Side Story -- Distorted Reflections, Part 2

Rias stared at Wilhelm; the follow-up words sort of died in her throat. She expected several different possible reactions to the newfound revelation, but his response was…surprising.

She cleared her throat, straightening her posture. “Takao… I know this must be a lot to take in, but I need you to understand. Devils are real. Angels, fallen angels—they all exist. And you, well… your circumstances are a little more complicated than most.”

She waited for a moment, like for him to ask any questions. This is usually the part where newcomers start to freak out or shoot off questions faster than she could ask. At least, that was the way with Issei and, from what Sona said, some of her peerage members.

However, he just stared at her expressionlessly.

Rias furrowed her brow, because the look he was giving her basically screamed, ‘Are you an idiot?’.

“No shit.” He finally answered.

“Right, you see—” Rias blinked. “What?”

Wilhelm raised a finger, pointing at Koneko. “Nekomata.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Rias and several members of her peerage became startled, specifically Koneko, who took in a sharp breath of air.

He then pointed at Akeno. “Half-Fallen.”

Akeno too stiffened as she had been called out.

“Takao, how do you know that?” Rias spoke up again. “What’s going on?”

“I should be the one asking that question.” Wilhelm’s eyes narrowed. “Why am I in the hospital, and what’s this nonsense about me being in your peerage? Because it would be a cold day in hell before I joined one of your stupid ‘peerages.’”

His head was still nearly spinning, and it was hard to concentrate, but he knew how wrong things were right now.

Rias’s mouth gaped silently.

“Hey Rias, I thought you said he didn’t know about anything?” Issei was the one who broke the strange silence.

“He doesn’t!” Rias defended.

“Sacred Gear.” Wilhelm deadpanned, and Rias’s head jerked back to him with eyes wide. “Youkai, gods, Touki, demonic energy, holy power, power of destruction.”

The more words he spoke, the more Rias seemed to visibly freak out.

At this point, Wilhelm was just doing it out of spite because he was annoyed.

“What.Am.I.Doing.Here?” He demanded again.

Rias was having trouble answering, and noticing this, Akeno stepped forward. 

“Ara ara, Shimoda, you really…are full of surprises. I guess someone let something slip, huh?” Akeno awkwardly smiled, trying her best to ease the tension. 

“Stop playing around as a seductress, you virgin. Tell me what the fuck happened to me.”

Akeno nearly choked.

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that!” Issei spoke up.

Wilhelm’s eyes landed on Issei. He clutched his own chest, feeling the distinct absence of a certain annoying dragon.

“Hey, Issei, repeat after me. I, who am about to awaken, am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the principles of domination from God.”

A surge of pain flashed through his body and through his head; Wilhelm clenched his jaw as he invoked the name of the Biblical God without even thinking. Something he would have completely ignored before was now giving him an utter headache.

Issei blinked. “...I, who am about to awaken, am the—” He stopped, holding his hands up to his ears like someone was screaming at him, and he nearly fell over. “Ah, what the hell!?”

“Issei!?” Rias was shocked out of her stupor as she quickly ran to his side. “What’s wrong?” She turned to Wilhelm. “What did you do!?”

“It was Ddraig; he started yelling really loud for me to stop chanting. Like really loud, it startled me.” Issei slowly stood back up straight.

“...Why is he screaming at you?” Rias asked.

“Ow, Ddraig, I get it, jeez, stop yelling.” Issei sighed. “He said it was the chant for something called ‘Juggernaut Drive’...? He’s demanding to know why that bastard knows it.” He pointed a finger at Wilhelm.

“What? Juggernaut Drive?!” Rias, of course, knew what that was. It was one of the reasons the Boosted Gear was so dangerous, even to others. The reason it had such infamy attached to it.

“How would he know that?” Akeno chimed in as everyone was staring at Wilhelm again.

However, Wilhelm ignored that completely. Right now, he was focused on the fact that Issei currently had the Boosted Gear inside of him.

It took substantial effort on Wilhelm’s part not to immediately show anger and retrieve it. 

Despite how much they take shots at each other, Wilhelm genuinely thought of Ddraig as one of his closest friends.

And from what was said, it’s very obvious that Ddraig had no idea who he was.

It was painting a very bleak picture for Wilhelm as he began to understand what was happening, or rather, how fucked up things were at the moment.

For the others, suddenly, all the plans they made for easing Wilhelm into their little group had gone right out the window.

“Are you going to tell me what the fuck happened?” Wilhelm finally demanded again.

They all shared a look, and Rias seemed to hesitate, as if she should be the one demanding answers from him. Rather than be forceful, Rias took a deep breath, calming herself and opting for a more…gentle approach by answering his demand.

“You were attacked.” Rias said very bluntly, trying to regain some semblance of control over what’s happening. “An exorcist…an exorcist is a—”

“I know what an exorcist is.” Wilhelm snapped.

“...right.” Rias almost blurted out to demand how he knew that, but it was sort of irrelevant at this point based on everything else he said. “You were attacked by an exorcist. You were stabbed through the heart with one of their special Holy Swords. I…found you by chance, and you were going to die, so the only thing I could do was use one of my Evil Pieces to save you….”

Silence once more filled the room.

“...do you need a minute?” Rias asked quietly. Despite her own need for answers, seeing the look on Wilhelm’s face, she mistook it for something else. “Come on guys, let’s give him a minute.” And doubly, she was going to make some calls because something was very wrong here.

She knew without a shadow of a doubt that he should be completely oblivious to all supernatural things.

She gave him one last look before she ushered her peerage out of his hospital room.

Wilhelm slid out of his bed again, standing up much easier than before. He took out all the tubes attached to him and made his way to the restroom a few feet away.

Admittedly, his anxiety was through the roof at all the possibilities of what was wrong. The fact that he didn’t have Ddraig, the fact that they didn’t seem to know him at all….

It left him with the worst feeling in his chest when he thought about his girls, or Kunou, or his friends.

He had to forcibly put those thoughts to the side; otherwise, he felt like he would lose himself in a temporary bout of depression or despair.

Instead, he made his way to the restroom and found the sink, turning it on.

He splashed a bit of water onto his face and braced himself against the edges of it as he looked at himself in the mirror.

He took several deep breaths, calming down.

“No power? Alright. People don’t seem to remember me? Fine. But this hair and these clothes.” He shook his head.

Though he was being facetious to calm himself down.

He blinked and paused, furrowing his brow as he looked into the mirror and tilted his head.

He leaned closer because there seemed to be something strange.

Out of nowhere his reflection seemed replaced with a large hand that slammed into the mirror from the side of the reflection, cracking it.

Wilhelm let out a startled noise, falling onto his butt.

Rather quickly, he reoriented himself, climbing back to his feet, only to see that the mirror was fine, not a single crack. 

He inspected it several times, looking at his own reflection closely and every detail he could, but there was nothing out of place.

He briefly wondered if he had just imagined it.

Was it just a stress- and anxiety-related hallucination? Or it very well could be the drugs.

Regardless, he just shook his head because whatever happened seemed to have disappeared. Just one more strange thing to add to the growing list.

He walked back into the main hospital room and grabbed the nearby visitor chair, weighing it in his hands before looking at the window.

And with a bit of effort, he threw it.

@***@

Rias and her peerage were standing outside the room.

Rias was on her phone.

“I’m telling you, he knew. He started saying things like “Sacred Gears,” “Youkai,” and “Nekomata”; he even apparently knew the chant for the Boosted Gear’s Juggernaut Drive!” 

The others didn’t know who she was talking to, but they could more or less make out the conversation based on what was being said.

“Ajuka? He’d come to check? I thought he was busy.” Rias paused. “I don’t mind; the sooner we figure out what’s happening, the better. I’m just worried about him because—”

A sudden crash caused all of them to nearly jump. Akeno was already at the door, pulling it open to see what happened.

“Takao’s gone; he went out the window!” She blurted out.

“I have to go, Grayfia; Takao just jumped out the window!” Rias nearly screeched as they all ran inside to look at the now broken window and the chair that was broken on the ground a few stories below. “Hurry, we have to catch up with him; he could be in danger!” 

At her command, they all ran out of the hospital room, presumedly going to catch the runaway Wilhelm.

A moment or two later, Wilhelm walked out of the restroom, shaking his head. “Idiots.”

He wondered how long it would take them to realize he wouldn’t even survive a jump from that height, especially when he’s literally hospitalized.

Wilhelm peeked out of his room to see no one standing guard. And he did exactly what he did the first time around.

He found the same old basket of scrubs, put them on, and made his way out to the main lobby. This time, however, it seemed like the doors weren’t locked. Perhaps a happenstance of Rias and her group coming along.

Knowing how much they claim this ‘territory,’ Wilhelm wouldn’t be surprised if they quite literally owned the hospital.

Instead of walking out the front door, however, he found the changing rooms for the staff. 

Petty theft wasn’t something Wilhelm liked to partake in, but sometimes there were dire circumstances. He found a change of clothes that somewhat fit him, and he even found a hat to hide his rather iconic red hair.

And then, without further hesitation, he just bluntly walked out the main doors.

He did see a lot of people in suits running around, inspecting the area off to the side where he had thrown the chair, but he just shook his head and walked out of the parking lot without any more concern.

It was only when he got several blocks away that he stopped and sighed. “God dammit, how did you—” He stopped because the pain struck him again as he clutched his head. “Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck!” 

“You shouldn’t say that.” Koneko said expressionlessly.

“Thanks, I had no idea.” Wilhelm spat out sarcastically, but she didn’t even react. “How did—”

“I smelled you.” She answered nonchalantly.

“Right, youkai cat, I forgot.”

Her eye twitched slightly. “Why are you running away?”

“Why aren’t you calling for your friends?” He countered.

“Hmm.” She just hummed.

“Hmm.” Wilhelm hummed back, turning away and walking.

“Where are you going?” She followed along.

“Strip club, you’re welcome to follow me.”

“Pervert.”

“Yup, I’m a big pervert.” Wilhelm nodded.

“Liar.” She deadpanned. “You didn’t stare at Rias’s boobs like Issei does.”

Wilhelm rolled his eyes with a scoff. “There’s a difference between being a pervert and a creep. I have some semblance of propriety; I don’t just stare at a pair of boobs drooling. Anyways, look, what’s that over there?” He pointed in the opposite direction.

Koneko turned around and stared there where he was pointing as Wilhelm started to sprint ahead and turned several corners, only for the small girl to be there, casually standing in his path.

“Fuck off.” Wilhelm scowled.

“Rude.”

Wilhelm sighed. “Stop following me.”

“No.”

“Why?” He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Peerage,” she pointed at him. “I’ll protect you.” She said with a hint of pride in her tone, puffing her chest up. “You’re still weak, so I’ll make sure no one hurts you.”

Wilhelm wanted to retort with something sarcastic, but he was having trouble due to how genuine she was being with her words. It was hard to be mean when she was being nice and wanting to reasonably help him.

“You’re going to follow me whatever I say or do, aren’t you?” Wilhelm let out a sigh.

“Yes.” She nodded.

“Has anyone told you that you’re annoying?”

“You’ve probably heard that more than me.” She retorted.

“...touche.” Wilhelm didn’t have a response to that. “Well, come along then, little kitty. Can you transform into a cat like your sister?”

She stilled, her eyes widening. “You—” She was about to say something, but she frowned and kept it in. “You only said that to get me upset. I’m not going to say anything.”

Wilhelm realized that this little girl had already figured him out. He only brought up Koneko’s sister to see if it would get her to stomp off, but clearly that wasn’t going to work.

Otherwise, he wasn’t going to torment the little girl with her ‘trauma’ just for shits and giggles.

With another sigh, Wilhelm turned around and left, walking down the street.

Koneko kept up easily, looking around. “Where are we going?”

“Places.”

“Important places?” She asked, looking at him with a hint of…understanding, perhaps, in her eyes. It wasn’t just a simple question, and it made Wilhelm pause his steps.

“Yeah…it’s important.” Wilhelm swallowed, the words coming out softly.

“Okay, I won’t tell Rias until after you’re done.” She nodded to herself.

Wilhelm’s lips twitched. He was finding her very…agreeable. It was an odd thought; maybe in a different time and place in his life, they could have had a better relationship. She sort of reminded him of Kunou, and slowly, he found himself already accepting of her presence.

“Yes, yes, don’t want your master to worry too much.” He let out one of the many more sighs he had given today.

Koneko reached up and pinched his arm rather strongly, making him yelp. “Don’t say mean things about Rias anymore, or I’ll get upset.”

“We certainly wouldn’t want you to get upset.” Wilhelm chuckled as they turned the corner of another block, entering a familiar, if nostalgic, area of the city that he hadn’t been in for years.

There were plenty of street vendors, plenty of antique shops, and all sorts of those things.

“I’m serious.” She puffed up her cheeks. “...and you should be nice to her anyways. I don’t know why you hate her, but she saved you. You were going to die without her help.”

He didn’t respond immediately.

“...I don’t hate her.” Wilhelm finally settled on it. “Maybe it falls into the category of dislike by association. But if she were in trouble, I wouldn’t just watch from the side.”

And also, he was still wrapping his head around everything, but her words did stick out to him. Whatever was happening, whatever crap he had to deal with. Rias, right here and now, apparently sacrificed one of her Evil Pieces to save him.

That wasn’t something he would ignore.

He was just…dealing with a lot of turbulent emotions right now, and it was easy to lash out at targets in front of him.

“You sound like you’re a lot older than you are.” She replied casually. 

“I am.”

“Liar.”

“Hey, how come I can’t feel any Demonic Power if I’m supposed to be reincarnated? Especially since she used a Bishop.”

Her lips twitched. “I don’t know. How come you know things you’re not supposed to know? Rias said you were just a normal human before and had no knowledge about supernatural stuff.”

“I’m psychic.”

“Then you don’t need me to answer.”

“...you’re a lot smarter than you look.” Wilhelm frowned.

She raised her little fist up. “I could beat you up.”

“Maybe that’s my kink.” He raised an eyebrow in response.

“Pervert.”

“Pervert.” Wilhelm answered at the exact same time as her.

“.....” She looked at him silently. 

He tilted his head with a cocky smile.

“You’re not psychic.”

“You’re not psychic.” Again, at the same time, he said the same exact words.

There was another long pause as they stared at each other, Koneko frowning, her eyebrows twitching. “If you’re psychic, what am I thinking about right now?’

“The ice cream shop is right behind you.”

“.....”

“....”

“...lucky guess.” She harumphed.

Unconsciously, Wilhelm put a hand on her head, making the small girl let out a strangled cat noise in complaint. Though, Wilhelm found it more cute than threatening.

“Come on, we’re almost there.” He gestured forward.

It was only about four more blocks down the street before he finally stopped.

It was an antiques store, one that held a certain significance in his heart. It was one of the first places he had been to when he had awoken before.

And he found himself smiling because it was exactly the same as he remembered.

However, he came to a realization. “Fuck. I don’t have my wallet.”

Koneko shot him a glance. “Idiot.”

“I deserve that one.” He accepted with grace.

However, Koneko took out a small bag, a little purse that was in the shape of a cat’s head. “Pay me back later.”

Wilhelm blinked. “I’m not taking your piggy bank money, little kitty.”

“I’m richer than you.” She deadpanned.

“I find that hard to—”

“Rias is rich; I get paid every month. I have a retirement plan, stocks, an investment portfolio, and even a financial adviser.” 

“...I feel like you don’t even know what half those words mean.”

“I don’t need to; I’m rich.” She replied with the same deadpan.

“Once again, touché.” Wilhelm felt like he was taking far too many losses from this little kitty. “Do I get paid?”

Koneko just grunted. “How much do you need?” She asked, not answering.

“If I recall correctly, about 18,000 yen.” Wilhelm did his best to recall the number off the top of his head, but it had been years.

“You worded that weird.” She grumbled. “Fine, but you better pay me back.”

“Alright, miss rich penny-pincher.”

She let out a huff. “I’m not a penny pincher. Momma Gremory just told me a long time ago not to make loans with friends or family.” She finished with a grumble.

That hit a spot for Wilhelm that he wasn’t prepared for. She really is treating him closely just because he is now part of her peerage, which she sees as perhaps a mix between friends and family.

“...you should listen to Venelana; she’s really smart.” Wilhelm said quietly.

“...how do you know Momma Gremory?” Koneko furrowed her brow again.

“How could I not know her with such amazing boobs?” Wilhelm gave her a big grin, though the perverted words came off as insincere, which Koneko picked up on.

“Pervert.”

“Pervert.” Wilhelm again said it at the same exact time.

Koneko pouted, stomping her foot. “You’re not psychic!” She said with an annoyed huff.

However, Wilhelm just smiled triumphantly as he successfully bullied a 14- or 15-year-old girl.

They entered the shop without any fanfare, and even the chiming of the door’s bell was nostalgic for him.

Wilhelm began to look around, noticing everything exactly as it was before.

He didn’t even hesitate to find exactly what he was looking for. A specific hat and cane combo that he no longer had.

The cane had long broken, and the hat he had given to Olga.

Koneko just looked at him in confusion as he grabbed the two items and took them to the counter. The man there, the same exact man that he had bought them off of previously, hadn’t even had the chance to greet the two teenagers before Wilhelm put them on the counter.

“18000 yen for both.” Wilhelm said bluntly.

The store owner blinked, looking Wilhelm over, then looked Koneko over, then just shrugged. “Okay.”

Koneko didn’t say anything, even as her face showed all the confusion and questions she clearly wanted to ask. She simply put the money on the counter for him, and Wilhelm took his new toys and walked out the door.

“Why did you buy those?” Koneko asked in confusion.

Wilhelm happily held the items. Part of him was happy to have them again, but also, part of him was feeling very…uncertain because of the fact that he had them again.

It was very clear that time was fucked up, or something like that.

He wasn’t quite sure of the specifics, but very obviously, the timeline was all mangled. He should have already left, but the fact that he couldn’t even sense his magic was very wrong as well.

“Proof.”

“Proof of what?” She asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” He shook his head. “Anyways, do you know how to use magic?”

Koneko pursed her lips. “I know a tiny bit, but I don’t use magic.”

“That’s enough. This hate should have a storage space attached to it by reaching into the inside. It has some old money and jewels inside. And this cane is actually a cane sword—with a few runes on it, making it better than a mundane sword.”

He handed both of them to Koneko.

However, Koneko held both of them in her hands and had a strange expression on her face.

“...what?” Wilhelm asked her.

“...there’s nothing magical about these.” Koneko replied. “It’s just a hat. And this is just a cane; there isn’t a sword inside.”

“...you’re wrong, just use a bit of magical energy and—”

“I’m telling you, there’s nothing magical about them.” Koneko cut him off. “I would be able to tell at least."

“You must be mistaken.” Wilhelm frowned.

“I’m not.” Koneko said in annoyance.

Wilhelm was silent for several moments before speaking again; a look of anxiousness was now apparent to Koneko. “Try pulling the top of the cane out; it’s rusted, so it should take a bit of effort.”

Koneko let out a small sigh, grabbed the top of it, and used her full strength to pull. Rather than pulling out any kind of sword, she just ripped off the top of the cane, revealing a fully wooden interior.

Wilhelm felt a wave of confusion and helplessness that he hadn’t experienced in a very long time. The pit in his stomach seemed to intensify several degrees as he stared at the broken cane.

There was no sword.

It was just a cane.

In which case the hat was probably just a hat.

“...that’s wrong.” Wilhelm whispered.

@***@

“You know, you didn’t have to buy me ice cream.” Wilhelm stated.

“You looked like you needed it.” Koneko said simply as they both sat on a park bench enjoying their frozen treats. “And I didn’t buy it; you did. I’ll add it to your tab. Your treat.”

“I truly am a generous person.” He deadpanned.

“Are you okay?” She finally asked him. “I heard that some people take becoming a devil hard… but you didn’t seem to care about that.”

“I’ll survive.” Wilhelm replied evenly.

Though inside, his emotions were…not doing too well. If he had to admit it, he would call it one of his greatest fears.

The idea of losing everything he cared about.

He just kept telling himself that it was temporary and that he would figure out what was going on eventually and get back to everyone.

“What’s special about the hat?” She pointed at it as Wilhelm wore it on his head. The broken pieces of the cane were sitting next to him on the bench, but she didn’t think it was important to voice.

“It was supposed to be proof.”

“Proof of what?”

“Of a life I’ve lived.” He stared upwards at the sky. “Did you finally call for help?”

“En.”

Wilhelm wasn’t oblivious to the redhead walking over, as well as her queen.

However, there was someone joining them, someone not of the peerage from before.

Contrary to his expectations, they didn’t run over and immediately tie him up and throw accusations at him. If anything, Rias and them were…slow in their approach, patient even.

“Takao.” Rias smiled warmly despite everything that happened.

Wilhelm had to admit in his mind that she wasn’t a bad person.

“Did you know that big boobs are a Bael family trait?” Wilhelm said without any hesitation.

“Pfft!?” Rias nearly choked on the next words she was about to say.

Koneko reached up and pinched him, making his lips twitch as he held back a yelp of pain.

“Ara Ara, Shimoda-kun~” Akeno’s grin grew. “Does that mean I’m a Bael too?” She pushed her chest out. “Maybe we should compare mine to Rias’s?”

She was intentionally trying to rile him up.

Truthfully, she took his earlier shot rather…personally.

“Don’t compete with me in shamelessness; you will lose.” Wilhelm said emotionlessly.

Akeno was surprised by his response, raising an eyebrow as if accepting the challenge. However, Rias stepped in front of her, trying to redirect the conversation.

“Takao.” She smiled. “I’m sorry, this must have been really hard on you. I brought someone here to make sure you’re doing okay after everything. This is my brother’s friend and one of our Rulers— She gestured to the man that came with them and was about to introduce him, but Wilhelm cut her off.

“Ajuka Beelzebub.”

“...curious.” He replied with an emotional detachment. “None of you told him my name, correct?”

The three girls all shook their heads.

A small smile grew on Ajuka’s face. “I think figuring out what’s wrong with you will be rather enjoyable, Mr. Shimoda. Can you tell me how you know things you shouldn’t?”

Wilhelm frowned; he didn’t particularly like his wording. If he had to guess, he would believe that Ajuka was just the type to not observe social niceties from time to time and just be very blunt about his thoughts and desires.

However, Wilhelm wasn’t in a good mood.

“Well, there is one thing that stands out that I believe was the start of it.” Wilhelm said innocently.

“Yes?” Ajuka leaned in, clearly interested.

“It all started when I fucked your mother.” 

Ajuka didn’t seem to appreciate that as an answer.

@***@

A/N

Wilhelm is figuring out how fucked up things really are and starting to question himself.

As I told people before, you don’t have to treat this as canon; it has no bearing on the main story, and I’ll repeat that it won’t make sense how it’s canon until the end. And even then, it’s so insignificant that it won’t even matter. Just treat it as a fun omake where things are really weird and fucked up.