I'm still alive, folks! And since my state of mortality has not changed, and since I have time on my hands at the moment, I have decided to update once more!
So, uh, here goes!
-x-
It was a beautiful day. The wide blue skies were populated by a few puffy, white clouds, and a brightly shining sun, yet, despite this, it was not exceedingly hot, but more a temperate climate. Beautiful and healthily green plants of all sorts, with more than a few flowers blooming across them were tastefully spread throughout the area in a tasteful manner, one which elicited thoughts of 'controled wildness', as if the plants were growing free and unrestrained by foreign hands, and yet they decided to match and complement the aesthetics of the place, rather than trying to grow through or despite them.
Said aesthetics were those of massive buildings made of white marble meshed with glittering gold, impressive marvels of architecture that were as beautiful as they were imposing, with various massive pillars bearing engravings of various different mythological beings and stories being the primary supports of the massive roofs.
Leading to and from these massive buildings were marble pathways, big enough for a few people to walk on shoulder to shoulder, and that were bordered by more gardens and greenery, with the occasional smaller building - also made of marble - making an appearance.
Anyone that saw all of this would automatically be reminded of the hystorical buildings of greece, though more so the idealized version of said buildings in their prime, rather than the form which they take today. That is because this was the ancient greek aesthetic, and it was the one found in a very particular place:
Olympus.
The home of the gods of greek myths, Olympus was located atop Mount Olympus, yet separated from the perception of mortals by a feat of divine magic, a dimensional barrier that created a 'second space' located somewhere around the physical space occupied by the mountains themselves, anchored in place through mysterious processes and magics.
Walking through this place, Olympus, would be a massive privilege for most, rendering mortals of most persuasions and creeds into a state of awe due to the sheer beauty of the old-world aesthetics of the area, and the sheer joy and peace that reigned within, noticeable by the various minor deities, demigods and other benevolent beings of greek myth that occupied space within it, reunited around marble statues, smaller buildings, stone benches or even within an amphitheater, all of them joyfully laughing or giggling as they enjoyed both their activities, and company.
However, the individual that sauntered through Olympus, gathering speculative yet respectful looks from those that they moved past, eyed the entire area with visible boredom painted on their face.
'Ugh. Every single day, it's the same thing! Marble, gold, statues, pillars. No variation, no additions, no new styles or color! How is a Love Goddess not to get bored after centuries of experiencing this exact same thing?'
Correct. With her seemingly gold-spun hair, pink-colored eyes, bombastic body which mixed a height of 5'11", a slender, taut stomach, C-cups on the higher side of the measuring tape, being closer to D's than to B's, a trim, slender waist which was followed after by a wide pair of soft-looking hips, seemingly perfect, with no amount of meat over or under the ideal for their size, very toned and medium-sized buttocks and the sheer aura of sensuality emitting from them, the individual which we are watching at the moment could be none other than Aphrodite, the greek goddess of Love.
Brushing aside her annoyance at the unchanged décor and aesthetics of the home of the gods, Aphrodite made her way towards the biggest building of Olympus, an enormous temple that looked like a totally restored version of the Parthenon if it were sized up to 11, which acted as the meeting room between the most powerful and influential beings of greek mythos:
The Olympians.
Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes and Dyonisius were the 12 primarily-considered Olympians, though that number was only correct due to the fact that neither Hestia nor Hares cared to claim a seat at the table so to speak, with Hades being seemingly too occupied with being one of the top 10 strongest beings to even deign to visit his family, and Hestia preferring to stay away from Olympian matters and to do whatever it is that Hestia did with her free time.
Brushing aside those thoughts, Aphrodite walked into the the temple, greeting a few of the other minor deities and servants arrayed around the area with a friendly wave and smile, before walking towards an empty section of the temple, her previously worn clothes, a black, low-cut spaghetti-strap top which left her belly and waist bare, a pair of jean short shorts and white low-heeled sandals being covered by a bright, golden light, which faded to reveal a white toga reaching to slightly above her knees, with a pink sash that went over her left shoulder to wrap around her right hip, while her feet were now adorned by calf-length greek sandals, it's various laces already properly tied in a criss-crossing fashion that covered the front part of her legs up to the knee.
She grumbled in annoyance at the change, one that was enforced by an enchantment added to the entrance of the Olympian throne room during the olden days, with the total power of the Twelve Olympians plus Hestia and Hades, done so with the intent of ensuring that the image of the Olympians was always impeccable during their meetings, likely with the intent of ensuring that Zeus' philandering ways were not publicly displayed as a mark of shame on his siter-wife Hera - and wasn't that a sentence that was wrong to say - who was the goddes of, among other things, Matrimony.
Looking around the throne room allowed Aphrodite to notice the fact that she was not late, as most of the other Olympians seemed to just recently have arrived as well, each of them taking one of their twelve thrones which were arranged in a circular fashion in order to allow them all to keep the others in view.
After taking her seat, Aphrodite allowed her eyes to rove over the other Olympians a bit more intensely, taking in any disturbances of their appearance that could have possibly slipped past the enchantment - things which were not directly related to the state of their clothing - and made a few observations.
Apollo, the god of the sun, healing, truth, sudden death, harmony and a bunch of other stuff could be seen plucking a few strings on a golden harp, the sun reflecting off of his equally golden hair and his colgate-certified straight smile. His physique, as one could expect from what was considered the god of both beauty, perfection and healing, was extremely well taken care of, his toned yet not overly sized muscles showing through his bare-shouldered thigh-length toga and sporting a height of 6'4" , while his face was the standard hollywood fare of seemingly touched up lips and nose, proeminent, high cheeks, and a total absence of creases, wrinkles or anything other of the sort. Despite all of this, one could only feel an aura of casual, relaxed friendliness, and even a little bit of dullness, from him, something which made him seem like a stereotypical california surfer dude. His noticeably tanned skin - perfectly tanned, no lines at all - and sky blue eyes only added to the aura. He, having noticed Aphrodite looking, waved friendly, causing her to smile and nod in response.
Artemis, the twin of Apollo and goddess of wildlife, hunting, the moon, childbirth and virginity, however, seemed as if she were made with the intent of completely contrasting her brother. Red hair whereas Apollo's was blond, silver eyes whereas her brother's were blue, a stern frown and creased brow whereas Apollo was relaxed and friendly, a body which was short and petite whereas Apollo was tall and statuesque, and skin that was pale as a moonbeam whereas her brother's was tanned, none of these traits took away from the fact that Artemis was as inhumanly beautiful as her brother, and that the two of them cared for each other deeply, despite Apollo's flirtatious ways with any non-related woman, and Artemis' general dislike of men, and outright disdain of cheathers, polygamists and perverts.
Hermes, god of gymnastics, tricksters, thieves, diplomats - heh, wasn't that a most redundant classification? - astronomy, eloquence and a few other things, holding the title of the fastest one of the olympians and having been given the position of messenger of the gods for said distinction, was also blonde. However, unlike Aphrodite and Apollo whose hair colors were golden blonde, Hermes' was a dirty blonde, with streaks of brown added to the mix. His face was that of a man on his late 30's-early 40's, with a few lines and creases added to the mix, and laugh lines bordering his eyes. Those, mixed with his naturally upturned lips in the similance of a smirk, the mischievous glint in his eyes and the restless aura of restrained energy around him gave him the general feel of a trickster. He was slimmer than Apollo as far as his upper body went, however his legs were built strong and toned, akin to a runner, or a cyclist. His height was average, somewhere around 5'9".
Hephaestus, god of technology, blacksmith, metal, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes, was a tall, and heavily muscled bear of a man, measuring an even 6', which made him shorter than Apollo, yet with a massively muscled build, each of his biceps alone as wide as a toddler, and the rest of his body following suit, making him a very menacing sight. Adding to that his thick, shaggy, greying beard, originally colored black, his ugly face with a misshapen nose, an upper lip that was missing a fingernail-sized chunk, a milky-blue, downturned left eye, and a bald, misshapen head with an indent somewhere along the middle, Hephaestus was surely someone that you wouldn't like to meet in a dark street, while walking alone at night. Hell, not even in a well-lit street with plentiful company! Despite all of this, the man's sole good eye held a glint of intelligence that one would be very foolish to overlook, his extremely thick fingers moving with a dexterity that should be impossible for him as he played with various metal parts, reassembling and disassembling them as various different objects.
Dyonisius, the god of parties, wine, insanity, theater, life cycles and inebriation, was an average-heighted man, 5'8", though he was a very much in different shape than the other male olympians. While most other male olympians were in extremely fit shapes, Dyonisius was not, being rather fat, especially around the torso, with pudgy cheeks, a rounded chin that somehow was in singular, while taking his weight into account, and thick arms and legs. He, however, somehow managed to properly rock this look - totally has to be a god thing - with the combination of his plump cheeks, cheery-looking smile, creased and friendly-looking eyes and silken hair of a sandy blonde tone giving him a particularly cherubic look. Adding to that his inviting aura of a fun party animal, and it was easy to see how he still managed to pull off attractiveness as well as he did. However, despite all of this, a small glint of madness and spitefulness shone deep within his eyes, somewhat well hidden behind the party animal, which told anyone that caught sight of it to tread lightly around this god.
Demeter, goddess of the harvest, agriculture, tilled earth and seasons, was a 5'6", pleasantly plump woman. With her brown hair slightly lightening, her plump cheeks, laugh lines around her eyes and a decidedly more pear-shaped body, with a smaller upper body and a prodigious pair of hips and ass, Demeter could be considered to possess a matronly-type of beauty, for those related she would be the 'beautiful mother', and to those attracted to her, she would be the 'plump MILF'.
Athena, goddess of civilization, wisdom, strategy, justice and skills, was a 5'9" tall woman, with a slender build, with b-cup breasts, a trim waist, slimp hips and a pert, yet not particularly large butt. Despite all of this, between her loose, shoulder-length dark brown hair that was bordering on black, her small nose, small mouth, soft chin and cheeks and her wire-frame glasses, Athena had the cute librarian look down almost to a T. The only things that could possibly dispell this perception would be the look of extreme hunger for knowledge within her eyes, which was, thankfully, tempered by wisdom, almost always averting any bad situations that said hunger could cause, and a look of nonchalant disdain that a person would feel when looking at a monkey, as if watching the behavior of an intelectual inferior with nothing more than amusement, something which, if noticed, could break the entire image.
Ares, the god of war, savagery, bloodthirst and slaughter was almost as tall as tall as his brother Apollo at 6'2", and almost as muscular as his brother Hephaestus, looking like a particularly buff gym rat that has not yet reacher bodybuilder levels. His hair was as red as blood - or perhaps as if it were covered in blood - and short, barely leaving his scalp in a frazzled mess of spikes, which paired with his thick, yet not unnatractive lips, his wide nose, a pair of flames occupying his ocular orbits rather than eyes, which still managed to convey a sense of menace, his threatening, bloodthirsty smirk and an everpresent smell of blood hanging around him would make anyone call him nothing short of a barbarian.
Poseidon, god of the seas, earthquakes, storms and horses, was a 6' tall man, bearing the build of a dedicated fisherman, with broad, muscular shoulders and toned arms and back from swimming, paddling and pulling nets filled with dozens to hundreds of fish, legs that were also toned from swimming, though less so than his upper body, black, short hair which was soft and curly at the tips, likely due to moisture, a close-cropped, salt-and-pepper beard adorning his face, slightly misshapen nose which added to the ruggedly handsome look, and sea-green eyes which were superficially happy and friendly, yet held hidden depths, surrounded by a few creases from age, and a deep fisherman's tan which distinguished itself from Apollo's by being darker to the sun god's golden. He always smelled like a clean, sea breeze.
Hera, the goddess of matrimony, maternity and wives, was a tall woman, 6' tall, of a build somewhat akin to Athena's in that her body was trim and slim, yet both her assets and derriére were noticeably bigger than Athena's. She had a straight nose, dark brown eyes, a darker, mediterranean-toned skin, and her black, back-length hair was coiffed into a severe bun. Between these things, her more conservative ankle-length Toga whereas the other gods' reached mostly either to the thighs or the knees, the Polos - a high cylindrical crown - adorning her head, her steely gaze and her austere air, one could very much describe Hera as very imposing- and forbidding.
And, last but not least, there was Zeus, the big man on campus, King of the gods, god of thunder, the skies, eagles, and oaks, and the head honcho of this whole shindig. Standing at a comfortable 6'3", Zeus was visibly older than most of the other olympians, despite being younger than Hera and Hestia, the two older siblings, which was a consequence of his battle with Kronos, his father and titan of time, before he had managed to rescue his siblings from his gut. This showed itself in the fact that while most of the other gods had either their naturally colored hair, or were simply greying, Zeus' neck-length, wavy hair was already fully grey, as was his thick beard. Despite this, he still sported a healthy physique, that of an athlete that, while approaching the end part of their carreer, was still in great shape, and could still keep up with the younger competitors. His build was somewhat similar to Poseidon's as far as the legs, shoulders and back went, though rather than having both arms be symmetric in size and strength, it was obvious that his right one was more worked on, as was the his right pectoral, and the right side of his back, giving him the build of a javelin thrower. His face was noticeably more marked by creases and folds than the other gods, yet it did not yet seem like the face of an old man, more akin to someone in their late 40's-early 50's, with a pair of clear, blue eyes, which had a habit to light up as if lightning struck behind them whenever Zeus got angry.
By the time Aphrodite had finished her observation of the olympians, Ares spoke up brashly.
"I know that you said this was an emergency, old man, but I need you to make it snappy. I was having fun entertaining a woman whose husband died in war. A war that I caused, but still."
Ares licked his lips, eliciting a look of distaste from both Athena and Hera, a look of disgust from Aphrodite and Demeter, and one of outright loathing from Artemis, however, before he could speak further, he was interrupted by Zeus' voice, the man's strong tone backed by a release of his aura instantly causing pause to his son, and causing all the other olympians to lightly tense.
"You are still much too green to interrupt me. Do so again, and you shall not enjoy the consequences. Do you understand, boy?"
Gulping, Ares swallowed his pride and let out a grumbled "Yes, father", causing Zeus to relax back into his throne, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
Mumbling an 'Disrespectful youngsters' under his breath, Zeus gathered himself again before speaking in a serious tone.
"As you all are aware, it has been a long time since a full meeting between the olympians has been called, due to the lack of need in recent centuries, so, for me to have called for one, it was with great reason. Apparently."
The other olympians, which had been following Zeus' words with unspoken agreement, could only give out their small, individual expressions of curiosity, mixed with a little confusion. Ignoring this, Zeus kept speaking.
"I say apparently, because this meeting was not called by me. It was called, instead, by the ladies Fate, with a seemingly grave message."
As soon as he said those words, everybody's attention and focus sharpened completely. It was even easy to notice a tension filling their bodies as a cloud of smoke appeared along the floor of the room, pouring in out of nowhere noticeable and skirting around the thrones and legs of the seated olympians. Said cloud converged completely in the middle of the circle, creating a crude pictogram of a snarling dragon. In usual Moirai fashion, the three fates' non-words, calmly spoken yet seemingly shouted all the same, filled the minds of all present.
"THE RED DRAGON OF THE EAST RISES
IT'S POWER GROWS QUICKLY, CASTING GREAT SHADOW UPON THE WORLD
MUCH CHAOS AND PAIN IT WILL BRING
FAMILIES SHALL SHATTER AND TRUST SHALL BE BROKEN
FROM THE DEPTHS OF TARTARUS, TO THE GATES OF OLYMPUS
THIS WORLD SHALL BE SHAKEN
FLANKED BY A WOMAN OF RUINOUS POWER
AND THE DARLING OF THE BITING FROST
BOTH SHALL BE CONSUMED BY THE BEAST
UNDONE, NOW AND FOREVERMORE
THE BEAST'S FRENZY SEES NO END
COUNTLESS DEVOURED BY IT'S MAW
MEN TAKEN BY CLAW AND FLAME
MAIDENS TAKEN BY LUST AND DARK CHARISMA
ALL SHOULD BEWARE, AND FOR THE FUTURE PREPARE
FOR THE RED DRAGON OF THE EAST... RISES..."
As soon as the final words were said, the mystical smoke seemed to dart into the ground and vanish altogether, leaving behind it only a bewildered state of grave silence. Said silence was cut off by worried mutters and whispers, before a worried 'What should we do' was uttered just loud enough to be heard, yet not loud enough for the identity of the one to ask the question to be noticed.
Everyone went silent again at the posed question, before Athena's voice cut through the silence.
"I believe that our path of action is quite obvious. We find whomever this Red Dragon of the East is, and we ensure that they do not pose a threat to us."
Cracking his knuckles, Ares spoke in a menacing tone.
"By any means necessary."
An uneasy wave of assent started spreading through the room, until Zeus spoke up.
"Are you quite sure that is wise, Athena?"
The goddess of wisdom gave Zeus a nonplussed look even as she asked in a light tone.
"Whatever do you mean, father?"
Zeus responded by straightening up completely, before he spoke.
"Are we sure that we wish to attack someone that does not pose an immediate threat to us? Someone that hasn't threatened or attacked any of us? Hell, with the way prophecies work, this may very well be naught but a child. Would you willingly and knowingly kill a child for a crime it did not commit, for acts that they did not perform?"
"But husband mine" - Hera interjected - "The prophecy already speaks of the path of this Red Dragon. Babe or not, their power grows, and they will become a scourge upon the world. We know what it's future holds, should we not act on this foreknowledge?"
Crossing his legs, the one to respond to this was not Zeus, but Poseidon.
"Surely you jest, sister? Do you remember not how prophecies tend to occur? How they tend to be self-fulfilling? Tell me, were father not to have been so obsessed with the prophecy given to him and attempted to swallow us, and focused instead on his rule, and on raising his children as a family, would he not still be whole and healthy today? And what about Achilles? Were they not Thetis' own actions, spurred by her fear of prophecy, which led to the sole existing weakness of Achilles, which ultimately led to his downfall? And what of Oedipus? If his father were more focused on raising his son than on the prophecy that he would be killed by said son, would that whole situation still unfold as it did?"
Artemis, however, was the one to respond to that.
"That whole situation could have just as well be completely avoided had the shepherd done what he was ordered to and left the babe to die on a mountain, or even if either Laius or Jocasta themselves had taken care of eliminating the babe, uncle. Do remember that before you try to make your point."
Jumping up from his tone, Poseidon spoke between gritted teeth.
"It would still be the wrong thing to do!"
Giving the man a glare, Artemis responded.
"And since when did you care about right or wrong, above your desires? Or did you forget Med-"
"SILENCE!"
For the second time in the day Zeus raised his voice, but this time his face held not just mild irritation but real anger, his blue eyes blazing brightly as he stared down Artemis, causing the redhead to flinch, yet she still kept her superior face, nose raised to the air and chin jutting out. After a few more seconds of being glared at by her father, and with Poseidon himself seemingly fighting hard to restrain himself, Artemis decided that it was better to not have the anger of the two strongest olympians directed towards her, which led to her leaning back into her seat as she turned her gaze away from her father's literally thunderous eyes.
Said thunderous eyes, and the Pressure that came alongside them had managed to cow all in the room but for Poseidon, who still fought hard to regain his center, Hera, who was used to her husband's - ever rarer - anger, and Ares, who simply chuckled in amusement at this whole situation, thriving on conflict in the same manner a 'wine mom' does on soap operas.
Poseidon sat himself back on his throne, his trident appearing within his right hand from within a whirling cloud of bubbles gatheres from the air moisture around him, it's reassuring weight helping the god regain his center, while Zeus eased up on the amount of Pressure he had been releasing, causing the bright light behind his eyes to dim, and the sudden stormclouds that had built up above a great part of Greece to simply disperse, something which came as a surprise to various human metereological services and studies.
Easing back onto his own throne, Zeus' thone held no less authority, even without him mustering his power, than it did when he was exerting his pressure.
"Poseidon is correct, on both accounts. On one hand, we could be dealing with an utterly innocent individual, babe or otherwise, who perhaps does not even have any idea of the supernatural world. To try to harm someone for something they have not comitted would be wrong. And while some may question the validity of others within the room raising moral questions-" Zeus gave Artemis a sideways gaze, causing the girl to put her hands together on her lap and look down like a scolded child "-the fact of the matter is that we, Olympians, have changed. We have come a long way from our begginings as arrogant, impetuous, willful egoists, and we have become older and wiser. It may not erase the mistakes of our past, however it can guarantee that we do not commit them again in our future."
These words had most of the olympians shuffling awkwardly, each of them looking back on their past actions through a different lens, with different standards for right and wrong and cringing at the sheer childishness and... Badness... of their actions. Others, like Ares and Dyonisius, were seemingly indifferent to Zeus' words, something which did not go unnoticed by the King of Olympus. Despite the different reactions, the greek King of the Gods spoke further.
"On the other hand, there is the fact that this individual, despite being innocent or guilty, ignorant or knowledgeable, weak or strong, likely has no reason to aim towards Olympus, something which could change were we to attempt anything against them. So, this becomes my command, none of the Olympians are to attempt to make contact with the Red Dragon of the East, and, if contact is to happen regardless, Olympians are to avoid conflict as much as possible. We are not to be the offenders in this situation, we have done quite enough of that, I would think. Knowledge of this prophecy is not to be given to anyone not already currently within this room, so I order, so shall be done. Dismissed!"
As soon Zeus said those words, some of the gods, like Ares, vanished into different colored bursts of light. Others, like Poseidon and Demeter, walked out of the chamber with specific goals in mind.
Aphrodite herself hurriedly made herself scarce from the throne room, heading towards her own home within Olympus, very much curious about this prophecy's mentions of lust, and dark charisma.
Left alone within the throne room, Hera, the queen of Olympus, spoke in a dark tone.
"You have become soft, husband. To allow such a risk to our very way of life to pass freely due to 'wrong or right'... I knew that that Odin man was a bad influence upon you. But worry not, for where the husband fails, the wife is there to aid. I shall find this Red Dragon of the East, I shall take care of it, and I shall safeguard the stability of our family."
As Hera spoke, a sneer on her face at the thought of one who would dare attack olympus, beautiful rosebushes blossomed around her feet. However, as soon as one's attention was capable of leaving the beautiful looking flowers, they would be left with the view of plentiful and massive thorns arrayed around the stem of the rose, arranged in a manner reminiscent of barbed wire.
-x-
"Much chaos and pain, eh?"
Ares chuckled, a deep rumble coming from within his chest that jostled the corpse that lied beside him on the bed, the woman whose husband had been lost to the war, whose mind he scrambled with a mixture of honeyed words and his divine Presence. Unfortunately, as was habit for him, Ares ended up losing control of his divine powers during copulation, and ended up breaking her with his godly strength, before his raw aura stopped her heart. None of this mattered to him as he could simply find himself another cumdumpster.
The god of war, who thrived on chaos, savagery, slaughter, bloodshed and conflict, could only sport a massive grin at the thought of this Red Dragon of the East person.
"Things are about to get fun..."
-x-
-Kuoh Academy, class 1-A -
The members of 1-A, the first year class of the current school year, could not hold back on their whispering. As you might have surmised, they were whispering about one Hyoudou Issei, the one to have achieved the best grades in their admittance exam...
Yet, an unashamed pervert, and a total delinquent. If his introduction hadn't been enough to clue one in those factors, then the fact that he spent the entirety of his class time so far sleeping at his desk, with the occasional mumble about 'Succulent Oppai' should do the trick.
However, due to his introduction, the scars on his arm and the honestly scary half-lidded red-rimmed looks that he gave to the assembled individuals during said introduction, none of the teachers nor students were willing to wake him up, the teachers under the excuse that 'since he scored so well and it's just the first day, it's okay for him to rest', and the students just being honest with themselves about being completely wary of the young man.
Soon enough the bell for lunch time rung, allowing the class' homeroom teacher, Matsuhiro Yowaiko, to speedwalk out of the classroom as fast as possible, leaving the children to deal with the troublesome delinquent.
While most would see this as a weird and cowardly action - which it was - one must understand that up until last year, the entirety of Kuoh's staff had literally 0 contact with delinquents. Between Kuoh being an all-girls school, a very effective student council, and what seemed to be extremely good luck with the other academies around the area, the staff did not ever have to deal with something like this.
To just toss a delinquent into their midst like this was already a pretty destabilizing blow. But for the delinquent to be in Yowairo's class, whose students had nicknamed 'Yowai' (weak) due to his inability to cope with the pressure of dealing with the more difficult and willful students, was another thing altogether.
Now, with the professor gone, a question filled the classroom.
'Should we wake him up?'
Anyone seeing this will likely say 'Of course not, you idiots! He said that he was tired, and that he'd beat up someone who deliberately took the time and effort to annoy him!'. However, they must keep in mind that it was their break. Lunch Time. Was it not likely that missing lunch would make him angry as well? Which one would make him madder, getting woken up, or knowing that out of the 30 or so people in his class, no one had the decency - took the risk - to wake him up for lunch?
Luckily the dilemma that plagued the majority of class 1-A was dispelled altogether by a particular pair of individuals.
"ISSEI!"
"ISSEI!"
The voices of Motohama and Matsuda bellowed directly into each of the brunette's ears, causing him to jerk awake, and the other students to move back in a mixture of fear and curiosity about the delinquent's reaction.
However, rather than instantly gifting the pair with a knuckle sandwhich each, Issei's response to the bellows was to jerk awake, sitting up straight and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he mumbled.
"If I don't find that motherfucking Vuvuzela..."
Motohama and Matsuda had to sweatdrop at Issei's sleep-addled mutters, as did the rest of the class, before they pushed through it, each of them taking hold of one of Issei's shoulders, causing the slightly more well-rested young man to wake up fully just in time to hear their declarations.
"ISSEI!" - started Matsuda, tears of emotion streaming down his face - "Your entrance speech was so inspiring! To so blatantly declare your dream in that manner!"
Motohama followed after him, tears also streaming copiously from under his glasses.
"INDEED!"
Rubbing his nose smugly at the praise being heaped onto him, Issei responded.
"Of course I declared my dream! It is what shapes me and my actions! To deny it would be to deny my own existance!"
These words caused the majority of the people listening to sweatdrop tremendously, while Matsuda spoke up again.
"UOOOHHH! I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE ME BEHIND IN THIS MANNER, ISSEI! I TOO SHALL PROCLAIM MY UTMOST DREAM!"
Matsuda twirled away from Issei in a disturbingly nimble and flexible manner, each step of space that he traversed around the classroom being a step that the other students took back in order to avoid contact with him. Despite this, he still spoke.
"A HEAVEN OF SMALL BRAS, CUTE TEDDY BEAR PANTIES, AND SLIM, PETITE BODIES... I WANT MY VERY OWN LOLI GIRLFRIEND!"
With the exception of Issei, Motohama and one other student, the entirety of class 1-A started shooting Matsuda disgusted glares, yet the young man seemed unaware of them as he imagined a rain of cute lolis - legal lolis of course - all around him, each of them bearing a pair of wings which they used to float around him, giggling alluringly, causing a massive blush and perveted chuckle to emerge from him.
"THAT'S RIGHT! I TOO HAVE A DREAM!"
This time it was Matsuda shouting, his finger adjusting his glasses even as massive tears streamed from under his uncannily reflective lenses, which didn't allow people to actually see his eyes.
"I DREAM OF KNOWLEDGE! GREAT AND FORBIDDEN, IT IS KNOWLEDGE THAT ALL HOT-BLOODED MEN WISH TO ATTAIN! I WISH TO CREATE AN INDEX, ONE WHICH STORES THE THREE MEASUREMENTS OF ALL THE WORLD'S HOTTEST WOMEN! THAT IS MY HEART'S DESIRE!"
The people that were previously glaring at Matsuda in a disgusting fashion extended similar looks towards Motohama, before whispers started wafting around the classroom.
"Perverts." "Perverted trash." "Human Garbage." "No-good perverted monkeys." "Pervert..." "Pervert..." "Pervert..."
The whispers kept spreading through the classroom and increasing in volume, causing a familliar buzz to fill the ears of the perverted trio. Even back in their middle school, whenever they decided to open up their hearts and speak about the things they loved the most, others decided tried to denigrate them, to tear down their dreams, to say that they were wrong. Immoral. They had learned to ignore it for the most part...
"Oii..."
However, the shaking form of Issei, his shoulders hunched and his eyes covered by his bangs was a new development. Seeing this apparent weakness caused the student's whispers to restart.
"Who the hell are you calling a goddamned pervert!?"
THat question, with shaking shoulders, had the whispers intensify further, some people doing so out of curiosity and interest, others out of malice. However, before Motohama, Matsuda or a certain glasses-wearing brown haired girl could intervene, Issei sprung up from his seat, his face revealed to be a rictus of irritation with flaring nostrils, twitching eyebrows and a throbbing vein on his forehead. Between that, his newly straightened posture, and the fact that he had clenched his fist, causing his toned muscles to bulge lightly had everyone holding their breath, preparing for violent retaliation or threats...
"I AM NO MERE PERVERT! I AM A SUPER PERVERT!"
The scared students all faceplanted at that, their expectations well and truly subverted. Before they could recover, however, they were once again struck by Issei's... Oddness... as he bent slightly bent forward, his right hand going for his chin while using the left one as support, before he started mumbling loud enough to be heard, however low enough that it was just him noticeably thinking aloud.
"Wait, super pervert? Something's missing here. Ultra pervert? Uber Pervert? Omega Pervert?... Wait, I got it!"
He smacked his right fist into his left hand as if he had just found the solution to a major issue, before he spoke up in the same confident tone as before.
"I take back what I said, I am no Super Pervert... I AM THE PERVERTED EMPEROR!"
The rest of the class facefaulted again, all the while Motohama and Matsuda could only stare at their friend with nothing less than pure admiration.
"Issei...-" Motohama spoke up "-...When did you get so cool?"
"TO DECLARE YOUR OWN TITLE IN THIS MANNER! SO MANLY! I, MATSUDA, TOO SHALL EMBRACE MY IDENTITY! I AM THE MIGHTY PERVERTED BALDY, ALSO KNOWN BY THE TITLE OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT PAPARAZZI!"
Motohama, swept up in this wave, spoke up as well.
"AND I, MOTOHAMA, AM THE THREE SIZED SCOUTER, WITH THE GIFT TO ACCURATELY MEASURE A WOMAN'S THREE SIZES WITH NOTHING MORE THAN MY OWN EYES!"
The three, sinchronized by years of friendship and the spirit of perversion, all called out at the same time.
"AND WE ARE THE THREE PERVERTED SAGES OF KUOH!"
"Ahahahahahahaha!"
Any response to their claim was interrupted by a person's laughter. Said laughter came from a glasses-wearing girl, whose brown hair was done up in a pair of thick braids, one on either side of her head.
"Oh my, for the three of you to so openly declare yourselves as perverts... How entertaining!"
Taking the initiative to answer, and doing so in a calm tone that didn't reflect his recent hot-blooded affirmations, Issei spoke.
"And who might you be?"
The girl smirked dangerously at the perverted trio, sending a shiver of danger down Motohama and Matsuda's spines, and one of thrill down Issei's as his instincts told him something good was just about to happen. Adjusting her glasses, she responded in her confident tone.
"My name is Aika. Kiryu Aika. You could say that I'm a bit of a pervert myself."
While Motohama and Matsuda felt like shrinking further at the mixture between her confident tone and shark-like grin, Issei felt a challenging smirk crawl up his face as he spoke.
"Indeed?"
The girl nodded, before responding.
"Yes, I am quite the perverted woman. And like your glasses-wearing friend over there, I possess a very special ability."
The attention of everyone in the room was peaked at that, with Issei being the one to curiously ask.
"Special ability?"
The girl grinned, her green showing way too many teeth and seeming way too shark in that exact moment, before she spoke.
"Your glasses-wearing friend, the... Three Sizes Scouter, was it?... Possesses the ability to judge a girl's three sizes with a mere glance. I too possess that ability... But reversed! I can, with a single glance, measure any man's-"
"Oh look at the time, I gotta go eat!"
With those words said in a rush, Matsuda showed off the fact that he was a track and field athlete up until a few months ago by running out of the classroom at full tilt, with Motohama right behind him, and almost every other male in the classroom, leaving only the curious ones.
Aika already expected that to have happened, it was the usual response she got whenever she mentioned her ability, and it didn't get any less funny as time passed. She was, however, surprised with the fact that Issei didn't seem to even twitch at her words' implications.
"Hoh? You seem to be pretty calm, Mr. Perverted Emperor. Are you doubting my ability?"
Tilting his head, Issei responded.
"Not really. If Motohama can do it, then why couldn't someone else?"
This casual acceptance which was unattached to any sort of embarassment threw Aika for a loop.
"So... You accept the fact that I can just measure someone's junk with a single look?"
"Yup."
"And you're not nervous?"
"Nope."
"Not even a little bit?"
"Not even a little bit."
Licking her suddenly dry lips and adjusting her glasses, Aika spoke.
"I-if... If you're so sure about yourself, then... You wouldn't care if I used my power on you, would you?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Issei's words caused both Aika and the remaining girls, those who knew of Aika's skill either directly or indirectly, to suddenly start steaming under the collar.
After all, delinquent or not, pervert or not, Hyoudou Issei was still an adonis of a young man, and while they may be dismayed with his personality which seemed to alternate between those two settings, the natural physical feelings, and their age-based curiosity was still there.
Still, Aika was going forward with this - a willing measurement.
The girl grabbed her glasses, adjusting them as she got into the mindset to measure...
"Wait a second."
The girl let out a disappointed sigh at that.
'I knew he'd ultimately wuss out. All of these confident types ultimately do...'
However, what caused Issei to stop Aika was no a spontaneous surge of embarrassment and inhibitions, but a certain feeling he got when she had started focusing on him, and was just about to scan.
'That feeling... There's no doubt about it, she was about to use Tantric Energy! If she does that, she'll likely see how much I have of it as well!'
Before Aika or any of the other disappointed girls could do more than groan, Issei finished his thought.
"If you actually do end up looking... You'll end up finding something huge. Are you still sure you want to do it?"
Her palms twitching and her heart beating rapidly at that warning, Aika's cheeks turned red and her face shifted into a perverted grin as she spoke.
"Telling me these sorts of things... Only make me want to do it more!"
She adjusted her glasses, subconsciously tapping into her own Tantric Energy as she mentally called out.
'Measure-men!'
CRACK.
Everyone still in the room was utterly stunned when the lenses of Aika's glasses cracked, steam all but coming out of her ears as she stuttered out.
"S-so m-massive... H-h-how I-is this po-possible!?"
With these last words, she woddenly fell back onto the ground, perverted giggles occasionally escaping her, while neither her nor Issei were aware of the consequences of this last interaction.
"So massive..." "Did you hear what she said?" "He's gotta be huge!"
These comments went unheard by Issei through the sheer fact that he was focused completely on the 'out-of-it' girl.
"Oiiii... Aika... Well, I guess she's broken. Off to lunch, then."
As he grabbed his bag to go out to eat lunch, Issei's heart dropped into his stomach at the ring of the bell that signalled the end of lunch. Hungry, still not fully rested and sleepy again now that the thrill of displaying his nature alongside his friends, Issei's demeanor changed completely from the loud pervert to the slouching delinquent as he slouched over his desk, falling asleep immediately.
-X-
-A few hours earlier, Kuoh Academy Student Council Room-
"...Calm down, Sona, or at the rate you're pacing you'll find yourself wearing a hole into the carpet!"
The one who spoke was Rias Gremory, the red-headed 2nd year student of Kuoh Academy who, alongside Himejima Akeno, was considered one of Kuoh's great Onee-sans.
"Calm down? Calm down!? Did you see how he was dressed? Did you hear what he said? What was supposed to be a successfully inspiring speech to motivate the student body in general into achieving better grades was turned into a complete an total...!"
"Ara Ara, you seem to be much too tense, Sona-san. You're usually more composed than this... I find your annoyed and flustered self to be more amusing. Just for that reason I'll already say I rather appreciate this Hyoudou young man. Plus, with such an individual so close, I'm sure that there'll be various opportunities for... Punishment... Ufufufufufufu~"
Akeno's words, which had started by annoying Sona, ultimately ended up completely terrifying Sona's peerage, composed of their fellow second year student Shinra Tsubaki, Sona's queen, first year Kusaka Reya, Sona's bishop, first year Hanakai Momo, her other bishop, Meguri Tomoe, Sona's sole knight at this point in time, and Yura Tsubasa, Sona's sole Rook.
Sweatdropping at this, Rias spoke in a somewhat exhasperated tone.
"Akeno, will you please stop that?"
The purplette turned towards her king, a smile on her face as she spoke.
"Hoh? Buchou, are you saying that you're also all flustered by thinking of that young man?"
At that question, rather than responding to Akeno in kind with a tease or something such as both Akeno and Sona expected, Rias responded by biting her lip for a while, before speaking up with a frown.
"The mixture between his arrogance, his nonchallance and his casual perversion remind me of... Him."
Seeing that the conversation took a turn to the serious, Akeno's teasing chuckles dropped in favor of a serious countenance, while Sona spoke up.
"I'm not quite sure what to do about him yet, do you have any suggestions?"
Biting her fingernail for a while, Rias took some time to think, before speaking up.
"So far I can only think for you to keep an eye on him. While he might not have said what was expected, or wanted, of him during his speech, he didn't really break any of the school's rules. You know that as much as I do, which is why you did not take immediate action. So all we can really do is to watch him, to learn what type of person he is, and to see if he truly will try to break the rules. Other than that..."
The buxom redhead ended with a shrug, causing her childhood friend to let out a sight, before she spoke to her peerage.
"Very well. We are going to follow Rias' suggestions. I want you girls to covertly watch the Hyoudou boy for any rule breakage or infractions and report it to me."
With that said, Sona finally switched her focus over onto something not related to the delinquent young man's speech.
-Chapter, End-