Ch.5 Same Mission, New Side

Some time ago, Issei was offered by his childhood friend, Irina Shidou, to come back with her and her partner to the church in England after the incident with a group of fallen angels, where Issei defeated one of them and awakened to his Sacred Gear, a very rare and powerful one known as the Boosted Gear. After agreeing to come with his childhood friend, Issei left the following day and his parents were uneasy to let him leave so suddenly, but they agreed to let him go since they knew Irina and her father…plus they thought Issei's chances of giving them a grandchild suddenly shot up immensely and this thought made them say yes. The church also arranged for Issei's transfer from schools rather quickly. Then, without even a last look, Issei traveled with his new allies to their headquarters, and brought into the church as an apprentice exorcist with a sword master, the same one who trained Xenovia, Griselda Quarta.

At first, Issei was thrilled to have a beautiful woman training him, but quickly came to realize that she may be polite and kind, but is extremely scary to those close to her. Being a pervert, Issei made sure to bring a small collection of movies and magazines with him, but Griselda proceed to burn them when she found out, and gave him a very scary scolding. But he still stares at the female exorcists wearing the church armor.

Issei's home life is good in England. Irina's parents were more than willing to let him stay in their home and are proud of him for choosing to help the church. However, others can tell he's not interested in being an exorcist out faith, but because of his feelings towards Irina. Nowadays, Issei's attire consists of a male exorcist outfit, but modified to be red to go along with his Boosted Gear and wears a white set ornate clothes under which makes him look like a young priest. But, his most precious item that he wears is the rosary he took from Asia before he buried her by the abandoned church.

Because of his training, Issei's Boosted Gear has been slightly altered to have a set of prongs pointed forward on the back of the hand to create a green sword of holy light. He isn't a holy sword user, but after some modifications, he has merged a holy light sword with his Boosted Gear. His training is going very well and he's learning quickly to be a great sword master with Griselda's tutelage, Touji Shidou's tips, and Irina's support.

Things are fine, however…Issei has learned of a recent development that he doesn't like. Both Irina and Xenovia alongside another exorcist have been assigned to a new mission that is apparently very risky considering the odds of their survival.

Under protest, Issei confronts the heads of the church about this "That's insane! Why them, of all the people you have?" He argues with them in a dark room.

One of those in charge states "They will be well equipped for this assignment and it needs to be taken care of. Their survival isn't needed if they complete the mission."

Issei, not satisfied, suggests "Fine, but send me with them…or me instead of Irina."

The lot of them talks for a moment, but then answers "No, you will remain here until we're positive that you have control over your sacred gear. If you let personal feelings be your decider, then you're still far too immature for the job, Issei Hyoudou."

Issei tries to argue, but to no avail and he is promptly forced out the room by a pair of exorcists. A little later, Issei is thinking about what to do since Irina and Xenovia are on their way to the airport to leave for their mission at this very moment.

Walking down the road of his new home, Issei is contemplating on his next move. He has no money to get a plane ticket, and he has no time to convince Irina not to go since he didn't have a chance to talk with her beforehand about it. Not a moment too soon, a car pulls up to him and a window rolls down.

The window reveals Irina's father and her mother sitting next to him "Issei, hurry up and get in the car. We have don't have a lot of time." He says to Issei with clear worry. Not wasting a moment, Issei climbs into the car and sees Griselda sitting in the backseat of the car with a case on her lap, a long one.

Issei closes the door, and Griselda informs him "I heard what you protesting about Irina and Xenovia being chosen for this mission…I have problems with it too. So we've decided to help you."

Issei nods with a smile "That's great. So we're going to stop them from going back to Kuoh?"

Sadly, Griselda shakes her head "No, we can't overturn this decision. But YOU can do something to help them."

Touji, seemingly in his own world at the moment, muttering about how his daughter has such a caring guy in her life, snaps out of it and tells Issei "We're going to the airport and we're going to sneak you on the plane. You're going with them, Issei." Touji waves his hand to Griselda and further explains "But we're not sending you without something to help."

Griselda moves the case towards Issei and, curious, opens it immediately and reveals a sword in it. The sword has a brilliant blade, a green hilt and is sheathed within a ornate white sheath with gold accents and a green jewel near the end. Issei recognizes the blade from the photo of him and Irina when they were children.

Issei looks at the blade with slight awe and asks "You're really loaning me this?"

Touji nods and answers "That sword is yours now, Issei. How about we call it… a very early wedding present, and call it good?"

Issei's boosted gear absorbs the blade and then his Gear goes through a slight change as it now has gold accents similar to the sheathe of the sword and the blade emerges from the gauntlet, now fused with it, and it pierces the roof of the car. Embarrassed a little, Issei apologizes "Sorry, Mr. Shidou."

Touji smiles a little and tells him "Please, call me dad."

Touji's wife smiles at this and teases Issei "You'd better call me mom, and also give me some grandchildren."

The adults laugh a little and Issei can't help but feel like he's scored since Irina's parents basically just gave him their blessing, and Griselda laughs a tiny bit as well. With all that done, Issei and the others arrive at the airport and the plane hasn't left yet. Griselda puts on a coat and mask that covers her face and she helps sneak Issei on the plane inside the cargo hold by distracting the carriers while Issei boards the cargo hold.

With that settled Issei sits in the cargo hold of the plane and waits until it lands back in Japan, back to his home. It takes some time, but Issei was given some food from Irina's parents so he has something to eat on the long ride home.

On the plane, Issei looks at his Boosted Gear and the new sword fused to it and is thankful to have people helping him, and promises to make sure both Irina and Xenovia return home alive. While staring at the blade, Issei hears a voice "A fine blade you've attached to the Boosted Gear."

Issei, a little surprised by the sudden voice, asks "Who's there!?" he turns his head a few directins, but then sees his Gear glowing and wonders "Wait, was that you?"

The voice appears again "Indeed it was. I couldn't help but compliment you for combining this sword with my power." Much to Issei's surprise, the voice explains a little of what he is.

Issei listens and asks "Hey, can you tell me something? I want to help someone very special to me, so can you…."

Issei makes his request and the being living within his Sacred Gear makes his answer. It takes some more time, but Issei finally lands at the airport he originally left Kuoh at. He waits the hatch to open, and immediately runs out and does his best to leave undetected. He looks at the airport windows and spots the two girls walking out of the plane, but Issei can't reveal himself just yet.

It's only been a relatively short amount of time, but Issei feels as if he's been gone a life time. He checks his pocket to see if he has any money, but looks to find that he only has a few pounds in his pocket and no yen. He had food on the plane, but hardly a meal and his stomach grumbles a little. He thinks to himself "Well, better go and get one thing crossed off my list."

It's still bright out, but he'd better go and say hello to his parents. He immediately goes their way and hopes that Irina and Xenovia aren't heading that way. Fortunately, they are somewhere else trying to figure out what to do next and they have no real reason to drop in on the Hyoudou family home right now.

Issei saying "hi" to his parents goes decently well (except where they asked him if he blew it already with Irina's family and he had to explain a different reason why he's here) and he has a decent meal with them. They are rather stricken with his new outfit, but he makes up an excuse about it being part of a foreign uniform for his new school.

Nothing eventful happens during Issei's return to his home and he finds it is late, but he decides to one last thing before going to bed, he's going back to the abandoned church to visit Asia as he grips the rosary he wears around his neck.

It's raining out, so takes an umbrella and goes outside without telling his folks. The sky is dark, rain falling down, and Issei is on his way to visit the girl who he couldn't save. He thinks back on Xenovia's insensitive words and thinks "I'll never forgive what she said. That Xenovia has no heart."

While caught in thought, Issei notices an orange glow coming up ahead and he runs over to check it out because it looks strange. He gets close and spots two people, one wielding a glowing sword, and the other is Yuuto Kiba from Kuoh, much to Issei's surprise. He looks on the ground too and sees a dead man on the ground dead. The dead man is wearing a priest outfit and Issei doesn't like the look of the scene, but its clear that Kiba is need of help because the man holding the glowing sword doesn't look friendly.

"Hey, how about you take me on, asshole!" he shouts and the man holding the sword turns around and Issei recognizes him, Freed Sellzen, the man who was helping the fallen angels who killed Asia.

Freed smiles at seeing Issei "Well, looks like the church got a new whipping boy. What happened? Church cast you out for whacking it in a confessional or something?" He mockingly asks with clear sarcasm in his voice.

Kiba looks at Issei and remembers "Wait, aren't you one of the guys who peeped on the girls all the time at Kuoh?"

Issei would rather be remembered for something else, but he makes his intent clear as he summons his holy sword and his Gear "I'm not here to visit. I'm here to get payback for what you and friends did to Asia."

Issei, without another word, charges in with his blade and swings it downward at Freed while a loud "Boost!" echoes and Issei connects with the ground and his sword makes a small crater upon impact while Freed seemingly disappears and Issei quickly uses his other hand and points it back while a green glow emits from it and Freed appears behind Issei and is blasted by a green energy ball shot from Issei's palm. Freed is blasted in the face and is visibly mad and holds his face with his free hand and he runs away without being seen.

Issei takes a deep breath and thinks on his nightmarish training with Griselda but says "Thanks a lot for torturing me, lady. Guess it really did pay off for me."

Kiba looks around with a look of fury on his face "Why'd you let him get away!?" he demands from Issei.

"Hey, I just saved your ass. A little thanks would be nice." He looks around as well and further states "Besides, it's not like I wanted him to get away either. I've got a score to settle with him."

Kiba shakes his head "You've got a score to settle? Did you see that sword he was using?" he asks.

Issei, done with Kiba's attitude is about to walk away when he realizes "Wait, you know about that sword? How?" he wonders to his former peer.

Kiba is about to reveal what he knows when he feels someone else coming and decides that he can't stay any longer. With that done, Issei decides to not linger any longer but then two robbed figures show up and one asks with a surprised tone "Issei, what are you doing here?"

Issei looks up and sees a surprised Irina and Xenovia standing a little away and see that his sword is out and the dead priest is still on the ground, and he quickly defends "Wait, he was like this when I got here, I swear."

Xenovia and Irina approach and inspect the priest's corpse while Xenovia assures him "Don't worry; we don't believe you would do something like this."

Irina looks a bit uneasy, however, and confirms "He came here ahead of us and already got killed."

Since they already believe in his innocence, Issei explains what happened to the two and they believe what he's saying because it lines up with what they already know.

After Issei finishes, Xenovia nods and then tells him "Thank you for finding this much out. But now you have to return to headquarters, immediately."

Issei quickly replies "Not happening, Xenovia." Without even much thought, Issei rejects that suggestion.

However, Xenovia rebukes "That was not a suggestion, Issei. As your senior, I'm ordering you to go back. You're not experienced enough for this mission."

Irina intervenes and whispers to Xenovia "Wait, this could be a gift from god. The priest sent before us was slain already, and now Issei is here like a guardian angel to help us."

Xenovia looks at her partner and sternly explains "No, he's not ready for this. He's good enough to start slaying devils and monsters, but not this. We can't afford to let him get killed." She looks at Issei again and states "This isn't for negotiation, you're going back to England and that's that."

Issei points his sword at Xenovia and tells her "I'm not leaving the two of you to die here. I don't care what you say, I'm not leaving. I'm can help you both. Griselda even wanted me to come."

Xenovia is a little surprised by that but then submits a little."Fine, if you wish to risk your life on this mission, then you'll have only yourself to blame for your fate."

Irina looks at the sword bound to Issei's Sacred Gear and recognizes it, but business is at hand and Xenovia explains the situation and what they'll need to do next.

(From here on, this is the same as the second season, so I'll skip most of it until the change actually occurs. The excpetion being that Issei is with Irina and Xenovia instead of Rias.)