Asia was pretty shaken up by the past week she had been through, but being back in Kuoh after being rescued by the agents of Death during their raid on Kokabiel's hideout felt like an act of kindness she didn't deserve. She was kidnapped by the exorcist Freed two days after she arrived in Kuoh after she healed his right arm. He pushed the two of them through a portal after Mittelt and Kalawarner disappeared, and she had no idea where they ended up. She felt sick remembering the advances Freed kept making, and it was only the constant presence of Fallen that prevented him from defiling her, she was sure.
The other man, a man named Valper, was also excommunicated like Freed and herself, though she did not know why. He was even worse than Freed, but in a different way. He would talk about experimenting on her, and Asia felt that it wasn't going to be long before Kokabiel decided to allow it.
That vile, vicious creature Kokabiel, and his cursed wroth. He whispered harsh words in her direction, mocking her continued faith in God despite being cast aside by the Church. He finally broke her one night, the night she was rescued by who she now knew were the Angels of Death.
Oh, she knew they were no Angels, not Heavenly in the slightest, but she was almost satisfied when she watched them make short work of the Fallen that watched her continuously get verbally and physically abused and slapped around. They did not lift a finger to help her, no matter how much she begged to be released from the massive cage they kept her in. Her kindness, her begging, it got her nowhere. They would laugh at her plight.
The skeletal figures freed her from her confines and pulled her into the deep pool of darkness that opened up beneath them. It felt like cold water washing over her skin, but to her, it felt like a baptism. She felt her worries and her sadness wash away, and she felt happy in the embrace.
After being received by the Fallen loyal to whom she learned was the true leader of the Grigori, she was quickly relocated from the prison area after much confusion among the Fallen. They couldn't imprison a prisoner, not one who seemed to be worse for wear and dressed in rags. They contacted their higher ups, who contacted their higher ups, and it was Shemhazai who came to escort her away from the chaos.
Now she was in the presence of a being whom she owed her freedom to. She was surprised by his appearance, and his personality, but certainly in a good way. She was expecting a tall skeleton wielding a massive scythe, and instead she got an albino teenager with a quiet, but commanding voice. He was not a monster like Kokabiel, either. The fact that he was willing to let her stay with him, despite not knowing her, brought tears to her eyes. Legitimate tears of joy.
She was elated that what Azazel said was true, and that Death was kind. She could see the compassion in his eyes when he looked at her.
Asia almost felt relaxed as she walked around, chatting with Bennia about various topics the Grim Reaper wanted to talk about. The two shared laughs about pranks Bennia had committed in the past, and Asia felt it was scandalous to laugh. After the week she had, though, the ridiculousness was like a balm to her soul.
It felt great to be back in Kuoh.
"Asia!" A voice halted the group of three near the bank where Haruto planned on opening an account, seeing as Azazel decided it was necessary to pay him with a check. It was just another inconvenience, something that Haruto felt the man embodied himself. One large inconvenience.
"Issei!" Asia greeted back with enormous amounts of cheer in her voice, rushing forward to greet the boy that Haruto had given the choice of Humanity or Devilry to. As per an agreement between the two, made not long after Haruto had met with Sirzechs, Issei would mutter not a single perverse thought or vocalize depravity in his presence.
Issei greatly respected Haruto for guarding him and healing him after Raynare tore straight through his chest cavity, so much that he had begun to idolize him to a degree. He remembered that terrifying presence he controlled, and he saw what he did in his stead. No one had ever done anything like that for him. He was sure most people would have let him bleed out instead of helping him due to his perverse ways, but Haruto didn't.
That was why he was searching for him, to ask the man to train his team for the upcoming Rating Game with the Phenex clan heir. Seeing Asia with him, someone he thought he would never see again, it lifted a weight from his mind. After the day he spent with her, he thought he had made another friend, but she never came back from the Church. He had walked the town a few times trying to find the kind girl, despite the warnings from Rias, but he couldn't find her anywhere. He even did what he told Rias he wouldn't, and investigated the Church by himself.
It was like she was up and disappeared after he walked her to the boundaries of the holy building.
The two seemed to be having a moment together, so Haruto and Bennia moved to stand aside and not seem like they were eavesdropping when Issei broke away from his conversation with Asia to approach Haruto.
"Please wait, Haruto-senpai! I… I want you to train me!" Issei declared loudly while pumping his fist in Harutos' direction, "I must protect Rias from a forced marriage, and I don't think I can do it alone! Please, I… I don't want to lose her, not to him…" Haruto was moved by the passion in his voice, so when Issei bowed low at the waist and cast his eyes to the floor, Haruto tapped him by the shoulder and shook his head.
"Do not bow to me. What…," Haruto stopped for a moment, a displeased look appearing on his face, "What is it you want to learn from me?"
So that was how Asia, Bennia and Haruto found themselves in the middle of a beautiful training camp owned by the Gremory Family for a ten day vacation away from Kuoh. Haruto at least had in mind to pick up the keys to his new home from Azazel before departing, it would do no good to be locked out of his own home despite not technically needing the door to enter it.
The thirty Grim Reapers were ordered to remain and act as a vanguard, and they did as requested without complaint.
Haruto liked that about them.
Haruto frowned as he watched the boy concentrate on the draconian energy deep within him, and he was sure the boy was doing his best to look like a manga character.
It was annoying.
"Stop. Just… watch." Haruto murmured, holding his hand up to stop Issei from further embarrassing himself. He stepped forward and pressed his forefinger and middle finger on Issei's chest and began to channel his own energy as lightly as he could. When the teenager showed no reaction to the energy, he continued to increase its output until Issei made an off hand comment about how that tickled.
Haruto upped the energy output until Issei finally exclaimed he felt it.
"Now I want you to feel this flow. Memorize the feeling." Haruto guided, watching as Issei closed his eyes in concentration once more, this time actually succeeding in summoning the energy needed to not only make Boosted Gear appear on his left hand, but for it to gain a new feature. A coffin symbol etched itself upon the crimson gauntlet and dark purple waves of what appeared to be flames coalesced around the clawed fingers of Issei.
Haruto raised a brow at the sight, not understanding the significance of seeing the symbol, but he knew it had something to do with the fact that Issei was absorbing the energy Haruto was pushing into his system and not outright expelling it like he expected he would. He could feel it entering the Boosted Gear, and he felt it when the draconian source of energy began to devour it as if it were Koneko with sweets.
He heard a gasp come from Rias, who was standing not far from the two along with Akeno, Bennia and Asia. Koneko and Kiba were in a clearing a few yards away, sparring with one another in hopes that the combat experience would give them the edge they needed to defeat their opponent, Riser Phenex, and save their King from an arranged marriage.
"You… you blessed him."
Haruto did no such thing, and he was about to vocalize that statement when Issei began to cheer loudly. His eyes drew to the black ball of energy that was forming in the gauntlet covered hand of Issei and the power output he was feeling from it.
With a roar, Issei reared back his arm and released the energy in a gout of purple flames tinted black, and Haruto was reminded of his fight with his brother Ryoji. I have seen that type of attack before, but it wasn't used in this fashion.
The dark purple beam of flames ate away at everything in its path before exploding violently, leaving a nearby hill carved almost in two.
Issei stared at his hand, and then at the damage he caused.
"You are freaking awesome, Haruto-senpai!"
Haruto shrugged his shoulders at the praise, "We still have work to do."
The look of determination on Issei's face let Haruto know he wasn't wasting his time.
Issei was able to successfully use the attack, which he named "Death Shot" as homage to Haruto, multiple times in succession before beginning to feel the wear on his magic by the end of the third day of training.
Haruto did not neglect the boy's physical training either, going so far as to force him to engage in hand to hand combat with him while fully reinforced by his own energy, leaving Issei to be beaten to a pulp every time until he began to pick up a few of the moves of Haruto.
Issei was a calisthenic learner, Haruto had found out, and a damn good one. When given a goal, a real goal that did not have depraved intentions, that was when the wielder of Boosted Gear began to shine. The agreement between Haruto and Issei stood, and not a single perverse comment came from the mouth of the brown haired teenager during the entire ten days.
Akeno and Rias were almost convinced it was a sign of the apocalypse until Issei explained just why he was keeping his comments to himself.
He did not want to jeopardize the future of his King with his perversion, and he thought that being trained by Haruto was the only way he could possibly get strong enough, quick enough, to defeat Riser and free Rias from her obligations.
It was the most heart touching thing Rias had ever come from the mouth of Hyoudou Issei, and the small blush on her face at that proclamation made her heart skip a beat. Rias seemed to push herself in training harder than before after Issei's bold declaration, as well as the rest of the Gremory Group.
Haruto did not only focus on Issei, despite being there at his request, and found himself sparring with Kiba and Koneko as well at different times. Akeno had expressed interest in learning a few spells from him, and even offered to teach him one of her own creations in turn. Haruto thought it was a fair trade, and thus the two exchanged information. Holy Lightning, as Haruto learned, was out of his grasp, but learning another wide scale lightning attack that acted as a much weaker thunder reign was worth it.
At the end of the tenth day, Bennia, Asia and Haruto bade farewell and good luck to the Devils in their match and made their way home.
After unlocking the front door and stepping into the freshly renovated building, Haruto felt both of his brows raise at the color scheme of the building.
How did he know my favorite color?
Everything was a Velvet Blue.