The Next Day After School – Occult Research Clubroom
Sitting proudly in Rias's club chair was none other than Azazel.
"Long story short, I'm now the advisor of the Occult Research Club starting today."
Rias's face twitched as she glared at him.
"Don't just say 'long story short' like that! Explain properly!"
She had a point, he literally said "long story short."
"Well, I asked Serafall's little sister for a favor, and she got me this position."
All eyes turned toward Sona.
"She said if I didn't take the position, my sister would come here instead. I was... persuaded."
"So basically, you sold us out," Rias muttered, half-lidded eyes fixed on Sona.
Ignoring her, Sona quickly made her exit. "Well then, I'll be taking my leave." (A tactical retreat, really.)
"Uh… what happened to your arm?" Issei asked, eyeing Azazel's previously missing left arm.
"Oh this? It's a fully functional multipurpose arm I made while researching Sacred Gears! Always wanted to try something like this, you know? Fufun~"
He started showing it off, transforming the arm into various forms before turning it into a rocket punch and flying it wildly around the room, clearly enjoying our reactions before finally retracting it.
"Anyway! That's that… but I do have some conditions from Sirzechs for staying here."
"Conditions?" Rias asked.
"Yeah. He told me to train you all. Devils are seriously behind in Sacred Gear research. I'll be using you guys to run my expe, uh, I mean, training programs."
He almost said "experiments," didn't he!?
"From now on, call me Professor Azazel! Oh, and Issei, Yuuto, let's talk about your rewards."
=====================
"First, Yuuto. Regarding your comrade's fragments, Michael said Freed forcibly embedded three of them into his body. Extracting them will take time, but it's like untangling thread, so it's not dangerous."
"I understand," Yuuto said, visibly relieved.
"Next up: Ikki. About Kuroka, "
"Kuroka-sama!?" Koneko shouted, having not been present at the meeting yesterday. She was clearly shocked to hear the name.
"What, Ikki? You didn't tell her?" Azazel asked.
"I wasn't sure if it would actually happen. I didn't want to give false hope if it fell through…"
"Jeez, you're either super bold or overly cautious, can't tell which."
Azazel turned back to the group with a grin.
"Sirzechs gave the official word: 'As of today, the SS-class Stray devil Kuroka's warrant has been nullified.' So, Ikki, you better explain everything to the impatient little cat over there."
Indeed, Koneko was silently staring at Ikki with enough intensity to burn a hole through him.
So, he explained the full story of the amnesty and how Kuroka was no longer a wanted criminal.
"I see… so now, Kuroka-sama doesn't have to be on the run anymore."
Koneko muttered a soft "Thank goodness," just loud enough to hear.
=====================
"Looks like you already knew about Ikki and Kuroka, huh?" Azazel asked.
"Yes… I've known for about a year."
"Oh my, wasn't that about the time your abilities started improving rapidly, Koneko-chan?" Akeno chimed in.
"That explains a lot," Rias added, nodding.
"Rias, don't punish her for not reporting it. Koneko couldn't report it even if she wanted to," Ikki interjected.
"She couldn't?"
So Ikki explained the circumstances of his initial encounter with Koneko and the nature of their devil contract.
"Well… turning a devil contract against itself. That's some underhanded trickery," Rias said with a tired sigh.
Azazel grinned.
"In short, Ikki blackmailed a distraught middle school girl into coming to his room and coerced her into a contract using shady methods!"
"That's technically true, but the way you're putting it sounds so malicious! I object!!"
Azazel ignored him and turned to Rias.
"Shall we leave the verdict to Koneko's master, Rias? Your judgment?"
"Guilty."
"NOOOOOOO!!"
"…Just kidding. I'm really thankful for what you did for Koneko."
"I-it's fine. I just wanted to do it," Koneko replied, flustered.
=====================
Rias seemed to recall something.
"By the way, when I once tried to make you my servant, you mentioned having something you 'wanted to do.' Was this it?"
"Oh yeah, I did say that. I thought if I had a big bargaining chip, I might be able to negotiate directly. And as a devil, accomplishments tend to be credited to your master too, right?"
"Ah, I see… Too bad I couldn't make you my servant."
"Wait, why can't Ikki be your servant?" Issei asked.
Azazel answered, with a grin creeping in again. Uh-oh.
"Because he's engaged to the daughter of the leader of the Kyoto faction, the Nine-Tailed Fox's daughter."
"WHAT!?" Issei practically exploded. "ENGAGED!? And she's TEN!?"
"She's taller than Koneko at least!" Ikki protested.
"BAM!"
Before he could finish, Koneko uppercutted him.
Azazel clapped his hands.
"Alright, jokes aside, Ikki, you should be the one to tell Kuroka about her amnesty. Honestly, I don't even know where she's hiding. That girl's ninja-level with Senjutsu."
"I mean, even in a mock battle, I'd only win 1 in 20 against her," Ikki admitted.
"Seriously? Kuroka's that strong!?"
She could literally pull off "acceleration mode" in real life now, yeah, she's that dangerous.
Azazel continued.
"Oh, and one last thing. Sirzechs gave this order: 'In the name of the Maou, all female members of the Gremory peerage are to live with Hyoudou Issei for the sake of camaraderie and power syncing.' Except, Koneko."
"...Yes?"
"Since your sister's now free, if you want to live with her, that's allowed."
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That Night
"Welcome home, Ikki."
"Hey, Kuroka."
He found her lounging on his bed.
Bringing up this topic felt kind of embarrassing… but she'd find out soon anyway, probably via Koneko.
"Kuroka… your bounty's been canceled. You're free."
"...Huh? What are you talking about?"
So, he told her everything, about the council's decision, the amnesty, and Koneko's living arrangements.
A long silence followed… then her voice, calm and soft.
"You didn't come up with that on the spot, did you? When did you start thinking of doing something like that?"
"…Probably from the day you and Koneko first met here. I vaguely felt I had to do something from then on."
"I see…"
Her head tilted slightly down, cheeks faintly red. She was definitely blushing.
"Are you embarrassed?"
"WHACK!!"
Her horizontal chop smacked him right in the eyes.
"You're getting too cocky, Ikki… but thanks."
"So… about the house. I'd like to live with Shirone too, but there aren't any spare rooms here."
True. Most of the spare rooms were filled with their parents' junk.
"Guess I'll call Azazel-sensei…"
=====================
He called, explained the situation, and Azazel replied:
"Got it. Leave it to me. I'll take care of everything in the end. Oh! And there's this one gimmick I've been dying to test out, "
Click. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
"Sensei!?? What do you mean 'gimmick'!? What kind of house mod are you planning!?"
No matter how many times he tried calling back, the line wouldn't connect again.
=====================
That night…
"Good night, Kuroka."
"Nighty night, Ikki."
Just before he fell asleep, he could've sworn he felt something soft brush against his cheek.
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