Deus.Ex.Machina Chapter 74

Days passed peacefully, but I knew better. Canon was starting.

Two days ago, Issei had been telling everyone in the classroom—including —about his new girlfriend. The idiot had been practically glowing with excitent, bragging about how this beautiful girl nad Yuuma had asked him out on a date. He'd shown us her picture on his phone, and I'd imdiately recognized her.

Raynare. One of the fallen angels.

The mont I saw that image, I knew the tiline had begun. Issei's "date" would be his death sentence, followed by his resurrection as Rias's pawn. The supernatural world was about to crash into his normal life whether he was ready or not should I let canon do as it please.

Anyways, I was in my office reviewing so paperwork when a floating orb of light appeared beside .

It was E.V.E., my personal AI.

The orb pulsed with a soft blue light, completely silent as it hovered at shoulder height. No flashy holographic displays, no dramatic entrance—just simple, efficient functionality exactly as I'd designed it.

"E.V.E., status report," I said without looking up from the docunts.

"All systems operational, Leon," ca the reply in a calm, neutral voice. "Mishima Corporation stock is up 2.3% from yesterday's close. Seventeen new eting requests have been submitted for your review. No security alerts."

I nodded, appreciating the straightforward delivery. I'd specifically programd E.V.E. without the quirky personality traits that other fictional AIs possessed. No sass, no humor, no attempts at human-like behavior—just pure functionality. It was an assistant, not a companion.

At the sa ti I appreciated how much easier my life had beco. E.V.E. was handling all the day-to-day business affairs of Mishima Corporation—contract negotiations, financial reports, scheduling, even responding to routine emails. My workload had been reduced to only the most critical decisions that needed my personal approval.

"Any urgent matters requiring imdiate attention?"

"Three items flagged as priority: The Sitri Clan business proposal needs your signature, Rossweisse has scheduled your training session for this afternoon, and there's been unusual activity detected near Kuoh Academy."

That last part got my attention. "Define 'unusual activity.'"

"Fallen angel energy signatures. Location: approximately four blocks from the school."

I set down my pen. So it was beginning.

=====

Issei Hyoudou was having the best day of his life.

The date had gone perfectly—better than he'd ever dared to imagine. Yuuma-chan had been everything he'd hoped for and more. Sweet, cheerful, and sohow genuinely interested in spending ti with him.

They'd walked through the shopping district, shared crepes at a small café, and even held hands during the movie. Her fingers had been soft and warm, and when she'd squeezed his hand during the scary parts, Issei had felt like he was floating.

"This is really happening," he'd whispered to himself more than once. "I actually have a girlfriend."

The perverted trio had been wrong about everything. Love wasn't just about physical attraction—it was about connection, about finding soone who laughed at your jokes and didn't mind when you got overly excited about ani figures in the shop windows.

Yuuma had even seed genuinely interested when he'd rambled about his favorite series, nodding and asking questions instead of rolling her eyes like most girls did.

Now, as the sun began to set, they'd found themselves at the fountain in the park. The sa park where she'd first approached him, where this incredible day had begun.

"I had such a wonderful ti today, Issei-kun," Yuuma said, her voice soft and sweet as she stood close beside him.

" too," Issei replied, his cheeks flushing. "This has been like... like a dream co true."

She smiled at him, and for a mont, everything felt perfect. The golden light of the setting sun, the gentle sound of the fountain, the girl of his dreams standing right there with him.

"Issei-kun," she said, stepping even closer. "There's sothing I need to tell you."

"Yes?" Issei replied, hope and nervousness warring in his voice.

Yuuma's expression shifted, her sweet smile fading into sothing else entirely. Sothing cold and sharp that made Issei's stomach lurch with sudden unease.

"Can you... die for ?"

The words hit Issei like a physical blow. "W-what?"

Her appearance began to change. Her hair darkened from light brown to jet black, her school uniform lting away to reveal a revealing black outfit that clung to her suddenly more mature figure. Black wings burst from her back—massive, feathered appendages that cast shadows across the fountain.

"I said," Raynare repeated, her voice now sultry and dangerous, "can you die for ?"

Issei stumbled backward, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. "Yuuma-chan? What's... what's happening?"

"My na isn't Yuuma," she said, flexing her wings as her true nature revealed itself completely. "It's Raynare. And I'm what's known as a fallen angel."

"Fallen... angel?" Issei's voice ca out as barely a whisper.

"That's right." Raynare raised her hand, and a spear of golden light began to form in her palm, crackling with deadly energy. "And you, Issei Hyoudou, possess sothing that my superiors find... problematic."

The light spear grew brighter, more solid, its point aid directly at Issei's chest.

"I had fun today," Raynare continued conversationally, as if she wasn't about to commit murder. "You're rather sweet for a perverted human. But business is business."

"Wait!" Issei raised his hands defensively, terror flooding through him. "I don't understand! What did I do? Why are you—"

"It's not what you did," Raynare interrupted, her expression almost pitying. "It's what you have inside you. A Sacred Gear that could potentially threaten us. We can't allow that risk to exist."

"Sacred... what?"

"Goodbye, Issei."

The light spear flew forward with deadly precision, piercing straight through Issei's chest. He looked down in shock at the glowing weapon protruding from his body, then back up at Raynare's cold, beautiful face.

"Yu... ma..." he whispered, blood trickling from his lips.

Then he collapsed beside the fountain, his life ebbing away as the light spear dissolved, leaving only a fatal wound behind.

Raynare stood over his body for a mont, her expression unreadable.

"It's better this way," she murmured. "You would have suffered more if we'd let you live."

Just as Raynare spread her black wings to take flight, a familiar voice cut through the evening air.

"Going sowhere?"

Both Raynare and the dying Issei's eyes widened as Leon Mishima stepped out from behind the trees.

His amber eyes were fixed on Raynare with an expression that was far from the composed mask Issei knew from school.

Leon? Issei's fading thoughts struggled to focus. How... why is he here?

Raynare's confident expression crumbled the mont she saw Leon. Terror flooded her features as recognition hit her.

She knew exactly who Leon Mishima was. The human who had fought Azazel—her superior—to a standstill. The one who had defeated Vali Lucifer, the White Dragon Emperor.

"L-Leon Mishima," she stamred, her earlier composure completely shattered. "I... I didn't know you were..."

"You tried to kill my friend," Leon said, his voice deadly calm as he stepped closer. His amber eyes held a cold fury that made Raynare's wings tremble.

"Wait! Please, let explain!" Raynare dropped to the ground, her wings folding as she raised her hands defensively. "I was following orders! My superiors said the boy possessed a dangerous Sacred Gear that—"

"A bad excuse," Leon interrupted, his glare intensifying.

Suddenly, the very air around Raynare seed to thicken. An invisible weight pressed down on her from all sides, forcing her to her knees beside Issei's dying body. She gasped, struggling against the crushing gravitational force that Leon was directing at her.

"Please!" she wheezed, her hands pressed against the ground as she fought to stay upright. "I'm sorry! I was just following—"

"Following orders to murder an innocent human," Leon finished coldly. "That makes you complicit, not excused."

The pressure increased, and Raynare collapsed completely, her face pressed against the cold stone. She could barely breathe, let alone speak.

From his position by the fountain, Issei watched through dimming eyes as his friend displayed power that defied comprehension.

Leon... is he...? Issei's thoughts grew fainter. What is he...?

Issei's vision blurred further as his consciousness began to slip away. Through the haze of approaching death, he saw Leon walking toward him, leaving the fallen angel crushed beneath an invisible weight.

Leon crouched down beside Issei's broken body, his lips moving as if speaking, but the words sounded distant and muffled. Issei couldn't make out what he was saying—everything felt like he was underwater, drowning in darkness.

Then Leon reached into his pocket and pulled out sothing small. A bean? It looked like an ordinary green bean, but Leon's expression was urgent as he placed it against Issei's lips.

What...? Issei's fading thoughts struggled to understand. Why is he giving food...?

Sohow, the bean slipped past his lips, dissolving on his tongue with an odd, earthy taste.

The effect was instantaneous.

A surge of energy flooded through Issei's body. The fatal wound in his chest began to close, flesh knitting together as if it had never been torn. The crushing weight in his lungs lifted, allowing him to draw his first full breath in what felt like an eternity. Strength returned to his limbs, clarity to his mind.

Issei's eyes snapped wide open as he sat up abruptly, his hands instinctively going to his chest where the light spear had pierced him. There was no wound—not even a scar. His uniform was still torn and bloody, but underneath, his skin was perfectly healed.

"What the hell?" he gasped, staring at Leon in shock. "How did you—what was that thing?"

Leon's amber eyes t his, and for the first ti, Issei saw sothing other than politeness in his classmate's gaze. There was relief there, and sothing deeper—concern.

"I'll explain later," Leon said simply, as if that explained everything. "You were dying."

Issei looked around wildly, his mind struggling to process what had just happened. The fallen angel was still on her knees nearby, pinned down by so invisible force. The fountain. The fake date. The light spear through his chest.

"That was real," he whispered, staring at Raynare. "She really tried to kill . And you... you saved ."

Leon nodded, his expression softening slightly. "Of course. You're my friend."

Those simple words hit Issei harder than he expected. Despite Leon's distant deanor at school, despite the walls he kept up, he'd still co here. He'd still saved him. The realization that Leon actually cared enough to risk himself made Issei's chest tighten with emotion.

"Leon... I..." Issei started, but couldn't find the words.

Leon turned his attention back to Raynare, who was still struggling against the gravitational force pinning her down. "What do you want to do with her?" he asked Issei, his voice cold as he regarded the fallen angel. "Do you want her dead?"

Issei stared at Raynare's trembling form, his mind churning with conflicting emotions. She had tried to kill him. She had lied to him, manipulated him, made him believe in sothing beautiful just to destroy it. The betrayal cut deeper than any physical wound.

But at the sa ti...

She made him happy," he said quietly, his voice barely audible. "Even for a short ti, I actually felt like soone could love . Even if it was fake." He clenched his fists. "If she wanted to kill , she could have done it from the start. She didn't have to make fall in love with her first. That just made it... crueler."

Leon raised an eyebrow, studying Issei's face.

There was silence for so ti.

"Let her go," Issei said finally, the words feeling heavy in his mouth.

"You're sure?" Leon asked.

Issei nodded, even as his heart ached. "Yeah. I'm sure."

Leon's expression remained neutral, but he nodded. The invisible pressure around Raynare suddenly lifted, allowing her to gasp and push herself up on shaking arms.

"Scram," Leon commanded coldly. "And if you or anyone else from your faction so much as looks at Issei wrong again, I won't be this rciful. Understood?"

Raynare struggled to her feet, her wings trembling as she looked between Leon and Issei. For a mont, sothing like regret flickered in her eyes as she t Issei's gaze.

"I... I'm sorry," she whispered.

Then she spread her wings and launched herself into the night sky, disappearing into the darkness.

After Raynare disappeared into the night sky, silence settled over the park once again. The only sounds were the gentle splashing of the fountain and Issei's still-heavy breathing as he processed everything that had just happened.

"What... what is happening?" Issei finally asked, breaking the quiet. His voice was shaky, overwheld by the supernatural events he'd just witnessed. "Leon, what was that thing? How did you do all that? And what was that bean you gave ?"

Leon's expression softened slightly, and for the few tis in their friendship, Issei saw him smile—a genuine, reassuring smile rather than the polite mask he usually wore.

"I'll explain everything," Leon said, extending a hand to help Issei to his feet. "But this isn't the right place for that conversation. Co with at my ho. We can talk properly there."

Issei nodded eagerly, clearly desperate for answers. "Yeah, okay. I need to understand what just—"

Before he could finish, the air in front of them began to shimr and distort. A circular portal of crimson energy tore open in the space between them and the fountain, crackling with supernatural power.

From the portal stepped Rias Gremory, her long red hair flowing behind her as she erged with her usual confident grace. Behind her ca the rest of her peerage—Akeno with her gentle smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, Kiba with his hand resting casually on his sword, and Koneko, whose golden eyes imdiately found Leon's.

But the mont Rias saw Leon, her confident expression faltered. Her eyes widened in recognition and sothing that looked suspiciously like fear flickered across her features.

"Leon Mishima," she breathed, taking an unconscious step backward.

Issei's jaw dropped. "R-Rias-senpai?! How did you—what's with the portal?! How are you just appearing out of thin air?!"

His confusion only deepened when Koneko suddenly broke away from the group and walked straight to Leon's side, wrapping her small arms around him in a protective hug.

"Leon." she said simply, pressing her face against his chest.

Issei stared at them, his brain completely short-circuiting. "WAIT, WHAT?! KONEKO-CHAN?! Why are you hugging Leon?! How do you know each other?! What is happening to my life?!"

He pointed frantically between Leon and Koneko, then at Rias who was still maintaining her distance, then back at the spot where the portal had been.

"And why is Rias-senpai here?! And how did she just walk out of a MAGIC PORTAL! What is happening?!"

=====

If you'd like to read ahead and support , feel free to check it out: [email protected]/VashFF