"Ohaiyo, Kōjiro-kun."

Those are the words that Rias Gremory said to me in morning at my front door. While I'm a bit surprised that she didn't broke into my house again, I'm a bit glad on that changed habit... Now, why is she here?

"What are you doing here, this early in the morning?" I asked while crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Just wanted to walk with you up to the school." Just a walk? I guess that she's trying to be friendly with me... No doubt this is effect of the reward from the [Quest: Wedding Crash].

"I see no harm in that." I shrugged before turning back to the inside of my house "Girls! Gremory will be joining us in our journey to Kuoh Academia."

"The red head is going with us?"

"Buchou?"

"Why is she here?"

"This should be interesting."

All Asia, Leone, Mittelt and Ray made their comments be knew as they gathered near me "I'm not sure myself but it's nothing but a simple walk towards the school." I replied before walking out of the house and made the journey toward Kuoh Academia.

"So, how was the party after I left?" I asked Gremory from my left.

"Well, most of the She-Devils have left while the Male Devils had made renewed efforts to gain my attention and some of them even made moves to gain my affection." Gremory said, while slightly stressing out the last sentence... She is trying to make me feel jealous of a bunch of guys that can easily be charmed by a girl? Too bad, as I'm not the easily jealous type of person.

"That's sounds like you had a hard time." Ray commented from my right.

"I told them that I wasn't interested and I already have someone I'm interested in." I didn't need to ask to know who's she talking about right now, as I'm already aware of it since 3 days ago "Oh, we'll be dealing with some of the fan mail from the [Rating Game] after school."

I've never heard of this before, "So we're not going to do any contracts?" I asked, getting a nod in response from the red head.

"Oi!" I heard a familiar voice shoot from my right, I didn't need to look to know that it was Hyōdō that was coming towards out little group. I already knew she was going to appear, as I felt her aura way before she made her presence known to all of us "Eh? What's Buchou doing here?"

"Buchou wanted to come with us to the school, Ichigo-san." Asia said as she moved closer to Hyōdō.

After the arrival with Hyōdō and joining us, we continued journey and caused a lot of students to whisper with each other when they saw me standing next to Gremory and accompanying the mixture of angry, confused, or disappointed stares.

"Why is he with Rias Onee-sama?"

"Do you think they...?"

"Did that bastard dare to violate Rias Onee-sama?!"

"I'm gonna kill him..."

...Yeah right. Bring it if you think you're so tough. But seriously, what's with everyone jumping to such extreme conclusions? And then there were the girls...

"No! Kōjiro-kun has been taken by Onee-sama!"

"*sobs* It's not fair!"

"If only I had known this was going to happen! I would've just laid flat on my back and let him ravage my body!"

"...You know you said that out loud right?"

"D-Did I?! ...If I told Kōjiro-kun, do you think he would give into his instincts?"

I sighed. I had to admit that I blushed a little as that comment was a bit more extreme. The mix of insults and screams of jealousy rolled off me like water off a duck's back. Some students fainted from shock and girls actually started crying when they saw me walking next to Gremory.

We finally split up once we reached the school's entrance. I turned my back to the red-head when she spoke to me again.

"Let's meet again later."

I gave a lazy wave as Asia, Hyōdō, Ray and I started walking away, not caring if she saw it "Whatever. See ya later." I said while moving towards our classroom, with my hands on my pocket.

[KŌJIRO!!!]

I groaned as 2 members of the [Perverted Duo] ran up to me, a mix of curiosity and jealousy in their eyes. The baldy, Matsuda, was clenching his fists "Since when did you start playing the field!? [WHAT THE HELL, MAN!?]"

"First off, I don't remember being your friend so my life is none of your concern." I stated while holding up a finger before raising another finger "Secondly, nothing happened."

Motohama, the second [Pervy Glasses] I know, adjusted his glasses before silencing Matsuda with a hand on the shoulder. For a moment, I thought he was going to be the wisest of the 2 and suggest they leave. I was proven wrong when a grin appeared on his face. "You're among friends here! Come on, you can tell us. What was it like?"

I could feel my eye twitch a little from annoyance. I was seriously going to hit these two. "Read my lips: Nothing. Happened."

[LIES!!!] Matsuda continued on the warpath "How the Hell did a guy like you get someone like Rias Gremory!?"

"Was it good!?" Motohama then got on board and started to pester

"Does she like it rough?!"

"Was she really a virgin!?"

"What was it like?!"

"Were you able to see her oppai?!"

Rather than pointlessly trying to rebut any claims of me taking Gremory's virginity, I instead chose the simpler path of giving both of them a brief yet painful blow to the back of the head.

"Like I said before: Nothing. Happened!" I growled at them before cracking my knuckles "And if you continue this perverted interrogation in the presence of Asia, then be prepared to have a one way ticket to the infirmary!"

They grumble before moving back to their sets, which are near me to my displease. I let out a sigh before all on my group went into our respective sets, and so school began.

- a few hours later -

Entering the clubroom after school, I look surprised at the large sacks full of letters as Ray commented from my side "Wow... I didn't know so many people had watched the [Rating Game]."

"Well, Onii-sama figured it was best to show off how well we did." Gremory started with a proud smile on her face, completely forgetting that she didn't do much in the [Rating Game].

"How many bags of these are for Raiga?" Mittelt asked, looking over the name tags connected to a couple of bags saying 'Kōjiro'. I looked over them with a small frown, already having a gut feeling on the majority of what the content of the letters.

"Wow, Raiga-san you're really popular." I don't know if I should be happy or not of hearing that from Asia.

"Most of them probably only interested in my power." I said with a sigh as I moved to start looking through them with my Fallen Angel friends.

It took us about 2 hours to get through my pile, Kiba, Tōjō, Hyōdō, Himejima-san and even Gremory having to help us out after finishing their own. Some of the girl were blushing from the descriptive letters that I've had gotten, although they had been promptly destroyed by Hyōdō, Ray, Mittelt, Gremory or myself.

...I can't believe that some She Devils are willing to whore themselves to someone with interesting powers like me. This is 1 of the many reasons why I didn't like standing out, dealing with possible future fan girls or people that lust for power.

"Ara, I can't believe that Kōjiro-kun got so many marriage requests." Himejima-san said, giggling in amusement. If she find this amusing, than I'm the opposite as I'm annoyed at this letters already.

"I can't believe so many people wanted to thank you for defeating Riser." Kiba said as she held up a none marriage proposal letter.

"Ichigo, can we go to your house for club activities tomorrow?" Gremory asked the brunette, making me curios of what her plan is right now "The old school building is going to be cleaned tomorrow."

"Um... Sure."

"Alright, it's settled than." Gremory said while standing up from her position "Tomorrow, we'll go to Ichigo's house!"

- the next day -

And here we are now... I have to say, Hyōdō has some 'interesting' parents to say the least. When they saw me standing near Hyōdō, they started celebrating and saying that I'm their new son... That obviously made me feel a bit awkward, as I didn't knew how to react from it and Hyōdō nearly died from embarrassment from her overreacting parents.

"And this is a picture of Lil Ichi at the beach!" And there is Hyōdō's Oka-san, Yuka-san, smiling so pleasantly win the other members of the [ORC] gathered at various places around the room. Every minus Hyōdō, who has her face covered with her hands, was looking at the pictures with amused eyes, even I was finding some of Hyōdō's pictures as a kid to be cute.

"My my." I heard Himejima-san say with amusement. "Streaking at that age, Ichigo?"

"...Didn't know Ichigo-senpai was into Sentai." Tōjō noted with interest (and... Amusement? I can hardly tell since it's barely noticeable), looking at another album.

"Say, Raiga-kun." Yuka-san called out to me, gaining my attention and she showed me a younger Hyōdō in dress "Doesn't Ichi look so cute in this dress? This is from her first singing competition when she's still in the 6th grade!"

"[WAAAAAA!!!] Stop it Oka-san!" Hyōdō cried out as she tried to reach for the album, only for Yuka-san to holding her child back with an arm while keeping the album out of reach.

"I have to admit, she does look cute in that picture." I said, stopping the 2 ladies. The older woman smiled brightly while the other has a very bright blush on her face "But I didn't expect you to be about to sing."

"W-w-well, I-I do it from t-time to time." Hyōdō stuttered in embarrassment while poking her index fingers together... If I knew any better, she is impersonating Hinata from [Naruto] with her speech and action right now.

"Can you do a short song?" I asked, gaining everybody's attention.

"I-"

"That's a wonderful idea, Raiga-kun!" Yuka-san exclaimed, interrupting her daughter and grabbing the younger brunette so that she couldn't escape.

"I would like to hear Ichigo-san to sing as well."

"Ufufufu, please sing for us."

"...Please do it Senpai."

"This should be interesting."

"You can do it Ichigo."

1 by 1, the other members of the club have voice their votes on wanting Hyōdō to sing. Only people who didn't answer are Mittelt and Ray, but their amused smiles are already the answer that everyone knew.

Hyōdō sighed in defeat but nodded none the less. She took a deep breath and all of us waited for the young brunette to start her song of choice.

And so she did:

Doro darake yo najime nai tokai de
Onaji you ni warae nai
Utsumuite aruita no
Isoga ashi de surechigau hito tachi
Yume wa kanai mashita ka

Atashi mada mogaite iru
Kodomo no goro ni modoru yori mo
Ima wo umaku ikite mitai yo
Kowagari wa umare tsuki
Hin no atari basho ni dete

Ryoute wo hirogete niti nara
Ano sora koete yukeru ka na
Nante omottanda
Tobitatsu tame mie nai
Kantan ni ika kara ikite yukeru

Nureta koinu hiroi ageta dakede
Chotto warae chau hoddo
Namid ga koborete kita
Aisaretai aisaretai bakari
Atashi itte ita yo ne

Motomeru dake ja dame ne

Kodomo no goro wa mama no koto
Hidoku kizutsuketa
Himoatta yo ne kawari tai
Ima zenbu

Hi no ataru basho ni dete
Kono te wo tsuyoku nigitte mitai
Ano basho ano toki wo kowashite
I can change my life

Demo kororo no naka subete wo
Totemo tsutae kire nai
Kantan ni ika nai kara
Ikite yukeru

Hino ataru basho i dete
Chizu wo hrogete miru kedo
I know... You know
Mayoi michi mo shikata nai
I can change my life

Susite kita hibi zenbou de
Ima no atashi nanda yo
Kantan ni ika nai kara
Ikite yukeru

O.O

...Wow! I didn't expect Hyōdō to be a very good singer. And her voice was like that of an Angel, which is ironic considering that she's a Devil.

"You were amazing Ichigo-san!" Asia cheered as she and everyone else clapped for the brunette, who flushed from the praise.

"This is..." I heard Kiba mutter in surprise, bringing my attention towards her. I noticed her looking at photo album and I moved towards her to see what agained her attention.

It was a picture of Hyōdō and a boy wearing a shirt and shorts with chestnut coloured hair and violet eyes. They were standing near a Western Sword together. I looked back at Kiba and saw burning hatred within her eye... I've never seen her having this expression before.

"Did something about this picture caught your attention?"

Kiba pointed at the sword that was in the picture "This is a [Holy Sword]."

- the next day -

For the afternoon, I noticed that Kiba wasn't like her usual self. She seemed to be spacing out a lot this day and I couldn't but notice it, so I gave chase when she excused herself. Kiba wasn't too far ahead, so I caught up to her in no time.

It was raining but I didn't bother covering myself with my hands from it, as I feel a strange sense of peace while getting showered by the rain drops that I never felt before... I disliked the rain in my previous life, so why?

I'll figure it out next time.

I didn't bother concealing myself in an [Illusion] or turning myself [Invisible] when I was following Kiba, I just walked 2 meters away from her.

"I can see you!" Kiba shouted at me, her expression still angry and her tone still bitter. "Stop following me! Why are you here anyway!? What do you want!?"

"...I noticed that you were acting differently from your usual self, so I followed after you when you left the club room." I replied while moving closer towards her... I have a hunch on why she's like this "This is about the [Holy Sword] that you saw in Hyōdō's picture with her childhood-"

!?

I stopped myself from finishing that sentence as I felt a familiar aura near by, and the owner of it is not someone that I would want to hang out with of anytime of the year. After all, why should I be friends with a hypocrite?

*splash!*

I heard it before I saw him. The man wearing Church robes who approached us. An [Exorcist]. I pulled out [Shigure Kintoki] and [Yubashiri] before going into my [Shigure Soen Ryu, 11th Form: Akeru Ame] fighting stance but he wasn't my main concern, as the man is clutching the bloody patch on his stomach and fell over. Died.

That when I felt the familiar aura run toward me in high speeds, with his killer intent directed towards me and nobody else. I was a bit surprised at his suddenly increase of speed compared from our late encounter.

*clin!*

...But someone else beat me from blocking his attack, that person is no other but my fellow swordsman Yumi Kiba. I slashed at our attack, forcing his to retreat and I was a bit amused when I got a look at him.

"Yahooo. It's been a while!" I see the fucked up face that belonged to the [Exiled Exorcist], Freed Zelzan. I expected that his face would have been healed by now, but nope. It's just as the same when I kicked him through the roof and I can't help but be proud of it in a way "Oh! Is that the shitty Devil too!? Hey there! Remember me-"

"Seems like you're still in this town. What is your business today?" I interrupted him from his stupid speech "I'm not in a mood to chit-chat with you and rather kill you right now. Kiba."

"Hm?"

"Wanna kill this fucked up priest?"

"Oh, with pleasure."

...And Ezra's theme is playing again.

Zelzan laughed psychotically again, not even annoyed that I interrupted him at all "Well that's good timing. Splendid! In my case I'm so happy that I'm going to shed some tears because I get to have a reunion with you-!"

I didn't gave Zelzan the pleasure of finishing his sentence at all as I appeared before him and did a downward slash at him and unleashing a wave of water at the [Exile Exorcise].

[9th Form: Attacco di Rondine!]

I saw that Zelzan dodged my attack, even when I fired from a point blank shot. Then the long sword he wielded started to emit a holy aura... A [Holy Sword].

[Observe]

[Excalibur Rapidly : Holy Sword of Heavenly Flare] - Rank: C+ - Durability: 5000/5000 - ATK: 500

Description: A 'true' [Holy Sword] and 1 of the 7 [Excalibur] fragments after the original [Excalibur] broke. [Excalibur] is a holy weapon that was created through means of magic and alchemy by those who reached the territory of the Biblical God.

Special Effect:

The wielder gains an incredibly enhanced speed, fast enough to create after images of oneself. The sword also give the wielder enhanced flexibility, making it easier to avoid attacks at high speed.

As a [Holy Sword], it is extreme deadly against Devils and small scratches from Holy Swords are enough to cause lethal damage to Devils. + 5x the regular damage.

Aside from the stupid name, that explains why he was able to evade my [Attacco di Rondine], its because of his sword...This isn't good. I didn't expect to fight [Excalibur] or at least, a fragment of it this early in my Devil life. I wonder how the original broke?

"I was getting bored of priest hunting so it's good timing. Very Good. Let's check which is stronger between my [Excalibur] and your [Demonic Sword], shall we? Hyahahahaha! I will repay you by killing you!"

[RAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!] Screaming like a mad person, Kiba charged at Zelzan, swinging her sword at the [Exile Exorcist] who caught the strike on his place. They fought in a fast pace... But I noticed that all of Kiba's strikes are more directed towards [Excalibur Rapidly] rather than Zelzan himself.

I moved forward *clin!* and blocked a slash that was supposed to cut Kiba in the torso-

[He...us!]

!?

Where that grouped voice came from-

*clin!*

I blocked a slash that was about to hit me-

[Pl...Sa...]

Why am I-

"I'll destroy you and that cursed [Holy Sword], YOU BASTAAAAAARD!!!" The spirit of vengeance called Yumi Kiba screamed as she charged at Zelzan. She began rapidly stabbing and cutting at Zelzan with her sword to no avail as Zelzan used his incredible speed to dodge and block all of the attacks.

"Awwww~! How cute how the little Devil-chan thinks she can defeat my [Excalibur-chan]~! But in the end, you're just another weak, shitty Devil!" Zelzan mocked before he swung his [Excalibur] fragment with impressive force, slamming it against Kiba's blade and sending her skidding backwards.

Dropping [Shigure Kintoki] before kicking it towards Zelzan in high speed from the force of my kick.

[3rd Form: Yarazu no Ame!]

The [Heretic Priest] blocked the attack by intercepting [Shigure Kintoki] *clin!*, which flew into the air, from reaching his head but that gave me an opening to charge forward and attack him with a thrust strike as a follow up with my first attack.

[From Yarazu no Ame to 1st Form: Shajiku no Ame!]

Zelzan was able to move out from the attack but my technique struck him in the shoulder instead [FUUUUUUUCCCCK!!!] The madman screamed bloody murder before slashing at me. I jumped back just in time to evade from getting sliced through but all I received was a light cut... It felt like hot metal cutting thought me.

[-160HP]

Damn! Just a light cut and it took a portion of my [HP]!

*clin!*

I blocked another strike-

[Pl...se! Help...s!]

Gah!

I staggered back, clutching my head. My vision went blurry for a moment due to the sharp pain that seemed to attack my brain. Those voices... I didn't know who it or they were. They sounded so close, yet so far away and sounded in so much pain.

...What happened to them?

"Kōjiro-kun!"

"Sorry, shitty Devil, but I need you to die now so I can show the swords woman my amazing [Excalibur-chan]~!" I heard Zelzan said and I felt him bring down his sword at me.

Breath in...

Breath out...

[6th Form: Gofuu Juuu].

I dodged Zelzan's attack and appeared where [Shigure Kintoki] embedded itself on the ground. I pulled out my katana just in case Zelzan charged at me again, but he started to whine to himself, a magic circle next to his ear "But boss~ I was just about to finish off two Devils... Fine, fine I'll come back now... Looks like we'll have to continue this another time, shitty Devils~! See you later~!" He pulled something out and threw it at the ground.

"No you don't!" Kiba charged forward, but she was too late. Zelzan smashed the object against the ground, releasing a powerful smoke screen that completely obscured him from our sight. Even before Kiba swung through the smoke only to hit nothing, I knew Zelzan had fled. I could no longer sense [Excalibur Rapidly]'s presence.

But that didn't stop Kiba.

[RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!]

She just continued swinging frantically through the smoke [GET BACK HEEEERE! RAAAAAH!] She swung again and again like a mad beast, trying to kill the person who was no longer there. She was screaming again and again, huffing and puffing as exhaustion began to take her.

[I HATE YOU!!!! I HATE YOU!!! HATE HATE HAAAATE!!!]

*sigh* This is getting out of hand... Storing my swords away, I lunged and grabbed Kiba's hands, holding her back in an attempt to cease this self-destructive behaviour of hers.

[LET ME GO! LET ME GO!!!] Kiba screamed as she jerked and pulled, trying to escape my grasp, but I refused to let go [JUST LET ME GO!!!]

She kicked back at me. She even tried swinging her head back to headbutt me. All of her hits didn't hurt that much and I didn't let her go. This went on for several minutes before Kiba went slack in my arms, panting. If I hadn't catch her, she would have fallen to the ground.

"It's alright..." I said both to calm her as well as forgive her for hurting me.

"...Why? Just... Just go... You'll just get hurt if you stay near me..." Kiba told me and she didn't fight me anymore. Now it just sounded like she had given up on everything, even her own life.

That's a bit pathetic... Is what I would have said if I was an asshole but I'm not someone who plays with a person's emotions. I mess with a person's mind but never the heart like what Light did to Misa in [Death Note].

"I might be a cold hearted asshat to others and to you girls... But I never leave behind a comrade." I told the blondie girl in my arms "So I'm not letting you go and do crazy shit that'll get you killed... I wouldn't be able to handle the guilt of not doing something to stop you."

"Raiga..." Kiba's voice cracked and she started trembling "Please... Don't leave me alone..."

"Alright."