It has been a while since Issei had a dream like this. It has been a long, long while since Issei dreamed of this room… that bed… this bed… these walls… and the bile on the floor. Issei felt like he could control this dream, like he could move in it instead of being a passenger just along for the ride. Issei looked at his hands, seeing that they were no longer the hands of a young boy but of a young man. He got up from the bed, which had grown along with him, and walked to the door.

"Hey," a voice called out to him. The voice was genderless, high pitched like a kid's voice. It was also ghastly, like a wisp of the wind that echoed along a mountain range.

Issei turned his head. A young girl was seated standing in between the two beds on opposite sides of the room. She had long violet hair that reached just after her knees. The hair covered one eye, with the other glowing gold. Her skin was white, pale as snow— deathly white. "Are you leaving?"

Issei turned his whole body to face hers. He dared not step towards her, for he felt that he wouldn't be able to escape if he did. He simply smiled sadly. "Yes, I am."

"I'm going to be lonely."

"I know."

"I'm scared."

"I am too."

The girl looked him dead in the eye. Her eyes were dead, as if she had looked into the worst of humanity… as if she had felt the worst of humanity. Despite that, she looked at Issei with a look of desperation. Her small fingers wrinkled her dirty gray shirt, a once white fabric now muddied with dirt and blood.

"Are you leaving us?"

Issei blinked, and other children stood beside the girl. He knew all of them. Every single one of them. He played with them, bled with them… fought with them. Issei looked every single one of them in the eye. It nearly made him want to cry. Nay, he did want to cry.

Issei sighed.

"Yes… Yes, I'm leaving you," Issei said as he crouched down, so that he was eye to eye with them all. "I won't forget you though. I won't forget the memories that we had, even if most of it was bad." He smiled, "You're my friends after all."

The ghosts smiled faintly at the young man. "Live for us."

"I will."

One by one, the children faded away. They didn't walk, nor disappear in a blink of light, but seemed to lose all color until they could no longer be seen. Their faces disappeared slowly, until the girl with the purple hair was left.

Issei reached out his hand to her, as if he could offer a way out of this hellhole. The girl stared at the hand for a full minute before looking back at Issei. "I'm sorry, Trihexa. I couldn't keep our promise."

Trihexa stared emotionlessly into Issei. "I was the one who couldn't keep it though," she walked towards Issei and placed her hands over his fingers and forced them to close into a fist. Issei was taken aback, the child that he was used to seeing was no longer there, but instead a beautiful young woman. The woman's hair was short and a dark violet inside but raven black on the outside. Her eye was golden and the other was hidden behind her bangs. She smiled, making Issei's heart beat faster due to her beauty.

"Live and love, Six Nine," she said as she pulled Issei to his feet, turned him around, and pushed him towards the glowing door. Issei gripped the door handle and opened it forcefully, as if he was expecting it to be tough to open. Past the door, he saw the people he cared about, Rias and Irina, his parents, Koneko, Ravel, Runeas, his other wife, and Asia. He felt Trihexa's soft lips press against his cheek for but a brief moment before he was flung towards the light.

"I'll live for you and I'll love you, Six Six Six," Issei whispered to himself as he closed his eyes, ready to embrace the light.

Issei woke up and he could feel some tears in his eyes. He slowly wiped them away, so as not to wake up his bedroom mates. Irina was clinging to his right arm while Koneko held the other arm, Rias was lower down the bed and fast asleep by his groin while Runeas was above Issei. Ravel was at the edge of the bed, having wanted to join in the fun earlier but too embarrassed to sleep on the Issei-dogpile.

Issei softly, silently, slipped away through the tangle of limbs, turning into a ghost to safely get away. He floated over the ladies and gave each one of them a soft kiss on the cheek before going through the floor and materializing in the kitchen. His body solidified and his bare feet touched the cold tiles.

"Ah, Issei-san," he heard Asia say in surprise. "Good morning!" the girl's face was as red as Rias' hair.

"Good morning Asia," Issei greeted.

"Isn't it cold?"

"Not really, why?"

"W-Well, you're naked, uhm," Asia stuttered.

"Oh, sorry about that," Issei grinned sheepishly. He grew cotton on his arm and silk from who-knows-where, spun it into a nightgown that hid his unmentionables. All within a few seconds. To Asia, it looked like he was performing a henshin, with light particles covering all of Issei's body and him being clothed the next moment.

"So, we're going home later, did you have fun?" Issei asked.

"I did! The volleyball game the other day was exciting! Yuuma-chan also took me shopping in the nearby town and-" Issei listened to Asia talk all about her summer vacation. He smiled and nodded and asked for clarifications at times but was content to stay quiet as she spoke of her time. Issei prepared breakfast and Asia helped, chatting with Issei all the way.

"Thank you, Issei-san," Asia ended her long story.

"What for?"

"For the fun times that we have together!"

"Shouldn't you thank Irina?" Issei asked.

"I already thanked her, Rias-nee also," Asia said. "Irina-san saved me, but it was Issei-san that taught me how to have fun," she smiled, making Issei's heart skip a beat. Her smile was the smile of a Saint– despite the loneliness and hardships that she faced, she was still able to smile without sadness or regret.

It was something that Issei looked at with awe and respect. It was also something that he hoped to learn from Asia.

"Thank you, Asia."

"You're welcome?" Asia looked at Issei with confusion.

"You're cute, you know that."

"Th-Thank you Issei-san," Asia's face turned red.

"You're so very cute that I feel like I should snuggle you and take you to a castle and guard you forever."

"That's a joke right Issei-san?"

Issei grinned.

"Issei-san?"