Back again in the ORC. Issei didn't know why he was back here again or why he even agreed to follow Akeno to the ORC, but he's here now. Issei looked at Rias, and she did not know how to speak with him.
"Seriously, you call me here, and all you do is stare at me," Issei said. He was going to start Raynare's training today. Yet, he was being held up due to Rias calling him. "Can we please get this over with? I have things to do".
"Right, sorry about that," Rias said. She didn't know how to make a deal with someone who seemingly had nothing in need. "I wanted to make a deal with you. As much as I wanted you to be part of my Peerage, I realised that isn't possible. So, all I can do is go for the next best thing, which would be making a deal. I want you to train Kiba with the sword and Akeno in magic. You can ask me whatever you need in exchange, as long as it's reasonable".
"Hmm…" Issei was thinking. For a long time, he has been looking for the daughter of the woman that he tried to save from the group of Fallen Angels, but he was never able to do so. Issei has been curious if he was ever able to save the little girl or if she died like her mom since she suddenly disappeared. "Okay, I'll train them, but in exchange, I want you to look for someone I've been searching for, for a long time here in Kuoh".
"Uhm…Is that all?" Rias said. She was confused as to why that's all Issei was asking for. But what she doesn't know is how much the little girl's information has been eating away at Issei's mind. Knowing what happened is more valuable than any item or money anyone can give to Issei. "Can I ask for the details of the little girl?".
"The last time I saw the little girl was seven-years-ago," Issei said. Looking through his memories, Issei described what he could to Rias. "Back then, she seemed to be about my age. She had black hair and purple eyes".
"Uhm…That wouldn't be enough to find the person you're looking for. Or at least it would be very difficult," Rias said. She could find the person with all the Devils' connections, but it would be challenging due to lack of information. "Do you have any more information about the person? Like the situation with the family, incidents you can remember, anything that could help".
"Hmm…Seven years ago, the little girl and her mother were attacked by a group of Fallen Angels," Issei said. Rias was listening intently, but Akeno was shocked on the other hand. She and her mother were attacked by Fallen Angel seven years ago. "I tried to save them, but I was too weak to completely hold off the number of Fallen Angels. I was able to kill most, but when I was done, I saw that the little girl's mother had died, and the little girl was gone. I never knew what happened to the little girl, and it's been killing me to know what happened".
Akeno was shaking in her seat. Sure enough, it was her and her mother that Issei was talking about. Akeno remembers it, a kid about her age took on a group of Fallen Angels and held them back. But unfortunately, the number of Fallen Angels was too much. Some slipped passed his guard and were able to kill her mother.
"C-Can I ask y-you a question?" Akeno, a person who is confident in herself, was stuttering. Like Issei, she has been looking for the person that tried to help her years ago. "W-Was the Mother-Daughter pair a-attacked near s-shrine?".
"Yeah…?" Issei said. He was confused. How would Akeno know about it? Unless…He looked at Akeno and realised she looked like the little girl's mother. His eye twitched. How could he never have noticed? "I-It's you! You were the little girl! You looked exactly like the mother!".
Akeno dashed towards him and gave him a hug. She's been wanting to do this for a long time. Thank the person that tried to help her. Going against a group of Fallen Angels at such a young age was not something anyone would just do. Yet, a kid her age was able to push them back. As it turns out, Issei was the reason she was still alive and striving to get stronger.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Akeno shouted. She finally found the person that she's been searching for. "Thank you for saving me that day and trying to save my mom".
"Sorry I wasn't able to save her," Issei said. He was smiling since a part of him felt lighter after finding out the little girl from seven years ago was okay. "I tried to save you both, I really did, but I wasn't strong enough back then".
"It's not your fault," Akeno said. She then backed away from the hug. "You did everything you could. It's those damn Fallen Angels that were at fault".
Issei saw the eyes of Akeno and felt that something was wrong. She wasn't only blaming the group of Fallen Angels that attacked her and her mother, but the entire race. It was justifiable to blame the whole race in the eyes of a little girl, but she was a lot older now. Akeno should know it's not right to condemn the actions of the few on the entire race. That's just not right.
"Don't… Don't do that," Issei said. Akeno looked at him weirdly. "Do not blame an entire race for the actions of the few. That's just not right, and you know it. Yes, some Fallen Angels are horrible people, but so are Devils, Youkai, Dragons, and other races. There are good and bad people in every race. The fault of the horrible should never be projected to the good".
Akeno understood what Issei was saying, but it's hard not to blame the entire race. Especially since she's never seen the good of the race. However, the person telling her this was the person that saved her years ago, the least she could do was to try.
"I don't know if I can do that, but I can try," Akeno said. She then smiled and then smirked. "Now, how about I reward you for saving me all those years ago? I just know the thing".
Akeno then licked her lips. Issei backed away from her as he saw her predatory smirk.
"Don't take her seriously. She's never been done it with anyone," Rias said. She sighed. Akeno is always like this. She loved to tease. One day, Rias hopes to see a guy tease back. She wondered how Akeno would act then. "Just let her be, and she might get bored and leave you alone".
"O-kay…Anyways, since you technically achieved your end of the bargain," Issei said. They did their part of the deal, so he would honour his. "I'll train Akeno and Kiba. But not just them. I'll also be training Koneko as well".
Huh? Koneko looked up from her pile of food when she heard what Issei said. How did she become part of the conversation? She didn't know, but she was curious now.
Koneko listened to the conversation more intently now, but she still wanted to eat her snack. When she looked down at her food, the quantity was more than before. She was confused but happy to see the addition.
"She's interesting," Issei said. He looked at her, and he saw potential. Wasted potential. With the few times, Issei has seen Koneko move, he can tell she's strong physically, but her movement isn't refined, untrained. "I can see potential in her. And she's compatible with one of my Martial Arts since she's quite flexible".
Koneko looked at Issei, and she saw no lies in his words, but she was having this weird feeling that she might be put in the ringer more than the other two. It was only for a moment, but she saw it. She saw Issei smirk.
"Oh? That's quite generous of you, but Koneko is a hand-to-hand combatant," Rias said. She's been told Issei was great with a sword. So, when he said Martial Arts, she thought he meant sword Martial Arts. Which would be incompatible with Koneko. "I don't think she has the talent for it".
"I wasn't talking about sword training," Issei said. He should have elaborated on what he meant. "I'm quite good with my hand-to-hand combat. I want to teach Re-Taekwondo to Koneko".
"I see…So, where and when would the training begin?" Rias asked. She didn't know how Issei trained. So, information about where and when is a normal thing to ask. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to make a training schedule to fit both of us".
Issei had no problem with that. So, he worked with Rias for the next thirty minutes to schedule Akeno, Kiba and Koneko's training. Every day, after school, Issei would train the trio for three hours and on the weekends, they would be trained for seven hours. However, Issei told Rias that he could do something that would make everyday life as training.
Rias was interested, and she asked him to show her. Issei smirked, and he applied the runes on her body that caused the gravity on her body to increase.
Rias dropped to the ground. One thing to note about these runes is that the stronger you get, the stronger the gravity will be. Though, there is a limit. However, Rias and the others were not reaching that limit for a long time.
Funny thing, when Issei was going to remove the runes from Rias, she asked him not to. Issei nodded, and he applied the runes to Koneko, Akeno and Kiba. The worst of the three was Kiba, which came as a shock since he was supposed to be a swordsman. But then again, he does seem to be a speed type fighter.