I don't own High School DxD.
- o = | ) x [ T ] x ( | = o -
The game has been out for three years now and it's only now that both the ARI System v. 1 and it's most popular game, Broken Shackles of Strife and Strike, it's coined as a fantasy game of second chances, are at a much lower price. Sure, the news report that there's going to be a version 2 coming out for December but that's a good six months away and will be expensive. It's not like the version 1 is going to stop being reverent right away anyway, besides, there's plenty of other games he could play if he doesn't like Broken Shackles.
His mom gets a look at the game he picked and she seems rather pleased that it's not his typical selection, not that Issei is going to point out that the game also sports scantily clad women within the game and he's somehow manages to keep his mouth shut about the idea of creating a female Avatar just so he can play around with his own set of Oppai anytime he wants! After all, the ARI System v. 1 is suppose to feature the ability to make the games feel real, well the feeling ability is suppose to be fine it's the other senses that weren't that sensitive, common complains had to deal with smell, taste, and detecting temperature fluctuation. An Elf, oh... which sub-type should I pick?
Even purchased, the impatient ten year old didn't get to go home, having gone to the store with his mom, punishment from getting caught looking at mature sites two weeks ago. Issei is not trusted to be alone at home by himself nor is he allowed to be on a computer in his room either. His parents only allowing him on the computer in the living room, where they can keep an eye on what he's doing on the computer. His grounding is for another two week as well, so with this game, he should get an eyeful of the bounty that is Oppai, even if it's fake Oppai.
It's at a store that he gets struck by the perfect name for his future Avatar, Kanna's Edge! It's not until he's home and his mom makes sure he actually does some reading on the game that he becomes dispirited at finding out just how popular that name is on the forums and there's a lot of other ways people spelt it, although, most of those using are girls and then he runs a search over just the name Kanna's and finds a lot more Usernames. With a sigh, he decides to see if there's a tip thread when it comes to picking names and upon hitting search it reveals that there is no Kanna's tip. It takes him a few seconds to figure out how that happened only to realize he didn't delete Kanna's from the search but then, he considers the name Kanna's Tip and figures why not?
Still, he does get around to reading threads when it comes to the various Classes that users pick from, Typically, these Classes govern your usual Stat progression yet you do get 5 points each Character level up to spend as you see fit. Theses points can also be used to increase a Skill by 2 points, the max for any Skill is 100, so you'd get Beginner Dodge and once it's at 100, you then unlock Intermediate Dodge that needs to be at 100 to unlock Expert Dodge, and you need to find a Skill Book called Master Dodge before unlocking that. And yes, you can learn out of Class Skills but they do cost 2 of these points to do so, well, all Classes save for this supposed Free Form Style of play, which few people pick as they only start with a single Skill called Mimicry, which can't be ranked up at all, it allows the Free Form Character to mimic a Skill they saw being used and can only be used at the rank level of the person they are mirroring.
The Skill resets every twenty-four hours automatically and no, you don't actually learn the Skill as you are mimicking. Although compared to other Characters, the Free Form Style allows for purchase of 1 Skill for 1 point, that's really the only benefit beside the whole auto selecting which three Stats you want to increase when you Level up. Those three Stats get an increase of 3 and then you have to re-select the Stats you want to go up when you Level up again, you also can't change the selection. With a Class, you generally saw an increase in five Stats instead of just three when you Level up. It's why it's an unpopular style, not that there aren't a few powerful Characters throughout the various servers who are of said style, it's just that, it's a lot of work, time invested as well as thought.
Although he did find out that there's this game equipment that's suggested for those looking to spend a lot of time within the game, it's a set of special glasses that sport ear phones that also double as a heart rate monitor and a video camera plus audio recording. Getting it means also installing this game schedule planner too but, well, yea. He's not that serious about this game, and it's only for this game, so why waste the money? The ten year old also doesn't get why anyone would need a game schedule planner either, kind of sounds like something only a grown up would like and use.
And so, before its his bed time, he heads for his room with the ARI System plus Broken Shackles. After snapping on the visor and ear coverings to the thick head band that's pretty wide, he puts it on once he's put in the cord to the plug in. The wireless router is already plugged in down stairs and thus, Issei lies on his bed, trying to get comfy before finding out that he's got to preform some exercises using those mesh gloves, making sure to connect them into the head band before he continues. Which takes like, five minutes and also involves touching various parts of his body as best as he can.
A few things do flash before his eyes but he's too focus and tired to care. With it done, he's now able to take off the gloves, which he does so gladly and is sure to unplug them from the headband. Once more, he gets onto his bed and presses the button that's on the left side of his head band to enter into the game, which is in the game reader. There's the usual game developers logos with minor animations and then there's the first time game using cinematic, finally, he gets to make his Character!
He puts in Kanna's Tip, which gets accepted and then a blank Character model. He goes straight to the Race and picks Elf: Wood and the model takes on actual features! The hair and eyes are fairly bland, being black hair and hazel green eyes. He changes the hair color to a bright blond and his eyes to a bright green. He also finds that yip, he can alter the model and so he toys around with stretching the limbs, but the limbs generally return to a normal length and width. He gets around to playing with his Character's chest only, the breasts don't remain as big as he tries to make them, although his shoulders seem positioned different but ignores it.
It's not until he notices the Character Age Appearance is set to human age ten next to it does it dawn on him why. So, he alters the age appearance to that of human age seventeen, the model matures yet, looks male. Issei finds the Gender selection but can't change it from Male. Pouting, he crosses his arms over his chest as he didn't want some guy Character. Still, he tries to adjust the chest and yes, the chest does alter under his touch. It takes him some time but in the end, the result isn't huge Oppai like he wanted but there's enough of a hint of what he wanted. "Might be able to pull it off with the right cloths..."
He recalls the throat being a spot that needs to be altered as girls don't have the same throat thing that boys do. The kid manages to shrink it down until it's barely there, it's still there but you have to know what your looking for. Returning to the body, he does his best to mold the rest of the body into a kind of girlish shape. It's not a lot but with the right cloths...
Which bring him to the bulge in the covered underwear. Again, it takes some doing but it does shrink and with it shrunk, he manages to move it a bit more under him too. It, of course, adjusts to a more, well, nature position but, well, it's enough.
He studies the Character's model again and decides to alter the eyes to a more red yellow color and the hair to a slightly honey brown color. He also lengths the hair a bit but leaves most of the features be as the face seems rather borderline between boy and girl, which comes more as a girl with longer hair. Elves natural have slender hands and muscles. As a Wood Elf, the skin color is kind of darker then he'd like, so he does his best to lighten the skin tone to simple light brown tan look. He adds a spattering of slightly copper colored freckles under each eye and a thin line of two on the bridge of the nose.
Moving away, he rotates the model and does some back adjustments but otherwise, save for the fact that the Character is still a boy in the end, Issei did his best to girlie it up. Not caring if this Character ages, he doesn't check the box for Ageless, he's an Elf, they're, like, the longest lived race in the game nor does he check the box that keeps his Character from displaying past injuries. Not that it matters, after all, they have Potions and Magic to get rid of such scarring. He does check the box that allows for limb regeneration, cause he didn't want to accidentally lose a limb like a leg and be forced to Log Out, after all, then he'd have to make another male character when he doesn't even know if he wants to keep playing. He checks the box to hide his Character's Gender along with his Level.
Then comes his Class and with a huff, he doesn't bother to look at any of the Classes, picking the Free Form Style option, cause if he likes the game, he'll just make another Character and pick a Class then. This causes cloths to actually appear on his Character and finally, he needs to pick a Server and then a Birth Country for Kanna's Tip. He picks Server 87, it's got a low population and it's also one of the Role-Playing Serves too, which suits him just fine. As for Birth Country, well, he picks the equivalent of China as it's huge and has the highest rural population. Also, there's like eight Character who picked it as well while the Japanese or Korea areas already have between fifty and a hundred Players in those areas.
He's then given the option of Logging Out or Entering the Game. He logs out, after all, he's got school tomorrow, the day after is Sunday, he can give the game a proper chance then.
] ? ^ _ V _ ^ ? [
At level 51, Kanna's Tip's CHA is at 210, it began at 10 and as it's been the only Stat that he's kept selected for each Level up and he's also managed to earned through various Quests another 50 points to it. There's plenty of Items and Potions that can be used to add temporary points to it either through wearing said Items or the duration of any Potion drank. He's got a tidy stock of cosmetic Potions in his Inventory that allow his Character's hint of breasts to grow out into actual breasts along with what size he wants them to appear as, same goes for his waist.
The truly laugh out loud feature he's found though? Is the fact that gender cloths can be worn by the opposite sex! There's no lock out when it comes to what kind of stuff you can wear, it's only can you pull it off? With those cosmetic Potions, he's long since proven that he can. Not that he always wears female clothing these days, that got boring after he figured out that gender thing out along with finding out about those cosmetic Potions.
So, he did some research about things and figured he'd switch freely between the two genders, even learning the proper gender neutral way of speaking for days when he didn't feel like going in either direction. In someways, a lot of his obsession and worship of Oppai or breasts have died down too, since he began employing those cosmetic Potions targeting the chest area. He's also purchased the ones dealing with his waist equipment, just to further spread confusion on the issue of Kanna's Tip's actual gender.
His finger slowly moves about the rim of the [Alchemy Jar]. Remembering his first game session and how he was lucky enough to find someone using a combat Skill that didn't need a weapon. He's activated his only Skill and then went out to fight low level monsters about the [Starting Area]. It's not until a bit later that he realizes that the game likely arranged for him to pick up that combat Skill in the first place, to help him Level up.
Once he Leveled to 2, he was allow to select which Stats to gain that first +3 to and picked CHA right off the bat. Thinking about it, he pick CON and then STR, as he had check the copied Skill to find out what Stat it relies on. So, his STR became 13, DEX 12, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 11, and CHA 13. Issei saved his 5 points and then he had to select which Stats he wanted to see increase when he Leveled to 3, CHA was the first that he picked and then he settled on STR and DEX as he recalls that there's plenty of Quests between 2 and 5 that help increase CON real fast.
Once he'd been teleported from the [Starting Area], he found himself at the Capital City of his chosen Birth Country. He's been smart enough to find people to teach that Beginner combat Skill, a Beginner Monk Class Skill called Inner Balance, Beginner Search Skill, Beginner Sprint Skill, and he then used his final point to increase his Beginner combat Skill to 2. He then went off and found a new Skill to mimic, a gathering Skill and went off to do some experience grinding.
It wouldn't be until three months had passed before he even encountered a fellow Player and by then, he'd discovered those cosmetic Potions and the fact that he could wear clothing marked for female Characters. Issei can't help but grin at how confused Lin WeiXian had been when he'd slipped away to the nearest private room just as his two Potions duration was ending and instead of drinking two new ones, he downed his first male cosmetic Potion after switching cloths. Yea, the other's mouth opened and he kept looking at his hovering name and at his Character, he then began using male speech pattern and, well, yea.
That reaction had been what really got him to stick out playing as Kanna's Tip instead of him deleting the Character and making a new one now that the three month timer had become zero. It's that reaction that still makes playing Kanna's Tip worth it since yea, playing Free Form is a frustrating exercise and it's causing him to do so much more planning and strategizing then he'd dreamed. Unlike many others, he's never used his 5 points to increase any of his Stats, it's always been using most for new Skills or increasing them closer to that 100 max. He's long since at Expert with his first combat Skill, Street Brawling, and he's, surprisingly enough, a Master at that Monk Skill Inner Balance.
He doesn't really get what it was that he did to grind the Skill up so fast but it had always been his highest Skill. It's puzzling and he's always tried to find out just what it does besides helping speed up the count down of a debuff along with allowing helping with his ability to keep standing, yet that's really all there is to the Skill. Issei gets the feeling that he's missing more then a few pieces of the puzzle as it were when it comes to it.
Looking down at the [Alchemy Jar], he studies the timer that's counting down. He picked up the Alchemy Skill in hopes of carving his Character's name more into the 'history' books of the game but seeing if he can use the Skill to grow missing parts, like fingers and such. Of course what I plan to 'grow' is something Kanna's Tip doesn't have but wished the Character could possess. Issei reflects with a bit of a bemused smirk.
The idea of offering actual grown limbs made with a Character's in game blood and flesh for free... Well, is something he's certain will help his reputation as more then a lot of Players are grumbling over Kanna's Tip's gender and accusing him of breaking the game. "It's hardly my fault that nobody realizes what cosmetic Potions can effect."
Again, it's a gender issue and the assumption that a male Character has to stick with the correct gender Items. Any pranks that cause a guy to grow breasts are written off as a debuff or getting hit with a Curse. An illusion hiding the marking for gender specific armor or general cloths? Someone used a Transfiguration Spell on said Items to make them appear more suitable for a woman and they hurry to sell the Item in question.
Ok, maybe that's kind of a cruel bunch of pranks but still, they could actually muse over how it is they can actual put those on or why it doesn't have the short count down of a either debuff or a Curse. Issei muses to himself. He's had to deal with a lot of flake from both genders when it comes to how he Role-Plays his Character as a he, she, and a they, a lot of them seem rather frustrated about the issue and the lack of response from their complaints to the game company.
Oh, he did once think about doing a grand reveal of his Character's gender but, well, getting hounded about it so badly, he's become rather defensive of it and taken it's none of their business. The whole swinging between the two actual genders and the so called neutral one, it's become something he likes to do and wants to continue doing. Some how, along the way, Kanna's Tip has become more to him then just a game Character, the Character became a way to explore the boundaries of what is gender identity and does he really want to fit in such a narrow definition that's around him?
He's not sure when it mattered to him in the past two years and so, he did some searching online about gender identity and found a lot of stuff to read. It's kind of reassuring to him that he's hardly the only one who'd figuring that out and yea, there's been plenty of Players within the game who'd found that trick about cosmetic Potions and gender Items. There's actual Guilds where those kinds of Players band together but they also fact criticism and derision, particularly once their Character's genders get confirmed.
The count down ends and it's ready for him to add a bit of his blood and flesh. He slices the top layer of Digital skin off of his left wrist and then stab a finger tip for the blood. A lid automatically pops into place and he downs a Minor Regeneration Potion. The count down is surprisingly short, only four hours and the jar is now [Kanna's Tip's Experimental Alchemy Jar]. Yea, he made this [Alchemy Jar] once his Alchemy Skill reached Intermediate, it's when Alchemists can begin creating [Lesser Homunculus] that tend to take the shape of a hand or flying eyeball using a bit of blood of the Alchemist to activate the creation and bind the result.
Checking the time, he stretches and waits for the auto Log Out to happen, after all, he's final class of the day should be ending in ten minutes. Those glasses were so worth it! I wouldn't have gotten to this Level so fast if I'd stuck to the using the head band to play this game. The fact that the glasses also somehow cause his body to be on some kind of auto pilot mode throughout school hours just icing on the cake.
"Headache is worth the price too." It's gym period that he can't stick to playing the game with though. So he does have to deal with the loud noise of his classmates and the headache that comes with trying to absorb his class lessons that his body had been learning without him being in the driver seat if you will.
Within seconds, he's out of the [Alchemist Workshop] and within seconds, his classmates around him are stuffing their stuff into their book bags. He follows suit a touch slower as he's adjusting to the sudden shift that comes from finding himself in his body once more. He'll nap once he gets home, it always helps him absorb the day's lessons and then he'll begin on doing his assigned reading, supper and then he'll do his homework.
Tomorrow, as class starts will the portable ARI in the form of glass will auto Log him into the game. By then, his experiment will be done and he can check the result. Come Sunday, he'll take a break from playing and likely sit around watch TV or maybe he'll do something productive and go out for a run.
] ? ^ _ V _ ^ ? [
"Hold still!" He tries to knee the guy once more but the guy to his right interferes. He narrows his eyes, oh, he knows what's coming and he dreads it but that doesn't mean he doesn't fight but the three keep him pinned to the ground.
Finally, the knife rips into his waist band and the cloths vanish, leaving him bare for the guy to get a proper look and he feels his face redden along with tears already threatening. "The FUCK?!" But chains wrap themselves about the trio as Characters sporting the gold text appear.
"That's not possible! That's cheating!" The one who got a look at his privates howls.
"We have issued warnings of this nature before but it seems that it's time for a harsher punishment." He gets up and is quick to put on something to cover his lower part with. "You three and those you hired you are from hence forth banned."
Issei hears a scream that gets cut off and look to where the guy who sliced up his pants had been. There's nothing but a pile of ash. "We will compensate you for your ordeal." He glances at the pair, he sniffles a bit but nods, in a game like this where it's very much an open world, some people do end up abusing it.
The woman moves and kneels down, he allows himself to be pulled in and begins to cry. The game moderator rubs his back as he continues to cry. He'd done his best to get away from those three but, well, it hadn't been enough.
After a while, he does calm down and asks, "Just what did I do? I mean, I tried something but I never got to check the results."
"Ah, well, the theory behind what your experiment was sound and to be honest, we're rather impressed you succeeded in using Alchemy to create something like it." The woman moderator explains. "I think you forgot the fact that it's suppose to bind to the blood donor the moment it's done and so, the moment you Logged in the next day..."
It takes Issei a few seconds to put that together and, well, he goes pale and then red with wide eyes. "Oh gods, the jar shattered and it auto bound it to my Character at that moment?!" Yes, he did get a large dose of experience and his Alchemy Skill did go up by a heaping twenty points but he'd never figured out why he couldn't find the result.
"My Character is a hermaphrodite now?" He asks and the woman remarks, "Not so much, to be a true hermaphrodite, it needs to actually function. It's not due to the physics of your in game body and how it's not fully integrated it is to that body's systems."
"So, it's little more then a cosmetic Alchemy decoration and thus is going fade away on its own." Issei muses as he realizes what the game moderator has revealed to him. He now wants to find some place private and fully examine that part of himself.
"It might cause some loss of health as it does so." She tells him and he does recall how he's gone down in health one a week for the past month. It had been easy to correct it but still, it's good to know the reason why.
"And given your clear feelings on the matter, I doubt anyone will know how to react to this news." The other moderator muses, there's a clear smug tone there. "After all, it's nobody's business about how someone wants to go about playing this game and it's about time that it's driven into certain thick skulls that their opinions are unwanted."
He's not sure how to respond to that but, in the end, the pair do teleport away and he gets a notification about that compensation. It goes into his Inventory and he finds himself feeling emotionally drained but, well, he gets up and without sparing the piles of ash any glances, he head for his current lodging. It takes him some minutes to get to and there's a few Players who give him odd looks, which makes him wonder how many people knew about what was going to happen to him today?
Snorting, he ignores them for now. It shouldn't be long before news of both the ban gets around along with the news concerning that his gender is still up in the air. Once secure in his room, he checks the time and finds that he's still got two hours before he'll be auto Log Out of the game. Which is a question of what to do when he isn't up for facing other Players for now.
With ease, the cloths he's wearing are sent to his Inventory and he moves to stand before a polish metal mirror, studying his front. The twelve year old then uses his dominate hand to begin feeling around under his body. It's an odd feeling from both the skin down there and from his finger tips but he can feel the folds of skin. Biting his lower lip a bit and he's leaning a forward as he thinks if he wants to continue to feel around this new addition of his Character's body.
Mentally debating with himself, he realizes that it's his body and that this is just as much a part of him as those Potion grown breasts, which he had no problem touching or playing around with before. This isn't all that different. He reminds himself.
With that, he continues to feel that area, feeling around to find where the folds end along with how firm they are. The area isn't as sensitive as his actual male parts or his actual skin but he can still feel that part of him. He also sighs and pulls his hand back while standing straighter, realizing that if he's going to continue forward, he'll have an easier time sitting down or laying on the bed. Once he's settled on the bed and comfortable, he returns to touching himself in that area.
There's this sense of surrealism as his fingers do gain entrance and he runs his fingers gently over the opening his fingers have found. This area continues to give him odd feed back, his fingers feel everything just fine while that area continues to be fair less sensitive. He knows that it should be fair more sensitive but realizes that what the moderator told him about it not being fully integrated with his Character is likely the reason for this lack of sensitivity.
"I'm going to have to go through the process to make another to figure out just what I bound to myself, aren't I?" He muses as he stops with his touch examination and allows him to just rest on the bed. "Going to have to do it while this one is here too, can't bind to me with it already at the location."
Slowly, he finds himself drifting off to sleep, the emotional exhaustion finally taking its toll.
( = [ - + T + - ] = )
"Why did you want us to transfer to this Server?" Vali asks, it's been two years since he's bothered to play Broken Shackles and his Character, Strongest White Draco is a Level 70 Half-Orc Fighter, Sub-Class being Battle-Master with a Great Weapon style. His first Character for the game had been a Free Form Style and those three months had been frustrating as Hell, he'd deleted that Character and went on to create Strongest White Draco, Draco for short and picked some place in Africa as a Birth Country.
"Well... You know those people who like to Role-Play gender neutral or the other gender?" Winter's Coat, Kuroka's Level 92 High Elf Druid, Sub-Class Circle of the Moon. He gives her a flat look, he could careless about a persons private viewing of themselves.
"Ah, well, you see, Server 87 has a fairly infamous one by the name Kanna's Tip and when some Players took it upon themselves to clear up the matter... Well, it didn't get clear up the matter, like at all." His subordinate tells him. "Also, the three involved and those who hired them have been banned from the game after they... Checked."
"I should care about this... Why?" He already has an idea of what likely happened and has little sympathy for a gang up on a weaker Player.
"What's another thing of interest is that Kanna is a Free Form Style Character along with being on for almost three years now." Ok, yea, that is interesting, but it also means that the Character isn't all that high of a Level as Classes have an easier time Leveling up do to starting with more Skills and get new Class ones by Leveling up. "Also offering replacement limbs for free, as in actual Digital blood and flesh to replace the one they lost."
"Why?" He finally asks, at a loss as to what could be gained from such an arrangement. "Well, nobody's thought to find out if they could create replacement limbs using Alchemy before and now that people know it's possible, everyone is mourning the missed out profit and, well, cursing out Kanna for setting the bar at the cost."
But there isn't... Ah... He kind of approves in a way. "I take it people are now trying to figure out how to do more then just grow replacements?"
"Of course they are but they're still trying to figure out how they created them in the first place, just because it's now an in game option for those with Alchemy Skill at Intermediate level doesn't mean they know how to tweak and creating those jar are expensive!" Kuroka would know, as she's got it as a craft Skill and makes money creating cosmetic Potions along with a Transfiguration Potion that allows the drinker to transform into a random race, it's not a complete Transformation and only lasts twenty-four hours, it's also expensive to make which makes it a rare and expensive Potion, there's different versions that alter just a single body part but it's random in application.
"You want to quiz them for the discovery." Vali realizes and finds that's a better reason then why he thought they were here for. "Well yea, but I really want to know!" And his raise opinion drops back down with that announcement.
They wander around the equivalent of China in the game until he spies honey brown head with the name of the Player Kuroka wants to pester. Without any warning he heads in the direction and gets a better sight of the Player, who clearly feeling feminine given the cloths and the bumps on the chest. "Hey! Wait up!"
Kanna pauses and looks in their direction, the eyes are a red yellow and there's copper freckles that, well, means that the other is a Wood Elf. No Level floats next to the name and the cloths clearly meant to make them look good. A scan of the waist doesn't betray anything nor does getting a look at the throat. "Hello." There's a smile and it takes him a second to realize that there's no make up while the seemingly female Player seems to be in a relax pose.
Kuroka begins cooing and complimenting both Kanna's looks, cloths, and figure. It's pretty clear to him that Kanna has an idea of where this is going to go but seems resigned to the out come. Then again, it's hardly a new experience for them.
"She want to know how you came up with the limb replacement thing." He breaks up the conversation before Kuroka gets around to that question. Oh look, surprise. The teen can't help but smirk toothily at the look the Nekomata gives him.
"Alchemist as a Class or just a crafting Skill?" Kanna inquires, clearly happy to change the topic. "I'm just curious."
"Crafting Skill. I use it to make most of my money from cosmetic Potions and, sometimes, the complete body Transformation Potion." Kuroka answers.
"Transformation... Oh, I hear of those kinds but the minor ones area random and the results are hilarious to look at." Kanna grins. "I also heard about the full body one, just how complete is that Transformation?"
It takes him a bit to realize that they're likely dealing with someone with a high CHA, ok, it took hm far too long to figure that out but at least he did figure it out before Kanna manages to slip away. "I don't suppose you'll get around to mentioning the limbs?" He asks with a look that suggest that he's not letting the other leave until he hears something about that.
"That? That's just a modification to the recipe of creating a [Lesser Homunculus]." Kanna states with a clear sense of bemusement over the whole issue. "You use flesh of the target so it matches up with the person and blood to bind it, it's in making the jar that you can alter the limbs themselves."
"The jar? The secret is in the jar?" Kuroka questions in a tone that clearly seems to suggest that it's unbelievable.
"Well, I find it better if you make the jar manually, it seems that if you toy around with what you put in the clay before firing it up, it could speed up the creation at the expensive of the quality, it can also be switched around in turn." The Wood Elf Player informs them. "Yea, you do have to wait for the jar to cool off but it's often worth the hassle."
"Would that also influence the Homunculus made?" Wonders Kuroka, it's one part to Kanna and one part to herself. "Yea, it would, you mentioned quality being sacrificed for speed..."
"I think we lost her." Remarks Kanna as his subordinate has a thumb nail close to her mouth and eyes clearly focus within. He merely grunts and Kanna's eyes flicker in a way that suggest that are checking the time.
"Well, nice meeting you." Kanna's eyes sweep him from top to bottom before drifting back up. It's a gesture that usually gets his hackles up but given it feels overly deliberate, it does and he snorts.
Kanna's Tip continues on their way and he watches as the other Player leaves, there's a bit of hips swaying but not in what he knows is a flirting manner. "Definitely high CHA." He murmurs to himself.
He's pick up to Skills to help fend off such high CHA before but then, neither are beyond Intermediate level and it wouldn't surprise him if the other Player has a number of social Skills. "Seems the type." The teen age Half-Devil muses. Such Skills can stack along with any bonuses the cloths offer. The lack of a weapon means they're a brawler. He muses.
In the end, he pushes the matter away, the other Player is likely a university student and it wouldn't surprise him that they are also in the closet when it comes to their gender identity along with preference. Vali is tempted to try snapping her out but heads off in a different direction, it's been a while since he's played and he goes through his Character's Stats and Skill lists. Then into his Inventory and there's a few things he isn't sure why he's holding onto...
( = [ - + T + - ] = )
Issei glances over to where Strongest White Draco, it's been two months since he encountered the other and then glances at Winter's Coat, the snow themed High Elf that sports bright white hair along with skin, the eyes are violet. It takes him a few seconds to realize that both are using the Mentor Program and it takes him a bit to pick out their Student, both are Level 5.
The Paladin is a Human, sporting blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. The name floating above the head is Mordred of Pen-Dragon and appears to be in his early twenties. The armor is a chain mail shirt and there's a long sword.
The Sorcerer that's in Mordred's company is a young teen who's energy and manners kind of reminds him of someone far younger then the Character's appearance. Given the age he actually is, he's hardly one to point fingers when it comes to playing older Characters. The name over her head is Artoria Le Fay, sporting much brighter blond hair and emerald green eyes, she's also clearly a Half-Elf. The hint of scales means Artoria's Sub-Class is Draconic Bloodline, the color of the scales are gold.
Curiosity satisfied, he continues on, heading for the [Quest Board] that's near the fountain. It's been a month since he decided to dodge his usual questioners by leaving his Birth Country. It's kind of surprising to see the pair again, even if it's just by accident. His dress is more masculine, used a cosmetic Potion to alter his hair coloring, it becomes a bright red for some reason, and he drank an Illusion Potion that randomly generates a name, not that he can see what the name is. His current mimicked Skill is Archery, the bow and arrows are common quality.
It's nearing lunch time at home while it's more like morning here at the UK country, which means there's few Players in the game. Getting at the board, he gives the fountain a look, it sports a pair of fighting dragons. The Illusion covering the stone work has the two being a red one and a white one. Both are Western looking, although the white one looks more slender then the red. No water sprouting from either of their mouths.
Looking away, he touches the [Quest Board] and the language is clearly English but, well, he's not overly fluent. So, he does his best to read using his minor knowledge of written English. Some words are just too similar to each other yet mean different things. As he picks five Quests from the board, he feels someone forcefully turn him and finds himself face to face with a very blood thirsty Strongest White Draco.
"[Arena], now." And then the Half-Orc leads the way and he glances to fine the trio positioned around, although Artoria looks guilty upon his gaze upon her. "Best not leave him waiting, Welsh's Heir." Issei hears Winter's Coat remark behind him.
Given that White's Coat is such a high Level and as a Druid, he looked up their names, she's more then capable of Transforming into a flying beast using [Wild Shape]. Feeling like he's some kind of criminal, there's not much he can do besides head to the [Arena]. His Level is 69 now, not that it means much given that the Half-Orc is a Fighter along with being Level 70, meaning he's built for combat while Kanna's Tip is more geared towards crafting and talking his way out of situations then, you know, fighting with weapons, body, and magic.
Right now, his CHA is 297, he earned another 30 points from Quests and from leveling up. His most social Skill is Expert Haggling, which allows him to barter prices down along with helping him sell stuff at a higher price, which isn't going to help any as he's not trying to sell anything nor buy. His next two social Skills are both Intermediate level, Diplomacy and Etiquette. From his ability to read the situation, he's pretty sure that there's no way to open any kind of dialogue to settle this peacefully.
If not for his Mastery of the Monk Skill Inner Balance, he'd be freaking, emotional mess right now. The thirteen year old is just isn't pleased with this situation and, much like that incident with those three, he can't Log Out of the game to escape this situation. He's got a number of passive combat Skills that help him not get hit as much in combat while also ones that help boost his Stats in combat, after all, he's primarily a brawler and he's got at least three styles for hand to hand combat, his first combat Skill which is Street Brawling, Eight Ultimates Boxing, and Sanshou. His Street Brawling is Expert while Intermediate is Eight Ultimates Boxing, and he's a Beginner in Sanshou.
Well, given that he's used Eight Ultimates Boxing in front of Players before, Issei figures he'll stick to his Street Brawling and Sanshou, this way he'll get it to rank up, it needs 40 more points to hit the max. Yea, it's a given that he's going to lose but perhaps he can put it off by trying to dictate terms of their Duel? That might work, if I could get out of direction conflict... Issei mentally begins to set up his argument.
They arrive at the gate that leads to the [Arena] and finally pipes in, doing his best to alter his pitch of his voice, after all, he's interacted with the two before. He's also thankful that he's more fluent in speaking English then reading it. It's all those years of sneaking onto the computer to watch American porn and making an effort to learn the language just to understand what's going on and for pointers in how to smooth talk women into seeing their Oppai.
"What will be our terms be concerning this fight?" He asks in English. It's clear by the glare that the Half-Orc gives him that he didn't care. "Your a Great Weapons style user and I'm not one for close combat."
"He makes an excellent point... Draco." The Paladin Mordred agrees in English. It's hardly that surprising that the newer Player was familiar with Draco in real life, it explains why the currently angry Player would bother with the Mentor Program. "He's fighting style is that of an Archer."
Oh joy, the bow and quiver of arrows are helping support his claim, even though what he actually meant by that had nothing to do with his fighting style. There's a minor dark look sent at the Paladin and, well, really? "How about we pick something like a competition? Best two out of three wins a prize of some sort?"
It takes a lot to get the other to, you know, actually talk in stead of communicating through body language and Looks. It seems that Draco's friends weren't overly happy with this random challenge thing as well, so he had allies in them, although he's kind of curious as to why Artoria seems to feel like this is all her fault? Still, after a good thirty minutes of wearing Draco down and whatever tunnel vision that gripped the other seems to loosen its grip, they agree to wrestling matches, the best of two wins and the loser owes the winner a major favor that the loser can't say no to.
So, the terms are set at the gate and they both agree to honor the terms. Once within the [Arena], his weapons are auto sent to his Inventory and he begins to doing some stretching. Draco's own weapons and armor are sent to the Inventory while a suitable set of clothing now covers the Half-Orcs muscular body. He takes in the sight of Draco's body and any scars, it's not that surprising that the other is bulkier and heavier set then him, even Humans tend to look bulkier and more solid then any Elf can ever hope to be.
He wonders about the Character's name, he's pretty sure Draco means Dragon, which means that the actual name is Strongest White Dragon. It's an odd kind of name for a Half-Orc to have, he wonders why the other hadn't picked a Dragonborn as his Character's race. Oh, he's looked into that race and thought them pretty cool but, well, he's not done having fun with Kanna's Tip. For all the trouble and hassle he gets from other Players, he's rather proud of what he's accomplished and is still, spitefully, keeping his gender to be a private thing and unknown to the public at large.
Feeling ready for what's to come, he advances into the ring and Draco is clearly eager to begin. They get within eight feet of one another and then a pop up comes up, asking if they are ready. He presses yes and within seconds, he's snaking out of range of a grapple attempt. He focuses on keeping out of any of Draco's grips and body rushes, he's doing his best to let the other wear himself out as the other Player is forever on the attack, he's managed to get behind to escape and even tries to flip the other onto the sandy ground that makes up the [Arena] floor.
Thankfully, Draco's over eagerness does wear the other out and he's able to successfully wrestle the other onto the ground and pin him. There's a colorful stream of curses that erupt from Draco as the [Arena] announces his win. They are teleported to the sidelines and he puts out something to drink as he watches Draco prowl around the edge, looking like a caged animal actually. Within five minutes, it's clear that Draco isn't going to calm himself down, so he begins to approach the middle once more, not particularly liking that this round is likely going to be far more brutal.
He's right as the Half-Orc throws a punch and he uses Sanshou to deflect the fist. It just continues from there and he keeps it to Sanshou once it's clear that whatever rank Draco's unarmed combat Skill is, it's not something that's high ranked, likely Beginner if he were to judge. Yea, Draco manages to land blows on him but his passives help, it's also clear that so does Draco's own passives when it comes to enduring damage. Still, Draco isn't just charging at him again and again, take minor breaks to catch his breath and to think about his next move. Yet it's clear that he's at the advantage as he's more use to fighting hand to hand then Draco.
He manages to trip Draco up and is on top of the other, using his weight as best as he can to pin the Half-Orc. The guy struggles and is about to throw him off, so, well, he figured it would prove shocking and it's also fairly daring. Issei moves down and plants his lips on Draco, the shock of what happened clearly helps and as he pulls away, he wins the match. "Good to see you again, Draco-san." He says in his native Japanese along with sounds more like the first time they meet.
Getting up, he does his best to keep from laughing out loud as Draco gets up and finally studies his face. And there's the dawning realization. He muses to himself as Draco face palms.
It's not long before another colorful stream of curses pour forth and he snorts at the picture a few of those call up. "Well, if you insist, but I never took you to be the receiver." He remarks and he gets a flat, un-amused look about.
"You know I didn't mean it that way!" Draco snaps and he responses, "Then perhaps you shouldn't be saying them loud enough for me to overhear."
"Although, if you really want to the other option, I could see about fitting it into my schedule tonight." Issei remarks and Draco's gaze goes straight to his waist before turning to look away. With a shaking head, Draco begins walking off, teleporting out of the zone once off the sand of the [Arena].
Oh so satisfying... The thirteen year old thinks to himself as he checks the duration of his Potions but they're still good. "Not only did I embarrass him but I also have a favor out of him. And here I thought I'd be reviving at the local [Graveyard]."
He waits a bit before leaving the zone himself, although he's tempted to see if he can't make his way to the stairs and see about watching other fights within the zone but he's got Quests and a new Country to explore.
( = [ - + T + - ] = )
Out of all the possibilities of how the fight could have ended, getting kissed by his destined rival was not listed upon that list he made. Nor getting confirmation about the true in game identity of the host of the Booster Gear. Let alone the two comments concerning having sex with said rival.
Then again, from what Le Fay's Divination said about today's Event, the person would possess the Booster Gear not that they'd have it active, let alone be aware of why he'd want to fight with them in the first place. The location had been right, the hair color too, and the name did imply a connection to Ddraig. If he hadn't been so geared up for beating up said host, he likely would have picked up the most singular most telling feature that the whole thing was going to pear-shaped and that was the copper freckles which would then lead him to noticing the eyes.
"So... How was your first kiss?" Kuroka asks as they catch up to him at the fountain featuring the two Heavenly Dragon Emperors.
"That was rather underhanded tactic." Arthur comments. "And then he lied about lacking in close combat!"
"That was Kanna's Tip." He states upon turning to give the Nekomata a Look. It takes her a second before she snorts and then laughs.
"Huh?" Le Fay inquires for both Arthur and her own confusion. "They didn't lie, they just meant that they weren't spec into being as good as a Fighter or the other martial Class."
"They?" Arthur is likely very lost but then, it's likely due to his up bringing as well as a lack of interest in the subject. "Kanna's Tip is a Character that's being played as a gender neutral, they do use Potions and wear the right close coming across as either gender but, well, it's a mystery of what the actual gender is." Kuroka explains, focusing on explaining that to Le Fay upon moving to stand before the young Magician.
So he gets a good view of Arthur's reaction to the news. "They're one of the few Free Form Style Players who haven't deleted the Character and picked an actual Class." The Half-Devil explains, if he'd realize just who'd he be facing, he'd have picked something very different then wrestling.
He stuck to a single style. He blinks as Albion pipes in. I would say, it was one he judged to be on the same level as your own Unarmed Combat Skill.
It's not long before he does recall that Kanna has been reported of being decently Skilled in Eight Ultimates Boxing. Given that their primary means of fighting is hand to hand, it shouldn't be that surprising that if the other wanted to, they could have easily over powered him in no time. "Not sure if I should feel insulted that he fought at my level or respect that he tried to honor the spirit of the contest." He remarks to his partner.
Not going muse on the final blow? The ancient Dragon asks and he rubs the bridge of his nose as he tries to push the very recent memory of those lips upon his own. The Dragon snorts and withdraws, there's always this migraine that happens if the Dragon and him ever have a conversation like this in Broke Shackles. It's dizzying and his head pounds, he realizes that Arthur and Kuroka are discussing the gender and it's clear that it's not one that Arthur really understands, thus is taking the usual approach about there can be no in-between, either one is born a man or they are born a woman.
"So... I could grow up to like girls, Mister Lucifer?" Le Fay asks him, having moved to stand to his right. "If you find girls to be more interesting then boys to look at, yea, it could mean that you will prefer the company of your own gender."
"But I could also grow up like both?" He gives her a slight smile. "Yes, you can."
"So, is that what Kanna grew up to be? Liking both?" Le Fay asks. "Well, yes but it's also could be that they don't fully relate to their birth gender. They likely using the game to figure out their own gender identity or just fulfilling some fantasy of theirs due to pressure from their family." He really doubts Arthur would like the fact that he's having this kind of talk with his younger sister but, well, he rather not have Azazel take it upon himself to give her the Talk.
He's still mentally recovering from when he'd been given the Talk and that was back when he was twelve. "Kind of like Arthur..." Le Fay notes and hums, yes, Arthur's problem and the reason why the blond left his parents house. "Only the pressure expressed itself in a different fashion."
"So... Kanna wasn't serious? About kissing you?" And someone brings that up once again.
"I think if they didn't want to kiss me, they wouldn't have done so." Gods that sounds lame. But there's still some truth there.
It's clear to him now that Kanna had other options about how to win, the fact that it was with a kiss... Which brings to mind the two comments but he also recalls that look of bemusement upon him realizing just who he'd ended up wrestling with along with the clear enjoyment of using his own cursing to embarrass him. It was likely done to tease me, to provoke a reaction and I felt for it.
The fight ends in a rather childish manner and they end up redoing the Mentor Program. About two hours into things calming down, he finally sends a Friend Invitation to Kanna's Tip, reasoning it as a way to know when the other does end up activating the Booster Gear although when he gets a message inquiring as to why, Vali remarks about the owed favor being the reason. It's accepted soon afterwards.
( = [ - + T + - ] = )
Watching the retreating form of... Well, he's pretty sure that isn't her actual name and the whole thing doesn't really help with the pounding of his head. Personally, Issei doesn't know why Kuoh Academy went co-ed nor had he thought he'd end up attending the former all girls school, he's pretty sure that if he had still possessed the mind set of his ten year old self, he'd be weeping in joy and thanking every Gods for getting in.
Ever since he step foot on the grounds, Issei feels like something is pressing down on him and while he can escape that feeling by Logging into the game, his body is exposed to it and, well, it's long since made his headaches so much worse. What's even stranger is that he got a notification that he needed to learn a Monk Skill called Spiritual Balance if he wished to continue playing the game, which he did and is now getting close to ranking into Expert in, he only picked it up in April, about two days after the school year began, which was just about two months ago as it's the beginning of June! And yea, his headache has gone down and he doesn't feel like he's about to drown when he's entering or exiting the school, but it makes no sense of how that would help anything.
The fifteen year old had thought about messaging Draco about the issue as the Half-Orc Player had become something of a good friend since that wrestling match. They've had a few other contests and he lost his fair share of them but he's also scratched out some honest wins as well. The wrestling match had been more in his favor then in Draco's due to the other's mental state, which made the other far more aggressive then the other normally is.
It hadn't been all that long before he ended up with Artoria also on his Friend list, she was just so bubbly and likable that he didn't have the heart to deny such a simple request. To be honest, he likely sees Artoria more then Draco in the game as she's interested in the mechanics behind how he could pass himself off as a woman and yea, he did help her pass herself off as a guy once. Even used the new Picture function of the game to get a few pictures of her like that, including a Illusion Potion for the name. He did send her copies of the pictures and then she recuperated by taking some of him as a guy, woman, and gender neutral. He hasn't mentioned the ability to create genitalia with the [Alchemy Jar] but he likely will if she ever thinks to ask if it's possible.
Yea, they told each other their actual age and then Artoria shared that Draco thought he was likely somebody in his twenties, along with in the closet about his sexuality. He almost felt like laughing upon hearing the first part but finds himself wanting to wince at that. After all, he knows he's not that normal as a kid, after all, what kid is that obsessed with breasts from age six? Even his reason for buying this game related to that obsession and if not for the whole discovery of those cosmetic Potions for breasts, he'd have dropped the game and looked for something that would have 'feed' that obsession.
It's one of those things he tries to forget about himself but, well, he does find a sense of freedom within the game when it comes to being able to freely pick his gender within the game. And yea, he had done some checking out his fellow guys in the past as much as he's been checking out the girls but, well, they don't have anything he hasn't done to himself in game so he shrugged the matter off do to at least two good reason. Also, it had been last year, when he was fourteen and he started dreaming things that means he needs to wash his sheets when he started. Then three months of eyeing his classmates before realizing that, one, they weren't that developed and, two, he's seen such things on Kanna's Tip's body since the age of ten.
Pausing at the sounds of a boyish screams and the war cries of teenage girls, Issei blinks before shaking his head at the actions of the school's most prevalent perverts, a pair of fellow fifteen year olds by the name of Matsuda and Motohama, who also get at logger heads with one another over the use of any means to spy on the more numerous student population. The pair's rivalry usually ends up with them both discovered and getting on the wrong end of said peeping girls. The pain volume is gone and he continues heading home, still dealing with his pounding headache and avoiding the topic of that girl who gave him a fake name.
Checking his cell phone as he gets a mile from the academy, he finds a list of groceries from his mom. Issei pockets it and begins jogging for the market.
] ? ^ _ V _ ^ ? [
"Draco?" It's the day after his dodging the bullet with that stalker. Issei is rather amused that he'd managed to go through with calling the Player through the Calling function.
"Kanna." Draco greets. There's a bit of a wait before he gets to why he's calling, "Some girl just tired to kill me, yesterday."
"Clearly they didn't succeed..." There's a question like tone there. "Yea, she didn't but I also got approached by a senpai from my school after I got away and, well, I get the feeling she didn't expect me to be, you know, alive."
"Did someone give you a flier earlier that day?" Draco asks in a tone that is clearly controlled anger. "Yea... For the school's occult club."
"Occult... Where do you live?" The other asks and he sighs, it's not like he's under any delusion that he can keep his secrets at this point from Draco. "Kuoh Town, I attend Kuoh Academy. Second year student."
He gets the feeling that Draco is cursing, more then likely in his head given that he's often more then willing to tease the other about his choice of words. "How are you logged onto the game? Shouldn't you be attending class." Draco finally states in a controlled tone.
"Really? Oh, haven't you seen those glasses that claim that you can play anywhere? You put in your schedule that you want to be logged into the game and it auto logs you in and out. Your body seems to go into some kind of trance that sits through the listens along with answer questions and even eat your lunch. You get a headache from absorbing the information but I find a nap after school helps with that, though I've been getting worse headaches since getting transferred to Kuoh Academy." He rambles off.
"... Name, just, a name." Draco finally asks and it's clear that the other is very annoyed and suddenly suffering from a headache. "Hyoudou Issei."
There's a snicker but that does end the call. The icon fades, leaving him alone in his room. "Well, I think that went swimmingly." He muses to the empty room.
With that, he muses about what he wants to do for today along with how he's going to present himself. In the end, he didn't feel incline to either so he moves to stand before the polished metal to pick what cloths he wants to wear along with what to do with his hair.
] ? ^ _ V _ ^ ? [
He manages to slip away from the academy as quickly as possible, walking fast through the hall and once out of the building, begins jogging home. Issei isn't interested in getting pulled aside to talk with Rias-senpai about what happened yesterday. Yes, the speed doesn't do anything for his headache but that hardly matters in light of just not wanting to deal with whatever questionable business the young woman is involved with.
As he arrives at the house, he takes off the glasses and puts them into their case before entering the house. He blinks as his mom smiles at him while sitting across from a much older teen with white hair, the guy turns to look at him, there's a certain look in the other's blue eyes that's familiar along with the slight up turn of the lips. "You have a visitor, Ise-kun!"
He gives his mom a nod and resists the urge to yawn along with rubbing his forehead. He focuses on changes his shoes for slippers, greeting both of them. He's not sure what he said but he knows he manages to get them both up to his room.
He puts his book bag and jacket onto his bed, finally allowing himself to rub the bridge of his nose. "You arrived rather promptly." He muses as he sits on his bed after taking a few second to watch the other.
"And you, clearly weren't kidding about that headache." Remarks the other, who's looking at him expectantly. He presses his lips together before getting an idea of what the other likely wants to examine.
Pulling his bag to him, he unzips the spot he put the case and tosses it. The older teen catches it easily and opens, pulling out the fake glasses. There's clear interest in those eyes and he reaches for the water bottle that's on one of his night stands before opening the drawer to get the Tylenol bottle, taking out one, he downs it with a mouthful of water. He usually takes two and then settles in for a nap, but, well, he's got a guest to be host of.
"So, is there a name I should be using or is Draco good enough?" He finally asks, getting the feeling that something more is going on upon the examination of those interface glasses. "Vali, you can call me Vali, 'Ise-Kun'."
He runs a hand through his hair at hearing his mom's pet name for him. "Issei." The fifteen year old states in turn, giving permission to use his first name. He's not sure if it's because he thinks the Tylenol should work or if it's just being someplace that's automatically equals relaxing and comfortable but his head isn't pounding as much.
So, he waits, pulling his legs up onto the bed, he sits cross legged, waiting on Vali to say something or to begin questioning him.
( = [ - + T + - ] = )
He's putting off talking with the teen and, well, Vali is honest that he really doesn't know what to think of the fifteen year old, who, it seems, kissed him at age thirteen along with being ten when he made Kanna. In what world does a ten year old get obsessed with sexuality? Yet, the fake glasses are Enchanted with Magic, if he hadn't known that Issei carries the Booster Gear, he'd wonder who'd sell something like this to the general population.
They weren't meant for the general population though. He notes and suspects that any other person who saw that advertisement likely were in possession of a Sacred Gear or are aware of the Supernatural World. Albion is muddling over the implications of what other effects these glasses could cause.
"So, ten, huh?" He muses and the teen shrugs, looking far better now. "The obsession started when I was six, ten... Well, it's when it started to die, actually and I began to realize that my parents were right, it wasn't normal for a kid to be that focused on breasts." He blinks before his eyes narrowing, he'd wager a lot of money that magic likely been the cause, a visiting and bored Devil given how long Kuoh Town has been in their possession.
"And just how did you..." He's heard about the incident and people are still arguing about it today. "I used my Alchemy Skill to make one, put all that reading and stuff to use. It was the first thing I constructed involving flesh and blood."
"And, well, I didn't have one so, the next time I was on, it scattered the Jar as it attached itself to me." Issei admits. "It's generally more cosmetic in nature and I've tweaked it enough that to get rid of the unneeded parts, I mean, it's not like I need it that big up there as it doesn't do anything, well, I could likely figure out how to get it to do its function but it sounds messy and I'm not sure I want to deal with it."
He is successful in not overly reacting to that news and so, he puts the glasses back into the case, setting the case on the desk. "You get feeling form it?" Vali asks and the teen on the bed hums. "I've gotten better at making it more sensitive then it started out being. It also use to last six months before its duration gets used up."
"You've toyed around with it though." He says with a hint of exasperation because, of course. This was someone who managed to figure out a way to narrow the focus of Transformation Potions and then how to get the minor limb and head Potions to become uniform.
"Yea, the more functional one can exists for six weeks, it triggers that cycle twenty-eight days after it binds. The one that lacks the uterus, ovary, and uterine tube with a modified cervix and created gland by the modified cervix to help wet the vagina, this one can last a year." Issei states what he'd long associated with Kanna's matter of fact voice and tone. No embarrassment at all, and for some reason, he kind of expected the Player to be flustered over this topic.
In someways, it's comforting while at the same time, it's rather surreal. Vali had always figured that Kanna was older then him along with, well, thicker in the midsection and, well, sporting glasses. Fake glass aside, the fifteen year old sitting on the bed is not who he ultimately expected the owner of Kanna's Tip to be.
Feeling less intimidated, huh? His partner remarks as he finally asks about what lead up to yesterday's events. Issei sighs but does relate how this so called Yuuma approached him before he had the chance to leave Kuoh Academy, goes into describing her and he's pretty sure that she's a Fallen Angel, the question is, who sent her after the teen? He also wasn't overly impressed by the non-reaction from the co-owners of Kuoh Town and lack of warning off of her, after all, the pair should know that the teen is in possession of a Sacred Gear by this point and should be interested in keeping him safe, not using him as a stalking horse.
"You suspected she didn't give you her actual name?" He muses and Issei nods. "Yea, I mean, I had one hell of a headache but even I could tell that her confession... It was off, that she clearly wanted to do it in front of a crowd of witnesses, which, well, maybe I read and watched too much of the topic but, that kind of emotional expression tend to make the confessor feel vulnerable."
"Sure it wasn't from personal experience?" He remarks and Issei snorts. "Might have gone on a few dates but then, the gender population of Kuoh Academy is screwed towards teenage girls. It was more a sounding out of my character I think then any real interest in me personally."
"Found you're lack of interest offensive?" And the other rolls his eyes by replying, "Might have more to do with trying to find common interests then drooling over them because of their looks and because they were talking with me."
"They're young, they'll likely grow out of that." He remarks and the other hums in agreement. "True, but until they do, they're kind of a pain, waiting for them to realize that having common interests actually help a relationship and I believed I read somewhere that growing old is not an option but growing up is."
"Pretty much explains far too many of beings, from Gods to Magicians." He remarks to Albion, who snickers at the remark. "And the what happened yesterday? You didn't review it."
"Ah, yea, well, I got the flier just as I was at the market, I was there picking up something to snack on later." The teenager recalls. "It was near noon when 'Yuuma' tracked me down to try and scold me about missing this supposed date of ours." The teen snorts and it's clear as to why she likely wanted a crowd around when confronting him. "I politely informed her that I promised no such thing and asked her to leave me be."
"She tried crocodile tears and emotional blackmail... Likely would have worked on any other teenage boy my age if not for my own experience in Broken Shackles pulling the same thing." Yea, he's witnessed that once, some group of actual women Players deserved it as they had tried to make themselves feel better about themselves by doing their best to tear Kanna down. They really didn't stand much of a chance as the other managed to drive wedge within the group and, yea, there'd been infighting and members of that party ended up apologizing to Kanna about their hurtful words.
Damn high CHA... He thinks to himself, there was ever an actual Acting Skill, it wouldn't surprise him in the least if Kanna went out of her way to learn it and master it in record time.
"I was finishing up my jog around the park that she showed up again, as I was doing a cool down walk." Issei recounts and given that Kanna isn't usually logged on into the game on Sundays, it seems that it's a day that fifteen year old has from both school and from the game, it's not uncommon for Kanna not to log into the game during holidays. "I'm not sure when she got behind me but, well, she had and had this particular smirk."
"Then she... began to monologue, like a villain from a movie and the like." The teen's face gets screwed up and there's clear disbelief in his voice on having to admit that. Yea, that sounds about right. Vali admits to himself as Issei describes how calm he'd been as he began thinking of ways to get away, not really listening to 'Yuuma', just making sure to note her tone and respond to it.
"When she got rather lax, I ran, bolted to the right where the nearest tree was." He listens. "Something hit the tree seconds later but I had already began sprinting to the next and so on."
"I never looked back to see what she was doing, that's an over used cliche." The teen sitting on the bed recalls. "Looking back on it... I'm kind of shocked at how calm I felt, in some ways, it wasn't all that different then playing Broken Shackles, save for the lack of means for me to counter attack."
"You got away by getting to the street." He muses and Issei nods. "Figured she didn't want a lot of people around to witness the attempt and, well, I was a block from my house when I ended up encountering President of our Occult club, her name is Gremory Rias."
"I know of her." Vali remarks and Issei looks surprised but shrugs. "She seemed kind of sad when I spotted her but when she noted me, she looked startled. There was a minor talk concerning my health and then she asked if anything odd happened. I lied to her and it took me a minute to finally get away, but I get the feeling that she knew, about the attack or suspected that I would be."
"And you decided to call me about it." The current White Dragon Emperor notes. "Between Rias-senpai and you? I've known you longer and I figured you were fond of me, regardless of my gender fluid in game habit."
Fond is one way to put it. Shanks Albion and he ignores his partner. He hums as he tries to figure out how to go from here, after all, he knows a likely reason behind Gremory Heiress' lack of interference and could suspect that it's one of the reasons why Sitri's Heiress would follow along with letting this 'Yuuma' killed Issei. After all, Issei does possess a Dragon type Sacred Gear, they just weren't aware of it being the Booster Gear.
"Well, we'll be needing to visit both Kuoh Academy tonight and I'll be informing them that you're off limits." Issei tilts his head slightly to the side as the other studies him. "I found you first, you turned to me concerning this situation, and by their lack of actions, they pretty much retracted their protection from you which includes any claims due to you living in within their territory."
"Ok, so, what kind of expectations am I expected to fulfill or will be expected of me? I mean, this kind of sounds like there's more to this arrangement then just, well, friendship." His lips turn upwards in approval.
Oh, I can think there's plenty of positions for them to take... He mentally sighs at his partner's leading comments. Calling Issei a them, well, the teen likely is, after all, it's pretty clear that it's what the teen had been since age ten after all and seems to fall into long before hormones became a thing. "You're pretty decent when it comes to getting what you want with in game magic."
"You want to see if I'm any good at it in real life." Issei is proving just how sharp on taking minor comments and piece together based on knowing him. "Artoria's going to be the one teaching me, I take it? Some of her off hand comments and exasperation with in game magic systems for each of the Classes..."
"Have you discussed the whole genitalia construction with her?" He knows that the two hook up in game to talk about in game magic but now, well, he's pretty sure Arthur will take issue with such discussions. "No, she never asked and I never offered to talk about it."
Well one issue dodged. He is thankful of hearing that. Not that he expects that Arthur will be overly happy with the idea of Le Fay's becoming Issei's magical teacher or tutor.
"Ok, so, seeing if my in game genius for magic translates into being an actual magical genius is something, but that might not pay any dividends right away." The teen remarks and he hears Albion snort. "What can I provide in the short term though? Cause, that's what people will be on the look out for."
It takes him a few minutes to rack his brain before he recalls news about a certain missing former Holy Maiden. He smirks as he says, "You'll be on the look out for an asset, there's this missing former Holy Maiden by the name of Argento Asia and will provide her with a place to stay along with keeping her from both 'Yuuma' and her aides plus from seeking shelter from Gremory and Sitri."
"Former Holy Maiden? What did she do to become a former Holy Maiden?" Issei asks with a hint of bewilderment and confusion.
"She healed a Devil." He states simply and watches as the teen frowns at him before looking down at his hands. It's clear that the fifteen year old is doing his best to work that into his new world view.
"What other magical beings and creatures exist besides Devils?" Issei finally asks after rubbing the bridge of his nose and looking back up at him, right in the eye too. There's surprisingly none of the usual emotions in those hazel eyes, just a sort of calm interest and passive calm.
"You are far too calm for it to be normal." He states and this causes the teen to blink. "Huh, well, I did pick up the Monk Skill Inner Balance and I recently, not long after I transferred to Kuoh Academy, had to pick up another called Spiritual Balance if I wanted to keep playing the game."
"Isn't that first Skill just meant to speed up any debuffs and help with your balance? The other is meant to help manage your magical resistance and passively help in making it harder for debuffs to stick?" Issei nods and he recalls the fact that magic is involved in those fake glasses.
"In game description is also to help the user remain emotionally calm with the other's description mentioning helping the user know themselves better." The teen muses with a hand going through his hair. "Inner Balance was the first Skill to get to Master in and it's looking like I'll have Spiritual Balanced Mastered soon enough, too."
First... He knows his eyes likely widen in surprise before he narrows. "You mentioned you began to get out of your breast obsession at ten. Did you or your parents pick up on the change?"
"I... kind of started looking into biology of a woman after playing the game for two weeks. Which expanded into the animal kingdom, then plants, and into going back to review human, both genders." Issei's eyes shift and the tone is thoughtful when the other begins to talk. "I still looked up and watched porn but, I didn't focus as much on the breasts by the end of my second month of playing it. The act of it is another reason why I went back to review human biology."
Likely explains how I miss took you for a university student, you threw yourself into studying biology without regard of whether it was above your grade level. He muses to himself. "It was also by the beginning of my third month that I realized how boring it was, always pretending to be a girl and started looking for those ones for guys along with looking into gender neutral characters in video game, wondering if there's something I could use to keep people on their toes, cause I wasn't just going to come out and tell people by that point."
"It was when I actually met my first fellow Player that, well, sealed the deal and I realized the kind of entertainment to be had from other Players' reactions. That had been near the end of my third month and beginning of my fourth, kind of, somewhere in that time period at least." It hardly surprises him that Issei found entertainment in others' reactions. "Then, well, then people just started hounding me and I began doing minor pranks on those I found offended me the most. Slipping a cosmetic Potion into a drink or using an Illusion to hide a gender tag on a set of cloths..."
"I wonder if he doesn't have some blood ties to a Kitsune at this point." Vali remarks to Albion. Turning to pranks, he never would have expected that and since nobody ever caught the teen in the act, nobody ever suspected them as the cause. Most gender fluid Players rarely went on the offensive.
"Then alchemy experiment and the... so called Unveiling." He states softly when Issei's face goes blank and body language sags. The other merely nods, "Yea, I ended up crying on a game moderator as she was comforting me from That."
There have been more banning of Players when they try to preform other Unveilings on new Characters who people suspect of playing the opposite gender. He'd been twelve when that happened. Vali mentally notes and it's his turn to deal with a head ache and a bout of anger over the incident that likely been traumatizing on the preteen version of Issei.
"I, mentally, expected it to happen, there were plenty of threads and various threads going on about that kind of incidents." The teen admits. "Tried to run from them but, well, it sounded like those three had done it before, so they knew what to expect from me fleeing."
"First group of Players to get a life time ban." He remarks and Issei nods. "And it seems like some in game Skills seem to imprint themselves on Players." Changing the subject to the original reason why they began to drift towards said topic.
"The fake glasses can't be the cause, I bought them for myself on the twelfth Birthday." The teen states, giving him a simple look. "The game company?"
"Seems likely." He recalls the statue of the original Dragon Emperors. It hardly mattered about certain features, names, or even in game lore as the developers could draw inspiration from any myths and legends. It's how he dismissed such things and likely how others had as well.
( = [ - + T + - ] = )
His midsection aches but that's to be expected, given what he just drank. The pain fades within three minutes, in drinking the first dose, the pain hadn't stopped until fifteen minutes had passed, but there's now a feeling of phantom pain which never happened before. Issei sighs and sits up, he downs the next vial and this time, there's this feeling a heaviness around his waist.
Getting up, he heads for the bathroom, being sure to lock the door, and checks himself over in the mirror by simply pulling up his shirt to reveal his belly. Yea, his belly doesn't look overly different then when he started the drinking the pair of potions for the last two weeks, it's still heavy set and he looks just a bit overweight. Slapping the area, he feels it give far more then it had yesterday. "I might be ready for the next phase then."
Before returning to his room, he pulls down his pants and underwear to get a look at his currently bare waist. It's sooth right now, had been a week before he started taking the pair of potions that should be prepping his body for this experiment. Covering himself back up, Issei returns to his room and takes out the prepared board to examine his body.
The 3D Illusion image shows his internal workings and he notices that everything is ready, all that's needed is both the vial of potion, the magical arrays, and the jar. The process should put him into either a trance or asleep. So, he makes sure to text Vali to that it's looking positive and then to Kuroka prolong Asia's shopping trip for today, being sure to lock and ward the door as he waits for a reply from the two.
With that, he closes the curtains and then gets undressed. He sets up the bed and the desk, being careful with the jar, he sets it on the array and creates a box with the rest of the array around it and covering it. Setting himself upon the the array on the bed, he ensures that his belly is covered by an array. Making sure he's positioned correctly, he drinks the potion, which is a good liter of liquid, which is very bland but he gulps it down in one go, even if he does so in a slowish manner, which is already activating the array on his bed and the box array on the desk.
Pin pricks begin to work themselves into his gut, it's an odd feeling and by the time he finishes drinking the potion, the pin pricks feel like they are heating up. He lays on the bed and falls asleep with use enough time to put the bottle onto the night stand.
] ? ^ _ V _ ^ ? [
The first thing he realizes as he struggles to open his eyes and wrestle himself from sleep's embrace is someone running a hand through his hair. "Vali..." He's not sure if he succeeds in speaking that clearly.
"Congratulations are in order, you have both, the set you were born with and the one you created with Le Fay's help." His boyfriend remarks and then, he realizes somebody is stroking a certain area, which helps fully wake him up. "How are you feeling?"
"I think, if you don't stop stroking it, I might just take you here and now, regardless of your issues about my age." The seventeen year old responses. They've gotten pretty fair in the game these pass two months, which hadn't done much to stem their desire for a more physical expression of their relationship.
He's yet to awaken his Sacred Gear but it hadn't been that pressing in any of their minds, well, besides Albion wanting to troll Ddraig about Issei being the catcher in the relationship. Not that Vali hadn't said no, he wasn't interested in undergoing the process of receiving a modified woman's genitalia, it had always seemed more like a safety and ensuring it won't impact his health, after all, Vali is a Half-Devil. Which is a very reasonable concern.
Never mind that there's more then a few beings out there who likely rest easy at night, believing that whatever Sacred Gear I possesses, it can't be the Booster Gear. Muses Issei as Vali with draws his fingers from stroking his latest set of genitalia. "What's with that smirk, Ise-chan?"
"Just musing about the collective heart attacks a lot of people will have when I get around to activating my Sacred Gear." He remarks as he pulls himself into a sitting position. Vali now sports a very similar smirk and he moves to give his boyfriend a kiss on the nearest cheek before moving to kiss the edge of his lip.
"I think you need to shower, you burnt up a lot of that built up fat in fueling the transfer." Vali says after giving him a proper kiss on the lips. He feels his boyfriend's hand rubbing his belly.
"That's what I had been going for." He admits upon snuggling into Vali's chest. "Care to join me?"
"Hmm, I think if I joined you, we'd end up using far too much hot water nor will you be any less clean." The young man remarks. "I'll clean up your room while you shower."
Blinking, he takes a look around the room and does notice that there's a bit of a mess. "Ok, yea..." He hadn't expected his room to look like a mini whirl wind passed through. "I'm sure I can think up a proper reward for doing so, too."
"I'm sure you'll think of something." Within respectable limits. Went unsaid but knew it was expected.
Vali had put boundaries in place concerning their relationship, a mixture due to the whole a Devil not caring about the effects of using a bit of Compulsion magic on a impressionable kids for laughs in regards to adult activities or some feature that is meant for adults to deal with and because Vali wanted them both to be adults when they get around to doing it, both in real life and within the game. Given that his sexual foundation had been warped from a young age, yea, once upon a time, his aim had been a harem and had a very literal Unholy obsession concerning women's breast, things have changed and he couldn't be bothered to put a label on whether it was for the better or the worst. He liked to think that at least he knows more about what would have been involved in creating a harem and why it would have failed to exists long term. The same could be said for breasts, he moved passed the chest to the whole body of a woman, along with looking into reasons for why they could entice a man into idiocy and theories of why breasts were so plump all the time until other mammals' breasts.
Giving his boyfriend another kiss, he moves and gets off the bed, careful of where he steps as he leaves to go shower. Trying to put the matter of what ifs and could have beens from his mind, after all, it's clear that if Raynare succeeded in killing him and Gremory-san's desire to get out of that Marriage Contract, he'd likely be a Devil in her Peerage. It's also likely that he'd been encourage to activate his Sacred Gear. It's also possible that Asia would have also ended up reincarnated as a Devil as well, it would have been a question of which Peerage though but he suspects it would have been to Gremory-san.
Well, that wasn't very successful. He reflects as he waits for the water to get to the right temperature. Issei takes a few seconds to stand before the mirror and notice his belly along with his newly returned penis plus balls.
Using the toilet as balance as he puts a leg up there, he checks between his legs and does find the fleshy slit where he expected it to be. With that, he is satisfied and withdraws both fingers and his foot. Within seconds, he steps into the shower and begins washing off the flakes about his belly. They seems to be dry skin and come off rather easily at that.
( = [ - + T + - ] = )
He sighs as Azazel examines Issei, it's been three months since his boyfriend did the transfer. Honestly, he hadn't expected to ever tell Azazel about this but the former Governor General had tried to use a certain banned ray gun on his boyfriend, which... Didn't really result in any changes and is what got the Fallen curious, never mind his reaction to his father figure actually firing at the teen.
Oh, former leader had been pretty angry over the fact that someone without a few decades of experience under their belt went ahead with a risky experiment never mind magically grafting it in a human body. The shiner he gave the older male long since healed. Maybe I should have sicked the guy on the people who created Broken Shackles? I could do that now, if only to get him to stick his nose in someone else's business. Vali muses to himself.
"How? I mean, really, how?!" Azazel finally exclaims, giving both of the exasperated looks.
"I met Issei in that game you insisted I play, you know, the one called Broken Shackles of Strife and Strike? He figured out how to use the alchemy system to create That in game." Yea, when out of game, Issei does prefer to be considered a guy, in game, he's a they. "It turns out, some Skills of the game rub off on the Players."
"I also took a dual potion regiment for fourteen days in preparation of the grafting." Issei states. "I also sealed my natural genitalia a week before I started said potion regiment, one preparing the area in the body and the other meant to store up energy as fat in that area."
Azazel rubs his chin in thought while moving to stand and lean on a lab table. "And the organ?" Asks his guardian.
"Constructed it using samples of my actual flesh and blood. I had Le Fay's help when I started creating it." His boyfriend explains.
"Then had Asia heal the damage." Azazel muses and then the Fallen glances his way. "Is there a particular bit of news you wish to share, Vali-kun?"
"Issei's gender fluid." He states simply. The Fallen levels him look that says volumes about knowing there's more to it then that.
"In game, I figured out how to create replacement limbs, I started off with this as a starting point." Issei informs Azazel. "Part of why Vali offered his protection had to do with a lot of what I've done in game and wanted to see if that translated into my capabilities at using actual magic."
Azazel studies Issei, likely judging how truthful of an explanation that is. "And since this project worked, you have plans to continue forward with this replacement limb project." Issei hums in agreement.
"And you plan to proceed from the very beginning, recreating former experiments in order?" The older male asks. "Well, there's the whole fact that I wanted to start with this, because it's something I wanted in my actual body." Issei states with a bit of a smile.
"I know I can't have kids with this but that's really not the point. Having it means that I don't have to worry about infections from taking it up the anus. This is a far cleaner option and it's meant for the male penis, which means I'll get more pleasure with it in regards to sex." The teen states. "It's just copying what nature deemed suitable and altering it enough for my purpose."
Which, honestly, is why he never said he wouldn't go through with getting one grafted to him. Vali's concern has always been whether its safe in regards to a halfbreed like himself, they're looking into getting a sampling of Reincarnated Devils as test subjects, to what effect something like this could have on them. There have been a few touching of that nature but it's never gone further then a bit of fingering, they'd done that more in game and only started getting use to the new change in these past three weeks, they'd been careful and cautious over it, just in case something happened the first two weeks but no problems cropped up.
"Hmm, all good points, but that doesn't fully explain the shiner Vali-kun decided to grace my handsome face." Azazel remarks with his gaze switching from looking at Issei's face to his. "Meet in game, huh? There's got to be more to it then just this amazing advancement in a game's mechanics of magic, never mind Issei-kun's interest in exploring his sexual identity through this game."
"Or him possessing a Dragon type Sacred Gear." The former leader muses as he finds himself unable to say anything for about a minute. "Come now, Vali-kun, I did raise you and gave you the Talk, I think I know you well enough to say that the two of you are more then just good friends. Might not have been dating two years ago but I think that's changed..."
He mentally curses as his male role model knows him far too well. Glancing towards Issei, his boyfriend gives sends him a slight smile but shrugs upon realizing he's looking at him. "Fine, we're dating, we've been dating for almost eleven months." He confesses as he covers his eyes, feeling his face flush.
"Do your parents know, Issei-kun?" Azazel asks and the other replies, "I doubt that, I was pretty obsessed with breasts as a kid, so the idea that I might be interested in dating Vali likely never occurred to them."
"Devil thought it funny to use some Compulsion magic on human kids, getting them interested in adult issues for kicks. Issei was one of those kids until playing Broken Shackles kind of helped fend off the lingering traces." He looks to find the Fallen looking up at the ceiling with a clearly worn and tired look. It's pretty clear to Vali that the other has had experience with these kind of situation.
"Well, it's rather odd that he'd end up gender fluid, most tend to get stuck mooning over the opposite gender in a practical religious focus." It's clear Azazel is interest in learning the how it happened.
"In Broken Shackles, there's cosmetic Potions that can increase chest size along with the waist, then there's the male ones for altering the size, shape, and thickness of penis." Issei states in his usual bemused tone. "Those Potions effect either gender and any clothing with a gender tag can be worn by either, it's just that without the right figure or assess, they don't look right."
There's a snort before a wide smile and out right laughter from Azazel, who's clearly putting the pieces together. "So, you got over it through this game." The former leader finally muses after laughing for a good five minutes, so much so that there's a few tears threatening to fall.
"Well, that helped but I think the credit goes to a Monk Skill called Inner Balance, which, in game, helps speed up debuffs and helps the Character stay on their feet." Issei explains. "It kept ranking up and my behavior did change in a noticeable manner."
"So, you decided to give boys a try then?" Inquires Azazel and he can only imagine the eye roll that Issei gave the older male. "Nope, I just liked their reactions when I let left as the Potions duration run out and change into a different outfit and then returned looking completely different. Of course, people started in on my gender, the game moderators finally put their foot down on the so called Unveiling Tradition involving Players who don't want to share what their gender is by banning Players who force the issue, and due to luck, nobody has yet to win the massive betting pool about my Character's gender, neither Le Fay or Vali seem incline to collect."
There's a dark look in Azazel's eyes upon realizing what kind of 'unveiling' Issei was talking about. "Magic is involved in the game, they sell these Enchanted portable headset that appears as a pair of glasses. They allow for a schedule that will auto log and log out the wearer, leaving the body in a trance state that does absorb information and will test well." Half-Devil informs the Fallen.
"I gave them a try on the day of a pop quiz, I didn't even know about it until I got it back a few days later, got a higher mark on it then I thought I could." His boyfriend explains. "The price is a headache upon logging out as the memorized lessons get absorbed. I don't use it for final examines and I do my own homework, I generally never log in on Sunday and most holidays."
"There's a slight difference between the body in a trance taking an examine and when he does. The trance state get higher on direct question but no so well on the personal opinion essays and when it's Issei himself, he keeps second guesses himself with direction questions but has no issues with the personal opinion essays." He explains when Azazel's eyes seem to pin the teen with his eyes.
"We're going to have to schedule something for you to do your own tests, aren't we?" The young man muses and it's pretty clear that's a big yet. It takes some more minutes before they leave with the secret of the nature of Issei's Sacred Gear intact and with knowledge that Azazel will be giving Broken Shackles a try. How long the former leader remains captivated by said system and the library of games... Well, that's not really his problem.
As they leave, he reaches to take Issei's left hand, intertwining their fingers. Issei gently bumps into his shoulder but they walk out of the lab, it's not long before they head off to get around to starting their date, although their plans weren't what they came up with. It won't stop them from spending the next few hours together at least.
Ending It Here!
Author's Note:
Yea, I couldn't get this out of my head after the chapter 5 of Insert Villain Conditioning Here about people creating opposite gender Avatars or Characters, so I ended up writing this from the 24th of September, pretty much after I posted the 5th chapter, to the every early morning of, 28th of September, not sure I'm going to post this on my DeviantART page the same time I post this up on this site, well, not until I'm done with my Insert Villain Conditioning Here story I think.
And then I thought over the list of Anime or Manga characters who'd likely 'realistically' give playing the opposite gender a try and guess who jumped at the front of the so called line? Issei Hyoudou and why? Because he'd get a pair of Oppai of his own, I mean, for some reason, I keep thinking that he's the perfect candidate to be excused as some supernatural being is the reason why he developed an obsession with Oppai in the first place!
Kuoh Town is said to be Devil Territory and that means that Devils from the Underworld visit the location. If not a Devil then how about a Kitsune? Or a Fallen Angel? Maybe even a Deity?
Then again, I had found a Chinese Anime by the name of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation viva watching music videos on YouTube and looked it up as an actual search. Found a translation Manhua of it, read up to chapter 39 of it, and seen up to the second episode of it subbed in English. Did it help influence my decision to write this? Highly Likely.
So, here's a story concerning centering around a gender fluid Issei Hyoudou that nobody asked for but I thought comes across as well reasoned, even if people would have thought a different pairing would be better.
PS - I am very disturbed by the world mechanics of A/B/O stories. I mean, very disturbed. o_o;