "Welcome to the – Mr. Kyuren? What happened to you?" He asked as the person in question walked in…soaking wet.

The other guests were looking at him strangely, but they understood that it was raining outside. Perhaps the boy forgot his umbrella.

"I don't want to talk about it." The raven haired teen grumbled in annoyance and made a bee line for the elevators.

Tadashi tilted his head in curiosity but shook it off. Whatever it was, it wasn't his business to know. But what is his business, is the mess on the floor.

Kyuren was annoyed. His car's interior was soaked and would probably stink so he had to get it to the car wash. Not to mention that he himself was dripping wet and he smelled like a wet dog…err…wolf.

DING!

"Ugh, goddamn…" He groaned and went into his suite. He needs a shower and fast. "Hey, Pip, I'm home."

"Meew~" His cat called out in greeting but when she saw her master and friend, she began to hiss in absolutely joy.

"Oh, haha! That's very funny, you little rat." He grumbled before stomping up his room to get cleaned up. All the while, Pip was practically rolling on the floor at seeing Kyuren dripping wet like a dog.

AN:

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Also, did anyone get what I did at the last part of the chapter? Eh? Eh? Anyone? If you did, very good! Give yourself a cookie!

If not, pfft. Look it up and watch it. You're welcome in advance.

Special thanks to omegafire17 for allowing me to use his own take on one of the most heartwarming and one of the greatest anime films of all time.

Wolf Children.