AN: I have to go and socialize in 30 minutes. Please send help.

A very merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate the holiday, and while I don't have massive amounts of holiday cheer to dole out like candy canes, I do have this lacking chapter!

This chapter is very much setup. I feel bad posting it when nothing really major happens, but it's a necessary step to get to the next chapter, which I feel is going to make a bunch of you awesome people stop reading. Also lots of action-y stuff happens in it. And more the chapter after that. So consider this an early apology for the tedium of this chapter, and hope the future ones won't let you down.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Highschool DxD, it is instead owned by a different guy who I can't remember the name of. But kudos to you, original-author-man.

When I woke in my bed the next morning, I was told by my suspicious family that Kioko had dropped me off late the night before, saying that I had fallen asleep suddenly. I got The Look from my dad, slightly more energetic whisking than usual from mom, and the twins staring at me from around corners all morning.

I wasn't sure what exactly they thought had happened last night, but I decided to handle it with the tried and true method. Ignore it and take care of the problem later. Or never. Huzzah for procrastination!

I thought back over what had happened the night before as I ate barely-cooked pancakes at breakfast, ignoring the staring of my sisters. First priority was Issei and how he was doing. The only thing stopping me from calling him to find out if he was alright was the fact that I didn't have his phone number. Same thing went for anyone else in the peerage, and I doubt Rias would appreciate me using a contract to summon her just to find out if Issei had healed, even if I had any remaining from last night, which I didn't.

So I'd head into school a bit early to find out how he was doing. All I knew was that he was injured in the leg, and while I had recovered from death in a single night before, I wasn't sure if the healing speed was the same after the original resurrection.

Second priority was whatever the heck had happened to me last night. Yeah it hurt that I was weak and couldn't do anything to help Issei, but fleeing like that just wasn't my style, much less whatever had happened in the park. I might not be the epitome of manly-man, but I had dealt with my own demons and usually had a better hold on my emotions than that.

It was like I had a full-on mental breakdown for almost no reason. If that was what people with depression or anxiety felt like, I had way more respect for them now. I knew there were medications for those kinds of things, but I was pretty sure I hadn't suddenly developed one and didn't want to worry my family for nothing if I suddenly started taking anti-depressants for no reason.

So I'd just have to keep a positive attitude and try to keep from getting into a downward spiral again. Which basically led directly into priority three. I might not have been one-hundred-percent sane last night, but I was right that I needed to get more power. I didn't want to be a paper-pushing devil my entire life, so I would need to start training myself physically.

And magically. As if I could forget the fact that magic existed and I had the chance to learn it? I had meant to ask Rias the day before, but had gotten distracted, so I'd make sure to ask today.

Mentally adding the topic on my to-do list I glanced up at the clock and realized I needed to leave if I was going to check on Issei before school. Shouldering my bag I shouted a goodbye to the shop and headed out past the jumbled tables of dust and old antiques.

As I walked, I realized that Kioko would still probably be planning on meeting up at the normal time so I'd need to call her and let her know. I quickly dialed her number, but my thumb simply hovered over the call button. She'd been there last night with me, had watched me break apart, or at least the tail end of it. I owed her an explanation. But I was ashamed that she'd seen the spectacle of me at my worst. I was supposed to support her, protect her. And I'd completely fallen apart. How could she trust me after that.

I hesitated for a moment longer, then bit my lip and pressed the button. After a few rings I heard it catch and a sleepy voice sounded on the other end. Had she just woken up? I couldn't help a smile I knew she couldn't see as I recalled when she had slept at my house the night before. I wonder if she looked as adorable now as she had then?

"Who is this and why shouldn't I eat you for breakfast instead of these unappetizing cheerios?" Her voice was scratchy and sounded grumpier than a dwarf. Well, it was official now. Non-morning people are the best.

"Good morning, Kioko!" I spoke in the cheeriest voice I could muster, elevating my voice an octave. "How are you doing today? I am doing fantastic by the way! Want to be fantastic with me? We could be fantastic together!" So I'm evil, sue me. Don't act like you wouldn't have done the same, judging part of my brain.

The phone was silent for a time, before the voice came back. "I will kill you, Kado. I will murderate you, your dog, your cow, and then dance on your grave." I could just imagine her twitching eyebrow on the other side of the phone.

"Ahahaha, good morning to you Kioko!" I laughed out loud, returning my voice to the normal pitch. "But before you hang up on me, I wanted to let you know that I'll be at school a bit early today. Issei got hurt last night, so I want to check up on him."

Only silence on the other end, and I had the sneaking suspicion that she'd fallen asleep. Taking the opportunity, I went on. "And thanks for last night. I dunno what was up with me, and I won't ask how you found me just when I needed you, but it was exactly what I needed. I don't know what I would have done without you."

It sounded like a compliment, but I meant it literally. I seriously don't know what I might have done with how messed up my mental state was at the time. I had the feeling that she'd pulled me back from some kind of brink. Not wanting to dwell on it too much, I quickly wrapped up the conversation without waiting for a response. "Well, thanks again! See you at school!" before immediately hanging up.

Well, one extremely awkward phone conversation was over! I knew that I should have explained more, both about what had happened last night and about Issei's injury, but it was bad enough just thanking her for it, much less explaining what it had felt like. I was probably just going to pretend that it never happened when talking to Rias and the others.

So I did just that, walking into the clubroom a few minutes later as if I hadn't abandoned them the night before. Rias was the only one there, munching on a bag of some kind of snack. "Hi Rias! Whatcha got there? Human souls?" I inched closer, trying to get a look at the bag label. I wasn't familiar with the brand, but the bag said "Extra Cheese Potato Chips (100% Cheese)"

…Well that didn't sound insanely unhealthy or anything. How was it possible for Rias to still be so fit if this was the kind of stuff she ate?

The king shot me a bland look and held up a hand with a bright yellow potato chip before sticking it into her mouth with a crunch. The scene was so far from the image of a "perfect immortal goddess" that most of the school had of her that I almost expected her to start licking her fingers of the flavoring stuck to them. Instead so picked up a napkin and daintily wiped her fingers onto it before folding it and placing it back onto the table. So still basically nobility, but one with a taste for junk foods.

After swallowing, she spoke as she reached in the bag for another chip. "I'm assuming that you're here to find out how Issei-kun is doing?"

I gasped dramatically, taking a step back and pressing a hand to my chest. "What? How could you tell my innermost thoughts? All my evil plots will be foiled!" As dramatic as my words were, I was honestly taken aback by how quickly she could figure that out.

Rolling her eyes, she motioned to the clock on the wall, showing that it was still fifteen minutes until school. "Well you usually don't stop by, and I doubt that you came here just for me," she continued, ignoring my cry of denial, "Issei got hurt last night, and you don't really have any way to contact us. So it could be something else, but I figured that would probably be the reason. So, how did I do?"

She looked at me with a smirk, which actually looked rather intimidating, assuming I ignored the remaining crumbs on the side of her mouth. "Yeah, that's basically it," I admitted, holding in my laughter. "Thought I'd check up on him."

Rias shrugged her shoulders before fishing around for another chip-thing. "Well he did stay the night over here, but I told him that he wasn't allowed to go to school today. His leg isn't completely healed, but it's functional. I could tell that I needed some time to think instead of having teachers try to stuff his brain, so I had him take the day off. Apparently he had a friend that was allied with the attacker last night."

My mind flashed for a moment to what staying overnight for healing probably meant, before slapping myself.

"Did something happen?" Rias asked, staring at my now-red cheek. "Doesn't that hurt?"

I beamed at her and gave her a thumbs up. "Nah, I deserved it." Ah, the second thing I needed to ask! "Could I get your number? I don't have any way to contact you if something goes wrong."

Rias' smirk grew to epic proportions as she scribbled a 10-digit number on a scrap of notebook paper before handing it to me. "You do know that you just asked the most-desirable girl on campus her number and actually got it, right? Wonder what people would think if they heard that one."

Rolling my eyes, I casually accepted the number before stuffing it into my pocket. "So you're not even pretending to be modest? And I'm pretty sure most of that desirability is due to…" I waved a hand vaguely. "…You know. If they actually talked to you, I'm relatively sure that ranking would drop to a seven or something."

She lost her smirk at that, instead having an expression that was a mix between condescending and upset. "I'm not so sure about that. I'd like to think I'd be at least a five."

Ah, now the fake modesty comes out? She was trying to go along with the joke, but it works better if you don't try to improve your standing, you know. "Uhuh, sure you would be." I was just about to leave, issues resolved, when I had a sudden thought. What if the person who hurt him the night before was still around, searching for revenge? "Hey Rias, who did attack Issei last night."

The king regained her seriousness, setting the bag of chips aside and wiping her fingers on the napkin one last time. "It was a stray exorcist, someone who has been kicked out of the church for various reasons. This one specifically seems to have a perverse hatred of devils."

With rising suspicion, I asked "And this stray exorcist is still alive?"

Rias nodded immediately, her face showing no regret. "I had to make a choice before defeating him or getting Issei back for immediate medical attention. Without it he could have lost his leg, or at worst his life."

Any ire I might have felt at Rias for letting the attacker get away was immediately squashed by her words. Of course getting Issei safe was the main priority. It did mean though that Issei was out there without anyone else from the peerage to protect him and with a devil-hating enemy out at large.

I'd already started heading for the door as I told Rias "Let the teachers know that I'm keeping an eye on Issei because of his injury, will you?"

I heard the king stand up from behind me. "That's really not necessary."

I waved it off casually, not looking back. "Just in case he gets attacked again, you understand. Don't want to take any chances."

"And if he is attacked, what will you do? Throw yourself in front of the blade?"

My hand paused on the doorknob and tightened, my devil strength not doing a thing to the sturdy metal. I couldn't say a thing. It was true, I was absolutely useless and wouldn't be able to do a thing. Before I could come up with some kind of excuse, Rias gave out a sigh.

"I apologize, but I wanted you to realize that fact. If I actually thought that Issei was in danger, I would have Kiba or Koneko accompanying him to keep him safe. There's no chance that the exorcist will attack so casually in broad daylight, and Kiba gave him a wound of his own last night, so he won't be fully healed yet."

My grip relaxed, but I was still upset. I knew I was weak and couldn't protect him, but did she have to keep bashing me around the head with it? I wasn't going to leave Issei or anyone else behind again when I might be able to do something.

"In the end," Rias went on, "It is your choice whether to skip school or not and how to spend your day. I will not oppose that, but I wanted you to be aware of the situation."

I was already closing the door, even as she finished talking. I wasn't angry at Rias, if anything I was angry at myself. So I wanted to do something good for the peerage and got scolded? Couldn't get any fairer than that, right? Okay, maybe I was just a little upset.

A throat cleared from my left and I spun, surprised to see Kioko casually leaning against the wall with a smirk.

"You know that doesn't actually make you look cool, right?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

The cocky expression fell from her face and she pushed away from the wall. "Oh shut up."

"Aye aye, Cap'n."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Catching her breath, Kioko leveled a stern look at me. "You're going to guard Issei, aren't you."

It was a statement, not a question, and I didn't even bother trying to refute it. "Yeah, I am. He might be attacked again, and maybe I could help."

Kioko hummed slightly and looked at me, considering. "I won't tell you that it's stupid, since you already know that. Instead, I'm coming with you."

When she started speaking I was ready to refute her, but the last statement threw me off guard. "Huh? But you don't have to do that, and you've got school."

She rolled her eyes, putting her hands in her pockets. "And you don't? You met a stray devil by going home from a date, and Issei went on a casual contract mission and got shot. There's no way I'm leaving you two trouble magnets alone."

Her part said, Kioko turned towards the stairs down and began walking. "Now come on. If we're going to catch up to him we'll need to drop by the web first."

The fizzing anger that had settled in me from my conversation with Rias slowly dissipated and I couldn't help but smile. Yeah, that was Kioko for you. I hurried to catch up to my girlfriend. "So, when exactly did you wake up this morning?"

"None of your business."

S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S

This would honestly be the first time I would have seen the web, and I couldn't help but be excited by the prospect. I'd heard Kioko talk about and knew the basics though. It was a ritual that Kioko had made when she was younger that was basically a map of Kuoh that showed the points where people were. She had compared it to the marauders map, but it didn't show names and it could tell the difference between different types of beings by their energy.

I had always had a mental image of it as some kind of 3D city landscape or moving painting on a wall that detailed the city and where each person was, possibly even able to be manipulated to look at different angles or underground. It would be stationed in a secret base or wooded grove, naturally, with either torches or fairy lights illuminating the surroundings.

So I was ever so slightly put out when Kioko led me to an abandoned parking lot on the west side of town and pointed to a tarp spread out on the ground.

"Here it is! Tada~" She said triumphantly, yanking off the tarp to show a sloppy chalk drawing of Kuoh, wiggly lines marking the boundary of the city and large straight lines marking Kuoh into 20 loose sections, each marked with a number. In each sector was a mass of colored dots, the vast majority being blue.

"It's very… efficient." I managed to say as I looked at Kioko, who seemed far too proud for what she had apparently created. "…out of curiosity, how old were you when you made this?"

Her smile grew even prouder. "Five, why do you ask?"

Well, that explained a lot. "Oh, no reason."

I took a closer look at the map again and saw that there were a few areas of differently colored dots. There were a few black dots mixed with blue in a far corner, a mass of red in another sector, and I noticed a series of evenly spaced out red dots that lay along the perimeter of the map.

Noticing where my attention was, Kioko took the opportunity to explain. "The blue dots are humans, as I'm sure you guessed." Then she pointed to the cluster of red dots. "And the red are devils, we know that now." I nodded, getting the picture. She'd told me previously that there was a different kind of being in our school, but didn't know that it was devils until just recently.

"And if we line that up with the map…" She reached to the same tarp used to cover the web and found a folding map that she quickly spread out to show that it was a map of the city drawn to the same scale as the web, but with much better production quality.

Adjusting the map, Kioko pointed to a section on the map that seemed to correspond to the mass of red dots. "…we get Kuoh Academy." That matched up with what Kioko had told me before, and the black dots were probably the artificial life that she mentioned as well.

"What are the devils around the border doing?" I ventured, pointing them out.

"Well, I honestly don't have a clue. I'd watched them before and they don't seem to move or invade," Kioko answered with a shrug. "They just seem to stay on the outskirts. They only arrived two years ago, same as the devils in our school, so maybe they're guards of some sort, to make sure a boundary isn't crossed?"

I suppose that made sense, but it still made me wary that there were so many devils just waiting there. And why did Rias handle the stray devils if there were a bunch of guards right outside the city? "But how does this help us find Issei?"

"Well if all the devils are at school, except for us and Issei…" she trailed off, making it obvious.

"Right, we just have to look for a stray red dot." I said, feeling stupid for not realizing it.

After a moment of poring over the map, Kioko pointed out a red dot in what lined up on the map to be in the middle of a mall, surrounded by other blue specks. The other stray red dot on the map was me, but we were relatively secluded, with only one blue dot next to me, Kioko.

As we put the tarp back over the web I asked Kioko, "So is the tarp to keep other people from seeing the web?" I was almost afraid of the answer.

She hummed slightly before responding. "Well that, and also it would get washed away if it rained, and I don't want to have to make it again."

Yeah, that's what I was worried about. Why does your magic have to be so low-tech!

S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S

When we arrived at the mall, Issei had moved from the original spot on the map, but he was located sitting in a fast-food place before too long. Shockingly, he wasn't alone. There was a young-looking blonde girl wearing a nun's outfit seated just across from Issei and looking at him with a smile.

I noticed the two first and pointed them out to Kioko. I'd planned to go into the diner and meet the new girl, but Kioko yanked me behind a tree before I could do more than take a few steps. "Hey, what was that for?" I asked, rubbing my arm. She obviously had a problem with actually going in to talk with them, but how come? What was wrong with talking to Issei?

"Shhh," Kioko whispered, crouching down to look around the tree. Of course there was no way that a single tree was actually hiding both of us, but a quick peek assured me that Issei was too wrapped up in his conversation to notice us or our extremely suspicious behavior. I wonder, could the nun be the friend that Rias was telling him to stay away from?

"Why?" I asked Kioko, not lowering my voice. "They're inside and aren't going to hear us unless we actually get right next to them and shout." Actually, now that the thought had entered my head, I had to resist the impulse to do just that.

The blonde-haired girl next to me paused for a moment before standing up and brushing her knees off. "Good point. Guess I got a little too much into it." I let out a quick snort of laughter at that. It was just like her. If it had gone on much longer, she probably would have started humming the Mission Impossible theme.

When she didn't elaborate on why she had decided to hide in the first place, I asked. "So why are we hiding from Issei?"

She turned to face me, bewilderment clear on her face. "You have to ask?"

"Since I just did, yes, I would assume so." Was this a girl thing? It was a girl thing, wasn't it.

"Fair point. Take a look at the two of them." I checked again and it looked like the only thing that had changed was that the pair's food had arrived. Issei looked like he was demonstrating how to eat a hamburger to the enraptured nun. Had the girl never had one before? I did have to admit that it was a cute sight when her face lit up at the first bite, as if she'd been blessed by a god of food.

"Okay, so they're happy. So what?"

She rolled her eyes, making me slightly frustrated. What wasn't I getting? And why wouldn't she tell me? "Take a look at Issei's face, will you?"

I did so, still wondering if Kioko had been possessed or something. I saw that Issei had his head tilted downwards but was keeping his gaze attentively on the nun. It actually kinda looked like they were siblings or a couple. In fact, the light made it look like there was a blush on his faaaaaaa… Oh.

I cast a questioning look back at Kioko. "Seriously? Him to her?" I rapidly pointed from Issei to the blonde girl.

She nodded, looking vaguely smug.

I checked again, just in case. "And you're sure that he's not just being a pervert like usual?" I caught a glimpse of the pervert in question using a napkin to wipe some stray ketchup off the girl's face before immediately disposing of the napkin, a peaceful smile on his face. "…Nevermind, I take it back."

"You think that's surprising? Take a look at the nun's face." Kioko was practically biting her lip in glee by now. What was it with girls and these kinds of things? I did as commanded though, and was stunned to see a smear of red, that definitely wasn't ketchup, on the girl's cheeks as she beamed and thanked Issei, who responded by rubbing the back of his head and leaning on the table.

"…And he's met her what, once before?"

Kioko reaffirmed my assumption. "As far as I know. And I think he was just taking her to a church that time."

I let out a low whistle. "Wow, the guy works fast." I couldn't help but still be confused by the suddenness of it all though. "Still not sure why she would go for someone like him though."

Then I remembered just a few nights ago when he had carried me on his back and helped me with Kioko, even when he had admitted that he disliked me for having a girlfriend.

"…Actually I take that back. Are we sure she's good enough for him?" Did I need to give her the shovel talk? I'd always wanted to do that.

Kioko cast a weird look in my direction. "What's up with the sudden one-eighty?" She returned her gaze back to the laughing duo. "Anyway, it doesn't matter what we think, they seem to like each other or at least have fun with each other, so we have no reason to say otherwise. This is their business."

"Which is why we're hiding behind a tree and basically stalking them?"

"Exactly."

I'd come all the way out here to keep an eye on Issei, and while this technically qualified, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend all my time just watching him from behind like this. "And so that means that we can't go inside?"

The look Kioko sent me would have melted Mt. Fuji. "You want to ruin that?" She pointed back towards the restaurant.

Somehow in the time I'd been talking to Kioko, the nun had managed to break a ketchup package in a way that the mixture had splattered all over herself, Issei, and the table. The two were cleaning up the mess while repeatedly bursting out into fits of laughter, a store employee looking on with an unimpressed gaze.

"Point taken."

Eventually we came to an agreement. We'd meet up with the lovestruck duo just outside the restaurant, pretending that we had bumped into them by accident. Kioko had even gone the extra mile, proposing that we ask them if we could make it a double date, giving us an excuse to be around the duo. If that failed, then we would resort to the stalking idea as plan B.

It wasn't more than fifteen minutes later when Issei and the nun left the store while apologizing to the employees for the mess they had inadvertently created. Even so, their beaming faces were evidence that both had enjoyed themselves greatly. They had been so entranced by each other that neither party had even glanced out the window during the time.

So naturally it was time to crash their date. Kioko was already dragging me after the departing duo, an almost manic grin on her face. I made a mental note to never get between a girl and their romantic exploits. I promptly stacked it next to the other fifty or so notes about acting around girls in the mental-scape.

"Why hello, Hyoudou-san!" Kioko called, slowing down to a more sedate pace and slapping a look of surprise onto her face. "Fancy seeing you here!" She walked directly up to him and jokingly jabbed him with her shoulder, ignoring the shocked look on his face. "Playing hooky to spend time with a girl, are you?"

He began to splutter and wave his arms in denial, a babble of either apologies or excuses coming from his mouth. He was interrupted by the blonde nun tugging on his sleeve and asking what the pretty girl had said. Huh? Couldn't she understand Japanese? She could speak it just fine, or she wouldn't have been able to talk to Issei before. Was it an act to keep me and Kioko from interrupting them?

I was almost becoming dizzy with trying to figure it out when Issei spoke up, interrupting his embarrassed confusion at Kioko's comment. "Ah! Sorry, Horikawa-san, but Asia-san doesn't speak Japanese. She's from Italy, you see." Then he cast a glance in my direction, a small jerk of his head towards Kioko.

…Huh? Wait, hadn't Rias said something about devils being able to speak in different languages? Suddenly it all came together and I wanted to slap myself for forgetting such a critical detail. As Issei explained to the girl, Asia, that Kioko had just been asking why he was out of school, I sidled up next to a confused Kioko. Before I could explain, she had leaned in closer and spoke first. "The girl speaks Italian and I can't understand. Use your devil tongue thing and translate."

Well I guess an explanation wasn't necessary then. Ignoring the slight droop of my lips, I quickly explained that she had simply asked what Kioko had said. She slowly nodded. "Well, guess that plan's a bust then." She was about to walk off when I suddenly got the mental image of being arrested for stalking a young couple. I grabbed Kioko's arm and pasted a wide smile onto my face. "No no, this can still work. I just have to work on translating."

Turning back to the baffled couple, I bowed deeply. "My apologies, but my girlfriend had believed she had forgotten something. Luckily I had remembered to take care of previously." I wasn't sure how that would translate into Italian, but had a sudden mental image of the devil tongue being linked up to goggle translate and restrained a shudder.

My fears seemed to be unfounded though when Asia clapped her hands in joy. "Oh how wonderful!" She turned to Issei, eyes sparkling. "Isn't it stunning that two people I've met can speak Italian so fluently? It must truly be a blessing from god!"

As she spoke the last phrase I felt a sharp spike of pain in my head, like a headache, and in my chest, like my heart had spasmed. I quickly swallowed a grimace and tried to look around for whatever had caused it when I noticed Issei reacting the exact same way. The girl, Asia, seemed to have noticed as well, since she immediately bowed and apologized to Issei.

Why'd she apologize? Unless she was the attacker, but then why be remorseful?

…Don't tell me. Does someone just saying the g-word hurt devils? So unfair. Does saying satan hurt angels? Why is everything so skewed against devils? Are we just the universe's chew toys? …Actually, that might not be far off from the mark judging by the standard devil origin story.

It also meant that Asia already knew that Issei was a devil, since she apologized to him. And the nun still liked him? I restrained another low whistle. I didn't know what Issei had done, but he worked fast.

I was interrupted from my thoughts when Kioko tugged at my sleeve, looking vaguely annoyed. "What did the girl say and why did you look like you were in pain?"

If I said anything, Asia would be able to hear it as well, so I couldn't just tell her that saying the g-word hurt devils. Luckily Asia couldn't understand Kioko pointing out that I had been hurt as well, so maybe I was still safe in my identity as a devil. She had taken easily enough to Issei, but I wasn't sure if she'd react the same way to me. After all, I hadn't helped her to a church previously.

So instead I said "She thinks it's cool I can speak Italian. I'm not used to being complimented on it, so it took me by surprise."

It clearly wasn't a sufficient explanation and Kioko raised her brow at me before turning to Issei and casually mentioning the lie we'd come up with earlier. "Well it's not like we can criticize you since we're doing the same thing." At Asia's prodding, Issei translated and Kioko waited for him to finish before she continued.

"Since we're out for the same thing, why not go together? Make it a double date?"

Issei didn't sputter out excuses like last time, instead growing slightly pale and throwing a look at Asia, noting her expectant face before relaxing slightly. He told Asia to wait a moment, then collected me and Kioko, herding us away a short distance.

"Me and Asia aren't on a date, you know?" He began, looking seriously at us. "She's barely been outside before and has no idea what a date even is probably. I'm trying to show her around because I don't know what's going to happen to her after this." He had a pained expression at that, although I didn't get it. Why was he worried about her leaving? Did she have some kind of disease or something? It would explain why she hadn't been outside before.

…Please don't be like My Lie in May, my heart can't take that kind of thing again.

This was definitely important to Issei and I could see that, so I quickly promised not to mention anything of the sort. Kioko took it a different way though, narrowing her eyes at Issei. "So you're using the girl?"

Issei looked personally insulted, and honestly I felt like he had been. "What? No! I'm just trying to show her things that she hasn't seen before! No way that I'd force or trick Asia-chan into something like that!"

Ooh, so it's Asia-chan now? I kept my thoughts to myself though. I wasn't entirely sure what to believe. Issei was known around the school as a first-grade pervert and person to stay away from. Most girls would have already assumed that Issei had gotten desperate and forced someone to go on a date with him, if not worse.

But that didn't seem right to me. Yeah, Issei was a self-admitted pervert, but he had his own kind of honor, and the way he'd smiled at Asia inside the diner hadn't seemed faked in any way. I couldn't believe that he was just luring Asia into anything. I was pretty good at reading people, if I said so myself, and as far as I could tell, he was absolutely sincere.

"Hey Kioko, I think Issei's telling the truth. Asia-san looks like she's a really good friend to him, and maybe that's it." I barely managed to choke out the word friend instead of an alternative, but Issei's look of gratitude was worth it.

Of course Kioko's glare was equally condemning, and reduced the total factor back to zero. Ah, no matter what you do, it's the wrong answer. Her face almost immediately switched back to her suspicious persona, apparently appeased by my flinching back.

"Well if it's really not something nefarious, you won't mind me and Kado-kun tagging along, right?" Oh, so that was her plan. I'd applaud her scheming skills but I was too busy mentally face-palming. Sure he couldn't say no to that, but it was also as clear as day what she was after.

Issei glanced nervously back at Asia before noticing that Kioko had pulled her phone out and seemed to be playing with it. Was she trying to threaten him that she'd call the authorities? In the end he gave in and let out a large sigh. "Fine, you can come along too," he said, an obvious grimace on his face.

Kioko was immediately all smiles, her phone magically returned to her back pocket. "That's so great of you, Hyoudou-san! Letting us come with you is such a sweet thing to do." I am so sorry, Issei.

He stared at her for a moment before walking up to me and placing his hands on my shoulders, looking me square in the eye. "I changed my mind about you, Kai-san. I wish you the best of luck." …Huh? Then he gave a small bow and turned away to lead us back to Asia, who had gotten distracted trying to catch a balloon that was caught in a tree for a small boy.

She was trying to jump and catch the string of the balloon, but each jump she took was pitifully small and left her groping hand feet from the string of the balloon. She stopped and took on a pouting expression before doing what looked to be preparing to climb the tree.

Issei took in the situation and immediately rushed over, all smiles. "No need to do that, Asia! That's what I'm here for!" He quickly shrugged off his school jacket and handed it to Asia, leaving him in a red t-shirt that he had been wearing underneath. Then after a moment to secure footholds, he started up the tree like a cat, scraping his arms and smudging his shirt, but with a big smile on his face.

Asia had taken the opportunity to watch with the small boy, regularly assuring him that Issei would get his balloon back, all while never taking her eyes off the climbing boy. Oh yeah, she had it baaaad.

Of course this left me and Kioko simply standing by and watching, which made me feel uncomfortable that I wasn't doing anything. So I screwed up my courage and yelled out "C'mon Issei, just a little to the left!"

Both his and Kioko's heads whipped towards me, and Issei almost fell out of the tree with surprise. I swallowed the rising swell of embarrassment and called out again "You gonna stop there? You've got this!" Ugh, I was gonna die from sheer mortification.

In response, Issei somehow managed to pry one arm free of the tree without falling and gave me a quick thumbs up in exchange, before returning his arm to safety and continuing his climb.

Soon enough Asia and Kioko were calling out encouragement as well, egging him on to climb a bit faster or to do it cooler. I lost track of how many times Kioko shouted for him to do a backflip. When Issei made it back down with the red balloon gripped in his left hand only minutes later, he was welcomed back with cheers.

Issei just laughed off the thanks of the child's mother, who had apparently been searching for the child and had only found him because of the cheering. After she had left, giving a final bow of gratitude, Issei turned and ruffled the nun's hood on top of Asia's head, leaving small wood chips on top. "Nice going Asia! No way I would have done that if you hadn't tried to help that kid first."

The nun seemed to almost melt under his touch, head bowing and cheeks reddening, thanking Issei for thanking her. He just laughed it off, but the girl seemed mortified, albeit with a blissful expression on her face. I realized I was grinning from ear to ear as I watched and quickly schooled my face into a more normal expression. This was far too entertaining.

"Kioko?"

"Yeah?"

"I ship them."

"Heehee, welcome to the dark side."

Issei waved us forward, finished reducing Asia to a blushing mess, and told us that the next destination was an arcade. "Asia's never been to one before," he explained as we walked, before beginning to boast about how he was undefeated at racing games. I felt a slow smirk begin to overtake my face at that. Oh was he now? Well then, I'd just have to break his streak, wouldn't I…

End AN: Quick notes for the references I made, "goggle" = "google," "My Lie in May" = "Your Lie in April." Haven't watched the show, but it's on The List, and fanart for the show already spoiled that particular bit. Now I mainly feel obligated to watch it out of guilt for not finding out the proper way.

Not a ton in the notes except for a potential worry I have about the "girl thing" I keep mentioning in Kado's thoughts. This isn't me demeaning girls or anything, but I have learned from my own life that girls do think differently sometimes, and have given up on always trying to understand them. Kado, with his confusing sisters, silent mother, and Kioko, has already learned this for himself, and honestly believes it is safer to know when to not try and look into things further. It's a safety mechanism, basically.

The other thing is the blushing. The only time I have ever actually seen people with red cheeks is when they are warm or sick, and I'm 80% sure that blushing to show romantic affection is a lie that makes it easier to tell how someone is feeling in books and anime. But since DxD is one of those books and anime, I did use it. Ah, imagine how hard romance would be for people if they didn't have that easy radar system? Man, I'm not sure humans would survive without something to tell them exactly how much the other person liked them.

That was sarcasm, by the way.

Then last personal note, I had a story idea for something in the DxD-verse, and kinda wrote a good 2k words on just a basic outline. I don't know how that will fit in with my already kinda quirky writing schedule, but it's an intriguing enough idea that I do think I'll start writing it at some point.

For anyone who's interested, it'll be an AU with Issei as the main character, but working off the idea of "What if Azazel had been more interested in recruiting the Red Dragon Emperor?" (Hint: It doesn't go how you think it might.)

Enough self-promoting though, and I hope you guys all have a fantastic week! (And I use "guys" in the gender-neutral way.)