"So you guys are preparing for the ball tournament?" asked Motohama.
"Yeah. Rias-buchou wants us all to be prepared for the matches so she's having us practice during club time." responded Issei. It was currently lunchtime and Issei and his friends were talking about upcoming events.
"Makes sense. Everyone in your club is athletic so you all should do really well." said Matsuda airily.
Issei nodded but his mind started to wander. It had been a few days since Kiba was at his house and ever since he saw that picture it's been like he was in another world. He was hit in the head by a baseball during P.E. because he wasn't paying attention. Issei was convinced that he could drop a bomb in front of him and he still wouldn't notice.
"By the way, you should be careful Issei. Some nasty rumors have been going around about you." said Matsuda.
Issei was brought out of his thoughts and looked at the two with an annoyed look. What's that? The sky's blue? You don't say. He thought to himself sarcastically. "What is it this time?" Issei asked, slightly uninterested as he tried to eat his rice ball that he had for lunch.
"Well the rumors say that you're an insatiable beast that has somehow sunk his claws into the members of the Occult Research Club. You somehow got information to blackmail the two Great Onee-samas so that you can have your way with them. Not only that but you sunk your fangs into the school mascot Koneko-chan, forcing her to do depraved things that her underdeveloped body can't take despite her pleas for you to stop. On top of that you lured the angelic transfer student to your lair promising to teach her about Japanese culture before ravaging and despoiling her." said Matsuda.
Issei was shocked. This was probably the worse the rumors had ever been and it was to the point where he was tightly clenching his hand, the rice ball now a ruined mess in his hand and on the desk.
"There is even a new one where it says that not even the girls of the ORC weren't enough to satisfy you so you sunk your claws into the school prince, forcing him to be on the receiving end as you enjoy yourself. All the while you have Mash-san doing your bidding and helping you control the situation." said Motohama.
WHAM! CRACK!
Issei had reached his limit. He was already mad about the first part but once they mentioned him and Kiba being "overly familiar" and that he was manipulating Mash to help in his "schemes" he had had enough. He was so mad that he was leaking a bit of magic power which gave him a terrifying aura when the other students looked at him. On top of that because he was leaking power when he slammed his fist on the desk he cracked the top of it. Naturally this action put fear into the entire class minus Mash, Asia, and Kiryuu. He glared at Matsuda and Motohama. "And who exactly has been spreading these rumors?!" Issei demanded. He was going to find the person responsible and make them suffer.
"I-I…" "W-we…" The pair stuttered, clearly afraid.
Kiryuu walked up to the glowering Issei. "Are you referring to the rumors about you being some beast that is taking advantage of the Occult Research Club?" At Issei's nod she continued. "Isn't it obvious?" The two perverts shook their heads rapidly to try and stop her. They were deftly ignored. "These two idiots made them up out of jealousy."
Issei's glare turned terrifying and everyone expected things to erupt into violence. Mash could feel Issei's anger through their Master Servant connection. A few moments passed that felt like an eternity but eventually Issei closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His violent aura disappeared and everyone was able to breathe a sigh of relief. As Issei opened his eyes he spoke softly but everyone heard what he said. "All right. I guess we're done."
""Eh?"" the pair both responded, completely confused.
Issei quietly grabbed his things and left the room. Asia quickly got up and followed after him. Mash did the same but before she left she glared at the pair then exited the room.
Kiryuu looked at the two, disappointment and slight disgust on her face. "You idiots really did it this time."
The two looked at her, still not understanding what happened. "W-what do you mean?"
"Are you two really that dense? Issei just broke off his friendship with you!" Kiryuu said exasperated.
After she said that the pair finally got the memo and started to panic. "No! We just! It was just supposed to be a joke!"
"And what's so funny about being accused of being a blackmailer and a sex offender?"
The pair flinched at that but soon became angry. "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't say anything!" said Motohama.
"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't spread rumors out of jealousy!" Kiryuu snapped back. The class who was listening to the argument nodded in agreement with Kiryuu but they weren't safe either. "Don't you all nod your heads as if this has nothing to do with you guys either!"
The class was taken aback at being yelled at suddenly and one of the girls spoke. "What do we have to do with this?"
Kiryuu gave the girl a small glare. "If you all weren't so gullible as to believe the worst things about him he wouldn't be as bothered by it! Part of the reason he reacted so badly is because he knows you morons would believe it without trying to know the truth!" The entire class sank in their seats in shame. "Ever since Issei came back after he disappeared he has been trying to change, but you all have been treating him as if he was still the same person he was before he disappeared! He knows what he did and he will never deny it, but that fact that you all won't even give him a chance to redeem himself shows just how shallow you all really are!" She turned back to the now perverted duo. "And you guys who were supposed to be his friends just kept dragging him down as he tried to be better! He hasn't been peeping with you guys since forever but because he was friends with you everyone kept blaming him for your antics! But he was willing to put up with it because you guys were his friends! Clearly you two didn't feel the same way." The perverted duo now also sank in shame. "Now you lost your friend and not only that, since you were brazen enough to extend your fantasies to the others I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted nothing to do with you either."
The perverted duo now scrambled to Kiryuu. "Aika, what can we do to get him to forgive us?!" the pair pleaded on their knees. The class was disgusted by their desperation and Kiryuu just gave them a dismissive look.
"Figure it out yourselves. YOU made this problem so YOU fix it!" she said. After that she left the classroom too. The class now had a heavy atmosphere as the perverted duo were still on the ground contemplating their mistake and the others were contemplating their own actions.
Issei was stalking down the hall, upset after what had just happened. He didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that he wanted to be away from those two. As he was walking Asia managed to catch up to him. Mash wasn't far behind and the pair walked beside him. Asia looked at him worriedly not sure what to say while Mash spoke to him. "Senpai, don't think about them. They could never understand why you have been so close to the others and us and what you have been through to get to this point."
Issei just looked down without responding. As they were walking someone ran up to them. It was Ruruko, a member of the Student Council. "Issei-senpai, can you come with me to the front gate?"
Issei gave a confused look along with Asia and Mash. "What's going on?"
"Some people have gathered outside the front gate and the Kaichou told me to come and get you."
Issei started to become more confused but followed Ruruko out along with Mash and Asia. As they were making their way to the front gate they saw other students who were outside looking at the gathering at the gate as well wondering what was going on. As the gate came into view, Issei could see why Sona requested his presence. Standing opposite of Sona were several Servants who looked upset that they were being blocked from entering. As Issei got closer, the Servants noticed him approaching and subsequently Sona did too. "Hyoudou-kun, it's good that you came. I need you to tell your associates that they can't come onto school grounds without express permission or when the school holds public events" Sona said with a slightly annoyed look.
Issei gave her an apologetic look then turned to his Servants. "Why are you guys here?"
Saber Alter stepped forward and spoke. "We sensed that you were angered and came to investigate the cause. Are you alright Master?" she asked sternly.
Issei had a mixed expression, both from being happy that they were concerned, embarrassed they rushed here for nothing, and still upset about the reason he was mad. "Yes I'm fine. Sorry to worry you all, I just lost my temper earlier, but it's nothing to worry about" he said, while putting on a grateful smile.
Sei Shounagon stepped forward next. "Are you sure you're ok Chan-Mas?" she asked worriedly.
Issei just looked to the group with the same smile, but they could tell he wasn't really happy. "This isn't something you guys can solve. Please don't worry about it."
The Servants clearly weren't satisfied with that answer but relented and left. Before she was gone, Saber Alter spoke again to Issei. "If something happens, do not hesitate to call me," she said in her usual serious tone. Issei nodded and she left.
Sona let out a sigh. "It seems your Servants are really protective of you. It's admirable but please have them refrain from doing anything rash."
"Sorry Sona-kaichou. They are from a different time so they're still getting used to modern customs, which can be difficult with some of their personalities."
"Right. They are powerful heroes from the past so I can imagine getting used to modern customs being difficult. What even happened to upset you? Even I sensed your power earlier."
"I just had a, situation with my former friends," he said while looking away.
Sona showed a rare surprised expression. "Did you have a falling out with the other two?"
"Yeah," he replied solemnly.
Sona saw that he didn't want to talk about it so she let it be. "Alright, I won't press any further. I have to get back to my duties so I will talk to you later. Please try to not think about it too much. You will worry Rias like you're worrying those two if you keep going on like this" she said as she pointed to Mash and Asia.
Issei turned to see a worried Asia and Mash. He began to realize that it wasn't just him that his bad mood was affecting, so he tried to calm himself down. "Sorry Mashu, Asia. I didn't mean to worry you."
"It's fine Senpai. You have a right to be mad and I will never say you shouldn't be. I just don't want you doing anything rash is all," Mash said in a caring tone.
"Issei-san, I'm sure those two didn't really mean it. I'm sure if you talk you three can work it all out," Asia said optimistically.
Issei let out a small smile at Asia's innocence. "I'm sorry Asia but there is more to this than just this one incident. Honestly this has been building up for a while and that was simply the straw that broke the camel's back. I don't know if I will ever give them a chance again."
Asia seemed to be saddened by this while Mash did her best not to show a worried expression. This was what I was afraid of. If things like this keep happening to Senpai then he may never be able to trust others again. I need to talk to Rias about this later, Mash thought to herself. With that the three walked back to class as lunch was almost over.
Rias was currently rushing through the school halls. She felt Issei release some power earlier and was going to check on him to see what happened. As she was walking someone caught her attention. It was Aika Kiryuu, who was one of Issei's friends, looking troubled herself. Kiryuu saw Rias and was brought out of her thoughts and stopped her. "Rias-senpai, can I talk to you for a bit. It's about Issei."
Rias stopped dead in her tracks thinking this had something to do with what happened earlier. "Yes. What happened? Is Issei alright?" she asked hastily.
Kiryuu walked with Rias to where there were no people and they talked. "You probably felt what happened to Issei earlier, seeing as how you were rushing to our classroom earlier."
Rias showed a look of surprise. "Kiryuu, you know about us?"
Kiryuu raised an eyebrow. "Did Issei not tell you that he told me about you guys. Well, that was a while before you guys even started interacting regularly."
"So you've known about the supernatural for months. Issei never mentioned you knowing about us."
"Huh. Must have slipped his mind. Anyways, there was a little incident with Issei and his friends… Former friends," she said, disappointment in her voice.
Rias gave her a concerned and interested look and Kiryuu explained what had happened in the classroom earlier and how Issei went off somewhere with Asia and Mash. Rias was now both angry at Issei's former friends and worried about Issei. She knew he had trust issues and this situation wasn't going to help. She was gonna have to talk to Mash and the others to help him out so that he doesn't start secluding himself. He was just getting back to how he used to be. What will happen if he starts closing himself off again? I can't let that happen! Rias thought. "Thank you for telling me Kiryuu. I will make sure he gets comforted when he comes to the clubroom later."
Kiryuu gave her a wry smile. "As his girlfriend I would hope so," she said playfully.
Rias blushed at her comment. "S-so he told you about that too."
"Yeah, he told me about your whole situation with your engagement. Who did you think had to cover for him at school while you two were dating? It's hard work trying to distract people from the social lives of one of the most popular girls in school and an infamous pervert."
"Does that mean you know about him as well?"
"Only the parts he told me. I also went to his house and met some of his Servants so I know a bit. He still kept things rather vague so I don't know much."
"I see… You should come over this weekend. Maybe we can think of something to help Issei out. I've been thinking about making our relationship known but Issei said that he didn't want to damage my reputation by being with him. While I don't particularly care, he was insistent about it so I agreed, but it doesn't seem to be going well for him regardless. Maybe you and I can think of some way to help him at school because despite his effort nothing is moving forward for him here."
Kiryuu looked a bit surprised at how much effort Rias was putting into Issei but smiled. "Yeah that sounds like a good plan. And while we're at it you can tell me all the juicy details about what's going on in your relationship," she said with a wry smile. After that the two exchanged contact info and then headed back to their classes.
The ORC had gathered in the clubroom and were currently taking care of club activities. The atmosphere was strained because of what had happened earlier that day. Everyone felt Issei release some power and could tell he was upset when that happened, but now he was in the clubroom seemingly spacing out. Not only him but Kiba was still not really paying attention to anything either so it seemed like the boys were not available at that moment. Rias had explained what happened to Akeno and Koneko before they arrived and when they went to talk to Issei he simply smiled and said nothing was wrong, which they could tell he was lying. He went to sit on the couch in the middle of the room with Mash sitting next to him and Asia sitting on the other side. After that everyone kept themselves busy, trying not to make things more awkward. Finally Rias thought of something to talk about to break the silence. "Right, it's about that time of the month. Asia, how do you feel about getting a familiar?"
Everyone minus Kiba looked to Rias with Asia, Mash, and Issei giving the redhead a surprised look. "Do you think she can handle it?" asked Issei.
"She has been doing good work as a devil and everyone here has one to help with their jobs, so I think it's about time for her to get her own."
"You all have familiars?" asked Mash.
Rias smiled. "Yes. As you know mine is a bat." she said and she summoned the bat next to her. When she did that the others summoned theirs as well. Akeno had a pair of small oni and Koneko had a white cat.
Kiba wasn't paying attention so he didn't summon his familiar and Asia was looking at them with a cheerful look. "I want to get one too. I hope it will be friendly."
Issei gave Asia a kind look. "I'm sure it will and if it's rowdy I will have my familiar keep it in check."
The others besides Mash showed surprised looks. "Issei, you have a familiar?" asked Rias.
Issei showed a look of realization. "Oh right. I never introduced you." he said and created a summoning circle in an open space in the room. A bright light shown and when it died down there was Roman sitting faithfully in place. Issei gestured him over and he obeyed. As he was walking the others showed surprise at the large wolf in the room. Particularly Koneko and her familiar were not too keen on Roman. Issei scratched Roman's ears and introduced him. "This is Roman, my direwolf."
Roman turned to everyone and gave a small bark of greeting. Everyone gave a smile to the wolf and Asia went to pet him immediately. Roman enjoyed the attention and it showed by him wagging his tail. After everyone got acquainted with Roman, Rias continued. "We will be able to go to the familiar forest on the night of the full moon, which is soon so we can go get Asia's familiar then."
"I'm looking forward to it!" Asia said excitedly.
After some time there was a knock at the door and Sona entered along with a new person. Everyone except Kiba looked at the newcomers.
Rias greeted Sona as she entered. "It's good to see you Sona. I see you finally got another member to your peerage. I was wondering how long it was gonna take you to recruit him," she said playfully.
Sona adjusted her glasses as she answered. "Well, I thought about what you said and decided to take a step forward of my own. Thus I would like you all to meet my pawn, Saji Genshirou."
Everyone greeted him as Saji bowed. "It's nice to meet you all. I hope we all can get along in the future." He looked around the room until his sight landed on Issei. "So, the rumors were true. One of the perverted trio was a member of the ORC," he said with slight disgust.
The tension in the room shot up from that, both because they were upset at how he was acting towards Issei and the fact that Issei was already in a bad mood to begin with. Issei showed a slightly annoyed face. "You got a problem, twigs?" he said to Saji with an annoyed voice.
Saji wasn't expecting Issei to bite back. "Geh! Why did Rias-senpai have to get someone like you as a servant? I don't want to have to associate myself with a pervert like you," he said haughtily. Sona grabbed Saji by the ear and started pulling him down to her level. "Ow! Owowowowow! Kaichou! Why are you pulling my ear?!"
Sona just gave him a small glare. "Because you are being rude and you are also wrong," she said sternly.
Saji looked confused. "Wrong about what?"
Sona let go of Saji's ear and adjusted her glasses. "First off, Issei is not one of Rias' servants." Saji had a look of surprise. "Second, what did I tell you before we came here?"
Saji looked up trying to remember what she said. "You said, we were going to meet with the other people in charge of Kuoh." Saji seemed to have a look of realization. "Wait! You don't mean-"
"Yes, I do. Along with myself and Rias, Hyoudou also is in charge of this territory. Although it is in an unofficial capacity, Hyoudou has enough forces to rival the Underworld and the other Factions as well." Saji looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Not only that, he wields the Boosted Gear, a Longinus class Sacred Gear and it makes him this generation's Red Dragon Emperor. Finally, he is going out with Rias, so the fact that you're insulting him in front of her, are you prepared for the consequences?" Sona asked, her eyes staring narrowly at her pawn.
That last bit of information was the most shocking to Saji as he had his mouth agape looking between Issei and Rias. When he saw Rias' annoyed face and Issei's smug one it all but confirmed it to him. "Wait! I thought the pervert was going out with the transfer student!"
Issei's smile grew wider. "I am. I'm dating both of them," he said without even a hint of hesitation.
Saji was stunned into silence. He couldn't comprehend the situation that was happening in front of him. "How?! How could someone like Hyoudou get so lucky?!"
Nobody in the room could blame him for reacting that way since all he knew was the infamous pervert from school. Issei just gave him a dismissive look. "That's the problem you and everyone else at this school has. You're all quick to judge someone without ever getting to know them. Honestly I'm fed up with the people of this school already." Issei's mood was quickly getting worse. Rias, who saw his deteriorating mood quickly got up and sat on his lap. Issei was confused but then Rias grabbed his head and shoved him into her breasts. He struggled for a moment before becoming quiet.
Everyone was watching with an amazed look while Rias turned her head to Sona. "Sona, I know he has potential but I hope you will train that attitude out of him. Quite frankly I was at my limit for how much disrespect towards my boyfriend that I can take today as well," she said with irritation in her voice.
"I'm sorry Rias. I knew he wasn't fond of Hyoudou but I thought he would have had more sense than to insult someone who he assumed was my friend's servant in the first place," she said with a small glare at Saji.
Saji sank in shame. "Sorry Kaichou, Rias-senpai."
"It's not us you have to apologize to," said Sona sternly.
Saji flinched then looked at Issei. He was still enveloped by Rias' breast and it was hard to tell if he was even conscious anymore. Saji pointed at Issei and looked between Sona and Rias. "Is he even conscious right now?"
The two kings looked at each other then at Issei. Rias finally released Issei from her breasts and he had a blissful look on his face. After a few moments he returned to reality and remembered where he was. "I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"
Saji had an intensely jealous look on his face while the others looked slightly exasperated at Issei even though they were relieved he wasn't angry anymore. Rias gave a gentle smile to Issei. "Sona was introducing her new peerage member."
He looked to Saji and he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Oh, right," he said slightly uncaring.
Saji had an irritated look on his face but held his tongue. Sona, who saw such a Saji, decided to give up for now. "In any case I just came to introduce him. I have to prepare him for his duties as well as for our trip to the Familiar Forest."
Rias gave an interested look. "Oh? I was just telling Asia it was about time for her to get her own familiar as well," she said provokingly.
Sona narrowed her eyes at Rias. "I see. But that presents a problem. You know as well as I do that the Familiar Master only takes one group per month."
"I know, so how should we settle this?"
The two were having a stare off when Issei spoke up. "Why don't we have a dodgeball match?"
"A dodgeball match?" asked Sona inquisitively.
"Yeah. A match between the ORC and the Student Council to decide who goes first to the Familiar Forest. Since we are all training for the ball tournament anyways it would be good training as well."
Saji, who was now pumped up, voiced his opinion. "I agree with Hyoudou. Kaichou we should do this and I can show you how capable I can be," he said energetically.
Issei stared at Saji and came to a realization. Ahhh. I see. He has a crush on Sona. He probably wants to show off to her to earn some points, but he is probably in for a rude awakening, he thought to himself. "What do you two think?"
Sona and Rias looked between each other and exchanged a small smile. "I'm fine with that. What about you Sona?"
"I think this should be fine. Don't expect me to go easy on you Rias," she said confidently.
"Same to you Sona," Rias shot back. After that they decided on a day for the match and Sona and Saji left. Once they were gone, Rias turned to Issei. "That was a good suggestion Issei. Thank you."
"It's no problem, but I have a question. Is it really that hard for you and Sona to go together since it's just Asia and Saji that need to get their familiars?"
Rias gave Issei a blank look for a moment before facepalming. "I guess it wouldn't have been that hard to do, but if you realized this why didn't you say so earlier?"
"Why am I gonna help out someone who was rude to me for no reason?" Issei said, referring to Saji's attitude earlier.
Rias gave him a complicated but understanding look. She didn't disagree with him but felt he was being a bit petty. "Well, anyways we should start practicing not just for the tournament but for the match as well." Everyone agreed and they all went to get ready with Koneko having to snap Kiba out of his trance and explain what was happening.
The next day at school Issei was sitting quietly in class eating his lunch. Mash was sitting next to him eating quietly as well with Asia talking to Kiryuu and some other girls but keeping an eye on Issei. The perverted duo were sitting nearby sneaking peeks at Issei but not saying anything, afraid of what he might do. The rest of the class was quieter too, still talking with each other but not in as cheerful a mood once they saw Issei.
After a while one of the girls, Murayama, walked up to Issei which took the entire class by surprise except Katase who knew what she was about to do. Issei looked at Murayama from the corner of his eye but was still eating his lunch while Mash was looking at the girl intently. Asia and Kiryuu were watching intently from their spots too. "H-Hyoudou do you have a minute?" she asked nervously.
Issei stopped eating and looked at Murayama. "Do you need something?" he asked in an almost monotone voice.
Murayama almost flinched. She was used to Issei when he was a pervert and friendly. Even though she was aware he changed after he returned, they never interacted since he disappeared. She wasn't surprised by his attitude though, considering what had happened yesterday. "I just wanted to apologize to you about before," she said nervously.
Issei seemed to be confused wondering what she was referring to but decided it didn't matter. "It's fine, don't worry about it," he said dismissively and returned to his lunch.
Murayama seemed down, seeing that her apology didn't get the reception from Issei that she hoped for. Katase didn't like how Issei responded and went up next to Murayama. "Hey Hyoudou! Murayama is trying to apologize to you! The least you could do is take it seriously!" she said angrily.
Issei gave her a cold glare which made her flinch, then he spoke. "I don't have to do anything. To begin with, her apology was vague. What is she apologizing for? The hundreds of times she and the rest of the Kendo Club beat me up with their bokken? The countless insults she has thrown at me? Saying that the world would be better off without me?" Murayama visibly shuddered when he said the last one. "I don't have to accept anything. And I'm not self-centered enough to think I didn't deserve some of it, but if you think that I'm just supposed to let bygones be bygones then you're dumber than I thought." He rolled his eyes and continued. "And isn't it convenient that she only apologizes now, after I broke off my friendship with those idiots. Suddenly it's acceptable to apologize to me. Well, too little too late," he said, then he got up and left the room again. Katase was stunned again by Issei's actions but showed a bit of a guilty face herself since she did those things to him as well. She went back to her seat while Murayama just stood in place with her head down.
Mash stood up but instead of going after Issei she spoke to Murayama who was just standing in place. "Want to talk about it?"
Murayama wasn't sure how to respond but soon after Asia and Kiryuu came up and spoke to her too. "I'm sure we can work this out with Issei-san so let us help you," said Asia confidently.
"It was just bad timing Murayama. Try not to take it too personally," said Kiryuu.
Murayama didn't know what else to do so she went with the three to talk. They found a place away from other people and sat down to talk. Mash and Asia sat on one side while Kiryuu and Murayama sat on the other. "So, what brought this on all of a sudden?" Mash asked.
Murayama looked down in front of her as she talked. "It's… It's a long story." She began to explain about how before Issei disappeared she and Katase had yelled at him when he didn't do anything at that time. They were wary of him because of his and the other perverts' normal antics so when they saw him they reflexively yelled at him even though he didn't do anything. Before they left, Murayama said that the world would be better off without him. Then the next day Issei went missing. When the news about Issei going missing reached her she didn't feel anything in particular, but when Issei's parents were asking around for information about their son and she saw Issei's mom crying she realized that her desire for Issei to disappear was a selfish one. Then as time went on, no one was able to figure out where he went, so she started to think that it was her fault. That at the time even though he didn't show it, her words really affected him and that he might have gotten rid of himself. The thought that she did that made Murayama sick to her stomach and for the next month and a half she was ill. When news came that they finally found Issei she felt relieved but the guilt that it might have been her fault still stuck with her. When school started up again and Issei showed up it was clear that he had changed. Before nobody wanted to go near him because of his perverted personality but now he had an aura about him that made it seem like people shouldn't go near him.
Mash was listening to her story intently and had mixed feelings. Looks like our summoning him had more consequences than just worrying his family. While I feel bad she went through that, this is a case of making your own bed. Regardless of how you feel about someone's preferences wishing death or extreme harm upon them for that is way out of line. She thought to herself.
Murayama continued her story by saying after he returned she tried to find an opportunity to talk to him and apologize but whenever she tried he would disappear somewhere or was with the other two perverts, which at this point she realized that wasn't a real excuse. What he said about her was true, she was too concerned about how it would look talking to him when he was with the other perverts to do the right thing. Asia gave Murayama some comforting words before she continued. After some time Murayama was at a loss for what to do and was driving herself crazy trying to figure out what to do. But then one day things got more complicated.
Mash, Asia, and Kiryuu looked at her confused. "What do you mean, more complicated?" asked Mash.
Murayama looked between them all nervously. "W-well, this might be hard to believe but, I saw Issei fighting some kind of monster."
Mash and Kiryuu narrowed their eyes while Asia showed a worried expression. Mash leaned forward to Murayama. "Tell us everything you saw," she said sternly.
Murayama seemed nervous by the way Mash was acting but did as told. One day when she was walking near the park late at night when she heard a loud noise that sounded like an explosion nearby. She was curious as to what it was so she went to investigate. As she got closer she heard more noise that sounded like clashing steel and heavy footsteps. Eventually she got close enough to see what was happening and took shelter behind a tree. What she saw made her doubt her eyes. She saw Issei wielding twin blades in his hands and a large wolf looking animal fighting some monstrosity. The monster swung its claws at Issei but he deflected it with his blade and launched a fireball at it. As it was distracted by that, the wolf ran around it and lunged for the monster's back leg. The monster wasn't able to concentrate while being attacked from both sides so it started flailing in all directions. It eventually shook off the wolf but when it went to attack Issei he was already above it. Blades appeared from seemingly nowhere next to him and launched themselves at the monster along with some sort of ice attack. The blades and ice pierced the monster and kept it in place. After that some sort of gauntlet appeared on Issei's hand and started glowing. After that Issei's blades started to glow as well and Issei went in for the kill. He did a cross slash right through the monster and it fell to pieces behind him like in some action show. After that he used a fireball to burn the body while he and his wolf watched. Murayama then decided to leave, thinking she saw something she shouldn't have. After that she wasn't sure how to approach him, but the next day Issei was walking around school as if nothing had happened and she started to doubt whether or not she saw what she saw. So she started following him, and every now and then she would see more and more fights and see how he pushed himself. She started to respect him in a similar manner as she respected her fellow kendoka, but she still hadn't gotten the courage to apologize to him. After Kiryuu yelled at the class yesterday she realized that she had to stop dragging her feet and apologize, but like Issei had said earlier it was all too little too late.
Mash looked between Asia and Kiryuu and the three nodded in unison. Murayama seemed nervous at their actions and jumped slightly when she was addressed. "Murayama, I don't think you understand what you have gotten yourself into," said Mash sternly.
Murayama was now extremely curious. "You do know something! I thought as much when you showed up and seemed to know everything about Issei, despite me never seeing you when he was out! Please, I have to know! What happened to Issei?!"
Kiryuu jumped in now. "Murayama, this isn't something to be taken lightly. Even I am only tentatively aware of this kind of stuff. The more you learn the more danger you will be in," Kiryuu warned.
Murayama had a slightly unsure look but then it changed to resolve. "Please tell me what happened."
Mash looked between everyone but then sighed in resignation. She gave an abridged version of Issei's disappearance, the reason behind it, and what happened to him while he was away that caused him to change. Once she was done explaining, she addressed Murayama. "In the end it was just a case of bad timing in terms of you yelling at Senpai and him disappearing but I find it hard to feel bad for you when you were needlessly rude to him," she said, slightly upset.
Murayama showed a mix expression of embarrassment and shame. "I'm sorry for insulting your boyfriend Mash-san."
Mash showed an exhausted look. "Well at least you learned your lesson so it's fine but it's not me you have to apologize to," she said.
Murayama showed a worried look. "I don't think he will accept it. He clearly remembers what I said since he brought it up when he was yelling at Katase," she said dejectedly.
Asia grabbed Murayama's hands. "Don't worry, we will talk to Issei-san. Once he knows that you know about him I'm sure he will accept your apology." Murayama could only nod solemnly and hope Asia was right.
Classes had ended and Issei was about to get ready to head to the clubroom when he was stopped by Mash and Asia. "Uhm. Issei-san could you come with us for a second?" asked Asia nervously.
"O-ok?" said Issei confused. He followed Mash and Asia to a place away from people and ended up meeting Kiryuu and Murayama. Issei immediately became suspicious when he saw Murayama. "What is this?"
Murayama just looked down, not ready to meet his gaze, while Kiryuu spoke. "Issei, I know you're mad about earlier but just hear us out first." Issei gave a confused look but stayed silent. Kiryuu and the others then explained Murayama's story to Issei and about what happened to her when he disappeared. Issei listened to this and had a surprised look when he found out Murayama knew about him and the supernatural. Issei was even more shocked that she felt real regret for what she said before he disappeared. He wasn't sure whether or not he could forgive her still but then something came to mind.
He walked up to Murayama who seemed to flinch when he got close. Issei felt a bit of regret since it was his fault she was scared of him but he continued to his question. "You were the one who was always making sympathetic comments when the class began spreading rumors, weren't you?"
Murayama showed a surprised face that Issei figured that out. Issei had always noticed that when students started to make rumors about stuff there was always a voice mixed in trying to give him the benefit of the doubt or showing sympathy for him. Now that he knew Murayama really regretted her actions it made sense that she was the one trying to help him in her own subtle way. "Y-yes, that was me," she said nervously.
Issei closed his eyes for a bit but then a small smile made its way to his face. "Thank you, Murayama. Those words gave me some relief at those times. I'm sorry I was so harsh to you earlier," he said, regret in his voice.
Murayama shook her head. "N-no Hyoudou-kun, you were right before. I was too worried about how things would look to do the right thing and apologize to you sooner. I'm sorry, for everything," she said on the verge of tears.
Issei just patted her shoulder gently and smiled at her. "Murayama, why don't we start over? I think we're all a little guilty of being thoughtless of others, so I'm willing to let the past be the past in this case."
Murayama showed a surprised look but then it turned grateful. "A-are you sure you want to be friends with someone like me? I mean, I've done so much to you. Some of it was unforgivable," she said sadly.
Issei just gave her a wry smile. "Don't worry about it Murayama. After everything I've been through, getting hit with a bokken is, in retrospect, pretty low on the list of worst things to happen to me. So it's fine," he said playfully.
Murayama had a mixed look of worry and relief from that response. Then her look turned serious. "So, what are you exactly? How did you manage to do all those amazing things, like summon swords and shoot fire and ice?"
Issei had a bit of a complicated look on his face and turned to the others for help. The others also weren't sure how to answer this as well and were at a loss. After a moment Issei came up with an idea. "Maybe you should come with us to the clubroom so that we can explain everything there. You should come too Kiryuu."
Everyone there had a surprised look on their faces but nodded and agreed. Later they all made it to the clubroom and Issei explained to Rias about Murayama and what had happened earlier that day. Rias had a bit of a strained look on her face from all the new things happening around her lately but just decided to go with the flow. "So Murayama, how much do you know about the supernatural?" Rias asked, trying to figure out what she needed to tell her.
"W-well, I know magic and monsters exist and that other worlds apparently exist?" she wasn't too sure about that but she believed what she was told. "But besides that not much."
Rias looked to Issei trying to figure out what he wanted her to say but he just shrugged and left it up to her. Rias just put a hand on her head and basically gave Murayama and Kiryuu the same explanation she gave to Issei when they first talked. Kiryuu knew about most of it, she just didn't know the details. Meanwhile Murayama was having her mind blown by all this information along with the revelation that the people at school whom she admired the most were actually devils. But there was something that she was curious about. "Uhm, Rias-senpai. Why are you here though? Is there something special about this town?"
Rias just gave a sheepish look. "N-no. I just wanted to experience Japan and to live in a place that didn't know about me and my family. I just wanted to experience what it's like to be a normal girl."
Murayama showed a smile at that. "I see. Well your secret is safe with me Rias-senpai. The same goes for everybody else too. I won't say a word about this."
Everyone showed a grateful smile and Rias turned to Issei who was showing a confident smile. "See? This is what I was talking about before when I mentioned getting humanity acclimated to the supernatural. If we take it one step at a time we can get humans to get along with supernatural beings," said Issei.
"I guess you're right. It kinda irks me that you are doing something that Sona and I could only hope to do with proper planning and timing so quickly."
"Like I said before, sometimes you gotta take risks to get what you want at the best possible time."
Rias and Issei exchanged smiles and Murayama, seeing how the two interacted had a question. "Uhm, Rias-senpai. What is your relation to Hyoudou-kun if he is not your servant?"
The pair exchanged looks again but Issei nodded and Rias smiled and looked back to Murayama. "He is my boyfriend," she said matter of factly.
Murayama had a blank expression when she heard that and looked around at the others for confirmation. When they all nodded, Murayama almost freaked out. "Wait! I thought Hyoudou was going out Mash-san?!" she exclaimed.
She's so shocked by that that she stopped using honorifics. Issei thought to himself. "I am going out with Mashu. I'm also going out with Rias."
Again, Murayama was stunned into silence looking at Rias and Mash. When both nodded their heads, Murayama just sat in place contemplating her life. While that was going on Kiryuu decided to speak her piece. "So, what happens now? What are you guys gonna do with us?"
Rias and Issei looked to each other then back to Kiryuu. "Well, what do you want to do?" asked Rias. Kiryuu and Murayama looked confused so Issei picked up after Rias.
"You have a few choices for your future path. You could A: Become a member of Rias' peerage and become devils yourselves. B: Continue your normal lives as if nothing ever happened. We could even erase your memories if you want." The two showed a face that said they didn't want that. "Or C: You could train under us and become mages yourselves, if you have the aptitude for it that is," Issei said with a smirk.
Both of the girls' eyes began to sparkle at Issei's suggestion. Rias and the rest of the ORC showed a surprised expression as well. "Will your organization be ok with that Issei?" asked Rias.
Issei just showed a smile. "Well my organization has been working to become, independent, if you catch my meaning. So we need as many new hires as we can get." He shrugged his shoulders. "Jokes aside, having new potential Masters would be a great help and would take some of the stress off of me. Of course that wouldn't be for a long, long time. I will talk to Da Vinci about it later."
The two girls were very excited to be able to learn to use magic and were ready to start but then Murayama saw Kiba in the corner and decided to ask what was going on. "What's wrong with Kiba-kun?"
Everyone had unsure looks as they weren't entirely sure why he was like that either. Issei just gave them an awkward look. "We're not entirely sure. We had a club meeting at my house a few days ago and he saw an old photo of mine with a holy sword in it. After that he's just been out of it." The two looked at Kiba, concerned but decided to let it be. After that they all conversed and worked out their future paths.
A week had passed since Sona introduced Saji and the clubs agreed to the dodgeball match. After school the two cubs met in the gymnasium to have the match. The clubs had different numbers of members so Sona and Rias agreed on a team of 6 each. Sona's team consisted of herself, Tsubaki, Saji, Tsubasa (Rook), Tomoe (Knight), and Momo (Bishop). Rias' team was herself, Akeno, Koneko, Kiba, Issie, and Mash. The rest of Sona's peerage and Asia were going to cheer from the sidelines. Also with them were Kiryuu and Murayama. Sona showed a confused look when she saw them but after Issei and Rias explained she got the full picture.
Once both sides got to their places another member of Sona's peerage, Ruruko, moved to the middle line on the side of the court to referee. "Alright, I will be the mediator for this match between Sitri and Gremory. Let's have a clean game."
Sona and Rias gave each other confident smiles. "Don't hold back on me Sona," said Rias.
"Same to you Rias," replied Sona.
"Don't worry Sona-kaichou. I'll make sure you win," said Saji confidently.
Issei just showed a slightly sinister smile. Oh, you don't know what your in for twigs. Issei thought to himself. Mash, who saw her Senpai's face, just quietly sighed.
Ruruko raised her hand up to begin the match. "Both sides ready? Aaaaannnnnd, START!"
"And the winner is, the Gremory team!" announced Ruruko. Sona's team was worn out with Saji and Sona resting on the ground and the others off to the side as they were eliminated earlier. On Rias' side was Rias, Issei, and Mash, with Rias looking exhausted and the other two looking fine. Issei was spinning the dodgeball on his finger with a smug smile on his face. Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba had been eliminated earlier on, with Akeno and Koneko getting worn down and then hit while Kiba, who should have been one of the star players for this, was eliminated because he wasn't paying attention.
"How?! How could Hyoudou be so powerful?!" complained Saji.
Issei with his still smug smile answered. "Simple twigs. I have trained myself to avoid smaller targets meant to kill me that came at me much faster than a magically enhanced dodgeball. You may be a devil with enhanced specs but you're still green in terms of the rules of engagement."
Sona gave Issei a slightly displeased look. "You knew this would happen. That's why you suggested this match."
"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. That all depended on how strong you all were. This was mostly to get back at Saji for his previous rudeness, but I wasn't gonna go easy on you anyways since I wanted to help Asia. And besides, it was still good training for the ball tournament," Issei said nonchalantly.
Sona gave Issei an exasperated look and Rias gave Sona an apologetic one. Saji looked at Issei upset. "You seriously put us through all this just to get back at me?!" he yelled.
Issei narrowed his eyes at Saji. "Be glad I left it at this. I could always do what Shishou did to me for training, and just a heads up it's much more painful than it sounds."
Saji scrambled back, slightly scared of Issei. Meanwhile on the side the others were watching with slightly complicated looks. But one of them walked up to Saji and put a hand on his shoulder. It was Murayama. "Hey Saji-kun. I know it's hard to let go of the past but Issei is trying to change. He can't erase the past but he can do better for the future. You just have to be willing to give him a chance."
Saji had an indescribable expression on his face. He knew well that the members of the kendo club hated the perverted trio more than anyone else at school, so having Murayama vouch for Issei had a strong impact on him. "A-are you serious Murayama-san?"
Murayama nodded in confirmation. "Also there seems to be something that you're missing in your information." Saji looked at Murayama confused as she continued. "Issei is no longer friends with the other two perverts anymore. Their rumor spreading went too far and Issei broke off their friendship."
Saji had a shocked look on his face as well as some of the other members of the student council who didn't know about this. Issei let out an exasperated sigh when he saw how some of the others reacted. "Isn't it convenient how bad rumors spread like the plague but when something good or name clearing happens nobody hears a word about it. Not that I'm suddenly excused from my past actions just by not associating with them," he said annoyed. The group gave Issei an awkward look but then Issei decided to change the subject. "Anyways, since our team won this means we get to go first and get Asia's familiar."
Sona adjusted her glasses. "Yes, as agreed Rias can go first. We will go next month."
Issei just gave Sona a small smile then looked to Asia and gave a thumbs up. Asia smiled gratefully at Issei while Rias went to talk to Sona. "Sorry about Issei. He's been having a rough time so I went along with this, but since it's only Saji and Asia who need familiars there really is no reason for us to go separately. Even Issei acknowledged that."
Sona thought about it but then shook her head. "No, it's ok Rias. This should be a good lesson for Saji to be careful who he talks to in the future and for him to learn to pick his battles properly," she said while narrowing her eyes at Saji.
Saji looked down ashamed. "Sorry Kaichou," was all he said.
Sona looked back to Rias. "This is your win this time. Next time I will make sure to win," she said confidently.
Rias showed a confident smile. "We'll see about that." With that everyone went home for the night.
It was the night of the full moon and the ORC were preparing to head to the familiar forest. Asia was excited while the others looked at her adoringly. Rias looked at everyone. "Are we ready to go?" Everyone nodded and the magic circle transported them.
When the light died down Issei, Mash, and Asia looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Rias took a few steps forward then turned to face everyone. "This is the familiar forest. Under normal circumstances most familiars stay within their homes in their territories, but during the full moon they become more active which makes it easier for people to find the familiar they are looking for." Issei, Mash, and Asia nodded in understanding from Rias' explanation. "Even so, familiars are dangerous creatures so we hired a Monster Tamer to be in charge of the area to help with finding and safely making contracts with familiars. We call him the Familiar Master."
Issei had a slightly crooked smile. How creative. Did they spend all night thinking that name up? he thought to himself.
While they were conversing, a noise was heading their way. Issei and Mash went on guard but Rias waved them down. The pair looked at her confused but then understood why she wasn't cautious. A young man appeared before them with a cap and backpack on. Issei had a moment where he doubted his eyes but after a bit he realized he wasn't seeing things. This guy is dressed up exactly like the main character from Pokemon! There is no way this is a coincidence! he thought to himself.
The man introduced himself. "Hello young devils. My name is Zatouji and it's my dream to be a Familiar Master!"
Issei had to stop himself from laughing. Oh c'mon, he's not even trying to hide who he's impersonating. Issei thought to himself. Mash looked at him confused at his strange behavior.
"So, which of you devils are looking to get a familiar?" Zatouji asked in a friendly tone.
Rias gestured to Asia and spoke. "My new bishop here is looking for a familiar."
Zatouji nodded his head then looked to Issei and Mash. "Are they not getting one Ms. Gremory?"
Rias nodded her head. "They aren't part of my peerage, they are here to help my bishop. Besides, Issei already has a familiar."
Zatouji looked interested. "Oh ho? Really? If I may ask, what kind do you have?"
"A direwolf," said Issei casually.
The Familiar Master showed an excited expression. "A direwolf! Really?! Those are notoriously hard to tame since they are smarter than an average wolf and only follow those whom they respect. You must have had a hell of a time taming him."
"Well…" Issei went into thought for a moment remembering his first meeting with Roman. "It was definitely, interesting," he said vaguely.
The others gave curious looks but let it be because they were on a timetable. "Well anyways, what kind of familiar are you looking for young lady?" asked Zatouji.
Asia looked up contemplatively. "Uhm, I would like something cute," she said innocently.
The Familiar Master showed a small smile. "Ah, I see. That can easily be arranged as there are plenty of small familiars that are in their infancy out tonight. Getting one while it's young will also help in having it bond with you easier," he said energetically. Everyone began following the Familiar Master as they trekked through the forest. After some time they were all stopped by a panicked voice.
[Partner, Stop!]
Issei stopped dead in his tracks as did Mash. The others looked at Issei, not understanding what was going on. Issei lifted his hand up looking at it slightly confused. "What's wrong Ddraig? Why did you shout?"
[Don't you feel it partner?! Tiamat is here!] said Ddraig panickedly.
Issei felt his blood freeze and Mash also had a terrified face. Mash was in her casual outfit but immediately changed to her Servant form and readied her shield in a defensive position ready to protect Issei. "Why is Tiamat here?!" Mash asked, her voice slightly shaking.
The others were completely confused as to why they were acting this way, with Rias only being vaguely aware from when Issei told her about it in their talk. Zatouji decided to answer Mash's question. "Tiamat made a deal with the devil's to live in this forest in exchange for her refereeing the official Rating Games for them."
Mash had an indescribable look on her face. "The devils made a deal with a Primordial Goddess to… referee professional sports in the Underworld?" she said bewildered.
Again everyone was confused as to what she meant so Rias stepped forward. "I don't know all the details but I know that your Tiamat is different than the one in our world. Here Tiamat is one of the Five Dragon Kings and based off of what Issei told me, she isn't as powerful as the one you encountered, though I wouldn't say she is weak by any stretch of the imagination."
After hearing Rias' explanation, Mash loosened her posture but she didn't change back to her casual outfit. Issei also seemed to come back to reality but he was still noticeably shaken. Akeno, curious as to why Issei was so scared, asked what was on everyone's mind. "What happened between you and Tiamat that makes you so wary of her?"
Issei made a face that could only be described as having a war flashback while Mash showed a similar expression. While they were doing that Ddraig spoke out loud.
[Partner and Mash have been through alot and well, lets just say that they had too many brushes with death while fighting Tiamat.]
The ORC were slightly shocked at the voice coming out of Issei's hand. After a bit Rias was able to figure it out. "You're Ddraig, the Welsh Dragon aren't you?"
[That's right Rias Gremory. I guess this is our first official meeting. Too bad it wasn't under better circumstances.]
"Is Tiamat's presence really that terrifying to you?"
[I already had a bad relationship with Tiamat before I became a Sacred Gear, which means that my host unfortunately will bear the brunt of her grudge as well. But that aside, the Tiamat that partner and Mash faced makes this Tiamat as threatening as a baby kitten in comparison.] Ddraig paused before speaking again. [There were so many corpses when partner had to deal with her. So many inhuman monstrosities. He had to literally crawl out of hell twice during the whole fiasco. And that wasn't even half of that Singularity's problem.]
Ddraig began to ramble as he was slowly escaping reality with Issei and Mash. The others showed slightly horrified faces from the dragon's description of events from Issei's past adventures. The Familiar Master decided to jump in to assuage everyone's worries. "W-well there shouldn't be a problem. Tiamat lives in a cave at the far end of the forest. Most of the more powerful familiars are in that area as well so we will be staying away from there, especially since we are looking for something in the opposite category for the bishop."
With those words Issei and Mash seemed to snap out of it. "A-alright, but the first sign that she is heading in our direction I'm leaving," said Issei. The others were surprised since Issei usually faced every challenge head on. Issei saw everyone's expression and clarified. "Look, even if she isn't the same Tiamat, I don't know what I'm up against. On top of that she holds a grudge I don't know anything about because a certain dragon won't tell me what happened. Finally, if her grudge is against me then she should have no reason to attack you if I'm gone so I'm not abandoning you," he said slightly defensively.
The others understood his logic but it was still jarring to see Issei essentially turn tail and run from something. After they all calmed down they continued on into the forest. They went through several areas and encountered many familiars but none seemed to be very interested in Asia. It was getting close to the end time when the magical creatures would return to their homes and the group was slightly disappointed. "Sorry young miss but it seems that we may not get the familiar you want this time," Zatouji said apologetically.
"That's ok. Maybe next time I will have better luck," Asia said slightly down. She was about to turn around when she spotted something up in a tree. "Zatouji-san, what is that?" she asked and pointed.
Zatouji looked to where she was pointing and nearly jumped in surprise. "Oh my! That's a sprite dragon and an infant on at that! They are very rare and can only be tamed at infancy. They are uncontrollable as adults in the wild so this might be the perfect opportunity!" he said energetically.
Asia was looking at the sprite dragon with sparkles in her eyes but suddenly she had a confused expression. "Huh?" she said as she looked down at her leg. A slimy tentacle had managed to wrap itself around her leg and once she noticed it it pulled and lifted her into the air. "Aaaaaaaaaahhh!" she yelled.
Everyone was also taken by surprise, not noticing the tentacle until after it grabbed Asia as well. When everyone looked where it came from they saw a giant slime with multiple tentacles coming off of it. The Familiar Master identified the creature. "A giant slime, a common creature that is relatively weak. The only notable things about it are its abilities to melt cloth and weak regeneration."
So it can melt clothes, huh. The old me would have loved something like this as a familiar but right now it's attacking Asia. I better stop it before this turns into a bad hentai. Issei thought to himself as he and the others got into a battle stance. Before they could act though, a bolt of lightning struck the slime and cut off the tentacle holding Asia. As she fell, Issei ran to catch her, which he was successful in. As he was holding her he checked to see if she was ok. "Are you hurt Asia?"
Asia shook her head with a small blush. "N-no, I'm fine." she answered. The bottom of her outfit was slightly melted away but her body seemed to be fine. When she looked around she spotted the sprite dragon floating between them and the slime. "Did you save me?"
The sprite dragon stared down the slime and once the slime finished regenerating it attacked the sprite dragon. It dodged the attack with great speed and shot a powerful lightning attack directly at the slime's body. The attack completely destroyed the slime, leaving no trace. The sprite dragon then turned to Issei and Asia and floated closer. Issei was ready to protect Asia but Asia just put a hand on him to signify that it was fine.
"Thank you for saving me," said Asia gratefully to the sprite dragon. The dragon stared at her for a bit before it floated into her arms. Asia was surprised at first but then showed a smile as she pet it.
Zatouji walked up with a surprised expression. "This is the first time I've seen a sprite dragon willingly go to someone. You must have some kind of affinity for dragons." Issei had a moment of realization, remembering how Asia affected him when they first met. "Well since it clearly likes you we should start the familiar contract ritual. You should think of a name for him as well." As the Familiar Master did the ritual, everything went smoothly.
Asia looked at the sprite dragon happily and gave it a hug. Issei walked up to her and smiled. "Did you think of a name for him?"
Asia gave Issei a slightly shy look. "Y-yes. I decided to name him Rassei." Issei showed a confused look. "I wanted to name him after Issei-san and since he is a lightning dragon I combined the two."
Issei showed a grateful smile. "I'm honored Asia." He went to pat her head when Rassei shot a bit of lightning at him. He managed to dodge it but then gave a small glare at the sprite. "Oi! Hatchling. Don't get carried away. I'm counting on you to protect Asia but don't think you get to have her all to yourself."
The sprite dragon narrowed its eyes at him and Issei did the same back. Asia had a blush on her face from Issei being a bit territorial with her. The others just looked at the interaction with a smile. Rias stepped forward and spoke to the group. "Alright everyone. We got Asia's familiar so it's time to head home." Everyone nodded and they all said goodbye to Zatouji and left.
Ok, this was a long chapter and was meant to be a slice of life part since this series is called "Highschool" DxD. In all honesty I felt that the high school aspect was more of a backdrop rather than an important part of the story so I wanted to add more stuff with that. I've been slowly seeding background plots in the other volumes and I plan to have it pay off in a later volume. Speaking of which, I wanted to create some drama among the perverted trio and I am planning on having the people of Kuoh, both the students and the residents become more aware as time goes on. The Kuoh plotline will be separate from the main plot for a bit, only interacting sparingly. Also for those who think I will add Kiryuu and Murayama to the harem, at this point in time I'm not going to do that but that may change depending on how the plot pans out. Now the rest of the volume will focus on the holy sword arc so I won't upload the rest until it's done. I figured this was separate enough to upload on its own. I also cut some stuff out because I thought the chapter was becoming too bloated but if you are interested in the dodgeball match, I will make it a side story eventually when I get to that stuff. Also can I say that the Highschool DxD wiki is so not helpful when looking for info on side characters, cause when I was looking for info for Murayama it paired her with Katase in the wiki and it didn't tell me who was who. I had to watch the first episode of the first season to figure out who was who. It was a pain in the butt.