The abandoned church was silent except for the soft creak of the heavy door as it swung inward. Sunlight cut through the broken windows in thin, dusty beams, illuminating the ruin within. Bullet casings glinted on the cracked stone floor, and a trail of dried blood led to the altar.
A young man lay at the end of that trail, face pale, chest still, the last warmth bled into the rotting floorboards.
Sona Sitri's violet eyes swept the scene calmly, calculating. Behind her, Tsubaki Shinra followed with quiet precision, one hand resting on her sword as she scanned the corners of the decrepit building.
Tsubaki's voice was soft but steady. "Multiple gunshot wounds. Estimated time of death… less than an hour ago."
Sona knelt, her hand hovering an inch above his chest. Her gaze sharpened slightly. "...There's heat. And sulfur."
Tsubaki frowned. "Not demonic?"
"No. Nor holy." Sona's tone remained even, but the words carried weight. "Something else entirely."
Her eyes moved to the abandoned cloth lying beside the body, the faint blood smears along the aisle. "The Fallen shot him," she concluded. "Either he was their target… or their mistake."
Tsubaki glanced toward the windows where morning light spilled across the dust. "Do we leave him?"
Sona shook her head. "No. A soul still lingers. That means we can attempt resurrection. Plus from the looks of it this is definitely not a normal person."
The body was transported quickly to a warded chamber beneath Kuoh territory—a stone room lit by faint candlelight. It wasn't a lab, merely a secure ritual space for reincarnation.
Sona could have performed the ritual in the church, but the thought barely lasted a moment. Waking up a newly resurrected human in a crumbling ruin full of bullet holes and mildew was… inelegant. Here, at least, he wouldn't wake up in blood and rounded by pigeons.
.
Tsubaki placed the body carefully at the center of the circle, then straightened. "Ready, Kaichou."
Sona knelt beside the body, a single Pawn piece resting in her hand. With a calm, practiced motion, she pressed it lightly against his chest.
Before the Pawn could sink into his chest, a soft crackling sound broke the silence.
Tsubaki stiffened, hand flying to her sword. "Kaichou—!"
Smoke curled faintly from the young man's chest. His fingers twitched once, then again, and his breath hitched in a harsh, rasping inhale. His eyes snapped open, glowing faintly with fire.
Then the temperature in the room changed, like something old and dangerous was stretching beneath his skin.
Sona immediately withdrew the Piece, her voice calm but firm. " looks like he won't be neating my help."
The faint crackling grew louder as Ethan's fingers twitched. Smoke curled from his chest, and his eyes snapped open—embers glowing faintly in the dim candlelight. He sucked in a ragged breath, coughing as if forcing his lungs to remember how to work.
Tsubaki's grip tightened on her sword. "Kaichou—he's reviving on his own!"
"I can see that," Sona said, voice as even as ever, though her eyes sharpened in interest. She slipped the Pawn Piece back into her pocket. "And that makes more complicated ."
The glow in his eyes flickered and dimmed as he sagged against the cold stone floor, coughing roughly. His voice was hoarse, cracked from dryness.
"…Where… am I?"
Sona answered without inflection. "Kuoh High School You died less than an hour ago."
He blinked, gaze darting to the glowing circle beneath him, then to the two girls. "...Guess it didn't stick." A dry, humorless chuckle escaped him.
"Explain," Sona said simply.
Ethan hesitated, rubbing his face with a trembling hand.
"...I don't know what you want me to say," he muttered. "I got shot. I woke up here. That's it."
Sona studied him for a long, unreadable moment. She wasn't Rias—she didn't push with charm. Instead, she measured, calculated.
"Then hear this," she said quietly. "Kuoh is my territory. The Fallen have grown bold, and you random person with random power so I want to know what happened"
Ethan met her gaze, "just a fallen priest and fallen Angels working together"
His jaw clenched, voice rough with anger. "looks like I have failed to protect her"
"Her?" Tsubaki asked, eyes narrowing.
"The nun," he said flatly. "They'll kill her if someone doesn't stop them."
Sona considered him for a long moment, then turned toward the door.
"Then our interests align… for now. You will remain here until I confirm the situation with the Fallen. As for the nun—if we locate her, you will be informed."
"he and Fallen will not make a move during the day, and if they do, we will respond first. At night… you may do as you will."
Hearing about night time Ethan's lips quirked in a faint, tired smirk. "Sounds like tonight going to be very hot."
Sona glanced back once, the flickering candlelight casting sharp shadows across her composed face. "try not to go out if they saw you walking around alive they might get more cautious." Saying this both of them left him alone.
Authors useless thoughts: So, when writing this novel my style of writing tpm keeps coming inside this character which is a problem as this Main character is different making him reasonable is weird plus when writing this novel, I feel like I am back at time when I start writing tpm as this one is taking too much time for each chapter, I think I need a better novel which could be written alongside tpm