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"Regular character Speech"
"Differently inflectioned character speech" (Whispering, hissing)
"Powerful Speech" (Backed by Killing intent, Presence, sheer raw power, etc)
'Regular character thoughts'
'Mind reading/Telepathic conversation'
[Ddraig Speaking out loud]
[Ddraig speaking telepathically to Issei]
'Ddraig/Powerful being thinking'
"Give me a reason not to kill you right now."
Issei's hiss, backed by a healthy amount of pressure, came out as soon as Susanoo had closed the door to his office, aimed fully towards the sitting Tsukuyomi.
Before Susanoo could have said anything to de-escalate the situation, Tsukuyomi spoke up imperiously.
"What makes you think you are capable of doing so in the first place?"
BOOM!
Killing Intent poured from Issei so powerfully and plentifully that it caused the floor underneath his feet to crack, and the space around him to warp heavily like the air on a scorching summer day. Before he could leap at Tsukuyomi, Susanoo spoke up.
"We need him alive to ensure the safety of everyone in this country, including your friends and family."
The three gods watched Issei, two of them tensely and one of them indifferently, each of them feeling for every single fluctuation of his energy in order to know whether or not they needed to react to violence.
The brunet made a decision, lowering his arm and his Pressure at the same time, before seating himself on a yellow couch, his expression blank as he deliberately looked away from Tsukuyomi, gave Amaterasu a quick, appraising look, before turning his focus towards Susanoo, who had sat down behind his large desk.
The silence in the room was only matched by the tension, which was so thick that a knife wouldn't even make a nick in it. Seeing that the three men in the room weren't about to break this silence, Amaterasu cleared her throat, turning towards Issei before speaking up.
"Hello, Hyoudou-san. My name is Amaterasu, and I am Susanoo and Tsukuyomi's sister. I know that this situation is far from optimal, but I hope that we can work well together!"
She stared at Issei expectantly, receiving only a raised eyebrow in response, something which caused her to deflate in place, and which ripped a derisive snort from Tsukuyomi.
"Don't bother, sister. Humans are uncourteous beings, that won't accept an olive branch from literal gods themselves-"
"You don't get to say anything, Tsu-chan!"
Amaterasu turned towards Tsukuyomi, her eyes bearing a look of slight disappointment and her voice bearing a tone of mild admonishment. Her left fist was placed atop the equivalent hip, while her right finger was wagged in front of Tsukuyomi as she spoke.
"After sending an assassin after Issei-san, while fully knowing that we wanted to ask him for help in dealing with a difficult situation, don't you think it's very shameless to speak about any lack of cordiality?
"You talk about olive branches, when you yourself haven't even apologized for what you've done!"
Tsukuyomi's face seemed to be carved out of marble from how impassive it was in the face of Amaterasu's words. His tone showed no level of shame as he spoke.
"I am sure that some sort of suitable recompense can be arranged for during negotiations, perhaps a sum of money, a large plot of land, or even some mystical artifacts-"
"I refuse." The three turned back towards the equally impassive Issei, whose soft tone contrasted with his unyieldingly hard words. "If i were weaker than that spider assassin you sent after me, I would have died. My parents would have lost their child for no reason at all, and they wouldn't even know when or how it happened, or who did it.
"Every single goal, plan or wish which I haven't fulfilled yet would have died alongside me as well. And that is without mentioning the feelings of my friends, my girlfriends, and every other person who is close to me, that I had not yet mentioned.
"So no, I won't say that I value my life so little as to be satisfied with some money, land, or shiny trinkets. I can get those at any time, without endangering my life.
"What I do want is a full admission of guilt from you, and an apology. Not a fake one, not an indirect one. I want you to clearly apologize to me, while mentioning the reason as to why you are doing so.
"That is the only way I'll ever let this matter drop, and even consider working with your faction."
Issei's words caused Tsukuyomi's face to twist as if he had smelled something foul. Mustering up as much grandeur and indignation as he could, Tsukuyomi opened his mouth with the intent to reject Issei's proposal altogether, when Amaterasu answered in his place.
"Of course my brother is going to apologize!"
Tsukuyomi gave Amaterasu a betrayed look, only to be hit with a look of annoyance which, when paired with a pair of puffed-up cheeks, could only be called adorable. While affecting this look, she spoke.
"Tsu-chan, stop being a stupid meanie and apologize!"
The Shinto god of the moon flinched at the sight, feeling as if Amaterasu's words had just driven an arrow into his side.
"B-but-"
His stuttered words were answered to by a wet-eyed look, paired with a trembling lower lip from Amaterasu, something which completely crumbled his defenses, prompting him to turn towards Issei and speaking between gritted teeth, each word coming with the same level of difficulty and suffering from him as a tooth extraction using only a pair of plyers.
"I... Apologize... For my transgressions against you."
Seeing Issei's unconvinced face, Tsukuyomi screwed up his face before proceeding.
"I am sorry for having sent an assassin after you. I was... Out of line."
Issei's indiferent look did not change as he responded, his tone as stereotypically magnanimous as possible without crossing over into the realm of parody.
"Apology accepted. After all, how could I, such a great person, hold a grudge against you, such a small individual? Of course, I don't have to mention the fact that I expect nothing of the sort to occur again?"
Tsukuyomi was unable to completely suppress the look of anger at the humiliation he suffered, even as he swallowed his anger and spoke the words that hurt him more than gargling glass shards ever could.
"I'll make sure it doesn't happen again, Hyoudou-san."
"Very well."
Having said that, Issei moved his focus completely away from Tsukuyomi, being done with him, before turning an emotionless gaze towards Amaterasu.
He watched impassively as the sun goddess fidgeted nervously under his gaze, before favoring her with a warm gaze, and a small, yet genuine smile, something which caused her to tentatively smile at him as well.
Issei then proceeded to stun the three Shinto deities in the room by reaching towards Amaterasu and giving her head a soft pat and rub.
"You are adorable. I really like adorable people and animals."
Issei's words caused Amaterasu's porcelain-white face to bloom into a massive blush, Susanoo to internally praise him for his balls, even as he suppressed his brotherly instinct to try to flatten him, and Tsukuyomi to curl his hands into fists so hard that his fingernails dug into his palms, causing droplets of blood to flow down through his fingers.
"Ah... T-thank you..."
Noticing that she was unable to deal with any more of his attention, Issei gave Amaterasu one last smile before removing his hand from her head and turning towards Susanoo, his friendly mien replaced by cold profissionalism.
Noticing the change in his demeanor, Susanoo cleared his throat before speaking up.
"As I've told you before, Hyoudou-san, and you may have looked more into, bad things have been happening to regular, non-supernatural people in a very suspicious manner. People mysteriously vanishing, diseases that hospitals have been unable to identify, much less treat, and all sorts of other things.
"We've been mobilizing our people and resources to see if the missing people are found, the ill are healed and that more events like these do not occur, all the while keeping the mundane world unaware of these things, yet that is not enough.
"We wish to be more proactive in our efforts to figure out the cause of these events and to take care of it, but that requires us to be able to rely on someone skilled enough to deal with any issues that crop up, and yet cannot be directly connected to our faction and alert this mysterious enemy that we are aware of their existence, ensuring that the enemy does not go to ground or escalate."
He reached into one of his desk drawers, withdrawing a sleek, square-shaped smartphone, as big as Issei's hand and possessing rounded edges, before placing it atop his desk and sliding it in Issei's general direction.
"In case you choose to ally with us, this would be your primary work tool. It would be through this smartphone that any job details would be sent your way, and through which you would would be acecepting or refusing said jobs - under the presumption of good faith, of course - and the reward associated to it.
"So, Hyoudou Issei, what do you say? Will you work with our Shinto faction?"
The brunet stood up, walking up to Susanoo's desk and reaching out for the phone. His hand stopped an inch from the device, before he spoke.
"I have conditions of my own."
Susanoo nodded, prompting Issei to speak.
"First, I get to work with a team. Second, I get to pick said team. Third, I get to negotiate the mission pay in case I feel as if the one offered is not adequate for the level of difficulty and danger of the mission itself."
Susanoo bridged his fingers over his face, taking a moment of consideration before asking.
"Are your prospective teammates good enough?"
"They will be."
Seeing the certainty in Issei's gaze, Susanoo nodded.
"Fair enough. We accept your terms."
As soon as the storm god spoke, Issei collected the phone and slipped it into his pocket, before making relaxed steps towards the exit.
He stopped with his hand on the doorknob, something which got the attention of the three gods back onto him.
"I won't hesitate to kill whoever fucks with me again. Remember that."
Issei left the office after saying those words, leaving behind a trio of shocked gods.
Susanoo, his face fully serious, spoke first.
"This pressure he just released... It was nothing like when he first came in here."
Tsukuyomi, who had received the brunt of the Pressure just now, wiped a few beads of sweat off of his forehead before speaking up.
"I know we already suspected him of possessing a Longinus, but this feeling... Either he is such a genius that he gained a thorough understanding of a low tier Longinus in such a short time period, or he possesses one of such high power that even his current self is empowered to such degree so shortly after unlocking it.
"I don't know which possibility is the more terrifying of the two."
Amaterasu spoke up after that, her tone hesitant.
"Or... It could be that he both possesses a high-tier Longinus, and the ability to quickly understand how to use it."
Sighing tiredly as he leaned back into his chair, Susanoo shot Tsukuyomi a mild look as he spoke.
"This is the person that you chose to antagonize, brother. I hope this teaches you something."
Susanoo's words caused Tsukuyomi to make a complicated face, before standing up.
"I will be taking my leave as well."
Having said that, he walked towards an open window before vanishing in a beam of silver light, leaving behind Susanoo and Amaterasu in the room.
"What do you think about Issei, sister?"
Amaterasu jumped at Susanoo's sudden question, turning towards him before stopping for a moment to think things through.
"He... Is complicated." She placed a hand on her own head, before speaking. "How can someone with Murderous Intent so powerful have such a kind touch?"
The two elapsed into silence, both of them thinking of the same subject.
And like that, the negotiations ended.
"Pick it up, ladies! Get those knees up!"
Motohama and Matsuda could only stare incredulously at Issei who, despite running backwards, was still keeping a consistent lead, all the while easily avoiding any obstacles on his path, and without ever tripping or losing his footing.
"Aaaaand... You can stop now."
As soon as those words were said, Motohama fell over like a puppet with it's strings cut, while Matsuda bent over, hands on his knees as he fought to regain his breath. Only after thirty more seconds did Lilith come into view of the three young men, her form drenched in sweat and barely dragging herself towards them.
She instantly flopped down onto one of the benches of the park they were at before making grabbing motions towards Issei with a piteous look on her face.
The brunet placed the water bottle into her grip before speaking up.
"I feel like we've been making progress, people. We've already shaved off over a quarter of the original time spent on these runs, and your conditioning has gotten to the point where you can recover fast, especially Matsuda.
"With that being said, I want you guys to be aware that training will get even more intense from tomorrow onwards."
"W-w-what?" Motohama sputtered out, "What do you mean more intense? You're already running us ragged! Do you want us to run a marathon or something?"
Matsuda seemed to hesitate for a single moment, before speaking up.
"Motohama's right. Don't take me wrong, as someone who likes running, I have nothing personal against it, but... It's not only me that you're training. You are trying to get myself, Aika and Lilith into a way above average physical shape for some reason. I mean, look at me, I'm easily running times way above those that earned me awards and trophies in serious competitions.
"What gives, man? Why are you pushing us so hard?"
Issei stopped for a moment, his face making the storm of thoughts within his head visible to the three people present, before speaking up again.
"I... I can't tell you yet. I don't think you can deal with it yet. But... I ask you guys to trust me when I say that what I am currently doing, is for your own good. There will come a time when the three of you and Aika will thank me for putting you through the hell I am. Of that I am sure."
While Lilith simply favored Issei with an understanding look, already knowing the sort of things that might at any moment pop up in the town of Kuoh within the particular time frame, the bald and glasses-wearing members of the Perverted Trio traded looks, before Motohama spoke for them.
"Alright, Issei. We'll put our trust in you and not ask questions for now, but we will definitely expect some sort of answer or explanation later on."
"Hey." Issei, Lilith and Motohama turned towards Matsuda, who had spoken up in an inquiring tone, "Where is Aika anyway, and why didn't she practice with us today?"
This question caused Lilith's face to spread into a massive grin, before speaking up.
"She is probably still in bed, thoroughly icing her hot box after the damage Issei dealt yesterday evening."
Motohama and Matsuda turned towards Issei with stunned and impressed gazes. After seeing them walk off together the previous day, they already expected something to happen between the two of them, an advancement of their relationship, so that part wasn't really surprising.
What was surprising was how blunt and straightforward Lilith was about the fact that her boyfriend had, the previous day, had sex with their friend, and the fact that, based on her tone of voice, she seemed about ready to- "High five!" -actually did high five him.
"So, how did it go? What sort of stuff did you do?"
Each word Lilith said only caused Motohama and Matsuda's eyes to widen further, and their mouths to gape more and more.
"WE'RE NOT WORTHY!"
"WE'RE NOT WORTHY!"
The only reasonable response from the two in this situation was to prostrate themselves in front of Issei, repeatedly bowing so low that their foreheads almost hit the ground.
"YOU TRULY ARE A MAN AMONGST MEN!"
"US REGULAR ONES SHALL ENDEAVOUR TO LEARN FROM YOU, SENIOR!"
A soft, yet firm grip fell upon a shoulder of each of the bowing young men, prompting them to look up towards the origin of said grip, their friend, Issei.
"Do not worry, my brothers. With the training that I am giving you, you will also step up from the realm of mortal men, and learn the ways of those blessed by the heavens. That is a promise from your senior in the path of Sexual Cultivation."
Issei's words truly inspired these wide-eyed young men, motivating them to reach for the stars and fight for their dreams. With heartfelt tears streaming down their faces, the two of them slammed their foreheads into the ground before shouting.
"PLEASE TAKE CARE OF US!"
"PLEASE TAKE CARE OF US!"
Lilith could only watch with a bemused smile on her face, even as the other people in the park stealthily left, unwilling to deal with the band of shameless weirdos.
BEEP BEEP
Lilith looked down at her watch before her eyes widened tremendously.
"Ohcrapimmabelate!"
Her words caused the young men to switch their focus back to her, only for Issei to be surprised by a flying tackle, before Lilith wrapped her legs aroud his waist and her arms around his neck, only to go on to do something with their mouths that could only be described as a mix between a french kiss and an attempt at trading respiratory systems.
After a full minute of this, the purplette jumped off of Issei's body before running away, her body already seemingly recovered from their previous run.
"Bye bye! See you later, lover boy!"
Issei waved vigorously towards his first girlfriend until she was completely out of sight before looking down at his own watch and frowning.
"We should be moving as well if we intend to make it to school on time. So... See you guys later!"
Then, he also ran off.
Motohama and Matsuda, after trading nods, went their own ways as well.
"Ara ara~... Is it just me, or is Kiryuu-san oddly close to Issei today?"
Motohama, Matsuda and everybody else around could only sweatdrop at Akeno's glib comment, made in response to the fact that as soon as their group had convened underneath their usual tree for lunch, Aika carelessly plopped herself atop Issei's lap, with the young man saying nothing in response, and instead proceeding to eat his lunch as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Oh, you didn't hear? Me and Issei fucked yesterday, and I finally joined his harem."
"PFFFFFFFFFT"
"Gah Gahk"
Many of the eavesdroppers around them either choked or spat the contents of their mouths off at the Aika's casual ease in saying such obscene things in such a shockingly blunt manner.
"W-what are you doing!?" A pink-haired girl shouted indignantly, "As a girl aren't you ashamed of saying and doing these sorts of perverted things!?"
The look Aika leveled upon the girl was that of a person questioning another's sanity, before she spoke up.
"Why would I be ashamed of liking sex-related things?" She punctuated with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I am much too informed to be a total prude, like the rest of you pretend to be."
A massive and wicked smirk split her lips after that. While holding the scandalized pinkette's gaze, Aika reached underneath herself and directly gripped his tool, something which caused even Akeno to gasp at her audaciousness, before clearly and loudly speaking up, ensuring that she gave each and every word the proper enunciation.
"Plus, any woman capable of taking this absolute unit and still walk on the following day should be freaking proud of herself!"
Aika's words and actions caused the girl to point a trembling finger at them. "P-p-p-p-p-perverts! All of you, just perverts!" And, having said that, she rapidly fled.
After watching her walk away, Aika spoke up again, all while allowing her gaze to sweep the area around them.
"Does anyone else have any comments to make, or questions to ask? I would have no issue answering them as descriptively as I possibly can."
Everyone else around them could only avert their gaze, all of them going back to pretending that they weren't blatantly eavesdropping on what could be considered the most interesting and exclusive group in the academy other than the Occult Research Club and the Student Council.
Issei chuckled at Aika's actions, seemingly uncaring or unaffected by the fact that the girl had his second in her grip as he spoke in a tone that could only be described as a delighted purr.
"More and more interesting and amusing. I knew I liked you for a reason~"
After having said that, he started planting soft kisses and nips on her neck, his hands going down to her hips and slowly grinding her against him.
Aika started letting out soft, panting moans at Issei's ministrations, something that caused everybody around them to erupt into scandalized blushes. Completely ignoring them, the girl leaned back against her lover's body, before speaking.
"As much as I'd love to keep going and get a repeat of yesterday's dose, I've unfortunately not yet finished healing." Tapping a finger on her chin, she spoke again. "Oh, also, we're at school."
Everybody witnessing the situation first hand had only a common thought at those words.
'WHY ARE YOU TREATING THAT LAST PART AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT?'
"Oh. It's too bad you haven't healed yet, otherwise I would've shown you my other moves."
"Moves? What do you mean?"
"What I showed you last time was just a basic demonstration of my accumulated wealth of Marital Arts. When you get better, I think you'll be ready to face my more advanced techniques."
"Like what?"
"Well, there's the Milwaukee Spinning Drill, where I **** your ***** with my ****, then I take a **** and I ***** *****, followed by **** with *****, and ****. After that, I break out the baby oil."
If the present people thought they couldn't get any more scandalized when they heard Aika's words, they were proven thoroughly wrong just now after the deluge of words that had just left Issei's mouth, words potent enough to make sailors blush.
While the general - prudish - populace could only gasp and gape in abject shock, Aika's gaze was so intensely focused on him that Issei was surprised his clothes hadn't spontaneously combusted.
Motohama and Matsuda seemed to be a step away from saluting their best friend, while Akeno stood there frozen as her mind struggled to parse the implications of Issei's words.
BRRRRRRRING!
"Welp, bell rung, excitement over. Time to go back to class."
Saying this, Issei lifted his bespectacled girlfriend over his shoulder before making his way back to the school building, leaving behind him a wall of murmured rumors.
"So, where are we going?"
Motohama, Aika and Issei turned towards Matsuda, each of them bearing incredulous looks which prompted the bald teen to speak up defensively.
"Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Really?" Aika said, "Did you hear absolutely nothing of our conversation?"
"...No?"
The baldy crossed his arms over his chest at the deepening of incredulous gazes, his head slightly turning to face away from them as he mumbled.
"I saw a neat Puri Puri Nyaro-chan onesie."
While Aika snorted in amusement and Motohama gave Matsuda a betrayed look, likely due to his failure to inform him of said piece of Nyaro-chan merch, Issei sighed before speaking up.
"The school that Lilith will be studying at, the new all-girls academy of Kuoh, started lessons today, and I thought that it'd be neat for the lot of us to rescue her from the aftereffects of the teenager prison known as high school, and show her a good time out in the city. An expression of understanding of a shared suffering."
Matsuda blinked before nodding lightly.
"Perfectly understandable. So, where are we going after we rescue her?"
"I was thinking we could head down to the WcDowalls, down at the mall."
Aika snorted at Issei's words, before chiming in.
"Everybody knows that WcDowalls is overhyped garbage. All the coolest kids, which we obviously are part of, eat at Burger Krang."
"Eh!?" Motohama piped up, "Burger Krang is really trash! Let's eat at Welly's! They always have great food!"
"What about Kenpachi Food Chicken?"
The three arguing teens turned and silently stared at Matsuda before nodding in agreement.
"Alright."
"Kenpachi's sounds alright."
"I really love their Chucked Nuggets."
Their conversation went on until they found themselves walking through a throng of similarly dressed girls, some of them splitting up into groups while others went on individually, all of them easily parting around their own group, though more than a few of them gave the three young man various different types of looks.
The other three Kuoh students jerked in surprise at the sight of Issei's head suddenly snapping towards a certain direction, before he walked in said direction.
The group kept walking together, somehow making it past the increasingly dense throng of young women by using Issei as if he were the bow on a ship, unyielding even in the face of building pressure of dozens of bodies sharing a common space.
They eventually reached a curious scene. A group of young women had made a circle around two others, their faces bearing looks of admiration and envy.
In the center of the group Lilith could be seen talking to a young woman of 5'6" of height, straight greenish-blonde hair reaching her mid-back, pink eyes and cold and regal demeanour.
"Lilith!"
The purplette perked up at the familiar call, turning towards the source of the voice only to happily smile at the sight of her boyfriend and their group of mutual friends. She turned back towards the girl and said a few short words, before nodding at her and walking away from her under the gaze of the various girls around her.
She unhesitatingly walked past the opening in the circle of observers that had opened up to her, striding towards her boyfriend, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him down into a short, but intense, kiss.
After releasing him - under the wide-eyed gaze of the other girls of her academy - she turned towards the other three.
"Hey guys! What are all of you doing here?"
Issei, after wrapping an arm around Lilith's waist and giving her a quick squeeze and release, responded.
"We decided to welcome you into teenager hell with a last hurrah in the form of a tasty meal of Kenpachi Food Chicken! What do you say?"
"Sure! Let's go before- say, what's wrong with Motohama?"
Her words prompted the other three to turn towards the glasses-clad young man.
"76 and 43 and 50 and..."
"Oh, that?" Matsuda spoke up with a careless wave of the hand. "He's just in his catalogue mode, where he starts measuring and memorizing the three sizes of every attractive girl he meets for the first time, that is not in a position where it is impossible to be attracted to."
Lilith looked towards Issei, receiving a confirming nod, while Aika seemed to be entertaining herself by poking Motohama's cheek and being ignored by him in his fugue.
Issei took this freely-given opportunity to send out a thread of his Empathic abilities towards Motohama and allowed it to wind around and sink into him, trying to analyze whether he was using Tantric Energy or not, and in which manner he was doing it.
His eyebrow rose lightly at a twitch of the lust-related power within Motohama, but as he allowed himself to feel him a bit more, Issei was surprised by the fact that this small measure of energy wasn't congregating on the eyes, like Aika's, but rather within the brain itself.
Curious beyond measure, Issei pushed a little further with his ability, ignoring the information related to Motohama's excursions in the world of self-gratification, only for his eyes to widen fully at what he ultimately got.
'The diameter of the left breast seems to be X, which is slightly larger than the right breast, but the right one has a slightly larger volume. The difference isn't too much, but is enough to be noticeable under focused analysis. This pair is about 36C, and possesses minimal to no sagging.'
Motohama nodded to himself at that before his thoughts drifted away from his analysis, the spark of Tantric Energy similarly disappearing as he engaged Matsuda in conversation, only to have Aika jabbing his side and teasing him over his spacing out. Shaking off the thoughts that came in response to this new knowledge, Issei pulled Lilith by the hand until they had reached Aika and, with a girl on each side of him, he stretched out his arms and wrapped them around both waists, pulling their smaller, softer bodies against his own, to the scorn of some of those walking in the streets, and to impressed looks and nods from others.
In this friendly environment, hugging both of his girlfriends while trading easy banter with his best friends, Issei decided that, more than he already had been doing, he would do his absolute best to keep his country, his town and his precious people safe and protected, even if it meant teaching them to protect themselves in certain cases.
Motohama and Matsuda had been the first ones to leave their little meeting, citing the need to study some more for an upcoming test of theirs after slightly allowing their results in a pop quiz to dip below their newly-found exceptional scholar success.
Aika was the next one to leave, yet not without planting a deep, wet, and very much pornographic kiss on Issei's lips, before citing the need to get back to her ice and ointment treatment in order to speed up her ability to receive a new dose of Issei.
This left Lilith and Issei within the restaurant, enjoying their impromptu date. After a couple of hours of enjoyment, Lilith sighed out loud before speaking up.
"It's about time I left, Ise. Have to head back to the school."
"Hmm?"
"Basic rules of the academy. Usually, all-girls schools like this one, that actually host the entirety of their student body in dormitories wouldn't really allow girls to go out like this, but mother decided that she didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of overly-hormonal, supernaturally-powered teens suffering from a constant case of cabin fever.
"We get to go out of campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays after class as long as we make it back by 5:30PM at the latest, and we get Saturdays completely free between 9AM and 6PM, barring any sort of medical or family issue. Sundays are between 12PM and 5PM, since the next day is a school day.
"Break these rules by leaving too early without specific permission from the administration, or breaking the curfew too often, or in a much too severe manner, and you can lose your movement privileges, getting confined to school even on the weekends.
"Much less restrictive than other schools of this type, but that means that our weekday time is very short."
Issei nodded his understanding at that.
"Let's go then, I'll escort you to your school."
The purplette flashed her boyfriend a bright smile, taking his extended arm and leaving the eatery, only to go out into a chilly breeze that caused her to lightly tremble. Issei didn't say anything as he took off his blazer and draped it over her shoulders, prompting her to thankfully burrow deeper into his side and inhale deeply, smiling lightly at the innately Issei smell, something which evoked a series of positive feelings, many of them not very innocent in nature, before walking in step with him back towards her school grounds.
They walked in a comfortable silence for a while, at least until Issei , noticing that they were in a particularly empty area, spoke.
"Motohama can use It as well."
He had let out a tiny spark of his own Tantric Energy while speaking, causing Lilith to instantly understand what he was speaking about. She looked up at him with a serious demeanor, prompting him to continue using her eyes alone, something which Issei easily noticed.
"When we were leaving your school zone, he started figuring out girl's three sizes in his mind, except, rather than having some sort of analytical ability like Aika developed on her own, he was actually enhancing his brain, and using that to make high speed calculations.
"I only managed to catch onto a little bit of what he thought, though. The rest was a jumbled mess of numbers, formulas, letters and concepts flowing at a stupidly high speed."
"So... Aika enhanced her eyes and developed an innate sensory ability, Matsuda enhanced his body beyond his usual limits to increase his running speed, and Motohama did so to his brain... All of this on instinct alone?
"They possess a terrifying talent in using It."
"Yeah," Issei said ruefully, "I'm kinda envious I don't have that same talent."
Lilith halted her steps, quirking an eyebrow at Issei that made him feel sheepish, even if he did not know why.
"Figuring out high-level full-body reinforcement in a couple of weeks. Pailingual. Empathic and Sensory abilities.
"Do you really believe that you are any less talented than they are at using It?"
Issei's response was to sheepishly rub the back of his head with his free hand, a rueful chuckle escaping him.
"I guess you're right."
The two elapsed back into silence after that, simply enjoying each other's company until they reached Lilith's academy.
The purplette released Issei's arm before reluctantly unwrapping Issei's blazer from around her shoulders and handing it back to him.
Smiling softly at Lilith, Issei spoke.
"I guess that's it for now, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess. I had a really fun time today."
"Well, I could swing by with the group on Thursday so we could go hang out elsewhere, and then you could finally get to know my new place on the weekend?"
"I'd like that."
Having said that, Lilith stood onto the tips of her toes before planting a soft, soulful kiss on Issei's lips, before waving at him as she went back into the academy.
Issei kept watching Lilith until she was no longer visible, before making his way back home. He had just sat down on his couch, a can of passion-fruit soda in hand and the remote in another, when the white phone from the previous night, that he had kept on his table, lit up.
Picking it up, Issei read the message that had popped up with a thoughtful frown. It seemed that he had just gotten his first task...
-Chapter, End-