Chapter 7:Method to the Madness

"A fluke?!" Shouted Katrina, "Are you fucking serious?!"

"Hey don't be mad at me," said Azazel, never once losing his smile, "I'm only the parrot in terms of saying that statement. Anyway, this fight showed me what training regimine you most need."

"The exact type of plan a fallen angel would come up with," said Akeno, shaking her head.

"Don't be too hard on him," said Thatan, "for while the fight did spiral out of control, I was the one who agreed with his initial idea of an ambush training."

"I'll do whatever it takes to make you kids stronger," said Azazel, still bearing his smile, " I am your teacher, after all."

"I wanted to tell ya Adrian," said James, "I really did, but I was convinced that it would mess up the entire training." Adrian closed his eye with a sigh, and turned to the Dark Elf and Asari girl who had yet to say anything,

"I take it you two knew as well?" Llarya cleared her throat, keeping silent, while Pennie rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

"Were you and Penglog in on this too, Ddraig?" Asked Issei, clearly annoyed as well, "Why didn't you two pipe up if you knew him?"

"I have lived years beyond counting," said Ddraig, "and I have learned that those who spoil charades are the worst." Adrian raised an eyebrow,

"'Charades?' Penglog, what's he talking about?"

"Do you want the long version? Our big purple penised friend wasn't even using one thousandth of his power. So I hate to tell you this, but I'm afraid Azazel is right, even with Damon stealing a Street Fighter move, and that stray side of yours going haywire, none of us really stood a chance."

Upon hearing Penglogs words, Adrian straightened up, slowly turned to his comrades and saw their defeated expressions; Issei running his non-gear hand through his hair, Koneko still had blood on her head, Asia and Gasper shared looks of despair, Kiba and Xenovia stared at the ground in disappointment, Damon clutched his burned Devil Bringer arm, Katrina held up the broken chain of her Blades of Exhile, still in disbelief, and finally to Akeno, who was still had her torn kimono hanging down and revealing her right breast and injured shoulder, the shoulder he himself injured. Adrian looked down at his hands, and was instantly eaten from the inside by a wave of emotions; hurt, from being doubted by so many, and regret, for hurting one of his friends and partially breaking the weapon of another.

Me and my friends...laying our lives down so we can save the world...just an anomoly? A fluke? Am I really incapable of saving the world without it being considered a mistake?He wondered to himself.

"I very well can't bring you all home scraped up like that," said Rias, giving her house a gentle smile, "so it's time for our obligatory bath."

"NOBODY MOVE!" Shouted Damon, holding his arms out to the side in alarm, "I lost my phone!"

"A-hem." Damon turned, and saw Koneko holding up his phone for him. He quickly plucked it from her hand,

"Thank you!" And followed up with a quick kiss, almost like a peck, on her cheek, making her cheeks flush red, "Oh, and I'm pretty sure most of us need some medical attention before we take that bath." He gestured to his scorched arm, Konekos' bloodied head, and Akenos' shoulder, the latter of which hit Adrian in the heart with another needle of regret...

Sometime later...

The males in the group of devils were now inside a steaming hot spring, more like a large heated pool carved into a mountain, turning around a tall square pillar, and dressed in either towels wrapped around their waists or nothing at all. The last of which mostly applied to Thatan, but due to his lizard-like anatomy, no one was complaining. The large alien sank into the warm water near Azazel, letting a sigh of pleasure escape his lungs,

"Reminds me of home a bit," he said with a chuckle.

"The hot bath?" Asked Kiba, seated in the opposite end of the water.

"The heat," Thatan answered, "for believe it or not, Sanghelios was a warm planet, and I am cold blooded."

"Couldn't have guessed," cracked Azazel, earning a glare from the alien, but the Sangheili let it pass.

"Uh...I know I come from a different time period where everything is different, especially how and when we bathe, but uh..." The group turned to see James walking towards the pool with a towel wrapped around his waist like the others, "...but is it normal to be bathing together at the same time like this?"

"What're you scared someone is going to go full on Brokeback Mountain on your ass, James?" The cowboy turned to see Damon, but quickly turned back around when he noticed the white haired devil was lacking a towel,

"Seriously Damon? Put a damn towel on or something! No one wants to see that!" Damon pointed directly up,

"They might!" James followed Damons' gesture, and saw that at the top of the high square pillar was more steam rising to the sky, and at the top was a nude Akeno, smiling down at them, and Asia, giving them a bashful look,

"Wait, the girls bath is just right up there?" Asked a surprised James.

"No really! It's fine! I can just go in later!" Screamed a timid voice, and soon the group of male devils saw Issei, dressed waist down in a towel, dragging Gasper towards the water, the dhampir clutching onto a pink towel and covering himself from his pectorals down to the top of his thighs, just like a girl would.

"Calm down! We're both boys, so what do you have to be embarrassed about?" He then noticed how Gasper was holding his towel, and rolled his eyes, "Gasper you're a dude! So you don't need to cover up like that! You're making me uncomfortable." James jerked a thumb to Gasper and turned to Kiba,

"Gasper was a fella this whole time?" Kiba could only chuckle while Damon laughed obnoxiously, and Gasper gave Issei an embarrassed and surprised blush,

"Wha-seriously?! I never thought you would notice me in that way!!" Damon then laughed even louder before turning to James,

"Maybe it's Issei we should suspect about going Brokeback!" He laughed. Issei turned to Damon, already annoyed,

"Dude, not even! I'm not going Brokeback Mountain!" James rolled his eyes,

"Would you guys please stop saying 'Brokeback Mountain!' I've never even heard of such a place, nor do I know what that means when you keep referring to it!"

"Oh Issei!" Akeno teased from the girls bath, "You shouldn't be sexually harrassing poor sweet Gasper like that!" As Isseis' mind raced about how close they were to the girls bath, Azazel simply leaned back against the edge of the hot spring,

"Add a bottle or three of saki and this spring would be paradise."

"Well I could always let you have some that I got stashed inside my coat, but with that ambush training, you ain't getting a drop," said Damon.

"Oh, Damon," said Thatan, "you know 'ain't' isn't a proper word, correct?" Damon rolled his eyes,

"We aren't currently in class, Thatan."

"No, but I am still your teacher."

"Poetry teacher, not English teacher."

"Part of poetry is knowing how to talk." Damon just rolled his eyes, done arguing with the alien, and turned to see Adrian seated on the furthest end of the spring where it turns around the square pillar, a towel around his waist, a second towel draped over his head like a hood, his one eye staring down into the water, and soon rested his head in his palms.

"Yo, Adrian! You alright over there?" Damon asked in concern, but Adrian made no move, still lost in his own thoughts.

"Hmmm, Adrian seems to be taking the loss against Tannin pretty hard," noted Azazel.

"I don't think it's the loss against Tannin," said Thatan, "I think it has more to do with his stray devil form resurfacing even after he returned to Rias, not to mention he hurt one of his friends on accident while in that form, and even more so when he didn't even try to summon it." Azazel looked up at the sky in thought,

"Yeah, I guess that is a bit worrisome, isn't it?" He looked to Issei, and sported his signature grin, "I wonder..." He then turned his attention to Issei, "...Say I've been meaning to ask you..."

"What's up?"

"...Rias' melons...you get any good squeezing in?" Thatan and the other males cast a cautionary look towards Adrian, who was still holding his head in his hands, while Issei stood at attention,

"No sir!" He answered like a soldier, "Adrian will destroy me if I did!"

"Hmmm, not sure why he would," said Azazel, "considering he and Rias aren't an item anymore." Adrian slowly lifted his head, his one eye closed as he let a frustrated sigh escape his throat, "Anyway, have you ever pushed in a girls nipple like so?" Azazel then held his finger out in front of himself as an example, which caused Adrian to stand up and leave, not letting the others see his orange eye, and Thatan glared at the fallen,

"Azazel, what you are suggesting is both inappropriate towards Rias, and dangerous for Issei." Azazel laughed,

"Trust me my big lizard friend, there is a method to my madness..."