Hello hello, folks! I put the nose to the grindstone to get this new chapter out!
Before that, though, I want to thank darkistorrik, Jarod, Joshua Garrett and Michael Ifidon for donating to me, your support is very much appreciated!
If you think that my material is good enough to warrant a donation, you can find me at "pat reon -dot- com -slash- FrancoGamerxz" or "subscribestar -dot- com -slash- francogamerxz" .
With that out of the way, let us proceed.
4 AM.
After an almost sleepless night, Issei dragged himself out of bed as was habit, his body easlily shambling towards his dresser and picking out a red tracksuit with a yellow trim and purple accents for him to wear.
Yawning, he walked down the stairs two steps at a time, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge, grabbing the carton of milk from within it and a glass.
He poured himself one, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, his mind reaching a higher level of operation with each passing minute.
Nowadays, while still difficult, waking up early wasn't as hard as it used to be, since he had a habit of picking up his missed hours of sleep at school, something which had upset the usual sleeping balance he had, yet left him fully operational, if only due to his various supernatural energies.
Still, Issei felt that waking up this early after so few hours of consecutive sleep was a horrible thing for anyone to go through, and yet it was a burden that was his, and his alone...
You know what? No. And not just no, but Hell No!
Why did Issei have to suffer on his own? If he had to wake up this early every day for his physical upkeep, then other people could as well. And if they didn't want to...
Well, fuck you, I'm a Dragon.
With those thoughts in mind and a grin on his face, Issei left his home that morning, locking the door behind him.
"If you scream I will punch you."
Motohama all but jerked awake when those words were whispered into his ear, and despite what had been said, his first response to having some indisctinct voice all but breathing words into his ear at an ungodly hour was to scream.
Well, he tried to, at least, but the owner of the voice had preempted his reaction and had wisely clamped a hand onto his mouth, suppressing his hysterical shri-err, manly bellows.
"Dude, chill. I don't wanna wake up your parents, but it's what will happen if you keep making such a racket!"
Motohama's eyes widened at that, his struggles ceasing as his brain finally registered who the voice whispering to him belonged to. The owner of the voice, noticing that Motohama had calmed down, released his mouth.
Motohama reached for the glasses on his bedside table, putting them on and looking at his digital clock, before turning his gaze towards his brunet friend before speaking.
"Okay, I have a few questions. One, what are you doing in my room; two, what are you doing in my room at 4:15 in the morning; and finally, How the fuck did you manage to get into my bedroom at 4 in the morning without alerting my parents!?"
Issei, rummaging through Motohama's clothes and ignoring every single piece of clothing that his senses told him were 'tainted', answered in a nonchalant tone, like someone discussing the weather.
"In order of your questions, first, I'm in your room waking you up. Two, I'm in your room waking you up early because we have things to do at this time. And three, I picked the lock on your bedroom window and got in."
"MY BEDROOM WINDOW IS ON THE SECOND FLOOR AND HAS IN INSIDE-ONLY LOCKING MECHANISM!"
Issei waved a careless hand in response.
"Details. Now, get your ass up and ready to go, since I have Matsuda waiting for us right outside."
Before Motohama could muster some sort of response, he was pelted with a long-sleeved sports jersey, a pair of track pants and two shoes to the head, before Issei, body halfway out the window, spoke.
"Get dressed and hydrated."
Having said that, the brunet hopped out of the window.
"Okay, I'm outside, now can you tell me what the hell- Matsuda? What happened to you?"
Motohama's tone, which had started out more than just a bit annoyed, trailed off into confusion as he spotted his bald friend sporting a black eye. Matsuda, for his part, turned his head towards Issei and shot him a dirty look, prompting him to shrug before responding.
"He screamed."
"I'm sure" Matsuda spoke drily "that you too would scream if you woke up at 4 in the goddamned morning,only to find a stranger in your bedroom."
"If it makes you feel any better, Motohama sleeps in a pink 'Puri Puri Miyako-chan' onesie."
Matsuda turned towards Motohama with a shrewd look in his eye, before speaking.
"Where can I find one like those, and for how much?"
Before Motohama could respond, Issei broke in.
"We have time to take care of those things later on, boys. There're more important things we must deal with first."
"Those being?" came from Motohama.
Issei crouched and started stretching his legs, before speaking up.
"Our work-out menu, of course!"
The other two froze at that, before Matsuda spoke.
"Uh, Issei... We don't have a work-out menu."
"Well you do now, bitches! I'll be picking you up everyday at about this time, so your lazy asses can get some good running in!"
The other two stared at Issei for a few seconds, before Motohama turned around.
"I'm going back to sleep."
His body jerked as he choked on the collar of his jersey due to Issei yanking him backwards, before tossing him onto Matsuda.
"No, you're not. You're going running with me and Matsuda, and if you think you can get away from this, then too damn bad, buster!"
Motohama, getting back to his and rubbing at his throat, spoke up.
"You can't be for real, dude!"
Seeing Issei's unchanged expression, he turned towards Matsuda, expecting some support from the baldy, only to get a shrug in response, before Matsuda spoke up.
"To be honest... I've really missed the rush from having a good run. It's just one of those things that stick with you when you get used to them, y'know..."
The wistful look on Matsuda's face broke Motohama's resolve, prompting him to turn towards Issei, sighing before he spoke.
"Ok, fine, I'll do it."
Issei's response was to grin at him, a sense of 'As if there was any other possibility?' causing Motohama to scowl, though it had no real meaning behind it, before speaking.
"You may have won, but no need to be so smug about it."
"Hah... Hah... Hah... You absolute monsters..."
Issei finished stretching before turning towards the downed Matsuda, who was lying on his back in a massive puddle of sweat. The glasses-wearing member of the Three Perverted Sages barely managed to raise a finger, pointing it towards the heavily breathing yet still standing Matsuda, and the fres-as-a-daisy Issei, as he spoke.
"How the hell can the two of you be so cool after running as much as we did?"
Matsuda shrugged, before answering.
"I was a member of the track and field club until last year, I might have gone a few months without running and lost some of my leg strength and speed, but my heart and lungs are still going strong, so I can run for quite a while as long as I pace myself."
Matsuda turned towards Issei, before speaking.
"How are you so fresh, though? I mean, I know that it's been months since I last trained, but I was a jock for years, while you were average up until your break. And even if you got fit in those two months, I haven't seen you lift a finger for the whole time we've been in Kuoh!"
Issei raised an eyebrow at Matsuda.
"I've been doing these 4AM runs every day since I came back from vacation. I actually held back today, so that the two of you could keep up with me."
Motohama blanched at those words, while Matsuda blinked in surprise.
"Yeah, I held back a whole lot. I usually work out until 6, 6:30, and do more than just running. I stopped at 5 today because the two of you wouldn't be able to keep up, but after the two of you get home, I'll go back to my own routine."
Motohama and Matsuda traded looks, the two noticeably annoyed at the knowledge that Issei had to hold back just so the two of them could keep up.
Between his studious nature and this, Issei was constantly improving himself. It would've been one thing if Issei simply outgrew them and left them behind, however the three of them didn't have that type of 'friendship'.
They befriended eachother through their common interest in perverted things, yet they acclimated to eachother's personalities and quirks, and supported eachother through every difficult stretch of life, from their status as social pariahs, to their constant attempts at getting girls to like them, they had each other's backs. Obviously, in a friendship like this, Issei would never think of leaving the two of them behind.
This meant, however, that he had to hold back so they could keep up with him. If he's holding back, then he's not making the most effort within the time he has available to do so, meaning that he does not improve as much as he could.
He does not reach his maximum potential.
Motohama and Matsuda could be many things, but they were not the type of people who were alright with being dead weight, wrapped around their best friend's ankles. It was the reason they took Issei's study sessions so seriously and why they started studying on their own, so that their grades reflected his own.
Now, the two of them decided that they wouldn't just constantly hold Issei back in physical matters either. This was especially egregious for Matsuda, who had an athletic background.
Trading looks while Issei was looking away from them, Motohama and Matsuda nodded decisively at one another, promising to do their best to never weigh down their friend. The act they took next was based on this decision.
"You go on ahead, dude. I'll help Motohama back to his place."
Issei turned towards Matsuda with a raised eyebrow, prompting the glasses-clad pervert to, through sheer willpower, stand back up, his knees wobbling yet not giving out. He gave Issei a shaky thumbs up, getting a genuine smile from the brunet.
Said smile morphed into a much-too-sharp grin, before he spoke.
"Well, since you seem to have so much spirit, I expect you to go on for longer in our next work outs than you did today. Also, drink lots of water."
Having said that, Issei turned around and jogged off towards the last phase of his training regimen.
"Man... I've been dilly-dallying so far, lazy since the supernatural world seemed to be far away, but with this new influx of supernatural people into the town I gotta make sure that my training keeps progressing..."
Issei rolled his shoulders, his eyes moving along the abandoned construction site he stood in the middle of. This was the place that he decided to get some serious physical training in, since it was pretty much abandoned since her was a child, and no authorities ever did anything about the various machines and materials that were scattered around.
Having finished his stretching, Issei walked towards a pile of stacked-up steel girders, cracking his knuckles and exhaling in preparation for what he was about to do.
He bent his legs lightly, his fingers finding purchase around one of the girders before he pulled, straightening his knees even as he lifted the girder bit by bit, his arms trembling and his cheeks puffed up by the effort.
He hefted the girder onto his shoulders with a grunt of exertion, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, before he started doing squats, his body automatically doing the moves while his mind wandered.
'Man, I am not as strong as I hoped. With the Boosted Gear and my other abilities active, this would be an absolute cakewalk!... But that is sort of the point of this, I guess. Raise my base strength, and when I start stacking the buffs (which are exponential, not linear), I get the best results possible.'
His thoughts were brought back to the present when he felt his legs about to give out on him. Rather than letting himself get crushed by a thousand something pounds of steel, Issei bent his knees lightly, built up strength from his lower body, then flipped the girder off of himself, allowing it to fall with a loud thump and raise a moderately sized cloud of dust.
Waving one of his hands to disperse the dust, Issei turned towards the horizon, his eyes narrowing when the sight of the rising sun blinded him for an instant.
'It's about time for me to head home and get ready for school...'
He turned his gaze back to the steel girder, a thoughtful frown on his face.
'I can lift a girder if I make it a full body effort... But the type of things that I'll fight will likely use girders as toothpicks, so that is nowhere near enough. I need to get strong enough to make this type of effort casual, even without enhancing myself. Guess I'll be making an even more intense training menu than my usual calisthenics...'
Nodding to himself, the brunet took off his tracksuit's jacket, wrapping it around his waist and revealing his torso clad only in a white wife-beater, before approaching the girder he had worked out with.
A small application of force had the thing upright and pushed into the ground in a suficient level to stay standing, before he changed stances. He put his left foot forward and his right one back, his hands closed into fists and placed at about chin level.
He inhaled deeply, his eyes stuck on the center of the improvised punching post as his muscles tensed in anticipation.
His eyes narrowed as he focused on that spot, his mind placing what were overlaying images of the faces of Travis and the three fates, his magic roiling within him in response to the spike in his emotions, asking, begging to be unleashed.
His inner animal slammed into the metaphorical cage, doing it's best to see itself unleashed upon the reflection of what Issei saw as the most contemptible beings he knew of, yet Issei's will and focus managed to beat it back down. Despite this, adrenaline still flooded him, and a deep frown adorned his face. And then, in an instant...
He moved.
To a regular watcher, the best way to describe what they had just seen would be to say that Issei vanished for an instant, before he reappeared with an outstreched right arm, his clothes swaying backwards as if he had been sprinting at full speed.
For anyone capable of perceiving motion at this speed, or for Issei himself, the explanation was much less fantastic. After having chosen something to hit, and motivating himself to hit with his full strength, Issei stepped in hard, letting the strength go up his legs, twisting his hips and waist forward as he did, the muscles of his body tensing in a specific motion as the entirety of the built up power was transfered up the dorsal and back muscles, going up to his right shoulder. He rolled his right shoulder slightly forward, following through in the motion, and as the strength reached his arm...
He fired.
Regardless of the level of understanding one could possibly have over the how of the event, the results would be the same for any watchers.
Mere instants after Issei finished the motion, or 'reappeared' as it were, a sound akin to that of an explosion roared out with the girder as the center, a shockwave blowing back hard enough to push around objects directly in it's vicinity, and causing Issei's hair and clothes to whip wildly in the air.
Issei let out a cleasing breath, all of his negative thoughts easily evaporating into as much as thin air as his body relaxed in it's entirety, returning to his regular footing. He looked at his punching post, noting the manner in which the dense girder got bent and warped inwards at the point of contact.
"Not bad at all."
He then looked down at his knuckles, noticing the fact that they had swelled noticeably. He poked one of said knuckles with his left index, wincing as he spoke.
"Guess I need to work on durability as well. Punching hard ain't useful if you can only do so a few times, due to torn knuckles or broken bones."
He exhaled, the tension fully leaving his body as he donned his jacket again.
"School time, huh..."
Having said that, Issei easily hopped over the tall wall that surrounded the abandoned site before moving towards home at a pace that most would consider a sprint.
A few minutes after Issei was gone, a figure detached itself from one of the many shadows of the construction. Little could be noticed about the figure other than the fact that whatever they were wearing was blue in color, and that their face sported a massive, ear to ear grin.
"Such strength... 'The Dragon of Kuoh' indeed... Marvelous!"
The figure moved towards the still standing girder, it's fingers gliding along the point of impact where it had been warped.
"Stress fractures..."
The grin already on it's face progressed into a small chuckle, before evolving into a full-blown, belly laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MOST MARVELOUS INDEED!"
The laugh receded back into chuckles, before the figure spoke, more than just a bit of bloodthirst in it's voice.
"We will be meeting, Hyoudou-san. That is a promise."
Having said that, the figure walked deeper into the abandoned construction, the shadows completely obscuring it.
"Wow, the three of you look like you went 10 rounds with a mad gorilla."
While Issei and Matsuda shrugged, used to the post-workout soreness, a grumpy Motohama spoke.
"Well, Issei decided that it was a great idea to kidnap me and Matsuda from our beds at 4 AM to go for a run."
Aika turned towards Issei, her face sporting a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk as she spoke.
"Really now? Are you going to try kidnapping me out of my bed at 4 AM as well?"
Issei's response was made in a nonchalant tone, with a neutral expression.
"If I went into your bedroom at 4 AM, while we would likely be engaged in some sort of physical activity, it wouldn't require you leaving your bed."
Motohama and Matsuda froze for an instant, their gazes moving towards Aika, only to meet...
"R-really?"
The two young men's mouths widened at the sight of a blushing, embarrassed Aika, her hands going through one of her large braids as she kept trying to look at Issei, before her eyes darted away.
The brunet, speaking in a tone one would use when discussing the weather, pushed forth.
"Oh yeah. I'd go so hard that your bed's frame would break, your matress would gain a permanent imprint of our bodies, and your neighbours would would be lodging multiple noise complaints with the munipical authorities.
"I'd fuck you so hard you wouldn't walk straight for weeks."
Motohama and Matsuda's gaze snapped back towards Issei, before going back to Aika, noticing the fact that her blush had taken up the entirety of her face and even her ears.
"That's... Really sweet of you, Ise."
"WHAT!?"
Issei, Aika and an approaching Akeno turned towards the incredulous Motohama, who pointed a finger at Aika as he spoke.
"What the hell!? This isn't the sort of response that a girl has when a guy says that kind of stuff!
"She's supposed to get mad, shout a lot, and then slap the guy! Even I know that, and I'm a total pervert!
"That's just common sense!"
Issei turned towards Motohama, looking him in the eye, before stating in the most deadpan tone imaginable.
"Comm-what sen-who?"
The glasses-wearing pervert could only gape at the brunet, Matsuda's brain still frozen and Aika still stroking one of her braids with a massive blush across her face, when Akeno's voice reached the group.
"You're fighting a losing battle, Motohama-san. People like Issei tend to look common sense in the eye before laughing it out of the room, and tend to either surround themselves with similar people, or infect those around them with the same particular mindset.
"Remember that little fact before complaining about anyone's lack of common sense. You did call yourself a pervert in the same breath, and you did it with zero shame or hesitation."
Motohama drooped at that, a metaphorical cloud of depression materializing above him as he spoke.
"Yeah, I get it."
An amused smile on her face at Motohama's reaction, Akeno turned towards Issei, only to be greeted with a raised eyebrow.
"No honorifics? That's pretty friendly, ain't it?"
The girl shrugged, an indulgent smile on her face as she spoke.
"I already offered to let you hold my breasts. After that, simply using your name feels like it's not much."
The brunet shook his head at that, before responding.
"There's a difference between teasing banter, and honest conversations. I'm glad that you think I'm a good enough friend for you to drop honorifics for, Akeno."
The fact that he said so with a genuine smile on his face caused Akeno to raise her sleeve to her mouth as she let out a chuckle, in order to cover up the small blush that his words had elicited.
'You truly are a dangerous young man, aren't you, Issei?'
"HAVE YOU NO SHAME!?"
Issei, Aika, Motohama, Akeno and Matsuda turned towards the source of the shout, only to see a blond-haired young man approaching them with flaring nostrils and a glint in his eye.
He stopped right in front of Issei and crossed his arms imperiously before speaking up.
"How dare you use such crass language around ladies, you fiend!? And for someone who already has a beautiful maiden of their own as a partner to so shamelessly flirt with other women... You are the lowest of the low!"
Issei stared blankly at the blond for a minute, the group of students that had surrounded the scene watching with trepidation, tension building up with each passing second. The blonde seemed to be waiting for some kind of response.
"You're annoying, go away."
Having said that, the brunet shifted his focus back towards his friend group as if the matter was already settled - which, as far as it concerned him, it was - and smiled at Akeno as he spoke.
"So, the breast-holding offer still val-"
"How dare you ignore me, you cur!? I am Kageyama Motoyasu, the ace of Kikakuen Middle's Karate club! You are nothing more than a lech who got lucky enough to get good grades in a few tests!
"Hell, I bet a delinquent like you cheated in your entrance tests, since there's no way someone like you could even manage to get into such a prestigious academy on your own merits!"
Akeno's smile turned noticeably fake, Aika's embarassment fading into a frown of irritation and Motohama and Matsuda seemed to be about one moment away from jumping the guy, their exhaustion forgotten, when Issei's amused-sounding words stopepd them.
"You know, Envy-green clashes horribly with your hair color. You should find a different look."
Both being ignored as a threat and being called out on his envy had the blond bristling, his temper boiling over as his thoughts raced.
'This wasn't supposed to be how things went! I was supposed to call out Hyoudou, he lashes out and attacks me, I beat him up, and the girls in the academy would be so glad to see the pervert squashed that they'd be throwing themselves all over me!... Wait a second, I can still salvage things!'
"As expected of a cowardly delinquent, trying to change the subject so that he can avoid taking responsibility for his flaws! Well, I won't let that happen! I challenge you to a battle! You lose, and you'll apologize for all the things you've done, and stop bothering the girls of this academy! If you win, which I very much doubt, then I'll leave you alone.
"What say you?"
"I say that you should climb down from the high horse you're on before you get forcibly knocked down from it, buddy. Aside from the fact that fighting you would be a waste of time, during which I could be doing something more enjoyable such as studying, spending time with my girlfriend, friends, or passing a kidney stone, there is also the fact that I have nothing to prove to you.
"So tell me, why would I spend my time trying to convince someone whose opinion matters to me about as much as a dog turd on the sidewalk, that I'm not 'as bad as he thinks' ?"
Motoyasu could hear the people around him murmmuring, any support that he expected from the crowd being in complete absence. Allowing things to just die like this would be very bad for his image, so he went for another route.
"You're just afraid of losing that girlfriend of yours!"
Motoyasu regretted those words almost as soon as he said them, the look in the brunet's eyes shifting, and his tone losing the previous jocosity they had as he spoke.
"What."
Despite his instincts telling him that he should just apologize and leave, Motoyasu's ego told him to hold onto the one thing that seemed to actually shake the pervert and run with it, so he kept going.
"You're afraid that after I'm through with you, your girl will see that you're nothing more than an unremarkable pervert, a delinquent loser with no future; you're afraid that she'll finally see what a real man is by contrasting your pitiful self with me. You're afraid that I'll take your girlfriend."
Issei's stadily tightening face blanked completely as the last sentence was said, something which caused a chill to run through the spines of every single person who saw it happening.
The brunet stood up in a motion that seemed much too dangerous for how... casual... it was, his voice as blank as his gaze as he spoke.
"Time, date and location."
Motoyasu himself felt something within him screaming in terror at the way the conversation proceeded, his rational side kicking, screaming and doing anything it could to try to convince him that this was a bad idea, and that he should just stay away from Hyoudou, yet his Ego managed to shout louder, resulting in his cocky - yet shaky - grin as he answered.
"This friday, after classes, Karate club dojo."
"I'll be there."
Having said that, Issei turned his back on Motoyasu and walked through his friends, none of them doing more than give him sympathetic looks, however, as soon as he went out of sight, the lot of them turned towards Motoyasu, all of them sporting different levels of murder in their eyes.
Aika, a sneer on her face, spoke with absolute disgust.
"Men like you are the absolute worst."
Her piece spoken, Aika too left the scene.
Akeno's mouth was hidden behind her sleeve, yet her eyes told Motoyasu how much she appreciated him, which was not at all. The tiny sparks dancing along her fingers would have been a great indicator of it as well, however they were hidden by her wide sleeves.
Motohama and Matsuda sneered and snarled, respectively, at the blond, before following after the rest of their group.
Despite the cocky smirk on his face, Motoyasu could only inwardly curse at himself for the level of idiocy he displayed.
Already he could see whispers travelling through the academy, people telling eachother about the events that occured, meaning that he couldn't simply not show up with some flimsy excuse.
'Well, I really fucked it up right there, didn't I?'
"Issei?"
The brunet turned towards Matsuda, all but spearing him in place. Managing to push the glare aside, he spoke up.
"Are you okay, dude? I've never seen you get... Like that."
Issei's gaze softened as he exhaled soothingly, allowing the tension to leave his body as he answered.
"Yeah... I was very angry, but I'm fine now."
Aika walked up to him and placed a soothing hand on his shoulder before speaking up.
"Wanna talk about it?"
Issei sighed again, stretching his eyes before speaking up.
"I'm... on edge, today. I mean, I'm usually always on edge at least somewhat, that's sleeping a single full night in a few months does to you, but I've recently been reminded of certain... Aspects of my life, that... Well, they're not very nice, or easy to swallow.
"When that asshole talked about taking my girlfriend... It hit a bit too close to home. I was angry. Really angry. And while annoyance and irritation make me display it outwardly, real anger, well..."
Akeno stepped forward, her tone of voice sympathetic and commiserating as she spoke, the tone of someone who intimately understands the situation.
"Real anger feels like fire and ice running through your veins at once. Like there's this boiling river rushing through you, and adding ice to it just barely manages to cool it and keep you from burning out, but it turns the remaining water into acid, eating away at anything it touches."
Issei gave Akeno a surprised look, as did the other three, before speaking up with a nod.
"Yeah. It feels like there's this poison pumping through your veins, and that it will only disappear when you let it out into the person that made it flow in the first place."
The conversation ended on that note, with the group lapsing into silence for the rest of the break, and even the rest of the day.
"I must apologize, but I do not feel up to dancing at the moment."
"I understand, my lady."
The man bowed at the waist, before walking towards another young lady of high standing and offering her a dance. Sona could only let out a despondent sigh at that.
She might understand the importance of these balls in a general view of things, in order for the higher members of society to present a united front to the common folk and to mantain societal cohesion, yet it was no less palatable to her.
Despite the stated purpose of the ball, and the fact that someone on the outside looking in may actually believe that whole tripe about unity and cohesion, Sona was aware of the real happenings in the room.
While there were legitimately well-meaning people trying to create stronger bonds, there were also the less palatable sort of people, making use of these occasions to sow chaos and discord amongst certain more susceptible people, in an attempt at profiting off of it, be said profit an alliance, a business agreement, or a bethrotal.
The man that had just approached her, all charm and friendliness, was Marcus Dayne, known by most as a reputable man of a well-to-do family and a mighty knight. Sona, however, knew of his other, more obscure reputation.
He had a reputation of deceiving women of a certain status, his words flowing as sweet as honey and as dangerous as poison, in order to first bed them with promises of love and marriage, and then use said situation as leverage against said women and their families with threats of ruining their reputation, forcing many a gift and concession from his victims.
Marcus was, however, only one of the many dangerous people present, snakes in the grass, just waiting for an unaware victim so that they could strike out at their ankle.
Unfortunately for Sona, as the heiress of the Vallor family, the most prestigious of the families of all four kingdoms, often considered equal even to the royal family, she was often targeted by these individuals for a myriad of reasons.
There had been many attempts already, however she always managed to, through her wit and watchfulness, stay one step ahead of these scoundrels. As such, she always kept herself above the subject of love, seeing it as none of her concern.
"Sona, darling!"
The girl turned towards the source of the voice, her mother, who motioned her over with one hand, the other one occupied by a young man she knew as well as she despised.
"Sazen."
Her cold tone was ignored by the young man who smiled at her as if she was the best sight he had seen the whole day.
"Sona, you only get more beautiful each time I see you..."
The girl barely held back her grimace at the overly casual address, her tone as frosty as the tundra as she responded.
"Do not forget your manners, Heir Shultz. One does not address a member of a house of higher standing with such... casuality."
Sona's mother interrupted their talk by pushing Sazen into Sona as she spoke.
"I believe I see Lady Krantz, I shall ensure that she recieves a warm and proper welcome. Be good in my absence, children!"
Before Sazen could say a thing, Sona uncerimoniously pushed him away from her, before taking a further step away from him.
Smiling smarmily at her, Sazen took a step towards the girl as he spoke.
"Come now, Sona, don't be so cold! You know my heart beats only for you, and your distance wounds me truly!"
"I am quite sure that my presence would lead to you incurring more wounds, Heir Shultz."
Sona saw a flash of anger barely repressed within Sazen's eyes, something which brought great satisfaction to her.
Sazen managed to compose himself before anyone else could see his slip, his ultimate goal of marrying into the Vallor family driving him forward in life.
He stepped closer to Sona, ignoring her grimace as he did, before raising his hand to her and speaking up.
"Would you like to dance?"
"She can't dance with you, unfortunately, because she has already promised me a dance."
Both Sona and Sazen turned towards the source of the voice, only for Sona's eyes to widen in surprise.
Back-length brown hair tied into a ponytail, a handsome face, somehow mixing boyish charm with mature good looks, eyes that were somewhere between brown and hazel in color, and a build that, even under the tasteful red outfit he wore, was noticeably rugged, a result of hours of work and activity.
His shoulders were broad, the palms of his hands callused, and his smile straight and clean.
Sona had no idea who this man - whose knowing smirk made butterflies flutter in her belly - was, however Sazen seemed to, his face turning to one of disgust as he adressed the man.
"Houssen. How would someone like you be allowed to be in the presence of real nobility such as myself? Need I call for the guards to remove you, or will you do so on your own?"
Sona watched this new man as he, rather than reacting in anger, outrage or fear, gave Sazen an even wider, cheekier smirk, his tone casual, even almost friendly as he spoke.
"Oh, you were not aware, Sazen? Queen Helmene herself saw fit to give me an invitation to this event. She said, and I quote: 'It is about time the members of high society learn about the newest and most prestigious addition to the Queen's Guard, and I refuse to allow you to skip any more of these parties!'
"Threatened to inflict young lady Lillian upon me if I refused."
The last part was said with a slight grimmace on his face, however, rather than give the jerk time to recover, Houssen took Sona's hand and started guiding her towards the dance floor. Before she could pull away, however, she heard the whispers of many surrounding her, the attention of the entire room all but focusing on herself and this stranger that had taken her hand.
Taught from a young age of the importance of public perception and the protection of her image, Sona pasted a smile on her face that was so convincing as to seem sincere to all but her parents even as she was marched to the dancefloor.
The two interjected themselves perfectly into the group of already twirling and dancing people, their hands properly placed and their steps graceful and always obeying the rhythm of the music, even as they whispered to one another.
"You will regret subjecting me to this sort of role, Ser Houssen."
Smirking at the sharp contrast between the friendly expression the young lady sported and the acid tone she spoke with, Houssen responded in an amused tone.
"Oh, don't be like that. I saw a jerk, I decided to annoy him. The fact that I saved someone else from being subjected to his... Jerk-ness... Is merely the cherry on top. And please do call me Issei, all my friends do."
"I am no friend of yours!"
"Whatever you say, miss..."
Having said that, the man quieted down and focused completely on dancing, his movements changing, a mix of relentless energy, burning passion and smooth, flowing motions joining his already remarkable dancing.
Not wanting to be left behind or eclipsed, Sona focused completely on the dance, on the way her body flowed together with her partner's, how two different sets of motions from two different people blurred and bended into one. She managed to match her partner step by step, and, in doing so, completely forget about the troubles in her life.
For the duration of the dance, she stopped thinking about who she was or wasn't, what expectations had been forced onto her, be it by her family, the people, or others, and the responsibilities that fell on her due to her status as the Vallor heiress. No, for the duration of this dance, Sona was simply focused on the rhythm of the music, allowing her body to follow both it and her partner's lead.
As the last note was played, Sona felt herself being dipped by her dance partner, their eyes locking onto one another as they simply stood there, frozen in place, their chests heaving after their exertion, and, unbeknownst to Sona, a massively wide, genuine smile on her face.
The short spell was broken by ernest clapping, before a voice known to the majority of the four Kingdoms called out.
"Bravo! Bravo! A very inspired performance, my dear knight!"
Sona's partner softly pulled her back to her feet, ignoring te way she glared at him to turn and address the speaker, a cheeky smile on his face as he spoke.
"I try."
A wave of gasps passed through the room at that, whispers filled the air even as disdainful looks were levelled towards the red-clad young man. A man of a merchant family stepped forward, indignation in his heart as he spoke.
"How dare you so casually address Her Highness Queen Helmene of the Scheillen Kingdom? GUARDS! ARREST THIS IMPUDENT MAN!"
More than a few of the guards moved in, ready to attack him, yet rather than show any sort of trepidation, the young man simply kept smirking, a certain sheen entering his eye as he looked at the armed and armored men.
"STOP!"
Before anyone could act, however, a regal figure clad in a dress of spun gold threads wearing a large, jewel-encrusted crown caused everyone to freeze with a shout.
"Queen Helmene..." "Her Highness..." "The Benevolent Queen..." "The sunbeam of Scheillen..."
Various whispers filled the air as the Queen of what was widely considered the strongest and most prosperous of the four kingdoms walked towards the scene, the crowd parting around her as they would around a tigress.
"Oh come on, Hel, why do you have to ruin my fun?"
Gasps sounded throughout the venue, and even Sona shot Issei a look that asked him whether he was insane or idiotic, however everyone was even more surprised when the Scheillen Queen snorted, her hands on her waist as she answered.
"Your definition of fun is more fit for a tavern than a ballroom."
"Hey! You were the one that insisted on me coming in the first place! It's not my fault these sorts of parties are boring!"
A sly look in her eye, Helmene spoke in a smug tone.
"You didn't seem to be bored while you were dancing with this lovely young lady."
Issei raised his finger, mouth open with the intent to respond, before he lowered said hand, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding in agreement.
"Point. Still, things were just about to get good and you took away my entertainment."
"Only you would consider thrashing someone's entire guard regiment to be entertainment, you miscreant."
"You chose to bring a miscreant as your plus one, don't blame the miscreant for miscreeing."
"That's not even a real word!"
"Says who?"
"I do!"
"Well who died and made you queen?"
"MY MOTHER!"
"Pfft, details..."
Queen and miscreant locked gazes, the two glaring at one another, before the Queen's lips twitched. Said twitch was matched by the red clad man's eyebrow, before the two broke down laughing, much to the confusion of the entirety of the party.
Their laughter quited down after a few moments, leaving a pair of grinning loons and a bewildered young lady stading in the middle of the room, before one of the loons, who just so happened to be the most famous person alive at the moment, spoke up.
"For anyone who may not have understood yet, this reprobate standing in front of me is Ser Issei Houssen, the youngest man in history to have achieved the title of a Queen's Guard, and the strongest man in Scheillen's recorded history!"
The anouncement was met with an instant of silence, before all hell broke loose…
"-chou..."
"Kaichou..."
"Kaichou!"
Sona jumped in place, her mind withdrawing from the far, far away place it had gone to, her blush suppressed through a sheer act of willpower. Breathing deeply to allow her beating heart to rest, Sona spun her chair so she could face Tsubaki, who had called from her name.
Clearing her throat, the Sitri heiress spoke.
"Yes, Tsubaki?"
"Have you heard the news yet?"
Sona raised an eyebrow at Tsubaki, her tone dry as she answered.
"I've been ensconced within my office the entire day, my time spent signing gocuments until my mind decided to wander off on it's own in the craziest direction imaginable. It is quite obvious that I heard the news, is it not, Tsubaki?"
The Sitri queen blushed slightly at the sarcastic admonishment from her King, adjusting her glasses in an attempt at reducing her embarrassment. Sona, taking a measure of pity on Tsubaki, let out a sigh before speaking.
"Don't mind me, Tsubaki, I'm just tired. Go ahead with what you wanted to say."
Giving her King a thankful look, Tsubaki cleared her throat, before speaking up.
"It seems that Hyoudou-san was challenged to a duel of sorts."
This news got Sona's full attention, her intent gaze causing her Queen to lightly fidget, but seeing that her King had no intention of interrupting her, she went on.
"Another first year and member of the Karate club, Kageyama Motoyasu, called Hyoudou-san out in public for his 'perverted deeds', before challenging him to a duel that's been scheduled for next friday."
Sona leaned back into her office chair, placing her elbows on the arm rests and steepling her fingers in front of her mouth as she thought, the light coming from the window behind her hitting her glasses at an angle that caused the glare to hide her eyes.
Tsubaki shivered at the sight, memories of a certain anime she had watched when she was younger coming to mind.
'Gendo, you are not... Thankfully...'
"Tsubaki."
The Sitri queen focused on her King as she spoke.
"I want someone in place to ensure that this fight does not go beyond certain limits."
Tsubaki blinked at that, her tone incredulous as she responded.
"You won't try stopping this fight?"
Sona pushed her glasses up, her look shrewd as she spoke.
"Even if we admonished the two of them and kept the fight outside of school, it would still occur in one form or another. The difference would be that it would occur in some other venue, where limits will likely be forgotten, and the image of the school may possibly be damaged.
"Our best bet is to ensure that the fight occurs without outside knowledge in order to protect the image of the academy, and with someone arbitrating the dispute in order to minimize the possible violence."
Sona leaned forward at that, resting her hands on her desk, her tangled fingers covering her mouth and the glare in her glasses doing the same to her eyes.
"The fight might be unavoidable, but it will be on our terms."
Tsubaki hid a simultaneous grimace and snicker at the sheer amount of parallels between Gendo and Sona she could see at the moment, taking the time to clear her throat before speaking.
"I will make sure to send members of the student council to meet up with both students and arrange for the events to occur as you wish it to."
"No."
Tsubaki blinked at that.
"Kaichou?"
"Send a student council member to Kageyama with the information regarding these new arrangements. As for Hyoudou-san... Send him a summons, I shall be sure to give him the message first-hand.
"I know you will not fail me, Tsubaki."
"Yes, Commande-err, Kaichou."
Bowing lightly at her King, Tsubaki hurriedly made her way out of the student council room to ensure that her Kaichou's orders were fulfilled, closing the door behind her as she did.
Alone again, Sona leaned back into her chair and took off her glasses. As she polished them, she allowed her mind to wander.
'Houssen...'
"WHAT!?"
"I believe I've already made myself clear already, Kageyama-san. The student council will be taking an arbitrarial role in your conflict with Hyoudou Issei-san."
"But, Meguri-senpai -"
"No buts! This is an order straight from the student council president! You either follow your instructions, or you deal with the punishments and consequences later on. These could range from extended periods of detention, to suspension from the Karate club, or even expulsion from Kuoh altogether."
"I-... Fine, senpai."
Meguri Tomoe, second year student and Sona's knight, allowed her gaze to spear into Kageyama, letting him squirm for a while, before she finally left the Karate clubroom.
Left alone in the room, Kageyama clenched his hair, his thoughts going in a disarray.
'Fuck! Everything goes wrong! From my confrontation with Hyoudou, up to my latest plan to have the fight be a closed doors matter with only Karate club members which would rule in my favor regardless of anything else, everything is just going up in smoke! There must be something I can do!'
Motoyasu slapped himself. Hard.
'Okay, I'm calm now, so I can think more clearly. While my plan may be a bust, there's still a chance! Hyoudou may have thrashed those three delinquent guys, but they were slow, untrained, uncoordinated buffoons. I am a trained Karateka with years of national-level competitions under my belt! Even if he is intimidating, there is still no way for him to beat me!'
He calmed himself with this thought, his panic vanishing altogether and giving place to various fantasies of the world after his victory, which involved himself wearing a massive crown, surrounded by a massive amount of babes, and a crying Hyoudou being kicked out of Kuoh.
'Yes, victory is mine!'
"Enter."
Issei walked into the Student Council room following Tsubaki, his gaze instantly locking onto Sona as he casually plopped himself onto the seat that was stationed across the president, a sparkly smile on his face as he spoke, once again, in english.
"Hey there, Baby~"
Sona was not aware whether her small blush came in response to Issei's words or the chuckling of her peerage that was arrayed around the room - a little bit of both, but she was in denial - each of them positioned as comfortably as they could, their focus placed on the conversation between their King and the Hyoudou young man due to the possible comedic value from the interaction.
Issei directed a cocky smirk at Sona before talking, this time in japanese.
"Missed me already, Souna-chan? You couldn't go a few days without staring into my beautiful eyes, hmm?"
The girl blushed further, refraining from answering aloud despite the fact that her brain had a few lined up already
'When he acts this cocky, I can sort of understand why Rias insists on saying they're alike... It's as if someone decided to make a bootleg version of Issei, with less humor and more arrogance and entitlement, and *Poof*, instant Phenex.'
Sona pushed this stray thought aside, focusing more on what she intended to do, which was...
Shit. She drew a blank and had no idea what to say to him.
Sona stared at Issei, Issei stared at Sona, the clock's ticking being the only entity present in the room other than silence at the moment.
The members of Sona's peerage were watching with bated breath, each of them having thoughts of their tactical genius King and the pervert with hidden depths engaging in some sort of psychological play so complex and advanced the lot of them couldn't even understand.
"So... Nice weather we're having, no?"
Sona cringed as soon as she finished speaking, her inner mortification achieving incalculable dimensions as she waited for Issei to laugh her off, or tease her, or something. She was surprised when Issei nodded at that, his answer coming in an earnest tone.
"Yeah, it's been pretty great. Not as hot as during summer, but no biting autumn-chill yet, a pretty temperate climate where you can choose to wear either cool, or slightly warmer clothes with no problem."
"Mhm."
"Yeah."
The two lapsed back into silence, Issei looking at Sona curiously, while Sona stared at Issei impassively, and the rest of the room held it's breath at the 4D chess those two were likely playing.
'He's just sitting there... Staring! What am I supposed to do?'
Sona cleared her throat, her gaze moving throughout the room in an instant with a few objects really sticking out to her sight. One of them was a teapot, another was a tray, and the last one...
"Tsubaki, please go and prepare some snacks and refreshments for myself and Hyoudou-san. Momo, please produce my chess set."
The peerage gasped in unison at the request, the majority of them returning to a tense, watchful silence as Tsubaki left to arrange what she had been asked, and Momo retrieved Sona's chess set, placing it on top of her desk.
Momo arranged the pieces of the board, before Sona spoke up.
"Are you familiar with the game of chess, Hyoudou-san?"
"No, I cannot say I am."
Sona leaned forward, her elbows resting on her desk and her fingers tangled in front of her mouth as she spoke.
"Chess is a two player strategy board game, played on a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an 8x8 grid. Each player begins with 16 pieces: one King, one Queen, two Rooks, two Knights, two Bishops and eight Pawns. Each piece has a different set of moves, with the most powerful being the queen, and the least powerful being the pawn - at the start of the game at least, but that is for later.
"The goal of the game is to put the opponent's king in a checkmate, an inescapable threat of capture. You do this by attacking and capturing your opponent's pieces using your own, and moving your pieces in ways that allow them to support one-another most effectively in this endeavor.
"Other than a checkmate, you can achieve victory in a chess match either if the opponent resigns, or if, in a timed match, your opponent runs out of time.
"The two sides of the match are designated as White and Black. Since you are unfamiliar with the game, you will be White, which gets the privilege of playing first."
After explaining these basic premises, Sona explained the individual movements that each piece can perform as clearly as she could, Issei absorbing her words and nodding as he did.
"So, Hyoudou-san, are you ready for a game?"
Issei responded by moving a pawn two houses forward, opening up the game.
Sona's peerage watched, their jaws going lower and lower as their King took longer and longer to play after each of Hyoudou's moves.
The same thought went through the heads of Sona's peerage members.
'He's a frickin' genius!'
A different one went through Sona's mind.
'W-what is this? These moves... None of them make sense! It's as if he's just playig randomly, rather than just sacrificing his pawns, he's using his stronger pieces to protect them, and lose them in the process! This... He's got to be setting up some sort of play!'
Tsubaki entered the student council room with various drinks and snacks, moving around silently in order not to disrupt the extremely intense chess match between the two intellectual and strategic behemoths that were clashing right in front of them.
15 minutes after the game started, Sona moved a piece an called out.
"Checkmate."
The brunet smiled ruefully at that, taking one of the cans that Tsubaki had placed on the desk during their play and taking a look at the label to ensure that it wasn't apple juice.
'Wow, passionfruit soda, my favorite!'
He popped the tab on the can, taking a good, deep gulp from the soda before placing it back on top of the desk. He looked back up at Sona, seeing that she kept looking at the board, her gaze a bit lost, while the rest of the people around the room were dead silent.
"So... Did you call me here just for a match of chess? I mean it's cool if you did, I had fun and I wouldn't mind doing this again, but... Is there nothing else?"
Sona looked away from the chessboard, her gaze falling onto Issei with such intensity that one could make a case for an attempt at seeing through him. Her gaze still on him, she spoke.
"I called you here over something that I heard earlier, regarding a certain Karate club member."
Issei's whole demeanor flipped after Sona said that, his voice as cold as the arctic as he spoke.
"Ah, him."
Sona cleared her throat, pushing aside the confusing mix of positive, negative and just plain weird feelings that Issei's current behavior elicited from her, before speaking.
"Yes. After hearing about what happened, I decided that the student council needed to intervene. Your 'duel' shall occur in the presence of the Student Council, and one of our members shall be acting as referee."
"So you won't try to stop us from fighting?"
"Even if we ensured you did not fight within school grounds, you would likely do so outside of school. Rather than allowing that to happen, we will make sure that you fight in a safer venue than the streets, with proper gear and quick access to medical support."
Issei stopped and thought for a bit, before giving Sona a single nod.
"I find that an acceptable set of conditions."
"Very well. Feel free to see yourself out, Hyoudou-san."
Issei nodded at Sona before making his way out of the student council room, with the rest of Sona's peerage talking amongst themselves about what had just happened.
"Wait."
Issei stopped mid-step, doorknob in hand and door halfway open, before turning his head towards Sona, his focus fully on her. Her peerage, on the other hand, kept shifting focus between the two of them.
"Before you leave, I want you to explain something to me. When we were playing chess... It felt as if you purposefully put some of your pieces in unnecessary danger and all but offered them over for capture, even in exchange for pawns.
"Why did you play like that? Were you going easy on me? Throwing the match?"
Issei blinked owlishly at Sona, tilting his head to the side before responding.
"I would think it's very obvious why I played the way I did."
With that statement, Issei left the student council room and softly closed the door behind himself, leaving behind a pensive Sona. She was focused on the moves Issei pulled, before he mind started going through everything she knew of him.
"!"
The answer came to her in an instant, causing her to think aloud, completely forgetting about her peerage that was still present in the room.
"Sacrificing bigger pieces to protect pawns... He was trying to send me a message... 'Within the same team, the stronger ones should protect the weaker ones, so that they too may grow strong one day'..."
The members of Sona's peerage were all but blown back by the conclusion their King had reached, the lot of them once again thinking along the same lines.
'Such wisdom from him... How admirable...'
Nodding to herself, Sona spoke up.
"Hyoudou Issei... Such an interesting person... Anyone who underestimates you, should do so at their own peril. I, for one, will no longer commit that mistake."
The rest of her peerage agreed completely with her thoughts.
Within Sona's mind, her image of Hyoudou Issei gained a few more sparkles around him.
"Why did you play like that? Were you going easy on me? Throwing the match?"
Issei snorted as he thought back to the question Sona had asked him, before his own response came back to mind.
"I would think it's very obvious why I played the way I did."
'Yup. It was quite obvious to anyone watching the match that I had absolutely no idea about what I was doing!'
With those thoughts in mind and a whistled tune, Issei left Kuoh for the day.
-Chapter, End!-