The morning began with a heavy, drawn-out yawn that seemed to crack his jaw. Izayoi Jin was lazily shuffling his feet along the pavement, squinting against the overly bright sun. His tiny apartment was behind him, but the sensation of sleep deprivation dragged after him like a weight tied to his ankle. He shoved his hands deeper into his trouser pockets, mentally cursing the very concept of early mornings.
The shopping street was already humming: shop windows were opening, the air smelled of fresh pastries and strong coffee. Passing a small bakery, Jin swept an indifferent glance over a couple standing at the entrance. Hyoudou Issei, waving his arms, was enthusiastically telling something to a fair-haired girl in a modest dress. Asia Argento, if his memory served him right. The former nun was looking at Issei with such a sincere, beatific smile, as if he were uttering the greatest truths of the universe. Hyoudou's own face shone with absolute, almost idiotic happiness.
Jin didn't even slow his pace. Their idyll was the least of his concerns right now. Shifting his gaze forward, he continued on his way, maintaining his same serene, lazy stride.
The grounds of Kuoh Academy greeted him with the usual hubbub. Flocks of schoolgirls whispered, casting curious glances his way, but Jin habitually filtered out this visual noise. Far more of his attention was drawn by two figures standing frozen at the main gates. Sona Sitri and Tsubaki Shinra, the student council president and her vice-president, were personally greeting the students. Jin knew perfectly well they weren't just there for show. Kuoh was territory secretly divided between two influential devil clans—Gremory and Sitri.
Noticing his approach, Sona straightened. Their gazes crossed. Jin pointedly, a touch exaggeratedly, twisted his lips into a grimace of mild annoyance. To avoid giving them an extra reason to nitpick his appearance, he pulled the bulky headphones from around his neck and casually tossed them into his half-open school bag.
He intended to walk past, staring straight ahead, when suddenly a strict, commanding voice sounded behind him.
"Izayoi-san. I would like to see you in the student council office today."
Jin stopped but didn't turn his head.
"Is that the school council president speaking, or the Sitri?" he asked evenly, gazing at the brickwork of the school building.
A heavy, eloquent silence hung in the air. Sona didn't answer. Having received his silent answer, Jin unhurriedly clasped both hands behind his head.
"In that case, no," he tossed out, and without quickening his pace, serenely walked on.
***
The click of the metal locker door echoed through the changing room. Jin closed his locker and slipped his feet into the soft indoor school shoes. The uwabaki turned out to be a surprisingly comfortable thing—light, didn't pinch, his feet could rest in them after hard street boots.
"Pain in the ass," ran gloomily through his head.
He was thinking about the recent exchange at the gates. Walking through the buzzing corridors to his class, Jin grudgingly admitted that there was logic in the actions of Sitri and Gremory. For their hidden world, the sudden appearance of an unknown, colossal force on neutral territory was a direct threat. Naturally, they would be wary. Naturally, they would try to either bring it under control or eliminate it. But this constant, intrusive agitation, the attempts to drag him into their political games, was tiresome. He simply wanted peace, not "sincere friends" who just wanted to be friends.
***
The long break found him on the academy rooftop. It was the only place where the roar of hundreds of voices became an indistinct background hum. Jin sat at the very edge, his legs dangling into the void. The wind tousled his light hair as he sipped apple juice from a carton in small gulps, lazily surveying the Kuoh panorama.
The creak of the heavy metal door disturbed his solitude. Issei tumbled out onto the rooftop, breathing heavily. Looking around, he quickly spotted the needed figure and hurried over, but skidded to an abrupt halt about three meters away. The boy's gaze darted nervously from the abyss behind Jin to his relaxed posture.
"Hey, Izayoi... maybe move away from the edge," Hyoudou said, swallowing hard. "One careless move, and it's a long way down."
Jin took another sip, not tearing his gaze from the horizon.
"I used to be afraid of heights," he said calmly.
Issei glanced distrustfully at the drop, then at the unflappable speaker.
"Alright, your call," he muttered, giving up.
After fidgeting for a couple of seconds, Issei suddenly grabbed the metal railing and, grunting awkwardly, swung himself over it, ending up on the narrow concrete ledge.
Jin finally tore himself away from contemplating the city and shifted a slightly surprised look at him.
"Wow. I see you're starting to get the hang of that low-class devil's power."
Issei let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Ha-ha...", and sat down beside him with obvious wariness. The height scared him no less than before, but he tried to keep a straight face.
"So, anyway, the reason I was looking for you," he lowered his voice, glancing around as if they might be overheard. "I've got my first 'serious' assignment tonight! A solo contract! Some guy wants me to deal with a ghost in an old house. Buchou said it's excellent practice."
Jin raised a skeptical eyebrow, eyeing his feverish enthusiasm. "A ghost? Isn't that a bit too cliché for a world where fallen angels and dragons roam the streets? Sounds like a cheap horror flick."
"Well, any experience is good experience!" Issei shrugged, immediately breaking into a dreamy smirk. "And what if it turns out to be a cute ghost girl? Or the client is so grateful that... heh-heh-heh."
Listening to his wet fantasies was not part of my plans. "Good luck," the blond threw out curtly.
Issei hesitated.
"Listen, would you... want to help me? Buchou was asking about you, actually. And Akeno-san too... was interested."
"No," he cut off. "I'm not a member of your little club. I'm not interested in playing happy family. Tell your Buchou I have other things to do."
***
Evening descended on the city slowly, igniting the first neon signs. Jin was walking home, immersed in his own thoughts, when his heightened senses caught a sharp, cold energy spike.
A Fallen Angel.
The signature was distinctly hostile and emanated precisely from the direction of the abandoned districts on the outskirts. He stopped. The morning's conversation surfaced in his memory. And if Issei had trudged all the way out there completely alone... Part of him screamed that this was the Gremory clan's problem. But another... another part suddenly thought that this idiot might just not be able to handle it. As far as he knew, Issei hadn't even properly awakened his Sacred Gear yet. An ordinary human, even if reborn as a devil, against a winged creature—that was a one-sided slaughter.
He bolted from the spot.
The asphalt underfoot crunched pitifully. The speed was such that, to a random passerby, he would have been nothing but a gust of wind. He raced through alleys, vaulting fences, cutting corners. The sense of hostile energy grew more and more distinct.
The sounds of a fight grew louder: the clang of something glass-like, muffled cries, vicious female laughter.
And then he was there.
Jin froze in the shadow of a half-collapsed wall, assessing the situation. A small two-story house, clearly abandoned by its owners some ten years ago. The windows gaped blackly, the yard was overgrown with weeds.
And in front of the house, a familiar scene, almost comical in its predictability, was unfolding.
Hyoudou Issei, his Boosting Gear glowing dimly on his left arm, was desperately fending off a woman. A beautiful woman with long, blue-black hair and... equally black wings on her back. A Fallen Angel. A spear of light blazed in her hand.
"Die, worthless devil!" she hissed, her face contorted with malice.
Issei was retreating. He was wounded—a fresh burn smoldered on his shoulder, his clothes were torn. He tried to counterattack, shouting "Boost!", but his movements were clumsy. He clearly lacked experience.
"Damn... President..." he whispered, stumbling over a piece of rebar.
The woman swung for the final blow. The light spear flared dazzlingly bright, ready to pierce him through.
Jin watched this, and a cold wave of irritation rose within him. Not at the Fallen. At Issei. At his weakness. But allowing him to die here would be... wasteful.
Besides, that strange, warm energy he had sensed wasn't coming from here. It was hiding somewhere nearby, behind the house. Curious.
"Well, I suppose it's time to end this circus," he decided.
Simply taking a step forward, Jin emerged from the shadow of the alley into the moonlit patch in front of the house.
The Fallen Angel, already raising her spear over the defeated Issei, froze abruptly. Her wings twitched. She sensed someone else's presence nearby.
Turning around, her eyes widened in surprise, meeting his indifferent gaze.
"Who the hell are you...?" she hissed, instinctively taking a step back from Issei.