We entered the Occult Research Club office.
Rias was at her desk sipping tea, looking like the cover of a supernatural aristocrat magazine.
"Oh, welcome back," she said pleasantly. "How did it go with Hyoudou Issei? Any progress?"
I nodded.
"A lot, actually.
Issei's dead."
Rias brightened instantly.
"Wonderful! I knew giving you this mission was a great—"
Akeno stepped in front of me with a stiff smile.
"Rias."
"Yes?"
Akeno repeated slowly:
"Issei.
Is.
DEAD."
Rias blinked.
Her smile froze.
Her teacup stopped halfway to her mouth.
"…Dead?"
"Dead," I confirmed.
Rias stared at me.
Akeno stared at Rias.
Rias stared at nothing.
"…As in… dead-dead?" she asked, slowly lifting a finger like she was checking the menu.
"Yeah," I said casually. "Neck, soul, whole package. Very dead."
Rias choked on her tea so hard she almost exorcised herself.
"W–WHAAAAAT?!"
The cup fell, hit the table, bounced, and somehow flipped onto Koneko's lap.
She hissed like a wet cat.
Rias slammed both hands onto her desk.
"I ASKED YOU TO WATCH HIM, NOT WATCH HIM DIE!!"
Akeno remained calm, though her shoulders were trembling from trying not to laugh.
"It was the Fallen," she said seriously. "One of them attacked."
Rias turned to me dramatically.
"Rin! Why would you SAY it like that?! I thought you meant something GOOD!"
I shrugged.
"You looked excited, so I didn't want to ruin the mood."
"RUIN THE—? ISSEI IS DEAD!!" Rias shouted.
"Yeah, but you didn't specify whether that was good or bad news," I countered.
Akeno coughed into her hand, teasing voice:
"To be fair… your reaction was a bit positive, Rias."
"I—I WASN'T THINKING!!" Rias yelled, face red. "I thought he joined a club or passed a test or— OR SOMETHING ELSE!"
"So… not a good thing?" I asked innocently.
Rias nearly passed out.
"Akeno," she whispered, eyes hollow, "I need… a moment.
And a therapist.
Possibly both."
Akeno patted her shoulder kindly.
Rias slumped back in her seat, dramatically raising an arm like a dying actress.
"Hyoudou Issei… my-coff coff Sona's potential new servant… dead before I could even complain about him…"
I raised a hand.
"Look on the bright side: he won't cause trouble."
Rias threw a pillow at me.
Akeno finally broke and started laughing softly.
Koneko, still wiping tea off her uniform, muttered:
"…You're all idiots."
Honestly?
She wasn't wrong.
Raynare POV
The abandoned church was colder than usual.
The candles flickered weakly as if they sensed her fear.
Raynare knelt before Freed and the other Fallen Angels, her hands trembling slightly behind her back.
Her wings were still faintly burned from her clash with Akeno.
Dohnaseek stared down at her with annoyance.
"You lost the Sacred Gear holder?"
Raynare gritted her teeth.
"I did not lose him. He was—"
"Killed," Mittelt finished mockingly, swinging her legs from the edge of a broken pew. "By some random human boy."
Her cheeks flushed with anger.
"He wasn't random. Something about him was wrong."
Dohnaseek folded his arms, unimpressed.
"You were supposed to kill Hyoudou Issei before the Devils found out.
Not die, not fail, and DEFINITELY not get chased off like a scared pigeon."
Freed laughed from the back, sharpening his sword like a lunatic.
"Hah! She even ran from a pretty shrine maiden! Akeno this, Akeno that—just say you were scared!"
Raynare snapped.
"I WASN'T SCARED!"
Everyone went silent.
Her own voice echoed harshly off the walls.
She lowered her head, breathing stiffly.
"…I wasn't scared of her," she said more quietly. "I was scared of him."
Mittelt blinked.
"The boy?"
Raynare nodded slowly.
"That Takamine Rin… the moment he looked at me, it felt like he could see straight through my disguise.
Like he was measuring me."
She remembered it clearly — the split second when Rin's eyes sharpened, and she felt exposed, like prey.
"And then… he vanished from my senses."
Dohnaseek frowned.
"That shouldn't be possible."
"It was. And then he killed the Sacred Gear user right in front of me."
A chill ran through her even now.
"Not even a Devil attacks like that."
A heavy silence fell on the room.
Mittelt leaned back, suddenly serious.
"So… what now?"
Raynare stood up, shadows swirling behind her wings.
Her fear hardened into hatred.
"Now?
I'm going to kill him."
Freed cackled like a hyena.
"Oho~ someone's pissed."
Raynare ignored him.
Her fists clenched until her nails dug into her palms.
"He destroyed my mission.
He humiliated me.
He stared at me like I was nothing."
Her eyes glowed a sharp violet.
"No one looks at me like that and lives."
Dohnaseek considered this.
"And what about the Sacred Gear? The boy had oner, didn't he?"
Raynare's expression twisted.
"He had.
But the moment he died… the Sacred Gear vanished. I couldn't sense it anymore."
"Vanished?" Mittelt echoed. "That's impossible—unless someone stole it."
Raynare hissed:
"Exactly."
The candles flickered violently.
"Takamine Rin stole my target…
my mission…
and my Sacred Gear."
She lifted her chin, hatred sharpening into deadly resolve.
"I'll find him.
I'll rip his throat out myself."
Her wings unfurled, black feathers scattering onto the floor.
"And then I'll take back EVERYTHING he stole from me."