Chapter 10

(Next morning)

"AAAAHHHH!" Issei let out a shriek immediately upon awakening, he was heavily panting as if he'd just finished a round of sprints and sweat was pouring off his face. "Ha… Ha… Ha… Ha… I'm alive? I'm alive!" Issei exclaimed happily with a level of honest surprise being portrayed in his voice. "And… This isn't where I passed out…" Issei told himself upon realizing he was currently sitting on a large mattress covered in white sheets and blankets, a far cry from the couch he'd collapsed on and to top things off he was topless. "Where'd my shirt go…."

Issei surveyed his surroundings and quickly found he was in an unfamiliar bedroom. 'Aaaahhh… I can put together what's going on.' Issei figured as he looked over to his left to find a human sized lump in the sheets. 'Yep, I knew it…'

'Normally I'd just let her sleep but I don't know where I am so it's time to wake up.' Issei reached out for the sheet and pulled it off, revealing Rias sleeping face along with her completely nude body. "Wow…."

"Uhhh…." The sleeping girl groaned as her eyes began to blink open. "Mmmmm… Good morning.." She smiled and she looked up at Issei with a sultry, seductive bat of sapphire blue eyes.

"And I'm over it…" Issei muttered blankly upon realizing he was being played to. He balled up the sheets and threw the cluster at Rias' face to cover her up and then pivoted himself off the massive white bed.

"Glad to see you're feeling better." Rias muttered back, frustrated her seductive plan seemed to have fallen through.

"So where are we and where is my shirt?" Issei, feeling cold, began to cradle his bare chest in his arms.

"You were in pretty bad shape after your run in with that exorcist, I had to heal you overnight so I brought you here. This is the guestroom in my apartment." Rias explained, causing Issei to give the massive "guestroom" a look over before shooting the high class devil, a disappointed look but Rias didn't seem to notice. "My healing magic works better with the more direct skin contact so we removed your shirt, plus it was covered in sweat… and vomit."

"But your clothes should be cleaned by now." She continued as she lifted herself off the bed, leaving the sheets behind. "If you follow me we'll get you dressed and head for the clubhouse." Rias walked across the guestroom floor on the way to the door, doing nothing to hide her impressive naked body from the eyes of her guest as he stood and wathed. "I'm anxious to finally hear your request." She looked back from the doorway and winked to which issei responded with a quick roll of his eyes.

(Later, ORC clubhouse)

Issei followed the red haired club president through the large wooden doors of the all too familiar old school building. On the inside the other four members of Rias' peerage sat in place waiting for the two of them to arrive.

'The gangs all here…' Issei thought as he raised a confused eyebrow. 'these sort of talks are usually done one on one but I guess she is just a kid so I don't blame her for not getting details exactly right and I don't think she meant anything by it but I'm already embarrassed coming back here to ask for help and the audience isn't making it better.' Issei thought as a cold sweat formed on his forehead.

"Alright, lets get down to business." Rias made herself comfortable at her desk as she locked her eyes onto Issei. "So what is you'd like to request of me?"

"Hah…" Issei let out a sigh in defiance of Rias' overdramatic flair. "Look it's not so much of a request as I just wanted to get your permission for something. In fact if there wasn't history between us I wouldn't even be asking. I've received a piece of what should be reliable that told me a person of personal interest would be here in Kuoh sometime in the coming month. I don't know when they'll be here they may even be here now but I've never met this person before so I'd need time to investegate. I know Kuoh is your territory now and I know you're very active here so I'm asking your permission as to not step on any toes?"

"A person of personal interest? Someone you haven't met yet?" Rias raised an eyebrow at these seemingly contrary points. "Who exactly is it your searching for Issei."

Issei took a moment to formulate his response unwilling to say it out right he decided to keep his answer relatively vague. "Someone I'm… destined to meet. You could almost call it fate."

"I see…" Rias being astute, easily decifered Issei's meaning. "Well I appreciate you respecting my authority over the region and asking outright for permission and so I'm willing to accept your request. In exchange…."

'Here we go…' Issei rolled his eyes as he figured this outcome would arise.

"As a devil it would go against principle for me to accept your request for free." Rias justified. "So in exchange the use of my territory and aid in your search I'd like for you to sign a second contract and rejoin my family-"

"No can't do it." Issei interrupted and then quickly stuck two fingers in the air before Rias had a chance to rebuttal. "Two reason's." He elaborated. "First, if who I'm searching for doesn't show up here then it wouldn't be the first time my info lead to a dead end and in that case I'll need to continue my search, I can't be tied here. And secondly." Issei's expression turned more pessimistic as he continued. "If I find who I'm looking for I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep my end of this deal. I might not be alive long enough to fullfill that contract you want."

"I'm not against payment, that's how devils do things but you'll have to find something else I can help you with." Issei enforced his point with a stern crossing of his arms.

"Well that's where we come to impass." Rias replied, putting her stubbornness on full display. "The time you spent as part of my family may not have been long but nevertheless you made an unforgettable impact. I can't pass up on an opportunity to make you mine once again. If it does anything to alleviate your concern I treat my pieces like family in the sense they I'm willing to support there personal goals and desires to the extent they're willing to support mine, I wouldn't stand in the way of your search and I believe in you to the point that when you find this person you're looking for, I have no doubt you'll return to my side victorious regardless of who they might be."

"Ugh…" Issei let out a pained groan. 'Jesus, it's like talking to a wall… She doesn't get it. It doesn't matter who wins or loses, I'm already a dead man walking… She's a kid so I shouldn't let it get to me but there's something about that stubbornness that's pissing me off.' Unwilling to argue he simply turned around. "I already told you it's not happening. If you don't want to listen then I don't have anything else to say to you."

"Huh?" Rias called out, having not foreseen this outcome. "W-Wait!…" She followed up but Issei didn't stop his march to the door which in turn angered the devil. "So I take it this means You're leaving." She said with a glare, crossing her arms and striking a powerful stance.

For whatever reason this got Issei to stop and prompted an answer. "No, not until I'm finished with my business."

"You don't have permission to be here, in MY territory." Rias pointed out, narrowing her eyes. "If you remain it'll be considered trespassing and I'll-"

"Let me stop you there." Issei turned back and Locked eyes with Rias. "I came here trying to be nice. I'm not looking to to fight with you but if you're going to insist on making me an enemy and if you try to get in my way then…. Lets just say I've got nothing to lose and I won't be pulling my punches." Issei growled back.

Perceiving possible danger, Kiba and Koneko took battle stances without needing any instruction from their master. Kiba drawing his sword and Koneko putting up her tiny fists and this only served to push the already annoyed Issei another step over the line.

"Damnit…" He muttered under his own breath before intense waves of aura began to explode off his body. "Sorry kids! Not playing this time." Kiba and Akeno were forced into defensive stances as Issei's aura whipped up the paper off Rias' desk and shattered the glass coffee table and the room's glass windows before eventually Issei's balance breaker armor formed around him. "Last warning! Stay outta the way!" Then with another intense Aura surge Issei blasted the ORC front doors off their hinges and blasted his way out through the opening with his jet boosters.

(Elsewhere)

SHWOOOOOMMMM! Issei continued his dash across the sky. Normally he would've been more careful then to fly in the middle of the day especially on such a notably cloudless morning but considering what had just transpired he was feeling a bit rebellious though eventually enough was enough and he opted to land on an empty roof top on one of the more urban areas of Kuoh.

"Ghhhh…" He grunted as his armor disappeared in a flash of red light. "Well that sucked…." He muttered to himself as he propped his back up against a rooftop top air condition unit. 'I shouldn't have gotten so mad, It's not like Rias really knew what she was doing but damn that stubbornness really gets me heated. That stubborn attitude, the "won't take no for an answer" mind set, I really hate that about high class devils.' Issei thought before turning his attention to a group of small stones positioned next to him on the rooftop.

[TRANSFER!] To amuse himself he charged the small rock with red energy before tossing it into the air before BOOM! Issei's energy caused the stone to explode into a small dusty firework that made the young devil smile for a moment but did little to actually improve his bad mood.

[You sure that was a good idea? If the devil girl calls her big brother in for help then we're fucked.] The Heavenly Welsh Dragon chimed in telepathically.

'I'm not too worried about Sirzechs stepping in. He should know what we're here for and he still owes me a favor so I bet as long as we stay out of Rias' hair we shouldn't have to worry about that.' Issei replied in his mind. 'Right now we need to wait and see how Rias reacts, we should try and wait to start any real investigation until she cools her head a bit. So I need you to hide our presence so we can blend in.'

[Alright I can mask your Dragon aura but I can't do anything about you being a devil.]

'That shouldn't be a problem, this city is drowning in devil energy. It'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.' Issei reassured himself along with his dragon before walking over to the edge of the rooftop. 'Now let's go get something to eat.' With that he leapt off the roof top and disappeared into the city unaware of what he was leaving behind.

A few rooftops away, just out of Issei's sight, a pair of cloaked figures stood simply observing before eventual dashing away like blurs from rooftop to rooftop.

(Later at the ORC)

The room was mostly silent save for the sound of small glass shards being pushed across the wood floor as Kiba, Akeno and Koneko quietly swept the shattered glass off the club room floor. No one was willing to speak up following the events that had happened earlier that morning as their master sat seething at her desk with her face buried in her palms.

"Akeno!" Rias spoke up without removing her face from her hands, getting her peerage to jump slightly out of fear. "Have you been able to sense anything from him?"

"Nope." She replied with her standard chipper smile but a small bead of nervous sweat formed on her forehead. "It's almost like he vanished. Maybe he went back home."

"No, you heard him. He's not gonna leave until he gets what he wants…." Rias muttered back as she eventually looked up. "I mean was it something I said?" She asked herself as she leaned back on her chair and stared up at the ceiling. "Why doesn't he want to be with me?" Feeling subconscious she pulled her legs up onto the chair and hugged her knees. "Does he not think I'm pretty? Did he being my piece? He went out of his way to save me from Riser didn't he? So why doesn't he like me?"

Asia who had been quietly sweeping like the rest of the peerage but her ears picked up the moment conversation regarding issei popped up and she had been silently holding in her opinion before eventually her patients boiled over and she uncontrollably delivered her input. "I don't think he dislikes you!"

Rias, who had not expected anyone to respond to her self-conversation, ears perked up to Asia's inclusion. "Really? And what makes you say that?"

"W-Well…" Asia who hadn't planned on speaking in the first place was suddenly filled with stage fright. "It's just that… The other day even though he was really hurt, he tried his best to make sure to make it to your meeting because he didn't want to let you down. He also went out of his way to save me so he must care about us, at least a little bit." She said as a small optimistic smile formed on her mouth.

"Then why doesn't he wanna be here?" Rias answered immediately, clearly still upset by the rejection.

"Well maybe he's in trouble. He said he acted like know how much time he had left, maybe he's sick?" Asia spoke out in Issei's defense.

"Maybe he's just an asshole." Akeno spoke out with her standard smile. "If he was dealing with something he should've said it instead of threatening us and storming out." Asia didn't have the confidence to argue her point any further and relented.

"Whatever the case it doesn't matter." Rias ended the argument. "If we can't sense him, that means he's hiding from us. There's nothing we can do if we don't know where he is." That last line from Rias sparked an idea in Asia's head.

(Later)

After they'd finished cleaning Asia decided to take an evening trip into the city and that's where she came across a familiar alleyway marked by the splintering wed-like crack that had been left by Issei in one of the walls.

Asia scanned the area but the lack of Issei quickly made her lose faith in her hypothesis. 'Well…. Maybe it was a long shot to expect him to be in the same place I found him last time but I guess it was worth a shot.' The blonde devil thought to herself as she gave the alleyway one more quick look over and just when she was ready to give up and go home a near empty styrofoam fell down into the alleyway, spilling a few drops of brown noodle broth on the ground with it.

"Huh?" This prompted Asia to look up where she discovered a pair of legs dangling off the roof of the building that made up the alleyways left wall.

Issei meanwhile, was busy cracking open up another to-go cup of steaming hot noodle soup. He took a whiff of the pleasant aroma before busting out his chopsticks. 'Seriously, this place is ridiculously good. I could eat these noodles every day for the rest of my life, in fact I just might.'

Engrossed in his noodles, Issei didn't notice as Asia flew up to the rooftop on her bat wings. "I found you!" Asia blurted out in excitement.

"Shit…" Issei muttered being caught off guard, he drops his soup from the rooftop to the ground below. He suddenly stood up and locked eyes with Asia. He slowly, without saying a word, took a step towards the ledge in his attempt to escape.

"Wait!" Asia called out lunging to catch him before he could make the leap and this ended with the two crashing down into the alleyway.

WHAM! "Aahhhh…" Asia winced as she rubbed the top of her head before explaining herself. "You don't have to run from me Issei, Rias doesn't know I'm here, I just wanna talk." She explained before fully realizing the current situation.

"Mmmmffff!" Issei answered back, his voice currently being stifled by Asia's ass. Following the fall the two had landed in such a way that had somehow ended up with Issei's face under Asia's skirt. Issei then double tapped the side of Asia's thigh indicating she needed to move as he couldn't breath.

"Huh?" Asia muttered back before her face quickly turned red as she realized the present scenario. "AAAHHH! I'm so sorry!" She shrieked before quickly leaping off of Issei.

"Don't mention it…" Issei muttered back as he climbed to his feet, quickly and inconspicuously cleaning a small drop of blood from his nose. "Well you have my attention but you'd better be quick. I don't want either of us to get in trouble with your master."

"Well it's just you seemed a little off this morning. You acted like you weren't sure if you'd be around much longer so I thought maybe you were sick or something. I was wondering if I could help you?" She asked sheepishly but making sure she put everything out there that she wanted to say.

This prompted Issei to raise an eyebrow. "So you picked up on that huh? Well it's not like I was too subtle about it. To answer your question, yes I'm not sure I'll be around much longer but I'm not sick and there's nothing you can do to help me." The brown haired devil, not seeing anywhere to sit, leaned himself up against the wall as he prepared to go further in depth. "You see the way my powers work is they don't come free. The more I have to use the more I have to give back, be it my arm or years off my life."

"To sum things up, the day my original master was killed I lost it and ended up using a massive amount of power and in return I had to give up most of my life force." Issei confessed to getting Asia's eyes to go wide. "I don't know how long I have left, frankly I'm too scared to find out but it's safe to say I more than forfeited my immortality but that's not the end of it. Currently every time I use my powers it takes something off the time I have left and I have a good feeling that whenever I find who I'm looking for, I'm going to end up burning through most of what I had left. This fight has been going on for a hundred years and regardless of who wins or loses more often it ends with two graves but regardless it's something I have to do."

"So that's why you refused to accept Rias' offer, you didn't want to make a promise you couldn't keep." Asia put together for herself before trying to argue against Issei's mindset. "But wait, there are techniques and practices for restoring a person's life force. We can help you!"

"Yeah, I know." Issei responded prompting a confused look from Asia. "I understand that there are ways to treat my condition but the thing is, I don't want treatment. The only reason I had to want to be immortal is long dead and if anything I take solace in believing that whatever happens at the end of my road, when it's all over I'll get to see her again." Issei said with a smile before turning to exit the alleyway. "Well, it was nice chatting with you. Do me a favor and keep this little chat of ours a secret, It's kinda personal."

"Huh? Wait!" Asia called back but following a small wave "goodbye", Issei exited the alleyway and disappeared into the city.

(End)