After training, they went back to the dormitories. Vali didn't say a word along the way. He seemed to be thinking seriously about something.
Vali slept in a different room than Jason, so they split up when they entered the men's bedroom.
Upon entering the room, Arthur confronted Jason.
"Vali Lucifer"
"Yes?"
"He's Azazel's adopted son, why does he call you aniki?"
Jason looked Arthur in the eye and saw that Arthur's face was severe.
"Azazel is also my adoptive father."
Jason had no reason to hide this information from Arthur. If he knew that Vali was Azazel's adopted son, Arthur would sooner or later get this information.
"I see, it makes sense." Arthur nodded.
Jason looked at him with a odd face.
What made sense?
What Jason didn't know was that Arthur had always been thinking about the reason why a Fallen Angel was accompanying Jason. He knew that Akeno was previously a member of the Himejima clan as she had told him. Understanding the methods of the 5 clans of Japan, one could say that they had already been very kind in leaving Akeno alive.
Arthur also did not know that in fact, the members of the Himejima clan had tried to kill Akeno and would have succeeded if it had not been for Jason's intervention. Akeno could have saved her life as in the original story, but Shuri would have died accordingly.
Arthur, knowing that Jason was related to Grigori, thought that Akeno was the daughter of some Grigori leader. And his reasoning was correct. If he had asked his family about any information relevant to the Himejima clan and the Fallen Angels, Arthur might know that Akeno was Barakiel's daughter. But by not wanting to inform his family, due to some personal reasons, of Jason and Akeno's appearance at school, he had no means to learn that.
Although Akeno's parents were not something that kept Arthur awake and he actually didn't care. He just wanted to train to get stronger so he could have a fight with Caliburn against Jason, both being at their best.
PAM-PAM
The next day, Jason woke up to Vali's screams on the other side of the door.
"Aniki!"
"Shut up."
"Let's train! Train, train, train, train, train-"
"Shut up!"
Jason, Arthur, and Vali met with Akeno and Elisabeth in the cafeteria.
"Has anything happened to you, Vali?" Akeno asked.
"It's nothing" Vali pouted.
"So why is your eye black?"
"Vanishing Dragon doesn't need to explain a low-level fall angel."
"Vali..."
Vali fell silent when she heard Jason's dark voice. The older brother's lesson was still fresh in his mind, and on his face as well. The bruise in his eye reflected the "lesson" Jason had given him a few minutes earlier. Vali learned he shouldn't wake his older brother.
The day went on as usual. When it was time for the training, Vali asked Jason to train with them.
"All right, but you're going to have to start from the beginning," Jason told him.
Vali nodded. He knew that his ability with weapons was nil, so he had to learn everything from the beginning. Vali was proud of his strength, but that didn't mean he was blind and didn't know his limits.
"Captain, we have a new member," Jason called the captain.
"Oh, is he a friend of yours, Jason?" The captain approached.
"He's an exchange student, and he wants to learn how to use the sword."
"What's his level?" the captain asked. He needed to know this to put Vali in a training group.
"Null"
The captain nodded. This was not the first time a new member knew nothing about the sword, so he knew how to deal with it.
"Vali, remember they are simple humans. Reduce your strength to the same level as theirs; only then will you be able to improve."
Vali nodded and followed the club captain. Thus began the way of the Vanishing Dragon as a swordsman.
Several days passed. Nothing out of the ordinary happened during those days.
Jason and Vali were preparing to perform over the weekend. The reports they had received from Suzaku said that the last Four Fiend was in some mountains in Japan.
While Vali, Jason and Arthur were on their way to the dojo for another afternoon of training, a magic circle appeared in front of them. The color of the magic circle was crystalline blue and had traces of gold in it.
A gorgeous young woman with a slim voluptuous figure with long blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes appeared. She was dressed in a witch robe with a cloak and a pointed witch hat.
"What are you doing here, Lavinia?" Jason asked when he saw the girl.
He felt something was wrong when he saw her face full of anxiety.
"Shigune is gone!"
Jason and Vali's faces darkened. Jason looked at Arthur and asked for a favor.
"Cover us, Vali and I have something important to do."
Arthur wasn't stupid. Seeing the reactions of the two boys, he knew that this Shigune was essential to them. He didn't hesitate when he knew what to do.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything here."
Jason thanked Arthur.
"Let's go."
Lavinia led Vali and Jason through the magic circle. The three appeared in the conglomerate where they had spent the weekend.
"What are we doing here?
"Tobio and the rest have already prepared and are waiting us to march to the place where we believe Shigune has left," Lavinia explained.
"Can you explain what's happening? The Vanishing Dragon doesn´t understand anything," Vali asked.
"No, let's meet first with Tobio and the others. I'd rather have him tell us what's going on in the way to the location, so we don't waste time," Jason said.
The three went to a parking lot inside the conglomerate. There was the minibus they had used when they went to town.
Inside the vehicle were Tobio, Kouki, Sae, Natsume and Barakiel. They were waiting for them to leave. Jason, Vali and Lavinia wasted no time and quickly got into the car.
"What's going on?" Jason asked once he got into the car.
"Shigune has gone to save Hyousuke Koga on her own," Lavinia summed up.
"She´s silly" Vali summed it up even more.
"Detailed explanation, please. I would like to understand the situation. Jason demanded.
"You know that Shigune was captured by the utsusemi agency and was released because Koga made an agreement with them, right?" Barakiel told him.
"Yes"
"She seemed to feel guilty about it. When she heard the information from Azazel, she escaped and headed for the location where Koga seemed to be."
Jason frowned.
"Why didn't you stop her?"
Barakiel did not respond.
"What does Azazel gain from this?" Jason asked again.
"I can't answer. I'm sorry."
Jason sighed. Barakiel at least seemed sincere in his apology.
Azazel had let Shigune out. That was obvious. The question was, why? What was Azazel's reason for letting Shigune out?
"One bait against another bait," Jason muttered.
"What do you mean?" Tobio asked.
"Azazel thinks Koga is bait, doesn't he?" Jason asked Barakiel. He didn't answer Tobio's question.
Barakiel realized there was no point in hiding him anymore.
"Yes, he thinks they want to use it to attract Tobio and the remaining Four Fiends."
"That's why he sent Shigune first, to see if they act first," Jason said.
Barakiel nodded.
"Does he think we're disposable pieces?!" Tobio roared.
"No." Unexpectedly Jason denied.
Tobio looked at him with a confused face. Jason decided to explain to him to get him out of doubt.
"There's another piece in Azazel's trap."
"And it's me."