Chapter 29.
Silence fell upon the field.
Ryu sat on the ground, hugging his father's body.
Tears were flowing from his eyes without stopping.
"...It seems, I'm quite late..." A voice came from above.
Everyone turned their heads up, except Ryu.
High up in the sky, was an armored figure. The owner of the voice was a figure clad in white armor, decorated with large blue jewels.
And on his back were wings, that had large blue energy like feathers.
Ryu didn't pay any attention to the voice, it's more like... he couldn't hear it at all.
The figure descended down and began to approach.
Ryu's friends all stood in front of him, shielding him from the unknown person.
"I'm not an enemy, Rias Gremory," The person spoke, "I'm Vali, a friend of Ryu's." He introduced himself.
"I'm acting on Azazel's orders, which were to capture Kokabiel and bring him back, but well..." he sighed, "Looks like I won't be able to complete them."
"...You may approach," Rias spoke, "Don't try anything funny."
Vali snorted, "Don't worry, I would have already if I wanted to."
Vali approached Ryu, and crouched down next to him.
He put his hand on his shoulder, "Ryu." he called out his name.
Ryu slowly turned towards him, and Vali got a good look at his face.
"...That look... it doesn't suit you at all," Vali said.
"...Vali?" Ryu croaked out.
"Yeah... it's me." Vali nodded, "Listen... you should get some rest, and get your injuries checked out, I'll... take care of things, as well as the funereal." Vali said.
"I... killed him, Vali," Ryu said, his voice trembling "I killed my own father..."
Vali didn't interrupt.
"The man who raised me... taught me to be strong... he gave me everything... and I... I killed him... and what's even worse is... he told me that he was proud of me."
"What am I supposed to do? Vali? What do I tell uncle...no, I don't think I even have the right to call him that anymore." Ryu was spiraling deeper into despair.
Vali sighed, and did what he thought was best at the moment.
Sneakily, he chopped Ryu's neck, and knocked him unconscious.
He caught Ryu's body and laid him on the ground.
"Take care of him," Vali spoke, not turning back.
He gently picked up Kokabiel's body, and flew off.
"Asia, heal him if you can," Akeno said, sitting on the ground and putting Ryu's head on her lap.
Asia nodded and began working, her palms glowing.
Slowly, bruises that covered Ryu's body began to disappear, Asia didn't have anymore mana left since she also healed the others.
Ryu's arm was still damaged, but it was definitely in better condition.
Meanwhile, Rias grabbed the unconscious Issei and took him home, while leaving she didn't forget to tell Sona to dispel the barrier since everything was now over.
Saji, Yuto, Xenovia, Irina and Koneko were there when Sona approached.
"...Is he going to be okay?" Sona questioned looking at Ryu's condition.
"Yes... he needs rest," Asia spoke, "I'm sorry... I didn't have enough mana to heal his arm... maybe tomorrow..."
"It's all right Asia," Akeno said to her.
"I'll take him home," Akeno spoke, picking Ryu's body up,
(Author's note: yeah, she can do that. Queen piece remember?)
Akeno casted a magic circle, and disappeared.
Xenovia, Irina, Koneko and Yuto also left.
Only Saji was left standing there, with Sona right behind him.
"Saji?" Sona called out his name, noticing his strange behavior.
"I froze, Sona." He spoke, "That fallen angel... each time he appeared, I froze in place from fear and terror."
"It's okay Saji, it happens to everyone," Sona tried comforting him.
"It didn't happen to Issei, it didn't happen to Koneko, it didn't happen to anyone else... only me, " Saji covered his face with both of his hands, "This... will never happen again. If it does... slap me, or something." Saji told her.
Sona smirked a hint of approval in her gaze.
"Understood Saji," Sona's smirk widened into a cruel smile, "But before that... I'm gonna need you to bend over."
Saji flinched, his hand shooting towards his backside.
"S-S-Sona could we perhaps... not?" Saji asked, sweat dropping from his forehead.
"Rules are rules Saji, now bend over." Sona demanded from him again.
Sanji's screams of pain became a local urban legend amongst the Kuoh populace.
The legend spoke of a neutered cat mourning his balls.
(Apologies for that sorry excuse of a joke, humor might not be one of my strong points...)
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Next morning.
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Ryu slowly opened his eyes, he stared at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity.
Not moving a muscle, not thinking about anything, just... staring.
Then, he glanced down and saw Akeno cuddled up next to him, sleeping peacefully.
He also noticed that his arm was still damaged, since it hurt and was bandaged and all.
Ryu got up slowly, making sure not to disturb Akeno.
He went to the bathroom, nature was calling. After that, he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like shit.
He then glanced down at his hand, and the vivid feeling of killing Kokabiel came crashing into him instead.
Ryu expelled the contents of his stomach immediately, he puked out pure stomach acid.
After he was done, he brushed his teeth, and then washed his hands.
He got out of the bathroom, and went to the kitchen.
He opened the fridge, noticed some leftover food.
He took it out, and put it on the stove and turned it on.
Then he blanked out, standing in front of the stove. He stared at nothing.
Luckily, he wasn't so far gone as to burn his food.
He helped himself to a serving or two, sat down and began eating in silence.
After he finished, he grabbed the plate and put it in the sink like any normal person would.
He moved to the living room next, and sat down on the sofa and leaned back.
He tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling.
1 minute... 2 minutes... 3 minutes... 10 minutes... 30 minutes...
Ryu didn't move at all, not even a twitch of his muscle.
The only way you could differentiate him from a corpse was the fact that he was still breathing and every now and then tears would flow from his eyes.
"Ryu?" He heard a soft voice, filled with concern from behind.
Ryu didn't respond, he was still frozen in place.
The owner of that voice was Akeno, she approached and sat down next to him on the sofa.
Akeno placed her hand on top of Ryu's uninjured one, she sat with him in silence.
Ryu finally tilted his head towards her, and Akeno got a good look at those dead lifeless eyes.
"Good morning, Akeno," Ryu greeted her.
"...Good morning Ryu," She also said, "How... are you feeling?" She questioned.
"...I'd be lying if I said I was okay." Ryu spoke truthfully.
Akeno had no idea how to comfort him, no idea how to help him.
How can you possibly comfort a man who killed his father with his own hands?
There's no answer to this situation at all... at least, Akeno couldn't find any.
"...Shouldn't you be at school?" Ryu asked her.
"I'm skipping, I couldn't leave you alone." Akeno answered him.
Ryu couldn't stop a small smile from spreading on his lips, "Thank you Akeno... it means a lot." Ryu said.
The two said nothing more after that... they simply sat in silence. Though at one point, Akeno turned on the TV for Ryu, trying to distract him in a way.
When she looked at him though, she did see Ryu's eyes facing front seemingly looking at the TV, but... he wasn't watching it, his mind was somewhere else.
Constantly, his mind replayed the events of the previous night, as well as the memories of his childhood with his father.
Hours passed by.
Then, a bright blue magic circle appeared on the ground.
A silver-haired boy, wearing formal clothes stepped out.
His eyes stopped at Akeno for a second, "Excuse me, was unaware Ryu had company." He bowed, then turned to Ryu who was also looking at him.
"Hey, Ryu." Vali greeted, "Kokabiel's funereal, are you... well enough to attend?" Vali asked.
At a glance, you might consider Vali to be a tactless individual, but that is not necessarily the case.
He was Ryu's friend, and in his own way... he cared about him.
He knew for a fact that if Ryu missed the funereal, then he might regret it for the rest of his life.
Ryu slowly got up, and went to his room, "Yeah, give me a minute," He said to Vali.
Vali then glanced at Akeno, "Can you come as well?" He asked.
"Pardon?" Akeno was surprised at the offer.
"Ryu trusts you, and... he'd want you there, even if he doesn't want to admit it," Vali explained to her, then paused for a bit, "...If you do decide to come... know that your father, might be there as well. If you can, try to put aside your hatred for Baraqiel, and... be by Ryu's side." Vali finished, he waited for Akeno's answer.
Akeno pondered over it, and she agreed.
She despises her father, that's true. But she isn't such a narrow-minded woman that she'd let her hatred stop her from standing by Ryu's side, when he was most vulnerable.
"Lovely," Vali said with a smile, "We'll wait for you."
Akeno nodded and teleported to her house using her magic circle.
After waiting for a bit, Akeno teleported back to Ryu's house.
Ryu was dressed formally as well, a black button-up shirt, black pants and a black coat.
The three of them disappeared inside Vali's blue magic circle.
Author's note: Please drop some reviews, I need feedback on where to improve... might also motivate me to update more frequently... who knows.... hehe.