I'm glad that everyone who reviewed liked the cause of Issei's change. It is very much a possible scenario and that was the point. Just a slight circumstantial instance to totally change Issei's whole story while adding our own spin to things! I'd suggest to not worry about the harem for now!

Thanks to the reviews guys, I hope for some more!

"Yer' a hard worker Issei. Remind me how the boss nabbed ya?" It was yet another hard day of work at the docks when Issei was asked to bring in a customer's boat.

"I applied, of course, Sakai-san. The boss was reluctant to hire me, but once I showed him my dedication to the work and really pulled my own weight, he changed his tune!" Issei had a good relationship with the customers, eager as they were to see new blood around.

The man laughed at Issei's story. "Bwahahaha! That sounds like him! He may put on a tough front, but he needed the help! He's getting on in his age, just like me!"

Issei shook his head goodnaturedly as he braced himself, pulling the boat out of the water onto the deck where he could tie it down. "Hmpf. You're certainly not too old enough to go fishing! Leave all the heavy lifting to me and you'll be fine!" Issei let out another grunt as he pulled the boat over the distance to his shop, the fishing vessel ready to be rented by a customer.

"Y'see, the boss likes you because you take initiative like this! I'm certainly sold by your inclusion here," Mr. Sakai said before checking his watch, "Well, it's getting to be that time. The ol' lady dearest is expecting me."

Issei waved him away, saying, "Don't forget to brag about your catches! 5 flounders are no joke, y'know!"

Mr. Sakai laughed as he replied, "I won't forget. There was an abundance of sea perch today as well! Caught a few of those too!" The old man walked away, leaving Issei to find his boss, ready for some new duties.

As Issei walked up to the main shop of the docks, his boss' small but homey office appearing from behind the crates and buildings dotting the docks, a voice shouted out, "Man the shop for me, Issei. I got stuff to do." Issei looked on to see an elderly man with an open-collared shirt, the boss in question. 'I don't know why he even bothers hiding his smoking. He was smoking during my interview, so he knows I know. Hm, maybe he wants to be a sort of role model for me,' Issei thought as he opened the little booth-like door to the front of the shop.

As Issei got into the rhythm of processing the many fishing licenses that were on standby, his mind couldn't help but drift back to how this all started for him.

2 Months Prior

Issei was busy studying when his father, a salaryman by the name of Gorou Hyoudou, knocked twice on his door, peeking his head out to look at the boy's work. "You've really been working hard, huh, Issei. It's kind of weird to see you so focused on something other than a lady's finer parts."

Issei looked up from his work and stared at his dad in his eyes, his own appearing rather fish-like in his tiredness. "Never describe boobs as a 'lady's finer parts', dad. You're showing your age." Issei's attention returned to his textbook and notebook as he noted further details down. "It's weird for me, actually because before whenever I tried to study, my attention would always drift to other topics-"

"Perverted topics?" Gorou asked.

Issei gave his dad another deadpan look. Then, he looked back down at his work. "Yes, perverted topics," Issei conceded as he continued his story, "But ever since I got in this zone, knowing that the best way for me to achieve my goals and become the person I want to be is to sit down and study like this. At this point, it's almost become easy for me. At least, it's becoming easier the more I do it." He said wryly.

Gorou chuckled as he responded. "Issei, it's only been a week since you've been at this, or so your mother tells me." The father sighed as he adjusted his glasses. "Any reason you're working so hard? Not that I or your mother don't appreciate you trying to apply yourself, but we don't want you overworking and getting burnt out."

It was odd for Issei to hear those words come out of his father's mouth. He'd always been nagging about getting his homework done so that they could go and do something together. Naturally, Issei had shrugged him off as a teenage boy- now a young man, but still, it made him think a little more around his dad. "I just realized that I didn't want to become a hypocrite to my own ideals, so I decided to do something else with my life. I suppose that's all there is to it."

Gorou was taken aback by his son's answer. It was more than a bit surreal for him to see his son so determined and calm, at least over something other than girls. In some ways, it really didn't make sense to him. Ever since Issei was a young boy, especially after the Shidou family had moved to the United Kingdom, Issei's life had revolved around girls' boobs and butts instead of adventure anime and Gundam. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that your mother and I are very proud of you," Gorou said with a content smile.

Issei couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks," he said as he shifted in his seat, a little bit uncomfortable from the rare praise, "Uh, dad?"

Gorou was curious of what could be on his son's mind. "Yes, Issei?"

Issei looked his dad in his eyes as he asked, "Would you happen to know anywhere I could work part time? Studying all the time might help my academic ability, but I also wanna be more helpful to you and mom." He said, his voice cracking nearing the end.

Gorou's expression melted into the universal proud expression of approving fathers. "Well, if you want to get a line of income for yourself, you should probably do some more solid manual labor-type work. I didn't raise a number cruncher even if I want you to do well with numbers!" Gorou said with a boisterous laugh. "Anyway, if you want a job, it'll be more for your own excess spending since we're doing fine with expenses. Your old man is working hard after all! I'd suggest the docks if you want some good work. Old man Eizo's place would be a good bet. That guy has high standards though, so you'd have to work hard. You think you're up to it?"

Issei's expression lit up. "That sounds like exactly the kind of work that'd be right for me! I'm sure that I can meet that guy's standards if I work hard enough!"

"I would warn you off from blowing your money on porn, but it seems like that won't be a problem anymore for you, right?" His tone turned a little sharper, but the mirth in his eyes let Issei know that his father was still mostly joking.

Issei looked away as he coughed and said, "I still like the stuff, but I don't see a real need for it. Improving myself is more important to me right now. Everything else has sort of become a distraction."

"Ah, I see. Well, I suppose I'll stop distracting you now," Gorou teased as he walked downstairs to report to his wife their son's plans.

Back in the present, Issei was filling out forms while he waited for his boss. The young man had a smile on his face as he recalled the conversation with his father. He had never been too close to his dad, but it seemed that just like his change in work ethic and his studies, that relationship might change for the better as well.

Suddenly, a voice broke Issei out of his thoughts, "You there. I believe that you're the man I need to see to get a boat out here."

Issei studied the man's appearance. He was at an impressive height, a lean frame that towered over Issei completely. His hair left the teen with an odd impression of him, a mop of raven hair with golden bangs, and a black goatee to complete the picture. 'Is this guy an ex-Yakuza member or just an idiot? Well, it's none of my business,' Issei thought as he started to address the man.

"Yes, I am indeed the person you need. Do you have your fishing license on you?" Issei asked. Most people forgot theirs whenever they wanted to fish.

The man's amused face didn't lose its smirk as he slipped out a folded piece of paper, flourishing it from his pocket as if by magic. "This should leave everything in order."

Issei took the folded sheet of paper and looked it over. It seemed to be a legitimate fishing license. "Everything checks out for me. Will you need me to get out the boat for you, sir?"

With a practiced hand-to-chin gesture that would make one think that he was thinking, Issei caught a vibe that the man was just putting on airs with his behavior. "Hmm... that does sound nice to me."

"Alright then. I'll grab a good sturdy vessel for you." Issei looked over to where Mr. Eizo had gone and saw that his boss was coming back. 'Perfect, I'll just handle this guy while the boss will man the shop when he gets back,' Issei thought as he came out of the shop's front booth and made his way around to the boats.

Grunting as he dragged out the exact boat he had just put away, the brunette teen gave it a quick once over to make sure nothing was wrong with the little vessel. The boat was in fine condition, so Issei made sure to make quick work of it, getting it over to the edge of the dock as quickly as he could.

"Do you need any help?" The man asked, leaning against a post as he idly dug around in the pockets of his jacket, retrieving a pack of cigarettes. With a practiced gesture, he put one to his lips, his hand twisting at the wrist as he lit what must have been a match. Issei wasn't watching particularly closely, but if he had, he would have seen that there had been no match, simply a snap and a quick flare of heat that lit the cigarette instantly.

Issei could almost hear the smirk in the question. "No, but thanks for asking," Issei said. Even if he wanted to say yes to the help, he knew that Mr. Eizo wouldn't appreciate him allowing customers to give him a hand. Issei himself didn't want the help, as the whole point was to get better at the job he applied for.

Dragging it out to the waters in a final push, Issei let out a huge breath of much needed air.

"That was some fine work."

"Well, I'm not done yet," Issei said, "I have to tie it off to the docks so there's some security with the boat."

"Well, I'll help out with that!" the man said enthusiastically. Issei was a little unnerved by his seemingly excited nature. Did he want to fish that badly?

"Uh, are you sure?" Issei asked, hesitantly. From the way that his loops looked, sloppy and uneven, he was a pretty inexperienced rope tyer.

Issei watched as the man somehow tied his hands into the rope with a bunch of lazy butterfly loops around his hands. Issei put a hand to his face, contemplating how one messes up that badly, before he calls out, "Allow me to handle this."

As Issei himself tied all the necessary knots for the man, the guy in question was nervously scratching his head in embarrassment. "Well, I never was the best at tying actual knots. I was better at undoing them, especially with the ladies." He smirked, chuckling ruefully as he swept long, thin fingers through his blond bangs.

Issei readjusted his perception of the man. 'So less of a sleazy foreigner who speaks Japanese well and more of a pervert,' Issei thought as he recognized the look on the man's face when the mentioned the fairer sex. "All that's very interesting I'm sure, but I'd rather not hear about your romantic escapades while I'm on the clock."

The man hung his head out, clearly disappointed. "How sad. I guess someone won't get a massive tip then. Hmph."

'A grown man just huffed at me because I won't listen to him. Wow, my life is complete.' Deciding to humour the man, Issei tied off the boat and said, "Fine, how'd you untie the knots in women? One would think that tying the knot would be the goal so to speak."

The man struck a nice guy pose as he immediately bounced back from Issei's line of questioning. "That's a great question!" He grinned widely.

Issei groaned to himself quietly, seeing himself far too much in this strange foreigner. Nonetheless, he waited patiently, allowing the fisherman to explain himself. "It's really simple, actually! This is an ancient technique that's allowed me to bed over a hundred women. Listen up, because I'm only going to say it once!" He announced boldly.

The brunette teen leaned in slightly, finding that despite his newfound aversion to the open perversity that he used to display, he was still a bit interested. After all, just because he was trying to not be open about it anymore didn't mean that he wasn't still keenly interested in getting a firm (and willing!) pair of breasts in his hands as soon as possible.

"So… what's exactly the big secret sir?" He asked, seemingly uninterested. Issei was most certainly keen on getting any edge he could to achieve his dream, but he wasn't going to show that! The long-haired stranger simply leaned in, one hand idly holding onto his cigarette, the end dangerously close to his fingertips by that point. "Well, you see…" He whispered conspiratorially. Issei's heart nearly skipped two beats as the anticipation of this apparently big secret arose.

"You simply have to be yourself!" He shouted, with what seemed to be literal, actual sparkles coming from his eyes as he laid out his foolproof master plan to the teenager.

Issei's eyes didn't waver from the tall stranger. After a few, incredibly long and deeply uncomfortable seconds of silence, he simply pivoted on one heel, walking at a brisk pace from the clearly deranged moron in front of him.

The stranger guffawed quietly, flicking the cigarette butt away and perfectly into a trash bin with a stray movement from his hands. "Now, don't look so glum boy! After all, I said it was simple, not easy. Important difference!" He announced, his grin fading slightly as he could see the brunette teen still walking away from him, not even deigning to give the tall man the time of day anymore.

"Wait up!" He yelled, long strides taking him to where Issei was heading with ease. He had apparently neglected his plan to fish in the boat that he had just spent the last good while preparing for him.

The tall man looped one arm over the teen's shoulders with ease, drawing a noncommittal grunt from the young man. "Maybe that wasn't the best way to phrase it. I mean, Shem was always better at these sorts of things than me…" He muttered, mostly to himself.

Issei flinched slightly as the tall stranger had thrown an arm so casually over his shoulders, but kept walking, his feet taking him to the next pier and the next boat, complete with the next ropes to tie. Working in almost silence, he simply listened to the strange man's ramblings. They seemed to get even more depressed as the moments went by, the blonde bemoaning somebody named Gabriel and her apparently divine breasts.

Finally, the teen had had enough. "Will you cease your groveling! I'm trying to work!" He almost yelled, snapping mulishly at the clearly deranged man that had hounded him this day.

"Oh, don't look so glum, boy. Tell you what, let's try this again. What's your name?" He asked, extending a hand for a shake. Issei simply stared at him with a deadpan expression for a few moments longer, before finally taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.

"Issei, my name's Issei Hyoudou." He told the foreigner.

"Issei, huh? That's a good name. A fitting name. It's a pleasure to meet you, Issei." The stranger pumped his fist twice more before letting go, his hand finding its way into his jacket once more to withdraw another cigarette.

"And you are?" The teen asked.

The tall man simply smirked, the grin stretching across his aristocratic face seeming far too dark for a split second. "Well, Issei, you can call me Zaz."

2 Months Later

Ever since that fateful weekend, Issei and Zaz had seen each other every single weekend without fail. Most times, they simply sat in a comfortable silence, the tall foreigner fishing on the pier while Issei would study from his textbooks. Once Issei had grown accustomed to the nature of work at the docks, the teen had found himself with more time than ever before, time that he had been advised by not only Gorou, but also Eizo and Zaz, to spend doing something productive. Case in point; finishing the last of his study guides for the Kuoh Entrance Exam.

The prestigious academy had announced at the beginning of the summer that they would be opening up for co-ed enrollment, and Issei had thought of little else in the last 4 months. Every waking moment, every minute, every hour, every day that he could put aside to study and prepare for the test, he would do so.

The teen had reluctantly confided that he was studying for the Kuoh Academy entrance exam to Zaz fairly early on, one fateful cloudy and stormy day that had forced the tall man to fish from the pier instead of from a boat as he had previously preferred to do. The older man had been badgering him about his goals for the future and, well, Issei wasn't that suspicious of Zaz, even though the man was very weird.

When Issei had mentioned Kuoh High, he had expected a scoff, some sort of backhanded comment about his goal. It seemed that besides from his parents and Mr. Eizo, everyone had little faith in him.

Instead, Zaz had turned serious, facing the young man fully and questioning him about his plans while at Kuoh Academy. Caught off guard by the sudden change in character, Issei had answered truthfully, telling Zaz about his dreams, not just of acing the entrance exam into the highly regarded school, but also of his ultimate goal: the greatest harem ever created.

At that point, the young man was sure that his odd friend would do one of two things. Either he would be deeply disgusted, which was unlikely given the tall man's perverse nature, or he would immediately launch into a long-winded recollection of his times with women. At this point, 2 months into knowing the tall foreigner, Issei had heard God knows how many tales of conquests and bedding from the man.

Once again, Zaz had surprised Issei. Doing neither of the two things, he instead leaned in even closer, whispering conspiratorially to the young man.

"You know," he had said. "This whole time I had thought you were just a kid trying to hide his perversions like the rest. Boring. But now? Now the truth comes out, doesn't it Issei? You want a harem? Truly?" He asked, and Issei had nodded firmly. It was all he wanted, he had told the man.

Zaz smiled then, a genuine smile, not the sly smirk that he usually wore. "That's a bold goal, my young friend. You haven't even had a girlfriend, have you?" Issei tried to hide the embarrassed flush at that comment, he truly did, but Zaz caught it immediately.

"Oh ho, so you haven't. A big jump, don't you think?" He asked.

"I don't care if it's a big jump. I know that I can make that leap if I work hard at it. It's my goal, and it's what I'm going to work towards! I don't care how hard I have to struggle for it because it's a goal worth fighting for!" Issei had responded passionately, clenching his fist as he got caught up in declaring his life's plan.

At that, Zaz laughed, a boisterous laugh straight from the belly. "And I believe in you!" He shouted back, clasping the young man by his shoulders. "But it's an uphill battle, and one you'll find that is full of pitfalls, full of traps, and full of distractions! Doesn't that scare you just a little?" The older man's theatrics were over the top, clearly flamboyant to the point of seemingly exaggeration. Issei scowled, raising his fist to his chest in a mock salute.

"Nothing worth having is easy to get!" He responded, a fire in his eyes. Zaz laughed again, giving the teen a hearty pat on the back that nearly sent him sprawling. "That's the spirit! Now you've got me fired up too!" He yelled out.

"So, Issei Hyoudou, my advice to you is this! Work hard! Study hard! Grow in both mind and body, and never back down from a fight worth fighting! And one day, I truly believe you will have that harem you so desire! I believe your potential will shine brightly in more ways than one!"

At this, Issei couldn't help some excited tears from pooling up in his eyes. While he didn't exactly understand the 'more ways than one' portion, Issei was enthralled by Zaz's speech.

To keep his dignity, Issei quickly wiped his dirty sleeve against his face, standing tall. From that day forward, he would take Zaz's advice, and nothing could stand in his way!

"You know…" Zaz drawled out, watching bemusedly as the teen got caught up in his own visions of grandeur. "It might not be a bad idea to take some of that advice literally. Working at the docks has given you some strength, I'm sure, but it might be worth looking into a gym. Every girl loves some muscles on a man, and more importantly, how are you going to keep your harem safe if you're not strong?" He asked rhetorically, trying incredibly hard to not snort with amusement at Issei's horror upon realizing his flaws.

"I'll sign up for something as soon as I'm off work!" The teen announced, scrambling over the next few hours to tidy up the docks, fill out all the appropriate paperwork, re-work the shoddy knots that Zaz always seemed to leave when he took his boat back to the pier, and generally make himself as useful to Mr. Eizo as he possibly could.

Zaz could only watch in amusement at the young man's antics. "Work hard Issei. Believe you me. With what's to come, you'll be thanking yourself later." The brunette didn't hear as Zaz walked away, curious of what's to come.

Once the brunette had finished his work for the day, he looked around for Zaz, but couldn't find him. Shrugging off the taller man's rudeness, Issei went ahead with his day.

Arriving at his family's home after a quick ride on the train, Issei wasted little time, slipping his shoes off and sitting down for a rather rushed dinner with his parents before racing off again to the local gym.

His mother had been rather confused, barely making out the words that Issei managed to get out in between spoonfuls of food, but Gorou had understood almost instinctively what Issei had been planning to do. Waving to his son as he exited their home, the salaryman smiled to himself, finding contentment with the way his life was going. All in all, things were good; they were great, in fact.

A few minutes of walking later, Issei had arrived at his local gym. Conveniently enough, it was also only a half hour's walk from Kuoh Academy; truly a fortuitous turn of events for the young man. Stepping in carefully so as to not cause the rather annoying doorbell to ring, Issei entered the gym, finding his way over to the front desk with relative ease.

"Ah, hello there. I was hoping to start a membership here?" He inquired respectfully, doing his best to not stare at the rather cute receptionist that met his gaze unflinchingly.

She was a pretty thing, a good few inches shorter than Issei with a willowy build and long black hair that framed her oval face rather cutely. "Ah hello, sir." She responded, reaching across the side of the desk for a stack of papers.

Issei was a weak man. He knew that. He was weak in physical strength, certainly, and his mental fortitude had only recently become something better than atrocious. But even the worst of men can find themselves doing incredible things, and it was with great pride that Issei didn't take a single peek at her chest as she bent over to get him his paperwork. At least, not for more than a second, and as discreetly as he could manage.

The receptionist either didn't notice it, or shrugged it off noncommittally, handing the teen the necessary forms to fill out. Ten minutes of mind-numbing minutiae later, Issei was the proud owner of a 6-month gym membership at Kuoh Iron. "So…" He started, suddenly rather self conscious.

"Are there any, uh, personal trainers here? I'm… well, I'm sort of new, and I don't want to hurt myself." He admitted, a bit embarrassed with himself for the absolute and total lack of forethought with this endeavor. He didn't even have a written workout plan!

The receptionist actually chuckled at that, the corners of her lips turning up almost subconsciously into a slight smile, and at that moment, Issei's heart felt like it could burst out of his chest. Was this what it felt like to not be stared at like scum? He could get used to this, the teen decided.

"We actually have a visiting athlete here. He's a bit quiet, but he's been incredibly helpful to some of the older folks, and he even helps us clean the gym sometimes. You'll find him," she pointed with one finger. "Over there, do you see? By the Smith Machine."

Issei followed her finger with his eyes, looking over to where she had pointed. There, standing by himself was probably the most solidly built man Issei had ever seen. He was tall, with a wide back and enormous shoulders, his waist coming down into a sharp taper. The man was clothed simply, just a tank top and a pair of football shorts, dead-lifting what looked like an entire rack's worth of weights.

The teen gulped, forcing his feet to move in the direction of this monster. "Eh, excuse m-me?" He asked, causing the other man to perk up, casually dropping the ridiculous load of weights as his deadlift reached its peak with a thunderous clap.

"Ah, hello there!" He grinned, sticking a hand out for Issei to shake before realizing that he was covered in chalk dust and retracting it. "Sorry about that. What can I help you with?" The absolute beast of a human asked.

"I, uh, I was told you were able to help me out with starting a lifting routine?" Issei asked, doing his hardest to ignore the bead of sweat that rolled down the back of his neck. What the hell did this guy even eat? Whole cows?

"I'd love to!" The man responded, his enthusiasm doing a lot to calm Issei down. "What are your goals?" He asked, moving to unload the majority of 20kg plates from his barbell as he did so.

"Uh…" Issei stammered for a moment. "Strength, I guess?" He managed to get out. The muscular man's grin managed to widen even further somehow, nearly splitting his face. "That's great! We can start right now if you'd like!"

Issei looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching as he considered his options. Sure, he could put it off for another day. He could go home, write up a plan, do his own research, and come back much more prepared to handle the gym. But that would mean time wasted, wouldn't it? How could he afford to waste even a single afternoon, when his entrance exam was so close? When the first day of the start of his life was so close?

It was simple; he couldn't. Not even a single day could be wasted. "I'll start right now. My name's Issei Hyoudou." He nodded firmly, bending down to help the rippling hulk of muscle with a face that this gym called a trainer.

"Good to meet you, Issei Hyoudou. My name's Sai."