"As for you, Azazel, I heard you're deep into researching Sacred Gears," Kousuke said with a familiar smile. "I don't mind borrowing your notes for a week or two."
"Hey! That's decades worth of research you're talking about!"
"Sounds about right. A small price to pay for keeping your boy toy alive." He said this while smirking at Vali. The latter trembled for a moment but otherwise stayed relatively calm.
"..."
"Unless, of course, you have something else to offer from your faction?" Kousuke added innocently, like he was bargaining with an auntie at a fish market.
"And no, I don't take losers—especially not someone as uncontrollable as that time bomb," he added before Azazel could propose Vali as a compensation. The latter clicked his tongue, as if caught red-handed.
"...What did you say?" Vali muttered, clenching his fists.
"Hmm? What is that buzzing I'm hearing?" Kousuke said, cupping his hand to his ear. The shit-eating grin on his face was undeniably a provocation towards Vali.
"Fine, I'll send you my notes later," Azazel sighed, deflating like a balloon. He couldn't understand why someone like Kousuke wanted his research notes. With that level of strength he showed previously, he had no reason to rely on something like Sacred Gear.
"That's a deal, then. Moving on." Kousuke turned to face the Archangel, who was trying his best to pretend he was invisible. "Now it's your turn. Like I said, I won't ask for much."
"An Excalibur sword, you've got some of those, right?" He said, eyeing the sword near Xenovia's waist.
"That's Church property." Michael said, his tone calm and firm.
"And you're their big boss. Just tell them to hand one over in their dreams or something. Big deal," Kousuke said with a shrug.
"Unless… you've got any cute angels in Heaven? I wouldn't mind one working at my household." He jokingly suggested. He recalled a certain ecchi anime he used to watch, it was called heaven's property or something.
"...You want an angel to be your maid?" The Archangel Michael, the current leader of Heaven asked.
"My household's maid." Kousuke corrected his words.
"That doesn't make it any better."
"My Lord, if you leave it to me, then I—" Xenovia began, but was cut off again.
"Do you want the naked apron option, or the bikini option?" Kousuke asked with a straight face.
He knew Xenovia, or even the cheerful Irina might offer themselves if he kept joking, so this was just a scare tactic. Not that he'd actually make them wear that. Definitely not.
"That is not appropriate attire for a maid!" Xenovia exclaimed with reddened cheeks. Even Irina blushes slightly but her reaction seems much more favourable than outright rejection.
"Well, in my household, I do the talk and you do the walk," he replied with a grin. "Or just hand over that Excalibur on your waist. That's fine too."
"This is more like a scam than compensation," Michael muttered.
"Damn, I got exposed? Oh well, deal with it," Kousuke said, leaning back in his chair.
Michael sighed but eventually nodded. "Alright, I'll talk with the Church about the Excalibur."
"Wait a minute, something's not right! You got an Evil Piece from a Devil and an Excalibur from an Angel—none of that compares to my years of research! That's not fair!" Azazel protested, clearly the most frustrated of the trio.
"How about I give you one of the Sacred Gears from my collection instead?" he offered.
"Do you have a Longinus, then?"
"That's daylight robbery! I wouldn't hand one over even if I had one!"
"Well, sucks to suck. You're the one who sent Vali to my doorstep, so it's only right you pay the bigger price," Kousuke replied. "As the saying goes, don't bite the finger that finger you, or something."
"It's 'don't bite the hand that feeds you,'" Tsubaki corrected after lightly smacking him on the shoulder.
"Same thing. Just a different mouth," he said with a smirk.
"Sigh... Fine. Then let's talk about the reason we're here in the first place," Azazel said, exchanging glances with Sirzechs and Michael. The two nodded in agreement.
"We've grown tired of needless wars among ourselves, so this meeting was meant to initiate peace talks, to finally end the cold war between us," he explained, shifting the casual atmosphere into a more serious one. It was a heavy statement coming from the leader of the Grigori.
"Damn, you three act like best friends now, but you were stabbing each other in the back before this?" Kousuke said, shaking his head. "I mean, I get it with Angels and Devils, they're two sides of the coin. But you, Azazel, what's the deal with your Fallen group?"
"We're the awkward bunch," Azazel admitted. "We don't really fit with Angels anymore, but we also find Devils slightly... repulsive. We were Angels once, after all."
"Of course, this meeting isn't just about peace talks. You're also one of the major topics we planned to discuss," Sirzechs added.
"Me? I'm just your average human. Nothing interesting about my life," Kousuke said humbly. "Well, unless having a hot milf Youkai and two sexy half-Devils as girlfriends counts as an achievement, then maybe yeah, I am worth talking about."
"You know what we mean," Sirzechs replied flatly. "Your unfathomable powers."
"I don't think my rizz is that powerful, but if Crimson Satan himself says so, I guess I should be proud of myself, huh?" He said while rubbing his chin.
The three leaders simultaneously sighed.
There was no doubt: among everyone present, they were the most curious. In all their long lives, they had never seen, or heard of a human with power and presence like Kousuke. And to top it off, he was eccentric to the bone.
But maybe that's just how people who could bend the rules of the world behaved.
After all, even Sona's sister, Satan Leviathan herself had her flaws. Despite her immense power, she was obsessed with magical girls to the point of having her own TV show in the Underworld. Yet not a single Devil dared file a complaint.
"Actually," Azazel said after a pause, his tone growing thoughtful. "Do you know anything about the Witch?"
"The Witch?" Kousuke repeated.
Azazel raised a small device and projected an image. It showed a tall woman in a black cloak, a raven mask hiding her face. Her presence radiated mystery and danger.
"She's part of a hidden faction. But she acted like she knew you."
"This is the second time someone asked me that. Your lovely brother Michael over there kidnapped me once just to ask the same thing," Kousuke replied, raising a brow. "If I knew a hot babe like that, you'd see her behind me."
He said it jokingly.
But as if fate had a twisted sense of humor, everyone immediately tensed when they heard a soft, sultry chuckle coming from exactly behind him.
"Fufufu... As expected, you knew it all along, huh?" said a familiar voice.
The Witch emerged from the shadows behind him, her cloak rustling as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Kousuke's neck.
"I missed you so much, my Hero," she whispered into his ear. Kousuke's eyes widened. That voice, it was unmistakable.
"You—"
"Shh. Now's not the time," she said, pressing a finger to his lips. "I'm only here to take someone with me."
Her gaze drifted across the room and locked onto Vali, who finally stirred from his silence.
"Finally. I was getting sick of waiting," he said, stepping over to her side without hesitation.
"You're defecting?" Azazel shouted, slamming his foot onto the table as his black wings flared with anger.
"No. I'm simply choosing the side that benefits me the most," Vali said coolly. His eyes briefly flicked to Kousuke. "They have something I want."
"I'm not letting you get away!"
"Oh my, how dangerous~" the Witch cooed.
She snapped her fingers. A blinding light consumed the room. When their vision returned, both she and Vali were gone.
But it wasn't just them.
"...She dare to kidnap my little sister in front of me?" Sirzechs said, his voice low and filled with restrained fury.
Rias and her entire peerage—gone.
Even Akeno had disappeared without a trace. Kousuke remained seated, silent. His fingers tightened around the armrest. Not out of fear, but realization.
'Morgan... How in the world are you here?'