—Even so, as long as there was one person who trusted me, no, it would be fine even if no one believed in me. As long there was hope to save people, I would definitely lend a helping hand. Argh, just from hearing my own name, my body ached with pain…. But, this could be regarded as a fortune within misfortune, I could withstand it. Anyway, the current situation was that one of the bodies of Trihexa which had divided itself was coming towards Japan. Just before this, I asked Rias and the others about the specific circumstances. Originally, in order to get me to rest, that information wouldn’t have reached me here. However, since I was in the hospital, even if I didn’t want to, I would have heard about the news that Trihexa was in the human world. Moreover, that news made headlines across all of the television stations and newspapers in the Underworld. The nurses and patients who were admitted also spoke about this news, so it was only a matter of time until I would have found out about it. Since that was the case, I could just hear it directly from my own group, so I let Rias tell me about the news regarding Trihexa’s approach to Japan. After listening to and understanding the information, Rias tried to persuade me
“I hope you’ll stay at ease and rest.”
—Not only did Rias try to persuade me, even Asia wished for that…. But, since I had heard about this news of a crisis, I couldn’t just stay silent and continue sleeping. Fortunately, my parents weren’t in Japan, as they had been transported to this hospital. Ophis, who was resting at home, was also secretly transported to the basement of the Gremory Castle so that she could rest. Lilith and Kiba’s comrade, Tosca, followed Azazel-sensei and were also transported to the Gremory Castle. Now, the entire household was in a safe place. However, Japan also has my sobo-chanand my friends…Matsuda, Motohama, Kiryuu, my classmates, Kunou and the others that I met in Kyoto, as well as many other acquaintances and friends who live there. —I can’t ignore them. I can’t possibly do that! This is the country that I was born and raised in! I — am Japanese. Even if part of my body is that of a Devil or a Dragon, my heart is Japanese. My soul is Japanese! My homeland, I definitely want to protect it! That’s why I need to go! There are a lot of things waiting for me to do in Japan. I will definitely graduate from Kuoh Academy. I’ll join the community with Kuoh Academy as a starting point, together with Asia, Xenovia, Irina, Kiba, Saji, Matsuda, Motohama, Kiryuu, and everyone else! Rias, Akeno-san and Sona-zenkaichou will be graduating soon. I want it to be as it usually is, and go to school with everyone! I finished putting on my uniform, and then left the patient room. Some of my nakama should still be around in this hospital. I want to go together with them. I have to go! Just as I exited the patient room, I saw someone leaning against the wall waiting for me. —It was Vali. His unexpected presence surprised me a little…Vali laughed when he saw me. “Fu, I wanted to take a look at your face before I was about to leave, it looks like you’re already dressed. I’ll wait for you over there. —You’re also going, right?”
“Oh, of course.”
After hearing my reply, Vali laughed fearlessly…but his gaze passed through me and went towards a place further along the corridor. I looked over — tou-san and kaa-san were standing there. Kaa-san was holding a basket of fruit, and tou-san had a manga magazine. They probably wanted to bring those to me. Upon seeing my appearance, their expressions of surprise were also mixed with anger and sorrow. I said to my parents
“Tou-san, kaa-san, I have a little work to do, so I need to go.”
Kaa-san forced a smile as she said
“…You definitely need to return before dinner, okay?”
“……Of course!”
It was a bit of a poor response. I certainly plan on coming back, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it by dinnertime…. In the event that things don’t go well, I might have to continue fighting for a few days…. From her bosom — kaa-san took out an old charm. She placed it into my hands. “This is a protective charm. Kaa-san refuses to part with it, so you have to hold onto it well. No matter what happens, kaa-san will protect you from the hands of the bad guys.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Although I don’t know whether or not it’ll actually be effective, I’ll be able to receive kaa-san’s luck. All of a sudden, tou-san looked towards Vali. “You are…Ise’s friend, right? Haven’t you come to play at our house before?”
Vali was rather surprised to hear these words. Indeed, Vali did sometimes come to the Hyoudou residence…so tou-san saw him and remembered. “…It’s really only been a few times, simply by seeing my face, you remember me…?”
After listening to Vali’s reply, tou-san laughed lightly. “That’s natural. Since you’re one of Ise’s friends, I wouldn’t forget. Thank you for taking care of my son.”
“Yes. I also remember your silver hair quite well.”
Kaa-san also followed from the side. Vali acted rather strange, as he didn’t have any plans to introduce himself. From the looks of it, he was somewhat embarrassed. “How should I say this, being his…rival might be a better way of putting it…”
Rival. Tou-san became even happier when he heard that. “Rival…I see! Certainly, you’re his friend!”
Kaa-san also recognised him as my friend and was quite happy. “Well well! Such a handsome boy is actually my Ise’s friend! Kiba-kun as well, unexpectedly, my Ise really makes such handsome male friends!”
Unexpectedly huh…. W-Well, I’ve had a long relationship with Matsuda and Motohama, so I only had those types of friends. In fact, I have a surprisingly large number of friends like that. However, Vali shook his head. “It’s not what you guys think. I seriously want to defeat him. To this end, I also angered him — I planned to kill you, so that he could become an avenger.”
—What! …I was astonished by the sudden confession. T-Those kinds of things are best left unsaid right now, alright? That conversation was about the first time that Vali and I fought against each other. It was when the Three Factions planned to form a peace alliance. At that time, in order to incite my power to explode, Vali said such things. But when he said that right in front of me, I was really surprised! “H-Hey. Vali, could you not say that right now?”
A lot of things originally happened between me and him, but that doesn’t really matter right now… But does that guy really care about that stuff? It was really unexpected. Vali interrupted me, and asked my parents again
“‘I’ll kill your parents’. That is what I said to him. Can you treat someone who said that as your son’s friend?”
My parents stood there stunned and speechless at what Vali said, though I wasn’t sure if they understood him…. My parents looked at each other, and then they both laughed. Tou-san cheerfully said to Vali
“So you guys have fought before.