*Chapter Twenty Four - Preparations*
Nine days had passed since the declaration of the first inter-dimensional martial arts tournament and it had become almost the sole topic of news on anyones lips. There was of course those who always had an interest in martial arts and sport, to whom this tournament was guaranteed to attract but others were obsessing over it as well. The chance for the various species and cultures to intermingle, fashion, glamour and prestige. Celebrities were booking seats, business tycoons and leading politicians, all wanting to make positive impressions with foreign or other world dignitaries. It didn't take a genius to work out why, businesses saw the opportunity for new markets in Heaven and Hell, while countries wanted alliances and strategic positioning. The rich and famous wanted status, the prestige of rubbing shoulders with beings that almost seemed like dieties.
Not a shred of any of that mattered for Issei though, every waking moment was focused only on the goal of combat, the opponents he would face and the very real and likely possibility that he would get his rematch with Bikou. There was exactly one month left until the tournament's opening. The event would last five days. Preliminaries for the first, separators for the second, deciders for the third, quarter finals and semi finals for the fourth with the final match on the last day. A banquet and ball was reported to be organised for after the match. The amount of coverage on that aspect alone was almost equal to those talking about the upcoming matches.
Issei was almost tempted to find a way out of the formal event. He really just didn't enjoy them, mentioning such a comment to Rias had resulted in a tap over the head with his girlfriend first pointing out that she would enforce his attendance and then teasing him by indicating that he might not even make it to the final round.
Issei had simply enhanced the gravity harshly in the training room in responce, watching her body break out in a sweat before relaxing it and evading her playful retaliatory strikes.
School remained as much a matter of a lack of interest as it could for the young Saiyan despite the insistance of his girlfriend, family and friends. Issei just held no desire in the pursuit of knowledge outside of combat or tactics. He had only paused to apply more thought to his studies when Maree noted that further education would increase his ability to critically think which in turn would allow him to strategise more efficiently. This had resulted in him applying enough effort to no longer need Rias to pressure him to study or the blackmailing of him through the threat of withdrawing her feminine affection. Although that didn't mean that she wasn't able to get him to apply further effort through well timed flirtatious actions and the allure of time spent without the constriction of clothing.
A heavy sweat fell from Issei's body though as the digital clock mounted into his silver room of the gravity chamber read almost half an hour past nine at night. It would soon be time for him to wrap up his training and head home. This Saturday had been spent with the whole extended peerage in the chamber training. Rias, Sebastian, Koneko, Irina and Kiba had all joined him in submitting their intents to participate to Sirzechs, with Irina's being sent on to Lord Michael as she would be filling part of Heaven's roster. The Lord of Hell had guaranteed their submissions would be successful and this drove all six forward to train further.
Irina had considered returning home as her duties with the peerage were concluded after the death of Kokabiel however Michael had encouraged her to remain and train with the peerage of Rias Gremory. Officially it was due to his belief that this peerage was gaining strength at a tremendous pace and her friendly position in working with them would allow her to grow further, unofficially it was fairly plain to see that the Arch Angel wanted at least some monitoring of the tremendous power that was Issei Hyoudou.
Issei dropped the gravity from over six hundred times that of the Earth to four hundred and eighty, within his golden form this shift made him feel only slightly encumbered and restricted. He allowed only a moment of rest to catch his breath from the weighted katas he had been performing moments ago before releasing his Super Saiyan form and once again feeling the crippling pressure of the monumental gravitational force now pressing down upon his natural form.
With resolve shining in his eyes, Issei raised his fists in front of him self again, dumbells of one hundred kilograms each in his hands, as he began swiftly moving through each kata, strike and posture. Over the last few months his individual training had grown further and further. Less and less did he focus on weight exercises but now incorporated weights into advanced martial art katas. The style taught to him by Koneko, enhanced with that of the young Saiyan to whom he had learnt the Galick gun and further refined through his experiences in spars and battles against his various opponents.
Issei's left fist struck out smoothly in front of his body and his stance followed though to a driving right knee that carried into a forward flip with a driving hammer kick. His foot struck down for only a moment before the momentum carried him around to deliver a snap kick ending in his returning seemlessly to his starting form. Through training so thoroughly he would attain the power to protect those he cared for, do honour to Akeno and defeat Bikou. Furthermore Issei was excited to see the abilites of anyone else who would participate and how well his friends would perform. With five of his peers entering the tournament as well, it would be exciting to be matched against any of them, although he was certain that Rias would pout if he defeated her in the ring. He would just have to accept being in the dog house at home until she forgave him.
Issei recognised two presences standing just outside the doorway to his chamber and finished his final Kata before facing them. The sweat so heavily falling from his body that it threatened to form a physical pool on the tiles around him. Issei placed the black weights away as the gravity returned to that of earth and he once again felt as if he weighed nothing at all. As light as pure air.
"We're finished and heading home now. You're done as well?" Kiba stated to him with his own heavily perspiring arm warpped around Asia. The young girl happy to be with her knight but playfully pushing his sweaty hand away from her as it traced moisture onto her skin.
"Yeah, I just did, time for a good dinner and then to train with Ddraig."
"I swear your ability to train while sleeping is definitely cheating." Kiba's voice taking on a mock tone of indignation.
The trio shared a laugh as Issei exited the chamber and saw that the training sessions of the remainder of the group were also coming to an end. The clothes of both Sebastian and Koneko looking heavily disheveled with a mixture of sweat and damage. Rias beside them was in a similar state yet less so. The Gremory heiress had taken to sparing with the pair and Kiba during training sessions, displaying the capability that training with Ddraig and Issei had given her while pushing the others to develop themselves further. She was determined to perform as well as possible in the tournament and wanted each of those with them, Irina included, to strive to go as far as was achievable. Rias saw it as a matter of pride to declare that the power of her extended peerage was indomitable, that they didn't simply rely on Issei's strength. It was one of her own ways to honour Akeno as well.
Ravel emerged from the doorway to the kitchen along with Sara, the pair tossing bottles of ice cold water to each of their exhausted friends in an almost rapid fire motion.
With everyone departing ways, Issei began to walk with Rias home when the pair noticed Ravel remaining behind in the main room of the club house. She was alone with Sebastian having already departed back to their apartment without her.
Rias looked at her for a moment, the girl seemed almost nervous.
"Is something the matter Ravel?" Rias' voice light and friendly while trying not to show too much concern.
Ravel mulled over her words for just a few moments before locking eyes with Rias.
"I want to join your peerage."
Rias was rather taken aback by her request. Ravel had definitely been getting closer with the members of the peerage but it was a rather odd request for the girl to suddenly make, especially after she had been a member of Riser's peerage more out of obligation then desire.
"Why?" Rias asked with a raised eyebrow and Issei was also baffled by the sudden request. It didn't make all that much sense to him either. Rias continued,
"I would have expected that you would form your own peerage or join with Sebastian. Why ask to become a member of mine?"
Ravel seemed to have expected some pushback but also appeared to be uncomfortable about being asked to explain her reasoning.
"Well, I wanted to do something to be able to repay the debt my family has to you for what my brother did. I know his actions have affected the whole world but a lot was directed toward you both, especially you, Rias, and as such I offer my service in repaying that debt."
Both Rias and Issei shared a look to confirm that they were both of the same thought on the matter before she responded to the blonde girl.
"Ravel, firstly, you don't owe me anything. You have worked tirelessly to integrate with this group that is now far beyond just my peerage, your insight and actions were of great use in France and our planning. You fought against your brother and have at every turn proved yourself to not only be loyal but also a good person. So I reiterate, you owe neither myself nor Issei anything."
In confirmation of what Rias had said, Issei simply nodded firmly while maintaining his friendly self confident demeanour.
"Furthermore," Rias continued, "You are now the heir to the Phenex family, with your brother disgraced and disowned, I would never take the heir of another household into my peerage. That would be a step well too far past where I am willing to tread."
Ravel appeared as if she considered interjecting but Rias continued to speak.
"But I enjoy having you around. I know that you have formed a bond with Koneko and Sara that is becoming stronger after overcoming the initial issues the three of your shared, and so I would really appreciate you staying with us and being our friend."
With that, Rias held out her hand in a show of friendship to the girl who had previously opposed her in the rating game. Ravel smiled back to the older girl as their hands met in a gesture that was swiftly pulled into a hug by the Gremory heiress. Ravel was still not fully acclimated to the Gremory manner of vibrant displays of affection yet found herself melting into the hug after only a moment. For a brief pause the hug was held until Rias pulled back,
"Now don't you want to get home and spend some more time with Sebastian?" Her grin becoming sly as she spoke.
Ravel felt her face flush, "I … well … we." She stumbled over her words. Her strict and proper upbringing making the articulation of her sentence far more difficult.
Rias giggled while Issei smirked at her response, Rias decided to press a little further, enjoying the reaction she was receiving.
"No need to be shy, we definitely aren't. Issei and I sleep together every night."
At that Ravel's face took on the complexion of a tomato while the couple burst into laughter.
"Ease up Ravel," Issei responded while placing his arm around Rias with the three beginning to walk.
"You need to relax more, no one is judging you here. I know you have all those noble traditions and what not but just have fun. As long as you don't hurt anyone then anything you choose to do is good."
The Saiyan was happy to leave his little peptalk with Ravel at that when Rias slipped a final comment in that caused both Ravel and Issei to lose their train of thought and become flustered.
"A little pain can be fun though."
Rias took in the blush and inquisitive look of her boyfriend before she unfurled her wings and leapt to the sky in swift powerful beats.
Issei simply chucked before his white aura burst around himself and he fired after his girlfriend like a while tailed comet with the Phenex heiress left feeling rather embarrassed at hearing so much about their private activities but happy to have been accepted fully by the pair.
Rias and Issei whipped through the air with the Saiyan quickly catching up to the gremory heiress who pivoted and dove, twisting erratically and trying her absolute best to make it as difficult as possible for her boyfriend to catch her. Deciding that he was done with letting her slip through his grasp, Issei waited for his girlfriend to change her direction once more before increasing his speed immensely and appearing to reappear from thin air directly in her path, not giving her any time to change direction or speed.
As the pair crashed together, Issei allowed her momentum to carry them back through the air while his arms wrapped around and held her tightly to his body. Their lips met, with tongues passionately embracing as Rias' wings folded into her back and Issei took full responsibility for keeping them both airborne. All while never letting his eyes leave those of the young woman he loved with all his being.
Feeling firmly content in his arms, Rias threw her arms around his neck, pushing the passion of their kiss further and eliciting a moan from Issei that caused a moan in kind from herself. Issei's aura released with him continuing to maintain flight without the high rush of Ki allowing for excessive momentum. At a far more casual pace the pair floated back toward the Hyoudou residence, entirely enraptured in once again studying every crevice of the other's mouth in the peaceful solitude of the dark night air.
Choosing not to enter through the front door and potentially encounter his parents, Issei manoeuvred to his bedroom window, allowing Rias to unlock and open it with a short burst of magic before floating into the room and promptly crashing together onto his bed. The pair silently began stripping their clothes while only breaking the connection of their lips for the briefest of moments. With all of their clothing once again deposited around the room, Issei's mouth left Rias' as he trailed a string of kisses down her body, licking, nibbling and caressing her with his hands and mouth before positioning himself between her legs and causing her to pull the pillow out from beneath her head to cover her mouth with, lest her moans of exstacy reach the ears of her boyfriend's parents.
Hours later the power house pair entered the realm of Issei's mind to begin their nightly training with Ddraig. The thick red plate armour materialised around the Saiyan warrior as the gravity of the mindscape jumped to just over seventy times that of the Earth with the area localised around Issei focusing up to over five hundred. The three combatants took their positions and stances when Ddraig casually queried,
"What caused your late arrival for our bout of training tonight?" His tone letting Issei know that he was being teased.
"Late dinner." He responded in a terse manner.
The great dragon simply let out a taunting chuckle before the red clad warrior erupted in golden light and the pair shot at each other to begin the first engagement of the session.
Issei awoke to find himself alone in his bed. Rias had left the mindscape early by almost half an hour without giving him a reason for her departure. He stretched his arms above his head as he sat up, the bed covers falling to his midriff with his tail becoming exposed and free from the confines of the bed. As he did, he released his Ki sense, as he did every morning, to check the local area around him. To his surprise, all the occupants of his home were already awake and active. His parents never got up so early on a Sunday so it was most certainly unusual behaviour on their part.
He was about to leave the confines of his bed himself when the door to his room opened with Rias entering followed by a dozen floating plates stacked with various foods, all ellicitng delicious smells that played together and filled his senses with feelings of joy. Issei could feel himself practically drooling as the plates settled themselves around him.
Before he could dive into the food, the door closed and Rias positioned herself in front of him. She wore a long bathrobe tightly wrapped around her which she promply discarded revealing the only items of clothing on her to be a set of very sheer and delicate black negligee. Mounting herself firmly in his lap while Issei struggled to stop drooling over the sight of his gorgeous girlfriend with the banquet of food, she took a fork from the closest plate, cut a section of bacon, poached egg and toast onto it and then brought it to her boyfriend's lips, feeding him his breakfast.
Entirely eager, Issei accepted the food and allowed Rias to feed him for the next few minutes while feeling for all intents and purposes like the king of the universe. Finally as she took a bite for herself, Issei was able to articulate a sentence.
"Rias, this is truly an amazing way to wake up, but you didn't have to go through all the trouble." He entirely loved this treatment but didn't want Rias to feel obligated into doing such things for him.
Her face split into a sweet grin with a slight rosiness to her checks as she replied,
"Issei, I love you, so this is as much for me to enjoy as you, but also today is a special day after all."
It was? Issei couldn't think of why Rias was making such a fuss out of the day. Did she know that he had been planning on trying to hold the Super Saiyan form through the day and was suggesting that today should be the day he try it?
"Oh. Well I am not sure if I can hold the Super Saiyan form constantly yet but if you think today is the day that I should start then I will."
He pondered while beaming at her over the idea of taking his training up a level and her support and suggestion that he should.
Rias' face instantly changed into a flat incredulous expression.
"Seriously Issei, training, don't you remember what today is?"
Concern now spread across his own visage. She wasn't talking about his training. Then what exactly was she talking about. Had he missed an anniversary, was it something special. It wasn't her birthday. That was almost six months away. He continued to ponder for a few minutes with a sinking feeling that he really had forgetten something that his girlfriend considered important and he was about to pay dearly for that. Finally he returned his gaze to Rias' prepared to apologies profusely when he noticed that her expression was a soft smirk.
"It's your birthday dummy." She replied to him with half a smile and giggles.
Issei felt himself instantly feel like an idiot. Right, his own birthday. How exactly had he forgotten about that?
"Happy birtherday my love." She continued.
Issei simply leant forward to embrace her in a kiss which caused the pancake covered in whipped cream and syrup she was holding to drop and run down her stomach. Without missing a beat, Issei dropped his head and trailed his tongue down the line of sweet sticky coverings on Rias' smooth, toned body before snatching the wayward pieces of food into his mouth. With his head especially close to Rias' pelvis, Issei was tempted to continue the passion that the pair had shared the night before when he felt a twitch to his Ki sense. Immediately he knew that his parents were approaching his room and sat bolt upright. With his sudden shift in demeanour, Rias pulled the discarded bathrobe around her body while dismounting him to sit beside him confortably. She wasn't ashamed of their actions but in no way planned to flaunt them before her boyfriend's parents.
A short knock to the door was followed with Issei inviting his parents in.
"Happy birthday son." "Happy birthday sweetie." Came from his parents, neither aware of the close situation that they had almost walked into.
Both parents entered and Issei realised that fortunately neither knew of the situation that they had very nearly encroached upon. He would be lying if he said he wasn't feeling discomfort at having his passionate moment with Rias interrupted but he wouldn't mention it.
'Thanks." He responded with a scratch to the back of his head and a smile toward his parents before consuming the remaining contents of a plate to his right.
"Well we have something for you," Miki replied while stepping around his father and showing a large box covered in red wrapping paper. She then continued,
"We weren't sure what to get you. We know your interests have changed a lot since winter. We were planning on a deposit for a car as you are now sixteen but seeing as you can fly faster then any jet and Rias isn't limited in her travel as well, we thought something else might be more appropriate. We consulted with Rias on this and hope you like it."
Issei had always wanted his own car but now considering as his mother had said, that he could circumnavigate the globe without any major difficulties, a car was no longer a major priority for him. Intrigued he stood up and took the box from his mother. Thankfully he had worn pajama pants to sleep so while topless, he was decent enough to step from his bed.
The box itself wasn't overly heavy. He gave it a cheeky shake while trying to work out what exacly the contents were. No noise was produced but he did feel a soft movement inside. Placing down the box, Issei removed the green ribbon holding the red paper in place. A plain cardboard box was revealed with the lid folded down. With a swift action, Issei had the box open and reached in to pull out six individual items. As each item came out to be placed on his bed, the smile on his face grew larger and larger. He knew exactly what this was. With the box emptied, an outfit was arranged on his bed. A pair of sturdy yet flexible boots, a pair of robust and durable trousers, an undershirt designed to be breathable and wick sweat from the body and a large top like a jacket with thick collars and short sleeves and finally a thick sash belt. A traditional martial arts Gi.
Issei was beaming as he took in the present before him. The jacket and pants were the same deep red as Ddraig's scales, over the position of his heart on the jacket was a small black Gremory rose and on the back of the jacket was a large silhouette of Ddraig's head in a white circle. The undershirt was a deep grey and the boots and sash a smooth sleek black. The boots themselves held grey and red highlights. His own Gi, Issei was more then ecstatic to receive it.
"Go put it on and then I will give it the final touch." Rias stated while smiling to him.
Issei was about to drop his pants and change immediately when he remembered the presence of his parents and instead scooped up the clothes, vanishing into the bathroom and then returning moments later fully clothed in the tailored fighting clothing. Each garment fit him perfectly as if they were a simple out layer of skin and he would not have been surprised to find that Rias' magic had something to do with that. His pants even allowed his tail to flow in the air freely behind him without even the slightest discomfort.
As he stood back in his room with his audience admiring the clothes on him, how they fit him perfectly, he repeatedly gave thanks to all three for the gift. Rias wasn't done yet though and raised her left hand. A slight glimmer came to her palm and Issei's clothing. Moments later the entire ensemble weighed significantly more and Issei's Ki immediately compensated in supporting the clothing to prevent his sudden increase in mass to cause him to bust through the floor boards.
"Now they are weighted as all your clothing but with this Gi, you simply have to think and then you will be able to adjust the weight up and down."
"Really? Brilliant." He declared while immediately testing it out by shifting the weight of the ensemble higher, lower and then back to the enhanced weight it currently sat at.
A concerned look crossed Gorou's face as he ran his eyes up and down his son in the fighting outfit,
"Son, just how much does all that weigh now?"
Issei pondered for a moment,
"Well I set it back to what Rias just raised it to, so" He looked to his girlfriend for clarification of just what the weight was.
"A total of twenty metric tonnes." The Gremory heiress declared happily.
"Twenty thousand kilograms!" Gorou declared with his eyes almost bulging from his head at the pure bogglement of his son carrying that weight around and compensating for it as it were merely nothing.
Issei merely beemed back at his parents with a minor look of pride taking to his features.
"I told you I was strong dad."
Gorou and Miki simply left with Issei's comment in the air and his father muttering at the absurdity of the strength that his now very non-human son could manipulate.
Issei quickly adopted a loose fighting stance and took a few short jabs and threw a series of kicks to check the outfit for any restrictions. Just as he had predicted, the clothing was perfect and he beemed with happiness, knowing that compared to fighting in his modified school uniform, this would be a lot more efficient.
Having let Issei test out and enjoy the Gi, Rias patted the bed beside herself, indicating for him to take a seat. He did, and she spun him to face her,
"With the gifts done, we have the rest of your birthday ahead." She declared happily, "So strip from your Gi and put on some nice clothes. I have the day planned."
Issei went to protest that he would be more then happy to spend the day training but Rias pre-empted him by shoving one of the few surviving food items from breakfast, a deep fried chicken leg, into his mouth. He gave her an amused look before happily devouring the food, producing a cleaned bone in a mere moment.
"You have a whole month to train until the tournament. You only turn sixteen once and today we will spend together." She declared in a matter of finality while standing from his bed.
"Besides," She continued while dropping the bathrobe away to once again be dressed in only negligee, "Don't you want to see what I have planned."
Issei felt the heat rising to his face and couldn't tear his eyes from the alluring and flawless woman before him as he nodded dumbly.
With a giggle at the affect she always had over him, Rias covered herself once more, collected some clothes and disappeared from the room to the bathroom so as to fully prepare herself for the day.
Issei immediately finished off all remaining traces of food before admiring the Gi once again in the mirror as it sat on his form. He really didn't want to remove the clothing. It felt as if this was the only thing he should ever wear again.
After a few minutes of pouting at being forced to abandon his new gift for the immediate future, Issei returned them to the normal weight of regular clothing before changing into light brown chino pants, a white singlet, dark blue collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and left open. He finished with a pair of comfortable shoes and the Mjolnir necklace that both women he loved had liked to see him wear. Issei looked at the necklace after adorning it and decided that as Akeno had liked it so much he would keep it on permenantly from this moment forward. As he looked himself over in the mirror, a thought occurred to him regarding his previous conversations with Rias. She had planned the day out, there would be no training but that didn't mean he couldn't advance himself in another way. He smirked to himself before leaving the room.
Issei chatted casually with his parents in the living room while waiting for Rias to finish her own preparations. She joined him fifteen minutes later and the sight of her stole all of Issei's attention from his conversation, a white and red polka dot summer dress with a yellow high cut jacket, her hair pulled up into a simple pony tail with a green bow holding it in place and light make up. She wore a few pieces of rose gold jewelry that accentuated her outfit in subtle ways. Issei simply smiled to her as she entered.
"Oh don't you look simply gorgeous." His mother cooed to the resident devil.
Rias thanked her while Issei stood up and moved to her side.
"I have one thing I want to do before we go off today." He declared with his cheeky grin.
"Oh?" Rias pondered.
Issei simply walked down the hallway and exited to the front of the house. Intrigued, the remaining members of the residence followed him, pausing in the front doorway as he stopped on the sidewalk outside of the property. He turned to face them and before any could question what he was up to, he took a depth breath and centred his energy into a calm pool at the core of his being before channeling it through himself. Rias felt the sudden waves of energy emanating and spiking from her boyfriend, and while his parent's couldn't feel the raw Ki coming from their son, they could definitely feel the wind that exploded out from him as his golden aura erupted around him. His hair and eyes instantly changed to golden and sky blue respectively with the locks of hair and his tail raising to defy gravity during the initial transformation before relaxing back down as the aura faded.
Releasing his breath out, Issei simply smiled to his family and girlfriend as he stood before them comfortably in his Super Saiyan form. He could feel the immediate affects to his Ki reserves but with no training being conducted today, it would be the perfect time to begin holding the form permenantly, just as he did at night in his mindscape.
"No training, but you didn't say no Super Saiyan form." He commented to Rias.
The red haired beauty simply rolled her eyes, "You are lucky that I find you just as amazingly handsome as a blue eyed blonde."
She began to move forward when his mother commented, "Issei what did you …"
Issei realised that, other then some of the footage of his fight with Bikou, his parents had never seen a Super Saiyan in person and although he had mentioned achieving the legendary form, it wasn't everyday that a parent watched their son casually transform into a shining golden god.
"This is my Super Saiyan form." Issei declared confidently while leaning against the brick fence, his hand accidently crushing the bricks beneath his fingers as he gripped them.
He instantly released the brickwork and reached back to scratch the back of his head sheepishly.
"Ah … that's my bad … I will fix that tomorrow, I promise. I … uh, well you see, the thing is I am a lot stronger like this and need to get used to it … accustomed to regulating and controlling myself like this in normal environments." He clumsily explained while chuckling nervously at his own screw up.
Striding forward Rias waved back to his parents while addressing her super powered boyfriend,
"Come on you, before you break anything else."
She began pushing his back playfully down the street as he waved back to his parents who returned the gesture with mixed looks of incredulation and confusion at yet another insane act performed casually by their son.
Strolling down the street together, hand in hand, Issei noticed his friends waiting outside of their apartments for the happy couple. Calls of happy birthday and well wishes reached his ears as he neared the group and Issei happily waved back to the them. None questioned why the Saiyan was moving around in his transformed state, he had mentioned enough times of his desire to become acclimated to wielding the power so that it's drain upon his stamina would become negligible. After a few minutes of chatting with everyone, Issei finding himself feel jealous at Koneko and Sara's plans to train together in the gravity room, the group all went their various ways and Issei turned to Rias.
"I still don't know where we are going." He commented with a raised eyebrow.
"We're walking." she responded happily, "And you don't need to know where we are going. It's my secret."
Issei simply shrugged and smiled. Bemused by her actions but happy as usual to spend time with his beautiful girlfriend.
Hand in hand the pair walked toward the shopping district. With the time closing onto ten in the morning, sunlight sparkled from Issei's soft golden furred tail and hair as he walked, this coupled with the neatly folded black wings on Rias' back drew the attention of a lot of people passing by. Most in Kuoh had come to accept that a number of supernatural beings lived in their town as was becoming more common around the world, and while they may not have been thrilled about it, they didn't go out of their way to actively avoid them. Others though would cross the road or turn their vehicle around at the sight of such people. Their fear causing them to act in such a way, while Issei considered this ridiculous in regards to his group of friends who would defend humans, he knew that their fear was rather well founded when it came to what had happened in Peru, France and other locations of aggressive actions by their enemies.
Moving through the early morning crowds of shoppers, Issei concluded that this was his first time in such a location since the night of Akeno's death. That dawning realization was something he immediately surpressed. He didn't want to let his emotions affect Rias or have his Ki flicker with instability.
Rias kept him busy though by dragging him from place to place, some with food, and others with items she wanted to look at. Before long though, the pair stood outside of a combined games arcade and bowling alley.
Entering resulted in the combined noise of the various games and lights crashing into Issei's senses all at once. If he hadn't been prepared, the young warrior may have found the experience disorientating. The combined arcade was dark with neon light strips and those of the games providing more then enough light for patrons to move around and enjoy themselves. The pair moved toward the service counter while gaining more and more inquisitive glances, Issei's softly glowing hair and tail almost pulsing a light similar to the neon ones adorning the ceiling in the darker environment.
Upon reaching the counter, a boy of roughly the same age as the pair greeted them with a nervous smile, evidently not too sure about servicing the supernatural pair.
"May I, er, that is um, how can I help you?"
"Chill dude," Issei replied calmly while being sure not to touch anything and cause any inadvertent damage, "We're just here to play."
The clerk appeared to relax a small fraction at Issei's comment but was still awkward during the interaction with the pair. After paying for four games and a hundred tokens for arcade games, the pair made their way to their assigned lane to begin with bowling.
Issei found himself focusing heavily on controlling the flow of power through himself with each action. Lifting the bowling shoes, changing footwear, collecting an orange ball and every time he touched a bench or fixture. All while continuing to chat with his girlfriend who began to discuss some of the clothes that the pair had seen and how she was looking for something to compliment various other outfits and accessories that she already had.
The game began and while Issei was a touch concerned about the prospect of accidentally launching the bowling ball through the back wall of the building like a makeshift cannon, he found that his control was getting better with every interaction. Controlling his power wasn't the issue though, Rias was good. Very good. After losing the first two matches quite decisively, Issei began to consider that he may have been sharked by the older girl who simply smirked at him. For all his strength, Ki manipulation and fighting prowess, none of it transcribed to the act of bowling, which in to itself was a skill he just did not posess.
By the end of the four games, Rias was grinning from ear to ear. She had decisively defeated her boyfriend in each game. The final one, Issei had put so much effort into, attempting to ensure he could play well and yet she had clearly won with close to a perfect game. With eight strikes she scored well into the high two hundreds while he barely held half her points.
"Ok I give in," he stated while returning his ball to one of the many racks, "How are you so good at this?"
Rias beamed, basking in her victory, as she replied, "Sirzechs and I used to go twice a week, every week, when I was eight until twelve."
She had fours years of continuous practice over him and unlike fighting, bowling was not a natural talent of Saiyans.
"Oh I see, little miss sneaky." Issei replied with a half grin, "I get to choose the next arcade game though." He would be sure to find something that would suit him.
Before he could leave the lane though, Issei felt a soft tug on the back of his shirt and turned to find a small child, a boy of no more then five years old standing behind him and looking up at the Saiyan warrior.
Unsure of exactly how to respond to the small child wanting his attention Issei went to speak when the kid beat him to it.
"You're tail is gold and shiny. I like it."
The simple sentence was said with absolute awe and interest by the child and Issei found the innocence in the child's demeanout to be surpisingly enduring.
He crouched down and swung his tail forward so that it was in line with the little boy.
"You can touch it if you want." He replied. The boy's fingers reached out and began poking at the appendage in an inquisitive yet playful nature.
"Jeremy come back here."
Issei looked up to see a middle aged woman two lanes from his own approaching while directing her words toward the young boy. He also noticed the look being given to him by his girlfriend, it was soft and full of approval and something else that he couldn't quite work out. The woman reached the pair as Issei stood up with his tail remaining at the boy's level for him to continue touching.
"Hi ma'am." Issei began while smiling in his best friendly and non-threatening manner toward the lady. "You're son was just curious about my tail. I don't mind."
The lady seemed unsure of how to respond to Issei and instead looked to her son who beamed up at her, Issei could see the look of worry on her face soften at the happy expression of her son.
"Look mum, his tail glows and its gold and its soft and really cool."
"Yes Jeremy but you really shouldn't be bothering a stranger." The woman appeared torn between her uncertainity of the golden boy and he son's enjoyment at sating his curiosity.
Ignoring his mother's remark, the boy looked back at Issei.
"Is it true that you can fly?"
Issei chuckled while scratching the back of his head.
"Sure, both myself and my girlfriend can fly." He replied while indicating to Rias who moved beside him before pointing to her wings.
'She flys with her wings while I don't need them."
To emphasise his point Issei floated upward into the air roughly half a metre. A total look of awe and interest spreading across the boys face as he burst out, "So cool!"
Now higher then before, Issei noticed that quite a few children and adults were beginning to look toward them. He knew they had been receiving glances and stares throughout their time in the arcade but now people were moving over to watch the floating golden boy and his winged girlfriend.
Issei touched back down and spoke to the little boy.
"Would you like to try?" he asked the boy before directing his next words to his mother, "If you don't mind ma'am. He will be totally safe."
"Yes yes yes yes!" The boy began almost shouting back excitedly as small children are inclined to do.
"Will it be safe, you won't hurt him?" The woman replied in a naturally concerned tone.
"Don't worry. I will just lift him up and float slowly around the area for a lap. No more then a few minutes." Issei replied before the mother looked back to her son's excited face as the child was almost bouncing into the air with excitement.
The woman simply nodded while appearing to be not quite certain of her decision. At this, Issei floated up until he was horizontal in the air and parallel to the ground, he gently grabbed the boy under the arm pits, holding onto his torso and floated higher while keeping his arms extended below him. The boy began to cheer and whoop as he lifted off the ground until he was above the crowd below. Issei then slowly drifted around the arcade while the boy happily giggled and swung his arms and legs like his favourite superheroes. After a few minutes, Issei landed back in front of the mother who happily took her very excited son back. Issei noticed the group of children now talking with Rias and touching her wings while sending a million and one questions at his girlfriend in a rapid fire manner with her struggling to answer one before the next barriage would hit her.
As the boy rejoined his mother, he turned back to Issei. "Thank you mister."
Issei smiled to him and then saw more children stepping up to him. For the next half an hour, the pair answered questions, Issei's tail and Rias' wings were touched by curious children and he flew more small children around the room. Parents became more relaxed with the pair as each interaction proved them to be friendly and happy to interact with their children in such a nice manner. Eventually the pair replied that they were moving over to the arcade area and while a few kids wanted to follow them, the parents understood that the pair had their own day planned.
Moving into the arcade area, Issei searched around and found the game that he was looking for. A basketball shooting game. The premise was simple. For one token, a player received two minutes to shoot as many basketballs as they could at the hoop approximately six metres away. There was a dozen balls and you could take as many shots as you could achieve in the time with the computer awarding one point for each successful shot. Issei grinned competitively to his girlfriend. This was a game he had always been good at.
He inserted a token, and watched as the digital display began to count down, three, two, one, begin. In a blur of motion, Issei began tossing the balls effortlessly toward the hoop without even looking. Each ball passed through in an almost steady stream and the only factor slowing him down was waiting for each ball to return before he could shoot it again. By the time the two minutes ended, Issei' score read close to three hunred. He turned to Rias and held his cocky smirk while stepping aside so she could take her turn.
"Show off," she replied before her eyes twinkled, 'But I am going to wipe the floor with that score."
The moment the game started, six of the balls levitated into the air, a slight manipulation of energy around them as they flew perfectly through the hoop, and continued to flow around creating a perfect never ending ring causing the score to tick up exceedingly fast.
"Hey telekinetic magic is cheating." Issei declared with a pout as in less than a minute Rias' score had already reached four hundred.
"No its not. I understand the rules entirely. There is absolutely no rule against any magic." Rias replied happily.
Issei simply grumbled, forced to accept that she was indeed right that she wasn't breaking any rules when a thought came to his mind. He immediately pressed his body into hers from behind and began running his hands up and down her side while pressing his lips into behind her right ear and kissing down the back of her neck.
"Hey, hey, we're in public." Rias replied with a pant to her breath.
"I know." Issei whispered into her ear, that's why I am keeping this relatively tame instead of taking you right here." To accentuate his point he bit gently onto her neck causing her to gasp, lose her control of the magic and for all six balls to drop back to the ground.
Immediately Issei jumped back from her as if nothing had happened.
"Oh would you look at that." He stated with a cheeky and fulfilled grin.
Rias meerly glared at him playfully. She knew he had deliberately broken her concentration and got her all hot and bothered just to prove he could. She still looked at the score.
"Still double your score."
The slight jab didn't get a rise from the Saiyan though. While the pair moved from game to game, they became more intimate with each other. Both aware that other people would periodically look over at them, yet were happy to tease each other with subtle touches and suggestive comments while the other attempted to concentrate at whichever game they were playing at the time.
Finally leaving the arcade at midday, the pair emerged out into the warm and inviting sunlight feeling moderately flustered after having teased each other rather excessively.
"Shall we get lunch?" Rias asked while hoping to calm herself from the effects of her boyfriend getting intimate.
"Yeah, I'm hungry" Issei replied, he had no intention of letting her get away though, 'But not for food yet."
Rias looked to him, saw the pure look of desire he was giving her and before she could reply, he had swooped her up into his arms and launched them into the air. Once sufficiently above the surrounding buildings, Issei's golden aura broke out around the pair and he rocketed at a supersonic pace out of Kuoh. The air clapped behind them as he took off and fortunately for the town below, Issei had been cognisant to rise high enough so as to avoid causing any collateral damage.
Within the minute, they had the left the town long behind and were hovering above a lucious woodland. Issei released his aura as he dropped toward the ground and his lips embraced Rias'. She returned the kiss passionately without even a moment wasted. Before the pair had even reached the ground, clothing was dropping from the air around them. Their feet touched only briefly before they dropped back onto the soft grass below them. Mouths and tongues running along the skin of each other and shivers of pleasure shuddering through their bodies. Moans became louder as more clothes were shed until both were completely naked and intertwined with each other.
Rias' eyes rolled back as Issei pleasured her to the brink of ecstacy over and over before she could hardly stand the suspense any more. She grabbed his hips and pulled him harshly against her. Her eyes staring lovingly into his and demanding that he take her fully. He replied with a forward shift of his hips and a deep kiss between the pair.
Hours later, the pair lay still naked together in the grass with Rias spread atop Issei, her head on his chest, tucked in just below his chin and her hand drawing endless patterns over his pectoral and abdominal muscles.
"I love you so much Issei." She commented abruptly while looking up to him.
Issei chuckled while bringing his eyes to hers, "I love you too. I always have and always will."
The pair remained lovingly entwined, talking about nothing of any significance but enjoying the company of each other completely before the loud rumble of Issei's stomach informed them that waiting for four and a half hours past lunch was a kin to high treason. The pair gathered up their clothes and Issei rose them, still naked into the air briefly before flying over to a river that he had spotted on the flight in. After a quick bath to refresh themselves, they dried and dressed before taking to the air once more and flying hand in hand back to Kuoh.
A local Korean barbeque restraunt had been a favourite of Issei's before he had lost his humanity. Now, the all you can eat buffet it offered was both a godsend and a curse for the store. Upon entering, the pair were seated and Rias insisted on paying ten times the normal bill. The staff were confused initially but within only a few minutes they understood exactly why the winged girl had insisted so heavily that they accept the money. While she ate at a pace they could understand, the tailed boy with her had covered an entire table adjacent to them in large stacks of empty plates while showing no signs of slowing down in his voracious consumption of food in any time soon. More and more staff members arrived to watch the Saiyan single handedly eat a nations worth of food.
Almost an hour later, Issei finally sat back feeling content. He looked to Rias with an expression of pure joy and comfort before stretching and standing effortlessly. Rias always thought it was unfair that he could eat so much and be active immediately afterward without ever suffering from anything even slightly approaching indigestion.
Issei thanked the staff happily who stared at him unsure how to respond to the young man, the pair left and Rias began dragging him to the final location on her plan for the day. It wasn't long before Issei knew exactly where they were going, the cinema. Rias had chosen the movie to watch, "Monster Hunter". Issei was unsure why she picked it, when it came down to it, hunting rogue devils was essentially the real life equivalent of what the movie's premise entailed. Though he wasn't complaining, spending time with her was all that he really wanted anyway.
The duo took a pair of seats near to the rear of the movie and cuddled in together. A slow stream of people entered before the movie began with less than a third of the seats taken and no one near the supernatural couple. Within fifteen minutes of the movie starting, the screen had been forgotten with the pair kissing slowly more passionately within the darkness afforded to them. No one was sitting on the row they occupied and Rias looked to him with a gaze that could only ever be described as devilish. She broke the kiss to move and whisper to him.
"I've always wanted to do this in a cinema."
Issei was puzzled for only a moment before his eyes went wide and she slid of the seat silently to be kneeling between his legs and immediately pulled down the zipper of his pants. Issei took a quick gulp of air and willed himself to be silent as he felt Rias' lips wrap around him. Instantly he was feeling both the thrill of their location and the worry of being caught with his immensely gorgeous girlfriend in this postion.
Issei bit harshly into his own hand as heavy throws of pleasure shot through him to avoid making any audible noises as he reached his climax, Rias never ceasing or slowing the ministrations of her mouth or tongue as he did so. Her throat simply moving a few times as she swallowed. With the last throws of pleasure leaving his body, the Saiyan looked down to the woman he loved with passion aflame in his eyes. He zipped himself up as he dipped his head to kiss her before breaking the kiss and whispering to her,
"Let's go home." His intent of desire clear in his deeper tone and lustful expression.
"What about the movie?" Rias whispered back in a mock voice of concern yet with desire heavily on her face as well, both teenagers heavily blushing.
"I don't give a damn about the movie." Issei replied while lifting her to her feet.
It was less then ten minutes later that the pair found themselves once again entering Issei's bedroom in the dark of the night through his window. Little time was wasted once again, stripping their clothes off eagerly. Soft moans and groans were all that came from the pair over the next many hours as they attempted to remain as silent as possible while still giving themselves entirely to the other and producing as much pleasure as they could with their lips, tongues, fingers and whole bodies. It was well past midnight by the time the pair ceased their amorous activities and drifted off to a truly content and loving sleep.
*Occult Research Club, Kuoh Academy*
Two weeks had passed since Issei's birthday and the training remained just as intense. Each member was striving to reach a higher level. The six who planned to compete were aiming to have the ability to take the title of champion while the rest simply wished to support their friends and loved ones. Once this tournament was complete, they would still likely have a need to possibly fight together or in support of each other, so slacking off was not an option.
The mid morning sun of this Sunday found Issei still in his golden form, adorned in his new Gi, which had almost become second skin as it was almost never off his body unless it required washing. He stood in the centre of the dirt patch outside the club house with the five other future entrants currently circling him. He relaxed into his defensive stance without any aura and only a soft glow to his golden hair and fur, blue eyes sparkling with confidence.
Irina and Koneko were the first two to act. From opposite sides, the pair dashed in toward Issei. Koneko shot herself forward with an aerial kick. Issei struck it aside with his left forearm as he twisted and bent back to avoid the swift cut from Durandal in the hands of Irina. The blade sailed past the Saiyan who twisted and lashed out at the Templar warrior with his left foot in a smooth round house kick. Since losing Xenovia, Irina had refused to wield any other weapon then that of her former partner's sword.
Irina jumped back, catching only a graze from Issei's foot, that despite how much he held back in his strikes, still hammered like being struck by a train. She felt herself flinch yet Issei was unable to capitalise on her reaction as the remaining three combatants assaulted in toward him. Irina's guard was instantly covered by Kiba who slashed out toward Issei while Sebastian attacked from above.
Still in the motion of leaning back, Issei was forced to continue the momentum going up into a handstand and used his legs to strike out at the two blades that threatened him now. Thrusting hard with his hands into the ground, Issei propelled himself up into the air where upon righting himself upright, his right forearm was met with a strong punch from Rias as she shot toward him. The clash of blows was followed up by a foray of strikes and blocks from the pair while Issei guarded against any assault from the other combatants and Rias attempted to force him back down toward the ground.
Sweat broke out across the bodies of all the combatants as they struck, parried, dodged and weaved their way through the engagement. Cheers and cries of advice came from those watching along the sidelines. Bodies twisted and manourvred as they repeatedly struck at each other over and over, and yet despite their numerical advantage, the single Saiyan warrior held dominance throughout the entire match. His heavy self imposed restriction of power that he placed upon himself allowed Issei to focus on developing his fighting skill and identify weaknesses in his form to rectify.
His fist collided with the flat side of Sebastian's blade, the force knocking the French devil back, twisting around, he delivered a combination of lightning fast jabs and a knee to Kiba that propelled the Gremory knight from the sparing area. His hand then clenched over the top of a strike thrown by Koneko, a twist brought her close into his body before he swung and used her as a club to bash into the side of Irina. Following up without any loss of momentum, Issei tossed the Nekomata warrior into the Frenchman before he could recover and launched himself forward to body charge the pair outside of their circle.
With three of the combatants now collapsed down outside of their combat area, gulping down bottles of cold water and allowing Asia to ensure no severe injuries had been sustained, Issei turned back to face his remaining two opponents. Rias and Irina. Dashing forward both lovers clashed in a series of strikes and blows. Fists, elbows, knees, feet. Each body part utilised against the other. Irina waited until the moment her eye caught with Rias' and the heiress disengaged for a moment. The Templar drove forward with a volley of precise slashes. The Saiyan warrior pivoted effortlessly into her strikes and used his Ki covered hands to knock the swings of the blade away with each attack she threw.
Rias swept her foot low to cause her boyfriend to lose his footing. At the same time Irina struck with an overhead strike of her weapon. Issei cartwheeled himself backward before changing momentum and flipping once again forward onto his feet after the blade. The weapon impaled onto the ground and the Saiyan landed nimbly onto it like a tight rope walker. His weight pushed the blade into the the ground and he capitalised by launching himself forward, his knee driving into the human girl's head and propelling her backward, outside of the ring of the combatants.
Across the ring from each other, the pair remaining faced off. Rias held an orb of destruction in each hand while Issei's left hand faced toward her in a ready postion to unleash a barriage of Ki. As Rias propelled her orbs, Issei acted. He fired a volley of small Ki blasts. None of the blasts struck her. Simply exploding in the air before her, her orbs of destruction neutralised and dirt, dust, smoke and debris caused by the colliding energies pluming into the air.
Covering her mouth with the crook of her elbow and waving the obnoxious particles away, Rias realised her mistake too late as Issei materialised behind her, arms locking her into him in a bear hug before he twisted and tossed her over his shoulder. The momentum and strength of his throw caused her to spin and twist through the air before she rectified herself just as her foot struck the ground. The ground outside of the ring.
Rias sighed, another loss to Issei in these spars. Her annoyance was cut short though as she found herself face to face with the boy himself, his blue eyes piercing into hers from mere inches away. Their lips met and she promptly no longer cared about losing the practice match.
Breaking apart she looked at him with a smirk, "I expect kisses like that every time you annoy me, you know." Issei merely smirked happily.
*White nothingness, Mindscape*
The final training session with Ddraig was coming to an end. When Issei awoke it would be the morning of the first day of the tournament and he would be travelling to Germany along with everyone else via the Gremory sigil.
The month of May had come and gone almost too fast. Focusing on his training, Issei had been pleasantly comfortable with how much he was gaining in terms of strength and tolerance to utilising the Super Saiyan form. His technical prowess with his fighting style along side his base form strength and Ki reserves had also improved, he felt more like a true martial artist then a brawler with amazing strength. Away from training, he had managed to pass all his subjects in school. The exams had been close, with some very narrow passes but now summer vacation was upon them and for Issei that meant the tournament.
He disengaged from his melee from Ddraig to notice Rias missing once more. The previous few nights his girlfriend would leave their training early, always just before dawn and without any reason. He found himself feeling concerned and after thanking Ddraig for the help training over the past month, returned to the physical world.
His girlfriend wasn't present in his bed either as he awoke and slipping from the comfort of the sheets, he noted her Ki signature to be in the bathroom. He walked swiftly down to the room in question, upon reaching the door, a dry wretching sound filled the air that he knew to be Rias being sick. Without knocking he opened the door to find his girlfriend flushing the toilet having clearly wiped her mouth clean.
"Are you alright? Are you coming down with something?" he queried with heavy concern present on his face.
Rias smiled to him softly while shaking her head to push away his worries,
"No, nothing serious, I've just been a little unwell the past few mornings. It passes very quickly. Nothing to be concerned about."
Issei gave her a look of discomfort at the idea of her being unwell as she swilled water in her mouth from the tap before stepping forward to kiss him. He returned the kiss and felt himself forgetting any worries that he had held.
The morning passed quickly with all present in the house concluding any final packing for the week in Germany. Grayfia had used her connections to secure seats for the members of the extended peerage not competing as well as Issei's parents. The Satan and his wife would be arriving at eleven along with Rias' parents so that the large extended group could travel to the venue together.
With his friends and family present, Issei finally released the power of his Super Saiyan form for the first time in a month. Immediately he felt his power revert back to what it normally was and the strain on his Ki vanished as his hair and eyes returned to their nature browns. Although he had become far more proficient in holding the form, it still had some burdens against the reserves of his Ki.
Shortly afterward, the remaining members of their party, Sirzechs, Grayfia, Zeoticus and Venelana arrived. Rias'parents immediately struck up conversation with Issei's causing both teenagers to become uncertain about the parents mingling so happily. On the one hand they were happy that they got along so well, on the other, they just felt odd at the two sets of parents conversing.
Lunch was a calm affair with large spreads of food being provided by the Gremory household and light conversation flowing easily. It wasn't long after the last plates had vanished back to Hell that the clock struck two in the afternoon and it was time for the group to travel to Germany. Munich was eight hours behind them and even though six in the morning was rather early, with guests and participants arriving from all around the world, each group had been allocated an exact time to arrive and check in.
A large Gremory rose sigil covered most of the Hyoudou residence living room floor. Each person moved in with their luggage, suitcases and bags. Issei's parents looked uncertain about what was going to occur.
"Don't worry." Their son began, looking to them calmly, "It can be a little disorientating but its over with in the blink of an eye."
His mother replied with a smile of thanks and Issei felt Rias slip her hand into his, their fingers intertwining as the familiar flash of crimson light took everyone half way around the world instantly.
Uploaded on 08 January 2021, edited on 29 July 2022