Chapter 13: Catcakes
Issei sighed as soon as he made it into his class. Taking his seat, he noticed Noboru Iwata, the wielder of Army of One turning to him with a grin.
"You look like you had a long day," he remarked. "What, did you stay up too long reading hentai?"
"Oi, where the hell did you get that idea?! And no, it wasn't hentai. I was just… busy."
"Busy? Do tell…"
"Has anyone ever told you that you're really nosy?"
"I tell him that every time," spoke up Kenta Itawari, the lone boy without a Stand in their class. "He's an annoyance, isn't he?"
"Hey, shut your trap, asshole!"
"You keep it down first, fatass."
"Stop calling me that, you little -"
"WILL BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP, ALREADY?!"
The one to yell at the two of them was the red-haired and horse-faced Daichi Bushida. Yelping, the other two went back to their silence.
"Hyoudou. Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I am. Thanks for that."
"Don't mention it. As long as you're fine."
Nodding to him once more, Issei looked around the class. He tried to get a bearing on the other people in the class. He knew that in most classes, people don't usually get along with everyone. However, 2-E wasn't most classes. As such, he knew that the longer he stayed in that class, the greater an interaction he'd have with everyone else in there.
One of them started walking up to him. Another familiar one, having dirty blonde hair and a nasty scar running through the right of his face.
"You two, I thought you should know," Fumuhiro Sasaki spoke to Iwata and Itawari while casting a dirty glance at Issei. "The Catcakes are back."
"Wait, really?!" Noboru yelled and stood up, while Kenta widened his eyes as well. "Damn! It's been so long!"
"Good for you. I'm too busy today, so I won't be coming. Whoever wants to go can do so."
Issei blinked in confusion. "S-Sorry, what are you - "
"None of your business, outsider," Sasaki immediately retorted.
Wisely, Issei kept quiet. He still hated how Sasaki kept outcasting him from the rest of the class, but he couldn't do anything about it then. The only common ground between them was his Stand.
Sighing, Issei quietly kept to himself. There really was no point in pushing things. Hopefully, things would get better with time.
"Okay, everyone, take your seats," their teacher walked in to see the students at their seats, ready to begin their homeroom. "Before we take roll, there's something you should know. We've got a new student coming into the class."
Immediately, everyone's gazes hardened. Issei, on the other hand, bashed his head onto his desk.
'Why… Did they really…?'
"Hey, bro," Noboru asked from beside him. "Do you know who it is?"
"Y-Yeah, it's a friend of mine."
"Cool. Will we have any Stand trouble with her?"
"No, I don't think so. She knows about them, after all."
"Hyoudou-kun!" Azumi Ahame called out from ahead of him. "Is it the nun?!"
"Yeah! I think so!"
"Wait, wasn't she Italian?! Does she even know Japanese?"
"W-Well…" Issei gingerly rubbed the back of his head. "S-See for yourself, I guess."
With a show of his hand, the door opened and in walked the familiar blonde, that time decked out in the grey uniform of Kuoh Academy.
"G-Good Morning! I am Asia Argento! Nice to meet you all!"
Issei winced. He did not hear any double speech from her, meaning that she was actually speaking in Japanese. As expected, Daichi's and Azumi's eyes quirked in confusion.
"Everyone, please treat her well," their teacher commented. "Argento-san, we've set out a table for you as well. Please take a seat."
"O-Ok!" Scanning the room, she immediately noticed that there was another empty desk right behind Issei's own. As such, she rushed to that seat and sat behind him.
"Asia!" Issei whisper-yelled to her. "What are you doing here?!"
Asia gulped. "S-Sitr – I mean, Shitori-kaichou told me that there were no other openings…"
Issei winced. There was no way he could talk about her language barrier problem without letting Noboru and Kenta listen in on them. As such, they had nothing to do but wait until the end of homeroom and until their teacher left.
When the bell rang and the teacher left, the first ones to approach Asia were, unsurprisingly, Azumi and Daichi.
"Argento-san, right?" Azumi spoke up. "What are you doing here? You know about us, right? I'm guessing Hyoudou-kun told you about us and our… abilities, right?"
"Y-Yes, he did," Asia nervously replied, feeling the weight of everyone's gazes on her. Gripping her fists, she nearly yelled out her next statement. "I-I have one of those too!"
Azumi blinked, but then widened her eyes. "Right! You had that Healing Stand, didn't you?"
"Y-Yes, Twilight Healing," she said, summoning her two rings.
"Enough of that," Daichi spoke up. "How do you know Japanese? Weren't you Italian?"
"Umm…" Asia's lip quivered as she gazed at Issei. In the meantime, Issei racked his mind for a solution he could give.
Surprisingly, it was Asia herself who came up with a solution. "I-It's my Sacre – I mean… my Stand's Ability," she lied to them, frowning as she did it. Issei could easily tell she was lying, but he was trained in detecting lies by his brother, so that wasn't surprising. "S-Sometimes, my healing ability gives me some random knowledge that my patient has. I-I healed Issei once day, a-a-and I learned Japanese from h-him."
"Y-Yeah, that's it!" Issei immediately supported her lie, hoping to take some of the weight off her. "Thing is… she learned how to speak it, but she didn't how to read or write properly."
"Huh?" Azumi flinched. "Then how did you pass the entrance exam?"
"She was given a paper in an English script," Issei kept lying. "I hate to say it, but she's pretty close to the administration, so they took some… leeway with her."
"So… Nepotism?" Azumi asked.
"What's that?" Daichi questioned her.
"Nepotism is, like, when some boss takes their kid as a manager for their company because they're their kid and not because they're good at their job."
Issei winced at the harsh reference. "W-Well… I guess so. B-But still, she was in a pretty bad place earlier, so she had to be transferred here for her safety." It was always best to include some truth in your lies, after all.
"A bad place?" Daichi frowned at the remark, definitely remembering how he'd treated her when he first met her. "Sorry, again," he turned to her and told.
"I-It's okay," Asia waved him off, feeling thankful that Issei could take over for her.
Issei sighed as well, casting a glance at the others hoping they all got it as well. He was glad to see that most were turning back to their own business. However, he noticed that one of them was frowning at him. A girl with bubblegum pink hair that he didn't know how she got away with in their school and a makeup-caked face with some of the most beautiful blue eyes he'd seen. He could hardly take his own eyes off them; it was almost as if an ocean roared behind them. However, her pretty features were marred by the scowl on her face when looking at him.
Daichi looked at Asia once more. "I remember… you couldn't see Stands, couldn't you?"
"You can't see them?!" Kenta exclaimed from beside Issei and turned back to face her. "Really?"
"U-Um, no, I can't, sorry," Asia said, shaking her head. "I-I'm sorry if I can't help because of that."
"N-No, it's fine!" Kenta replied, rubbing the back of his brown hair while blushing. "Thing is… I can see them, but I don't have a Stand of my own. Maybe… maybe we could stick together, then? As, well, incomplete Stand Users?"
Asia widened her eyes, but then eagerly nodded. "Of course! Please take care of me!"
Kenta was taken aback for a moment by her smile but then grinned at her as well. "Sure! You can count on me!"
Issei blankly watched the two, then smiled and turned away.
Classes were difficult with Asia stopping him to get help with pretty much everything. It got to the point where they had to join tables just to be able to get her to understand everything. However, they eventually got through the ordeal of morning classes and reached lunch.
"Come on, Asia," he called her. "I should introduce you to my friends. Fair warning, they can be a bit much."
"It's okay," she said, smiling at him. "They are your friends, aren't they?"
"Ahaha, yeah…" She would definitely be surprised by the company he chooses to keep.
The two of them were the only ones to leave the class, while everyone else stayed back as they typically did. Issei took a moment to show Asia around the school and point out the important spots and entrances. Thankfully, they had Raynare's bento boxes with them and were eating from them as they went. In time, they made it to the cafeteria and got her introduced to Matsuda and Motohama, who obviously threw a fit that he was being accompanied by such a cute girl. As expected, Asia was taken aback by their demeanour. However, a couple other students nearby along with Issei managed to keep the two away. For a moment, Issei wondered if Asia would actually become popular from how many people talked to her after that. However, as soon as she mentioned that she was in Class 2-E, the whole crowd around her dissipated.
Asia frowned as soon as she saw their actions. "… Why are they like that?" she asked Issei.
"It's our class, really. They see us as murderers."
"Huh?! B-But we didn't kill anyone!"
"Maybe not, but as long as we're in 2-E, we'll be sharing their burden. I told you about that incident of theirs, right?"
"B-But they had to, right? Isn't that what you told me?"
"Yes, that's true. The problem is that most people don't really understand life-or-death situations as we do. Also, the rumour mill is way stronger than any of us."
Having their mood turned sombre, they hastily headed back to their classroom. They stashed away their empty bento boxes on the way, mentally sending thanks to Raynare for making those for them.
"Um, Issei? There's something I need to ask you."
"Hm? What is it, Asia?"
"Rias-Buchou asked me to hand out some flyers as a club activity. Could you… could you help me with them?"
"Flyers?" Issei echoed. "Well… sure, but aren't there better things you could do? Gremory-san told me that you guys had to do contracts of some kind."
"Y-Yes, but that's only after a few days of flyer duty. She also said that I could ask you if I wanted. So… could you please help?"
Normally, Issei would have denied her. However, he recalled how Raynare mentioned that she'd need a day to fix up their house. Also, his will to say no to her was fading with every second he looked into her puppy dog eyes.
"O-Okay, fine," he relented. "I'll help you."
"Yay! Thank you!" she beamed as she glomped him with her arms.
"Wha- Asia!" Issei reacted rather fidgety upon receiving Asia's hug. In a few moments, Issei awkwardly placed his own hands on her back, rubbing her softly as she hummed deeper into him. Issei had his first hug from a girl that he could remember rather suddenly.
"Having fun?"
"Wah!" Issei yelped as soon as he registered the strange voice and pulled away from Asia, who was just as taken aback as him. Looking to the side, Issei noticed that same pink-haired girl that watched him earlier glowering at him with a light-blue-haired girl with wide cute-looking moss green eyes next to her. The second girl was far shorter than her as well.
"So, you're the new students in our class," the taller girl with pink hair said. "We haven't quite introduced ourselves yet. I'm Aia Ito, and this is Hanako Kogawa."
The now-introduced Hanako Kogawa simply flashed a peace sign at them with a smile. "Yahoo! Call me Hana-chan! Also," Hanako leaned forward and pressed a finger on her lips. "You're in deeeeep trouble if Aia-chan is onto you!"
"Hanako, no need to spoil it," Aia said, making the shorter girl quickly apologize with a sly smile regardless.
"Ah, okay," Issei said. "Well, I'm sure you know this by now, but I'm Issei Hyoudou. This is Asia Argento."
Aia quirked a brow. "And your Stand abilities?"
Issei paused at that question, slightly turning his heel as if regarding her in a new light. "And why do you want to know our abilities?"
Aia frowned at him, crossing her arms under her modest bust in frustration. "We will be fighting together someday, won't we? We should know each other's abilities."
Issei pursed his lips suspiciously. For some reason, her question ticked him off. "Well… I'll tell you when I need to, then."
Aia shook her head. "I remember what Daichi-san told us about you. Beetles, yes? A colony Stand in the form of insects that can increase your power level."
Issei knew immediately that she was confusing Boosted Gear's ability for Beetles, but he held himself back from reacting in any way.
"Ah," Aia continued regardless of his answer. "There was something lost in translation, wasn't it?"
"Huh?" Issei remarked, wondering how she could understand that. "Uh, no, you're right about that."
"You don't need to lie," Aia remarked, with Hanako chuckling nearby. "I can see through it. In fact, you lied earlier today, didn't you? When you mentioned that Argento-san here had a Stand?"
"What are you talking about?!" Issei retorted, feeling disturbed at how easily he was being read. "Asia has a Stand! You can get Daichi to confirm that for you!"
Aia looked at Hanako and simply shook her head. The blue-haired girl simply hummed in understanding, while Aia turned back to face him.
"Seriously, you can stop lying already," Aia continued. "You can't lie to me."
'How… How is she doing this?!' Issei thought. 'How can she see through me so easily? Actually…'
"Hey… You never told me what your Stand ability was. Daichi told you about my ability, shouldn't I know yours?"
Hanako laughed out loud, while Aia smirked. "You're asking the right questions now, it would seem. Well, at least this will let you know that it's useless to lie to me."
'As I thought. Her Stand had something to do with this.'
"My Stand is Ocean Eyes. It's not a Stand that can be outwardly manifested because it's placed in the rods and cones of my eyes. Ocean Eyes allows me to read anything."
Issei waited for a moment, hoping to hear something further, but then noticed the silence that followed her words. "Wait," Issei widened his eyes upon realising that was all she meant to say. "You can read anything?! Are there no limits to it?"
"I wouldn't tell you if there were limits in the first place, but my ability truly has no flaws. I can read anything. That does not only include other languages, however. I can read the state of any object that I use. I can read the quality of anything. I can read people. I can read the kind of people they are. I can read their mind at any moment. I can read their intentions. I can read what their next step will be. I can read what decisions they make in an instant."
Issei gaped at the explanation of her ability. "So… you read us and found that we were lying?"
"Exactly. That's why I said that it's useless to lie to me. I will be reading you the whole time, after all."
Issei looked at Asia, who seemed worried about what she was hearing. He couldn't blame her, after all. Everything he had done to keep their class away from his troubles and the supernatural would be undone in an instant if that girl had her way.
"So… why are you interrogating us?" Issei asked, hoping to get a better read on her in the meantime. "We did not say anything we did to harm you, after all."
Aia widened her eyes for a moment after he said that. "You… are serious there. You weren't lying. So, you weren't trying to deceive us by lying to us about your abilities?"
Issei gaped and stepped back as he finally understood her viewpoint. "Oh no, no, no! We didn't mean it like that, not at all! In fact, we're actually trying to protect you by keeping this from you."
Aia paused for a moment and pressed her finger to her chin, folding her arms as she did so. "You're not lying there either… and what you're saying does make sense. Your claims that you have a Stand are true, but Beetles' ability is the only lie. Argento-san apparently doesn't have a Stand, but Daichi and Azumi mentioned that she has an ability of some kind. Which means that your abilities are not Stands, aren't they?"
Issei grimly nodded. "Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Please don't ask me any further, however. I don't want Gravity acting against your class again."
Hanako's smirk dropped while Aia's lip quivered. "… Gravity? Are you facing trouble with other Stands?"
"No, it's connected to these other abilities of ours. I'm not going to tell you what it is, though. I don't want you to chase us so far that you fall into the pit we are now in. If you do, I am certain that your Gravity will never leave you alone anymore. I will tell you that I am doing whatever I can to keep your class away from it, however. Some things didn't go as I liked, like with Asia being in our class, but I'm still going to do everything I can to keep them away from you."
Aia watched Issei's stable form and clenched fists. She didn't even need her Stand ability to know that he was being absolutely serious about his claims. He would actually do anything to keep them safe.
To such behaviour, Aia couldn't help but smile.
"In that case, I have to thank you for everything," she said, her tone losing the harshness it held earlier. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about what I've discovered here. I owe you that much for reading you so much, after all."
"Thank you, I would appreciate that."
"I-I thank you too!" Asia spoke up from nearby. "S-Sorry, it's just… Issei has been going through so much for your sake. I-I didn't want you t-to misunderstand it!"
Aia shook her head. "Don't worry, Argento-san. I can't misunderstand anything, you see?"
Carrying on light conversation, the four made their way back to their class. However, they had not noticed another person standing past a bend in the wall, listening to them. A sandy-blonde boy with a scar running through the right of his face grimaced upon hearing their explanation and walked away.
The setting sun beamed down upon them as they stood in the Market Square and handed out flyers to whoever would accept them. Issei never really understood why anyone would accept such things if they didn't know what they actually entailed, but it still didn't stop him from calling out "Let us grant you your wish!" while handing out those Devil Flyers he once hated.
However, his handout was far less than his partner's.
Asia was standing nearby constantly handing flyers like him. The only difference was that people would actually respond to her smile and take the flyer she handed out. She cleared through three of their five stacks while he was still on his first.
However, he was there for a greater purpose than simply handing out flyers.
Trained on Asia's form was a pair of beady eyes connected to a white-starred Beetle. Watching some middle-aged guy walk up behind her and aim his hand at her ass, another Beetle quickly dashed to his palm and bit it out.
"AH!"
"Oh? Are you okay, sir?"
"A-Ah, no, I'm fine. Please continue, little girl."
Issei smirked as he knocked off another pervert from Asia's vicinity. Truthfully, that was the reason he opted to tag along. Asia was far too innocent to deal with people like that, so he'd be the one to do so for her. However, he wasn't intimidating enough to stop them by himself, so he opted for the use of his invisible Beetles instead.
In a few moments, however, Issei noticed that some guy accepted his last poster and his satchel was empty. He walked back to Asia to check on her situation, although he already knew through his Beetle that she was done as well. All he had to do was move to her location.
"Asia," he greeted her. "Good work today."
"Ah, I'm so tired… Let's head back home, shall we?"
"Yeah… but maybe Raynare's still working on it. We didn't get a message from her, after all."
Apparently, Raynare had a phone and had somehow found their numbers. She messaged them that she'd say when they could return home, so they could enjoy a day together in the meantime.
"So, where to now?" Issei wondered aloud. "Want to grab a bite to eat?"
"Ah, Issei, Koneko's here!"
Surely enough, walking past the bend of their meeting point was the short white-haired girl, who quickly approached the two of them as expressionlessly as ever.
"Argento-senpai… and Hyoudou-senpai. What are you doing here?"
"Well, Asia asked me for help, and I couldn't really say no," Issei admitted, understanding that Koneko meant that to him rather than her.
Koneko paused, then curtly nodded with no shift in her lips. "Okay. You are done for the day then, Argento-senpai. Buchou will try and get you doing contracts tomorrow."
"O-Oh, I'll look forward to it!"
Nodding, Koneko walked past them and headed in the opposite direction she came from.
"Hey, Koneko?" Issei asked. "The school is in the opposite direction, right? Where are you going?"
Koneko stopped and turned back to face him. "Catcakes."
"Catcakes? What are those?"
"A pastry shop I know sells them sometimes. They're the best cupcakes I've ever had."
"The best cupcakes?" Asia echoed. "What are cupcakes?"
Koneko stared, bewildered, at Asia's comment. "Come with me. I'll show you."
Asia hastily followed after her. Issei thought about not letting Asia have the best of the best for the first time she tried something to not ruin her taste for it, but at that point, it was far too late to stop her. So, he simply followed behind them, wondering just what those 'Catcakes' were.
They didn't have to walk too far to get to their destination. Since they were already in the Market Square, they just had to navigate through a few streets and dodge Asia's curiosity at what certain things were until they finally reached their stop. Their destination was a rather large pastry shop, 'Sakurai's Cakes'.
"They say that it's the owner's daughter who makes them," Koneko explained further as they opened the door, ignoring the light jingle. "However, she's studying overseas, so she doesn't show up too often. When she does, these cupcakes are back on sale."
Surprisingly, the line wasn't far too long. There were a couple people there, but it seemed to be closing hours, so service was slowing down. After a few minutes of waiting, they finally made it to the counter. Koneko ordered 10 Catcakes at once in a box, while Issei and Asia settled for 1 each. Paying their dues, they soon got their treats in a fancy pink box. The plastic over the box showed the frosting atop the cupcake dotted with chocolate strips and sprinkles in such a way as to resemble a cat's face. Asia's showed a cat that was laughing, while Issei's was pouting.
Koneko waved them off and left the store, saying that she would devour those at home. Meanwhile, Issei and Asia appreciated the ambience of the shop, so they took a seat in the store and finally took a bite out of their cupcakes.
Asia moaned in delight at the sweetness of the cake melting in her mouth. Meanwhile, Issei appreciated the depth of flavour and could see why people enjoyed those cakes so much. He still felt they had too much sugar. Despite that, he enjoyed the slightly toasty flavours of the brown butter used and the soft pillowy texture of the cake which still melted in his mouth very easily, topped with frosting that actually tasted of strawberries and not chemical fruit products.
"These are good," Issei commented.
"Mm!" Asia hummed in agreement, eagerly taking another bite. Issei smiled at how Asia enjoyed every bite she took. It would be a long road, but Issei would absolutely make sure that Asia got to experience everything she'd never had the chance to.
The door jingled again, catching Issei's attention. He was facing the entrance with his seat, so it wasn't difficult to notice the people coming in. Upon noticing who those people were, Issei immediately faltered.
The ones who entered the store were familiar faces from Class 2-E. Fumihiro, Sakuna, Noboru, Aia and Hanako, along with a few people he didn't know the names of but had seen in 2-E.
He watched the group approach the counter and ask for something. They didn't pay anything nor did they receive any cakes, so he assumed they were there for something else. Taking one more look at Asia, he told her that he'd be back in a moment then left to approach them.
"Hey guys," he introduced himself to them. "Fancy seeing you all here."
They blinked at his sudden appearance. Fumihiro groaned loudly. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.
"Well, a friend recommended the spot to me for their Catcakes. I thought I'd check it out."
"Come oooonn, Fumi-kun," Sakuna Hirose chuckled as he pulled out a vacuum flask and a couple glasses from his school bag. "Let the straaanger live."
Sakuna uncapped his flask and poured out some dark liquid into one of the paper glasses. "Want some?" he asked, presenting the dark liquid to Issei.
"What is it?"
"Coffee, of course. Ethiopian Blend made with a Mokka Pot if you want the nitty gritty."
Looking at the glass of coffee, Issei slowly nodded and accepted the glass. He pulled in a chair from a nearby empty table and started to sip on it, enjoying the slight bitterness it offered after that super sweet dessert.
"So…" Issei started to ask them, setting down his glass. "What brings you here? I didn't see you ordering anything."
"We're not here for the food," Aia Ito responded to him, earning an inquisitive look from Sakuna. Fingering through her bubblegum pink hair, she continued. "The one who made those cakes was an old classmate of ours."
Issei smiled, then faltered as he understood what they meant. "Wait, you mean… he is…"
"Yep, she was with us during the incident," Aia carried on. "She was the one who actually attracted the Stand Users to us since she already had a Stand by then."
Mentally correcting his assumed gender for the person in question, Issei carried on. "Wait, she's the one who made those cupcakes, right?"
"Catcakes," Noboru eagerly corrected.
"Huh?"
"They're not any regular cupcakes, they're Catcakes! They're her Catcakes!" Noboru added to his response, pumping his fists as he did. "Call them by their name!"
"O-Okay, then, Catcakes," Issei accepted his claims. "Still, she's the one who made them? I heard that it was the owner's daughter who made them?"
"Anyone here talking about me?"
The cutely shrill voice made him turn around to face a new person. She was short, just as short as Koneko, in fact. Just like Koneko, she didn't have much going on in her chest area but more than made up for it with a cute face. In fact, that girl had pink hair just like Aia along with pink eyes, only looking a lot more natural than hers. Her hair was cut to about shoulder length and was decorated with a red ribbon patterning one of her bangs. Her wide grin outlined a visible left fang. She was wearing a white shirt with a cat emblem and a pink skirt along with white and pink sneakers.
"Nice to meet you all again," the girl said, waving at them. "Who is the new one?"
"He's a nobody," Sasaki spoke up, looking away.
"Fumi, stop it," Hanako chided him and playfully bashed his shoulder. "Suki-chan, this is a new student in our class. Guess what, guess what? He's a Stand User too!"
"Oh?" the girl grinned at him. "Who are you then?"
"Ah, well…" Issei looked away for a moment, gathered his confidence, and then turned back to face her. "I'm Issei Hyoudou. Nice to meet you."
"Issei, huh," she said, ignoring the last-name convention. "I'm Natsuki Sakurai. My Stand's Name is Sweet Victory. Nice to meet you too."
Stand User: Aia Ito
Stand Name: Ocean Eyes (by Billie Eilish)
Abilities: The ability to read anything. Anything that can be physically represented can be deciphered by the User. This includes certain intentions that people can have and even their plans.
Power: E
Speed: E
Range: A
Precision: A
Durability: D
Potential: B
A/N: Short chapter, I know. I meant to carry on from here, but the chapter was going on for long enough and I decided it was best to stop here and continue from the next time.
I struggled a bit more than expected to avoid writing Natsuki Subaru for Natsuki's name. Also, Natsuki Sakurai is the Natsuki from the Literature Club in DDLC. She's one of the central characters in MCBA. Yes, I'm finally reintroducing MCBA characters into this.
Does this mean we'll see the rest of the Literature Club? Yes, we absolutely will. Will Issei be jealous of MC and Sayori and closet perv over Yuri? Yes, of course he will. I will finally take this chance to cover up the mistake of deleting the Literature Club and show off their Stands a little more. The Knife Act 2 really needs more show, while I do think Sweet Victory, Day One and Take Me to Church were done well. Mess is Mine could use some more work too.
Still, I'm excited to be entering this aspect of this story! I'm nervous as hell, because I'm essentially writing my own story from scratch, but I'm eager.
itspowertime: Well, Raynare didn't really change sides. She's still very loyal to Azazel, and would absolutely leave Issei behind if he wished for it, but is staying with Issei as part of her role as liaison.
With Issei hiding Beetles, as of now, nothing too severe will be happening. I already have the reveal for it planned out, after all.
You know, initially Asia was not in 2-E, but then after seeing your and other reviews wanting her there, I decided to screw my previous idea and keep her in. It'll be a pretty interesting dynamic this way and it does give me another idea for later in the arc, so it helps all around.
And yes, I've mentioned in the previous chapter as well that this chapter will be all based on 2-E. On the other hand, you won't see much supernatural action here. These worlds are still too far apart to work together.
As for the delivery guy, his events will come in time. Don't worry about it.
I guess I'll call it here. I'll see you next chapter!
