Chapter 30.
The three of them appeared in a vast green field, he squinted his eyes adjusting them to the light.
He then glanced at all the fallen angels looking at him, they started whispering amongst each other, wondering who he was.
Ryu didn't care at all, but Akeno who was standing next to him tensed up.
She grabbed onto Ryu's arm, her fingers interlocking with his.
Amongst those who gathered, there were... familiar faces and some unfamiliar ones as well.
Just as they were observing Ryu, he was also looking at them.
And then... his eyes stopped on Azazel, who was approaching him.
Ryu's eyes widened, his body jolted before going stiff.
"Glad to see you here Ryu," Azazel spoke.
Ryu didn't say anything, he was still frozen.
Azazel walked up to him, and wrapped his hands around him, pulling him into a hug.
"Must be hard huh?" Azazel smiled, sadness filling his tone, "Let's go have chat. Me, you and your friend." Azazel said to him.
Ryu took a shaky breath, and followed Azazel with Akeno trailing just behind him.
The three of them went to a secluded place, and Azazel began rummaging in his pocket.
He took out an envelope, and handed it to Ryu.
"I won't be offering you words of comfort, because there's simply nothing I can offer in this situation," Azazel spoke, "But know this... you're still my nephew, and I love you all the same."
Ryu didn't say anything, but his breath hitched for just a second.
"Kokabiel's letter," Azazel spoke, "It's addressed to you."
Ryu's eyes widened, he practically tore the envelope open, inside were the letter Azazel spoke of, and a picture of Ryu and Kokabiel.
The letter read as follows:
'Hey, if you're reading this, then I'm probably dead, most likely dead by your hands, Ryu. I'll get to the point and won't bother you with unnecessary details. Ryu, I know how it feels to loose a father, I don't know how it feels to kill one with your own hands though, but I do know that it must be infinitely more difficult for you, than it was for me. I want to say, that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I forced you to take my life, but... I was going to die anyway and I wanted it to be during battle, and there is no better opponent than you, my own son. With my life I had hoped that I could help you grow much stronger, and for that, my life isn't a high price to pay. Once again, I'm sorry for forcing you to commit the unforgivable sin of patricide, and know that no matter where I end up, I'll be watching over you. Don't join me too soon. Oh, and another thing. I'm not able to talk about it because of restrictions imposed upon me against my will, so I'll try to say what I can. Pure, once pure and the impure must join together to stand a chance, otherwise death is certain.'
'P.S: Show the letter to Azazel, that nerd will figure out the last part.'
Ryu's eyes widened, and tears started flowing from them, falling onto the letter.
"...Fucking bastard..." Ryu muttered, voice trembling.
Azazel raised an eyebrow, Ryu handed the letter back.
Azazel skimmed through it quickly, though his eyes froze on that 'Nerd' part.
"...Kokabiel, what mess did you get involved in..." Azazel muttered.
It took him a minute, but Ryu regained his composure.
"Well," Azazel started, "With this letter, don't let what you did weigh on you too much..." Azazel paused, "No wait, that's fucked up. Forget I said that."
Ryu smiled, "After that letter, it'll certainly be an easier burden to carry, knowing that he was... happy."
"Yeah... Kokabiel loved fighting as much as he loved you, so to die fighting you... I guess that must've brought him true joy." Azazel said.
Azazel smiled as well and patted Ryu's head, "Let's go back, Ryu."
"As for that message he left... don't think on it too much, I'll get to connecting the dots later."
Ryu, Azazel and Akeno walked back and mingled with the crowd.
And then it was time for a speech or two.
Azazel begun, he walked forward and stood in front of the Casket.
Azazel took a deep breath, and glanced over at everyone gathered.
"Thank you everyone, for attending this funereal." He begun, "It means a lot to me, Kokabiel was a brother to me. Sure, me and him didn't really believe in the same things and argued a lot, but he was still a person very close to me. His passing must've been a real shocker for everyone, a man of his caliber dying? If you told me that a couple days ago I'd have laughed, but... well, reality turned out to be quite different."
He then turned towards the casket, where Kokabiel was... resting, and would continue to do so for eternity.
"Rest, my dear brother, I'll... take care of Ryu and everyone else and... I promise you, that I'll never let anything happen to the fallen angels, though that should already be pretty obvious, right?" He smiled at the last part, and turned back to the rest of the crowd. A small tear wormed it's way out of his eye.
"Everyone... I want to give the spotlight to a special guest, someone me and Kokabiel have kept hidden from the entirety of Grigori for a while, but... I guess it's time for you to meet him," Azazel turned towards Ryu, "Ogami Ryu, he's the adopted son of Kokabiel."
Those gathered there connected the dots, and all looked at Ryu.
Son of Kokabiel, that's who he was.
If Azazel was the one saying it, then it must be the truth.
There was no room for doubt.
Kokabiel was the first and foremost warmonger in the Grigori, the only things he knew were fighting and killing. Not once did any of the gathered fallen angels expected that Kokabiel of all people would adopt a son.
Even Azazel himself couldn't.
Ryu walked towards Azazel taking slow and measured steps under the gaze and scrutiny of numerous fallen angels.
Azazel joined the crowd and Ryu took his place.
He looked at the crowd, and began to speak, "Hello everyone, It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. As uncle said, I'm Kokabiel's son." he formally introduced himself.
"I'm sure everyone knows that dad was a pretty aggressive guy, some may not have liked him, some may have tolerated him and some may have hated him. To me, he was the best father I could ask for. He's the man who taught me everything I know, along with uncle Azazel, be it fighting, maths, history, and even how to make friends. Without him, I wouldn't be the person I am today and for that... I'm immensely grateful. Back when I was a child, I was... quite the rebellious one, I remember all the times I ran away from home and dad had to come looking for me, I remember all the stupid stunts I pulled on him, all the times we argued..." Ryu paused, getting a bit emotional now.
Chuckles and giggles erupted from the crowd, imagining Kokabiel as a father.
"...I'm gonna miss him a lot," Ryu finished his speech, turned around and got one last look at his father, before joining Azazel, Vali and Akeno.
The rest of the funereal proceeded smoothly, a lot of people offered their condolences to Ryu and offered assistance in case he needed it.
He also met, Raynare, Dohnaseek, Mittlet and Kalawarner.
These 4 were directly under Azazel, and they couldn't be any happier. Azazel had punished these 4 for their mistakes, but later they proved their loyalty to him, and were now his personal little proteges.
Azazel trained them, to be much more than canon fodder, and... to his surprise, these 4 actually were actually quite talented.
Baraqiel was one of them, he kept his distance from Akeno and only looked at her from afar, since this was a funereal.
Seeing her father up close, Akeno felt a lump in her throat.
And... for some reason, Kokabiel's words kept ringing inside her mind.
But Akeno didn't want to do that, she didn't want anything to do with her father because of his mistake, the mistake that cost the life of her mother.
A very large part of her, despised that man.
But... deep down, in a very secluded place in her heart, she loved him.
After the funereal was over, Ryu and Akeno went back to his place.
They had dinner, and went to bed.
They were laying in bed, facing each other but neither was asleep.
Akeno was thinking about Baraqiel, and if she should try talking to him, and to try to fix their strained relationship.
Kokabiel's words were bothering her.
"Ryu," Akeno asked, "...I need... advice."
"What is it?" Ryu asked
"Should I try to... reconcile with my father?" Akeno questioned.
Ryu thought about it for a while, looking at her eyes and her quivering lip. He could tell that she was really struggling with this.
"...I don't know the exact details," Ryu finally spoke, "But I could sense the tension between you and that Baraqiel man. Akeno, if you want me to be honest, then I think you should really give him a chance."
"In the future... you might regret, not fixing your relationship. Baraqiel looks like he's trying, he really wants to fix the relationship between you two, I could see him looking at you, and only at you. He definitely cares about you, more than you think he does, so I say yes, go for it."
A single tear slipped out from Akeno's eye. Ryu reached and wiped it off of her face, and brought her closer to him.
"Thank you... I needed to hear that from someone," Akeno spoke, her voice strained.
"Anytime, I'm here for you." Ryu said to her with a smile.
Akeno blushed slightly and looked away from him, a small shy smile also on her lips.
She then cuddled up to him, and Ryu wrapped his arm around her.
Akeno fell asleep listening to Ryu's heartbeat which sounded like a lullaby.
Author's note: holy shet 30 chapters.