I'm still standing, prouder than I've ever been~
So, yeah, new chapter, and really fast too!
Before it though, I'd like to thank Tyric Gaia, Shen and James for their support! You guys rock!
If you enjoy my work and wish to support me as well, you can do so by following the story, giving it a favorite and review, signal boosting it, and checking me out at 'Pat reon -dot- com -slash- Francogamerxz'.
With that being said... Story time.
"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'
"I have news!"
Issei, Motohama, Matsuda and a recently recovered Aika turned their focus towards Lilith, prompting the succubus - something known by only herself and Issei - to elaborate.
"My school is going to have an event soon, something about 'showing the quality of our facilities, staff and students', and invitations have been sent to the various middle and high schools here in Kuoh."
"Wait a second," Aika spoke up, "Yesterday we were told that today we wouldn't be having regular classes, and to instead prepare for something special. I guess we know what that something special is, now."
"Yup! It's gonna be this festival thing! Classes and clubs can set up booths with different activities, there's gonna be good food, music, and all that good stuff!"
"So let me get this straight," Matsuda piped up, "Instead of having to deal with books, desks and our sleep-inducing history teacher like usual, we get to go out of school and to a place where we'll be able to do all sorts of fun things, all the while ogling beautiful girls?"
The bald pervert and his glasses-clad counterpart clenched their fists in synchronicity, tears streaming down their faces as they spoke up simultaneously.
"I LOVE MY LIFE!"
"I LOVE MY LIFE!"
Lilith and Aika could only smile in amusement at the two young men, before Issei walked up to them and wrapped an arm over each of their shoulders, a small smile on his face as he spoke.
"I'll get to spend a full day with both of my girlfriends today... This week is looking up for me!"
The two girls gave Issei rueful smiles even as they peeled away from Issei, Lilith speaking up for the two of them.
"Usually we'd love to be as close to you as possible, but right now we are all sweaty, sticky and gross, so..."
Issei raised an eyebrow at the girls.
"I don't see what's the big deal when the two of you have already done even more sticky, sweaty things with me."
Motohama and Matsuda turned gazes full of admiration towards their friend, knowing that he had already crossed the expanse that separates boys from men in all possible aspects, while Aika spoke up in a put-upon tone.
"Well that is one thing, and this is another one altogether. We might be perverts but we're still girls, and girls can easily get self-conscious about this sort of thing, so no touchy for now."
Issei's other eyebrow rose, before he spoke up with a shrug.
"Alright I guess. Now it's time for-"
Beep Beep! Beep Beep!
"It's time for me to go get ready for school!" Lilith said before walking up to Issei and surprising him with a peck to the lips, then running off. Aika did the same thing as Lilith, kissing the brunet and running off, leaving behind a trio of confused boys.
"But," Motohama spoke up, "Didn't they say they were self-conscious about touching you while sweaty?"
"They did," Matsuda responded, "But last time Lilith didn't hesitate to hop onto your lap and give you a tonsil examination. And they both kissed you this time. What gives?"
"Men," Issei spoke in a solemn tone, "Women are beautiful, yet complicated beings. Well catalogued behavior patterns may shift on a dime, things that you expect from them may not come to pass, and things that you do not expect may suddenly occur."
"But we thought you had understood women! At least, between the two girlfriends all in on the Harem plan, the flirting with Akeno-san, and all of the mysterious things you've done during vacation and won't tell us of, that's what it seemed!"
Issei gave his two best friends a rueful, self-deprecating smile, before answering.
"Don't misunderstand things, guys. I may have spent a good amount of time with women lately, and I may know them well on an individual level, but no matter how well you know a girl as a person, you will never understand her as a woman, the same way that no woman will ever fully understand the male gender, even if they know men on a personal level.
"That type of forbidden knowledge is reserved for intellects much beyond our level. According to various mythological tales, not even gods and similar divine beings are fully capable of understanding the opposite gender."
The two perverts gave Issei grave looks, before each of them went down on one knee and spoke in an alternating fashion.
"You have gifted us with great knowledge."
"One with wisdom beyond the ages such as yourself did not need to enlighten us lowly mortals..."
"Yet you have done so regardless."
The two of them proceeded to bow their heads solemnly before speaking earnestly from the bottom of their hearts.
"WE SHALL NEVER FORGET THIS LESSON FROM A SAGE SUCH AS YOURSELF!"
"WE SHALL NEVER FORGET THIS LESSON FROM A SAGE SUCH AS YOURSELF!"
Giving his two friends a serene, Buddha-like smile, Issei spoke.
"Do not worry, my friends. This wisdom is fully within your ability to grasp. As you progress on your own journey in the world of Ero, your understanding will keep increasing. A day will come where the wisdom you possess shall surpass the realm of the average mortal men as well.
"All that I ask of you is that when you reach that level, you generously spread your own wisdom amongst the others who need it."
The sun chose that moment to slowly rise into visibility behind Issei, it's warm, golden rays creating a halo of light around him that awed the two kneeling young men.
Unnoticed by the three young men, a middle-school aged girl with white hair and an apathetic look to her face was watching the three of them from behind a tree.
'Buchou said that he was like Raiser... But I can't really see that sort of arrogance and entitlement from such a goof...'
Koneko pushed that observation to the back of her mind as the three young men each went on their own way, allowing her to keep trailing one Hyoudou Issei as she had been commanded by her king.
"Hey there, neighbour!"
Raynare, nowadays going by Amano Yuuma, jumped in surprise at the voice that suddenly came from behind her, barely succeeding in suppressing the reflexive conjuring of light spears as she turned towards the source of the noise, which had just finished climbing the stairs into their floor of the apartment complex.
"You surprised me, Hyoudou-san!"
The brunet scratched the back of his head ruefully as he spoke.
"I sort of gained the habit of moving silently, so... Sorry about that, I guess."
Calming herself down fully, Raynare wore her friendly facade with great skill and experience as she addressed her neighbour.
"I didn't expect you to be up and out of your house so early!"
"I wake up early every day to work out with my friends before school."
These words of his prompted Raynare to shift her focus from Issei's face down to his body. He was clad in a wet, skin-tight tank top, a pair of shorts that didn't go past the halfway point of his thighs, and running shoes, an ensemble that allowed her to see almost the entirety of his athletic form.
'Amano Yuuma' blushed heavily at the sight, while even Raynare, within her own thoughts, had to admit to the fact that this young man was very physically attractive.
'Nowhere near my darling Azazel in terms of attractiveness, but then again, that's a feat impossible for anyone else to achieve... But, he's not half bad for a filthy human...'
While her thoughts were blunt and straightforward, her words came came with calculated embarrassment.
"I-I can see the... R-results..."
Issei smiled sheepishly at her words.
"Well, as much as I'd like to stay and talk, I really need to go get ready for school, so..."
He nodded at the girl before moving past her and into his apartment, not knowing that as soon as his back was turned, her friendly mien was replaced with an expression of smug arrogance. She looked out the corner of her eye while speaking.
"Typical human, lowers his guard as soon as he sees a pretty girl smiling his way. Doesn't even have the discernment and and even-mindedness to keep on the lookout for anything suspicious. Isn't that right, girl?"
Everything was silent for a moment, before a girlish voice spoke up with animosity.
"What are you doing here?"
Raynare turned fully towards the source of the voice, a white-haired, amber-eyed girl that was staring at her frostily.
"Hoh~" Raynare smirked derisively at the Koneko, shrugging as she answered. "If you must know, I live here. What's your excuse for being here?"
"You better watch yourself, fallen."
"Is that a threat, devil girl? You do know that our factions are in a cease-fire right now, no? Or do you want to reignite the flames of war? Is that something you are capable of shouldering, the responsibility of causing a new war that will kill hundreds of thousands?"
"..."
"Didn't think so," Raynare spoke with an even wider grin, "Now, as someone who lives in this complex, I'd like to ask you to leave, least I am forced to call on security on you."
"...This isn't over."
Having said that, Koneko walked back down the stairs and out of view of Raynare, whose smug smirk changed into a serious frown.
'The devils are sniffing around him as well, that just lends more credence to the possibility of him bearing a sacred gear. Maybe I should start making some inroads with him, to make it easier to recruit him?... No, there's no confirmation on the sacred gear yet. It might just be that the devils think that he will be exceptional while under their evil piece system's reincarnation. He is extremely athletic... I will simply watch for now.'
Having made that decision, Raynare went back into her apartment to get ready for her day.
Issei heard nothing of the previous events, as he had been in the shower the whole time.
"Man oh man, I can't wait to see the sort of girl that goes to Lilith's school!"
Aika turned a smirk towards Motohama as she spoke.
"Aren't you studying at the previously all-girls school with an 8-2 female-male ratio?"
"I am, yes," Motohama said with a nod, "But is there a limit to the amount of beautiful women a man can admire?"
Matsuda nodded along to his friend's wisdom, while Aika and Akeno looked at eachother and smiled in amusement.
"Well, we're here," Issei spoke up, drawing the attention of his group, "Saint Leona's All Girls Academy."
The group took a small moment to flash the passes they were given to the women standing at the gates before walking into the grounds of the all girls academy.
"So, where should we go first?" came from Aika, a question which had the group go quiet before they all answered at the same time.
"I could go for a bite." Came from Motohama.
"I need to meet up with Buchou." Was Akeno's own contribution.
"I wanna check out their race track." Matsuda said with excitement.
"I want to check out their auditorium!" Aika said with a small smile.
"Well," Issei said while rubbing the back of his head, "It seems I'm the only one without any real plans for the day."
"You could come with one of us?" Aika suggested.
"Mhm..." Issei rubbed his chin as he thought aloud, "I'm not particularly hungry, so I'm not going with Motohama. I'm not part of Akeno's club, not to mention the fact that their president seems to have a bone to pick with my girlfriend, so I'll be missing that particular meeting. I don't have the fascination that Matsuda has for running fast either, so I'm not checking out the track.
"Aika, you drew the short straw and are going to be tolerating me for the day, it seems."
The girl smirked at her jokingly self-deprecating boyfriend, taking a hand to her forehead before speaking up in a dramatic tone.
"Alas, woe is unto me! For such a fair and delicate maiden as myself to be forced into the company of such a lustful beast, I fear that my chastity may not survive until the end of the day!"
Internally amused, Issei affected a comically serious expression as he answered.
"Show me a man whose heart will not tremble in the presence of a beautiful maiden such as yourself, and I shall show you a man who is more to the gates of oblivion than to the realm of the living! After all, only hearts of stone are not moved by beauty, and hearts of stone cannot pump this warm blood of ours!"
Her smirk widening, Aika tossed herself into Issei's chest, before speaking again.
"I fear that even I have already fallen for your words of the sweetness of honey and the danger of venom! A Lothario such as yourself, you truly are the most perilous existence for the fair-hearted maiden~"
Issei trapped Aika's chin between two fingers and tilted her face up before slowly leaning in towards her, their lips slowly growing closer and closer, before they connected into a soft kiss.
They split apart to the surprised and somewhat confused gazes of Motohama and Matsuda, and the closed-eyed smile from Akeno, only for Aika to break the mood with just a few words.
"I think I have a roleplay kink."
"Aaaaaand on that note I'm leaving. Peace!"
And with those words Motohama walked off, with his destination set on wherever he could fill his stomach at.
Matsuda parted with them soon after, as did Akeno, leaving behind the shameless couple, who made their own way towards the auditorium.
"No, Sebastian, it is too late! They have already reached the gates! There is no more hope of repelling their invasion!"
"Even then, I must try, Elizabeth! The moment I put on this armor and took up the blade, I made a vow. I vowed that I would not run from danger when there are people needing my help. Never again!"
"But you will die!"
"If that is to be my fate, then so be it! But before that, all that I ask is for a single kiss from the one I love..."
"Wow," Aika whispered into Issei's ear, "When I said I wanted to come check out the auditorium I didn't think we'd end up watching a whole play."
"It's an entertaining play at least, so there's that..." he whispered back.
"Yeah, you're right. Their male lead's performance is pretty impressive. Y'know, taking into consideration the fact that they're a girl."
"That just gives the kissing scene another layer of intrigue, really."
Aika and Issei smirked at one-another, before turning their focus back towards the genuinely interesting play.
Without them really noticing it an hour had fully passed, with them and the rest of the audience fully enthralled in the play.
"Sebastian! Please don't go! Don't leave me! Please! After my father's death and the fall of my kingdom, you are all that I have left!"
"E-lizabeth... I-I can't... Go on..."
"You can't! You said that we'd always be together! You promised!"
"I'm... Sorry... I guess... This will be... The first time... I break a promise..."
"No, no, no... No, stay with me, Sebastian!"
"Before... I... Go... I'd like... To ask you... For something..."
"Anything, Sebastian! Just please, stay with me!"
"I... Would... Like... Just one... Last... Kiss..."
'Elizabeth' slowly lowered her face to the prone Sebastian's, their lips meeting with just the slightest touch before Sebastian breathed his last, going fully limp on the ground.
"No! Sebastian!"
All of the lamps in the auditorium were shut off, before a spotlight fell over 'Elizabeth', illuminating her to the exclusion of all else.
"Oh, woe is me, to have lost the love of my life! Oh Sebastian, why had you left after taking this heart mine, leaving behind naught but a gaping void? And thus I swear, forever more shall I be loveless, as that which allowed me to love hast been taken! And I shall find he who has done so, even if it must be a journey of my own making!"
Having said that, 'Elizabeth' picket up a dagger and stabbed herself in the chest, her corpse falling over her departed lover in a facsimile of a lover's embrace, before the spotlight shut off, and the curtains fell.
"WOOOOO!"
"YEAH!"
"AMAZING!"
Exclamations of admiration and enjoyment joined a bevy of whistles and an outpouring of claps as the entire audience expressed their appreciation of the play.
The lights turned back on as the curtains rose, revealing the entirety of the drama club, from the actresses, to the set makers, the audiovisual crew, and the costumes department. In the center of all of these girls was a greenette wearing a purple beret, who proceeded to take a bow.
The curtains fell again, this time for good, prompting the watchers to go out and enjoy the rest of the event, leaving behind only Aika and Issei.
"Hey Ise, I wanna go congratulate the crew directly for their work, is that alright with you?"
"You're choosing our destinations today, my Ai-chan, I'm just following after you."
The girl blushed prettily at the affectionate address, before standing up and tugging on Issei's hand, pulling him towards a door which she believed to lead to the backstage area.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Come in!"
Aika didn't hesitate to go into the backstage proper and pull Issei in with her, smiling lightly towards the group of girls as she spoke.
"Hello, I'm Aika and this is my boyfriend Issei, we just wanted to congratulate you on such a great play! I didn't even notice the time passing!"
"HA HA HA!" The greenette in a beret laughed boisterously, "As my best written and directed work until now, there was no way that we could fail! But this is only the beginning of my tale! I, Honki Karin, will one day become the best playwright slash director in history!"
Issei and Aika easily looked past the girl's eccentricity, with Issei speaking up.
"I was particularly impressed with the person that was playing Sebastian." The brunet looked towards said person, a girl with brown, waist-length hair, breasts that were somewhere around the C-cup range, and an overall very feminine body. "Looking at her now I can see a beautiful girl, but back during the play, whenever she was on stage, it was as if I was unable to see this, and instead I saw only Sebastian. It was very impressive."
The girl smiled and bowed politely towards Issei.
"Thank you for the compliment, Issei-san, even though I don't feel I truly deserve all of this praise."
"Are you kidding me? You do deserve the praise! That was an amazing performance, and you are quite obviously a very talented young woman!"
The girl blushed lightly at that, her demeanor showing only humility as she spoke.
"I-it's really nothing, Issei-san! I don't have much talent, really, it's just training! Anyone can do it!"
"Pfft, stop downplaying yourself, Shiina." Karin said with a wave of her hand, "Even with The Method, it's not everyone that can bring a character to life in the same way that you are capable of!"
" 'The Method' ?" Issei spoke up, "It must be a helluva method, based on the results."
"Yeah," Aika said with a smirk, "I could almost hear the capital letters when she said it. 'The Method' !"
"The Method is a funny thing," Karin explained, "It is very simple in concept, but extremely difficult in execution.
"The Method is simply bringing the character you are playing to life. Rather than simply 'acting' as if you were a certain character, you change your mindset altogether. For as long as you're on the stage, in front of the audience, you become the character.
"Your words are their words, your mannerisms are their mannerisms, and your actions are their actions. You fully embody an individual distinct from yourself, let them come to life on their own.
"As I said before, it is very simple in concept, but it is not something that just any person is capable of accomplishing. You need to get into a really focused head space in order to do it successfully.
"Shiina here is one of the people who have cultivated that ability, and has been doing so ever since we were back in middle school.
"If I am to become the best Playwright slash director in the world, then Shiina will definitely become the world's best and most famous actress! Now if you'll excuse us, it's about time we started changing out of these costumes."
After a few polite words of farewell, Issei and Aika left the auditorium altogether, going back to the main area of the festival.
"Where do you wanna go now, Ai-chan?"
AIka was unable to keep herself from blushing again, but she pushed past that and simply directed Issei towards an area filled with game stands.
"Ooh, let's go over there!"
Issei's line of sight followed the direction Aika was pointing towards, which led them towards a booth that had a series of toy guns lined up on the counter, with a series of targets sitting across them.
"I've loved these ever since I was smaller!" Aika said, "Whenever we go to a festival, I always search for one of these. They game itself is pretty fun, and they usually have great prizes!"
Issei smiled at the visible childish excitement on Aika's face, though his smile did twitch a bit when she pulled out a thick wad of bills and slammed it on the counter top, startling the booth runner a great deal. The surprise soon faded into such visible greed that the man was almost salivating at the sight of the money.
He handed one of the cork guns to Aika before speaking up.
"This game is very simple, miss! You just need to-"
"Hit the targets with the cork, yes, I know!"
Having said that, Aika placed the butt of the gun against her shoulder and lined up her shot.
'Hehe, little does she know that the iron sights on the gun are purposefully misaligned! She won't be hitting a thing, and I'll get to keep her mon-"
The man's internal monologue was interrupted when a cork flew right by his cheek and smacked into a pack of pocky at an angle. This made it so that instead of falling over, as would usually happen, the prize instead flew straight towards Aika, who snatched it out of the air.
The booth runner had frozen in place, while Issei turned a surprised glance towards Aika, prompting her to rest the rifle on her shoulder as she spoke, a proud smirk on her face.
"I've been playing this game for over three years now, so I've picked up a few tricks. For example, I know that in order to make this game almost impossible to win, there's always some sort of trick to it. Either the prizes are weighed so that they don't fall over even when hit, or the pressure of the rifle itself is lowered so that the cork shoots off slower, or a myriad of other possible tricks.
"In this case, the trick is actually pretty harmless. The rifle's sight is a few degrees off. This makes it so that you almost can't notice it when you first shoot, or for shorter-ranged shots, but on the longer range ones, the cork will ultimately always stray away from target."
"Really now?" Issei said while fixing the booth runner with a look that had him shaking in place. Despite the dangerous look he was giving the man, his tone of voice was still perfectly conversational. "You really are good at it, if you can notice this sort of stuff, and hit your target despite it."
"Yeah, it's something I'm pretty proud of, to be honest." Aika stopped talking for a moment and shot three times, each of the shots successfully knocking down one of the booth's rewards, and causing the runner to grimace further and further, "The tricks of these games are something that I figured out through experience with many different booths, but the shooting itself... Well, it's just something that comes to me innately. I'm pretty good at hitting stuff with other stuff at long range."
To make her point, Aika shot a cork at a box of pencil ornaments, causing it to bounce up into the air, before releasing a very quick follow up shot, the cork hitting the box at just the right angle that caused the box to fly straight at Issei, while the second cork itself changed directions and struck another one of the prizes, causing it to fall over forward.
Issei reflexively snatched the box out of the air before it could hit him on the forehead, raising an eyebrow towards a smirking Aika.
"Well, you've seen enough of me shooting, and I don't want to bankrupt this guy, so I guess you get to go as well."
She handed the rifle over to Issei, who looked it up and down before speaking up.
"I've never played this game before, so I'd probably miss even if the sights were properly aligned."
"Oh come on, just try it! What's the wrost that could happen?"
Spurred on by his girlfriend, Issei shrugged before pointing the rifle in the general direction of the prize wall with a single hand, not even bothering to try to properly align his shot before he pulled the trigger.
The cork flew out of the rifle in a direction completely unrelated to the prizes, something which had the booth runner smiling up... Up until it ricocheted.
The cork hit a wooden chair at an angle before ricocheting away, slamming into a counter top, before flying off in a different direction. It flew towards the ground, which had a bunch of other corks lying there, and bounced off of it, simultaneously causing the other corks to start bouncing around.
Each bounce of a cork caused Aika's eyes to shine brighter with excitement, while the eyes of the man running the booth showed greater and greater incredulity.
The many corks bounced around the inside of the booth, before they all ricocheted in a way that sent them all in the same direction, towards the biggest, heaviest box of the prize wall, causing it to fall over, and knock down a few dozen other boxes with it.
The booth owner wasn't the only one shooting Issei an incredulous gaze, as many of the other festival goers, especially the lower aged middle school kids, stared at the man as if he had just put on a blue and red suit with the underwear on the outside and started flying.
Issei blinked owlishly, putting the cork gun down before turning towards Aika while scratching the back of his head and laughing sheepishly.
"It seems I got pretty lucky there, no?"
"It would seem so, yes," She responded with an utterly amused smile, "In a totally unrelated topic, have you ever tried to play the lottery?"
"Take it!"
Any response Issei could have given Aika was interrupted when the booth owner pushed the many boxes that had fallen down after his shot into his arms, his tone pleading as he spoke.
"Take it all, but please, never come back! If the two of you ever find me working a booth anywhere, just stay away from me, please!"
Having said that, the man curled up on the floor and cried, something which left both Issei and Aika feeling quite awkward.
The two of them slowly inched away from the booth, before walking off at a brisk pace. As they walked, Issei kept tossing the prizes at random children they ran across. At Aika's questioning look, he shrugged before speaking up.
"I got a lot of candy, snacks, ornaments and other stuff that I don't need or want, and I see kids that do enjoy that sort of stuff, so... Why not give it to them?"
Aika responded to that statement by pulling Issei into a steaming kiss that had some people hooting and hollering, while some parents and elder siblings were forced to cover the eyes of the children they were with.
As soon as the kiss was broken, Aika gave Issei a radiant smile as she spoke.
"You have no idea just how much I want to fuck you right now."
Issei blinked owlishly, before answering.
"Well, we could make it happen a bit later..."
Aika's smile turned a bit forced as she responded.
"Today's actually not a good day for me... You see, my parents are back from a business trip, and they like to force me and my older sister to spend time with them, almost as if we were a family."
Issei responded to this by wrapping his arm around Aika's shoulders and pulling her into his body. "No problem with that at all, my Ai-chan. We can save that for some other occasion. And if you ever want to talk to someone about this, feel free to come to me."
Aika's forced smile turned back into a soft, genuine thing as she burrowed into her man's side, luxuriating in the soothing and protective warmth he emanated.
"I don't want to ruin our day, so let's just move on from that subject, alright?"
Issei smiled light at Aika, his tone teasing as he spoke, "You're the boss!"
"Yes. Yes, I am." The girl smirked at Issei, before her gaze turned towards the big box, which had been the biggest prize back in that booth, "What is that, by the way? The majority of the prizes were either snacks or small things like pencil ornaments and phone straps. That box doesn't seem like it follows that theme."
When Aika said that, Issei's own curiosity was stoked. He started looking all over the box, only to feel a mild sense of frustration at the fact the fact that said box had many scratches and scuffs, rendering the lettering on the outside almost all but illegible.
"Hey! Ise! Aika! Over here!"
The two turned towards the voice that had called out to them, only to meet the sight of Lilith cheerfully waving at them.
The two headed towards the purplette, only for the two sets of eyes to widen in surprise at Lilith's manner of dress.
"Lilith..." Issei spoke up, "Why are you wearing a Yukata?"
"Well, I went into the internet to research what types of clothes should be worn to japanese festivals, and this is what came up, so I decided to come in a Yukata."
"..."
"..."
Issei and Aika stared at Lilith, before Issei spoke up.
"You do know that the Yukata is a summer outfit, right? We are currently in fall, and some day started getting a bit windy already. I distinctly remember having to smother you in my bear pelt coat because you were shivering to the bone."
Aika turned towards Issei, curiosity visible in her eyes as she spoke.
"You have a bear pelt coat?"
"I got it from a cabin in the mountains, but it's nothing important really. What's important is the fact that Lilith wore a yukata to a school festival in autumn."
Aika turned her focus towards Lilith, noticing the fact that she was actually shaking in place.
Issei sighed at that, taking off his blazer and draping it over Lilith's shoulders, leaving on only his tight white shirt with the rolled up sleeves on, something which instantly drew the attention of quite a few middle and high school girls.
The thing that drew the attention of the boys was the fact that Lilith pulled Issei down into a kiss that many could swear was intense enough to stop a weaker person's heart... And then Aika did the exact same thing to him, before each of the girls wrapped one of Issei's arms around themselves and snuggled into his body, enjoying his body heat.
They went around the festival anew, this time avoiding the precision-based games, with Lilith dragging the other two to more than five different fish scooping booths, and being unable to successfully scoop up as much as a single fish.
They kept moving amongst the booths and having fun, before Lilith dragged Issei and Aika towards a booth full of various different masks.
Lilith pointed at one of the masks and spoke up.
"That one looks like a pretty bird!"
Aika pointed at another one and sniggered.
"The nose on that Tengu mask looks like a penis."
This had the three teens sniggering like middle-school aged children, until Issei dropped his box, something that drew Lilith's eyes.
The succubus picked up the box, before speaking up.
"What's this?"
"Issei got really lucky at one of the booths," Aika said with a smirk of remembrance, "And he ended up getting that as a prize. We have no idea what's inside though, as the text on the box is pretty scratched out, and there are no images."
"Why didn't you just open it?"
Issei was the one to answer that question.
"I have no idea what's inside. It could be something completely impractical to carry around, so I'm just moving along with the box."
Lilith raised an eyebrow at them, before speaking in as obvious a tone as there could ever be.
"Didn't it occur to you that you could have simply popped open a corner of the box and peeked in, instead of taking the whole thing out?"
Issei and Aika met each other's gaze, before the two of them turned towards Lillith, shrugging as they simultaneously spoke.
"We forgot."
"We forgot."
Lillith facepalmed at that, before grabbing one of the tabs of the cardboard box and tugging on it lightly. Rather than seeing whatever prize was inside the box directly, they ended up being greeted by a paper booklet that Lilith passed over to Issei.
The brunet read the title on the cover in a noticeably confused tone of voice.
"Cosplay for dummies?"
He opened the booklet, skimming through the contents until they reached a page that had a photograph of the costume within the box.
"This is..."
Issei blinked owlishly at the picture of a set of long white robes, with a fierce-looking red eastern dragon embroidered onto it, with it's tail on the back end of the robe, coinciding with the robe's hem, while it's body was spread along the rest of the robe and the head resting over the right shoulder, making it seem as if the fierce dragon had coiled itself around the wearer of the robe, though whether it was an aggressive or protective thing wasn't clear.
That wasn't the only part of the outfit, though, as when Issei flipped another page over, the picture of a light grey shaolin uniform was visible, alongside a pair of kung fu shoes.
"Hey, I saw a mask that would look great with that! Just, give me a second!"
Having said that, Lilith walked up to the mask booth and started having an intense conversation with the salesman, before waving Issei and Aika over.
"I saw this mask when the booth was being set up, but the guy running the booth had to take it down since it took up a lot of space that other, easier to sell masks could be occupying. Come on over and look!"
Issei and Aika arrived at Lilith's location in time to watch her open the wooden trunk at the back of the booth, and reach into it, only to pull out something that could be said to be more of a helmet than a mask.
It was a white mask depicting an eastern dragon's head, big enough to cover the entirety of Issei's face. The eyes were mirrored glass, so that the wearer can see out of the mask, but none could see into it.
The mask had what looked like scale-shaped patterns drawn on it, and two stubs on the forehead section.
Taking notice of all of this, Issei spoke up.
"This seems... Incomplete."
"That is because it is incomplete."
Issei, Lilith and Aika jumped at the voice that suddenly came from behind them.
They turned towards the source of the voice, only to see a figure that was clad in so much fabric that it was impossible to see an inch of skin on his body, something which paired with the Noh mask the figure was wearing made it look very creepy.
"I feel that if I finish that mask, it may be my best work to date, however, I did not know how to do so... Until now."
The masked man pointed at Issei, revealing the fact that he was even wearing a thick pair of gloves, before speaking up.
"You, young man, have inspired me to finish the work on this mask! However... Those two girls you are with must leave."
Issei bristled at the masked man's words, but the masked man spoke up before Issei could say a thing.
"Mask crafting is an art that has been in my family for a while. My family's patriarch was the first one to pick the craft, and I am still doing so today. To me, mask crafting is more than just the process of making something you cover your face with.
"The crafting of my masks is something private. I draw the inspiration for a mask's finish from the truest self within a person's heart. Something so private is not meant to be seen by others until the process is already completed and the owner of the mask itself allows it to be seen by others.
"Even if you young ones, so skeptical as the modern world has made you, don't believe in this old man's 'mumbo jumbo', just think of it as a family legacy thing."
Lilith and Aika looked at Issei, who was noticeably tense as he stared at the mask salesman, until Issei spoke.
"You can go on, I'll catch up with you when I'm done."
Aika stretched out a hand towards Issei's shoulder only for a shake of the head from Lilith to dissuade her from doing so. The two girls proceeded to leave the mask-selling booth, neither of them noticing the fact that the drapes closed on their own after they had left.
Issei, however, had noticed it, as well as the fact that all of the noise from the festival seemed to have suddenly been muted.
The brunet tapped into his power before speaking up, his voice conveying his powerful Pressure.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The masked man paused for a single moment, before he picked up the unfinished dragon mask and looked it over from side to side, his lack of response causing the tension in the room to rise further and further. Before Issei could take any further action, the man spoke.
"For a young man such as yourself to possess such powerful Killing Intent... Isn't that a bit scary?"
"Don't fuck with me! If you don't give me a satisfying answer I'll-"
"Calm down, boy, or you'll out yourself to those devil girls from your school."
Issei's eyes widened at those words, before his pressure abated completely. Despite this, the look in his eye was several times more dangerous, as was his tone, as he spoke.
"Answer my fucking questions or else."
The masked man nodded, his tone light as he spoke.
"I guess the answer to these questions is very much simple... What am I doing here? I'm selling masks. As for who I am... I am me. But don't worry about not knowing the answer to that question, that is one that may sound very simple, but the answer is ultimately different. After all, if two people answer with 'I am me', how can they have the same answer if 'me' ultimately refers to completely different individuals?
"Now tell me, Hyoudou Issei, wielder of the Longinus Boosted Gear... Who are you?"
Issei's eyes narrowed at the man's words. His left hand twitched lightly, before the man spoke up again.
"It's alright if you cannot answer the question right at this moment. That is a question that many people twice or three times your age are no closer to answering than you are. Now, I know that your curiosity and your murderous intent are competing, and that is likely the only reason why you haven't attacked me yet, so I'll stop asking you uncomfortable questions and jump straight to doing my craft."
The man placed the unfinished mask on the ground in front of Issei, before taking an elaborate dagger from the trunk the mask was in and handing it to Issei.
"Prick your finger and allow your blood to fall on whichever part of the mask you want."
"How do I know you're not trying to kill me, or something like that?"
"Because you are currently working with my faction to fight against a common enemy of ours. You were in need of a mask, so a mask came to meet you. Will you be refusing it?"
Issei picked up the dagger, silently looking it over for a while, before speaking up.
"Were you the one responsible for me getting that martial arts costume as well?"
"...No, that part was just your own sheer dumb luck. Surprised me as much as it did you."
Making a decision, Issei brought the tip of the dagger to within an inch of his fingertip, before speaking.
"I hope you're on the up and up, because if I find out you're tricking me, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and wipe you out of existence."
Having said that, Issei pricked his finger with the tip of the dagger before placing said finger on the ridged brow of the dragon mask and sliding it down towards the tip of the snout.
The masked man retrieved both the dagger and the mask, placing them both back within the trunk, before speaking.
"Your mask will be there when it is needed. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to work my craft, and I don't like doing so in view of others, so kindly vacate the premises."
Issei left the booth and rejoined both of his girlfriends, waving off their worries as he directed them back to the festival at large, enjoying the food and the entertainment. Soon enough they had met up with Motohama and Matsuda, though Akeno was presumably still with her club. They went around the festival as a group, having fun and joking around, before Motohama eventually spoke up.
"Wait wait wait, so you're telling me that Lilith put on a Yukata, during autumn, for a school festival because the internet told her to?"
"Hey!" The purplette spoke with an embarrassed blush, "It's an honest mistake! Any foreigner could have made the same mistake as I have!"
Smirking lightly, Issei spoke in a teasing tone.
"I don't really think anyone is that naive, Lil."
-ELSEWHERE-
"Achoo!"
"See, buchou," Akeno spoke up in an amused tone, "This is what happens when you wear a Yukata in autumn."
Riash wiped her nose with a handkerchief before responding to Akeno's teasing in a whining tone.
"But my research told me that people wore Yukata to japanese festivals!"
"Anime doesn't count as research, Buchou, and Yukata are worn at summer festivals."
"Well," Rias said after blowing her nose, "I know that now."
Crunch Crunch Crunch
Akeno, Rias, and Yuuto, who had been silently watching the proceedings while definitely not zoning off and fantasizing with the utter atomization of all Excalibur swords, turned towards the source of the crunching sounds, which was Koneko with a packet of chocolate pocky in her hands.
"Hello Koneko-chan," Rias spoke to her rook with a tender smile, "Did you have fun with the festival?"
The white-haired girl nodded silently in answer of Rias' question, before stuffing her face with more pocky.
"Koneko-chan..."
The cat girl looked towards her Buchou, prompting the redhead to speak.
"Where did you get that Pocky? I searched all over this festival for some, but the only box I could see was in a stall with this stupid gun game that's impossible to win."
The nekoshou thought back to the moment where the very same person that she had been tasked with looking over, the one that her Buchou constantly compared to an absolute jerk, generously gave out all of the sweets and snacks he had won at that same stall out of sheer dumb luck.
"Around."
She then promptly decided that it was better to keep this whole thing a secret from her already aggravated buchou, and just kept eating her pocky.
-BACK WITH ISSEI-
"Well... As much as I'd love to spend more time all of you, it's about time for me head home. Got some laundry to take care of, then gotta work on my Modern Literature homework... Just annoyances."
After kissing his girlfriends goodbye and saying his farewells to his bros, Issei headed straight for home, all the while asking himself whether or not he made a mistake when dealing with the mask salesman.
Two days later, Issei got home from school only to find a wooden trunk on his dinner table, with a piece of paper taped to the front of it.
He tugged the note free from the trunk, silently reading it's contents.
'Issei, I promised to have your mask delivered on time. I don't break promises.'
Issei opened the trunk with a mix of caution and trepidation, only for the sight that met him to cause him to reach a certain conclusion:
"It's time for me to become the character."
-Chapter, End-