Chapter 54 - Praise Tosca

"M-Ms. Cebrail!" Tosca called out seeing Cebrail appear in front of them in a burst of white feathers.

"Hello 'I felt a disturbance in the force' so I came." Cebrail said with a quote casually.

"How can you quote star wars in a situation like this?!!?!" Kaori yelled with tears running down her face.

"The both of you are safe though- oh..." Cebrail looked down next to the kneeling girl and stared for a few moments.

"Tosca." Cebrail called out to the girl moving a bit closer. "Who is that?"

Though she seemed to want to be sensitive when asking her question her voice wasn't nearly low enough to prevent Kaori from hearing it.

"U-Umm that's Koga Oogami, c-can you heal him please?" Tosca asked with her hands clenched together and a puppy dog-like expression accompanied by big watery eyes that one simply couldn't even think about refusing.

"Of course… but… what exactly were you fighting? I know one was a Devil but…" Cebrail for once seemed completely befuddled by what she was sensing. Was it a Succubus, a Zombie, or an Evil Spirit?

The two walked to Koga's unconscious body with Tosca shaking her head. "The guy's name was… huh…"

Tosca paused in surprise and realized that not only could she not remember his name but couldn't remember his face or any distinguishing features. At best she knew it was a boy… probably…

"You don't remember? Do you remember rude girl?"

"Just help Koga!"

"Mmm…" Cebrail didn't like that Kaori had yelled at her so brazenly despite being a stranger but she still bit her finger opening a small hole. Putting it over the boy's lips she let a few drops drip in before the wound closed.

"He isn't waking up! Give him more!" Kaori yells desperately.

"Muuu… holy water has healing properties but is also poisonous in large quantities even to Humans."

"Cheep!"

"I can't use you either since he doesn't have any external wounds, it's his very life force that was drained. In fact, I doubt my blood can restore the number of years shaved off of his life span." Cebrail spoke in a flat but factual tone as though she were the voiceover for some documentary.

"..."

"Ms. Cebrail…"

"What?"

"Y-You shouldn't be so insensitive." Tosca for the first time scolded her boss Cebrail.

"'Insensitive' she's beyond insensitive! She's a monster!" Kaori yelled. These words seemed to get a stronger reaction out of Cebrail as her eye visibly twitched with annoyance.

For some reason, she felt as though this wasn't the first time she was unjustly called some kind of monster. Her nose twitched as the smell of smoke seemed to infiltrate it forcing her to rub it.

There were no fires around so it was quite strange however not strange enough to keep her attention as the smell disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

"I don't think I like you very much… whoever you are." Cebrail says looking down on the girl with an uncharacteristically dark expression. She didn't even know she was making it but it caused both Kaori and Tosca to flinch. "In any case Tosca it's about time we left."

Turning around she began walking away and Tosca hesitated to follow.

"I want to speak to Nene again! If that was really Nene then I need to know what that guy did to her!" Kaori screamed at their backs causing Tosca to suddenly stop in her tracks.

"I don't know who this 'Nene' is but it doesn't sound like my problem." Cebrail responded coldly her eyes turning into full-blown glaciers

"You're an Angel! It's your job to answer prayers! I need answers! I need revenge!"

"K-Kaori… I know you're scared and surprised but-"

"Hot-Blooded, Hot-Headed, and wildly moronic. You're just a regular human. Stay in your lane kid." Cebrail spun on her heel turning her back to the brown-haired girl as though she wasn't worth wasting any more of her breath on. "You have a nice home, nice friends, a nice family, and…"

She looked at the boy on the ground from the corner of her eye. "And whatever that is. So just be content, if this 'Nene' is the residual presence I'm feeling currently then it's already too late for her."

"You-!"

While it may seem completely cold-hearted in truth this was a warning from Cebrail. She believed wholeheartedly that once you start fighting you can never stop until you're dead. "Live by the sword, die by the sword." That was what she was attempting to protect Kaori from despite not liking her. She had no good reason to pick up arms against a foe she had no chance of defeating. She was just a regular human with no real special qualities. She was someone Cebrail could possibly be envious of.

"Tosca. We're leaving." Cebrail's patience was clearly wearing thin and Tosca knew it however as the Seraphim Princess began walking away she still had to stop in order to give Kaori a few more words.

"K-Kaori… I really had a lot of fun today, thank you. I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help in your romantic endeavors however you can rest assured since I'm still rooting for you! Fight on!" Tosca pumped her fist in the air somewhat enthusiastically and Kaori who was positively livid and falling into despair couldn't help but calm down a bit and give a small but somewhat sad smile.

Perhaps they had only known each other for a single weekend but somehow Kaori felt like she would miss Tosca and even regretted going off on Cebrail since she might refuse to let Tosca answer her prayers in the future.

"By Kaori!" With a wave, Tosca and Cebrail vanished into light and returned to Gabriel's estate in Heaven.

"Ms. Cebrail…she didn't mean anything by her rude remarks…" Tosca attempted to defend Kaori but Cebrail simply vanished in place once again before reappearing with Reginleif under her arm.

"Cebrail."

"Yes Reginleif?"

"You shouldn't carry people around like luggage." Reginleif scolded the Seraphim Princess with her backside facing Tosca in an unflattering manner.

"My bad." Cebrail puts down Reginleif who dusts herself off with a light blush on her face.

Reginleif looks to Tosca and her eyes widen as though she were a bit surprised. "Tosca, you seem to have gone up a level."

"H-Huh?"

"Indeed Tosca has gotten stronger. Good job Tosca." Cebrail patted the girl on the head proudly.

"Congratulations junior." Reginleif congratulated Tosca while patting her on the head proudly.

"Thank you…" Tosca said in a small shy voice. Their praises made her feel embarrassed but more than that she felt happiness gripping her heart.

"E-Eh? Ehhh?" Tosca was suddenly caught off guard as her senior and superior suddenly hugged her while rubbing her head even more.

"When you blush it makes you even more squishable."

"Yes, make sure you stay cute for a long time Tosca."

The two girls praised Tosca further with cheek rubs and further head pats.

—

"And that's how you properly take advantage of an opponent's weight in combat." Roygun finished her lecture just as the bell rang signifying the end of class.

As Roygun stood Cebrail was in her lap and so she carried the Seraphim Princess in her arms and walked out of the classroom as though it were the most normal thing in the world.

(Wait a minute…) She stopped in her tracks and looked down into the big yellow eyes of Gabriel's daughter and raised an eyebrow. (Why do I feel like a husband that's been whipped by his wife?)

Indeed it was not normal for a teacher to carry around one of their students and let them sit on their laps in class as though they were related.

"What am I even doing?" Roygun questioned to herself with a sigh.

"You're standing in a hallway." Cebrail answered taking the question seriously.

"You know that's not what I meant." Roygun had interacted with Cebrail enough by now to understand her at least somewhat. She still couldn't tell you what the girl liked or disliked besides herself and Rias, but she could very much tell when the girl was pretending to be more aloof than she really was.

This was one of those times.

"I like being carried around by people I like."

"What about just getting your mom to carry you around." Roygun didn't actually mind carrying Cebrail around as just like a husband that's always forced by his wife to get groceries or take out the trash Roygun had become used to it, essentially having been groomed into being Cebrail's personal carry girl.

(Is this what it feels like to have children?) Roygun thought but discarded it almost immediately. Cebrail was a special kind of child, she didn't generally cause trouble and was definitely quite mature… when she felt like it of course. Roygun knew she didn't have it in her to have any kids if they were going to be like some of the students in her class, plus what men out there were to her standards?

She needs 24-hour pampering from anyone trying to become her husband.

"My mother does carry me around, but my mother also doesn't leave the house very often unless she's forced to do her job." Cebrail explained not pulling any punches or mincing words when calling Gabriel a good-for-nothing shut-in.

"I see, so I'm just a substitute for your mother?" Roygun asked a bit teasingly.

"Impossible." Cebrail responded firmly taking her idol's words completely seriously.

Roygun was about to respond once again in turn when she heard someone running behind them.

"Wait! Waittt!" Rias' voice sounded as she rushed towards them inelegantly.

"Just keep walking…" Cebrail said covering Roygun's ears childishly.

"…" Roygun still stopped turning to Rias with an inquiring look.

"*Huff* *Huff* My brother told me to invite you to my slumber party… for some reason he made me write it in a letter so here!" Rias shoved an envelope with a pretty red wax seal into Cebrail's face.

Surprisingly the Seraphim Princess actually took the letter and opened it, she seemed to like the idea of sending letters and receiving them. Taking her time she read through it with a confused look on her face.

"I should be free two weeks from now… the Saturday after next Saturday though, am I really going to spend my weekend with you?" Her tone of voice despite her mumbling held a tinge of disgust as though the very idea was an impossibility.

"Hey! It isn't as though I want you to come! This was my brother's idea!"

"Mhm… whatever, I've decided that I'll show up. I have just enough time to prepare some weapons." Cebrail reluctantly hopped out of Roygun's arms and faced Rias Gremory. "I suggest you prepare yourself."

"Huhhhh???" Before Rias could ask what she meant Cebrail vanished like the wind.

"Ughhh! How come she can disrespect me at every turn and I can't do anything about it!" Rias yelled at the spot where the Seraphim Princess vanished while stomping her foot in agitation.

In all her life she never truly felt so powerless.

Her being the heir to the Gremory household meant nothing to Cebrail nor her inheritance of the Power of Destruction, or even the fact that she was the little sister of Sirzechs Lucifer.

The fact was Rias could do nothing to Cebrail it seemed. It was almost like they were playing two entirely different games with Rias having shiny but fragile pieces and Cebrail having durable but simple-looking pieces.

She really couldn't stand it. Cebrail was the only person really capable of making her break her high and mighty heiress act and the only person she really REALLY struggled not to punch in the face every time they met. Simply being around the Seraphim Princess ignited the inferiority complex in her like a wild fire and she hated it.

"I'll make sure I impress her this time!" She vowed to herself that at the slumber party she would do something that Cebrail would acknowledge her for. Now all she had to do was figure out what that might be…

Luckily she had just over two weeks to come up with something.

—

Authors Note:

First off I'd very much like to apologize. Suddenly going from daily updates to nothing for like a week must have been pretty jarring. So I'm really sorry about that.

To make a long explanation short I thought my Wifi would be gone for around a day or two due to the heavy rain however that was in fact not the case. Even now I don't actually have any internet so yeah, I'll probably still be able to upload daily again (though if I do miss any days it'll probably be the weekends) since luckily I have something set up that should work.

Sorry once again for the sudden halt of updates and I'm glad to be returning back to form.