Chapter 18

Issei had gotten up at his usual time at 4 in the morning as he was going to train. He knew he couldn't do much with his right hand for a little bit, but he still had two legs. So today, he would not be training with Ikki today, but rather he would be training with Kisara, switching up the schedule. Of course, he knew how to coerce her into helping him.

Looking at his left hand, he was grateful that Akisame could see that he needed some bandages on the fingers that Yuuto accidentally cut. However, considering how it was where he felt pain first, when he woke up, it was to be expected. The reason for that was because Shigure had been gripping that hand like a lifeline while he was unconscious.

FLASHBACKFull novel: High School DxD: A Fighting Chance — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠

As the others came in to see Issei, he was still unconscious, so they could see the damage that was done. They felt bad to see one of their own like that, but eventually, they heard him wince. The reason for his wincing is because of the pressure on his left hand as he began to wake up. He was shaking it to relieve the pressure, which eventually, Shigure, who had been holding it, let go.

Issei blinked awake, flexing his fingers and then he saw her. "Ah! Nee‑san!"

To everyone's surprise, he immediately pulled Shigure into a hug. Even she looked slightly startled.

"Did you get him?" Issei asked.

"Hmm? Oh…" Shigure shook her head. "No."

"Damn… Wait, Kiba! Is he okay? What happened to him?"

Akisame stepped in to bandage the fingers on his left hand. "Worrying about others before yourself, I see."

"Huh?" Issei then looked around. "Guys… Akisame‑shishou."

Kenichi smiled. "Good to see you're alright."

Miu nodded. "Yeah."

Kisara smirked. "That's my little bro. Tougher every time. Almost like his big sis."

Ikki leaned in. "How're you feeling, man?"

Renka asked, "How bad does it hurt?"

Ukita looked over at Issei's bandaged arm. "Need help with anything?"

"Thanks, but no one answered my question. Kiba? How is he?" Issei looked at each one of them.

Akisame answered, "He left before you woke up, he had a cut on his shoulder, he's been bandaged up. He'll be alright, physically, it's his mental health that's troubling."

"And the priest?"

Saiga didn't sugarcoat it. "He's dead. He received multiple stab wounds, including one through the head."

Issei lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Kensei frowned. "For what? You didn't do anything wrong."

"No, I mean I'm sorry for his family as they will have to grieve for their loss. Will you contact the Church and let them know?"

Saiga nodded. "I will."

"That's good..." Issei slowly nodded and turned. "Kisara‑nee?"

"Hm? What is it?" Kisara tilted her head, wondering what he needed from her.

"Can you train me tomorrow morning?"

"EH!?" the whole MMA club exploded.

Kenichi threw his hands up. "Absolutely not! You nearly died tonight!"

"Yeah, but thanks to nee‑san, I didn't." Issei countered.

Ikki blinked. "What do you mean?"

Issei exhaled. "I could feel that something was off with the guy, but that dude's sword... it let out something and I don't know, he got faster. I barely blocked and that was instinctive."

Saiga muttered, "Rapidly." His eyes narrowed, understanding at least one of the Excalibur fragments that had been taken.

Kensei nodded. "Good thing you did. That cut could've been much worse it is."

"Where is it?" Issei asked suddenly.

Renka tilted her head. "Where's what?"

"My bokken. I was holding it, where is it?"

"You mean this?" Kensei held up the broken hilt. "Here. I had to pry it from your grasp, so I could bandage up your hand."

"Oh man." Issei groaned and took it. "Kinda wish this wasn't real…"

Tōchūmaru squeaked, offering the broken pieces he'd collected.

"Thanks, buddy," Issei said, rubbing the mouse's head.

Ukita asked, "So how did Shigure‑sensei help you?"

"She trains me in speed and I still feel the welts on my body from our training earlier, she didn't let up. Guess it was a good thing that we focused on blocking… What a shitty day."

He laid back down, disappointed about everything that had transpired, he began to reach for something around that was supposed to be around his neck. As he felt nothing, he shot back up in a panic and then he realized that his stuff must have been still where he left it on the street.

Miu asked, "What are you looking for?"

"My headphones. Oh no! I left my stuff out there... Just great..." A tap on his shoulder. Shigure held up his briefcase. "Nee‑san…! Thank you!"

He opened it immediately, grabbed his phone and froze. "Shit."

Ukita sighed. "What now?"

"My kaa‑san. I forgot to text her. Uh... How bad's the weather?"

Kenichi answered. "It's raining pretty hard still."

Ikki nodded. "Yeah, we're staying here tonight."

Issei groaned. "Great…"

Saiga stepped in. "Don't worry. I arranged a driver to take you home."

"Really? Thank you." Issei stood, glanced at his injured right hand, then looked straight at Kisara. "So how about it, Kisara-nee? Want to help me toughen up? I may not be able to use my right hand, but that shouldn't be a problem. Mitsurugi-shishou made sure that I could use my bokken in either hand, but my legs work just fine and no better person that I know is skilled with their legs than you, Kisara-nee."

Renka and Miu coughed. "Ahem."

"Shut it." Kisara glared at them and then she smirked at Issei. "Go on. Keep praising your big sis."

"There's no one better at taekwondo here than you, Kisara-nee. If I can train more, I can get more familiar with using them. It would be instinctive to use them in a fight rather than just my fists." Issei continued.

In his time with Kisara, he had learned that he needed to stroke her ego as a means to get her to do something for his training.

Kenichi sighed. "There's no stopping you, huh?"

"No. I need to get stronger. Kiba's my friend... even if it's one‑sided. Removing that sword will help him. He deserves that much… for his fallen comrades. I get his anger. After Taichi talked about you guys, I knew I had to win. Kiba has to beat that guy and exorcize his demons. I could've done more… but not as I am. I told him I've got his back. I just hope he doesn't go after my friend Shidou."

Ikki shook his head and chuckled. "Man, your sense of loyalty is something else."

Ukita grinned. "Guess it's a good thing you're on our side."

"Thanks." Issei nodded to them.

Kisara crossed her arms. "I did say I'd toughen you up. Same time as when you train with Ikki, right?"

"Yeah, I... huh?"

Shigure silently plucked his phone from his hands and walked in front of everyone.

Shigure's expression didn't change as she held out Issei's phone. "Make sure… your number… is in there."

Kenichi blinked. "Um, I already..."

"Do it." Shigure ordered.

"…Alright." He raised his hands in surrender and typed it in again.

Shigure didn't stop there. She made him text his own phone to confirm, then moved on to the next person. One by one, she had every member of the group send themselves a message, ensuring they all had Issei's number. Only when she was satisfied did she return the phone to him.

"There. Now you have… everyone's number. So next time… when I say something… you listen."

"Yes, nee‑san." Issei bowed his head, both apologizing and avoiding her glare.

Shigure nodded and turned to leave, only for Issei to gently grab her sleeve.

"Hm?… What is it?" She asked.

Issei stood up and gave her another hug, it surprised Kensei, since Shigure didn't usually let men get close to her. The only exception that he had seen was Kenichi. From what he could tell, Issei did have similar characteristics to his disciple.

"Thank you for coming to find me, nee‑san."

Shigure made no reaction as he hugged her in thanks because if she hadn't, then Freed was likely to kill him and potentially Yuuto. Shigure let out a sigh, deciding to not really care if the others saw her give affection. She reciprocated the hug and patted him on the head and said her traditional title for him.

"Otouto… baka."

Instead of protesting the nickname, Issei smiled.

He charged in recklessly and had somewhat of a plan for Freed, but it had failed. His stupidity caused her to take action and it also made her worried, along with his other loved ones. It was another reason for him to get stronger, so he could ease their worries, so if he got into another fight, they wouldn't have to stress over him.

"Have a good night. You too, Tōchūmaru." Issei called out and the mouse squeaked from Shigure's head.

Shigure gave a nod and then let go of him, but she ruffled his hair, it was then Kensei let out a gasp. Akisame and Saiga simply smiled as they knew that Shigure considered Issei as part of her family. They could tell that she was embracing the big sister role that he had bestowed on her and how he wished for someone like her, when growing up, or any of them. So, he could have that older sibling to guide him and correct his mistakes and perversion.

After she was done ruffling his hair, she turned and walked out of the room to head to her sleeping quarters. Issei then turned back to the rest of them as he began to gather his things.

"You said a car will take me home?" Issei asked.

Saiga nodded. "Yes, and I believe your parents are expecting you."

"That's fine. Oh and Renka‑senpai?"

Renka stepped forward. "Yeah? What is it?"

"I won't be training with you tomorrow. There's something I need to do." He glanced at the broken bokken hilt.

"Yeah, looks like it." She hugged him. "Just add it to your tab of mooncakes you owe me."

"Alright." He hugged her back and then noticed Kensei winking at him. He had no idea why.

Deciding that it was time to go, he gave everyone else their goodbyes, shaking the hands of Saiga, Akisame, and Kensei. However, when shaking Kensei's hand, the Chinese master let out a giggle, which confused Issei. While at the same time, it made a slight shiver go down Renka's spine. He thanked them for helping him get patched up again. After that, he gave hugs to his fellow club members and then gathered his things.

Saiga stopped him. "Issei, may I ask something? I know you're training for your dream, but why do so when injured? Is it something that Mitsurugi told you?"

"Oh yeah, he told me that it's about consistency and commitment, like I told Kenichi-senpai earlier today, I kept spouting about being harem king. However, what was I doing to even achieve that and that was nothing, I didn't put any effort into it and just expected it to happen." He laughed softly. "When Mitsurugi-shishou helped me develop this dream to be a strong warrior, I remembered Goku and how he's always training, even when injured. I think he is one of the strongest anime characters out there. Although, I wouldn't mind a badass streak like Majin Vegeta, oh, sorry, Dragon Ball references."

"It's fine," Saiga said.

"Anyway, Mitsurugi-shishou also told me that I have to show up for myself because I'm my strongest soldier. He's usually hammering a bunch of lessons in my head, but one of the top 5 was to never stop learning. I guess that's why I took a similar path like Kenichi-senpai and learned multiple styles. The one that I have to work on is usually positive self-talk because I have doubts about myself. Shishou would tell me how doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will." Issei explained to them.

Akisame nodded. "That is quite accurate."

"Lots of philosophical stuff. It's cool when you break it down." Issei replied.

"Well," Akisame said, "I am a philosopher myself. I'd be happy to teach you more lessons as well."

"Really? That'd be great. It'd help me mentally and spiritually. Setsuka‑obasan helps me with that too."

Kenichi laughed. "My kaa‑san will get jealous if you call someone else 'obasan.'"

"I do call your kaa-san 'obasan' at least once. She reminds me of my obasan that moved away, my childhood friend's kaa-san. I just wish I can see her again one day. Hopefully, she's proud of me, you know... being able to grow out of my perverted phase. She was a second mother to me." Issei's voice wavered.

Miu smiled gently. "I'm sure you will. Just have faith." That last statement made Issei laugh, which confused Miu. "What?"

Issei calmed himself to answer. "That's something she would say." He wiped his eyes as that was something that had stuck with him about his 'aunt'. "Maybe you guys will get mad at me for continuing to say this, but thank you for reaching a hand out to me. I don't think anyone would have done so, since I was a pervert, but you guys did."

Ikki grinned. "It's what a true friend does."

Ukita nudged him. "Yeah, man. Also, I still owe you payback for beating me in that spar."

"I will look forward to it, another reason why I have to keep training. I have to surpass you, so none of you will have to worry about me." Issei told them. "At some point, I think I will face Freed again, but I will have to win for Kiba's sake and get the sword off of him."

Kisara smirked. "Oh yeah, you will." She resisted the urge to give him a noogie.

"Thanks, Kisara‑nee. Well… I'll see you all later. And thank you again, Fūrinji‑sama."

Saiga shook his head. "Considering how you view some of my team as family and they feel the same. Then please, call me Saiga."

"In that case, call me Ise, it's slightly distinctive from 'Issei', only those in my circle call me that. Huh, now that I think about it, I don't recall ever having Matsuda nor Motohama call me "Ise", unless they wanted something. I guess shishou was right about choosing my circle carefully. I know I'm not perfect or talented as any of you, but I hope through my efforts, you will be able to watch me grow."

Saiga smiled. "I look forward to it. And don't forget what I told you. Put that anger and determination into your fists and your training. Something will be born."

"Really? I wonder if that will work with my sensory skills that Setsuka-obasan is trying to teach me."

Kensei stroked his chin. "Perhaps, but in sensing, you should not get agitated, otherwise you won't be able to perceive what could be right in front of you."

Issei gasped. "Right… relax. I'm overthinking." Renka hugged him again.

"You see what I mean?" she said.

"Yeah…" He looked away, hiding the blush from the others at being hugged by the Chinese girl. "I better get going. And thanks for drying my clothes."

Akisame waved. "No worries."

They waved him goodbye as he entered the car that was waiting for him.

FLASHBACK END

Issei had gotten himself ready and had his stuff prepared, now he was just doing some light stretches in the living room. He had texted Kisara to text when she was here, so she didn't disturb his parents by honking.

Five minutes into his stretch, his phone lit up with a text notification.

Kisara: Let's roll, baby bro!

Issei sighed at the nickname but chuckled anyway. He grabbed his things and stepped outside.

"You ready?" Kisara asked as he got into the car.

"Yeah… huh?"

"What now?"

"Nothing. Your car's just… different from Ikki‑senpai's. The seat's more comfortable."

"Haha! We all got different tastes. How's the arm?" She backed out of the driveway.

"It still stings. I'll have Elize‑sensei look at it."

"The nurse? Oh yeah, you're close to her, huh."

"Uh huh, she's another person who I view as a big sister. She's carefree like you are, except unlike you, she doesn't give me noogies. She's the one that stitched me up after the tournament."

"That explains why Kenichi went to her office to see if you were there." Kisara mused, remembering their club president trying to seek out Issei after the dodgeball tournament.

"Yeah."

Kisara smirked. "You know you need to get stronger. We're working on your kicking speed today."

Issei straightened up. "Alright!"

Kisara stretched her arms behind his head to keep him close to her, while she was driving. "We also gotta work on that flexibility of yours. I'm glad you could pull off a spinning jump kick." She puffed her cheeks. "Man, I wish I could've seen it."

Issei laughed. "Maybe in a future tournament."

"With how often you're getting banged up, I hope you even make the next tournament."

"Hey, they had weapons! The first one wasn't my fault!"

"And the second one?" Kisara smirked.

"He said he was going to kill him, I wasn't going to let that happen, if it was you, I'd do the same thing, not just because you're my friend, but you are my family as well, Kisara-nee." He scratched his cheek. "Though I don't know how well you would get along with my parents, you're kind of rebellious and stubborn."

Kisara snorted with a chuckle. "I could say the same about you. But you're headstrong for good reason." Her tone softened. "I'd like to think that maybe someone did talk to you about your perversion, but you didn't fully listen. You may have gotten beaten up by the kendo club before, but you wouldn't listen. When you finally saw how your so-called friends betrayed you, filmed your beatdown, you were vulnerable. I think that broke your stubbornness back then." She tapped his forehead. "Of course, we built it back up. But this time, it comes from me, ne?"

"Right!" Issei laughed.

"Good. You got all your stuff?"

"Yeah, since you don't have first period off like Ikki-senpai, I got my bentos, school uniform, now dried, and everything else, so I can shower at the gym and we can head to school straight from there."

"Nice." Kisara pulled into the gym parking lot.

As they got out, Issei noticed that he didn't see Ikki's car around and figured that the guy stayed in, since Kaname was already with him. It was probably the only thing that he could admit he was envious about. Most of them were in relationships, he already had his plan of graduating and maybe meeting a girl in college. Yesterday's events told him that no girl at the school wanted him, of course, his density showed to see that a few were interested, and he was friendly with them, but he didn't want to lose that building friendship.

They entered the gym, and Issei's appearance surprised Hikari.

"Huh? Hey, you're okay!" Hikari called from the front desk.

"What?" Issei blinked.

Kisara answered for him. "We texted Mizunuma yesterday about what happened."

"Yeah," Hikari said. "He was freaking out, when he was with me at my apartment, if it wasn't for the storm, he probably would have raced to you guys."

Issei bowed. "I'm sorry if I ruined your evening."

Hikari tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, my injury caused my senpai to focus on me, instead of you, which ruined your evening, didn't it? I didn't mean to get attacked, I just saw a friend in danger and went to help him."

Hikari eyed his bandaged right hand. "I'm guessing that's why your right hand is bandaged up, huh?"

"Yeah." Issei nodded.

"That's pretty brave of you, but also reckless, since you didn't know the guy had a weapon." Hikari commented.

"Well, actually…" Issei scratched his cheek.

"You did, didn't you?" she deadpanned.

Kisara chimed in. "Oh yeah, he did. Long sword. Hard to miss."

"Definitely reckless," Hikari sighed.

Issei bowed his head. "Yeah, I know… Wait, did Mizunuma‑senpai go home after the rain?"

"No, he stayed at my place. I made him breakfast and lunch before I left, so he could just shower and then head out. Hopefully my roommate doesn't eat his share."

"…Lucky," Issei muttered, pouting.

It would be nice to have someone cook for him, but it was the opposite for him. This is considering that he has now been cooking for Raichi after Miki deemed him decent to cook on his own.

Kisara raised a brow. "What's with the face?"

"I was just thinking how lucky it is that senpai has got someone to do that for him, I'll have to wait a year and half or two years before that ever happens."

Kisara frowned. "I don't think..."

"You heard them yesterday, Kisara‑nee. They wanted me to die." He trudged toward the men's locker room.

Hikari blinked. "What was that about?"

Kisara sighed. "We had our ball tournament yesterday, Issei developed a strategy, which helped us win our dodgeball match. The problem is we were against the "popular" club, the reason why I call it that is because it's filled with the most popular people of the school. Despite his growth, everyone still sees Issei for the pervert that he used to be at the beginning of the year. It's been months since he has done anything perverted, we worked on building him up, but as you can see, shit hit the fan. You got the school calling for your head and then you get your arm nearly sliced off hours later, yesterday was definitely not his best day."

"I'm surprised he even wants to train," Hikari said.

"Yeah," Kisara laughed. "All of us, but he's got that determination factor in him, he sees yesterday as a wake up call, a gap of where he is at versus his opponent. He also wants to get stronger to be able to help his friend."

"Well," Hikari smiled, "that friend is lucky. Loyalty like that is rare."

"Too bad those two bozos who duped him couldn't see it."

Hikari shrugged. "He also sounded envious, you never know, maybe that girl will fall into his lap one day, could be today, tomorrow, if they hear about what he did yesterday from his friend, then maybe..."

Kisara shook her head. "The girl part may happen at some point, but I can't agree on the second part. I don't think his popularity will increase. If it does, it would be in a negative way because those two bozos love to spread false rumors about him."

"Why didn't he kick their asses?"

A calm voice answered behind them. "Because to injure an opponent is to injure yourself. To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace… by Morihei Ueshiba."

Hikari blinked. "Huh?"

Kisara waved. "I'm gonna change." She gave a wave and headed to the women's locker room.

She patted Issei on the shoulder as she walked past him on the way.

Hikari turned back to Issei. "What do you mean by that quote?"

"Well… hurting them hurts me. Not physically, but in other ways, as I would be suspended for inciting violence. I don't want to cause problems for my club. Especially Renka‑senpai. She would get on my ass, which she has already saved said ass before. I don't want to add more to the tab of massages and mooncakes I owe her."

Hikari smirked. "So does she interest you?"

"Huh?"

"This Renka. Is she attractive?" Hikari egged on, she was curious about what Issei liked.

"Uh… yeah?" Issei answered, but still confused at what she was aiming for.

"Well, why don't you ask her out? You seemed jealous about me cooking for Mizunuma, so why don't you ask her out and see how things go?" Hikari suggested.

"Um, no, I don't want to ruin our friendship, I mean she trains me and it would be awkward if I ask and just get rejected, so I'll have to find someone else." Issei answered, but additionally, he was thinking, 'Plus she likes someone else.' He was aware of the girls that had a crush on his senpai, thanks to Raichi, and from the actions that he had seen.

"I guess that makes sense," Hikari sighed in understanding why Issei wouldn't push that boundary. "I mean if I rejected Mizunuma, I wouldn't be seeing him often. With you, that rejection would make things awkward, since you're usually with her, but don't worry, someone will come for you."

"You think so?" Issei looked at her and she could see the hope in his eyes, wanting to believe that what she said was true. "I mean you didn't like me that much when I first got here."

"Would you have told me you were a pervert?" Hikari asked.

"Yeah, I mean if we became friends, I would explain my past to you." Issei answered, "One of the girls that I somewhat hang out with, I straight up just told her and I guess we're cool, but she seems a little more provocative at times. I think she just does that to tease me about said perversion."

"I see." Hikari nodded, storing this information. "Well, like I said. someone will come for you."

"If you say so..." Issei began to say before he ducked as Kisara swooped in.

Kisara pouted. "I swear those instincts of yours. C'mere." She opened up her arms to him.

"I don't want a noogie, though." Issei whined like a child. "My head injury..."

"Oh, I know. Now c'mere." Kisara gestured with her hands for Issei to come to her.

Issei groaned and trudged his way into Kisara's arms for her to give him a gentle noogie and dragged him toward the kicking bags.

"See you later, Hikari!" Kisara waved.

"Try not to hurt yourself." Hikari warned.

"I won't!" Kisara answered back.

"I wasn't talking to you." Hikari said with a chuckle as she watched the pseudo siblings walk away.

Kisara burst out laughing at Hikari's response. She was aware of Issei's hardheadedness and it seems like Mizunuma had informed Hikari of this trait. Issei just grumbled as Kisara continued to drag him off.

At the kicking bag, Kisara released him and crossed her arms.

"Alright. Let's see that flexibility of yours."

"Huh?" Issei blinked.

"How high can you kick? Show me."

"Alright." Issei inhaled, took his stance. "Hyah!"

Smack!

From what Kisara could see, his kick was higher than when she started training him before the tournament.

"Nice. Just a little more and you'll be kicking people in the head. Right now, you're hitting neck and shoulder height. Now... reload!"

Issei shifted instantly, foot down, then snapped another kick upward.

"Reload!" Kisara barked.

Issei snapped another kick into the bag.

"Give me two more, then bring out that spinning back kick."

Issei followed her instructions, sending two kicks, showing off the reload speed, which Kisara took note of. After the second kick, she watched his mobility. She watched him shift his feet and hips, now instead of kicking with right foot. With his spin, he kicked with his left heel instead and forced the bag to slide back.

'He's gotten faster,' she thought, while nodding in approval.

Issei got back in his stance, he was in a ready position to dish out another kick, depending on what she ordered.

'Like a soldier at the ready,' Kisara grinned. "You've gotten faster."

"But that speed wasn't enough to knock down Freed," Issei muttered. "I had to surprise him when he charged at Kiba."

"I guess." Kisara leaned against the wall. "Double kick on each side."

Issei fired off two right‑leg kicks, shifted his hips, then hit two left‑leg kicks.

"You really want to beat this guy, huh?" She asked.

"Well… he's a danger to you and everyone else. If I can put him down, then maybe…"

"Maybe?"

"Maybe Kiba could have a little peace."

"It's not going to be that easy, he has an ego." Kisara looked up at the ceiling. "We all do."

"You're going to give me a philosophical lesson, too?"

She smirked. "I wouldn't be a good big sister if I didn't teach you something, now would I?"

"You're teaching me how to fight… with my legs." Issei countered.

"Yeah, but this is more meaningful… I think." Kisara shrugged. "Every philosophical lesson you learn has a meaning."

"So how does Kiba's ego make things difficult?"

"This applies to you too." Kisara crossed her arms. "Your ego can mess you up. You've already let it happen to you, but you are overcoming it. When you let others' words get to you, it's like drinking poison."

"Yeah, yeah… controlling my emotions." Issei relaxed his stance.

"Yeah, that's another way of looking at it." She said as her eyes narrowed and her tone sharpened. "Triple kick right side, double left, then another spinning back kick."

She nearly laughed as Issei almost stumbled back into his stance and performed the techniques that she called out. His recovery speed was getting better. She knew with Issei's ego, he was not going to let his loss to Freed go and eventually, Issei may confront him at some point. Unless they were able to handle the Kokabiel intrusion before Issei decided to begin hunting down Freed himself.

"So… what was your ego?" Issei asked between breaths. "Was it those guys that you told me about?"

"Yeah, they didn't think a girl could beat them and it drove me to no end to be better than them. We live life with expectations and that's driven off of ego." Kisara sighed. "Ego is tied to hate, it's tied to greed, it's tied to all of our sufferings, we have to die to our egos and that takes work."

"I guess mine is based on perversion and what others think of me, but before I didn't have that before, I didn't let their word get to me. But now…"

"You change your life with the renewing of one's mind. Your life changed when you moved away from that perversion, didn't it?"

"…I guess."

"You had only those two bastards and no club. Now, look at you," Kisara pointed towards him. "You gained some muscle, you're somewhat of a competent fighter. You're taking interest in other things such as learning how to use weaponry, you got yourself a job that helps with responsibility and also helps you get paid to take that special lady out on a date."

"That won't be for a while."

"Alright, it may not be Renka, it could be someone else, it could be both." Kisara shrugged.

"Why would I want both?" Issei asked as he wondered, 'How did she know about Renka? Am I that obvious?'

Kisara grinned. "My dear little brother, you've seen how those girls flock to the so-called princes. If they decide to have multiple girlfriends, do you think any of them would be upset?"

"I'm not looking for a harem. Just one special lady."

"Something tells me that won't be the case for you." Kisara chuckled, but before he could ask what she meant, she gave the next order. "Now... spinning jump kick!"

"Ha!" Issei launched into the air, spinning cleanly, landing almost flawlessly. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, like I said, you're putting on muscle, some girls like that and you are showing other sides of yourself, not just your perversion."

"Okay, then why did you name Renka-senpai, specifically, I also hang out with Raichi, too?" Issei asked, since the thought had been on his mind.

"Tch. Don't remind me of that twerp." Kisara flicked her hair. "Anyway, those hands of yours roam Renka's body, don't they?"

"Well, she wants massages, so I give them. It's the least I can do since she trains me the most." Issei countered.

"Fair enough. You also give Ikki shoulder massages. Which makes me wonder…" She smirked. "What do I get?"

"Huh? Oh… hmm…" His shoulders slumped as he began to wonder.

"That's right. I get to give you noogies. So quit dodging them and accept your fate."

"Never!"

"Huh?" Kisara snapped a kick straight into his chest.

"AGH!" Issei flew backward, skidding across the mats.

"You always have to stay ready. I thought I told you that."

"Ugh… yeah. You did." He winced, sitting up.

"Now let's get back... huh?" Kisara paused. Issei was staring past her, toward a window. "What is it?"

"What's that?" Issei pointed.

"Let's see…" Kisara followed his gaze. "Oh, that's a rock-climbing wall."

"Really?" Issei looked between her and the rock wall.

"Yeah, but you kind of have one arm at the moment, I don't think your grip on your right hand will help you much. Are you interested or something?"

"Well… I need to explore other interests and it looks interesting, like another form of training."

"Hmm, you'll have to speak with Kaname about that, it's another one of her interests. Ukita, Ikki, and I usually join her on some weekends to do it." Kisara informed him.

"Oh, well, um… I don't want to impose."

"How would you... oh." She realized. He didn't want to third‑wheel. "Well… hmm…"

"Yeah." He knew she caught on. Kisara pulled him into a one‑armed hug.

"A girl will come around, you'll see. You're a good guy, Ise, you were just with the wrong crowd. Now you have branched out from that crowd and now, you will have to find your groove. So far, I think we have helped mold you up nicely. You're…"

"Not my past," he whispered, remembering the song he'd sung.

"Yeah... huh, weird. We already got the sibling connection going of finishing each other's sentences." She chuckled, giving him a light punch in the shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, I was just remembering a song." Issei raised an eyebrow at her.

"Right, well..." She threw a kick at his head, which Issei ducked instantly. "There he is."

"After the kick to the chest, I figured that I should stay ready."

"Just like I taught you," Kisara said, hands on her hips. "Anyway, we can do a singalong on the way to school. I don't think I've ever heard you sing. We've got about an hour to get you out of your funk for a possible rematch."

"Rematch?" Issei blinked.

Kisara gave him a flat look. "You think I don't know you? We have seen how you react to a loss, you're going to get your get back on the dude, who attacked you. I can just feel it and as your mentor, I cannot get in the fight of my student. I can only train you, so you don't lose again because if you do, well... you won't get a third chance because you will be dead."

"It's not just my fight," Issei said quietly. "It's Kiba's too."

"And I bet he's like you... already preparing for round two." Kisara jabbed a thumb at the bag. "So get up. Let's keep going. I want you to see that dude every time you kick that bag. Put your anger into it and kick his ass!"

"Right!"

"Now... your opponent dodges what would've been a roundhouse. What do you do?"

"Adjust to hit with my heel."

"Thus?"

"A tornado axe kick."

"Let's see it."

"Hai!" Issei spun, heel slicing downward with force.

What Kisara didn't know and what no one knew was that the priest's dying face was burned into Issei's mind. That expression, frozen in terror, haunted him. It fueled him. He didn't want another innocent person to end up like that. He didn't trust law enforcement to handle Freed. Not when the man wielded a sword that could cut through steel. Not when police rarely carried weapons themselves in Japan.

He couldn't bear the thought of seeing one of his friends lying there instead.

He also knew that he would need a weapon, an actual weapon this time, since his bokken was destroyed. He would also need to speak with his uncle about the crystal that he found. For some reason, it just called to him to pick it up, but he had yet to speak about it to the others. He was glad that he still had possession of it, so he could try to get his uncle's number from his parents.

Not just him, but his aunt as well, it had been so long since he heard their voices. Maybe he could speak with Shidou again and then they could catch up on what each other has been doing. He knows Shidou would scold him for peeping on girls, but he would be appreciative of Issei trying to change or at least Issei hoped so. He knew Shidou would also be willing to help him as that is what friends do, they help each other. It's no wonder that they caused trouble for their parents because of their antics and of course, helping each other out like friends do.

The hour had gone by and while Issei and Kisara were preparing to head to school, the student council was preparing for the day at Kuoh Academy. Thanks to the temporary truce that they had with Saiga, Sona was informed of the attack. As a result, she warned her peerage members about staying late and that they should not be alone against Freed.

"How did it go yesterday?" Tomoe asked.

"How did what go?" Genshirou blinked.

Reya tilted her head. "Didn't you go get the statues Hyoudou‑san asked for?"

"We did," Momo said.

"They were awesome!" Tsubasa grinned. "Didn't know he could make stuff like that."

"You went too?" Tomoe asked.

"Yeah. Ruruko, Momo, and I tagged along." The blue haired rook answered.

"The statues were well‑made," Momo added.

"Almost like the real thing," Genshirou said. "Gengo loves them."

"Kaho was jealous," Momo giggled.

"No. She was more than a little jealous," Genshirou corrected. "I know my sister."

"Then get Hyoudou to make something she'd like," Tomoe suggested.

"Not that easy. One, he doesn't trust us. Two…" Genshirou lowered his voice. "He was attacked last night. He might be traumatized."

"Not traumatized enough," Tsubasa said. "Saw him heading to the nurse's office this morning."

"But Kiba‑san hasn't shown up yet," Reya murmured, glancing at the empty seat.

"Oh right," Tomoe teased. "You have a crush on him like Tsubaki‑senpai."

Reya flushed.

Tsubasa laughed. "Well, you're into younger guys, Tomoe, and I like guys who are not afraid to get dirty, if you know what I mean."

Momo smirked. "So you wouldn't mind if Kaichou recruits Hyoudou then? Considering he would be a rook, alongside you?"

"I wouldn't mind," Tsubasa shrugged. "Unless Gen wants to step up his game."

That last statement made Genshirou turn red.

"Hands off," Momo warned.

"Hey, if you're willing to share with Ruruko," Tsubasa winked. "I'm sure you can share with me."

This not only intensified Genshirou's blush but also made the girls behind them squeal.

"Yura‑sama just winked at me!" One of the girls announced, which provoked the ire of other girls.

"No, she was winking at me!" Another exclaimed.

"No, it was me!" A third girl proclaimed.

As the other girls argued, Tsubasa groaned as she covered her face with her hand.

Tomoe smirked. "Ah, yes, the perks of being a bishoujo with a bishounen face, you can have male fans and of course, female fans."

Tsubasa groaned. "I swear they think I'm a lesbian or something."

Genshirou cleared his throat. "Going back to what you said, Tsubasa. You saw Hyoudou going to the nurse's office, did you see any injuries on him?"

"Hmm, well, his head was bandaged up," Tsubasa said. "And he seemed to favor his right side, but he appeared fine more or less."

"What are you thinking about, Gen‑kun?" Momo asked.

"Well, if Hyoudou came out okay, I can only assume that Kiba was with him as they were both attacked, so it wasn't separate. It must mean that they worked together."

"Oh! Kaichou said Kiba had a cut on his shoulder," Tomoe added. "That's… what she said, but I never saw it for myself."

"I guess he's still mad because he didn't get Excalibur." Reya murmured.

"That's likely the case," Momo agreed. "But why was Hyoudou with him? I mean after the ball tournament, they were separate and Gremory-senpai noted that Kiba-san left their club alone."

"Don't forget," Genshirou said, "Hyoudou has his own club."

"But they left early to celebrate their victory," Tsubasa pointed out.

Genshirou chuckled. "Damn it…"

"Are you alright?" Reya asked.

"Yeah, I just realized that despite what was said about him, Hyoudou stayed behind to train himself more," He clenched his fist. "I'll need to start training myself more, so I can be a better piece for Kaichou, so I can protect my siblings better, and also you girls."

Tsubasa grinned. "Want to work out with me for a change?"

"Sure, I think we all should, it's a matter of time before we all get into a rating game, so we gotta be ready." Genshirou told them.

"Right!" the Sitri peerage chimed.

Issei had gone to Elize's office first after Kisara and he arrived at school because he needed his arm wrapped again. He was thankful that the Kuoh school was long sleeved, so all he had to do was keep his hand covered. He did give a quick hello to the others and as he walked away, he did hear Kisara explaining his bandage situation.

Elize finished wrapping his forearm. "Alright. How does it feel?"

Issei flexed his hand. "Whoa… it hurts way less. Thanks, Elize‑nee."

"No problem. But are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I got attacked by some freak dressed as a priest."

"A priest? Really?" Elize raised an eyebrow. " I thought the church here in town has been inactive for years."

"Yeah. My ojisan worked there before he moved away with his family."

"Ah, Shidou, right?"

"Yeah. His dad is my surrogate uncle."

Elize blinked. "Huh, to be able to call his father your uncle and have no blood relation, your two families had to have been close."

"Yeah, I told you, we did everything together. Shidou and I, in the year that we were together."

"I bet, then after that, you were on a downward spiral, you had no friends, met some old man in the park that told you and other stories about breasts, which reignited your perversion. You've already told me that the perversion runs in your family, but that old man only helped amplify it." Elize deduced.

Issei nodded. "Yep."

"Well," she smiled, "you swinging by for lunch?"

"If Raichi isn't around, then yeah, sure," Issei said.

Elize raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have any other friends?"

"Hmm… in my grade? Not really. Besides Raichi and Yuuma." He thought for a moment. "I guess I could see if Kiba's around."

"It's always good to mingle, you know."

"Yeah… I'm not so good with that." He scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, I know," Elize teased. "You already told me how your parents and Shidou's parents introduced you two. But it's a pity, though."

"What is?"

"I was just thinking… if only Shidou or you were a girl, would it have been love at first sight?"

Issei laughed. "Who knows? But it was friendship at first sight. We even had a secret code like morse code. We'd tap our thighs to plot out our next course of action."

"You really were a troublemaker. And you had a partner in crime."

"Yeah. Oh, and thanks for the bandage on my head." He pointed to the large patch covering his cut. Much better than having his whole head wrapped.

"Well, the cut reopened," Elize said. "Whoever did it had some fucking good aim."

It was not often that one of his 'sisters' would curse, usually, it was Kisara, then it was Elize. Yu-Mi would rarely curse and if she did, it's usually because of Elize annoying her or in the bedroom, which Elize likes to imply. Shigure never curses and she is usually soft spoken, but she is the highest in badassery, according to Issei.

"I guess so." Issei could only nod as he remembered how Freed hit him.

"Anyway," Elize said, grabbing a pen, "let me write you a slip. If you swing by, Yu‑Mi is going to flip."

"Hey, I gotta embrace the bad days." He shrugged.

"Maybe, but considering that she gave you advice and then you got attacked, she might put some blame on herself."

"She shouldn't. She didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Elize handed him the slip. "Here you go. Try to take care of yourself, okay?"

"Thanks. And I will." He hugged her. "See you later, Elize‑nee."

"Indeed, Ise‑kun." She ruffled his hair and kissed the top of his head.

He headed out of the office and since class had started, so there was no one in the hallways. He pulled out his phone and texted the others that he was all good and that Elize got him patched up. He did trace the small scar on his right cheek that he got from Freed. It would be his reminder for him to get stronger, along with his other injuries. His legs were sore from the training that he did with Kisara this morning. It gave him more of a surge as he was looking forward to the challenge.

'I may have lost physically,' he thought, 'but I can't give in just yet. As shishou said, life's battles are won not just on the battlefield. My battle is just beginning.'

He knocked on his classroom door, which his sensei allowed for him to enter and of course, he heard the whispers. Since when he walked in, it was his right side that was facing the class. So they all could see his bandaged hand and wondered what was up.

"So kind of you to join us, Hyoudou-san," Sazaki said.

"Sorry, sensei. I had to stop by the nurse to check on my wounds." He handed over the slip.

"Well, I hope you're alright."

"I'll be fine." He headed to his seat.

Whispers followed him. His right side faced the class, so everyone could see the bandaged hand. The murmurs were predictable.

"Serves him right."

"He probably deserved it."

"What did he do this time?"

He made no reaction as he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction like he once did before. The only one who seemed to show some concern was Asia as she was with Rias, when Sona contacted them about the attack on Yuuto and Issei. Takeshi had been in the bathroom, but he became aware when they joined him for a bath.

Kaname, Hibiki, Sakaki, and Chiaki had arrived at the station to see if they could find the two exorcists before Freed. At the same time, they were also looking out for Freed and seeing if he would show up. Kaname also had her extendable wooden staff at the ready as well.

"Alright," Sakaki said, scanning the area. "Our focus is the exorcists, but keep an eye out for Freed. Although…"

"What is it?" Hibiki asked.

"This shit would have been easier if Saiga simply had his private jet pick up the exorcists. I know he has contacts within the Church, when he had seeked repentance." Sakaki grunted.

"For his time with Yami?" Chiaki asked.

"Right. Then they could've been picked up from the private hangar and escorted to our place. But I don't think his contacts trust him that much."

"Makes sense," Kaname nodded. "Then we could have gotten names of the exorcists and held out a sign, similar to how some people do that for VIP travelers or when soldiers come home."

"True," Chiaki agreed.

Sakaki pointed. "Hibiki, Kaname, you're going to have to enter, while Chiaki and I will scout on the outside, our builds could draw unwanted attention."

"Like Freed," Chiaki added. "He would suspect something."

"Wouldn't it have been better for them to send Raichi?" Kaname asked.

"Unless she's at school," Hibiki said.

"Maybe we can text the others?" Chiaki suggested.

"Maybe ask Issei," Kaname said. "They're in the same grade."

"Shigure made sure he had all our numbers," Hibiki said. "Though Niijima could've given it to us, too."

Sakaki crossed his arms. "How close is he to her anyway?"

"You mean Issei?" Kaname asked.

"Yeah, I know the Elder liked to bust Shigure about it, but guess it seems true, Shigure is still on edge. She's normally like that when one of us gets hurt, so it looks like she considers him as one."

"Guess so," Chiaki said. "How is he?"

"From what I hear, the kid is tough." Sakaki replied. "I want to see him implement his ki, but he has to utilize his emotions, especially his anger. I know Kenichi teaches him some karate, but he could use it more. He spends too much time with Kensei's daughter."

"He also spends time with Kisara," Kaname added.

"So taekwondo, boxing, and Chinese kenpo, in addition to learning kenjutsu from Mitsurugi and Shigure." Sakaki smirked. "If he wants to, I won't be surprised if he starts learning how to make weapons and armor from either one of them."

"Hmm, he could grow stronger, though." Chiaki said.

"Well, we're heading in," Hibiki said. "Come on, Kaname."

"Right." Kaname nodded and followed after him.

"I'll take the south terminal," Chiaki said.

"Looks like the north belongs to me," Sakaki said. "Make sure your earpieces work and remain in contact with one another."

"Understood," they said, exiting the parking lot area and going to their respective areas.

"Try to hone in on holy energy," Sakaki said through the earpiece. "That should help us find either one of them."

"Got it," Hibiki replied.

Meanwhile at the arrivals was Gorou Hyoudou, he had been informed by Touji that Irina texted him that they landed. He was not going to lie, he felt nervous as he had not seen the girl in more than a decade. He was not sure if she would still recognize him, considering how he had built himself a better physique, alongside Issei to not get left behind.

He knew that Miki and Saori had started preparing lunch when he left, so Irina and her friend could eat, after all, it was a long flight. Then they had to take the train to travel to Kuoh. He had also helped with Mototsugu to prepare the guest room with a new bed, so they could live comfortably. Hibiki saw him and was surprised to see him there, so he decided to greet him.

"Hyoudou-san?" Hibiki greeted the man.

Gorou turned. "Hmm? Oh, Hibiki, right?"

"That's correct. I attended the barbecue that you held."

"Ah, yes. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Just waiting for someone."

"Same here." Gorou chuckled nervously. "Not sure she will recognize me, considering that I cut off my tufts, which Issei inherited."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, but his tufts are tied into that ponytail of his that he is growing."

"Nothing wrong with long hair," Hibiki said as he showcased his own long locks. "And earlier, you said 'she.' Is that correct?"

"Uh huh. She's like my surrogate daughter. Haven't seen her in over a decade."

"I see. Well, I'll leave you to it." Hibiki glanced at the sign in katakana. "Shidou... Irina."

"Oh, yeah. That's her name."

"Right. Take care."

"You as well."

Hibiki paused mid‑stride. "Why did that sound familiar to me…?" He muttered.

Kaname noticed. "You got something, Hibiki?"

"No. I just ran into Issei's father. Looks like he's picking up his surrogate daughter."

"Surrogate daughter?"

"Yeah. Guess her family was close to his."

Sakaki's voice crackled through the earpiece. "Don't dilly‑dally."

"Don't worry," Hibiki replied. "I let him be and..."

Chiaki cut in. "What is it, Hibiki?"

"I felt holy energy just now."

Sakaki's tone sharpened. "That could be Freed. Chiaki, seal off your exit. I'll seal mine. Kaname, Hibiki, go find the source."

"You got it," Kaname said.

"Yes, sir," Chiaki added.

"I'm already investigating," Hibiki said, moving quickly.

Unfortunately, he was heading the wrong way because he should have turned back towards Gorou. The energy had come from Excalibur Destruction, but a seal was reapplied to it. Xenovia had been instructed to do so by Ewald to make sure that the weapon could not be sensed. Considering now that they were in devil territory.

Gorou was tapping his foot as he waited with his sign. He felt a little relaxed, seeing one of his son's acquaintances. However, now that nervousness has come back. He checked the time as he felt that they had gotten enough time to get their luggage.

"Maybe they got a taxi? No, that wouldn't make sense unless she still remembers our address." he muttered.

A voice called out. "Ojisan?"

Gorou looked up. "Hmm?" A twin‑tailed brunette stood before him, accompanied by a short‑haired bluenette. "Oh, sorry," Gorou said quickly. "Am I in your way? My bad."

"But you have a sign with my name," the brunette said.

"Eh, Irina!? Um… I'm Hyoudou Gorou…"

"It is you, Gorou‑ojisan!" Irina dropped her luggage and hugged him tightly. "It's been so long!"

"Thank you. Erm, this is…"

"Right, your friend." Gorou turned to the bluenette. "Nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy your stay in Japan. I'm Irina's ojisan, Hyoudou Gorou."

The girl blinked, confused.

Irina whispered, "Ojisan, Xenovia is still learning Japanese. Try English."

"Right." Gorou cleared his throat and began to speak English towards the girl. "Hello. My name is Gorou Hyoudou. I am Irina's uncle. I hope you enjoy your stay."

"Thank you," Xenovia said, shaking his hand.

"I'll help translate for you, ojisan," Irina said in Japanese.

"Thank you. Come on, let's get your luggage. Your obasan can't wait to see you."

"Right." Irina turned to Xenovia in English. "We're heading to the car. Let's grab our luggage."

"Okay." Xenovia nodded and began to collect her luggage.

Gorou reached for a bandaged package, but Xenovia snatched it first.

"Not this one," she said in simple Japanese, words she'd learned from the Shidou family.

"My family taught her some Japanese. Her guardian sent her to live with us in England." Irina explained after catching Gorou's look of surprise at Xenovia speaking Japanese.

"Oh, I see." Gorou picked up the remaining bags. "Your obasan can help during your stay. How did you two meet?"

"A few years ago," Irina said. "I went to Italy when I was fourteen and that is how we met and we've been partners since. Xenovia has been living with us for the past year. However, we usually are in the Vatican, the church in Italy."

"Ah, that explains your father's message about why you weren't flying in from England."

Irina smiled. "How did you find us?"

"Well, Ise's been talking about you. You gave him inspiration."

"Ise?" Xenovia asked, hearing that nickname again.

"Yes," Gorou said in English. "He's my son. But you should call him 'Issei,' since you don't know him yet."

"Irina has talked about him," Xenovia said. "She said he had a fascination for big breasts."

Gorou burst out laughing. "Yeah, he did... or does. I don't know. He's more focused on other things now."

"Such as?" Xenovia asked, her tone flat but edged with cold curiosity.

"His training. And his job."

"Ise‑kun has a job?" Irina asked.

"Yes," Gorou said in Japanese. "Just like you. But it seems you've been doing yours longer."

They got to the car, and he began to pack up their luggage into the trunk and some in the backseat.

Back in the station, Hibiki was agitated as he could not find the source of the holy power. He also did not see Gorou leave either, but if he did, he might have questioned the bandaged package that Xenovia was holding dear.

Hibiki scowled. "Damn it. I lost them."

"Same here," Kaname said.

"They likely sealed the holy energy," Sakaki replied. "Keep looking."

"No suspicious activity on my end," Chiaki added.

"Same here," Sakaki said.

"Let me check the entrance we came from," Hibiki said. "That's the only place they could've exited."

"I saw nothing," Kaname said. "But I did see Issei's father leave with two girls."

Of course, when she had seen the trio, Xenovia had placed Excalibur Destruction in the vehicle and Kaname didn't see it. Otherwise, she would have told them about the mysterious cargo that left with the Hyoudou patriarch.

"It's his surrogate daughter," Hibiki replied, remembering what Gorou had told him.

"That makes sense," Kaname said. "She looked about Issei's age."

"Keep looking," Sakaki ordered.

"On it, I'll double back." Hibiki muttered, frustrated that he'd let Freed or someone of interest slip by.

Meanwhile, Gorou, Irina, and Xenovia were heading back to the Hyoudou residence. Irina sat in the passenger seat, while Xenovia sat in the seat behind Irina.

"Ojisan?" Irina asked.

"Hm?" Gorou nodded, but kept his eyes on the road.

"Can we get some cheesecake?"

"For what?"

"For Ise‑kun."

Gorou chuckled. "I think he should be getting something for you, not the other way around."

"But I heard something happened to him. I want to make sure he's okay." Irina pleaded.

"Oh? So, you heard about last night?" Gorou asked. "I know your obasan was talking to your mother about it, before making sure I was coming to get you."

"Last night?" Irina raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what happened?"

"You don't know?" Gorou blinked. "Er… maybe you should wait for Ise to get home, maybe he will talk to you about it. You two were very close with one another, but I must warn you, he thinks you are a boy."

Irina groaned. "So they were right. I knew I should've tried to introduce myself informally."

"What's the problem?" Xenovia asked, she wasn't sure what they were saying, but judging from Irina's reaction, there was an issue.

Irina switched to English. "Oh, sorry, Xenovia, we left you out of the conversation, but you remember when we were in my mother's office and they told me how Ise-kun thinks I'm a boy named Shidou?"

Xenovia nodded. "Yes."

"Well, ojisan just confirmed it." She turned back to Gorou and spoke in Japanese. "But why didn't you guys ever tell him, ojisan?"

"Well, it was not our right to say, but it might have shattered him a little with what he was thinking before."

Irina tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"You'll have to ask him, I'm sure he'll tell you. You're childhood friends, you two probably have secrets that we don't know."

"I guess…" Irina sighed. "But the cheesecake would help."

"Hmm?" Xenovia asked.

Irina smiled and said in English. "Cheesecake, Xenovia."

Gorou glanced at Xenovia through the rear‑view mirror. "Hey, Xenovia, do you like your time in England?" he asked in English, making sure she felt included.

Xenovia answered in Japanese, her tone flat but polite. "It's… okay. But it can be gloomy. It rains quite a bit, but you get used to it."

"Oh?" Gorou blinked. "So they taught you well. You understood what we were talking about?"

"I know most things," she said. "But not all. I'm not very good at understanding katakana."

"Ah, well, that's a relief. Though why did Irina‑chan say you only knew a little?"

Xenovia's expression didn't change. "I was more or less playing a joke on her, she tends to tease me from time to time, so I decided to give her a taste of her own medicine."

Gorou chuckled. "I see." Glancing over at Irina, who was pouting at the window.

Xenovia continued, "I should inform you that we are not here for a vacation. We are here on church business."

"I understand," Gorou said. "Touji told me. But could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Could you act like you don't know Japanese in front of my wife?" Gorou asked.

Irina whipped around. "Ojisan, that wouldn't be nice to obasan."

"But teasing your friend is nice?" Gorou countered.

"It's harmless teasing! Like… her hair." Irina pointed out.

"What about it?" Gorou asked, sparing a quick glance at Xenovia.

Irina pointed. "She dyed a part of it green as a means of fashion."

"Oh?" Gorou smiled. "Nothing wrong with it. I think it makes you look more dynamic, Xenovia‑san."

"Thank you." Xenovia gave a small bow.

"I complimented your hair too," Irina muttered.

"After you laughed at it," Xenovia replied, voice still monotone.

Gorou laughed. "Alright, alright. Let's go get that cheesecake."

"Because it's your son's favorite?" Xenovia asked.

"Yeah. How did...?" Gorou blinked. "Huh. You really did talk about him, Irina‑chan. Well, not to worry because he has talked about you, too."

Irina blushed. "But he thinks I'm a boy."

"Well, now you can prove him otherwise." Gorou chuckled as he turned toward the store. "I'll let Miki know we took a detour."

Irina pumped her fist. "Cheesecake!"

"Cheesecake," Gorou echoed, laughing.

"Yes!"

Xenovia sighed internally. 'She's enjoying this too much.' She turned her gaze to the passing scenery.

It was time for lunch and Issei was heading towards Raichi's classroom, so he could have lunch with her and Yuuma. If neither one of them, then he supposed that he could ask Yuuto and maybe talk about what happened last night.

Instead, he ran into the members of the student council and normally, he would have sighed upon seeing them, but this time, he was calm.

"Yo, Hyoudou," Genshirou called. "Looking for Raichi?"

"Uh, yeah. Were she or Yuuma here? They didn't answer my texts."

"Sorry," Momo said. "They weren't here today."

"Damn… What about Kiba?"

Reya shook her head. "He wasn't here either. Sorry."

"Oh." Issei's shoulders slumped. The peerage members exchanged uneasy glances as he looked genuinely disappointed. Then he perked up. "Saji, did your brother like the statues?"

Genshirou brightened. "Yeah, he did. Thanks. But you made my little sister jealous."

"Well, you stopped by the shop and gave a kimono design she made, when you came with Hanakai‑san."

"Oh, that's right," Momo said.

"Kimono?" Tomoe asked.

"Yeah," Genshirou said. "He helps one of the owners design them."

"Only some," Issei corrected. "Are you still bringing her for measurements?"

"Ah, I forgot to tell her. She seemed more infatuated with the statues."

"I see. Anyway, gotta go..."

"Hey," Tsubasa cut in. "What's with the cut on your cheek?"

Issei's expression darkened. "I was attacked while trying to help someone. Have a good day."

He walked away before they could respond.

He headed toward Elize's office until he was stopped by another voice that was familiar to him.

"Hyoudou‑san?"

"Oh... hey, Ayatsuji‑senpai." He greeted his senior.

"Where are you heading?"

"To the nurse's office for lunch. The people that I wanted to speak with aren’t here, so I figured I would hang there."

"Well… I could join you, if you don't mind."

"Don't you have some student council stuff to do? I don't want to impose on you."

"It's fine. So... the rooftop?" Ayase asked.

"Uh, sure. But let me drop off a bento with the nurse. She helped bandage me up today, so I figured that I should repay her back."

Ayase understood and nodded. "That's fine. I can wait outside if you like."

"You can do whatever you want. I don't really care," he said casually, continuing down the hall.

Ayase followed quietly. Neither spoke until they reached the office, when Issei knocked.

"For God's sake, just enter, kiddo!" Elize yelled.

Issei stepped in. "Sorry." Then he noticed that Ayase winced, clutching her head. "You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah… I guess the yelling gave me a bit of a headache, since it was unexpected." She said, partially true but she couldn't explain why the Lord's name affected her.

"Okay." Issei nodded as he then entered the office. "Hey, Elize‑nee. Hey, Yu‑Mi‑nee," He greeted.

"Still being polite, seriously," Elize sighed. "You know you can just walk in. Just text if you're not coming because we usually expect your arrival."

Yu‑Mi smiled. "She's right. Oh? Who's this?" Taking notice of Ayase as she walked in behind Issei.

"Oh, this is Ayatsuji‑senpai." Issei introduced.

Ayase bowed. "Nice to meet you. I am Ayatsuji Ayase."

"Oh?" Elize tilted her head. "I think I remember you, from the kendo club, right? You used to bring some of your injured teammates here."

"Ah, yes, but I have transferred over to the student council now." Ayase answered.

"Hmm. Was it because of how they talked about you?" Elize asked, looking pointedly at the girl.

"Huh?" Ayase was surprised and it made her wonder how much the nurse knew.

"Elize," Yu‑Mi warned sharply.

"Sorry, sorry. What brings you here?" Elize changed the subject.

Issei held out a bento. "Well, to give you this. My usual friends aren't here today, and I usually have lunch for them."

"Yeah, yeah, the whole personal chef shtick," Elize teased. "We really must thank your mother for teaching you to cook."

"You and me both." Issei nodded in agreement. "Anyway, we're off to lunch."

"Ooh, Yu‑Mi, look," Elize grinned. "Our dear little brother got himself a lunch date."

"That's not it!" Issei retorted before calming himself. "But I did have something I wanted to ask her."

Yu‑Mi's expression softened. "Must be serious. By the way, Ise, I'm..."

"You don't have to apologize, Yu‑Mi‑nee. Remember, embrace the bad days." He lifted his bandaged hand. "This is just a setback. I'll get him back. In due time."

Yu‑Mi sighed. "Alright. Just don't go seeking trouble."

"I'll try. Oh, and can I call you later?"

"May." Yu-Mi interjected.

Issei blinked. "Huh?"

"It's 'may I call you later?' Good grief. You're right. You had a setback intellectually too." Yu-Mi shook her head as she teased him on his grammar.

"Not funny!" he pouted. Elize burst out laughing. He relented. "May I call you later, so I can get some help on my homework?"

"Of course, you can video call me. That way you can point your camera at the homework problem, so I can look at it." Yu-Mi answered.

"Alright. Thanks, Yu‑Mi‑nee." He handed her the bento. "We'll get out of your hair. See you later."

"Enjoy your meal," Yu‑Mi said warmly.

Ayase bowed politely. "It was nice to meet you."

"You as well," Yu‑Mi replied.

Elize waved lazily. "Look after the kid for us, will ya?" Issei stuck his tongue out at her as she snickered. "Brat."

"Uh… I guess for now at least," Ayase said awkwardly. "Have a good lunch."

"You too," Elize said as the two left the office.

The door closed.

Yu‑Mi crossed her arms. "What was that about?"

"What?" Elize blinked innocently.

"You were about to say something about what her former club members said about her, which she did not know." Yu-Mi scolded. "Furthermore, you also could have blown our cover."

"Oh. That." Elize sighed. "Yeah, clearly, I thought they might have, but I guess not, but I don't blame her for leaving. I'm also aware, so I guess she is one of them."

"Yes, her aura is different now. But before her change, I'm guessing they were the ones you were complaining about," Yu‑Mi said. "The ones who, in your words, were bitching about how she went too hard on them in practice and that they wanted to knock her down a peg."

"Yep. She was good... too good. It irked them. Some even said they'd vote against her so she wouldn't become captain. How unfortunate, since it has bulked one of the two."

Yu‑Mi shook her head. "I swear something is wrong with the kendo team, I mean they haven't even won anything for the school. Seriously, I mean thank goodness for the school implementing new security."

"That was thanks to Ise." Elize pointed out. "He recommended it on the day that he took the suspension."

"Yeah, I know." Yu-Mi nodded. "You mentioned it after you were not happy that he took the suspension."

"Which wasn't even a real suspension," Elize huffed. "He got an excused absence. Let the school think he was suspended, but it's not on his school record."

"That's good, you also shouldn't tease him about every girl. It seemed like he wanted to ask her something and no, don't even think it was about being his girlfriend, he would have told us if he liked someone."

Elize sighed. "Yeah, guess you're right about that, but it's natural for the older sibling to tease their younger ones."

"I suppose." Yu‑Mi opened her bento. "Now let's eat."

Unbeknownst to them, Ayase had heard them, well, most of everything, thanks to her new devil hearing as she felt sad of what some of her former club members thought about her. She knew she trained hard. She knew she pushed herself.

She had to as her family's dojo depended on her success. She needed to win competitions, but she dialed back a bit as she didn't want to anger anybody. They had always told her that they were "fine" and that they would "get better", but they never did. She understood that they were teenage girls and would talk about boys, but seriously, they were in a combat sport, what did they think would happen.

They decided to judge her behind her back and to smite her, they voted against her, likely not wanting to follow her ways. They did not realize that they were a laughingstock because they didn't train hard enough. The formerly perverted trio was able to peek on them from the easiest of places, but they never asked for better security or for someone to fix the hole. They just left it as is, so they could vent on the unsuspecting boys and beat them up.

At least Issei could see the morale of the situation and move on from that phase in his life. The other two remained the same and when Issei was gaining any glimpse of sunlight, those two would squash it with false rumors to try and drag him down to their level of hell.

Ayase clenched her fists.

"Are you alright, Ayatsuji‑senpai?" Issei asked.

She flinched. "Huh?"

"You're mad about something. And sad too," Issei said plainly. "I saw your face scrunch in anger and then feel sad. Well, actually, you were sad, then you got mad, then sad again."

"O‑oh. Sorry. I guess… you could say that."

"Is it about what Elize‑nee said? About your teammates talking behind your back?"

"…Yeah."

"Don't focus on it," Issei said gently. "I told you, they underappreciated you. But you're doing better in the student council, right?"

"Yes. I am." Ayase nodded.

"Good. So don't focus on your old club. Believe me, I know what it's like." He exhaled. "Former fake friends falsifying rumors about me, when I branch out, they showed their true colors. They were just in disguise, the school thought I was the so-called leader of the perverted trio, but nah, I was just its scapegoat. Now that I opened my eyes, they want to shut me down, so I cannot go anywhere. But I am not going to let them win and neither should you with your former clubmates."

Ayase's cheeks warmed. "R‑right…"

"Ara~ ara~ sneaking off for a little rendezvous?" Another voice interrupted.

Issei didn't even flinch. "Sorry, Akeno‑senpai, but we're not doing anything to fuel whatever's going on in your mind."

"Oh?" Akeno smiled.

"You're welcome to join us. I actually had questions for you too. Since you're here, you might as well come." Issei suggested.

Akeno noticed his expression and knew that she shouldn't tease him for now, so she nodded. "Very well."

Issei gave a nod and went up the stairs to the door that led to the school rooftop, where he took out the key to open it. The two Yamato Nadeshiko followed him, watching as he took in a breath of the fresh air. He was glad that the roof was still clean and went to find a spot to sit down. Akeno and Ayase looked at each other before taking a seat on either side of him in a triangle formation.

"So," Akeno said, "what did you want to talk about?"

"Kiba." Issei answered.

Akeno's smile faded. "What about him?"

"You're his clubmate. Have you reached out to him? Did he talk to you?"

"About what?"

"Freed."

Akeno's eyes widened slightly. "Freed?" she repeated.

"Yeah. That's the name of the guy who attacked Kiba and I last night." Issei opened his bento and offered the extra one to Akeno.

Ayase stared. "Is that what happened to your hand?"

"Not just my hand." Issei rolled up his sleeve, revealing bandages up to his elbow. "He got all the way up here to my elbow. Kind of my fault on that."

"How?" Akeno asked.

"You ever heard the saying 'bringing a knife to a gunfight'? Well… I brought a bokken to a real sword fight."

Ayase's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah, I know Kiba keeps swords, I've seen him practice with real swords, so he was alright. But this Freed… he just got faster, I really didn't have much time to dodge, so I brought out my bokken to block. The guy's sword, he called it, Excalibur."

Akeno stiffened. "What!?"

"I know. Same name as the, um..." Issei stopped himself, glancing over at Ayase, which Akeno understood that he was asking for permission to speak on the subject.

"She is aware of the Holy Sword project," Akeno said. "You can speak freely about it."

"Alright, but that sword didn't look like Excalibur to me or at least not how I envisioned it. It did give off a different aura than what I feel from the two of you." Issei responded, if he was looking at their faces, he would have seen their eyes widened.

"Aura? What do you mean?" Ayase asked.

Akeno was also intrigued by what he meant as this could mean that Issei had some knowledge of the supernatural. After all, he was exposed more to it based on Freed's attack last night.

"You two give off something that makes me feel a bit uneasy, but I have gotten over it because I didn't want to make either one of you feel uncomfortable. It's not that you smell or anything, you both smell wonderful, ugh, that sounds weird, now I sound like a creep, I mean..."

Akeno raised her hand. "I think we get the idea."

"Do you?" Issei asked hopefully as he wasn’t trying to offend them.

"I do," Akeno said. "However… what will you do to prove it?" She leaned closer.

"What do you mean?" Issei raised an eyebrow, not understanding her advances.

"I think you should help me finish this wonderful lunch… by feeding it to me."

"What?" Issei's eyes narrowed slightly, now understanding that she was only teasing him again.

"Feed. Me. Issei‑kun."

Ayase's face turned red. 'He's going to feed Akeno‑san…?'

"I don't really think that would work," Issei said, while frowning. "I'm sorry."

"Oh? Just a few bites then?"

"I… um… I guess that's okay." While he was thinking, 'Hopefully, this will get her to shut up, I don't really want to deal with her fan base.' He turned to Ayase. "Do you want the same thing, Ayatsuji‑senpai?"

"Eh!? N‑no, no, no, no, I'm good!"

"Okay." Issei set down his own bento, picked up Akeno's, and scooped a forkful of creamy sweet chili chicken and potatoes.

Akeno tapped her lips with a playful smile. "Now, now, Issei‑kun… you're supposed to tell me to say 'ahh'."

"Huh?" Issei stopped, 'What the fuck? That's only like those romcom anime, this is reality… Wait, I can get a second opinion.' He gave a slight shake of his head to calm his blush as he glanced at Ayase. "Is… is that true?"

"I—I don't know…" Ayase stammered, her face just as red.

"Mhm," Akeno hummed. "You're the one who wanted to prove you weren't being offensive."

"Can't I just house‑sit for you instead?" Issei offered.

"No," Akeno said sweetly. "But now that you mention it… I wouldn't mind a massage."

"A massage? That's easy." Issei shrugged.

"A deep, full‑body massage."

Issei turned to stone. 'Now she's just messing with me again, guess this is all a sick game to her, good luck to whoever gets stuck with her.'

"A f‑full body!?" Ayase squeaked.

"Mhm," Akeno nodded. "You should try one, Ayatsuji-san. After Issei-kun gave me a back and shoulder massage, I felt so refreshed and light. I want that same feeling all over." She calmly took the bento from Issei's frozen hands and continued eating.

"R‑really?" Ayase asked.

"Yep, I think you'll like it, especially from all of your training, you probably could use one."

Ayase rubbed her shoulder. "My shoulders have been a little stiff…"

"Issei-kun gives a great shoulder massage, he really worked out my knots there, unless you're nervous about a man touching your body, Issei-kun was actually very professional. His massage was so good that it put me to sleep."

"Wow… I guess I wouldn't mind one," Ayase admitted. "Maybe after training. Hyoudou‑san said he'd visit my family's dojo. His master knows my father."

"Oh?" Akeno raised a brow.

"That's it!" Issei suddenly snapped out of his paralysis.

The difference is that Renka got a dry massage as he didn't use oils like he had done for Akeno. He has massaged Renka's legs and thighs, but he was extremely cautious of her intimate areas. There had been times where his fingers brushed in those areas and he thought he would die and remained frozen until Renka would yell at him for stopping. He also got a feel of when he has to straddle Renka to keep her still, when she wiggles around. The mention of Ayase's dojo helped snap him out of his thoughts of what he wanted to ask senpai.

"What's what?" Akeno asked. "Have you decided to accept my request?"

"What?" Issei looked at her in bewilderment before shaking his head in denial. "Oh... no."

"Ara~ ara~, that's just mean," Akeno pouted. "Then I suppose I may get the same one that you gave me last time."

"A back massage? Yeah, sure. No problem." Issei answered casually.

She may not have gotten the full treatment like she wanted, but at least she was getting something out of it. She would have get Yuuma in, after all, she did make a deal with the other hybrid. Issei turned to Ayase, whose blush had now faded like Issei's did.

"Ayatsuji‑senpai, I know I said I'd drop by your dojo, but I've been caught up helping Kiba. I want to be his friend. And I agree with him about destroying the sword, though my reasons are different from his." He paused. "However, at your dojo... what is the name of the style that you are taught?"

"Our style? Oh! You mean the Ayatsuji Ittou‑ryū."

"Ayatsuji Ittou‑ryū?" Issei rolled the name off of his tongue.

"Yes. It's a sword style that puts emphasis on counterattacks."

"Hmm… that's somewhat similar to the Kōsaka style." Issei deduced, holding his chin.

"What's that?" Ayase asked.

"It's an armed martial arts style, the principle of it is that a weapon is the extension of the user's body. As a result, the user can train to use and or counter not one weapon, but multiple types and variations of weapons for maximum versatility."

"Oh, wow…" Ayase was slightly impressed that he was actually learning something.

"Unfortunately, my bokken got destroyed, so I understand that aspect." Issei said quietly. "It felt like I lost a piece of myself."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Akeno said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Doesn't Mitsurugi teach a style too?" Ayase asked.

"Yeah." Issei nodded. "It's similar to Kōsaka style in terms of scheme."

"So offensive and defensive?"

"Yeah. The Hiten Mitsurugi‑ryū."

Ayase's eyes widened. "Are you serious!?"

"What is it?" Akeno asked, wondering why the name caused such a reaction from Ayase.

"It's one of the oldest and strongest kenjutsu styles in Japan," Ayase explained. "It defined the legendary samurai Hiko Seijūrō the First, he was known as 'The Man Who Could Cut One Hundred in One Stroke.' The style lets a single samurai defeat numerous foes singlehandedly. Another great samurai by the name of Himura Kenshin used this style as his signature style."

"Oh, right," Issei said. "Your father is known as the Last Samurai. He'd teach you this stuff but it's where shishou adopted his surname from in the Sengoku Jidai. I don't have the power part yet, but I've been building speed thanks to Shigure‑nee and the Kōsaka style."

"That's impressive," Ayase said. 'And of all the people to teach it to, Mitsurugi chose him? I have yet to know why, when Hyoudou-san has never wielded a sword before. Even worse, I shouldn't have explained all of that to Akeno about the style. She could report this to Gremory-san.'

"Hopefully I can learn your counterattack style too." Issei told his senior.

"Well, as I said, you're always welcome at the dojo."

"Thanks."

Akeno glanced at the time. "I suggest we should pack up. Lunch is almost over. And Issei?"

"Yeah?"

"If something comes up about Yuuto… I'll do my best to inform you."

"Thank you, Akeno‑senpai." He gave her a small bow.

He let the ladies go back down first, while he cleaned up, he needed to get outside because it's what Setsuka talked to him about. He needed to try and be one with nature, embracing it. It would help calm his senses and focus on what was in front of him and not overthink things. Once cleaned up, he locked the door to the rooftop and headed back downstairs.

Meanwhile Akeno and Ayase had a conversation during the time Issei was still cleaning up.

"You shouldn't involve him in this," Ayase said quietly.

"I know," Akeno replied. "But he's too stubborn to listen. And Yuuto would do good with a friend like Issei."

"I think they both could do good," Ayase said. "Considering his loyalty to his friends… those two fools were stupid to betray Hyoudou‑san's trust."

"I would have to agree with you there," Akeno said. "But you know what they say about being green with envy."

"Yeah, I do." Ayase's eyes darkened slightly. 'Perhaps they were jealous of my skill… I even held back in competitions to give them the spotlight. But it wasn't enough. Well… now I'm out. And my skills will protect my family and Kaichou‑sama.'

"Ayatsuji‑san?" Akeno asked.

"Hm?"

"I wish your peerage the best of luck."

Ayase blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Rias is aware that Kaichou would like to recruit Issei-kun, just as much as she does."

"Yes, I'm aware of that." Ayase wondered where Akeno was going with this.

"Well… something tells me he'd be better suited there."

Ayase narrowed her eyes. "You're not going to try?"

Akeno smiled faintly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Try what? You mean seducing him?" she said lightly. "Oh, I can. But that would be for my gain, not Rias'. It would be nice to have someone who understands what it feels like to be judged. You heard the jeers he got yesterday."

Ayase nodded slowly. "Yes… I don't know how he hasn't broken yet. Wait..." She paused, remembering Issei's words before Akeno arrived. "I get it now."

Akeno tilted her head. "Get what?"

"Before you came, Hyoudou‑san told me not to let the naysayers win. He's dealt with it from those jeers, and those two perverts."

"Mm‑hmm."

"I have dealt with it from the kendo club, but I didn't know that they talked about it behind my back. If Hyoudou-san broke down, they would win and have control over him."

Akeno chuckled softly. "Ara~ ara~… I'd like to control him."

"I'm sure you would, Himejima‑san," Ayase replied dryly, making Akeno smile as they reached their classroom.

Gorou pulled into the driveway of his home, while a wave of nostalgia washed over Irina as she looked around from her seat. She saw visions of her and Issei playing in the yard and seeing either her mom or Issei's mother calling them inside for lunch from the front door. Xenovia watched her calmly as she opened her door, while Gorou went to get their bags out of the trunk.

"Are you good?" Xenovia asked, noticing Irina's distant gaze.

"Yeah," Irina said softly. "Just remembering the times I spent here."

"Alright." Xenovia nodded, accepting the answer.

For her, she felt that their living space was quite practical and it would do good for them. They wouldn't worry about having to waste their money, since they would have meals and a working bathroom to shower and bathe.

Gorou hauled the luggage from the trunk to the front door. "Oh good, Ise's package arrived," he laughed.

"Do you need help, ojisan?" Irina asked.

"Haha, I may be old, but I'm not broken, Irina‑chan. I've been working out to keep up with my boy."

"Oh, right. His training."

"Yep." Gorou unlocked the door. "Come in, come in. I'll take your bags to your room."

From the kitchen, a familiar voice called out. "Gorou! Is that you?"

"Yeah, we're home. Safe and sound," he replied.

Miki stepped out from the kitchen and gasped. "Irina-chan! You look so beautiful! It's been so long!" She rushed forward and hugged her tightly.

"It's nice to see you again, obasan," Irina said warmly.

"Wow" Miki pulled back, eyes shining, taking in Irina's appearance. Then she noticed Xenovia. "Oh! Hello! I'm Hyoudou Miki, nice to meet you!"

Xenovia spared a glance at Irina, who shrugged her shoulders, and looked back at Gorou, who was bringing in the luggage. Xenovia shrugged and said nothing while shaking Miki's hand.

"Huh?" Miki blinked.

Gorou sighed. "You'll have to speak English, dear. Can't you tell? She's not Japanese."

"Eh!?" Miki was shocked out of embarrassment.

Irina had to contain her laughter as she did not think that Xenovia would go along with her uncle in pranking his wife. She was surprised when another brunette woman came out of the kitchen with a gentle smile.

"Oh? I can speak English," Saori said. She cleared her throat and switched from Japanese to English to explain things, while greeting the guest. "Hello, it is nice to meet you. This is the Hyoudou residence. My name is Saori Shirahama. May I ask what yours is?"

"Xenovia," Xenovia replied.

"That's lovely. Where are you from?"

"Italy."

"Ah, that must be nice."

Irina blinked. "Excuse me, obasan… how do you know this woman?"

Miki smiled. "Hmm? I thought your mother told you. She's Ise's other aunt. Her son has been helping Ise, offering him a hand when…"

Her expression darkened. She hated remembering that video of Issei being beaten. No parent should see that. It's something that no parent should see, sure, he had a martial arts tournament, but that beat down was different.

Saori placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Miki." She turned to Irina. "I also talk with your mother about recipes. You know how moms get about cooking."

"Oh! You must be the new friend mother mentioned," Irina said.

"Perhaps," Saori laughed. "Maybe you've tried a recipe I helped her develop?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure. I'm usually in the Vatican in Italy." Irina answered.

"Vatican? Italy?" Miki blinked. "You're not in England?"

Xenovia answered in perfect Japanese. "She is. But the church operates out of the Vatican."

Both mothers froze at looked at the blue haired girl, who was unfazed by their actions.

"Eh!? You speak Japanese!?" Miki yelped.

"Well, this is quite a development," Saori murmured.

Xenovia nodded. "Yes. My guardian sent me to live with Irina's family. Since we are partners, it helps to understand another culture. They taught me Japanese over the past year. Before we left, I took a refresher course. Your husband asked me to deceive you so you'd think I couldn't speak your language, and Irina would have to translate. I am also surprised you speak English, ma'am."

Saori giggled. "Ufu~ ufu~. Well, there are times where I went with my husband out of the country on business trips."

"EH!? GOROU!" Miki shrieked.

She was yelling for her husband, who was upstairs, putting the girls' luggage in their room and was preparing to come down to get Issei's package.

Upstairs, Gorou froze mid‑step. '…I'll just stay up here for a bit.' Feeling a shiver go down his spine in hopes to avoid his wife's wrath.

"Don't pretend you can't hear me!" Miki yelled. "How dare you use a nice girl like Xenovia to deceive me into thinking that she couldn't speak our language!" She turned back to the girls. "By the way, how long have you known each other?"

"A few years," Irina said. "I was sent to the Vatican when I was fourteen. I was paired with Xenovia, and we've been partners since."

"Fourteen?" Miki frowned. "Did you talk to anyone before that?"

"No, I was pretty engrossed with my training from my father and the Church, I usually kept to myself." Irina answered, which made Miki rub her temple.

"Good grief… you and Ise are so alike. Except it seems you made a better friend than Ise did."

Irina's expression softened. "What happened?"

Miki sighed. "I let his perversion get out of hand, but Saori's son was his saving grace and he found new friends, but now I swear his mind is just engrossed in his own training and responsibilities like his job."

"Well, that's what friends do," Irina said firmly. "They help each other. If he were still perverted, I would've corrected him. Amen!"

Miki laughed. "Well, like I said he took some inspiration from you, he has begun to pray, noting how you had told him good things come to those who pray. I mean with you leaving, his grandfather dying…"

Irina's eyes widened. "Juzo‑ojiisan died? Is obaa‑chan okay?"

"You're still the same caring person that I met when you were young," Miki said softly. "But yes, Juzo-otousan passed away. It was about a year after you left, Ise kind of just shut down. A year after, a trip to the park and he came back singing the praises of breasts."

Irina burst out laughing. "He always did have a fascination with them."

"Apparently, he met some old man," Miki said. "I guess they must have reminded him of his grandfather, since he wanted to pursue his grandfather's harem dream, but now… things have changed."

"What happened?"

"You'll have to ask him, dear, it would be a good way for you two to catch up, but I do worry."

"About?"

"Well, after the incident, he shut himself up, it took time for Saori's son to help him open up. You two haven't seen each other in a long while, so he may build up his defenses again, but if you're still the same Shidou that he remembers you to be… maybe you can break through those walls."

Irina shivered with excitement and nerves mixing. "I'll do my best, he's my childhood friend, to be given this chance to see him again!"

Miki smiled warmly. "I think you'll do fine. Oh, you still have it." She pointed to Irina's right wrist.

Irina looked down. "Oh, yeah. My memento from Ise‑kun. It gave me hope I'd see him again."

"Aww, that's sweet," Saori said.

"Well," Miki added, "Ise's gotten better at sewing. Maybe he can upgrade it for you."

"He can sew?" Xenovia asked.

"Yes," Miki said proudly. "And cook."

"Ise‑kun can cook?" Irina gasped.

She began to fantasize about her childhood crush cooking for her. The thought of it made Issei shiver as he had an inkling feeling that someone else was putting their claim on him. He could wound up being the personal chef to another girl.

"Mhm. It's how we bonded again, it feels so nice. And then he met Saori's son, which led to Saori and I linking up. Turns out your ojisan works with her husband."

Irina blinked. "Oh… wow." She was surprised by all of the new connections that the family had made.

Of course, these connections were made in the past months, not years, like Irina had been thinking.

Miki grinned. "Maybe you two can compete to see who cooks better. I know you two liked to have competitions when you were younger."

"Erm… well, you see…" Irina blushed, twiddling her fingers.

Saori tilted her head. "You can't cook, can you?"

Xenovia answered bluntly. "She bakes bread. That's it. We've been focused on church work. Nothing else. And the same applies here, we're not here for a vacation."

"My, someone's cranky," Miki teased. "Maybe you should take a bath and relax. I know you had a long flight and then come down for some lunch, and oh! I can show Ise's album!" She giggled mischievously.

Meanwhile, in class, Issei felt a shiver go down his spine, he blinked and looked out the window.

'Why do I get the feeling kaa‑san is going to do something I won't like…?' He thought.

He couldn't ponder too much on it as the teacher called him out to answer the question.

Back at the Hyoudou house, Irina seemed a bit excited at seeing the growth of her childhood friend. In her excitement, Miki and Saori noticed a crystal-like necklace alongside her rosemary.

Saori leaned closer. "Oh my, that's a lovely necklace."

Miki clasped her hands together. "Irina‑chan, do you have a boyfriend in England?" she asked happily, though a tiny twinge of sadness flickered in her eyes. 'So Mizuki didn't tell me…? And here I was hoping our children might…'

Her mother's intuition could tell how her son was a bit envious of the romance of other couples. She did try to help encourage him in asking out someone, since he had changed, but she was not aware of what happened during the ball tournament. She was more concerned about him continuing to train, despite being attacked last night.

Irina waved her hands frantically. "No, no, no! It's from the church! No boyfriend for me, sorry!"

Saori chuckled. "You're pretty enough to wrangle one in. I thought English guys would take a liking to a foreign girl."

Irina shook her head. "Well, it's as Xenovia said, we're busy with the Church. And… I already have an interest in someone, so it probably wouldn't work out."

"Oh?" Miki smiled warmly. "Well, I hope you are able to let your feelings out, you shouldn't keep them bottled in. I've had to tell Ise that before." She clapped her hands. "Anyway! You should go relax and take your bath, but I should warn you. You are sharing a bathroom with Ise, but don't worry, he keeps it clean. Saori and I made sure that there were female toiletries, just in case you run out on your travel-sized ones, if you brought any."

Xenovia nodded. "The Shidou or her parents said we didn't need to bring any."

"Perfect," Saori said. "That would make packing for you light and easier."

Miki continued, "I know you probably may have gotten sick of Japanese cuisine, since that is what your mother cooks, but we don't do that here, well, sometimes, but not all the time."

"Really?" Irina asked. "Well, since we are out so much, we usually just pick up what we can get with the money that the Church gives us."

Xenovia added, "But I guess that explains why we were giving less, since we were allowed to stay in your home."

"It's no problem," Miki said. "Irina's practically family. So of course, she could stay and we trust her word in vouching for you, well, it would be Mizuki's word, based on what she knows about you."

Xenovia bowed. "Regardless, thank you."

Irina suddenly pointed. "Ojisan, what's that package?"

Gorou came downstairs for the large box that was by the front door. "Oh, this? It's Ise's new chair. Took forever to convince him to get a high‑end one."

"High‑end?" Xenovia echoed.

"Oh! The one we helped him with choosing during his 'suspension'?" Miki asked.

"That's the one!" Gorou laughed.

Irina's eyes widened. "Wait, he was suspended!? For what!?"

Xenovia folded her arms. "I see. So he's a mass of sexual desire and a delinquent. Considering his dream, I'm not surprised that he has strong greed."

Miki's smile vanished. "I'd advise you to watch your tone when speaking about something you know nothing about."

Xenovia blinked. "Hmm, but I was informed of his dream to be harem king and his fascination for big breasts, is there something that I missed?"

Gorou sighed. "Quite a bit, little lady, since you don't know our son, I'm guessing Irina-chan told you those things, which yes, they were true. Those dreams and aspirations did come from my father. You see, his perversion is hereditary, it came from me..."

"And me," Miki added. "I wouldn't be surprised if Irina‑chan has a little herself."

"She did," Xenovia said. "But the Church suppressed it."

Gorou laughed. "Typical, it is a sin of lust, I remember Touji telling me that, when he talked about potential grandchildren, when the kids got older..."

Irina had gone pale and then turned bright red. "O‑ojisan!"

Miki nodded. "Yes, Mizuki and I talked about the same thing."

Saori giggled. "Ufu~ ufu~. Oh my, I've talked about the same thing with my husband. I was worried about Kenichi and thought I would have to rely on Honoka for that to happen."

Miki waved her hand. "Anyway, Ise wasn't actually suspended, I received a call informing of his excused absence, which he spent the week either training or going to work. You see his former friends tried to accuse him of stealing a girl's underwear, which the victim thought it was Ise, but upon seeing Ise and Ise having an alibi, it was deemed that he was innocent, but he chose not to go back. I have considered pulling him, but he does have better friends there. Although Matsuda and Motohama, at first, we thought they were good boys. At least it's what I thought, since they wanted to be Ise's friend, but they wound up being bad influences for him."

Irina frowned. "What do you mean?"

Gorou sighed. "Well, they got Ise into peeping, sure, he was perverted, but he had never done something like that, until he met those two. We do take blame in his upbringing as we did not show discipline, but we have our reasons for that."

Xenovia narrowed her eyes. "Which were?" She had a bit of an edge to the tone of her voice.

Gorou shook his head. "We could discuss it with Irina-chan, but not you, Xenovia, maybe one day, but it is a family matter." He lifted the package and headed upstairs.

"Very well," Xenovia said stiffly. "Will you ensure your son won't peep on us while we're here?"

"Doubt it," Miki said. "Since he has broken away from Matsuda and Motohama, he's changed, he usually leaves the house at 4 in the morning and doesn't get back till the evening. He does come back once in the morning to shower and eat a quick breakfast and then leave for school with his friend."

Xenovia relaxed. "That's good to hear."

She did not realize, but while Miki had already approved of Irina, Miki could not help but see that Xenovia's seriousness would be something that her son would appreciate, too.

"But," Miki added, "he'll be wary of you. His walls will go up. But maybe you can be friends."

Saori suddenly smiled. "Your hairstyle reminds me of Raichi's, Irina-san."

"Who's that?" Irina asked.

"Oh, she is one of Issei-kun's friends," Saori said. "She is also friends with Kenichi, that is my son's name and Honoka is my daughter."

Miki nodded. "Oh! The pink‑haired girl who sat with Ise during the tournament. That's Raichi. I didn't get to meet her."

"Yes," Saori said. "Miu's father wanted to speak with her."

Irina's heart sank. 'So… he might have a girlfriend? And she has the same hairstyle as me? Was I too late…?'

"Irina‑chan, are you alright?" Miki asked.

"Huh?"

"You were frowning, dear," Saori said.

"Really?" Irina blinked as she reached for her face.

"Yes," Xenovia confirmed.

"S‑sorry about that. I was just trying to figure out what tournament you meant."

"Oh, that's easy," Miki said. "A martial arts tournament. A pity he had to drop out at the end."

"What happened?" Irina asked.

"First, go take a bath and then come eat lunch," Miki said. "Would you like to see what we are eating?"

"What is it?" Xenovia asked, intrigued by the aroma drifting from the kitchen.

"Follow us and we'll show you." Saori said.

They entered the kitchen. Miki noticed Xenovia clutching a bandaged package tightly.

"Xenovia, dear, do you want to unpack that?" she asked gently.

"I will later," Xenovia said. "It is dear to me."

"Alright." Miki nodded, deciding not to push the issue any further.

Saori lifted the lid of a dish with a flourish.

"Voila! Moussaka beef and rice pilaf."

Gorou accepted the bowl from Saori with a grateful nod, then leaned over to kiss his wife on the cheek before taking a bite.

"Mmm. Delicious," he said simply.

"You're welcome, dear," Miki replied, smiling proudly.

Saori, however, stood frozen. "H‑he… he just… took it…" she whispered, stunned at Gorou's casual boldness.

Irina giggled at Gorou's nonchalant attitude as she knew Issei could be similar, so it was clear that he gets it from his father.

"Well," Miki said, hands on her hips, "he did carry all that luggage and Ise's package. Plus he has to get back to work."

Xenovia blinked. "Why isn't he at work now?"

"He's working remotely," Miki explained. "He asked for a few days off, but it didn't happen. So he's working from home so he could pick you up from the station."

"I see…" Xenovia murmured, feeling a small pang of guilt. They had gone out of their way for them.

"Don't worry about it," Miki said warmly. "We're your hosts. We want your stay in Kuoh to be enjoyable. Now, go bathe and get changed. Then come down and eat. After that, we can watch the tournament I mentioned, and then…" She clasped her hands excitedly. "We can go through Ise's album!"

Saori nodded. "All before he gets home!"

"Okay!" Irina said brightly.

"Irina‑chan, you remember where everything is, right?" Miki asked.

"Yes! It's never left my mind. Come on, Xenovia."

"Erm… okay." Xenovia bowed again. "Thank you." Follow the newest chapters on g.com.

"You don't have to bow, dear," Miki laughed.

The two girls headed upstairs. Irina stopped at a familiar door, one she hadn't seen in years. Xenovia felt a faint jolt in her senses. Something holy… but very faint.

"So this is where we're staying?" she asked in English.

Irina shook her head. "No. This is Ise‑kun's room." She opened the door. "Oh… wow."

Xenovia stiffened. "What are you doing? It's rude to enter someone's room without permission."

"I know," Irina said softly. "It just… brings me back." She sat on the bed, eyes drifting around the room. "I expected something different."

"Like what?"

"I don't know… perverted magazines. Posters."

Xenovia frowned. "I don't understand how you could like someone like that."

Irina smiled faintly. "When you get to know him, it's different." She walked to the desk. "Despite his fascination with breasts, he loved robots and spaceships. Gundam was one of his favorites. His top one was Dragon Ball. And we both loved Super Sentai."

"Huh?" Xenovia blinked. "I don't know any of those." But her attention shifted as there was definitely a faint holy signature in this room. 'Something is here… but what?'

Irina suddenly brightened. "He even has the same picture I do! See?"

She held up a framed photo and then reached between her breasts and pulled out the same picture.

Xenovia deadpanned. "Do you keep it there because you know he likes big breasts?"

"No!" Irina yelped. "I keep it there because it keeps him close to my heart!"

"Hmph. Well… maybe that girl they were talking about is his girlfriend, then what?"

Irina froze. "Huh?"

"If he has a girlfriend, what will you do?"

"Well… he does want a harem, so..."

"And what if he doesn't?"

"I… I don't know." Irina sighed. 'But I'm not going to give up. I'll show why I can be the one for him! That's the importance of childhood friends, they're more important than girlfriends or boyfriends.'

Xenovia crossed her arms. "I'm guessing you were hoping that his perversion would keep all the other girls away, so you could come in and save the day, is that right?"

Irina blushed. "…Yeah."

"Well, we'll have to wait and see when he returns. Though we may need to ask him some questions."

"About?"

"There's a faint signature of holy energy in here, as much as I would like to snoop, it would be rude and as his mother said, it won't be easy for you either, despite being his childhood friend. If we snoop, we may end up betraying his trust and we don't want that, so let's go do what his mother said and take our baths and then eat. It sure beats having to scavenge for food, did you smell that?" Xenovia pointed out, gesturing to the open door, where the smell was coming from downstairs.

Irina laughed. "Obasan and mother usually had cook offs, when we were here, it's hard to determine who the better cook was. I think their level of competition is where Ise-kun and I got it from, causing us to compete as well."

They left Issei's room and entered the guest room.

"I'll bathe first," Xenovia said. "Unless we both can shower together, help save them some water, since this isn't a hotel."

Irina turned red. "We might have that level of kinship, but let's relax today. Tomorrow, we will have to meet with the devils that run this territory."

"You're right, it'd be good to do that on a full stomach and recharged with energy." Xenovia set down the bandaged package, her Excalibur fragment.

"Towels should be in the closet," Irina said.

"Thanks." Xenovia left for the bath.

Irina sat on the bed, she could tell that it was new, it shocked her how her uncle and aunt were willing to go for her and Xenovia. Of course, she knew that they would have done this because of how connected their families were. She laid back in the bed and breathed a sigh of relief and then looked out the window.

'Soon… you and I will be reunited again, Ise‑kun.' Then she remembered something. "Er, wait, Xenovia, Japanese bathrooms are different from European ones!" She knew that she would have to teach Xenoiva about how bathrooms operated here.

Again at Kuoh Academy, Issei sneezed. 'Someone must be talking about me…' However, he just shrugged it off.

A few minutes later, the bell to signify that school had ended rang and he sighed as he packed up his things. He took out his phone to text his mother on what his plans were because he knew that after last night's attack, she would want him before it was dark.

Issei: Kaa‑san, I'll be stopping at my workplace and then heading home.

Miki: Good. I don't want you out alone with that freak still around. I don't see why you don't press charges.

Issei: I just get a feeling it won't be that easy.

Miki: Alright. Take care. We have a surprise for you when you get back.

Issei: Somehow, I feel like I should be worried.

Miki: Oh, don't give me that. You might thank me later.

Issei: Whatever you say. See you later.

Miki: See you later, dear.

He put away his phone and began to head to the dojo and see his clubmates, so he can assure them as well. He had a feeling that Kisara was a bit worried about him still, but he knew that he had to ramp up this morning's training session to prove her otherwise. He already knew that he could text either Elize or Yu-Mi for the bento box.

"Hey, Issei!"

Issei turned at the familiar voice. "Hm? Oh, what's up, Mizunuma‑senpai?"

Mizunuma marched straight up to him, jabbing a finger at his chest. "Don't 'what's up' me! You were attacked last night! You shouldn't be training!"

A few lingering students turned to stare.

Issei winced. "Not so loud, senpai…"

"But still!" Mizunuma insisted. "You shouldn't be training, you need to heal up and..."

"I already did, senpai," Issei said firmly. "And I'm sick of it. I hate being on the sideline, when my friends are in need. You should know that."

Of course, he was a little grateful that Mizunuma wasn't aware that he did training with Kisara. He could only assume that Kisara didn't tell them anything about it, despite when he had asked her in front of them last night.

It surprised Mizunuma about Issei's seriousness to his training, from what Kenichi told him about what the masters had said. Issei was true to his surname and had a soldier's mentality. He wasn't going to stop, but decided that he could possibly distract Issei for a little bit.

Mizunuma sighed. "Right, sorry. Hey... uh, you like video games?"

Issei blinked. "Video games?"

"Yeah, you know... console, controller, screen... video games."

Issei crossed his arms over his chest. "I know what video games are, senpai. What about them?"

"Well," Mizunuma said, leaning in conspiratorially, "I hear that the remake of the psychological horror game, Silent Hill 2 is getting a remake and they are showing some gameplay today."

Issei's eyes widened. "Really?"

Mizunuma exhaled in relief. 'Good. Got him out of soldier mode.'

It was what the club dubbed Issei's training self, the hyper‑focused, battle‑driven mindset that had been integrated into Issei by Mitsurugi. It was a play on his surname as they knew that he would look at his losses and correct himself. He was always working, sometimes it felt weird that he wasn't thinking about breasts like before. However, they knew why he was training, it wasn't for himself, but it was for them, so he could be better.

"Yeah," Mizunuma said. "Maybe check it out at home but I guess you'll be doing it after practice."

"I'm not training here," Issei replied. "I need to speak with my master. I failed. I lost last night. If Shigure‑nee hadn't been there, I'd be dead." He looked at Mizunuma with a small, earnest smile. "I just wanted to see you guys before I go, you're my friends. I want to be reminded of what I'm fighting for and who I'm fighting for."

Mizunuma softened. "Oh, I understand, just don't wear yourself out too much to the point of death. Since you came in, I'll admit you were like the project that we got to work on. You got some strong morals."

"It's because I got better role models," Issei said.

Mizunuma grinned and bumped fists with him. "Yeah, you do. You're the little brother of the club. So try not to get yourself killed."

"I'll try, but the feeling of facing someone strong… I just feel the need to train, so I can surpass them and become a step closer to my dream. It may be a small step, but it's a step nonetheless. I will need to surpass Freed, someway, somehow…"

He paused and then suddenly grabbed an incoming arm.

"Would you look at that?" Kisara smirked. "My little brother is now blocking my noogies, instead of dodging them."

"You're the one that told me that I always gotta stay ready," Issei said, smiling as he turned to see the others approaching.

"Yeah, but you also said that I get to give you my lovable noogies, so c'mere!" She grabbed his collar and brought him into her grasp to softly give him a noogie as the others laughed.

Renka stepped forward. "How's your arm doing?"

"It's… better…I had… Elize‑sensei… look at it… this morning…" he said between Kisara's knuckles grinding lightly into his scalp.

"That's a relief," Renka sighed. "So you're really going to break your body down, huh?"

"Yeah… I am."

"Alright, Kisara," Kenichi said. "Let him go."

"Fine," she huffed, releasing him.

Kenichi crossed his arms. "Ise, you sure about what you're going to do."

"I'm sure, senpai." Issei nodded.

Ikki chuckled. "Boy's in 'soldier mode'. There's no stopping him."

"That's for sure," Mizunuma agreed.

Issei blinked. "Soldier mode?" This was his first time hearing the nickname, so he didn't understand.

Ukita clapped his shoulder. "Don't worry about it but if you break your body, it will be hard for you to fight."

"And you can kiss that dream of yours goodbye," Ikki added.

Kenichi nodded. "Try to pace yourself, even when injured. Otherwise, you're going to make us worry about you rather than rely on you."

Issei's eyes widened slightly. "I'll try."

The guys headed into the locker room, leaving him with Kisara and Renka.

Kisara stretched. "So I'll see you tomorrow morning, yeah?"

"Hai!"

She ruffled his hair. "Good. Don't die on me, not when I just got you."

"Huh? Kisara‑nee…" he murmured as she walked off to the female locker room. "Wait, what was…"

"Don't." Renka interrupted with a shake of her head. "She's right, though. We all just got you, but we do fear sometimes that you may push yourself too much."

"Renka‑senpai?"

Saying nothing, she simply pulled him in for a hug and held him close, it made him blush, but she couldn't see it. However, she did feel his body tense up and she kind of liked that she had that effect on him.

"I know that you would fight for us," she whispered. "But just don't die on us in the process. That's what you could do if you stress out too much."

"But..."

"I know, I know, but it's just…" She sighed. "We'd hate to not see you be able to achieve that dream of yours, especially with the work that you put in. You may be that so-called Goku phase of yours, but try not to die like he does, alright?"

Issei opened his mouth but then froze as she pulled his head down and kissed the top of his head.

"Try not to die on me either," she said with a smirk. "I still am going to need those massages."

He chuckled. "Of course you do."

"But I do mean it. Don't die on me, so you better kick that bastard's ass."

"I will." Issei nodded.

"Oh, I know you will. I helped train you, remember?" She tapped his cheek.

Issei rolled his eyes. "I do."

"Good, then when it's all said and done, try to relax, maybe come to the beach with us over break."

"Okay. I'll have to talk with my parents about that."

"Good because I expect you to pay up, massages every day for the rest of the break."

"As long as it's not a deep full body massage." Issei grumbled.

"Hmm, why not? You have massaged my body before."

Issei scratched the back of his head. "Well, it was something Akeno-senpai asked for and..."

"She's not getting one before me," Renka huffed. "I swear Niijima might start having you get charged for your massages, but also you gotta take care of your hands, they are essential to a martial artist."

"I'm aware."

"Good. But honestly, your parents should've locked you up and kept those hands to themselves."

Issei laughed. "Well, if I can actually do something to help someone, I will. If it's these massages, then that's fine with me and I know that I would be doing something good with this gift."

"There's that kind hearted Ise that we know, but you're going to have to start limiting those hands of yours at some point. Seriously, they're like our secret weapon, I'm sure Ikki and I could attest to that."

"I'll try. But you should get ready before..."

"Nope." Renka turned around, she didn't need to crouch down because Issei was a little bit taller than her. "I'd like a shoulder massage first, I gotta feel loose for practice today."

Issei simply sighed as he walked up behind her and began to massage her shoulders. He tried not to put so much pressure with his right hand, so he used his index finger, middle finger, and thumb. It helped as he massaged her neck and shoulders, he was unaware that she closed her eyes.

"Mmm…" Renka purred.

"Uh, senpai?"

"Hm?"

"Your hair is moving… again."

"Huh? Oh. Don't worry about it. Keep going."

Issei still had no idea how she made her hair tips move like that. He assumed it was some kind of… euphoria response. A part of him did want to wrap his arm around her waist. However, he knew that couldn't happen as she liked his senpai, but he did have that a girl somewhere was waiting for him. As a result, a girl in the bathroom at his house sneezed becoming slightly worried if she could possibly be catching a cold.

"What's this?" Ikki said dramatically as he walked out. "You give her a massage but not me?"

"Well, she asked and you didn't," Issei replied simply, still massaging Renka.

Renka nodded in agreement and then stuck her tongue out at Ikki.

Ukita crossed his arms. "Maybe he can teach Kaname and Kisara, so they can do it for us."

Ikki grinned. "Oh yeah, getting massages, while at the beach, sipping on drinks and..."

Kisara narrowed her eyes. "Doing what?" She appeared from the female locker room and had been listening to the conversation.

Ikki froze mid‑fantasy. "Eh? Ah, nothing! Nothing at all! Just heading to the dojo!"

Renka sighed. "I better change too." She stepped away from Issei, but not before giving him a firm look. "Don't forget what I said, Ise."

"I'll never forget what you guys have taught me," he replied. "It's what my shishou has said, talk less and listen more, it makes me more teachable."

Renka gave a nod and headed into the girls' changing room, while the others were heading to the dojo.

Kenichi glanced back. "So what's your plan?"

"Say hi to nee‑san," Issei said, lifting the broken bokken hilt, "then head to work and talk with shishou. After all… I did fail."

"Don't take the loss personally," Kenichi said. "I mean you did help out Kiba-san, he could have died if you weren't there."

Issei shook his head. "No, I think he would have been fine, I only got in the way, it's why I need to do better." They stepped inside and Shigure appeared directly in front of him. "Ah, hey, nee‑san." Issei gave a sheepish wave.

Shigure kept a stern gaze, sharp and assessing, as she analyzed him, but eventually her features softened. "How… are you?"

"I'm okay, still bummed that I lost, but it could have been worse, had you not been there."

"That's what… older siblings… are supposed to do," she murmured. "Look after their… little siblings. Right?" She looked at Kenichi for confirmation, since she knew he was an older sibling.

"That's right," Kenichi said with a smile.

"So I did… good, yes?"

"You did more than good," Issei said. "You saved my life, Shigure-nee. I'm pretty much indebted to you."

Shigure nodded once. "Hmm. I won't be… so easy tomorrow."

"Eh!? You weren't easy on me yesterday!"

"And you… lost."

Kenichi groaned. "When I lost, you laughed at me with the other masters."

Shigure tilted her head. "What do… you mean?"

"You forgot!" Kenichi cried.

Shigure blinked. "Hmm…" She tried to think of the times that she had laughed at Kenichi, when he lost.

"Nevermind…" Kenichi slumped into a corner to make a call while Mizunuma, Kisara, Ukita, and Ikki snickered at their captain.

Issei exhaled. "Well, I gotta go, kaa-san doesn't want me out when it's dark, you know because of…" He lifted his bandaged arm and tapped the bandage on his head.

Shigure stepped forward and hugged him. "Be sure to… text. And… stay safe."

"I will." He waved goodbye and headed out.

On the way, he ran into Renka, now in her training attire.

"Heading out?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Take care of yourself. Come back, and we'll get you caught up."

"I know you will."

"And one more thing." She smirked at him.

"What's that?"

"I'm still waiting on those mooncakes."

Issei laughed. "I know."

"See ya." She waved and slipped into the dojo.

Issei waved back before he turned to the locker room to get some things from his own locker and then leave school to head towards the shop.

Meanwhile, in the dojo, Kenichi was discussing what they had learned. Sakaki and the others didn't find Freed, but they also didn't find the two exorcists.

"So you guys found nothing?" Kenichi asked on a call to Hibiki and the others that had gone to the station earlier. Of course, it was not just them as Haruo was also in on the call and he seemed agitated.

Hibiki sighed. "Nothing."

Kaname added, "We sensed holy energy, but couldn't find the source."

Chiaki nodded. "Yeah."

Haruo crossed his arms dramatically. "What disappoints me is that you didn't seek me for information."

Ukita deadpanned. "This involves the Church. You wouldn't want to be anywhere near that."

"…I suppose you're right," Haruo admitted.

Hibiki suddenly perked up. "Wait a minute, is Issei there?"

Ikki shook his head. "No. Why?"

"I saw his father there, he told me that he was picking up his surrogate daughter, her name is Irina Shidou." Hibiki answered.

Renka blinked. "Wait a minute, why does that sound familiar?"

Kisara narrowed her eyes. "You know something?"

"No… maybe." Renka frowned. "It's just that we know Issei is linked to someone from the Church, right?"

Ikki snapped his fingers. "That's right, his childhood friend, his name's Shi… dou." Feeling like something was clicking, but didn't want to believe it.

Mizunuma added, "But you said his dad was picking up his 'surrogate daughter', so she must have been close to the family for him to consider her as that."

Kenichi nodded. "Ise also never talked about any other childhood friends either."

"And he also always referred to 'Shidou' as a he," Ikki said. "Not a she."

Hibiki groaned. "Maybe I should have stayed around him, then I could've seen what she looked like."

Kisara crossed her arms. "It would have helped, since he has a picture of them, then we could know for certain if 'Shidou' is Irina Shidou."

Ikki snorted. "Well, if it's true, dude's going to be in for a rude awakening, when he gets home."

Ukita laughed. "Yeah, just imagine, he thought all this time that she was a he."

Ikki's eyes widened. "Oh, shit, didn't Ise say that he also spoke about his fascinations with his childhood friend?"

Kenichi nodded. "That's right. He did."

Haruo hummed to himself as they heard some typing on the other end. "Irina Shidou, daughter of Touji and Mizuki Shidou, their only daughter. Her mother runs a restaurant in England, it specializes in Japanese cuisine and her father is a priest."

Renka's eyes widened. "Ise said Shidou moved to England."

Mizunuma shrugged. "Just more coincidences."

Kenichi sighed. "We also don't want to invade the Hyoudou, so we'll have to wait and see."

Shigure stepped forward. "Did Issei… text one of… you yet?"

"No, not... oh." Kenichi checked his phone as it let out a ping to signal a text notification. "He's at the park."

Shigure nodded at that answer and gave a sigh of relief.

Kisara exhaled. "Somewhere populated, it would be hard for Freed to try and attack him there."

"Right," Kenichi said. "Well, thanks for letting us know, we'll speak with the masters when we get back."

"I understand, enjoy your practice." Hibiki told them as he disconnected the call.

Kenichi clapped his hands. "Alright. Let's switch up pairings for today, Renka, you're against Ikki, Mizunuma, you're with Kisara, that leaves you against me, Ukita."

Ukita grinned. "Alright! It's been a while since you and I have duked it out, going to need it for my rematch with Issei."

Ikki smirked. "Unless he starts using his ki."

"You forget that I didn't use my own ki yet." Ukita laughed.

Kisara nodded. "Didn't Miu's dad say his anger is the key?"

"That's right," Kenichi said. "A controlled rage is his best friend, but Ise is quite emotional as anger is one of the hardest emotions to control."

Ikki shrugged. "Can't argue with you there."

"Well," Kenichi sighed as he looked around. "Let's get started."

"Hai!" The club spoke out and began their practice.

Meanwhile with Issei, he decided to head towards the park to clear his head before he decided to speak with his master. He was stopped by someone calling him a significant title that he knew only one person would call him.

"Aniki!"

"Honoka-chan?" He turned. "What are you doing around here?"

Honoka beamed. "Apachai and I were hanging out and playing shogi!"

"Shogi?" Issei tilted his head, he never expected Honoka to play such a game.

"Yeah! Come on!" She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward a bench.

"Honoka-chan, I don't think that..." He stopped mid‑sentence as he saw who was sitting there. "…Huh?"

The moment Issei saw the man sitting across from Honoka, he froze.

He was expecting a kid around Honoka’s age, he did not expect a full grown man with bronze skin like Ikki. Not only that, but the man was built with muscles on muscles, he definitely had more muscles than Mitsurugi. The man was dressed in a tank top and shorts, which did make Issei get worried.

Issei's instincts screamed. "Honoka, get behind me!"

"Huh? What for...?" She yelped as Issei pulled her behind him.

"Hey! You!" Issei barked at the man. "What do you think you're doing!?"

The man blinked. "Apa?"

"You heard me, preying on little girls, what's your deal?"

"Someone is preying on little girls!?" the man gasped. "Oh no! We must protect Honoka, her mother and Shigure will be mad if I don't protect her! Apa!"

"…Wait, what?" Issei blinked. "And how do you know Shigure‑nee?"

Honoka tilted her head. "Shigure‑nee? I didn't know she was your big sister. Wait—if she's your big sister, and you're my aniki… that makes her my other big cousin!"

The man nodded vigorously. "Oh! You're the one Kenichi trains. Apa."

"You know Kenichi‑senpai too!?" Issei looked at the man in bewilderment.

"That's right," Honoka said proudly. "Apachai helped train onii‑chan!"

Issei's jaw dropped. "You trained him…? Then that means... You're one of his masters!"

It was making sense to Issei, since the man did not look Japanese, but could speak it rather well.

The man puffed out his chest. "Apa! That is correct. I am Apachai Hopachai!"

"What did you train him in?" Issei asked, seeing an opening that he could take without the others knowing.

"Muay Thai. Apa."

Issei whispered the words to himself. "Muay Thai…"

Honoka tugged his sleeve. "Aniki?"

Issei was thinking about what Shigure had said about a weapon and mastering one's body. She also noted how those who specialize in Muay Thai utilize their elbows and knees in their strikes. He knew that with karate and Chinese kenpo, they utilize chops and palm strikes, boxing utilized his fists, along with the aforementioned styles. Taekwondo utilized his legs and kicking capabilities and he knew of the criticism that he needed to incorporate his elbows and knees into his offense.

"That's just what I need." Issei whispered to himself.

"Hm?" Apachai and Honoka tilted their heads in unison.

Issei stepped forward and bowed deeply. "Apachai-sama! Could you train me? Right now!"

"Eh!?" they both exclaimed.

"Please, Apachai-sama... you taught Kenichi-senpai, please teach me, too." Issei maintained his bow. "If you do, I might be able to help protect my friends, my family, even Honoka-chan."

Honoka grinned. "He'll do it!"

"Really!? Wait, why are you answering for him!?" Issei sputtered. "And why aren't you home? Wouldn't obasan freak out if you're hanging around with a grown man?"

Since being called 'aniki', he felt that he had to be a big brother for Honoka, but also another reason why he had to diminish his perversion. He had to be a better person for her, not just himself and ensure that she doesn't follow the path that he did. Hoping that she also gained better friends that would bring out the best in her and not the worst. Another reason why he could no longer be the Perverted Beast anymore.

Honoka waved him off. "No, my kaa-san knows about Apachai, he usually picks me up to take me to the dojo where my brother trains. Then he drops me back off after I'm done hanging out with him and Shigure. During school, I usually get dropped off by my parents, but Apachai drops me off after. If you're going to be trained by Apachai, that means you're going to be stuck with me, too."

"That's fine," Issei said, already stripping off his school jacket and shirt, leaving only his crimson muscle shirt.

Honoka blinked. "Really? That quickly?"

"I meant what I said, if I can add on to my offensive arsenal, I can help protect you, Honoka-chan. Not just you, but my friends, too. It's part of my dream to become a strong warrior and someone that people can rely on. I mean you can play on my phone, you know watch videos on the web, listen to music, you can even use my headphones. Then when we're done, we can go home."

Honoka softened. "Are you training because of what happened to your arm?"

"Yeah." Issei nodded as he looked at his bandaged arm, which throbbed in pain, but Issei didn't care. "I lost a fight. But I'll get my rematch. Are you always here?"

"Uh‑huh! And Apachai can protect me. He's super strong!"

"Apa!" Apachai casually punched a hole straight through a tree trunk.

"I can see that." Issei stared at the damage. 'The muscles definitely aren't for show. If Freed didn't want to deal with Shigure‑nee… he definitely wouldn't want to deal with this guy.'

"Apachai!" Honoka scolded. "If you keep doing that, we'll get kicked out of the park!"

"Apa…" He scratched his head sheepishly.

Issei sighed. "Well, we will try not to damage the park, okay? Apachai-sama, you think you can show me some moves?"

"Of course, Apachai has gotten to see you in the tournament and he wanted to train you but the Elder wouldn't let me." Apachai said, but was happy that he didn't scare off Issei by the damage that he caused to the tree.

"Well, now I'm asking." Issei turned to Honoka. "Hey, Honoka‑chan?"

"Hm?" She was already picking up his phone.

"You think you can keep this a secret?"

"Of course, Aniki! Also next time, can you bring some snacks?"

"If that's the price that I gotta pay, then sure." Issei nodded at the bargain, thus the others wouldn't know about him training.

"Alright!" She slipped on his headphones. "These are nice."

"Thanks, I got them on sale, two of them, a white one and black one during my "suspension" and ordered some new ones. Those are Sony WH‑CH720N."

"WH‑what?" Honoka was confused by the name.

"It's the product's name, they're noise canceling, so you probably won't hear us, but stay vigilant, so keep one of your ears open, okay?"

"Okay! Um, how much did you spend during your suspension?"

"A lot," Issei muttered.

He didn't want to think about the 100,000 yen he'd blown because his parents insisted he "treat himself."

He tried to look for cheaper options, but for some reason, his parents wouldn't allow it. It was easy to buy the headphones because his mother had used a little bit of the "porno" money. That helped not bite much into his actual money from his paychecks, plus he still had allowance money that he hadn't used. He then remembered that he had bought a new chair, which took some time, but his father offered to pay up to half of the chair's cost.

It felt weird to him, but they saw it as a celebration because of how he moved on from his perversion. While they felt guilty about not disciplining him as much, which was why they were insistent on him getting some more high end brands and offering to help pay. He had tried to persuade them that they didn't need to, but it was where he could see where he got his stubbornness from and submitted to his parents' wishes. So when he came back from school after being accused, his mother went online shopping with him. His father gave his input, when he got home and the next day, they made the order with his father, when he was on lunch break at work.

He shook the thought away. "Alright, Apachai-sama." Issei spared a glance at Honoka to make sure that she was comfortable before turning back to the master. "What do you got?"

Apachai brightened. "First, you should get into the stance like this!" He stood with his feet, shoulder width apart.

However, he was standing at an angle, having his right foot back and his left forward. He then had his fist raised and Issei noticed that the left fist was faced a bit more outward than the right fist was. Issei also noticed that Apachai's stance was completely firm like a rock.

Issei copied him. "Like this?" Unlike Apachai's stance, Issei's was loose, which Apachai instantly saw.

"Correct, though you need to be strong and firm in your stance, not loose like you are."

"I'll try." Issei began to stiffen his muscles to the best of his capabilities, the problem was that by clenching, he became too stiff.

"Now you are too stiff. Apa."

"Damn it…" Issei grumbled to himself.

He loosened out of the stance and refreshed it, trying to find a balance in clenching his muscles to where he wasn't so stiff, but still capable of moving.

Apachai nodded. "Hmm, could be better, but this is called the Tang Guard Muay, apa."

"Tang Guard Muay…" Issei repeated as he tried to get familiar with the name.

"Mhm, it's the main stance that many Muay Thai fighters use, but also the most basic."

Issei analyzed it. "That makes sense." He remembered how Renka taught him the takusoushou stance, in order to utilize his palm strikes.

Another thing Issei noticed about the stance was that with his left side more to the front, he realized that it was the offensive portion of the stance. While his right side was the defensive portion, which he did not mind, since his right arm was a bit damaged from Freed. He was going to be wearing the bandage on his arm for a while, since he had to get stitches for the cut. However, Elize patched him up better than he was the day before.

She had also told him that he may need help in bandaging himself up, so he would note that to Kisara tomorrow morning. He didn't want to disturb his parents for them to do it. He waited for Apachai to give any form of confirmation, but he did not say anything.

"So… what was the first move you taught Kenichi‑senpai?" Issei asked, hoping that he could use a muay thai technique that he could begin replicating.

Apachai's eyes lit up. "Hmm, oh, I know, that was the Kao Loi! This is how you do it!" He grabbed another tree and brought knee up into it. "APA!"

His knee strike blasted a crater into the wood and splinters exploded through the air like shrapnel. Chunks of bark and wood scattered across the grass as Apachai's knee strike obliterated a crater into the tree's side. Honoka, thankfully, was well out of range. Issei, however, could only stare, wide‑eyed and slack‑jawed, until he fell out of his stance entirely.

"A‑Apachai‑sensei… that tree…" Issei couldn't form a sentence. 'Kenichi-senpai trained under this monster?'

"Then I showed Kenichi the Ti Lan. APA!" Apachai swung his leg in a brutal low kick. The tree's base caved in with a thunderous crack, sending more splinters flying.

Issei's voice cracked. "W‑Whoa…"

Apachai turned to him cheerfully. "So! Any questions?"

"What!? You just showed the moves! You didn't explain how to do them!"

"Oh! Right, right." Apachai nodded vigorously. "The Kao Loi is where you grab your opponent's head and bring it to your knee as it rises."

"Uh‑huh…" Issei nodded, but still assessing the damage done by the muay thai master.

"But Apachai has seen you fight. You might like the Tee Koa Trong better."

"What's that?" Issei asked.

"It's the same thing, you slam your opponent's head directly into your knee as it rises, but it's more one handed. APA!"

Issei swallowed. "I… see." He processed what Apachai had said and figured that if he was wielding a sword in one hand, then it would be more beneficial to use that technique over the Kao Loi. "And the Ti Lan?"

"That is a kick to the back of your opponent's leg, you can even cripple them if done right. It works well against fighters that rely on their upper body."

"Don't all fighters rely on their upper body?" Issei asked.

"Oh! That's right. I mean fighters like boxers." Apachai clarified.

"Got it. And what about swordsmen?" Issei questioned as he was looking to see how it could be used against Freed.

"Hmm, it would work and it would mess with their footwork, if you are able to hit them on the mark, but you would have to get close to them."

"I understand." Issei nodded as he understood that he would have to lock blades with Freed like Yuuto had done, in order to pull the move off. 'Easier said than done.'

"Good! Now... APA!" Apachai lunged with an elbow strike.

Issei barely dodged. "WHAT THE HELL!?"

"You dodge better than Kenichi! But there is a move that you can do that is the Sork Klub."

"Sork Klub?"

"Mhm, it is where you draw in your opponent and when they go to punch you, you spin your entire body and give them an elbow strike to the back of their head like this, APA!" He demonstrated on the poor tree again.

If the tree was sentient, it would be groaning in agony or it would likely be dead because of the strikes that Apachai dealt to it.

Issei's mind raced. 'Maybe that could work when Freed goes in for a stab, rather than a slash, I could disorient him, maybe, I'm not as strong as Apachai, but I think he would blow Freed's head clean off.' He began to envision the fight in his mind on how he could land the technique on Freed and how he would have to spin his body to land an effective hit.

"Thanks to your boxing training," Apachai continued, "you can learn the Apapunch as well as the Ti Sok."

"Apapunch? Ti Sok?" Issei's mind was trying to process all of these moves that Apachai was telling him about.

"Sorry, Apachai always forgets to explain things well, but the Apapunch is a powerful uppercut that can kill regular people, especially powered by your ki."

Issei's eyes widened slightly. 'Ki, Setsuka-obasan talked to me about that, I could use it to sense people, it's why she has me meditate. Something I haven't done in a while, it probably will help, I have to build my mental fortitude. Considering some people may be talking about my injuries and the attack, thanks to Mizunuma-senpai opening his mouth. But I can't blame him too much, he was worried about my physical being, something which the school doesn't give a rat's ass about. I can guarantee that some of those assholes are jacking off to porn, while I'm trying to train. Funny enough, I probably would have to, but it doesn't feel as fun anymore…'

Thunk.

Something tapped his head. 'Huh?'

"Are you okay in there, apa?" Apachai asked, knocking lightly on his skull.

"Sorry, Apachai-sensei, I was just thinking about what you said about ki."

"Uh huh, you can use it for many things. Sakaki likes to use his to intimidate his opponents, but you can also use it to empower your attacks or strengthen your defense."

"And sense people?" Issei interjected the question.

"Uh‑huh! But let me show you the Apapunch." He stepped back, planted his feet, and then... "APA!" His uppercut blasted a thick branch clean off the tree.

Issei gawked. "Whoa. Did you use ki on that?"

"Apa? Oh no, the Elder tells me that I have to hold back from using it. Otherwise, I would kill someone. It was tough for me to train Kenichi because I would always knock him out and break him at times."

"…I see." Issei swallowed nervously. 'So that's his natural strength. He wasn't even using ki this whole time and he destroyed that tree like it was nothing.'

The tree looked like it had survived a natural disaster rather than taking a beating at the hands of Apachai.

"Now for the Ti Sok," Apachai said. "Which shouldn't so hard for you, since it is a normal elbow strike, it is used in a conjunction of punches like the Apapunch, or better this move." He inhaled deeply. "Apapapapapapapapapapapapapapapa!"

A storm of punches hammered the tree. Chunks flew everywhere. Hidden among the punches were sudden elbow strikes that sharp, brutal, and unpredictable. Issei ducked as a chunk of wood whizzed past his head. However, Issei noticed that during those punches, Apachai had thrown in a couple of elbow strikes as well. It was then that Issei realized that Apachai was not going as fast with each punch as he wanted to and Issei understood why.

'He wants me to see the elbow strikes, but otherwise in the barrage, the elbow strikes would be difficult to dodge or block because you never know it's coming. Hell, you could fake a punch and follow up with the elbow strike, if your punches can disorient your opponent… oh shit!' Issei had to duck again from another chunk of wood flying his way.

When Apachai was done, the tree was practically mulch by the blows that it dealt. Issei stared at the devastation, a range of shock, awe and fear mixing in his chest at what Apachai had done to the tree. Issei also believed that Apachai really didn't use any ki either, it made Issei wonder just how powerful the man was.

'No wonder senpai is strong, especially training with this monster, it makes me wonder how strong senpai's other masters are. I already know Shigure-nee was one, but senpai is not too keen on using weapons, but she's strong, too. Just how far behind am I?' Issei shook his head. "Do you… have a name for that barrage?"

"That is the Rekka Apunch!" Apachai answered proudly.

"Raging fire…" Issei whispered. It made sense and that the reload speed that Ikki and Kisara had been teaching him about mattered. He bowed deeply. "Please show me everything you can for the next couple hours, please?"

Honoka looked up from his phone. "Aniki, we don't have that much time. You already spent thirty minutes watching Apachai show off."

"Shoot! Then ninety minutes!" Issei reasoned with her.

"Okay!" She returned to her show that she was watching on his phone.

Apachai nodded. "Apachai can show. But Apachai cannot spar with you."

"That's fine, we can practice side by side and you can correct my form."

"Apachai can do that!"

"Alright!" He was grateful that he had practiced with Kisara this morning as he was sure that he could get the kicks such as the Ti Lan down.

"We'll start with the Kao Loi." Apachai said, figuring that he should start Issei off with the same move that he first taught Kenichi.

Issei was right about him needing this, finally being able to utilize his elbows and knees. However, he began to learn a little more about himself as he tried to force his ki, but couldn't. He shrugged off and figured that it would come in time and forcing things wouldn't help make it better. They found another tree for Issei to practice the Ti Lan on.

Apachai gave praise on his kicking ability, but that was thanks to Kisara, it's the reason why he got a better start than Kenichi did. Of course, he did know that his senpai was learning many styles simultaneously. Issei, on the other hand, progressed in a style before moving on to another one. He had started with boxing, then moved on to kenpo and karate, then taekwondo. His kenjutsu training was done in conjunction with those different styles.

After the 90 minutes, Issei was drenched in sweat and was wheezing because his lungs felt like they were on fire as he dragged himself towards the fountain. His muscles were killing him as his body screamed in protest, while practicing the Ti Lan, he realized how sore his legs were as they felt like they were burning. The cut on his arm was throbbing underneath the bandage, he wanted to rip it off and scratch the wound.

Apachai followed, humming cheerfully. "Apachai will help you!"

"Huh?" Issei was confused by how Apachai would help him after putting him through all of that.

Compared to the other workouts, those 90 minutes that he had gone through with Apachai were the most strenuous minutes that he had ever gone through. He wasn't even physical with Apachai, he was just testing moves and trying to get his muay thai stance down.

Apachai picked him up like a sack of rice and dropped him straight into the fountain.

SPLASH.

"There you go!" Apachai clapped his hands, glad that he was able to help his new student.

"Apachai!" Honoka yelped, ripping off the headphones. "You have to keep his head out of the water or he'll drown!" She rushed over and lifted Issei's head out of the water. "Aniki! Can you hear me!?"

Issei coughed up water, but the coolness felt heavenly. "I'm… alright… thanks… Honoka…chan." He relaxed at the ledge of the fountain, but remained in the water.

"You better get out and dry yourself or you can get a cold!" Honoka scolded her big brother figure.

"Meh… I was… in the rain… yesterday… this is… nothing… new." Issei spoke, while still taking deep breaths.

"Really? It was raining pretty hard, are you sure you can make it home?" Honoka asked with some concern.

"I'll be… fine…" Issei's eyes felt droopy, he just wanted to sleep.

"Well, obasan wants to know when you'll be home." Honoka said as she looked at his phone, seeing the text notification.

"Oba... oh crap." He realized that Honoka was referring to his mother. "I need to text her, guess I'll go to the shop tomorrow, ah" He winced as he dragged himself out of the fountain as the water splashed out on the grass and pavement.

He used the fountain to help himself stand back up and began to stretch his muscles. He was too wet, so he didn't want to touch his phone just yet and he turned to Honoka."Tell her… that I'm… heading home… and that I… was at the park…"

"Okay!" Honoka ran back to their things.

Apachai bowed his head. "Apachai is sorry for nearly killing you."

"No… Apachai‑sensei… you're good… thanks for… training me… today."

"That is good." Apachai sighed in relief.

Issei stretched, muscles screaming. "How often… do you come here… with Honoka…chan?"

Apachai answered with his usual cheerful rumble. "We come here everyday after she's done with school, we play shogi and sometimes feed the animals and then Apachai drops her off at home and then goes back to Ryōzanpaku."

Issei exhaled slowly, still leaning on the fountain's edge. "So you… live there too. I guess… everyone there… is strong. Now I see… I'm not there… not yet."

Honoka hopped over with his phone in hand. "I sent it, Aniki!"

"Thanks." He turned to Apachai. "You should take her home. I'll be fine."

Honoka puffed her cheeks. "You do not look fine, Aniki. I know, Apachai, let's get Aniki home. I know where his house is, so I can guide you and it would be much faster."

"Honoka-chan, I'm..." Issei tried to argue with the girl.

"Nope! Decision made! Your legs are shaking, Aniki, you are not fine, but don't worry, I got our things all packed up, so let's go!" She pointed dramatically.

Before Issei could protest, Apachai scooped Honoka up onto his shoulders… then grabbed Issei and slung him over the other like a sack of rice.

"W‑Wait a minute... what's..." Issei was getting nervous, but Apachai wasn't even phased by his drenched body.

"Hit it, Apachai!" Honoka commanded.

"APA!" Apachai bent his knees and jumped.

They soared.

"WWWHHHOOOOAAAAA!" Issei's scream echoed across the rooftops as the ground dropped away beneath them. "Honoka-chan!"

"Just sit tight, Aniki!" Honoka called, hair fluttering in the wind. "Now take a left, Apachai!"

"Apa!"

Meanwhile, Issei was a bit scared, but he was going to keep quiet and put his trust into Honoka. He let his body rest, while Apachai carried him, he decided to close his eyes. The pain in his body was slowly fading, but the cut was throbbing, so that irritated him. He was still surprised by how Honoka traveled, but he was impressed by the superhuman capabilities of Apachai.

'The strength of a master is unreal, Shigure-nee, Mitsurugi-shishou, Apachai-sensei, even Akisame-sama, will I ever get there? I know it will take years, but man, they are something else, but I need to be able to surpass them one day.' Issei pondered as he was reflecting on how much his perversion had caused him to be so far behind and how much he had been missing out on.

As they neared the Hyoudou residence, Apachai's expression shifted. His muscles tensed. His eyes narrowed. He sensed something at Issei's house and became a little on edge.

"And we're here!" Honoka tapped Issei's cheek. "Hmm, aniki?"

"Hmm?" Issei answered groggily, blinking his eyes open.

"We're here, Apachai, you can put him down." Honoka told the bronze giant.

"Okay." Apachai lifted Issei softly and set him down, leaning against the front door.

"Thanks…" Issei muttered, still dizzy.

Honoka handed him his things. "Here's your stuff!"

"Thanks, Honoka‑chan." He patted her head, earning a bright smile. "Apachai‑sensei, please get her home safe."

The good thing about Apachai's speed was that it helped dry Issei off somewhat, but he was still mostly wet.

"I will," Apachai replied. But his gaze remained fixed on the front door. "Will you be alright?"

"Yeah, I…" Issei followed his stare. A chill crawled up his spine. "…will." He didn't like the stare that Apachai was giving towards his front door, it made him feel like something bad was happening. "Apachai‑sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"Stay here. Watch Honoka-chan." Issei pushed himself upright from the front door.

His body trembled but not from exhaustion, it was something deeper. Something primal. His instincts were flaring, warning him of danger. His body gave a shiver, and he thought it was from the fountain water, but it wasn't. His instincts were acting up as they were giving him a signal that was forewarning him of danger. He had gotten a similar feeling, when he was at the Church, but there was no bloodlust, even when he deferred from walking through the park the day that he met Mitsurugi. However, he noted that the bloodlust had belonged to Freed.

'This feeling… the same as at the church. But no bloodlust. Freed always leaked bloodlust… unless he's hiding it.' The dread continued through Issei's body and the fear for his parents.

Apachai tensed as well, but his expression softened. "They are not malicious," he murmured.

Honoka tugged Issei's sleeve. "Aniki?"

"Stay here, Honoka‑chan." His voice dropped into a growl.

He was thinking of his parents, they had to have been home and he imagined them in danger, especially his mother. They had been bonding and the thought of losing her. Apachai noticed that Issei's ki flared up a little and he figured that Issei was expecting a battle as he watched the brunette open the door quickly.

'If he's here… if he touches my family…'

Apachai was surprised by the boy's energy and figured that adrenaline was coursing through his veins. He also remembered what the other masters had said about him after Issei had left the clinic. Apachai had remained hidden to listen and watch the boy.

FLASHBACK

After they watched Issei leave in the car that was provided by Saiga, Apachai heard Kensei say something.

Kensei stroked his chin. "You certainly got a determinator."

Ukita blinked. "A what?"

Akisame stroked his mustache. "A determinator, he is not someone that will not back down, think about it, despite not having a weapon, he jumped into a fight to help his friend, even though he could have been killed. He continued on his fight to defend your honor against that Taichi fellow in the tournament. I think we may have to pity Mr. Freed if Issei has an actual weapon."

Saiga nodded. "You also heard what he said, Mitsurugi made sure that he can wield with either hand, it means that Issei has the capability to potentially dual wield if Mitsurugi teaches him that."

Kensei smirked. "Yes, and Renka, try not to lose this one."

"HUH!? WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" Renka chased him around the clinic, all while Kensei giggled gleefully.

Saiga sighed. "Well, it's been a long day, so get some rest, I need to speak with Azazel about what has transpired and get in touch with my contact at the church, have a good night."

The teens said their goodnight to the Fūrinji heir, since Hayato was still the patriarch.

Akisame clapped his hands. "But first, why don't you all help clean up the clinic."

Groans erupted from the teenagers because Akisame just loved to sweep the carpet from under their feet.

FLASHBACK END

Apachai had pondered about what Akisame and Kensei had meant, but he could see it with his own eyes.

'He is a determinator. Even exhausted, he charges in to protect his family.'

However, unlike Issei, who was tired, Apachai could sense that they were not in danger like Issei believed.

For Issei, what was going through his head was what happened last night with Freed, Yuuto, and that priest.

'That priest!' Issei growled in his head.

The corpse of the priest that had been cut down by Freed, who had a gleeful smile in doing so. That look in the priest's eyes as his life faded away, while he reached out for help. Issei did not care about the soreness and pain that his body was feeling.

'Shit! Don't fuck around with me! That kind of thing, what you did, Freed! That will not happen! Even if I'm a loose end, don't you dare lay a hand on my family!' Issei searched around, heading to the kitchen and found nobody there.

He then heard laughter in the living room, but all Issei saw was red as he rushed there. In his frenzy, he could hear his mother's voice saying something.

"And this is a picture of Ise when he was in primary school. Look, this is the picture when his togs got ripped at the swimming pool. It was very troublesome. He went to the pool's slide with his togs ripped."

There was some laughter, but then it was followed by a scream.

"ISE!"

When Issei came to, he was staring into purple eyes and a pretty face, he had used his left hand to hold the girl. His right hand was raised to attack, but hearing his mother's scream halted him. His eyes trailed the girl, she was also watching him, but she remained calm and steady. She looked into his anger, which began to dissipate and his fist slowly began to drop. While his anger subsided, so did her fear, unknown to him, was that the girl felt glad that he wouldn't harm her and that she wouldn't have to harm him because one of her arms had reached over to her left arm.

Issei blinked, breath shaky. 'What… what did I just do?'

As his eyes trailed the girl, he caught a glimpse of the crystal around the girl's neck as it caught the light. It was clear, shimmering, and almost ethereal. Issei's breath hitched but before he could process it, his mother's voice cut through the haze.

"What are you doing, Ise?" Miki asked with concern in her tone.

"Ka… kaa‑san?" Issei slowly turned towards her.

"Yes, dear, it's me. Welcome back. But could you please..." Miki gestured awkwardly at the position he was in, practically straddling the girl on the couch.

"Unless you want to take this to the next level." Saori spoke with mischief in her voice.

"Obasan!?" He scrambled backward so fast he nearly tripped over the coffee table.

He missed the look of disappointment on the purple eyed girl, who preferred if he had pulled her in to hug her. In the process of his stumbling, only then did he notice the other girl. She was blue‑haired and sharp‑eyed, already half‑rising with a hand near her hip as if prepared to strike.

His mother stepped closer as she set down the album she had been holding, worried about her son. "What happened? You look pale… and wet?"

Issei exhaled shakily. "I'm… so glad." The relief in his voice made the blue‑haired girl relax, her shoulders lowering.

Miki stared in confusion at her son, while Issei was just glad that she was safe, which allowed him to take a deep breath and calm down. His heartbeat began to slow down and his vision cleared up. However, he still had a sense of uneasiness that was still around, clinging to him like a shadow. He looked towards the couch to see the two unfamiliar women. He wanted to say that both were young foreigners, but the one that he had almost attacked seemed more Japanese. He noticed that both of them had rosaries hanging around their chests and they seemed to be his age. The rosaries made him wonder if they were from the church and possibly working with Freed.

The one that he had pounced on had chestnut colored hair, shades lighter than his own, tied into twin tails and her purple eyes that looked at him in wonder. She looked Japanese, but something about her aura felt foreign. The other female had blue hair with a green mesh and scary brown eyes that were sharp enough to cut steel. She radiated discipline, danger, and a quiet readiness. It was making Issei feel like he might have attacked the wrong one. He would admit that they were quite beautiful and they seemed ordinary as they were dressed in casual clothes.

"Well, you made quite an entrance." Saori continued to tease him, but inwardly, she was also glad that he called her his 'aunt'.

When he had said it, the twin tailed girl looked between him and Saori, trying to process the connection and wondered if this was the other woman her own mother was talking to.

"I'm sorry." Issei bowed deeply. "I didn't mean to attack. I just..."

"Oh, dear… are you still thinking about last night's attack?"

That single word of 'attack' made both girls stiffen as it had gotten their attention. The brunette looked at Issei in worry and wondered if that is why he is on edge. She figured that maybe she should ease his worry and so she smiled at him.

"It's okay. Hello again… Hyoudou Ise‑kun."

That made Issei snap up from his bow and looked at her quizzically as his eyes roamed her face.

'She… called me Ise.' Only those that were close to him called him by that nickname. 'So how does she know it? Wait, kaa-san called me that a few moments ago.'

He had to admit that her twin tails reminded him of Raichi, but he doubted that Raichi dyed her hair and put in contacts, plus this girl had a bigger bust than Raichi. He highly doubted that Raichi went to get plastic surgery either.

He looked at the scary-eyed girl and wondered if Yuuma was also playing a prank on him. That she dyed her hair blue and also put in contacts, of course, Yuuma's bust was a bit bigger. He also noticed that there was no mischievous glint in this girl's eyes. Turning back to the brunette, since she seemed easier to look at, she gave off a more positive vibe, but there was some sense of familiarity that he couldn't quite understand. Something about her tugged at his memory, it reminded him of warmth, sunlight, and laughter but he couldn't place it.

"How do you know that name?" Issei asked because he knows that his mother wouldn't casually give it out and she would have reprimanded the girl for saying it, but she didn't.

It only meant that Issei had to have known who this girl was, but he got into a defensive stance. If he knew this girl, he definitely would have tried to talk to her. His stance confused everyone as the blue haired girl was about to stand up to take action, but the brunette placed a hand on her arm, stopping her.

Issei's eyes hardened. "Who are you?"

The question hung in the air like a drawn blade.