The Dream's End

"Aaaa..."

"Nii-san, I wana watch Gundam." Saji Gengo is now looking at his brother, slightly seeing this as an annoyance as he waits for him to change the channel.

"Aaaa," The former human had no response to his pestering little brother as he kept gaping like a fish while staring off into the distance, not even looking straightforward.

They were both sitting in front of the television after dinner. After they walked and met the perverted duo, their conversation caused the young man, Saji Genshirou, to be turned into this state, in which he was even at dinner, mindlessly eating his food and not answering anyone's calls for him.

"..."

"Aaaa."

While watching the show in relative silence, the last of the siblings came into the room, and when she took a good look at the oldest, her expression went from relatively normal to one of slight annoyance at her brother's unusual state.

"Was he really like this for this time?" The sister had to ask the less brain-dead brother, who did not answer back immediately, being distracted by what he was watching.

"..."

"Gengo!"

"O-oh! Uh Huh!" He nodded supratically in return to his sister's yell.

In turn, huffing to herself, "What am I going to do with this idiot..."

She says this more to herself than anything, as she sits next to the two to mindlessly watch anime. As the show returns from the commercial break, the middle school student takes a glance at her older brother with a slight worry in her eyes.

"Is he really going to be alright?"

"This might have to do with... Naw, this doesn't seem like it involves them."

The brown-haired girl sighs as she tries to make herself more comfortable on the couch, trying to ease her worries.

"This might be just something that needs a good night's rest. He'll be fine in the morning even then it's the weekend so we have a few more days to sort this out!"

She hopes

X-X-X

It was after school at the Student Council, and the president and vice president of the Student Council were supposed to be working on their regular tasks, but instead they were both concentrating on the door, one wearing an awkward smile on her face and the other an exasperated expression.

This is all in anticipation of a particular student entering, as they watch the door slowly open and close.

"..."

"..."

Waiting even though the student did it two more times. Another student in the room, however, is not having any of it. The other two girls, Ruruko and Reya, both let out a small laugh, and Tsubaki sighs as Tsubasa tries to go get the door, but freezes in her tracks when she catches her king's eye.

Tsubaki looks as though she is at her wits' end as she gives Sona a knowing glance, which the latter blandly returns, before she turns to the door and finally has the crucial conversation with the wayward knight.

"Tomoe." The door stops moving at those words. "Enough, come on in."

The door began to open slowly and reluctantly before stopping just before you could see the girl's face.

The king couldn't help but hold her forehead, a small bit of herself regretting the brutal display she put on for her first piece. "Mergui," however, she couldn't lose face.

As soon as she hears her family name, the shaking stops. "You have not done anything wrong. You should not be scared... please come on in."

As copper red slowly peeks through the door, revealing an out of character shy Tomoe, the words are the final nail in the coffin.

"Sorry", her first words, cause everyone to either scoff or sigh at the cowering girl.

Tsubasa doing both says "you have nothing to be sorry for."

"...sorry."

The queen cuts off the apology for the apology, reasoning that further explanation would be pointless.

"Enough," the long-haired girl says, clapping her hands. "Tomoe, why now?" Getting to the point, Tusbaki asks the obvious question.

The knight responds by twiddling her thumbs and averting her gaze. The older girl did have a point. The incident happened a few days ago, and she was fine until then, so it makes sense for them to need an explanation.

"It's because somebody else was there to open it for me..." the knight relents.

Reya nods to herself, understanding the girl's logic, "Yes, that does seem like something we would all overlook."

Ruruko's expression becomes more apparent as she looks around looking for the white hair girl and the only male in the group who is not present.

"Now that you mention it, where are the two?"

As if responding to the first year's statement, the two in question come in through the door, both having a unique expression.

Momo was clearly disgruntled and with her twitching eyebrows while she held the hand of her fellow student like a child,even with her obvious distaste for it.

While the man of the hour is holding a blank stare, his mouth is wide open as if he's in a constant state of shock. This expression is definitely unusual as the entire focus is on him, not sure what to say.

"Eh, a little help please?" Momo said this, trying her best to sound cordial despite her fellow second year caretaker being forced on her.

Tsubaki quickly runs up to the silver-eyed girl before snapping, and as the rest stare at the site with varying expressions, Sona lets out the biggest sigh she's had this week, catching the rook's attention.

"Out with one issue and in with another, eh pres?"

"Oh shut up Tsubasa" the president in question responds back while pinching her nose in a rare moment of bluntness which causes the blue haired girl to kackle.

X-X-X

"And he just came in like this. He was fine for at least responding to the teacher, but anything beyond that, he was like a dead fish. It's a good thing he doesn't talk to a lot of people because that would cause some issues."

As the current topic was sitting in the chair with his eyes in a daze, Tusbaki walks up to him and leans over.

"Saji?"

"...heh?"

She breathes through her nose, understanding that it is an iuse and continues as she takes off her glasses.

"Just look into my eyes."

While there was no vocal response, he did follow her instructions.

Hearing Momo's explanation didn't really help to explain why her first pawn was like this as everyone returned to Tsubaki, who was giving the boy a quick magical exam as she put back on her glasses.

She turns to the others and sighs, "He's just in shock, nothing physical or magical."

They all let out a sigh of relief in response to that, because it would've been an issue if someone was around that could put a devil, even a low class one, into this. Tomoe's sigh was larger than the rest, relieved that this was not her fault.

"So what's the cause, Tsubaki?" The president's blunt question made the taller girl close her eyes, hold her face, and blush, not for her sake but out of second hand embarrassment.

"Tsubaki?"

"It's because..." Everyone in the room was waiting for her to say it. She finally let go of her face and, for a moment, broke her calm demeanor by raising her voice.

"It's because he's an idiot!"

Even with the shout, the idiot in question continues to stare off into the distance.

Her surprise show of emotion catches everyone in the room off guard, which makes the room go silent until Tsubasa sighes, like this was nothing new.

"I mean, yeah?" In the blue hair girl's eyes, she feels like something they have already gone over.

However, Sona's reaction was somewhat different.

She gives a blank stare to her friend, as if she's readying herself for what comes next. "Explain."

The taller girl breathes through her nose to calm herself before answering Sona's question. "To put it simply," she jabs at the figure as the culprit of this whole mess, "Saji's whole issue is that he came into contact with something that shocked him so much that he refused to accept it as reality ."

Once again, the room was silent. None of them could really even comprehend something like that happening overnight. So it must've been something truly terrifying that could make a persona as headstrong as him or...

"Something extremely weird that only a person like him could react in such a manner." Reya says, while holding on to the sheer idea of it.

"And since we have not seen a warning of any high class threat in the past 24 hours,and he's, you know, not dead," Momo groans as she starts to put everything together.

In the end, it's Tsubaki who confirms it with a nod and sympathetic expression for everyone who came to realize it, and with that, Tsubasa begins to laugh hysterically while most others are facepalming.

"What the hell boss..." Ruroko says under her breath, while trying her best to hide her red tinted face.

Despite everything that was occurring, the king was strangely silent. Only starting at her pawn. Without any warning, she stands and walks towards him and Tsubaki as she was still lammeting over this situation.

"Tsubaki," Sona's voice cut through the taller girl's reprieve.

"It's barely been a month wh- Oh was it Sona?"

The king didn't bother to glance at her as she kept staring at the only male in the room with an unreadable expression.

"You say he is just running away from reality, correct?"

"Yes, that is what I sa-" Not even trying to finish her sentence, Tsubaki's eyes narrowed and she went to grab her king's raising hand. "Sona, what are you doing?"

The heir finally turns towards her queen, her eyes completely cold as if she's preparing herself to do something terrible. "I was going to give him a reason to come back."

The omnius statement made Tsubaki sure she wasn't going to let her do as she pleased, so she put her foot down.

"Sona, no"

She kept staring at her with her cold eyes. "Are you telling your master what to do?"

The fellow third-year student didn't back down. "You have said if you disagree with your king, raise your case."

Slightly, the king's glare towards her queen reduces towards that statement but still persists. "Oh, then tell me one reason why I shouldn't do this?"

Without even flinching, Tsubaki points her finger in one direction, and Sona follows it to see a quivering Tomoe at the sight of Sona's raised hand. The student council president then turns towards her vice president and stares at her for a good minute.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Pouting won't change anything, Sona."

That declaration causes the normally stoic girl to break face, just like her fellow third-year student did before with a "tch"Sona pulls away her hand.

"Fine if that's the only way." She scans the entire room until her eyes stop at an individual who was trying to get Tomoe from under the desk with a troubled expression. "Nimura!"

The call of her name made the twin tail girl turn from consoling the cowering knight to her king. "Yes, kaichou?"

X-X-X

Two individuals walk down the hallway. One was beet red and the other had a vacant stare. Both holding a couple of boxes ready to give to the faulty. Thankfully, it was well after the bell rang, so no one could see the obvious love struck maiden.

"Why am I always like this when I am alone with him!?" Ruruko Nimura screams internally. It has always been like this for the first year ever since high school. These feelings well up inside when she's alone with him. She almost slipped a few days ago when they met before school.

"Unfortunately..." She gives a side glance to her so-called senior.

"Aaaa..."

"I can't exactly enjoy myself as much as I thought." The annoyance is clear in her thoughts. "What does Kaichou want me to do anyway?"

"Aaa?"

"Yes we're almost there, Gen-senpai"

"...?"

"Me too, Gen-senpai"

This odd conversation continues on until they reach their destination and deliver the boxes to the faculty. It only gets weird as the green clip girl grabs the male and drags him outside.

"Alright, no time like the present!"

X-X-X

"Ah! What happened?" Saji springs up from the ground, frantically looking around as if he hasn't seen light in days. "Ouch!" In realization, he grabs a swollen cheek in pain and, in turn, calms himself as he looks for answers from the person standing in front of him. "H-hey Nimrua? What happened?"

The girl in question holds a neutral expression that doesn't betray any of her internal thoughts nor hint at her earlier actions."Oh nothing, you were a bit under the weather. So Kaichou told me to take you out for some fresh air."

Saji looks down, pondering to himself while holding his head. "Y-yeah I was pretty out ever since..." Saji shot up without any warning, causing the twin haired girl to step back defensively. Saji then grabs her shoulders, earning a small eep from the pawn.

"Nimura!"

"Y-yes?"

He stares her dead in the eyes as she begins to turn red.

"What time is it?"

She slowly blinks at the question, breathing heavily, almost at her limit ." A-a bit past two, why?"

With a click of his tongue and without answering, he blitzes off the school campus, leaving Ruruko in a daze as she crumples to the floor.

Saji's catching up would've been impossible if he was a normal human. Thankfully, due to his devil physique, this made him comparable to a professional athlete at full stride. Dashing past others on a random goose chase, he finally stops on a bridge as he looks over, finding his target.

"There!"

Not wasting any time, the pawn catches up to the three individuals, not noticing one of their moods.

"Wait up!"

The yell gets the trio's attention, and at the sight of Saji, two of the three quickly turn into disgust.

"Tch," Matsuda clicks his tongue at the sight of the student council clerk."What do you want, Student Council Bastard?"

Under his breath, Motohama mutters, "Leech."

Shrugging off the insults, Saji begins speaking even while he is trying to catch his breath "Hyoudou...you...have...a girlfriend?!"

As he finally stops doubling over from the long run he finally gets a good look at the person he is asking the question to.

Saji didn't know what he's expecting when saying this to his fellow 2nd years, but that face wasn't one of them.

It is one of fear and sorrow, like reality was failing to meet his own view of things, but the more disturbing part is the shift it did once Saji said those words, where hope begins to spark as if he wasn't alone in the world.

But Saji didn't even understand the depth of it. A single thought came into his mind when seeing the depressed teen.

"I.."

His mind flashes back to a rainy day.

"...know this face"

Out of instinct, if anything, Saji reaches out his hand in concern, surprising even himself due to the idea of feeling sympathy for Hyoudou being so foreign to him.

"H-hey Hyoudou are you o-"

Before the blonde could finish, the duo of Motohama and Matsuda double over laughing, which snaps the two into different expressions, with Saji having a confused look and Issei closing his eyes in annoyance.

"You actually believed that crap!" Motohama cackles, not believing what he hears.

Matsuda couldn't even speak while laughing so hard.

"What?" All Saji could say is that, seeing this situation as clearly confusing.

Seeing his confusion, Issei tries to speak.

"How di-"

Before he could complete his sentence, the perverted friends both hung their arms around his shoulder, still laughing.

"This guy," Matsuda uses free hand to point to Issei who is growing more annoyed by the two antics "actually got someone to believe his crap he's spewing!"

On the other shoulder of Issei Motohama continues on "Honestly, if you got this bastard to believe you, your imaginary girlfriend really may be real!"

"Ok, that's it!"

With that, Issei had enough; he elbows his two friends, and as they are reeling in pain, he walks in a huff as the two slowly try to catch up to their disgruntled friend.

"I-issei wait!"

"Come on, man, don't be like that."

And just like the pawn is left alone, just standing there, contemplating what just happened a few seconds ago.

But it didn't take a long time for that to change. After a few minutes the 1st year of the student council finally catches up to her senior

"There you are! I was looking for you everywhere."

Not answering, Ruruko curiously walks up to him to get a good look at him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you su-"

"I'm fine okay!!"

With a shout Saji left in a huff not noticing he's clearly annoyed about this whole situation.

X-X-X

"So let me get this right"

Tsubasa says this while she and everyone else is staring at the only male in the room after his explanation.

"You" she points at Saji as she dully glares at him" were tricked by the perverts that one of them got a girlfriend before you and suffered a mindbreak which resulted with that pathetic state of yours before, did I miss anything?"

All the boy could do is nod timidly towards the accurate description of the past events.

"Alright I'm done"

With that the blue-haired girl stands up and goes towards the door.

"Why do we even help him learn if this hopeless serious you barely talk to these guys and yet believe the first thing that comes out of there mouth not mention-"

The entire room watches Tusbasa as she walks off ranting to herself.

"She'll be back" Momo states as she flinches at her slamming the door "probalaby."

"Well the most important thing is that you're safe and it's not my fault!" Tomo adds chipperly not realizing she said the last part out loud.

"What was that?" Reya asks.

"Nothing!"

Watching the antics Tsubaki lets one of the usual sighs begin to speak

"Saji" at the call of his name, the boy slightly jumps in fear.

Tsubaki sighs in turn, " I'm not mad."

"You aren't?" Saji responds in clear surprise.

"No, I am not, but we were seriously worried about you."

"...sorry."

"I know you are," The long-haired girl sighs once more. "Either way now that we can put this behind us we can move on to the main topic, isn't that right S- are you alright?"

And her reason for worry was well precedented, for this is the first time Saji seen such deer in headlights expression on his king face with such an expression they did not notice what she said under her breath in a moment of shock.

"Issei Hyoudou... was killed?"

But in just that same breath she snaps out of her trance and returns to her normal expression.

"A-ah yes my apologies Tsubaki yes Saji we do have more important things to do today and while I'll give you a pass now I will not tolerate this again am I clear?"

Not questioning his president, odd fromer expressions respond accordingly. "Yes Kaicho I won't let this happen ever again!"

To this, the full-blooded devil nods in agreement.

"All right, let's move on," she says, motioning to everyone in the room except the two pawns. The two newcomers watch in confusion as the rest of the present peerage moves into action. The difference is that Ruruko constantly looks around in curiosity while Saji watches while pondering until it clicks with him.

"Oh, today is—!"

Sona nods to his statement: "Yes, like I told you before, we do our contract once a month, so it's fortunate that your accident didn't make you sit this one out,t isn't it?"

"You got me there, Kaichou."

Even while saying this while scratching the back of his head timidly, Saji Genshirou couldn't help but be excited due to his lack of contact with the supernatural.

"My first contract... I feel like a kid, but I can't help it but I want to jump up and down!"

But, as if the excitement were blood to a shark, a certain snarky voice perks up.

"Aaahhh, pride before the fall, you really मेरे दूसरे आधे हैं."

"Okay, I don't know what the heck you are, but can you be a constant downer?"

In the back of his mind the second years begins to argue with the unknown voice as he's been doing of late.

"Hmmm, let me think about that.... Nnnooo."

"Gah!"

"Gahahaha!" Despite the clearly feminine voice, she laughs so crudely. "Ah you're just great kid you know that? But heads up when it comes to us alway believe in... तुम मनुष्यों शब्द क्या है call it? Murphy's law?"

"Well isn't that just great?"

"The only reason why I am not bottom of barrel जब नौकर की बात आती है because of my अमर प्रकृति लेकिन बदले में है कि बनाता है world think it's totally fine throw whatever it has at me और प्रॉक्सी द्वारा आप, डी रैंक भाग्य के लिए नहीं है nothing honestly दिन में वापस कितनी बार मैंने आपके बट को बचाया है, मुझे आश्चर्य है कि आप अभी भी आशावादी हैं जैसा कि आप हैं, ऐसा लगता है कि प्यार वास्तव में दुनिया में सबसे मजबूत बल नहीं है

And with that voice, it became completely impossible to understand.

"And there she goes. Despite me hearing her more clearly now, she still doesn't make sense when she does!"

At this point, the mystery being has completely become incoherent. Despite the devil's trait of being universally lingual, no matter when the being inside his head breaks in and out, it always becomes completely unable to understand.

"It's like the communication between us is not just simple words, but something deeper. "

Before pondering any deeper, the sacred gear user shakes his head to avoid going any further.

"Enough about my own problems! I shouldn't try to make the others worry about me any more than they have! So let's get these contracts done!"

"..."

"It's not going as bad as it said, right?"

X-X-X

As the last of the seven circles glows, the last two devils and the two newest ones, Saji and Ruruko, stand in it, both waiting with a mix of nervousness and excitement, preparing themselves to be summoned.

Standing right In front of the two was Sona, watching them with her arms folded and a stern expression. In an instant, the circle flashes brightly with Ruruko letting out a small squeak, which in turn causes the fellow pawn to snort loudly, which causes the two to have a small squabble with one side pouting her cheeks out and the other apologizing.

The student council president manages a small smile as she watches their interaction before pushing up her glasses and returning back to her frosty demeanor.

"It seems that you two had enough time after studying the summon spell to bicker like this, no?"

Her voice causes the two to immediately end the small argument and stand up straight.

"Y-yes Kaichou" was heard in unison.

"Now then, I hope you prepare for your contract but be warned unlike the Gremory's we usually get the more unusual characters of this town so prepare yourself."

"Yes Kaichou!" The response was curt and strong, unlike last time. With that and the wave of the president's hand, the circle began the teleportation process.

"And one more thing," for a moment her expression became softer once more "don't let me down"

"Ha...!?" came from the young first year, clearly having some confusion, but in turn Kaichou raises her eyebrow, walks up to her, and gives her a flick on the head.

"You heard me don't disappoint"

Ruruko's face heats up, and Saji almost bursts out laughing.

She then smiled at Saji, who shut up immediately. The sight of that wasn't lost on them as the Sirti heir watches on with amusement as two bodies starting to completely vaish through the circle until they were completely gone.

Now all by herself, the student council president's face relaxes a little. Due to her need to be on standby to keep tabs on all her peerage, this is one of the rare moments where she has nothing particular to do or, more precisely, nothing she can do without another one of her peerage.

well, outside of one thing.

A magic circle appears around her ear once more, and after a moment, a perky voice answers.

"Oh Sona that's rare you don't call me so-"

"Issei Hyoudou."

"...I can explain"

"Please do."

It seems like for the student council president, her work is never done.