DXD: A Shidou Koujiro's

"

"Oh thank god," King let out a sigh of relief. "I am so sorry.

We are never doing that again. That whole concert got out of hand so fast.

I hardly remember it. "

"You can say that again," Kouji sighed. "But it's fine.

"

"Alright now you need to go home," said Irina. "Kouji needs to rest and he can't do that if you're bugging him the whole day.

"

"I'm fine Irina," Kouji swung his legs over his bed and stood up. "See? I'm fine.

"

Irina shot him that look that said to listen to her.

"Okay…maybe you should go home man," Kouji smiled. "I promise I'll hit you up tomorrow.

"

King frowned as Irina pushed him out his bedroom and downstairs with Kouji quickly following behind them.

"Oh come on!" cried King. "My best friend just woke up from a coma and you won't even let me stay with him? Have a heart Irina!"

"I said leave!"

Irina opened to door to push King out, however the three of them froze as Aespa stood looking at them. The four girls were dressed in their casual clothes and all wearing hats and facemasks to avoid attention, however Kouji recognized them immediately.

"Oh…my…"

King was cut off when Irina covered his mouth. "What in the world are you four doing here? I thought I told you to stay away from-"

"You can relax," Karina took off her facemask and smiled. "We're not here to pick a fight…but we do need to talk.

"

"We have nothing to-"

"Respectfully," said Giselle. "We're here to talk to Koujiro, not you.

It's his choice. "

King groaned as he looked to Kouji with the eyes of someone who's about to be betrayed.

Kouji sighed. "I guess…it wouldn't hurt to just talk right?"

Irina glared at him, however even she knew that they had to have a talk about this.

"But…" Kouji's eyes looked to King. "You're not gonna go, are you?"

King shook his head.

Winter took off her facemask and smiled. "I remember you, you were sitting next to Koujiro right? I'm Winter, nice to meet you.

"

King screamed, however he was muffled by Irina's hand over his mouth.

"Listen King, we have something very important to discuss with your friend," said Winter. "But if you go home right now, I promise I'll give you a special reward next time we meet," Winter leaned in next to his ear.

"And we will meet again, I promise. "

Kouji watched as King straightened up, bowing to Aespa, before walking away as if nothing had happened.

"W-What did you do to him?" asked Kouji. "I've never seen him so…calm.

"

"It's just a compulsion spell," said Winter. "He'll go home and forget we were ever here.

It's better if we don't have regular humans here. "

"So?" asked Irina. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well…perhaps we can come in?" asked NingNing.

"Y-Yes, of course," Kouji cleared his throat. "Come in.

"

…

Kouji could physically feel his heart beating faster and faster in his chest as he sat across from Aespa in their living room. He was nervous, to say at the least, and it didn't help that these four gorgeous girls were all starring at him and smiling.

He tried to avoid with Karina especially, however she would smirk every time she caught him looking at her.

"Alright," Irina leaned back and crossed her arms and legs. "Talk.

"

"Your mask," said Karina. "Has it surfaced since you've woken up? Or before?"

"No," said Irina. "My sleep spell knocked him out completely but his magic hasn't done anything.

"

"I feel fine," said Kouji.

"Do you mind if I check?" asked Giselle. "I promise it's not gonna hurt but I need to see the status of the seal and…how much it's been broken.

"

Irina looked unsure if it was a good idea, however Kouji nodded.

Giselle tied her rose colored hair into a ponytail before kneeling in front of Kouji, opening a magic circle on the palm of her hand and scanning Kouji. It was his first time seeing a magic circle, real magic.

"Well?" asked Karina. "How's it looking?"

"The seal's one crack away from completely breaking," said Giselle. "No wonder the mask manifested so quickly.

We sped up his awakening…"

"Great job at that by the way," said Irina.

"The mask is an automatic self defense system," said Giselle. "It manifests whenever you're in danger and allows you full acess to your magic…however everytime it happens the risk of Valak's serpent curse completely taking over increases.

"

"What's a…Valak?" asked Kouji. "Sorry I'm still new to this whole supernatural thing.

"

Karina smiled as if she was amused by his ignorance. "Valak is the name of a Greater Demon, one of Lucifer's most trusted agents back in the days of the war.

His clan is all but extinct but their last act of revenge is you. "

"Are you saying the House of Valak were the ones who did this to Kouji?" asked Irina.

Giselle stood up and closed her magic circle. "We don't have enough information to properly restore the seal Rina.

Plus the mechanisms of the seal are ancient, way before our time. If anyone's going to do this, it'll either have to be one of the Archangels or a Devil King, one of the ancients who were actually alive during Valak's glory days.

"

"That's going to be tough," Winter sighed.

"Don't they hate us?" asked NingNing. "The Devils, I mean.

And we can't just ask one of the Archangels, they probably don't even know Koujiro exists. "

"But they will," said Karina. "If we don't properly restore the seal or find a way to hide his magic pressure, every creature with an ounce of magic in their systems will know of his existence.

The amount of people who would either want him dead or use him as a weapon…wars have been fought over less. "

"Wait a minute," said Irina. "Why are you helping us? Weren't you four set on killing my baby brother a few days ago?"