The young man now known as Hyoudou Issei sighed as he made his way toward the ORC's booth. It had been a few months since the defeat of Khaos Brigade and the subsequent fall of the Old Council Faction, and things had been somewhat peaceful in both the human and supernatural worlds. With no troubles for the foreseeable future, the club had loosened up somewhat and allowed for some human membership to act as a plausible front for the Gremory peerage's activities. Having dropped his mask of lecherous perversion [1] [although Ddraig would still sometimes troll him at random times] and managed to mature somewhat in his responsibilities as a mage the brown-haired youth was reluctantly given the position of treasurer after his defeat of Diodara, a duty he was surprisingly good at.

He had been hoping to get some peace and quiet after the constant battles and the stress of consistently having to put up with his two buddies' bullshit, but Rias had somehow managed to find him just before he could reach his favorite hiding spot and assign him the task of manning the club's booth for the inter-school 'friendship and collaboration' pageant that was going on. To be honest, Issei hadn't even heard of the damn thing, having been busy avoiding M&M and getting much-needed solitude.

Letting out a soft sigh, the brown-haired youth tried to figure out what he was supposed to do for this particular job when the friendly chatter of some very, very familiar voices snapped him out of his funk.

"So this is the Seikodan Academy I've been hearing about recently. Wasn't it supposed to be a government-funded school?"

"It was run by the government until it was bought out and became a private institution. I wonder why they decided to build a completely new campus only a few meters from the old one and transform the surrounding area into a floating city that can only be accessed by bullet train or boat. And there's the rumors that have been popping up about this place..."

Oh yes, the infamous origin story of Seikodan Academy and the Mega-City that was built soon after its purchase. To be fair, the rumors surrounding the school had been around even before he had been slain by Raynare and then resurrected by Rias as her pawn, but he had ignored them once he had begun his life in his teacher's peerage.

Issei found himself wondering if the resurgence of those rumors had to do with the fact that he and the ORC had been quite busy over the past few months dealing with supernatural threats, and had been seen while they were heading to and fro the ORF clubhouse by some human unfortunate to see them. It was an unlikely possibility, but one that made sense.

But one question remained, why were his friends from his old school at the inter-school pageant? Were they here on some special club mission or something? The brown-haired young man had no idea, but he really didn't want to find out at the moment, Was there a good place to hide?

"The girls at this place are nice, but considering the whole lot of mystery and conspiracy theories going around about I was really hoping to see some really hot military cadets, or even better super moe magical girls wearing some super skimpy magical outfits! Goddamn it Ka-ssanova, why are you making this so hard for me even now..." A resounding THWACK followed by a chorus of whispers. "Oww...why did you have to do this Kaori-san! I was just expressing my disappointment at the lack of extraordinary female forms for me to admire!"

Issei sweatdropped, before sighing and shaking his head. Even after all those years, that idiot Teryu still managed to be a perverted fool. But the Hyoudou couldn't really fault the short orange-haired boy for his lecherous actions, as the brunette youth had based part of his "pervert" persona on him after all. One thing to subconsciously thank the little pervert for, even if the dwarf wouldn't be around to hear it in person.

"How Kouryoukan even managed to let in a baka such as you amazes me to this day...cha...A pageant to celebrate the restoration of amicable terms between the schools and you still manage to act like a complete fool. If only Kakeru-kun was here to see this. "

"So you like Kakeru as well? Don't be shy Natsuki-san, we all know that tough look of yours is just a front to hide your feelings for him."

"Why does Tadashi-baka always have to behave like this...even at an important function where everyone is looking at us. Kakeru-kun, it's only been two years yet my heart still yearns for you as if you'd been gone a century. I love you onii-chan, even though I didn't get to say it when we were together. Maybe we'll meet again someday, and I'll show you with actions what I can only express with words."

So the Class President of his old school had feelings for him, huh? Issei knew the true extent of Yuka's love for him, he might be an idiot and slightly naive but he was no fool, and he would have been happy to recieve those feelings in another situation. But he had awakened to his true identity as the Red Dragon Emperor and was the loyal servant and future husband of the beautiful Rias Gremory, as well as a host of other women. He had no idea how Rias-chan or any of the other girls from the supernatural would react to bringing in two human, mundane girls into the harem.

"Still pining after Kakeru-kun I see. Well, at least you've let your feelings out, although not openly."

"Oi Teryu, don't you see Ka-baka taking away all the girls from you? Even though he's transferred, the ladies' love for him has grown stronger! If this keeps up we might even see the Arabian nights come here to Japan!"

Oh yes, the infamous delinquent of Ayameagoa struck again with his blunt, direct personality. Although Takahisa "Shuu" Tajima was never truly a part of Issei's friend group when the latter started his adolescence as a student of Kouryoukan Academy, the two had met through Yuka and Issei's close friend Yukiko Hirohara, a hyperactive, short and petite glasses wearing blonde who was also Issei's co-worker at a maid cafe where the two worked after school in Issei's old home town.

To be fair, Takahisa didn't really do much to Issei and the girls when they were heading home, although he did tease Yuka about her buying a wedding dress and if he [Tajima] could come to the wedding ceremony. Kaori had tried to smack Takahisa for these comments, but come to think of it Yukiko-chan's face would also turn red and she would look away from Issei whenever Takahisa made those jokes

It can't be...my mind must be playing tricks on me, right? There's no way they could be here...if Yuka sees me in a place like this I'm definitely screwed! Think Kakeru, think...you're not one of the smartest minds of your generation for no reason!

Quickly finding a group of chattering students and integrating himself into the crowd the young man found himself clutching his head as he felt the beginning of a headache. He had the feeling that he was going to get in big trouble for this but ignored it as he tried to find a way to escape. Letting out a sigh of relief as the voices of his former schoolmates died down, he abandoned the group and made a U-turn back to the booth.

"Whew, that was close. If I hadn't moved quickly I don't know what would have happened back there." he muttered under his breath. Putting his curiosity about why his former classmates would be at such an event for a more appropriate time, he prepared himself to do his job of handing out flyers. Getting behind the stand and putting up the best game face he could [cursing Matsuda and Motohama for being such lecherous jerks at the same time] he scanned the surrounding area for potential customers while hoping he didn't have any more unwanted surprises.

After selling quite a few plushies and reducing the stock of flyers the booth had due to his 'people persuasion skills'[2], Issei found that he was quite bored. Sure it was fun sharpening his future CEO skills, but even playing the role of an idiotic breast-obsessed pervert was more fun than this. Don't wake up Ddraig, please don't wake up!

Unfortunately for the brown-haired young man, this wish would not be granted, at least for now.

"So this is the infamous Sekiryūtei everybody's been talking about. You don't look like much, although the Orb of Aeon seems to have affected your left eye as well. Since you've piqued my interest and managed to eliminate some rather tiresome insects that were proving quite annoying to deal with, I'll give you a warning. Beware the Witch of the East."

Issei snapped out of his bored funk and rubbed his eyebrows, only to see a rather short first-year wearing the Niji-kou (Rainbow Academy) uniform walk away from his booth. The youth blinked, before sighing again and shaking his head. "Why does this keep happening to me?"

He was about to return to business when the whispers of the other students piqued his interest. Keeping his face neutral while looking out for unfriendly actors the brown-haired youth zoomed into the conversation, hoping to figure out what was going on. What he heard next would almost give him a heart attack.

"You can't be serious, right? I know Seikodan has a huge problem with perverts but for this to happen on such an important day as this...you must be joking right? There's no way it can be real!"

"It really is the truth? The Perverted Duo and a Niji-kou student were both caught peeping on the members of the Kendo club while they were changing. It seems like these two idiots and the doofus dumb enough to follow them thought that because of the exhibition going on today, no one would notice their lecherous actions. By the way, what happened to the guy who used to hang out with Matsuda and Motohama?"

"You mean the fucking nerd who doesn't even know what a date is yet still got his ass beaten up by whoever was unlucky enough to be a victim of those two? Haven't heard much about that loser in a couple months, although rumor has it that he's been hanging out with Himekami-sensei and her little clique of pretty boys and hot girls."

"The idiotic clown such as him, who brazenly declared that he's going to become the Harem King, actually scoring it with Nikado-sensei and Himejima-san is a scenario I don't even want to imagine."

Issei facepalmed on the desk at this distant insult. Why did this have to come back to haunt him now?

He didn't get time to respond, as loud screams, the humming of machinery and the rumbling thunder of a massive stampede interrupted everyone's previous tasks.

(Play: "Il vento d'oro [Giorno's Theme] - Jojo no Kimyou no Bouken: Ougon no Kaze/Jojo's Bizzare Adventure: Golden Wind)

"GET BACK HERE, PERVERTS!"

"WE ALMOST GOT EM GIRLS!"

"FEEL THE MIGHT OF THE RISING SUN'S FIRST MOBILE COMBAT INFANTRY BRIGADE FOR YOUR LECHEROUS ACTIONS!"

Matsuda, Motohama and surprisingly a scared shitless Teryuu dashed past Issei's booth while screaming bloody murder. The brown-haired youth was wondering if he had gone insane, when what could be described as a squad of adolescent girls wearing skimpy pilot outfits and equipped with what appeared to be combat suits inspired by mecha, came in screeching after them with katanas and firearms raised, followed by what appeared to be an entire battalion of NOEGG (Imperial Nippon Defense Forces) recruits in full combat gear with weapons at the ready.

"I have no idea what the hell just happened, but I'm just going to assume I was either having a very lucid dream or completely misinterpreted what just happened."

The annoyed tone of a rather familiar voice reminded him of the uncomfortable fact that he was not in a very good position at the current moment.

(End Track)

"So this is where you were hiding all along, Kakeru-kun."

Issei gulped fearfully and said a soft prayer to Great Red that he'd be able to get off lightly this time. He also hoped that neither Rias, the female members of her peerage, or even any other of his acquaintances from the supernatural were around at the moment because he really wasn't sure how to get himself out of the clusterfuck he had just put himself in.

[ED: True Blue Traveler - Kurabiyashi Minami (Infinite Stratos 2 OP)]

[1] In the LN it's stated that Issei is actually a loner and an otaku with a strong sense of justice, who loathes perverts with a passion. He pretends to be a lecherous idiot in part as a practical joke, and because he thinks no woman would actually like someone like him.

[2] Issei must have very good interpersonal skills to pull off some of the feats shown in the LN, manga and anime.