Here we are, chapter four.
The pairs will be updated after the chapter is over.
Enjoy.
Issei has explained the long story about the conflict between the assassins and the templars. The girls were all shocked that such a conflict was kept hidden for so long, even to this day. They were speechless as Issei sat on the floor in front of them.
Issei had already expected their reactions, and smiled cheekily as he ate a piece of cake. Levi had been kind enough to give the boys some desert before they left.
"I...don't know what to say." Raynare finally broke the silence.
"Yeah...knowing a war has going on even before the factions even began to conflict with each other is very shocking." Kalawarner added.
Issei swallowed before tracing the navy blue haired women with a reply. "I know, but believe me. Despite the violence, I actually enjoy this life." He said.
"You enjoy killing?" Mittelt asked, making Issei frown. He turned to her before replying to her inquiry.
"No. While I am skilled in the art of killing, it doesn't mean I enjoy it. There are morals. If one was to enjoy taking life away, then they wouldn't be considered human anymore. We are not mindless murderers."
The girls were all quiet.
"Well...I don't care." Issei was surprised to hear that from Asia, of all people.
"It doesn't matter how many people you've killed. I know you're a good person Issei." She said with smile, hoping to lighten up the mood. It worked, since Issei smiled and brought her in for a hug, effectively turning the former nun into a blushing mess.
"That's why I can always feel happy with You Asia." He said. Now steam started bursting out from the poor blond's ears.
Raynare and Kalawarner immediately knew that the small girl had an attraction to the brunette assassin.
"Well, what will you do now?" Issei asked out of the blue.
"What?" Raynare asked.
"Your situation in the church did not go unnoticed. If you report back to the Grigori, I know for a fact you will be punished severely. You can't just go out in the open either since the devils will pursue you and likely exterminate you on sight." Issei said, making the fallen angels pale.
What were they going to do? They had nowhere to-
Wait.
"Can we stay here, please?" Raynare practically begged, with Kalawarner and Mittelt following her.
Issei chuckled.
"I never said you weren't allowed to. I just wanted to know what you would do." He said making them pout at him. That was just mean, making them believe he would cast them out.
"Okay, I've had my fun. Feel free to take a look around. I'm going out for a while." Issei made sure to put his vambraces on before he left, and bid the girls farewell for now.
Issei hummed lightly to himself as he passed through the streets.
"What a wonderful day." He said softly.
He looked around, seeing a few vendors out. He was in the main marketing district.
"Maybe I should make sushi for dinner tonight." He mused. No sooner when he thought that, he just happen to see a sushi stand. Well, it looked like one anyway, so decided to go for it.
He went up to the vendor and waited. "Oh hello, how are you?" It was girl running the stand.
She was a brunette much like himself with long hair reaching just past her shoulders, and golden brown colored eyes.
"I'm quite alright. What is this exactly that you're serving?" He asked.
The girl smiled a bit proudly. "They are a creation of my own. They're barbecue bacon wrapped jalapeños. A little recipe I made after me and my mom visited America one time." Issei's mouth watered a little, it sounded very good.
"They sound good. How much for a few?" He asked getting his wallet out.
The girl smiled. "That'll be 30 yen." Issei handed her the money and waited while she prepared the food. Issei didn't even have to sniff for the aroma, it was already sending his sense of smell wild.
After a few minutes, the girl put a plate down in front of him with—he counted, 6 jalapeños.
"Thank you." He said before bringing one up to his mouth. The moment he bit down, the flavor of the bacon with the barbecue soaked jalapeño sent his tastebuds into a flurry of excitement. It was settled, that the brunette would now crave this tantalizing dish for a long time to come.
As Issei enjoyed his meal, his eyes wandered about the environment, taking in the joy filled people. The citizens were so full of energy today.
It wasn't until something caught his eye—actually someone.
It was man wearing a coat, knee length and colored black. Issei narrowed his eyes when he saw the very familiar cross in the form of a button on his chest. Activating eagle vision, Issei was able to identify that the man was definitely a threat. But luckily the man was not aware of who or what Issei was since he seemed to be quite carefree.
"Hmm. What are you up to?" Issei got up from his seat and moved through the crowd, intent on keeping an eye on the suspicious man.
Issei followed the man like a shadow, nearly invisible. The tailing had been a short 10 minutes, with the assassin following his target to a strip club. In fact, if he recalled it was the very same one Indra had gone to, to kill the slaver trading off girls.
What now?
Issei watched the man walk up to one of the girls—just now leaving from her shift, he guessed.
The man grabbed the girl and dragged her into an alley, covering her mouth to prevent her from screaming out.
Issei ran to the entryway of the secluded alley and peaked around the corner. There, he could see the man forcefully disrobing the young maiden—her clothes ripping and tearing, and being discarded onto the filthy ground.
The assassin checked his blades and looked back up at the scene before him. He needed to act quick.
The mysterious figure on the roof tailed his target through the streets, completely hidden in his blind spots. As he followed the man, he noticed a very familiar face slipping through the crowd, like water in the cracks of a stone wall.
"Well, I'll be. I didn't think Issei was this busy already." The figure mused to himself.
Deciding to wait for bit, he watched the brunette hunt the target.
The figure frowned—seeing the scene playing out. 'That poor girl.' He thought. Not wanting to waste time anymore, he let his arm rest at his side—catching three curved shuriken between his fingers.
He raised his hand and gave the man a hard stare, despite him not being aware of his presence. He brought his arm back before slinging it forward and releasing the deadly projectiles from his hand.
Down below, Issei had his blades ready, but the sound of something piercing the air caught his well tuned hearing. He stopped to watch the man suddenly drop to the floor, releasing the girl from his hold.
Issei walked up to the man, seeing a couple of shuriken embedded in his back, right where the heart would be.
Issei ignored the corpse for now, and approached the girl.
"Who are you?" She asked. Issei took in the girl's features. She looked quite average. But nonetheless, she was innocent—average or not. He took off his shirt, showing he was wearing another one underneath. He gave the shirt to her and stood back up to look around.
As Issei investigated his surroundings, he missed the figure standing on the fire escape above him.
"Just walk right passed me." Issei's head whipped up to see a figure wearing a dark grey kimono with black hakama pants. On his forearms were leather vambraces, and he had a naginata sitting on his back.
Issei's eyes widened when the figure lowered his hood, revealing black hair and dark brown eyes. He smiled as the figure jumped down from his perch to greet him.
"Ichika Orimura." Issei gave his friend a bro hug with the raven haired boy returning it.
"I'm finally back." Ichika said, looking behind him. "Where's Indra, how's he?"
Issei chuckled, with Ichika following him out of the alley. "You've missed a few things man." Ichika raised an eyebrow.
"Anything interesting?" Ichika asked. Issei gave him a grin. "How about learning that this whole area is devil territory?" That made Ichika give Issei a perplexed look. "There are devils here? That can't be a coincidence." He replied, with Issei nodding.
"It's under the watch of Rias Gremory." He said, with Ichika now understanding.
"I see." The two became silent for a moment before Issei broke it.
"So how are Madoka and Chifuyu?" The brunette asked. Ichika chuckled, giving Issei a knowing look.
"They still haven't forgotten about Indra, I'm sure you can figure out the rest." He said with a small grin.
"Speaking of him—just wait till he sees you. He still hasn't forgiven you for that time you blew up his sweet stash." Issei said, making the black haired boy sweatdrop.
"It wasn't even that much of a stash at the time... It was only three boxes of nothing but snoballs." Ichika replied, but Issei chuckled at his expense. Almost forgetting, he went back to the corpse and searched it. He found a letter on him.
Ichika watched Issei before the brunette tossed the letter aside and walked beside him. "Find anything?" The raven haired boy asked.
Issei shook his head negatively. "Nothing useful."
Raynare giggled as she looked at the drawing of her. Indra had been doing sketches to pass the time, and seeing his creativity—requested a drawing of herself. The piece of artwork itself was very detailed, almost worth a place in a museum if she said so herself.
"This is amazing. Have you ever thought about doing a commission?" She asked. Indra adopted a questioning look. Not once, had he ever thought of selling his art.
He shook his head to answer her question, making her give him a grin. "You need a job right? From what I remember you work for free, but you'll need some money in case of emergencies." She reasoned. Indra nodded seeing where she was going with her idea. How come he never thought of that?
"I guess I can try." He said, making Raynare smile. "That's the spirit!"
Just as she said that, the door to the hideout opened, showing Issei along with another boy she didn't recognize.
"Hey Indra, you'll never guess who I found." Issei said, making the white haired boy get up and go see what he was talking about. There in the main room, Indra saw Ichika.
"Ichika. Good to see you again." He said. Ichika and Indra both hugged before a Ichika turned his attention to Raynare.
"Fallen angels too huh?" He asked rhetorically. Raynare looked to Issei who gave her a reassuring nod.
"My name is Raynare. It's nice to meet you." Ichika took her hand in his and kissed it, making her giggle before his own hand was slapped away by Indra.
Issei and Ichika shared a knowing look.
Raynare saw the look and blushed, already knowing what the two were thinking.
"So, apart from our guests we've been offering our service to citizens who need help. As of lately, we don't receive too many requests." Issei said, making Ichika nod.
"Nice hideout. Hanzo really went all out on it." He said while his eyes scanned the decor running along the walls.
"That's what I said." Issei chuckled.
Ichika smiled before turning and heading back up to the door. "Well, I need to go and get my sisters settled in. The three of us are starting at the academy tomorrow, and I still need to find a blacksmith to make some more shuriken for me."
"I'll see you tomorrow then." Issei called out to him, with Ichika holding a thumbs up as he left.
Issei then turned to Asia as she came from her room.
"Asia, I want you to come with me to school tomorrow. I've prepared some papers to get you enrolled." He said, holding the up the necessary documents before storing them away for later.
"Oh, that sounds like fun!" The former nun exclaimed with a smile.
Issei returned it. "I'm glad to hear that."
Issei went into his own room to change into his night clothes. "Now, we have busy day tomorrow, so I'd the rest now before you end up sleeping through your first day."
The girls along with Indra went their separate ways to get ready for the next day.
Morning came like it usually did, bright and rather quiet.
Issei and Indra were already dressed in their uniforms, waiting for Asia to finish changing. When she came out of her room garbed in the correct attire, they walked to school with Raynare bidding them a good day.
They entered through the gates as usual, heading straight for the student council president's office. Issei knocked, getting a "Come in." in response and opened the door to show Sona working on a large stack of paperwork. Her gaze moved up from the paper and onto the ones who had been occupying her mind for the last few days.
"Yes, what do you need?" She asked.
Issei handed her the documents. "We need to get Asia here enrolled and started as soon we can." He supplied her answer.
Sona nodded, checking over the information. She was satisfied and stamped the papers before giving her a schedule. "This will have all of your classes." She said to the blond. She turned her eyes to Issei. "Would you mind escorting her to homeroom?" Issei shook his head. "She's a good friend of mine, she'd never burden me." He said, making the blond blush.
After leaving Sona's office, Issei showed her to homeroom. Luckily she had 4 of the same classes with him and Indra. Right as they were about to enter, Issei saw Ichika standing outside the door.
"Hey man, good morning." Issei greeted his old friend with a fist bump. Indra gave him a nod.
"Yeah, good morning. I'm waiting for Chifuyu and Madoka to finish their introduction. Then it's going to be me and Asia. That student council president sure works fast." Ichika said.
Issei smirked. "I can te just by looking at her. She's the by-the-book type." Ichika had a smirk of his own on his face, shaking his head with amusement.
"You can come in now!" They heard Ms Kirisaki call from inside the classroom. Asia started to fidget nervously. Issei put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be alright. I'll be right behind you."
Asia nodded and took a deep breath before exhaling and walking in with the three boys.
Ichika and Asia boy stood at the front of the class while Issei and Indra took their seats. Issei mouthed 'Go on' to the blond before she put on a smile—the best she could.
"Whenever you're ready." Ms. Kirisaki said.
"H-Hi, my name is Asia Argento. P-Please t-treat me well." She bowed.
The boys in the room started going wild over her, before Ms. Kirisaki put them into silence. "Please take the empty seat behin Issei, near the window." She said with a smile.
Ichika introduced himself and took a seat right beside Koneko.
"Now, please take out your journals and we'll continue with our notes from yesterday." Ms. Kirisaki was the best teacher in both Issei and Indra's opinions. She did her job well, despite being a rookie.
As Issei took his notes, he did not have to look to feel eyes on him. He didn't know who it was, nor did he care. He knew that his watcher would reveal themselves soon enough.
He sent a subtle sign to Indra to let him know what was going on.
Issei, Asia, Ichika, and Indra all sat under a tree near the end of the track field. School had just finished for the day and they were just enjoying their time in the nice shade as the sun harshly glared down on the Earth.
"Prince Charming, heading our way." Ichika commented, letting his hidden blades retract. He had been playing with them since he couldn't risk carrying his tanto out in the open, on school grounds no less.
The familiar blond pretty boy walked up to the group, a friendly expression donning his face.
"Hello friends, I'm sure you remember me, Kiba Yuuto. My club president has asked for you to pay her a visit." He said, hoping they would comply.
"Rias Gremory, right? The Occult Research Club President?" Ichika asked, already knowing the answer.
Kiba nodded affirmatively. "Yes. She'd like to talk with you, if you have nothing else to do that is." He said. Issei shared a look with his assassin brothers and smiled.
"Why not? How can I reject the request of a beautiful women?" He asked with a hint of snark in his voice. If Kiba detected the sarcasm, he didn't show that he did, nor did he comment on it. He simply motioned for the group to follow him.
They were lead to the old school building, where Rias held her club activities. They entered a room with a couch and Rias herself was sitting behind a desk, with an expectant look on her face.
When she saw Issei, she smiled and put her hands under chin. "Hello Issei Hyoudou, I'm Rias Gremory. Nice to finally meet you." She greeted.
Issei chuckled. "No need to tell me your name again Rias. After all you and Akeno are all the girls talk about around the school." He said, making the redhead blush with embarrassment. She shook it off as quickly as it had come and gave the brunette a smile.
"So Issei, I have a question for you." She said. Her tone was becoming suggestive, and Issei had a pretty good idea at what she was going to be getting at.
"I'm listening." He said, playing along.
"I'd like you to join the Occult Research Club." She said, puffing her chest out a little.
'Hit the nail right on the head.' He thought. He saw Indra and Ichika with small smirks on their faces.
"Is there a catch? I'm letting you know now that there have been other clubs before, even off school campus who have tried to recruit me. There's bound to be a price or something to join such a isolate club like yours." Issei replied.
Rias was caught a bit off guard by his reply. She knew that it draw some attention, being that she never really allowed anyone to join her club, despite how polite they were. She was assuming Issei found it to be quite odd to suddenly show interest just like that to a random person.
Boy, was she right. But it's not like that conclusion needed to be confirmed. Not yet anyway.
"Ah, are these are juniors?" They heard an alluring voice as the door opened. It was Akeno who entered the room holding a tray with cups of tea on it.
"Yes. I'm sure you know them already." Rias replied, taking a cup for herself.
"Thank you, Akeno." Issei said as the raven haired beauty handed him his own tea. The girl's large breasts bounced as she put her hand to her cheek and smiled.
"It's my pleasure." She replied.
"Now, what do you say?" Rias expected an answer.
Looked at Indra and Ichika—the three seeming to have a mental conversation before a decision was made.
"What are we expected to do as club members?" Issei asked.
Rias smiled, seeing she was making progress.
"We investigate the supernatural, and we also do favora for other people. Contracts you could say." She smiled.
There, I'm done for now. Sorry if it's a bit late. I've been very focused on school lately so I my writing progress was slowed a bit.
So, I've made an update for pairs, as I mentioned up at the top. You'll see that eventually, since I'm constantly making adjustments.
Now, onto our newest assassin!
Character bio
Name: Ichika Orimura
Age: 16
Rank: Assassin 4th rank
Personality: While not born into the order, Ichika became an assassin by choice in order to provide for his sisters. Ichika shows calm and caring traits towards almost anyone, and can also be a bit playful and snarky from time-to-time.
Weapons:
Hidden blades: New fashioned hidden blades made of stronger steel alloy. Left has been modified with a poison dart launcher.
Naginata: A beautiful and deadly naginata, with perfect long reach and defensive capability.
Tanto: A well crafted tanto, used for quicker and closer ranged combat.
Shuriken(max 20): Standard throwing shuriken for silent long ranged takedowns.
Equipment:
Assassin notebook: Used by Ichika to store away vital information and personal thoughts.
Assassin robes: New set of traditional robes, consisting of a modified kimono and hakama pants.
Well, I'm done now. Hope this was enjoyable, and I'll see you guys next chapter.