30

From the first day of school, Anastasia's routine at school became calmer. Provoking the young devils a little and then pretending to be innocent. One of her favorite targets was the heiress of the Sitri clan who was actually surprised to be called by her real name instead of her obvious pseudonym.

Some things she noticed about her devil students were that Rias is a fan of japanese culture and can easily be included in the concept of otaku; Sona loves chess and reading; Tsubaki has a crush on the second year student Kiba Yuto; and Akeno has some problems with her personal feelings that she tends to hide with a fake smile.

For the rest of the week Kuoh's famously perverted trio were quiet, they did nothing to be condemned in the period. Even though Issei was looking like an idiot bragging about his date and saying that he had won in life to every one of his male colleagues, not that they believed the boy.

Throughout the week she also met other devils present at the school. Most of them were enrolled in the second year, with exceptions like the young youkai who hung out with Rias a lot.

These teenagers were: Kiba Yuto, the famous prince of Kuoh and the genius recognized by the Kendo club in the art of swordsmanship; Koneko Tōjo, a nekoshou addicted to sweets; and the members of the student council. In addition to those she met, she noticed the presence of a devil with an energy similar to a vampire coming from the old building in which the occult club was located, she assumed it was a member of Rias' peerage since she was the president of such a club.

During the week she dutifully taught her history classes about some mythologies and started talking about world history.

She noticed that every time she returned home, a devil familiar or the nekoshou herself followed her to spy on her, but she ignored it, just shrugging her shoulders and carrying on with her life normally.

After that time it was already Friday, when returning home after the long day she noticed the cat girl sneaking on top of a tree nearby. With a smile on her face she approached the little girl.

"Koneko-san, what are you doing here?"

"Walking." The white-haired girl responded curtly and in a monotonous voice.

"Oh realy, but you are aware that this area is an isolated residential complex, right?" Anastasia approached, speaking with a playful tone, which led the young woman to be surprised that the area was restricted.

"I didn't knew." Koneko responded without any lies.

"No problem. The square nearby is not part of the safe area, I believe you must have gone there. It really is a beautiful place, many like to go to see the beautiful landscape." She decided to make an excuse not to embarrass the young woman.

"Yes, it is beautiful." Koneko nodded.

"Since you're here, would you like to come in and talk? I have nothing to do right now." Anastasia said as she walked to the door and pulled out her keys.

"I can-" Koneko speaks with hesitation considering the mission given by Rias.

"I have sweets." Anastasia smirks seeing the girl's expression upon hearing this.

"I am free." Koneko promptly responds.

Anastasia opens the door and gestures for the young nekoshou to enter. After the girl enters, Anastasia enters and closes the door.

[Don't you feel bad manipulating a child?]

'My conscience is clear.'

[You're acting like a pervert offering candy to minors.]

'If you say it like that, the situation seems worse than it really is.'

She continues to retort with her irritating sword as she heads towards the room with the youkai.

"Sensei, why did you invite me here?" Koneko He looks at the adult with curiosity.

Anastasia, before answering, goes to the kitchen and takes out some sweets that she had saved to give to a certain stupid wizard.

"I noticed at school that you are quite lonely. I only saw him interacting with three people, one of whom is a second-year student and two are third-year students." Anastasia comments while giving the sweets to Koneko, who with a twinkle in her eyes accepts them and starts eating.

"I'm fine." She responds while eating the sweets.

"I know. But wouldn't it be better to make more friends? You must remember that Kiba Yuto, Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima will graduate before you, so you shouldn't be alone you should make more friends. Preferably some in your classroom or around your age?" Anastasia speaks with concern.

In her mind she hears a dragon roaring angrily.

[What a blatant liar. It could only be a fairy to deceive others without any remorse.]

'Shut up Apollyon. I'm busy.'

"People are troublesome." Koneko responds.

"Is that why you joined the occult club? After all, it's isolated in the old building."

"My friends are there." Koneko says.

"Don't you feel lonely just interacting with the occult club and ignoring the other students?"

"I'm used to be alone." Koneko comments.

"Was it because they treated you like a mascot at school? It really shouldn't be nice to be treated like an attraction for the public, but it doesn't hurt to have people to trust since friends can be as close as family." Anastasia continues and notices a small reaction to the words 'trust' and 'family', perhaps it brought back some bad memory to the girl.

"I'm fine really fine sensei. But I can try." Koneko responds trying to finish the subject.

"I just wish the best for you little one. How about eating here, I'll have to cook for myself and making another batch won't hurt me." Koneko nodded to these words of Anastasia while she eats more candies.

Anastasia prepared two portions for her and Koneko to eat. They both sat at the table and ate in silence.

After the meal, Koneko decided to try and get some information. As she walked through the house she noticed three picture frames on display in living room.

The first of the woman with a handsome man with long white hair and purple eyes who was carrying a rose with his mouth, but the expression on the teacher's face that she wanted to hit the man was clear as the woman pushed the man's face away with her hand.

The second was of Anastasia with a teenager who appeared to be a similar age to Rias, he had a silver hair which resemble the other man, but the color of his eyes and the differences in the shape of his face allowed the two to differentiate. In this photo, the boy was being forcibly hugged by the woman and his face was red.

The last photo was of her with a giant mug of some drink next to an older man who wore an eye patch and a girl with silver hair who resembled the teacher herself, but this girl had a panicked look on her face as she watched the old man trying to touch a random woman's ass.

Anastasia noticed the girl's intentions and approached her from behind, immediately started talking about people.

"In this first photo I'm with my son Emrys, he may be an immature idiot but he's a good boy. The situation was fun, he was practicing on me how to make a pick-up line to win over a friend of mine, but the pick-up line was so forced that I felt ashamed of the kid."

"What happened?" Koneko asked.

"Vivian politely declined, but said he could try again in the future. After a few years he managed to date her, but it's a shame it didn't work out." Anastasia remembered the boy's first heartbreak.

"Hmm." Koneko acted as if she understood these feelings.

"If you're curious, they broke up due to differences in lifestyle. She was very busy with work and he wanted a lot of freedom. In the end he was shaken for a while, but recovered and became a famous womanizer."

"How about this." Koneko points to the second frame.

"His name is Vali, he is one of my sons just like the other idiot. He has a strong temper and is quarrelsome, but inside he is very kind to those close to him."

"He is blushing." Koneko speaks without any filter.

"Indeed. If I remember correctly that was because I was teasing him about his type of girl response." Anastasia smiles.

"Which is?" Koneko tilts her head while uttering an interjection of doubt.

"I found out from talking to an old friend that he prefers women with big butts. I was teasing him for a couple of days, I decided to take a photo but I stopped when he started to get angry." She laughs a little remembering the situation.

"What about this one?" Koneko shows the third picture frame.

"The old man is a close friend, we've known each other for a long time. His name is Odin, the wretch is an incurable pervert but good at drinking. Tragically his presence influenced my children, in the case of Emrys I don't think it made that much difference but I only knew about Vali's type because of him." Anastasia laughs and points to the girl in the image. "This is Rossweisse, the granddaughter of a friend, she was also mine before I came to teach here in Kuoh."

"I thought she was your daughter, she reminds me a little of you sensei." Koneko comments.

"They may look like me, but none of them are my biological children. Emrys was abandoned by his mother and Vali ran away from home, I adopted the two boys and after that I became their mother figure.

"I see." Koneko She happy with the information acquired, even if it was not relevant to the supernatural world, it would help Buchou to better understand the new teacher. "Sensei, I think it's time to go home."

"Yeah, it's late." Anastasia takes some more sweets and gives them to the little girl, then walks her to the door to say goodbye. "Be careful on the way home."

"Okay. Thank you sensei." Koneko seemed happy with his results, especially with the sweets.

When Anastasia noticed that the presence of the nekoshou nor the Gremory or Sitri family members could not be felt, she went to sit on the sofa. As she relaxed into the comfortable seat she closed her eyes and spoke to her old partner.

[You didn't call Merlin by his other name. Were you trying to hide him?]

'Those girls certainly associated me with Merlin because of his last name, if I said his name was Merlin it would be easy to guess who he is.'

[You want to stay hidden, but you constantly draw the devils' attention. Isn't it contradictory?]

'I know. But staying quiet with everything about to happen is boring. Teasing these girls is my only source of entertainment, you wouldn't judge a lonely old lady.'

[If the old woman has the body of a model that doesn't age, I would judge.]

'Come on, if they want to believe I'm related to the legendary wizard Merlin Ambrosius so be it. Giving some information to the little kitten doesn't hurt me and will probably only make them more confused.'

[What about Odin? If they get to know him your disguise will drop.]

'Relax, Odin said he only contacted the leaders of the devil faction. No sane being would imagine that the Norse god would be in a bar with a beautiful bodyguard to drink with a friend and try to harass unknown women.'

[You have a point. Wait a minute... you are doing all this on purpose. You want them to focus on you so they don't have time to cause any problems that could delay the peace treaty.]

'Bingo. I knew you were smart, my favorite overgrowed lizard.'

[You vile woman. How can you lie so blatantly? How the hell did that innocent god befriend you?]

'Yahweh? He was the easiest, he was to naive. I miss the guy, teasing him was funny.'

[You speak as if you weren't trying to violate nature by resurrecting a god who died centuries ago.]

'You got me, guilty as charged.'

Suddenly her cell phone shook as she received a message. It was a message whose contact was listed as 'Dick Wizard'.

{Amaterasu finally released me, I'll I will arrive in Kuoh tomorrow.}

{No problem. I'll get things ready.}

{Bye bye, I need to try a last time my pick-up lines on a hot kitsune milf.}

"I still wonder how he became so perverted."

[The boy always had this side, it flourished after he got dumped by the lady of the lake. Haha you get it... flourished... because he is the flower wizard.]

"You're getting more retarded every year. Are you getting senile, my friend?"

[Fuck you stupid fairy.]

"It's a job for two but I am single for now. So I am sorry to dissapoint you."

[Smartass.]

"Thanks, I need to buy things for Merlin."

She conjured a notebook and a pen using magic so that they both float and function autonomously.

Anastasia walked to the kitchen noticing the lack of food in the fridge. Then she had the flying pen write down a list of foods that she remembered as Merlin's favorites.

[Can't you just create the foods with magic?]

"As I said, I need something to occupy me. Cooking can be a pleasant hobby if you don't do it too often or if you enjoy the act of cooking or seeing the smile on the face of someone who tastes the dish."

[I get it, you're having a midlife crisis.]

Anastasia ignored the talking sword and left the house to the nearest market. There she quickly bought what she needed, and put the bags in the car.

She drove home and used magic to carry the bags into the house.

When she looked at the sky, she noticed that it was a beautiful day and decided to walk a little before going to sleep. Then she went to a square with a fountain nearby where she witnessed a shocking scene.

"Today was definitely fun." The fallen angel smiled, while she had a fountain behind her.

"Hey, Ise-Kun."

"What is it, Yuuma-chan."

"There's something I want to do to celebrate our first date. Can you hear my desire?"

[Hohoho the dragon brat is getting laid tonight.]

'Silence Apollyon.' She said hiding her presence from the two who were on a date.

"W-what is the d-wish you want?" Issei Hyoudou said with a shaken tone of voice.

[I take back what I said. At most he gets a kiss out of her pity.] Apollyon speaks inside Anastasia mind.

The fallen angel named Yuuma just smiled and said it loud and clear.

"Could you die for me?"

[Damn, the kid will die as a virgin.] The sealed dragon again broke the mood for Anastasia.

"...Oh? That's... huh, my bad, can you say that again? I think there's something wrong with my ears."

"Could you die for me?" Black wings like a raven emerged from the girl's back.

She then flapped her wings, black feathers floated through the air and fell on the spot. The fallen angel hovered in the air looking at the boy with a cold and frightening look.

[Are you going to save the brat?]

'He is Vali's rival and my student, I have to at least keep him alive.'

"The little time I spent with you was fun. It was like playing house with a small child." With a cold smile she created a spear of light and threw it towards the boy.

The spear made an unpleasant noise as it broke the wind's resistance and as it approached the boy simply closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

Anastasia conjured a barrier around Issei that dispelled the spear the moment it made contact.

"How is this possible? You must be a human who doesn't know how to use your sacred gear!" Yuuma shouted indignantly as she throws another spear that also get disintegrated when touching the boy's body.

"Sacred what?" Issei he asked, confused by the whole situation. His girlfriend turned into an angel with black wings, tried to kill him with a spear and suddenly he's safe and sound.

"You really don't know?" She asks suspiciously.

Anastasia, realizing that the fallen angel would only become more confident with the boy's lack of experience, casts another spell, this time she creates a false teleportation circle on the boy's side with the same symbol of the Gremory clan. Since this region is governed by the pair of heiresses, there is nothing better to scare invaders than to threaten them with the owners of the place.

"You're related to that devil, one day I will get rid of you!" Yuuma says before fleeing the place in a hurry.

After a few minutes Issei stood frozen in place completely confused.

"What just happened? Am I hallucinating?" He pinched himself. "Ouch, it hurts so is it real?" He wonders out loud, still in disbelief.

After a few minutes, the same symbol that Anastasia faked appears on the floor again and Rias Gremory's peerage emerges from it.

"Rias-senpai?" Issei looks at the four of them confused.

"Issei? How are you still alive?" Rias is surprised to see the boy intact after receiving the information about the fallen angel.

"What is happening here?" Issei asks.

"That's what I want to find out." Rias says with a serious tone.

"Ara Ara, Issei-kun is amazing. You defeated a fallen angel all by yourself." Says Akeno with her hand on her cheek and a fake smile.

"Pervert isn't weak?" Koneko looks at him with doubt.

"What are you talking about? What is a fallen angel?" Issei asks in hurry.

"We'll explain it to you later, we'll have class on Monday. We will take you to the club and explain everything." Kiba calms down the boy as he gives a proper answer. "You should go home now, it's not safe to be out at this time. How about I walk you back."

"Okay." Issei responds shaken by the course of events.

When Issei leaves escorted by Kiba, the three girls remain there trying to find clues, but are unsuccessful until...

"Buchou, I smelled a familiar smell near the area." Koneko comments.

"Whose smell was it?" Rias asks.

"Anastasia-sensei." Koneko he responds without hesitation having gotten used to the smell after spending a lot of time with the teacher.

"Interesting. A sacred gear user and a mage are in Kuoh, I will finally be able to be free from my engagement." Rias almost jumps with excitement, ignoring the fact that she does not have the consent of either of them to participate in her peerage.

Anastasia, after looking at the young people while still invisible, just teleports home.

[They discovered you.] Apollyon remarks.

"Sooner or later they would find out that I am a magician, after all, they already suspected me. At least I saved one life." Anastasia says.

[Looks like we're finally getting some action in your life as an old lady going through a midlife crisis.]

"You know, sometimes I regret turning you into a sword. I should have destroyed your soul so that you would never be able to exist again, not even through reincarnation."

[You couldn't live without me. You would become a lonely old lady with a midlife crisis. ] Apollyon speaks arrogantly placing emphasis on solitude.

"But I wished to. It would be so peaceful." Then Anastasia goes to her room and decides to sleep ignoring the annoying sword.