Chapter 22

The room felt unusually tense. Xenovia was giving Kenichi a run down of what she had learned about what Issei knows, while the childhood friends were in Elize's office. Her arms crossed, brown eyes sharp as she watched Kenichi rub his forehead in exasperation, knowing that Issei was going to get himself into some trouble. However, he was not surprised that Issei would be looking to avenge that loss against Freed, considering that the scar on his right arm would be a constant reminder. And Issei never let a loss sit quietly.

"Well?" Xenovia asked, after she had finished her report.

Kenichi exhaled. "I think I know where the leak is. It's probably Niijima. He's one of ours."Full novel: High School DxD: A Fighting Chance — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠

"Niijima?" Xenovia tilted her head.

"Niijima Haruo," Kenichi clarified. "He's in charge of this thing called the Shinpaku Alliance."

Ikki leaned back with a sigh. "He probably had Kyōichi and Tōko dig into it."

Ukita nodded. "Yeah. We all know how Issei gets when he loses a fight. He's trying to find a weak spot."

Mizunuma added, "Plus he's got Mitsurugi's influence now. He's definitely going to avenge that loss."

Xenovia's expression hardened. "I'm aware. But he doesn't have the prowess in wielding a sword to beat Freed."

Miu blinked. "How can you be so sure?"

Xenovia hesitated, only for a moment before admitting, "He dueled me this morning, I will admit that when I told him "anything goes", he utilized his martial arts with his sword skills and beat me. I clarified and said that we would only use sword techniques, which I bested him in every round after that."

Ikki grinned. "Ah, so you were just the warmup."

"Warmup?" Xenovia repeated flatly.

Kisara smirked. "For his fight against Freed."

Xenovia's eyes widened. "I'm not even sure that I can beat Freed one‑on‑one."

Kenichi nodded toward Shigure, who was quietly petting her mouse while Apachai and Honoka played shogi nearby. "Yeah, well, had it not been for Shigure-sensei... he likely would have been dead, along with Yuuto Kiba."

Xenovia's gaze softened. "He did talk about that, when he showed me the wound that he received on his right arm."

Renka folded her arms. "Yeah, he keeps that bandaged up, but until he beats Freed... he will always feel the phantom pain of Excalibur cutting into his flesh."

"Mhm," Kenichi nodded before he sighed. "Anyway, I'll speak with Haruo about infiltrating the church. I didn't think that Ise would go that route."

Ikki snorted. "None of us did. Considering how he and Niijima interacted, when they came for the barbeque after the tournament."

Ukita chuckled. "Yeah, but it looks like Kyōichi and Tōko came in the clutch."

Kenichi turned. "Hey, Raichi."

"Yeah?" The pink haired asked, looking at their captain.

"What do you think about Freed?"

Raichi didn't hesitate. "Well, personality wise, if you thought Issei was bad, this dude is worse. My bestie may be a peeper, but he's not considering forcing himself on some women like Freed. In terms of a fighter, with a weapon? He's got Issei beat."

Xenovia narrowed her eyes. "What about without one?"

Raichi shrugged. "Pssh, Freed is going to get fucked up, but his taunting will mess with Issei's mind, thus Freed would have a chance." She knew this because she had done some sparring with Freed without his Excalibur and kicked his ass, so she could gauge the psychopath's limits in hand-to-hand combat.

Miu frowned. "Well, his emotions are his weakness."

Renka shook her head. "But they're also his strength, remember he's a dou-type fighter like you and I."

"Dou-type?" Xenovia echoed.

This was a term that she hadn't heard before, so she was curious about what they meant.

"Oh, that's right, we're speaking in terms that you don't know, sorry, I'll explain." Kenichi cleared his throat. "A dou-type martial artist is someone that uses his or her anger to exceed their limits. They tend to usually be aggressive in combat and are rarely on defense."

"There are types?" Xenovia asked.

"That's right," Kenichi replied. "Two of them. Dou and sei."

"What's sei?" Xenovia asked.

"A sei-type martial artist usually hides their intention to fight and focuses on sensing their environment and then reacting to danger. Instead of power and anger, a sei fighter with talents, skills, and wit. Although, it is kind of weird that I am a sei type, since I have been told that I don't have talent as a martial artist." He laughed awkwardly after his explanation.

Xenovia looked around. "So what are the rest of you? I already know about three of you."

Ikki chuckled. "That's easy. Kenichi and I are the only sei-type fighters. Everyone else is a dou-type."

Xenovia nodded slowly. "Based on my battling experience… I would say that I am a dou-type, if you're willing to teach me."

Raichi shrugged. "You should have a little time, Kokabiel isn't going to make a move yet, but he is likely to look for more reinforcements."

Kenichi frowned. "You don't know where?"

Raichi shook her head. "No, sorry, he doesn't usually tell me much, remember he doesn't like humans. According to Yuuma, he does plan to kill me at some point, so we're working on a plan, it will likely be in the final fight."

Kenichi's expression darkened. "Alright, but it will determine whether Issei gets involved."

Renka blinked. "How so?"

"He either gets his hands on Freed before then or he enters the battlefield, forgoing the consequences…"

Miu nodded, finishing Kenichi's statement. "Exposing himself to the supernatural world, which we already know is dangerous."

Ikki crossed his arms. "So how do you want to play this, Kenichi?"

Kenichi inhaled. "Well, with us getting involved, you know that means that the devils will know of our capabilities."

'Interesting, the devils don't know of their whereabouts,' Xenovia thought. 'But since they are my allies as Saiga said, the devils will know that humans are aware of their presence and be wary of them moving forward.'

Kisara nodded. "So some of us will be on the lookout for Issei, while the others are involved?"

"No," Kenichi said. "Only a few of us, Raichi, you will already be there, likely to ambush the peerages."

Ukita scratched his cheek. "Or just one. Isn't Rias Gremory's peerage more on the offensive side?"

Renka added, "Sona has a new piece in Ayase Ayatsuji, I could sense a change in her aura."

Kenichi nodded. "That's a little firepower to her peerage, along with Genshirou Saji."

Miu tilted her head. "Doesn't Ayase's family run a dojo?"

Kisara snapped her fingers. "Oh! That's right! She does1"

Kenichi opened his mouth. "Well, we… nevermind. Look alive." Nodding towards the door.

They dispersed as Issei opened up the door to let Irina enter first as he walked in after.

"Uh… hey." Issei greeted them.

Honoka waved. "Hey, aniki!" She turned back to her shogi game and quickly made her move. "And… checkmate."

Apachai stared at the board. "How does Apachai still always lose to Honoka?"

"Guess you need more practice," Honoka teased.

It was times like this that Kenichi pondered if his little sister could be a genius because he knew that Apachai was no slouch at shogi. The muay thai master made Akisame go to the limit and Kenichi knew that the jujutsu master was probably the smartest among the masters that resided in Ryōzanpaku.

Issei gestured. "I see you have already met Xenovia. This is Shidou Irina, she's my childhood friend."

Irina bowed politely. "Nice to meet you all."

Kenichi stepped forward. "Nice to meet you, I'm Shirahama Kenichi."

"I've met your mother and your sister, they're nice." Irina said, nodding over at Honoka.

"Thank you." Kenichi replied back, but inwardly, he was glad that his mother or sister didn't say anything embarrassing about him.

Ikki came forward next. "Name's Takeda Ikki, we didn't get to properly meet. I was the one that picked up Ise, when you saw him off the other day."

Irina nodded in recognition, remembering his face, when she was saying goodbye to Issei. Her thoughts were interrupted as the sunglasses wearing member of the club walked up to her and she stepped closer to Issei.

Ukita chuckled at the reaction, before speaking. "I'm Ukita Kōzō, but most people usually call me by my last name, only Kisara and Ikki call me by my first name."

Kisara snickered. "You already met me, when I picked you up earlier."

"Same here, when you came to school during lunch time the other day." Raichi added.

Irina's face lit up. "Oh yeah, Raichi, right?"

"That's my name!" Raichi boasted, puffing her chest.

For some reason, Irina felt that this girl would be her ally in a different department that wasn't focused on Kokabiel. However, when she turned to the other Chinese girl, Irina frowned as she looked at her and felt inadequate, in terms of bodies.

Renka crossed her arms. "Renka Ma." She announced herself informally, which slightly stymied Irina.

"Your name is Ma?" Irina asked.

"No," Issei shook his head and answered. "It's Renka, she's Chinese like Raichi, but they have different variations of Chinese kenpo. Renka-senpai's my trainer, I actually scored a hit on her."

"Don't get too cocky, remember, I put you on your back." Renka reminded him, making him pout about his defeat.

Irina, instinctively, rubbed his back before she saw movement and turned to see a beautiful, blonde, who had a body similar to Renka's.

Miu reached out her hand. "My name is Fūrinji Miu, it's nice to meet you."

Irina shook her hand. "Likewise."

Of course, Miu could detect the uncertainty in the girl's voice and wondered if Irina was intimidated by her.

"I'm Tanaka Mizunuma." Mizunuma gave a wave to the brunette exorcist.

The color from Irina's face drained as a giant, bronze man came up to her happily and began to rapidly shake her hand.

"Hello, my name is Apachai." He greeted, until Issei pulled her out of his grasp and stabilized her, while Irina shook her head because of how dizzy she was.

Honoka leaned forward. "What happened to your ankle?"

Irina smiled sheepishly. "Oh, it was a sparring accident." She answered when she got her bearings back.

Issei turned his head to the black haired woman that was in the back, watching all of the interactions. "Hey, nee-san, I'm going to train with Apachai today."

Shigure nodded silently at what he said, knowing he would be distracted by learning from Apachai.

Irina followed his gaze and glanced at her. 'So she's the other big sister… wow. She's beautiful.'

Xenovia's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the quiet woman across the room. 'Her aura… calm, yet powerful. She looks like that hybrid I saw in Rias Gremory's club… but she's human.'

Shigure was indeed a mystery to both exorcists, if they weren't looking right at her, they could never have known that she was in the room. Before Xenovia could analyze further, Shigure's soft voice drifted toward them.

"Hmm." She tilted her head, noticing both girls staring at her. "Do you… need something?"

Irina flinched. "Uh, no, sorry!"

Xenovia stepped forward instead. "Excuse me, but… what is your forte?"

Shigure blinked. "My forte?"

Kenichi answered for her. "Shigure's our weapon master. They call her the Prodigy of Sword and Mistress of All Weaponry."

Irina and Xenovia stiffened at hearing Shigure's epithet, but they were grateful to have her on their side. After all, this was the woman that forced Freed to retreat, when he could have killed both Yuuto and Issei.

Issei grinned proudly. "She's awesome! She showed me how to wield a knife and trains me in wielding my shinai more efficiently."

"So she's another of your masters," Xenovia said.

"Uh, yeah, and…" Issei was beginning to answer, but was interrupted.

"Ah!" Irina suddenly yelped, leaping into someone's arms.

Issei rushed over. "What is it, Irina?"

"There's… there's a mouse on your head!" she cried, pointing frantically.

Issei blinked. "Huh? Oh, it's just Tōchūmaru." The mouse squeaked happily as Issei reached up to pet him. "He's nee‑san's friend."

"Friend?" Irina echoed.

"Yeah. Nee‑san trained him in her style too. He's actually a master‑class disciple in nee-san's style."

Xenovia stared. "What?" She was perplexed by this revelation.

For one, she already knew of Shigure's prowess and if a mouse was a master-class disciple, she wondered if it could beat Freed. Of course, she had her doubts because as mentioned before, he's a mouse.

Irina's jaw dropped. "No way! Wait a minute, Xenovia? Why do I hear you over there when…"

She turned her head and saw Xenovia standing across the room. Then she slowly looked down at whose arms she was clinging to.

Renka raised a brow. "I can drop you at any time."

"I'm sorry!" Irina squeaked.

Issei laughed nervously. "I'd be happy if you didn't, Renka‑senpai."

Renka smirked. "Of course you wouldn't want anything to happen to her."

"Well, duh," Issei said plainly. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to anyone. Even you. That's why I train so much. So you don't look down on me, and so you know I've got your back."

He gently lifted Irina out of Renka's arms and into his own.

Renka's cheeks warmed at his sincerity. 'Idiot… saying things like that so casually…'

Issei, of course, remained blissfully unaware. Irina, however, noticed and her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"Plus," Issei added, "my obasan and ojisan wouldn't be happy if something happened to her while she's here."

Honoka blinked. "Huh? Why would my kaa-san and tou-san care?"

Kenichi sighed. "He doesn't mean our parents, Honoka."

"Oh." Honoka's mouth gaped in realization.

Tōchūmaru squeaked down in sadness to Issei, since Irina didn't like him and because she was Issei's friend, he wanted to be friends with her. It was no surprise to anyone, except Irina and Xenovia that Issei could understand what the mouse was feeling. This was due to his training with Shigure, Tōchūmaru would sort of be like a cheerleader for Issei, even when he got his ass handed to him every single time by his surrogate big sister.

Issei lightly shook his head. "No, she was just frightened by you, Tōchūmaru. She's usually really nice… except this afternoon." He mock‑glared at Irina.

Irina chuckled nervously while Kisara snickered.

Renka frowned. "What's so funny?"

Kisara grinned. "Well…"

Issei glared sharply in Kisara's direction. "Not a word."

"Oh, come on," Kisara said. "It wasn't that bad. Let's just say his childhood friend here went back to her troublemaking days and pranked him with a balloon full of shaving cream and water."

"Kisara‑nee!"

"Oh, please, do you really expect me to not embarrass you from time to time?" Kisara looked at her "baby bro".

"Well, I mean…" Issei lightly blushed in embarrassment.

Ikki leaned forward. "Speaking of embarrassing… Irina, what's the goods on our dear boy Ise?"

Issei tightened his hold on Irina. "Her lips are sealed."

Irina blushed as his arms wrapped around her, her hands resting on his shoulders.

Ukita smirked. "You can't keep track of her forever. You've got training."

"Ah! That's right!" Issei gritted his teeth as gently set Irina down, keeping an arm around her waist so she wouldn't wobble. "Xen, can you look after her?"

Xenovia shook her head. "Actually, I was going to get some training of my own. Although I'm not sure what style to work with."

Kenichi nodded. "We can help with that."

Honoka pumped a fist. "Don't worry, aniki, I got you."

"Really? You're the best." Issei high‑fived her.

Raichi grinned. "Same here, bestie. I'll be on the lookout."

"Thanks." Issei nodded towards her.

Kisara stretched. "Oh yeah! Hey! Ikki, Kōzō, Irina's joining us for rock climbing with Ise."

Ukita brightened. "Nice."

Ikki smirked. "Now it's a three‑way race."

"Race?" Issei and Irina echoed.

Kisara laughed. "You'll see when we get there. They're also joining us for the movies this weekend."

Ikki pumped a fist. "Alright! We've got a whole week to get the scoop from Irina."

Issei groaned. "Oh no."

Irina huffed. "I won't make the same mistake I did in the car."

Mizunuma blinked. "What mistake?"

Kisara opened her mouth but Xenovia beat her to it.

"He likes chick flicks and he would watch them in his hopes of planning to obtain a harem." She spoke in her typical indifference, which Issei and Irina gasp.

"Xen!" Issei yelped as everyone burst into laughter as they did not expect such a thing from their friend and kohai.

"Chick flicks!" Ikki howled.

"Really? Of all things!" Ukita wheezed.

Mizunuma grinned. "Maybe we should change our movie plans and go see a romcom instead."

"No way! I want to see Alien Romulus!" Issei retorted.

Kisara smirked. "Are you sure? Maybe space isn't your thing."

Renka added, "Or aliens."

Irina shook her head. "That's not true. Ise‑kun likes spaceships and robots."

"Irina!"

"Oh, don't give me that. That's not as bad as…"

"Nope." Issei pinched her nose. "You're not saying anything else."

Irina retaliated by pinching his cheeks. "I beg to differ."

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't say anything!" Issei tugged her hair lightly.

"They would've found out sooner or later!" Irina tugged back.

The childhood friends continued to bicker with one another, unaware that their faces were getting closer to one another. Luckily, Issei didn't do anything that would have made Irina aggravate her ankle either. The others watched with varying reactions of amusement, curiosity, confusion and if the two were going to kiss because they argued like a married couple. Most of them laughed, except Xenovia, Shigure, Apachai, Honoka, and Renka. Of course, Apachai and Honoka were just confused about why they were bickering.

Raichi had stopped laughing to look in Renka's direction to see how her fellow Chinese woman was just watching.

Renka felt her chest tighten. 'Why does this bother me…?' She looked on with a slight frown.

No one was aware of Shigure coming up to the two with a shinai and before anything escalated…

WHACK WHACK

Shigure tapped both their heads with a shinai.

"That's enough." She spoke.

"Ow! Nee‑san, that hurt…" Issei rubbed his head while Tōchūmaru fussed over him.

Irina rubbed her own head. "Sorry! We won't do that again."

Miu clapped her hands. "Now with that over with. I can help you train, Xenovia."

Kisara grinned. "I can help you out there, too. Ever want to learn taekwondo?"

Xenovia nodded. "I wouldn't mind learning whatever I can to help me in my battles. There could be instances where I don't have my weapon."

Miu smiled. "We'll help you out." She turned to the buxom Chinese girl. "Want to help us out, Renka?"

Renka exhaled softly. "Sure, I guess."

Raichi stepped beside Irina. "Let me help you out, Irina. We can watch the girls and maybe I can help you with some stuff without reinjuring your ankle."

She gently guided Irina away from Issei's side and slyly gave Issei a wink to assure him that she had Irina covered.

Irina tilted her head as she followed Raichi toward the mats. "Okay, thanks. I'm guessing you're also about Chinese kenpo like Ise‑kun?"

Raichi grinned. "Yeah, but he learned from Renka. I got a different style, I could teach you, you look nimble enough. We can do some stretches, that should help you out and I can see your degree of flexibility."

"Okay!" Irina perked up.

Honoka hopped after them. "I'll come too! Gotta look out for aniki."

Raichi laughed. "That's right, I forgot."

The three girls headed toward the mats near the hanging body bag.

Kenichi clapped his hands. "Alright, we're going to do some sparring, except you, Ise."

"Huh? Why?" Issei blinked.

"You're the one who asked for Apachai to be here, remember?"

"Oh! That's right!" Issei brightened. "Apachai‑sensei! Show me more Muay Thai moves!"

He sprinted toward the towering man, aiming to learn more about possibly his favorite style.

"Apachai will gladly help you, apa!" Apachai beamed.

Shigure sighed as she debated about who would be the most quiet between the two groups. She was slightly displeased that she could not train Issei, but she understood Apachai's enthusiasm. It wasn't everyday that either of them would get a student, considering that Kensei and Akisame had a man named Isshinsai before she and Apachai came along, where they were able to train Kenichi. It was the same with Sakaki, although no one rarely called him by his first name of Shio, except the Elder.

Shigure felt Tōchūmaru on her head, tapping her forehead to get her attention about something. She looked up towards him to see him pointing insistently towards the girls as they were about to begin their training. She shrugged and decided to head over there, plus she could see how well the two fared in their swordsmanship herself.

Shigure blinked. "Alright… we'll go there."

Tōchūmaru squeaked happily because he wanted to get Irina to like him, which was his intention of having Shigure go there. He trusted Issei's words that the girl was nice and would warm up to him. He also had the advantage of Honoka and Raichi to vouch for him.

Meanwhile Issei was listening to Apachai giving him tips about the muay thai techniques that he had shown him the other day. He also had pads on his hands for Issei to hit, while they practiced. Issei was in the stance that Apachai taught him, but Apachai immediately noticed that he was too stiff.

"Apachai thinks you should lower your hips." Apachai noted as he looked at Issei's stance.

"My hips?" Issei questioned as he looked down at his hips.

"Mhm. You're standing too stiff, apa."

"I am?" Issei lowered his hips a little and relaxed before he realized something. "Oh. That feels… better. There's not as much tension as before."

"See? Now let's go for a punch combo with an elbow strike." Apachai raised the pads on his hands for Issei to hit.

"Right!" Issei nodded, being grateful that he was trained in boxing by Ikki as it helped improve his striking speed.

Meanwhile with the girls, they were helping Xenovia and Irina stretch and see their lower mobility. With Xenovia, Kisara was doing the same stretch that she had done for Issei, when she first started training him. Xenovia's ankle was on Kisara's shoulder as Kisara slowly stood up to stretch her hamstring.

Miu and Renka were overseeing the stretches, of course, they were making sure that Xenovia didn't lose balance. Unfortunately, Irina could not do the same stretch vertically due to her ankle. So Raichi had Irina lay on her back with Raichi pushing her leg towards her head. Thanks to Irina's more lithe body, she had more flexibility than Xenovia.

Raichi smirked. "So?"

Irina blinked. "So what?"

"Really? Do I have to spell it out for you?" She brought Irina's leg back and began to stretch the other leg.

"Spell…?" Irina tilted her head.

"You like my bestie," she whispered.

Irina's face turned red. "What? I…"

"Dudette, I can see it and so can everyone else. You do know that he was a pervert, right?"

"I'm aware," Irina sighed. "When we were young, he would talk about big breasts all the time. I remembered that because Xenovia and I faced a stray devil, who was all about small breasts."

"Oh? So you knew his preferences." Raichi raised an eyebrow, switching legs again.

She was rather surprised that Irina didn't falter and gave some respect for that Irina hadn't deterred.

"That's right and yes, I know of the vulgar things that he did with peeping as well."

Raichi raised a brow. "Is he peeping on you at home?" she teased.

"No! Not that I am aware of and I'm sure Xenovia would have probably told me, if he was. Of course, peeping wouldn't have gotten him anywhere if he wanted to be harem king." Irina shrugged.

"So you know about that?" Raichi was learning small bits of Irina's knowledge.

"Mhm, I also met his grandpa, when we were young, due to my tomboy nature, I think he also thought I was a boy." Irina chuckled.

Raichi snorted. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Irina nodded and then looked quizzically at Raichi. "You haven't seen a picture of us when we were young?"

"No, I'm probably the only one that hasn't been to his house because of my spy work." Raichi replied back.

"Right, well, I was," Irina leaned back against the mat. "But then I grew out my hair, I used to have twin tails just like your hairstyle."

"But yet you went to the ponytail look, I wonder if Ise thought it reminded him of me?" Raichi pondered out loud.

Irina blushed. "You like him too?"

'Here we go again, first, Yuuma and now Irina, at least Renka isn't getting on my case, but she knows me. Ugh, Does that mean I'm going to be questioned by Akeno, too? Nah, Yuuma will probably tell her what I said,' Raichi rolled her eyes. "Not the way that you like him. I like him like a brother, but you…"

"Hey, Raichi, you done over there?" Miu called.

"Yep!" Raichi helped Irina sit up carefully.

Miu crossed her arms. "So what do you got?"

Raichi grinned. "Irina's got a body similar to mine, of course, she's got more up top." She groped Irina's chest, making the girl squeak and blush in embarrassment, while Raichi smirked at Kisara, who growled. "So my style works best for her."

Renka frowned. "But you're not going to be here to help her much."

"Oh, I can handle Kokabiel," Raichi said. "I would have more leeway than Yuuma does. I'm a human and we are in devil territory. If the devils figure out that something is up, it may cause the devils to investigate and if he doesn't have the required forces…"

Miu nodded. "Then he might not stand a chance, in addition, Xenovia has told us that Mitsurugi is in play. Kokabiel's arrogance may cause him to lose that battle, so it would be us against Valper and Freed, if no one else comes."

Renka crossed her arms. "So wouldn't it be better for us to take the fight to them?"

Kisara shrugged. "Yeah, we got the numbers, although we don't have the capability of flying."

Miu turned to Xenovia. "What did the devils say when you talked with them?"

"They said that they would stay out of our way." Xenovia answered.

Irina nodded. "That's right."

Xenovia added, "Although there is one devil to worry about, that being the Gremory knight, he has a hatred for the holy swords due to his past and Issei is willing to help him out."

Irina sighed. "Which is a problem, I don't want Ise-kun getting involved, but he can be very stubborn. He's going to find a way to get involved, since someone who he considers a friend is involved."

Raichi smirked. "Oh yeah, now that you mention that, you're also involved. You don't think that Ise will also get involved for you as well?"

Kisara nodded. "And with you injured, he'll feel even more responsible. He'll want to protect his friends and make sure they're alright."

Raichi crossed her arms, expression serious. "And with a guy like Freed around, yeah, he's not going to rest. He will find a way to try and avenge his own loss. If he's not careful… he could wound up going down the Asura path."

Xenovia blinked. "Asura path?"

Irina tilted her head. "What is that?"

Miu answered calmly. "Asura path is the path of killing, since dou-type fighters are more prone to go down that path."

Xenovia frowned. "But most of you are dou‑type fighters. Can't you control it? Prevent it?"

Kisara shrugged. "Probably. But remember, his master is Mitsurugi."

Renka crossed her arms. "And he's a killing machine, which does worry me about what that fallen angel wants to happen with Kokabiel." She omitted Azazel's name to prevent the exorcists from distrusting them.

Xenovia's eyes hardened. "As long as we either retrieve the fragments or destroy them to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, I don't really care what happens to Kokabiel."

Irina nodded. "Same here. Our mission is the fragments. Whether Kokabiel lives or dies isn't our concern."

Miu exhaled. "Okay, I'll let Kenichi, but first, what style would be good for you, Xenovia?"

"Hmm?" Xenovia was confused by what she was asking.

Renka clarified. "She means what martial art style, Raichi's got Irina down for her variation of Chinese kenpo and she has good reason for it, but we're not sure about you."

Kisara tapped her chin. "Well, her leg flexibility is better than Ise's, when he first started taekwondo, so why don't I help her out there. Renka, you could probably teach them both your Chinese kenpo."

Miu smiled. "That's a great idea and I can help out, since my family style is a hybrid, so it lessens the load for you."

Renka hesitated. "But I have to train…"

Kisara cut in. "I think Ise is more into learning muay thai, likely for more offensive power to take on Freed."

Raichi nodded. "However, he may want to learn the hard form of Chinese kenpo, which my Zui Quan is based on."

Miu added, "He'll probably seek out Tanimoto during summer break."

Renka groaned. "Ugh, yeah, I forgot that they're coming with us, hopefully, he can relax a little bit."

Kisara smirked. "Yeah, he's going to have to cool it on 'soldier mode', maybe the surfing lessons that Kaname teaches him will help out."

Miu sighed. "I guess, but that won't be until this Kokabiel issue is dealt with, so let's…"

CRASH!

Everyone jumped a little at the crash, except Shigure, who simply sighed as she stood up and walked in the opposite direction of the crash.

Miu blinked. "Uh… where are you going, Shigure?"

"Smelling salts," she said, pointing toward the crash.

When everyone looked, they could see Issei's twitching body that was unconscious lay in a fresh crater in the wall and then they all looked at Apachai, who was just stunned.

Kenichi groaned. "Not again, Apachai…" His own traumatic memories of training with the Muay Thai master resurfaced.

Apachai bowed deeply. "Sorry, but he asked me to start fighting back, so he could dodge attacks. He dodged the first two, but he didn't see the kick, which I guess I forgot that we were just working with the upper body…"

Honoka simply winced at seeing her aniki get blasted by Apachai's kick, she got to see the spit fly out of Issei's mouth, when he got hit. The others were a little slightly surprised that Issei was able to dodge the first two strikes from Apachai. However, they remembered that Issei does react on instincts, which has helped him, but deduced that Apachai was holding back, which allowed Issei's instincts to react in time. They figured that Apachai picked up the speed on his third strike, which Issei could not react to in time.

Ikki whistled. "Ooh… that had to hurt."

Ukita nodded. "Yeah, no kidding."

Kenichi clapped his hands. "Alright, back to work. Shigure?"

"I got it," she said, already pulling Issei out of the hole that he made.

Her speed surprised the two exorcists because initially, Shigure had been walking in the opposite direction of the crash. Now she was already at Issei's position and moving him from the crash site.

"Apachai, could you fix the wall?" Kenichi pointed at the damaged wall.

"Apachai can handle it!" He rushed off for tools that he needed.

Kisara wrapped an arm around Xenovia. "Come on, I'll show you how to do Pandal Chagi."

"Pandal… Chagi?" Xenovia was trying to sound out the name.

"You'll see." Kisara dragged her to the hanging body bag.

Raichi turned to Irina. "Let's go, Irina! I can teach you some moves from Zui Quan, if there's any kicking involved, plant on your good foot, and use the bad one to kick the air if you can, okay?"

"Sure…" Irina glanced back at the unconscious Issei.

Renka noticed. "He'll be fine."

"Okay," Irina nodded, then met Renka's eyes. 'Does she like Ise-kun, too? She sounded disappointed about not training with him… and they have this beach trip coming up. I'll have to cherish every minute that I can with Ise-kun before I go like this weekend and when we watch anime, and then just maybe…'

"Are you okay, Irina?" Raichi waved a hand in her face. "You seemed to be thinking about something."

"Oh, I was just thinking about this weekend, since we were invited to spend time with you guys and maybe train." Irina answered.

Raichi nodded. "Ah, well... I might not be with you this weekend. Remember, I'm a scout for your enemy, but hey, when it's all said and done, we can hang out, if you don't have to leave yet."

"That sounds nice, and my ankle should be good by this weekend, so I can work with Xenovia and spar until you can give us the okay for us to track down Kokabiel."

"Yeah, leave it to me, and another thing," Raichi leaned closer, whispering, "have some confidence in yourself and tell him how you feel." She nodded to the unconscious Issei.

Irina froze. "Uh… what?"

"I can see it, it's why Renka kind of glares at you from time to time, you're rivals for his affection, unless you agree to share him, the problem is…"

"Ise‑kun." Irina finished the statement.

Raichi blinked. "Huh?"

"I already told you that I knew of his harem king shtick, but he views that as perverted, which he is trying to change from. Honestly… I didn't mind the perverted talk as you can see, I do want him and I do wish that I never have to leave."

Raichi smirked. "Knowing him? Don't be surprised if he requests to marry you, so you don't have to leave."

"I don't think…"

"I'm his bestie, girl."

"Oh really?" Irina raised a brow and crossed her arms. "Then how did you celebrate his birthday?"

At that, Raichi's eyes widened because she was so focused on her assassin work that she never celebrated with him. She was fairly sure that the others didn't know his birthday had passed either, likely because he didn't mention it to them like he had done with her.

She raised her hands in defeat. "Alright, you got me there, I know that it was a while ago back in April, but I had been preparing for my role. However, I am his bestie, so I do know that if he falls for you, you better make him happy."

Irina smiled softly. "That's my plan. And… hey, can I tell you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" Raichi was curious about what secret that Irina would tell her.

"Well… between you and me… I gave him my first kiss. But sadly… he was asleep."

Raichi blinked. "Are you still sure of your feelings for him now?"

"Yes." Irina nodded. "After all, I took an oath of my faith and commitment to him."

"You take your religion seriously, huh?"

"Of course. This is another test from the Lord. Amen!" Irina clasped her hands in prayer.

'Damn,' Raichi stared. "And when did you kiss him again?"

"When we were five years old." Irina stared back.

Raichi's jaw dropped. 'She really takes that oath seriously. Holy shit! Oh, my dear bestie, you have been marked by a religious fanatic for more than a decade. I will pray for you.'

"Is something wrong?" Irina asked.

"Nope, just surprised at how committed you are. I will say that he would be fully committed to you, if you succeed in winning him over, it would just be the matter of the other girls."

Irina shrugged. "I'm not too worried about that, I kind of expected it, being from the Protestant Church, I don't really discriminate against most people. After all, regardless, the Lord made us all equal, amen!"

Raichi laughed. "You're an eccentric one like me, but I will say you better do something before you go."

"What do you mean?" Irina blinked.

"Well… his perversion clouded a lot about himself. I can tell that he forgot about you until he joined our club and then he began remembering pieces about himself that were hidden. I'm just saying that when all of this is said and done, give him a reason to not forget about you again."

"Will do!" Irina smiled. 'People have been saying that a lot lately. I have to do something before we leave… Okay, I have to be confident, yeah? Then this weekend will be the start.'

Miu shouted from across the room, "Hey! Raichi! Irina! Quit yapping and get moving!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Raichi and Irina answered in unison before moving back into position.

Raichi grinned. "Alright, I'll teach you what I can about Choukarou. It involves a little kicking, but remember…"

Irina nodded confidently. "Use my good leg to plant."

"Exactly. Then let's begin!"

Meanwhile, at the Ayatsuji household dojo, Sona Sitri had taken it upon herself to give her peerage additional training in weaponry. It was a fortunate coincidence that her new knight had a family that knew of the supernatural and had a dojo.

Sona stood at the edge of the tatami, arms folded, watching her queen Tsubaki spar against their new knight, Ayase Ayatsuji. Both had changed out of their school uniforms into training clothes, giving them more freedom of movement.

Ayase had a shinai that she was wielding, however, Tsubaki had a bo staff as her choice of weapon. This was due to Tsubaki's training in how to use a naginata. However, since they could not use bladed weapons, they had to settle for the shinai and bo staff, respectively.

The fight was even at first glance, but to the trained eye of Kaito Ayatsuji, who was watching his daughter for the first time in a while. He could see that Tsubaki was actually losing ground. Considering that neither Ayase nor Tsubaki were using the power of their pieces.

"Your queen is going to lose," he said calmly.

Sona blinked. "Hmm?"

"Look at her feet." Kaito said.

Sona focused on where Kaito told her to and watched as Tsubaki took a step back as Ayase kept striking, which Sona was surprised by Ayase's relentless speed. Ayase would dash towards Tsubaki with a stab or slash in one direction. When Tsubaki would block, Ayase didn't hold the clash, instead she would jump back and then dash again towards Tsubaki, aiming for a new area to strike. This caused Tsubaki to have to adjust her staff to block the next strike and shift her defensive stance. However, as Kaito noted with that step back, Ayase was forcing Tsubaki back, the force of her strikes were getting stronger.

Sona's eyes widened. "I see… she's been using light attacks slowly building her strength. Now she's transitioning into heavier blows to push Tsubaki back."

Kaito nodded. "Exactly. But I must say thank you again for what you have done, healing me, keeping our dojo out of debt. However, there's something else that you have done that I cannot thank you enough for."

"For what?" Sona asked.

Kaito smiled softly. "For making my daughter smile again."

Sona followed his gaze and could see that Ayase indeed had a faint smile, albeit it was focused and determined but alive.

"It's no problem," Sona replied. "but I also thank you for allowing us to use your dojo to train."

"It's not an issue, you have helped bring in business and I can only train students in the basics, not my signature style."

"The Ayatsuji Ittou‑ryuu," Sona said.

"Yes," Kaito nodded. "I have trained my daughter in it, of course, since she is on the offense, you don't really get to see it."

"It's a defensive style?" Sona realized what he was implying.

Kaito nodded. "Yes, you could say that, it emphasizes counter attacks and parries, ah, it seems we actually might see it." He gestured back to the spar, which Sona turned back, watching her two pieces continue on.

In the spar, Tsubaki decided to turn the tables, or at least she was thinking that she did. As when Ayase had jumped back after a strike, Tsubaki dashed forward to try and catch her off guard. Ayase's eyes slightly widened, but she blocked the thrust from Tsubaki's staff. She landed as Tsubaki swung her staff towards Ayase's left side.

Ayase blocked the swing, but as the staff bounced off the shinai, Tsubaki swung it again towards Ayase's right side. Ayase had to adjust, seeing how the staff ricocheted off the shinai, she adjusted her angle instantly. She blocked the swing to her right side and knowing the direction of where it would go, she was prepared. With her staff bouncing upward in the block from Ayase, Tsubaki shifted her grip to swing the staff back down in a crushing arc. However, Ayase moved forward, thus parrying the staff before it could get enough momentum.

Tsubaki gasped in surprise as her staff bounced off again, but she was defenseless and Ayase was too close for her to block. Ayase reversed the grip on her shinai, ducked down and struck Tsubaki in the side. Tsubaki grunted in pain, but she had no time to recover as Ayase was quick with her strikes. She adjusted her grip again to hit Tsubaki on her other side, making the vice president cry in pain.

"Gh—!" Tsubaki staggered, grunting in pain.

She had no time to recover as Ayase was quick with her strikes. She adjusted her grip again to hit Tsubaki on her other side, making the vice president cry in pain.

"A‑ah!" Tsubaki cried out.

However, despite her cry, Tsubaki gritted her teeth and used her free arm to trap the shinai against her ribs. This surprised Ayase because her weapon was trapped and unfortunately, she was too close to dodge and escape with her shinai. Tsubaki used her other arm to swing her staff into Ayase's side as Ayase understood that if she let go of her shinai to dodge as she would be weaponless. Even if she dodged, she would still be in range of the staff, so she understood the position she was in. Ayase would rather take the damage and still have her weapon than be injured and weaponless, so she braced herself.

"That's enough!" Kaito barked out, making both girls stop immediately. "Well done, both of you."

Ayase and Tsubaki bowed. "Thank you."

Genshirou pumped a fist. "Whoa! That was awesome!"

"Yeah!" Tomoe grinned. "Vice prez, you definitely have to spar with me next!"

"Yes," Sona stepped forward. "Kaito‑san, who would you say was the winner?"

Kaito stroked his chin. "Hmm… with real weapons, the victory would go to my daughter, but if I may ask, who taught you, Tsubaki?"

Tsubaki blinked. "Oh, well, I had an uncle who helped me with skills."

"Hmm, well, he must have been a good teacher as you knew the range of your weapon, so did Ayase, hence why she always kept her distance after each strike." Kaito nodded. "Of course, you took the blow to trap Ayase's weapon, knowing she had two options, she could dodge, but due to the range of your weapon, she would get hit. It would also mean that she would be defenseless, so she went with the latter option and taking the blow, regardless, but she would still have her weapon."

Ayase bowed slightly. "I never knew you had such skill, Tsubaki. I was right in joining your peerage, kaichou."

Momo chimed in. "I mean Kiba-san is better at wielding a sword, so you would have had him as a partner if you joined Rias' peerage."

Tsubasa added, "Yeah, and if she added Hyoudou to that group, that's two partners to work with."

Kaito raised a brow. "Hyoudou? Isn't that the name of Mitsurugi's student?"

Sona nodded. "You know him?"

"Of course," Kaito answered with a chuckle. "Mitsurugi says how he is not talented with a sword, but he is a hard worker. He said how he didn't start teaching the boy his style, until he could properly swing a sword, hold it, switch his grip with the sword, and so forth. It took weeks for the boy to get it right, but he is getting better. He also told me that the boy was a pervert."

Sona sighed. "You're not wrong about that. He was a pervert... well, I would say he still is."

Kaito laughed. "I shouldn't be surprised, after all, hormones come into effect when we are teenagers. I was told that the boy peeped on girls at your school, or at least my daughter's former club. However, my daughter usually made it sound like he was just unlucky."

Tsubaki adjusted her glasses. "Depends on what you mean by unlucky."

Ayase nodded. "Well, considering how you were not usually peeped on, we only knew that we were being peeped on because those three would argue or rather Issei would argue with his former friends. So I would say that he was unlucky in never getting to really see anything, when he wanted to and unlucky as he was left behind by his friends to usually get beaten up. In a way, it's thanks to Issei that the club knew that they were being peeped on, if he remained silent, we would be none the wiser."

Which was true, it was usually thanks to Issei's complaints that the kendo girls realized that someone was peeping on them. If the other two weren't so greedy and they all split time on being able to look, no one would even know about their peeping. Well, Ayase would, since she could detect presences prior to becoming a devil.

Ruruko crossed her arms. "I'm guessing those other two perverts used him as a scapegoat because he ruined their peeping time, so when he got a look, the club was already out of the locker room and honed in on his location."

Ayase nodded. "That's about right, of course, they were deemed as perverts for their goals of securing a harem."

Genshirou shrugged. "Good thing Hyoudou moved on from that. Well… mostly."

Tomoe raised a brow. "Mostly?"

Genshirou rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… I talked with Raichi a bit to see if I could get some information on the guy and I guess he's like me."

Sona narrowed her eyes. "How so."

Genshirou laughed nervously. "We're… pretty dense."

Ayase leaned forward. "Care to elaborate."

Genshirou cleared his throat. "Yeah… you remember that lunch the three of us had, Ayatsuji‑senpai?"

Ayase nodded. "Uh‑huh?"

"Well," he continued, "that's when Hyoudou told me Momo had feelings for me and that I should give it a shot. That's why we went on that date. He also told me that you had feelings for me too, Ruruko."

"W‑WHAT!?" Ruruko's face turned crimson.

Momo smirked. "Don't deny it. You know it's true, Ruruko‑chan."

"…You're right…" Ruruko deflated like a popped balloon.

Tomoe tilted her head. "So what does that have to do with you both being dense?"

Genshirou rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… I was all over kaichou that I didn't really notice the two of them, according to Raichi, it seems when you get past Hyoudou's perverted exterior like Ayatsuji-senpai and I did, well, he's got a couple of suitors, one of who we already met."

Tsubasa leaned forward. "Really? Who?"

"His childhood friend, the exorcist, Raichi teased that she's like an in training wife and we know Yuuma has the hots for him, but who knows if it's just lust."

"Hmm. That's quite an assessment. Well done, Saji." Sona adjusted her glasses, expression unreadable. 'Hyoudou is not the only one improving. You are as well, Saji, don't doubt yourself. I'm proud of you and look forward to how far you will go with me.'

Tomoe snapped her fingers. "Ah, I get it. Hyoudou needs to realize they like him. But who does he like? I mean, you were interested in kaichou, so who's he interested in?"

Genshirou shrugged. "Yeah, I'm not sure about that. Raichi doesn't know either."

He had no idea that Raichi lied to him about that because she did know and chose not to tell Genshirou because she didn't trust what he would do with that information.

Tsubasa sighed. "Hmm, it would have been easy if he was still an open pervert, but now he seems like an enigma. Definitely becoming harder to analyze because he's got his own secrets."

Tsubaki nodded. "He has proper role models in his life now."

Kaito chuckled. "Well, I should warn you if Heishirou has any influence on that boy, he will be far from a pervert."

The student council was able to deduce that was Mitsurugi's first name and realized that Kaito was closer to the ronin than they thought.

Kaito nodded approvingly. "Well, no need to rush. In time, he will come, from what Heishirou has told me. The boy is into his training, wanting to get better each day, even when sore. Considering the path that Heishirou has gone, I am sure that he will begin to look for fights to test himself. It is what Mitsurugi has done, seeking strong opponents to see where he fits in the world, that man possesses a wild aura, thank goodness for his wife."

Ayase smiled. "She has a bond with Hyoudou-san as well. Apparently from what he has told Genshirou and I, they sew and make kimono designs."

Momo clasped her hands. "Right! We saw that during our date, the kimonos there look lovely, how is she able to get it done?"

Kaito laughed. "Like how you folks make things easy for yourselves, she uses magic."

Sona nodded. "That's right, there are humans that are capable of wielding magic."

While they continued to talk, Genshirou's phone vibrated, indicating that he got a text. He believed that it might be one of his siblings checking on him and wondering when he would get home and pick up something along the way. However, to his surprise, it wasn't his siblings, but it was actually Takeshi requesting for them to meet up.

Takeshi: Hey, if you've got time this weekend, can you meet up with me?

Genshirou: Sure. When and where?

Takeshi: Let's shoot for Saturday afternoon, I'll let you know the place. I got some options like a café or something.

Genshirou: Alright, I'm down. Just tell me the location and I'll be there.

Takeshi: Thanks. I appreciate it.

Genshirou: No problem.

He slipped his phone away.

Momo leaned in. "Was that Kaho-can?"

"No," Genshirou shook his head. "It was Takeshi, he said that he wanted to meet up this Saturday afternoon."

Ruruko perked up. "Oh! I can babysit for you, if you want."

Genshirou smiled warmly. "I'd like that. Thanks." Ruruko blushed, while Genshirou thought to himself, 'I'll need to speak with Momo about taking Ruruko out, so there's no jealousy in the future.'

Sona straightened her glasses. "Be sure to be safe, I already have one piece to worry about, I don't need two. That goes for the rest of you as well, I will plot out a schedule for us to come here and train every now and then to prepare ourselves. I know that we are not an offensive group, but we should remain versatile, in case we are needed."

"Hai, kaichou!"

"I will also send you a suggested schedule, Kaito-san, so we do not interfere with your work. You may send feedback on days and times that may not work if you don't find the schedule that I send to you suitable." Sona informed him as she didn't want to interfere on his time, when using his property.

Kaito bowed slightly. "I'll be sure to do that, our dojo is open to your clan, thanks to your help."

"Thank you." Sona and her peerage bowed to the Last Samurai. "We shall be taking our leave. Ayase, we'll see you in class tomorrow, take care."

Ayase bowed. "You as well, kaichou."

The other peerage members also said their goodbyes to their teammate and her father. They did discuss the potential of wielding weapons, but it was a matter of finding the right one for them. Genshirou had felt the need to amp up his own training, so he did take a stab at it during their training and he lost to Tomoe easily. After seeing Tsubaki and Ayase, he did have some ideas, but he would have to ask about them later.

Issei was pretty bummed about being knocked out so quickly as he groaned, rubbing his stomach where he got kicked. Although, he didn't mind waking up in the lap pillow of his older sister, after she got him conscious again with the smelling salts. Since their practice was over, Ikki volunteered to drive them and Apachai was apologizing profusely to Issei, but Issei insisted that he wasn't mad with the bronze giant, only with himself. He told Apachai that he was fine and that he would get faster to dodge his strikes.

Irina and Xenovia exchanged looks. 'Does he have a concussion? Why is he eager to train with that monster again? He must be delirious or out of his mind.'

However, the other members of the club knew that this is exactly what Kenichi did, so they started to tease him about his "little brother" following in his footsteps. Issei said goodbye to Honoka, who was not pleased that the club members would be hanging out this weekend. Issei said how he would hang with her next time and they could go see a movie. This did relieve Kenichi, silently thanking the heavens, as he made plans about dumping Honoka onto Issei. It only meant that he could have some more date time with Miu.

Xenovia and Irina were pleased with their results for today in their training in different styles. Kisara helped the blue haired girl in taking up her style of kickboxing as well. Xenovia listened to Kisara's critique and showed her how stiff her hips were and needed to loosen up to drive her kicks. She had remembered that Issei had thanked her about this, so she adapted and envisioned that she was wielding her sword. It impressed Kisara that she was able to pick up the teaching, but it was still a matter of improving the precision of her kicks on her target.

Raichi had worked carefully with Irina as they were limited due to her ankle, but they were able to make the most of it. She was constantly checking on Irina's footing, so as to make sure that the exorcist wasn't putting too much weight on her bad ankle. This was especially when Irina would swing her hips to deliver the kick of the choukarou, thus Raichi gave her corrections for her to have the necessary torque. They only had a few instances where Irina would land on her bad ankle and put more weight than intended on it. However, Irina had been able to endure some of that pain, thanks to both Setsuka's healing. She was unaware of Elize's cantation, but the bandage work Elize had done stabilized her ankle and allowed Irina to continue the training.

The club had also given Irina an ice pack for the ankle, so she could ice it on the drive. Issei declined his ice pack, noting that he would endure it during his shift tonight. Of course, this was Mitsurugi's influence showing itself with him enduring the pain without treatment.

Ikki glanced back from the driver's seat. "You guys good getting home after your shift?"

He had driven them to the Shishi-Oh at Issei's insistence because he didn't want Kisara teasing him the whole drive. Kisara argued, which led to the two surrogate siblings bickering at each other and Issei gaining multiple noogies. Irina had watched the two and from the familiarity between them, she began to wonder if they actually were siblings.

Issei nodded. "Yeah. I texted my kaa-san when I should be done. Considering that psycho's still out there."

"Good. And don't forget to let us know. Otherwise you'll piss off you‑know‑who."

"I will," Issei shuddered. "The last thing I need is Shigure‑nee mad at me."

Ikki laughed. "And Irina, we're still expecting some awesome stories about you two back in the day."

Irina smiled. "No worries."

When she looked over at Issei, he gave her the motion of zipping her lips. She repeated the motion back to him and gave him a mock salute. For some reason, it made Issei's heart skip a beat at her playful attitude, and he could feel the blush coming to his cheeks. Issei quickly shook his head and narrowed his eyes as they exited the car, he knew that his friend's energetic attitude would not keep her from spilling more secrets about him.

"Look after our bozo little bro, you two!" Ikki called as he drove off.

Issei grumbled. "I'm not a bozo…"

Xenovia stretched her arms. "Hmm. This was a good training session. But we still have much to learn."

Irina stretched her arms as they walked. "I know. I'm glad we exchanged numbers with them too."

Issei blinked. "You exchanged numbers?" Now he realized that she could text them about his secrets and he groaned, knowing what that meant.

"Uh‑huh," Irina nodded. "You were still unconscious. How did that happen?"

Issei rubbed his stomach with a wince. "Well… like your prank, I got caught off guard. But at the same time, I was asking for it and Apachai delivered on his promise." He grunted. "I'll be fine."

They stepped into the shop, greeted by the soft chime of the door and the sight of Setsuka at the counter, flipping through kimono designs.

Setsuka looked up. "Well, well. You showed up."

Issei snorted. "I always show up."

"I know." She smiled and turned to the exorcists. "Hello, you two. How was your day?"

Xenovia answered first. "Not too bad, we were able to get some martial arts training today and if I may ask… is your husband in today?"

"Yes, he's in the garden. Did you two need to speak with him?" Setsuka asked.

She had thought they had gotten the information that they needed from him and Saiga, so she was surprised that they needed to talk to him again.

Xenovia nodded. "I do. I have a request. I'm not sure about Irina."

Irina shook her head. "Not really. But I am interested in what Xenovia would like to ask."

Setsuka gestured for them to follow. "Well, follow me. Ise, you can handle things out here, right?"

"Yes, ma'am." Issei stretched, rubbing his sore abs. "I'm pretty sure that Apachai was also holding back on me."

He grimaced, remembering that tree that Apachai destroyed and realized that Apachai probably would have cleaved his top half off with that kick.

With that thought, he clocked in and set about checking the store floor to see if anything needed to be restocked.

Meanwhile, Setsuka guided the two exorcists towards the back where Mitsurugi was waiting. He was meditating, but opened his eyes as the three ladies walked towards him.

"What is it?" His gruff voice asked, wondering what the two exorcists needed from him.

He hadn't received any word from Saiga about attacking Kokabiel just yet, so he had no idea why these two were here now.

Setsuka bowed slightly. "Well, the exorcists would like to speak with you."

Mitsurugi's gaze shifted to the girls. "About? I already told you that I would assist you in your fight against Kokabiel."

Xenovia shook her head. "It's not that. I have another request."

"And that is?" Mitsurugi narrowed his eyes at the blue haired girl.

"I'd like you to train me." Xenovia answered.

Irina's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

Setsuka's eyes narrowed slightly. "Hmm…" She began to ponder about this development and gave a side glance to Irina.

Mitsurugi raised a brow. "May I ask why?"

Xenovia straightened her posture. "Well, I dueled with your student this morning, and I got a taste of your sword style. I must say that despite its brute force, it is still precise and I feel like if I am able to learn some techniques, it would be beneficial in the long run."

"So you want to learn Hiten Mitsurugi‑ryū, huh?" Mitsurugi stretched his neck, closing his eyes.

"Yes." Xenovia spoke, but she didn't get the answer she expected.

"No." Mitsurugi bluntly answered.

Xenovia blinked. "Huh?"

"I said no." He repeated, while he continued to stretch his neck.

"But why?" Xenovia questioned.

"Because you haven't earned it."

Setsuka sighed. "Come on, Irina."

"But…" Irina tried to speak before Setsuka interrupted her.

"I think we should go deal with your ankle and then get you started on teaching you something." Setsuka told her.

"You'll teach me?" Irina was surprised that she would also be taught something.

"I'm easier than my husband," Setsuka said dryly, guiding Irina away.

Irina frowned. "I don't get it."

Mitsurugi answered, "It's as I said, your friend hasn't earned it."

Setsuka added softly, "I'll explain later."

They disappeared from the garden and into the back room.

Xenovia faced Mitsurugi. "So then what did Issei do? To be able to teach him?" She already knew that she was better than him in wielding a sword that should have made her acceptable to be taught by the ronin.

"Hard work. The drive to be able to prove people wrong." Mitsurugi answered.

"How so?" Xenovia felt that there was more that was not being told to her

"Has the boy not told you about his perversions, typical of a teenage boy. Of course, he was more vocal than most teenage boys should be, speaking out about being a harem king." Mitsurugi waved a hand. "I won't get further than that, you can dive in more and ask him about it."

"We talked this morning, and my partner has spoken about him, so I am aware of his perversions." Xenovia answered.

"Good, you see, I am going to mold him, he is incredibly raw, there is potential in him. Saiga could see it, but despite the teachings that he receives from others… I am his master. It is my teachings that are molding him from the pervert that they all see him as and turn him into the warrior that he can be." Mitsurugi explained.

"The warrior he could be…?" Xenovia wondered, but she felt that there was more that the ronin wasn't telling her.

"The same could be said for you…" His voice seemed ominous as Xenovia tensed up.

Mitsurugi picked up the bokken next to him and stabbed it into the ground. He began to stand up and in the process, sent out a pulse of his ki that was dense, heavy, and suffocating.

Xenovia swallowed. 'I was right, it is just like Eminence Strada…' Her legs shook a little.

Mitsurugi tossed her another bokken. "So show me your hard work like he did and we'll see whether or not I teach you."

"Very well." Xenovia nodded as she steeled herself.

"However…" Mitsurugi gave her a smirk. "Don't think I'm like my student."

"I'd be disappointed if you were."

CLACK!

The moment the words left her mouth, Xenovia barely blocked the strike as the wooden blades clashed against each other. Excalibur Destruction slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground.

Xenovia gritted her teeth as she was pushed back. She slid a few feet back and she took a couple of deep breaths.

'What just happened? He certainly is more powerful than Issei.' She looked back at the man, who was just smirking at her.

She knew what that smirk entailed, he was telling her that she was beneath him. However, she did not know that she was going to be used as a means to push Issei himself. This was all part of Mitsurugi's plan because he was also going to make Xenovia stronger as well.

'This will be good, I'll use this girl to bring out Issei's inferiority complex. Of course, I will need to use a little more power, since she is natural with a sword compared to him. It will aggravate Issei and it will bring out his ki, pushing himself even more. Hmm, maybe I can draw out her own ki and kill two birds with one stone.'

Meanwhile in the back room, Irina was a little on edge as she felt Mitsurugi's power and then flinched when she heard the clashing of the wooden blades.

"What's happening?" Irina asked.

Setsuka set herself down in front of Irina and lifted up her injured ankle. "Your friend is proving herself. Just like Ise did."

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

"I'm sure you and your friend are naturals with a sword. When he first started here, Ise was not." She began unwrapping Irina's ankle.

"Hey, don't do that, Elize-sa…" Irina began to protest.

"It's fine," Setsuka waved her off. 'Elize, huh? Must be that nurse that Ise was telling me about. I must say that this is fine work and what is that? A protection seal? This must be to help limit the pain on her ankle. How interesting.'

"So you two know how we were trained in the church?" Irina asked.

"A little," Setsuka answered. "We have run into some exorcists on our away trips. You understand why Heishirou said no. He doesn't hand out his style. You earn it. Now, regarding Ise, it took him weeks to properly wield and swing a sword. He even doubled down on his kenjutsu training, he wanted to change himself. He wanted to learn something new, he had become fascinated. He dreams of surpassing my husband someday, did you know that?"

Irina smiled softly. "I think so, he has noted about wanting to be a better person from his perverted ways. I think it's good, I didn't mind the random talk about big breasts back when we were kids, and I would have corrected him on that, but I don't need to. It seems that you all have it covered and are taking care of his issues."

Setsuka chuckled. "Oh, I believe my husband wants to utilize his issues." She listened to the distant clack of wooden swords.

Irina blinked. "Use… his issues?"

"Yes." Setsuka gave a small sigh. "I'm not sure if you know this, but Ise has an inferiority complex. Remember what I said about you and your friend being natural sword wielders?"

Irina nodded. "Yes?"

"Well," Setsuka continued, "it seems my husband is going to put in a little extra effort to put your friend down." Another loud CRACK echoed from the garden. "When Ise sees that, he'll get aggravated. And that will bring out his ki when he starts training."

Irina tilted her head. "Ki?"

"Yes, every martial artist has the capability of using it," Setsuka explained. "it allows them to increase their attack and defense power to inhuman levels. It helps give humans an edge against supernatural beings. What you felt earlier was my husband's Ki no Kaihō. You're Japanese, so you know what that means."

Irina's eyes widened. "The release of ki."

"That's right." Setsuka placed her hand gently on Irina's ankle. "Now, for your ankle."

Irina slightly winced at the contact, but then she began to feel a warmth to her ankle and the throbbing in her ankle began to subside.

"Huh? What did you… Wait, this is healing magic."

"Just like last time," Setsuka said. "Flex your ankle."

Irina did and gasped. "It doesn't hurt!"

"Yeah, but there's an extent to my abilities," Setuska noted. "Luckily, your ankle wasn't too bad, only needed a couple more days to heal. If it was more extensive, I probably would have only been able to subside the pain."

She wasn't going to speak about Elize's protection seal, it was clear that the woman didn't say anything to Irina. Otherwise, Irina would have spoken about it, so it made her wonder about the secrecy.

Irina nodded in awe. "Wow, I knew that there were humans that could use magic, there were some in the church. We even encountered a former one, Asia Argento, she goes to the school here, but her magic is from her sacred gear. Of course, she is now a devil, so she probably can use demonic magic now."

"I see." Setsuka stood up. "Come. I'll teach you the Jigen‑ryū."

Irina blinked. "Jigen‑ryū?"

"Yes, from what I can see, you're more based on speed compared to your partner. The Jigen-ryū puts an emphasis on striking fast and striking first, by doing so, a second strike may not be needed." She walked to where they kept the bokken. "We would need to work on your stance to use the tanbo no kamae."

Irina translated. "The dragonfly stance."

"That's right." Setsuka grabbed a bokken from the collection that they had and got into a stance that was unfamiliar to Irina. "It should look like this, your sword should be held vertically above your right shoulder. I'm sure that you may think that my left side is open, right?"

"Yeah." Irina looked at Setsuka's left side, which she believed was open for an attack.

"Well, if I do this…" Setsuka reversed her grip on the bokken in a flash. "Now look at where the blade is."

Irina's eyes examined Setsuka's body posture. "Despite the hilt still being at your right shoulder, the blade is at your left side."

"And if they were to strike at my right side," Setsuka continued, "I can still swing the blade back to that side either upward or to the side. You also should have your knees bent, ready to dash towards your opponent, remember, striking first is the goal."

"Got it." Irina slipped her shoe back on.

Setsuka sighed softly as she stood up from the stance. "It's a shame that you couldn't remain here, then maybe I could unlock your ki."

Of course, it would be the matter of determining what type of fighter that Irina was, which Xenovia had learned from the MMA club.

Irina smiled. "Well, I'll take it, I could use the new techniques to try and beat Freed and Kokabiel. I would like to be able to live and carry on my life, so thank you for taking the time to train me."

Setsuka returned the smile. "Of course, now let's see what your partner and my husband are up to," Then she stopped and pointed at Irina's formerly injured ankle. "Also try to improvise on the ankle, Ise doesn't know about magic yet."

"Got it." Irina nodded before following Setsuka back to the training garden.

When they arrived, they weren't surprised to find Xenovia sparring with Mitsurugi, but they were not sure if they could call it that.

The reason why was because an aggravated Xenovia was striking Mitsurugi, but he was effortlessly blocking everything that she threw at him. However, unlike before with his spars with Issei, Xenovia was making him move around a little. The only similarities was that both were relentless, but since Xenovia wielded a sword better, her strikes were sharp and fast compared to Issei's.

That didn't deter Mitsurugi as he kept a dangerous smirk on his face at Xenovia's frustration. Something that was ironic as to contrast her duel with Yuuto Kiba, where she was the calm one in battle. Now she was the one that was angry and it was making her lose focus and sloppy.

Eventually, Mitsurugi got bored and waited for Xenovia to come in for a strike, which she did. She dashed and aimed for his left hip, which he blocked, however, she surprised him. She utilized the training that she learned from Kisara and delivered a kick to his right side. Unfortunately, since Mitsurugi was using his bokken with one hand, he was able to block her kick with his other hand.

"Ah," he said, amused. "Trying something new."

Xenovia grunted and used her bokken to whack at the hand holding her leg. He let go before the bokken could hit him. In the process, she had whacked her own leg as she winced, but Mitsurugi maintained his smirk and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying back and tumbling to the garden.

Setsuka crossed her arms. "Having fun, dear?"

Mitsurugi chuckled. "This one has more talent than Issei. As expected from someone trained by the Church."

Unbeknown to the two exorcists, Mitsurugi said this line because he sensed Issei at the entrance. Setsuka frowned as she did as well, and they could feel Issei's anger. His ki spiked a little, they could feel his emotions through it, he was sharp, angry, but also wounded. After all, this was Mitsurugi's plan, he was going to invoke that anger and also cause the start of a new rivalry.

Issei clenched his fist. 'I thought I had to surpass Shishou, but then came Kiba, and now Xenovia. Fine then, if that's what it takes, I'll do it, it's just like Soma said, they'll be stepping stones…' He shifted his stern gaze from Xenovia and it softened when his eyes landed on his childhood friend. 'And sorry, Irina, but that includes you, too. I need to surpass you, so you don't look down on me like everyone else and just maybe I can protect you.'

He turned away, leaving the garden's entrance and heading back to the counter at the front of the store. Irina felt someone's gaze on her, but when she had turned around, Issei was already gone from the place. Her eyes narrowed slightly, wondering if they were being watched, but she figured that Issei would have alerted them and she wondered if Issei had been there.

She was snapped out of her thoughts, when Setsuka called for her to begin their training, getting Irina to hone in on the dragonfly stance. Since Irina, like Xenovia, was also trained in swordsmanship, she was able to quickly master getting into the stance. However, now it was a matter of utilizing it to strike her opponent. She was a bit worried because of her ankle, even though it was healed, Irina felt like it was aching with phantom pain, when it wasn't.

She would wince from nonexistent pain, when she pushed off her feet to strike Setsuka, who dodged the strike by moving to her left. Surprisingly, Irina upon instinct still slashed at her with the bokken, when the initial strike missed, slowly adapting.

Setsuka smiled as she jumped back from another strike. 'Definitely a speed type.'

It became a matter of cat and mouse, Irina would dash towards Setsuka and Setsuka would dodge. It would be a testament of building Irina's speed from the time that she had lost from being on one leg. It was also the opposite of Issei's training with Shigure, but it was a matter of building up his speed to dodge his opponent's attacks, since Shigure was the one on offense in their training.

Xenovia was fiercely attacking Mitsurugi, striking at whatever she could find an opening on him. When she was attacking his right shoulder, she would aim a kick at his left side. However, whatever she tried, he would block everything with a smile. It wasn't just any smile, but one to show that he was enjoying himself and it was a smile that Issei rarely saw when they trained. So for Issei to see it when he walked in 45 minutes later, it just made his blood boil.

His anger was already festering from earlier, when he had seen them training earlier. He had already notched Yuuto as his rival, but seeing Xenovia bring out that smile in Mitsurugi got to him. He may not have felt that way in the morning, but sooner or later, he would beat her and move on to the next person. Setsuka and Mitsurugi had already sensed him coming because his ki was building up, rising like heat off pavement, it was what Mitsurugi wanted.

"I see you're done with your work, boy." Mitsurugi remarked as he stepped to the side, dodging a thrust from Xenovia.

Mitsurugi grabbed Xenovia by her face, when she was close and threw her to the ground.

Issei stepped forward towards Xenovia. "Yeah."

The look on Issei's face was quite a contrast from this morning that Xenovia saw, when she was the one standing and he was on the ground. However, just like this morning, where she helped him up, he walked over and helped her up. Their brown eyes looked at one another, which Xenovia's eyes widened slightly as she could see his "fire" aimed at her. She steeled herself as Issei leaned close to her, but to her surprise, he took the bokken out of her hands.

Irina's heart stopped. 'Is he—!?'

She was frozen as she thought he was going to kiss Xenovia from her angle. It calmed down when she saw him take the bokken out of Xenovia's hands and she let out a sigh of relief. Setsuka snickered to herself at her new student's reaction. However, she saw Irina's ears perk up and leaned back, dodging a slash from Irina and Setsuka smiled.

Setsuka smiled. "So you heard that?"

Irina steadied her breathing. "That's right."

Setsuka nodded. "Good. Then let's continue. Your partner fought longer than you have." She gestured toward Xenovia, who had finally stepped aside and collapsed into a seated position.

Irina could see that her partner was drenched in sweat from her struggle in her spar against Mitsurugi. Irina nodded and slipped back into the dragonfly stance as Setsuka had taught her and resumed her attempts to strike Setsuka.

Meanwhile, Issei clenched his own bokken, jaw tight, ki rising like heat waves off his skin. He shifted into the stance Mitsurugi had drilled into him.

Mitsurugi smirked. "Oh ho… this might be a little fun." A faint ripple of ki radiated from him.

Issei's eyes widened. 'What the hell is that? At least he's taking me seriously now.'

"Ryūtsuisen Zan." Mitsurugi leapt forward but instead of a slash, he aimed a downward stab towards Issei.

Issei saw the adjustment as his eyes widened and his instincts screamed at him to dodge. Issei rolled out of the way to his left as Mitsurugi stabbed the ground with the ki-enhanced bokken, which he released the ki outward.

BOOM!

The earth trembled.

Xenovia's eyes widened. 'That's just like when I use Excalibur Destruction, so this is the power of ki?'

Issei's heart was pounding as he quickly assessed the damage that was done in just one move.

Irina, once again, stumbled and lost her balance from her dragonfly stance, trying to strike Setsuka. Setsuka wasn't phased by the ground shaking as she had seen the stab from her peripheral. As a result, she was able to jump in the air, dodging Irina's strike at the same time without effort.

Issei gritted his teeth. "Ryūtsuisen!" He leapt toward Mitsurugi, shaking off the shock of the initial attack.

Issei slashed downward, which Mitsurugi turned to his right and blocked the strike. Compared to his clash with Xenovia, this clash made a sharp, explosive CRACK echo across the garden. As both were utilizing their ki to enhance their bokken, the only difference was that Issei was not aware of his own. Since Issei had no leverage, due to being in the air, Mitsurugi used his strength to easily shove Issei back.

Issei landed and immediately rushed forward, while he knew that it was reckless and was charging in blindly. However, Issei was of the belief that if he didn't stay on the offense, then he would be in trouble. He once again clashed with Mitsurugi, generating another crash sound.

The two began to continue clashing their bokkens, more crashing sounds of wood and ki colliding with one another. Issei was usually aiming for Mitsurugi's ribs and shoulders. Mitsurugi chuckled, which only aggravated Issei and also increased his ki. Mitsurugi knew that Issei was pushing himself even more. His attacks were becoming more fierce and the crashing sounds of their ki enhanced bokken were getting louder and louder and the air vibrated with each strike.

"Did you forget what I taught you, boy?" Mitsurugi taunted. "Use everything at your disposal."

With that said, Mitsurugi pushed Issei's bokken off of his own, which Issei quickly went to strike again. However, Mitsurugi switched his bokken to his left hand and used his strength to parry Issei's bokken to get angled to Issei's right side. This caused Issei's left side to get open, which Mitsurugi used a ki enhanced blow to drive into Issei's stomach.

"AAGH!"

Blood burst from Issei's mouth as he flew backward, crashing into the ground near Xenovia, who barely dodged the debris.

Mitsurugi watched calmly. 'His ki protected him. Otherwise, he'd be unconscious.'

"Hngh! Argh!" Issei coughed violently, clutching his stomach. 'I thought I'd be knocked out… When Apachai hit me, I was unconscious before I landed. But this time… I felt everything. Fuck… my shoulder hurts…'

He began rotating his right shoulder around, hearing some cracks, noting how stiff it was. Pain shot through his body, forcing another grunt out of him. He slowly began to stand up, while using his bokken like a cane and spit out another gob of blood. He was breathing heavily as he stared down Mitsurugi, who calmly looked back.

Xenovia approached cautiously. "Are you alright?"

"I'm… fine." He didn't even look at her as his eyes never left Mitsurugi.

However, his tone seemed a little ruder than he had intended for it to be.

Xenovia frowned. "You don't have to be rude."

"As you can see, I'm in a fight, Xen." His anger spiked again.

She scoffed. "Tch. Don't expect us to carry you home."

"I'm not expecting anything from you," he muttered. "Except what you promised."

Xenovia tensed and her breath hitched from what he reminded her about their talk.

She looked back towards Irina, who had stopped and was looking on. Her heart raced, not from fear but worry, while she stared towards her partner and childhood friend. Xenovia gave a sigh and shook her head before moving back to continue to observe.

Issei took several deep breaths before standing up, steading himself, spitting some more blood and then walked towards Mitsurugi.

"Again." He said.

Mitsurugi raised a brow. "Are you…"

"Don't ask if I'm sure. I need this. So again." Issei insisted.

"…Very well." Mitsurugi readied his bokken. "Do you remember what I taught you?"

"I do." Issei spoke firmly, making sure that his breathing was still steady.

"Good." He dashed forward. "Ryūtsuisen!"

Issei geared himself for the blow, but he underestimated the force of his master's attack. When he blocked, the impact rattled his bones as a loud crashing sound was heard again, but Issei nearly dropped to a knee. His abdomen was already aching from the blows that he received in that area.

Mitsurugi pressed down. "Isn't this what you wanted? For me to get serious with you? You understand how much I've been holding back with you, right? How lax that I've been with you!"

Issei gritted his teeth, unable to speak. He was too busy maintaining his block and Mitsurugi kept pressing him down.

"You saw how excited I was, when I faced someone that could handle a sword. You know that she is better than you, even your childhood friend over there. She's utilizing her new stance quite well that Setsuka taught her and she did it in less than a day. I imagine that it would take you a week at best to learn that stance." Mitsurugi's voice was calm but still taunting. "I mean look at how long it took for you to learn the proper stance for the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū."

His words dug deeper into Issei's psyche, but at the same time, Mitsurugi was stoking the fire inside Issei. Issei's ki was slowly growing again and surging, which is what Mitsurugi wanted. Mitsurugi smirked as he continued to slowly press down on Issei, but he was still easing on the boy. He had done the same with Xenovia, but Issei was making him bring out his ki, even if it was a small amount. He then began to feel Issei push back and he smirked.

Issei growled through clenched teeth. "I… know she's better… than me… both of them… but I have to… surpass them… I have to surpass Kiba… so I can surpass Shigure‑nee… Setsuka‑obasan… and most importantly… surpass you… to achieve my dream… and help others… along the way!"

With that small surge, Issei roared as he shifted Mitsurugi's bokken, just like Mitsurugi had done to him. He lunged in for a punch, but Mitsurugi easily blocked that, which Issei spun to strike Mitsurugi's back. Of course, this was his master, who blocked the strike without even turning around.

Issei grimaced. 'Damn it, I used Apachai's move… but I didn't go for the elbow… Fuck, the move is supposed to follow up with an elbow strike. I'll need to strike faster to land it, but the fatigue of my body needs to last.'

"There you go," Mitsurugi taunted. "Show me more."

Issei clenched his jaw and swung around again, aiming a kick towards Mitsurugi's side. It made Xenovia's eyes widen slightly as she recognized Kisara's Pandal Chagi. Mitsurugi blocked the kick, but he did not hold the leg, which allowed Issei to reload and deliver the Ti Lan with his other leg, hitting Mitsurugi in the hamstring of his right leg. The target was much easier, since Mitsurugi was still facing the other way.

Mitsurugi chuckled. 'A new style? Interesting.' He had already seen Issei utilize taekwondo in their spars.

Mitsurugi shoved Issei's bokken and delivered a backhand strike, which Issei blocked, but he went sliding back. He was immediately put on the defensive as Mitsurugi dashed forward and aimed a punch towards Issei's head. Issei moved his head and jumped, hoping that Mitsurugi's momentum would allow Issei to deliver a knee strike to Mitsurugi's jaw. Sadly, Mitsurugi caught that knee, adjusted his grip and slammed Issei on his back to the ground.

Issei gasped from the impact, but didn't have time to process the pain as he saw Mitsurugi stabbed the ground towards his head. Issei moved his head to his left to avoid the stab and the bokken stabbed into the ground where his head had been.

Cold sweat ran down Issei's neck. 'He wasn't messing around… that would've killed me.'

That stab was legitimately aimed for his head and if he didn't move his head, he had a feeling that he would be dead. It didn't matter if it was made of wood, Mitsurugi had used enough force that could have punctured his skull.

Feeling that moment of his life flashing before his eyes, knowing that he would have been killed, he tried to move. His instincts took over and kicked at his master's legs. Mitsurugi scoffed and then lowered his ki to stomp on Issei's chest. Issei roared in pain as a crushing weight slammed into him, he felt like his chest was caving in.

"AARRRGGHH!"

The scream had torn through the garden, Mitsurugi moved away as Issei rolled over in pain, clutching his chest, groaning loudly. From the others' point of view, they could see the veins bulging around Issei's neck and head. His torso burned with pain as every breath felt like fire. He thought he would pass out as his vision was blurring, coughing up a little more blood.

"Ise!" Irina cried.

"Don't." Setsuka's arm shot out, stopping her.

"But…!" Irina tried to argue.

"He needs this." Setsuka told her.

Irina stared at her, horrified. "What!?"

"This is what he needs to get stronger. Haven't you heard the saying? No pain, no gain." Setsuka answered.

"That's not the point!" Irina was getting frustrated, wondering how Setsuka could allow this.

"If you don't like it," Setsuka said calmly, raising her bokken, "then I suggest you get faster to strike me, so you can help him. Because I will stop you if you make any attempt to help him now."

Irina's muscles tensed as she realized that Setsuka had never once needed to raise her bokken. She had been dodging all of Irina's strikes the whole time and Irina gulped as she gave a look back towards Issei. Issei had caught her glance, which he began to misinterpret. From his point of view, it looked like she was pitying him and he didn't want that. So he reached over to grab his bokken and used it as a crutch to force himself upright.

Setsuka smirked. "Would you look at that?"

Irina's voice trembled. "He needs to stop… but I know he won't."

"Just like you won't," Setsuka replied. "As I said, he needs this. Not just for himself, but for his family and friends. I would say that includes you… and her." She nodded toward Xenovia, who looked slightly unsettled.

Xenovia had gone through her own training in the church and from her caretaker, Griselda. However, Griselda was not as brutal to her like Mitsurugi was to Issei, it felt like it was on another level. She also knew that if Issei didn't move his head, then he would have been dead. It still made her feel relieved that Mitsurugi would help them in their mission and the possibility of what he could do against Kokabiel. She was shocked to see Issei stand back up, he had blood running down the sides of his mouth, she could see his teeth stained red as he struggled to stand back up.

Mitsurugi chuckled. "Well, well, well."

He walked over and pressed his foot on Issei's back and forced him back down to the ground. However, Issei struggled to get back up, which made Mitsurugi continue to chuckle, watching Issei squirm.

While Mitsurugi may look like he enjoyed the sight but beneath that cruelty was pride as he had drilled one lesson into Issei's soul: If you quit, you die.

Xenovia was also seeing why the MMA club members called this Issei's 'soldier mode', coming to the realization that it was Mitsurugi that built this version of Issei.

Removing his foot, Mitsurugi backed off and allowed Issei to get back to his feet. He could see Issei's legs trembling violently as he struggled to stand up again as his student tried to stabilize himself. Issei's body shook as he was wracked with pain, struggling to raise his bokken, but his grip was still firm.

"A… again."

Mitsurugi smiled as he simply walked towards Issei, slowly and deliberately as he knew that the boy could not move. Issei's vision was still blurry as he saw his master walk towards him. He knew that he couldn't do a thing as his body would not be able to move as Mitsurugi stopped in front of him.

"Controlled aggression," Mitsurugi said. "That is the key to your power, your anger can be a weapon, but also a crutch. I will tell you this, true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity. You know what enrages you, now find your peace and you will be able to control the violent nature that I have instilled unto you."

Issei's body trembled and it was not from fear, but from determination and he could not say anything.

Mitsurugi continued, "As I told you, I did hold back on you, but considering who you want to go after, it's time I raised the stakes a little. If I don't, then how can you get stronger, so I have been failing in that aspect." He exhaled. "As I told you, you are my first student, so I am not used to teaching, but I can see your potential. There's still much to uncover, but for now, we are done for tonight."

He turned away and took a few steps, then paused.

"Oh, and you, girl." Mitsurugi called out to Xenovia without looking in her direction.

Xenovia straightened. "Y‑yes?"

"I'll teach you." The ronin affirmed.

Setsuka raised a brow. "Oh? Gaining two students in less than a year?"

Mitsurugi snorted. "Don't act like you didn't just inherit one yourself, my dear. Although, you fast tracked the process of the Jigen-ryū."

Irina blinked. "Fast‑track?"

Setsuka nodded. "Well, normally, practitioners of this style would strike a pole or tree three thousaund times in the morning and then another eight thousand times in the afternoon. You will know that you have endured a hard practice, when the wood of your bokken gives off the smell of smoke. I'm sure that your arms are hurting a bit, aren't they?"

Irina stretched her arms. "Yeah, my arms do hurt a little…"

"A good bath will help," Setsuka said.

Mitsurugi looked back. "I assume that we will see you tomorrow."

Xenovia nodded. "Yes. We'd like to continue our training." A part of her was still nervous about the brutality that she would have to face.

Irina added, "Except Saturday, we have an outing with others helping us with hand‑to‑hand combat."

Xenovia sighed. "It's an outing for me. But it's a date for her."

Setsuka perked up. "A date? With who?"

Irina blushed. "It's not a date!"

"It's with Issei," Xenovia said, nodding toward the boy, who still hadn't moved.

Mitsurugi sighed. "You should call your ride and go home, he needs the rest."

Irina hurried over. "Is he okay? He hasn't moved…" She could see that his eyes were cloudy as she cupped his face.

"He's unconscious," Mitsurugi said, this surprised both girls because Issei was still standing. "But he'll be fine soon. Just exhausted."

Setsuka added, "Well, he was utilizing his ki."

"It protected him," Mitsurugi said. "Otherwise my blow would've knocked him out instantly."

Xenovia nodded slowly. "So that's what you meant by increasing with one's defense, considering how he took a similar blow earlier and was knocked unconscious." She was understanding why Issei got knocked out by Apachai, but was able to withstand Mitsurugi's blows.

Of course, she inwardly winced because of the damage that his body had taken in the back half of the day.

Irina's eyes widened. "That's right!"

Setsuka asked, "Did you feel anything from him earlier?"

Xenovia shook her head. "No. Not like I did in this spar."

"Exactly," Setsuka said. "He was shrouded in his ki. Even his bokken. That's why you heard those crashing sounds."

"Although…" Mitsurugi walked over and snapped Issei's bokken in half with one hand, despite him still holding it. "My ki was stronger and I only released a small bit. That was the first time that he also landed a hit on me… even though I let him."

Xenovia nodded. "Yet it did no damage to you because your ki protected you."

"Correct." Mitsurugi turned from Issei and continued his trek back to his house. "Anyways, call your ride, it's getting late."

"I'll go call obasan." Irina hurried to the back room to call Miki.

Setsuka turned to Xenovia. "Xenovia, right?"

"Yes?" Xenovia looked quizzically at the blonde woman.

"You mind helping me with Ise?" Setsuka asked, she knew that the boy needed to be moved.

"Are you sure?" Xenovia looked at the unconscious boy, skeptical of what he could do.

"He doesn't bite," Setsuka said, slipping an arm around Issei's waist and lifting him.

Xenovia hesitated because of Issei's rude reaction towards her, plus his glare to her earlier. She was a bit worried that he would lash out, when he awoke because of his attitude towards her, when she went to see if he was alright. Nonetheless, she still decided to assist Setsuka in taking him to the exit of the garden.

When they got into the back room, they could hear Irina speaking to Miki on the phone and seemed to be finishing up her call. However, they continued on from the back room to the store counter. That's where they eased Issei in the seat that was there to rest. Xenovia exhaled slowly, rolling her shoulders as she massaged her aching legs. They had been throbbing from the kicking drills that Kisara had her do and then her own spar with Mitsurugi.

Sweat clung to her skin and she could smell the scent of a long day's training that she endured lingering faintly. She didn't notice that Setsuka had been watching her until the woman let out a soft chuckle, causing her to turn towards the woman.

Xenovia turned. "What?"

Setsuka smiled knowingly. "With how you're massaging your legs… I'd say that you had quite a training regime."

"Yes," Xenovia nodded. "I was in the process of learning taekwondo today. I've never really thought about using my legs much."

"That's why you have less speed than Irina," Setsuka replied. "You are more of a power based type wielder."

"I can see that." Xenovia noted.

"Well," Setsuka said, "as I told Irina, a nice bath will do the trick."

Xenovia sighed. "I guess it's one of the perks of being housed rather than being in the old church."

Setsuka's expression softened. "That place has been abandoned for a while. Of course, there used to be some fallen angels housed there, but it seems that the devils dealt with them."

"Why didn't you handle it?" Xenovia asked. "You and your husband certainly seem capable of doing so."

"We could have," Setsuka admitted, "but that would have made the devils become aware of us or possibly start a war."

"How so?" Xenovia was curious, she wanted to know why they had been dormant for all this time.

"Think about it, we kill some fallen angels in devil territory, who do you think the fallen angels would blame?" Setsuka asked the exorcist.

Xenovia's eyes widened. "The devils… Wait. That makes sense for Kokabiel. If Irina and I die, the Church could possibly blame the devils and the fallen angels, since Kokabiel would likely steal our Excaliburs. He would use those weapons to kill the heiresses here, thus causing the devils to be provoked by the Church and fallen angels."

Setsuka nodded. "That's right, but I would say that you have two options on your mission."

"Yes. Retrieve or destroy," Xenovia said. "As long as the fragments don't fall into the wrong hands."

"But you trust us because we are human. I know Issei is willing to help one of the devils but he doesn't know that they are a devil. Maybe you should consider a temporary alliance."

Xenovia frowned. "I don't see why we should. We can't trust them."

"If they try anything against you," Setsuka said calmly, "my husband will kill them, he's not afraid of a Maou. Although he may die, he will still go into battle. His mentality has been put into Ise, sooner or later, Ise will start picking fights to test himself."

"He may pick the wrong fight." Xenovia warned the mistress.

"Oh, I'm aware," Setsuka chuckled.

Irina emerged from the back room, Excalibur Destruction in hand. "Hey, Xenovia. Obasan said Ojisan will be here in a few minutes, since he was out getting groceries. You also left this in the garden, I noticed that you weren't carrying it while you were helping carry Ise-kun."

"Right. Thank you." Xenovia took her Excalibur fragment from her partner.

Setsuka tilted her head. "And where's your fragment, Irina?"

Irina hesitated. "Um… I don't think I should say."

'Now she wants to keep her mouth shut.' Xenovia sighed. "You already told the devils what Excaliburs we had. You might as well tell her."

Irina relented. "I guess you're right, but my fragment is this ribbon around my bicep. It's Excalibur Mimic, it can turn into anything that I want to."

Setsuka nodded. "That explains the holy energy that I feel out in the open but remember to be conscious as you do have enemies looking for you."

"I understand." Irina nodded as her phone buzzed. She checked it. "Ojisan's here. We should get going."

"Do you need help with Ise?" Setsuka asked.

"No, Ojisan…" Irina began to say, but was interrupted as the door to the shop opened.

"Uh… excuse me, is this… Shishi‑Oh?" Gorou stepped in, cheeks reddening as he accidentally glanced at Setsuka's cleavage. "Oh, Xenovia-chan, Irina-chan. Where's Ise?"

Setsuka laughed. "Like father, like son. Hello, I'm Mitsurugi Setsuka, Issei's boss. He's resting in that chair."

Gorou blinked. "Really? Huh. I thought his boss was a man."

"That would be my husband," Setsuka said. "We own and manage this shop together."

"I see. Well, I give my thanks to you two. You helped give him a sense of responsibility, and I can only guess that he tired himself out training, right?" Gorou brought out a napkin to wipe some of the blood around Issei's mouth.

"That would be correct." Setsuka answered.

Gorou sighed and began to lift his son, which made Issei groan weakly.

"His mother is not going to be happy about that," Gorou muttered. "But then again, it's better than hearing of him peeping. Unfortunately, I should have been stricter in his upbringing, so the fault is on me."

"Teenagers are meant to do immature things," Setsuka said. "He's still growing."

"Thank you again." Gorou nodded and carried Issei toward the door. "Come on, Xenovia-chan, Irina-chan."

"Coming!" Irina called out, she had gathered Isse's things and turned to Setsuka. "Thank you for the training, Setsuka‑san."

"Yes, thank you," Xenovia added.

"You're welcome," Setsuka said, walking them out. "Have a good night, girls."

She waved as they left, then locked the shop and chuckled to herself.

"I suppose not only does the perverseness run in the family, but the density as well. I wonder when they will notice that Irina's ankle is healed, well, I'm sure Ise will figure it out. If anything, I'm guessing his mother will notice something."

With the shop closed and locked, she placed the security seals around before turning out the lights and joining her husband in their home.

Meanwhile, Gorou was asking Irina and Xenovia about their day on the drive home. Issei was still unconscious, but he was resting in the passenger's seat. When they got home, Gorou helped his son out of the car, while Miki greeted them as they entered.

"Hello, girls… Ugh, you stink." Miki pinched her nose. "I'm guessing you did some training today?"

Irina beamed. "That's right! We got to learn from Ise‑kun's club members!"

"That's great. And wait…" Miki raised an eyebrow. "What about your ankle?"

Irina hesitated. "Oh, uh, we stopped by Elize‑san's office. She taped me up really well."

"I see…" Miki wasn't really convinced. "Well, that's good. I was about to say, you're walking just fine."

Gorou blinked. "Oh yeah… I didn't notice." He quickly looked at Irina's ankle as he passed by with Issei.

Miki sighed. "He overworked himself, didn't he?

"Looks like it," Gorou said, carrying Issei upstairs.

Miki turned to the girls. "Well, you girls get the bath first and then wake Ise up, so he can take his own. You can come down and heat up your dinner and knowing Ise, he'll probably wander down later."

Xenovia asked, "Does he do this often?"

"No," Miki said. "Only when he overworks himself. This happened during the week he got suspended… Well, not really suspended. We had to remind him that it was his birthday, he was pretty focused on that tournament back then."

Irina frowned. "I need to get him a gift before I go…"

"You don't need to do that, I'm sure that you being here is probably the best gift that he could receive," Miki said gently as Irina nodded, though she still pondered it. "Now hurry up and get freshened up." The Hyoudou matriarch commanded.

"Yes, ma'am," Xenovia said.

"Yes, obasan," Irina added.

They had gone up the stairs to see Gorou exiting Issei's room and closing the door.

The Hyoudou patriarch let out a heavy sigh. "Hopefully, when you girls are done, he'll be good to go, if he sleeps too long, he may not sleep into the night."

"We'll wake up, when we're cleaned up, ojisan." Irina promised.

"Thank you." He gave them a nod and headed back downstairs.

The girls headed to the guest room, where they could speak more privately.

Xenovia crossed her arms. "So… your ankle?" When they closed the door to the guest room.

Irina smiled. "Ah, Setsuka-san can use healing magic, since my ankle was not too bad. This was the second time that she applied it. She was able to get my ankle right, so I can train again."

"That's good, with the information that we know, we can train ourselves and then take on Kokabiel with our allies and secure the fragments."

"Right!" Irina beamed in agreement.

"So… do you want the bath first?" Xenovia asked.

Irina sniffed the air. "I think you stink more than me, Xenovia. So you go first."

Xenovia sighed. "Alright."

She stripped off her sweaty clothes, grabbed a towel, and headed to the bathroom. It made Irina wonder how Xenovia could do that so callously.

As she went to the bathroom, she sighed as she sat down on the bath stool to scrub and wash herself. She winced slightly from the soreness of her muscles, but she knew it would pass and rinsed herself down with the shower hose. She then got the water ready in the tub to the right temperature. When the water was warm enough, she got in and let the heat melt the tension from her muscles. Her muscles became relaxed after feeling the soreness, she never expected the training to do this to her. However, she had never learned taekwondo, so her legs throbbed from Kisara's drills and her hips were sore from the unfamiliar movements..

'I wonder what his problem was with me… He seemed fine this morning…' Xenovia thought about Issei's behavior, when she believed that she was trying to be helpful.

She finished her bath, getting cleaned up and dried herself, getting out of the tub and draining the water. She headed back to her room to get dressed and saw that Irina was still there. She thought that the girl would go check up on her childhood friend, which she did, while Xenovia was in the bath.

Irina smiled. "Done?"

Xenovia stretched her arms overhead. "Yeah, it's all yours. Although… I thought you'd be with your sleeping friend."

Irina puffed her cheeks. "Well, I was there while you were in the bath."

Xenovia smirked. "Let me guess, you kissed him while he was asleep again?"

Irina's face turned bright red. "N‑No! Not like that!" She remembered her earlier confession about her first kiss and covered her cheeks with both hands.

Of course, despite the denial, Xenovia could see a small speck of red near Irina's lip and knew that Irina kissed Issei again, while he was asleep.

"So then what?" Xenovia asked.

"I just wanted to check on him," Irina muttered. "He looked so tired…"

"Probably because of his usage of ki," Xenovia said. "It likely drained him more, since he hasn't fully controlled it."

Irina's eyes sparkled. "Which makes me wonder, you think that we could unlock our own ki?"

"Who knows," Xenovia replied. "Unlocking it is only the first step. Mastering it is the real challenge."

"Right… okay." Irina took a breath, already stripping off her sweaty clothes. "Guess it's my turn to bathe. See you downstairs."

"Alright," Xenovia said, pulling on fresh clothes as Irina left for the bathroom.

The air in the abandoned warehouse was thick with malice. Yuuma had reported back to Kokabiel on what the devils knew, but of course, she was lying. Raichi was also there, but she was indifferent about what they knew, since she had been tasked with the exorcists. Freed leered openly at the girls with a smug expression, thinking of how he could mutilate them. Valper remained silent, but his eyes were calculating as Kokabiel sat at his makeshift throne.

Kokabiel's wings rustled. "So they don't know what forces we have?"

Yuuma bowed her head. "No. Nothing. Not even the ones we lost."

"Hmph… so someone else took them out." Kokabiel narrowed his eyes. 'I wonder if it was the group that Azazel was looking into. No, it couldn't have been them, they'd want more than just some measly heiresses. They wouldn't interfere in my plans.'

Raichi shrugged. "So what? It's just us against a bunch of teenagers."

"For now," Kokabiel replied.

Valper adjusted his glasses. "Attacking those two heiresses will surely draw a Maou."

Raichi rolled her eyes internally. 'As if this cadre could take on a Maou.'

"No matter," Kokabiel said. "We have the element of surprise. They'll likely be frantic about our forces."

Yuuma shook her head. "I would not say that they are frantic yet, but they are nervous, since they do not know what we have at the moment."

"That works well for us," Kokabiel smirked. "We'll keep remaining low, while I look for reinforcements. Raynare, Raichi, you continue to act normal around your peers, don't give them anything to make them suspicious. Valper, keep track of Freed, you can go buy him some prostitute to fuck to his heart's content."

Freed grinned. "Just one?"

Yuuma groaned. "Maybe several. So I don't have to deal with him trying to get his dick wet."

Freed laughed. "Oh, come on, Raynare. Let me see if you're as tight as Mittelt. Or maybe you're a freak like Kalawarner. Damn, I miss those legs and tits. Raichi's got the legs, but not much up top."

Yuuma glared. "I have zero interest in being anywhere near your dick." She sneered as she remembered how she had to keep her former colleague at bay.

She even remembered having to halt his advances on Asia because she made a deal with someone, a devil, whose name and face were a bit hazy to her now.

"Your loss… for now." Freed snickered.

"No thanks." Yuuma snorted in response, she knew that Kokabiel didn't mind her showing defiance to Freed's advances.

In her training talks with the cadre, Kokabiel promised that he would find a way to force Ajuka to safely remove her evil pieces and return to her fallen angel glory. Of course, she knew that it was a lie and he would dispose of all of them as soon as he got his way. She had seen it in the Grigori, hence why she preferred looking up to Shemhazai and Azazel.

"Well, go back to your homes and check around for anything suspicious if your peers have not caught onto your movements yet." Kokabiel waved his hand dismissively as he wondered who else could join him.

The fallen angels shared his same desire of war, but most of them still followed this supposed peace. The others had left with Satanael and who knows where his cadre brethren had gone off to. All Kokabiel knew was that he and Azazel had a disagreement on sacred gears, which Kokabiel didn't really care about.

Raichi nodded. "Understood, and I still haven't found the exorcists. According to Saiga, the death of their ally has made them remain under the radar." She sent a glare towards Freed, blaming him for his impulsiveness. "I wasn't even able to intercept them, so they are likely together. We will need to separate them, so Freed has a better chance of eliminating them and taking their Excalibur."

"Hmm, you're right," Kokabiel said. "Keep tracking and Freed, stay out of the area, we don't need your Excalibur's aura to detract from their own and confuse Raichi in her mission."

The shift of blame worked because while Kokabiel usually let Freed do what he wanted, he was not pleased about Freed killing that exorcist without gaining any information. That exorcist was their lead on the other two and Raichi reported his death to her superiors. Of course, Saiga talked with his contacts in the Church and reported back that he didn't get any identities. Kokabiel knew that Raichi was capable at her job; he had read her file that Valper received from Saiga, which discussed her missions, when she was part of Yomi.

If Freed had brought the exorcist back here, Raichi could have extracted that information from him and two more fragments would have been theirs already. However, as an assassin, he had no idea that Raichi was deceiving him and because of his arrogance, he believed that the humans were desperate.

"Tch, fine. But what should I do if I encounter devil boy?" Freed actually asked a question without his maniacal smile, sensing Kokabiel's displeasure in his senseless killing.

Yuuma blinked. "Devil boy? Oh, you mean Yuuto Kiba, well, he hasn't been in school." Raichi nodded in agreement.

Kokabiel laughed again. "Then he could be a stray. We'll be doing them a favor, kill him. Valper, stay with Freed, maybe we can take the boy's sacred gear and use it for ourselves."

While he didn't care for the sacred gears, he only considered using it to psychologically mess with the devils, knowing that one of their own was slain by him.

Valper nodded. "Raynare, didn't you have something that could extract Sacred Gears?"

Yuuma sighed. "You'll have to check the church where we set up base and see if the device is still there. I wasn't able to use it, since the Gremory peerage interfered and saved the girl, they also had assistance from the Sitri peerage, so I never got to take her sacred gear. She chose to join the Gremory peerage and I was forced to join the Sitri peerage. I'm sure Azazel is laughing about that, but I'm sure he'll get his comeuppance."

"Ah, so that device may still be active, good," Kokabiel said. "Valper, you and Freed can work on bringing the device here."

Freed cackled. "I know where it's kept."

Valper frowned. "Is it heavy?"

"Yeah, it is," Yuuma snorted. "It's like a ritual cross, you wouldn't want to drag that bitch around town. You'd only attract the devils to you. You could probably get the exorcists to come to you. I already know that Sona made contact with them, but she never gave me any information about their identity."

Kokabiel glared in annoyance. "She still doesn't trust you."

"And it's limiting what information that I can give you, Kokabiel-sama." Yuuma bowed.

"That's why I want you to remain close, until I do call you. When she knows that you have no ulterior motives, she'll lean into you and continue to find weak points in the school, that is where we make our spotlight." Kokabiel grinned.

"Understood, Kokabiel-sama." Yuuma nodded with another bow.

"Then transport seals would be needed," Valper muttered. "I'll begin to work on some."

"Good, then you all have your jobs to do," Kokabiel stood up from his throne and opened a magic circle. "I'll leave you to it." He then vanished as he had a plan in mind, after all, there were other parts of the Underworld where he could find some tools for his war.

Freed stretched. "You two can hang out with me if you like."

Raichi smirked and nodded over at Yuuma. "She's got the tits, isn't that what you said?"

Freed grinned. "But you both got the legs."

Yuuma groaned. "Ugh, Valper, go get him his whores. Raichi, you can stay at my place for tonight. We need to coordinate on how to deal with the devils and catch them by surprise when Kokabiel-sama strikes."

"Fine by me," Raichi said, stepping into Yuuma's magic circle.

Freed tossed Valper the Excalibur fragments. "Damn, I thought I would get laid, oh wait, I still can haha, here's Excalibur for you to work on fusing them as well." He brought out his standard light sword that he had stolen from the Church when he defected. "I'm going to go fuck some bitches and kill some strays out there."

Valper sighed. "I shall begin to work." He knew that he didn't want to deal with the psychopath and could let him run wild.

If Freed got killed along the way, that would be his own fault. However, it would force Valper to transition to making Yuuma the wielder of the Excalibur, since she had weapons training. That would be more strenuous because she was a devil now, but from his research, he could adjust things for Freed as the aforementioned left the base, humming.

At the Hyoudou residence, both exorcists had finished their baths, but now came the hard part, which was waking up Issei. Xenovia left Irina to handle it, since she figured the girl would know how. Xenovia leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching Irina try to shake him awake. Xenovia smirked, when Issei groaned, then palmed Irina's face and gently pushed her away.

Xenovia snickered. "Now you know how I feel when it comes to waking you up."

Irina glared. "I'm not that bad."

"True." Xenovia nodded in agreement as Irina would likely be up by now.

Irina huffed, stood up and jumped onto Issei.

He groaned loudly from the sudden weight and wincing in pain from his aching body. Normally, Irina would have shown concern, but she had to wake him up. The thing is Issei had dealt with this from Irina, when she came over and woke him up, so they could play. There were some days that she would chill and just lie next to him and talk him awake.

"Ise-kun, you gotta get up! For one, you stink! And two, dinner's ready!"

"Ugh…" He rolled onto his stomach.

"Alright then…" Irina narrowed her eyes and leaned close to his ear, withstanding the smell and knew that he was partially awake. "You asked for this."

Something in her tone made Issei's body subconsciously shiver as there were days that Irina took things to the next level to get him up. It appears that she was going that route as she got up and marched past Xenovia.

Xenovia raised a brow. "What are you doing?"

Irina didn't answer and Xenovia could only watch as Irina went into their room and then came out and went to the bathroom. Xenovia turned to look back at Issei, who rolled back onto his side. She could see his face and knew he was asleep from the light snoring that he made.

She sighed and walked to the bathroom, but Irina had opened the door and moved past her. She followed after Irina, who walked back to Issei's room and stood beside his bed. However, Xenovia noticed that Irina was now holding a water balloon.

Xenovia's eyes widened. "Irina…"

Irina stood beside Issei's bed. "Now, Ise-kun... I'm going to count to three and give you a chance to get up, otherwise, I will be giving you a mini bath."

As if he could hear her, Issei snorted in his sleep, challenging her that she wouldn't do a thing to him.

Xenovia looked between the two childhood friends. "Um, Irina…"

Irina ignored her. "One…"

Xenovia sighed. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Irina continued to ignore her. "Two…"

Xenovia shrugged. "You know what? Nevermind. You may have a problem with me, but you should listen to your wife."

"Thre… Eh!?" Irina processed what Xenovia had just said that she almost dropped the water balloon.

"You heard me," Xenovia said, walking away. "But hurry up and do what you need to do, I'm going downstairs."

Irina shook her head to calm her blush and checked to see that Issei was still asleep, thus he didn't hear what Xenovia said, but better yet, he didn't deny it and that made her a little giddy inside.

"Three." She said after her nerves calmed down.

She walked back to the door, turned around and threw the water at Issei, hitting him near his head.

SPLASH!

Water exploded across Issei's head and sheets.

He sputtered awake. "Huh!? What!?"

Irina crossed her arms. "Welcome back to the world of the living."

Issei groaned. "Ugh… with you in it, you can take me back to the world of the dead."

"Hey!" She pouted, but she also knew that he didn't have as much conviction in his tone, so she knew that he didn't mean it.

They both knew that he wanted her here, she saw him tap his thigh which showed his true message to her. Seeing that message, made her smile as Issei landed back in his wet sheets.

He looked down at his soaked bedding. "Aw man… my sheets are messed up…"

Irina planted her hands on her hips. "Go take a shower. I'll change your sheets, since I messed them up. The linen closet's still in the same place, right?"

Issei groaned as he sat up. "Yeah… your favorite hiding spot hasn't changed."

Irina smiled triumphantly and walked off, while Issei grabbed a towel and trudged toward the bathroom.

As he passed her in the hallway, he muttered, "Could you please stop with the pranks?"

Irina blinked innocently. "Why?"

"It's not fun. We're not kids anymore. And you know I've never beaten you in a prank war."

"But it keeps you alert," she said cheerfully. "And I like having fun with you."

"Well, your form of fun isn't fun for me." He responded as she looked down to see him tap his thigh again and she knew he was having fun with it, plotting his revenge.

Irina smirked. "Want to talk about big breasts instead?"

Issei's face went red instantly. "I'm trying to grow out of that." Her smirk also reminded him of Raichi and one of her was good enough.

"I know. I'm teasing you." She waved him off. "Now go shower. You stink. Then we can watch Soma take on Nikumi."

"…Fine, fine." He reached the bathroom door and then stopped.

Irina paused mid‑search through the linens. "What is it?"

Issei turned, grabbed her arm, and tugged her toward the door. "Open it and walk in first."

Irina blinked. "Really? Don't you trust me even a little?"

"After the balloon at the front door and the rude wake‑up call? My trust is slowly waning." Issei deadpanned.

"Mou~, you don't mean that, Ise‑kun." She pouted.

"You already know I don't but I wouldn't put it past you to put one here and then give a quip about it being in the bathroom, so I can clean up much easier."

Irina rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright." She opened the door and stepped inside, spinning around dramatically. "See? No balloons."

Issei narrowed his eyes. "This time."

Irina smirked. "I mean if it does happen, you're the one that gave me the idea, I never thought about placing a balloon here till now."

Issei groaned. "Please don't."

"You're just going to have to trust that I won't," she said, leaning forward and unintentionally giving him a small view of her cleavage. "Which means you're going to have to trust me." Issei's eyes flicked down before he jerked his gaze away.

"Just don't, Irina," he muttered. "I'd like our time together to not just be about you pranking me."

"Isn't that why we're going out this weekend?" Irina questioned.

"Oh yeah… but you've also got your church stuff." Issei reminded her.

"You're right about that." Irina smiled. 'You didn't deny that we're going out, Ise-kun. Just us two.'

"Also, how's your ankle? You need to be good with that to continue doing whatever you need to do for the church." Issei looked down at the ankle.

Irina waved a hand. "It's fine. If it starts aching, I'll just ask you to massage it."

Issei stared at her. "First, you target me with your pranks, and now I'm your masseuse? You don't pay me enough for this."

"Shut up," she said, turning around and he followed her to the door. "I'll go change your sheets. Sorry about them."

"It's fine, lo… um…" he cleared his throat and corrected himself. "Not too much harm done anyways."

Irina gave a nod and closed the door, she gave a small smile as she detected that small slip and she could only wonder what he was going to say.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was acting like tou-san, when I've seen him talking with kaa-san. Gah! I was thinking of maybe kissing Irina on the cheek like he does with kaa-san. I can't do that, I don't think she would have liked that.' He stripped off his clothes, shaking his head and sighed. 'I should've known she'd wake me up with water. She's done it before…'

The memories, he would remember some more about his childhood, usually, when Irina came over to his house to play. There would be times where he would sleep in and she would try to wake him up, until she used a cup of water and doused him with it, when he overslept. Irina didn't really care about the damage that she did to his sheets back then because he was awake and they could play and she was happy. He also normally would lose his anger and he'd wind up forgiving her because he was having fun with his friend throughout the day and… well, it was Irina.

It kind of made him realize something that he never thought he would have known. He was going to miss her pranks, when she leaves, he was going to miss the fun that she brings. He knew that he could have fun with the others at the MMA club, but there was just something about Irina that made it different. He sighed as he stepped into the shower, he knew that soon, he was going to have to say goodbye to her again.

He sighed as he sat down on the bath stool, his body ached and he winced, but he didn't care because he was feeling a different kind of pain.

'I'm gonna miss this… miss her… when she leaves. Man, that's gonna suck.'

He chuckled sadly and began washing up.

While he was getting freshened up, Irina was swapping out his sheets for some new ones. When she had finished, she went downstairs to join Xenovia and the Hyoudou at the table. Miki was serving the food for the girls after she had reheated it for them. When Irina was seated, she had to ask the girls how their day was, since they got out of the house.

"So," Miki asked with a warm smile, "did you enjoy meeting Ise's club members?"

Irina nodded. "Mhm! They were really helpful. We even got some training from them."

Xenovia added, "I can see why he's capable in hand‑to‑hand combat."

Gorou laughed. "Oh, yeah, we were a bit worried about him joining, but now, he's gotten in the groove like Goku, usually training or working or studying."

Miki giggled. "He still loves that Dragon Ball character. So what did you girls work on?"

Xenovia answered, "Well, one of the girls was showing me taekwondo, I never really thought of utilizing my legs as a weapon. She even gave me some tips on kickboxing."

Miki tilted her head. "Did she have spiky red‑brown hair?"

"Yes." Xenovia nodded as the Hyoudou knew who she was talking about.

Gorou nodded. "That's Kisara. Ise's tough big sister. She loves giving him noogies." He chuckled.

"She's the one who picked you girls up this afternoon," Miki added.

Irina smiled. "Yeah, I was also helped by Raichi with Chinese kenpo."

Gorou looked at his wife. "Raichi?"

Irina nodded. "She has pink hair." She looked between her surrogate aunt and uncle.

Miki snapped her fingers. "Oh! She was the one close to Ise at the tournament." She also remembered the girl, when she and Saori dropped off Irina and Xenovia at school.

Of course, since Gorou was not present for that, she had to think of an event where he might have seen Raichi.

Gorou frowned. "Hmm, we never got to meet her. She was supposed to fight Ise, but he had to forfeit due to injury." He began to recollect the girl, but he never got to properly speak with her, since they had to tend to Issei's injuries first.

Xenovia raised a brow. "You never met her?"

Miki shook her head. "No, he hasn't," She corrected. "Remember I did when Saori and I dropped you off the other day? That was my first time meeting her, but before that they said that she had something to do after the tournament that Miu's father asked her to do."

Irina and Xenovia looked at each other as they remembered Raichi telling them that she is the mole in telling Kenichi's team about Kokabiel's operations. It also made sense that Raichi had been there before they even arrived in Kuoh. As long as she is there and her cover is not blown, they could continue to get intel. It also meant that they could strike, but they were choosing to train themselves before they got to that encounter.

Irina said, "She told us she's Ise‑kun's best friend. I'm surprised you didn't meet her before then, obasan."

Miki smirked. "Oh? Are you a little jealous, Irina‑chan?"

Irina's face exploded red. "No!" She wasn't blushing out of jealousy but about her crush being brought up.

She already knew that Raichi didn't like Issei like that because the pink haired girl told Irina herself and told Irina to step up as well.

Miki giggled. "Well, you don't have to worry about her, if you still have your crush on him, I'd say from what I saw at the tournament, they weren't really flirty. I do remember that he came back from work one day and began cooking to prove her wrong that he can do it, after all, I trained him myself." She spoke proudly about teaching her son to cook.

Xenovia tilted her head. "You don't seem to cook only Japanese cuisine. May I ask why?"

Miki smiled warmly as she set down another dish. "Oh, that's easy. I found a cookbook with all kinds of cuisines. You can't just stick to the same old thing forever. It made me curious about other recipes out there. You know the tapsilog we had for breakfast?"

Xenovia nodded. "Yes?"

"That's not Japanese," Miki said proudly. "Although we do tend to have egg over rice here in Japan, that recipe is actually a Filipino breakfast."

Irina's eyes sparkled. "Whoa, no way! You have to tell me the recipe so I can give it to kaa‑san!"

Miki laughed. "I already did that."

Gorou cleared his throat. "Speaking of which, Irina-chan, how busy is your church schedule?"

Irina tilted her head. "It depends… why?"

"Well," Gorou said, rubbing his chin, "with summer break coming up, we were hoping to send Ise over to you. We handled the passport necessities while he was 'suspended.'" He made air quotes.

Irina lit up. "That would be fun! I could show him around the place! Just let kaa‑san and tou‑san know. It's going to be so much fun! Maybe we'll find new anime to watch too!"

Miki blinked. "Oh? You still watch that stuff, Irina‑chan?"

Irina giggled. "Well, not really, but I found one, which we began watching. It made us wonder if you and kaa-san went through such training for your own cooking skills, obasan."

Miki tilted her head. "Ufu~ I wouldn't know. I've never seen the show."

Xenovia spoke up. "It's… quite unorthodox. People lose their clothes because the food they eat is so good." She continued to eat her own food.

Gorou nodded sagely. "Ah. I think teenagers call that a foodgasm."

Xenovia blinked. "Hmm?"

Irina scratched the back of her head, "Er, Xenovia was quite sheltered, so she doesn't really know words like that, but yes, that is what's happening."

Miki's eyes widened. "Wait, you said they lose their clothes? So there's nudity?" She and Gorou exchanged a worried look.

Irina waved her hands. "Kind of, but it's covered up! Ise-kun was a little mad that I found it, I guess he thought I was trying to provoke his perversion."

Miki and Gorou both sighed in relief.

"Oh thank goodness," Miki said.

Gorou nodded. "He's been working so hard to keep his perversion in check since joining the club he's in."

Miki added, "Mhm, so far, it's been working. One of the times, when we were grocery shopping, he looked a little queasy and embarrassed about seeing oppai pudding."

Xenovia blinked. "Oppai pudding?"

Gorou coughed. "It's pudding shaped like… breasts." He made a gesture to make it like he was holding the cups of a bra on his chest, but then he stopped as it was an inappropriate gesture to show a teenager or at least someone who was underaged.

Xenovia looked down at her own chest. "I see. That explains why he talked about big breasts. But… how did this perversion come to be?"

Miki and Gorou exchanged a guilty look.

"That's… kind of our fault," Miki admitted.

"Yeah," Gorou said, scratching the back of his head.

Xenovia leaned forward. "How so?"

Miki folded her hands. "Well, children inherit traits from their parents."

Gorou nodded. "Take Irina, for example."

Irina blinked. "Huh?" She wondered why she was being used as a guinea pig for their explanation.

Miki smiled, ignoring the brunette. "She gets her energetic attitude from her mother."

Gorou added, "And she gets this dazed look like she's lost in a daydream from her father, he would sometimes have it, when we went fishing and he wouldn't realize that he caught something because he was lost in his own world."

Xenovia nodded slowly, looking over at said girl that pouted and looked away. "That explains so much." She turned back to the Hyoudous. "So his perversion stems from you two."

Gorou raised a hand and sighed. "Guilty as charged, it also didn't help that my father was instigating the concept of harems unto both Issei and Irina. Luckily, the church background kind of helped Irina remain grounded, but in Issei's case… it flourished and we didn't really do a good job of disciplining him."

Miki sighed. "Mhm, just like his secret porn stash, I always knew where he kept his oppai pudding that he was spending his allowance on."

Irina gasped. "He has a secret porn stash!?"

"Not anymore," Miki said. "He had me sell it for him, while he was in school. The downside was paying for shipping of all the items, you'd be surprised by how many perverts are here in Japan."

Xenovia nodded. "I see. But why didn't you do that earlier?"

Gorou sighed. "Well, we kind of spoiled him because as you can see, Ise is an only child and then he met Irina and the two were inseparable." Irina smiled softly at the memory.

She and Issei were the odd kids, she had pulled a prank, similar to the water balloon that she had done on Issei in the afternoon. The kids that she pranked weren't so thrilled and they got back at her by breaking her toys and laughed at her. Issei was already weird because he talked about big breasts, but he came over and defended her from them. He offered her to play with his own toys and gave her one, which she still kept to this day. Since she couldn't change her own troublemaking ways, she pranked Issei and to her surprise, he pranked her back. It made Irina cry in joy because someone understood her and Issei misinterpreted the crying and gave her his cheesecake to apologize.

Miki's voice snapped Irina out of memory lane, "Then she left, and sometime after that, his grandfather died, and despite being a massive pervert, Ise loved his grandfather. Of course, it's where the harem king dream came from."

Gorou nodded. "He wanted to make his grandfather proud, then when he was seven, that is when we started to see the oppai pudding. I had no idea where it came from, but he always tried to hide it. He was joyous again, after losing Irina and his grandfather, so we kind of let it be."

Miki added, "Of course, sometime after that, he became sad and noted that he lost another precious friend to him, who would tell him stories that could help him be harem king and also shared a fondness for breasts like him."

Gorou let out a heavy sigh, "When he was a child, it was more of a curiosity about why women had lumps on their chests."

Irina nodded. "Which is why he talked about big breasts."

Miki chuckled and looked at her surrogate daughter. "I was surprised why he never asked you about why you would touch your own chest, when you were young and he spoke about breasts, Irina."

Xenovia deadpanned. "Knowing her, she probably was thinking about growing a pair for him."

"Xenovia!" Irina gasped at the accusation, but she didn't deny it because she wanted to appease her childhood crush.

Unfortunately, for her, Xenovia can be quite observant as she called her out on it.

"You didn't deny it," Xenovia remarked before looking at the Hyoudou again, "but why did you spoil him?"

"Well, like we said he was an only child." Gorou answered.

Miki fidgeted with the cup in her hand. "But before that, we had tried for children twice before that, and both resulted in miscarriages."

Xenovia's eyes widened a little, she looked over at Irina, who looked down in sadness. It made Xenovia understand that this was the family secret that they didn't talk about to her before. Since she knew that Irina had known something about the Hyoudou family, hence why they could have discussed it with her. They couldn't do the same with Xenovia because she was an outsider and then remembered how Miki said that she didn't mind hosting Xenovia again, if she returned to Japan.

Gorou continued, "When the third pregnancy was announced, I went to pray at the temple for this baby to survive. We feared that our perversion was the calling card that we weren't suited to be parents and maybe we weren't since like I said, we didn't discipline him enough."

Miki rounded off the explanation. "And we didn't want to lose him, so we let him be, not our best decision, since he was alone for a little bit after this "friend" of his left. He then ran into his now former friends, Matsuda and Motohama, in middle school."

Irina blinked. "Right around the time that I left for Italy, age fourteen, right?" She was connecting the dots, when Issei had told her that she was better at picking friends than him.

Gorou nodded. "That's about right."

Miki sighed. "He always felt the need to outdo them."

Xenovia asked, "How so?"

"You'll have to ask him," Miki said. "Speaking of which, you probably may need to bring his dinner up for him."

Irina raised an eyebrow. "Why's that? I had him up to go take a shower."

Gorou chuckled. "Yeah, but when he overexerts himself, he tends to miss out on dinner."

Xenovia thought, 'Definitely because of the ki usage.'

Irina nodded. "I guess he can eat it as we watch Food Wars."

Miki perked up. "Food Wars? Is that the anime that you are watching?"

Irina nodded. "Uh huh, I figured that Ise-kun may like it, since you were teaching him how to cook, obasan. Maybe give him some inspiration as well, plus I know that he had to like anime still, so it worked out pretty well."

Gorou laughed. "I guess that explains the foodgasms, an anime about food, they must be making some intense stuff to blow people's clothes away."

Miki wiped her hands on her apron and smiled. "Indeed. Anyway, you girls enjoy your show."

Irina beamed. "Thanks, obasan."

Xenovia bowed her head. "Yes, thank you for the meal."

As Miki collected their plates, Irina handed Xenovia Issei's untouched dinner plate.

"We should probably get him a slice of cheesecake," Irina said.

Xenovia blinked. "Why?"

"For dessert, silly." Irina giggled. "Don't worry, I'll grab a slice for us too."

"You can't carry three plates," Xenovia said, standing. "I'll help you."

"Thanks." Irina said as she went towards the fridge.

Miki watched the interaction between the two girls with a soft smile as Irina opened the fridge and carefully lifted out three slices of cheesecake from the package. The Hyoudou parents exchanged a knowing look as the girls supported each other, while heading upstairs. Xenovia was holding Issei's dinner and a plate of cheesecake, while Irina was holding two plates of cheesecakes.

"Be sure to bring the dishes back down when you're done!" Miki called out to them.

"Okay, obasan!" Irina replied.

Gorou chuckled. "I can see why they're partners."

Miki nodded. "Same, you know if our boy wasn't so dense and he got together with Irina-chan, I would say Xenovia would be her maid of honor."

Gorou snorted. "I agree, but you know how he feels, he doesn't think he's good enough for romance, so any girl that may like him has to be direct or else, well, they're shit out of luck."

Miki sighed. "Mhm, adding in his perversion, which impacts his views on romance because of that… he is already sure that no girl wants him."

"Hence why he said he will look for one, when he goes to the university," Gorou added.

Miki shook her head as she washed dishes. "Yeah…"

Meanwhile, Xenovia and Irina made it to Issei's room, where the door was slightly open. Thanks to this, they didn't have to put down their plates to try and open it up. Irina opened it further by bumping her hip into it as they walked in. Not to their surprise, Issei, while freshly changed, was asleep again on his new sheets.

Irina sighed. "Ise‑kun, you need to get up and eat."

She and Xenovia set the plates on his desk.

She got no response from the sleeping brunette, while Xenovia pondered about how to wake him.

Xenovia crossed her arms. "Do you want to use the same tactic as before?"

Irina shook her head. "No way. I just changed those sheets." She smirked. "Besides, I have an idea." She walked over to the desk and picked up a plate of cheesecake. "Ise‑kun… we have cheesecake. Your favorite."

She waved the cheesecake in front of his nose as she could see his nose twitch, but begin to sniff. Issei mumbled something unintelligible, so Irina couldn't hear what he said. However, when he reached for the cheesecake, she moved back out of his reach. As a result, he tried again, reaching farther for the cheesecake, which caused him to fall out of the bed and on his face.

Thud.

"Ah, ow…" he groaned.

Irina wagged a finger. "No cheesecake until you finish your dinner."

"You're not my mother," he muttered.

Xenovia smirked. "No, she's more like your wife."

Issei groaned. "Not you too, Xen…" He rubbed his face from hitting the floor, while Irina's face turned bright red.

Xenovia shrugged. "I mean what other women would you listen to in your life besides those two options?"

Issei blinked himself awake. "What two options?"

"Your mother and your wife." Xenovia answered nonchalantly.

"I would say my big sisters and aunts," he countered.

Xenovia raised a brow. "I see. And where does Irina lie in that?"

Issei paused, then answered honestly as his namesake.

"Well, she's my first best friend and a part of who I am today, so she is someone that I hold dear." While he thought to himself, 'Could she also be more than that? Would she accept being more than that with someone like me?'

Irina's smile softened. "Good, then you should come eat your dinner, while we enjoy some more Food Wars!"

"Alright, alright…" He scratched his head and moved to the desk to set up the laptop.

'Looks like this round goes to the childhood wife,' Xenovia thought as she sat in the new chair Issei had bought.

Issei held out his old chair for Irina to sit down. However, she shook her head, which made Issei frown. He knew what she wanted as he could see from her smile that she wanted her previous seat. That seat being his lap, which he sighed because he was just taking her word for it that it was okay, since they were childhood friends.

She sat in his lap, settling in comfortably. He leaned back, trying to focus on his food… but Irina's shifting made it impossible not to notice her warmth and her weight so close to him. With everyone seated, Issei let Irina take control of the laptop, while he leaned back and began eating his dinner. It was pretty awkward because he could feel Irina's butt as she moved around and he was checking her out from behind. When he looked to his side, he saw that Xenovia had seen him checking out Irina as he blushed and looked away.

Xenovia hid a smirk and silently chuckled. 'Well, she definitely has something that he likes, but then again, I'm sure any guy would act like him if the girl they liked was in their lap. So the feeling is mutual between the two, they just need to express it.'

Irina asked, "Something funny, Xenovia?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Xenovia replied casually.

Irina looked suspicious. "What was it?"

Xenovia could see the panic in Issei's eyes, practically pleading with her to not rat him out.

Xenovia responded in her usual smooth tone. "It was how Issei was eating his dinner, he didn't want to spill any on you, so he was holding it rather awkwardly and it looked funny to watch him eat."

Irina turned to Issei. "Oh, sorry, Ise‑kun."

"It's fine," he muttered.

When he gave a silent thank you to Xenovia, she looked back at him with her eyes saying, "You owe me". Issei understood the message and nodded but let out a sigh of relief.

Irina adjusted herself again, and Issei followed suit and relaxed. There was a familiarity between their bodies as the episode began.

"How do you think he'll win this without getting expelled?" Issei asked.

Xenovia answered, "He seems capable of pulling the tricks out of his bag, maybe he'll do something that will complement the flavor of his bowl."

Irina nodded. "That's a good guess, I'm not sure how he would beat Nikumi's expensive meat."

Issei pointed at the screen. "True, but we could pick up clues in the opening, remember that."

"The opening?" Irina asked.

"Yeah, some animes have teasers of what could happen in the opening, right now, since the first thing we see with eggs, I feel like that will become important at some point." Issei answered.

Xenovia nodded. "Well, he did use eggs to get into the school."

"Yeah, but I feel like they would have changed the opening to a different ingredient, you know?" Issei said.

Irina hummed. "That is true…" She was going to follow Issei's advice and try to look for clues in the opening as well.

They watched the episode unfold as the results came out, it seemed that Xenovia's guess was right about how he would win.

"Looks like you win this one, Xenovia." Issei said.

Irina pouted. "Erina is not a good friend, though." She was displeased with how Erina just walked away without consoling Ikumi and just cut ties with her.

"Well, Nikumi made a promise and didn't follow through." Xenovia reminded her partner.

"But still…" Irina tried to argue.

Issei nodded. "You're both right, Nikumi did make the promise. But Erina should be there for her friend if she even considers Nikumi as one. If not, I guess she doesn't have any friends, well, maybe Hisako is an exception."

Irina turned her head towards him. "You think so?"

"I mean she seems like one of those rich girls, she has it all without working for none of it," Issei said. "She has this special ability called the God's tongue, but I guess when you have such a sensitive palette, you have to be cautious of what you eat."

Xenovia added, "If that's the case, she would have to have essential vitamins injected into her."

Issei winced. "Oh yeah and that would be a shitty way to live."

"Ise‑kun," Irina scolded. "Language."

"Sorry." He apologized.

"Cheesecake?" Irina asked him.

"Oh, thanks." He reached for the plate.

Irina pulled it back. "Nuh‑uh. I'll feed you."

"I can feed myself," he deadpanned.

"Just let her do it," Xenovia said. "So we can carry on with the show."

"Ugh… fine." Issei relented.

Xenovia rolled her eyes. 'Don't act like you don't like it.'

It was then that Xenovia noticed that the fork that Irina was using to feed Issei with was Irina's fork. Xenovia's eyes looked down and noticed that the extra fork was off to the side. So she realized that Irina was doing this by accident and didn't realize that she was using her fork to feed him.

Xenovia nearly snorted. 'They're basically sharing an indirect kiss and neither of them knows.'

Xenovia merely shrugged and ate her own cheesecake, but she did spare another glance at the two. She had to do all that she could to keep from snickering as she noticed that Irina subconsciously was also eating her own cheesecake with the same fork. Xenovia could tell because Irina's eyes never left the screen and neither did Issei's eyes, so she could tell that he didn't notice.

Several episodes were finished, which was when Issei felt sleepy again and nod off, he shifted a little in his seat. When he did, Irina would shift as well, so she could make sure that he was still comfortable, while being comfortable herself. She did tap Issei lightly with her foot to signal that she would like a massage. Issei sighed, reaching down and began to massage what he assumed was her injured ankle.

"That's pretty cool," Issei spoke during the massage. "They get to go to a camp…"

Irina stretched her legs out as the episode continued. "Yeah, but you can get expelled if you don't complete the challenges."

Xenovia nodded. "They have hot springs in the hotel."

Issei whistled. "Well, the school owns the resort, considering that it is a private institution. Man, I would have liked to go somewhere like that, if it was for martial arts." He began to wonder what kind of challenges that they would do at a martial arts camp and if it was like the tournament.

Irina blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah," Issei said, scratching the back of his head. "I could test my skills and I certainly wouldn't have thought to peep on a girl that can kick my ass. but then again, I probably wouldn't have thought of peeping, since I wouldn't have dealt with Matsuda and Motohama. Instead of shouting about being harem king, I would probably be shouting how I am going to be like Goku."

Irina giggled. "I can see that or you would be shouting about being a certain Super Sentai Ranger or Kamen Rider."

Issei groaned. "Yeah, yeah, whatever…" But he smiled faintly at her laughter. "Hmm," he continued, "Now that I think about it, senpai mentioned that us second years would be going to Kyoto, I wonder if we would be staying in a place like that."

Xenovia tilted her head. "You think so?"

"I mean the luxury is kind of nice," Issei said, "but I don't know, maybe I am hoping for something a little more simpler, you know?"

Xenovia smirked. "Be careful what you wish for."

"Eh, I'll be alright," Issei said. "I mean, well… I guess you haven't seen Mitsurugi-shishou's home, considering how he and Setsuka-obasan have been able to run their shop and live peacefully, it's something that I wouldn't mind."

Irina poked his cheek. "Maybe you've been spending too much time with your master."

Issei shook his head. "I'd disagree, he's been helping me, making me a better version of myself. Honestly, I don't know where I'd be without the people around me now."

Xenovia crossed her arms. "I guess we'll have to see when we see them this weekend." It would help her get a better gauge of their character.

Issei's expression tightened. "This doesn't get in the way of your church stuff, right?"

Xenovia shook her head. "I consider this a relief for us, since we are training ourselves in preparation for our own battle."

"Yeah, right." Issei's jaw clenched.

He remembered how she trained and Mitsurugi's words about how Xenovia was naturally talented.

Xenovia met Issei's stare and her eyes narrowed as if challenging him, which did irk Issei. Another thing that irked him is that Xenovia can be quite attractive, when she looks so serious. It was that calm, sharp stare that reminded him of Shigure's stoic gaze and the intensity of her glare and she is one of the most attractive women that Issei knows.

He snorted and looked away from the bluenette, steeling himself. 'I'll surpass her too.'

Unknown to him, he also pulled Irina closer to him, which made the girl blush, but she snuggled into him naturally. From Xenovia's point of view, she could see Issei's glare softened, when Irina got close to him and she noted how they looked like a couple, how they just contoured to each other. They just fit together seamlessly like puzzle pieces that had been separated for years and finally reunited. Xenovia deduced that it was because of the sleepovers that the two had as children and likely shared a bed together.

She could easily imagine the two under the covers as children, either in Issei's bed or Irina's bed and they would just be gossiping about the trouble they had caused. Giggling about one of their pranks victims or how someone fell for one of their pranks. They'd probably also be plotting about what adventure they would go on. Of course, she couldn't fully comprehend because her childhood was different from theirs.

'Even if he doesn't remember her, they seem to contour to each other as if their bodies remember each other. She keeps him calm like she does with me, I guess that is her superpower. However, something tells me if something happens to her, he will go berserk and frankly, I hope he doesn't take that anger out on me.' Xenovia thought as she watched the childhood friends.

In the process, Xenovia felt a faint chill run through her at the possibility of Issei going berserk and could not help but feel a little envy towards Irina. Regardless, she was thankful for Issei and Irina for opening her eyes to different things, of a world outside of the church. It made her wonder how she was being so lenient about the mission. She believed that it was because she had less to worry about now that she had allies and wasn't facing this alone. To her surprise, she didn't realize that she was looking forward to something as simple as a weekend outing.

They continued to watch how Megumi challenged, or rather Soma challenged a graduate to a food war. Irina and Xenovia had to sweatdrop at seeing Issei's eyes brighten a little.

'He's definitely thinking about challenging someone,' they both thought.

No surprise that they were right as Issei was thinking of which of his senpai that he could challenge to test himself. It wasn't until near the end of the food war between Kojirō Shinomiya and Megumi that Xenovia noticed a similarity between Soma and Issei.

Issei growled, just as Soma punched the wall after the decision on the food war between Shinomiya and Megumi. It was clear to both exorcists that both Soma and Issei hated to lose and knew that Issei was thinking about his loss to Freed. They noticed Issei's fist clench as he huffed.

Irina poked his cheek sharply. "Hey." That poke was enough to calm him down.

Issei blinked, snapped out of it. "Sorry. It's just… that I can understand his frustration."

Irina tilted her head. "How so?"

"I wouldn't want to lose," Issei said. "And a draw does feel like a loss."

Irina sighed. "Winning isn't everything in life, Ise-kun." Of course, she reflected on her draw to Takeshi.

She had the length with her Excalibur Mimic in katana form, but Takeshi was able to jump up and still hit her. That hit altered her trajectory, which made her land hard on her supposed injured ankle. Either one of them could have won that, but both miscalculated and that led to a draw.

"But it could determine one's life," Issei countered.

"How so?" Irina wanted Issei to explain a little further and see what was in his head.

"Well…" Issei adjusted himself and also shifted Irina, which she didn't mind as he was making sure that she was still comfortable. "You can be in a fight that is life or death. Senpai had told me about how there are underground fights, where there are no rules, that means that fighters could have weapons and could use them."

Xenovia's eyes narrowed. "You're thinking of going there?"

"Maybe," Issei admitted. "I want to test myself. Shishou said that I will need to see how strong I can be."

Irina slammed her hands on his knees. "Absolutely not! I won't let you!"

Issei frowned. "Perhaps for now, but eventually, you'll leave after you're done here. Then what?"

Irina could not say anything as her shoulders slumped in defeat as he was right. She couldn't stop him, when she leaves after the job was done or if she died on this mission. Issei realized that he made her sad as his eyes widened, believing that he had hurt her. So he did what he usually did, when they were kids.

He pulled her into a hug. "Sorry about that, Irina."

"If you want me to feel better," she whispered, "then don't go to that place. You can train with me instead."

"I won't go there, unless I really want to fight." He promised.

"I mean at all, Ise‑kun." Irina emphasized.

Now it was Issei's turn to slump in defeat, but then he decided to turn the tables on her.

"Unless you promise to never prank me." Issei countered.

"Yeah, that's not happening." Irina scoffed. "You know I can't promise you that! You know that they are fun!"

"Maybe for you." Issei crossed his arms and pouted.

"And you think going to some underground fighting spot is fun for you?" she snapped, glaring.

Issei shrank. "Er… no."

"At least my pranks don't hurt you." She continued to glare down on him.

There wasn't really anywhere that he could go because she was in his lap, so he could not escape her gaze.

Xenovia had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the childhood friend lover's quarrel that was happening in front of her. Irina was absolutely her mother's daughter and those scolding techniques were lethal as they had the same effect on Issei. She had them done on Touji by Mizuki and even Gorou by Miki. He blushed in embarrassment, but then turned and glared at Xenovia when he heard her snicker.

"You better do as she says," Xenovia said.

"Fine," Issei muttered. "After all… I still have to contend with you."

Xenovia raised an eyebrow. 'So, I am a stepping stone to him, huh…' She nodded silently.

His challenge towards Xenovia seemed to defuse his situation with Irina, who softened her glare and she turned back to the screen, relaxing against him. Xenovia and Issei also turned back to the episode as Issei yawned. At some point, Irina felt something against her shoulder, which she nudged. She rolled her eyes and nudged her shoulder again, thinking that Issei was trying to get back at her. However, she still felt that same weight against her shoulder and when she shifted her, it had moved to her chest. She knew that it had to be Issei because of his talks about breasts, so when she looked down, she was surprised to find Issei's head against her breasts.

"Ise!" she squeaked, pushing his head back.

Xenovia sighed. "He fell asleep." She had seen Issei nodding off and knew that he still needed more rest.

He was exhausted by the training today as he didn't wake up, even after Irina pushed his head off of her.

Irina nodded as she stood up from his lap. "Let's stop here for now, I think we're about halfway through the season." She knew that Issei didn't do this intentionally to get a feel of her breasts.

Of course, it was her fault that he landed on her breasts because she moved her torso, when his head had been on her shoulder.

"At this rate," Xenovia said, stretching, "we'll be done with the season by the weekend."

Irina smiled. "Wow… I never knew you could have fun, Xenovia."

Xenovia looked away. "I don't know… maybe because I feel like we can get out of this alive. We have eyes and ears on Kokabiel. We have people, allies, that can help train us and then we can strike Kokabiel and whoever follows him, recover the fragments and go back home."

Irina nodded firmly. "Right!"

Xenovia stretched her arms overhead. "I will say… that I have more relief knowing that we have a home to come back to and I don't have to worry about you spending our money on the wrong thing."

Irina puffed her cheeks. "Hey, that's not very nice."

"You know it's true." Xenovia nodded toward the sleeping boy. "But should we leave him like that?"

Issei was still slumped in the chair, head tilted, breathing softly.

Irina sighed. "I guess we should get him to bed… but I'm a little stiff. I'm not sure how we can get him to the bed."

"We can lay him on the desk," Xenovia suggested.

"I suppose…" Irina agreed.

Together, they pushed Issei's chair in and gently lowered his head onto the desk.

"Wait a minute," Irina said suddenly.

She hurried to the bed, grabbed a pillow, and carefully slid it under Issei's head.

Xenovia raised an eyebrow. "You good?"

"Yeah," Irina said, then she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Issei's head. "Goodnight, Ise‑kun."

Xenovia looked at the desk. "Let's grab the plates too."

"Right." Irina nodded.

They collected the dishes from the desk and exited the room. They quietly closed the door behind them as they headed downstairs.

As they were walking to the kitchen, Xenovia decided to tell Irina what she noticed, when she was feeding Issei cheesecake.

"Hey… do you remember when you were feeding him cheesecake?" Xenovia asked casually.

Irina blinked. "Yeah?"

"You didn't realize that you were feeding him with the same fork that you were eating from?"

Irina froze mid-step and her face became bright red as she realized what Xenovia was implying, she had been indirectly kissing Issei.

"You didn't notice, did you?" Xenovia asked.

Irina mumbled, "No…" as she turned to the sink and began washing dishes with frantic energy.

Xenovia shrugged. "Well, whatever happens… at least you can say you kissed him while he was awake."

Irina nearly dropped a plate. "That's not funny. Maybe one day, you'll understand."

"Understand what?" Xenovia looked at her, wanting her to explain.

Irina smirked. "You'll see."

Xenovia stared, confused. Irina's cryptic smile didn't help as she finished the last of the dishes.

"Come on," Irina said, drying her hands. "Let's get to bed. We've got a couple more days to train before the weekend."

"Yeah… right." Xenovia was still uneasy about what had said of her 'understanding' one day.

Irina hesitated. "You think those devils are planning something?" She decided to change the subject for Xenovia's sake.

Xenovia sighed. "I don't know. But it wouldn't surprise me if they did try something."

They turned off the lights and headed back upstairs to their room.

"But didn't the student council president say one of her own was undercover?" Irina asked.

"She did," Xenovia replied. "But we don't know who that is. All we know is that Raichi is risking her life to give us information."

"Yeah," Irina's expression softened. "I hope nothing bad happens to her. Ise‑kun would be sad."

Xenovia shook her head. "I think he'd be sad if anything happened to either of you."

Irina smiled faintly. "You too."

Xenovia looked away. "I'm not sure. First he said he would like us to be friends, but then… in the afternoon to this evening, he kind of… changed. I think he sees me as an obstacle of some sort."

Irina sighed. "I guess we'll know more in the morning."

"Maybe." Xenovia had no idea what she would expect from Issei the next day.

It could be the one that she saw in the garden or the one that she trained with in the morning or something entirely different.

"Oh, we should do our nightly prayers." Irina spoke abruptly.

"Good idea." Xenovia nodded, snapping out of her thoughts.

They knelt beside the bed they shared, clasped their hands, and bowed their heads. The silence filled the room for several minutes as they remained like that, saying their prayers.

"Amen," they said together.

Irina crawled into her half of the bed. "Goodnight, Xenovia."

"Goodnight." Xenovia responded from her half of the bed that was divided by a pillow wall.

The room dimmed into quiet darkness as the two exorcists drifted into sleep. They each carry their own thoughts, fears, and hopes for the coming confrontation with Kokabiel and what could happen. But for now, they could only live in the present and be strong enough for when time came for the eventual battle.