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They were devils.
As he sat in the lavishly furnished student council room, listening to their ongoing explanation, that same thought played over and over again.
It was such an unfathomable concept, such an insane suggestion that had he not experienced the strangeness of the Dark Hour and climbed the unnatural creation that was the Tower he would have thought they were lying to him.
But they were not. That much was clear. Rias had shown him her wings, manifesting bat-like pinions from her shoulders. Issei had proudly displayed his Sacred Gear, the weapons devils apparently used in their so-called Ranking Games, and regaled him with the tale of how Rias had resurrected him to be one of them. It bothered him that the boy was not disturbed by the fact that he had been forced to shed his humanity to live again, but from what choices were available to him at the time, he could hardly blame him. It was a decision that was not wrong, nor was Rias wrong for giving him a chance to make that decision.
And that was the crux of the issue. He could sense no evil among them. No sense of ill-will. That troubled him. It was not in the nature of those affiliated with the Hells to help others, humanity especially. There was a fundamental difference between what he understood of demonkind and theirs. His demons, the ones embedded deep within his psyche, were malign creatures of terrible power that forever plotted the total destruction of Heaven and the utter corruption of Man. These demons, the ones sitting in front of him, 'educating him', were not.
Angels embodied the aspects of Justice, Truth, and Valor. The Fallen were corrupted angels and their calling was Lust, Envy, and Avarice. Demons personified all that was negative about humanity, and as a result they fed on dark emotions such as Hatred, Anger, and Despair.
It had been this way since the dawn of time. It was a rule that every myth, every legend, every fable followed. His Personas were based on them, and how they looked and how they acted matched those stories. It was disconcerting to see that there was no such rule enforced here.
Or perhaps they were not demons at all.
Devils, not demons, Rias had introduced them as. Devils, the lesser evil, only devious instead of outright malicious. Only mischievous, instead of outright harmful. Tolerable, instead of outright blasphemous.
His eyes roamed around the room. Rias had brought her full peerage with her. Some he recognized. Yuuto Kiba, the most popular boy in school, his normally smiling face unusually solemn as he sat on the couch, watching him warily. Beside him was Akeno Himejima, the renowned second of Kuoh Academy's Two Great Ladies. She winked at him when his gaze travelled to her. He fought the sudden urge to shudder. From the short time he had seen her and Rias interact, it was clear that the beautiful girl was not nearly as elegant or refined as her fellow students believed. Some of the things she had said were down right vulgar. In the back of the room, perched on a table and her legs swinging in rhythm was Koneko Toujou. Out of all of the entire group, she was the one he knew the least about. The petite girl was almost always quiet, and like him, escaped notice quite easily. He did not recall ever speaking to her. And finally there was Issei. The pervert had positively crushed him in a hug when he entered the room and from the look in the boy's eye, he knew he had made a friend for life for what he did yesterday.
He supposed that was a good thing.
His gaze shifted. Rias and her peerage had not been the only devils in the room when he entered. His eyes flickered to Souna Shitori, Student Council President of Kuoh Academy, and a high ranking devil herself. That name had been an alias however, and she had introduced herself as Sona Sitri, heir to the Sitri Clan, and a rival of Rias, though from what he had seen that rivalry was more platonic than real. Apparently his deeds had warranted enough attention for Sona to show her hand as well, and it was she who had done the most of the talking, something he was forced to admit she was very good at. Her explanations were concise and thorough, and he did not find himself bored or wanting for information. Sona had also brought members of her peerage, but not all. Among those that loitered around the room, he recognized Tsubaki Shinra, the tall, calm girl that was Sona's right hand, standing ever vigilant by her president's side. A few others he also knew as well, not by familiarity but by name.
And they were all watching him, waiting for his response as Sona finally finished her account.
"I see," he said after what he hoped was a respectful period of silence.
"Do you have any questions, Arisato-san?" she asked, her tone business-like but not unkindly.
"No."
"I understand it may be a little too much to take in at one time," Rias said warmly, mistaking his abruptness for uncertainty, "If you have any questions, please feel free to ask," she offered him a small smile, "It is the least we can do in exchange for helping my peerage."
"No," he repeated, "It is sufficient."
They stared at him. He could see why. Yukari had always said he appeared apathetic and cold to approach. Attempting to get a rise out of him was next to impossible, not that Junpei and later Ken lacked for trying. But they misunderstood. He was not apathetic. He merely saw things in a different light.
"My goodness, Arisato-kun" the soft voice of Akeno sounded from her relaxed position on the couch, "You are taking this quite well."
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