Beyond Critical - Chapter 5.2 (Patreon)

While Kaito was absolutely curious who the white cloaked figure was that was meeting up with the devils at Kuoh Academy.

He also didn't care at the same time and wanted nothing to do with them and whatever they were in town for.

So why was it, when classes ended for the day and Kaito was making his way to the Muscle Garden gym, the construction site at which he honed his muscular temple…..he found himself staring at-

"O-blessings on this pitiful lost, lamb, won't you bestow mercy upon me."

A familiar cloaked figure, standing at the end of a busy shopping district street, holding up an empty pot and begging for donations.

The worst of it was, their hood was down now. And he recognised the beggar. Irina Shidou, one of the two who would come to town due to the Excalibur's being stolen to take in…

'Oh hell no!' Kaito's eyes widened.

No, there was no fucking way.

The world had to be shitting him.

Kokabiel couldn't be here and making a move already!

'Walk away Kaito, just walk away.' he told himself.

He shouldn't get involved here.

Definitely not.

He was in no shape, form or way ready to tangle with the likes of fucking Kokabiel.

And beyond even that, Hyoudou had only recently been reincarnated, he wouldn't have even met Asia Argento yet, which meant he was even weaker than before and probably couldn't even use his transfer ability to amp others beyond his useless self.

Which meant the Gremory peerage was even weaker than they were when the would tangle with that ten winged bastard originally.

But, he needed to know.

Because if Kokabiel was here, that fucker could end up destroying the entire town and murdering Gremory and Sitri to start a whole new supernatural war.

And he didn't want to be anywhere close to ground zero with that being a possibility of going down.

And he'd definitely need to get Yanagi and her family to safety as well.

'Fuck.' Katio cursed inwardly as he realised.

He'd already convinced himself.

Kaito sighed, shoulders slumping, "Guess it would be bad form to leave her like that anyway." he mumbled to himself in defeat.

She looked awfully pitiful like that, being either completely ignored or given looks varying from weirded out, to outright disgust.

Irina was a bit of an airhead from what he remember as well, some asshole could probably lure her back to his place and drug her or something with how unaware she was.

'Being a good guy sucks ass.' he groaned inwardly. If he was an evil, selfish bastard, life would be so much simpler for him.

Deciding to just bite the bullet, Kaito made his way over to the girl and stopped in front of her, "Hey." he greeted her simply.

Exotic, beautiful purple eyes blinked at him, before he received a bright smile, "Hello!" she greeted him cheerfully, "Would you care to give your blessing upon this lost lamb of God?"

Seeing her up close, she really was quite a beautiful girl. Gorgeous to be honest, just like Yanagi, she could stand next to Gremory and not lose out in terms of beauty.

"Something like that I guess," Kaito mused with a shrug, "You're from the church right, can I ask what you're doing here in Kuoh?"

He may as well just bite the bullet, and get it over with it and get straight to the point.

"Hmm?" Irina raised an eyebrow and looked him over, "You don't feel like a devil, are you connected to them somehow?"

"Nope, I prefer to keep my distance from them and the supernatural," he shrugged, "But since this is a devil governed town, seeing people from the church can be pretty alarming and a sign to duck and cover before things start exploding around me."

He left out the fact he saw her meeting with the devils earlier and so knew she was most likely not here for anything to do with them.

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Irina nodded in understanding, "But you don't need to worry, I'm not here picking a fight with the devils or anything, I've just got a completely different mission from them to hunt down a dangerous guy."

…Sigh.

He really didn't want to hear that.

"And how did you end up…here?" Kaito gave a wide sweeping look along the street, "And y'know, not doing that?"

"Hehe," Irina rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "I kind of lost my bag that I was carrying all my funds in? and well…." a rumbling sound erupted from her stomach and she looked away, cheeks flushing red.

'That's about what I expected from her.' Katio resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Right, then while I've not got all that much cash, how about you come back to my place with me?" he offered, "I can make you something to eat and you can fill me in on what's going on."

"Ehh…I dunno, I don't really know you." Irina pointed out.

"I'm Kaito," he introduced himself with a roll of his eyes, "And honestly, do you have a better option right now? It doesn't look like anyone is giving you the time of day and I doubt you want to go crawling to the devils for help."

"Ah…" Irina trailed off, before promptly slumping over, "Yeah, okay, you're right."

She gave up and accepted his offer.

                                                     __________________

Thankfully, Kaito's apartment wasn't very far from where he met Irina, so it didn't take them long to reach there.

And the small walk there confirmed something for him as well.

She was alone, she hadn't come with Xenovia as back up like she did in his memories.

As he closed the door behind them and locked it, he gestured to the wall beside the door where a few jackets hung on the some hooks, "You can hang your cloak up there for now and get comfy while you're here." he told her.

He was a gracious host like that.

"Oh, thanks!" Irina chirped and got right to it, unfastening her cloak as Kaito browsed through his kitchenette.

"What are you in the mood for? I've got some pre-prepared udon noodles I made last n-" Kaito looked up from where he was checking in his fridge and the words froze in his throat, "…Woah." he found himself gulping.

He knew objectively that Irina's 'battlesuit' was little more than a skin tight bodysuit or leotard that left little to the imagination.

Knowing that, and seeing it in person though, was an entirely different matter. He found his eyes automatically glued to the twin tailed girls full, round backside that stretched out the black spandex outfit she wore like a shelf while she stood on her tiptoes to hang up her cloak.

And then as she turned to him, his eyes automatically locked on to her chest, her voluptuous chest that stretched out the front of her bodysuit deliciously. Her breasts were huge, yet despite their size, beautifully perky and the way the silver cross she wore around her neck dangled between the twin mountains just drew the eyes all the more.

And it didn't end there. Full mouth watering hips, long, luscious toned thighs and a belly so flat he could play chess on it.

Irina was an utter babe.

It wasn't like he wasn't used to being around girls this beautiful, he hung around with Yanagi almost every day after all to some degree. The thing was, there was a big difference.

Gorgeous as Yanagi was, she wasn't just some girl to lust after, if he went after her, it would the whole shebang with how close to her he was, and he simply wasn't in any position to date.

…But a girl this gorgeous that he wasn't close to.

Dressed like that?

'I'd fuck this girl cross eyed.' he swallowed.

It took quite a lot of mental strength to force himself not to leer at the older girl. He wasn't freaking Hyoudou, but that didn't mean he didn't wanna have sex.

"Oooh, udon!" Irina clapped excitedly, thankfully not noticing his brief, hungry ogling of her body, "I've not had any in ages, I'd love some!"

"Alright," Kaito turned away from her to start grabbing what he needed to prepare the meal, "Just make yourself comfortable wherever you want while I get started."

"Kay!" Irina chirped and...skipped into the main part of the apartment.

Kaito forced himself not to stare at her…jiggly bouncing that occurred in the process.

Due to the fact he'd already pre-prepared the udon, it didn't take very long before the meal was ready.

He sat out a small table he kept in his cupboard and a few cushions for sitting on for the pair of them, before bringing the food out and place a steaming bowl of udon on either side of the table, one for him, one for Irina.

"Oh, it smells so good!" Irina gushed, and without waiting, dug right in and began chowing down on the noodles.

Rather rapidly.

Quite unladylike actually.

He eyed her idly, almost fascinated to be honest as he ate at a much more sedate pace. A question burned in the back of his mind.

Before they got right down, he needed to ask it.

"So," he began, "What's with the bodysuit?" he asked bluntly.

Irina paused, a single noodle hanging from her mouth, before slurping it up and swallowing, "What do you mean?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

He gestured to her body, specifically her chest, "I mean, it just doesn't seem like something a girl on a mission from the church would wear," he replied, "It's super revealing and leaves nothing to the imagination. And you're a really beautiful girl with amazing curves, if it was for distracting enemies or something I'd get it, because most guys would be distracted if a girl as gorgeous as you was running around like that, but that doesn't feel right when you know, you're with the church."

Irina placed her bowl down and rubbed the back of her neck, a tinge of red appearing on her cheeks, "…I never asked to be honest, this is just the battle outfit I got provided for missions I didn't think to question why it's designed this way," she replied, "Is it really that…distracting?"

"Yes," Kaito answered bluntly, "Honestly, it makes it kind of hard to keep from ogling you cuz' like I said, you're a beautiful girl, one of the most beautiful I've ever seen in fact."

It was funny how much easier it was to be blunt and honest with this kind of thing, when he wasn't close with the girl in question at all.

He wouldn't be like this with Yanagi, but if Irina was up for it? He'd blow her back out right here and now.

Her cheeks got brighter and she smiled almost unconsciously, "Huh, that's the first time a boys ever complimented me on my looks," she admitted, "Thanks." she turned that pretty smile on him.

Christ, what kind of sheltered place did she live in that-

Oh yeah, right, church.

"Hard to believe," he snorted, "If this had nothing to do with the supernatural and I was in the right space, I'd be hard pressed to stop myself from asking you out."

"You're a nasty flirt," Irina giggled, cheeks burning even brighter, "But believe it or not I used to be a total tomboy as a kid and really boyish."

"Now you're totally lying," Kaito grinned at her, "I can understand the tomboy bit because of how fit you are, but I bet you were a real cutie even as a kid."

"Stooopp," she cupped her cheeks bashfully, "If my dad heard this he'd totally grab his sword."

Oh right yeah, wasn't her dad some high tier exorcist with some form of personal holy sword?

"Actually," Irina perked up, "What about your parents? Won't they say anything about you having some girl you just met in your place?"

Kaito shrugged, "Be kinda hard, I'm an orphan," he replied casually, "They abandoned me at birth, so I wouldn't worry too much about their opinions."

Irina gasped, "That's horrible!"

"Meh, they were useless," he snorted, "I'm better off without them."

The topic seemed to have made Irina rather uncomfortable so Kaito gave her a grin, "Look, don't worry about that, I don't give a damn about them, actually, I'm quite proud of who I am and wouldn't change it for the world." he told her.

He was pretty damn awesome after all. Destined for greatness really.

"You do seem pretty cool." Irina thankfully perked back up at his words.

Good, he wasn't good with depressive shit. Being depressed and angsty never got him anywhere in life when he was younger. Nobody gave a shit about a lone no name orphan in Japan, especially not a half foreign one.

That time being depressed and whining about woe is me crap, could be better used at the gym and improving himself.

The grind would never betray him after all.

"So yeah, if you need a place to stay while you take care of this mission of yours, I don't mind letting you stay with me for a bit." his motor mouth took over.

But, still, he didn't retract the offer. Because having her in close proximity to him would at least allow him to get a proper bead on things and to know if he had to book it or not.

"That's kind of you Kaito-kun," the pretty smile from before returned, but much warmer than before, "Though I shouldn't. I don't plan on it taking long to finish my mission, but even if it does take longer, I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire, it would be safer if I left and didn't drag you into things."

"You don't need to worry about that," Kaito assured her and placed both arms on the table in front of him, "I'm pretty strong myself, and I'm not without my own ways of taking on the supernatural." he added, and with a thought, twin flashes of light formed around his arm as they were encased in a familiar pair of black and gold gauntlets.

Irina blinked, "A Sacred Gear?" she gasped, surprised.

"Two, actually," he corrected her, "Two of the same to be exact. Both of these gauntlets are Twice Critical's."

"…Huh," Irina uttered, eyeing his arms in interesting, head cutely tilted to the side, "I didn't know you could get two Sacred Gears."

"Me either," Kaito shrugged, but he'd already long since prepared an excuse for when someone wondered about that, "Before I got the second one, I got into a fight with a stray devil and nearly died, I feel like I did die for a minute actually. But I wasn't ready to die and forced myself back and when I did, I had another Twice Critical. It was either that or a gift from God himself."

Which wasn't actually a lie. God may have been dead and gone. But, the Sacred Gear's were still his gift to humanity to protect themselves and fight back.

And if nothing else, he'd forever be grateful to the top G above all other top G's. After all, if not for him, Kaito would have have never possessed his Twice Critical's at all.

"Everything happens for a reason," Irina mused and clasped her hands together, closing her eyes, "Praise be to God, I'm glad you're still alive and managed to make it through."

"Amen." Kaito finished for her with a nod.

"Hm?" Irina looked at him at his voice, "Are you religious as well?" she wondered.

"A bit, I mean, I praise God different than most and have a different way of believing in him," he admitted, "But I'm a baptised catholic all the same. I'm half Scottish after all."

Well, his other self was the baptised catholic, but that was him as well, so it fit.

"Huh, that's kind of cool and really unexpected," the older twin tailed girl grinned, "I didn't expect to meet a baptised catholic when I came back to Japan, dad always told me they're super rare over here."

"Like I said, I'm only half Jap, and I feel much more connected to my Scottish heritage." he replied.

"Umu!" Irina nodded happily at his explanation.

"I guess if you've got two of them and are that confident, it wouldn't be too bad an idea if it takes longer than I think," Irina mused after a moment, "Though are you sure, my target is a pretty strong guy."

"Speaking of," Kaito pounced on that dangling line provided to him, "Who exactly is your target?"

Please don't be Kokabiel, please don't be Kokabiel, please don't be Koka-

"His name is Satanael, a ten winged fallen angel and traitor to the Grigori." Irina revealed.

'Fuck!' Kaito cursed inwardly.

What the hell were the church doing sending Irina alone after a guy like that? On top of that, he barely knew anything about the guy beyond knowing he appeared in Slash Dog and was crazy about Sacred Gears.

It was better than Kokabiel, because he was pretty sure the guy wasn't out to start the next big supernatural war by murdering the siblings of two of the Satans and then blowing their territory to kingdom come.

But Irina wouldn't stand a chance against a guy like that.

She'd get slaughtered.

"…How the hell are you meant to stop a guy like that?" he asked bluntly, unable to even find the desire to censor himself, "I'm sure you're pretty strong, but I'm pretty strong myself and I wouldn't last a minute against a guy like that."

He didn't know where he stood on the scale of strength as things were right now. But he definitely knew he wasn't anywhere near that level.

"Hehe," Irina rubbed the back of her head, "Yeah, usually you'd be right. Buuut, things are a little bit different than that. You see, Satanael isn't currently anywhere near his current strength, you see not long ago he got into a fight with the holder of the longinus Sacred Gear, Caenis Lykaon and was injured pretty badly and thanks to the cursed flame produced by it, he's currently only at a fraction of his full strength."

Kaito's near panic halted, "….How weakened are we talking here?" he probed.

"According to Mother Griselda, he's not even at a tenth of his full power currently," Irina explained, "It's why he's currently on the run and fled here apparently. I was told he's using the siblings of the Satan's Lucifer and Leviathan as a shield, as in, nobody really strong will come here right now and risk setting them off and it's why only I was sent after him."

Right…that made, some, tiny amount of sense. If it was him, he would have sent multiple people after him though and prepared a bunch more contingencies considering the assets the church had access to.

Though, one thing stood out to him, well two, "So wait, why exactly is the church hunting him down, is it just because he's a Cadre and taking the chance to get an advantage?" he asked, "And beyond that, how are you going to find him?"

Irina shook her head, "I don't know about advantage, but he does have something the church wants," she replied, "Satanael is in possession of the former holy sword Arondight, a sister sword to the real Excalibur, he stole it a long time ago. My mission is to retrieve it above even killing Satanael, and as for finding him…"

Irina trailed off for a moment before reaching for one of the long black elbow length gloves she wore and pulled it off, holding the back of her fist up for Katio to see.

On it was a kind of pulsing, glowing arrow shape that seemed to blink in and out and was pointing to the right?

"This sigil on my hand is linked to Arondight, it will lead me right to it." she revealed.

Well now, that answered that he supposed.