The bell for the last class rang and Issei was gathering his things. Matsuda and Motohama immediately went to see him. "Hey, Issei, you wanna go to the usual spot?" asked Matsuda with a grin.

"Not today guys. I'm going home." He saw the shocked look on their faces and rolled his eyes. "Look, my mom is still concerned about me even though I've returned home safely. She wants to make sure I come straight home so that nothing happens to me. It's probably gonna be a while before I get my usual freedom back."

The pair's faces changed to looks of understanding. "I see, that makes sense. To be honest we wanted to do this to make sure everything was still good with you too, but family comes first," said Motohama understandingly.

"Don't worry bro. We'll take in the sights of those hot babes' bods in your place!" said Matsuda proudly.

The other students who could hear them rolled their eyes or looked at the three in disgust. Issei sighed internally but let it go as he got up to head home. He got some distance away from school before he felt an odd presence behind him. He turned and saw a bat following him in the distance. He could tell there was some magic coming from it but pretended not to notice. "Huh, a bat. Neat." He turned around and continued home.

(Rias POV)

In the ORC, Rias and Akeno were watching Issei from the magic projection in front of them showing Rias' familiar's vision. "Seems he doesn't suspect anything," said Akeno.

Rias wasn't so sure as Issei's comment felt a bit forced. She continued to observe him as he eventually reached his house. He went inside and the bat tried to fly towards a window when it was suddenly stopped. "What the?" said Rias, surprised. She tried ordering her bat to go in from different places but every time it got stopped by an invisible barrier. She couldn't see what was stopping the bat, so she had nothing to go off of. "Something is definitely up with Issei-kun. We need to figure out what it is." She had her bat perch itself on a nearby tree that could see into the windows. Now that they had a visual, even if it was far away, they watched as Issei greeted his mom. They weren't able to hear the conversation, but it seemed like Issei's Mom was worried about something. They then saw Issei trying to comfort her.

"It seems Issei-kun's Mom is still worried about him. It makes sense, since he went missing. Both his parents searched relentlessly for him when he was gone," said Akeno. It was no secret to anyone that his parents were frantic when looking for him. It's what prompted Rias and Sona to try and find out the truth themselves.

Rias made a stern face. "Whether he knows it or not, something has changed with Issei-kun. We need to get to the bottom of it. If it turns out he has some hidden power we need to know what it is, either to add it to our own or to make sure he doesn't cause trouble to our territory." Akeno nodded in agreement.

(Issei POV)

Issei had finished explaining the situation to his mom and she was obviously worried. Issei assured her that as long as she's in the house she's safe and if it doesn't go away, he will get rid of it but he hoped that he could wait it out. He had a hunch that the bat either belonged to Rias or Sona, but there was a chance that it was a third party as well. He doubted that though. Several hours passed as Issei passed the time in his house. His Dad got home and was told the situation by his mom, but they tried to act like they normally do. By the time it got to 11 o'clock Issei felt the presence was gone. He looked outside just in case and saw the bat was nowhere to be seen. He went downstairs to talk to his parents. "Alright, so the bat is gone. So, I can assume whoever is watching me is probably doing other things as well, meaning we don't have to worry about 24 hour surveillance. So now I have to plan my activities around being watched, what a pain," said Issei, annoyed.

"Son, please take this more seriously," scolded his dad.

"I am, sorry. I have a hunch who it is so I just gotta figure out what their aim is. That aside, being confined to the house is gonna be a pain in the ass so I need something to do while I'm here and figure out a way to lose the bat in case of an emergency."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Issei's Mom.

"No, it's fine. As long as you guys ordered the reading materials that I needed you've already helped me out."

The pair were clearly unsatisfied with that, but they knew there was only so much they could do. "Well, if something comes up that we can help with, don't hesitate to ask us for help," said Issei's Dad. Issei nodded and the group rested for the night.

For the next few days things were hectic for Issei. He found that he was being followed during and after school by either a member of the ORC or a member of the Student Council. Every time he left school the bat from before followed him. It was starting to become uncomfortable for him, but he did his best to act normal. During school members from each group tried to talk to him and probe for info about his disappearance discreetly, but Issei always dodged the questions. It eventually got to the point where he was actively avoiding them at school, which was made easy thanks to his training. His behavior didn't go unnoticed by the two groups so they tried different tactics that only the supernatural could use like teleporting to get ahead and cut him off and other tricks, but Issei managed to avoid them still which now made both Sona and Rias even more curious. The two were having a friendly chess match as they discussed their findings about Issei. "As we thought, he is clearly hiding something from us," said Sona, minorly annoyed as she moved a piece on the board.

"Right. There is no way a normal human would be able to evade us so effectively, especially with some of the tricks my subordinates used," said Rias with a sigh.

"You've been watching him after school, right? Have you found anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well, I should say the only weird thing is how normal he's acting despite the things that are happening around him. He has been going straight home this whole week and staying there. Kiba overheard him talking to his friends saying that his mother wanted him to come straight home after school. She is no doubt still scared from when she lost him."

"Makes sense considering how they were when it happened."

"There is still that one unexplained thing though…"

"And that would be?"

Rias moved her piece before speaking. "There is a magic barrier around his house." This took Sona by surprise. "Whenever my bat tries to fly too close to the house it is repelled by some invisible barrier."

Sona narrowed her eyes. "So, he is capable of using magic then," she concluded.

"Possibly, but I haven't seen him use any. Although I agree that it's the most plausible explanation."

"How long are you watching him for?"

"Till a bit before midnight. I also have my own responsibilities after all."

Sona nodded as she moved another piece. "Check," she said. "So then, what is our next step? He may be docile now, but this could be a time bomb waiting to explode. But on the other side we could end up setting off that figurative bomb if we act too rashly. For all we know, his disappearance could have been caused by a devil and he could bear a grudge against us if he finds out we're devils as well."

"We need to appeal to him and show that we mean him no harm. From what the others have said, aside from him being calmer now he seems to be the same. He still hangs out with his friends and talks about the same things."

"But he's not completely the same. Despite some students' complaints, I'm well aware that the usual complaints about that trio only apply to the other two since Issei's been going straight home after school all week. Not only that but I've looked at his schoolwork and his grades are improving, especially in topics related to foreign studies."

This info took Rias by surprise. "Really? Maybe he was in a foreign country when he disappeared, and he brought that knowledge back with him. It could explain why we couldn't find him."

"That would explain location but not the possible magic knowledge. On top of that, if he escaped from wherever he was taken, how would he get back from that country and then just wind up back where he disappeared?"

The two were deep in thought about this. There was just too much unknown information and all they could do for now is speculate. Rias moved a piece on the board with a sigh. "We won't know the answers without speaking to him directly, but it's clear he feels unsafe. He knows we're watching and is doing everything to avoid us. So, for now we should back off and give him his space. I'll still have my bat watch him, but we should get him to feel comfortable now that he finally made it back home. Once he's calmed down, we can try and approach him again."

"You want him in your peerage, don't you?"

"If he has some ability that can help me against Riser, then yes I do."

"Even knowing his personality? I know he is calm for now, but there is no telling when he can revert back."

"Even if he does, I don't mind. Rather…" Rias looked away a bit sad. "I kind of admired him a little with how he was before. Not just anybody can say their true feelings without any shame. Some people would say that it's tactless, but I would prefer that to the constant double speak and lies we hear far too often. If he does go back to normal, I believe I can handle him and I will be happy to accept him."

"Even knowing the fact he has a huge crush on you?"

Rias made a difficult face. "Well, I don't know about any of that, and I don't have the luxury of thinking about it with the engagement right now," she said a bit irresponsibly.

Sona sighed at her friend's recklessness. "As usual, you're taking this all too lightly. Your recklessness will come back to bite you if you're not careful," she said as she moved her piece. "Checkmate."

Rias pouted a bit. "Stop worrying so much. I doubt Issei has changed that much. Even with his calm nature he's still in there. The first time he came back to school and saw me his eyes went to my breasts like they did every other time he saw me. Although he was quick to snap out of it unlike before, but I'm sure that proves he's still the same in there."

"If you say so Rias." Sona stood up and moved to her desk. "Well make sure to keep me updated. I will tell the others to back off for now." Rias nodded and left to go take care of her own work.

It had been a little over a week of being stalked by the devils of the school and Issei was starting to get sick of it. He trudged his way to school thinking about what he was gonna do about them. As he made his way in, he looked around to see who was watching him this time but was surprised to find no one around. He tried sensing for them but found that they were all away doing their own things. Did they give up? he thought to himself. He was skeptical but he went through his school day relatively unbothered. Issei was starting to think he could breathe easy but as he left school, he noticed the bat was still following him. I guess it was wishful thinking to think they completely gave up, but this is still better than before.

He headed home and went to his room to read some of the books his parents got him, including a copy of the Ars Goetia. Oh, the irony of this. I saved humanity from Goetia and now I'm reading from him. How things come full circle, he thought to himself. He was looking through the pages and eventually made it to the page labeled Gremory. Maybe I can learn something about Rias-senpai from these texts.

Issei began reading the page. Gremory is a strong Duke of Hell who governs 26 legions of Demons. She tells all things past, present, and future about hidden treasures and procures the love of women, young and old, but especially maidens. She is depicted as a beautiful woman with the crown of a Duchess tied around his waist and riding a camel. While one of the nicer members, Gremory is still wicked and cunning. Even though she has a slight distasteful relationship with humans, she also has a fondness toward children which has caused her to hold from slaughtering entire human settlements many times. As a Demon, she represents the deadly sin of Lust and Greed. She is able to install any type of love of all ages with a bias towards maidens. Her demonic manifestation could thus be the personification of such an attribute. She also presides over divinatory rune casting, pyromancy, geomancy, love spells and hydromancy. Gremory can make the witch become more loving, seductive and intimidating. She also rules over thefts, drugs dealings, and assassination. Those dealing with emotional and psychological issues can call on her because she can heal the mind and also help an individual to recover from addiction. She also has the ability to heal physical ailments including issues with the digestive system. Her main weapon was destroyed and remade with help from Hades. She is capable of creating portals into different dimensions; once there, she can harness the power of the moon and use it to attack her enemies, firing endless crescent moon knives at her opponents. She also has a devastating gravity attack that's generated by power of the lacquer-black moon. She has an unearthly, piercing screech that can stuns anyone around her, which earned her the nickname, Banshee of Hell. Issei skimmed down and saw something that caught his interest. Humans were not beings to be detested, or so Gremory believed. She used her powers to locate precious jewels and distribute love for their sake. Loving Solomon more than any of the other demons, she did anything she could to support him.

Issei found a quote from someone named Carl Black. "Gremory isn't a particularly evil demon, per say, she's more of a unreliable factor among the Goetic demons. Sometimes she can help you from dangerous situations, though high chances that she's the one who put you there. Sometimes she can be your greatest enemy, all because of some small thing you did accidentally offended her. All in all, this demoness can be described as "Chaotic Neutral" in its most basic form."

Issei contemplated the information he just read. So basically, what I'm getting from this is that Rias-senpai is not to be underestimated. She may be one of the kinder ones but is still dangerous, not to mention… Issei had a slight blush as he thought the next part. Being a demon of lust and greed makes sense. No wonder she has that crazy good-looking body. There was no way the old me was ever gonna resist that.

As he mulled that over, he decided to find the page related to Sona. After flipping a few pages, he found it. Sitri is the twelfth demon and spirit of the Ars Goetia. He is a Great Arch-Prince of Hell (or sometimes Viscount) with sixty legions of demons under his command. He is one of the demons that fell in love with King Solomon of Israel (wishing to go to heaven to meet him along with 'that person') along with his descendant William Twining, The Elector. The two demons who Sitri has the most familiar relationship are Shax and Dantalion. He can force men and women to love one another and make them appear naked if the conjurer desires. He can also reveal the secrets of women, often mocking them. He is depicted as a leopard with the wings of a griffin, but at the request of the conjurer can take the form of a very beautiful or Handsome man.

Issei stared blankly at the text for a few moments. I never would have expected Sona-senpai to have an ability like that. She always seemed like a straight-laced person to me. But maybe that's just a front, or maybe these texts only refer to the original demons. Issei scratched his head in annoyance. Ahhhhh! This is so frustrating! I can't just walk up to them and ask. If they see me as an enemy, I'm screwed. Worse yet, if they capture me there will be nothing I can do. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. After a few moments he spoke to himself. "Guess I really got no choice but to get stronger. Not like I wasn't gonna do that anyways." He resolved himself and started making plans for the future.

So this ends the little intro into the past. I will come back to it eventually but I wanted to try some other stuff for these stories. I will make sure to elaborate on when these stories take place but for now the three chapter intro is done. Next one will be Servant focused Since I can't give too much focus to any one Servant in the main story so I will try to give as many of them as possible a chance to shine here. Now then, I'm curious as to what everyone thinks of Issei's first month back home after nearly dying to Goetia. I look forward to the comments as always. :) P.S. Little fun fact, when I looked up the stuff for Gremory I realized that her discription basically was the personalities of the ORC all in one character. I thought it was clever how that was done.