Hey guys, MT here!

I'm very sorry for being gone for nearly a month but I had a tremendous amount of things to deal with. Aside from being severely sick for a week (which I am still recovering from), I also went on vacation with my family, had to plan out some things for my sister's wedding, had to deal with preparations for my second semester of college, and had some family issues that didn't leave me in the best of mindsets to write. I tried to write what I could for this chapter but I still need to get back in the flow so please forgive its lacking in the normal quality it would normally have.

ENJOY!

Life.10

A week later…

It's been a week since Azazel-sensei had left and yesterday he sent Vali back since he wasn't in need of him. I had decided to take it upon myself to try and help Vali at least a little bit. It's so awkward that my previously badass rival Vali is now this little chicken who cries every time he trips or I hit him. It makes me want to cry.

Right now, I'm trying to see if I can get Vali to achieve Balance Breaker. I'm hoping that by training together, I might be able to trigger his memory. I know for certain that Vali will remember. We were too close, though it was as rivals, for him not to remember me.

"Vali! Why did you stop focusing your demonic energy?" I asked, suddenly, startling Vali. Currently, I'm making him focus his demonic energy in hopes to activate his Balance Breaker.

"B-But H-Hyoudou-sensei, it's really hard and I'm tired," whined Vali, nervously.

"I told you to call me Issei and we've only been doing it for 20 minutes. I can focus my energy own energy longer than you can focus your demonic energy," I scolded, causing Vali to clutch his head in anticipation of a punch. "Why are you acting all scared? I'm not gonna hit you so calm down. Man, who knew the strong and powerful Hakuryuukou I remembered was so weak when he was a kid."

[Ddraig, what does your partner mean by that? He's never met Vali before now] said Albion, confused.

"I-I don't know why but that m-makes me feel nostalgic," said Vali, sounding even more confused than Albion. I grinned, happy that I was at least jogging something from his memory. I remember that Ophis said that a lot of the people I knew would feel certain things when they saw me or spoke to me.

"I should hope it does," I began. "But either ways, let's focus on your training, alright?"

Vali nodded at me and he put his fists together as he tried to focus his energy once more.

I had had Vali continue to practice focusing his demonic energy while I had trained my martial arts. It had been a few hours and I was drenched and sweat and exhausted. I decided to finally check on Vali again to see how he was doing and found that he wasn't outside like he had been.

"Huh? Where did Vali go?" I asked myself, confused. I began to wander around while I looked for my rival. I ran into Yasaka on the way and she stopped me.

"What is the matter, Issei-sama?" asked Yasaka, curiously.

"Ah, Yasaka-san, have you seen Vali? We were training outside but he disappeared," I said. Yasaka put a finger to her lips and she looked away as she thought. She frowned after a moment and turned to me again.

"I'm sorry, Issei-sama, but I don't quite remember seeing him. Perhaps Ophis or Kunou happen to know where he is," said Yasaka. I muttered out a thanks and then went over to my and Ophis' room to see if she saw him. I stopped before opening the door when I heard loud talking and what sounded like a video game playing in the room. I opened the door and found Ophis, Kunou, and Vali playing video games while yelling at each other about how they were going to beat the other.

I strut over behind them, a vein pulsing in my forehead, as I looked down at them.

"I-I'm going to beat you two!" said Vali, excitedly.

"No you won't," said Ophis, simply, receiving a confused 'How come?' from Vali. "Because Ise is standing right behind you."

Vali jumped at her words and dropped his controller. He trembled and slowly turned around to face me, meanwhile I was struggling to restrain myself.

"H-Hi, Issei," said Vali, simply.

"Hey, Vali. Whatcha doing here?" I asked with great annoyance in my voice.

"J-Just taking a b-break."

"Just taking a break?"

"Uhuh."

"…" I stared at Vali for a moment and then smashed my fist into his head. "What the hell are you doing when we're supposed to be training?!"

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry," said Vali, repeatedly, as I ground my fist into his head.

"Man, if this keeps coming up I might just restart your embarrassing nickname," I said, annoyed.

[No, partner! If you do such a thing then Albion will suffer, too] said Ddraig. I rolled my eyes and sighed in response but conceded.

[What is he talking about, Ddraig?] asked Albion.

[It's best not to know, old friend. It's best not to know] said Ddraig.

"Anyways, Vali, we need to get back to training," I said while grabbing Vali by the collar and dragging him out.

The next day…

After I had dragged Vali away from video games the day before, we ended up sparring (mostly me chasing Vali around and trying to spar) for the rest of the day. Azazel-sensei had returned while I was on my morning jog and I came back to find he and Yasaka sharing some sake.

"Ah, Ise-kun, how's your training been going?" asked Azazel before taking a sip of his sake.

"Good. I've also been trying to train with Vali but it's harder than I thought. I don't know how you've gotten him to this point," I said, sighing as I remembered chasing Vali around the day before while he was crying. Azazel-sensei laughed, loudly, and muttered something about knowing how I felt. "So how did that thing you left for go?"

"Eh? The fox fire thing? It went well. We managed to create a stable energy cell using the fox fire as fuel and it was able to put out quite a bit of power. The Grigori and I are looking forward to future results," said Azazel, nonchalantly. I nodded, not really understanding most of it, but knowing that it was important.

"I'd hope you had some good out of it. I wouldn't want my precious fox fire being useless to you after you agreed to assist my young pupil here," said Yasaka, smirking as she took a sip of her sake. Azazel-sensei grinned at her and we four sat down together to catch on what had happened while separated. After quite some time of Vali and I explaining what we had been doing to Azazel-sensei and he explaining some complicated fox fire technology to Yasaka, we were interrupted by a presence who Yasaka and I were familiar with. I leapt to my feet and ran out the door, quickly followed by Vali, Azazel, and Yasaka.

When we got outside, we found a purple magic circle with the Gremory seal in the center. I immediately recognized whose magic circle it belonged to and my eyes widened in surprise. A familiar person walked through the magic circle and leapt at me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"A-A-Akeno?!" I shouted in shock.

"Oh, Ise, it's been so long," said Akeno, longingly, as she tightly hugged me. I returned said hug for a moment and then pulled her off of me, much to my discontent since I could no longer feel Akeno amazing and growing breasts on my chest.

"Akeno, what are you doing here?" I asked, shocked by her appearance. She smiled and then laughed at me before slipping her arms underneath my own and pressing herself into my chest.

"Mmm…Rias had some important business with her family and she left me at the house to rest and train on my own. I thought I'd finally come back to see you since I missed my adorable little Ise," explained Akeno. I smiled and pet her head, causing her to snuggle into me more.

"A-Akeno?" said Azazel in surprise. Akeno pulled away from me just enough that she could peek around to see Azazel. "How…How do you know Ise-kun? And why did you join the devils after…Shuri died?"

"Ise became friends with me back in my home town. I'm surprised my father didn't tell you about him. As for where I have been, I'd rather not tell you for the moment," said Akeno. Azazel-sensei walked over to her and placed a hand on her head before smiling.

"Baraqiel will be so happy to see you. I need to bring him to see you," said Azazel, about to open a magic circle before being stopped by Akeno.

"Azazel, not yet. I'm not ready to see father yet. It's too soon," said Akeno, killing his excited mood. Azazel's head drooped a bit in disappointment and I felt kind of bad. I remember that Azazel-sensei took it almost as hard as Baraqiel did. It must have been hard not to be able to console your best friend.

"It's good to see you again, Akeno. Why don't you come in so we can all catch up?" said Yasaka. Akeno smiled at the youkai leader and nodded before following everyone into the shrine, her arms still holding me to her.

So? What did you guys think?

I know it was short and kind of choppy and I apologize for that. I thought it would be nice to bring back Akeno since it has been awhile but let me know what you guys thought of this chapter! Also, let me know what you guys think will happen next.

Anyways, until next time...byeee :D