Ok, the growth of this story is insane. At the time of writing, this story has 220 Followers, and 175 Favorites. That's crazy, for only having 20,000-ish words. I'd like to give a thank-you to everyone who's followed/favorited/reviewed/read or even looked at this story so far, I'm glad you did. Anyway, here's the next chapter.
"That's good, that's good. I'm glad you're feeling better. In fact, I'm so glad you're feeling better, that I've decided you can go back to school tomorrow, no extra rest needed !" Lisa Lisa said, giving Issei a thumbs up.
The two of them were sitting with Raynare at the countertop bar in the kitchen of Issei's new apartment, talking about his medical condition.
"Oh...great, school….y~ay…" Issei said with fake enthusiasm, waving his hands around sarcastically. He really wasn't eager to go back, especially if Matsuda was still sore about being thrown around like a toy.
"I think you'll find it'll be a bit better now. After all, going to school with your lady friend should be oodles of fun, no?" Lisa Lisa asked, grinning at him.
Issei looked at Raynare, who was looking down and fidgeting with the hem of the dress she was still wearing. "Ra...Y-Yuuma, you're going to school with me?" He'd almost slipped in saying her name, but that wasn't important. How in the world had she arranged that? She'd been with him all day!
"I am, Issei. Neat, huh?" She said, and smiled at him. He'd have to get the details on that later. More importantly, how had Lisa Lisa known? Issei glanced at her, but she had her usual aloof smile. He sighed. She knew everything, it seemed.
"Well, I'm glad you're both safe, anyway. Living with parents like that can be such a doozy." Lisa stood up from her seat at the bar, groaning at the strain. "Well, I'll be heading on home now. I wanted to come make sure the two of you settle in alright. There's no toiletries, or clothes, or anything, really, so you'll have to buy your own stuff. Let me know if you need anything. I'm old and rich, if you haven't already guessed it." She said with a wink.
Issei and Raynare stood and waved her out. She left with a parting shot. "No nephilim running around in the apartment, eh?" She said, cackling. Lisa Lisa stepped out the door and left the apartment, leaving Raynare with a flabbergasted look on her face and Issei with a confused look on his.
"Nephilim? What's a nephilim?" Issei asked, looking at Raynare, who was glaring at where Lisa Lisa left from.
"That old lady knows way more than she lets on…" Raynare said, shaking her head. Issei asked his question again.
"Raynare, what's a nephilim? Is it something bad?" Issei said. He truly had no idea what the old woman was talking about. Raynare looked at him, and grinned.
"Issei, a nephilim is the child of an angel and a human. Want me to give you one~?" she said in a sing song voice, and left her chair to walk over to Issei. He blushed and started to stammer as Raynare came over to him and sat on his lap with no warning whatsoever.
"Ra-Raynare! You c-can't just do that!" He said. He spoke loud, but he wasn't yelling and he wasn't trying to get her off of him, so she stayed put. The chair they were on was big enough, and Issei was more than welcome to get up if she was really bothering him, but he didn't do anything. She took this as a confirmation too stay exactly where she was, so she did. She sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, hanging on him like she was a kid.
"Issei~. The day isn't even half over yet, let's go do something. Go out with me." She said, remembering how she asked him out last time and got denied. She hoped this time would be different. He'd already said he loved her, so it shouldn't be an issu-
"No." Issei said, looking her in the eyes. Her whole world turned upside down and her heart leapt into her throat.
No? Did he just say no?
'But...but he said he loves me…? What…?' Raynare's mind was moving fast, trying to figure out where she went wrong. Had it been her wings? It had to have been. Or maybe it was because she sat on his lap? No, no, what was it? Was it something she said...what was it that made him hate her?
He looked her in the eyes. Slowly, before she could come up with a response, Issei took her hands in his, unwrapping her arms from around him. He cupped his hands around hers and held them tight, so she'd never leave. She looked like she'd shatter at any second, and neither of them so much as breathed.
Raynare was terrified. But when he spoke, all her fears washed away.
"Raynare, I love you. Will you go out with me?" Issei said, not stuttering on even a syllable.
She started to laugh. The relief was visible on her face. Issei was sure she'd be mad at him for his little joke, so he started to explain himself.
"Well, I messed up last time, so I figured I should do it right this time. So, I'm going by the books and confessing my feelings, then asking you out. That's how it should be, right?" He was answered by Raynare throwing her arms around him again and kissing him on the lips.
When she pulled back, there was a tear in her eye. She was so happy it hurt.
"Of course I'll go out with you, dummy. But don't you ever," she said, narrowing her eyes and tightening her arms around him, "ever scare me like that again. I thought you hated me. I was so scared…" she said, and loosened her grip.
He hugged her back, and pulled her close. He whispered in her ear. "I already told you, Ray. I could never hate my angel, no matter what. I love you, I really do."
On the inside, Raynare was squealing. His words made her giddy with joy, and she could hardly contain herself. Somehow, this boy always knew what to say to turn her into putty. She left his lap and stood up, turning around so he couldn't see her massive blush. If he kept going, she'd consummate their love right here, with or without his permission.
"Let's go shopping. You need some clothes, and some stuff for the house." Raynare suggested, changing the topic.
Issei stood up too, stretching. "That's a good idea. Should we go now?" He asked.
"Let's go a bit later. I need to take a shower, since I didn't get one this morning. I'll go take one. You're welcome to join me, if you'd like~." Raynare teased, adding a swing to her hips as she walked towards the master bedroom.
"I-I think I'll p-pass." Issei stammered, fighting off a blush. She giggled, and went into the bedroom.
The room had a king-size bed facing a large tv hanging off the black and white walls, and a nightstand on either side of the bed. There was a small table with two chairs next to a huge window with a gorgeous view of the city, and a bookshelf on the other side of the room. There was a door on one side of the room which lead to the master bathroom, which is where Raynare was headed.
She entered the bathroom, and began to take a shower. Issei, on the other hand, was hit with a wave of fatigue. He decided to go take a nap, and wait for her to get out of the shower. He entered the bedroom, laid down on the large bed, and closed his eyes. He was asleep in seconds.
When Issei opened his eyes, he saw was fire. Memories of the dream from earlier that day came rushing back to him, and he looked for the dragon. If he could just talk to the dragon again, he could get that power, the power to change the world...he wanted it.
He called out for the dragon, desperately trying to find it. "Hey! Draaagon! Where are you?!" Issei yelled. He wanted nothing more than to speak with the dragon again, to take the offered power. He didn't have to wait for long, though.
The dragon's massive head appeared from behind the wall of flames, making Issei sigh in relief.
"Hoh? You were shaking in your boots earlier, and now you're happy to see me? Well, that's quite the switch. It's only been a few hours...though I can tell a change has taken place in your mind. Perhaps it was my fault? Maybe. Maybe not. So, what do you what, human?" The dragon asked, curious.
Issei inhaled, and steeled himself. He had a feeling this would be harder than he thought. "I want power!" He yelled. The dragon chuckled.
"They all do. Fine! If you want it so bad, then come take it!" The dragon boomed, and brought out the gauntlet again, right in the middle of his clawed hand. He held it out for Issei to take, but once again, Issei couldn't move. He was kept still by an unknown force.
'No! No, damn it! I want it!' Issei screamed in his own mind, and began to struggle forward, extremely slowly. Whatever was keeping his body in place hurt him every time he moved, but it was bearable. He moved, slowly, towards the gauntlet, not stopping even for second. As he neared it, his breathing became ragged, and his body ached. He was in more pain than he'd even been in, but he was almost there.
"Give me...that power!" He yelled, and lunged forward into the dragon's claw.
He touched the gauntlet, and a flash of green light filled his vision.
The dragon's laugh filled the space around them. "Bwahaha! Well done, very well done! Not many can make it on only their second try, but I see you're a cut above the rest. Very well, I'll give you my power! Issei Hyoudou, my name is Ddraig, your partner! From this day forth, you are the Red Dragon Emperor!"
The green light died down, and Issei could see again. He was standing on the dragon's open claw, able to move freely once more. Nothing had changed, save for his left arm. Upon it, was a crimson gauntlet with two green gems set in the hand and forearm. Two large golden spikes jutted out at the elbow, and spikes of the same color as the gauntlet dotted the whole thing.
Issei moved his arm around, examining it. He didn't feel any different. He certainly didn't feel like he could change the world. "What is it?" He asked, looking up at the dragon.
The dragon looked down on Issei with contempt in his massive reptilian eyes. "I see they don't teach you children anything useful these days. That, my dear boy, is the gauntlet of the Red Dragon, the Boosted Gear. It has the power to double your strength every ten seconds, with your body as the only limit." Ddraig explained, taking pride in his power.
Issei listened intently, wanting to understand every bit of this new power. 'Double my strength every ten seconds? Seems kind of ridiculous, honestly.' Issei thought. If your base power was defined as a 10, then after ten seconds it would be 20, and after ten more it would be 40, and ten more after that would make it 80, and so on. After two minutes, you'd have a base power of 40,960. That's insane. Even a child would be overpowered when equipped with something so powerful.
(AN: I might have done that math wrong. Don't hate me if I did.)
Unbeknownst to Issei, Ddraig could hear his every thought. "Ha! It's quite powerful, hm? Well, that power is now yours to command. You'll have to train rigorously to be able to use it's full potential, naturally, but you shouldn't have a problem with that. Now I think you'd better wake up, you're about to have a very worried Fallen Angel on your case." Ddraig said, using his other claw to wave goodbye to Issei. Issei waved back, and all his vision went dark.
Raynare walked out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel on, hoping to surprise Issei.
She did not expect him to be in the bedroom.
She did not expect him to be taking a nap.
And she did not expect him to have the Gauntlet of the Welsh Dragon on his arm.
Raynare covered her mouth with her hands and tried not to cry. This would make things so much harder. Now, they'd not only have to contend with Kokabiel, they'd have to worry about the White Dragon Emperor, too! Raynare knew the White Dragon Emperor of this generation, and she knew without a doubt that Issei wouldn't stand a chance. That guy was a powerhouse.
She'd been hoping it was anything else. Even the damn True Longinus would've been better than the Boosted Gear! Issei was soo not the right kind of person for such a battle hungry sacred gear. He wasn't a fighter! Raynare sat on the edge of the bed, and buried her head in her hands. How could this happen? Their life together was just getting started, and here it was already going to end. Maybe she could hide him? No, the White One would already know about his awakening.
'What am I going to do?' Raynare thought. She looked at Issei's sleeping form. He was totally serene, and the only sign he was alive was the constant rising and falling of his chest. Raynare was overcome all at once by both an unbearable sadness and a strong desire to protect him. While she was powerful, she was nowhere near the unbridled power of the Red Dragon, and Issei would soon be the one protecting her. Until then, though, she would keep him safe.
She promised herself she'd protect him. To that end, she needed to get rid of Kokabiel. So, she decided to call Azazel, leader and governor of the Fallen Angels, and report Kokabiel for his treachery. She stepped out of the bedroom.
{Azazel?} Raynare asked. She was using a communication magic circle.
{That's me. I hope this is something important, I was right in the middle of some research.} The Governor said, impatient.
{Oh, it is. Vital, I'd say. Can you come to me within a few minutes?} Raynare asked, hoping he'd say yes.
{I suppose. This better be worth my time, Raynare.}
{Thank you, Lord Azazel.}
She dispersed the magic, and returned to Issei. He was sleeping so soundly, she almost didn't care about the gauntlet on his arm or all the pain it would bring the two of them. She kneeled down beside his spot on the bed, and gently caressed his face. He slowly opened his eyes. As soon as his eyes opened, the Boosted Gear vanished, like it was never there.
"Hey, beautiful." He said as soon as he saw her. She bit down on the smile that immediately fought to her lips, and remembered what she had to do.
"Issei, you've gotta get up. We're going to have company here in a bit." She said softly, brushing the hair out of his eyes. He groaned and sat up. He realized what she was wearing, and jumped halfway across the room.
"R-Raynare, what are you w-wearing?!" Issei yelled, averting his eyes. He was blushing intensely, and wouldn't look in her direction. She giggled, and decided to tease him.
"Issei, you just called me beautiful and now you won't even look at me? Gosh, how awful are you…" She said, and began to fake cry. Issei was at her side in an instant, though he made sure his eyes were tightly shut.
"I-I didn't mean it! I just...you're n-naked!" He said, trying and failing to get his point across. She giggled silently, so he wouldn't hear, and decided to crank it up a notch.
"Fine, fine. I'll change." Raynare went to her bag and loudly opened and closed the zipper, making it sound like she was retrieving her clothes. In reality, she just took off her towel, leaving her wearing nothing but a smile.
"Okay, you can look now." She said, and struck a pose. Issei sighed in relief, then opened his eyes.
"Gwah!" Issei shouted random nonsense and immediately fell down onto the floor. He covered his eyes with his hands as fast as he could, but he'd definitely still seen her naked. He stuttered and stammered, trying to apologize and ask why she'd done that, but he couldn't form any coherent words. Raynare was laughing, but she felt a tad guilty. She knew he wouldn't be able to handle seeing her naked.
She walked toward him, slowly. "Come on, Issei. I can't be so ugly you'd cover your eyes instead of looking at me, right…?" She said. She crouched down by him, and threw him into a hug, still naked.
"R-Raynare?! W-what are you d-doing?!" He could feel everything. He wasn't necessarily complaining, but he sure wasn't comfortable with the situation. "I can f-feel them, Raynare! You gotta get off!" He yelled, but he didn't thrash around. He was worried that if he tried too hard to shake her off, he'd hurt her. She knew it, too. It made her hug him even tighter.
"That's the point, dummy. You're supposed to feel them." She said in a seductive voice. Issei exhaled and stopped struggling. He forced himself to calm down.
"Raynare, didn't you say s-something about company?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady. No sooner than the words left his mouth, the doorbell rang. Raynare begrudgingly let go of Issei, who sprang up as soon as he was free. "I'll go answer that!" Issei said, and practically sprinted to the door. Raynare was left naked on the ground, but she had a grin on her face.
'I love that boy.' Raynare thought. He'd not only tried to spare her modesty, but even when he was uncomfortable he refused to do anything that might hurt her.
Issei opened the door, and standing outside in the hallway was a tall man, dressed in a sport jacket without a tie. His undershirt and jacket were unbuttoned, and his chest was visible. He looked at Issei like he wasn't what the man was expecting.
"Who might you be?" The tall man asked. Issei was confused. Who knocks on your door, and then asks who you are when you answer? That's not how it's supposed to go.
"Uh...I'm Issei Hyoudou, I own the penthouse. Can I help you?" Issei said. Truthfully, he was kind of worried. The man looked like he could cause problems if he felt like it.
"Yeah. Is Raynare in there?" The man asked, looking past Issei. He didn't answer right away, he was lost in thought.
'He knows Raynare? Does that mean...is he an angel too?" Issei wondered.
"Say, kid...where'd you get that ring?" The man asked, his attention suddenly back on Issei. He was looking at the ring on Issei's finger with no small amount of curiosity, and it made Issei nervous. He moved the hand with the ring on it behind his back.
"Oh, good! You're here!" Raynare came up from behind Issei, and greeted the man at the door. Issei stepped back so she could talk to him. Thankfully, she was dressed again. She was wearing a black long sleeve T-shirt, and blue jeans.
"Hi, Raynare. So, what's so important? I was in the middle of some fascinating research on the past wielders of the Boosted Gear. Really neat stuff. Did you know one of them managed to kill two of the White Ones in a single lifetime? Incredible." The man said, and stepped into the house. He spoke like Lisa Lisa did, with very little pause in his words.
"Speaking of which, have you located the Red Dragon of this generation yet?" Raynare asked. Issei blanched. Were they talking about him?
[They are talking about us, yes. I'm assuming the man doesn't know, though I know for a fact the girl does. She saw you with the Boosted Gear out while you were asleep.] The voice of Ddraig spoke into Isse's mind, startling him.
"No, I haven't. I know he'll awaken soon, though, if he hasn't already." The man said. He made himself at home, and plopped down on one of the couches in the main room.
"I know why you haven't found him." Raynare said, in a very matter-of-fact voice.
"Why's that?" The man said, gaining an edge to his voice. He didn't like when people knew something he didn't.
"Because he's right here." Raynare said, and gestured to Issei. Issei looked at Raynare like she was crazy while she only grinned back at him. The man looked at him with a newfound curiosity.
[Well, cat's out of the bag. Might as well introduce ourselves.] Ddraig said to Issei.
The man stood back up, and went to shake Issei's hand. "Issei, was it? Well, good to meet you. My name is Azazel, and I'm the leader of the Fallen Angels." They shook hands, but Issei's mind was racing at a thousand miles per minute.
'Leader? Of the Fallen Angels? Wait...Fallen? That only makes sense, her wings are black...so, he's her boss, then…? Wait a second, the Azazel from the bible?!'
[You do not have to shout in your own head. It's louder than you think in here, kid.]
"G-good to meet you, Azazel. So, what are you here for?" Issei asked, curious.
"Well, I came to see what your girlfriend wanted, but now I'm staying because you're the Red Dragon, and because you've got the Ring of Solomon on your finger."
Issei went pale. This was the ring of Solomon? The one King Solomon used to make demons build his temple? He looked at it with a new admiration.
"From that reaction, I'm guessing you didn't know about it? Well, here's the short version. That ring can be used to control devils. I'd like to take it, but I figure I'll let you hang on to it. Anyway, that's not why I'm here. Raynare, what did you want?" Azazel said, looking to Raynare.
"Kokabiel has defected. He's planning on starting a war by killing the sisters of the Satans here in Kuoh." Raynare said, not missing a beat. Issei had no idea what either of them were talking about.
"Hmm. That's grave news. Very well. I'll dispatch one of my people to take care of it. Now Raynare, you realize, if this turns out to be a lie, it's your head that rolls, right?" Azazel asked, drawing a line across his neck. Issei did know what that means, but he knew he wouldn't let anyone kill Raynare, ever.
"You won't touch her." Issei said, glaring at Azazel. The man chuckled, then turned to leave.
"Right, right. I'd like to speak with you again, Issei Hyoudou. You're going to be a very interesting person, I can tell already. I'll see the both of you some other time. Peace." Azazel said, leaving. The door closed behind him, and Issei let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"Did you just threaten the governor general of all Fallen Angels for me, Issei?" Raynare cooed. She approached him, and hugged him from behind.
"Of course. No one's taking you from me, not now, not ever. You're stuck with me, Ray." Issei said, with a fire in his eyes. He turned his head to look at her. She had a tear in her eye.
"You're the best, Issei. Let's go shopping."
"I need to shower first, too."
"Oh, good! I'll help you!"
"Wait, no. Raynare!"
"Don't struggle so much, Issei! We'll never get you out of those pants like that!"
That's that. I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I do, and get ready for some action in the near future.
PS. I've been thinking about it. Should I write a lemon for this story? Frankly, I don't want to, but if enough people want one, I'll post it as a separate story. It won't be attached to this one, since it's rated T and I'm not changing it, but I will write one and post it separately if enough people want it.