Chapter 24

Night had long settled over the Hyoudou household, yet Issei found himself staring at the ceiling, unable to drift into sleep. He couldn't get the feeling out of his head and it kept him up a little while. Seeing as how he could not sleep, he decided to look for the bag that had his outfit. He realized that his mother had left it downstairs and was grateful that she didn't bring it up.

Considering that he remembered finding Irina in his room and a shiver ran down his spine as he imagined the alternative, his mother was walking in while Irina had been in his room earlier. Knowing Irina, her curiosity would've made her peek inside the bag without hesitation. It also surprised him that he remembered that about her as he noted how fragments of their childhood were coming back to him.

'Things have changed so much between us, but at the same time, she's still the same person.' He thought as he slipped out of bed and crept toward the door, careful not to wake his parents. 'It's weird… I'm remembering things about her again. Little pieces from when we were kids.'Full novel: High School DxD: A Fighting Chance — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠

The hallway was dim, the wooden floor cool beneath his feet as he descended the stairs. As he reached the living room, he flicked on the light. The sudden brightness stung his eyes, but he quickly spotted the bag sitting neatly beside the couch.

He picked up the bag, turned off the light, and quietly made his way back upstairs. Back in his room, he set the bag in his closet. Yet his thoughts drifted, however he wasn't thinking about his outfit, but about Irina's.

'I wonder what she would be wearing, maybe something casual, and knowing her, she is going to ask about what happened that made me forget. Knowing her, she can't let things go and I'm surprised that she never let me go.' He sighed softly as his heart was pounding again.

He then gasped as he remembered what Irina had told him, when she caught him singing.

"You seem to fit in my arms just fine." Her words echoed and he began to go through all the times that he was in her arms.

Whether it was when he was carrying her, both as kids and teenagers. He then remembered how Irina did wrap her arms around him, when they were watching Food Wars these past nights. Initially, he thought that was just to keep him close and not think of trying something to prank her with. It did make him wonder that maybe it was something, but a voice of doubt crept into his head.

That voice made him nearly snorted aloud and shaking his head, he crawled back into bed.

'Yeah, as if anyone would love a pervert like me. Trust me, Irina… any guy would be lucky to be in your arms. I just hope you choose someone who makes you happy.' He looked at the ceiling as he just couldn't get something out of his head. 'But I'm not going to lie, I would like it to be me.'

With that final thought, sleep finally claimed him. In his dream, he found himself standing in a world painted with warmth and hope.

He was seeing all of his friends going out and achieving their dreams, doing what they wanted to do. There was no obstacle in their paths, he would see Kenichi at a book signing with Miu by his side, smiling proudly. Renka, Kaname, and Chisato opening up their businesses. He could see Ikki in a boxing ring, raising up a championship. Ukita was ringside, cheering on his best friend.

He was there for it all, to see their dreams become a reality and what surprised him is that they all told him thank you. It made him realize that he had a hand in helping them, it meant that he made them proud. For the first time, Issei felt like he had truly accomplished something, but some things were just too good to be true. After all, dreams never lasted and his dream began to turn into a nightmare.

A voice slithered into the scene. "Sounds nice. Too bad, I'll take it all away."

Issei spun around and saw Freed, who was smiling maniacally at him, sword resting on his shoulder. It was then that Issei noticed that the blade was dripping in blood. Looking down at Freed's feet lay Xenovia and Irina's bodies, their eyes open and looking lifeless. Issei's eyes widened in horror at seeing them like that, their bodies mutilated, worse than that priest he saw Freed kill.

Issei's breath caught. "No…"

Freed chuckled. "That's right, and… Oh, by the way." He pointed behind Issei.

Issei glanced over his shoulder, keeping his eyes on Freed and his world collapsed. He was seeing his friends all cut up and bleeding out in where they should be happy. Kenichi and Miu lay dead at the book signing. Ikki was in a pool of his own blood in the boxing ring as was Ukita. In their respective businesses, Renka, Kaname, and Chisato were cut down and bleeding out.

The places where his friends should be celebrating their success, they were dying or already dead. Some were looking at him, their hands reaching out toward him, accusing.

"You weren't strong enough." He heard their whispers through those bloodied lips, which made Issei freeze up.

"No… no, no…" Issei was shaking his head.

Freed laughed at him in his condescending tone. "Oh yeah, you couldn't beat me as if you could."

"You… did this," Issei growled.

Freed continued to mock him. "Well, duh, damn, I should have fucked them before I killed them. I definitely would have had some fun with them. I bet they're still virgins, you know church girls and all, devoted to God, no fun before marriage and all that abstinence bullshit. Plus I know you got no balls and no game to fuck them."

"While I may be a pervert and wouldn't mind sex, but I wouldn't just do it freely. I'd like to know that I have a connection with my partner before we reach that stage." Issei clenched his fists. "And another thing, I may be a pervert, and sexually harass someone by peeping, but I would never resort to rape. Hell, I would say that Matsuda is slightly better than you… but I think it's only a matter of time before he does act on his words." The last part he said in a whisper as he remembered what Matsuda had said to that girl in their class.

"Oh? You mean those two perverted friends of yours." Freed nodded behind him in another direction.

Issei was stunned to see his former friends pulling up their pants and on the ground was Raichi, her body twitching, violated and mentally broken. Matsuda and Motohama were smirking as they looked at Issei. Issei could see that they had their way with her and it was very much against her will.

'No, no… That can't be right. Raichi's stronger than them, she couldn't have lost to them…' Issei looked from Raichi's body to his former friends. "What… did you do!?"

"Come on, Ise, you know that this was bound to happen eventually," Matsuda smirked. "You remember that girl that I said I would rape in my head. Well, I didn't get her, but to get the one that you traded us in for, well, talk about a sweet revenge."

Motohama shrugged. "Yeah, man, you were holding out on us as usual."

"As usual!? Whenever we went peeping, it was always you two that got to look, holding out on me! You two would always leave me behind to save your own skins! I was stupid for trying to compete with you two, sure, our perversion may have brought us together, but we could have been better!" Issei's ki flared, anger boiling. "I'm trying to be better and you go and rape my best friend! Matsuda, you were a fucking sports star in middle school, a jock, you could have gotten any girl if you wanted, it's the typical high school trope and you probably would have had your harem! Motohama, you're fucking smart, smarter than us two, you could have found some nerdy chick that may be cute. You've seen it, the shy, nerdy girl that could grow up to be a bombshell, that could have been your wife!"

Freed cackled. "Haha, where's the fun in that? When they now… can take what they want with me by their side!"

Motohama and Matsuda also cackled alongside the rogue priest, their mockery of him made Issei feel weak.

Matsuda sneered. "But no matter, at least your kaa-san was able to put out."

Motohama added, "That's right, I'm sure your tou-san liked it before we took them out."

"That's right, such a nice lady and even better pussy haha!" Freed tossed two severed heads at Issei's feet. "This is because you were weak and you will always be weak."

Issei dropped to his knees as he saw the faces of his parents looking back at him. He could see the horror etched on their faces. It wasn't only horror, but he could see the disappointment in their eyes and it was aimed at him because he wasn't there. He could feel the bile in his throat, but he swallowed it down.

He reached for them, his hands trembling as he could hear the cackling of his tormentors. While he sat there, cradling the severed heads of his parents that he had let down. Several tears fell from his eyes and he began to whisper his apologies to them. In his turmoil, Matsuda and Motohama placed their hands on his shoulders, laughing.

"You should have stuck with us, buddy." Matsuda told him.

Motohama added in, "Yeah, dude, now we're no longer virgins and you still are."

Despite having a hand on his shoulder, they never noticed that Issei's body was shaking. They were busy laughing at his suffering like everyone else that he had known. The scene shifted to the gymnasium, where he saw himself get rained down by insults after the dodgeball game. All the jeering that he dealt with then and before, and it wasn't just in school, it was online, hence why he didn't have social media. It was different than when he was gaming at night, but he couldn't yell much as he didn't want to disturb his parents' sleep. Just the thought of his parents made him look down at the severed heads in his arms.

Feeling those two hands touching him, Issei felt disgusted with himself and something in Issei just snapped as he looked to the corner of his eyes. He had a look of shock on his face as standing there, in the distance was Mitsurugi, his arms crossed against his chest. The ronin merely glared at Issei and Issei remembered that he said that he would be watching. Issei could see that he looked so pathetic with the tears streaming down his face, letting these guys walk over him.

The dream versions of Matsuda and Motohama didn't matter to him and he realized that by sitting there, he was proving that he was a failure. The actions that they did to his friends was unforgivable. They were too busy laughing to notice Issei placing his parents' heads back down, before him.

"I'm sorry." Issei whispered and then he began to stand up, their hands didn't feel like weights holding him down.

"What's this? You going to join us now?" Matsuda asked.

Motohama turned his head and spoke, "What do you think, cuz?"

Issei followed his gaze and could see Taichi finishing off his 'time' with Renka's body, zipping up his shorts with a smug expression. Issei almost puked at seeing the guy defile his friend like that, even if it was her corpse. It was sickening, remembering that Taichi said that he would get his night with Renka. Furthermore, it haunted Issei because he couldn't preserve her memory, even if she was dead here.

"How are you going to respond?" A gruff voice asked Issei.

He looked where the voice came from and saw that Mitsurugi was still standing there and Issei snapped out of his dark funk. Hearing his master's voice allowed Issei to take back control of his body. He moved his hand onto Motohama's hand and gripped it hard to keep the bespectacled boy in place.

"Huh?" Motohama was confused by the grip on his hand.

With a quick strike, Issei punched him in the face with his left fist.

"Ah!" Motohama yelled in pain, considering that it was a ki enhanced fist, a tooth flew out of his mouth in the process.

Matsuda didn't have time to react as Issei spun his body and hit him with an elbow strike to his jaw. Something flared up his instincts as he grabbed Matsuda and yanked the buzz cut pervert in front of himself. He barely jumped back as Matsuda's chest was busted open.

SPLURT

Blood sprayed across Issei's face and a blade protruded from Matsuda's chest. A blade that Issei recognized all too well as the gash on his right forearm ached at the memory, it was Freed's blade.

Issei began to wipe the blood from his face and looked at Matsuda, who was twitching from his fatal injury. Matsuda had blood spilling from his mouth as he coughed up some more blood and shakingly moved his head down. Issei's eyes flashed with sadness of his former friend's fate as he wished that it didn't come to this. Yuuto's words came back to him about not being able to protect everyone and Issei could see that.

Freed clicked his tongue. "Oh, damn, you got away." He was about to rip the blade out of Matsuda's chest, however Issei reached around Matsuda's body and grabbed his hand to keep him in place.

He also put himself at an angle, so if Freed tried to bring the blade forward, he wouldn't get stabbed.

"Matsuda!" Motohama rushed forward.

"Hey, Motohama, look out!" Taichi shouted.

It was too late as Issei shifted his body, thus Motohama ran straight into the blade and impaling himself.

Freed cursed. "Shit! Another one wasted." Annoyed that another body got caught on his blade.

He didn't have time to think as Issei hit a karate chop on his sword hand, forcing him to release the blade.

"RRRAAARRRGGGHHH!" Issei roared, rushing and tackled Freed and began to pummel the rogue priest.

His fists rained down like a storm, fueled by rage, grief, and betrayal for what Freed did to his friends and family, it was being unleashed onto this psychopath.

Taichi shouted, "Ise!"

If Issei had paid attention to Taichi, he would have noticed that Taichi's voice sounded feminine. The dream version of Taichi rushed and tackled Issei off of Freed and wrapped their arms around him. Issei began to thrash around but Taichi didn't let go, it surprised Issei that Taichi was this strong.

Issei thrashed. "Get the fuck off me!"

Taichi held him tighter. "Shhh… it's okay, honey. It's me."

Being called 'honey' had completely thrown Issei off. 'Did he just call me, 'honey'? What the fuck is wrong with this guy?'

It disgusted Issei at being called that by Taichi of all people, for one, he was a guy. Two, after what he did to Renka, it made Issei's stomach churn. It also fueled his hatred, but Taichi's grip on him was stronger than he last remembered.

Issei's consciousness floated somewhere between dream and waking when a voice that was soft, warm, and absolutely not Taichi's had cut through the haze.

"That's right, kaa‑san is here." The voice came from Taichi's mouth, but Issei knew that wasn't Taichi speaking.

'That voice…' For all his life, Issei heard many emotions come from this voice based on his actions.

He shot awake with a gasp with cold sweat clung to his skin and his breath hitched. The arms that were around him weren't Taichi's. They were arms that had always been there, when he had a nightmare. They were his mother's.

"...Kaa‑san?" he whispered.

Miki smiled gently. "The one and only. Though I didn't expect you to hit me in the side like that. Good thing I've been working out with your father and Saori‑san."

She rubbed her ribs with a wince, which only made Issei's eyes widen in horror. In his rage, he couldn't distinguish between ally and enemy and as a result, he had attacked his own mother.

"I… I'm sorry," Issei stammered. "I didn't mean…"

"I know," she soothed. "You were having a nightmare. It's been a while since you've had one. Usually I hear you mumbling about oppai in your sleep. Although that hasn't been for a while, since you joined your club. However, I still do hear about your oppai dreams once in a while that…" She stopped when Issei suddenly wrapped his arms around her. "Oh?"

"You're real… you're okay…" he whispered, voice cracking as he buried his face in her shoulder.

Miki's expression softened. She stroked his back. "Hmm… did something happen to me in your dream, dear?"

She knew that something happened with how hard that Issei was clutching her. This nightmare was definitely different from the others.

"He killed you," Issei choked out. "He killed you. I don't… I don't want to lose you. Or anyone."

"Killed me…" Miki murmured before exhaling quietly. 'He must've been dreaming about that bastard who cut his arm…'

She continued to comfort her son, until his silent sobs stopped and his trembling ceased. She continued to rub his back like she had always done, when he had a nightmare. She was interrupted by a knock as she looked over to see Xenovia and Irina standing in the doorway, concern etched on their faces.

"Is everything alright?" Irina asked.

"I think so," Miki replied. "Ise just had a nightmare."

"Um… okay," Xenovia said, unsure.

However, upon hearing their voices, Issei got up from his mother's arms and hugged both exorcists, catching them by surprise.

Miki raised an eyebrow. 'There's definitely more to this nightmare than I thought…'

Xenovia stiffened in confusion by Issei hugging her and it made her wonder if he was bipolar. When they spar in the morning, it was like he's trying to overcome her, which she knew that he saw her as an obstacle. Then when they're watching anime, it is when he usually talks with her as if their aggressive spars with one another never happened. Yet here he was clinging to her like she was a lifeline.

Irina reciprocated the hug, cheeks warming from the contact of her childhood crush holding her.

"You're still alive…" Issei whispered.

"Yeah…" Irina breathed out.

She gulped, wondering what his nightmare was about, but all she knew was that she had died and it affected him immensely.

"Thank goodness…" he breathed, tightening his hold on them.

Irina clutched him back instinctively, rubbing his cheek with her hand and cuddling herself to him. Xenovia awkwardly patted his shoulder, unsure how to respond to a boy hugging her. Miki wished she had her phone. This was absolutely picture‑worthy.

She stood and placed a hand on Issei's shoulder. "Will you be alright, Ise?"

"Huh? Oh yeah." He slowly nodded. "Yeah, I think so." He released the girls, who subtly wiped the sweat he'd left on them, well, Xenovia did.

"You sure you don't need one of the girls to stay with you?" Miki teased.

"No, no, I'm good," he shook his head, thankful the darkness hid his blush and Irina's, who had been rubbing his arm.

"Alright. I'll be in my room if you need anything." Miki said, hugging her son one last time.

"Thanks, kaa‑san." He mumbled.

Miki ushered the exorcists out.

"Good night, dear." She smiled.

"Night," Issei murmured, settling back into bed.

The door clicked shut.

Xenovia frowned. "Hyoudou-san… how did you know something was wrong with him?" She was certain that the mother could not pick up on ki.

After all, when she and Irina detected Issei's ki flare up, they had assumed that it was an attack. However, before they reached the room earlier, they had already seen Miki rushing in to check on her son. If an enemy was present, it didn't matter to the woman, all she cared about was her son's safety.

Miki smiled knowingly. "A mother's intuition, dear. You'll understand when you become a mother someday."

"A m‑mother?" Xenovia repeated, startled.

"Yes, but it's far too early for you two to think about that. You're still teenagers." Miki waved it off. "Now then, how did you two know Ise was having a nightmare?"

She flipped the script on them in a teasing manner. She wasn't exactly sure of Xenovia's relationship to her son, but she figured that they had a rivalry of some sort.

Irina stiffened. "Um, uh…"

"Well, you see…" Xenovia began.

"Aha," Miki cut in. "It must have been a lover's intuition."

"WHAT!?" Irina squeaked.

Miki laughed, rubbing her side. "Oh, how I wish I could have seen your faces, but it's too dark in this hallway. I'm guessing that you also heard him thrashing about. He's usually like that when he has a nightmare, but this one…" She trailed off, something was very wrong.

It was one thing to have nightmares, but Issei had seen people that he cared for dead and he was mocked for his failures.

Irina leaned forward. "This one… what?"

Miki sighed. "Never mind. You two get some rest. He'll be fine for now."

She turned and began to head back to her room, leaving the exorcists confused, but Irina's curiosity was piqued. She wanted to know what his nightmare was about, considering that Issei said that they were alive. She would have to wait until after the movie, so she could ask him about it.

"Come on," Irina said softly. "Let's get back to bed."

"Yeah… I guess so," Xenovia replied.

Miki slipped back into bed. Gorou turned toward her.

"Another nightmare?" He asked, he had remained awake waiting for her to return.

"Yes. But this one was different." Miki mused, her hand lingered to the side of where Issei had hit her.

"Not about the loss of oppai?" he joked.

"No." Miki shook her head, while Gorou could hear the ruffling of the pillow. "This was much worse, and besides he hasn't thought about oppai for months since he joined the club."

"So what was this one about?" Gorou's jaw tightened.

"I think he was dreaming about that man who cut his arm. Ise said he killed me."

"Really? What about me?" He asked.

"He didn't say. But let's assume so." Miki answered.

Gorou sighed. "That bastard really is haunting our son. What do you think Ise will do?"

"He's reckless," Miki murmured. "I still believe he'll go after that man."

"I think so, too." Gorou exhaled. "Might explain why he's been training so hard."

"Well, today's a rest day. And he has a first date with Irina‑chan."

"Oh? Are you sure?" Gorou raised an eyebrow.

"I'm positive," Miki nodded. "It's all she's talked about these past few days. Ise keeps denying it, though."

"Denying it?" Gorou was surprised by his son's antics.

"He still has insecurities because of his perversion." Miki explained. "But he had been saying it was just two friends catching up. When I spoke with Irina-chan earlier, she had said that when someone called it a date, Ise didn't deny it this time."

Gorou's eyes widened. "Oh wow."

"Of course, I didn't show her the outfit he bought." Miki giggled.

"Whoa, he even got a new outfit as well? He's definitely putting out the stops for this one." Gorou chuckled.

"Well, of course, it's his first date after all." Miki smiled. "Isn't it kind of funny?"

"What is?" Gorou shifted his weight, looking confused.

"His first date is with his first friend… who also gave him his first kiss." Miki continued to smile.

"His first kiss?" This was new information to Gorou.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know this but Irina-chan took Ise's first kiss, when he went over to their house for a sleepover." Miki answered.

"How come he doesn't know this?" Gorou was sure that his son would have bragged about it, if he learned about this.

"Because Ise was asleep. I only know because Irina-chan confessed it to her mother, and Mizuki told me." Miki sighed, remembering that mother's gossip talk she had with Irina's mother.

"Well, how about that." Gorou was stunned.

"Yeah, well, we better get some rest ourselves, it's going to be a big day for him tomorrow." Miki sighed contently, the pain in her side had subsided.

"Yeah, yeah," Gorou chuckled. "Oh, we better call my mother and let her know, you already know how she was hoping for those two to reconnect."

"Ah, that's right," Miki laughed. "Mizuki had said that Irina-chan was working hard to see Ise again."

"And now she has a date with him." Gorou chuckled, pulling Miki close. "All he has to do is not screw it up. And not stare at her chest."

Miki snorted in laughter. "He's our son, of course, he's going to look at her chest at some point. Even if his perverted tendencies may be down. However, he is still a teenage boy and Irina-chan is a pretty girl, he probably isn't going to be the only guy looking at her chest."

"If you say so," Gorou murmured, drifting off.

Miki chuckled softly and closed her eyes, offering a silent prayer that her son would have peaceful dreams for the remainder of the night. Letting sleep take over her in her husband's embrace.

For Xenovia and Irina, they were also discussing what Issei was dreaming of. The hallway was dark, the faint glow from the window barely illuminating the two exorcists as they settled back into their bed. But sleep didn't come easily.

Xenovia lay awake and broke the silence first. "That was… unexpected."

It wasn't just the nightmare, but also hearing the relief in Issei's voice knowing that they were alive.

"Yeah…" Irina whispered, her voice distant.

Her mind replayed Issei's trembling voice. "You're still alive."

"...What do you think his nightmare was about?" Xenovia asked.

Irina stared at the ceiling. "I don't know. But I think it has to do with our mission. He said we were still alive… that means something happened to us in it."

"You're right," Xenovia murmured. "I suppose you can talk to him about it on your date."

"That's the plan." Irina exhaled softly. "Ise‑kun has a habit of keeping things to himself. But he's usually honest about what he's thinking. I just hope he doesn't shut me out." Her fingers curled slightly. 'He wouldn't… right?'

"You think he will?" Xenovia asked.

"Possibly. We haven't seen each other in years. And I've been trying to get him to do the things we used to do as kids."

"So you did sit in his lap when you were children. I thought you said that for your own benefit." Xenovia was surprised by this revelation and how dense Issei was as a child.

Irina shot upright. "Really, Xenovia!? You think I'd take advantage of him like that?"

"Well… you did, didn't you?" Xenovia was confused by her reaction.

"No!" Irina puffed her cheeks. "I'm just lucky he trusts me enough." Her voice softened as she laid back down. "He always did."

"Then he may trust you enough to tell you his nightmare." Xenovia told her.

"I… suppose you're right." Irina sighed.

"I know I am," Xenovia said smugly. "Otherwise you would've spent our money on something unnecessary, and we'd be struggling to get by."

"Hey!" Irina reached over and swatted Xenovia's arm.

"Save your energy. You have that rock‑climbing thing in the morning." Xenovia reminded her.

Irina blinked. "And what will you be doing?"

"I'll ask your friend if he can contact his boss to train me." Xenovia answered, relaxing further into the bed.

Irina frowned. "Don't you think you're overdoing it? I mean think about it, if Kokabiel strikes now, you would be too exhausted to fight."

"Perhaps. But if I can find what it is that I want… then I could unlock my ki." Xenovia stared at the ceiling.

"You think so?" Irina looked over at Xenovia.

"Yes. Honestly, we probably both can, thanks to our training from the Church." Xenovia told her.

Irina nodded slowly. "I guess that does give us an edge."

"Right, but let's get some sleep," Xenovia crossed her arms behind her head. "We still have at least a couple of hours left."

"Yeah… good night." Irina said.

"Good night." Xenovia closed her eyes.

While the two girls did their best to go back to sleep, but sleep didn't come for Issei and needed to tire himself again. He couldn't go back to sleep, however, he also didn't want to be too tired before the rock climbing competition. So he sat on the floor, legs crossed, trying to meditate and trying to focus on his ki. Focus on his breathing, on anything except the images burned into his mind. Sadly, his mind was just too focused on his nightmare that clung to him like a shadow that he just couldn't concentrate.

"...Fuck," he whispered, rubbing his face.

The stress of his nightmare actually did the trick and exhaustion won, which caused him to fall back asleep. However, he didn't fall back asleep in his bed, he fell asleep on the floor, which is where Irina found him. She had knocked initially, but he never answered, so she decided to open it up.

"Ise‑kun, it's time to get up," she called softly as she opened the door. "It's… huh?"

Finding him sprawled on the floor like a collapsed puppet, sleeping to his heart's content as she sighed and walked to him.

Irina sighed and knelt beside him. "Honestly…"

She began to shake him awake gently, which earned her a groan of annoyance. In his annoyance and half-asleep state, Issei reached over blindly to lightly push her away. However, when reaching out, His hand landed squarely on her chest.

Squish.

"Eek!?" Irina squeaked.

Irina clutched her chest in shock as she was blushing heavily, stunned that Issei had touched her like that. However, she calmed down to notice that Issei was still asleep and likely was not aware of what he had done. Her eye twitched as she huffed in annoyance and drove her elbow into his side.

"AGH!" Issei jolted awake, clutching his ribs from the pain. "Hngh, what the… I'm on the floor? Aw man…"

"Nice to see you awake," Irina said with a glare sharp enough to cut steel.

"Oh, Irina. Is it already time?" He was unaware that she was the one that hit him.

"That's right. I suggest you get ready." She stood abruptly and marched out.

Issei blinked. "What did I do…? I just woke up and she's mad at me…"

He dragged himself out of the room, only to run into Xenovia, who stared at him with her usual stoic expression. Of course, Issei mistook her usual look as her also being frustrated with him and he didn't know the reason why.

"You too?" he asked.

"What?" Xenovia's eyes softened slightly.

"You're mad at me too." Issei told her.

"I'm not." She crossed her arms. "I came to ask if you could contact your boss so I can train while you two do your rock climbing."

"Oh. Uh… sure." Issei was surprised. "Let me call Setsuka‑sensei."

He ducked back into his room, grabbed his phone, and dialed.

After a few rings, the blonde swordswoman picked up.

"Please don't tell me that you chickened out and are looking for hours to work," Setsuka said flatly.

"Uh… hey, obasan. No, I was calling to see if Xen could come by to train." He said.

"Xen?" Setsuka was confused by the nickname.

"Ah, I mean Xenovia. Sorry." He clarified.

"It's fine and sure, just let me know when you're a couple minutes away and I'll have the door open for her." Setsuka told him.

"Alright, thanks. Have a good one."

"You too." Setsuka stretched and then disconnected the call.

Issei moved the phone from his ear and turned to Xenovia. "Alright, she said to inform her of when we're a couple minutes away and she'll have the door open for you."

"Thank you," Xenovia said. She turned to leave and then paused. "You're not going to tell me not to overwork myself?"

"No, why should I? You've heard my kaa-san pester me about doing it," He chuckled. "If I didn't have plans, I'd be joining you. So it does infuriate me that you're getting some training in."

"Why's that?" She asked.

"Because you're getting better and as you get better, it makes it harder for me." Issei answered.

Xenovia leaned against the doorway. "But isn't it a good thing that I'm getting better?"

"It is. It just makes my job harder. But nothing in life is supposed to be easy." He waved her off. "Anyway, I need to get ready. I don't need Irina more mad at me than she already is."

"What did you do?" Xenovia raised an eyebrow.

"I wish I knew. I guess it's because I didn't wake up in time, when she came in here earlier." Issei placed his hands on his hips.

"I see. Well, I'll leave you to it." Xenovia turned to leave, which Issei restrained himself from checking out her backside.

After all, he had a date and he knew that Elize, Yu-Mi, and his mother would get on his case for being disrespectful by looking at another girl that wasn't his date.

Issei left to wash his face and changed into his gym gear, he figured that his sneakers would suffice for the rock climbing today. When he came downstairs, he figured that Irina was still mad at him, so he said nothing to her, not while she was still radiating quiet fury. He greeted his parents and checked his phone to see who would be picking them up and saw a notification.

A text from Kisara: I'll be there in 5 minutes.

He relayed the message to her that Xenovia needed to be dropped off at his workplace.

Miki beamed. "So, are you ready for today?"

"Um… I guess." He answered, not sure how to respond.

"Come on, you should be more excited!" His mother chastised him.

"Um… why?" Issei shrunk back a little.

"Why!?" Miki threw her hands up. "This is your first date!"

Issei nearly choked on his own breath.

Issei blinked, caught off guard by his mother's excitement.

"Um, no," he said carefully. "We're just going rock climbing with some others… and then getting ready to see a movie with the club."

Miki leaned forward. "And after that?"

"Well… I'm not really sure." His eyes drifted toward Irina, who slightly slumped at his answer.

He sighed because he had let her down and took notice of what she was wearing. She wore a fitted purple shirt and black leggings, simple but practical.

Gorou raised a brow. "Did something happen?"

"I woke up a little late," Issei admitted. "So Irina's mad at me."

"Really?" Miki asked, glancing at the girl.

Irina shook her head quickly. "No, not really."

"So then what did I do?" Issei asked, exasperated. "Since I woke up, all you've done is glare at me."

"I'll tell you later, okay?" Irina replied, cheeks faintly pink.

"…Alright." He let out a sigh of relief.

He was glad that she wasn't mad at him, but he also knew that he needed to say his words better because he didn't want to let her down, after seeing her slump earlier.

Xenovia came downstairs in her training gear, which consisted of a blue shirt, gray shorts.

"Hey," Issei said, "I let Kisara‑nee know to drop you off at Shishi‑Oh."

"That's great. Thanks." Xenovia gave him a nod of gratitude.

Miki frowned. "Oh no, Xenovia, dear, please don't overwork yourself like Ise does. It's not good for your body."

"It's only for the morning," Xenovia replied. "I don't want to be bored while these two are out."

"Well, you could help me cook," Miki suggested.

Xenovia stiffened. "I'm sorry, but that is not my specialty."

"It wasn't Ise's specialty either, and he still learned," Miki challenged.

"Kaa‑san," Issei groaned, "she already made plans. Just let it go."

He was aware of his mother's insistence, which had increased more when his perversion started to diminish.

"Oh, alright. Besides, I'm heading to the Shirahama's place." Miki said.

"That's right," Gorou added. "I'll be fishing with Mototsugi. Maybe we'll see Azazel there."

The name "Azazel" tipped off Irina and Xenovia, who exchanged a sharp look with each other as they began to wonder about the connection. Of course, since the Hyoudou family was not too religious, they would not know about Azazel's name. Xenovia gave a nod to Irina as they knew that she would have to ask Issei about what he knew about the man. Not much else was said as a honk from outside alerted everyone of Kisara's presence.

"Looks like Kisara‑nee is here," Issei said, slipping on his shoes. "See you later, kaa‑san, tou‑san."

"Have fun!" Miki called.

"Thanks." He waved to his parents as he left with the exorcists.

Issei stepped outside and then noticed that Ukita was in the passenger seat, so Issei knew that he would be in the backseat.

"Morning," Kisara greeted.

"Hey." Issei said as he opened the door for Irina.

"Good morning, Kisara‑san, Ukita‑san," Irina said politely.

"Morning," Xenovia added.

"So we're dropping you off, Xenovia?" Kisara asked.

"That's right. I'd like to get more training in." The exorcist answered.

Kisara smirked. "Keep that up and you'll be like our little soldier."

Issei blushed out of embarrassment, while Ukita snickered. When it came to making up nicknames for him, it would be Kisara or Elize that found ways to embarrass him. There was nothing that he could do as they would always tell him that it was in their right to do so as his 'big sister'. He never could win the argument after that and usually just gave up.

"I'll be fine," Xenovia said. "But I'll try not to overdo it. Otherwise I'll miss the movie. I've never been to one before."

Ukita blinked behind his sunglasses. "Really? Damn. You girls really grow up in the church without seeing the outside world?"

Irina shook her head. "No, I went to junior high. But I dropped out at fourteen."

Issei shot her a suspicious look. 'Fourteen? Why?'

"I was raised in a church facility," Xenovia added.

Kisara and Ukita both winced sympathetically.

Issei kind of felt sad for Xenovia, since she never really got to experience things outside of the church. He can only hope that she could experience more than missions and doctrine after she finished her mission here for the Church. He also kind of wished that the Church gave her some time off and maybe she could join the group for the beach trip. Although, he didn't really know the logistics of said trip.

Ukita cleared his throat. "Well, I hope you don't mind this movie."

"Yeah," Issei said. "It's a horror sci‑fi film."

Irina stiffened. "Horror?"

"Well, yeah. Even the game is awesome. There's supposed to be a sequel being developed, man, I wish I could work on that." Issei's eyes lit up.

"Game?" Ukita asked.

"Uh huh, Alien Isolation. The AI of the Xenomorph is insane." Issei answered.

Kisara laughed. "You're into this type of stuff, aren't you? Then again, I should have expected it, since you like spaceships, so sci-fi would be your shtick."

While she may enjoy teasing Issei, she also enjoyed seeing Issei light up with his childlike wonder.

"Haha, yeah… I guess." Issei sighed.

Ukita grinned. "Well, yeah, we know he's a nerd. Check it out. Yo, Issei, you play Pokemon Go?"

Issei blushed. "Um… yeah." He could have denied it, but that would go against his name.

"See?" Ukita said triumphantly.

"Knock it off." Kisara elbowed him. "You and Ikki play it too."

"Really?" Issei asked.

"Yeah," Ukita said. "We're hoping to catch some at the theater. If we're lucky, there may be a raid."

"Oh, sweet! I can join you, I haven't played in a long time, I haven't done much gaming. Oh, man, I have yet to see the gameplay of the remake of Silent Hill 2." Issei was ecstatic about building his gaming network.

"Now you've got something to do in your downtime," Ukita said.

"Yeah… I guess, although I have to remember to delete Matsuda and Motohama's gamer tags from my friends list," His voice darkened, which they all took note of. "I need to really cut them from my life altogether. I wanted to surpass them, and I did, but not for the right reasons, so I will have to change that and surpass them in another way."

Kisara scoffed. "Trust me, when I say that you already have and they're just jealous of you."

"Thanks, nee‑san. Oh, I need to text obasan." He looked up. "We're almost at Shishi‑Oh."

"You mean your boss?" Kisara said. "Because I think she already knows."

Issei looked at where Kisara was pointing and saw Setsuka standing outside the shop, arms crossed. Issei got out of the car, so he could quickly greet her, while Xenovia got out herself. Irina felt a little awkward being alone with Kisara and Ukita, so she got out as well.

"Morning, Setsuka‑obasan." Issei greeted her.

"Morning. I thought you'd inform me when you were two minutes away." Setsuka spoke in the same tone that his mother would use, when he didn't notify her about something.

"I know, I know." Issei held up his hands in surrender. "I got lost in our conversation about the movie that we were going to see and gaming."

"I see." She turned to the girls. "How are you feeling, Xenovia? Irina?"

"Sore, but alright," Xenovia answered.

"Same," Irina said. "But not as much as these two."

Setsuka nodded, then looked at Issei. "And your hands, Ise?"

"Doesn't hurt as much… when I don't think about it." He answered.

"Good. Well, you two have fun and be sure to talk it out." Setsuka advised, making both Issei and Irina freeze up. She could feel the tension between them. "Come on, Xenovia," Setsuka said, turning toward the shop.

Xenovia nodded. "Right." She turned to her partner. "See you later."

"Okay," Irina said, though her voice carried a strange stiffness that made Issei blink.

"Huh? Aren't you going to give her a hug?" he asked, tilting his head.

Irina's face went pink. 'He's using my own words against me!' But she couldn't back out now and she answered him, "O‑of course." She stepped forward and gave Xenovia a quick hug.

Xenovia blinked, confused. "Uh… okay?"

'Huh? Aren't they friends? Why does she look surprised?' Issei's puzzled expression made Setsuka snicker quietly.

"You two should get moving," Setsuka said.

"Alright. See you later, Xen," Issei said, offering his hand.

"Later," Xenovia replied, shaking it before heading inside.

Setsuka waved and followed the exorcist into the shop, mentally preparing to heal the girl if things went awry. Issei waved back, but when he turned, he found that Irina had left. Looking back at the car, he could see her getting inside and closing the door.

'That was fast. I guess her ankle really has gotten better.' He thought.

He followed after and he quickly got into the car, which Kisara chided him about taking so long. He did notice that Irina was on the opposite side of the backseat, staring out the window and he slightly frowned. That feeling that he had before was back, he was beginning to miss her closeness. Unfortunately, their time together was limited because he knew that she would be gone again.

He sighed quietly as they continued on the drive, listening to Ukita and Kisara talk about the rock climbing rules. Each couple had their own section of the wall and would be racing to climb to the top. While he was listening to the older couple talk, he looked over to see that Irina was still looking out the window and still lost in thought. He knew that he couldn't signal to her via thigh tap, unless he tapped her thigh, but he didn't want to touch her without permission.

"Alright, we're here," Kisara announced.

"Oh, shoot." Issei perked up. "Kisara‑nee, Irina doesn't have a membership."

"You forget who's working?" Ukita waved him off. "Relax. Mizunuma put in a word for your girl. Hikari's got you."

"There you go," Kisara added.

"But she's risking her job," Issei protested.

"Oh, please," Kisara scoffed. "Like you haven't been a little wild with your troublemaking schemes, don't try to deny it. Irina told us about what you two did, when you were children."

"Yeah… I expected that," he sighed.

"Come on," Ukita said. "Ikki's waiting for us."

Kisara pumped her fist. "We're winning this time!"

His seniors began to get out of the car, which Issei figured that he could talk with Irina real quick.

"Hey," Issei said softly, nudging Irina. "Can I talk to you?"

Irina snapped out of her thoughts. "What's going on?"

"I feel like I embarrassed you at the shop, sorry, if I did. I just thought since you said how friends give each other hugs, when they see each other off, so I was…" He tried to apologize.

"It's fine, Ise‑kun." Irina shook her head. "I get it."

"You do? Um… then could you tell me why you were mad earlier, when you woke me up? Was it something that I did?" Issei asked in a pleading tone.

Irina's cheeks warmed. "Yeah. You did."

"Can you tell me what it was?" He continued on.

"How about this," she said, holding out her hand. "I'll answer your questions after the movie. But you have to answer mine. Deal?"

Issei took her hand. "Deal. But can we work together today? Like old times? Let's kick their butts."

Irina brightened instantly. "Oh, we can definitely do that!"

He chuckled, never letting go of her hand and pulling her to his side of the vehicle to exit. While helping her out, his phone buzzed.

"Huh… obasan is texting me." Issei said, confused about why Setsuka was texting him now.

"Is something up with Xenovia?" Irina asked.

"No… it says she took your… headband." Issei answered.

They both looked down at Irina's right wrist and found that it was bare, the ratty headband that she had was missing.

"No way. I didn't even notice." Irina was surprised by her master's skill.

"Same. Wow… she's good." Issei said with shock evident in his tone.

Irina huffed. "And she says her friend Taki was a ninja."

"She definitely picked up some skills from them." Issei said, then he stopped as he realized that Setsuka had never told him about Taki. "Who is that, anyway?"

"I'll tell you later. Come on, they're probably waiting for us." Irina grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the entrance.

When they entered, the four senpai, plus Hikari were waiting as Irina had predicted. Of course, Kisara was tapping her foot impatiently.

"About time!" Kisara called.

"Morning, you two," Kaname greeted.

"Good morning, Kaname‑senpai, Ikki‑senpai, Hikari‑san," Issei said.

"Good morning," Irina added.

Ikki grinned. "So they tell me you play Pokémon Go, dude. All this time and you never told me. You gotta give me your trainer code later."

"Um… sure?" Issei nodded.

Hikari handed Irina a pass. "Here's your guest pass."

"Oh, thanks." Irina bowed in gratitude.

Kisara cracked her knuckles. "Let's go! Time for me to finally beat you, Kaname!"

Kaname smirked. "Hmph, you may have beaten me in battle before, but you're certainly not beating me here."

"We'll see about that!" Kisara smirked right back.

Issei nudged Irina. "Nervous?"

They were following the other couples, while Hikari had gone back to the reception desk.

"A little," she admitted. "Kaname is so built… and from what I've seen while training with Raichi, Kisara is no slouch either."

"I'll tape up your wrists, and I know how you feel," Issei nodded over at his male counterparts. "Ikki-senpai and Ukita-senpai are also formidable."

Irina nodded in agreement, since the boxer and judo specialist had Issei beat in their muscle mass.

They reached the rock wall and set their bags down and went to get strapped up in the harnesses. Since it was still early in the morning, there was no one else around that would likely come to pressure them about how long they would take. The four instructed Issei and Irina how to use the belay, so they could assist their partner, in case they slipped on the wall. Since they had done this before, they gave the two childhood friends a live example of how to use it.

They began to practice on their own, so they could get the hang of it and feel a little more comfortable using the device. Due to Kisara's eagerness, the girls would be going first. Meanwhile, Issei was taping Irina's wrist, but he felt his hands become a little clammy again.

"You okay, Ise‑kun?" she asked.

"I think so, guess I'm just nervous is all." Issei told her.

It was true, but at the same time, it wasn't because while he had been taping her hand, he saw flashes. The flashes were from his nightmare, which he had been seeing Irina's bloodied hand and it had made him stop momentarily.

"That makes two of us. Any ideas?" She eyed the wall.

"I don't know but keep looking up. I'll call the next hold for you and since you wouldn't be looking down, I'll also tell you where you can place your foot." Issei told her as he eyed the wall.

He figured that would give them a little bit of advantage because the one on the ground had more vision than the one who was climbing the wall.

"Okay." Irina nodded.

"The best thing we can do is get familiar with this thing…" Issei held up the belay.

"A belay," Irina corrected and giggled. "Come on, Ise‑kun. You gotta know its name if you want to get familiar with it."

"Right," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"You two ready?" Kaname called.

"Almost." Issei turned back to Irina. "Okay, so we may take the loss on this one. We'll take it slow, get a feel of the "rocks" and then speed up our path through each round, sound like a plan?"

Irina flexed the tape on her wrists and nodded with a smile. "Works for me. Just be sure to call out a rock if you see me get stuck, okay?"

Issei grinned. "Hey… it's us against the world."

"Us against the world…" She repeated it softly, then blinked. "Wait, we don't have our own handshake. After all these years."

"We'll think of one," Issei said. "I'm sure it'll come to us when it's just the two of us."

"After we talk." Irina reminded him with a poke in the chest.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He shrugged dramatically.

Irina laughed at his nonchalant attitude, and he couldn't help laughing with her.

He stepped back while the girls got in position to climb the wall, each guy was hooked up to their partner. Issei and Irina gave one last look at each other before they gave a nod to one another. Issei released some slack on Irina's rope as Ikki cleared his throat.

Ikki cleared his throat. "Alright! On your marks! Get set! Go!"

Kisara and Kaname shot up the wall immediately, muscles firing like pistons, while Irina went at a more moderate pace that was controlled and cautious. Ikki and Ukita were cheering on their girlfriends, however, Issei was silent. Instead, he was analyzing the wall, while watching Irina's movements. He was also memorizing the holds and preparing to guide her the moment she faltered. So far she was handling herself and then she stopped, looking to her left and right, trying to decipher something.

"Irina!" Issei called. "Go for the red rock on your right! As you move up, your right foot should feel a rock to the left of it! Don't use it as a foothold, it's too small! Move your foot to the right, there's a better foothold there!"

Irina spotted the red rock on her right side that Issei was speaking of, however, she instinctively reached for the small foothold that Issei was talking about and nearly slipped.

"Whoa!" Issei immediately tightened the rope, catching her before she fell.

Irina gasped as she slightly panicked, heart pounding but felt the harness tightened, she looked back down and saw Issei nodded up at her, steady and calm.

Her panic eased as she got her breath back. 'He's got me… just like he promised.'

Irina adjusted her right foot to a better foothold and took a little time to get her heartbeat to calm down. Kaname and Kisara were still a little aways from her, but she continued to climb up. She was slowly making progress as there were times when Kaname or Kisara would mistake Issei's call outs being directed towards them.

"Oi! Zip it, Ise!" Kisara barked. "You're messing up my flow!"

Normally, when Kisara barked at Issei, he would listen. Unfortunately, her "dear little brother" decided to defy her.

"No can do, Kisara‑nee! I'm helping my partner!" He cupped his hands. "Irina, go for the purple rock on your right, then aim for the lower green rock on your left next!"

Kisara growled. 'Alright, little brother… I'm giving you the most intense noogie ever.'

As if sensing her thoughts, Issei shivered and hoped that Kisara did not come down from the wall.

The girls continued to climb as Issei's call outs continued to distract Kisara more than it did for Kaname. As a result, Kisara lost her rhythm and Kaname overtook her. This caused Kisara to finish in second place, while Kaname won. Irina may have placed last, but Issei and Irina had expected this against the other two. The guys gave slack to the girls, so they could climb down safely.

"ISE!" Kisara roared, she began to disconnect herself, the second her feet touched the mat.

"Uh oh." Issei couldn't really move to run away as Irina was still working her way down, while Kisara marched her way over to him.

Kisara grabbed his shirt, and shook him. "You messed me up!"

"No, I didn't!" Issei argued back.

"Yes, you did! Don't give me that shit!" Kisara growled in return.

"Kisara‑nee, I need to make sure Irina gets down safely!" Issei spoke, needing to concentrate on the slack of the rope.

"Who cares!?" Kisara retorted.

Her brashness and disregard for Irina's safety made a flip switch in Issei.

"I do!" Issei declared, his voice cracked like a whip, louder than anyone expected.

He tightened the rope, which left Irina suspended in the air and stepped up to Kisara, pressing his forehead against hers. Kisara's eyes narrowed and her grip tightened on his shirt, she was seething. Ikki giggled in the background because this was the first time that Issei had actually stepped up to Kisara.

"Ahem," Kaname cleared her throat to get the attention of the hot blooded surrogate siblings. "Kisara. Let the boy do his job."

Kisara blinked, surprised. "Huh?" The shock was not just at Kaname, but at Issei raising his voice at her.

Unbeknownst to her, Issei had a slight flashback of his nightmare, when he was asked by Kisara of who cares. Seeing Kisara's moment of distraction, Issei quickly loosened the rope for Irina to finish her descent. She unhooked her harness from the rope, so she could switch places with Issei.

"You're in for a major noogie, little brother," Kisara muttered.

The statement seemed to snap Issei a little out of his funk at the prospect of getting another noogie.

Ikki laughed. "Don't get him too amped up, Kisara."

Ukita nodded. "Yeah, babe."

"Tch. Fine." Kisara backed off.

Irina approached. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Issei nodded. "I'm good for now."

"So… do you have a plan?" Irina asked him.

"I was plotting while you were climbing." Issei told her casually.

"Oh?" Irina smirked. "And here I was worried you were too busy looking at a girl's behind."

"Well… yeah. I was looking at yours, while you climbed." He answered again, his voice still casual.

Irina slapped a hand over her face, mostly to hide her blush. "Sometimes you're too honest, Ise‑kun. Keep that perverted statement to yourself."

"Ah, right, sorry…" He blushed too, due to his admittance of checking out her butt.

"Anyway," she said, clearing her throat, "I'll give you callouts like you did for me."

"Appreciate it." He felt a sense of relief, hearing that.

"Now, let's win this!" She held out her fist.

"Right!" He bumped it.

Ikki smirked. "Getting a little cocky there, Ise?"

Ukita grinned. "Yeah, you think you can back up what you're spitting?"

"Oh yeah," Issei said, strapping in. "Irina and I have each other's backs, we're partners in crime, we're known to start a little trouble, senpai. So get ready because I ain't taking last place."

"Alright!" Kaname called out, raising her hand. She looked at each guy to make sure that they were ready before she started their race. "On your marks! Get set! Go!"

The guys started climbing, due to his smaller size, Issei had the speed advantage over Ukita. However, Ikki was just trudging ahead, thanks to his experience. Issei was using his memory of the wall from when Irina was climbing, which helped with his flow. True to her word, when Issei got stuck, Irina returned the favor and gave call outs for him.

"Ise‑kun! Blue rock on your left! Then the red one above it!" Irina called.

This allowed Issei to keep pace with Ikki, but he was ahead of Ukita, who had Kisara barking at him. Kaname noted how Issei was progressing, thanks to Irina's call outs, thus she decided to follow suit.

"Hey, Ikki! Take the green rock on your left, then go for the yellow one next, then purple, red, blue, blue again, and then yellow!" Kaname told her boyfriend.

"Thanks, babe!" Ikki called down to her.

With the call outs, Ikki continued to distance himself from Issei, who did his best to catch up. However, he was being reckless and incensed on winning, which Irina could see and she noticed something.

"Ise‑kun, wait!" Irina warned, but he ended up slipping.

Irina tried to tighten the slack to prevent him from falling, however, Issei instinctively grabbed a rock to stop his fall. He groaned in pain because it was his right hand that grabbed the rock and the gash there was throbbing. He grimaced, but didn't let go and using his improved upper body strength, he hauled himself back on track, just as Ukita was catching up.

In the end, Issei could not beat his boxing mentor, but he was able to beat Ukita. He let out a sigh as he made his way back down, disappointed with his loss. Kaname and Ikki celebrated being the winners once again. Irina patted Issei's shoulder, although she was also disappointed in the results, she was proud of him.

Kisara cracked her knuckles. "One more round!"

Kaname smirked. "If you want to lose again, be my guest. What do you say, Irina?"

Irina nodded. "Uh, sure, I don't see a problem with that."

"I want a rematch too," Issei said.

Kaname looked between him and Kisara and then looked at Ikki, who snickered because he knew what she was thinking. Kaname really was trying to decipher if Kisara and Issei were actual siblings that had been separated because of their competitiveness.

Ukita grinned. "No problem with me. I can't let you beat me."

Ikki laughed. "The results will always be the same, it will be me on top."

The "one more round" Kisara demanded somehow turned into two more rounds for each group. In the second round, the results were relatively the same, however, Issei and Irina were closing the gap on their seniors. Their rhythm was smoother, their timing sharper, their teamwork more natural. By the third round, Kisara finally reclaimed her pride, taking first place. Kaname followed in second, and Irina, though last, had climbed faster than before.

It helped that the others began following the childhood friends' style in calling out what rock to grab onto next. Their synergy was contagious as if they had been doing this for a while. They were getting back into the groove of what they did, when they were kids.

In the final round for the guys, Issei climbed like a man possessed, but was still seconds behind Ikki and placed second. The frustration of losing again hit him hard that he began to descend before Irina was ready to give him some slack. Since he weighed more than her, she got dragged up into the air with him.

"Ise‑kun! Really?" Irina pouted, arms crossed as she dangled beside him. "We're stuck up here!"

"Sorry," he muttered. "I was just pissed, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Irina sighed. "So am I."

Kaname cupped her hands. "Hey! You two alright?"

"Uh… yeah," Issei replied.

"Okay, Issei, grab Irina's side of the rope, the one that is attached to the belay, but also stay attached to the wall." Kaname instructed.

"Got it." Issei swung toward Irina, grabbed her rope, then used the momentum to swing back to the wall like some awkward action hero, which Irina got a kick out of.

"Alright, Irina," Kaname continued. "You're going to need to loosen your end of the belay, with Issei still on the wall, only you will fall."

Ukita called up, "Don't worry! We got you!"

The childhood friends looked down to see that Ikki and Ukita had positioned themselves below to catch the girl.

Kisara added, "After that, Ise, you can get yourself down once Irina's secured."

Irina nodded. "Okay!"

Issei steadied her rope. "Ready?"

Irina smiled. "See you down below."

She loosened the rope and dropped straight into Ukita and Ikki's arms.

"Gotcha," Ikki said, setting her down gently. "Alright, Ise! You're next!"

Irina backed away and began giving him slack, so Issei could descend safely this time.

Ikki crossed his arms. "I believe you learned a lesson."

"Yeah…" Issei sighed. "Don't be a sore loser. I could've endangered someone like I did with Irina. Sorry about that, Irina."

"It's fine," she said, taking a drink from the water bottle he packed. "But we should go get Xenovia and change."

"Ah, right, the movie," Ukita said. "Nothing like some good competition to make you forget about the later plans of the day."

"Yeah, we gotta shower," Kaname added. "Otherwise, we'd still be here racing up this wall."

"You said it," Ikki agreed.

Kisara cracked her knuckles. "So what are we waiting for? But first…" She turned her attention to her surrogate little brother. "...Ise?"

"…Yes?" Issei looked at her.

"Come give your big sister a hug." Kisara held out her arms.

"No thanks." He waved her off, shaking his head.

"Ise…" Kisara slowly made her way towards him.

"Nope." Issei remained with his back towards her.

"Ise…" Her voice was getting closer.

"Nuh‑uh." Issei shook his head again.

"Ise‑kun?" Irina whispered.

"Yeah?" Issei turned to his supposed date.

"She's right next to you." Irina pointed out as she pointed to Issei's left as he paled.

Kisara grabbed his head. "Now c'mere!"

"W‑wait!" Issei began to plead.

She gave him a vicious noogie. "This is for all the troubles you caused me with your call outs!"

"How is that my fault!? I was helping my partner! It's not my fault your partner wasn't helping you!" Issei retorted.

"Hey!" Ukita protested.

Irina looked on in wonder at the two hotheaded surrogate siblings. "Are they always like this?"

Ikki chuckled. "You mean Kisara and Ise? Oh yeah, she's taken it upon herself to be that tough gal big sister that he's needed. I'm sure he's talked to you about what he was like early in the school year."

Irina nodded. "Yeah… the peeping, his former friends… but we still have more to talk about."

Kaname smirked. "Oh, that's right. You two have a date after the movie."

Irina blushed. "Surprisingly, he didn't deny it like he has before."

"Probably because of what Chisato told him," Kaname said.

Irina tilted her head. "What did she say?"

"She told him to look at you and to see what you wanted. And I'm guessing you'd like it to be a date." Kaname guessed.

Irina looked down. "Kind of… I want to know what it would've been like if I'd stayed here. I probably would've been dating him already. So I want to enjoy myself with just him… before I have to worry about my mission. I want to leave without regrets."

Ikki nodded. "You'd also be doing him a favor."

"How so?" Irina looked over at him.

"You'll see." He jerked his thumb. "Now come on, let's help Kōzō get Kisara off him."

They looked over to see Ukita was struggling to pry Kisara off Issei's head.

Kaname sighed. "Alright, let's help."

The power couple moved to help separate the surrogate siblings, which was tougher than they thought. This was due to Kisara holding onto Issei's hair that they had to pry at her fingers and make her let go of him.

Irina watched them struggle. 'What would I see…?' Ikki's words lingered in her mind.

Eventually, Issei and Kisara were separated, with Issei's hair being a disaster from the noogie that Kisara gave him. Ukita was carrying Kisara away on his shoulder like a misbehaving cat. Meanwhile Issei wobbled slightly, still dizzy from the noogie as Ikki handed him off to Irina for her to hold him.

Kaname crossed her arms. "Looks like you two are riding with us until little miss cools down."

Irina nodded. "Okay. But we need to stop by Ise‑kun's workplace."

"And the bank," Issei added, still dazed as he held onto Irina.

Of course, Irina blushed at the closeness but also because Issei was dependent on her at the moment.

Ikki chuckled. "Let's go. Maybe I should help you walk."

"No thanks," Issei muttered, preferring to stay by Irina's side. "Man… I forgot how dangerous her noogies are."

"Come on," Ikki said. "Let's get your friend's partner and get ready for the movies. When you're ready, text me and we'll come get you to take you to the bank on our way to the theater."

"Hey, you two!" Kaname waved over at Ukita and Kisara. "We'll see you at the theater."

Ukita called back, "Fine by us!"

Kisara roared from his shoulder, "Come back here and receive some tough love, Ise! You cost me first place in the last two climbs!"

Issei stiffened. "Yeah, time to go."

While still clutching Irina, he grabbed his bag, and walked out.

Kaname laughed. "Well, we're off."

"See you later!" Ikki added.

Kaname turned to Hikari at the desk. "Will we be seeing you for the movie?"

"I guess so, Mizunuma got our tickets last week and what's up with your friend? He kind of rushed out of here with his girlfriend." Hikari pointed out.

"He pissed off Kisara," Ikki said, not denying the girlfriend claim.

He, like the rest of the club, could see that Irina was interested in her childhood friend, and she even admitted that if she had stayed, then she would have been with him.

"Ah. That explains it." Hikari nodded, realizing the fear on Issei's face.

Kaname waved. "Well, we'll see you later then."

Hikari waved back. "Alright."

They found Issei and Irina already at Ikki's car already and it was clear that Issei was still afraid of his surrogate big sister. They could tell because of how Issei was still holding onto Irina and he had a nervous look on his face. Irina was reassuring him and trying to fix his hair, while rubbing his back. When Issei saw his seniors walking towards them, he gave a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank goodness." Issei said, relaxing in Irina's arms.

Kaname smiled. "She'll calm down. She's quite competitive, just like you two."

Irina nodded. "Yeah… we've been like that since we were kids."

Ikki laughed. "We know. You told us about the bets and prank wars that you two had."

Irina blinked. "Oh yeah… I almost forgot."

Issei groaned. "Ugh… I knew I shouldn't have left you alone." Regardless, he still clung to her.

Kaname smirked. "You have quite a losing record against Irina, Issei."

"Don't remind me…" He muttered.

Ikki opened the doors for them to get in. "Well, let's get moving, your friend is probably waiting for us."

Kaname and Ikki said nothing as they noticed that Issei didn't let go of Irina, not that the girl minded. Irina was thinking that it had something to do with his nightmare. Considering the words that he had said, when he hugged her and Xenovia. It was like he was terrified of losing them and it made her worry as she cared for her childhood friend.

She sighed softly. 'Hopefully, I can get him to open up, then I can know what he was dreaming about. I already know that it wasn't perverted,' Her face warmed. 'Which I guess he probably was thinking of something perverted to get his mind off of it as he admitted to looking at my butt.'

The drive to Shishi-Oh wasn't too bad, it was peaceful and rather cozy for Issei, likely because Irina was seated next to him this time. Irina noted that she had fun and wouldn't mind doing it again, if she ever visited Kuoh again.

Kaname glanced back at them. "You two worked well together. Calling out the holds for each other was smart and helped benefit the other. It's no wonder you two were catching up to us in each race, even when we switched sections of the wall."

Ikki nodded. "Yeah. From the stories Irina told us, I'm glad your friendship didn't fall apart." Giving them his own props.

Issei rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah… I guess so." He smiled faintly. "Though I'm still remembering things. I kinda blocked out the perverted stuff that I have encountered."

Ikki snorted. "Kind of tough, when Irina said how you talked about big breasts back then."

"Ugh… yeah." Issei dropped his head while Kaname and Ikki laughed and Irina just smiled softly at him and rubbed his arm.

When they got to the Shishi-Oh, Ikki parked, and Issei and Irina got out, and he signaled to Ikki that they would be quick. The childhood friends entered the shop to find Setsuka standing at the counter.

"Well, hello, you two," she greeted. "How was it?"

"We lost," Issei said bluntly. "Where's Xen?"

"In the back room." Setsuka answered.

"Not the garden?" Irina asked.

"Well, like you, she lost, too." Setsuka said with a shrug.

"Where's shishou?" Issei asked.

"Meditating in the garden." The blonde woman answered.

"Alright. I'll go say hi, then we'll grab Xen and head out." Issei informed her.

"That's fine." Setsuka told him.

They walked to the back room and found Xenovia sitting with an ice pack on her neck, looking defeated.

"Xenovia!" Irina rushed over.

"Oh. Hey," Xenovia muttered, adjusting the ice.

"Are you okay?" Irina asked.

"I didn't do it." Xenovia sighed.

Issei frowned. "Do what?"

"Find what I was looking for." Xenovia turned to him. "How did you do it?"

"Uh… not sure what you mean. But we can talk after Irina and I get back, like you asked." Issei told her.

"…Alright." Xenovia winced, but nodded in agreement.

"I got you," Irina said, helping her adjust the ice pack.

"Thanks," Xenovia said, appreciating the support.

Issei slipped out to the garden to speak with his master.

As Setsuka had said, Mitsurugi sat perfectly still, meditating. But Issei knew his master sensed him being there.

"Aren't you preparing to leave for a movie?" Mitsurugi asked without opening his eyes.

"I just came to check on you. And… Xen was asking how I 'did it.' Do you know what she meant by that?" Issei asked.

"Hmm. She is probably trying to know how to awaken her ki." He informed his student.

"Ki? Oh yeah… Setsuka-obasan mentioned that it helps me sense things and I would be able to suppress it." Issei remembered what his surrogate aunt told him.

"That is correct. It also heightens your attack power and defense. Do you remember what I told you about controlled aggression?" Mitsurugi asked.

Issei nodded. "Yeah. I need to release my rage but not lose sight of my surroundings."

"In which your anger can cloud your judgment. You remember your tournament fights, correct?"

"Yeah…" Issei grimaced, remembering those times he let his anger get the best of him. "I lost a round to both Taichi and Makoto. In addition, I attacked Takeshi because I thought he hurt Irina, when they were just sparring."

"Yes, you still have that reckless part of you, just like you still have that perversion in you, albeit it is more tamed."

Issei smiled sheepishly. "I'm working on it." As he knew that he was improving on handling his perversion as he focused on his training. "Hey, you remember how I talked to you about wanting power?"

"Yes," Mitsurugi nodded. "And I told you that with that power, it depends on how you use it."

"Yeah. And I know what I want to use it for." Issei stared at his master in a firm tone.

"Oh, I know." Mitsurugi finally opened his eyes. "But you should know, power is not something that is given. It may be thrust upon you, so in that regard, it is given, but that doesn't mean you have mastered it."

"Even given power needs control," Issei said. "Just like my anger."

"Correct. Now go assist the ladies. I gave your friend quite a beating earlier." Mitsurugi waved him off.

"Do you think she can do it? Awaken her ki?" Issei asked.

"It depends." Mitsurugi shrugged, but he knew why Issei asked.

"I see… well, she is my rival, so I know she will, I am still jealous of the training that she got. It makes me wish that Irina was still living here, then ojisan probably could have trained me, too." He smiled. "Like I said, I want to surpass her, so I can be able to surpass you and Saiga-sama one day."

This is why Issei wanted Xenovia to unlock her ki and then be able to surpass her at her strongest. Mitsurugi knew this and wanted to see Xenovia awaken her ki for both of their sakes. He knew that Issei wouldn't be satisfied at beating Xenovia if she did not unlock her ki and Xenovia didn't want to be left behind.

Mitsurugi chuckled. "There are beings stronger than us, boy."

"When I surpass you, wouldn't that make me one of them?" Issei smirked.

For the first time, Mitsurugi smiled at Issei. Not one of his usual battle smiles, but a genuine one because he knew that his will was becoming ingrained into Issei. Issei's statement was just further proof of that.

"Then I would be inclined to challenge you and put you back in your place." Mitsurugi snorted back at him.

"And I'll be ready, shishou." Issei bowed.

"I look forward to it and remember, boy, don't let that fear consume you, you know that you have people to talk to. However, in regards to the fear that you're facing…" That made Issei stiffen as Mitsurugi had seen the troubled look in his eyes. "I think you have the right person to talk to. Now go and enjoy your youth."

"Thank you, shishou." Issei bowed again and returned inside to find that the girls were still in the back room. "Here, let me help, if I may." Issei said gently.

"Yeah… sure," Xenovia replied, understanding he was asking permission before touching her.

Issei wrapped an arm around her waist and she draped an arm over his shoulders, which Issei hoisted her up. He had to note that Xenovia was slightly heavier than Irina, but he knew not to speak about a girl's weight. He already knew that Setsuka would be on his case because he knew that she always found a way to know things.

"You ready, Irina?" Issei asked, turning to his childhood friend.

"Always!" Irina gave a thumbs‑up.

"Then let's go. Though you might have to help Xen bathe when we get back." Issei told her, depending if Xenovia had enough energy to move herself.

"That's fine with me," Irina said.

They stepped out of the back room to the front where Setsuka was opening the store for business.

"We'll see you later, obasan," Issei called.

"Have fun," Setsuka said. "Oh and Irina? I expect to hear from you on how it goes."

Irina flushed. "R‑right…"

Issei raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

As they were beginning to exit the store, they ran into Genshirou, who was walking in with a girl that looked to be around Honoka's age. Issei felt how Xenovia stiffened in his grasp, so he pulled her a little closer. Looking over, he also saw Irina look a little nervous, but his instincts did flare up a little and stepped in front of her, too.

"Huh? Oh… hey, Hyoudou," Genshirou said.

Genshirou looked between the two girls, one who was glaring at him and the other looked at him tentatively.

"Hey, Saji. What are you doing here?" Issei spoke in a low, guarded tone.

"Setsuka‑san told me to bring my sister for her kimono measurements." He gestured to the girl.

"Uh… hello," she said shyly. "I'm Saji Kaho."

"Oh." Issei relaxed, which Xenovia felt, since she was leaning against him. "I'm Hyoudou Issei."

Kaho's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh! My brother complains about you and your friends."

"Former friends," Genshirou corrected.

"Oh, right." Kaho bowed in an apologetic manner.

Issei nodded. "He had every right to complain, I was causing problems. I'm trying to change that."

Kaho smiled. "I heard. For a second, I thought you were related to Shirahama Honoka until you said your name."

"No, but I know of her. She's like my little sister. It was her big brother who helped me." Issei answered.

"That's nice. She spoke about how he made her a statue of a dog." Kaho said.

Genshirou winced. "I think she misspoke, Kaho‑chan."

"What do you mean?" Kaho looked at her big brother in confusion.

Issei sighed. "Did she say her 'aniki' made the statue?"

"Uh‑huh." Kaho nodded.

Genshirou rubbed his forehead. "Hey, Kaho, remember those statues I brought in the other day? The ones I gave to Gengo?"

"Yeah. They were nicely made." Kaho pouted, since she would have liked a statue.

"Well…" Genshirou began to say, until he saw Issei shake his head quickly. "Oh, come on," Genshirou groaned. "What's the harm? She'll figure it out eventually if she asks Honoka."

"Just let it go," Issei insisted.

He knew that Honoka could have a big mouth as Kenichi had told him, but she had now bragged about his sculpting capabilities. Frankly, he wanted to keep his skills hidden, but Honoka's bragging was making that word spread throughout the middle school division. He was beginning to wonder if he could pass credit off to Kenichi and thus he could continue to remain hidden. Of course, he was forgetting that he made Yuuto a statue, which the ORC would see at some point, if they hadn't already.

Kaho raised an eyebrow as she was deciphering the interaction between her brother and this brunette. Unknown to Issei is that Kaho was quite smart for her age, so she would eventually put the connection because Issei already admitted that Honoka was a little sister to him. So she would figure out that 'aniki' was Issei and 'onii-chan' was Kenichi to Honoka.

Setsuka cleared her throat. "Ahem. Shouldn't you three be going?"

"Oh, right." Issei nodded. "Later, Saji."

"You too," Genshirou said, though his eyes lingered warily on the two exorcists.

Kaho tilted her head innocently. "Wait, I never got the names of your girlfriends?"

The question hit like a tripwire, making Issei and Irina nearly stumble. Xenovia was a casualty because she was holding onto Issei. She winced, but Issei recovered first because she was his responsibility.

"Sorry," Issei said with a wry smile, "but if you know of me causing problems, then you know that I don't have a girlfriend. Your brother can tell you that no girl in that school is interested in me for the troubles that I've caused and I know that your brother will guide you and your other brother to not make the mistakes that I have."

"Oh… um, okay," Kaho murmured.

"It was nice meeting you," Issei said gently as he helped Xenovia toward the exit.

Xenovia's thoughts churned. 'That girl wasn't a devil… but her brother is. And Issei still doesn't know what that boy is. Or maybe he knows something given his reaction.' She exchanged a discreet glance with Irina, who nodded.

Ikki leaned out the window, seeing the three finally exit the shop. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry, we ran into someone from school," Issei said, helping Xenovia into the backseat.

Kaname was on her phone. "Well, the area that your workplace is in has some pretty good Pokemon spawns."

Issei's eyes widened at what Kaname just said. "You play too, Kaname‑senpai?"

"Yeah, she does," Ikki laughed. "Us guys got the girls into it, well, except Raichi. She's kind of a nerd in her own right."

Issei nodded in understanding as it meant that Kisara and possibly Miu and Renka also played the game. It made Issei wonder how the school would react to knowing that some of the popular girls behind the Four Great Onee-samas played such games. He knew that Kenichi and Mizunuma were nerds prior to their martial arts journeys.

Kaname added on to Ikki's statement. "Plus, it's kind of fun to collect them."

"Huh? Collect what?" Xenovia asked, relaxing in her seat.

Irina smiled. "It's a game that they play on their phones, Xenovia. Creatures from a show Ise‑kun and I watched as kids."

"Oh, okay." Xenovia nodded, accepting the explanation.

Kaname watched her with mild surprise because she didn't know what Pokemon were and they were global. She knew that the girls would be sheltered, but she didn't know how sheltered they would be. Irina wasn't too sheltered, since she had been with Issei and was able to go to school for the time being. Ikki only chuckled as he began to start the car as they drove back to the Hyoudou residence.

Meanwhile in the shop, Setsuka welcomed Genshirou into the shop, knowing that he brought his sister for her to get her measurements.

"I'm guessing you would like to get your measurements for your kimono?" she asked, looking at Kaho.

"Ah, yes, Miss…" Kaho began.

"You may call me Setsuka," she said warmly. "Your brother has given me your design, but I cannot begin working on it until I get your measurements."

"Okay." Kaho nodded.

Setsuka led her toward the back but before they entered, Mitsurugi stepped out.

Kaho jumped back. "I‑I'm sorry!" His intimidating presence startled the girl, unlike with Honoka, who had intimidating figures such as Sakaki and Apachai in her life.

"You're fine, girl," Mitsurugi said calmly. Then he turned to his wife. "What's going on?"

"She's here for her measurements."

"I see. I'll leave you to it." He stepped aside, before turning his stern gaze on Genshirou.

Genshirou swallowed hard. "Um… uh…"

"You do know that I know what you are, correct?" Mitsurugi said.

"Yeah… Kaichou informed us about you. You're Hyoudou's master, right? The one who trains him with a sword?"

"That's right." Mitsurugi nodded.

"That's… pretty cool. Um, my peerage member, she has a dojo and…"

"Kaito's daughter," Mitsurugi finished. "Yes, I'm aware. I know her father."

"Oh. Right." Genshirou took a step back.

"I can assume that was your sister." Mitsurugi looked back at the closed door, before turning back to the blonde boy. "If I may ask, does she know what you are?"

"Yeah. She does. It's my brother who's oblivious to the supernatural." Genshirou answered.

"Just like the boy," Mitsurugi said. "But he'll learn of it."

Genshirou frowned. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"Considering that he has awakened his ki, I'm sure that you devils want more power to your side as does every side." Mitsurugi noted with his gaze intimidating Genshirou. 'Not only that, but whoever tries to claim him, they would try to seek my techniques from him.'

Genshirou sighed. "I won't deny that. Now that… he doesn't have his perverted antics for the most part, he was considered by my mistress as an option for a rook. After Hyoudou told me that he trained with a weapon, she also considered him as a possible knight piece."

"It seems Kaito's daughter has taken that role," Mitsurugi said. "So I guess that leaves the rook piece, correct?"

"Yeah. It's the last piece Kaichou needs to complete her set… somewhat." Genshirou answered, "She still has a mutated pawn piece."

"I see."Mitsurugi nodded at the answer.

Genshirou hesitated. "Um… can I ask something?"

"About?" Mitsurugi was also focusing on the door for other customers that may enter.

"Well… I'm not sure if this is possible. Maybe in video games…"

"You live in the supernatural world," Mitsurugi said. "Most things from video games are a possibility."

Genshirou perked up. "Well, I was wondering if there's a sword that can help keep my opponents at a distance."

"I'm not sure," Mitsurugi admitted. "I'm not familiar with video games, perhaps you may ask your friends about it."

"Oh. Alright. Thanks." He slightly deflated, since he didn't get a concise answer from the ronin.

The back room door opened. Setsuka and Kaho stepped out.

"Thank you very much," Kaho said, smiling.

"You're welcome, dear," Setsuka replied.

"What's going on?" Genshirou asked.

"I was speaking with your sister about her inspirations," Setsuka said. "She said that you were one of them because of how much you work for your siblings."

Genshirou flushed. "Oh… uh… thank you."

"You have a well‑mannered little sister," Setsuka added.

"Thanks. She's had to grow up fast. We lost our parents after my little brother was born." Genshirou explained.

"I see. And where is your brother?" Setsuka asked.

"He's back at home with Momo‑chan and Ruruko‑chan." Genshirou answered.

Setsuka smiled slyly. "Ah. Your girlfriend."

Genshirou's face turned red. "You told her!?"

Kaho blushed. "Sorry! We were just talking and it slipped out!"

"Oh man…" Genshirou groaned.

"No worries," Setsuka said. "I can only hope for the same luck with Ise, though."

Kaho tilted her head. "Which one's his girlfriend? Was it the blue haired one, she didn't seem to be from around here, but he was helping her or are they both of his girlfriends like my brother has?"

"Kaho!" Genshirou yelped.

Setsuka burst into laughter. "You have two girlfriends?"

"Well… not really…" Genshirou looked anywhere, but at Setsuka's face.

"Momo‑san likes him," Kaho said innocently. "And so does Ruruko‑san. He went on a date with Momo‑san, and I think he's going out with Ruruko‑san tomorrow."

"Kaho!" Genshirou cried out towards his sister.

Setsuka smirked. "Two‑timing your girlfriend? That's not…"

Mitsurugi cut in. "She knows what he is, dear. There's no need to ridicule him about it, since their kind are accepting of harems and polygamy."

"Oh?" Setsuka blinked.

Kaho blinked in confusion. "Wait… you mean you know that my brother is…?"

Setsuka smiled gently. "A devil? Yes."

Kaho's eyes widened. "How? I mean… he still looks human. He doesn't have horns or a tail."

"Oh, my dear," Setsuka chuckled. "There are some adults like my husband and I that can tell the difference between a human and a devil."

Kaho fidgeted. "You're not going to tell anyone, right?"

"No. We have no reason to or feel any reason to." Setsuka answered her.

Kaho hesitated. "So… would you still be willing to help make my kimono? Or do you not assist with helping devils? I understand if…"

Setsuka laughed. "I have sold a kimono to many devils before you were even born, my dear. In fact, I still need to make a kimono for one of your brother's team members."

Genshirou blinked. "You do?"

"Yes, the one with black hair and her bangs cover one of her eyes." Setsuka told him.

"Oh, you mean Ayatsuji‑senpai." Genshirou understood who she was referring to.

Mitsurugi folded his arms. "It seems the Sitri heiress is making moves. She's preparing her peerage by training at the Ayatsuji dojo."

Setsuka nodded. "You're right. But anyway, we need to talk about pricing."

"Pricing?" Mitsurugi echoed.

Setsuka sighed dramatically. "Have you not been listening, dear? I swear you can be dense like Ise, maybe he gets it from you. Oh, who am I kidding, of course, he gets it from you. If he got anything from me, he would acknowledge that some girls do have some feelings for him."

Mitsurugi scoffed and retreated to the back room.

Genshirou rubbed his neck. "Yeah… I know Yuuma does. She asked me some inappropriate questions earlier this week…" His face reddened, remembering how Yuuma asked him about her breasts, it was so awkward for him.

Setsuka chuckled. "Ah, I remember her and the brunette girl that has left with him also has some feelings for him."

Kaho tilted her head. "So who was the blue‑haired one?"

"Her partner," Genshirou said quickly. "Nothing we need to get involved with."

"Oh, but you will," Setsuka said with a mysterious smile. "I have a feeling."

Genshirou completely missed her side glance towards Kaho as she spoke, but Kaho let it go over her head about the warning.

"Well, they were pretty," Kaho said. "Just like Momo and Ruruko."

"I know," Setsuka said. "Oh, I should contact my friend at Yakiniku Hibachi."

Genshirou perked up. "Yakiniku Hibachi? That BBQ place? Oh man, I've been saving up for that."

"To take your girlfriend, I presume," Setsuka teased.

"Yeah…" His shoulders slumped. "I can't believe you know someone there. I'm guessing you're planning to give Hyoudou a hookup so he can take his date there?"

"I was thinking about it," Setsuka said. "But seeing your little sister pout… I'm thinking of reconsidering."

Genshirou looked at Kaho. "Oh, you want to eat there too, Kaho?"

Kaho nodded shyly. "Yeah."

Setsuka smiled. "Oh, I think we can work something out. Speaking of which, we need to work out the price for your kimono, let's say… 37,570 yen."

"Really?" Genshirou blinked. 'That seems a little cheap… maybe she's using cheap materials…'

"You're thinking it would be more?" Setsuka asked.

"Well… yeah. I thought it would be double or triple, I'm guessing that the material…"

"I'll ensure the material is durable," Setsuka said. "I can say that I haven't done so recently, since Ise and that other girl had their equipment damaged. I would say consider the discount because you're a friend of Ise's."

"I'm not his friend," Genshirou said quickly. "I mean I did kind of bully him for his perversion, I was trying to look cool in front of the girls, but it's still bullying someone and I don't want to send that message that it's okay to do that to someone, even if they are perverted." He chuckled nervously. "I can admit that I have my own perversion as well, but I keep that under wraps for my siblings' sake." Kaho pouted at that.

Setsuka laughed softly. "I would say that Ise is similar in wanting not to do that to Honoka. I would also say that knowing him, he is going to be jealous of what you get your sister, he's going to want to match it. You can also think of the discount because I like your sister as well, you did good on her and I think Ise will want to follow your example, so he can be better for Honoka, so you're leading by example, don't sell yourself short."

Genshirou swallowed. "Thanks. So… for payment…"

"Ah, ah, ah." Setsuka wagged her finger. "Your dear sister needs to try on the kimono and see if it fits her and then if need be, I can make adjustments."

"Wouldn't the adjustments cost more?" Genshirou asked.

"Not for me, don't worry about it, but please fill out this form, so I can have your contact details, so you will know when it's ready." Setsuka handed him a form.

"Thanks," Genshirou said, taking the form.

Kaho bowed. "Thank you very much for helping me, Setsuka‑san."

"You don't need to bow to me, my dear," Setsuka said, patting her head.

Genshirou returned the form. "Here you go."

"Thank you and you are more than welcome to come to the shop and look at our other items as well." Setsuka said as she gestured to the other items.

"We will. Thanks again. Have a good day."

"Bye, Setsuka‑san!" Kaho waved.

"Bye, Kaho‑chan!" Setsuka waved back as the siblings left the shop.

Mitsurugi emerged from the back room. "I thought you would give it for free."

Setsuka shrugged. "Mama's gotta make some cash."

"You need to stop reading teenage lingo," Mitsurugi muttered.

Setsuka laughed. "It's probably why I'm better with them than you are."

"Hn. And what's this about yakiniku?"

Setsuka tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I was talking about the restaurant," she said. "I was thinking about putting in a favor and making Ise take Irina there, but… I think that may be too much for a first date."

Mitsurugi raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well," Setsuka smirked, "do you remember our first date?"

"Hah." Mitsurugi guffawed. "It was at that tavern, where you hunted me down, you couldn't let me enjoy a drink.."

Setsuka laughed. "That's right. But I think I'll save the reservation for your victory."

"Victory?" Mitsurugi raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, against Kokabiel, maybe before they have to leave... those exorcists. You know to give them something nice before they go." Setsuka told him.

"Hmph. Do whatever you want," Mitsurugi muttered, shaking his head.

Setsuka chuckled softly at his reaction. 'I wish you luck, Ise.'

After being dropped off by Ikki and Kaname, Issei had helped Irina get Xenovia into the house. Miki could only sigh as she had seen similar scenes, but it was Issei that needed the assistance.

"Can I use your bathroom?" Issei asked.

"Of course," Miki said. "Your father's out fishing anyway. And I want to see your outfit."

Issei gave a nod and headed upstairs to get himself ready for his own shower, seeing that the girls had things handled on their end. He went to his parents' room and used their bathroom and took his usual cold shower. He flexed his right hand, the cold water helped numb the wound and cleaned it of any dried blood. After washing himself, he dried himself and went back to his room to get ready.

He dressed himself in the outfit that the Walkryies had chosen for him, which he was grateful that they listened to his recommendation and re-bandaged his arm. He remembered how awkward it had been, when they had given him some tight pants and he tried to adjust his crotch. When he had stepped out of the changing room yesterday, their eyes diverted to his thigh/crotch area. He wasn't sure why they blushed, only Honoka didn't know what was going on then, but it made him feel insecure. Not only that but their gaze made him feel naked and it made understand a little more of how the girls that he peeped on felt.

The memory made him cringe. 'So this is how girls feel when someone stares…' He had thought, when he had been in the Walkyries presence.

It's what furthered his resolve about ever peeping again, now that the shoe was on the other foot. Shaking the memory of that incident, he went to his desk and opened up a drawer where he hid the cologne that his "uncle" gave him. He could only hope that Irina didn't look around while he was at school. He shook his head, who was he kidding, Irina's curiosity would get the best of her and she likely would have looked around. It's why he had to be smart in hiding both the gift and the letter from Irina.

He went online, since this was his first time putting on cologne, he didn't want to put too much on. From what he was seeing, too much could cause people to turn away. So he followed the instructions on how to properly spray the cologne on himself, which also made him ponder about other areas to spray.

"Okay… so the base of the neck and the inside of my wrist are good spots and about three sprays should do it. Oh, I can also spray the inside of my elbow, so let's see…" he murmured as he spritzed his neck, wrist, and the inside of his elbow. "Alright… that should do it." He paused.

"…People spray it on their crotches? I don't think that's necessary, I don't think I'm having sex, literally, it's the first date, that's not enough time to get a connection. Come on, Issei, get your head out of the gutter."

He smacked himself for thinking of perverted things again, knowing from what he had seen from other media that he had watched. It would take more than one date with the same person before they made it to that stage. He knew that each date would be meant to build a connection with the other person. On another note, he did feel a little awkward since it was his childhood friend, someone who he had believed to be a boy.

He lightly smacked his cheeks. 'Focus. First dates are about connection, not… that.'

It was then that he realized that he was getting a little nervous and then began to wonder what Irina was wearing. He felt like she was going to outdo him in dressing as he knew that girls tend to dress up for this kind of thing. However, he forgot that neither girl really packed anything fancy, except casual clothing. He exited his room and walked downstairs and to his embarrassment, his mom was at the ready with her phone aimed at the stairs.

"Ah! Look at you!" she squealed. "My boy looks so handsome!"

"K‑Kaa-san!" Issei groaned.

"Don't ruin this for me! It's your first date! Smile for the camera!" She snapped pictures rapidly. "That shirt really suits you. Crimson with gold accents… It really brings out your tan along with those black fitted jeans."

Issei tilted his head. 'Are all women just good with fashion? How come she never said anything to me earlier? Ah, wait… That's because my dumbass wouldn't listen to her when she told me something.'

Miki continued on, interrupting his thoughts, "Huh, those girls really did you well, your clothing accentuates your muscles. I must say I wouldn't be sure if this outfit would have fit you months ago because you were a little skinny."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Issei rolled his eyes. "I had bad eating habits and wasn't putting any work in myself. I also needed the muscle to be able to handle some of the training that I do."

"Don't you dare think of training," Miki scolded him before changing the subject. "By the way, how was rock climbing earlier?"

"We lost," he admitted. "But we did work together. It was fun… just like old times, having each other's backs…" He drifted into a small daydream and spoke absentmindedly. "It was… nice."

Unbeknownst to him, Miki was snapping more pictures, while he was in a daydream, she was definitely sending these pictures into the Moms group chat that she had with Mizuki and Saori. It was when she heard other footsteps that she giggled again to herself and turned towards the staircase. Both Xenovia and Irina were coming down and were dressed very casually, however, their natural looks only emphasized their appearances.

Miki turned and her eyes widened. 'I never noticed before… but Xenovia has quite the set of legs… I need to step up my own lower‑body workouts, just… wow.'

Xenovia was dressed in black shorts and a gray T‑shirt, it was simple but striking.

Miki's little giggle did snap Issei out of his little daydream as he turned towards the stairs. Similar to his mother, he did check out Xenovia's legs and he was also a little jealous at how toned they were. However, his focus quickly shifted to Irina, who blushed as she felt that she wasn't dressed properly. She was wearing a light yellow shirt with light blue jeans, it wasn't flashy or revealing.

Of course, neither girl was showing any cleavage. In Issei's mind, Irina easily fit the bill as that girl next door, which she pretty much was when they were children and everything else faded.

"You look nice… um, both of you," he said, cheeks warming.

He also noticed something else, both girls were wearing his Sony headphones. Irina had the white pair and Xenovia had the black. Issei had to deadpan because it looked like they were twinning, since they were wearing a matching set.

"Thanks," Irina said softly. "You look good too."

Xenovia gave a curt nod in agreement and for the compliment.

"Your hair's down," Issei added. "It looks good… you look good." Then his brain caught up with his mouth. 'Oh shit, did I just repeat myself? She always wore her hair down when we watched anime… Of course I should notice she looks like that when she literally sits in my lap?! Did I ever tell her then? I mean it still looked good then as it does now.' He facepalmed.

Miki clapped her hands. "Ufu~ Why don't you three get together for a picture? It's the first time all of you are going out for fun!"

"Good idea, obasan!" Irina chimed as her blush diminished from Issei's compliment.

"Okay, Ise, you stand in the middle and…" Miki began to instruct until Issei interrupted her.

"Actually, I think Irina should be in the middle," Issei said quickly. "She's closer to Xen than I am."

"Oh? Alright." Miki relented. "But switch it up later, okay?"

"Right!" Irina beamed.

Issei grumbled. Xenovia raised an eyebrow as she didn't understand Miki's enthusiasm, but it reminded her of Mizuki.

"Now, okay…" Miki grabbed Issei's arm to position him, but then she paused and took a sniff. "…Hmm. You really freshened up."

"What do you mean, obasan?" Irina asked, then Miki placed Issei beside her, and she caught the scent too. 'Oh wow… he really went all out… for me?'

She flushed at the lengths that Issei was going to at least try to do well on this day. It did make her wonder where he got this cologne, so she wound up asking him.

"That's a nice cologne," she said. "Where'd you get it?"

"Uh… ojisan gave it to me." Issei answered.

Irina blinked. "Oji… wait. Papa gave you that!?"

"Yeah. Um… surprise?" Issei gestured his hands in fake surprise.

"I was looking for what he gave you… still smells nice, though." She leaned in for another sniff.

"U‑Um, Irina… it's kinda awkward when you sniff me…" Issei's face burned.

He wasn't used to close female contact like this, even though the girl literally sits in his lap every night for them to watch Food Wars or as Issei knew it as Shokugeki no Soma.

Irina jerked back. "S‑Sorry!"

Meanwhile, Xenovia looked at Miki, who was smirking like a cat with a camera full of blackmail material, which she did. Because she definitely got multiple pictures of Irina getting close to Issei to sniff his cologne. Xenovia never really understood what the hype was about, so she just shook her head. Although she had to admit that whatever Issei was wearing did smell pleasant, she could somewhat understand Irina's reasons for wanting to smell more of it.

"Now get together!" Miki said. "Let's remember the joy of this day!"

As she began grouping the three teenagers together, it was typical that Irina was the most energetic out of all of them. She followed Miki's orders and immediately wrapped her arms around both of her friends, posing with bright energy. Issei smiled awkwardly, before he would have been thrilled about being with two girls and seeing it as the start to his path of becoming harem king. Now it didn't feel the same, since he had turned his attention towards other things like training, his jobs, and so forth. The picture posing was something that was completely new to Xenovia, so she didn't know how to act.

"Xenovia, dear, you need to smile," Miki pouted.

"Uh… smile?" Xenovia wasn't really sure about that.

"Yeah, Xenovia! Like this!" Irina demonstrated.

Xenovia attempted a smile and it looked… painful. Issei couldn't help but snicker at the failed attempt.

"Ise! Don't be rude!" Miki scolded.

"Yeah, Ise‑kun!" Irina added, swatting her childhood crush on his back.

"Sorry, sorry! It just looked so… forced. You gotta make it natural, Xen. Think of something that makes you happy." Issei tried to reason his case. "Like you know how you made your humor attempts that first morning that we trained together."

"Oh… right," Xenovia remembered how she had attempted to joke with him, showing that she wasn't a robot as he put it. "…What makes me happy…" Xenovia whispered, then she nodded. "Alright."

"Okay! Let's try this again!" Miki said, repositioning them.

For Issei and Irina, they exchanged a knowing look as they already knew that Miki could be stubborn in getting what she wants. It's no surprise that Issei's stubbornness came from his mother, but it's why they knew to just do what Miki said. Xenovia just followed along with the others and listened to the woman's orders.

"A little better, Xenovia," Miki praised. "Keep thinking of your happy place."

"Uh… right." Xenovia blushed faintly. 'I wonder what Griselda would think if she saw these pictures and how I look in them.'

The photos turned out well, Miki was able to get all the teenagers in many pictures. It was safe to say that Irina was the most photogenic of the three. Miki was definitely going to mention this to Mizuki and hope that Irina can come visit again.

Miki reviewed the pictures as she had single pictures of each teenager, she had them paired up with each other, and she had all three of them in the frame. The awkward ones were the pairing of Xenovia and Issei as the two didn't know how to act nor pose with the other. She also noticed that when she took pictures of the girls, Irina had her arm wrapped around Xenovia's shoulders. However, in Irina's pictures with Issei, Irina's arm was around his waist, though Issei kept his arm around her shoulder level.

"Oh, you all look so nice!" Miki gushed. "I can't wait to share these with Mizuki and Saori!"

"Huh? Wait, kaa‑san…" Issei tried to stop his mother, but he was stopped by something else.

Honk.

Irina perked up. "That's our ride. See you later, obasan!"

She had completely neglected that her mother would be involved, meaning she would be in a world of her own embarrassment, when she returned back to England. Visit novelping . com for the full chapter.

"Goodbye, Hyoudou‑san," Xenovia said politely.

"Oh, silly," Miki waved. "Don't be afraid to call me 'obasan' as well, if you like, I don't mind."

Xenovia blinked. "Oh… right."

It was clear that Miki had taken a liking to the girl, since she would help Xenovia with katakana, when she could.

The girls stepped outside, leaving Issei with his mother.

"Later, kaa‑san," Issei sighed.

"Ise." Miki called to him in a different tone.

"Yeah?" Issei turned back to his mother as he knew that her tone wasn't as cheerful as before.

"Remember who you are. Good luck." She gave him a thumbs‑up.

"…Thanks." Issei nodded.

"And don't forget to check that you have enough yen. Remember as the gentleman, you got to pay." Miki reminded him.

"I didn't really ask her out…" Issei tried to say.

"Ise." Her glare froze him. "Listen to your mother."

"H‑Hai!" He nodded quickly and checked that he had enough money.

"Thank goodness for technology, you kids have it easy with all these digital wallets," she muttered.

"I'm not sure how you guys did it, I mean my bosses are old‑fashioned." Issei said. "But I guess Setsuka knows how to keep up with modern times."

"I see. Well, good luck, sochi." She walked him to the door.

"Yeah, yeah… see you later." He hugged her.

"Stay safe. Who knows where that psychopath could be." Miki warned him.

"You too." Issei told her as he began to survey the area if Freed was watching.

"I was waiting for you to leave, so hurry up! Go have fun!" She smiled.

"Right!" Issei returned her smile.

It had been some time that he had seen his mother smile so much more these past couple of months than she has when he was running around with Matsuda and Motohama.

"Hey, Hyoudou‑san!" Ikki called from the car.

Miki turned. "Hello, Ikki‑san! And who is this lovely lady?" Noticing Kaname in the passenger seat.

Kaname waved. "Hey."

"This is Kaname," Ikki said proudly. "My girlfriend."

"What a lovely name! You all have fun!" Miki waved them goodbye.

"We will!" Ikki called out from the rolled down window as he backed the car out.

Everyone was waving goodbye to Miki as they began to drive off, of course, to stop at the bank first like Issei requested. When she could see that they were gone, Miki gathered her things and locked up the place as she got in the family car to head to Saori's place. She could not wait to gossip about the pictures that she had taken with the others, she giggled to herself in excitement as she drove to the Shirahama residence.

Meanwhile, in Ikki's car, Ikki had to remind Issei of what was to come, when they reached the theater. However, they first stopped at the bank for Issei to pull some money from his bank account.

Ikki glanced at Issei's outfit. "I see you got your dancing shoes on."

"Dancing shoes?" Issei looked at his sneakers. "Oh, you mean the dance thing with Raichi?"

Kaname smirked. "What else?"

"What is up with that anyway?" Issei asked.

Ikki grinned. "It's to get people talking, of course. And who knows... maybe a little spending money."

"For what exactly?" Issei tilted his head.

Kaname folded her arms with a grin. "Concessions. We already bought the tickets."

Issei nodded. "Well, I don't think Irina and I are going to have much, since we are going in reverse of dinner and a movie to movie and a late lunch and I am paying for Xen, since she is my guest."

Irina nodded in agreement. Xenovia exhaled in relief, since she wasn't sure if she would use church funds on trivial things.

Kaname smirked. "That's right. So where are you taking the missus?" Both childhood friends turned bright red.

"Oh! I know where I want us to go," Irina said quickly.

"You do?" Issei turned towards her.

"Uh‑huh. A place that sells udon." Irina smiled.

"Udon, huh? Okay. Do we need a reservation or…?" Issei began to ask.

"Nope." Irina shook her head. "We can just walk in."

"Alright." He shrugged his shoulders.

Ikki glanced at him through the mirror. "You're not gonna question it?"

"Nope." Issei shook his head. "At least she knows what she wants. From what I've heard, the girl usually doesn't know what she wants to eat. Though perhaps that may have just been a myth about girls being unsure about what they want to eat."

Kaname laughed. "You really did your research, huh?"

Issei sighed. "I did want a harem, remember? Of course, I'm going to research about things so I could try and get a girl. Then again, I never made a move to approach a girl, I just expected it to fall into my lap. Man, why want a dream and not work for it, you know?"

Kaname softened. "I think I can understand that."

Ikki cracked his knuckles. "Alright, let's get moving."

"Yeah," Kaname agreed. "The others are waiting."

Issei pocketed his cash. "Well, I'm done here, so…"

"Let's kick it into high gear! Woooo!" Ikki yelled as he floored the gas and the car shot forward, heading to the movie theater.

Kaname was relatively calm as she was used to Ikki speeding around, Issei was also familiar with Ikki's driving. The same could not be said for Xenovia and Irina as they pressed themselves into their seats. They also held each other's hands, while saying a prayer, in hopes of survival. Issei also blushed as Irina clutched his arm, which he could feel her chest against it. Unknowing to him, Ikki could see this in the rearview and smirked.

The others who were already at the theater could only sigh as they could hear Ikki's car engine roaring. Some of them facepalmed, while Ukita only chuckled at his best friend's antics. Ikki parked with a flourish and they got out of the car. Issei was helping both exorcists out of the car. Something told him that if he didn't, he would be scolded by his mother, if not her, then Elize and Yu-Mi would do it. Both exorcists had their legs slightly shaking, but were glad to actually feel the ground again.

"Whoo! What a rush!" Ikki cheered. "And best of all, no speeding ticket!"

"For now," Kaname teased.

"You certainly gave those two a spook." Ukita pointed at the exorcists, who were holding onto each other.

Irina was using both Issei and Xenovia as her crutches, and they could see her knuckles turning white from holding Issei's wrists.

"Sorry about that," Ikki said sheepishly.

Kenichi walked up. "Looks like the girls dressed you up well, Ise." He had on a simple white T-shirt and dark blue jeans.

Miu smiled. "Are you excited for your date?" Her pink blouse and jeans were simple, but her natural curves made her figure stand out.

"Um… well…" Issei rubbed his neck and looked away from her. "I'm nervous. I mean it's my first one. I'm not sure…"

"You'll be fine," Renka said, pulling him into a hug.

She was wearing what looked like a short Chinese dress that went to the top of her thighs and jean shorts showed off her toned legs.

"Um, uh…" Issei tried not to stare and blush, since she was pressed up on him. 'What is up with these blue‑haired girls having amazing legs…?'

Unknown to him, Renka was also looking to see what Irina's reaction would be and she could see the girl briefly glance at them and look away. She also forgot that Raichi was also watching both of them. Raichi, however, wanted the date to go well for the childhood friends and potential sweethearts. In Raichi's mind, Renka didn't need to "mark" her territory per say, but Raichi knew that Irina marked Issei first.

"Knock it off," Raichi said, pulling Renka off him and then leaned in and whispered, "I thought you weren't gonna get jealous. Let her have her chance."

Renka blushed. "Hey…"

"You had all the time in the world," Raichi continued. "But you kept teasing Kenichi."

"You like Kenichi too." Renka accused her fellow Chinese woman.

"Do I?" Raichi crossed her arms. "If I did, I never teased him in front of a guy that I liked. Hell, you even got your seat next to both of them. How is that supposed to help? Look, eventually, she'll be gone after this and…"

"He'll fall for her," Renka interrupted.

"How can you be so sure? Oh, who am I kidding," Raichi sighed. "You're probably right and from what we know, Ise is a romantic, when she leaves, he'll be sad. I can only say to let them have their moment. When you haven't been with someone you haven't seen in years, you're going to want to spend moments with them."

"I get that feeling," Renka nodded. "I mean I moved here for Kenichi and haven't seen my mother and siblings in months."

"You think he'll go to England to be with her?" Raichi asked. "I mean for all we know, she could come back."

"And then all would be lost." Renka exhaled.

"I beg to differ," Raichi said cryptically, patting her back.

Renka blinked. "What does that mean…?" Raichi said nothing, leaving Renka stupefied.

Mizunuma approached with Hikari. "I see you got the Walkyrie treatment, Ise."

"Oh, hey, senpai." Issei waved. "Hello, Hikari‑san."

"Hey," Hikari waved. "Looks like Kisara calmed down."

At the mention of her name, Kisara's ears twitched and she turned sharply toward Issei.

"Ise!" Kisara called out.

"Oh no…" he whispered as he paled.

She marched toward him and his only shields were Mizunuma and Hikari. He wasn't sure if Mizunuma could beat Kisara. Xenovia looked at the lively bunch and wondered how all of them just clicked with each other. Irina looked on in worry for Issei and was going to intercept but stopped when Kisara pulled Issei in for a noogie. It wasn't a hard one, but still enough to mess up his hair a little.

"I owe you an apology from before," she said. "You were helping your partner to win, although it was an act of betrayal towards your big sister."

"What!?" Issei's fear evaporated and he looked at her in bewilderment.

"How could you choose her over your dear big sister?" Kisara accused him.

"Because she's my partner! Of course I'd choose her over you!" Issei retorted back.

"Oh, the agony of your betrayal…" Kisara placed a hand on her chest. "It wounds me…"

Kaname laughed. "Don't be dramatic, Kisara."

"Well, if it wasn't for his callouts, I would've beaten you," Kisara huffed.

Chisato crossed her arms. "I find that hard to believe."

"Don't get smug with me," Kisara snapped. "But I'll give you props for cleaning up my little brother and dressing him up."

She reached up and patted Issei on his head as she said, but this time, she didn't try to mess up his hair.

"You're welcome," Chisato said.

Hibiki leaned in. "Indeed, Issei. And what is that cologne you're wearing?"

"Oh, uh… it was something that my ojisan gave me." Issei answered.

Kenichi blinked. "Uncle? Oh wait, you mean Irina's tou-san." He turned to her. "Did you know about this?"

Irina shook her head. "No. When papa gave it to me, he had already packed it, so if I tried to peek, Ise-kun would have known that I had opened it."

"Plus he left me a letter telling me to not open it with her around," Issei added.

Miu tilted her head. "I wonder why that is…"

Irina puffed her cheeks. "He also hid it from me. When I snooped through his room, I couldn't find it."

Issei crossed his arms. "One good thing I remembered about Irina is that her curiosity always gets the better of her."

"Pssh, you're the same as me," she shot back.

"…I guess you're right," he admitted. "Since you were mad at me this morning. Which we still need to talk about."

"Yeah. We do." Irina crossed her arms and nodded.

The MMA club members could clearly see, but Irina did have Issei wrapped around her finger, when she got like this.

Issei cleared his throat. "By the way, where are Chiaki and Haruo?"

Hibiki answered first. "Chiaki wanted to meditate and train for today."

Kenichi added, "As for Niijima, he doesn't really do places like this."

Ukita snorted. "Unless he's crouching in a dark corner."

Ikki pointed at the exorcists. "Plus, the church girls over here would give him the creeps."

Irina and Xenovia blinked in unison, but Xenovia already got the uneasy feeling from the pointy eared teen, so she didn't mind his absence.

Kenichi clapped his hands. "Alright, let's get our tickets…"

Raichi grinned. "And then Ise and I will make some money for snacks."

Issei hesitated. "About that…"

Raichi narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me you're chickening out."

"No, no, I was just…" His nightmare flashed before him, seeing Raichi on the ground and Matsuda and Motohama standing over her and his breath hitched.

Raichi stepped closer. "Whoa, are you alright, Ise?"

"…Not really," he admitted as he took a deep breath as everyone watched him with concern. "I'll talk about it later. Let's just get the tickets."

Kenichi frowned. "If you're not feeling well, we…"

"No!" Issei snapped, then softened. "Don't even think of rescheduling because of me. I'll be fine, trust me."

He looked at each one of them and they saw the resolve in his eyes. Xenovia and Irina were aware that it had something to do with his nightmare. From how Issei looked at Raichi, Xenovia knew that something had to have happened to her in the nightmare.

'So it wasn't just us. Considering that she's the mole in Kokabiel's operation… Maybe the cadre discovered her and Issei's nightmare was a premonition of what could happen.' Xenovia pondered as she put her hand to her chin. 'I guess I'll have to rely on Irina getting the information out of him.'

When she looked over at her partner, she saw Irina holding Issei's left hand and rubbing a small circle on it with thumb. To Xenovia's surprise, she saw the tension in Issei's shoulders begin to relax and wondered if this was another trick that Irina used when they were kids.

"…Alright," Kenichi said. "If you say so."

They headed toward the theater entrance.

Issei paused. "Ayazaki‑san?"

Chisato turned. "Hmm?"

"Could I talk to you for a minute?"

Everyone blinked as he'd only known Chisato for a few hours. So it made them wonder why he wanted to speak to her.

"…Okay," she said, motioning for the others to go ahead and once they were alone, she crossed her arms. "So of all the people to talk to, may I ask why you chose me?"

"Huh, oh, sorry," Issei rubbed his neck. "Well, after yesterday… you kind of showed me some things, so I figured that maybe I could get a little more insight and give you my answer."

That was part of the reason, the other part was that Chisato, for some reason, reminded Issei of a cross between his mother and Yu-Mi. Since he didn't want to call his mother and disturb her, he figured that Chisato would give him the next best advice after her. He also didn't want to interrupt whatever plans Yu-Mi might have had for the weekend.

Chisato raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Issei sighed. "You told me that I should look at my partner and see how she felt, when I kept denying that today would be a date. I was about to deny it and I looked at her. I could see it, this… it was a pleading look on her face. It kind of shocked me."

Chisato nodded slowly. "Okay, that's good that you could see her opinion, but I don't understand why you needed to speak with me?"

"Well, it's about my dream… No," Issei shook his head. "Nightmare, actually. You said how it was a little selfish for me to want power, right?"

"I did. But what does…" Chisato began to speak.

"I had this dream, which wound up becoming a nightmare and it was my fault." Issei began to explain to her.

Chisato's expression softened. "How so?"

"It was because I was weak, it was because of my perversion, you already know of my harem king dream, remember?" Issei asked her.

"That's right." Chisato nodded.

"Well… my big sister, she had read me this quote of my indulges of self lust, it started off with: 'sends the man back into the prison of himself, there to keep a harem of imaginary brides… Among those shadowy brides, he is always adored, always the perfect lover: no demand is made on his unselfishness, no mortification ever imposed on his vanity…'"

Chisato's eyes widened and she finished the line. "'In the end, they become merely the medium through which he increasingly adores himself', that was from C.S. Lewis, he was writing about the dangers of self-oriented lust, but what does that have to do with your dream?"

Issei nodded. "Well, lust doesn't always necessarily mean something sexual, you probably know of people lusting for power. I am probably falling into that because I want that power, if I can have that power, so that others can live out their dreams and I can be there to help them, then yeah, I'll be selfish," He looked her in the eyes. "So I can see you get that business with Kaname-senpai." Chisato's breath caught. "I'm not going to let Freed or anyone else take that away from any one of you."

A slow smile spread across her face. "…It's just as I thought," she said softly and moved forward to fix his hair from Kisara's antics. "Alright then, I can see your resolve. While yes, it is selfish to obtain power, but you seem to be using it for selfless reasons. That explains why you're training so much, so I will concede on impeding on your dream and doubting you."

"Thanks. I just… felt like I needed to let you know." Issei rubbed the back of his neck.

Chisato smirked. "Oh, don't tell that to me, but I am surprised that you wanted another conversation with me. You'll make your date jealous by pulling away another girl to speak with her."

Issei's eyes widened. "Ah, that's right! Sorry!"

"Don't apologize to me." She nodded toward the entrance. "Go apologize to her."

"Right!" He held the door for Chisato to enter and when she did, Issei hurried to Irina's side. "Sorry about that," he said. "I needed to get something off my chest."

Irina blinked. "Hmm? Oh yeah. Sure."

Issei noticed the tension in her voice. "It's something I want to talk to you about too. If you'll let me."

Irina brightened instantly. "Of course!" She smiled at him, knowing that he wasn't going to hide secrets from her.

Kenichi waved them over. "Alright, we got our tickets and…"

Raichi grabbed Issei's wrist. "Let's go, bestie! Time to possibly make some money! Better yet, give these people something to remember!"

"Er, wait. What are we dancing to?" Issei asked.

"You and I." Raichi answered.

"I know we are dancing, but what song…"

"That's the song name, Ise." Raichi deadpanned. "Remember we danced to it before, it's by GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE."

"Oh. Right." Issei put his head down in disappointment for forgetting the name of the song.

Ikki snorted. "Maybe you should have just stayed outside after speaking with Chisato."

"Yeah, yeah…" Issei nudged Irina lightly with his hip. "Do you mind waiting a bit?"

Irina smiled. "I waited twelve years. So I can wait a little longer. Besides, I want to see what you can do."

Issei smiled. "I'll be right back."

Mizunuma stepped forward. "Hey, Ise? Can I borrow your phone?"

"…Why?" Issei tilted his head.

"To record your performance." Mizunuma answered.

"…Okay." He handed it over.

While that was happening, Xenovia was pondering about leaving Excalibur Destruction behind and fearing that Freed would go for it. However, Kenichi had informed her that Shigure would be watching over the house while they were gone. This had proven true, since Xenovia found the blade untouched, when they returned from their morning activities. It only made Xenovia wonder how strong the woman was, but according to what Issei had said about the woman handling Freed, it gave less stress to the exorcist.

Raichi stretched. "Alright! Time to give them a show before the show!"

Irina giggled. "It could also be the show after the show. Since you know, people will be leaving too."

Raichi snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah, you're right! Good looking out, girlfriend!"

Irina beamed and Issei smiled too. 'That's Irina for you… she gets along with everyone… mostly.' He thought as he looked at his childhood friend and the aura that she possessed.

It was the same thing with Raichi, so it still blows his mind how the school chose Koneko over her as the mascot. Since he didn't really see Koneko interact much with anyone, unlike Raichi, who is not afraid to. The similarities between Irina and Raichi was probably why they got along with each other, after all, both girls befriended him, despite his perversion. The only difference was that Issei was beginning to feel different towards one than the other.

Kisara tapped her foot. "Hurry up! The previews are about to start!"

"Yeah, yeah… wait." Issei turned to Kenichi. "Senpai, which option did you pick? The one with Japanese subtitles or is it Japanese dubbed?"

"Yeah, we took that into consideration when we were informed that Xenovia and Irina would come with us, so it's with Japanese subtitles." Kenichi answered.

Xenovia let out a tiny sigh of relief, knowing she would get to hear English again and not have to worry about deciphering every word.

"That's good," Issei said. "Kaa‑san and obasan have been helping Xen with katakana. We watch anime with English subtitles. It seems this is a role reversal, with me reading the subtitles instead, huh, Xen?"

"Huh? Uh… yes," Xenovia said, still overwhelmed by her first time in a movie theater and looking around in fascination with the place.

Irina laughed nervously. "I also needed a refresher course."

Ikki shrugged. "Meh, it happens."

Issei chuckled. "Well, I get to learn some English, so we're learning together."

Hikari sighed. "Um… you do realize you're wasting time, right?"

"Ise! Move your butt!" Raichi shouted from the entrance, making several heads turn towards her for disturbing the peace.

"Hai!" Issei sprinted toward his self‑proclaimed best friend.

Miu tapped her chin. "We should also film it as well, it could help improve his standing at school. You know, show that he is more than just a pervert."

Renka nodded. "Good idea. I'm surprised that I haven't seen many familiar faces here, since the theater is connected to the mall."

Kisara shrugged. "Who cares? Let's enjoy the show before the show, like Raichi said."

Kaname smirked. "I'm surprised you'd cheer her on. Next minute you'll try to rip her head off when she brings up chest sizes."

Ukita groaned. "Please don't get her worked up again. It took me all morning to calm her down." He wrapped an arm around Kisara's waist as she twitched like she wanted to pounce.

Yōko grinned. "Oh yeah, we heard how you calmed her down."

Shizuru giggled. "Definitely took you all morning."

Ami chimed in. "I'll say."

Ukita and Kisara both blushed, knowing that the others heard them.

Hikari pointed. "Looks like they're about to start."

Reo crossed his arms. "Alright, let's see what the kid can do."

Hibiki sparkled. "It will be a marvelous performance. I can feel it."

The rest of the club moved towards the entrance, along with the Walkyries and the exorcists. They made sure to not get in the way of the other occupants that were either leaving or entering the theater. Some of them even got their phones out to film the dance performance as the song began to play.

The beat pulsed through the air as Issei and Raichi began dancing in sync. It was sharp, fluid, but showed their confidence. There were other people that would stop and film their dancing. Several kids were watching with fascination, while some teenagers silently cheered them on. Considering this was Japan, Raichi didn't expect anyone to really tip for their performance, even though she had insinuated it earlier. Needless to say, the two had gathered a small crowd watching them perform, which some theater employees were considering breaking up, but let it go.

With their performance ended, they got claps from their mini crowd, while Issei and Raichi bowed saying, "Arigatou gozaimasu", and then high fived each other. Irina was merely impressed by her childhood friend as she had seen several dance videos with Raichi, when they were on break. She never expected that Issei could dance, but he had been working on it for months, which she liked that he was expanding his interests.

Hibiki clapped dramatically. "Marvelous! Simply marvelous! Raichi, as expected. But you, Ise‑kun, the fruits of your labor have blossomed beautifully! Well done!"

Ikki laughed. "Yeah, man! You definitely could have made some moolah if you put on a private event."

Raichi slapped his hand. "Oh yeah!"

Ukita held up his phone. "But you missed this Ho‑Oh raid."

"Oh yeah," Ikki laughed. "I forgot that he told us that he played Pokemon Go." Showing the victory screen of a completed raid on his phone.

Kenichi blinked. "I didn't know that."

"We only found out today," Ikki said.

Issei groaned. "Oh man…"

Mizunuma stepped forward. "Don't worry. I got you covered, Ise."

Hikari blinked. "I thought you were filming."

"Well, I didn't think that I needed to as most of you girls were filming," Mizunuma explained, gesturing over at Miu, Renka, and the Walkyries. "So since Ikki had texted me about Issei playing, I decided to try and get his Trainer code. Since those three got in the raid, I joined them as well, but I also was playing through Ise's phone as well."

Issei's eyes widened. "So that means…"

"You also got the Giratina," Mizunuma said proudly. "I have to look out for my kohai after all."

Issei hugged him tight. "Mizunuma‑senpai, you're an angel. A Godsend."

Hikari poked Issei's shoulder. "Hands off. This one's mine."

"Ah, sorry!" He released Mizunuma and took back his phone.

Mizunuma leaned in. "Maybe try hugging your date instead. Ask her about your performance."

"My da... oh shoot!" Issei spun toward Irina. "So, um… Sorry about that!"

Irina smiled. "It's fine, I guess Raichi was telling the truth about your dancing."

"Taught him everything he knows!" Raichi declared, heading toward concessions.

Issei rubbed his neck. "Yeah… I was a klutz."

Irina tilted her head. "When did you practice?"

"Usually during lunch," Issei answered. "Now come on, we need to get some stuff, you know how theaters in Japan can be strict about time."

"Oh yeah. Come on, Xenovia." Irina turned to her partner.

"Okay," Xenovia said, following after the childhood friends as she was still taking in the sights.

They lined up behind Raichi, who had already finished ordering.

"So, Xenovia," Irina asked. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm not sure… it's hard to read everything." Xenovia said through gritted teeth as she tried to make out what was said in katakana.

She could understand some things, but not everything, so it was a bit jumbled to her.

"Don't worry, I got you." Irina winked at her partner and then she gave one to Issei.

Issei felt an ominous feeling, when he caught her wink. 'As much as I'd like a girl to wink at me… that one felt dangerous.'

"Hello," the attendant greeted. "What would you like today?"

Irina stepped forward. "Hi! Could we get the large half‑and‑half popcorn combo with two drinks, two hot dogs, and a pizza, please?"

"And what would you like to drink?" The attendant asked.

"Orange juice, please." Irina answered as she remembered that some Japanese theaters had a limited soda selection and she didn't want to give Xenovia something that she wasn't used to and figured that was the safest option.

Issei slightly blanched as Irina ordered, the others laughed at his expression, he only snapped out of it as Irina poked him in the nose.

Irina poked his nose. "What about you, Ise‑kun?"

"Uh… small popcorn and a small drink," he said weakly. "Orange juice, too. Please."

He still had to pay for lunch later and he expected that to be more food. It only made him wonder how food Irina could eat. Frankly, he was silently thanking his mother again for teaching him how to cook. It would mean that he wouldn't have to go out as much to eat and could actually make something in the kitchen instead.

"Is that together with the first order?" the attendant asked.

"Yeah…" Issei nodded as he paid, once the attendant told him the total.

Ikki patted his back. "You'll get used to it."

Ukita nodded. "Yeah, man, but no worries, you'll eventually get over it."

Mizunuma added, "That's right."

Kenichi grinned. "And in the end, it's worth it."

'Worth what? My wallet going empty!?' A vein twitched on Issei's forehead. 'Oh, who am I kidding. My dumbass wanted a harem, and I wasn't even thinking of the logistics of it. I would need to provide for them and that would include money for dates. It makes selling all of that porn all the better. Plus, I got a decent part-time job, but it wouldn't hurt to get another one. Maybe I can get her something nice before she leaves.' He looked over to see Irina smiling at him.

Something about seeing her smile always made him happy, even when they were kids. During their prank wars as well, he wasn't too mean with his own pranks against her. If he made her cry, he would immediately apologize because that wasn't his intention. Even though he thought she was a guy, he never wanted to see his friend sad. Looking back on it, he noted how he never really cared about Matsuda and Motohama's fake tears.

'Speaking of those two…' He pulled out his phone to make sure that they were no longer associated with him by any means, even through games.

"Here's your order," the attendant said, handing over the tray of food.

"Thanks." Issei took the popcorn and tray. "Irina, could you get my drink?"

"Yeah." She handed Xenovia a hot dog so she could grab the drink.

"If you could wait off to the side, someone will bring you your pizza in a few seconds," the attendant informed them.

"Alright. Thanks." Issei turned to Kenichi. "Senpai, could you give our tickets to Xen?"

"Sure." Kenichi handed them over to the blue haired exorcist. "See you inside."

Irina glanced around. "Looks like Raichi's already gone."

"Yeah…" Issei looked to see how the pink haired girl was already gone after receiving her order and then saw another attendant holding the small pizza. "Oh, that's probably ours."

"Xenovia, could you grab that?" Irina asked.

Xenovia was silently giving prayers to Miki and Saori in their lessons of teaching her how to understand conversational Japanese better.

Xenovia nodded, accepting the pizza. "Thank you."

Issei grinned. "Hey, after this, if you're not too spooked, we can play the game when we get home. The AI is insane."

Irina laughed. "You're on!"

"You want in too, Xen?" Issei asked.

"I suppose," Xenovia said. "I've never played a video game. And Mitsurugi did say today is a rest day."

"Yeah," Issei nodded. "They don't come very often."

Irina sighed as they made their way to their assigned seats. "That's because you're pushing yourself too hard."

Issei shook his head. "I need to push harder. I have to. Otherwise it'll all be for nothing… and he'll take it all away. I can't let that happen." His jaw tightened, eyes fixed forward.

Irina didn't answer. 'This is about that nightmare…' She knew she'd ask him later, when it was just the two of them.

They reached their seats. Irina sat beside him, Xenovia on her other side. Raichi had waved them over as she sat on the other side of Xenovia, already munching on popcorn while the previews played.

For Genshirou, he had already dropped Kaho off at home and was now heading to meet with Takeshi. He wondered what Takeshi wanted to talk to him about, but at the same time, he pondered about Setsuka's words. She had told him that he would get involved, but he just didn't know how he would.

He sighed. 'Man, I don't know what she means for someone like to get involved. I mean those exorcists were not willing to collaborate with us, but who the hell knows, I mean a cadre is threatening us, one of our own is undercover.'

As he made his way into the cafe, he was shocked to find not just Takeshi, but also Koneko as well. They were sitting in a private booth that was away from everyone else, so he knew that they could talk a little more freely. He was surprised to see Takeshi without Rias nor Asia by his side. He could understand why Koneko would be there, since he knew that Takeshi was a kickboxer, so of course, he would train with another hand-to-hand fighter.

Genshirou approached cautiously. "Alright, I'm here. What did you want to talk about?"

Takeshi leaned forward. "I wanted to talk to you about seeing if we could possibly go after the Excalibur fragments, you know get one over the fallen angels."

It was at that moment that time froze for Genshirou and he could hear a record scratch go off in his head.

"What!? No! Nuh-uh! I'm going home!" Genshirou profusely shook his head.

He got up from his chair and began to walk away, however, he didn't feel like he was going anywhere. When he looked down, he could see that his feet were moving, which confused him about why he wasn't moving. When he looked back, he saw that Koneko was holding onto his shirt with one hand and had no intention of letting him go. It was a little scary with how she could be so calm taking a sip of her drink, while holding him effortlessly.

It had been during one of their training sessions where Takeshi had suggested the plan to destroy Excalibur, Koneko thought about it and agreed. It was expected of Koneko, since Takeshi contacted Genshirou to recruit him as well and needed Koneko as insurance. This was in case Genshirou tried to run away, which Takeshi expected of his fellow pawn, but Koneko caught him.

Genshirou paled. 'I'm dead.'

Takeshi sighed. "Can't let you go now, man. You know the plan."

"Why me!? It's your group's problem, right!? I belong to the House of Sitri! I shouldn't take part in this! Not at all!" Genshirou retorted.

"Don't say that," Takeshi said. "The only devil that I know who seems willing to help me is you."

"Oh, you know that's bullshit! There's no way that I will help you! I'm going to get killed!" Genshirou seethed.

"Well, yeah," Takeshi admitted. "If we don't do something, we will get killed by that cadre."

"No! Not by him," Genshirou snorted. "I meant by Kaichou."

Takeshi smirked. "Oooh, the fear you have towards Kaichou is appearing on your face. Kaichou must be really scary, huh."

"No shit, your master, Rias-senpai, might be strict and kind! But you know what! You know Kaichou!? She's strict AND strict!" Genshirou scoffed, 'Seriously, man, almost every dude wants to stick their dick in your girlfriend. It's not the same with Kaichiou.'

Takeshi nodded. "I guess you have a point, Rias may be strict but she is kind. So Kaichou is strict, huh? No wonder she plays hard to get for you."

Genshirou deadpanned. "Dude, I'm with Momo, you know."

"That's good for you," Takeshi said casually.

Genshirou slumped. 'Maybe this is what Setsuka-san meant by "getting involved."'

He also hated to sound a little like a coward and wished that he had Takeshi's confidence, hell, even Issei had confidence, when he kept boasting about being harem kings with his former friends. The same friends that Takeshi and Genshirou liked to bully for their perversion, although both pawns had their own fantasies about obtaining harems themselves, they just kept it hidden. In addition, Genshirou felt like he and Takeshi could relate to each other.

After all, both of them lost their parents, the only difference was that Genshirou had siblings to look after. He also had other relatives that had been able to take him and his siblings in. The same couldn't be said about Takeshi, who lost his parents to a robbery. He inadvertently awakened his sacred gear to try and fight them. It was actually because of the robbers that Takeshi despised weapons because of how they gave an unfair advantage. However, this drew stray devils to his location, where they killed the robbers.

The Gremory group had tracked down the stray devils and were saddened by the lives that were lost, until Takeshi told them not to grieve over the bastards. Upon learning what had happened, they only grieved for his parents and sensing his sacred gear, Takeshi took Rias' offer to start a new life. Since people in his former home didn't know that he existed, his old friends lost their memories of him. He didn't mind macking on new girls, since he was always aware of his good looks. He always teased Yuuto about how they could run this school, but that was not Yuuto's motive.

Takeshi turned to his training partner, "Hey Koneko-chan. You know that Kiba is a victim of the "Holy-sword Project" and also harbors a grudge towards Excalibur, right?"

Koneko nodded. "Yes."

Takeshi continued, "Well, when those exorcists came to us, they said that the Church decided that it would be better to eliminate all the Excaliburs rather than letting them be used by the fallen angels, yeah?"

"Uh-huh." Koneko nodded again.

"And that their minimum objective is to get the Excaliburs away from the fallen angels. So in other words they have to destroy the stolen Excaliburs or retrieve them, right?" Takeshi crossed his arms.

"Yes." Koneko took another sip of her drink. "That's right."

Genshirou groaned. "Oh boy…"

Takeshi grinned. "Yeah, you know where I'm going with this, we could help them retrieve those fragments. Three swords were stolen, so they won't mind if we retrieve or break one of them, you know, for Kiba's sake."

Koneko laid it out in simple terms, "You want Yuuto-senpai to overcome Excalibur and to fulfill his wish, correct?"

"That's right. If that happened, then Kiba would accomplish his revenge and everything would be okay. Then he would continue doing his job with us with a smile," Takeshi shivered slightly and then spoke through gritted teeth. "His regular, somewhat creepy smile. That's what I thought."

"So let me get this straight," Genshirou rubbed his temples. "Kiba wants to win against Excalibur and accomplish his and his former comrades' revenge. The exorcists want to retrieve the Excaliburs from the fallen angels even if they have to destroy them. So that kind of makes them have the same aim as what you're going for."

"Yeah," Takeshi nodded. "And with the numbers, we should stand a chance."

"Just one problem," Genshirou said. "We have to see if those two will listen to the words of us devils."

Koneko frowned. "That seems hard. Especially with how Buchou reacted."

"Hmm, yeah…" Takeshi grimaced. "She kind of ticked them off, well, the blue haired one, who I don't even like. She was kind of a bitch for how she insulted Asia. Don't get me wrong, I somewhat understand that she is doing her job, but she didn't understand what Asia went through."

If there was any casualty on the mission, Takeshi didn't mind Xenovia dying if they succeeded. Of course, he may reconsider his stance on the two exorcists, if they apologized. He was already aware not to deal with Irina as she was Issei's problem in Takeshi's eyes. He didn't care if she died either, since she didn't apologize to Asia as well.

Genshirou blinked. "…Kind of like how we didn't understand Hyoudou and why he was perverted."

"Yeah, I…" Takeshi stopped talking and looked at his fellow pawn. "Wait, what?"

"You said it yourself," Genshirou shrugged. "That chick didn't know what Asia went through, we don't know what Hyoudou went through. The only difference is that unlike us, he's got both of his parents. He also doesn't have a Sacred Gear like us, but both of our mistresses are interested in him, since he has been developing himself."

Takeshi sighed. "Can't deny that. I was pissed at him before… but honestly? I kind of hoped he'd join your peerage."

"Why? So I'd have to put up with him?" Genshirou raised an eyebrow.

"To an extent, yeah." Takeshi chuckled. "But remember, Rias is kind, but she knows how to talk, she may instigate his perversion and tap into his dream of being harem king, which may keep his perversion there."

He knew his girlfriend and what she would try to do to keep Issei's loyalty to her and add in Akeno's teasing. That would likely be a recipe for disaster and only reignite Issei's perversion, making him stagnant yet again.

"Yeah," Genshirou snorted. "Kaichou wouldn't fuck around with that, but the MMA club is doing their job. He's gotten better, I mean he even took you down."

Takeshi threw his hands up. "Oi, oi, I was still damaged from the effects of that brunette chick's Excalibur. Cut me some slack."

Genshirou raised his palms defensively. "I'm just saying. Anyways, does anyone else know about your plan?"

Koneko shook her head. "It's a secret from Buchou and the others."

Takeshi leaned back with a sigh. "Yeah. It was just like she said. We couldn't let this be known by Rias and Akeno-senpai. They would definitely disapprove even if it's for Kiba's sake, we can't put our neck in the problems involving angels and the church. Rias is a high class devil after all, so she would be strict about this stuff. When I went to rescue Asia, she was against it." He scratched his cheek. "I also had to keep it a secret from Asia, you know she's the type who can't hide things and she can't lie to save her life. She's just so sweet."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Genshirou nodded slowly.

He remembered when he first met Asia, he was quite smitten by her because of that sweet personality that she possessed. It made him jealous of Takeshi because he only met the nun by taking a random stroll. Genshirou had wished at times that he had asked for help earlier with his siblings, then he could have been the one to meet Asia first. However, he was certain that the scenario would have stayed the same.

Sona didn't have any extra bishop pieces to reincarnate Asia, but she would have seeked the offensive power that Yuuma possessed. So Yuuma would have been more of a higher priority to reincarnate. However, it's possible that there would be tension between Takeshi and Yuuma, hence the two barely talk to each other. Rias' kindness would have worked better for Asia anyways than Sona's authority.

Koneko added, "When we go and talk to the exorcists, it might lead to a fight and the tension between us and them might get even worse."

Takeshi clicked his tongue. "Yeah, I still want to punch the bluenette in the face. Shit! Well, it would be the end if that happened. I'm not sure if I can take on two of them. Fuck, I might die then. You know what you can leave, Koneko-chan. Same to you, Saji. You can also run away…"

Genshirou shook his head and sighed. "Oh, trust me, I do want to run now! I'd get killed by Kaichou if I do something like destroying the Excaliburs without her permission, considering that she said that we wouldn't get in their way. It'd be like she was going against her word."

Takeshi and Koneko nodded grimly as they remembered Sona enforcing what she had told Rias. The devils would not be getting in the way of the exorcists, but Sona already had her own contingencies being put in place, thanks to the information from Raichi and Yuuma. The Sitri heiress knew that the cadre would strike and she was planning to minimize the damage that he may cause.

"But," Genshirou continued, "Even if I don't get involved, we'd probably still die anyway and I'd leave Kaho and Gengo alone in this world. Fuck."

Takeshi facepalmed at his own ignorance. "Oh, shit, I forgot about your siblings. You can leave right away, just promise me that you don't tell Kaichou about this."

"I wasn't done, man." Genshirou sighed. "Like shit, you got some balls developing this plan on your own, I gotta respect that. Honestly, I wish I had your confidence, same with Hyoudou's."

Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "His confidence?"

"Dude, you gotta have MAJOR balls to proclaim your perversion even if it gets you shunned." Genshirou argued.

Takeshi paused and then chuckled. "…Yeah, can't argue with that."

Genshirou crossed his arms. "We know if you did it, the girls wouldn't care because they would know that they can share you and that you're never off the market. Hyoudou was right, people are superficial, it's not just about looks, if you didn't have yours, how far do you think you'll go?" Takeshi's jaw tightened as the blonde Sitri pawn continued. "So I need to grow my own set of balls. I'm in."

He was seeing why Setsuka said that he would get involved and frankly, he had to for his siblings' safety.

"Now, now, don't cry and…" Takeshi began to say, until he registered what Genshirou had said. "Wait… You're in?"

"Yeah," Genshirou nodded. "Someone told me that I was going to get involved and I think this is it. It will just be a matter of speaking to Momo and Ruruko to babysit, when we do this thing and I'm not sure what I can do to stall them, but I'll try."

"Alright," Takeshi clapped his hands with a smile. "Hey, maybe the negotiation will be a success. Thanks, man, there aren't any other male devils that I can talk to, so I'm depending on you, Saji."

Koneko nodded firmly. "I won't run away. It's for our comrade." Her eyes were filled with strength.

It made Takeshi smile since the match with Riser, Koneko was more determined. She may not show it, but she has been in high spirits, when fighting for her comrades. It's part of the reason why Takeshi discussed his plan with her during their training together.

Genshirou snapped his fingers. "There's one other person that I think that can help."

"Who?" Takeshi asked.

"Ayatsuji‑senpai." Genshirou answered.

Takeshi nearly choked. "Are you serious!?"

"I think so, the other person would be Hyoudou, if he knew about the supernatural. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he thought of a plan like this as well."

Takeshi laughed. "Watching him in that tournament… yeah, he's reckless. Man, I never thought I would be compared to him."

Genshirou smirked. "Yeah, you know how I mentioned that he attacked you?"

"Oh yeah," Takeshi nodded. "He thought he was defending that chick, who's his childhood friend. He definitely would in on this plan."

"Uh huh," Genshirou tapped his fingers on the table. "From what I hear, he would like to be friends with Kiba, he's trying to distance himself from those two as a means to reform himself. He may be a pervert with his peeping and fantasies, but he's trying to get better. We could also help him with that."

Takeshi scratched his chin. "You think so? I mean he's affiliated with the Church to an extent."

"Maybe, but his heart was in the right place, he's always going to defend his friends. He was always loyal, which is another thing that is hard to come by." Genshirou said.

Takeshi nodded. "Rias saw that too. You know what he said to us one day, when he was supporting Riser to marry Rias?"

"What?" Genshirou had heard that the interaction happened, but not the full details.

"He said how she should sit down and talk with Riser and maybe he's not as bad as she made him out to be." Takeshi sighed.

Koneko added, "Until he called him yakitori."

"Oh yeah," Takeshi chuckled.

Genshirou whistled. "Damn, you have to admit that it takes balls to insult a high-class devil. However, he is kind of right, I sat with him for lunch and got to know him. Did you know that he can sculpt?"

"For real?" Takeshi heard about the sculpting from Akeno, but now there was a second opinion that had gotten to see it.

"Oh yeah," Genshirou nodded. "Dude made some Dragon Ball statues, I gave them to my brother, he loves them. I picked them up with Momo and Ruruko, even they were impressed. I'm telling you, we should have taken him away from those perverts. All they do is bitch and moan, you know that they're spreading false rumors about him, right?"

Koneko scoffed. "Perverts."

She really only hated their antics, but not the boys themselves.

Takeshi nodded. "You know I can't deny that we would be able to make him a better person, but with friends like those two, who needs enemies."

Genshirou shrugged. "Can't argue with that, you are who you are by the company you keep." He pulled out his phone.

"Yeah," Then he saw what Genshirou was doing and leaned in. "What are you doing?"

"I was just letting Ayatsuji-senpai know that we're going to see her and letting Momo know that I will be late." Genshirou answered.

"I'll also text Kiba on where to meet up." Takeshi pulled out his phone.

"No," Genshirou said firmly. "We have to meet at Hyoudou's place."

Takeshi blinked. "Why there?"

"Because that is where the exorcists are," Genshirou explained. "Seriously, think about it, one of them is his childhood friend. He also was the one that talked with Kaichou about scheduling a meeting with them. He even arrived with them to the student council room for said meeting, but he didn't stay, remember he doesn't know about the supernatural."

Takeshi frowned. "Something that interests me now that we're talking about him… why do you think his arm is bandaged up?"

There was a slight tinge of guilt in his tone, since it was after the dodgeball tournament and he wondered if someone might have tried to go through on one of their threats. However, none of the students had been arrested for aggravated assault. He didn't want to have that blood on his hands with someone trying to claim they did what he had instigated because the ORC lost the dodgeball game.

"Hmm, I remember that," Koneko answered quietly. "Back then, I could detect a very small trace of holy energy."

Takeshi's eyes narrowed slightly. "That must mean that he was attacked, since I don't think either one of those girls would do it." Koneko nodded as Takeshi continued on, "With how he was caring for the brunette, they clearly care for each other and… oh, shit!"

Genshirou blinked. "What?"

"Dude, Hyoudou actually has a girl that cares for him. You think they'll hook up?" Takeshi asked and he couldn't help but laugh.

Genshirou groaned. "I never knew you were one for gossip."

"I'm not, but this is rich!" Takeshi clapped his hands. "Those two pervs would be seething about Hyoudou getting a girl, imagine the bullshit that they would try to pull to make him look like trash."

Koneko was just thinking about how this was an anime trope that she had seen multiple times, regarding guys and their supposed friends.

Genshirou snorted. "Well, they already stole a chick's underwear to try and frame him."

Takeshi grimaced. "You know, I can say Hyoudou may be a pervert, but he wouldn't be so depraved to steal someone's underwear."

"If he stuck with those two perverts, it would be possible, I mean I don't think he would have considered peeping, if those two didn't bring it up." Genshirou pointed out.

"Yeah, you got me on that one," Takeshi sighed. "Damn. Hyoudou was right. Maybe I should've talked to him."

"Try talking about anime," Genshirou said. "He's an otaku."

This got Takeshi and Koneko's attention, since for Takeshi, he did have to deal with Rias' otaku antics from time to time. For Koneko, she made a mental note that Issei was an otaku and that she possibly had someone that she could talk to about anime. Since Rias was acting like a doting wife and king, the conversations weren't the same. The other one was rather shy and kept to their domain, so it kind of sucked to not be able to speak with anyone about her other interests. She had a feeling that if Issei didn't meet the other two, then he would likely be a loner like herself. Maybe not as perverted, since there wouldn't be others to further instigate his own and possibly, they could have been friends, if she knew about his anime aspirations early on.

Takeshi grinned. "Ditto. Alright, you ready to go, Koneko‑chan?"

"Yeah." She finished her parfait and paid quickly.

"Alright, Saji," Takeshi said. "You know the way. Lead on."

"Right!" They fist‑bumped.

"Next stop, Ayatsuji‑senpai's place." Takeshi opened his phone and dialed.

The line clicked.

"...What do you want, Takeshi?" Yuuto's voice was cold.

"I want to know if we can meet up, Kiba." Takeshi told him.

"Why? So you can drag me back to Buchou?" Yuuto sneered through the phone.

"Nah. What's about to go down… she doesn't need to know about it." Takeshi replied.

There was silence on the other end as Yuuto had pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it in astonishment before answering.

"You're going against Buchou? Are you sure that's wise?" Yuuto's voice had slightly softened from his anger.

"Yes, I am." Takeshi answered in a firm tone to show Yuuto that he meant business.

There was another pause, before Yuuto spoke again.

"…So what is it that you're about to do?" Yuuto finally asked.

"You haven't answered my question," Takeshi said. "Are you willing to meet up or not?"

A low growl, but Yuuto relented. "Fine. Just name the time and place."

Takeshi sighed. "Just keep your phone on hand. I'm gonna get some more reinforcements."

Yuuto's voice crackled faintly. "Reinforcements?"

Takeshi smirked. "Uh huh, you may like what I have planned or you may not like it, you'll know more about what I have planned, when I meet with you later."

There was a heavy sigh on Yuuto's end.

"Well, I already agreed, so whatever." Yuuto said.

Takeshi smiled, "I knew you would see things my way." As he ended the call and the line went dead.

Genshirou raised an eyebrow. "So he's in?"

"Kind of," Takeshi replied. "We'll have to keep him from trying to kill the exorcists. And if Hyoudou's there, that could be a problem."

Genshirou groaned. "Yeah. If we get Ayatsuji‑senpai to join, she won't fight Hyoudou and neither will I."

Takeshi snorted. "Then it'll be a repeat of what happened after the spar. Except this time, I'm at full strength… and Hyoudou has his ki."

Koneko nodded. "He was pretty tough to hold down."

"No shit," Genshirou muttered.

That ki made it a struggle for them to hold Issei down and were lucky things calmed down before things escalated.

Takeshi crossed his arms. "So it's up to us to keep Kiba in check."

Genshirou deadpanned. "Easier said than done."

"Yeah…" Takeshi sighed as they continued walking toward the Ayatsuji Dojo.

The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the street, the three devils moving with a strange mix of dread and determination. The die was cast. They knew that Yuuto deserved his closure. They knew that they were all in danger, not just the exorcists. The path ahead was reckless, dangerous, and probably stupid, for a fragile alliance with exorcists who hated them.

Of course, one thing is for certain, Sona was definitely going to be pissed, since this could impede her alliance with Saiga's people. After all, Sona was one of the upcoming devils for a reason. When she learned of this plan, she would begin formulating a new one because no one wanted any casualties. But for all plans made, there is always a wild card that must be considered.