Heyheyhey~
I'm back again, so you guys know what that means...
NEW CHAPTER!
However, before that, I'd like to thank darkistorrik, Jarod, Joshua Garrett, Tyric Gaia and Caden for believing in me and my work enough to donate to me.
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With that out of the way, onwards to the chapter!
"Will wonders ever cease..."
Aika's words were aimed towards the stretching forms of Motohama and Matsuda, the first of them clad in a green sweatsuit with white stripes and sneakers, while the second one was dressed in a tracksuit with running shoes.
Issei, clad in a tank top, shorts and a pair of sneakers, raised an eyebrow at the bespectacled girl as he finished his own stretching, his eyes quickly registering her attire of a hoodie, running shorts and tennis shoes before returning to her face. His tone inquisitive he asked "What do you mean?"
The girl snorted, pointing towards the extremely voluptuous Lilith, who was clad in only a sports bra, yoga pants and tennis shoes of her own, before speaking up "A scantily-clad babe stretching and showing off her flexibility right in front of them? You'd expect that the members of the vaunted 'Perverted Sage Trio' would take the opportunity to ogle her to hell and back, no?"
Motohama and Matsuda simultaneously turned blank looks upon Aika as if questioning her very sanity, before Issei spoke in a tone as serious as the grave:
"Third Commandment: Thou shan't covet thine bro's Honey."
The proclamation was met with an "AMEN!" in stereo from both Motohama and Matsuda, something that managed to startle the bespectacled girl, while Lilith chuckled in the background.
Aika procceeded to adjust her glasses and cough into her fist in an attempt at moving past her startled jump, before speaking up in as normal a tone as she could.
"W-what the hell was that even? What do you mean third commandment? I'm not particularly knowledgeable of Christianity, but I'm about 95% sure that what you just said was completely wrong."
Snorting, Lilith piped up in an amused tone "Only 95%?"
"Of course," Aika said with a smirk "After all, using the term 'Honey' like that is so old that it must've come from biblical times. Or the 90's."
Lilith grinned at Aika, poised to quip back, before Issei spoke up.
"I'm not surprised that you're not aware of these commandments. Unlike the ones from the bible which are known by all and sundry, yet broken again and again on a daily basis with little to no concern, the commandments that the three of us follow are absolute lines that we will not cross for anything, even at extreme risk to our lives.
"These commandments... They are taken directly from the Broble."
While the three males looked extremely solemn at the declaration, as if the final word had the weight of the world itself hanging from it, Aika and Lilith gave the three of them incredulous looks.
"The broble?" Lilith asked skeptically.
"No, no no," Issei shook his head as he spoke "It's not 'the broble'. It's 'The Broble'. You don't just refer to it as if it were some random book you can find in your average bookstore, wedged between a novel about teenagers in a free-for-all deathmatch, and another one about vampires that sparkle in the sun. When speaking of the Broble, one's tone must be respectful at all times. Even if it is just a passing mention."
The two girls traded looks, before Aika spoke.
"So... This bro-" the girl stopped at the intense look she got from the three boys, rolling her eyes before speaking in a deliberately long tone "Broooooo-ble of yours... What else does it say? If that was the third commandment, then what're the others?"
Issei cleared his throat, Motohama and Matsuda each moving beside and slightly behind him, before he spoke.
"And so, The One True Bro, sent Broses down Mount Bronai bearing his word, those rules that would become the law that each and every Bro forever would respect and uphold. Thus spoke Broses:
" 'I come bearing the message of truth and righteousness from The One True Bro. The One True Bro spoke to me, and told me of His laws, to be made into commandments.
" 'Firstly, a Bro will never look at another Bro's mother as anything less than family. To look upon a Bro's mother in a romantic or sexual light is a sin of the greatest caliber.
" 'Secondly, a Bro must never romance their Bro's sister without the explicit permission of their Bro. If they are approached first, they must reject any overtures until their Bro has given the 'all clear'.
" 'Thirdly, thou shan't covet thine Bro's Honey. Come rain or sunshine, beach or pool, swimsuit or underwear, even if she were fully nude in your presence, your Bro's Honey shall never be an object of lust.' "
The two girls gave the three perverted sages odd looks, before Lilith spoke.
"I thought you said there were more commandments?"
"The commandments were sent for Bros, and Bros alone. Rejoice, for you already know more of the 'Brohood' than 90% of the world's population. To speak of the other commandments... Your minds would utterly shatter under the weight of such information."
The two girls traded looks again, but before Aika could question them further, Matsuda spoke.
"Look, while I'd love to keep discussing The Good Bro-ok, I'd also appreciate finishing my run on time to freshen up before heading to school, so we should really get going."
Issei nodded slowly at that.
"Thanks for the reminder, since I was about to go into a long rant." The brunet turned towards the two girls, his eyes closed in two overly-cheerful arches as he clapped his hands and spoke in an overly bright tone "So, we will start our run here, in Kuoh Park, go past the ice cream store in the Town's center, then we go down XX street through the..."
With each word that Issei added to his diatribe, Aika's complexion paled further and further.
"...then we go past the downtown market, and sprint the rest of the way back here! Sounds simple enough, no?"
"Hey, you're joking right, Issei?" Aika spoke with a tinge of desperation. She turned towards the two other boys, intent on asking the same question, only to get hit by a pair of stone-faced looks that had her hopes weakening more and more.
"Hahaha! So that's all? I guess it's going to be an easier run than I expected!"
Aika turned towards Lilith with an incredulous look as she said those words with a particular confidence in both tone and stance. She was about to open her mouth to say something about this, only for Issei's barked "GO!" to hit some sort of hitherto unknown instinct of hers that had her automatically running besides all the others.
Lilith turned towards Aika and gave her a thumbs up, confident in her ability to outstrip everyone in the group in stamina whose name wasn't Issei.
-X-
"Waaaaaaa-teeeeeerrrrrrr..."
"Heh..." Aika let out a pained chuckle as she pressed a hand against a stitch on her side, speaking in a tired tone inbetween rapid breaths "I thought... It would be an easy... Run?"
The dehydrated succubus responded to Aika's teasing with a middle finger, getting another pained, half-hissing chuckle from the girl, before her hands automatically jumped towards the waterbottle Issei threw her way, uncapping it in a smooth motion and chugging it all down in 3 seconds flat.
Motohama gave the girls a mildly smug and amused look, the weeks of running he had been getting in with Issei and Matsuda made it so that his legs hurt much less than the girls', and his lungs recovered from their burning faster, despite the fact that he was still sweating like a pig in a sauna.
Matsuda, while having been covered in sweat when they first stopped, seemed to have already fully recovered after a water bottle and five minutes of rest, while Issei had barely broken a sweat after their run.
The succubus dragged herself towards her boyfriend, tossing herself onto him in an attempt at getting him to support her full weight rather than her legs, her voice strained and low as she spoke.
"How come your friends are better off than me? I'm a freaking succubus, and they're both fully human! I should have a natural advantage over them!"
The brunet chuckled at that, his whispered response going unnoticed by any of the others present.
"You may be a succubus, but you've rarely ever lifted a hand to exercise before, while Motohama and Matsuda have been doing so for weeks now. Of course they'd be further ahead than you. Hell, I was in a better shape than you after a week with Xinthia!"
Lilith pouted at Issei's response, which prompted the brunet to smirk at her before using his squeeze bottle to splash her neck with cool water, something which drew a surprised jump and shriek from her.
Lilith took Issei's squeeze bottle from his hands and squirted a stream his way, only for him to move aside, leading to the stream hitting Aika's face.
The look that the bespectacled girl shot at Lilith had an ominous glint to it, but her wet riposte, hindered by a shortness of breath and burning muscles, ended up all over Motohama and Matsuda rather than her intended target.
The spontaneous water fight that erupted in Kuoh Park had the older folks watching fondly as they reminisced about their own youthful days, spent having fun with friends as little more than unburdened, worry-free kids.
Unnoticed by them, a pair of young eyes gazed longingly at them, before vanishing in a flash of white.
"Jeez, Issei, you need to go easier on me next time around. I'm still sore from the workout you put my body through. My hips are crying foul over your brutalizing of them!"
Each of Aika's sentences, said with a wince as she stretched and worked the kinks out of her back - each of them released with a cringe inducing pop - had the rest of the class slip further and further into heated murmurs, various pairs of eyes falling on the two of them before being rapidly averted before either of them could make visual contact.
"You're being vague on purpose to stir up our classmates, aren't you?" He asked with an amused smirk and a quirk of the eyebrow, resulting in a shrug from the girl as she answered.
"Hey, is it my fault they're both extremely nosy, and extremely gullible?"
Chuckling, Issei answered.
"Teasing our classmates is good and all, but don't get a guy's hopes up like that."
Aika was the one to quirk up an eyebrow at this moment.
"You have a girlfriend."
Issei shrugged unrepentantly.
"Lilith's fully commited to the Harem plan."
"..."
"..."
"Do I have to give her my resumé if I want in?"
Motohama wasn't the only one to choke on their lunch at Aika's blunt question. Issei laughed deeply at that, a pleased look on his face as he responded.
"I really like you, so it's a tentative - yet with high expectations - yes from me. You'll have to talk to Lilith about this as well, but she enjoys your company and personality, so I'm pretty sure she'll agree."
Aika blushed prettily at Issei's straightforward words, her tone hesitant as she spoke.
"R-really? You really think so?"
"Mhm!" Issei assented with a nod and a smile, causing Aika herself to smile back.
Motohama and Matsuda, who were watching from a slight distance in order not to disrupt the moment, traded looks that conveyed the same basic message:
'What kind of Cologne is that? I need to get me some of that!'
With a bemused look on her face and a quirked eyebrow, Akeno spoke up.
"I don't know how to describe what I'm currently looking at."
Aika, a pair of shades on her face and a bucket of popcorn in her hands, stopped a handful of the salty, buttery treat halfway to her mouth so that she could answer.
"We're watching Matsuda trying to get accepted into the Track and Field club."
"Ah."
The busty second-year student turned back to the scene, seeing the - admittedly - athletic form of Matsuda, his bald head gleaming brightly under the afternoon sun, as he talked to someone. His back was straight, and his tone of voice was calm and composed.
The person he was talking to, a slim girl with short, lime-colored hair, seemed to be nowhere near as calm as Matsuda, her arms flailing as she spoke, her frustration mounting at Matsuda's calmness.
"Why would we accept a no-good pervert like you into the Track Club?!"
The bald member of the perverted sage trio seemed not at all disturbed at the words slung his way as he answered.
"I'm quite sure I've already shown you my track records from middle school."
The girl faltered for an instant, but before she could say anything else, another person spoke up.
"Puh-lease. How can we be sure those aren't faked?"
Everybody turned towards the source of the voice, only to see a black haired young man stepping forward to stand beside the first girl. Seeing that he had everyone's attention, he kept talking.
"I'm pretty sure that someone with such... shady... hobbies as yourself could easily know a person capable of forging documents like those." Nobody missed his attempt at a subtle look towards Issei "So we can't really be sure. Plus, even if those papers are legitimate, would that really make a difference? There are others in the club who can put out the same numbers as you, without the added trouble of having to look out for peeping in the girl's locker rooms, or something of the sort."
Aika and Akeno both frowned at the boy's presumptuous tone, while Motohama seemed ready to tear his head off if you based it solely on how pronounced his scowl was.
" 'Would that really make a difference?' you say." Everybody turned towards Issei at his words. "There's a really easy way to figure out whether having Matsuda in the track club would be worth the possible effort required to keep him in the straight and narrow."
"Hoh," The lime-haired girl spoke "And what would that be?"
Issei's mouth stretched out into a much-too-sharp grin that showed way too many teeth, instantly making making the Track club members uncomfortable, before he spoke.
"A race of course. Put Matsuda against your best runner. That way, regardless of what you think of the papers he showed you, and the medals and trophies he has on the racks in his home, you can still decide whether or not it would be worth putting up with him."
"Well, isn't this interesting!"
Everyone with the exception of Issei turned towards the latest voice to join the conversation. A tall, athletic girl, her long blonde hair done in a ponytail reaching all the way to her waist, and a band-aid across her nose. Her eyes were light blue in color, and they shone in interest as she beheld the situation.
"I don't really know the whole situation here, but I do know that the fastest member of the Track club has just been challenged! I, Haimiya Kimie, happen to be said 'fastest member'!" The girl crossed her arms under her nearly non-existant A-cup bust in absolute pride, before a second, tired-sounding voice made itself known.
"Captain," a short, mousy-looking, glasses-wearing brunette spoke from behind her in an exasperated tone "You can't just tune out everything you find inconvenient and focus only on running."
Kimie shifted lightly, allowing the girl to fully come into view, revealing the fact that she was clad in the Kuoh academy uniform and carrying a sheaf of paper underneath her arm, before speaking.
"Of course I can Kagura! I'm here to run! You can take care of the boring stuff!" Kimie seemed to ignore Kagura's reproaching gaze as she turned back towards Issei, her tone excited as she spoke "So! So! Who am I racing? Are they fast? Let's get to it!"
Issei blinked lightly at the girl's explosive energy, turning towards the stone-faced Matsuda. Kimie followed Issei's gaze, before tapping her chin as she spoke absent-mindedly.
"So I have to race this scary bald guy..."
Everybody watching had to agree with the scary classification, due to the mixture between the extremely intense look in Matsuda's face, the way the shadows played on his face in order to hide his eyes, and the ominous glint from his bald head.
"Give me one second!" Issei said before reaching Matsuda and pulling him aside. Before Issei could say a thing, Matsuda spoke up.
"Issei."
The brunet focused completely on Matsuda at his single utterly serious word, ready for more.
"I'm so nervous that I'm not really sure how I'm still standing up."
Issei managed to resist the urge to facepalm at the abnormally intense admission, instead allowing Matsuda to vent.
"My legs were really shaking, so I had to focus hard to keep them from doing so, but now they're cramping, and I feel sick to the stomach, and I think I'll-"
"STOP!"
Matsuda's monotone deluge of words was halted by Issei, who placed a hand on his shoulder before speaking up.
"You've nervous. Scared. Maybe even terrified. But do you know why you're feeling like that?"
Seeing Matsuda's gaze focusing completely on him as if expecting him to give him a revelation, Issei decided not to disappoint.
"You're feeling all of those things because you love running. You love track. You're afraid of going out there, failing, and being unable to keep running. But let me tell you this: If you try and don't succeed, you may be sad and disappointed in yourself for a while, but you'll eventually get over it.
"But if you don't even try, if you don't give it your very best? Then you'll live the rest of your life asking yourself 'What if?'. And what if's... Those don't just disappear. Those stick around forever. So you're going out there, and you're going to show what you're worth, knock the socks off of those people, and have them begging you to join them. You hear me?"
"YES!"
Issei grinned at the spirited response coming from the baldie. It was good to see his friend get this passionate over life again. However, he could feel that Matsuda's excitment had something else to it. Something deeper. Some sort of hidden strength, or maybe talent?
Whatever it was, he would make sure his friend actually made use of it.
"By the way, Matsuda, listen..."
-X-
"Ah! So you're read-"
Kimie was surprised when Matsuda, his eyes almost blazing from how focused he was, completely walked past her, stopping at the starting line of the track. Seeing his concentration, the girl grinned giddily and made her way towards the lane right next to his.
Shaking her head and muttering something about 'Irresponsible captains', Kagura spoke.
"This will be the 100m dash under standard competition rules. The two of you will settle on the starting block and run on go. Kotoura Fuyumi-san," Kagura said while nodding towards the lime-haired girl clutching a stopwatch "will be at the finish line to call the winner and their time."
Kimie started vibrating in excitment even as she set her feet up on starting block. Matsuda silently did the same beside her, the two of them placing their hands on the ground for balance.
"READY?"
The two of them went into the starting positions, even as Matsuda slowly and noticeably closed his eyes, the light and sound of the entire world around him diminishing into a low, almost unnoticeable murmur as he thought back to Issei's words.
"...Matsuda, listen. I want you to give your absolute best on this race. By absolute best, I mean going beyond anything and everything you have ever done before. Your current best time? I want you to make it seem absolutely geriatric next to this performance.
"I know that it's not easy to just pull an 'All time best' performance out of your ass, so, when you get out there to the starting block, I want you to picture this."
"SET!"
The two of them shifted, their whole bodies positioned for the race, adrenaline creeping through their bodies and blood rushing past their ears. Despite all of this, Matsuda could still perfectly recall Issei's words.
"Imagine that there's an absolutely adorable - and completely legal - Loli standing at the end of the track. She's willing to become your girlfriend... But only if you win the race. If you lose the race, said legal Loli will become the girlfriend of the person you hate the most in this world.
"Thing is, this person has been constantly winning against you, always beating your best time, again and again. Whenever you get faster, he seems to get slightly more so, beating you by a hair's breadth. You know that the only way to win is for you to go beyond what you think you know about your body. You don't run as fast as you think you can.
"No. You look deep within yourself, find the strength that really pushes you, the fire that fuels your determination. You draw it out, using it to push yourself hard. Harder than you ever had before. And then, all that's left..."
Matsuda grit his teeth, the muscles on his legs and lower back tensing and relaxing rhythmically, and in tandem with his breathing.
"Is to Run!"
"GO!"
Matsuda's eyes snapped open even as he pushed off from the starting block. Despite giving it his full strength, however, he still found himself seeing a flash of blonde hair pulling ahead of him, with the distance between the two widening evermore. However, he wouldn't let things end like this.
'I can't lose! I won't lose! I REFUSE TO LOSE!'
Issei's eyes widened at that moment, his previously frowning mouth shifting into a grin, even as Matsuda's legs were overcome by a series of sensations, ranging from an ant-like tingling, to a low, simmering heat underneath his skin, nipping at his muscles even as he forced them to push harder than ever before.
Uncaring of all of this, Matsuda Roared, pushing his legs into place, one after the other, with a single war-cry sounding within his mind.
'FOR ALL THE LOLI IN THE WORLD!
With that thought fueling him, Matsuda moved.
*CLICK*
Other than a smugly smirking Issei, everybody was staring at the gasping, sweating form of Matsuda, who shook as he felt this surplus of energy recede from his body, causing his legs to lose their strength and resulting in him falling onto his knees, his face and back drenched in sweat.
"T-ten point eighty eight seconds..."
Kagura's face snapped towards the dazed Kotoura, her tone incredulous as she spoke.
"10.88? That's... Less than a second slower than the Under 20, 100 meter world record!"
"REALLY!?" Kimie asked in an excited tone, before pointing at Matsuda "That was awesome! You're awesome! I never got beat in a race before, you know? Hahahahahaha!"
Despite Kimie and Issei's nonchalant responses to these events, everybody else was still stupefied at Matsuda's performance.
"Hey you."
The boy that had questioned Matsuda's skills winced, his attempt at fading back to obscurity while everybody was focused on the results of the race failing as Issei turned a particularly triumphant look his way, causing the rest of the track club members to part, opening a corridor between them.
Gulping heavily, the boy spoke in a faltering tone "Y-yes?"
Issei's grin widened further as he spoke "Are your concerns over the legitimacy of Matsuda's records sated?"
The boy nodded so fast that his head turned into a blur, before the lime-haired girl spoke up in an aggrieved tone.
"Fine, you can join the Track club!"
She narrowed her eyes, her lips splitting lightly as she was about to say something else in a scathing tone, only for a particular voice to interrupt her, and to cause her to break out into sweat.
"Fuyumi-chan," Kimie spoke in a sickly saccharine tone that caused chills to run over the backs of all the track club members, memories of grueling training sessions of the past threatening to overwhelm them all at once "I don't know what's really happening, but it seems to me that you were trying to keep someone from joining the Track club, correct?"
"Yes," the lime-haired girl spoke up in a hesitant tone "B-but Kimie-taicho, he-"
"Fuyumi-chan."
The girl's mouth clamped shut at that, her skin gaining a particular pallor while large drops of sweat ran down her neck and back. Seemingly not noticing all of this, Kimie kept speaking.
"You applied for the Track club last year, correct?"
"Y-yes, Taicho."
The captain's tone turned even more sugary at her next words.
"I'm sure you still remember the protocol for entry into the club."
The girl nodded, only for Kimie to shake her head while tutting chidingly, her hands going to her hips as she spoke on.
"Now that just won't do. I want you to answer me with words. Now, I want you to assure me that you still remember the joining process."
Clearing her throat, Fuyumi spoke in a hesitating, halting tone.
"W-well, during the Club Recruitment Day and the week after, the track club members will be giving out registration forms for any student willing to join the team. They will be subjected to a preliminary physical exam, before being allowed to learn from one of the senpai."
Kimie nodded at that, before motioning the girl on with her wrist.
"If you join after that cutoff date, things are slightly different. You will be presented to the Club Captain, Vice-captain and Club Manager. They will be asking you a few questions, looking over your track record, have you running on the event of their choice, and then make their individual decision based on those results."
Kimie raised her hand, signaling Fuyumi to pause, before speaking up.
"You knew all of that, yet you still decided to take initiative in the evaluation process of a possible member. What's worse, you straight-up rejected them without giving them a chance to prove themselves." Pursing her lips lightly, Kimie went on "50 laps by the end of the day, or you'll be doing double tomorrow, and, if you fail that, you'll be doing twice that the day after. GO!"
The girl didn't hesitate and starting running at the barked command, before Kimie turned back towards Matsuda.
"As you've just heard, Matsuda-san, the actions of two of our members do not reflect the opinion and choice of the leadership of the track club. After seeing how fast your legs can go, and the sheer determination you have for running, I can't, in sound mind, say anything other than 'welcome into the track club!' "
"I say yes as well," Kagura spoke as she adjusted her glasses "With two votes for against an abstinence from the Vice-Captain, I would like to extend my sincere welcome into the track club, Matsuda-sa-"
"No thanks."
With the exception of Issei, who only watched with a smirk on his face, and Kimie, who held an inquisitive look, everyone else jerked in surprise at Matsuda's instant response, having come from the now-recovered baldie.
"Why would you not join after all this effort into it?" Asked Kagura while adjusting her glasses.
Matsuda breathed deeply before forcing himself to stand up on shaky legs. Despite that, his tone was unwavering as he spoke.
"I love running. The feeling of the breeze gliding along my skin as I run, my feet pounding a rhythm on the ground underneath me, the warmth that fills your core after a good run. But the thing I enjoy most... Is going fast."
Kimie closed her eyes at that, a small yet wry smile on her face as she said "Ah, I get it."
When the other people present turned to the Track club captain, some in confusion, others curiosity, and one inscrutably, Kimie sighed, before speaking in her friendly, perky tone.
"Come on, it's easy to understand! Ma-chan here-" Matsuda wasn't the only person to jolt at the very friendly address "-likes running fast. He joined the club in order to learn how to become faster. Best stance, breathing techniques, the optimal way to swing his arms for proper balance... He wanted to glean experience off of his senpai and keep getting faster.
"However... Whatever Issei-san said to him made him run so fast that he utterly defeated our best, and fastest, member. If he can defeat the best club member after a few words of motivation, when the opponent he's facing has years of experience on him, and a few extra years of training, then there is nothing that the club can teach him, really, otherwise it's members would be able to easily keep up with him.
"That's why Ma-chan won't join. It's not worth it for him to join us."
Kimie turned towards Matsuda before asking.
"Is that correct?"
The baldie floundered for a few moments, before clearing his throat and nodding resolutely.
"Yes."
The girl sighed before speaking.
"What a pity that our club will miss out on such a talented member. If you could find a way to consistently put out those sorts of numbers, then we'd get pretty much every medal in the district, prefecture, region, and maybe even countrywide.
"With that being said, an occasional visit to show the fruits of your labor into getting faster wouldn't hurt, right?"
Nodding owlishly, the baldie spoke.
"I... guess?"
"Oh, great!" Kimie said with great enthusiasm, before turning to the assembled people "Now, everyone who isn't a club member, out! We have to train now!"
The fire in her eyes had the rest of the club groaning in misery, knowing that they'd be running themselves ragged for the forseeable future.
-X-
"...and that's pretty much what we did for the day. After that, each of us went their separate way, since everyone had stuff to do today. Apparently."
Lilith rubbed her chin lightly as she processed Issei's recounting of his day, before speaking up.
"So... You went through all that trouble, for absolutely nothing?"
"Well..." Issei smirked knowingly "That is probably what it looks like from an outside perspective."
The succubus looked at her boyfriend inquisitively, only to groan at his widening smirk "You're really going to force me to ask?"
"I have absolutely no idea whatever it is you wish to ask of me."
Lilith placed the back of her hand atop her forehead, heaving an exaggerated sigh before asking in a faux put-upon voice "Will you please tell me whatever it is that I missed from your tale that is actually significant?"
"Ah," Issei said with an unrepentant grin "All you had to do was ask."
He dodged the playful smack that was about to hit his right arm, before speaking up, his tone serious.
"Matsuda used Reinforcement."
Lilith reeled back as if slapped, her face changing from surprised to serious as she asked.
"Explain."
Nodding, Issei started speaking.
"Alright, to make you understand what I did and why, I need to take you back to my first meeting with Aika.
"She has a reputation based on her appreciation of all things ero, like any proper person should have, and an infamous skill of hers, which is the ability to measure a guy's equipment on a single glance."
Lilith nodded at Issei in order to signal her understanding so far, prompting him to keep speaking.
"I gave her the go-ahead to use the skill, and imagine my surprise when I felt a thread of Tantric Energy flowing into and within her eyes. It was just for an instant, but it allowed her to see more than simply what she tried to look at. I felt her accidentally look into my own Tantric Energy.
"I'm quite sure that her mind was unable to cope with the sheer amount and repressed the information, otherwise she would've come to me over it before, but I digress.
"Feeling Tantric Energy out and about in the world had me curious and wary, so I decided to focus on Aika for a while. I used my sensory skills on her repeatedly, but I couldn't find a single drop of supernatural blood on her. She's not a descendent of a supernatural being, neither is she aware of the supernatural world.
"That means that she simply taught herself how to harness Tantric Energy, even if unknowingly and to a minor extent, and figured out a way to use it, creating a particularly infamour skill for herself. With me so far?"
Lilith nodded again, a notepad and pencil in her hands as she jotted down the information she found most important in this conversation. Issei kept going.
"So, to recap: Aika, a human with no links or knowledge to the supernatural world, managed to create a skill of her own that allows her to measure someone's magic. That was pretty impressive.
"I started making up and eliminating hypothesis with basis on this info, but I ended up reaching a few specific conclusions:
" 1- Like me, Aika has the ability to tap into Tantric Energy because of her appreciation and affinity for all things Lust;
" 2- She managed to harness reinforcement on her own for her eyes, and actually splintered off from it enough to create a whole different skill;
" 3- If Aika could do those things, then it was likely that another mundane individual with a level of appreciation of lust akin to hers would be able to as well, with enough effort and purpose."
"So you decided," Lilith broke in "To try with Matsuda, to see if you were correct."
"Right in one. That's why I decided to give him the best possible motivator at that moment, to get him to fully commit. Worst case scenario, he can't use the energy and just has to run like a normal, albeit extremely motivated, person. Best case scenario, my possibilities are confirmed."
"And they were."
"Yes. Aika did it on her own, I got Matsuda to do it, and Motohama likely does it already, if I take into consideration his ability to instantly understand and catalogue the three sizes of almost all girls. Ever."
"But what's your end goal here, Issei? Why do you want them awakening these powers?"
The brunet looked up at the sky, noticing the way that clouds had been gathering together in a portent of rain, with the occasional rumbling of thunder sounding from the distance. His tone pensive, Issei answered.
"Protection. Hanging out with me isn't turning out to be particularly safe. Discounting the supernatural world, there are plenty mundane individuals who would really like to bash my head in. People who see how often I hang around Motohama and Matsuda, and that know how close I am to them. The fact that the two of them are my best friends.
"These people won't go after my family because they know that the moment they do, I'll go thermonuclear on them, and they'll be dealt with through methods more intense than just a few punches.
"Motohama and Matsuda, however, are fair game. Make something up to screw with them, set them up to hit on or go out with the wrong person's 'girl', and they'll be getting out of it with more than just a few lumps and bruises.
"However, if I give them this power, I give them the ability to keep themselves safe, be it by running, or by fighting.
"Plus, I'll eventually be breaking the information about the supernatural world to them. I want them capable of identifying danger and reacting to it, even in my absence. That could be the difference between them living, or dying."
"Then why don't you tell them about it now?" Lilith asked, her gaze intent.
"They're not ready yet. They have no assurances as to their skills, no mental preparation to deal with such a dangerous world... No. First I want to figure out where each of their skills lay. Strengths and weaknesses. Teach them to enhance the first, and to overcome the second. Allow them to get ready so that when I do break the news to them, they don't just fall into despair out of an extreme sense of vulnerability, or uselessness."
"Is that why you have them exercising with you in the mornings?"
The brunet waved his hand slightly at that in a 'so-so' motion.
"Sort-of. It started out as me wanting company for my early morning runs, and then it started evolving and folding into my plans. It's why I've been inviting Aika as well, and why I push them all as hard as I do."
Lilith finished writing in the notepad before sliding it down her cleavage and between her breasts. In an instant, the writing utensils were gone, with no explanation as to their location. Lilith ignored Issei's raised eyebrow as she spoke.
"I'll talk this over with mother, she'll likely know some of the possible ways to make things happen as well as you wish them to."
"Thanks, love. And give my very best to everyone else, alright?"
"Mhm!"
The couple parted after a particularly intense goodbye kiss, Lilith heading towards her destination, while Issei walked straight to work, ignoring the cool breeze that had just run down his spine.
"HAHAHAHA! OH, ITO, YOU'RE A RIOT!"
Despite the black clouds covering the sky outside, and the many liters of rain falling onto the world, the mood within 'The Hammered Dwarf' was still friendly and animated. Between Andre's policies to leave any outside issues at the doorway, and Issei's willingness to beat up groups of people twice to three times as large as him to a pulp in order to enforce said policy, it was easy to understand why the usual miasma of tension, pain and mistrust that hung around Yakuza bars was missing from here.
Unlike the usual bars, wherein members of different gangs, groups, famillies or clans got together with basis on their alignments, glaring at anyone who was outside their circle of influence, here the patrons just let themselves forget these things, no matter how temporarily said forgetfulness was, just see each-other as nothing more than people.
Some good, others not so good, with quite a few assholes in the mix.
A flash of lightning and a crack of thunder struck so close to the town that everyone inside the bar stopped for an instant, allowing the black spots that emerge after a sudden bombardment of light to dissipate, as well as the mild disorientation from a loud clap of thunder.
*BOOM!*
Just as the various patrons recovered, another clap of thunder sounded, coinciding the the doors to the bar being slammed open, before a very distinct individual sauntered in.
Clad in a dark grey kimono with a dark blue trim and light blue accents in the pattern of electricity, standing at 6'1", heavily muscled and broad-shouldered, with wet, russet-colored hair and beard/moustache combo, and a tan consistent with constant exposure to the sun at high sea, this man's presence plunged the whole bar into silence.
His blue eyes moved from person to person in the room, before focusing on Issei with such intensity that it was almost palpable. The man opened his mouth, and the booming voice that came out of it could easily be compared with the crashing thunder right outside the bar.
"I am Hageshi Katagi, and I am here to talk to Hyoudou Issei!"
-Chapter, End-