DxD : Emiya Shirou

She actually looked surprised at that. "You want to train us?" Her frames slipped down her nose as she said that. Huh, I guess, whatever it was she suspected I was going to say, it wasn't this.

"Pretty much," I crossed my arms and nodded at that. 

"So what do you say, want me to help out?"

...

For a long while, she just sat there, staring at me in disbelief before slumping back in her seat with a sigh. She took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "My sister put you up to this, didn't she?"

It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement.

"What?! No! Of course not." My denial was so over the top that I doubt even a kindergartener would have believed me. 

"She'd never do that, never. Especially since she knows that her beloved little sister would never accept anything from her if she thought it might be taken as favouritism. 

On the other hand, sometime over the last month she gained the most peculiar habit of talking to herself out loud. She kept repeating the same thing too. 

Kept going on and on about 'If only there was someone who would help my dear So-tan train, I wouldn't be so worried' or something like that. It was actually starting to get a bit creepy by the end."

It really was. The last night I spent in the Underworld, I ended up waking up to find Serafall standing next to my bed, just watching me with unblinking eyes and repeating the words over and over again. I suppressed a shiver at that memory. I'll give her this much at least, Serafall sure knows how to get what she wants.

Propping her head on one hand, the one that still held her glasses, she just gave me an exasperated look. "So let me get this straight. The entire 'chess is worthless' speech you just gave me was basically nothing but a sales pitch, wasn't it?"

"Yup." I nodded, not even bothering to deny it, "It was completely true, mind you, but yeah, basically that's what it was."

Covering her face in her hands, she just tiredly muttered through them, "You could have just asked, you know?"

"Actually no, I couldn't." I corrected her, "Not only would you have refused my offer if I just flat out asked you, but I'm technically not allowed to. Remember, my orders clearly state that I'm not allowed to directly interfere in your business.

 Butting into your training, even if it ended up becoming beneficial, would have qualified as direct interference. 

On the other hand, if you came and asked me to train you, it would not count as interfering as I would have been invited to join, thus I'd have been perfectly in my rights to accept and help you train."

Rather convoluted, wasn't it? I personally thought the entire situation was rather stupid, but apparently Devils love this kind of stuff. From the very first day of me setting foot in the Underworld, I've had it drilled into me that as a part of Maou's Peerage there were formal rules of behaviour that I was expected to follow. 

That was especially true since the Maou's themselves seemed to disregard them so completely, that their Peerage members are forced to pick up the slack by following them extra hard in their place.

Favouritism, for example, is one of the key issues. Apparently, when the four new Maous were coronated, there was a big fear among the Devils that they would end up using their power to unfairly support their family over everyone else. 

That was actually a rather valid concern since nepotism rampant in the Old Devil faction. So to dissuade those concerns, the new Maous willingly distanced themselves from their family by throwing away their old Clan names and adopting the traditional names for Satans.

That's actually why Sona refuses anything from her sister. Everyone knows how much Serafall loves her and Sona is apparently terrified of getting her sister in trouble. Unfortunately, it was actually a valid concern.

Just look at Grayfia. She has to go so far as to dress herself up as a maid to make it clear that she's not expecting to get any special treatment by marrying Sirzechs, and she's his bloody Queen. 

Well, actually, I've heard a few rumours that claimed she did it because Sirzechs has some kind of maid-dominatrix fetish, but that was too disturbing to contemplate, so I decided to just disregard it.

While it's not as bad as I was making it sound Sona, who has always been a stickler for the rules, has always taken things a bit to the extreme to make sure they're followed.

Raising her head from her hand, she gave a dead-pan stare, then without warning broke out laughing. Not a little one either, but an actual full-bellied laugh that shook her entire body. 

That actually caught me off guard a little bit as I had never actually seen Sona laugh so much before and, going by the looks that the rest of her Peerage were giving her, neither had they.

When her laughter finally subdued, although she still let out an occasional chuckle, she looked up at me with shining eyes, "I can see why my sister chose you. A better match in hell has never been made before."

"Don't you mean heaven?"

"I know what I said, Shirou," she returned her frames to their usual place and give me one of her rare smiles, "And trust me when I say there is no way heaven would ever approve of the two of you."

In spite of myself, I felt oddly pleased with that.

Letting out one final chuckle, Sona took a deep breath before shutting her eyes. Remaining almost completely still, she released her breath in one slow exhale. When she was done, she opened her eyes again and I found myself staring at a completely different person.

Gone were all traces of laughter and humour, disappearing as if they were never there. Sitting ramrod straight in her seat, Sona looked at me with a face that was equally formal as it was cold. Not a hint of warmth remained; it almost felt like I was looking at a stranger.

This was a side of Sona that I rarely saw, although it was the one she apparently wore the most. This Sona wasn't my master's little sister nor was she the girl that was quickly becoming my friend. This was Sona Sitri, the heiress of Sitri Clan, the president of Kuoh Academy's Student council.

Cold and formal, it was something that I have only seen once before, the side of her that she wore when we first met, though it didn't last as it quickly melted away when Serafall introduced us and told her who I was.

It was as if she had some kind of internal switch that she could simply flick and switch between personas.

She looked at me straight in the eye before lowering her head in a formal bow, "Emiya Shirou," She stated, "I, Sona Sitri, heir of one of the 72 pillars, humbly invite you to attend the training session of both my Peerage and myself and grant us whatever assistance that you are willing to offer."

See what I mean? A complete stickler for the rules, this one. She could have just said 'want to help us train?' and that would have been enough.

Even most of the older generations weren't this formal outside of work, but since she chose to go down this route that means I have to respond in kind and, honestly, I'm still not used to this kind of thing.

Returning a bow that was equally deep, not an inch lower or higher, "I, Emiya Shirou, servant of the Leviathan, gladly accept the invitation."

I'm pretty sure that wasn't the proper response, but it will do. Now with that part over, I made sure to come out of the bow the same time she did.

Then like that her mask was gone, and the usual semi-formal Sona was back.

"Well," she adjusted her frames, "That was twenty minutes of my life I'm never getting back." Though she said it with a smile to let me know she was joking.

She then looked over my head at something, "We've been here longer than I've originally expected. You'd better hurry up if you want to have time to eat."

I twisted in place to look at the clock that was mounted on the wall behind and found that she was right. Lunch was almost halfway over.

Rising from my seat, I started to make my way to the door, "Well, while I still have a few things I wanted to talk to you about, they can wait until after our first training session at least. When is that by the way?

"Our next scheduled training will be held tomorrow evening at seven in the school courtyard." She replied, "Now go to lunch, Shirou, I don't want you slacking off on your first day at school because you were hungry."

"Got it," I had just reached the door at that point and had slid the door halfway open before I remembered something.

"Oh, and Sona," I looked at her over my shoulder, "It's up to you whether or not you choose to listen to my advice, but when you choose your remaining Peerage members make sure they're the power type."

She just waved me away, "Understood, now get going already."

Nodding, I turned to leave but was stopped when I was halfway out the door.

"And Shirou," I turned to find her staring at me, "Call me Kaichou when we're at school."

I smirked at that, "As you wish, Kaichou." And shut the door behind me, walking away to find a quiet place I can have my lunch at.

...

Silence filled the Student Council room, its occupants listening intently to the receding footsteps of their departed guest. When at last it could no longer be heard the entire Student Council relaxed, releasing a breath of relief almost as one.

The blue-haired girl, Tsubasa, dropped a stack of paper she was working on onto a nearby desk before slumping down on a nearby chair.

"Well," she said after running a hand through her hair, "That was unexpected."

Turning her head towards Sona, she commented, "Kaichou, when you told us to prepare for guest a today, I didn't expect it to be him."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Saji, the only male left in the room, asked.

"You mean you don't know, Gen-chan?" Momo looked surprised at that, before with a small exclamation of realization the raven-haired beauty palmed her head, "Ah, that's right. You were reincarnated just a couple of months ago, weren't you? Of course, you wouldn't have heard."

"Heard what? Is that guy a big shot or something?"

"Something like that," Tomoe, a cheerful-looking girl with pigtails responded. Glancing at Sona from the edge of her eyes, she added with a playful smile.

"Although what really surprised me was how open Kaichou was acting. I don't think I've ever seen her act like that outside of us, Rias and her precious Onee-sama. Normally she's so shy that she barely says anything more than she needs to."

"That's true." Tsubaki agreed as she handed her King a cup of steaming tea, "I really didn't expect the two of them to get along so well. Or at least not this soon."

Taking the cup from her Queen, the topic of the conversation decided to interrupt. "How many times must I tell you not to talk about me as if I'm not even here?" Lifting the cup to her lips she paused, "And besides," she added before taking a sip, "I'm never shy."

"Sure you're not." Tomoe's playful smile turning into a teasing one as she agreed insincerely.

Letting out a sigh, Sona decided not to comment on her knight's tone, "I don't see what's surprising about my behaviour," deciding to go back to the original topic of the discussion.

"It's only natural; after all, it wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration to say he's practically family."

"Eh~~!" Saji yelled out in surprise, "You mean you're related to that guy?"

Grimacing at the sound of her pawn's overreaction, Sona set her teacup down, "I guess it's not surprising that you don't understand", she muttered quietly to herself before, with a sharp nod, she stood and faced Saji.

"Very well then, as your King, it would be remiss of me to keep you ignorant." She clapped her hands and pointed at a chair for Saji to sit in, "So it's time for a history lesson."

Pacing across the room with her hands folded behind her back, Sona waited for Saji to settle himself on his chair before asking, "What do you know of my sister?"

"Ah," Seemingly startled by the question, Saji paused for a moment to think on it before answering, "Well, your sister's a Maou, right?" He said, sounding a little uncertain. Seeing Sona encouraging nod he carried on.

"The Leviathan, one of the four leaders of the Underworld and is responsible for foreign affairs. She and the other three were war heroes from the civil war and are considered to be among the strongest Devils in history."

"Correct," She nodded while she continued to pace in front of him, "And what about her Peerage?"

"Her Peerage?" He repeated before racking his brain for an answer. "I...I..." he muttered out loud for a couple of seconds before slumping forward, disappointment filling his posture.

"Sorry, Kaichou, I don't know." He admitted, looking more than a little ashamed by his inability to answer.

The smallest hint of a smile made its way to her face at her Pawns overreaction, "Don't beat yourself up over it, Saji, it's only natural for you not to know." She told the depressed boy, "After all, she doesn't have one."

"Really?" The shock of that particular revelation seemed to knock him out of his depression. "Even though she's a Maou?" He asked, incredulity clearly written all on his face.

Grimacing at the question, Sona nodded as she subconsciously increased the speed of her pacing.

"Since the end of the Civil War against the Old Devil faction, my sister has refused to form a Peerage. Not even a single member." She lectured. 

"As you can no doubt imagine, my sister's lack of a Peerage came as a surprise to a lot of people. It soon became a huge subject of controversy in the Underworld. Add in the fact that it had been over two hundred years and the problem only grew. It reached the point where rumours began to spread about her."

Her grimace turned to an outright scowl, "Rumours," Spitting that word out like a curse, "Which claimed that the reason why she refused a Peerage was because she disapproved of Reincarnated Devils as a whole. 

That she considered them a blight on the purity of Devil-kind."