Well, there was something wrong with reviews recently, so I can't reply to them… I'm getting the emails for them, but they aren't showing up yet. That's also why this chapter was delayed slightly, as I was waiting for them to resolve the issue. That being said, the issue is still occurring, but this isn't the first time this has happened to me and won't be the last. Normally, the reviews will show up after a while and I can reply to them then. Please review as normal, but if you have any burning questions, comments or concerns, please PM me so I can respond.
In any case, I'd like to revise my statement from last chapter, I will focus on TTONU, but I do know myself and after a good 15-30K words for any story, I get bored, so I will sporadically update others during my focus on TTONU.
I'm also leaning pretty strongly towards my Batman fanfic again… but if I do start writing it, I'll make sure to have at least three chapters done in advance and make sure I'm at least up to the second last arc of TTONU, before uploading.
In regards to updates for other stories, I honestly can't say. It is really whatever takes my fancy, as annoying as that sounds. I think I might take a brief break from DxD for a while, after this recent splurge though. Fairy Tail, will probably get a few sporadic updates, mostly AJPD and WoF, since I have a few ideas for them. I'll probably have more than one update for AHTNK as well, but might leave WHBTS for a bit. Outside that, I have no idea what will be next.
Anyway, moving on to the chapter. It was weird writing the date… especially in a pretty normal world, since everything is always the same in terms of what happens, dinner, movie and random third activity… like the title of this chapter though, I put a lot of subtle nods to things throughout the chapter, just to amuse you all. If one of you picks up on where the movie idea came from though, in other words, what I based it on, I'd be very surprised.
Next chapter will be the lemon, so by the end of this chapter, it should be clear who it is with and I do have plans for her, plot related plans too, I might add.
With that said, next chapter will be up in a few days, depending on when I proofread it, so look forward to that.
I would also like to give a big thank you to my three new patrons. I really do appreciate it.
Enjoy the chapter.
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the High School DxD anime/manga/light novel. All I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
'Ddraig talking and Sacred Gear sounds'
"Ddraig thinking"
*expression*
Flashback
Chapter 13 – Not The Fruit
As Issei returned from heaven, he went to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, deep in thought.
'Come on! You can't seriously be thinking about this? You already got fooled by her once, why on earth would you want to try something like this again?' Asked Raynare cynically.
'This is different, this isn't personal. This is about the future and the possible battles it might bring.' Said Issei, to the figure in front of him.
'Yet this can only occur through you, no one else, so it is very personal. Don't you get it? This is like the angel equivalent of a peerage. Can you really trust her again; I mean really, really trust her?' Asked Raynare calmly.
Issei looked at the cards for a minute longer, before putting them on his bedside table.
Raynare smirked, but Issei looked at her.
'I'm not doubting her, but this is a big decision and I need time to think about it.' Defended Issei.
'Sure, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.' Dismissed Raynare, with a wave of her hand.
'Sleep… that's not a bad idea.' Muttered Issei, before taking off his school uniform.
After Issei had taken of his shirt and blazer, he took off his pants, only for something to fall out of his pockets. Issei bent down and retrieved the small shiny object, before chuckling, at seeing it was a condom that Xenovia had kept flashing around.
'I mean come on Issei, she just wants your kids like the cat.' Drawled Raynare in boredom.
'Not true, since that wasn't always her original goal.' Replied Issei.
'Whatever, although, I'm surprised you're actually talking back to me now. Finally realised how much you want me?' Asked Raynare cheekily.
'No, but if I'm alone, there isn't anything wrong with talking to myself.' Replied Issei, as he pulled out his pyjama shorts and shirt, before putting them on.
'So, if we have sex, does that mean you're just masturbating?' Asked Raynare curiously.
Issei looked at Raynare searchingly for a full minute, confusing her.
'Yep, you're definitely part of my brain, since questions like that keep me up at night.' Said Issei, with a small quirk of his lips.
'I could keep you up another way you know.' Purred Raynare.
'You actually can't, since you're not real.' Said Issei, before grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Raynare, which caused her to disappear.
'Hey, that was rude you know!' Said an indignant Raynare, as she appeared beside the bed, instead of on it, as she had been previously.
'Whatever. Enjoy silence for another eight hours.' Said Issei, as he climbed into bed and closed his eyes, with a smirk.
'Ass.' Grumbled Raynare unhappily.
-line break-
As Issei awoke for the final day of school for the week, he paused for a moment to reflect on the week so far.
"Man, this has been one hell of a week. I honestly couldn't have imagined things like this happening before." Thought Issei in surprise, as he dressed himself.
It was Friday at last and tomorrow would be the very interesting triple date, which Issei was looking forward to, mostly to see how Motohama and Matsuda would act on a date, but also, due to the fact that Murayama had managed to pique his interest yesterday. Her sudden friendliness puzzled him and had him wanting to understand what could have caused the change.
Just like yesterday, Issei left for school, with Irina and Xenovia in tow, before making their way to their class.
'What a week. I can't believe all of this stuff happened over four days, I doubt anything will happen today though, that'd just be insane.' Said Raynare, once again lounging on Issei's desk.
"Hmm, well, this actually gives me an idea… and not just to spite you… since you are really me anyway." Thought Issei, causing Raynare to look at him in curiosity.
-line break-
Come lunchtime, the trio of female enthusiasts were under their usual tree, only for Issei to surprise the other two, when he stood up and told them to watch what he did next. In a move reminiscent of Matsuda's actions on Monday, Issei made his way to the Kendo Club change rooms, but unlike Matsuda, waited outside the front for them to come out. The emerging girls looked at Issei warily, but didn't say or do anything. After most of them had left, Issei patiently waited for the last two to come out, who were Katase and Murayama.
'Hi Issei, something wrong?' Asked Murayama calmly.
'Well, not exactly wrong, but I was wondering if you would do me a favour?' Asked Issei sheepishly.
'What kind of favour?' Asked Murayama, narrowing her eyes as she did so.
'Don't worry, nothing like that. I just wanted to know if you could teach me Kendo. If you weren't too busy I mean.' Said Issei quickly.
Both Katase and Murayama looked at Issei in surprise.
'Really? Why the sudden interest?' Asked Murayama curiously.
'Well, I know can hold my own in a physical battle, but I think having an idea on how to use and defend against weapons, might be useful.' Explained Issei.
'And that just so happened to come to you today, of all days and on one of the most eventful weeks of the year.' Said Murayama suspiciously.
'Well it isn't like I planned it… but I mean if you don't want to, that's fine, there are always other people I can ask.' Said Issei coolly, turning his back on the duo and starting to walk back to the perverted duo.
'Will this affect tomorrow at all?' Asked Murayama curiously.
'Nope, tomorrow is still set. This is a completely different thing.' Said Issei, pausing to look over his shoulder.
'Then I'd be happy to. It'd be interesting to see if your new physique has made you a better target.' Said Murayama, with a smirk.
'Oh, I'm sure I'll surprise you.' Said Issei, with a wink.
'In that case, how about a quick spar after school?' Proposed Murayama.
'Sure, sounds good to me.' Said Issei, giving a wave over his shoulder, as he walked back to his fellow perverts.
"The week continues." Thought Issei in amusement, watching Raynare huff in irritation.
-line break-
Surprisingly, word had spread rapidly once again through the school, at Issei suddenly taking an interest in Kendo. This also happened to reach the ears of a certain blonde.
"If we had known better, Issei would have most likely come to me for help… help… Issei helped us all, but we couldn't help him… we really were… are… terrible friends." Thought Kiba, his face fixed in his usual fake smile, even though beneath the surface, he was drowning in guilt.
"We need to do something about this. If both Xenovia and Irina could be forgiven, there exists a chance, however slight, that we may be forgiven as well." Thought Yuuto, with newfound determination.
-line break-
Issei made his way to the outside sparring ring for the Kendo Club, located just a stone's throw away from their changing rooms. The school was largely empty now and only a few people, who also had late club activities remained. When Issei arrived, he noticed Murayama, garbed in her Kendo attire and was holding two shinai.
'You don't mind doing this test in your school uniform, do you?' Asked Murayama curiously.
'Nah, it's fine, I'm surprisingly pretty comfortable in these clothes.' Said Issei, before quickly raising his left hand, to grab the stick of wood that had been thrown at him.
'Quick reflexes, that's good, it'll help you avoid being struck.' Appraised Murayama.
Murayama walked over to Issei, holding her weapon down, informing Issei that combat was not about to begin yet. Murayama circled Issei quickly, before coming to a stop in front of him.
'Well, you have a balanced build, so a fairly basic opening stance would be your best bet.' Said Murayama, before raising her shinai in front of her, bending her knees slightly. Her left foot was positioned at a forty-five-degree angle and her right foot was pointed straight ahead. Right hand above left on the tsuba. Lastly, Murayama was bent ever so slightly forward.
'This is the stance you would want to take.' Instructed Murayama.
Issei observed the stance, before quickly mimicking it.
'Good.' Said Murayama, with a nod, before taking a few steps back.
'Now, before we start, do you know the basic striking techniques?' Asked Murayama.
'More or less. This stuff is based on Kenjutsu which I've seen a lot of… that and we've watched you all enough to pick up most of it, I just wanted some hands on experience.' Confessed Issei, with a chuckle.
Murayama gave him a dirty look, before her expression relaxed once again.
'In that case, let's spar.' Said Murayama.
Issei nodded, before the two eyed each other off. Issei waited for Murayama to make the first move and she quickly advanced on him and struck downwards. Issei held his shinai upwards, with a slight tilt to the left, causing the wood to clack harshly. Issei then quickly brought his sword down on Murayama's right wrist, only to find it blocked. Murayama then levelled a strike at the right side of Issei's abdomen, only for Issei to strafe to the side and avoid the attack, bringing him closer to Murayama's right and attempting a strike to her head. Murayama blocked it and the two continued to trade blows back and forth.
As the spar continued, Murayama started to find herself equally surprised and frustrated. Not only was Issei, a complete rookie, matching her, he was doing it so easily, almost as though he wasn't even being challenged. After a few more strikes, Murayama decided to stop holding back so much and started levelling increasingly faster strikes at Issei, occasionally aiming for his left side as well. To Murayama's surprise, Issei found no difficulties blocking on either side, which was surprising. Blows to the left side were not common, outside of those aimed towards the head, which made many, at least a little bit unbalanced when someone could strike at both sides so fluidly. As her strikes picked up in speed, so did Issei's. A furious clacking of wood on wood was all that was heard between the two, both controlling their breathing to a frightening level.
Eventually, Murayama decided it was time to end this and aimed a rapid thrust at Issei's throat. Murayama's eyes widened, as she realised that Issei was not wearing the proper gear and a strike to his throat would be devastating, possibly even crippling. Issei felt the intent behind the strike, before Murayama had even moved and had quickly taken his left hand off his shinai.
'I think that's enough for now.' Said Issei, gripping Murayama's shinai at the tip, with his left hand, only about a hand's length away from his throat.
Murayama blinked for a moment, completely shocked that Issei had caught her strike, but thankful for it.
'Y-yeah, that's a good idea.' Agreed Murayama.
'I have to say though, that was interesting. It is different when I have one of my own. Can't really defend against you without it.' Laughed Issei, as he let go of Murayama's shinai, remembering how many times a shinai had met his flesh in the past.
'Well, with reflexes like that, I think you'd manage.' Said Murayama, still a little awed at Issei's speed.
'In any case, thanks for that. See you tomorrow then. Hopefully, I won't be too annoying, that you feel the need to reacquaint me with your shinai again, after this that is.' Said Issei, as he handed his shinai to Murayama, who took it in confusion.
'What do you mean?' Asked Murayama.
'Well, I'd say all things considered, just knowing the stance was all I really needed from this. I've known the strikes for years now, I can keep up with the movements and as you've seen, I have excellent reflexes.' Said Issei.
'Then why didn't you leave after that?' Asked Murayama in confusion.
'Two reasons. One, I wanted to test myself against, what I would say, is the best Kendo practitioner in this school. Two, is it so wrong to want to watch you in action up close? Watching from a distance is fine, but before, when you would get up close and personal, it was usually for a beat down. I just wanted to see you in proper action is all. Have to say though, you sure are dangerous with that thing.' Said Issei cheerfully.
'So that's it then, you're done with Kendo?' Asked Murayama, somewhat disappointed.
'I guess… but I'll be sure to keep watching you.' Said Issei, with a laugh, before walking off.
'See you tomorrow.' Said Issei, giving a wave over his shoulder.
Murayama watched Issei leave in confusion, before looking at her shinai and widened her eyes. The tip was severely cracked and crumbling away, as though one more strike would turn it to dust.
"Something definitely changed with Hyoudou." Thought Murayama, before going to return her Kendo equipment.
-line break-
'You were so close back then. If you didn't stop yourself, that thing would have turned into splinters.' Commented Raynare.
'I know.' Muttered Issei, with a blank expression.
Raynare looked at Issei curiously, before giving an uncaring shrug.
'Whatever then.' Sighed Raynare in boredom.
Issei made his way up to his apartment, before heading to his shower. It hadn't been a particularly intense battle, for him anyway, but he had still worked up a small sweat and going to a date without showering… probably wasn't the best idea. After showering, Issei made his way back to his bed and while drying himself off, glared at the picture of Azazel.
"That's so creepy, he's watching me sleep." Thought Issei, before trying to take the picture frame down, only to find it wouldn't budge.
Issei frowned, before sighing and simply throwing his towel over the picture.
"That works." Thought Issei, before putting on his pyjamas and going to bed.
-line break-
Finally, it was Saturday. Time for the big date. It was only as Issei made his way to the school, that he realised he had no idea what to expect.
'Hmm, I don't know how to feel about you wearing the same clothes you did to my date with you. That being said, didn't I punch a hole through that shirt? Did you have a replica or something?' Asked Raynare, as she walked alongside him.
Issei was clad in in a black top, black pants and had a lavender jacket over the top, just as he had on his first and last date with Yuuma Amano. That being said, he filled them out much more than he had previously, thanks to his training.
Back to the current date, for one thing, he was mostly a passenger in this whole thing, Matsuda was the main part of the date, having asked Katase. Then Kiryuu and Motohama had joined in, then lastly, he was roped in for Murayama.
'I wonder if they will do better than you did. I mean, your date was very safe… now that I think about it, the complete opposite of what a pervert should have done… I wonder if your friends will be the same… probably not though.' Pondered Raynare thoughtfully.
Reaching the school at fifteen to noon, he was surprised to see everyone else was there already.
The girls were all dressed in knee length skirts, yellow for Murayama, blue for Katase and white for Kiryuu, coupled with sleeveless tops and a light jacket, since it was rather chilly out. Murayama wore a pink top, while Katase wore a green one and Kiryuu a black one. Their jackets were red, green and black for Murayama, Katase and Kiryuu respectively. Matsuda was wearing tan pants and a white short sleeved shirt, while Motohama was wearing blue jeans and a black and red checkered, long sleeved shirt.
'Uh, sorry for making you wait.' Said Issei nervously.
'It's fine, we did say noon. The fact that we all happened to be early is fine.' Said Kiryuu, with the others nodding.
'Alright, in that case, time to go to the first stop, on the best date of your life!' Cheered Matsuda.
'Well, I guess ours would have been your worst. After all, how many dates end with death?' Laughed Raynare.
'Where to first?' Asked Katase suspiciously.
'A restaurant.' Said Matsuda simply, before marching off.
As the group started to walk, Issei noticed that Motohama had actually tried to make his hair neat, however, his hair was just as messy as always, causing Issei to softly chuckle to himself.
'Something funny?' Asked Murayama, from beside Issei.
'Nothing… it's just that Motohama tried to style his hair, but he clearly failed miserably.' Said Issei in amusement.
Murayama looked over at Motohama, before noticing what Issei had and stifled a giggle.
Matsuda led the group to a fairly nice western styled restaurant. It looked to be primarily specialised in burgers, with the apt, yet somewhat crude name, Flame Grilled Slabs.
The group of six entered and were seated after a minute, each couple seated across from each other with Issei inside, Motohama in the middle and Matsuda on the edge of their booth.
To the restaurant's credit, the food was good, perhaps too good, as Matsuda was a little overeager in his eating, causing Issei to snicker to himself, at Katase's slightly irritated expression.
Afterwards, Motohama declared they were going to watch a movie and shockingly, the movie was not perverted. A rather simple murder mystery movie, with a group of twenty people, all in their thirties, being invited over to a lavish mansion for dinner, from a peer of theirs from high school.
'Before this movie even starts, I'm not coming if any of you pull something like this.' Said Issei to the group, as they waited for the movie to start.
'Why not?' Asked Kiryuu.
'These things never end well and not seeing someone for a decade means you have no idea what to expect. For all I know, one of you could be a crazed psychopath by the time you turn thirty.' Answered Issei.
'I think if anyone went crazy, it'd be you, Issei.' Teased Kiryuu.
'You know, considering that within a year you died, became a devil and then an angel, she's got a point.' Said Raynare, seated beside Issei.
From left to right, Raynare was seated to Issei's left, Murayama to Issei's right, Katase to Murayama's right, Matsuda to Katase's right, Kiryuu to Matsuda's right and finally, Motohama on the other end.
The movie started off as movies do, snippets of background information on the various characters and their history, with the one throwing the party on an island. However, once everyone arrived, the one who invited them was not present.
'Oh, you just know people are going to start dying now.' Grinned Raynare.
True to her words, one of them, a model, was found dead, with a sculpture of the Eiffel Tower embedded in her chest. After that, a rather large man, a construction worker, was found the next day, impaled on a model of a pyramid. After the fourth death, a woman, poisoned with venom from a spider, found only in Australia, people had started snuggling up together. Murayama was leaning into Issei's shoulder; Katase had shuffled over to Matsuda and much to Issei's amusement; Motohama was gripping on to Kiryuu's hand and partially burying his face into her shoulder.
Issei tried and succeeded in containing his laughter, but Raynare guffawed loudly from beside him, falling off her chair in the process.
The movie concluded as Issei had expected, the host failing one too many times and becoming frustrated, revealing himself to the group, only for the man who had been impaled on the pyramid, to have actually survived. Weakened as he was, he was still able to bring the very same pyramid, which had impaled him, down on to the head, of their much scrawnier attacker, breaking his neck.
After that, he, along with the last two survivors, left the island, concluding the movie.
As the group left the theatre, Motohama had calmed down somewhat, but still held Kiryuu's hand. Matsuda on the other hand, was now walking as close to Katase as possible, without actually touching her. All in all, Issei was quite surprised at the progress they were both making. It was then he glanced down and noticed Murayama was still leaning into his side, his left arm around her shoulders.
'Now, the final stop!' Declared Matsuda, as after the three-hour long movie, the sun was officially begging to make its way down. It was still fairly high on the horizon, but another two or three hours and it would have dipped below the surface.
The final stop, as Matsuda had declared, was a karaoke bar, much to Issei's amusement, knowing just how bad the two of his friends were at singing. That being said, Issei was no angel, well, at least at singing.
Issei had let Matsuda and Motohama do their embarrassing duet. Despite being embarrassing though, it certainly created a fun atmosphere, so much so that Issei mustered up the courage to butcher a song of his own.
One pop song later and Issei had found, that strangely enough, his singing had improved and much to his embarrassment, had been forced to sing another by the group, only this time, they had chosen it for him. "Melody of the Wild Dance" by SID had come up and Issei smiled, being familiar with the song and in fact, quite fond of it. As he finished the song, Issei looked over to the group of five and noticed them all looking at him in awe.
'Um, is something wrong?' Asked Issei nervously.
'When the hell did you get to be such a good singer? You sucked just as bad as us a few months ago!' Said Matsuda in shock.
'Um, dunno.' Said Issei sheepishly.
After that, the girls sang "STUDYxSTUDY" by StylipS and surprised the trio of perverts.
'Wow, you sounded just like them.' Exclaimed Issei, with the other two nodding in muted silence.
'Well, Katase and I have actually practised that one a lot, but Kiryuu did a really good job as well.' Said Murayama happily.
After a few more renditions of various songs, Matsuda proposed the idea of couples singing songs together. There was quite a bit of grumbling, most of them feeling a duet was definitely not their thing, much more suited to people twice their age, but Matsuda persisted and the rest eventually gave in.
As expected, Matsuda and Motohama tried their best, but singing really wasn't their thing. However, when Issei and Murayama stood up, the other four watched in interest, looking forward to a duet by two rather good singers.
The song picked at random by the two, was "Possibility", a duet between Daichi Miura and BoA. As the two sang, their friends watched on in admiration. A duet was hard enough to pull off, even between two good singers, but the duo of Issei and Murayama made for an absolutely breathtaking performance.
As they finished, their friends applauded and much to their embarrassment, so did a few others who were in the karaoke club as well.
'I'm not doing that again.' Huffed Issei, with a small blush.
Murayama, with a slightly bigger blush, nodded in agreement.
'But you guys were so good!' Exclaimed Katase.
'Yeah, you completely buried us you know. Ah, who would have thought Issei was such a good singer?' Lamented Motohama, with a wry grin.
'What's your secret Issei, been having lessons since last time?' Teased Kiryuu.
'Actually, it is because you are an angel now. You didn't think that having the voice of an angel was just an expression, did you?' Teased Raynare.
'Uh, no, just… I dunno, maybe I was just having a bad day back then.' Chuckled Issei nervously.
The group kept singing for another hour, but no more duets were sung and Issei didn't sing again, too embarrassed at the applause that might follow.
When the group stepped outside, it had become dark, or at least, it would have been, if not for all the neon lights. The group walked out of the entertainment district of Kuoh and headed back to the residential part, where everyone lived. The group slowly splintered off, with Matsuda offering to walk Katase home, which she actually accepted, causing Matsuda to smile and for Issei to raise an eyebrow.
'Looks like they did better than you thought.' Commented Raynare, after Motohama and Kiryuu left.
'So Murayama, where to from here?' Asked Issei.
'Just a bit further… that way.' Mumbled Murayama sleepily.
'Um, which way?' Asked Issei, only to see Murayama was practically sleep walking, leaning into him for support.
Issei gave a small sigh, before turning slightly to head towards his apartment.
'Oh, what are you going to do now? Take her back for some hot and steamy action?' Teased Raynare.
Issei deadpanned at the apparition.
"I'm such a pervert sometimes." Sighed Issei internally.
'Hey, you were thinking it, otherwise, I wouldn't have said it.' Quipped Raynare.
Issei sighed audibly this time, but didn't speak back to the fallen angel.
"My mind is messed up no matter what I am it seems." Thought Issei dryly.