Chapter 208 - Joined Forces (1/2)
Just as Koneko expected, Issei suspiciously made contact with Saji to discuss something. But before Issei could say anything, Aika interrupted him and joined the fun.
Issei intended to help the exorcists destroy the Excalibur Swords. When he said this, Saji tried to ran away but failed when Aika got hold of him. Aika and Issei were able to convince him to join the discussion with the exorcists. Since they knew where they are staying as Akeno aren't didn't keep their whereabouts secret, Aika took the initiative to call them out.
When Aika arrived at the door of the Urahara Household, she started to hear weird noises, 'What's going on now? If I remember it right, only Himejima-senpai and the two exorcists stay here... If they make that kind of ruckus, the house will 'punish' them...'
While baffled, Aika still pressed the doorbell and waited for a minute before pressing it again. It's clear that there are people in the house due to the noise they are creating but it still took Aika five times to rang the bell before someone finally opened the door. It was not Akeno like she expected, but one of the exorcists named Irina, ”W-what can I do for you?”
”...Why are you the one answering the door?” As far as Aika knows, Akeno should be the one welcoming her.
”You're Aika Kiryuu...” Irina's eyes widened when she saw the visitor. Hearing her words, Xenovia also came out, ”Do you need something from that Devil?”
”Answer my question first... Himejima-senpai should be the one answering the door instead of your guests... What happened? And what's that noise?” Even they opened the door for quite some time, Akeno still hasn't appeared and Aika still kept hearing small banging noises all over the house, ”Are you doing some renovation work here? I suggest you don't as you'll only end up miserable.”
”You know about this house?”
”Though it is mostly Kisuke's ideas, three more people's idea was in it...”
Irina and Xenovia looked at each other and said at the same time, ”That maid is being thrown around the house trying to 'silence' us because we discovered her secret.” They answered vaguely but honestly.
”...” Aika knew that Akeno messed up and she won't be able to escape from the series of traps for quite some time. On the contrary, since Issei wanted to keep this secret from his master, it's a good chance to invite the exorcists out while Akeno is still busy enjoying the traps, ”A friend of mine wanted to discuss something about your mission. It would be great if you can at least listen.”
”Let's go!” Irina and Xenovia unhesitantly followed Aika. They were about to go out anyway as they don't want to stay with a 'hostile' maid.
They arrived at the cafe where they would meet and saw that Issei and Saji already drinking some cold beverages. While Issei is acting nonchalant, Saji is nervously looked around as someone who knew him to witness him talking with members of the Church. It won't end well for him especially when her master who's constantly in a bad mood for some time now knows about this meeting, ”Hyoudou! I should really go! I'm going to get killed after getting tortured!”
Saji still wanted to get away but before he could do so, Aika put her hands on his shoulder and released a pressure by controlling her minimal Reiatsu-Ki, ”Didn't you promise you'll at least listen?” She said after giving him a 'kind' smile, ”Yes! Ma'am!” Saji unintentionally saluted to her. He still has some traumas regarding this type of pressure from Kisuke.
But due to her not yet mature control, she ended up putting Issei, Irina, and Xenovia in her range too. Irina and Xenovia almost pulled out their weapons. If not for Aika retracting her pressure, they might have attacked her out of instinct. Even now, they don't know what just happened.
”Dammit! Kiryuu! If you know that technique, at least say something before you use it! It's really bad for the heart!” Issei complained loudly attracting the attention of other customers so he sat back down in embarrassment.
”W-what was that!?” Xenovia and Irina asked at the same time.
”Oh... That? Just some coercion technique. Nothing impressive. More importantly, we should proceed with our talks.” Aika just brushed it off like it was nothing and initiated the meeting, dodging the questions about her and what she just did.
Irina and Xenovia knew that they won't get anything much from her while Issei and Saji aren't saying anything about it either so they started their 'negotiation' instead of just wasting time as they still have to patrol the town to gather more information about the stolen swords.
When Issei let them know his intention of helping them destroy the Excalibur, Irina clamored but Xenovia agreed after a few moments of thoughts. The two ended up arguing about getting help from Devils pointing out each other's weird faith. Xenovia, however, stressed the point that they are borrowing the Dragon's power instead of a Devil and the fact that they don't have much chance of retrieving the swords even with their trump card, after all, destroying those swords is easier than retrieving it. They would rather have the swords rendered useless than being used by the Fallen Angels.
After reaching an agreement, Issei first decided to call Yuuto before they polish the details of their plan.
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”I see...” Yuuto arrived a few minutes later and heard the situation, ”To be completely honest, I regret that I would have to come crawling to a couple of Holy Swords users and ask for help.”