"Ah…it's good to be back home." Issei immediately fell onto his bed and hit the floor. He dimly remembered that Rias had taken it and replaced it, and he had destroyed the replacement. "I wish I had my bed." He sighed from where he laid on the floor. He didn't have the energy to rise back up and do something about it. He settled for falling asleep on the floor instead of moving.
He was tired. Too tired to be bothered with the fact he was resting on the wooden floor of his room. He hardly cared that the floor was cold. He could live with it. Sleep mattered more than anything at the moment and he would have it or die trying.
'I hate Devils.' His hate had never wavered. He still hated Devils for what they were and that wouldn't change anytime soon. He didn't hate them nearly as much as the thing that had shot him all those years ago, it wasn't even close to the same level, but he still hated them.
Issei let his eyes slip close on the floor. He didn't care about his own comfort, just the chance to finally rest in a familiar place was good enough. His breathing evened itself out and he let out a pleased sigh.
"This is perfect." He was drifting off.
Life was perfect right now.
"Lord Phenex, Lord Gremory, I didn't expect either of you until tomorrow." Sirzechs look up from the paperwork that came with the title of Lucifer. He rose from his chair and offered his hand to both Devils, each of the two an acting head of one of the remaining 72 Pillars. "We agreed to discuss the outcome of the Rating Game then, correct?"
"This business concerns what happened during the Rating Game between my son and your sister Lucifer." Lord Phenex shook his hand with strength that would have shattered the hands of most other Devils. But to an Ultimate-class Devil like himself it was nothing. It showed on his face, the complete lack of reaction showed how much stronger a Devil that had gained the title of one of the Four Satan had to be to not only claim the title but to also maintain it.
"Then let's not waste any time with formalities." Lucifer returned to his seat, rested his elbows on the armrest of the chair and interlocked his fingers in front of him. "This concerns the actions of Issei Hyoudou towards your daughter Ravel Phenex, correct Lord Phenex?" He was answered with a stiff nod. "I can understand why you feel angry. I would feel the same if Millicas was threatened in her place. I have no doubt the other Maou would be forced to restrain me lest I attack him."
"Then you understand why I am here then Sirzechs." Lord Phenex didn't take the offered seat. "Lord Gremory is here to act as my witness. I want to challenge the boy, Issei Hyoudou."
"I'm afraid I can't grant that request Lord Phenex." Sirzechs wished he could but the mark on his hand had pulsed, given its warning to him, the moment the words had left Lord Phenex's mouth. The heat in the room skyrocketed but it was nothing to either red haired Devil in the room.
"You heard what he said Sirzechs!" Lord Phenex's Demonic Power was pulsing through the air, hardly restrained as Lord Gremory stood at his side. The Devil's rage was enough to nearly make flames burst from his fist as he slammed it down on the table. "He threatened to torture my daughter to death if he lost, forced my son to forfeit the Rating Game to protect her. How can you stand by him after such a thing? How can you deny me my right to bring the boy back to the Underworld and challenge him? How can you deny the Phenex family the right to answer such threats against them?"
"Issei competed in the Rating Game because of a contract between the two of us due to a personal debt he owed to me." Sirzechs looked to his gloved hands, concealing the mark that had not yet vanished as he had not fulfilled his end of the deal. "The clause for his victory demanded that I prevent any Devils from meddling in his life. I am held to that fact and as such cannot grant you the right to bring him back to the Underworld. If I allow it, I will break the contract I've made with Issei."
"Lord Phenex, Lucifer's hands are tied in this matter." Lord Gremory laid a hand on a burning hot shoulder. He was lucky it was not truly burning. The fire of the older Phenex burned far hotter than any of his sons, than his daughter. They didn't burn, more than they erased like the Bael's Power of Destruction. "We must approach another Satan with this business."
"That will work." Lucifer turned away from the two, focused on the paperwork on his desk. "I've done all I can to stop you by denying your request, I can't command the other Satans to do the same. If you voice your case to them, they might allow you to bring Issei Hyoudou back to the Underworld."
"And this doesn't violate the terms of your contract?" Lord Gremory kept his hand on Lord Phenex's shoulder, kept him from lashing out at one of the Maous.
"I've done all I can for Issei." Sirzechs did not look up from his paperwork. "I disagreed with how he won, can't say I'm not happy Rias won't have to marry Riser, but I can't stand by him anymore that I already have while knowing he would willingly do such a thing to a girl like your daughter Ravel." He snapped his pen. "I wanted my sister free to live her life but, the way he went about it, the way he forced Riser to give up, is sickening to me. I can hardly stand knowing I put so much faith in a boy who could be so cruel to a little girl. If I knew he had such a plan, trust me when I say I would have refused to have him fight for Rias. I would have found some other way, done anything else to stop that."
"You already offered your title of Lucifer to Riser to get him to accept letting a human take part in the Rating Game, what else could you have done?" Lord Gremory and Lord Phenex looked to Sirzechs for an answer but none came. He only sighed.
"I have no idea but I would have discovered something. Anything to prevent what happened to your daughter Ravel, Lord Phenex. Trust me when I say I would have done whatever I needed to stop such a thing from happening." Sirzechs would not look away from the papers on his desk. His hand seemed to automatically toss the ruined pen away and draw up a new one. "I wish I could have stopped it, wish I had known Issei was so twisted to threaten your family with your daughter's life, and wish I had the foresight not to allow him to fight for Rias."
"I will take your word for it Lucifer." Lord Phenex turned away from the desk. "I will take this matter up with the other Maou and present my case to them. I will return to you with my demand once more when my business with the other Maou is finished."
"I wish you the best of luck Lord Phenex." Sirzechs began his paperwork once more. "I will be busy with my work for a very long time."
Once the door to his office had shut and both Lord Phenex and Lord Gremory had left to elsewhere, Sirzechs allowed a chuckle to escape him. His chuckle soon lapsed into full blown laughter and he threw his pen aside as he leaned back in his chair. He laughed until tears came from his eyes, until it began to hurt, and he continued to life even when the door opened.
"You seem happier than usual Lucifer-sama. I thought you detested paperwork like this." Grayfia entered the room, a small smile on her face. The door was shut with her heel, a red seal burning on the back of it for a moment before it faded from sight.
"I couldn't help but laugh when those two brought it." Lucifer smiled as his wife moved around his desk, forgoing any chair in favor of his lap. "I could care less for Phenex's daughter but they think I'm trapped by my word with Issei now." He lifted a gloved hand up, took it off with his other hand. The mark still shined but it was muted, its power caged with the power that not only gave him the classification of Ultimate-class Devil but the title of Lucifer. "I could have destroyed this thing the moment it formed but the longer people think I can't get involved the more trouble they'll cause for the bastard who hit you."
"I feel so loved Sirzechs." Grayfia's smile turned into something else. "You should be rewarded."
A new seal appeared on each wall, let no sound enter or exit the room.
Issei was awoken by knocking on his door.
"Issei." The voice of Asia came from the other side as the doorknob slowly turned. "Someone is here to meet you."
"Now?" Issei didn't want to stand up. He hardly cared enough to lift his head enough to look towards the door, catch sight of the blonde haired nun that poked her head into the open doorway. "Can't it wait a few more hours? A day?"
"Nope." The door was flung open by a man dressed in a redcoat. Asia drew back from the doorway as the man strode into the room without a single care in the world. Issei immediately didn't like the man who was walking towards him. "You're lucky I'm even here to meet you kid."
"Who are you?" Issei let his head fall onto the ground once more. He refused to keep it up any longer and let his eyes closed. "What do you want anyway?"
"My little minions didn't tell you who I was?" The man almost seemed hurt that Issei didn't know who he was. Issei wasn't looking so didn't see it. "I'm their glorious winner, the Governor General of the Grigori and Fallen Angels, and the genius that been behind the Fallen Angel's for century after century. I'm the first Fallen Angel, the Angel that dared to lead others in tasting the pleasures of the flesh against God's wishes. I've had hundreds of harems spanning all ages of the globe."
Bright lights made Issei open his eyes with a near pained groan and see the Fallen Angel in front of him with his twelve wings spread, backlit by shining lights, and golden sparks came from above his head and cascaded down around him.
"Are you serious?" Issei looked at the Fallen Angel before him, the Fallen Angels that held the lights behind him, and the Fallen Angel that held some device over his head that produced the golden sparks.
"Completely." The Fallen Angel seemed proud of his accomplishment even as the lights were turned off and the golden sparks stopped falling. The Fallen Angels that had taken part in his entrance reacted with nothing but indifference as Issei remained on the floor. The Fallen Angel strode forward and offered a hand to the human. "The name's Azazel."
"Issei Hyoudou." The human took the offered hand.
"ECHI!" King's Dragon burst to life as a spear of light was suddenly in the other hand, thrust towards his chest. The Stand blocked the weapon with its armored fist smashing the head to bits. An armored hand moved to grab Azazel by the front of the coat he wore but was stopped when it was forced to stop another spear of light from the same hand. Azazel released Issei's hand and his eyes shined with a dangerous curiosity as he looked at the armored warrior.
"So this is your Stand?" Azazel stood in the room with no fear as Issei slowly sat up, scowling at the fact he would be moving from the floor that had grown more and more comfortable the longer he laid on it. The Fallen Angel didn't seem to care about his irritation and settled for examining King's Dragon with a scientific eye. He looked it up and down, took note of each individual piece of armor it seemed, before finally locking his eyes with the green lenses.
"Impressive." He wasn't awed or stunned with what he had seen, he was amused. There was a smile on his face as he met the glowing gaze of King's Dragon, unblinking and unmoving. "I've never seen power like yours before but I've seen plenty of creatures like this one before. Other Sacred Gear users I have the Grigori go and recruit and recover but there's never been a documented case of a Longinus class Sacred Gear undergoing the process. Most others actually have multiple instances, time between them of course but multiple instances. All of them carry the same core power as well if with slight variations. I was recently studying an old case of a few Twice Critical users. I compared the most recent user to two others in the past when I saw something a bit strange. The power of one of the past users developed like yours, a vaguely humanoid creature that could double its power. The other was rather strange. It could double objects around it such as double the weight of trees, double the amount of water, overall very interesting to look into even in just the research reports. A shame he vanished before I had a chance to meet him face to face. The most recent user developed something that was almost a combination of the two, a humanoid creature that could double either itself or objects it could physically touch. I heard she kept bullets on her as this was fairly recently, a hundred to a hundred fifty years ago, and would have it double them in midair. Turned herself into a walking and talking shotgun." A sigh escaped the Fallen Angel, his eyes never leaving King's Dragon but fondness came to them. "She disappeared a couple decades ago. Never got a chance to…Ah, I'm rambling."
His eyes were blank. Carefully blank.
"But yours?" Azazel suddenly strode forward, Issei felt himself drawn up to his feet by the strength of the supernatural being. "You really are something else. I saw that Rating Game you put on, saw the real training you did with Sirzechs Lucifer himself, and I'm impressed with you kid." Azazel took hold of his shoulders, a grin spreading across his face. "What do you think about letting me run a few experiments on this power of yours Issei? Nothing invasive like blood or poking around in that head of yours, they'll be nothing beyond stress tests and such. They'll take a week at most if you want them all lumped together."
"Do I really have a choice?" Issei's response was met with a grin from one of the most powerful supernatural beings in the world.
"I'm not cruel. I wouldn't force you to do anything you didn't want to after kidnapping you, I swear." Azazel stepped back and headed towards the door. Issei's eyes followed him. "You should come downstairs once you get yourself together, I've been clueing your parents into what you've been up to recently and they really want to talk to you."
"Dammit…" Issei stumbled towards his dresser. "Why can't this just be a day for sleeping?"
Azazel mocked him with his laughter as he left.
Issei grabbed a handful of clothes, hardly conscious of what was in his hand beyond that he had gotten all he needed, and stumbled out the door to the bathroom. He hit the door with his shoulder and groaned when it refused to open. He glared at it with eyes that wanted to be close as he slept and received no answer. Only mocking silence from the door that did its best to taunt him. He was tempted to break it down with King's Dragon but thought better of it. He forced himself to use his free hand to turn the doorknob and stumble inside.
He was on autopilot when he turned on the shower, let the water heat up before he stepped inside.
'Stupid Fallen Angels waking me up.' He threw his fresh clothes somewhere and all but tore off his dirty uniform. He really did regret wearing it to fight in the Rating Game now. It was covered in dirt, sweat, singed slightly, and was overall tattered. 'Stupid Devils making me fight.' He threw the shirt onto the floor and turned to the sink.
"And the fucking Arrow that shot me in the first place." He didn't know why he looked into the mirror hanging there, why he didn't stop his eyes from traveling down to his arm. He should have stopped it but he didn't. He should have had King's Dragon flip the mirror but he didn't.
He took in the twisted skin, the pulsing veins that had been twisted when the Arrow had shot him. He had memorized every detail already but he still looked at the scar. He felt the Arrow pierce his skin, the arrowhead warp and twist within. His heart quickened, began to hammer in his chest. It was like thunder to him, the blood roaring in his ears. He was back there. He was screaming. His body was on fire. His arm was so warm, so, so warm. The Arrow twisted, began to move. It sank into his skin, broke bone, split muscle, it moved further and further up his arm. It twisted his body out of the way, made his screams grow louder the further it went. It was entirely gone, kept in his body. He wanted to scream but now he couldn't.
The Arrow ripped through his shoulder. It pierced his neck with laughable ease and painful slowness. It forced its way back in, down his throat. He could no longer scream, could only let the pain consume him. He felt the cold arrowhead reach his heart.
It forced itself through. Forced itself to shatter, let his heart pump the toxic pain through his body. Let his entire body, let ever cell, burn. Burn. Burn. BURN!
His arm pulsed. He was back in the present. His arm pulsed. He looked down to where his hands had gripped the sink. He forced his fingers away, forced them to settle at his side. He didn't wipe away the sweat from his face, didn't look back in the mirror.
He looked at his arm. Let the pain focus him, let the pain that never left show itself once more.
The Arrow was still there. The Arrow would always be there so it always hurt.
He took a deep breath, took another. He took three more before he felt he had himself under control at last.
He stepped into the scorching hot shower. It was too cold. It was never hot enough for him, doubly so now. Steam filled the room, fogged the mirror, the steam moved through the room, moved out into the hall from underneath the door. It turned the room into a sauna but it still wasn't hot enough.
"Your son takes long showers." Azazel sat with the Boosted Gear user's parents in the kitchen, glancing to the clock on the wall. "It's been almost an hour since I talked to him and he's still in there." He looked to both adults. "Is your son handling other 'business' up there or something?"
"Don't speak about my son like that." Issei's mother glared at the supernatural being across from her. He waggled his eyebrows at her, his smile since coming down the stairs never dropping. She hated him for it. Her cup, empty, cracked in her hand.
"I'm not insulting him Ayame-chan." Azazel leaned back in his chair, his hands coming up to link together above his head as he stretched. They settled behind his head once he was done. "We've got to admit, he's a teenage boy. He's been around beautiful women for the past month. He's got to have some build up from it all."
"My Issei wouldn't care for those things." Azazel rose an eyebrow at her choice of words. His features were quickly schooled.
"Things? That's a bit harsh Ayame-chan." Azazel knew the '-chan' bit angered them both. He intentionally used it. "They may be Devils, they're even my enemies, but I wouldn't go as far to call them that. I'm trying to keep the peace between the Three Factions after all."
"Those things took my son for me for a month." Ayame actually broke the cup this time. She didn't seem to notice. Her husband took hold of her hands, made sure she wasn't hurt. "He's already been hurt enough, more than any boy his age should have ever been, and now those monsters are after him. They want to make him into nothing but a slave and..."
"Issei's tough dear. He'll make it through this." Her husband laid a hand on her shoulder, the other taking hold of one of her own.
"Dohnaseek probably told you two about the Grigori while Issei was away, correct?" Azazel let his hands fall onto the table. At both their nods he continued. "Issei shouldn't have to deal with the Devils for much longer, the Grigori are powerful enough for the Devils to take the hint and leave him alone. He's lucky actually that Dohnaseek got word to me so quickly. I contacted Leviathan and explained the situation to her. She'll be responsible for making sure the Devils get the message and don't touch your son."
"So what do you want?" Ayame's husband looked to him with guarded eyes. Azazel smirked at him.
"Do you really have to ask me that? I'm a scientist at heart Tobi. Your son has something known as a Stand and he's the first one to develop one from a Longinus class Sacred Gear." Azazel's eyes gained an almost mad light to them. "I want to see what such power contributes to. I've analyzed Sacred Gears and the Stands they've produced before and I've never seen one as powerful as his. A Longinus already has the power to kill what you would consider Gods, are rare enough already that any that come up are immediately searched for by the Three Factions, and you both saw what he could do in the Rating Game recording." He saw Tobi nod, saw Ayame do the same and he continued. "I've studied Sacred Gears ever since I was old enough to understand what they were and I've studied Stands since they popped up a few centuries after the Great War. I've never seen or heard of a case like your son and it is unbelievably exciting to a scientist like me. I've studied hundreds of Sacred Gears, compared the Stands of the users of the same Sacred Gears, and charted evolutionary line after evolutionary line but I've never been able to study a Longinus like his before. The Stand he has, King's Dragon, should be a Tenth, Eleventh Generation iteration from the same Sacred Gear that's closest to the Boosted gear but it's a First Generation."
"You know a lot about this." Tobi spoke a fact and Azazel nodded, the madness left his eyes and was replaced with something more charming, something to put them at ease despite their worries, calm them down despite their worry for their son.
"Of course I do. I've kept it from the other Factions and I intend to keep it as such. I'll write off Issei's Stand as a second Sacred Gear. It's frankly rare but it's certainly not unheard of for a single human to possess two Sacred Gears that simply click together. I know there's one similar to it and I'll make sure everyone believes that's the case." Azazel looked up to the ceiling as he heard the shower stop. He turned his eyes back to the parents of Issei Hyoudou a second later. "I don't intend for your son to be hurt if I can help it. Kuoh is Devil territory but I'll keep a team of Fallen Angels at the old church they're already residing in. Dohnaseek will be in charge of them and he'll be the one to go to if you have any concerns." His eyes darkened. "A piece of advice, trust nothing from the dark haired one with the big chest, Rayanare. She's…she's a bit off kilter." He sighed and the darkness was gone just as quickly as it had arrived. "I don't know what's got her so obsessed with me, beyond the heavenly good looks, but she's taking it farther and farther. I can't ignore her when she's the favorite pet of one of my top men, Kokabiel, and he keeps sending her out to the field. She's even stolen some of my old useless stuff, a Sacred Gear transfer device I think. She brought the nun to Kuoh because she wanted to get me to notice her for whatever reason with her Sacred Gear. I have no doubt she'll try to take your son's Sacred Gear."
He paused, made sure both humans were looking at him before he continued.
"Let her die trying. She'll be a warning to the others, show them more of Issei's strength, and he'll be getting rid of a thorn in my side. Even if he doesn't kill her, beats her senseless and shows her pity in the end, she'll have her eyes opened and stop her constant spiel of humans being worthless." Anger crossed his face. "The sheer number of Sacred Gear users she's killed because of her stupidity is close to pissing me off. Decades of research opportunities gone because she's too stupid to understand how important humans are to the Grigori."
"Humans are important to you?" Tobi and Ayame asked the question together and Azazel took a moment to look at them both before he simply chuckled.
"I study Sacred Gear and only humans can be blessed with the power. God created the system to protect them from the supernatural. The Grigori is primarily filled with Fallen Angels but humans are in every level of it, I've had harems of human women I've loved, have humans as some of my most trusted advisors when I can't depend on my brethren, and I've protected countless humans from Devils, Angels, and the other factions of the supernatural world." Azazel looked to the two with sincerity for the first time. He smiled at the two. "Humans are too interesting to ignore or think lesser of. I've lived for countless millennia, as both an Angel and a Fallen Angel, and humans still surprise me. Some use their Sacred Gears for good, some use them for evil, and still others never use them. Most supernatural beings live so long when compared to humans that they ignore them, think less of them, and forget how important they've become."
"Someone should tell you that you talk for too long." Issei's voice came from the steps. His footsteps were silent as he came down them and now he stood at the bottom. "I was standing here for a couple minutes just waiting for you to stop taking and not be rude and interrupt you but now I wish I had."
"Hmm, you're a funny guy kid." Azazel smiled as Issei came to the table, taking up a chair next to his parents and crowding that side of the table. "So, I take it you heard almost everything?"
"I heard enough." Issei rested his head in one of his hands, his elbow on the table and his other arm laid flat on the table. "You're my only ally right now. Those Devils are going to try something else when I head to school tomorrow and…" Issei sighed, shifted his hand to cover his face, and closed his eyes. "I don't like asking this but I need your help."
"Like I already told you, I'm not going to do anything to you like torture. Stress tests for your King's Dragon, discover its limits and see what I can do about those pesky things." Azazel's smile wasn't comforting but it was at least honest. He wasn't lying about anything at least. "If I had known about Sirzechs sending Devils here, decided to visit a day earlier, Sirzechs would have come to me about you and not done what he did. You could have been home this month."
"Don't apologize for the past."
"I wasn't intending to." Azazel reached to his side before drawing his hand back up, setting something on the table and sliding it over to Issei. "This device will let you directly contact me. If the Devils try the same, call me and put me on speaker. I'll give one to each of your parents later but you keep that one on you as often as you can. Beyond that, one of the Fallen Angels will be here for a while to keep your mother safe and another will tail your father to and from work. They understand why they're doing it and know it's coming from me. I'll speak to Rayanare before I go and talk some much needed sense into her and deal with her attitude towards humans. If I can't, I trust you heard what to do."
"King's Dragon doesn't need my input to hurt her." Issei examined the device in his hand, a cellphone for all intents and purposes, the case simply had a design of twelve black wings on the back of it. "She can come after me and I have no problem beating her senseless again."
"Keep an eye on Asia." Azazel rose from his seat with those words. "I'll come back at another time, probably the end of the week. Until then, either use that to call me or speak with Dohnaseek. He may be a bit battle crazy but he's at least capable of rational thought."
The Fallen Angel left through the front door with that.
"See ya Issei." He lifted his hand in goodbye and was gone.
"That guy was weird." Issei sighed into his hand before letting it fall onto the table with the other. He turned to his parents. Remorse shined in his eyes. "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess…I wish I had thought more…not been such a pervert but…I'm just sorry for all this." He wasn't crying. His breakdown with Asia was an exception to a life without tears after the Arrow. "I just wanted to keep you both safe and I…I know you don't like what I did but…"
"Stop talking and hug your mother Issei."
He didn't need to be told twice. The Hyoudou family was back together in that moment.
"No matter what Issei, you'll always be our son."
He never knew how much he missed his parents until that moment.
"Thank you."
"YOU BASTARD!" Matsuda and Motohama greeted him with their normal exuberance at school the next day. Both threw themselves at him, opposite fist cocked back side to side. They aimed to punch him straight in the face and Issei actually smiled at the normalcy of it all.
He 'flicked' them back and they went tumbling end over end when King's Dragon really did flick them. About a dozen times each but the Stand still just flicked them.
"It's good to see you two too." Issei held out the bag he had woken up early to fill up this morning. "I got you something during my trip."
"You're a great guy, you know that Issei?" Both had cried out such, with tears streaming down their eyes, when the saw what was inside the bag. They threw their arms around him from either side and the brown haired human couldn't help but laugh. "We're lucky to have you as a friend you bastard!"
The three walked into the school together for the first time in a month. Issei's bag felt like it weighed ton, which it may have with the amount of make-up work he had in it from the past month, but his face had a small smile as he looked at the familiar sight of Kuoh Academy. It was something he had actually grown to miss when he was in the mountains training for the Rating Game he still wished he had taken no part in. Matsuda and Motohama were telling him about something, probably something to do with their perverted tendencies, but he was hardly listening. He was taking in the atmosphere he didn't know he had missed while he had been away with one of the groups of Devils at the school.
'That reminds me.' The weight on his back was a good reminder.
"You two can head on to class. I have to give all this work to the Student Council before classes starts." Issei wasn't met with the usual scorn when it came to being within fifty feet of a girl as beautiful as the Student Council president, he received looks bordering respectful from the two openly perverted students.
"God have mercy on you Issei." Motohama bowed his head. Matsuda laid a hand on his shoulder with a tear in his eye. "God have mercy."
"W-What?" By the time he had finally responded, the two had already left to class. He had been standing frozen like a statue for a few minutes before his brain had finally come back online. He only stared at where the two should have been before sighing and turning to head to the Student Council room. "Those two don't make any sense."
He went on his way without another word, his hands falling into his pockets even as he took note of a rather strange thing.
'Weird. This hall is usually packed with people wanting to talk to the President.' Issei shrugged his shoulders eventually. 'It's not that important. I just need to drop this off and get to class.' He glanced down to his wrist and realized he didn't wear a watch. He looked to his phone instead by drawing a hand out his pocket. 'Five minutes is plenty of time.'
He reached the door to the Student Council room and couldn't help but bite back a chuckle at the fact he had been at the center of an explosion the last time he had been in front of it.
"Shitori-san, I'm here to drop off my work." He knocked on the door and announced his presence. He received no answer. "Shitori-san?" His hand fell to the doorknob and tried it.
At this moment, a barrier should have zapped him, discouraging him from entering.
The barrier would have stopped him without King's Dragon there.
"ECHI!" King's Dragon demolished the door and whatever was stopping him from getting inside with a single blow. A green pulse of energy ripped across the door and the wall before it was obliterated. Issei still held the doorknob in hand and looked down at it before dropping it to the ground and letting his hand fall back into his pocket.
"I didn't do that." He stepped into a room at war.
Figuratively.
The Occult Research Club stood on one side and the Student Council the other. At the table between the two, Souna and Rias sat down for a game of chess.
All eyes were on him and the remains of the door. Issei glanced back to it before sighing.
'I just want to turn in my work.' Issei stepped further into the room, ignored the looks sent his way. He ignored the way the Vice President of the Student Council looked at him with shock that was close to horror. He ignored the way the Student Council seemed close to taking up arms, the way the sole male present on that side seemed to want to storm towards him. 'I just want to turn in my work.' Issei ignored the looks shot to him by the ORC and focused on why he came to the room.
"I knocked on the door, which isn't my fault, and wanted to give you the work I missed while I was gone from school." Issei shifted the bag on his shoulder, let the strap fall from his arm before doing the same with the other shoulder, keeping it hanging from his elbow. The weight was no trouble for him.
"I expected you to arrive later Hyoudou-san but I can appreciate you dealing with this earlier than I thought." Souna beckoned one of the Student Council members forward as she rose. She turned to Rias. "We can continue this game after school Rias."
"I'll have Akeno prepare tea for us." Rias rose and Akeno stepped forward, the chessboard disappearing even as Souna's eyes shot towards Issei with panic in them.
"I already know you're all Devils." Issei's words immediately calmed her down. He dropped the bag into his hand and set it down on the now empty table. "Anyway, I have this work I need to turn in. Can you accept it now or should I come back later?"
"Now is fine." Souna and a blue haired girl he didn't recognize were on his right. "Tsubasa will help me file it while you head off to class."
"Great." Issei lifted the large amount of paper from his bag and set it in the blue haired girl's, Tsubasa, outstretched hands. He turned and headed towards the ruins of the door. "So…I can't fix the door."
"Your King's Dragon can't do it? I'm honestly surprised." Rias giggled behind him before she must have done something. The door restored itself to its prior condition. He continued forward.
"Issei-san, one moment." Souna's voice stopped him. He wanted to sigh but stopped himself.
"Yes Shitori-san?" He ignored the fact she used his first name. He focused only on the fact that he still needed to get to class after this.
"Before you go, I need to ask you something." Souna stepped forward, Tsubaki, the Vice President, stepped to her side and stood behind her. "Would you like to join my Peerage?"
"I'll pass." His answer was immediate.
"Why?" Her question was nearly as fast.
"…Why?" He turned back to the Devils and. His hands entered his pocket and he did sigh this time. "I don't really think it matters. Telling you why I don't want to join your Peerage won't make me change my mind. It won't help you beyond knowing why I don't want to become a Devil. I simply don't want to."
"I believe Issei can keep his reasons to himself Sona." Issei took note of the name Rias used as she stepped forward.
"Then you can explain why you've allied yourself with the Fallen Angels at least, Issei." Souna looked to him with something that made Issei sigh once more. He could tell the look in her eyes. He had seen it before not very long ago.
"That's easy." Issei stepped forward. King's Dragon appeared at his back. "I want to be left alone." He took another step forward. King's Dragon brought its fists together. The Devils closest to him took a step back, the Devils farthest from him took several steps forward. It didn't matter if the two groups put themselves in front of Souna and Rias. King's Dragon could demolish them all in seconds. They couldn't stop him if he wanted to see any of the Devils in front of him put on the ground. No one here could stop him even if they worked together. "They help with that."
"Why not the Devils?" Souna regained her bearings first, kept a cautious eye on King's Dragon as she stepped forward. "Why go to the Fallen Angels when one of them tried to kill you?"
"I'm done here." Issei turned back to the door.
"Hey, answer Souna-sama's questions you disrespectful punk!" The other blonde Devil in the room stepped forward, something shot towards him.
"ECHI!" King's Dragon's armored hand snatched it out the air before ripping him forward. "ECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHI!" The blonde dropped to the ground when King's Dragon's sudden barrage ceased. Issei didn't bother trying to leave the room anymore.
'I need to deal with this.' His eyes searched the room and saw the state the Student Council was in. Their sudden fear of him would give way to action against him soon enough. He knew it.
"King's Dragon is an automatic defense." He looked to Souna and then to the blonde somehow still conscious. King's Dragon let what looked like the extended tongue of a chameleon drop to the ground next to the Devil after it released it. "It's not a good idea to attack me and expect it to work no matter if my back is turned or not." He looked to Souna once more. "I'm not sorry for that. Or this." He kicked the blonde across the floor. "I thought Rias would have told you about King's Dragon but I guess I was wrong. I can hardly keep King's Dragon from killing everyone who tries to attack me. The less prepared I am for it, the more force King's Dragon can use before I can regain control."
"King's Dragon…I've never heard of a Sacred Gear named that." Souna stepped forward, the blonde Devil was slowly rising despite the beating King's Dragon had given him and was being checked on by the Student Council's Vice President regardless of the fact he was still conscious. "How long have you had it?"
"King's Dragon is his Stand Sona. His Sacred Gear is the Boosted Gear." Rias stepped forward with her, caught the shock that passed over her face. She stumbled and would have fallen if she hadn't recovered in time to catch herself. "I was almost just as surprised when I discovered that."
"A Longinus at Kuoh…all this time right under my nose and a boy like Hyoudou has it." Souna shook her head. She turned away from Issei. "You can leave now."
Issei left without another word. King's Dragon vanished as he stepped through the doorway.
"Rias, you called King's Dragon a stand." Sona looked to her longtime friend with something approaching annoyance. It was not because of the fact she was still giggling about what had nearly happened. It certainly was because she clearly knew something that she didn't. It did not have to do with the giggling at all. And it certainly had nothing to do with the embarrassment she was feeling about what had nearly happened either. "I've never heard a term like that before."
"It makes sense that you haven't actually." Rias gestured to the empty table and Sona wordlessly took her seat once more. The Student Council returned to their spots behind her. The Occult Research Club did the same with Rias. "Issei described its powers to my brother before we left to train with him for the month. His Stand has the power to manipulate energy. I saw him do it enough every time my Peerage and I battled him. Any type of energy can be used by it. It's incredible to see when you're not the one fighting against it."
"I see. He took part in the Rating Game against Riser?" Rias only nodded to Sona's question. The Sitri heiress couldn't help but think of how effective such an ability would be against Riser Phenex, his flames rendered nearly worthless by King's Dragon ability. "I can see why you won."
"His Peerage was nearly entirely defeated by Yuuto-kun and Koneko-chan. Only his Queen and one of his Bishops were with him when he fought Issei." Rias spoke those words with pride. Akeno had a small smile of her own as she looked to the two younger Devils.
"They were very impressive to see." Akeno spoke her part and spoke no more.
"I never thought you would win Rias, I hoped you would but I could never think of a strategy that worked against the Phenex Clan's immortality." At the mention of the Phenex's immortality, Rias winced.
"Issei didn't find a way around that as much as he found a way to make Riser retire because of it." Rias would not continue. Sona respected her right to keep what happened during the Rating Game to herself if it made her uncomfortable like it clearly did.
"What else can you tell me about King's Dragon, how powerful is it?" Sona watched as her longtime friend underwent a change. Her eyes fell to the tabletop. They wouldn't leave even as she began speaking again.
"At night, when Onii-sama thought I was asleep, he went out with Issei. The two of them went far away and destroyed wherever they trained at. I felt both their powers shake the mountain even if Onii-sama created a barrier strong enough to contain most of it. Issei doesn't fight, despite the Boosted Gear he likes to keep his hands in his pockets. King's Dragon was what created the tremors. Issei's power was the same as Onii-sama's but he doesn't have the power to match him like King's Dragon." Rias took hold of her hand with the other. "Onii-sama brought Issei with us because he knew he could beat Riser somehow and knew I couldn't. He never asked me if I had a plan to beat Riser with any idea that I could. He knew Issei would be the one responsible for that and he was."
She looked up at her longtime friend. Her eyes held fear.
"Don't try to force Issei to do anything he doesn't want to Sona. He doesn't say it but I know he hates Devils."