Chapter One: Everything You Know Is Wrong

Junichiro

The air of the Kuoh Student Council office crackled with dual tightly-leashed but unspent energies. The churning chaos of Water pushed up against the gaping emptiness of Destruction as Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory received unwelcome news.

"My apologies, I don't think I heard you correctly. You sensed what?" Rias asked, her eyes wide and her lips pulled thin and taut. The long, thin cowlick arcing from the crown of her head twitched in agitation, as though it had a mind of its own.

It was far more plausible that it was just reacting to all the magic Rias was giving off in her emotional state, of course.

Sona, for her part, didn't let her own distress show on her face, save for a brief widening of her eyes, but the energy coursing through the room belied her calm demeanor.

Junichiro, however, was quite calm as he repeated what he'd told the duo moments before. "There's some Fallen holed up in an old church across town. Since Kuoh's under your watch, I figured I'd be all neighbor-like and let ya' know."

Sona adjusted her glasses and gave a curt nod. "And we do appreciate that, Mr. Yamamoto; do not mistake our reactions for a lack of appreciation. It is simply...surprising, I suppose, that these Fallen were able to infiltrate Kuoh so seamlessly as to totally avoid our notice."

Junichiro shrugged. "I'm thinkin' they got sent here on a mission. Ya' wouldn't send brawlers on a job that needs sneakin', would ya'?" he asked rhetorically.

Naturally, his memories had told him exactly what the Fallen were here for, but it'd be damn hard to prove he wasn't full of shit. No, it was much better for all involved if he just tried to steer them in the right direction and helped wherever he could.

Sona considered his words for a moment, then looked to Rias. "He has a point."

Rias cupped her chin in thought. "That he does. And if the Fallen want to spy on us, they would send agents who know who to keep out of our sight," she said, glancing at Junichiro briefly, "but not necessarily ones who know how to mask themselves from the senses of a yokai."

"However," Sona added, "we must also be prepared for the possibility that they are in Kuoh for purposes more sinister than mere espionage." She leaned forward at her desk, fingers tented as her eyes flicked around the room, staring at visualizations of thought only she could see. "Whether it be to strike at us for some grudge against our siblings, to strike at one of our peerages to 'liberate' them from our 'control', or for any other purpose that could cause harm to those under our care as the caretakers of Kuoh, we have to be ready to respond to the unexpected."

"Of course, being prepared for anything they might try is a good idea," Rias confirmed, "but we should also confront them directly about their presence in Kuoh. In the worst case scenario, they fight us, manage to escape, and find a new hiding spot, but even then we'll still be on guard. In the best case scenario, us knowing that they are here spoils their mission entirely and they leave."

Sona nodded. "Your Peerage has more raw power than mine, so in the event they do fight, you would likely have a better outcome. In the meantime, I have more members in my Peerage, so we can better keep an eye out around the city should things go sour."

Junichiro couldn't help but notice how...optimistic the two were being. Assuming that the worst-case scenario was having the Fallen escape, rather than, say, one or more of the Fallen being simply too strong for them to handle. It was almost certainly due to inexperience, but it still rankled Junichiro something fierce.

To this end, he cleared his throat. Both Sona and Rias snapped around to look at him, then flushed almost in tandem. Had...had they gotten so caught up in planning that they forgot he was even there?

…

Meh. At least they'd been talking about something important.

Junichiro scratched the back of his head, then leaned forward in his folding chair. "Soooo...It sounds like ya' got a plan. Ya' want any backup from yours truly, or ya' want me to back off?"

Rias gave a kind smile, but shook her head. "We appreciate the offer, we really do, but this is our responsibility. You coming to us with this information was one thing, but if we let you fight our battles for us, it would reflect poorly on our abilities to actually take care of Kuoh."

Sona gave Rias a long look that must have carried paragraphs worth of meaning for Rias, based on her wince, then nodded in agreement. "I concur. We have been entrusted with safeguarding the residents of this city, and we must fulfil that obligation. However." Sona paused for a mere moment, but the force with which she stared at Junichiro made it feel like minutes had gone by. "We are not fools. If, for whatever reason, you are in a position to protect someone the Fallen have targeted and we are not, we will not begrudge you for acting before attempting to contact us."

Rias nodded quickly in agreement. "Of course! Getting mad at you for saving someone's life would be silly."

"No, I getcha," Junichiro replied easily, rising from his chair and folding it in one motion. "Lemme know how the meet 'n' greet goes, tho', would ya'?"

Rias' eyes twinkled with mirth at the description, but she answered seriously all the same. 'But of course. And once again, thank you for coming to us with this information."

Junichiro waved his hand dismissively. "Ya' don't gotta thank me for doin' my civic duty; who knows what them sneaky crows are up to this time?"

Well, technically, he did. But he'd already pondered on the potential difficulties of bringing up that can of worms, so best not to dwell on it.

"Aaaanyways," Junichiro drawled, glancing at his watch, "Unless my watch is broke, which it ain't, it's about time for class. Be seein' ya, Prez, Miss Gremory." He threw a lackadaisical wave over one shoulder as they replied, before stuffing both hands in his pockets and ambling out of the office, his long legs taking him down the hall quickly despite his relaxed pace.

One thing was for sure, he thought as he entered his homeroom and slipped into his seat.

'Class is gonna be way more boring than whatever Gremory's gonna be doin'. Shame I can't tag along.'

-x-x-x-x-x-

And it was. Despite school being a novelty to Junichiro, who only had blurry memories that didn't belong to him as a reference to human society, the teachers seemed more like wrung-out rags than authority figures, and most of what they taught didn't seem like it had much practical use in the real world.

But it didn't matter; he'd chosen this, and he sure as hell wasn't gonna quit just because Calculus was a snoozefest.

A few days passed without anything of note occuring, but as Thursday's classes came to a close, Junichiro found himself accosted and dragged off by a bubbly Tomoe, Yuuto following along with a small, amused smile on his face.

...Well, he said 'accosted and dragged off', but really, he was just being dramatic. In reality, Tomoe had suggested that the three of them go get some ramen and chat. Junichiro was all for this idea; both in this life and the last, good food was his vice. And if the good food came with good company?

It didn't get much better than that.

The ramen shop the trio ended up going to was well-hidden; the building had no sign and was located around back of a warehouse in the part of Kuoh that could best be described as dodgy, and that was if you were feeling generous.

Despite the shady location and equally shady atmosphere, neither Tomoe nor Yuuto seemed bothered. As such, Junichiro shrugged and decided not to worry about it, even if Tomoe's comment about the restaurant being owned by 'a friend of a friend' raised a few questions in his mind.

Whatever the case, the ramen was good, and the shop's dim lighting and private tables made it a good place to talk about things you didn't want other people hearing. That was a good thing, based on the gleam in Tomoe's eyes when she set down her chopsticks and demanded, "Spill."

When Yuuto merely raised a puzzled eyebrow, his fellow Knight rolled her eyes and added, "About the meeting with the crows; give me details, my man!"

Junichiro, having long since demolished his fourth and final bowl of ramen, spoke up, "I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't curious. Since the city ain't on fire, I figure it didn't go too badly, but that don't tell me much, see?"

Kiba cupped his chin, then nodded. "I take your point. Hmm...where to begin…"

"The beginnin' is usually a safe bet, I reckon," Junichiro snarked, a lazy grin on his face.

Kiba shot him a look, then replied, "Quite. The beginning it is, then.

"When Lady Rias set out to confront the Fallen, I went with her. Akeno, our Queen, wanted to go with us as well, but Lady Rias pointed out that, if things went poorly, it would be ill done to keep all of our eggs in one basket, as it were." Yuuto winced, then added, "There were other reasons to not bring Akeno along, but those are not mine to share."

Junichiro and Tomoe both nodded; neither of them were going to pry.

"Regardless," Yuuto continued, "she, along with our Rook, Koneko, stayed behind, while I accompanied Lady Rias."

The blond made a face. "Once we got close to that church, the stench of Light was palpable, but the fact that we had to practically walk into the church to sense their presence there was...troubling, to say the least."

"As for the Fallen themselves...they were oddly cooperative, once it was clear they'd been caught out." The expression on Yuuto's face made it clear that he was more than a bit confused by this. "Of the three, one of them did all the talking: a tall man dressed in a trenchcoat and a fedora, of all things."

Tomoe let out a noise somewhere between a snort and a confused "Huh?", while Junichiro merely quirked an eyebrow as the voice in his head supplied, 'Dohnaseek.'

Yuuto gave a wry smile. "That was my reaction as well. Regardless of his bizarre fashion choices, he did cooperate with us, and even managed to be civil despite the enmity between our races.

"That said, he did not disclose everything about their mission here within Kuoh, just that they were searching for something, and were to remain unobserved." At this, a rather vicious smile crossed Yuuto's face as he raised his glass in Junichiro's direction. "He seemed quite put out that they'd been discovered, so I have you to thank for the look on his face. It was...immensely satisfying to see a fully grown Fallen go from surprise to horror to consternation in the span of three seconds."

Junichiro clinked his glass against Yuuto's hesitantly. 'Blondie's got a bit of a sadist in him, don't he?'

After a moment or two, the blond seemed to realise how intense he'd become and coughed into a fist, his cheeks reddening. "A-anyways, that Fallen was pretty blunt with us. He said that there was no point in concealing themselves or lying once they'd been caught, since their whole mission apparently hinged on remaining undetected." Yuuto frowned. "He could have been lying, but it didn't seem that way, and after we left, Lady Rias' familiar witnessed all three of them quickly leave Kuoh entirely. We went back to search the place, but they didn't leave anything of use behind."

At that point, Tomoe spoke up, her tone much more serious than Junichiro had come to expect from her. "Lady Sona mentioned we ought to keep an eye out for anything suspicious while we're out on contracts; I'm guessing that Lady Gremory doesn't trust them to really be gone?"

Yuuto scoffed as he replied, "Of course not. If they were good enough to get inside Kuoh undetected the first time, I don't doubt they could find their way back a second time." He glanced at Junichiro. "Normally, Lady Rias wouldn't want to ask for outside help, since this is her responsibility, but…"

"Since I can sniff 'em out and y'all can't, ya' want my help," Junichiro finished for him with a nod. "Ain't no trouble; I'm glad to lend a hand. Least I can do."

Yuuto exhaled, then smiled. "Lady Rias will be relieved to hear that, I would wager. The House of Gremory is in your debt."

Junichiro made a rude noise. "Friends don't hold debts over shit like this, not when people might be in danger." When Yuuto opened his mouth to protest, Junichiro raised a hand, then asked, "Ya really want to pay me back?"

Yuuto nodded.

Junichiro jerked a thumb at the stack of bowls beside him. "Split the cost of my ramen with me."

Yuuto stared blankly at Junichiro for a long moment, then snorted before pulling out his wallet. "You're impossible, you know that? Forget splitting it; I'll cover your tab."

Junichiro leaned back in his seat and let out a deep laugh. "Ya drive a hard bargain, Yuuto, but I guess I can't do nothin' but accept, eh?"

Yuuto merely shook his head ruefully. Tomoe, for her part, seemed all too amused at her fellow Knight's consternation.

After their meals were paid for and the trio parted ways, Junichiro started for home. Enough time had passed that the sun was already sinking beneath the horizon, but he took a slow, meandering path home, allowing his metaphorical 'inner eye' to open wider.

Really, that term didn't do it justice; it was more like opening yourself up to the world and letting it flow over you. Not through you, though. Senjutsu was a whole other kettle of fish, and he knew he wasn't ready for that by any stretch of the imagination; he'd barely started on Touki!

...He was getting off-track again, though. Point was, sensing stuff with your life force was more like feeling the wind currents on your skin and less like seeing how the wind stirred up dust.

And, despite how intrinsic it was to his nature as a yokai, halfblood or not, he was far from a master at it. As such, it didn't come as that much of a surprise that he came up with not a single hint of the tainted Light so intrinsic to the Fallen. Before, they hadn't known they might have to take extra steps to hide themselves, but now their guard was up. Of course, there was always the possibility that the Fallen actually had left like they had said they would...

Junichiro snorted. 'Yeah, right.' The memories of his past life were blurry, but what he could puzzle out of them made it clear that 'Raynare' wasn't the type to give up so easily.

He had little information to go on, now that the Fallen had scattered, and if his suspicions about them being able to hide from him were right…

Well, that left only one place where he might be able to catch them, now didn't it?

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Donald

Donald arrived in Kuoh on Friday, checking into a booked hotel room, and confirmed the validity of his online research by tracking down every park in the city and setting up 'hides'. They weren't much, basically just magic circles engraved onto trees or stones with small microphone-equipped cameras placed nearby, but they would suppress sounds, smells and presences within their boundaries, while also serving as handy teleportation markers.

That project was completed just in time for Kuoh Academy to let out, and Donald was already positioned on a high-rise building in the city centre, a much more carefully crafted version of the same enchantment he used for his hides woven into the cloak he was wearing. Even from miles away, the image coming through his binoculars was absolutely perfect, and he was able to pick out an eye-catching red shirt among the tide of black and white.

The wearer wasn't a particularly stand-out individual; brown hair, brown eyes, average height and build… His hairstyle wasn't even as spiky as instinct said it should be, thought it was still longer on the right than the left.

Nevertheless, the resemblance was still there - as it was for the two other teenagers accompanying the brunet, one of them with shaggy black hair and thick glasses, the other close-shaven like a monk with massive ears.

Issei Hyoudou identified.

Step one, complete.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Approaching Kuoh's abandoned church was done with the utmost care, draped in the same concealing cloak and crawling through the surrounding forest to the edge of the open area. It was already late at night, but Donald still made every movement with calculated focus, slowly shifting anything that might cause noise out of his path as he approached the building.

Once he was flush with the wall, he reached down to a zipped pouch on his waist, opening it one tooth at a time until he could reach inside and retrieve what seemed like a pane of glass about the size of a smartphone. Looking through it, however, proved it was more than it seemed - instead of the church's exterior, it showed a supernaturally high-definition outline of the church's interior.

There was no colour in the image, but the various pews and other furniture within were clearly defined...as was the passageway beneath the altar.

Panning his view around, the teen followed the passageway with his eyes until it connected with a series of underground passages under the church, which probably took up a good percentage of the hill's volume. Most of it seemed to be residential space, judging by the fact that most of the smaller rooms had singular humanoid figures resting on what looked like beds, but there were also larger spaces that could be recreational areas, planning rooms or kitchens and dining halls...there was even one that seemed like an open bath.

That one got a raised eyebrow, but Donald shook it off mentally and continued his examination.

It took him half an hour to completely memorise the layout and identify his points of interest, then another two hours to crawl his way around the hill and visit all the entrances to the complex's concealed vents. There were over a dozen in total, and surveillance drones, almost purely mechanical to minimise the odds of detection and small enough to be mistaken for insects with the way they'd been painted, were retrieved from their containers on Donald's back and deployed into each one.

The spider-like creations made their way through the concealed shafts and into the complex to spread themselves out and hunker down as cameras and microphones, while on the surface, Donald inscribed specialised magic circles on the metal interiors of the vents. Then, once the task was complete, he made his slow way to the base of the hill, retrieved his backpack from a tree to stuff the cloak inside, and caught a bus back to his hotel.

Step two, complete.

-x-x-x-x-x-

After bolstering himself with a hyper-caffeinated coffee to make up for his missed hours of sleep, Donald spent his morning checking his hides were undisturbed and examining the feeds from his drones. No units had been lost, and their coverage of the complex seemed complete. Donald quickly counted a total of forty Stray Exorcists in residence, including the red-eyed, white-haired Freed Sellzen.

That was expected; what wasn't, was the complete absence of any Fallen Angels.

Donald gripped the tablet which the surveillance feeds were coming into tightly, staring into space as he ran his options. The odds of him having been discovered seemed miniscule; Sellzen or the Fallen would have just killed him if they'd detected him. There had been no signs of anything having even come near his hides, and blazing through the recordings from the previous night showed that nothing bigger than an owl seemed to have discovered his hides.

So, that being the case, why were the four Fallen Angels that were meant to be in Kuoh missing?

The beeping of an alarm broke him from his contemplation, and his thoughts sped up beyond any real coherence for a few moments before Donald forcibly shook his head and got to his feet.

He needed more information.

Opening his bag to reveal a space more suitable to a decently sized room, he tapped at his tablet for a few seconds until a whirring sound started up among the neatly stacked boxes and other containers that lay within. Donald had just enough time to cross the room and open the window before several palm-sized quad-copter drones flew out of the bag's entrance, arranging themselves within the space of the room.

Several more commands went into the tablet, and the drones vanished from view even as the whirring of their rotors went silent. Even their controller had to check the tablet to see whether or not they'd left the room before he closed the window, exchanged the tablet for a laptop, and settled down on the bed.

There was still work to do.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The aerial drones were, despite all the measures he'd taken, considerably more likely to be discovered than the miniature ground-types. They also didn't have the utility that he himself did. Both of those factors combined had made Donald reluctant to use them if he didn't have to, but the situation had forced his hand.

Most of the drones had been deployed to scout the city, their recognition software programmed for the best descriptions of the Fallen Angels that Donald could give them. Meanwhile, one of them was under his direct control, and that one was hovering a kilometre above the entrance to Kuoh Academy.

While Saturday hadn't been a required school day in Japan for years, certain schools still ran optional classes and other activities on the weekends for various reasons. In the case of Kuoh Academy, those were as extended study for students who were struggling or just wanted to put in more work...and as punishments for disruptive students and rule-breakers.

Keeping this in mind, it wasn't much of a surprise that Issei Hyoudou was one of the people who had to attend.

Still, the Academy only ran such classes until around noon, and it didn't take long until the brunet himself emerged from the gates looking tired, waving to his friends as they parted ways in front of the school.

The drone followed along Hyoudou's route for several minutes, with Donald recording its feed to make sure he had a record of the route in case of future need.

Then, it happened.

Hyoudou paused in his walk, leaning on the railing of a bridge above a road, staring down at the asphalt as he presumably thought to himself...until he was approached by a girl with black hair, violet eyes and a dark red school uniform jacket.

"Um, Hyoudou, are you...seeing anyone at the moment?"

The whole exchange took less than a minute.

And as Hyoudou yelled joyously to the sky, practically leaping down the road towards his home, every thought overtaken with the date he'd made for that Sunday…

Donald took a screenshot, and stared for several moments at the face of 'Yuuma Amano' and the look of disgust that it had been twisted into as she turned her back on the teen.

Target confirmed.

Stage three, tentatively complete.

-x-x-x-x-x-

'Yuuma', or more accurately the Fallen Angel Raynare, shed the likeness of a schoolgirl in an alleyway, visibly aging as her uniform melted into more stylish apparel until she emerged onto the street as a fairly stunning young adult. The drone tracked her until she entered a hotel, whereupon it circled the building with its focus on the windows until it identified her in the penthouse apartment.

Donald snorted to himself, but still recorded the information as he left the drone on overwatch to report if the Fallen left the building.

In the meantime, he redirected the other drones, sending them to repeat the process on the city's various other hotels with the supposition that he may just have been wrong about the Fallen staying at the church. With little else to be done in the immediate future, he ate a simple lunch in the quietest corner of the hotel's restaurant, then returned to his room and considered what to do with his time.

The various drones were doing their work, his hunger was sated, he'd checked and re-checked all his equipment, the hides were undisturbed and the next stage of the plan would have to wait until the rest of the Fallen were found or Hyoudou's date happened, whichever came first.

Left somewhat stumped for a moment, Donald's eyes finally fell on his phone where it lay beside the tablet.

It had been a couple of days…

He'd unlocked the device and dialled a contact just a few moments later, and it rang three times before the other end picked up.

"Maxwell residence, Billy speaking."

"Hey granda," Donald greeted.

"Donald!" the elderly, accented voice replied, cheering up considerably and losing the somewhat sleepy tone it had before. "You don't have to call so early just because we didn't hear from you yesterday y'know...unless there's something wrong?"

"I'm fine granda," the younger man assured. "I'm just busy. I completely forgot to call yesterday, and it just popped into my head now, so…"

"Well, we're always happy to hear from you," Billy assured him. "Just try not to get so wrapped up in your work…though then again, I suppose if you were going to relax a bit, you'd have done it already."

Donald winced. "...Yeah."

"Don't be sorry lad," Billy told the teen, picking up on his tone easily. "I know your work means a lot to ye. It's not like I'm one to talk, anyway!"

"That you're not Billy," agreed another voice, equally aged but distinctly feminine. "Now shift yer chassis over and let me talk to my grandson."

A smile flickered over Donald's face as he leaned back on the bed, propped up by the pillows. "Hello gaggies."

"Hello Donald. How are you doing sweetheart? Are you eating properly?"

"I just came back from lunch gaggies, I'm eating fine," Donald replied.

"Don't pester the boy Maggie," Billy interjected. "He eats just fine when he's here doesn't he?"

"He only eats well because I pester him!" Maggie declared. "He gets it from your side of the family - you were just as bad when you were younger."

"If I spent more time eating when we were younger, we wouldn't have had food to eat!"

Donald sighed, closing his eyes as the corners of his lips twitched upwards. "Should I leave you two alone?"

"Don't think you'll get away that easily, Donald Maxwell," Maggie replied. "Calling at six in the morning...you need your sleep young man! You'll dye your whole cheeks purple at this rate."

"Yes gaggies," Donald sighed, not out of frustration, but in relief at the familiar admonishment.

"And you're really alright lad?" Billy asked.

"I'm really fine granda," Donald reiterated. "I just didn't want to leave the call until tomorrow."

"Well we're glad to hear it," Billy declared. "But there's no need to wake up early on our account."

"Go back to bed Donald," Maggie broke in. "Read a book if you aren't feeling sleepy. And come around soon, I'm planning to make bread and butter pudding."

Despite having eaten just recently, Donald felt his stomach rumble slightly.

"I wouldn't miss it gaggies," he assured her. "I'll be by this week. I've got some time-sensitive projects to finish this weekend."

"Alright then love," Maggie sighed. "You take care now."

"I will gaggies."

"And sleep well," Billy chimed in. "You're only young once, don't go wasting that energy just to keep yourself awake."

"I won't granda."

"We love you, Donald," Maggie added, finally.

"Love you too," the teen replied quietly.

Then there was a click, and the line was closed.

Donald's hand flopped down on the bed, his phone bouncing away a little as he loosened his grip, and he sighed once more as his eyes slipped closed.

Maybe resting wasn't such a bad idea…

-x-x-x-x-x-

Donald's eyes snapped open as his laptop started beeping, and he blearily dragged himself into sitting upright as he groped for the device and pulled it into his lap.

A quick check of the time showed that it was about eight in the evening, and the alert was coming from one of the drones he'd assigned to investigating the hotels. Apparently it had identified one of the targets - and, bringing up the feed, Donald found himself looking at a fairly tall woman with a long, dark-blue ponytail and violet eyes. She wasn't wearing what his memories said she should be, but even in the almost scandalously short evening dress that was causing her dinner partner's IQ to visibly drop, she was still identifiable.

'So that's Kalawarner accounted for,' Donald thought to himself. 'But there's still no sign of the others…'

The odds that the other two Fallen that were meant to be in Kuoh would turn up before Sunday were becoming longer and longer. That being the case, Donald found himself pacing back and forth, considering his options.

The plan as it had previously stood was salvageable. The information he had based it on was still largely reliable, and the most major points seemed unchanged. He might not be able to make as clean a sweep of things as he'd wanted, but so long as he achieved the primary goal those loose ends would probably hurt his perfectionism more than anything else…

'No, wait, if there are still two Fallen Angels roaming the city then…'

Grimacing, Donald stopped pacing, sitting on the bed instead.

Dohnaseek and Mittelt would be too troublesome to leave as loose ends. It would be better to take care of them - the best case scenario would for it to happen as part of the main plan, but if he was willing to stick around until he found them, then he could probably prevent any major issues.

The only problem would be arranging to extend his stay in Japan…

But then again, Ajuka did owe him a few vacation days.

Nodding to himself, Donald got to his feet once more, deciding to get some dinner from the hotel's restaurant and then go back to bed.

It was going to be a busy day tomorrow.