Returning Welsh Dragon Hero (High School DxD - FGO Chapter 5)
Aika Kiryuu wasn't usually a girl that was into gossip.
Okay, that's not completely true. She's fine with gossip if it's interesting or entertaining, it's just that most of the time it's exaggerated tales.
Yet something off with Issei Hyoudou.
It wasn't really the talk of school of the Oppai Pervert acting differently than his usual self. People don't pay attention to Issei beyond his antics.
However involve the exclusive and mysterious Occult Research Club, headed by the school's two idol beauties, and suddenly Issei is someone people couldn't help but pay a bit more attention to. Be it with dread that he might join the ORC and spend time with Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima, or just plain jealousy of Issei doing so.
Talks started with Kuoh Academy's Handsome Prince, Yuuto Kiba asking Issei to head with him to the club. That was noteworthy of rumors going up but with time something that would have died down.
Then one day Issei went up to Kiba asking to speak with him in private, which spread a whole different set of juicy rumors. Although Aika observed Issei that day to see him head with Kiba to the ORC building.
Huh. So Issei asked Kiba to arrange a meeting with the Occult Club members? Maybe with Rias Gremory specifically? Hmm, he's has some pull for that meeting to come up that quick, or am I overthinking this?
It was almost like Issei now had a mysterious aura around him.
Like in art class when they were given an assignment to make structure or figure out of clay, Issei made a very detailed figurine of a girl in some unknown uniform. He then took to paining the figure making... a rather cute looking model. The clay model was made with such detail, that Aika could even say that the figure looked like a sassy genki girl. A girl with her hair styled in a side-ponytail on the left side with a hair band and a cowlick. Her expression was a grin of pure smugness.
Issei really seems different. Aika couldn't help but think.
"Wow, what anime character is that?" Motohama asked. "Huh, those sizes... are surprisingly complementary. I thought you'd make her boobs bigger."
"I kinda felt this just fit better." Issei said with a shrug.
"Okay, this character has too much 'realism' in her. Is this some recent actress you saw?" Matsuda wondered. "Also since when are you so good at model making? And do you mind making one for Dark Knight Ingrid for me?"
"Not a TV show, I saw this hair style once and when from there. And for Ingrid, sure. It costs ¥10,000." Issei said with a smirk.
"Wah?! Oh come on, bro. What happened to the friendship discount?" Matsuda argued.
"That is the friendship discount." Issei smirked.
The Perverted Trio just argued and joked around with one another, while something kept spinning in Aika's mind. Like a picture was slowly forming on what was up with Issei Hyoudou.
He's not as perverted as he once was. Or rather it's not something indiscriminate aimed at anything feminine. Oh sure, he acts out with his friend, but it felt like his heart wasn't in it. Not in the sense of people who grew up from their chuunibyou tendencies and became embarrassed of their past selves, but someone who's interest and focus just changed.
The way he walk, the way he carries himself and now that affectionate look he has, when making that clay model... Aika's thoughts coalesced and her eyes widened as she slowly came to a conclusion.
Aika stood up from her seat, heading straight to the Perverted Trio with manic look and clear purpose.
"Oh shit, here comes Kiryuu." Matsuda said in panic.
"H-Hide your junk. No, cover your ears, she can't hurt us anymore if we can't listen." Motohama said, even though he has the same ability as Aika, the Size Scouter. The ability to tell any girl's three sizes.
Yet Aika's ability to tell any guy's size just felt more devastating for the Perverted Trio, even thought Aika only threatened them with it, but never acted on that threat.
Aika stopped next to Issei's desk and pointed at him like a detective that solve a massive case.
"Hyoudou Issei, I have discovered your secret!" Aika declared as she pointed dramatically at him.
"Huh?" Issei blinked in surprise, as his friends looked and talked between themselves in confusion.
"You're no longer a virgin!" Aika shouted.
"Say, what?" Issei leaned away looking surprise.
""What?"" The other two perverts shouted at this betrayal.
""WHAT!?"" However, the classes' shout drowned out Motohama and Matsuda's shout.
"It took me a while to figure out, because unlike every other guy in school, when they finally get laid, they walk around with too much swag and jolly in their step. Or try to hide it, which makes it more obvious. You however just continued on naturally but it's still there! I can sense the difference!"
"Issei, you bastard! How dare you break our bro code of being virgins till graduation!" Motohama cried out and was actually crying, as he grabbed Issei by his shirt.
"We were suppose to be loser friends together dammit! Are you beginning your popular phase without us? Are we being left behind?" Matsuda shouted to the sky while crying as well.
"God dammit, Aika! Stop shouting weird stuff! And I didn't agree to that bullshit pact. Besides if either of you had the chance, don't act like you wouldn't jump up at it!" Issei shouted back as he and his friend fell into a play fight.
While this scene cause a bit of chaos in class, it all eventually died down, as the Kuoh students, it was just the Perverted Glasses Girl and the Perverted Trio getting into some antics, and shouldn't be taken seriously.
"HYOUDOU ISSEI! I HEARD YOU LAID YOUR PERVY HANDS ON ASIA-CHAN! PREPARE TO DIE!"
Then the Kendo Club Captain had to come and reignite the rumors.
Iori Murayama raged into class armed to the teeth with shinai and bokken, having only just heard the rumor of Issei having slept with a girl, due to being not in the art's class at the time.
The lunch period was the most chaotic one that the Perverted Trio had experienced in a while. Mostly due to Issei not being the slowest one of the trio all of a sudden, letting his friends bravely suffer the wrath of the Kendo Club so he can run away.
Sadly Iori wasn't distracted by the lesser bait, and focused slowly on Issei, running after him till she tired out first.
The next day at Kuoh Academy cemented Issei new reputation as a possible dangerous beast.
"Class, we're having a new student with us starting today. She doesn't know a lot of Japanese, so try to speak to her in English and help her out when you can." Said Class 2-B's homeroom teacher.
"Um, My, name, Asia Argento." A blonde foreign student greeted the class and bow. "Nice to meet you all!" The girl spoke with a cherubic voice and had an innocent charm around her, that made everyone want to hug and protect her.
Many 'aww's were said among the class.
Then Asia's eyes fell on Issei and lit up.
"Mr. Issei, look! We're in the same class!" Asia said excitedly as she went to take her seat next to Issei.
"Yeah, it's good to have you around, Asia. I hope school will be fun for you." Issei smiled back.
"Yes," Asia's smiled shined brighter.
The class's reaction however was much different.
"W-W-What the hell? Since when does Issei know this foreign beauty?" Matsuda asked in shock.
"Who are you, dude? You know cute foreign chicks. You speak an exotic foreign language and starting to charm girls. I feel like I don't know you anymore." Motohama said in equal shock. "Did you take classes on how to be a 'Damn Handsome' without telling us?"
"Is that why you hang out with Kiba?" Matsuda cried out. "You're learning how to seduce girls and not taking us with you!"
"What 'charm girls'?" Issei protested. "No girl in school likes me, just like you two. And stop with the insane conspiracies!"
As the Perverted Trio argued, the class were also reacting in shock.
"The foreign beauty knows Hyoudou? Why? What's their relationship?"
"Did Issei just speak Italian? Since when does Issei know Italian?"
"I'm dreaming. This is a dream, this has to be a dream."
And then there were two other girls talking away from the commotion.
"Did Issei... kinda sound sexy talking Italian? ...Oh god, I just thought Issei sounded sexy." Said one girl with horrified wide-eyes.
"What's going on in the world!? Nothing makes sense anymore!" Her friend held her head, shouting to the heavens for things to make sense again.
For the rest of that day, things were hectic, with Issei almost getting lynched by his classmates, when Iori protectively asked Asia if Issei did anything untoward to her.
Asia didn't understand and Iori was too shy to say it outright.
"Say, Asia-chan, did you and Issei have sex?" Aika of course blew things up, by asking that question in clear English, and Asia being innocent girl she was, was too embarrassed and red-faced to answer at the beginning, almost causing another misunderstanding.
And so after the arrival of Asia Argento to Kuoh, things eventually calmed down and fell into new norm.
Days passed for Issei as usual with nothing thankfully happening.
It was just another usual day in school, just a math class with Issei writing along the day's lesson.
Suddenly Issei blinked and sat up. His eyes narrowing into a glare.
He abruptly stood up, surprising the other students at the sound of his chair scrapping against the floor, and cutting through the flow of the lesson.
"Mr. Hyoudou?" The math teacher blinked in confusion.
Issei was already heading to the door.
"Sorry an emergency came up." Issei just said, as he passed the confused Asia, he gave her a reassuring smile, that everything was fine, and went on his way.
Issei was walking down the hall, heading into a straight line into the direction of his home.
"Hyoudou-san, what do you think you're doing outside of class?" Sona Shitori, the Student Council President, and more importantly, Sona Sitri, the other devil supervising Kuoh Town with Rias, came up in his path. She was there with her ever present Queen, Tsubaki Shinra.
"Family emergency, had to leave." Issei didn't stop walking, almost walking right into Sona if she didn't move out of the way. Issei could have said that she was also outside of class, but didn't feel like bantering.
"Hyoudou-san, I'm sure it's something that can wait-" Sona began to say with an annoyed sigh, since Issei's disruptive action, caused her to leave her own class, to go check out the commotion.
"Family. Emergency." Issei's emerald eyes sent a shiver down Sona's spine, even her Queen who wasn't the target of his gaze felt a sudden bout of fright. "There's a Fallen at my home." Issei said, his alarm barrier had tripped up and alerted him.
"Wha-" Sona's eyes widened.
She didn't have time to react as Issei finally reached a window, opened it and jumped straight out. From the third floor.
Then fire erupted from his shoulder blades, as he rocked out in the sky toward his home.
Sona straight at Issei's blatant use of magical powers without any thought to secrecy in disbelief.
The she turned to see the few students who peaked out their class to check the commotion, and were now staring at the whole scene with wide-eyes.
"Dammit." Sona sighed. She's gonna have to spend all day, hypnotizing students to forget this little fuss.
A few seconds later Issei landed at his house's entrance.
[It's the Scapegoat of God. Be careful of that one, he likes to talk.] Ddraig at told him on the way there.
Isssi entered his house to find his parents entertaining a guest. A tall man in business suit made from a mix of dark colors, with black and blond hair.
"Issei, you're back early." His mom asked him looking surprised.
"Hey, Issei, um, this is Mr. Azazel. He's a guidance councilor for students with special talents. He stopped by to ask about you." His father said.
"Yo, nice to meet you, Issei-kun." Azazel said cheerfully as he held a tea cup and saucer his mom had served him. "I've been wanting to talk to you. I figured we'd meet when school's finished, but this works out better." He said with an easy going attitude, as if Issei ditching school and coming home right away, was something he calculated for.
This barrier is much more advanced than I expected. I mean, I genuinely entered without any hostile intent, so I wonder what triggered it. Azazel thought to himself.
Issei however, completely ignored the Leader of the Fallen Angels, and went to his parents, placing a hand on their shoulders.
He frowned as he realized something the barrier protection missed by, still alerted him on just to be on the safe side. Something he should have accounted for.
Yes, people don't steal from Dragons without heavy consequences, and can't do anything to a dragon's treasures till the dragon is dealt with. However messing with a treasure without taking it was hazy territory, since the treasure technically wasn't stolen.
Azazel used magic on his parents. Standard hypnosis. Nothing that big or harmful. Something that would go under the radar.
Likeability and normality. Just making himself seem like someone trust-worthy and already in the know about the supernatural, thus if his parents mention something about Issei's magical side of things off hand, they don't think they made an error.
With a hand on his parents' shoulder Issei sent a small pulse of magical energy and broke the hypnosis. It wasn't something strong enough to stand under scrutiny anyways. Just knowing one was hypnotized would break this minor hypnosis.
"Huh? Issei, is everything alright?" Miki asked in confusion, suddenly feeling a rush of energy like she drank some coffee.
"Son," Goro asked with a more serious tone, picking up on Issei's aggression, even if his son had a dead calm face. "Something came up?"
"Yeah could you guys come here for a second?" Issei moved his parents behind the couch to cover them, and took their seat, facing Azazel.
"Oh! My bad. Most teens I know tend to want to hide their magical powers from their parents. I'm sorry, I kinda assumed you were the same." Azazel sat up, leaning forward with interest in his expression.
"So you lied about being a guidance councilor?" Miki asked with furrowed brows, as Goro stood next to her, with his arm around her shoulders.
"Actually I am a guidance councilor for my own academy for those with Sacred Gears." Azazel said as he pointed at Miki's question. He sounded jovial and light-hearted. "The real reason I came here is because one of my subordinates causes some trouble for Issei-kun here. I wished to right that wrong, so here I am." He finished with a wide smile.
"Oh. I see." Goro said, and the Hyoudou elders relaxed a bit.
Issei however sitting down facing Azazel, while leaning forward like a punk, with his arms resting on his knees, didn't react positively to Azazel's-in his own opinion-heartfelt apology.
"You know, for someone that wants to make amends, your first move, rather than say, contact me directly, send a message for Rias or Sona of wanting a meeting, since I don't know you." Issei began. "Rather than do any of that, you came to my parent's home while I wasn't here and hypnotized them to gather information on me."
"What?" Goro hissed out, as Miki gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Woah, I did not do anything that drastic." Azazel held his hand up. "As I said, most teens don't tell their parents about magic and the supernatural. I just assumed you did the same. It would have more insulting and problematic to you, if I was the one to inform them of the supernatural world." Azazel tried to argue. He could see that the Red Dragon Emperor was more aggressive and distrustful than he expected, coming in rather strongly at the perceived slight, but Azazel could still work with this. And if worse comes to worse, he could always call Vali to interject if things turned rough.
"I... suppose that makes sense." Miki said slowly, trying to instinctively play peacemaker.
"No, it doesn't." Goro said, deciding not to be nice to this-Not a guest-intruder. "Issei's right, you could have used other methods to contact us that didn't feel so scummy. You could have called that Gremory girl."
"I'm the Leader of the Grigori. Can't really be seen asking a little girl for permission to talk to someone unrelated to her." Azazel shrugged playful as he explained that.
"Then you could have just called us like a normal person." Miki said this time, starting to get annoyed with the fallen's playboy attitude.
"Haha, I guess I forgot in my old age." Azazel smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
For a few moment, things then just feel into silence, as Issei's quietness was causing the conversation to die off. Azazel just waited for the boy's response. He could easily deal with whatever tantrum the teen acted out, by being a reasonable adult.
"You're old, right?" Issei finally said.
"Ouch, that's kinda hurtful-"
"And as a being that's thousands of years old at minimum and the leader of a group that rebelled against Heaven," Issei continued, not bothering to acknowledge Azazel's response. "I'm guessing you're an expert at persuading people with difficult and uncooperative personalities to listen to you, and follow your lead."
"Well, I don't wanna brag, but-"
"So," Issei's now glowing emerald eyes, put Azazel's danger sense on alarm. "You have exactly one minute to convince me not to kill you, then proceed to go out and genocide the Fallen race. Or get the fuck out of my house. Ddraig, start the countdown."
"What 'countdown'?-"
[I,]
It was one word. Just one syllable, but the sheer presence and weight behind the word, and the energy build up that began sent Azazel into panic.
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait! You gotta be kidding me! Isn't this a little bit of an overreaction?" Azazel said with a shaky smile as he held his hands in front of him.
[Who is about to awaken,]
Azazel paled. This was not as planned.
OH FUCK, HE IS NOT JOKING!
