“I’ve decided to go on a date with Akeno-san next time.
Give me some advice, Kenji.”
“…I’m doing my homework, so could you please leave?”
“Aren’t you being a bit too harsh!?
Come on, give me a little advice!”
“Why don’t you ask someone like Yuto-san?
He seems like he’d be popular.”
“No, I asked Kiba too, but he just gave me the slip with some vague answers.”
“…I bet.”
In the first place, what was a high school freshman doing asking his younger brother, who was only in his first year of middle school, for date advice?
“Besides, I don’t really talk to Akeno-san that much.”
She had apologized for the incident at the hospital before, but that didn’t mean they had become dramatically close; if anything, he kept the most distance from her among all the members of the Occult Research Club.
Thinking up a date plan for someone like that was impossible, even putting aside his relationship with his brother.
“Think for yourself.
Or since there are so many women around, why not consult one of them?
Besides, you asked for similar advice a little while ago and apparently failed, so even if you rely on me…”
As his brother grumbled and complained, Issei hung his head.
However, he noticed something there.
“You…
do you remember Yuuma-chan?”
“Was that her name?
Anyway, even back then, it didn’t go well, right?
So, it troubles me to be asked again.”
Issei wondered why his younger brother remembered Yuuma Amano.
The temporary form of the Fallen Angel Raynare.
The girl who had approached him to kill him.
Once her goal was achieved, memories of her were erased from those around him, such as his friends.
Kenji should have been no exception.
While Issei tilted his head in confusion, Kenji stood up and pushed him out of the room. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“Ah, hey!
I’m still talking!”
“I told you I’m doing my homework.
You’re in the way.”
He closed the door, and the sound of a click from the lock was heard.
“What’s going on?”
Issei crossed his arms and tilted his head.
Lately, he had been in incredibly good shape.
No matter how much he ran, he didn’t get out of breath, and even if a ball hit him by accident during PE class, it didn’t hurt much.
Even now, he had finished a marathon—which should have been nothing but painful—comfortably in first place.
“Whoa, hey!
What happened to you!?
You, the unathletic one, taking the lead and finishing first!”
“Yeah.
I’m surprised too…”
As Kenji looked at his hands in wonder, his friend Tomoya asked.
“Did something happen while you were hospitalized?
No, I don’t think you could build up that much stamina so easily.”
“I don’t think so, but…”
As Kenji felt bewildered by his own changes, Yosuke slapped him on the shoulder repeatedly, saying, “Isn’t it great?”
“Well, it’s better than staying a wimp.
You might get attacked again, after all!”
“…I don’t want anything like that to happen again.”
“Right—”
Yosuke laughed heartily.
“Putting that aside,” he said, changing the subject.
“Have you two thought about that thing?”
It was a proposal Kenji had made while in the hospital.
“You mean the talk about us starting a band for the cultural festival, right?
I don’t mind.
I’ve touched a bass a little before.
Though I’m not confident in my skills.”
I used to take piano lessons, so I should be able to play the keyboard.”
“And I’m on drums.
All that’s left is someone who can handle guitar and vocals.
We could even have them be separate people.
We’ll have to start looking.”
“The main part is yet to come, then.”
“I’ve actually got my eye on a vocalist.
You know, Kasahori-san.
That girl is a great singer.
I’ll try asking her later.”
He secretly pointed to a slender girl with glasses who was talking to her friends.
“And since it would be weird if there was only one girl, if one of Kasahori-san’s friends joined too, everything would be perfect!”
“You’re leaving a lot to luck.”
“Shut up!” Yosuke muttered a small curse, and then the teacher gave the signal to gather.
“Let’s finalize the details later,” they finished, and headed toward the teacher.
“What are you doing?”
Rias discovered Kenji in the kitchen, boiling water in a small pot.
Rias Gremory stood there with her long, flowing crimson hair cascading down her back like a luxurious waterfall, her stunningly beautiful face with piercing blue-green eyes, and her voluptuous body featuring massive, perfectly shaped breasts that strained against her clothes, a slim waist, and wide, seductive hips.
“Midterms are coming up soon, so I was studying, but I got a little hungry and thought I’d make some cold udon.”
Kenji opened a bag of udon into the boiling water and stirred it to loosen the noodles.
“In times like this, wouldn’t you usually have soba or somen?”
At the pure question, Kenji said, “Ah—” and answered with some difficulty.
“We’re out of somen, and I have a buckwheat allergy.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, well…”
“Then we’ll have to be careful from now on.”
Rias made a mental note to warn the other girls, thinking it would be terrible if he were fed it unknowingly.
Once the udon was boiled, he moved to the table, diluted the noodle soup with water, added a small amount of pre-cut scallions from a pack, and began to eat.
Rias sat across from him as if to keep him company.