Chapter 9 start
Danny could not pay attention to the lesson. The last few days have been a rollercoaster, and more stuff keeps piling onto his shoulders. 'I thought I left this kind of stuff behind. Late nights, fights, weirdos trying to mess with people. And now Asia is going to a church that has a bunch of those crows.' He looked out the window as he was beating himself up for not staying with Asia when he knew that multiple of those crows were inside.
He did stick around invisibly in case there were screams or any sort of sound that made it seem like there was trouble. But after waiting for about twenty minutes, all he got was Asia coming out of the church to water some of the flowers that were outside of the building. Seeing that she was ok, he flew full speed to school, barely making it in time for the first class.
He knew that his club members were gonna be mad at him, but this was a little more important.
'She was ok this morning, so she should still be ok, now, right? There weren't any problems when I left her, so I shouldn't worry….right?'
Oh, who was he kidding? He was worried about leaving Asia up there, and he would not be able to calm down until he actually saw her again. His eyes shifted to the teacher, who was giving a lecture about an equation, and he had to go through a big mental debate on whether or not he should do what he did before and leave during class, or wait until after school. After going back and forth on the pros and cons of both options, he decided that he should go and check on her right after school.
He was here to have a better school life, so he should at least try to keep that up.
Danny propped his head up with his hand as he gave a flat look to the front of the class. 'Stupid hero complex.'
Behind Danny, Issei looked at the back of the transfer student's back as he was still thinking about how he was warned about him. 'Maybe he has some sort of power that makes him popular with the girls, and he is trying to make his own harem with all the girls that he talks with. Rotten bastard. I hope you trip and break your face.'
Danny frowned as he had a feeling that someone was glaring at him. He looked around before shifting his body to look behind him, but he didn't see anyone glaring at him. 'Ok, now I'm starting to feel things other than the weird air the whole school gives. Yaaaay~.'
The rest of the day was rather normal, albeit he was distracted for most of the day. He was able to get his mind back onto the classes, so he was able to get by without so much trouble, but now, he was doing what he could to save himself.
Danny held his hands up to his chest in surrender as he was being glared at by the entirety of the kendo club, with Murayama and Katase at the front with their arms crossed. "I swear, I have a good reason for it."
Murayama was tapping her finger as she tilted her head up. "Well, we're waiting for your reason."
Danny gulped as he was trying to think of what he could say without letting them know he was dealing with crow people. It was outlandish, and he wasn't sure if it was a world unseen by the general public or if everyone knew and they weren't saying anything. 'I really should have thought of something to say instead of just coming up and expecting them to just say it was ok.' He nervously chuckled as he came up with a semi-truth. "Someone needed help this morning, and I stopped to help them out before taking them to where they needed to go. They were new in town, and even if I am too, I at least had an idea of where it was they wanted to go."
Katase furrowed her brows more as she leaned forward and pointed in his face. "Then what about yesterday?" You didn't show up to practice at all."
Danny had a sweat drop on the side of his head as he came up with another excuse. "There was something that came up, and I had to take care of it. I know that isn't much, but it was really important, and I can't talk about it." He leaned back as the two leaned in closer to him, till their faces were about two inches away. They stayed there for a few more moments, making him rather nervous that they would be mad at him.
After a few more seconds, the two smiled and stood up and nodded. The rest of the kendo club dropped their scowls and frowns as they giggled at how nervous they were making him.
Murayama nodded. "Alright, as long as you tell us that you won't show up, we will let it slide."
Katase grabbed her bokkan and pointed it at him. "And you better make it up to us when you finish whatever it is you're doing."
Danny nodded and let out a sigh of relief that they weren't that mad at him. Being under the scrutiny of so many gals was a little unnerving, especially since he was in his human form rather than Phantom. He stood up and nodded to them. "Thanks, I'll make it up when I can."
Murayama and Katase nodded as the other members moved and went back to their practice.
Danny stood up and picked up his bag. "I've gotta head out, so I'll see you girls later."
Murayama nodded as she and Katase waved him off.
As Danny was leaving, he felt like asking them something. It was really irrelevant, but anything could help him out. Turning back, he asked. "Hey, do either of you know anything about the church that is on the hill?"
Both girls raised an eyebrow as it was a really random question. They looked at each other before Katase spoke.
"Are you talking about the one up the road from the little snack shop?" Seeing him nod, she shrugged. "Not much. It's a simple church that hasn't been used for much. Pretty sure I heard it was abandoned for years."
Murayama looked up in thought as she tried to think of anything else to add. "I heard there was some sort of accident where the people inside had to be evacuated. Ever since then, it just sat there unused. At least, that is what I heard." She couldn't think of anything else, before she wondered why Danny wanted to know. "Why, are you gonna do something there? Cause, don't take this the wrong way, but you don't seem overly religious."
Danny shook his head. "Nah, it's just that the person I met went to it and I didn't know anything about it. With all you said, maybe they will try to re-establish it or something."
The girls nodded as they didn't think much of it, one way or another.
Murayama moved to one of the rings so she could start her practice. "You're going to meet up with them, aren't ya?" She may have said this as a question, but it was clear she already knew the answer.
Danny nodded. If they knew he was going up there, there was no point in lying. Besides, what was there to keep secret? "Yeah, I just have a gut feeling that I should make sure they're ok."
Katase shrugged. "Well, have fun, just know that if you skip enough practice, one of us will beat you soon."
Danny shook his head with a smile. "Better practice a lot than, cause I won't fall behind no matter what."
Murayama heard this and turned around. "We'll see about that."
Danny waved over his shoulder in a way that caused some of the girls who usually came to watch him to swoon. He heard some of their cheers and looked at the door, and nervously smiled and waved at them. "Sorry, I've got somewhere to be today. Maybe next time."
The girls had different reactions to his leaving. Some with acceptance as they moved out of the way, almost with reverence, and some feeling distraught at not being able to see him practice.
Danny chuckled as they let him pass. 'I'm so not used to this.' He started making his way toward the main entrance of the school until he remembered. "Oh, crap, I left my notebook back in my desk!" Wanting to get to the church as fast as possible, he ran off, heading to his class to get his notebook. He would need it for later when he had to do his homework.
Within the crowd of girls, a certain small white-haired devil was listening in and heard him speak about the church. One that she knew her president told them to avoid. Hearing that he might be heading over there, she needed to inform Rias about this.
"Are you sure that he is heading to the church?" Rias was sitting on the couch as she heard what Koneko had to report about Danny.
Koneko nodded. "Yes. He asked about it. Said he was going there after school."
Rias steepled her fingers in front of her face as she thought about this. "This could be a problem."
Issei looked at Rias in confusion. He didn't know what the problem was with Danny going to the church. As far as he knew, the church was just a building that was left to rot at the top of the hill. "Is there something wrong about him going there? It's just a church."
Rias looked at Issei and sighed. She understood why he wouldn't know since he had just entered the world of the supernatural. "Do you remember how I said that we devils are in a war with heaven?" Seeing him nod, she continued. "The church is a symbol, a sanctuary, for Angels. As such, it is enemy territory for us. If any one of us were to be entered, it would be an affront toward the Angels and could potentially spark a conflict with heaven. This is a problem for both Angels and devils. Not only that, but exorcists affiliated with the church are able to use Sacred gears, and many would not hesitate to use any excuse to destroy a devil."
Issei thought about what she told him and thought of something. "So, does that mean Danny is an exorcist?"
"That is rather unclear at the moment." Sona, who was standing to the side as she heard the report from Koneko, walked forward. "He does not possess any holy item on his person, nor did we sense any within his household. Exorcists, no matter where they go, hold at least something affiliated with the church. But he had no such item."
Tsubaki, who was behind Sona, nodded. "It is why we are unsure what his affiliation is. And this could be problematic in many ways."
Issei was still not getting it. "Why?"
Sona crossed her arms as she explained. "If he is affiliated with the church, then he is an enemy that has been within our midst. He could have been gathering information on us while he was here, and with how he was able to vanish from our senses, we can't disregard the idea. And even on the chance that he isn't affiliated with him, it could still cause problems. Should he be affiliated with another faction, it could cause a misunderstanding with the Angels. They might think he is affiliated with the devils and heading toward their territory. Especially after his confrontation with a fallen Angel."
The mention of the Fallen Angels made him think about Yuma or…Rayner. Even though she dated him to kill him since he had a sacred gear, it was still something he held dear.
Rias stood up from her couch and looked at her Peerage. "We can't allow him to cause us problems by going to the church." Her peerage nodded, understanding her plight, and were ready to go and confront Danny.
Tsubaki raised her hand to get everyone's attention. "Perhaps we should do this civilly." Seeing that she had everyone's attention, she elaborated. "As we've said, we don't know his affiliation. If we are assuming incorrectly about who he is allied with, we should tread lightly." She looked at Sona as she brought up. "Despite his time here, he has done nothing toward us. He took care of the stray devil on his own and had that battle with the fallen angel. He has nothing that shows that he is affiliated with the church or angels. We should approach this slowly, and if he shows any hostility, I believe, then we should be prepared for battle."
Sona nodded as she agreed with her queen. Looking back at Rias, she suggested. "We will go and suggest that he avoid the church. Since he had spent time with us, he might listen."
Rias thought about the suggestion. It was risky. If they were wrong about Danny, they could be on the wrong end of something they might not be able to handle. "Be careful. And be on alert."
Sona nodded as the two left the room.
Issei looked at Rias and asked. "Shouldn't we go and help?"
Rias thought about it. Her friend was going to confront someone who had taken down a fallen angel so easily. It wasn't as if they couldn't do the same, but the thing that concerned her was that she could sense the power that came off Danny and how he used techniques that she had never seen before.
Facing an opponent that they knew about was easy, and they could handle it with confidence.
Facing an opponent that is a complete unknown and has shown to have power, able to handle a fallen Angel like that. It was a little nerve-racking.
Sona is powerful,... but what if?
Rias stood up and looked at her peerage. "Let's go."
Kiba looked at his king and asked. "Are you sure?"
Rias nodded. "We are just gonna make sure that nothing happens to her. She might be mad at me later, but if it means her safety, I can accept that." With a final nod, she moved to follow Sona. There was just something unnerving about Danny. Someone so cheery and friendly being that powerful and not being full of himself. It was….new.
Danny was looking through his notebook as he was making sure that it had everything he remembered from the lessons, which was harder than he realized, since he didn't pay attention much today. "Really hope that this stuff is in the homework cause if anything new shows up, I'm sunk." He lowered his notebook and started putting it back into his bag until he detected several presences around him. Two of them were just ahead. He looked up and saw Sona and Tsubaki standing by the entrance to the school. But it wasn't them that he was concerned about. It was the others who were in the distance.
Sona took a breath as she waited for Danny to approach. "Danny."
Danny stopped in front of them, tense about why they were here. After learning about the crow people and how their presence felt, and how these two, along with many others here, felt, he wasn't gonna just go about this with his guard down. But for now, he would be as normal as he could be, even if he was still a little peeved by how they treated him last time. "Sona, Tsubaki, something up?"
Sona analyzed his stance and could tell that he is tense. She figured that from their last interaction, he would be a little hesitant, but this was as if he was ready for an attack. Choosing to be straightforward with him and not hide too much from him, she started. "We heard that you were heading to the Church at the moment."
Danny narrowed his eyes at them, as he only really told his club members, and now these two are here asking about it. "Yeaaaahhhh~. Is there a problem with that?"
Sona could see the suspicion in his eyes, and she frowned as it was already causing things to derail from a peaceful route. "In a manner of speaking, yes."
Tsubaki stepped up next to her king and crossed her arms under her bust. "We would like it if you avoided going to the church while you are here."
Danny crossed his arms and looked at both of them. "And why would I need to avoid going there?" He narrowed his eyes as it was clear that they had their own agenda.
Sona adjusted her glasses. "It is for political reasons. It is considered the territory of a group of people who are antagonistic toward our people. We are asking that you avoid going there so that we don't have an incident between them and us."
Danny raised an eyebrow. 'Ok, so they admit that they are….something, and they are against the crow people. Mermaids? Centaurs? Maybe unicorns? Ok, that last one is kinda dumb.' He decided that he would figure out what they were later, but the fact that these two were bringing it up made it seem that they already knew about him. 'Great, I've been able to keep my secret for so long back in Amity, but here, I can barely keep it to myself for months.' He wasn't going to outright admit to anything, but since they seemed to know about him, he didn't have to try to come up with some excuse. Either way, he was still going to go to the church, as he had a personal reason for going to the church. "Look, I don't know what you are, I don't know what beef you have with the crow people, but it has nothing to do with me. If I go, they shouldn't say it has anything to do with you." He moved to walk past them as he was wasting time here.
"Danny, please." Sona turned to him as she called out
Danny paused and turned around with a bored look. "You aren't that good at making me feel like I have a choice, you know. Especially since you have apparently brought backup." He shifted his body to a ready stance for when they make the first move.
Sona was surprised by this as she looked back toward the school to see Rias's and her peerage getting closer. "Rias?"
Rias and her peerage stopped not far from Sona and Tsubaki.
Kiba, Koneko, and Issei held back while Rias and Akeno moved to join Sona and Tsubaki.
Rias stopped next to Sona with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I guess I was a little worried about you." She looked back at Danny and explained. "We aren't here to force you to do anything. We would just prefer you not go to the church."
Danny shifted his eyes to them as he saw he was outnumbered. "And if I say I'm going anyway?" As he kept his gaze on them, he also noticed that there was no other student around. Though that might be because everyone had already gone home, and the clubs were on the other side of the campus. He flexed his fingers as he started to focus his power through his body in case he needed to transform or defend.
Everyone there could feel his power growing, and they were growing tense themselves. Koneko felt her instincts go crazy, and she did her best not to let it get to her. But the power, along with the feeling it gave off, was not making it easier.
Issei was a little frustrated at how Danny wasn't even considering it. Not able to read the mood or sense the power Danny was giving off, he ran up past Rias and Sona. "Come on, man. Just don't go. What's up there that you are so desperate to see?" Gaining a perverted smile, he asked with his hands flexing in front of him. "Is it a pair of boobs so awesome you can't stay away?"
Danny scrunched up his face at how Issei's mind went straight to that. "Ok, seriously, you need therapy." He still remembered the harem comment Issei made that night, when Danny was following him. He turned around and started walking away. "I'm going to meet a friend. Those crow guys most likely already have me on their watch list since Mittelt got a beating from me, and I'm not about to let anything bad happen to Asia. I've wasted enough time here." He turned around and started to power walk away.
Rias let out a frustrated sigh as she couldn't just order him not to go. He wasn't part of either of their peerage, but there was something about the way he talked about the Fallen Angels that was intriguing to her.
Akeno leaned in and whispered to her king. "Rias, I don't think he is aware of the Fallen angels or devils." Seeing Rais look at her, she continued. "Apart from how calling them crow people, based on the manner he says those words, it seems less of a derogatory name and more of a placeholder."
Sona looked at them and had to agree. "He even stated that he doesn't know what we are. As hard as it is to believe, he might not be aware of our world."
Rias nodded as it would make sense with everything they know. If they explain things calmly, they might be able to remove the tension and animosity that is growing between themselves and Danny. However-
As Danny walked away, Issei ran up behind him. "Hey, wait a minute."
Rias was surprised by his action and reached out to him. "Issei, wait!"
Issei placed a hand on Danny's right shoulder, trying to get him to stop.
The moment Issei's hand touched Danny, said halfa's eyes widened as an image flashed in his mind. An image of a shadowed figure with glowing green eyes and a red sheen over its body. The image was so shocking, and the presence Danny felt was out of nowhere, that he reacted without thinking. He used his right hand to swipe Issei's hand off and used his left hand to send an ecto blast over his hip and into Issei's stomach.
Issei was thrown off his feet and back to the others. As he rolled on the ground, his hand began to glow before his Sacred Gear appeared. He sat up and looked at his hand in confusion. "What? Why did it-"
Something about Danny in that moment set something off in Koneko as her eyes shifted and she jumped into the air before coming down with a punch.
Danny looked up to see her coming down on him with a fist pulled back. Still acting on reflex, he brought his left hand up and caught her fist, with a shockwave that hit everyone else. Danny gripped her fist and spun around before throwing her back toward Rias.
Rias caught Koneko and looked at her in concern. "Koneko?
Behind the others, Kiba summoned a sword and jumped to the side before charging at Danny.
Koneko seemed to snap out of a trance and shook her head. "I'm fine."
Rias looked up at Danny and saw Kiba rushing toward him.
Sona saw that things had escalated too quickly. "Rias, call them back!"
Danny held his wrist while twisting his hand around. "Damn, what the hell kind of strength is that in that little-" He was brought to reality when he saw Kiba moving his way with a sword brought out. Danny's eyes went wide as he leaned back to avoid the sword slash. As the blade passed over him, as he was leaning back, he kicked off the ground to get some distance from him. "Easy with the hair trimmer. I already had a haircut this year."
Kiba took a stance as he smirked. "That might explain why your hair is that length."
Danny clenched his fists as his eyes glowed. "It's a look and one I pull off." His transformation rings appeared, and he immediately shifted into his phantom form.
Rias and Sona froze as they felt his power escalate to monumental levels instantly. No charge, no grand spectacle. His power just shot up and was condensed into his body. Rias was about to call Kiba back to get them to stop, but the power that came from Danny caused the words to stop in her throat.
Kiba tensed as the power he felt caused his knees to shake ever so slightly.
Danny bent his knees and launched himself at Kiba.
Kiba was surprised by the speed and had to shift his body to the side to avoid the punch to his gut. But as he looked at Danny fly past him, he saw Danny turn his head to look at him and smirk, which made him nervous.
Even though Danny's right fist was extended, his left was still pulled back, and Danny used it to grab Kiba's wrist before thrusting the blonde forward and throwing him. After he threw Kiba, he charged a small Ecto blast and sent a shot from his finger at the blonde.
Kiba was hit midair in the side, and he brought his hand up to hold the spot as he flipped and landed on his feet. But he had to take a knee as the shot left a burn on him.
Seeing how this had become a fight, Akeno moved forward and spread her arms to her side as she summoned lightning. "My my, naughty little boys need to be punished."
Danny saw the lightning coming off Akeno, and he dropped his feet to the ground and slid a few feet before he brought his hands up to summon a dome of Ecto energy to shield him from the electric attack. The lightning hit the dome but could not damage it. "Sorry, I'm not a toy, so I don't need to charge my batteries."
Issei got up from the ground and looked at his Sacred Gear. "I don't know how to use it, but it's now or never!" He gulped down and charged at Danny, with his fist pulled back.
Danny's eyes shifted to Issei and saw the guy running toward him. The guy was rather slow, but that gauntlet he had had an odd feeling coming off it. Not wanting to test it, Danny dissipated the shield as Issei threw a hook.
Issei was aiming for the shield as he was hoping the gauntlet could break it or something, but instead, Danny dropped it. He could still hit Danny with the angle, so he just kept going.
Danny stepped forward and into Issei's space. He came in low and was bringing his fist up as Issei's fist flew past Danny. Danny was in close, and his fist came up to land a solid hit to Issei's diaphragm.
Issei was bent in on Danny's fist, and he wheezed out a cough from the hit.
Once Danny's fist hit Issei, another image flashed in his head, the same as before, but it was like the eyes were looking at him directly. Danny blinked, and the image disappeared before he noticed Issei's pained expression and pulled his fist back before jumping back. He floated into the air as he looked at the ones who were fighting him. He didn't want to fight, but it was like they were ready to attack at anything he did. But the main problem was that they were still at the school, and with the powers they have, there was no way that someone wouldn't come to check things out. Everyone here looked normal, other than him. If people come out, they will start pointing fingers at him, and he really didn't want that kind of publicity again. "Maybe we can do this when we aren't out in the open." He charged ecto energy in both his palms before he smiled at them. "Say 'cheese'." He clapped his hands together before a bright flash enveloped the area.
Everyone had to cover their eyes from the flash, and after a few seconds, they opened their eyes to see that Danny was gone.
Sona focused on detecting Danny and could feel him getting further away, and there was no way they would be able to catch him now. She let out a frustrated sigh. "This was not how I wanted this to go!"
Rias guiltily nodded. "I know. I was worried that he might have done something, but I had no idea that things would have ended this badly." She looked to Issei and asked. "What happened when you were next to him. She was accusatory, but obviously something happened cause Danny's reaction was more like he was startled by something.
Issei pushed himself up from the ground and held his chest where Danny had hit him. "I didn't do anything. I just grabbed his shoulder to get him to stop for a moment. After that, he went all crazy and shot me." He lifted his shirt where he was shot and saw there was a bruise where he was punched and slight reddening where the shot hit him.
Sona let out a frustrated sigh as she placed her hand on her forehead. "So much for peaceful resolution. I think any goodwill that we built has been broken."
Rias looked at Sona apologetically. "I'm sorry for that."
Tsubaki looked in the direction they felt him head off to. "Well, I think we established that he is not affiliated with the Angels, or Fallen angels. Based on his words, he had no idea about any of them or us, but now, we could have very well made another powerful enemy."
Akeno joined them with Kiba. "Not to mention how he handled the multiple styles of attacks. He evaded Kiba, blocked my lightning, and withstood Koneko's punch. And that was before he released all that power he had."
Koneko lowered her head in shame. "Sorry. His power… something about it felt…. Unnerving." She held her are at her side, rubbing it up and down
Rias nodded. "We will have to avoid any more confrontation with him." She looked at Sona. "Perhaps you can clear up the misunderstanding. You spent more time with him than I did."
Sona nodded. "That is, if we can even get him to meet with us."
Tsubaki nodded. "He does not seem the type to hold onto grudges, but we didn't know about him when we started. We treated him as a suspect and observed him as a potential threat. If he didn't know about it before, he will be on alert from now on. We should let him be, and only one of us should approach him."
Sona nodded. "I will do it. I wanted to sit with him for some time and discuss a few things. If he will listen, we can end this without any bloodshed."
Rias nodded. "We will leave it to you. If he is more amicable, inform him that I would like to meet with him personally. I would like to apologize for what my servant had done to him, no matter what it is." Seeing Sona nod, she looked at her peerage. "This is an order, do not antagonize Danny from here on. We don't want to make him an enemy if we can make him an ally." She got a nod from all of them, and she smiled. "Hopefully, we can still salvage this. But until then, you still have jobs you have to take care of." She then looked at Issei. "You have an appointment tonight, but until then, you still have some fliers that you can post."
Issei let out a sigh as the flyer job was tedious, but he had to start somewhere. "Got it."
Asia picked up a watering pail that was set next to the entrance of the church. It was one of the tasks given to her when she arrived, and she was happy to do it. To take care of the flowerbed that was outside. She opened the doors so she could make her way to the hose that is on the side of the church. She had to cover her face to block out the sun, but when she was able to see again, she saw Danny making his way toward the entrance. "Danny!?"
Danny smiled as he saw that Asia was alright. He raised his hand to wave to her. "Hey."
Danny followed Asia as she proceeded with her tasks of watering the flowerbed. All the while, he was asking if there was anything strange that had happened while she was here.
"Oh, no, nothing strange happened." She smiled as she saw the water be soaked into the soil, feeding some of the small flowers that were just now growing.
Danny raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" He looked back at the church, toward the decorative glass window that was near the top. He narrowed his eyes as he could feel several figures inside.
Asia finished watering the spot before standing up. "Oh, yes, I've been given some tasks to help take care of the church. I'm heading out as a missionary later tonight with someone. I'm to learn from him as I'm still in training."
Danny hummed in acknowledgment. "So, all you're doing is learning how to do the job of a nun. I honestly didn't think you would need training for that. I thought you would get a book or something that tells you what you can and can't do."
Asia shook her head as she smiled at him. "Oh, no, there is a lot when it comes to being part of the church."
Danny rubbed the back of his head as he sheepishly apologized. "Sorry, I guess since I was never interested in such a thing, I never thought about it."
Asia hummed before she turned to look at the church. "Do you not believe?" She looked at the cross that stood tall at the top of the church
Danny followed her gaze and stared at the cross. He put his hands in his pockets as he answered. "I never thought about it before. My life has been a rollercoaster of a lot of weird things. I've seen things that could have been called miracles-" 'or biblical catastrophes.' "- But I guess I just moved on from it. I guess I can say there is a higher being, I just haven't met him."
Asia smiled. "I understand. For me, I believe he is what brought us together. He allowed me to meet such a kind person as you." She clasped her hands as if in prayer. "And I am grateful for his grace for our meeting."
Danny smiled as he was thankful that they had met as well. "Well, if you send a message to him, tell him that Danny Fenton gives his thanks." He smirked as he shrugged his shoulders. "If ever I meet him, I'll thank him myself."
Asia finished her prayer before she looked up at him. "Are you making fun of me?" She pouted at him as it almost sounded like he was taking this as if it were a joke.
Danny held his hands up in surrender. "No, no, I'm not. I'm being serious!" And he was. With his luck and how he had met powerful ghosts, he wouldn't be surprised if, at one time, he met God. He did meet the Master of Time after all.
The two continued talking, with Danny helping out, taking care of some of the chores she had to do. Cleaning up the grounds, removing weeds, and even planting some seeds.
Danny didn't want to do these things, but when Asia asked him with those innocent-looking eyes, he found himself saying yes.
Danny called it cheating for any girl to have those kinds of eyes and use them. "Pure" Evil, they were.
It came time for Asia to get ready to head off on her mission, so it was time for Danny to leave.
Danny stood in front of Asia as he let out a breath. "Not how I planned this day to go, but I can work on my homework tomorrow since it isn't due till next week."
Asia felt guilty for taking up his time. She bowed in apology to him. "I'm sorry for taking up your time when you had other plans."
Danny waved his hands to get her to stop. "It's ok! I didn't really have anything else planned today. I came here to make sure that you were ok. But from what you've told me, all you are doing is simple stuff and just learning the ropes. Guess I didn't need to worry about you."
Asia shook her head. "Of course not, but I am happy to see you again."
Danny nodded. "Well, I'll come visit when I have the time. If you are lodging here, I at least know your address."
Asia giggled as her cheeks blushed before bowing. "I'm happy that you'll come visit me again. I look forward to seeing you again."
Danny nodded. "Take care of yourself, Asia." He lifted his hand to do a simple wave before he started to leave.
Asia waved at him happily as she watched him leave.
Danny looked over his shoulder as he left and smiled at how happy she was being. He faced ahead and took a turn to the left that led to a forested pathway.
He walked for a few minutes until the church was no longer visible and stopped. "You gonna keep hiding, or are you gonna come out?" For a few seconds, he stood there until he flexed his hand as a small green orb materialized in his palm.
"Wait, wait!"
Danny turned to the left to face the one who was hiding behind a tree. "Hey, Milly."
Milly nervously came out from behind the tree and held her hands up to show that she wasn't here to fight. "Hi…. Danny."
Danny frowned at the sight of her before he reabsorbed his energy and crossed his arms. "Mind telling me what the deal is with you being in that church that Asia is working in?"
Milly gulped as she didn't want to be here, but she was sent to make sure he left the area. The question was hard to answer as they had plans for the little nun, but they couldn't just stop because of one guy. If they played this right, they could complete the ritual, and he would be none the wiser. "We are just living there for the time being. Asia is an important guest, and we need to make sure nothing bad happens to her while she is here."
Danny raised an eyebrow as to why they were protecting Asia. "And why would you want to make sure she is safe?"
This next part is really tricky. If she tipped him off in any way, he could ruin everything. She didn't know how powerful he was, but she had a feeling he could handle the others just as easily as he handled her. "Her Sacred Gear. It's one that we consider holy and don't want to fall into the wrong hands."
Danny tilted his head as he learned a new term. "Sacred Gear?" He looked back toward where the church was, before looking back at Milly. "She has some kind of armor you want from her?"
Milly blinked in surprise at his response. 'He doesn't know about Sacred Gears? This could work for us, but how do I spin this?' With a bit more thought, she nodded. "She has something that only she can use, and we consider it to be sacred. That is why we call it a Sacred Gear. It is what allows her to heal any sort of injury."
Danny remembered seeing her heal and hearing that it was because she had something that allowed her to do it, which made some sense. He mumbled to himself as he thought about it. "Hmm, so that's why." He grew serious as he looked at her. "She says that nothing bad happened to her, but I don't trust you. If I find out that you did something, know that I will be back."
Milly had a strand of sweat run down the side of her face as she nodded. "I swear, she is a very important person to us."
Danny narrowed his eyes at her before he sighed. "Alright. As long as she is ok, and you don't attack anyone, then I'm all good."
Milly blinked as she was surprised that he was just going with it.
Danny put his hands in his pockets as he saw her look of bewilderment. "Look, I'm not in the habit of digging my nose into someone else's business just because they have crow wings. I came to this town on an invite and I thought it would be a nice way to have a normal school life. As long as you guys don't cause trouble, then you have nothing to worry about from me." He pointed at her as his eyes flashed green. "You attacked me, so I responded in kind. And right now, Asia is my friend, and I look out for my friends. If you are telling the truth and aren't gonna hurt her, then all's good. If I find out you hurt her, then I'll be back, and I won't be as gentle as I was last time. Got it?"
Milly shrank as the eyes stared at her. "Got it."
Danny nodded. "Good. Then I have no problems with you, crow people." He turned around and started walking away. "Oh, and tell that other crow woman, the one in the purple jacket, that if I find out she attacked someone else with that energy spear, I will do more than just blast it out of her hand."
Miilly remembered hearing about something destroying Kalawarna's Light spear when she was going to kill the other Sacred Gear user. Hearing that it was Danny just made her more nervous. "Got it." Now she wished they could advance the ritual date and get out of town. This guy is just proving to be a coming threat if they continue their operations here. She then registered what it was that he called them. 'Crow people?' "Hey! We aren't Tengu!"
Danny stopped and turned his body to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't say anything about dancing."
Milly started stomping her foot on the ground in a tantrum. "Tengu! Not Tango! Wait, we aren't any of them! We're Angels!"
Danny's eyebrow couldn't raise any higher. "You? An angel?" He looked her up and down, but he didn't see any sort of angel features. No halo, or white robes, or any of the pure glowing being he expected with the depiction of angels. "Yeah, not seeing it. If anyone is an angel, it would be Asia. She's got the whole pure thing going on, so she could be one. But whatever." He turned around and continued walking. "I've got homework I gotta at least start on. So later, Tango Angel."
Milly growled as she stomped her foot again. "Grrrr, I hate you!" She stopped her tantrum before looking at his back as he got further away. "This idiot has no idea about Fallen Angels or Sacred Gears. What the heck is he?"
Danny made his way back to the main road and started making his way back home. He was looking forward to just flopping onto his couch, as this day was more tiring than he thought it would be. He learned several new things about the people around him, and he was sure that it was not the end of it.
Danny plopped onto his couch and leaned his head back, as he was happy to be back in his house. But his mind was going over several things that happened today. First, it was the fact that everyone who gave off that odd feeling had powers. It seemed like they each had their own type of power or ability. Kiba was really fast and was using a sword, Akeno used lightning, Koneko had one hell of a punch, and Issei had that glove and gave him weird visions, which Danny figured had to do with that glove that showed up on the guy's hand.
Then there were the crow people, who call themselves angels. They consider Asia important, and that could be a good or bad thing.
And then there was the term that they gave Asia's power.
"Sacred gear?" Danny hummed in thought before he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. He pressed his phone to his ear as he listened to it ring. He pursed his lips as it continued to ring. He was gonna hang up and try again some other time, until he heard the call being answered.
{Do you have any idea what time it is?}
Danny raised an eyebrow as he heard the sleepiness in her voice, before he looked at the clock he had on the wall. "Uh, yeah, it's-"
{Danny,... you are in a different time zone! It's super early in the morning. I'm not supposed to be up for another few hours~}
Danny remembered that despite it being the time for him, Amity was at a different time. "Oh, oops. Sorry, Sam."
Sam groaned on the phone. {Shut up, Danny. What do you want?}
Danny winced as he knew he was going to regret this later on; however, she got back at him, but Sam was the one he had to ask. "I wanted to ask if you have ever heard of the term 'Sacred Gear' before?"
There was a silence on the phone before Sam's voice came in, more awake now.
{Danny, why do I get the feeling this isn't just a simple thing you want to know?}
Danny let out a groan as he placed a hand on his face. "Let's just say that something is going on and I'm in the middle of it."
{...Danny, what did you do?}
Danny ran his hand down his face before he leaned forward and leaned on his knees. "I didn't do anything, but there are some things going on, and I am not sure if I have to mess with things here."
{I would say you should just leave things alone, but your stupid hero complex is just gonna get you into trouble no matter what.}
Danny hung his head as he knew she was right. "Yeah. So, have you heard of it before?"
{No, I've never heard of it before. I mean, it sounds like simple words, but I've never heard a term like that. I can look up anything I can about it, but is there a time frame for this?}
Danny shook his head, even if she couldn't see him. "No, I just want to know anything about it since someone said it to me and it seemed like it was something really import-" Danny's head shot to the left, and he immediately stood up.
Sam noticed the abrupt end of his words and grew worried. {Danny? What is it?}
Danny's eyes flashed green as he scowled. "Sorry, Sam, I gotta go!"
{What? Dan-}
Danny hung up the phone and bent his knees before he transformed and launched himself up, phasing through the ceiling and into the sky before he flew at high speeds toward where he felt it. "Another one! What the hell is wrong with this town!?" He flew as fast as he could as he felt another death occur.
Danny arrived at the house where he felt the death had occurred. He floated over it and looked around for any sign of a monster attack or something. From what he could tell, there was nothing that showed it was something big like that monster woman he dealt with. But he could tell that the death was gruesome as the soul he felt was in pain. The only good thing he could say was that the soul seemed to have already moved on. He felt the pain when the soul left the body, and that was what caused him to rush here.
He floated down, gently landed on the roof, and placed his hand on it. He frowned as he wondered what had happened here. The remnants of Death's stench were here. He phased in through the roof and into the house and landed on the ground in a hallway.
The main lights to the hallway were off, and it was only lit by a dim orange light that was coming from a doorway down the hall.
He didn't like how this felt. His gut was telling him he should be on guard, and he was not going to ignore that. He walked down the hall, making sure that he wasn't making any noise. He pressed himself against the wall next to the doorway in case there was someone in there. His nose picked up the scent of blood and dying flesh, and he reacted. He moved to stand at the doorway, and he saw the chopped-up body parts set in a pile. He couldn't help but let out a small grunt, which alerted the other occupant.
"'Punish the wicked', words to live by."
Danny turned his head to look at a set of couches to see a man sitting in one of them, facing away from him.
"Yes, wise advice to heed from a holy man." The man tilted his head back to look at Danny before sticking his tongue out with a wide, crazed grin.
Danny glared at the man as he watched him get up from the couch.
The man moved around the couch to stand in front of Danny. He spread his arms in an uncaring gesture. "Well, well, you just walked into the wrong house, my friend." He did a gentleman's bow with his hand over his chest, while introducing himself. "Freed Sellzen, at your service." He stood up straight before he did a little jig with his arms and legs. "And you must be the scared little pussy whose devil ass this holy priest is gonna exorcise."
Danny's hands flexed as he was pissed off. "You… a priest?" He was in disbelief at that, as this guy did not come off as such.
Freed smiled wide as he looked at Danny as if he were a piece of meat. "Yep, you see, I'm part of a certain devil purging organization you may have heard of."
Danny felt his energy spark in his fingers as he was tempted, ever so tempted to just blast the guy. "And you just went on and killed this guy, why?"
Freed cackled at the question. He walked forward toward Danny with his hands behind his head. "Ha, summoning you was proof that he was done being human." He turned his head as he called out to the body parts. "End of the line, sinner!" He then gave Danny a side eye with a crazed look. "So I had to chop him up into itty bitty pieces."
The next thing that happened was Freed being sent flying into the wall, leaving a web of cracks from where his body impacted. As he started slipping down from the wall, he was pinned up again as Danny gripped him by the neck a foot off the ground.
Danny was glaring at the man in his grasp as it was clear that Freed took glee in killing the man on the ground. In a low tone, he spoke. "Is this funny to you? Killing a man and violating the body in such a manner! HUH?!" He pushed Freed deeper into the wall, causing it to crack more.
Freed's windpipe was closing thanks to the grip around his neck until he reached into his coat and pulled out his weapons. He lit up his holy sword before cutting off the hand that gripped him, causing him to fall to the ground. He took in a breath before he smirked up at the boy. Coughing out the words, he spoke. "Now, now, let's not play rough so soon. We haven't even gotten to the foreplay." His manic grin became a frown as he saw that the hand he severed off floated back to the boy and reattached to his arm. He saw a slight haze connecting the hand to the arm, but he didn't know what it was.
Danny looked at his hand as he twisted it around. He may have had his hand cut off, but it didn't even hurt that much. It stung, but it re-attached rather easily.
Freed stood up with a confused frown. "Well, that is interesting. What kind of devil magic does this little devil cunt have?"
Danny looked back up at Freed as he clenched his fist. "Do I look like I have horns and a pitchfork?" He started to take deliberate steps toward Freed, as he was not gonna let this guy get away. Hell, this guy does not deserve mercy since it was clear that Freed was psychotic, Sadistic, and in for a lot of pain.
Freed saw the glare Danny was giving him, and he hugged himself with perverted glee. "Oh, those eyes. They are the eyes of someone who wants to do unspeakable things to me." His smile became manic again as he jumped in the air. "Well, let's see how many pieces I can chop you up before you actually bleed!"
Danny watched as the guy was coming down, and he shifted his body as he charged up an ecto blast. He narrowed his eyes as he was gonna wait until he was close enough to make this hurt.
"AAAAAHHH!"
Danny turned his head to the left and was surprised to see Asia looking at the scene in shock. "Asia?!"
Freed ignored the girl and brought his sword down on the boy. He sliced through the boy, from shoulder to hip. Once he landed on his feet, he swung his sword horizontally to cut the two pieces into four. He stuck his tongue out as he shouted. "Guess, that's it, Devil!" He manically stuck his tongue out with a grin as he looked at the pieces fall to the ground.
Asia held her face in horror as she saw the gruesome scene, as she was not expecting to see such brutality. She was suddenly slapped in the face and fell to the ground, holding her cheek.
Freed walked over to her and slapped the girl in the face. "You little cunt, what are you doing in here?"
Asia held her face as he started to tear up and looked up at him. "I heard some crashing and I…. was curious as to what had happened."
Freed rolled his eyes and lulled his head to the side. "Haven't you ever heard that curiosity killed the cat?" He knelt down and gripped Asia's face. "You really should learn to be an obedient piece of ass." He stuck his tongue out to lick her face
"Hello~? You summoned a Devil's service. Anyone home?"
Freed looked over his shoulder at the doorframe a few feet away from him. He frowned at the announcement of the devil service. "Another one?" He turned back to Asia and gripped her hair. "You little bitch. You were supposed to keep the barrier up so they don't show up." He pulled her head back before his frown became a manic smile once more. "But at least that means that I can kill another one." He grabbed his gun and stood up.
Issei looked around at the lighting and chuckled to himself. "Talk about mood lighting." He made it to the doorway and called out. "Hello, anyone-" He stopped when the smell of a corpse hit his nose. He shut his eyes as he covered his nose. "What the hell?!" He slowly opened his eyes to see what caused the smell, only to see the barrel of a gun.
Freed licked his lips as he looked at the devil's eyes. "Looks like I get to paint the wall with devil's blood." He started to pull the trigger, only for a white-gloved hand to grip his face and force his head into the ground, shattering the wood.
Danny slammed Freed's head into the ground before picking the man up and blasting him in the chest, sending the man crashing into the couch.
Freed bounced off the top of the couch with enough force to cause the furniture to fling off the ground. He crashed into the corner of the fireplace with the couch landing on top of him.
Issei took a step back at the sudden action and stared at the one who sent the weird guy flying. "Danny?"
Danny turned to look at Issei with a raised eyebrow. "Issei? What the hell are you doing here?"
"Danny?"
Danny looked to Asia and smiled sheepishly. "Not really how I expected to meet again."
Asia looked the boy over and saw him in an odd outfit. His hair was white, his skin had a slight tint to it, and his eyes were glowing green. But the fact that he acknowledged himself as the Danny she knew confirmed it. But her eyes then focused on the split he had that started from his left shoulder, and when halfway down his chest. She ran up to him and was about to use her powers to heal him, but when she brought her hands up, he held them in his own to stop her.
Danny shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm not hurt." He looked at the split that went in his body and how it was reattaching itself. He honestly would have put himself back together faster, but he was shocked that he was cut into four pieces. The shock really got to him.
A gunshot was heard, and Issei felt piercing pain in his left shoulder. He screamed in pain and brought his right hand up to cover the hole in his shoulder.
Danny turned to face the couch and grit his teeth. He moved to stand in front of Asia as he spoke to the one underneath it. "You just don't know when to stay down."
A sword of light cut through the couch, and Freed pushed himself off the ground. He wiped his face with his sleeve as he was bleeding from his nose and mouth. He looked at the group and smiled at the sight of his bullet hitting one of the devils. "Ooh, looks like I got two points with that shot." He pointed his gun at Issei as his eyes widened manically. "Let's aim for the ten-pointer!" He frowned when he saw Asia move to Issei's side and start healing him.
Asia focused on healing the boy who came in. "Hold still. You'll feel better soon."
Issei looked at the girl, and for a split second, he had a goofy smile, but shifting his arm caused him to get back to what was going on. He looked at his shoulder and saw that the bleeding was stopping.
Freed frowned as he started walking toward them. "What the shit are you doing to that little Devil ass?"
Danny moved to block Freed's view of them.
Freed let out a sigh. "You really are like a cockroach, little devil. I cut you into pieces, and you are still moving." He brought his gun up to point at him. "Let's see how well a bullet will feel when your skull is in pieces!"
Danny shifted his eyes to the side as he knew that if he moved, the bullet would hit the other two. He then decided to erect a shield to block the bullet and was glad to see that the shield barely even reacted to the projectile.
Freed frowned before he shot at the shield. After a few useless shots, he huffed before he lowered his gun. Devils never know when to just die when they need to. If my gun doesn't cut it…" He smiled again as he jumped in the air with his sword raised to strike. "Then my Holy blade will do the job!"
Danny was getting tired of this guy. He dropped the shield and jumped into the air, flying toward Freed before he reached out, grabbed the guy's wrist, and made the hand intangible. The Light sword fell out of Freed's hand, and Danny thrusted his hand to grab the hilt before bending his arm and shoving his elbow into Freed's face.
Freed felt something in his face crack, and he let out a grunt of pain. With the gun still in his hand, he pulled the trigger to try to shoot at the devil that had hit him. But the bullet flew past Danny and toward Issei and Asia.
It was like everything went in slow motion as Issei saw the bullet heading in his direction. He was still kneeling as he was still being healed, so he was not gonna be able to get out of the way.
Suddenly, a red sigil appeared in front of Issei and Asia, and Kiba came out before he used his sword to block the bullet.
Kiba stood at the ready as he looked down at the bullet that hit his sword. "Glad I was able to get here on time." He looked over his shoulder at Issei. "Hey, Issei, you ok?"
Issei was surprised at his clubmate's arrival, but he was happy to see the guy. He looked at his shoulder and rolled it before nodding. "Yeah, I am now." He looked at Asia and smiled at her. "Thanks for healing me."
Asia nodded as she smiled back at him. "It was no trouble."
Freed crashed onto the floor on his back and looked at the new arrival as the devil he was fighting landed in front of the blonde. "Oh, great, they just keep crawling out."
It was then that the other members of ORC arrived and looked at the area.
Koneko walked through and saw the people who were already here. "Danny, and an exorcist."
Danny turned to look at the ORC and raised an eyebrow. "You here for me?"
Rias held up a hand and shook her head. "No. We had detected there were holy weapons being used in close proximity of our member and came here to help." Her eyes shifted to the sword that was in Danny's hand.
Danny followed her gaze and lifted the sword. "This? Pick pocketed it off the dude that is lying on the ground over there." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Freed.
Said exorcist gripped his gun tightly as he was getting tired of not getting any screams of pain from the white-haired devil. He wanted to hear the little shit scream, to see him bleed. He WANTS TO SEE HIM DEAD! He sat up and immediately shot at Danny, mad in glee as he was close enough that the shot could not be stopped. "Kablam!"
Danny turned when he noticed the movement, but he was not able to stop the bullet in time. His head was thrown back as the bullet hit his eye.
Asia screamed in shock. "DANNY!"
Everyone was shocked to see Danny get hit in the head as they were unable to stop it.
But their shock at Danny being hurt changed to being shocked about Danny bringing his head back forward with a hole going all the way through his head where his eye was, but no blood coming from it.
It was disorientating that one of his eyes was shot, but a shock to him was that the bullet didn't hurt at all. His sight returned as the hole was filled in, and he was back to normal. He glared at Freed before he jumped at the man and kicked him in the chin hard enough that the man was lifted off the ground.
Freed finally lost his grip on his gun, and Danny caught it by the muzzle mid-air. "I'm getting tired of you hitting me with these things." While Freed was still being lifted in the air by the kick, Danny slammed the butt of the gun in his stomach, hard enough to slam the man back into the ground.
The members of ORC were shocked that he was hit by a bullet of a priest, whom they assumed to be blessed and would have hurt them, and he acted as if it was nothing but a bump on the head.
Akeno licked her lips as the brutality in Danny's attack was getting her sadistic side hot and bothered.
Rias was really interested to know what Danny was, if he was able to shrug off a bullet like that in the head. A power like that would be helpful to her against the arrogant phoenix she has to deal with
Koneko eyed Danny as he didn't give off the same feeling as he did earlier today, and she wondered what the difference was, but she was brought out of her thoughts when she smelled new arrivals. "Fallen Angels."
Freed lifted himself up, blood still dripping out of his nose and a gash in his head, as he smirked at the devils in the room. "Looks like you pussies are in for a world of hurt, cause light spears are on the menu."
Danny looked up at the sudden portal, and he could feel some of the so-called 'angels'. "Oh, great."
Rias looked at her members and called them. "We're leaving." All the members of ORC gathered around her as she started to summon a sigil that would teleport them away.
As Issei walked into place, he looked over at Danny. "What about them?"
Rias looked over at Danny and frowned. "Sorry, only members of my family are able to use this to teleport away." Shifting her body, she spoke to Danny directly. "Are you able to get out of here?" She had no idea what powers he had, so she felt like asking in case he needed some help.
Danny looked at her with a serious expression. "Don't worry about me. I got my own way out of here."
Rias nodded as she and her members started to teleport. "Please get out of here safely. I want to apologize when we meet again." And with that, the ORC members were gone.
Danny figured that it was his time to leave, and he turned to Asia. He still hadn't turned off the sword of light, but he had no time to look for the switch. He floated off the ground and flew toward the young nun, picking her up bridal-style.
Asia let out a sound from her mouth since she was surprised by the action, and wrapped her arms around his neck as she was now being carried. "Danny?"
He smiled at her before saying. "Hang on!" He flew upward and turned her and himself intangible. As he closed in on the ceiling, a familiar blond loli came out of the portal, and they locked eyes.
As if time slowed, Mittelt turned her head and watched in shock as Danny flew past her, glaring directly into her eyes. It was then that she knew that he was going to destroy her the next time they met, as he found out, rather quickly, that she had lied.
Danny phased out of the house and flew at top speed toward his house, with Asia in his arms.
Danny phased into his house and gently put Asia down.
The girl stood on wobbly legs as she was not used to flying. She took a breath to calm her nerves before looking up at Danny, who was looking over the sword in his hand.
Danny was trying to find a way to turn it off until he found a switch that brought the blade back into the hilt. "Finally got the lightsaber to turn off." He walked over to his coffee table and put it down before he turned around to see Asia looking at him.
Asia was standing an inch away from Danny as she looked up at him. "Are you really Danny?" She walked up to him and looked at his eyes. They were a different color, but they were the same shape. She reached out her hand and brushed some of his hair aside so she could get a better look at the eyes that stared back at her.
Danny blushed at her action as he took a nervous step back and chuckled nervously as he nodded. "Yeah, I am." Clearing his throat, he looked at her more seriously. "Look, I'll explain this tomorrow, but I still have to make sure we are safe here." He thought about what he could do for Asia, and to make sure he followed up on what he said, before he nodded. "For now, get some sleep. You can take my bed since I won't be using it tonight." He looked up at the ceiling before he nodded. "Here, I'll show you where it is." He gestured for her to follow him as he led her to his room.
Asia followed him as she was still in shock by all that had happened to her. But the thought of her sleeping in his bed made her blush, and she was a little excited about it.
Danny phased through the roof of his house and landed on it before he looked out into the nightlife of the city. He clenched his fist as he stood there, ready to guard his home from anyone who might show up to attack Asia. Mittelt lied to him, which should have been obvious, but he might have just been giving her a second chance. Call it his bleeding heart, or his hero complex, or him being a bit naive, but that is just how he is.
He did believe her in one thing.
Asia was important to them, and they would not let the fact that he took her from them go.
His hand lit up in green, ready for any sign of wings coming closer.
Back in Danny's room, Asia was lying inside Danny's bed, under the covers, as she stared up at the ceiling. She knew that he was on the roof as he told her that he would be. She blushed at how he was trying to protect her and felt her heart race from his kindness. "Thank you, Danny." She brought the blanket up before looking down at it. She brought the blanket up to cover half her face and inhaled softly.
It smelled like him.
She blushed at her action before she shut her eyes to try and get some sleep.