Still here! And with the speedy update, too! Making the best of my time while inspiration decides to not abandon me.
As said before, I have recently opened a Pat reon for myself, and if you wish to check it you, you just need to go to "Pat reon -dot- com -slash- FrancoGamerxz" . Visiting my Pat reon is fully optional, so keep that in mind.
Now, onwards to the story!
-x-
"-...And then I said 'You're very absent-minded', and smashed a bottle of Absinthe over his head!"
"And how'd that work out?"
"...Lowered affinity score. Apparently it was too 'brutish'."
Issei nodded at the sullen Motohama's words, before speaking up with a particularly wise and sagely tone.
"That's your problem, Motohama, you're too impulsive! When you're going for a particular route, you need to know the personality of the girl you're pursuing, and what she likes and dislikes. You need to take all of these things into consideration before acting."
Matsuda spoke up after that, as if he had achieved a revelation.
"So THAT is how you get a girlfriend, huh..."
Issei snorted at that, slashing his arms through the air before speaking up.
"That is what to do if you don't mind being unhappy for the entire relationship.
"In real life, things are different. There are no 'routes', and while trying to genuinely improve yourself is fine and proper, trying to forcibly change yourself just for a girl who doesn't like the basic form of your 'true self' is a recipe for disaster.
"You'll end up miserable because you can't be yourself, she'll end up miserable because you're never genuine with her, and it'll be a great big mess."
While Aika wrote all of this down in a frenetic pace, a smirk on her face as she did, Motohama and Matsuda stared at Issei with eyes wide in surprise and admiration.
"Issei" Matsuda breathed out "When did you become so wise?"
"I think it was after my third playthrough of 'Soaring, Flying, Miko-chan'. Some of the routes there are real mindscrews, I'll tell you that. I also learned that if you think there are tentacles involved, you burn it with fire.
"Always."
Isseis haunted tone as he said the last thing caused Motohama and Matsuda to gulp in trepidation, while Aika tried not to chortle as she kept writing, though her cheeks tinted perversely at the thoughts elicited by his words.
"Ufufufufufu~"
A... very particular laugh attracted the attention of the four individuals sat underneath a tree in the middle of the courtyard, causing their gazes to move towards the source, revealing it to be...
"HIMEJIMA AKENO, ONE OF THE GREAT ONEE-SANS OF KUOH!"
"HIMEJIMA AKENO, ONE OF THE GREAT ONEE-SAMAS OF KUOH!"
Akeno chuckled lightly at the simultaneous shouts from the bald young man, and the glasses-wearing young man, her Yamato Nadeshiko turned up to 11 as she placed her gaze on Issei, one of her sleeves covering her small smile as she spoke.
"You know, most people would be too ashamed of discussing these sorts of matters publicly..."
Snorting at this sentence, Issei sat up straight, his arms crossed over his chest and his face bearing a wizened look as he spoke with finality.
"Shame is for those who care about the opinions of strangers. Self-assumed perverts like us are life forms who have overcome the need to get pats on the back by absolute strangers, and focus instead on doing what we love."
"Oh man, this thing just keeps writing itself!"
Issei seemed to be perfectly content in ignoring Aika's snickers and constant writings, as were Motohama and Matsuda, but Akeno's curiosity got the better of her.
"Ever since the start of the year, I don't think I've ever seen you bereft of your writing utensils, miss Kiryu. It leaves one quite curious about what you might be writing."
Understanding the unasked question and not really seeing a problem with curiosity, Aika shrugged before reaching into her bag and removing a small notebook (No way she was giving anyone her raw research notes), before handing it to Akeno.
The black-haired Queen of the Gremory peerage took the offered notebook with two hands, nodding thankfully at the bespectacled girl. She curiously cracked the hardcover notebook open at a random page, before she started reading aloud.
" 'Yes, run! Run as fast and as far as you can, you fiends!' Sir Jossei the first forcefully called out to the defeated and retreating bandits.
'Black Dragon Gang, huh...' he snorted out contemptuously, before turning his attention back towards the wagon he had been tasked with protecting. Unfortunately, both the wagon's teamster and one of the two horses had fallen to the crudely sharpened steel that passed as a sword for the fiendish bandits, ensuring that the merchandise that he had been transporting stay paralyzed and undelivered.
Being an honorable knight, however, Sir Jossei decided to check inside the wagon, to see if there was something at least that he could personally deliver to the estate of his employer.
He parted the cloth coverings of the wagon, only for the sight that greeted him to surprise him greatly.
'Sebastian? Have we arrived already?'
The sweet, dulcet tone that filled both his ears and his heart came from a lady of unparalleled beauty. Her tresses were of a deep black in color, like a raven's feather, and as soft as spun silk. Her skin was pale and flawless, like the freshest of the fallen snow, her eyes blue, like a cloudless, open sky in a sunny day, her nose small and straight, and her mouth a cupid's bow.
'Oh, thou art not Sebastian... Whom might thou be, good ser?'
Ser Jossei Hyousson, one of the realm's mightiest knights, gifted with both ferocity and prowess, having singlehandedly broken the siege of the Blue Ridge keep and gaining the title of 'The Dragon' for his acts in the 30 crossings war, felt as if he were seeing the world for the first time.
It felt as if he had spent his entire life living under water, only to finally emerge and get a deep breath of air. The man who won a hundred battles, most honorable knight of all, loved by royalty and common folk both, finally believed that he found it.
His calling.
For years Jossei journeyed the world, involving himself in situations great and small both, becoming a knight, gaining wealth and fame, yet it was not in seeking those things that he did so. Everything Sir Jossei did, he had done in the endless search for purpose, the light behind the eyes of others, that he had never seen within his own.
A reason to be. To live.
And now, he had finally found his purpose. As soon as his eyes fell upon the lady he had been unknowingly escorting, he knew...
'Milady!' sir Jossei said in a solemn tone, drawing his sword before going down to his knee for the lady, his sword held upon his open palms as if being offered.
'Today, and forevermore, I pledge myself to your service. My sword, my armor, my flesh and everything else, they are all yours to make use of as you wish, as I am now an instrument for your happiness.' "
Akeno closed the small novel before looking back up at Aika, an eyebrow raised as she spoke.
"I did not expect your writings to be... Like this."
Aika waved her hand dismissively at the looks from both Akeno and the three perverted sages, even as she answered.
"That's just the commercial version, a sappy romance novel marketed towards overly ideallistic young women, and bored, middle-aged housewives. Those are probably the only types of people who read 'turn myself into your instrument' and think it romantic, rather than weird at a best, and obsessive at worst."
Issei spoke up at that.
"A project for wealth, rather than for passion, huh... How mercenary of you, Aika! I love it!"
Issei's teasing smirk was met with Aika's smug one, as she responded while adjusting her glasses.
"Of course, there will be a different... Version... of said novel, aimed less towards...-"
"Normies!" Issei cut in helpfully, getting a nod from Aika.
"-That, and more towards people with different sets of... Interests. A true project of passion!"
Akeno's Yamato Nadeshiko visage slipped for an instant at that declaration, a legitimately amused smirk flashing on her face for an instant, which both Issei and Aika caught on to, yet shrugged off.
Seeing the potential in this, Issei leaned back into the tree before speaking.
"I know a guy that could have the finished product published for dirt cheap, if you accept a 50/50 split of the procceeds."
"Zero publishing costs? Deal!"
The two perverts shook on it, to Akeno's great amusement, and Motohama and Matsuda's disinterest, before Issei spoke up again.
"So, one of the Great Onee-samas of Kuoh hanging out with the Three Perverted Sages and the Perverted Secretary - horrible title by the way - of Kuoh. Whatever would your fans think?"
Feeling more relaxed than she did in the presence of anyone other than her King's peerage, Akeno allowed a slight bit of her sadism show in her response.
"I'm quite sure they're making some delightfuly chagrined faces, mhm? Ufufufufufufu~"
The Gremory queen caught herself an instant later, stiffening up almost imperceptibly, eve as her thoughts raced.
'I... I didn't even notice when I got comfortable enough to just slip up like this!'
Not wanting to run the chance of slipping any further on her persona, Akeno gingerly stood up from where she had sat on the grass, dusting off her skirt before assuming her Yamato Nadeshiko image again, placing her hands one atop the other one and in front of her body as she lightly bowed her head towards the group.
"Thank you for putting up with my intrusion in your private time."
Issei, the currently designated spokesperson of the group, gave Akeno a thumbs up as he answered.
"No problem! Feel free to hang around with us if you feel like it!"
The Gremory queen responded by nodding again before walking off, an almost unnoticeable added pep in her step.
While Motohama and Matsuda cried about hating to see her leave, but loving to watch her walk away, Issei spoke up.
"Interesting person."
Adjusting her glasses, Aika interjected.
"A habit of hiding, though."
Issei snorted at that, giving Aika a very knowing look that caused the girl to look away, a slight blush on her face. Seeing the smug look on the brunet's face, Aika decided that the best way to deal with her embarassment was to jump him, leading to the two of them wrestling around on the grass, which led to Motohama and Matsuda somehow being dragged into the fight as well, and the four ultimately endind up sprawled underneath the shade of the tree, a few grass stains on their uniforms, and Aika, Motohama and Matsuda doing their best to catch their breath.
Unlike the other three, rather than gasping in order to regain his breath, Issei could only grin happily.
-x-
"Hey, you guys up for a study session at my place?"
"Study Session?" came the simultaneous question in a suggestive tone from the other three, prompting Issei to snort before answering.
"Not that type of studying, but legitimate 'open up a book' studying. I bust my ass off getting first place for entrance exams, no way am I going to just allow myself to fall to the average grade line, or below that.
"No. I'm gonna keep working hard to be at the top. So, what do you guys say?"
Motohama, Matsuda and Aika traded looks, before the three shrugged, with Aika answering for the three of them.
"Sure."
Nodding at that, Issei checked his watch before warning them.
"We can only go until 4:45 though, since I need to be at work at 5:15 max."
"Speaking of work-" Matsuda spoke up "-You haven't told us where your workplace is, or what it is you do there. What gives?"
A sweatdrop appearing at the back of his head, Issei spoke up.
"It'd be too much trouble explaining the specifics of my job, so I'd rather not."
The other three shrugged at that, unwilling to pry, before they headed towards Issei's home for some studying.
On the way to his home, Issei spotted a new construction site, with a large massive tarp covering what seemed to be a very wide building, and quite a few machines strewn around the place.
The four perverts looked at one another, before shrugging, none of them knowing anything about the site.
-x-
"Clean up on table 6!"
"On it!"
Issei moved around the rowdy patrons of table three, absentmindedly kicking a bottle towards Andre, who was behind the bar, with full accuracy - With the old man making an impressive catch - and walking up to table 6, wrinkling his nose at the situation.
"Jun, you lazy bum, haven't I told you to sleep at home before!?"
Jun, a very drunk patron and 'Usual' of the hammered dwarf, reacted to Issei's words by raising his head slightly from the table, his gaze meeting Issei's as he responded in a friendly tone.
"Oh come on, no need to be a buzzkill, Dragon-san! We're all friends here, are we not?"
His last few words had the result of causing the whole bar to raise their drinks, spilling more than just a bit all over the tables and ground, causing a massive tick mark to appear on Issei's forehead, his right eyebrow twitching even as his mouth spread into a noticeably forced grin, prompting the other, more sober bargoers to move away from the scene.
Even the other people seated around table 6 pushed themselves away from Jun and Issei, each of them finding something more interesting to look at elsewhere in the bar.
The only person in the bar not worried about Issei's mood was the too-drunk Jun, with everyone else having learnt better than to annoy Issei after 2 months of having to deal with the boy thrashing whole groups of grown men.
"Jun-san-" the brunet - with a single purple bang - growled, finally causing the man's self-preservation instincts to overcome the power of inebriation and his gaze to nervously fall on the young man "-What have I said about that nickname?"
"Err-, it's a term of endearment?"
Issei's response to the sheepish non-question, said in a questioning tone, was to slam his hand on the wooden table top, causing a few of the more unruly patrons to jump, his burning gaze causing them to all have flashbacks to whenever they were the ones subjected to said look, which inevitably resulted in pain and humiliation in equal amounts.
"Why would I want some random drunk like you using terms of endearment with me?"
"Err... You wouldn't?"
Issei's eyes narrowed at that, causing copious amounts of sweat to run down the back of Jun's head and neck, only for the brunet to lean back and away from him, closing his eyes as he crossed his arms.
"Just... Don't break the rules. If you wanna sleep, go home. Otherwise, make sure to pay for food, drinks, or be a worker here. Understand?"
The nervous client nodded so hard that his head almost popped off of his shoulders, before he handed Issei a 10.000 Yen not and spoke in a hesitant tone.
"Uh... A beer please, and keep the change."
Issei's demeanor instantly changed from annoyed to friendly, his right hand falling onto Jun's shoulder and his left hand making a thumbs up gesture, with sparkles floating around him as he spoke.
"Jun-san, you truly are one of the noblest, most valued patrons of this bar, you know!"
The other bar patrons had to look away from the glowing brunet lest they get blinded, while Andre chuckled from behind a pair of shades that weren't on his face a second before, before calling out loud.
"Fierce and ready to bite someone's head off until you catch sight of a gold piece... How do you expect not to be called a Dragon, kid?"
An eruption of laughter resounded within the bar at that, which was only renewed when the Hyoudou youth pouted childishly at Andre, before he dashed towards Daichi, who was cleaning the recently emptied tables, and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him as he spoke dramatically.
"Dai-san, your mean uncle and his friends are bullying me! They're saying I'm scary and greedy! Tell them it isn't true!"
Daichi floundered a bit at that, not very good at dealing with the spotlight, before giving Issei a slight, sheepish smile as he spoke.
"Well... You kind of are, Issei-senpai!"
Issei stumbled away from Daichi, raising a hand to his chest as if an arrow had hit his chest, while he whined.
"Daichi, you traitor! You're supposed to be on my side!"
The brunet smiled inwardly at Daichi's tiny, almost imperceptible smirk, before putting an end to his dramatic acting by heading to the bar counter to collect Jun's mug, causing the volume at the bar to go back to it's usual levels as the patrons immersed themselves in their own conversations.
Issei took the filled mug and placed it on a tray, but, before he could head back to Jun's table, he felt a hand on his wrist.
He looked back towards the source of the hand, which happened to be his boss, Andre, who gave him a look and a nod.
'Thanks for helping with Daichi's confidence.'
Issei responded with a slight smile and a nod.
'My pleasure.'
The small non-verbal conversation done, Issei took the beer to it's owner, before going back to his regular work.
The brunet looked down at his watch, seeing that it pointed to 5 mins to 8PM, which was the end of his shift. He headed towards the back room, taking off the Apron he wore as a uniform and hanging it onto one of the hooks.
"Shit!"
Issei blinked before looking towards the source of the cuss, which was Andre hanging the landline's speaker back onto it's vintage hook.
"What's wrong, boss?"
"Ginei's girlfriend just called, he got into an accident earlier today."
"Oh man! Is he alright?"
"Yeah, it wasn't anything life-threatening, luckily, but he broke his leg, so he can't come in today for the night shift."
"Oh, tough break, boss. How're you gonna deal with this?"
"...Kid, I know this is beyond your usual work time, but would you mind working the night shift? I can't have a minor working behind the counter, and none of my other workers are capable of keeping the order with these miscreants like the two of us can."
"I don't know, boss..."
"It'd help a lot, kid. Plus, I'd pay you double overtime."
Scratching the back of his head, Issei looked away as he answered.
"It's not about the money, boss. I'd like to help, but... My parents were already a bit leery about letting me work at a bar in the red light district.
"The only way I got my mom to agree with this in the first place was by swaying my dad to my side with assurances of safety and the amount of pay I'd get, and then teaming up against her with back massages and puppy dog eyes.
"Letting me work the night shift would be another thing altogether."
Andre sighed out loud, before answering.
"Are you sure you can't help? I mean, it's not as if today was a school night, it's friday! Can't we at least give it a shot?"
Sighing at that, Issei spoke up.
"Okay, I'll try, but don't get your hopes up."
"That's all I can ask for, kid."
Shrugging, Issei picked the phone up from the hook and dialed his home number, tapping his fingers onto his arm as it rung.
"Hyoudou Residence, Gorou speaking!"
"Hey dad, it's me, Issei!"
"Issei? why're you calling at this time? You're not in trouble, are you? Do you need me to pick you up somewhere? Do yo-"
"Relax, dad, I'm fine! I just called to ask for an extended curfew for the day. One of the night shift workers broke his leg, and the boss wants me to help cover for him."
"...How safe do you think it'd be for you to stay there for the night shift? And I want you to say the truth, not what you think I want to hear, otherwise that's a straight up 'No'."
"I'm about as safe working a night shift here as I am at school, dad. Between me being able to take care of myself, and being friends with many... Interesting people... I can move around with a great degree of safety."
"Okay, and is the pay worth the extra work? You may like your boss and all, but you need to make it clear that you won't work for anything less than what you're owed, and that you're not one to just be explored."
"I'm being paid double overtime."
"...Okay, if you're that sure it's safe and worth it to stay there late, then you can consider your curfew extended for weekends. I'll smooth things over with Mama Bear over here. But make sure that you're 100% safe!"
"Thanks, dad! Love you!"
"Love you too, kiddo."
Hanging up after that, Issei smiled at Andre as he lifted his apron out of the hook he had hanged it onto.
"I can work the night shift at fridays and saturdays, if needed."
"Thanks for the cover, kid."
"No problem. Plus, I'm being paid to lay the smackdown on a few unruly folks, with tips!"
Andre chuckled lightly at that, before speaking.
"What would Daichi think if he knew his 'Issei-senpai' was like this? He really admires you, y'know?"
"...He admires me?"
Seeing the trepidation on Issei's face, Andre waved him off before answering.
"Not like that, kid, he's into chicks. No, ever since you've saved him he's been looking at you as a role model. It's a good thing too, since maybe it will finally teach him to be a bit more decisive about things, and to put his foot down.
"He's a good kid, calm and kind, never really making trouble, but... He's a bit of a pushover. I tried helping him raising his self-esteem a bit to fight againts this trait of his, but I haven't had much success.
"But ever since you've showed up, I've seen him better than ever. He's less tense, more relaxed; he smiles more, and it seems as if his usual tormentors have given up on going after him altogether.
"He all but sees you as an older brother by now."
Issei simultaneously blushed and preened at the flow of complements going his way, before speaking up.
"Well, if I'm his older brother, then I guess it's sort of my responsibility to help him be the best he can be as well."
"That's great and all, but don't forget that we're supposed to be working right now. We've already been gone for quite a while, and I want to make sure that my bar's still standing by the end of the night."
With those words, the two went back into the bar proper, ready for more work.
-x-
"Oh man, that Pop Quiz was brutal!"
"Tell me about it!"
"My mom's gonna shout my ear off..."
Complaints were uttered by the majority of class 1-A, who were utterly surprised by a biology pop quiz. Few students weren't complaining about it, secure in the fact that they managed to get themselves a good grade. Of these few students, The Perverted Sage trio and the Perverted Novelist (Upgraded title jokingly given to her by Akeno, that ended up sticking) were the only ones fully relaxed, and that showed in the easy flow of conversation between them at lunch time.
"I'm telling you, Nuperman could totally beat Moku!"
"Nu-uh! Moku would totally beat Nuperman's butt! Back me up on this, Issei!"
Motohama and Matsuda turned towards Issei, only to find him sat next to Aika, a paperback novel in hands, as the girl pointed at specific parts with a pen.
"See, this is the part that I was talking about."
"Mhm... Pretty good, but maybe if she used the chicken instead..."
"Yeah... Yeah, I can see it in my mind. Pretty good eye, Dragon-san."
Issei groaned aloud at that, ignoring the way that his friends snickered and chuckled at his annoyance.
"Ara Ara~"
Those two words, for whatever reason, caused a chill to go down Issei's spine, a bead of sweat rolling down the back of his neck as he woodenly turned towards the speaker, one Himejima Akeno, who had made it a habit to sporadically sit down with the four of them during lunch, often taking the time to check out the latest additions to Aika's 'commercial' novel.
"For people who've seemingly had a pop quiz from hell just a few minutes ago, the four of you look very relaxed."
Motohama snorted at that, while Matsuda responded.
"With how often we've been to Issei's for a study session, there is no real way for us to get caught by surprise by a pop quiz. He's a real slave driver, he is."
Akeno gave Issei a pleasantly surprised look, prompting the brunet to shrug before answering.
"All of us have smarts, even Matsuda, so it'd be a shame not to make full use of them."
The other three nodded along with Issei's sentence, before Matsuda cried out with mild indignation.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
Issei blithely ignored the baldie, causing him to sputter and groan, while prompting the others present to laugh. Even Akeno found herself covering her mouth and chuckling.
Getting her chuckles back under control, Akeno spoke.
"To be quite honest, I didn't see you as the type of people to study other than for tests you already know about."
Issei shrugged before answering.
"At least you're honest about it, without being a total cun-err, 'Unpleasant person'."
Akeno smirked at Issei as she spoke.
"What were you just about to say?"
"N-nevermind that!" Issei gulped, his mouth saying the first thing it could in order to redirect the conversation "Hey, senpai, I couldn't help but notice you have a massive rack!"
While Motohama and Matsuda could only gape at him, stunned at how forward his words were, and Aika hurriedly retrieved her research notes, Akeno reacted by, once again, chuckling. A teasing glint in her eyes, she spoke.
"They are quite sizable." she placed both hands underneath her breasts and hefted them up, causing Motohama to start hyperventilating, and Matsuda to fall over backwards, a nosebleed squirting out of his nose. "Very hefty, too."
Issei stared at Akeno's chest with a hungry look, his fingers moving in a disturbingly limber manner that revealed his double-jointedness, a line of drool going down his chin as he spoke in a half-babble, half-growl.
"T-those look pretty heavy, Senpai. Want me to help lighten your load?"
"Ufufufufu, how forward of you, Hyoudou-san~"
"A man has to be decisive over whatever it is he loves!"
Chuckling softly, Akeno's eyes seemed to be looking somewhere far beyond Issei as she spoke.
"He has to, doesn't he?"
Having said that, Akeno stood back up, dusting herself off as usual, before bowing her head towards the friendly group of perverts.
"Hyoudou-san, you are a breath of fresh air."
Having said that, Akeno pensively walked away, prompting Issei and Aika to exchange looks, before the girl spoke up.
"What was that about?"
"Hell if I know."
The bell rung shortly after that, causing all of the students to flood back into their classrooms.
-x-
"So, there we were, guys all around us, when Shin says something like 'With the amount of assholes around I feel like I'm in a porn studio'."
"He didn't!"
"He did! And then he punched the guy closest to him, causing the whole thing to explode! I watched Miri kneecap a guy with a lead pipe before performing the most brutal groinstomp I've ever seen to date, that was when I knew it was time for me to get her a ring.
"By the end of the whole shebang, we were all but dryhumping each other right there, on top of the other dudes."
Issei chuckled lightly at Kensuke, one of the local bosses', story.
"I'd really thnk that watching the most impressive groinstomp ever would make you want to avoid a woman, moreso than marry her!"
Miri waved her hand dismissively at Issei's words, even as she spoke up.
"Pish posh. This-" she punctuated by grabbing hold of Kensuke's crotch in a move that surprised him as much as it did Issei "-is one of my favorite parts, on one of my favorite people in the world. Do you really think that I'd think of ever damaging it like that?"
Kensuke blushed at that, while the rest of the people sat at the table laughed racuously, with Issei chuckling lightly as he placed a cup of tea in front of Miri.
As the noise went down, a random voice drifted into the group's conversation.
"What if he was cheating on you and you found out, or something like that?"
"In that case" Miri spoke in a dangerous tone "I'd tie him down to our bed, pump him full of energy drinks, and give him such a wild ride that his companion would only ever get up to the sight of my body."
Kensuke blushed further at that, while the rest of the bar hooted and hollered.
As soon as the noise went down, Miri spoke up again.
"And what about you, Dragon-kun, how's the romantic life of such a handsome young man going?"
"It's... Complicated. Very, very complicated."
Smirking, Miri spoke in a conspiratorial tone.
"A regular heartbreaker, huh?"
The brunette responded by shaking his head.
"Not at all. How to explain best..."
He set the tray down and sat down at the table, like any other patron, rubbing his chin for a while, before speaking up.
"I have a very ambitious Harem plan."
Before Miri or anyone else could break in, he kept talking.
"It's been my dream ever since I was seven, and... I recently took the first few steps towards said goal. I already have harem members. However, they're far away from me, unfortunately, and I don't know when I'll have to time to get together with them again.
"Other than that, there's the fact that there are very few women in this town that I'd actually consider to be girlfriend-material, and none of them seem to be ready to get into relationships at the moment.
"Other than that, there's the fact that two of them are so popular that me getting into relationships with either of them would result in resentment from fanboys and fangirls, and, while it wouldn't be a real problem, it'd still be annoying nonetheless.
"So, yeah. That's pretty much my story. And before you try to rip off my head, each of my current girlfriends know one another, know of one-another, are close to one-another, and are all on board with the Harem plan."
Miri, who had been building up a head of steam and bordering on an explosion, deflated completely at Issei's last words, while the rest of the bar seemed to be empty of even crickets, due to the sheer absence of noise within it. Then, the silence was broken by Jun.
"How much for your cologne?"
Everyone else in the bar could only groan in response.
-x-
Motohama, Matsuda and Aika found themselves unable to advance due to a massive congregation of students.
Aika looked at Matsuda, before asking.
"What the hell is going on? Is there some event that I wasn't told about?"
Shrugging, the baldie responded.
"If you weren't told about, then neither was I. Usually all of these people are all but sprinting at this time, trying to get away from the school the instant the last bell rings."
The two looked at Motohama, only for him to shrug at them.
"Hey, what gives? Is there some event happening or something?"
The three looked towards the speaker, Issei, who had stayed back for a few minutes in order to have a small talk with one of their teachers, and gave him three simultaneous shrugs as answers.
Cracking his neck, the brunet spoke.
"Okay, I guess I'll have to open up a path." He drew himself up to his full height, shoulders squared and feet set. "Oh, by the way, cover your ears and get out of the way."
The three did so with no hesitation, clapping their hands to their ears and placing themselves to the sides and slightly behind Issei, watching as he cracked his neck, took in a deep breath...
"GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY WAY, ASSHOLES!"
And roared so loud that everyone directly in front of him reflexively jumped out of his path, their ears ringing.
When the crowd split, rather than looking smug, apathetic or just normal, Issei looked gobsmacked.
Shitori Souna, Shinra Tsubaki, Gremory Rias and Himejima Akeno were all reunited and standing in front of the school's gates, but that wasn't what stunned him, no.
"Lilith?"
Yes. Right there, talking to the neutral-looking student council members, and the tense-looking Occult Research Club members, in all of her 5'1", 111 pound, purple-haired glory, was Issei's first... Everything non-platonic, the heiress of the royal family of Luxuria and the girl that had taken Issei's first time, Lilith Lilim.
Lilith turned as soon as she heard a certain familiar voice, her face blooming into a massive smile at the sight of her boyfriend, before she sprinted down the parted students, bodily jumping onto Issei, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist.
Giving no-one the time to say a single thing, she slammed her lips to Issei's her tongue all but plundering his mouth. Issei did not take long to reciprocate, his hands going down to hold her body up by her buttcheeks as his own tongue pushed Lilith's tongue back, the two tangling with one-another in an extremely pornographic display that had many shocked stiff, Matsuda streaming blood down his nose, Motohama's glasses fogging up, and Aika breathing heavily, her face flushed as she frenetically wrote on her notepad.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?"
Rias' shout brought the two lovers back to the present, allowing them to unlatch from each other's face, before Issei turned towards his friends and spoke up in an absent-minded tone.
"Guys, this is my girlfriend, Lilith. The one I met during my vacation."
A massive, surprised silence encompassed the entire courtyard. Said silence was, then, broken by Matsuda.
"Dude... What the fuck happened to you during the break?"
-Chapter, END!-