Author's Note: I felt like I was rushing the chapters too quickly so I waited a while to release Chapter 6. Some parts of this chapter were carried over from one of my other fanfictions (like the club audit from Rinjinbu on the Fallout).

This chapter mainly focuses on practice. Stay tuned for Chapter 7 when filming begins for the Occult Research Club. The producer is already skeptical of the club members during the casting and script evaluation. He is definitely not looking forward to the filming session.

Published 2/19/2014

Chapter 6:

The Long Practice Session

"I must stand up and protect all of the devils under me… Wait, was that it?" Issei looks at the script again. "Oh, it should be 'I will stand up and protect all of the devils from the forces of evil'." Issei sits down and gives it a sigh. "This is too hard. I can't memorize all these lines. Why can't I just do all the stunts and the action and let someone else do all the speaking for me? I have to appeal to all the little kids that will be watching this movie and I need time and practice to perfect my acting stunts for the kids," Issei makes second thoughts about his part.

"That would not be fun, Issei-kun." Kiba approaches Issei from behind and explains to him. "One of the cool aspects of acting is being able to play a different character and that includes speaking in a different manner, moving in a different manner, and doing procedures different from what you are used to. If all you do is just action, movement, and fighting, that would not be fun."

Kiba brings out his script and starts to recite it in different manner. While the normal Kiba acts calm and friendly, Kiba recites his script in a wicked and menacing manner. Issei appears frightened and Kiba stops, reminding him that this is one of magic's of acting.

"Guhuhu… I am the cursed Darkness Knight Fang, I shall spread my curse of the darkness over you devils. Once the curse is complete, all your allies will belong to me and nothing shall stand in my way."

"Uhh… Kiba-kun?"

"See, that is part of acting. It's so fun. Why don't we have Gasper-kun give a demonstration too?"

Gasper comes in and recites his lines. "I am the great Danball Vampire God. I shall grant you your request. However, I only grant wishes to those few worthy individuals." Gasper usually sounds like a cute little boy in his normal voice but in his acting mode, his voice deepens and sounds more like an old man.

Hearing Gasper speak, Issei forms thoughts in his mind. "Man, this is so depressing. Kiba-kun and Gasper are surpassing me in terms of acting. While they have moved onto character styles, I am stuck here trying to memorize my lines. I could have spent all this time with Matsuda and Motohama instead."

"Hey Issei-kun, how about this? Let's try reciting it together. This will give you cues and ideas for your parts."

"Uhh… I need a break. My brain is out of power." Issei gets up and walks downstairs for a cup of water. He hopes to relax his mind and focus on something else. As Issei walks across the hallway to the stairs, he hears sounds from one of the open rooms. Issei peeks through the crack left by a partially-opened door and finds Irina, Xenovia, and Asia practicing together.

"Help me! Save me, Oppai Dragon."

"Mistress priest, let go of her. You shall not come into close contact with any of our type. Your powers of light are too deadly and will cause everlasting poison for all of us."

"Well, I can't do that lady Knight Granvo. The whole existence of devils is poison to us angels, gods, and priests. To ensure that my kingdom stays pure and free of sin forever, I must eliminate all sources of impurity and you devils are the major source of impurity."

"We intend on causing no harm to your type but if you insist on starting a war with us, we will fight to death for our survival."

"We'll see how all of you react when I send a needle of light right through this little girl here."

"Gyaaa! No, not the light! Help me! Huh? Issei-san?" Xenovia and Irina look at Asia with a question mark and then turn their heads to the door.

"Ah! Issei, do come in. Care to join us?" Xenovia invites Issei.

"That's great Issei-kun; your part is coming up. It would greatly help us if you participate and play your lines." It is not the introduction Issei was expecting. Issei tries to decline, but gets cornered by Kiba and Gasper before he could walk one step.

"That's so great Issei-kun, you found some more people you want to practice with. Let's do it together."

"Yes, Senpai, let's have a practice session together." Now that there are more people wanting to practice their lines, Issei has no choice but to join in. To address the thirsty situation, Ravel Phenex delivers tea to everyone. Being a servant of her mother, Ravel Phenex is staying at the Hyoudou residence while studying at the Kuou Academy. Like Rossweisse, Ravel is assigned a non-acting role for this movie. As everyone takes a tea break, Issei realizes something strange and asks everyone.

"By the way, have you seen President Rias and Akeno-san today?"

"Rias and Akeno are at school dealing with club business. The school just passed a new ordinance requiring all clubs to submit inspection documents and a write-up explaining about the activities of the club. The new director of club activities, Rumiu Tendon, is concerned that many clubs at Kuou Academy are not complaint with the academic polices set by the school and the Japanese MEXT. Therefore, he wants a check on every club at Kuou Academy. Clubs that don't meet the academic polices will be inspected thoroughly and at worst, get shut down. Rias and Akeno are filling out the paperwork and consulting with Sona and Tsubasa to make sure the Occult Research Club can continue legitimate operation."

"Wow, it sounds like it's pretty difficult to be the President of the Club."

"However, that is something none of you should be worried about. Rias and Akeno should return later this evening and join you guys and girls in the practice session."

"Yes…" Everyone continues with their script practice session.

It is now late at night. While everyone is asleep, Issei is busy working on his lines. Issei is upset that during the practice session, he always stumbled whenever it was his turn. Asia and Irina always had to give reminders to issei when his lines were coming up. Also, while Issei was reciting his lines, he forgets halfway through and seeks for his lines in the script. While everyone seems to be improving, being able to recite through all their lines with emotion and style, Issei still has trouble memorizing his lines.

Since Issei shares the bedroom with Rias and Asia, he does not want to disturb both of them and finds a quiet and unused guest room upstairs. This guest room is also the room where he hides his porn films and magazines. Halfway through memorizing, Issei tries to sneak one of his hidden porn DVDs into the DVD player and watch it, hoping to keep him awake. As he switches on the TV, he hears a knock at the door.

"Issei, can I come in?" Her voice freaks Issei out.

"Uhh… Wait a sec… Please?"

"Is there something wrong? You should let me know." The doorknob turns, making Issei nervous. He takes the DVD out of the player and sneaks it back into his hiding spot. Before the door opens, Issei quickly covers it, hoping that no one else finds out, especially the girls. When the door opens, Issei is back in his seat studying his script and leaves no traces of his earlier intentions.

"Ara, Issei, what keeps your up at this hour?"

"Huh?" Issei turns around. "Rias? Why are you here?"

"Ara, I was lonely without you. Since you were not in the room, I suspect that you are worried about something and needed help so I came to find you." Rias walks over to Issei and looks at the script.

"It must be very difficult for you, Issei. Don't worry, there's always a generous reward at the end of this."

"Umm, Rias, can I tell you something?"

"What is it, Issei?"

"Umm… I feel like I am unable to do this movie. It's very hard and I can't do it. I have many lines to memorize since I am the main character."

"It's alright. You can do it, Issei. I will always stay by you if you need help."

Rias stays with Issei for the rest of the night and helps him out with his script. Whenever it comes to training from, Rias has a complete change in her attitude, going from being seductive to strict. Rias makes Issei read through the lines many times and often uses physical enforcements to get Issei to concentrate. Since it is the middle of night, both of them eventually pass out and go to sleep. The next day, both of them are awakened by Asia.

"Issei-san, wake up."

"Oh good morning… Asia," Issei replies. "Give me a few more minutes."

"Issei-san, let me deliver your clothes to you." The moment Asia tries to open the door, Issei panics. Knowing that he can't hide Rias, he tries to come up with reasonable explanations. Before he can think of something, Asia opens the door and becomes jealous.

"Issei-san, that's not fair, you and Buchou-san snuck out of your rooms and slept up here. Am I not good enough for you?" Asia tries to take her clothes off, but Issei stops her.

"No… That's not it… It's not that… It's just that we were studying together…"

Rias then wakes up. "Oh! Good morning Asia. I guess we both worked so hard that we couldn't come back to our room to sleep. That's alright though; if it works for Issei, then it's all good."

"Good?" Issei replies and then thinks in his head. "Rias's teaching method is so brutal. However, it somehow magically works. I am just so glad that I have her as a master. Maybe I will get that bonus today… Heeheehee…"

"Issei-san, you could have asked me to help you out instead. We did some practice sessions yesterday and I know where you need help."

"Oh come on, Asia." Rias replies to Asia. "I need to practice my lines as well since I didn't do any practicing with you guys and girls. You don't want me to spoil the whole movie do you?" Rias winks at Asia.

"Ohh… That's not fair for me either, Buchou," Akeno hears the conversation and enters the room. "You don't need to explain yourself, Issei-kun. Uhuhuhu…" Akeno adds her comment. "I understand what happened last night, but I was also out yesterday and I did not get a chance to practice my lines either. Oh, it's so depressing to leave a main character behind. What happens if I did so bad that the film ratings dropped to the bottom?"

"Akeno, I understand your concern, but you always have some other time to practice your lines. Last night was my time."

Akeno then continues, "Plus, it would have better if your had an additional partner to study with Issei-kun since two helpers are better than one."

"Uhh…" Issei thinks to himself, "It would be great to have Akeno-san tag along. Studying with the two great Sisters of the Academy will be the best. But then, Rias and Akeno-san would end up fighting partway through the practice session."

As Issei makes more thoughts, Rias responds, "No, I am fine doing this privately. Anyways, since it is morning, we should be making breakfast. I am sure Issei's mother is waiting for us right now." The argument ends and all three girls go downstairs to make breakfast. Meanwhile, Issei finds his script on the floor and reads it.

"I probably did fall asleep without knowing." Issei picks the script up and continues to memorize. Although he has not gotten through the entire script, he is able to successfully recite all of the lines in Act 1, enough to film the first set of footages. Issei works on the other sections and tries to get through Act 2 as well.

Breakfast today is omelets. As Issei's mother, Asia, and Akeno serve everyone else, Rias gives Issei a special omelet. The omelet is slightly larger than the omelets served to everyone else. Also on the omelet is something written in ketchup:

"Good luck Issei

From:

Rias, Akeno, Asia, Koneko, Xenovia, Irina, Gasper, Kiba, Azazel, Sirzechs, Grayfia, Rossweisse, Ravel and your loving parents."

"Wow, this is nice," Issei makes a compliment and all the girls smile at Issei.

Rias also smiles and makes a comment at Issei. "Issei, eat up. We haven't got much time. Producer Wisson will show up at any minute today."

"OK," Issei eats up. After breakfast, they resumed practice sessions. As they reached the part where Irina makes her first appearance, Wisson, the producer shows up with some announcements to make.

"Greetings, Occult Research Club, I have some updates to make from our last meeting. It looks like we are almost set to start filming. I have worked long hours to make sure the first set of footages will be nice. I went into the studio and made sure that all of the props are carefully setup so there should not be any more problems. While I am here, I will also like to introduce the director for this movie, Chresun. You will be working with him during the filming. Please welcome him."

"Good morning, Chresun."

The director Chresun makes his announcement, "Good morning everyone. I hope all of your script memorizations and dress rehearsals are going well. We will start filming at the studio tomorrow in Stage 39-B in the Helicat Pictures complex. If all of the acting goes well and meets my expectations in the first take, you won't have to spend so much time on the set. Be sure to do your best and follow my directions tomorrow."

"OK…" With Chresun's announcement, everyone becomes excited for the filming. Since most of the Occult Research Club members including Rias have never been inside a movie studio before, they are excited to see all of the work done behind the scenes. Akeno and Asia are also excited about dressing up in different kinds of costumes.

"Please be prompt tomorrow. This movie is long and you will need all the time tomorrow to get through many scenes. If there are no more questions for me, Wisson-san and I will make our departure."

Both of them quietly leave the Hyoudou residence. With Chresun's announcement, the filming is officially about to start.