Chapter 14

Both fighters were breathing heavily, exhausted by the constant fighting. Raynare was reaching her limits at this point, a few stray bullets hitting her burned her and it hurt a lot and she didn't know why. Nobunaga wasn't much better either, blood going down her forehead and mouth, and a few scratches all across her body because the few botched times she attempted to dodge and got hit by another spear instead. Smiling weakly, she made jumped backwards, making more distance between her and her opponent. She was weak, but she'll live, and there wasn't much that this enemy could do about it. Taking this opportunity to ask her enemy her intentions, she shouted.

"Why are you doing this? I did nothing to you, and you attacked me unprovoked!" She made an angry face and pointed at Raynare, absolutely furious, while continuing on with her questioning. To this, Raynare smiled menacingly.

"It was nothing personal, I'm afraid. My superiors just needed you dead, and I'm here to make sure that I fulfill that request!" Raising another spear of light above her, she threw it at Nobunaga, who just barely dodged the attack, part of her uniform torn apart by the attack. "Now stop dodging and accept your death already!"

"Never!" Issei and Nobunaga shouted. She jumped back, and tried to shoot another bullet, before another shout interrupted them. It sounded feminine and very irritated, apparently at the both of them. Nobunaga looked at the source of the familiar noise, nonchalantly slapping a spear of light away from her and another as she waited for the voice's owner to arrive.

Raynare waited a little bit herself, at the very least allowing the interruption to go on for her to lick her wounds and continue with the battle a little later. She walked back a little bit with a limp, her eye twitching stopped upon realizing who exactly arrived. The magical girl looked at the both of them with a serious expression, especially at Raynare, the aggressor, who shrunk back a little bit at the person who was definitely a helluva lot stronger than she was. She looked at Issei run at her to hug the Leviathan as if they were close siblings, who returned the gesture. Realizing that she just assaulted someone that Serafall Leviathan of all people considered loved was enough for her to consider the teeny tiny possibility that she was going to be dead soon.

Serafall for her part understood the situation immediately. Someone in the Fallen Angel organizations sensed Issei a few miles away and interpreted her as a threat, sending an agent to snuff her out as early as possible to prevent any potential threats from arising. If Issei was any less of a fighter then she knew that there would be no chance for survival. Despite this, she stood her ground and put the tired child behind her and looked menacingly at the fallen angel, threatening her to put her weapons down or else. Raynare, having very little chance of survival from such a high ranked devil, followed through, dropping her light spears as they turned into bright particles of light, and raised her arms in surrender. She fell to the ground by the sheer pressure pushing down on her.

Relaxing for a bit, she walked menacingly at the downed agent, aiming to ask her some important questions. She looked at Issei, who nodded, then glared back at Raynare. She began, "Who the hell sent you? I know you came after Issei to prevent a threat from potentially rising up in the future, and I'm pretty sure Azazel wouldn't bother trying assassinate someone to begin with, but that doesn't quite explain why you tried anyway."

Looking down on herself, Raynare scoffed, responding. "Azazel. Azazel sent me." She quickly shook her head upon seeing Serafall prepare an energy blast at her, basically asking her to wait for her to finish. "But he didn't give me the kill order. Someone else did, one of my superiors made sure to tell me to kill her before she could become a problem, and that's exactly what I'm here for."

Satisfied with her answer, Serafall put her wand down, glad to know that he didn't lose his mind just yet. Though honestly, an unprovoked attack on Devil territory? She was certain that the old church on the edge of the city was where they were hiding, but attacking in the park, during broad daylight? Was she nuts? Though to be fair, she did notice a little dullness to her eyes that went away when she surrendered, so maybe some compelling was done to keep her allegiance in this matter.

Sighing deeply, she glanced at Issei from her side, her uniform tattered and looking very worse for wear. A few magic tricks and healing should fix her and her clothes up before she could go home, but the distant look in her eyes was enough to tell her that Issei had a lot of things to handle mentally. At the very least, she could at least make herself look presentable before she could go home. She looked down at the fallen angel lying down on the dirt and grass, who shivered at the mean look in her eyes. Deciding that the assassin had very little uses at this point and almost murdering her ward at that, knowing even slightly hypnotized she simply acted on her instinct, she pointed a ball of energy at the downed opponent.

Raynare braced for impact, knowing that this would at least end her suffering in an instant. From here, Issei looked at both the fallen angel and Serafall, torn between allowing her to be killed and stopping Serafall from doing the dirty deed. Asking Nobunaga for her thoughts, she shrugged within their mindscape, telling her that either option was alright, but warning that allowing a threat to get away with their actions was enough of a risk to not do so, but figured that Issei was precious enough to go for her gut instinct anyway. Mind settled, she poked Serafall's thighs to call her attention, shaking her head in a negative, telling her to stop.

"Issei... why? She almost killed you..." She frowned at Issei's continued shaking, stopping her concentration on the death ball and instead focused on Issei. Issei looked up at her, and nodded, asked for permission to not be interrupted, and coughed into her fist before beginning to defend her argument.

"Ahem. First of all, magical girls shouldn't kill unarmed and weakened enemies. It was dishonourable and very mean, and very un-magical girl-like. Second of all, I'm just a kid, and no matter what happens to the corpse after they die, I will never forgot the first time I've seen a person turn from completely alive, to dead. And most importantly." She breathed in, putting her index finger on the side of her head, a vain attempt at looking cool turning hilariously cute with Issei's small size. "Shouldn't we let this Azazel guy you talked about dish out whatever punishment out there instead? I don't think there's a point in trying to serve our own kind of punishment when we could always let someone more familiar with her do it for us."

Processing the words with her eyes closed and two fingers on the temple of a pair of glasses that had materialized out of nowhere, she nodded. She removed the restraints on Raynare the moment she agreed with Issei, letting her go. Raynare stood up weakly, unsure how to process what had just happened, but at the very least was glad with the turn of events that let her live.

For a moment, it was like the tension in the clearing had expanded tenfold, the Fallen Angel still stuck in a state of fight or flight. Yet in another moment, the thickness had been cut through immediately by the sound of a cheery J-Pop ringtone coming from behind the Fallen Angel, and she immediately stuck her hand inside her rear to literally pull up a flip phone from her ass to respond to the call.

Flipping it open, she said a meek hello upon looking at the name on the call, Azazel. On the other hand of the cellphone was a normally chill Fallen Angel who was royally pissed at the subordinate who had added onto her orders without any permission, and was basically forcing her to come back to the base at once. Looking at at the Demon King and Leviathan, she sighed, and prepared to take off even while heavily injured.

She snapped her fingers and a magic spell was made. "This should reverse your school's memory of you, so they should remember what you were supposed to look like. Take care, I guess. And thank you." She flew up at the sky, but paused for a moment to clarify something. "And before you ask, my name is Raynare!" Grumbling a little bit about her recent failure, she pretty much resigned herself to whatever nutjob punishment Azazel had for her. She flew up once more despite her injuries, and was no longer in viewable distance.

Taking the moment to process what had just happened, Issei's eyes widened, realizing the implications that could occur. She was sure that they'd remember this school day as participated by 'Hyoudou Issei', but not as Nobunaga. So if they didn't know who she was then...

Looking at the kid who now had a very conflicted face, she chuckled, then took a letter from her purse. Whistling at her to call for her attention, she waved the acceptance letter in front of Issei who stared at it, uncertain. Knowing that she wouldn't quote understand the offer she was giving just yet, she explained.

"This is an acceptance letter to Kuoh Academy, Issei. I had one prepared in case you wanted to join my little sister in studying there. In case you didn't know, Kuoh Academy is generally controlled by both the Sitri and Gremory, so that we would have an easier time watching over you and the others." Tapping her wand on her side, she looked at Issei expectantly, waiting for the younger girl's response. "If you were worried that none of your classmates or teachers wouldn't recognize you anymore, then you could always enroll there and let us handle the paperwork."

Considering the standards and lines that Issei didn't want to cross, she added. "And for the record? We aren't going to change or alter their minds or memories of you, only enough of a suggestion that you've changed over the years, provided that they remember you in the future." She winked, hinting at something menacing yet sadistic.

Issei looked back and forth from Serafall's face and her hand, very conflicted on accepting it and plain disapproving it, having studied at the school for such a long time that suddenly going to another school was almost like immigrating to another country. But then she thought of the real meat of the question. Wasn't Kuoh Academy a girls only school? Did that mean she had to give up just about everything about her former life just so she could still have a semblance of a normal one? She considered the possibility of her simply transferring to another just outside of Kuoh, but that was such an expensive investment for her parents who already had problems managing their money at the moment anyway.

She opened her mouth, ready to say something, only to release a very half-hearted "Bwuh." She nervously looked side to side, until her eyes locked onto a familiar looking ash pile, apparently the stray devil corpse they beat up just the previous day. Staring at it for a few moments, it was as if she was asking for it to tell her something to say, but being a very dead spider devil, it didn't say anything at all. Sighing in resignation, she raised her head once more to actually say something this time around.

"Serafall... I have something to tell you..." Serafall perked at her response, nodding once to tell Issei that she was going to listen to her. Gulping some spit that was forming at the base of her throat, she set the foundations for something she should have told her the previous day. "I don't think I should go to Kuoh Academy..."

Serafall looked at her funny, tilting her head as if asking her why there would be such a problem considering that Kuoh was such a prestigious school. The quality of education was high, the teachers were very good and kind, and there were many advantages to simply being around there more often. She expressed this confusion by asking why.

"It's... How do I say this..." Issei rubbed the back of her neck, face leaning down but eyes still trying their best to keep eye contact on Serafall. Breathing in heavily, she continued. "I... I used to be a boy. Before I turned into this that is." She immediately looked up at Serafall with a serious expression that was slightly ruined by her puffy cheeks and teary eyes. "I am so sorry I didn't tell you the day I met you Miss Serafall, I just didn't think it was necessary to say anything at the time! But as it is, I don't think that letting someone who used to be a guy partake in the activities that would normally associate with women, especially since I get to have an eyeful of pretty girls in the changing rooms!"

She bowed down at the magical girl, prepared for whatever dumb punishment she had prepared for him. "Please forgive me, Serafall, but I just didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings in the matter... Okay!?" Serafall made a passing glance at her, and smiled weakly, then put a hand on her face and the other on Issei's to lift them up for her to make eye contact.

"Ahem. Issei, I need to tell you something about me as well. Is that alright?" Issei nodded, and waited in anticipation. Serafall put her lips next to Issei's ears to make her listen better, and said the magic words. "I already knew."

Issei straightened her position in shock, her back leaning, mouth hanging open with one arm close to her face and the other extended. But it was only to Nobunaga's faint praise who considered that Serafall with all her potential connections probably knew about it herself. Humming to herself a little tune, Serafall continued, in a fairly elaborate pose in response to Issei's rather hammy reaction.

"Well, it was kind of obvious if you think about it Issei," Serafall chided, tapping her palms with a ruler that she found inside of Issei's discarded bag. "You speak with a fairly masculine tone, you used 'Boku' more than 'Watashi', even if you did sometimes use 'Washi' like an old man for whatever reason, a-and more importantly, you're wearing the boy's school uniform." Serafall looked at Issei who was still pretty solemn looking, and added, "Although I'm guessing that isn't quite the problem, is it?"

Issei could only shake her head, upon dropping the act and standing straight again. She pointed at her crotch with a deadpan face, and Serafall nodded. She understood the primary problem in full, although she did acknowledge that Issei pointed it out already a moment ago. She hummed for a moment, then snapped her fingers, realizing something important about that point. "Issei, don't you worry. We can handle the rest. I'm not sure about being able to turn the school coed in just a few months, but give me a little time and I'll see whatever kind of compromise I can think up."

At the very least, this was something she could agree to, but the question of what would happen to the few relations she actually had in her school was left unanswered. She figured that it was something that transfer students just had to get used to, but she was thankful that they were in pretty close proximity anyway so she could say hi anytime she wanted to. It was still a pretty good idea, but then, how the hell would she get away with transferring to another school this early in the semester? Or at least, anything that wouldn't draw attention to her in the first place.

"Ah, if you're worried about any problems about unwanted attention, that Fallen Angel you beat up did the work for you. Just after you left your school, everyone inside of the campus got knocked out by whatever dumb curse she had prepared, and now that they've woken up, some people got really spooked, so you shouldn't worry that people would want to get away from school that targeted like that. And to tell you how I learned that, look at this." She pulled out a flip phone that had a text message on it from the city government about a potential terrorist attack that targeted a small elementary school, and warning to people to stay safe and so on. The staff and students were safe, but got everyone really scared. There was also an addendum about classes being suspended, which she never really cared about but was pretty important to her classmates and her friends apparently.

It was honestly plenty of time to transfer schools, but that was still up in the air for now. She put her hands in her pockets, glad that Nobunaga gave her the free will to do whatever she felt best at any given moment, and thought on it more. Serafall coughed again, signalling to her that she was going to continue talking again.

"Odds are that the brass will attempt to hide the incident as a gas leak, but I have my doubts about an excuse that stupid being used myself." Smiling cheerfully, she went back to her offering pose that she showed to Issei just earlier, showing the letter to her as a gift, if anything. "So kid, what do you say?"

Issei made up her mind at this point, and smiled, taking the offered hand and beamed at the opportunity given to her. The two of them stood next to each other with smiles full of mirth until the moment had passed and it just became awkward. Adjusting her posture, she nodded, still smiling. They would be satisfied with just standing motionlessly like this, but Serafall felt the need to break the silence at this point.

"Oh yeah, we should really tell your parents about this don't we? I'm sure that telling them about the more fantastical parts of the world would be pretty important." Serafall looked to the side meekly. "And the fact that you're planning to transfer, too. ... That's going to be an awkward conversation, huh..." Miss Leviathan chuckles nervously as she thought of their reactions, ranging from the insane to the more mundane acceptance.

"I already have actualy. Some of the basic supernatural things, anyway. They were surprisingly accepting about the whole thing and my mother came to my defense on multiple occasions. As for the school related stuff, I think we could have you meet them in person." Nobunaga looked to the side for one moment, then added. "Though I'm pretty sure I already said that yesterday."

"Ah yes, fair enough."

Another silence.

Coughing into her fist, Issei spoke through the awkwardness. "Shouldn't I be going home now? Or, well, I'd love it if you came by for dinner to more easily explain my current situation, Miss Leviathan, if that's not too problematic...?"

"Ah, don't worry, I'd love to. I don't have much to work on at the very moment anyway, so lead the way!" She helped Issei pick up her junk, as they slowly left the clearing. They walked down the road to Issei's house, Issei taking a moment to steal a glance at the smudge on the floor before chuckling it off.