Chapter 5 - Even Sona Sitri thinks Rias Gremory is prime bulli material

Sona Sitri POV –

I suppressed a sigh as I watched Rias make yet another rookie mistake. This one, in particular, ended up being the last for today, as I moved my bishop and declared monotonously.

"Checkmate."

I ignored Rias' despondent pout, no matter how cute I thought it was, and started picking up the pieces off the chess board, one by one.

"Hey! I haven't confirmed my defeat yet!" She protested, her hands hovering protectively over her side of the board. 

My right eye twitched as her humongous cow tits ended up knocking over the pieces anyways.

I glared at her and some of the annoyance, one that I had been suppressing the 'entire' game, rose to the surface. 

"You had lost almost half an hour ago…"

Rias blinked owlishly. Once. Twice. Then her cheeks suddenly colored as she looked down sheepishly and mumbled, "O–Oh… Was it that bad?"

I pinched my eyebrows and sighed tiredly. "Let me put it this way. You were almost… bird-brained tonight, so much so that if we met for the first time, I could have mistaken you for a Phenex…"

"Hey!"

"In fact, the last time you played this bad…" I continued, ignoring her affronted look at being compared to her fiance. "We were still children, and you had challenged me for the first time at chess after barely a week of learning how to play."

I gracefully dodged Rias' sudden attempts at shutting me up, our figures rapidly shuttling across the student council room, as I fondly recalled a precious memory. "Of course, you lost terribly."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut– Eep!"

Silly Rias, you're way too obvious. I already knew that you would attempt to stop me physically first. After all, you can't use your Bael clan trait for non-lethal purposes. 

I continued talking as I smiled at the now bound and gagged figure of a dumbfounded Rias, floating mid-air in magical chains, from a magic that I had stealthily set up a long time ago.

"Then, you suddenly stopped coming over to play after that day… I was heartbroken, you know, and thought that my best friend did not want to play with me anymore." 

I walked over to Rias whose eyes looked away guiltily… and started pinching her cheeks viciously. Her face wobbled, making funny shapes, and I stealthily used magic to take pictures for posterity.

Stopping once I had my fill, I huffed in annoyance. "I ended up confiding in Mother, who asked her friend, your mom, if everything was alright. To this day, I clearly remember Lady Venelana's response."

I smiled sweetly at Rias, enjoying her squirming and fidgeting under the weight of my gaze. "Any guesses on what she said? Never mind, I'll say it anyway." 

My smile widened artificially, threatening to tear my face. "Lady Venelana told us that you came back home that day and locked yourself up in your room. When asked what you were doing inside, your answer was Training Time-Skip."

My eyes closed in satisfaction as Rias' face turned the color of her hair, and I heard her let out a high-pitched, mortified whine. I snapped my fingers, my revenge for tonight complete, and Rias was let down on the floor gently. 

I sat down on a sofa, gesturing for her to take a seat as well, ignoring her aggrieved, teary-eyed pout with well-practiced ease. "So, here's the answer to your question. Yes, it was bad. Honestly, I could have ended that atrocious excuse for a chess game a long time ago… but I was just humoring you, allowing you time for your thoughts. And now I want an answer. What happened, Rias?" I continued slightly hesitantly. "Is it related to Riser?"

Sighing, she shook her head as she took a seat as well. Tea… there was no one to prepare tea for the discussion, as my peerage members had been excused from their duties for the day, and Rias' peerage… well I did see them scrambling about today, so perhaps the answer to Rias' mood lies in their actions. 

Anyways, as a good host, I stood up to make a couple of cups for us. I summoned my best tea set and Rias' favorite brand of tea leaves, and was about to start brewing, only to pause momentarily as I saw Rias fidget nervously from the corner of my vision.

"Rias?" I called out, the unasked question being, 'What did you do this time?'

Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly for a while, and she finally wilted under my gaze, asking weakly. "Promise you won't get mad?"

My hand trembled, nearly crushing the china in my hand, and my mouth twitched. 

I took a long breath. In and out, Sona, then repeat. 

"Speak." I managed to utter tersely as I started pouring hot water into the tea kettle.

"...There were some fallen angels and excommunicated exorcists lurking in our territory."

I spilled the boiling, not hot, water over my hand instead.

"How many? How strong? Wait… you said 'were'. So, you took care of them?" I fired off while adjusting the temperature of the water to the correct one.

Rias nodded but then shook her head. She sheepishly scratched her head and said, "There were four fallen. One escaped."

I hummed thoughtfully. One fallen per each of her available peerage members. It must have been a relatively strong one that slipped away. Still, she should have told me earlier. Our peerages combined should have taken care of any and all possible situations. 

It must have shown on my face somehow, because Rias blushed and mumbled, "They were all two-winged fallen angels."

I gawped in incredulity. 

I also realized in hindsight as I looked down, that I had put the tea leaves and hot water in the kettle in the wrong order.

"A cunning one then? The one who escaped?" I muttered in hope, and I thought that Rias' face might just turn purple from embarrassment.

"No… she was the first one to be caught actually. Akeno forgot to lock her up properly after her interrogation, and she escaped yesterday when we left to catch the other ones. We were searching for her for the entirety of today. I even missed out on meeting Isane-chan because of this!"

I raised my brow questioningly "What business does she have to do with all of this? Don't tell me… a sacred gear?" 

I also pointedly ignored the other part of what she said. Her Queen and fallen angels… it was going to be an awry business matter, one way or the other. Rias nodded in affirmation.

"Hmm… which one?"

"Hey, you just added Saji-kun into your peerage! It's my turn this time!" Rias' eyes widened and she protested as she slammed her hands on the center table. 

I snorted dismissively. "There is no such thing as taking turns, Rias. Though… I'm not sure I even want her on my peerage. So, which gear?"

"I don't know~" She pouted and complained. "I was supposed to meet her or ask Sensei today, but he disappeared in the afternoon–" Rias suddenly clamped her hand on her mouth like she said something she wasn't supposed to. 

My eyes narrowed instantly. "What is this about Sensei?"

"No– Nothing." Rias looked away shiftily.

"Rias."

She looked away and started whistling like a damn cartoon character. Does she realize how ridiculous it looks?

...

Then I suddenly remembered something from earlier. Saji had offhandedly commented about Hyoudou's mother being called into the PTA room by Sensei in the afternoon, and that he had been asked to fetch Isane herself. Also, in that timeframe, the wards had detected teleportation magic being used in the school. Something which I had attributed to Rias. 

This meant that–

Rias suddenly looked in my direction in alarm.

…

Tea dripped everywhere. My clothes were stained. My favorite tea set had been shattered by me into pieces. I looked down and commented blandly. "Well, the tea had been brewing for too long anyway."

"Sona…" Rias muttered weakly.

"Sensei is a part of the supernatural world, huh? I… can't say I'm surprised.." 

"Ah?!" Rias let out a sound of surprise. Well, I never needed to talk about this with her but…

"As you are aware, the Sitri family is the leader amongst Devils when it comes to the field of healing." Rias nodded slightly. I hummed as I used magic to vanish the spill, erase the stains, and dispose of the porcelain, while I continued talking. 

"It occurs, as a matter of fact, then, that my parents were highly interested in this child prodigy in the medical field. One who was known to have discovered a cure for two diseases, barely in his teens. A seemingly ordinary, yet incredibly bright kid… was my father's judgment of him when he saw the child in a medical seminar… in the human world of course."

I walked back and plopped down on the sofa, tea all but forgotten. "You know how it's our family's long-held goal to cure the sleeping disease."

Rias nodded rapidly, her eyes distant for a moment. Probably thinking about Sairaorg's mother.

"So we often offer contracts, or even peerage spots, to the best ones in the medical field. If only to have a different, fresh perspective on the disease. Sensei was good. Enough that if possible, my father would have, in a heartbeat, offered to take him into any of our family member's peerage… if not for one little problem."

Rias, listening intently, raised her eyebrow questioningly at the end and I gave her an odd look. "With how you were trying to hide his existence, I had thought you wanted to take him into your peerage as well. It… doesn't seem that way, considering you don't even seem to know his history."

Rias smiled sheepishly and said awkwardly. "Koneko-chan wanted to have him as her Queen."

I blinked in surprise for a moment. Then shrugged. "She'll probably have competition. Tsubasa had voiced out something similar to me, some time ago."

Rias' face crumpled. But she suddenly perked up, a mischievous smile on her face. "I thought you would have been interested in him yourself. After all, you had said that your husband needed to be as smart, if not smarter than you. Medical prodigy boy fits the bill, no? He's handsome too… well for a human anyway."

I blinked, then huffed in slight exasperation at Rias' attempt to drag everything in the direction of romance. "First of all, he's a human. Privileged as I am, even I'm aware that marrying a human, or a reincarnated devil, is a no-go for me." 

Continuing, while giving Rias a pointed stare, I said. "Even if that were not true, if it were him of the past, I might have been interested. Now though… you might not know, but my dad was the one who took Sensei's job interview. Do you know what he said to me after?" 

Rias obviously shook her head. I pursed my lips as I recalled his words. "That bright boy seemed to have died as well in the fire that killed his mother. All that's left is just a shell that knows how to breathe."

…

Rias' eyes widened as she learned this information that she obviously didn't know. I hope for Koneko's sake that she does. I made sure that Tsubasa did. If only not to make a stupid, irreversible mistake somewhere in the process of courting him.

Pursing her lips, Rias tried to change the somber topic as she smiled forcefully. "Wait… since you didn't know about Sensei until now, did Tsubasa hide it from you as well?"

…

"What?" 

Did someone need to be spanked when I went back home?

Rias seemed to have realized my ignorance of the matter, and said, "Well, I remember Koneko-chan telling me before that she and Tsubasa work out together sometimes." I nodded, not understanding where Rias was going with this.

"That sneaky Koneko. She knew a long time ago that Sensei had a Twilight Healing, but never told us. I assumed it was the same with Tsubasa."

…

I just kept staring at Rias motionlessly. My brain must have short-circuited for a while, as I processed one piece of interesting information.

"He has what?" 

My brain spun chaotically as I took in this new, potentially game-changing information. Sensei had a Sacred Gear and had apparently awakened it a long time ago. How did I not notice all this while?! Did Dad know? Or did Sensei fool Dad as well?

Goddamn it, I'll need answers or I won't be able to sleep. More importantly though…

"How does he even have a sacred gear?!"

"Sona? What's wrong… and before I forget, what problem were you talking about?"

I… what the hell? I removed my glasses and violently rubbed my eyes.

Sighing tiredly, I told her.

"The reason my parents never made a move on Sensei, when he was younger, was because they did not dare to. As a matter of fact… even your esteemed brother wouldn't have done it. After all, the land of the strongest pantheon is a forbidden zone for devils."

"Oh… I didn't know Sensei was from India." 

My mouth twitched. How can you not know? His name makes it obvious. His name–

W̵̺̙͌̉͠h̴̥͉̲̒a̶̜̼̜͒̿̾ţ̸̥̮͂̌ ̴̘̗̖̇̈̚w̷̼̗̑̓̓å̵̧̭͎ṡ̷͇̠̙ ̴̧͔̹̋̍͘h̵̨̥̔͜i̸͙̅̇͜s̷̳̭̏̄ͅ ̸̘͕̔̌n̷̠̈́͆́a̸̡̠̳̍̾m̴̻͖̄͜͝͝e̷͔̯͘ ̴̖͗̎a̷̯̾̀͝g̶̡̺̈́̔a̸͚͗̅i̴̖̫̓̎̕n̷̮̔̚?̵͇̄͘ ̴̨͇̎͐Ḣ̷̳̋ͅu̶̗̻͌̕ḧ̷̛͓̮́̆.̵͎̥̾̐.̴̨͙͐͐.̶̫̥̟̔͗ ̴͇͉̓w̵̻̪̺̄̓h̶͎͖̺͌͝ÿ̶̠̠́̆̀ ̴̗͈͇́͋c̷̳͆͛͜ǎ̵̩͉͜n̸͕̝̅'̷̺͆͆̀ͅt̶̻͑ ̵̜͎̘̿I̷̩̞͊ ̶̢͕̲̌̎r̶̯̳̩̆̈́́e̷̼̩̮̿͋m̴̳͠e̴͖̿̏m̷̖͖̼̈́̇̍ḃ̵̛͔e̶͚̘̿̀ṟ̸͉̦͊.̴̨͍̲̈́̚ ̸̱̒͆A̶̻͚͐̈́̈́h̴̞͇̑́́,̴͍̪͇̒͘ ̵̠̮͂̀̅m̸̛̟͋̋ỹ̶͖̟̀ ̴̢͎̱̇ḣ̴͉̱e̷̩̜͗ǎ̶̡͈̩̐͘d̶̻̦́ ̷̡̘̇̿̾h̵̠͙͑͜u̶͉̠͐r̴͙̘͝t̷̘̟̚s̴̘͠ ̷͙͕́̂f̴̹̯͇́͛̔ő̷̙̯r̸̭͂ ̷͉̩̆s̷̢͑̎̏ǒ̷̬̂͝m̶̰̒͐̚e̸̼̙̋͐ ̴̧̻͉̒̉͠r̴̩̳̥̋́é̶̝̲̇a̶͓̽̒s̴̳̩̈́̎̕ö̶̢̜́̒ǹ̵͚̍͝.̷̛̳̩̃͠

"Sona, are you alright?" Rias was looking worriedly at me for some reason.

I shrugged. "Yeah, Sensei is from there. This is also why it's weird that Sensei has a Sacred Gear. After all, no one. I repeat, no one has ever been born with a sacred gear in India. Their chief god does not allow it." 

… 

"Huh. Why?" Rias blinked rapidly in confusion.

"Onee-sama said that he looks down upon them. She also called him a hypocrite for some reason."

…

Huh, the weather forecast didn't warn of a storm in this region… My lips suddenly twitched as I thought of a ridiculous possibility.

It can't be… right?

…