Reunions and Complications

Kuoh Academy Student Council Office (Rias P.O.V.)

Sitting in the student council office, Sona Sitri was sitting down working on important documents with three members of her Peerage. They were Tsubaki Shinra, Koneko Toujou, and Yuuto Kiba.

Sona is a young bespectacled woman with a slim figure, black hair styled in a short bob cut and violet eyes.

Tsubaki is a young bespectacled woman with long straight black hair that extends all the way down to her knees, with split bangs and heterochromic eyes, with a violet left eye and a light brown right eye.

Koneko is a petite girl around 15 years old with white hair and hazel eyes. At the front, her hair has two long bangs going past her shoulders and several loose bangs hanging over her forehead, while the back has a short bob cut. She also wears a black cat-shaped hair clip on both sides of her hair.

All three of them were wearing the Kuoh Academy girls' uniform consisting of a white long-sleeved, button-down shirt with vertical linings, a black ribbon on the collar, a black shoulder cape and matching button-down corset, and a magenta skirt with white accents.

Yuuto is a 'pretty boy' with short blonde hair, grey eyes and a mole under his left eye. He's wearing the Kuoh Academy boys' school uniform, which consists of a black blazer with white accents over a white, long-sleeved dress shirt with a black ribbon on the collar, matching black pants, and brown dress shoes.

They were unusually busy at the moment as they had to make preparations for the three factions meeting that would be occurring. The faction leaders already had accommodations set up for everyone, so that wasn't something they had to stress about. They did have to worry about potential damages from any fallout however. While they weren't made privy to news of any planned attack, it was almost guaranteed with the importance of this meeting. There were too many people itching for a reason for conflict. They also had to do necessary hypnosis runs on all the students and their families to keep them out of the area on that day with conditions to allow easy modification; that's where the other members of the peerage were. Long story short, they weren't having a good time.

Suddenly, a large cerulean teleportation circle lit up and Rias and her pillars appeared. Sona's hand started to shake, she tried to stand up, but she was having a hard time.

"It's you" She struggled to say.

"It's actually you" this time Rias gave a sad smile.

"It is" She finally replied.

Suddenly without warning, Sona was in front of Rias, her fist meeting Rias's face, sending her flying across the room.

"I deserved that" She mumbled aloud, just loud enough for the surprised audience to hear.

"Your damn right you do! How do you just disappear on every one like that!?" Sona yelled furiously. It was clear that she had been distraught at her disappearance.

Rias sighed. "What can I say, sitting around waiting for my fate to be decided for me just didn't seem like a viable option. I didn't want to be stuck in a cage of expectations; I certainly didn't want to be a slave to some no-good womanizing jerk." Sona gritted her teeth.

"Couldn't you have fought it? I did and didn't run away doing it." Rias shook her head, still on the ground.

"Maybe. It's a possibility, but what other binding responsibilities would I have been expected to perform? My family was about to sell me off due to not showing signs of having the family ability. That, and where would I be now. I'm currently one of the most powerful devils in the underworld, if not the strongest in raw power. The others would likely beat me due to their mastery of their power, but it's an impressive achievement none the less. Even further, look at all the wonderful friends I made." She said with a bright smile as she pointed toward her new comrades.

"All true. In fact, your story is famous, legendary even. At least five houses have issued complaints about their children setting off for the sin lands for their shot at an adventure. If you can do it, so can I is what they say. Hell, I've thought about going on an adventure myself, if only to get strong enough to accomplish my dream." Sona said; a soft smile clear on her face.

"Anyways" Rias started as she got up. "I'd like to introduce my friends. Starting from left to right, that's Akame, my prestigious assassin."

"Hi" Akame had a small smile as she did a light wave.

"Esdeath Partas, ice-based combat specialist and seasoned general."

"Nice to meet ya" she said with a sneer that had the three peerage members shivering.

"Hanabi Hyuga, a close combat and recon specialist" She continued, clearly not bothered by Esdeath's antics.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" Hanabi said politely, the Hyuga training shining through.

"Laeticia D' Arc"

"It's nice to" before she finished, Kiba interrupted.

"Are you related to Jeanne D' Arc?" She nodded.

"I'm her descendant and due to vampiric experimentation, I've merged with her essence and sprit.

"I'm in a similar position. I'm Artoria Pendragon. It's a pleasure to meet you" As she did a knightly bow.

Suddenly a wave of potent killing intent radiated off of Kiba. His eyes seemed to glow as he stared at Artoria, ready to rip her head off.

However, before he could so much as twitch, Rias had gripped his neck with the same force that broke Riser. Her eyes blazing with a calm fury.

"Rias!" Sona stood up, ready to intervene.

"Me!? What about this insect." Her eyes narrowed. "How dare he look at my comrade, intending to attack without provocation. I should kill him where he stands!" Sona's eyes widening, realizing this was getting bad. She hadn't planned any contingencies for this. She hadn't realized Rias would bring anyone related to those swords.

"Ack, gwak, ack" Kiba struggled for air. He couldn't breathe and he was on the verge of passing out. He realized he screwed up. He couldn't help himself. The person closest to an original wielder of the swords as you can get was standing right in front of him. His body. His spirit. His hatred acted on its own.

"Rias you need to stop. He didn't mean to; he has a complicated past." Sona was panicking. She knew Gremories valued their friends, but she didn't realize it'd be this bad. The problem with Rias is, with her doing all this, she probably sensed Kiba about to attack through her ability. It wasn't a prediction, she saw it happening.

"Who doesn't?" She was just about to end the insect, when a hand pressed on her shoulder.

"Please let him go. I would like to hear why he has such a profound loathing for me." Artoria requested. She didn't want this boy to die for what she would only assume was a twisted sense of revenge. Maybe she can help him out of the chasm. She certainly had his attention.

Letting him go, Rias looked back at Sona. "I think we're done here. I will not stand by and allow my comrades to be looked at with such intent. Artoria, we'll be here for two weeks. You can visit him for a conversation at your leisure. If he attacks you again, you're free to defend yourself. Actually, you're free to take his life. I will handle any fallout" She said making everyone in the room wince at the coldness of the statement. "Before I leave though, I was hoping we could finish introductions. She then pointed at Valerie.

"This is Valerie Tepes, a mid-ranged specialist in healing, alchemy, and close combat."

"It's good to meet you" Valerie said, clearly a little strained.

"Last, but certainly not least Ingvild Leviathan, a long-ranged support specialized in augmenting dragons and wielding absolute control over water." Ingvild did a light curtsey. Sona's eyes narrowed on that one. The last name was a potential concern. There was also her pride compelling her to see who's better. As practical as Sona usually was, she had pride in her control over the water element that sometimes drove her to be a bit rasher than she'd normally be. Maybe she'll request a training session with her in the near future.

"Alright, I will wake mine quick. Kiba is my knight, a swordsman. Koneko is my rook. And Tsubaki is my queen. For the uninitiated, that means Kiba receives a speed bonus from his evil piece, Koneko strength, and Tsubaki gets a full all-around bonus." She stated quickly. This meeting needed to end to let things cool down.

"Alright, it was nice seeing you again Sona. I may not be sorry about my reaction, but I am of how this meeting turned out. Please sort out your dog before he gets himself killed." She said seriously. She didn't want to antagonize one of her best friends, but she had a responsibility to her comrades and she'd bear it with pride. That and Gremories were extremely caring for their servants in general. That trait was magnified in her with her new power.

"As I said earlier, if you would like to talk, seek me out. I don't think I've ever met someone with such a profound loathing for my person, so it would be beneficial for the both of us." Artoria said to Kiba with a light bow.

With that, Rias's group flashed out.

*Sigh* "What was that Kiba?" She said with a stern look. She almost lost him today. If Rias wasn't one of her best friends, then Kiba would be ashes in the wind.

Kiba, still panting on his rear looked up at his king. "I know. I messed up." Sighing, he continued. "I just couldn't help myself. She was likely the chosen wielder. The one they were using as a blueprint for the experiments. I couldn't help it. She was so close." Without focus, his eyes moved toward the group.

"Kiba, I haven't been through what you went through, but I want you to know this" She started, her eyes boring into his. "Soul merging is known as perhaps one of the most painful processes one can go through. You had light injected into your soul. It's a painful process, but ultimately mortal in nature. She had her soul ripped apart and joined to another, an existential threat. I know you want revenge, but you have to recognize those who bear the same pain. You're dismissed for the rest of the day to cool off. I expect you here an hour early tomorrow morning to catch up on the pertinent work on your desk." She finished and walked back to her desk to start working.

She was a little disappointed. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, but her peerage just made it quite difficult. Hopefully Rias is as forgiving as she used to be.

"President" Kiba mumbled. Sona looked up from her desk.

"Yes?"

"I want to take up her offer. I need to understand her." He hadn't even considered her situation to be in any way similar to his. Her eyes were too bright, full of conviction. How can one's eyes have so much light after something like that?

Sona was silent for a second. She needed to consider whether this was a really a good idea.

"I'll reach out to her on your behalf. It shouldn't be necessary, but their team is cautious of you now, so this will be best" Kiba nodded. He would make this right. One way or the other.