DXD: Catalyst of Legends

Souna Shitori, or Sona Sitri as her inner circle knew her, was leaning back comfortably in a cushioned chair in the farthest corner from the door. At first glance, she was a very austere young woman in both appearance and expression, black hair styled in a short bob cut with a gold pin over her left ear, violet eyes, and wearing the standard Kuoh Academy girls' uniform with nary a fiber out of place and magenta-rimmed glasses.

Sitting across the chess table from her was her childhood friend and rival, Rias Gremory.

With pearly skin and turquoise eyes, Rias was a beauty of seemingly Western origin that stood only slightly taller than Sona. Her long, crimson hair perfectly framed her face at the front and reached down to her thighs at the back, and her mature, buxom figure was almost too good to be considered real.

Like her friend, she wore the Kuoh Academy girls' uniform, but the outfit only accentuated her already impressive proportions.

"I believe this game is mine, Sona," said Rias confidently as she moved her knight piece.

"Are you sure about that, Rias?" Sona retorted as she moved her bishop to trap her opponent's king between two of her last pieces and against two of Rias' own. Any move Rias could make next would only result in defeat for her.

Rias clicked her tongue at the Zugzwang that her old friend had placed her in. "I could have sworn I had you this time.

"

"Of course you did, and that was your mistake," Sona replied, not even trying to hide her satisfaction.

"I want to say I was distracted by other things, like that group of squandering Fallen," Rias sulked.

"Speaking of which, how are you coming with that? I know you said you would handle it, but I want to make sure," Sona inquired.

"Well enough, I think," the Gremory heiress replied, running a hand through her hair. "They haven't done anything yet, but one of them just asked out Hyōdō Issei, based on what Koneko tells me.

The date is set for this Sunday evening. "

"I see," said Sona evenly as she fixed her glasses. She knew that the boy in question had a Sacred Gear, hence Rias' interest in him, but she didn't understand why Rias would even think about going to such measures for a potential recruit.

Her friend had reasoned that she wanted to see what the trespassing Angels were up to, but the ends didn't justify the means. It wasn't like her at all to use someone as bait.

"You're not jealous, are you?" Rias asked with a challenging smirk.

Sona lightly scoffed. "Hardly.

Issei Hyōdō has potential, but his perversity is far too troublesome for my tastes. Besides, I already have my eye on someone else that will be more fitting for my peerage," she finished with a small smile.

The black-haired Devil heiress was fully aware that there was something special about the American exchange student. It wasn't because of a Sacred Gear he had, because he didn't; she had checked and her Bishop, Reya, had confirmed it.

But for whatever reason, her thoughts drifted to him frequently of late. Ordinarily, she wouldn't act rashly based on simple emotions, but this was a feeling that was difficult to ignore, despite her best efforts.

It didn't help that, over the course of his time at the academy, several members of her peerage had taken a different sort of interest in him, particularly Reya, Tomoe and Tsubaki, even if the latter of the three wouldn't admit to her own.

She found it curious why he was in the second-year course when he was the same age as Rias and herself in the third-year. From what he explained to her on their first meeting, he had been removed from public school for about a year in America due to urgent family matters in his childhood.

In that time, he was more privately educated by his grandfather.

Sona could understand very well why the students in 2-B were happy with Connor. He was a rare kind of gentleman: Quiet, mild-mannered, and a good listener, despite his reported tendency to get lost in thought.

She could count on one hand the number of men at Kuoh she knew with similar characteristics. If she were honest with herself, Sona could see in Connor nearly everything she wanted in a member of her peerage.

Rias noticed the forlorn look in her friend's eye, which was something she didn't see very much of in recent years. She couldn't hold back a smirk when she asked, "Really? This someone wouldn't happen to be Kuoh's newest Knight, would it, Sona? You only just reincarnated someone today, didn't you?"

"Perhaps, or perhaps not, but don't get any ideas, Rias. My new pawn, Saji, came to me of his own free will.

I allowed you to scout Hyōdō, so leave my prospects be, whoever they are," Sona replied flatly. She knew that only Rias' Rook seemed to honestly like Connor, if only because he didn't bother her like the other boys did, while everyone else in her peerage was ambivalent to him.

Furthermore, Rias had a tendency to go out of her way to spoil her servants. Sona wouldn't put it past her friend to try and bring someone into her peerage merely to make an existing member happy.

Not that the thought hadn't crossed her own mind before, but as the saying went, "Act in haste, repent at leisure. " Sona took pride in being careful of who she selected for candidates.

Rias pouted at her friend's blunt answer. "Oh, fine, be that way.

Anyway, I should be going. I'll need to make some preparations.

Good game, again. " She stood up and ushered herself out, not noticing the small smile of relief from Sona.

Despite being her best friend, she was glad that the redhead wasn't going to press on the matter.

Two days later found Connor in casual jeans, sneakers and a light red t-shirt taking his time going the long way home. Normally, he would weave through the commercial district to quickly get to his apartment, but it was Sunday, so he wanted to enjoy the more scenic sights of the town before getting...