AN: To begin, a rabbit watches from the darkness of the moon.

What is it that it sees with it's red eyes?

The snake that crawled around the world only to meet itself attempts to go beyond its cycle.

When will it be allowed to stop spinning?

A knight of blood stares at a pile of broken swords with mournful eyes.

A dragon watches an old mirror, fractured as it is.

All while the kaleidoscope of infinite paths take shape.

And in the end-

Ugh, sorry

Right, the above? Yeah, that's just bullshit. I've been wanting to spout some creepy and cryptic bullshit since I watched Paranoia Agent.

Well, on with the show!

Episode four: Lost One's Weeping

Rumors, they were both a good thing and a bad thing. Well, they can also be flat out stupid, but let's not get into that.

If you asked Hyoudou Issei at this point in time about his opinion on rumors, he would just be happy if they would just go away at this point. The reason? He was currently learning just how hard it is to keep the charade that protected and separated normal humans from the supernatural.

The result of the Caster Class Card had inspired all kinds of theories, ranging from aliens to government conspiracies. Naturally, these theories turned into rumors, and soon it became a favorite activity at Issei's school to spread them around.

As for why it's hard? Now imagine you knew the truth to these rumors. The thing is you can't. At this point he just wanted to stand up on his desk and shout that it was actually a powerful magic artifact, but he must persevered for the sake of his dream!

...Yeah, he's not convincing anyone.

"Hey, Issei." Matsuda called from his seat next to Issei.

He swore to whatever deity was out there (He stopped believing he had good fortune when Ruby came to him) that if it was one more rumor he will-

"Wanna head to the arcade after school."

"Ack! Sorry, I have other plans."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah…"

The silence between the two is awkward as Issei tries desperately to come up with something that could start up conversation.

"So what do you think of all the rumors?" Matsuda asked after a while.

"Huh?"

"You know? Those rumors?"

"Oh." Issei said bitterly. "Don't even get me started on them."

"Why are you so upset by them anyways?"

...Help. Someone help.

"I, um, I don't want to talk about it."

Luckily for our hero, the bell saved him from further questioning. It was at that moment Issei believe in God.

"Hey, Issei. You wanna eat lunch on the roof?" Matsuda asked him as soon as the bell dismissed him from the hell that was called class.

Truly the bell was an angel from heaven.

"Huh? Why would we eat up there? We never eat up there." Issei responded.

"Psst, Issei. Just do it. Every main character does it." Ruby whispered from his bag.

"With you being the one pushing me? No way!"

"What are you doing?" Matsuda asked.

"Oh, um, nothing! Eh he..." Issei said, hurriedly rushing back to face Matsuda.

"Well come on! We're eating on the roof!"

"Alright alright!"

If you had to pick between being a bystander and being a hero, what would you pick?

While people will say they would be a hero, there's no guaranteed that they would actually do it. Hell, they could even be the villain in the first place.

Except at this point we all know that one Issei Hyoudou is not like that. He would rather die than be a villain. In fact, if you could describe Issei Hyoudou in one sentence it would be "The kid that wants to be a hero". Well, you could also say "The boy who denies that he's a magical girl" and "That one guy who was supposed to be an extremely big pervert, but is not in this universe".

Honestly, you could say many sentences that could summarize Issei, but I'm losing my point.

The point is that Issei Hyoudou wanted to be a hero. So when faced with three older boys bullying a classmate of his, he immediately stepped in to help.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" He yelled, throwing the door to the roof open and walking right up to them.

"Oh? Look at what we have here. A little boy who thinks he can be a-" One of the older students began before a swing of Issei's first connected to the boys face, knocking him onto the floor.

"You little brat…" Another boy said, walking up to Issei with a murderous expression on his face.

Heh. He's stood up against worse.

"Issei! What are you doing?!" Matsuda yelled, running up to him.

"What does it look like?!"

"Like something stupid!"

"Matsuda." Issei began "Do you really think we should-". A sudden pain rocketed through our hero's body before he was blown back against the fence.

"Issei!"

"Gah!" He yelled, crawling back up to his feet. "Don't worry about me Matsuda. Save yourself."

"No way!" Matsuda responded, running up to him. "I won't leave you bro."

"Don't worry. I'm going to be a hero, this won't stop me."

"As touching as this scene is, It's about time we teach you why you don't mess with your elders." The last of the bullies said. "Class is in session."

"Bring it on!" Issei yelled, getting his fists in fighting position.

"Don't forget about me!" Matsuda yelled, standing up next to Issei's side. "If Issei's doing it so am I!"

It was at that moment that Issei learned that Matsuda was the second best friend that he ever had. After Irina of course.

They lost. Not badly, but they still lost. Even if they got a few hits in...

"Hey Issei, remind me next time that if someone attacks us, let's run away." Matsuda said from his spot in the infirmary.

"What was that about 'If Issei's doing it, so am I'?" Issei said annoyed.

"That was before we got our butts kicked."

Right, they lost…

He never thought that fighting without Ruby would be so much of a challenge. It was so easy fighting Class Cards with her that the first time he fought without her was the time he realized he was so… lacking. The boost she had given him was something that he depended on, something he depended on too much.

If he was like this without equipment, then how would he be able to become a hero?

"Why?" A voice cut through the room. "Why did you save me?"

Issei turned to look at the voice. It was coming from the classmate they had saved, a boy with glasses that seemed to cover his eyes.

"I was just following Issei's lead. So Issei, why did you save him?" Matsuda asked.

"Didn't I say it before? I'm going to be a hero!" He yelled, flinching from pain.

All three of them began chuckling before slowly drawing out into full blown laughter. As the laughter died down a comfortable silence began to descend on the room.

"Well, thanks. They had been bullying me for a while." The boy said after a while. "Though a hero huh? Isn't that a bit silly?"

"Hey! I saved you didn't I?!"

"If by 'saved' you mean get beat up until one of us thought it was a good idea to get a teacher (Me) by escaping then yes." Matsuda interrupted. "Do you know how scary it was, thinking that they were right behind me?"

"Um, one of them was right behind you." Issei responded.

"Eh?! Really?!"

"DID YOU NOT LOOK BACK?!"

"I WAS RUNNING FOR MY LIFE! THERE WAS NO TIME TO LOOK BACK!"

The other occupant of the room began to chuckle again, wincing every so often. "Say, I never did get your names."

"Ah right! The name's Issei Hyoudou!"

"My name's Matsuda."

"Heh. The name's Motohama. It's nice to meet you guys."

"Hurry Issei! We're going to be late!"

"Well it's not my fault the nurse wouldn't let me out until the end of school, is it?!"

"You were the one who decided that getting a snack at the convenience store would be a good idea!"

"I was hungry! How was I supposed to expect that the line would be that long!?"

Issei's legs burned as he picked up his pace. The last time he checked a clock was when he left school and half an hour had probably already passed.

There it was! His goal-

He quickly turned to the side as a tennis ball made it's way past him and into the wall behind him.

Did it just make a crater?

"You're ten minutes late!" Kiyome yelled. "I told you to be here by three o'clock!"

"I'm sorry! I got hungry and-"

"No buts! Punishment must be served!"

"Wait punishment?!" Issei yelled.

Please don't be bad, please don't be bad...

An evil smiled appeared on Kiyome's face. "Ruby, come here…"

...There goes all his hope.

"Why. Why would you do this to me Kiyome?" Our currently female hero said, walking out of the female restroom, a place he thought he would never go back to.

He was dressed in the standard school gym clothes for girls. That was bad enough but the fact that they were currently on a public tennis court made it even worse. He hoped no one saw him...

"Like I said, punishment!" Kiyome's cheery voice said from the court. "Now, take this racket."

"Eh?" Issei mumbled.

"We're going to play some tennis!" Kiyome yelled, throwing a racket towards him.

"EH?!"

"Exactly as I said! Now dodge!"

Issei barely had anytime to react as he ducked the oncoming projectile.

"W-Woah! Slow down there! How will this help me at all!?" Issei yelled, waving his hands around.

"You need to dodge in a fight!" Kiyome replied

"I know how to dodge!"

"Then try to get a point off me!" Kiyome challenged.

"Fine!"

His eyes were fixed on the target. He needed to keep focus or-

A gust of wind blew past him and he took off at the fastest he could go. If he could just time this right...

The sound of his racket hitting it's target was like a melody to his ears. "Haaa!" He yelled, swinging it as hard as he could. it soared to the air only to be stopped by another racket.

"HA!" His opponent yelled, serving it back to him.

As he began to run, the ball suddenly curved in his direction. Pushing him back as it flew by his head.

"Ah…" He moaned in pain. Lifting up his hands to see the cuts all over it.

"And that's one hundred to one." Kiyome said, walking up to him. "You know, when you're not completely missing the ball it's so easy to return that it's not even funny."

"I'm new at this, give me a break!" He yelled. "And are we done yet? I wanna transform back."

It was what? Five o'clock? Two hours as a girl was enough...

"Yeah yeah sure. Here, let's get something to eat first."

Ice cream.

If one could describe one of the greatest treats mankind had ever invented in two words, it would be that. So as Issei began to devour into his chocolate ice cream, he began to feel like his worries were fading awa-

"Issei! It's unbecoming of a young lady to eat her food like that!" Ruby yelled from his pocket.

"...I don't know how, but you've somehow even managed to make ice cream worse." Issei stated, staring at his ice cream with despair.

"I am shocked and appalled that you think of me like that!"

"It's true and you know it!"

"She has a point you know." Kiyome said. "It's unbecoming of anyone to eat like that."

"Leave my ice cream alone!"

"Well then you better eat it quick, it's melting."

"Ah!" Issei yelled, taking as many bites as he could. As soon as he finished he turned to face Kiyome who had a phone faced directly at him.

"Did you just take a photo?"

"Yep!" She said cheerfully. "Ruby asked me to take it."

"RUBY!"

A couple of laughs later a silence had descended around the park.

"Do you know why I brought you to play tennis?" Kiyome asked, staring up at the sky where the sun was beginning to set. "It's because I want to help."

"How does playing tennis help?" Issei asked.

"It's because tennis is a game of strategy and fitness!" Kiyome exclaimed. "You need to run around to get the ball and you need to know exactly what speed you're going to hit it and where you're going to hit it!"

"I still don't see how it would help…"

"It's traning! You can't just rely on Ruby all the time!"

"I know that…" Issei said bitterly. "You know, I got into a fight today."

"You did?!" Kiyome exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, I even have the bruise to prove it." Issei said, beginning to take off his shirt before Kiyome stopped him.

"Woah woah woah! A girl can't just take off her shirt in public! What have your parents taught you!?"

"But Kiyome-"

"No buts! And clean yourself up, there's chocolate all over your face!" Kiyome exclaimed, grabbing a napkin before wiping it all off. "There you go! Now what were you saying?"

"Like I said I got into a fight." Issei said. "It was with a couple of older students who were picking on a classmate of mine. I thought it was okay because I'd seen worse… suffice to say I got my butt kicked."

"You don't seem injured…"

"Well I was going to show you my injury but.."

"And like I said, a girl shouldn't take off her shirt in public!" Kiyome countered.

"The only reason I'm a girl right now is because of you!" Issei responded. "Speaking of which, can I please change back now?"

"Not until you finish your story."

"Now you're just extending the time!"

"So, how bad was it?"

"Don't just go ignoring my complaints!" Issei yelled before settling down. "It was, well, it was get hit in the stomach. A lot."

"Ouch, that bad huh?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!"

"You got hit several times in the stomach and you call that fine?"

"A hero will always get back up!" Issei responded. "But, still. It didn't end until one of my friends managed to escape and grab a teacher."

"Woah woah woah. It wasn't just you?" Kiyome said, putting her hands into a time out position.

"My friend Matsuda was there with me. In fact, he's the only reason I found out about it in the first place." Issei explained.

"So, what happened next?" Kiyome asked.

"Well, the teacher came, took the bullies to the principal's office, and we were sent to the infirmary till the end of the day." Issei finished. "But no matter how you look at it, we lost."

"No."

"Huh?"

"No matter how you look at it, you lost." Kiyome declared. "Look Issei, you're the kind of guy who would charge right into things without thinking about it, and sometimes that's not going to cut it."

"Hey! What do you mean-"

"I mean exactly what I said." Kiyome stated, standing up just so she could point downwards at Issei. "Listen up! Sometimes in a fight charging into it is not good enough! You need to think to win! You've been lucky thus far but if you keep that up you're enemies are going to use that against you!"

"Being a hero means charging head into things! That's why I've been fine!" Issei yelled, standing up to face her.

"No that's it! All that you've been relying on are luck and tricks that others have given you!" Kiyome yelled. "And look where that's gotten you! You need to be able to trick the enemy by yourself, otherwise you'll never win!"

"That's not true." Ruby's voice said, cutting through the atmosphere. "Issei has done things on his own."

"Huh?" Issei said. "I have?"

"Remember what I said when we first met?"

"Conformation of a master through blood, a user contract formed through, and a heart of justice of a young boy as the catalyst! There's even something inside him too…"

The words rang through his mind. How could he forget the day when this all started?

"Something inside of me…"

"That's right, and you've been using it in battle to." Ruby declared. "It's your finisher Twice Critical."

"Did you just say-?!" Kiyome said in shock before turning to face Issei. "Quick, Issei! Summon that finisher!"

"But without Ruby I can't-"

"Didn't you hear what Ruby just said?! It's part of your own power, you don't need her to use it!" Kiyome exclaimed. "So just focus on summoning it!"

"A-All right." Issei stuttered, putting his arm above his head. "Twice Critical!"

And in a flash of green light, it appeared. His own power, his own strength, the one thing he could do without Ruby. Twice Critical, that was its name.

"It's just as I thought." Kiyome said. "I didn't realise it until now even when it should've been obvious, it's pretty common after all."

"What?" Issei asked.

A small "Heh" could be heard from Kiyome before she pointed her finger once more at him.

"Issei Hyoudou! You are in possession of a sacred gear!"

AN: Yo. I know what you're thinking, so let me answer those questions.

Q: Is this chapter just filler?

Probably, but we couldn't have all the chapters be about the class cards now could we?

Q: Why did you make the rest of the perverted trio a main focus?

Why would I not make them the main focus.

Q: Are the rest of the class cards from extra?

No, trust me.

Trust me…

Q: Any references?

Not that I remember, but if you were talking about last chapter those were Jojo references.

Oh, for titles? This chapter was named after a vocoloid song of the same name, Neverland is a song sung by Nano (Which is actually Nevereverland, whoops), and Shounen Brave is a vocoloid song made by Jin and is part of the Kagerou Project.

Q: Future plans?

Why would I tell you guys?

Q: What did I just read?

Hell if I know.

Q: CLIFFHANGER, WHY?!

You have no idea how fun it is for an author to mess with his readers.

Q: What does the message at the beginning mean?

That I should probably try to get Paranoia Agent out of my mind.

Anything I missed Shinji?

There can never be enough JoJo!

True true.

Well, Snake out!