RESSURECTION!
Guess who's back, back again~
This dude! And I have returned bearing a gift of appeasement for all of you eager readers in the form of a new chapter! Let us rejoice together, for the heavens have granted me the blessed inspiration!
Now that that bit of melodrama is done with, it's time to go onwards into the story itself...
After a word from our sponsor, RAID SHADOW LEG- No, just kidding. I want to thank Tyric Gaia for his continued support of me as a patron.
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Now, Onwards!
"Hah..."
Lilith ignored the mild cloud of steam that had puffed out in front of her face, pulling her thick coat tighter against her body as her eyes swung around the park, seeking out a particular visage.
She gritted her teeth lightly, inwardly cursing herself for not having worn thicker clothes, gloves or a cap in the belief that her coat would be enough to stave the frakishly powerful autumn chill that had fallen upon the country.
She distracted herself for a bit by allowing her eyes to take in the yellow and reddening leaves precariously hanging from the treebranches, showing none of the strength and freshness they had been carrying over from spring all the way to the end of summer, allowing the colors to remind her of the warmth of a blazing fire.
Her attempt at self distraction was utterly innefective, however, due to a breeze blowing in through the trees, ripping a sneeze out of her, and causing her to huddle deeper into herself.
"Good grief..."
The purplette perked up at the familiar voice that had come from behind her, only for something large and fluffy to suddenly fall over her head and cover her all the way down to her legs, instilling her with a sense of comfortable warmth.
Shaking her head free of whatever it was that landed on her, Lilith turned to look at the source of the voice, only to meet the noticeably amused gaze of her boyfriend Issei. Noticing the fact that he was clad in only a sweater and a pair of jeans as far as clothes go, she looked back down at whatever it was that was keeping her warm, noticing that it was a particularly thick, fur-lined coat.
"You came out in this cold without clothing yourself properly? You lived most of your life in germany, and some of it in amsterdam. You should know how to dress for the cold."
Pouting, Lilith stomped her foot while crossing her arms over her chest, speaking in a petulant tone.
"But Luxuria had enchantments that created a temperate climate, so we didn't really have to deal with the cold there!"
"Oh~" Issei said teasingly, "Elucidate further upon the greatness of Luxuria, Princess Lilith~"
The girl's pout became even more pronounced at that, causing Issei to relent and stop teasing the girl, instead causing her to let out a squeak as he pulled her into a full-body hug, causing her feet to leave the ground.
He pulled her tight against his chest, appreciating the naturally sweet scent of her hair and the softness of her body, while Lilith took the opportunity to tightly wrap herself around Issei, resting her head against his chest and taking in a deep breath of the distinctly... Manly scent that always hung around him.
The young succubus mewled weakly as her boyfriend let her back down, giving him a questioning look which he responded to solely with a smirk and a wink, before taking her hand in his and pulling her in through the copse of shedding trees and deeper into the park.
Lillith enjoyed the warmth she felt from simply holding hands with Issei, the way the his big, strong hands - strong enough to even break concrete - softly wrapped around her own hand, the slightly thickened skin and calluses from training juxtaposing with his tender grip giving it a feel akin to leather-covered velvet against her own unblemished hands, causing her to blush lightly at the innocent gesture.
Looking away from the linked hands, Lilith mumbled.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to keep your coat, Ise? Aren't you feeling cold as well?"
The brunet turned towards Lilith and gave her a small smile, his tone upbeat as he spoke.
"Nope! Ever since the pyramid I haven't really felt cold. Actually, neither intense heat nor intense cold seem to affect me much. I can feel the difference in temperatures, and know that it's hot or cold, but it won't really bother me.
"The only reasons why I'm dressed as I am instead of just wearing a tee and a pair of shorts are because it'd attract too much attention for me to just ignore the cold... And because my mom insisted I wear a coat."
Lilith grumbled good-naturedly about 'Dragon-men with convenient racial abilities', before speaking up again.
"So, Ise... Where is it we're go-"
The girl's words were interrupted by a gasp at the sight of a picnic basket atop a checkered blanket, both placed underneath one of the freshest-looking trees, it's leaves seeming to be fresh enough to not shed all over them and their food.
She turned towards Issei in surprise, only for the brunet to lightly peck her on the lips , before walking to the blanket, seating himself and patting down on the spot next to him.
Lilith sat down next to Issei, her eyes still looking around the clearing they were currently in.
"Ise... This... Why...?"
"Well... We've been unable to spend time romancing one-another due to the emergence of more and more complications, so I decided to correct that." Raising an eyebrow, Issei continued, "Did I do something wron-!"
He was interrupted by a pair of lips smothering his own, Lilith kissing him so intensely that she all but stole his breath, her tongue erratic in it's efforts to explore the inside of Issei's mouth.
The brunet responded by wrapping one of his arms arond Lilith's waist and another around her shoulders, pulling her tighter to him and taking control of the kiss, before - regretfully - pulling back from the lip-lock and leaning his forehead against hers, chuckling lightly before speaking.
"As much as I'd like to jump directly to doing this sort of stuff, I'd rather we ate our food before it frosted over in this cold."
Issei saw the internal struggle in Lilith's eyes, her desire to jump his bones clashing with her desire to appreciate the romantic situation her boyfriend had created for the two of them. Wanting to not let his effort go to waste, Issei decided to use his secret weapon to tilt her over to the light side.
"I asked my mother to cook for our date..."
The brunet's smirk widened further at the sight of Lilith's stomach winning over her libido, the two pulling appart from one-another before Issei reached into the basket.
"I didn't know whether you'd prefer japanese or western food, so my mom made a little bit of both, so... Onigiri or sandwiches?"
Grabbing her chin, Lilith put on a pensive look, before finally settling on a food selection.
"Onigiri, please. I want to taste your mother's food when she's working in her natural element, so to say."
The brunet handed the girl a riceball, taking a ham sandwich for himself, before pouring some steaming hot green tea from a thermos into a pair of cups.
Leaning into her boyfriend, Lilith nibbled on her onigiri and blew on her tea to make it cool enough to not burn her mouth, watching as Issei ignored the temperature and just sipped on the burning hot tea as if it were cool water.
The two ate and drank for a bit, before Lilith spoke.
"So, Ise... How's your week been so far?"
"It's been... Interesting, to say the least. You remember that team thing I told you of?"
"The one with the Youkai and your two workmates?"
"Yes, that one. Well, earlier that week I arranged for us to meet up..."
"Hello Issei~" Kasumi said in a suggestive tone, a mischievous smirk tugging at her already vulpine features, "I'm glad that you wanted to meet up with me today, but I don't really see the need to have everyone else present."
The kitsune put a finger on her chin, affecting a sweet, angelic look, as if butter wouldn't melt in mouth as she spoke.
"Unless you're into exhibitionism and want them to wat-"
"I will be very displeased," Suzushi broke in frostily "If you summoned us just to watch the two of you flirt, Hyoudou."
Daichi cringed at Suzushi's tone, whereas Ginei ignored her out of sheer habit. Kasumi watched Issei for his reaction, whereas Butsu alternated between flexing his left and right arm, his mind as far away from this conflict as possible.
The brunet ignored Suzushi's tone as he spoke.
"I wouldn't do something that asinine. I called all of you here to get an assessment of your skills."
Everyone shifted their focus to Issei at that, watching him intently as he spoke.
"I want to know what each of you is capable of doing first hand so I know how to best organize us strategy-wise, and I also want to figure out who among the lot of you is the most suited to be my second, to lead in case I am ever made unable to do so."
The brunet walked backwards, placing himself at the center of the empty clearing they had assembled at and spreading his arms wide.
"In order to accomplish both of those goals, I will have the lot of you fighting against me."
Seeing the hesitant look on the faces of his teammates - except for Butsu, who looked like he had just been told christmas had come early - Issei continued.
"If the lot of you are nervous about having to fight me, then don't be." He smirked at them in a purposefully taunting manner as he spoke, "I'll take it easy on you guys and limit myself in strength. The lot of you should be able to beat me... Even if just barely."
His smirk widened at the sight of poorly hidden outrage in Suzushi's face, the tightening on the corners of Kasumi's eyes, the cooling of Ginei's gaze and Daichi's uncertainty.
Butsu, on the other hand...
"SMASH PUNY MAN!"
Everyone else's eyes widened when Butsu leapt at Issei, his fist streaking in a downward blow.
BOOM!
Dirt and grass flew throughout the clearing, forcing those present to cover their eyes. A cloud of dust slowly spiraled down and away, revealing the sight of a newly formed crater, centered around Butsu's fist.
"Good strength. Shit aim, though."
Butsu turned as fast as he possibly could in an attempt at hitting Issei, who had just appeared behind him, only to find himself blasting off in sudden, uncontrolled flight towards Daichi and Ginei. The two stepped aside to allow the Oni to pass inbetween them, Ginei in a deliberate movement, and Daichi with a look of absolute surprise at the overly smooth reflexive motion, their eyes tracking Butsu as he dug a small trench into the ground until reaching a stop.
Kasumi, Suzushi and Ginei turned wary gazes back towards Issei, each of them showing tension in their posture, while Daichi internally freaked out about the source of his sudden agility.
The brunet cracked his neck, his tone airy as he spoke.
"You guys might want to get some distance from here."
Before any of them could say a thing, a collective chill ran down their spines. A thick cloud of magic started suffusing the air, causing the onlookers to slightly sag in place as a feeling akin to lead-weighted clothing settled onto each of their shoulders.
They all turned towards where Issei was facing, their gazes falling on the hunched-over form of Butsu, who was releasing so much magic that the air around him distorted in a visible haze, each of his horns lit up with a black glow.
"Or you could just stop and stare as the dangerous Oni charged up his - likely destructive - power. That is also a viable option for someone with a set of fully functioning survival instincts."
Daichi, whose ability to sense magic was the least developed among the group had enough awareness to cringe at Issei's bland sarcasm, whereas Ginei, Suzushi and Kasumi simply stared at Butsu in ever-increasing surprise, a common thought running through all of their minds.
'HE NEVER SHOWED THIS LEVEL OF STRENGTH!'
Noticing that the others weren't snapping out of whichever fugue they were in, Daichi saw himself forced to tug at Ginei's arm, pulling the swordsman along with him as he ran towards the Yuki-Onna and Kitsune, surprising both of them by easily hoisting each of them onto a shoulder before he kept running, stopping only when he reached a distance that he felt safe watching from.
Suzushi, after having been put down by Daichi and leaving her magic-induced trance prepared to verbally rip the kind young man to shreds...
"SMASH!"
Before a shockwave ripped through the clearing, the force of which had them digging their feet into the ground in order not to be knocked down.
Their gazes moved back towards the fight, only to register the sight of Issei standing with his arms crossed in front of him, blocking Butsu's meaty fist, with a pair of cracks under his feet showing that the ground had suffered the damage of their clash moreso than either fighter.
Issei pushed Butsu back, only for the Oni to show a lightness of foot disproportional to his size as he blurred from sight for the distant watchers as soon as the balls of his feet touched the ground, before another shockwave was released as Issei flew a couple of feet back.
Issei's eyes narrowed before he vanished, an explosion issuing where he had been standing just an instant later.
He reappeared a few feet away from Butsu, his shirt turned into little more than tatters. Despite this, Issei spoke in an even, calm tone.
"You're going to have to do better than that, big guy."
"RAAAAAAAGH! BUTSU STRONGEST THERE IS!"
The black glow reappeared around Butsu's horns, it's intensity even stronger than before, before a similarly hued glow appeared around each of his fists, tendrils running up from the circular glow around the fists and spiraling up the arms, reaching all the way up to his shoulders.
"BUTSU SMASH!"
The Oni flew towards Issei, his fists firing off like a pair of machineguns, forcing Issei to bob and weave in order to avoid getting struck. The brunet's eyes widened as he felt Butsu's knuckles grazing his cheek for an instant, which he responded to with a sweeping kick that forced the Oni backwards.
He swiped his thumb against his cheek, narrowing his eyes at the sight of a droplet of blood at the tip of the thumb.
'That was odd... I could've sworn I was dodging all blows by the same margin...'
He refocused on Butsu, who was stomping around and banging his chest at the sight of blood.
'He's way too full of himself for having simply drawn a single drop of blood. I need to correct him.'
Relaxing, the brunet started strolling towards the now guarded Oni, his open stance bringing a equal levels of caution and surprise into Butsu's demeanor. Reaching close enough to Butsu that he had to look up to meet his gaze, Issei surprised everybody, especially Butsu, by belting him on the chin in a sudden move that had the big, muscular Oni reeling.
Said punch was followed up on by a kick to the face that got a nosebleed out of Butsu, causing the Oni to turn even more serious, the black-light tendrils around his arms increasing in amount and in how tight they squeezed his heavily muscled flesh.
"BUTSU SMASH!"
The Oni released another series of punches so fast that it generated afterimages, creating the illusion of dozends of fists assaulting Issei all at the same time.
"Heh... Useless!"
Issei responded by releasing a barrage of his own, meeting Butsu punch-to-punch, a series of smaller shockwaves causing his hair and clothes, including his mostly-torn shirt, to whip about randomly.
He started gradually speeding up, aiming his punches towards the openings in Butsu's thoughtless barrage, however...
'W-what? How are none of my punches hitting! It's as if the're being deflected, or dragged away from their targets!'
Indeed. Each time Issei aimed a punch at an opening in Butsu's barrage, he found said strike inevitably meeting one of Butsu's fists, against his wishes and expectations.
'This probably has something to do with the glow around his fists, and I just need to figure out a way to counter whatever this is.'
Paying better attention to Butsu, a grin made it's way to Issei's face as an idea percolated through his mind.
Issei ROARED, the sheer shockwave from the act pushing Butsu away from him, before ripping the sleeves off of his shirt, each of his hands holding the tip of the long strips of textile fabric.
Seeing Butsu getting back on his feet, Issei dashed towards him before releasing another barrage of blows which, once again, met Butsu's darkly-glowing fists, even when he accelerated somewhat.
However, unlike in the previous clash, Issei smirked at Butsu before calling out "Reinforcement!"
Butsu suddenly found both of his arms tightly bound to one-another by the long strips of fabric, each of them glowing from purple-colored circuitboard-like markings.
'Got him!'
Issei followed up on this by somersaulting over Butsu, the Oni's arms being bent into very uncomfortable angles when Issei landed behind him and pulled hard on the reinforced fabric, slowly choking Butsu out with his own thick forearms.
The Oni struggled in place, but soon found himself slowly succumbing to unconsciousness, his vision swimming as his strength gradually vanished. The Oni's entire body went limp shortly afterwards, the black glow emmanating from his horns and fists vanishing with his consciousness.
Releasing Butsu, Issei turned towards the stunned onlookers and raised a single questioning eyebrow.
Gulping, Ginei stood back up, patting the dust off of his Hakama's behind from when he had involuntarily fallen onto his butt during the intial clash between Issei and Butsu, discarding his Kendo case and revealing a light blue-colored scabbard, with white snowflake imprints adorning it.
He drew the blade that rested within it, revealing a 4 foot long blue-tinged nodachi, it's hilt being mostly made of a green, leather-like material with golden inlays; the blade exuded a feeling of cold and the smell of snow, and though as a nodachi the blade was meant to be wielded two-handed, Ginei was gripping the hilt one-handed, with no visible strain.
The handsome, Kimono-clad, college-aged male took measured steps until he stood a few feet across from the now-shirtless Issei, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Issei's eyebrow raised when he saw all of the tension leaving Ginei's body as his breathing reached a certain... Cadence... Small clouds of steam emerging from his nostrils even as he shifted in place, spacing his feet into a wider stance with a lower center of gravity.
He raised his left hand, hesitating for a bit before allowing it to join his right one on the hilt of his nodachi, which he had positioned such that the hilt was almost parallel to the ground right beside his head, while the sword itself was pointed downards, it's tip almost touching the ground due to it's characteristic curve, the bladed edge pointed outwards, toward Issei.
When Ginei opened his eyes, they seemed to be wholly devoid of emotion or hesitation, as if they had been replaced with two chips of glass - or perhaps ice.
Shifting his left foot slightly forward, Ginei exhaled through his mouth, a large cloud of steam making itself visible, before he swung his sword, calling out in a frigid tone.
"Kosetsu." (Snowfall)
An arch of pure snow leapt from the bladed edge of the nodachi, travelling at a speed high enough to allow the heavily compacted substance to break bone on contact.
Issei retaliated by clenching his right fist, allowing a purple glow to slightly emerge upon it before punching the wave of snow, causing the cold, white substance to explode and surrounded Issei and Ginei, making it seem as if winter had suddenly rolled in.
Ignoring the temperature drop caused by the snow falling around him, Issei kept his eyes on Ginei.
"Yukimichi." (Snowtrail)
Ginei started running towards Issei as if on solid ground, leaving behind no footprints, before going for a two-handed downwards slash aimed at Issei's chest.
Issei jumped back to avoid the attack, only to click his tongue at the sight of a thin cut on his chest due to his inability to fully dodge the attack.
'The snow is packed really thick, and I have to wade through it to move properly, while he can just walk on it like as much normal ground. Makes it annoying to move fast.'
"Yukigumo." (Snow cloud)
The falling snow started coalescing, as if magnetically drawn to together, resulting in the creation of a large white cloud around Issei, blocking his eyesight.
"Uzumaku Yuki." (Swirling snow)
Ginei's words preceded the parting of the snow cloud Issei had been surrounded by via oversized, extremely-sharp ice chrakram, rotating at incredibly high speed.
'What a vicious technique... It seems Ginei isn't holding back after what he saw happening to Butsu. Doesn't want me to even have a turn.'
Issei tensed his legs, prepared to leap away from the path of the chakram...
"Tsumetai Makihige." (Cold tendril)
Only for a series of snow 'tentacles' to emerge from the snow Issei had been standing on/in, wrapping around him in an attempt at keeping him immobile.
"Not bad, but..."
A small flash of yellow prompted Ginei to leap away from where he had been standing, doing so just an instant before electricity exploded from Issei's body, blasting away the snow that had been surrounding and trapping him, and causing the chakram made of ice to explode, ice shards flying out in many different directions.
"...You're going to have to do better than-"
"Jigoku no Fubuki." (Hellish blizzard)
All of the snow and ice suddenly started moving, rising up into the air and falling into a spiraling orbit around Issei. All of it suddenly picked up speed to an extremely high degree, keeping Issei blind and immobile even as sharp ice chips randomly shot around within the ice cloud, forcing him to weave around them in order to avoid being punctured.
Narrowing his eyes, Issei lowered his center of gravity as he expected the attacks aimed at him.
"Chokuritsu." (vertical)
"Got you."
Issei leapt away from the localized blizzard, ignoring the ice shards that had smacked into his shoulder and chest areas, leaving small marks behind them, before turning back towards the slowly settling snow cloud and speaking.
"What a sneaky attack... But I should have expected that from previous experience, should I not, Suzushi?"
When the snow cloud fully settled, it was to reveal the frustrated form of Suzushi, surrounded by a thick ice crystal twice as big as her, with an equally if not even more frustrated Ginei, his sword trapped within said crystal, mere centimeters away from making contact with the snow woman's head.
Pulling his blade free from the ice, Ginei's eyes had a visible amount of heat behind them as he spoke.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Dispelling the protective crystal that had surrounded her, Suzushi sneered at the swordsman as she answered.
"I was trying to actually land a clean hit on him, something that both you and the simpleton failed to do!"
Ginei gritted his teeth, his skin manifesting goosebumps and his lips losing some of their color even as he spoke between chattering teeth.
"If you didn't just randomly dash into my snowy field I wouldn't have had to pull back on my last attack! It would've hit!"
The girl waved dismissively at Ginei, her tone condescending as she spoke.
"I'm sure it would, you had him on the ropes the whole time, but I believe it is time you allowed a true ice user to fight, rather than just a pale imitation such as yourself and your-"
"If you say anything about my family-"
"HEY!"
Both Suzushi's condescending words and Ginei's heated response were interrupted by Issei, who shot the two an utterly disbelieving look as he shook his head.
"With a dangerous threat standing right in front of you, you decided to waste your time and energy fighting one-another?"
Shooting Suzushi one last look of anger, Ginei walked away from the fight while drawing his kimono tighter against his torso, retrieving his blade's sheath and re-sheathing it before making his way towards Kasumi who, noticing the blue tone that lightly tinged his lips and the tips of his fingers, generated a fireball to hang around him, an action which he responded to with a thankful nod before placing his sheathed nodachi back within his kendo case.
Back on the battlefield, Suzushi stared Issei down with as much seriousness as she possibly could, something which the brunet responded to by smirking, driving the Yuki-Onna's demeanor to further coolness.
"My turn."
A massive amount of ice exploded from the ground around Suzushi, causing all of the clearing around them with the exception of the area the observers - including a recently-awakened Butsu - were at to be completely overwhelmed by massive ice spikes, ensuring that Issei had nowhere to dodge to.
"Well... That was something."
Suzushi instantly raised her hands, causing the spike Issei had settled atop of to explode into branching formations of sharp, pointed ice, forcing him to leap away. Each time he landed on a different spike, smaller icicles would instantly start growing from them, forcing him to keep moving.
Bored of this, Issei cocked back his arm before punching down, releasing a blast of air pressure that obliterated a segment of the sea of ice, creating a circular area free of the cold substance.
Rallying her power again, Suzushi raised both hands, causing all of the ice to converge around the circular area Issei was in, cutting off any possible exits.
"Dodge this."
She whipped her arms into a cross position, causing all of the ice to rush into the area and resulting into a massive explosion, causing ice fragments to start raining above the area.
The sense of smug satisfaction that had been building up within Suzushi at her victory was completely obliterated by the sound of Issei's voice right beside her ear.
"Attacking a teammate with the intent to kill... How cold of you..."
Before she could do anything more than gape, Issei's hand had already curled around her dainty neck, his fingertips lightly pressing into her jugular in what was a very clear message.
'Mess around and I'll End you.'
This caused Suzushi to settle down as Issei directed her towards the others, before pointing at a spot next to Kasumi, which she sat down at without any further protests.
Issei looked each of his teammates in the eye, before speaking up.
"I hoped for more from you lot."
Allowing his gaze to settle on Suzushi first, he spoke.
"You are all power, and no finesse or technique. The only thing you did for the duration of our 'fight' was simply create more ice, throw it at place 'x', then create even more ice, rinse and repeat. Your opening move was great, create a battlefield where you hold the advantage, but everything after that was a poor showing.
"When you saw me able to navigate freely, rather than do something creative such as making ice golems to keep me busy while you set up your killing field, your just created more ice spikes, as if I couldn't just keep finding the blunt regions to stand on.
"Believe me when I say that my stamina is much greater than yours, meaning that I could keep branch-hopping long after you became unable to create any more ice spikes/branches.
"Your last move would've been alright, had I not shown just a few seconds before that I could obliterate the ice you created with the shockwave of a punch alone.
"For Kami's sake, be a little creative with your attacks! Create sharp ice birds that fly around harassing your opponents, make the floor slippery to trip up enemies and then spike them, create some ice golems to engage the enemies physically, just... Do something different than 'Ice spike!"
Seeing that the girl had looked away, utterly refusing to meet his gaze, Issei turned towards Butsu.
"Bustu, same problem. Your failure was that you kept doing the same thing, over and over again. To your credit, your attacks at least seemed to be working, but it would be better if you showed some variance. If you try to smash something in the same way many times, the thing you want to smash will learn how to not get smashed."
The Oni sat back down as he digested this piece of wisdom, the rusted, mostly unused gears within his head slowly grinding against one another in their attempt at motion.
Issei then procceeded to shift his gaze towards the much healthier-looking Ginei.
"You, Ginei, on the other, showed off some good stuff. Different moves to do different things, from setting up the field, to blocking my ability to see, that giant ice wheel thing that you paired with those snow tentacles, and then creating a storm of snow and shrapnel to keep me trapped and blind as you prepared your strongest slash... That was some good shit.
"I'd call it a perfect showing were it not for the fact that you took way too long to get into a fighting state, meaning that before you were in that 'frosty mode' of yours, anyone could've simply punched your heart out or something;
"You took a while to build up momentum, as the intervals between your first two or three techniques was significantly bigger than the intervals between your latter ones; as soon as something unpredictable happened you completely lost your focus and came out of your 'fighting mode', and as soon as you did, you started suffering an accelerated case of Hypothermia."
Ginei nodded at Issei's words, being aware of his own failings.
Issei surprised everyone by turning towards a smirking Kasumi and shouting out.
"AND YOU!"
The kitsune jumped in place at the overly loud address, pointing a confused finger at herself.
"Yes, you! You did absolutely nothing the entire fight!"
Chuckling nervously, Kasumi scratched the back of her head as she spoke.
"Well, Issei, you see, I'm kind of not very strong in direct combat. Even if I tried tossing a few fireballs your way, the best I could've done would be roasting the others while they fought you."
The brunet crossed his arms over his chest and raised a single eyebrow at that, causing the kitsune to start sweating nervously.
"Really? That was the best you could've done? Couldn't you have, oh I don't know, put me under an illusion?"
Kasumi cringed at Issei's tone, wincing each time he made a new point.
"You could've done something as basic as make me see double, our blind me, or something of the sort, and it would've instantly put any of the others in an extremely more advantageous position for the duration of our fights.
"Instead you just sat there, watching, deriving amusement from me thrashing your teammates."
The girl cringed further at Issei's utterly disappointed tone, her eyes drifting away so that she didn't have to meet Issei's gaze only to end up falling on Daichi.
"Hey! Why are you complaining about me not doing anything, but not saying a thing to the big guy over there!?"
"Daichi is currently a non-combatant. I'm working on bringing him up to snuff myself, so I already know what he can and cannot do, and the fact that he still isn't anywhere near combat-ready. The only reasons Daichi was here today were for the social integration factor, by which I mean spending time with his teammates, and to allow him to observe a few fights, something that he hasn't done before."
Kasumi drooped in place, her ears flattening against her head like a sad puppy, while Suzushi spoke up.
"Even if all this is true, you said that you were going to limit yourself to a level of strength we should be able to defeat, but after looking back into all of our fights, I don't see a way for any of us to defeat you.
"Were you just lying to us?"
Rather than show any anger, irritation or disgruntlement at the accusation, Issei reacted by snorting in amusement, before speaking.
"I thought you were smarter than this."
Aware of the strength differential between Issei and herself, Suzushi supressed her irritation at the insult and spoke between gritted teeth.
"I am quite sorry, but I wish you would elaborate further."
Smirking at her in a way that showed his immense amusement in the face of her annoyance, Issei opened his mouth to speak, only for someone else to do so first.
"Teamwork."
Everyone turned towards the source of the softly-spoken word, causing Daichi to fidget in place at the extra attention placed upon him. Pushing some of his nervousness aside, Daichi managed to speak up.
"S-senpai really did say that he was g-going to limit his strength so you guys could beat him... But... He never said that any of you would be able to beat him individually. He only ever refered to 'the lot of you' when setting up the conditions of the fight.
"That means that while none of you guys was likely to beat him at that level of strength, you could've done so if you fought together from the start."
"Correctamundo, Daichi my boy! I expected all of you to team up to fight me, as I'd been told you guys worked together to eliminate strays. Now I know you probably did something as asinine as simply fight them one on one, even when you could've easily dealt with the situation quicker through the power of teamwork."
The brunet looked at Suzushi, Ginei and Kasumi each in turn, with all of them avoiding his gaze. Sighing, he spoke.
"While the lot of you were worse than I hoped... You were still definitely better than I expected."
Seeing the surprised looks in the faces of his teammates, Issei favored them with a small smile as he spoke.
"We'll be training every weekend. I want your individual kinks ironed out, and your cohesion as a team to actually come into being, rather than lingering in the realm of non-existence."
Issei's words cause Kasumi to lose the kicked puppy look and replace it with a hopeful one, Ginei to nod gravely as his gaze lingered on his covered blade, Daichi to fidget in place at the - surprisingly exciting - expectation of combat training, and for the frosty chips that were Suzushi's eyes to soften slightly.
"BUTSU LEARN TO SMASH DIFFERENT, SO THING NOT LEARN TO NOT GET SMASHED!"
Everybody jumped at the sudden bellow from the Oni after his brain successfully processed Issei's criticism. With the mood utterly broken, Issei allowed each of his team members to go do whatever it was they did after combat training.
Issei poured himself a new cup of tea after having finished his narration and took a sip, soothing his speech-parched throat, while Lillith spoke.
"Wow. That really did make for an interesting week."
The brunet snorted into his tea, barely succeeding in not doing so out of his nose, before speaking.
"That wasn't even the most interesting part of the week."
Lillith blinked owlishly at that, turning her surprised gaze towards Issei.
"Really?"
The brunet smirked slightly at that.
"Yup. The most interesting - and intense - part of my week was..."
"...And for those reasons, I'll be moving out."
Gorou and Miki Hyoudou traded confused looks before turning and staring at their stone-faced son as if he had just grown a second head.
Reaching her hands out and taking Issei's into her own, Miki spoke up.
"Ise, sweetie... Are you okay?"
With a face looking as if it had been carved from stone in how serious it looked, Issei nodded at that before responding.
"I am quite well, why do you ask?"
Gorou placed his own hand atop his wife and son's, his tone of voice low and soothing as he spoke.
"You just asked us to come into the living room saying that you had something important to tell us, sat down across from us, stared unnervingly for about 10 minutes before saying 'And for those reasons, I'll be moving out'.
"Are you absolutely sure you're okay? If you're feeling mentally overwhelmed you could either reduce or stop your working hours, and we could book you with a therapist..."
The brunet sighed at that, his murmured 'It always works in anime' going unheard by his parents, before speaking up.
"I'm sorry if I confused you guys, so let me go from the start.
"Mom, Dad... I want to move out."
Issei's words utterly surprised his parents, causing them to have to take a few minutes to get their minds back into control before Miki spoke up.
"Why exactly do you want to move out, Ise? Are you feeling uncomfortable here at home? Suffocated? As if you didn't have enough space for yourself? I know that a growing boy gets a different set of mental needs, including boundaries, but if it's something like that you could've simply talked to us, and we would've done our best to accomodate you..."
This time, Issei was the one to take his mother's hands into his own, before speaking in a soothing tone of his own.
"It's not that. Nothing like that. I love you guys, and I loved living here in this home... I still do."
"Then why..."
"Because I need to."
Issei's tone turned stronger at that, though it did not lose the underlying tenderness for his parents, or his desire to make them understand.
"I... I have Goals. Ambitions. Big ones, that most people would call unwise to as much as dream of holding, much less actually attempting to fulfill, however...
"I'm actually succeeding. I have a greatly-paying job, I'm at the top of my year academically, I've got great and loyal friends, the best parents in the world, and I've managed to even advance in my Harem plan, with my girlfriends knowing about eachother, and actually knowing eachother. They're aware of the harem plan, and helping me in turning it into a success.
"However, I'm doing all of these things and succeeding mostly because of you guys. I get to put forth all of my focus and energy into doing all of those things because I don't have to worry about stuff like paying bills, buying groceries, doing laundry, or any other such tasks.
"But... I want to start doing these things as well. I want to see how well I can do when I have to take care of myself, as well as keep working towards my goals. I want to try to go into the world while I'm still young enough for the world to forgive me, since if I were to try the same thing as an 18 year old, I'm sure that any landlord, grocer, teacher or even my boss would be way less forgiving for any mistakes that I make than they would be at this moment, while I'm still 15.
"I want to learn to be independent. Please, allow me to do so."
Mama and Papa Hyoudou, after fully listening to Issei's words turned towards one-another and engaged in what seemed to be a telepathic conversation of some sort, with twitching and tilting of lips, eyebrows and heads added to the mix.
Mama Hyoudou eventually let out an exasperated sigh, before Papa Hyoudou turned back towards their son, placing a strong hand onto his shoulder as he spoke.
"Go on and live your life, son. There always comes a time in a boy's life where they make a choice, one that proves that they are ready to move on from being a boy or a young man into a 'Man', with a captial M, and I can see it in your eyes... This is it for you. The moment you chose to graduate from boy to MAN.
"But be aware that, as a man, the world will treat you differently. Have higher expectations for you. I hope you are ready for that."
Placing her hand on Issei's cheek, Mama Hyoudou spoke, a complicated smile on her face.
"It's a bittersweet moment, when a parent notices that their baby is no longer a baby, and is growing up. Normally that moment occurs a bit later on in life, but... You always did like to surprise people with the unexpected, mhm?" Miko chuckled lightly at that, flicking a tear from the corner of her eye as she spoke, "It's not everyday that a 7 year old chooses to fill in a 'Future dream' worksheet with the words 'Harem master'."
Issei placed his own hand atop his mothers, while Miko kept on.
"Go ahead, Ise, and make a man of yourself, but don't forget to take care of yourself, call if you need anything, and remember that our door is always open to you if you ever decide to come back. This is your home as much as it is ours, and it will remain as such for as long as you wish.
"Do pay us the occasional visit, though."
Smiling teasingly, Gorou cut in.
"And don't be surprised if you ever find out your mother 'happened to be around the neighbourhood' of wherever it is you go live and decides to pay you a visit, possibly with a bento in tow, or after 'having accidentally bought extra at the grocery store'."
Smiling widely, Issei pulled both of his parents into a hug, his voice lightly smothered yet still perfectly audible as he spoke.
"You guys are the best parents ever."
"Wow... So, was all that stuff you said about your reasons true?"
Issei waved his hand in a so-so motion.
"Part of it was true, as I definitely want more independence and privacy than any other 15 year old should have. The other part, however..."
His tone turned serious at that.
"I am either constantly stumbling into the supernatural, such as my school selection or our meeting, or being found by it, like with Susano'o. If It's going to keep occuring, I want it to happen as far away from my powerless, civilian parents as possible.
"They raised and protected me for 15 years. It's time for me to do the same for them."
"So..." Lillith spoke suggestively, "Since you're living alone now, what do you say we cut our date short and go straight for the main course~?"
The brunet let out a rueful chuckle before responding.
"I haven't moved out yet, actually. I'm still hunting for a sensibly-priced appartment that will host a lone 15 year old, and that doesn't have any restrictions as far as company of the opposite gender goes. A remarkably difficult find."
Lilith pouted at that, before sullenly going back to eating food from the picnic basket, this time snagging a sandwich of her own.
Patting her head until she seemed distinctly less upset, Issei spoke.
"Now that you've heard about my week, how about you tell me how yours went?"
Lilith blinked at that, before surprising Issei by jumping to her feet, a wide smile on her face as she spoke in an excited tone.
"I don't need to tell you! I can just show you!" She hurriedly shoved the rest of her sandwich into her mouth, drawing a chuckle out of Issei at the mental image of a squirrel that emerged, before washing it down with the remainder of her tea, and then hurriedly tossing everything back into the picnic basket.
Bemused, Issei finished his own food, helped Lillith stored everything into the basket before allowing himself to be dragged by hand.
"Finally, after weeks of tedious work, including signing mountains of paperwork, having a bunch of meetings with the devils running this city, and generally being unable to spend time with my boyfriend, I'd like you to introduce you to..." Lilith spread her arms wide open in a showy display "Saint Leona's All Girls Academy!"
Issei whistled appreciatively at the campus that outsized even that of Kuoh academy.
"It's... Pretty big."
Lilith nodded at that.
"Yup. It's an exclusive all-girls academy for the rich and famous. Other than having heiresses from supernatural factions and such, the academy will be hosting the daughters, sisters, cousins and nieces of the rich and the famous.
"While the name says 'Academy', this will actually be boarding school, with dorms for it's various students. I'll actually be sharing a room with Jackie/Hylda when the academy opens it's doors.
"As a boarding school for hormonal, pubescent teens, the academy will also need to have various different activities that function as an outlet for any excessive build ups of energy, cabin fever, and anything else of the sort.
"The academy has all sorts of different facilities, such as pools, sports fields and courts, horse stables and tracks, and even auditoriums for both theatrical or cinematic, as well as musical performances.
"There's a lot more to it, but those are pretty much the basics."
Blinking owlishly, Issei turned towards Lilith and gave her a weird look as he spoke "The basics, you say."
"Mhm!" The girl said with a nod.
Allowing his face to spread into a teasing smirk for an instant, Issei promptly schooled his face into one of perfect neutrality before speaking in a tone as pompous and formal as possible.
"Whatever you say, Ojou-sama." (Young Lady)
Lilith puffed her cheeks at that, childishly beating her fists against Issei's chest.
"Stop teasing me, you meanie!"
Pulling Lilith into a hug to keep her from 'hitting' him, Issei allowed himself a massive smile of satisfaction.
Date day was a total success.
"Well," Issei said as he stared at the stacked-up boxes in front of him "It took less time than I expected to find the appartment and fully move my stuff out."
'Yes' Ddraig spoke into Issei's mind 'And I'm quite sure that your Yakuza friends had absolutely nothing to do with either of those things.'
The brunet shrugged before responding.
'When your friend offers his underlings up as free labor, who am I to refuse? Plus, if my admittance to this apartment block was in any way unduly influenced, I can say with total certainty that it wasn't due to my choice or instruction.'
'Yeah, yeah, you humans and your legalese.'
'...Ddraig, how did you learn that word?'
'...My previous host was really into soap operas and detective shows.'
'Sure, your host was the one into it...'
'Annoying, disrespectful brat.'
'Tsundere old dragon.'
'Shut up!'
'Love you too, Ddraig!'
The welsh dragon sighed internally, knowing that keeping the conversation going would result in little more than him getting more and more annoyed, and thus decided to go back to slumbering.
The brunet chuckled lightly at that, going back outside and handing out a few canned sodas to the men that had moved his things from his old home to his apartment, and then up the stairs to the floor he was on, which was the 6th one, as thanks.
He watched them peel off in the white van they had used as transport, before going back upstairs to his new house.
After a few flights of stairs, just as he was about to reach his new door, Issei bumped into someone, causing said someone to bounce off of his powerful body and land butt-first on the ground.
Holding out a hand, Issei spoke up.
"Are you alright, miss?"
The girl shook her head, her silky black hair whipping around her head as she seemingly fought to recover her balance. Seeing the outstretched hand, the girl took Issei's hand and allowed herself to be helped up, before patting off the dust that had stuck to her skirt.
"I'm fine, thank you very much."
She seemed to stare at him from up close before speaking up.
"Are you new around here?"
"Oh yeah, I finished moving in just a few minutes ago, actually. Everything's still boxed up yet."
"I understand how that feels. I moved here recently as well! Oh, where are my manners? My name is Yuuma. Amano Yuuma."
She stretched out a hand, which Issei took into a handshake.
"Hyoudou Issei."
The girl smiled beatifically at him, sunshine and rainbows appearing from behind that smile.
"I'll see you around, Hyoudou-san."
"Yeah."
Issei then watched as the girl made her way downstairs. He looked down at his hand, an eyebrow raised as he thought.
'That was a pretty solid handshake for such a slip of a girl. Plus, her smile was totally weird. Well, that's really none of my business, is it? I've already got enough on my plate without adding to my own load.'
Shurgging off that interaction, Issei procceeded into his new home, a spacious appartment with a large living room, occupied by a white leather couch smack dab in the middle of the room, and a large flatscreen TV that Kensuke had gifted to him as congratulations for moving out from his parents' and that the boys had procceeded to mount on the wall.
Other than that, the room was adorned by a few empty shelves, a coffee table in the space between the couch and the television, an AC Unit, a dining area a bit off to the side of the main living room area, with a small doorway leading to the kitchen, and, at a small distance from the kitchen, there was a door leading to the bathroom main bathroom.
There was a door at the far end of the room, opposite to the entrace door, that led into the large bedroom which Issei had already furnished with an extra-large King-sized bed, his desk, which already had his study materials stored in it, and the computer atop it, a bedside table with a lamp on it. The room also sported another AC Unit of it's own. Across the bed on the right there was a door leading to an ensuite, and to the left there was a set of sliding glass doors that led out to a balcony, with the glass doors being covered in heavy drapes to prevent any unwanted sunlight from cutting his sleep short.
Stretching, Issei walked up to one of the boxes with the intent of getting the rest of his home in order, using a thin trickle of lightning along his fingernail in place of a boxcutter before reaching into the box and taking out a pair of headphones, which he stared at nostalgically.
"I remember these! These were the headphones that I got on the plane when I was returning from vacation! I bought them because the catalog said that they were great at cancelling out noise..." Issei's eyes widened, his tone slow and incredulous as he kept on "...Which would have come in handy in allowing me to get a full night's sleep back when I was living with my parents..."
He stared at the headphones, his eyebrows twitching at a steadily increasing rate, his jaw clenching as a throbbing vein appeared on his forehead.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"
-Chapter, End!-