A simple conversation
When Ichigo looked into his childhood friend's eyes he felt a chill. For a brief moment, he saw in Issei the figure of a dragon, a beast, looking at him, without the orange head being able to understand what was going through said dragon's head.
When Issei looked Ichigo in the eyes, it wasn't what he saw that made him curious, but what he felt. In his childhood friend with orange hair, he felt different types of energy intertwined, like a knot in a rope that was so tangled that it might be impossible to untangle the knot. Despite that, there was a type of energy that at the moment seemed more distinct than the others, which only made the Sekiryuutei more confused.
'El-chan? Ddraig?'
Not recognizing whatever was inside Ichigo, Issei tried to turn to the two with more experience.
'Sorry, Ise-kun, but I've never seen anything like this either.'
[Hmmm, although somewhat familiar, I can't point out what form of energy is inside him.]
But he was out of luck.
"Issei?"
After a few moments of silence of the two just staring at each other, Ichigo finally reacted.
"Chichichi, took you long enough."
The brunette said laughing at finally being recognized.
Instantly Ichigo's mood lifted. He held out his hand to which Issei responded by raising his hand, with the two raising their arms, their elbows almost touching, their forearms touching, and their hands clasped around each other.
That allowed Issei to notice his friend's strength, which seemed above standard for a normal human of their age. And Ichigo, despite his low experience as a Shinigami, could see that Issei's strength appeared to be out of the ordinary as well, even more than his.
Both were barely initiated into the supernatural world, a world that they now knew in one way or another and without communicating properly, that the other was part of too.
Still, they didn't bring it up, at least for the time being.
Both simply walked in, with Issei explaining how he and Cynthia were now going to Kuoh Academy as well.
"It's good to have you back." Contrary to the more energetic reaction of the others, Ichigo gave a small smile as he said that to the couple. It was simple, but as honest as the others.
And then he stopped, seeming to think about something.
"Wait, are you two our senpais?"
The orange head's voice made him sound a little shocked, which he probably was.
Tatsuki, and Nezuko, who like Ichigo were also in their first year, stopped what they were doing, only now realizing, thanks to Ichigo, that in fact that the couple would be their senpais.
"Chichichi, you can call me senpai-sama Issei!"
The sekiryuutei speaks, in a comical and pompous manner, making the others laugh.
With Ichigo having joined the group he had the opportunity to taste Issei's food, giving the same compliments that the others had already given, which only showed that the leviathan lived up to Sanji's teachings.
However, Nezuko's previous conversation still seemed to weigh heavily on the table, especially on Nezuko's own part. To resolve this, each of the Kamado brothers would talk with Cynthia and Issei, respectively.
[...]
Nezuko did everything to not look at Cynthia. She nervously twirled the tips of her hair, staring at all the different parts of her room except for where the blonde was standing.
"Fufufu, you don't need to be so nervous, I don't bite."
And the fact that Cynthia's tone still was so friendly didn't make her any more comfortable.
"You and Ise are still dating, right?"
Nezuko asks with a mixture of fear and shyness.
"But of course."
Cynthia responded with a smile and a nod of her head. There was no hesitation and she was clearly more comfortable than Nezuko.
The blonde's confirmation made Nezuko bite her lower lip and turn her face away, ashamed to face her friend. The words she'd spoken earlier at the table kept coming back into her head, leaving her with both shame and guilt.
"I see... I'm... sorry about that..."
It was noticeable by her tone that, if she could, Nezuko would already have gone out of the room.
"Fufufu, I think you misunderstood me, Nezu-chan."
Nezuko wasn't sure what kind of reaction she expected from Cynthia, but she knew it wasn't this. The dark-haired girl finally had the courage, with curiosity playing a role, to look at her childhood friend and see her with the same smile as always. In fact, if Nezuko had to guess, she'd say that Cynthia's smile looked more mischievous than usual.
"What do you mean?"
Nezuko's curiosity and confusion now clouded her earlier embarrassment, allowing her to ask that simple question.
Cynthia leaned down, putting herself face to face with the dark-haired girl.
"Do you remember Ise's dream?"
Cynthia's smile widened as Nezuko titled her head to the side with a thoughtful expression. After a few seconds of silence between the two, the dark-haired one widens her eyes, her cheeks blushing as she remembers something.
"I want a harem!"
Issei, who was five years old at the time, spoke without the slightest bit of shame, on the contrary, there was a certain pride in his voice. The few adults around were looking at the children with confused looks.
"What a stupid thing."
Tatsuki said before they went back to playing normally.
Back then she didn't even know what the word meant and had forgotten about it after a while. She only remembered it now because Issei had repeated that phrase a few times. Of course, now she knew what harem meant, but it took Cynthia to remind her of the "determination" that Issei had since childhood.
"You mean that..."
Nezuko didn't finish, both because the idea seemed a bit surreal to her and because she was redder than a tomato and couldn't face Cynthia.
"Doesn't that bother you?"
Though she couldn't help but ask, glancing at her friend out of the corner of her eyes.
It was Cynthia's turn to look confused, which undeniably surprised Nezuko.
"Oh, right. Sometimes I forget that this kind of thing is not normal for you."
And if Nezuko thought she was confused before, the blonde's speech just made it worse.
"What?"
"Well, Issei's father has a harem, and our families live together, so this is normal for us."
Nezuko was no longer just confused, she had completely frozen. From her perspective, polygamous relationships only existed under two conditions, either in the past with wealthy nobles or the like, or currently with womanizers who cared nothing but their own pleasure.
The first option did not apply. But was Issei the type of person who only cared about himself?
"Who made you cry? I will kill them!"
A slight smile formed on her face. She knew the answer.
"Fufufu, you finally smiled."
Cynthia's comment takes Nezuko out of her thoughts and makes her face her friend again. This time instead of a mischievous smile or anything like that, the blonde was just happy that her dark-haired friend wasn't trying to hide her face instead of looking at her.
"Were you serious?"
Only now Nezuko understood that, for the most part, Cynthia was just trying to make her see that she didn't need to feel ashamed or guilty about the comment on the table.
That said, she found Cynthia's way of comforting her very odd.
"Obviously."
And again, Nezuko didn't know how to respond to the blonde, who said it without a hint of hesitation.
"I don't understand you anymore."
Nezuko said, puffing out her cheek and pouting. At least it was noticeable that she was much more comfortable than before.
Cynthia laughed at her friend's expression and sat on her side on the bed.
"I've been serious this whole time. What you said is nothing to overthink and everyone knows it was in the spur of the moment. However, if it reflects what you want, Issei will always be open to you. Of course, I don't have any complaints either. And obviously, none of this is something you need to think about right now, just let things take their own course."
She finishes saying, giving Nezuko a wink, who in turn puts her legs on the bed and hugs her knees.
In her childhood, she did have a crush on Issei, but it was a childish thing. However, she wouldn't deny that she was a lot happier than usual to see him, and of course Cynthia, again, and especially to find out that they would now be seeing each other almost every day.
What did that mean for her? Nezuko still didn't know.
"Ok, thanks Cyn-chan." But she would take Cynthia's advice, and just go with it. "Even so, I'm still a little embarrassed to face Issei..."
She admitted with a weak smile.
"If it helps you, I know that Issei didn't feel any shame on his part."
Somehow, that made Nezuko feel less embarrassed, and happier, knowing that Issei was serious.
And in another part of the house, a similar but much shorter conversation took place.
"You were serious, right?"
Tanjiro asked, smiling much less than usual.
"Absolutely."
Issei replied with the same seriousness.
"You wouldn't play with her feelings, would you?"
Having sisters, Issei understood where Tanjiro was coming from, but even so, those kinds of questions that assumed he would do things he loathed bothered him a bit.
"Never."
Tanjiro looked deep into his childhood friend's eyes, just to see how serious and determined Issei was. In fact, to the red-tipped-haired boy, it even looked like Issei had the determination to die before he hurt Nezuko.
It was probably his imagination though.
"Would you do anything to make her happy?"
Now it was the kind of thing Issei understood being asked.
"For sure!"
Now Tanjiro could see a glint in Issei's eyes, a determination he could understand as ensuring Nezuko's happiness at any cost. And that was something he understood well.
"Hehe, sorry about that Issei. You know how I am with Nezuko."
In the end, even Tanjiro knew that some of those questions might have been a little too much, but he couldn't help it. And that was something Issei knew.
"Relax, you're just doing what you can to protect her, I get it."
The sekiryuutei said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Hehe, anyway, whatever Nezuko decides, our mother and I will always support her, and I know you will too."
Tanjiro spoke, clearly more relaxed.
"Chichichi, for sure!"
After that conversation, the mood had gotten much better for both of them. They left Tanjiro's room and went to the living room. Halfway down the hall Issei stopped and looked out the window at a building across the street. His expression was neutral, he turned his head and continued into the living room.
He saw Nezuko and Cynthia returning as well, and he waved at the two. Both responded by waving back with a smile. Everything seemed in place.
"What were you doing with the newbie?"
Until they reached the living room.
Tatsuki, with an unfriendly face, demanded something from Ichigo, who looked away. Orihime constantly turned her head from one to the other, not knowing what to say since she wanted to take both sides.
"I don't know what you're talking about..."
The orange-haired said, looking away.
Tatsuki just narrowed her eyes as she took her cell phone out.
"Kunieda sent me this."
She showed a picture of Ichigo and Rukia walking their separate ways, after clearly saying goodbye to each other. That was right after they took care of the Hollow.
What probably happened is that someone in their class or some of the others saw them and took the picture to spread gossip.
Mentally, Ichigo wanted to beat himself up for not noticing someone sooner. In front of others, he didn't know how to explain himself.
"Kurosaki-kun, are you and Kuchiki-san dating?"
Tatsuki, Issei, Cynthia, Tanjiro, and Nezuko collectively felt a pain in their chest hearing Orihime's hurt voice. What made it worse was that Ichigo was clearly oblivious to that detail.
"Of course not!"
At least his answer was sincere. In reality, even without having Issei and Cynthia's observation haki, everyone could hear a certain rejection of that thought in Ichigo's voice.
"Is she blackmailing you?"
Issei says the first thing that comes to mind.
Cynthia was intrigued, Nezuko and Tanjiro considered the idea seriously, Orihime looked shocked by the "revelation" and Tatsuki and Ichigo looked at Issei, wondering if he was serious or not.
"Ara, ara, you all have quite an imagination. But why don't you wait until monday to ask your colleague about it?"
Kie said with a smile on her face, enjoying watching their interactions. However, noting that Ichigo clearly wanted to keep some secret and that this conversation wasn't going anywhere, she pointed at an alternate exit.
Orihime's eyes sparkled and Tatsuki looked at Ichigo with a smug smile.
"Thanks for the idea aunt."
Tatsuki spoke humming, and Orihime also looked excited, though it was hard to tell if it was the prospect of getting close to the newbie or knowing about her relationship with Ichigo.
As for Ichigo, he rolled his eyes. At least he didn't have to worry about that anymore since Rukia wouldn't open her mouth.
After that, the group was preparing to leave, since it was getting late.
"Would you like a ride in the car?"
Kie asks the group, worried about the time.
"Don't worry Kie-san, we'll go home with them."
Issei replies, clarifying. He, Cynthia, and Ichigo would take Tatsuki and Orihime to their houses, and then... well, Issei and Ichigo had some catching up to do, and of course, Cynthia would follow along.
"I understand. Come back whenever you want, and please take care."
Kie spoke, with a gentle smile, to which Issei responded by also smiling, a smile that for some reason made the older woman feel her cheeks flush slightly. She judged it to be just her impression.
"Can we meet tomorrow?"
Besides her mother, Nezuko asked Isse with a blushed face.
"Of course, whenever you want."
The sekiryuutei spoke, ruffling the top of Nezuko's head, who smiled and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Fufufu, we'll stop by when we can."
Cynthia says, to which both Tanjiro and Kie nod.
"Bye, aunt!"
"Thank you for receiving us."
"All right, see you later."
Tatsuki, Orihime, and Ichigo speak respectively.
"See you later."
Tanjiro and Nezuko respond, and so the group heads out of the house.
It was already night, around seven o'clock, but the lighting on the street was good and several pedestrians were walking in different directions.
The group talked about various things on the way, catching up on some matters. Until Issei stopped, seeming to have noticed something.
"Damn, I forgot a thing. I will be back in a moment."
Before anyone could say anything the brunette had turned around and run away.
Everyone looked at Cynthia curiously, but she just shrugged, not knowing how to explain, or pretending not to know, what he could have "forgotten."
[...]
"Any news from Zero-six?"
At the top of the building across from the Kamado household, a group of three men, all hooded and with swords and pistols, were talking into a walkie-talkie.
"We found him, but zero-seven and zero-eight seem to have been killed. I don't understand, zero-six has lost an eye and is in a delirious state, talking about snakes and dinosaurs."
That left the group confused, but their first thought was possibly the effect of a Sacred Gear, whatever it was.
"Oh, looks like you found Apple."
A voice suddenly spoke from the middle of the group. The three jumped back in fright, but reacted quickly, pointing their weapons at the stranger, who was obviously Issei.
"Yo."
Sorry for the longer wait, I took a few days off from writing to refresh the ideas.
While this chapter was mostly dialogue, there will be a tiny bit of action next chapter.
Reviews are appreciated.
