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The girl saw the expressions on their faces and smiled apologetically.
"I am sorry if I am making a bad impression of us. The Church is filled with good people who want to do good things. It's just the way it is structured that makes it very hard for any of us to make a lasting impact."
"That can be said for any organization," Rias murmured.
"Yes," Xenovia said curtly. Turning, she gave him an unreadable glance, "If the moderates get their way, expect a delegation when this is all over. They will ask questions and leave. If the extremists get their way, expect exorcists. They will ask questions and when they are done asking they will take you away to ask more questions."
His brows furrowed in bemusement.
"As if we will allow that!" Issei visibly bristled. By his side, Asia nodded fervently in agreement. He supposed he should feel comforted by the fact that the rest of Rias's peerage looked equally as defiant.
"That is only if the extremists get their way," Irina sensed the conversation was turning hostile and quickly tried to explain, "As it stands, they are being suitably ignored by the moderates. There most likely will only be delegates."
"Likely is not the same as guaranteed," Akeno said darkly.
"True," the exorcist conceded, "But that is why we are here, isn't it? In the case something likely happens. If it was guaranteed, your faction," she glanced at Rias, "would not think you were being favored by your brother, and our faction would not be demanding our return."
They could not disagree with that.
"Perhaps we should talk about how our patrols will be spread out," it was Sona who dragged the conversation back on track.
"Yes, you're right," Rias turned to face them, "We have decided it would be best to maintain a significant force within the academy grounds itself. That way, we will be prepared if the enemy attacks. However, to prevent us from being surprised, we will be sending out hourly patrols. Their paths will include the nearest districts as well as Kuoh Academy for added insurance. These patrols will report back any suspicious activity to us in this room, which will be our headquarters. Any questions?"
She smiled when they shook their heads.
"Good luck then, and let us hope that in the end this all turns out to be nothing more than a few of us being extra careful."
When the boy found him again, he was sitting on the same steps under the same atrium, fresh from a recently completed patrol. This time, however, there was no half-eaten sandwich in his hand. There was a book, and he set it down as the figure approached.
Kiba would not meet his gaze when he stopped at the bottom of the steps. The boy rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.
"I am sorry," was the first thing he said.
He raised his eyebrows.
"For leaving you and the others," the devil hastily amended, "I should not have done it. I apologize for my actions."
He shrugged.
"Accepted."
A flicker of surprise flashed over Kiba's face.
"You are not angry with me?"
He mulled over the boy's words before replying.
"Did you apologize to them?"
"Yes," Kiba nodded, "They accepted my apologies as well. They just told me not to do it in the future," something akin to wry humor entered the sword-user's eyes, "Issei said he would kick my ass if I ever abandoned them again."
He smiled. That sounded like something Issei would say.
"Then I am not angry with you."
The devil shook his head.
"You should be. I abandoned all of you. And in your most dire hour of need. All of you could have died, and I was too embroiled in my fantasies for revenge to care. You were right in giving me advice. Both you and Issei. When I was in that passageway, all I could think about was killing Valper… Nothing else mattered," Kiba's gaze darkened, "And that… that frightens me."
He could see how much the confession was affecting him.
"You made a mistake. You corrected that mistake. That is all there is."
"It's more than that," the sword-user protested, "I let my hatred get the better of me. If it wasn't for yours and Issei's advice, I might not have come back."
He underestimated himself.
"No," Kiba looked at him in surprise, "A person does not change just because of words," he inclined his head towards his counterpart, "You would have come back advice or no advice."
The devil smiled uncertainly. He leaned against the wall just like last time.
"You sound so sure," the boy murmured, "Do you always look at the bright side of things?"
"I once always looked at the dark side of things," he shrugged, "It made me into a very indifferent person."
"You mentioned that before."
"I did," he replied, expecting the conversation to end. Yet Kiba remained where he was, slouched against the wall, an unreadable expression on his face, "Is there something else?"
The boy nodded jerkily. His gaze suddenly became unsure.
"Do you remember the Sacred Gear I showed you? Sword Birth?"
He recalled the particular incident and the events that followed. He inclined his head in the devil's direction.
Kiba frowned.
"Well, after what happened in that cathedral, I gained a new one. Blade Blacksmith. And with it, I can do this."
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