I scanned the area as I called out, and fortunately Issei seemed unharmed.
From what I could see, Rias Gremory was positioned protectively in front of Issei with her back to him.
She was glaring at Raynare while also keeping an eye on me—the guy who'd just suddenly appeared. Raynare took off shortly after.
Well, Issei was safe, but what should I do now...? The senpai was glaring at me, so I figured I should show I wasn't hostile.
"You're third-year Rias Gremory-senpai, right? I'm Arima Ikki, a friend of Issei over there. I'm a second-year in Class B and a freelance Senjutsu user. I sensed his crisis and rushed over, but it looks like I was a step too late. Thank you for saving him."
I bowed my head. After a brief pause, I felt her tense aura ease up somewhat. Seemed like she'd moved me out of the "definite enemy" category.
"I see... I had no idea such a rare existence as a Senjutsu user was so close by. I don't suppose you know what I am too?"
"I know you're from the Gremory family, at least..."
"I see. You seem to understand the situation."
"However, Issei here is completely civilian. But since he got dragged into this, I think he deserves an explanation."
"You're right. In that case, could you both come with me?"
"Yes. Issei, I know you're confused, but we'll explain everything, so come with us."
Issei looked like he couldn't hide his bewilderment, but he still answered, "Got it."
The senpai probably wanted to show us the way to the school's Occult Research Club, so instead of using a magic circle, she walked toward the old school building.
Actually, this worked out perfectly. I discreetly concealed my presence and summoned my tube fox Izuna, having her possess me. A little while later, I heard Koneko's voice in my head:
≪Ikki-senpai? Is something wrong?≫
Since tube foxes are spiritual beings, they can possess others. Of course, possessing someone stronger requires their consent, but... using this possession and information-sharing power, we could talk telepathically without speaking aloud. Good thing I'd given Koneko-chan one.
≪A friend got attacked by a fallen angel. When I rushed over, Rias-senpai had already been summoned and my friend was safe, but since I broke through the barrier to make my entrance, I couldn't exactly claim to be a regular person. I introduced myself as a freelance Senjutsu user and now we're heading your way.≫
≪I see. So you're contacting me because you want me to act like we're meeting for the first time?≫
≪Yeah, I want to cut any connections to Kuroka as much as possible.≫
≪...Understood.≫
Shortly after our conversation ended, we arrived at the Occult Research Club room.
"Here we are. Please, come in."
Rias opened the door and entered, with Issei and me following.
Ridiculously expensive-looking furniture, suspicious statues, magic circles carved here and there, a shower room for some reason, and candlelight making it all even more atmospheric.
And on the room's sofa, Koneko-chan was eating sweet bean jelly... a whole bar of it, showing off her usual healthy appetite. Her sister Kuroka's quite the eater too.
Across from her, the black-haired ponytailed Himejima Akeno was drinking tea, while Kiba was reading a book by the wall.
Whoa! Meeting all these main characters like this is pretty moving.
"Everyone, let me introduce them. These are second-years Hyodo Issei-kun and Arima Ikki-kun. I was summoned by Hyodo-kun here, but he was about to be killed by a fallen angel, so I saved him."
"N-nice to meet you... I'm Hyodo Issei... wait, fallen angel?"
"We'll get to that later, Hyodo-kun. And Arima-kun here seems to be involved in our world and is apparently friends with Hyodo-kun. He broke through the fallen angel's barrier and burst in right after I was summoned."
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Arima Ikki. Please take care of me."
"Since Hyodo-kun seems to be a regular person, I brought them both here to explain the situation and confirm how much Arima-kun actually knows. Everyone, please introduce yourselves."
At Rias's words, the three of them approached and introduced themselves in turn.
"My my, how nice to meet you. I'm third-year Himejima Akeno. I'm also the vice president of this Occult Research Club. Please remember me."
"Second-year Kiba Yuuto. Nice to meet you both."
"First-year Toujou Koneko. Please take care of me."
After the three finished their introductions, everyone sat around the table on the sofas in the middle of the room.
"Before we get into explanations, it feels too formal to keep things so distant. Would it be alright if I called you two 'Issei' and 'Ikki'?"
When Rias brought this up, Issei, who was sitting next to me, got super excited about having his name called by this drop-dead gorgeous girl and straightened up to agree.
"Y-yes! I'm honored if senpai call me by my name!"
"I don't mind either... what should we call you senpai?"
"First names are fine. That's okay with you too, right Akeno?"
"Of course, that's perfectly fine."
"Then I'll call you Rias-senpai and Akeno-senpai."
"Good, now let's get to the main topic."
Rias's turned serious, and seeing this, Issei straightened up too.
"Just to confirm—regarding today's incident, Issei, you don't understand anything that happened... is that correct?"
"Y-yes, so much happened that honestly I have no idea what's going on..."
"I see. First, that black-winged being who tried to kill you—that was a fallen angel. Originally angels who served God, they fell into the underworld—you could call it hell—after committing sins following their desires."
"Um... Rias-senpai? That kind of joke is..."
"You could treat it as a joke, but in that case, you'd have to deny the fact that you were nearly killed by a black-winged girl back there."
When Rias said that, Issei fell silent.