The wind blew, as two young men were standing and facing each other in front of Kuoh Academy. One with dark silver hair had sharp gazes and confident smirk on his face, while the one with brown hair had calm, impassive expression while his gazes were as sharp as the other. The two maintained their positions for few minutes and another wind blew between them, until the one with brown hair finally took a step forward towards the other man before him.
The Hakuryuukou, Vali's smirk widened ever so slightly in anticipation as he was looking forward of what his supposed-to-be rival was about to do, only for the said rival to nod his head when he was right beside him.
"Well then, have a good day."
Hyoudou Issei simply sent his goodbye and walked passed him. Vali's smirk disappeared immediately as his eyes were twitching at the unexpected development. Issei suddenly felt someone was placing a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Vali was grabbing the said shoulder with a scowl on his face. At the contact, Issei only raised his eyebrows.
"Err… Is there something else you need?"
Vali's eyes twitched again at the casual question. "Yes. Don't you have anything more to say when you finally met your destined rival or something?" the Hakuryuukou asked as calmly as he could.
Issei rolled his eyes around, scratched his cheek, looked around and ran his hand through his hair until he finally looked at Vali again with an answer.
"Well, not really. I just know that we're supposed to fight each other one day, right?" Issei said casually before his eyebrows furrowing. "Wait, don't tell me that you want to fight here and now…"
Vali's smirk returned a bit to his face. "That's the point. What if I begin to do something like…"
Whatever Vali was about to say was interrupted by the sound of steel ringing around. At the time Issei and Vali heard the sound, the latter found two pieces of enchanted steel were pressed against his neck, courtesy of Yuuto's holy-demonic sword and Xenovia's Durandal. The two knights were standing at Vali's both side with their respective swords and their glares pointed at the Hakuryuukou.
"I don't know what you plan to do, but don't you think your joke has already gone too far?"
"I can't let you start your rival showdown with the Sekiryuutei here, Hakuryuukou."
Both of the knights spoke successively with their swords kept pointing on the target. However, the said target did not even move from his spot as he simply removed his hand from Issei's shoulder and addressed the knights calmly.
"I would stop if I were you. Your hands are shaking, after all."
Indeed, as the host of Vanishing Dragon said, Yuuto and Xenovia's hands were shaking. While grasping the holy demonic sword and holy sword that could be considered tremendous tightly, their expressions were stiffening.
Issei, who was aware of the depth of current situation and the expressions of his friends, simply held out a hand in calming manner.
"Kiba, Xenovia, it's fine… Just put them down, 'kay?" Issei said calmly, but the knights were still hesitant of what to do.
"It's fine to boast." Vali chided. "Not knowing the difference between your opponent's strength is strong evidence. Between you and me, there is a decisive difference in power. You who couldn't win against the likes of Kokabiel won't be able to win against me", he said to the knights.
Issei was also well aware that Vali was strong. The former did not feel any hostility from the latter's body, yet the latter's aura was pouring out and filled with confidence and power to back it up. While a fight in the beginning of the day was the last thing Issei wanted, in the end he prepared himself for the worst to happen. Once again Issei tried to address his comrades.
"Guys… Really, I'll be fine."
Few seconds later, Yuuto and Xenovia lowered their swords, but they did not dismiss their weapons as they moved to Issei's side.
"Hakuryuukou, what's the meaning of this?" Suddenly a new voice came out.
Issei and Vali turned their sights towards Rias Gremory who had arrived at the scene as well along with Asia, Akeno and Koneko in tow. While the bishop looked troubled and nervous, the other two were ready to engage in combat.
Rias addressed the Hakuryuukou while maintaining her regal expression. "You who have ties with Azazel and fallen angels, to make more contact with my servants than required is-!"
Before Rias could have finished, Vali interrupted back. "Relax. I didn't come here to pick a fight. My only aim now is to see the place I visited before and my rival here."
Then Vali turned to Issei again. "Tell me, Hyoudou Issei. What rank do you think your strength is in this world?"
Issei only darted his eyes around as he thought for a second before he replied. "Hmm… Don't know, don't care." He said with a shrug.
Then Vali only snorted before continued on. "Given your heritage as the son of that-"
"Wait, stop." Issei interrupted with his hand holding up. "Hold up a sec…" he then took out his cell-phone and his eyes took a look at the screen before he addressed his rival again.
"Look. I'm sorry, but it's almost time for class and we can't afford ourselves to be late. So whatever you want to say, can you sum it up in one short and simple sentence of 10 words or less?"
The others only sweat-dropped at what Issei said, save for Vali who had his eyes twitching for a couple of times, his fists were clenched as his body was slightly trembling and he mustered all of his power to calm himself. For some reason, such reply from the Sekiryuutei was not that unexpected.
Finally, Vali only took another deep breath before he spoke again. "You are really… Whatever, I will take my leave now", the man said with a sigh as he turned his heels around and looked towards Rias. His face was showing that his mood had been completely ruined.
"Rias Gremory, you should put more effort in raising him. And I'll see you again, Hyoudou Issei…" Vali finished after he sent one last look towards the Sekiryuutei.
After Vali finally vanished from sight, everyone else slumped in relief. Actually the tension had been diminished greatly after Issei's interruption. Issei himself remained cool as he turned and proceeded towards the school building.
"Well… Let's go, everyone." Issei said casually to his friends.
The others blinked first before they finally joined him while having their respective amused reactions. Asia was only sighing in relief as she was the first to quickly catch up with Issei, while the others either snorted, or chuckled at the exchange between two hosts of heavenly dragons.
"I'm so glad that you're fine, Ise-san…." Asia said as Issei only smiled back and pat her head gently.
"My, my… What a way to chase the Hakuryuukou away… You never ceased to make a scene, Ise-kun…" Akeno chipped in as well, while Yuuto and Koneko only nodded in agreement.
"Good grief… Really, what should I do about you, Ise?" Rias commented as she shook her head.
Issei only laughed sheepishly at the comments.
"(Sigh)… Saitama-dono really passed that one to you, Hyoudou Issei", Xenovia chipped in after a sigh, as she walked slightly behind Issei.
"Ah, Xenovia. Can you stop being so formal? We're already comrades, after all… So just call me by my first name." Issei replied.
"Well then, Ise. I have a favour to ask you." Xenovia said as she closing in and leaned her head towards Issei's ears. Issei's eyes widened ever so slightly as the girl was whispering something, but he nodded nonetheless.
X
Earlier, Xenovia whispered to Issei that she wanted to talk to Issei for a minute before the class started. She promised that it would not take long so Issei decided to hear her out as he and Xenovia were alone at the empty lot besides the school building.
"Okay, I don't want to be rude, but class is about to start soon. What is it, Xenovia?"
Xenovia closed her eyes for a second before she looked straight into the boy's eyes.
"I will go straight to the point. Ise, will you make children with me?" Xenovia said with a straight face.
Silence fell between the two as Issei's face remained impassive. Then, he blinked once, twice and his eyebrows furrowed when he tilted his head to the side.
"…What?" was the only thing Issei could say in reply.
"Like I said, I'd like to make a child with you, since I'm a devil now, Rias-buchou said that I can fulfil my dreams, as she said that devils possess greed, fulfil greed, award greed, and desire greed after all…"
Issei stared right to Xenovia's eyes, hoping that he could find any sign of joking or anything that he could use to refuse Xenovia's request. But unfortunately, he found nothing. Xenovia herself did not appear to finish talking.
"Having children is a woman's happiness, which I have thrown away when I became an exorcist. But now… I'm free, and I'm free to wish to have strong children. Seeing you to possess a dragon aura and being descendant of a man on Saitama-dono's calibre, I'm sure that-"
"Xenovia!" Issei ended up rising up his voice.
Fortunately, Xenovia somewhat understand his implication. "Ah… Forgive me. Give me a moment to sum up my story in a 10-words sentence…" Xenovia said as she put her hand on her chin with thinking expression.
"No, no… That's not the point. You already have, actually." Issei shook his head. "Are you aware of what you're asking?"
"I am", Xenovia replied, unwavering. "My wish now that I've become a devil is to give birth to a strong child. And you don't need to worry, when the time comes, I'll be the one to take care of the child." Xenovia said, pumping her chest with her fist.
Issei's mouth only gaped wordlessly as he was gobsmacked by Xenovia's reasoning.
"I heard that devils are still suffering low child-birth. So I don't think it would be that easy for us to make a baby… So, I'd say if we were to have intercourse everyday, we probably will make it by the end of our high-school year…"
Finally, Issei could not take it anymore and decide to interrupt.
"Okay, okay, okay. I got it, Xenovia…" Issei said as the girl stopped and looked at him expectantly. "But this is just wrong in more ways than one."
Xenovia's face was that of disappointment. Her eyes were downcast as if she was hurt. "Why…? Do you find me not attractive?"
At Xenovia's look, Issei felt really bad of himself. He racked his brain to find an acceptable answer before the class started.
"No, no! You're attractive and I mean it! But-" Issei replied first before sighing. "I mean, I don't want to… 'make babies' with you while there's nothing really happening between us… We're comrades, yes. But that's exactly why I can't just do it with you…" Issei tried to explain.
Xenovia did not reply as she mulled over Issei's explanation. Then she looked to Issei again. "Then Ise… That means I just have to pursue you first, right?" Xenovia said with her straight face.
"H-huh? Well… That sounds about it…" Issei replied while the boy did not like where the things would lead up to.
"I see. With buchou and Asia around you, it would be a difficult path for me, but I won't give up yet." Xenovia said with new-found resolve.
"A-anyway", Issei finally wanted to end the conversation immediately. "The teacher will be in the class any second now. Let's hurry!" Issei said as he started to dash to the building, followed by Xenovia.
"Ah! Wait for me!"
(Scene Break)
Issei and Xenovia managed to land on their seats right when the teacher came into the class. Currently the homeroom had ended and the class went to a small chatter when the teacher had left.
"(Sigh)… Soon our parents will come over to watch our progress in classroom…" Matsuda said as he plopped down to his desk.
Asia was talking with Kiryuu and some of the girls while Issei only sighed in exasperation as he was waiting for the moment where his parents would come to school.
"Say, Ise." Motohama asked. "Is your mom gonna come again?" the boy with glasses asked in expectation.
Issei only shot a dry look at his friend. His mother had come to the school visit last year, and during that year almost all of the boys were ogling at her due to her youthful looks. "Yeah…" Issei replied. "She and my dad will come-!" Issei immediately realized his blunder as he clamped his mouth shut. Of course however, it had been too late.
"Wait, did you say your dad will come as well?" Motohama closed in, as well as Matsuda. "Has your dad finally come home?"
Issei wished that he could go back in time and punched himself in the face. Few droplets of cold sweats were rolling down his face as he stared at his two friends who were peering over him. Seeing that there was no more point to lie, Issei only sighed in defeat.
"…Yeah, he's home now. He's also gonna come here together with my mom."
Kiryuu and Asia, who were sitting not far away, overheard the boys' conversation.
"Ho? What was that I heard? Hyoudou's dad is coming home?" the girl with glasses asked with a glint in her eyes before she turned to Asia. "Hey, hey, Asia… Is it true that Hyoudou's dad is coming here?"
"Yes, Ise-san's father had come home for quite some time now." The blonde replied.
"Hee…" Kiryuu sneered mischievously. "I'm looking forward to see what Hyoudou's dad look like…" Matsuda and Motohama only nodded in agreement with smirks on their faces.
Issei could only swallowed a lump from wariness.
Meanwhile, parents were starting to flood inside the academy, fathers and mothers were walking side by side to see their children's progress in the classroom. However, one particular pair caught their eyes. Students and parents alike who attended the school visit during the previous year recognized the woman with brown locks.
"Hey, that's Hyoudou's mother, isn't it?"
"Uwaah… She still looks young as ever…"
"I wonder how she looks after her skin…"
However, more murmurs were heard when people's eyes landed on the bald man whose arm was being hugged by the woman in topic. Haruka was clinging on her husband's arm with happy expression on her face. Both of them were wearing formal attire for the school visit, with Saitama's tie was loosened, since the man felt that the accessory was suffocating him. Let alone the tie, the bald man did not like the idea of wearing a suit in the first place. But in the end, he simply chose to behave himself and suck it up for the rest of the day.
"Say, who's that guy? Is that her husband?"
"Eh? Doesn't that mean he's Hyoudou's father? They don't look related at all…"
"Look at how shiny his head is…"
"But I thought Hyoudou's dad ran away from home?"
"I heard that Hyoudou's parents had a divorce…"
"I thought he died…"
"Maybe she had moved on and married him? I mean, look at how close they are…"
Some others agreed on that. "Yeah… They look like newly-weds… No, more like love-sick man and woman who just became a couple recently?"
Under his poker face, Saitama's heightened sense was able to hear all the gossips and rumours that were flying around him and his wife, and he felt so awkward about it. But he could not say anything in defence, since this was his first time to attend his own son's school visit after disappear for fifteen years. Haruka on the other hand, either she heard the murmurs or not, she simply smiled happily as she kept hugging her husband's arm as they were walking towards their son's designated classroom.
X
The classroom began with English subject… Without English lesson. The teacher said something about wanting to try something different due to parents were visiting the school, so instead of English lesson, the students were given PVC clays and were told to make anything they desire. The parents were standing at the back of the classroom, watching their children.
"Asia-chan! Keep going!"
From the parent's corner, Haruka was shouting cheerfully with Saitama holding a video camera beside her. Asia turned back, smiled to the parents and happily returned to her task.
"Look, look, dear! Isn't she so cute?" Haruka tugging Saitama's sleeves as Saitama simply replied with 'yes, yes' while kept recording with the video camera.
While feeling relieved that his parents were not focusing on him, Issei also glad that Asia could experience having family cheering for her. The girl had lived too long in solitude under the church's care and definitely appreciated some normalcy with normal family. Well, normal is no longer a correct term for Hyoudou household.
Meanwhile, the students took a glance every once in a while at the bald man who stuck out like a sore thumb among their parents. Matsuda, Motohama and Kiryuu were blanched at the sight of Saitama.
"The one who's standing beside Haruka-san… That's Hyoudou's dad?" Kiryuu sweat-dropped.
"Whoa, they don't look related at all…" Motohama thought.
"His head is even smoother than mine…" Matsuda commented as he stared at Saitama's head.
However, that moment of silence was broken when suddenly a familiar voice was heard from Saitama's jacket.
"RIAS GREMORY-SAMA'S VIRGINITY BELONGS TO ME! RIAS GREMORY-SAMA'S VIRGINITY BELONGS TO ME!"
Every head turned towards Saitama who were slightly surprised as he quickly rummaged inside his jacket and took out his cell-phone that was letting out the voice.
"Dear! I thought you have turned off your phone!" Haruka chastised her husband.
"Right, right…" Saitama quickly punched few buttons and he addressed everyone with his usual plain face. "Um… Sorry about that, everyone." He said while rubbing his nodding head.
Xenovia was looking with surprised expression at Saitama before she recognised the recorded voice and turned to the owner of the said voice.
Asia was blushing as she let out a whine when she heard of Issei's 'proclamation', while Issei himself was frozen at the voice, before he robotically turned his head towards his parents with horror on his face.
The rest of the student put their various incredulous expressions as they also looked at Saitama.
"Did that voice just…!?"
"R-Rias onee-sama!?"
"H-h-her virginity was claimed by someone?!"
"Why did that voice come out from him!? Isn't he Hyoudou's dad?"
"But come to think of it, that voice belongs to…"
Then everyone's heads turned to Issei, whose face was deathly pale, sweating bullets, his eyes were widened, and his mouth was gaping like a fish.
(Scene Break)
"…What?"
That was the only thing that Rias could say when she met with Asia, Issei and his parents during the lunch break. When the heiress, accompanied by her queen, came out from her class towards the second year classrooms, all students were giving Issei glares of death, hatred, and damnation while sending her looks of sadness, anguish and pity before they ran away sobbing to themselves.
Here she was, in the hallway, standing with Akeno trying her best not to laugh as she doubled over holding her side with one hand and the other covering her mouth, and her body was shaking from supressing a laugh. Rias eyes were twitching while her face was blushing from embarrassment when she got a hold of what happened in her bishop and pawn's class.
Speaking of the bishop and pawn, the former was trying her best to comfort the latter, who was burying his face in his hands. And gloomy aura was surrounding his head.
Xenovia herself was not with them, saying that she would join some of the girls, as well as trying to prevent them to storm towards Issei and the others with numerous questions.
Saitama himself felt rather guilty as his wife was standing beside him. Haruka's expression was displeased.
"Seriously, dear… I told you should've turned off your cell!" Although she was displeased for a wrong reason, Haruka said that as she was smacking Saitama around.
"Hey, (smack) stop, (smack) stop it! (Smack) Alright, alright! (Smack) I get it!" Saitama said feeling annoyed by his wife's smacking. "Geez, your hands like getting harder day by day…"
"Um, mother… I think you got the wrong point here. " Rias calmly retorted the Hyoudou matriarch, then her expression changed when she turned to Saitama. "You just used that stupid recording as your ringtone?"
"Well… There's an explanation for that…" Saitama scratched his cheek.
"You just used that recording as your ringtone!" Rias pressed on.
"O-okay, okay! I've deleted that recording, see?" Saitama tried to placate the angry girl by showing his cell-phone.
Convinced enough, Rias released a tired sigh as she turned to Issei.
"It's alright, Ise." Rias tried to comfort her pawn. "You did nothing wrong, after all." Rias finished as she sent one last glare towards Saitama.
Issei brought his hands down, revealing his face with dead-fish eyes. He released a tired sigh as he said, "I'm so sorry about this, buchou…" with his aura remained gloomy.
Saitama felt that at least he needed to say something to Issei. "Um, Ise…" He stretched out his hand towards his son.
"Hmph!" Only for Issei himself to turn his face away from Saitama and let out a loud huff scornfully.
Saitama only sighed as he lowered his arm. "It's no use, huh…" The man thought in resignation.
He then glanced to Rias. "Rias-chan, where's your brother and father? Didn't they come as well?"
Rias glanced towards Saitama rather begrudgingly, but answered nonetheless. "Onii-sama and my father want to look around the school first before joining me again."
"Ah, Ise-kun and everyone." Suddenly a new voice was heard and everyone turned their heads to see Yuuto was approaching them. "I saw everyone was in an uproar along the way here, what's going on?"
At the knight's question, Issei only sighed again as he held up one hand. "Kiba…" he said as he tried desperately to forget what happened in his class earlier, even only for a moment. "Please, don't ask… Just… don't ask."
"…Okay…?"
Yuuto hesitantly replied. The knight glanced towards the others who pretty much gestured the same thing as Issei earlier, with Saitama only turned away with guilty look on his face.
"Oh, actually… There's another thing going on in the gym building."
At least there was something that could serve as a distraction. As everyone turned to look at Yuuto with curiosity, the knight explained that there was a magical girl photography event being held. At the explanation, everyone else, safe for Saitama and Haruka who wanted to take another quick look around, immediately started their trip towards the gym.
X
"What in the…?"
Flashes and snapping sounds kept going off as a crowd of people were using their cameras to photograph something on the stage inside the gym building. That something is a beautiful girl with long, black hair tied into twin tails and violet eyes. Her body was like a child, yet her breasts were big enough to be considered as an adult. She appeared to wear a costume of an anime character. Issei honestly could not remember the name since he thought it was too long, but he clearly remembered that the character was from the magical girl anime he watched with Morisawa and Mil-tan.
Rias on the other hand, gasped as she was clearly surprised at the sight while Akeno and Yuuto only smiled knowingly giggled in amusement. Issei and Asia only wondered who the cosplayer was.
"Hey, hey! Disperse, disperse! Today's the day for displaying classes to the public! Don't make a ruckus at this kind of place!"
A familiar voice boomed out as the owner of the said voice stepped forward and the crowd reluctantly obeyed and walked out from the building. After confirming that there was no more people with camera on hand, Saji, the pawn of Sona Sitri as well as student council secretary proceed to address the girl in costume.
"You too, please don't wear that kind of costume." Then something else clicked on Saji's mind. "Wait, could you be a parent, perhaps? Even if that's the case, you know there's a dress code according to the place." Saji scratched his head. "This is troublesome..."
Despite Saji's warning, the girl in costume pressed on as she put on another cute pose. "Eh…? But this is my uniform…"
Saji started to feel frustrated as he grounded his teeth, then as soon as he noticed Rias' presence along with her peerage, he nodded his head in greeting. "Oh, Rias-senpai. I just finished guiding Maou-sama and your father around the school."
Then another person, followed by two men with red hair entered the building. "Saji, haven't I told you to settle things concisely…" Sona said in reprimanding tone but soon stopped speaking when she got the sight of the girl in costume, the said girl in costume also immediately leaped towards the student council president when their eyes met.
"Sona-chan! Found you~"
Issei, Asia and Saji could not help but blanched at the sight of the student council president being hugged by a cosplayer.
"Um, buchou…" Issei asked his master while his eyes kept staring at the sight before him. "Does Sona-kaichou know this person?"
Before Rias replied to Issei, Sirzechs who came in together with Sona called out to the cosplayer. "Ah, Serafall… Glad that you came here as well…"
"Sirzechs-chan~!" the girl called as Serafall returned the greeting by waving her 'magical wand', which she had brought all along.
"It's Leviathan-sama." Rias finally answered her pawn. "Serafall Leviathan-sama, one of the Four Great Satan as well as Sona's elder sister."
Issei blinked once at the answer, then blinked again, then his eyes widened as his jaw dropped. "So it's another friggin' Maou!?"
Whatever Issei expected the Leviathan to be, it was definitely not a beautiful girl who was willing to put on a cute cosplay while doing cute poses. Rias finally stepped forward to greet the devil king.
"Serafall-sama, it's been a while." Rias bowed politely.
Serafall herself turned to the red head and replied in a rather laid-back manner. "Oh my, Rias-chan~ It's been a long time~ Have you been doing well?"
Rias was somewhat troubled at the cute tone the Leviathan used towards her, but she kept her posture. "Y-Yes. Thanks to you. Did you come today for Sona's class visit?"
"Yeah! That's really mean of you and Sona-chan! How could you keep this from us? If it's not for Sirzechs-chan here I would've been devastated for missing the day and attack the Heaven out of grief~!"
Issei could not help but flinched. As much as interesting it sounded to see the Leviathan launching an attack towards Heaven, Issei was more afraid of what kind of damage would be done if such thing ever occurred. But then, Rias' command snapped him back to reality.
"Ise, go greet her." At her command, Issei shook his head slightly and stepped forward.
"How do you do. I'm Hyoudou Issei, Rias Gremory-sama's pawn. It's a pleasure to meet you, Leviathan-sama." Issei said introducing himself flawlessly.
Serafall's eyes widened for a second when she heard Issei's surname. "Ooh…? So you are his son…"
Everyone, safe for Sirzechs and the older man behind him, raised their eyebrows when they noticed that for a second, Serafall's tone was definitely not cheerful like earlier. However, that cheerfulness immediately returned.
"Well, nice to meet you too~ I'm Serafall Leviathan, please call me Levi-tan~" Serafall said as she turned sideways and made a peace sign. "Hey, hey, Sirzechs-chan, is this boy the rumoured Dragon-kun?" She turned to Sirzechs.
"Yes, indeed the person in which the Welsh Dragon resides, the current Sekiryuutei, Hyoudou Issei-kun." The Lucifer replied without being offended a bit about how Serafall addressed him.
Finally, the man who came in together with Sirzechs and Sona made his presence known as he stepped forward. He was a middle-aged looking man with long crimson red hair that was tied as a loose ponytail with a black hairband. He had bright teal eyes just like his two children, Sirzechs and Rias Gremory. He also had a short and red beard or stubble and wore a casual white suit.
"Are you Hyoudou Issei-kun? I'm Rias' father, it's nice to meet you", the man addressed Issei, whom quickly straightened up again.
"Ah, yes. I am Hyoudou Issei, nice to meet you, too. Your daughter and my master has been taking care of me." The boy bowed politely.
Seemingly content with the boy's manner, Lord Gremory turned to Serafall. "By the way, Serafall-dono… That's quite a novel uniform you're wearing." The man said as he measured up Serafall's outfit. "While it's not bad, are you sure that it's fine for a Maou to wear such attire?"
"My, uncle Gremory, you don't know? This is the fashion of this country, you know?"
As Sirzechs, Serafall and Lord Gremory were conversing casually to each other, Issei felt…
"Seems surreal, doesn't it?"
Issei turned his head towards his master, who was smiling apologetically and as if reading Issei's thought from his gaze alone regarding the three individuals. "As much as I don't want to say this, but the Four Great Satans are really amenable during private times, even to a severe extent."
Issei only snorted as he smiled and looked back at the scene where Serafall was talking to Sona. The latter's face was beet red as her sister kept closing into her face. ""Sona-chan, what's wrong? Your face is completely red, you know?" Serafall asked with worried tone, but then she cheered up again. "Since it's the long awaited reunion with your onee-sama, me, I think it would be better if you were a bit more happy? 'Onee-sama!' 'So-tan!', calling like that and embracing each other in a yuri way, that sort of development is fine with me as well, Onee-chan!" Serafall said happily while gesturing with her body.
Issei could not help but sweat-drop at the Leviathan's attitude. Sona on the other hand, tried to compose her self as she took a deep breath before speaking. "O-Onee-sama… This is my school and I am entrusted with the job of the student council president here… No matter how close relatives we are, Onee-sama's behaviour is, too much… I can't approve of that sort of outfit." Sona said rather groggily as she appraised her sister's magical girl outfit.
Serafall's face turned to shocked expression like a baby whose candy was taken away. "Eh~ No way, Sona-chan! If I am told that by Sona-chan, your Onee-chan will be sad! Sona-chan doesn't know that her onee-chan is admired as the Magical girl! Since with the glittering stick, I erase angels and fallen angels~." Serafall brandished her 'magical wand'.
"Onee-sama, please be prudent!" Sona scolded her sister. "If my onee-sama, the Maou glitters, then this small country would be destroyed many times over!"
It was the main reason why Sona did not call for her elder sister during Kokabiel's siege on Kuoh Academy. If Serafall ever found out that Sona was in danger of Fallen Angels, it would not be surprising if the Leviathan were to declare another war. That was why Sirzechs Lucifer was the one to be summoned instead of Serafall Leviathan. Issei did not know anything since he was not present during the last briefing before the final battle with Kokabiel, but Issei could tell that the Leviathan was powerful enough to destroy the entire nation if she were to 'glitter'.
Finally, thanks to Serafall's antics and non-stopping pestering, Sona's state of mind had reached its limit. "Uuh… I can't take it anymore!" Sona's calm composure broke down as she cried out with teary eyes and she proceeded to run away from the gym.
"Ah, wait! Sona-chan-!"
Serafall's cry was stopped when Sona bumped into someone just when she was at the door's mouth. "Ah, I'm sorry!" Sona quickly apologized to the person she ran to, only for her eyes to widened in realization at the familiar face.
"Nah, it's my bad…" the owner of the voice who bumped Sona was a bald man with his wife beside him. His eyes blinked as he thought that the bespectacled girl was somewhat familiar, but he could not remember who it was.
"Well, well…" suddenly, Serafall's voice was heard, but what made everyone intrigued was the tone she used. "If it isn't Saitama-chan..." Despite the friendly way Serafall addressed the man, her tone was rather hostile and her smile was more like a sneer.
Saitama's eyes twitched ever so slightly when he recognised the Leviathan. "Geh, another pain in the ass shows up…"
Everyone in the room, safe for Sirzehcs and Lord Gremory, raised their eyebrows that the bald man was acquainted with another devil king. Issei in particular, only furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of his father, presumably still upset about earlier.
"…Onee-sama, do you know him?" Sona asked after she looked around between Serafall and Saitama.
"Yes, I do, Sona-chan." Serafall replied instantly. "Sona-chan, can you move away from him?" she asked her little sister with her smile (sneer) on her face.
Sona did not know what was going on, but she obeyed nonetheless and she stepped aside as Serafall made her way towards Saitama. The man himself only stared at Serafall and took quick glances toward everyone else in the gym. Sirzehcs, Lord Gremory, and Haruka simply watched with curious gaze.
"Yo…" Saitama nonchalantly greeted the Leviathan. "It's been a while…. Sera…"
"Can you not address me so casually?" Serafall retorted as she crossed her arms under her breasts. "Rather, you actually forgot my name, didn't you?" she asked with accusing glare as she pointed her 'magic wand' at the man.
"What? No, no, no, no." Saitama shook his head briefly. "Of course I remember your name, why would I forget your name? Of course I still remember." Saitama said as his eyes darted around.
"Hooh? If you say so, then what's my name?" Serafall asked with challenging look as she put one of her hands on her hips.
Saitama remained silent and calm for a minute. "Hmm….. Dammit, what was it again? Sera… Sera…. Serafoul? Seraphim?"
As a matter of fact, Saitama did forget the Leviathan's name as he flinched and his eyes looking around at the people, hoping for some sort of miracle to occur. Sona, Saji and Rias' group started to look curious as they also stared at Saitama, with Issei's stare was rather deadpanned, as if he had expected something.
"Well?" Serafall asked. "I'm waiting."
Being pressed on by the Leviathan, Saitama glanced at Sirzechs and Lord Gremory, with the former mouthed something to him. Saitama blinked at the motion, then he looked back to the devil king, who was doing her best to stay patient.
"Serafall…." Saitama tried to make his answer as firm as possible.
The Leviathan eyed him for a second, then she turned her head to see Sirzechs and Lord Gremory, who tried to look away with innocent expression. Serafall stared at her fellow devil king for a moment until she huffed. "Fine… I guess I'll let you off for now."
Sona was quite perplexed at her sister's sudden change of attitude. There were only handful amount of people who could aggravate the cheerful devil king this far. What kind of history did they share, was what running in Sona's mind. However, she soon remembered that she still had to do something else.
Then much to everyone's surprise, Serafall's cheerful attitude returned back with vengeance when she noticed the woman beside Saitama. "Oh, are you Saitama-chan's wife? Nice to meet you! I'm Serafall Leviathan, please call me Levi-tan!" the Leviathan bowed politely.
What was more surprising was Haruka did not seem bothered by it. "Fufufu, so cute and polite… Nice to meet you, Levi-tan… My name is Hyoudou Haruka. It seems that I have to apologize for the troubles my husband gave you in the past…" the woman said with the same polite bow.
"No, no~" Serafall denied. "Those troubles were also fun in its own way, so I'm totally fine with it." She said as she waved her hand. "Now, back to-!" Then her eyes widened as her little sister had vanished from her previous spot.
"Geez, Saitama-chan! Thanks to you, Sona-chan got away!" Serafall's complained with childish pout. Then she proceeded to give a chase. "I'll see you all later! You too, Haru-nyan!" Serafall said her farewells to the others before she started running off.
Saitama furrowed his eyebrows as he turned to his wife. "Did she just call you 'Haru-nyan'?"
"Fufufu, I don't mind at all. It's nice to have someone calling me like that once in a while…" Haruka replied with a slightly smug smile.
Then, Saitama and Haruka stepped inside to greet the others. "So, how's your day goin'?" Then he turned and nodded to Sirzechs and Lord Gremory. "Sirzechs, old man Gremory."
Issei was the one to interrupt first by lifting up his finger. "Wait, how did you…" Then he closed his eyes as he paused, then he held up both of his arms with look of resignation as he shook his head. "You know what? I'm not gonna ask. I don't care anymore."
The others only showed their respective amused reactions. But apparently, one person was quite curious. "Well… I kind of do, actually." All heads turned to Saji, who lifted up his hand. "If I may ask, Saitama-san… How did you know Leviathan-sama?" the student council secretary asked politely.
The student council secretary was well aware that Saitama was at least powerful enough to take on an invading legion of fallen angel army by himself during the battle with Kokabiel. He also had seen how the older man easily knocked out the Red Dragon Emperor, whom he deemed to be already strong enough, in just one hit. However, seeing the man to be acquainted with not one, but two devil kings out of the four, Saji could not help but want to know more, even just a little bit.
Yuuto also raised up his hand. "I'm also curious about that, if you don't mind."
After the two boys stated their enquiries, everybody had gotten curious as well. Saitama contemplated for a bit, he rubbed his head and finally came with an answer. "It's gonna be long if I told you here. But long story-short, Sirzechs there introduced her to me, we disagreed with each other and ended up destroying one small island around…" Saitama paused before he turned to the Lucifer. "Say, Sirzechs. Was it around Pacific or Atlantic?"
The Crimson Satan thought for a while before replying, "It's actually around Arctic Ocean, and it's not on the map."
Everyone including Saitama blinked at Sirzechs' answer. "Well, it's Arctic, then." The bald man simply corrected his story before.
Everyone, safe for Haruka, and especially Issei, were gobsmacked at Saitama's short story. "Eeeeehh!?" Saji was the one with the loudest reaction. "Y-you challenged Maou Leviathan-sama to a duel? Are you crazy!?" Saji yelled at Saitama.
"Geez, dear… You're not supposed to hit such a cute girl like Levi-tan!" Haruka chastised her husband as she smacked his arm.
"Um, ma'am? That's not the point, actually…" Saji retorted. He never imagined a human would ever challenge a devil king and survived to tell the tale after going through so much destruction. That being said if what Saitama had told was true.
"Look, I told you it's a long story. Besides, aren't you kids still have classes later after this?" Saitama decided to change the topic.
"R-right!" Saji finally remembered something. "I should go to kaichou to help her deal with Leviathan-sama. Excuse me then, Lucifer-sama, Lord Gremory, everyone." Saji bowed his head to everyone and quickly left the gym.
After Saji left, Saitama finally returned to address Rias' family. "Well then, Sirzechs, old-man Gremory. How's Rias-chan's class?"
And the day went on.
X
(RIAS GREMORY-SAMA'S VIRGINITY BELONGS TO ME! RIAS GREMORY-SAMA'S VIRGINITY BELONGS TO ME!)
"Ahahahahahahahaha!"
In Hyoudou's residence, the parents were sitting in the living room. Foods and drinks were served on the table, while the kids were sitting on the dining table, watching their respective parents looking at the video recording on the television. However, Issei, Rias and Asia were burying their faces in their hands again out of embarrassment, praying for the session of the night to end as quickly as possible, while the parents, safe for Grayfia and Saitama, were roaring in laughter. Even Rias mumbled something about being thrown into the lowest level of purgatory that she had never seen before.
When they returned home to watch the recording of their respective children together, Sirzechs and Lord Gremory had the audacity to ask Saitama and Haruka of why they were reluctant to show their recording of Issei and Asia. Much to Issei's chagrin, Saitama had the audacity to show the recording of that incident, saying that there was no point for lying. What made Issei even more baffled, was the fact that Sirzechs and Lord Gremory were far from being disturbed about the whole scene.
"…H-Hyoudou Issei-kun…" Lord Gremory called out after he calmed himself down from laughing.
Issei lifted his face up from his arms, only to see Lord Gremory and Sirzechs' smiling faces as both of them were giving him thumbs-up along with his parents in unison.
"Good job!"
"No, no, no!" Issei finally snapped as he fell on fours to the floor. "Please be upset with me! At least pretend to look like it! My conscience's feeling is already bad enough as it is!" Issei whined as comical tears started to flow from his eyes while the girls only whimpered with flushed faces.
The parents, safe for Grayfia and Saitama again, only replied with another laughter and giggles as they returned to the television. Saitama in fact, while he was sorry for the incident, he did not regret to safe Issei's 'proclamation' in his cell-phone. He made a mental note to ask for another recording from Sirzechs later.
Currently they were watching the video of Rias' class. Despite still having 'mental break-down', Issei could not help but think that the flustered Rias in front of camera to be cute in his eyes. "Please look! Our Ria-tan is raising her hand and answering the teacher's question!" Sirzechs pointed out in high tension, resulting Rias' face to blush even more than before.
"I can't take it anymore! Onii-sama, you idiot!" Rias finally snapped as she slammed the dining table as she stood up, then she proceeded to run away from the living room.
The parents only giggled at Rias' antics, noting her reactions as 'cute'. Grayfia only sighed and proceeded to smack her king's head with a paper-fan. Issei who was barely holding it, decided to chase after his master. "Uh… I'll go after her…" Issei said as he nodded to everyone in the living room before he left as well.
(Scene Break)
Issei found his master was sitting by hugging her knees in front of his room. Seeing that the floor was rather cold at night, Issei offered his hand. "Ojou-sama? Would you like to come to my room, instead?"
Rias nodded without any words and took her pawn's hand. The said pawn somewhat found his master as a normal girl instead of the master he had known thus far. When they entered the room, Issei guided his master to the bed and Rias immediately jumped on it and lied upside down. Issei simply took a seat at the edge of the bed beside his master.
After a moment of silence, Issei decided to break the ice. "It's good that our families are getting along with each other, isn't it?"
Rias did not reply, and Issei decided to keep the conversation going on. "I… I guess I have to apologize about my dad…"
Rias peeked from her pillow towards Issei, who simply gazing to the space before him. "I should've made sure that he deleted that recording…" the pawn turned to his master with sheepish look as he scratched his cheek.
"It's alright Ise…" Finally Rias replied. "I told you it's not your fault. And I also think that it's good that our families get along with each other…" She finally got up from her lying position and sat up beside her pawn.
"Say Ise…" Rias started another topic, her pawn only hummed with tilted head. "Are you happy to have met me? Because I am." Rias continued. "After many things we have gone through together, I just found myself can't live without you, you know?"
Issei blinked at Rias' question, then without hesitation he smiled. "Of course I am." His reply resulted Rias to look at him expectantly. "I'm happy to have met you, along with the others from the club."
Rias was somewhat slightly peeved at her pawn's words, but Issei continued on. "Those days I spent with you and the others was very fun, and I'd love to have those days keep going on…" Then his eyes went resolute. "That's why I'll be stronger so I can protect those days… Protecting you as well…"
Seeing her pawn's resolute face, Rias simply raised her arms and wrapped them around Issei's neck. Then she slowly shortened their face's distance until their lips met each other. Issei's eyes went wide for a second, but as if through instinct, Issei closed his eyes and returned the kiss as the two remained at their position for few seconds.
When their lips parted away, both of their faces were flustered. And without knowing why, Issei suddenly leaned in and initiated another kiss. This time, the kiss was much deeper, Issei's hand was caressing Rias' cheek and the other was on her waist, pulling her closer, as the boy took in every sensation of the girl's scent, taste and everything into his memory. Rias herself moved her hands from Issei's neck to the back of his head, and she used her tongue to access Issei's mouth, which the boy granted, and both of them starting to hungrily, yet slowly explore each other's mouth with their tongues as soft moans and groans started to escape their lips. Issei's hand also started moving between Rias cheek to her waist, shoulder, and back to her cheek again as things started to heat up between them.
Their lips finally parted again and the two were panting to regain more air to breath and both of them were sweating. Issei was, for the lack of better word, feeling strange. He knew that his master was a beautiful and charming girl who he swore his loyalty to. When she comforted him after fiasco with rogue fallen angels, his admiration for her only increased by folds. During fiasco with Phenex clan, as well as the battle with Kokabiel, the idea of having her fighting alone and got hurt worried him like anybody's business. And that one particular night when Rias gave him her first kiss, Issei had thought that his master was more beautiful than usual.
However, at this moment, perhaps it was because of the atmosphere or because of the kiss, Issei found Rias Gremory to be even more beautiful than he had ever imagined. The two remained staring at each other's eyes for a moment, and when they were about to close their distance again, suddenly they caught something, or rather, someone within their line of sight and they turned their heads toward the door. When their eyes recognized two male figures standing at the doorstep, both of them froze as Saitama and Sirzechs were leaning against the doorframe and looking at them with surprised and amused expression.
After staring at the two frozen teenagers, Sirzechs and Saitama looked to each other and began speaking in succession.
"Um… Well, it seems…" Sirzechs said awkwardly, his arms gesturing towards Issei and Rias.
"Yeah, I know." Saitama also replied with the same awkward tone. "Uh… Should we like…?"
"Yeah… Yeah, we should. Let's give them like… 20 minutes, perhaps?"
"….Nah, let's give them 30. The night is still young, after all." Then Saitama turned towards the teens again. "Well, kids… Sorry to interrupt. Carry on…" Saitama said as he was going to close the door.
"Wait! Wait!" Issei shouted out with blushing face as he shot up from the bed with his hand stretched out. Rias herself was hiding under the blankets with steam coming out from her head. "Well… I-I-I'm sorry, but this is… You know… What I mean is…"
Then Saitama interrupted with both of his hands held up in understanding. "It's okay, it's okay. Just calm down, kid…" Saitama said with soft tone. "We're completely understand, you two are in that age, after all. Righ, Sirzechs?" Saitama turned to Sirzechs, who only nodded in agreement. "Look, just enjoy yourself, take your time, we'll come back later." Then Saitama thought up for a moment before resuming. "Actually, you know what? Give me a second, I'll get you guys some condoms from my room." Saitama prepared himself to leave.
"I told you it's not like that!" Issei yelled again in desperation, this time Rias also joined in as she shot out from her hiding spot. "Y-yes! W-w-we're just…" Rias said stuttering as her eyes were darting around left and right.
Finally Sirzechs stepped in as he giggled. "Alright, alright, you two… We're just pulling your legs here…" the Satan said in calming manner.
"We are?" Saitama blinked to Sirzechs. After receiving odd looks from everyone else, Saitama quickly recomposed himself. "I mean, of course we are! We're just kidding here." Saitama said with his poker face. Then, after another moment had passed, Saitama patted Sirzechs' shoulder. "Well then, I'll leave the rest to you." Saitama said awkwardly before he left the scene.
Sirzechs only chuckled at the entire spectacle before he returned to address his sister and her pawn. "I'm not going to judge how you two spend time together, but keep it between yourselves, okay?" Both Rias and Issei only nodded furiously.
"Right." Sirzechs nodded in content. "Moving on… Rias, can we talk about your other bishop?"
X
Next day after school, after Issei had spent the day by receiving hateful glares from male and female classmates alike, the Occult Research Club was gathering in front of the door that was wrapped by yellow tape with writings 'keep out' all over. That day, after talking with Sirzehcs, Rias finally was going to introduce her other bishop to the new members: Issei, Asia and Xenovia. Apparently, the other bishop was a mystery club member for a long time. He existed before Issei became a devil, but due to various circumstances, Rias had to keep him hidden in the old school building. According to the conversation, it appeared that the bishop's ability was regarded as dangerous, and because Rias was not able to completely control him with her own powers, the bishop was ordered to be sealed by the higher-ups.
Hearing the story made Issei curious to see what kind of bishop and the power he possesses to be treated in such a way. Sirzechs explained last night that Rias might be strong enough to control the bishop this time, so all higher-ups including the Four Great Satan had agreed to release him.
"The boy is over here." Rias gestured towards the sealed door. "All day, that bishop lives here. For the time being, his powers are loosened deep in the night, and if it's just in the old building, he can exit the room, but the kid inside refuses to do that." Rias finished with somewhat solemn tone.
Then, Rias knocked the door, extended her arm and began to tamper with the magic-imbued sealing tape. From her explanation Issei deduced that the bishop was something like a hikikomori (shut-in). After the magic within the tape had seemingly been removed, Yuuto and Akeno started to help their master to remove the sealing itself.
"Oh, by the way…" Akeno said out of the blue as she worked to remove the sealing tape. "The boy here has actually earned the most contracts among us servants." The queen informed, resulting Issei, Asia and Xenovia's eyes to widen. As if knowing the confusion behind her three junior's expression, Akeno explained further. "Through a computer, the kid takes special contracts from humans. Frankly, it's a person who doesn't want to meet us. Those types of people negotiate in a different way, and make relations differently. They solve things through the computer. In the dealings through computers, amongst the new devil servants, this kid grabs enough numbers like those of a superior rank."
Issei, Asia and Xenovia only gave out silent praises as their expressions were that of astonishment. "A cyber devil…. That actually sounds pretty cool…" Issei thought.
"Alright, I'm opening the door…" Rias said after the final seal had been removed from the door. And when the girl opened the door, an outrageously high scream was emitted from inside the dark room.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
While Issei, Asia and Xenovia were taken by surprise from the scream, Rias and Akeno on the other hand, only sighed as the two great ladies entered the room. "Good day to you. It's nice to see you all energetic."
"W-W-Whyyyyyyyy?" the high-pitched voice from inside the room replied. Issei suspected the voice to be belonged to a middle-schooler, but despite his master hinted that the bishop is a boy, the voice was rather girly in Issei's ears.
"My, my, the seal got removed, you know? You are able to go out now. Let's all go out together, shall we?" Akeno persuaded with gentle voice. However, her persuasion was shot down again by the same high-pitched scream.
"Noooooooooooooooooo! This place is gooooooooooood! I don't want to go outside! I don't want to meet peopleeeeeee!"
Issei could not help but sweat-drop at the rejection. "Damn, that's one hell of serious case of shut-in we have here…" Issei thought as he sent glances to Asia and Xenovia, who also had confused looks on their faces. On the other hand, Yuuto and Koneko seemed to understand the situation as well, as the knight only smiled bitterly and Koneko let out a sigh.
Having his curious got the best of him, Issei finally took a step forward, peeked in, and walked inside to take a better look around the room. The curtains were tightly shut close, making the light rather dim. The room was decorated in an unexpectedly cute manner, making it like a girl's room. Stuffed dolls were present here and there as well. What Issei raised his eyebrows, was a coffin that was placed in one corner of the room. The boy approached further, following Rias and Akeno who had got into the deeper interior of the room. When Issei got a better look around, he finally saw a cute girl with noble looks, golden hair and pinkish-violet eyes who looked like a doll. The girl was sitting down on the floor, with a pose that looked as if wanting to escape from Rias and Akeno as her body was trembling.
"A girl foreigner?" Issei voiced his thoughts. For some reason Issei found a similar trait between this new girl and Asia. Was it the blonde hair and foreign traits? Issei did not really care about it.
Hearing her pawn's question, Rias turned her head to him with sheepish smile. "Appearance-wise, this kid looks like a girl but without a doubt he is a boy."
Issei blinked at his master's input, then he turned towards the aforementioned 'boy' and looked more intently. To be honest, Issei thought that the kid's appearance was too cute to be a boy. Not to mention, how the room was decorated only reinforce the girly vibe from the child.
"He has a hobby of dressing in female clothes." Akeno said another information to Issei. Issei's mind then clicked as he took in the child's appearance again. A cross-dresser was not unheard of, but Issei still found it hard to believe such a cute child to be a boy.
Decided to confirm his two senior's information, Issei approached the child and kneeled down to eyes level in front of the said bishop. When the androgynous looking child found Issei was peering on him, his eyes widened in fear and his body trembled even more. "Oooohh… I see now. Now that you mentioned it, he does have Adam's Apple on his neck." Issei said in recognition.
However, the now confirmed boy had reached his mental limit as he let out a loud yelp as he covered his head in fear. "Eeeeeeeeeeek! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for being a guuuuuy!"
His sudden outburst and apology took Issei by surprise again. "Whoa, whoa! Relax, we're not gonna do anything to you!" Issei stepped back and held up his hands in peace.
"Gya-kun has always been like that, Ise-senpai…" Koneko said as she also entered the room.
"Including wearing a girl's clothes on daily basis?" Issei asked back, and the rook only nodded. "Okay… Why are you wearing girl's clothes in the first place?" Issei turned back to the cross-dresser.
"B-B-B-Because girl's clothes are super cute…." The kid replied timidly. Issei only blinked at the simple answer.
"Okay…" Issei rolled his eyes and turned to his master. "Buchou, perhaps we can move on to introduction, now?"
Rias blinked at nodded. "Right." Then she cleared her throat. "Gasper, these are new servants who came while you were here. The pawn, Hyoudou Issei; The knight, Xenovia; and like you, the Bishop, Asia." Rias gestured towards her new servants, and the others who were mentioned gave the boy, who was known as Gasper, their respective pleasantries and greetings. "And everyone, this boy is Gasper Vladi. He's my bishop. For the time being, he's Kuou Academy's 1st year. Also, before being reincarnated he was half human, half vampire."
"Eeeeek, the members increased by a lot!" the boy yelped again. Issei was not sure if the reply was either out of surprise or fear, which was kind of rude to him. However, the boy was interested about the fact that Gasper is a human-vampire hybrid. Rather, it was the first time for Issei to see a real-life vampire.
"A vampire…?" It seemed that Asia was a bit startled about Gasper's nature. Xenovia had encountered vampires in the past, but it was the first time for her to see a hybrid as she only hummed in curiosity.
Rias then kneeled down to Gasper's level, and spoke in gentle tone. "Gasper, please… Can we go out? Okay? It's all right for you not to be sealed any more, you know?"
However, Gasper only let out another cry. "Noooooooo! For me the outside world is impossibleeeeeeee! I am scared! I am scared of the outside! In any case, even if I go outside it would only cause trouble for otherssssss!"
Issei only scoffed as he blinked at Gasper's another outburst. "Okay… Something must be done about this." Issei considered the weight of the situation. Time for some tough love. "Come on, kid. Buchou told you to go outside-" Issei then grabbed Gasper's arms in attempt to pull him away.
"Eeeeeek!" along with the scream, Issei suddenly found that Gasper was no longer in front of him, but instead the bishop was already shaking at another corner of the room.
"What in the…?" Issei felt incredulous. "A high-speed movement? No… If that's the case, I should've sensed something when he broke away from my grip…" Issei thought. Asia and Xenovia were also thinking about the same thing regarding the mysterious phenomenon, but the others only letting out sighs as if they knew what actually happened.
"Don't get angry! Don't get angry! Please don't hit meeeeeeeee!" Gasper shouted out again. Now Issei got confused even more.
Akeno noticed the confusion, and she explained. "That kid possesses a sacred gear that when he's excited, the time of everything in his field of vision can be stopped for a fixed interval of time."
Issei looked at Akeno with shocked eyes, then turned to look at Gasper again. "So he just stopped the time earlier and ran away to that corner?"
"Because he can't control his sacred gear, by the orders of the Archduke and Sirzechs Lucifer-sama, he was sealed." Akeno explained further. Issei understood now, the reason why Gasper was sealed. The power to stop time was definitely no-joke.
"Then…" Issei moved on to his next question. "What Sacred Gear is it? Is it on par with a Longinus like my Boosted Gear?"
Rias shook her head. "Apparently, from what I heard, while it has such fearsome ability, it's not a Longinus. That's just how powerful Longinus class are." Rias concluded. "Gasper's Sacred Gear is known as Forbidden Balor View."
"Huh… To be able to stop time… Its power is a rule-breaker like my Boosted Gear… and perhaps Vanishing Dragon's Divine Dividing as well…" Issei commented. "However… Thinking back that he's your bishop, buchou… How did you reincarnate such a powerful servant with one bishop piece?" Issei asked to Rias.
"It's a mutation piece." Yuuto fed in the information.
"Mutation? Like mine?" Issei raised his eyebrows.
"Well, unlike your case where your regular pieces mutated by themselves, I, along with other high-class devils was given one random mutation piece for creating our own peerage. I possessed a mutation bishop from the start, and I used it on Gasper." Rias explained before her expression went solemn again. "But the problem here is Gasper's ability…"
"…What do you mean?"
"He possess a rare ability and it seems his Sacred Gear's power increases when he's unconscious. Maybe because of that, every day his power is increasing…." Then Rias' face turned serious. "From the previous conversation we can say, in the future, there's a possibility he may attain balance breaker."
Issei also gave a contemplative look. "Someone who can't control his time-stopping ability, and his power was going to reach its peak… This is troubling, indeed…"
"It's a critical situation, Ise…" Rias commented. "However, because my evaluation was accepted, it seems I was judged that I may be able to control Gasper now by the people that evaluated me. Perhaps it was because Ise and Yuuto, who are a part of my peerage, have attained Balance Breaker."
Issei shrugged, conceded with his master's point. Gasper's issue had to be addressed sooner or later, after all.
"…Uh, e-e-even though I don't want you to talk about me…..." Gasper's timid voice was heard from a big cardboard box. It seemed that the shut-in bishop had taken refugee in there. As Issei kicked it lightly on a whim, another shout was heard from it. "Eeeeeeeek!" Issei only sighed at the weigh of the issue about Gasper.
"Judging by ability, maybe he would be next after Akeno." Rias analysed. "Even though I say half vampire, he's from a pure-blooded vampire family with a good lineage, and has a powerful Sacred Gear because of his human half. He's well endowed with the abilities of vampires, and he excels in human magic wielded by wizards as well. If not so, then he probably wouldn't have been made a bishop with just one evil piece." Issei only nodded in agreement.
"I just want to make sure…" Issei raised another question, "I heard that vampires are weak against the sun. Is he gonna be fine?"
"He may dislike it, but given his status as a Dhamphir, he has an ability known as Day walker which can move in the day, so there's no problem." Rias nodded at the question.
When Issei nodded at the thought that the vampire would have a chance to experience daily life, another cry was heard from inside cardboard box. "No! I am fine inside this cardboard box! The air and light of the outside are a natural enemy to meeeee! Please let me remain a boy who lives in a cardboard boooooox!"
Issei only ran a hand through his face. It appeared to him that Gasper's case of being a shut-in was much more severe than he thought. "Oh, one more thing." Issei remembered something. "What about blood? He's a vampire, so does he need to drink some?"
"Since he's a half vampire, he doesn't thirst for blood as often. If you supply the blood for him once every 10 days then there's no problem. Though it seems he originally didn't like drinking blood." Rias explained.
As if to confirm Rias' answer, another scream was heard. "I hate blooooood! I hate fish tooooooo! I hate liver as welllllll!"
Again, Issei was blown away by the severity of Gasper's issue as he face-palmed. No, scratch issue, it was a crisis, and a terrible one.
"…A good-for-nothing vampire." Koneko expectedly spoke those words with no mercy, resulting another whine and cry from Gasper.
"This is gonna be a long day…" Issei thought in his mind.
(Scene Break)
Per Rias's request, since she, Akeno and Yuuto had to go for final arrangement of the meeting between leaders of Three Factions, as well as to inform more details to Sirzechs about Yuuto's holy-demonic sword, Issei and the others were entrusted to train Gasper and to cure his shut-in problem.
Long story short, from the afternoon until evening, Gasper was forced to run around while being chased by the Durandal-wielding Xenovia, as well as being bullied by Koneko who was forcing garlic onto him, with Xenovia reasoned that healthy spirit start from healthy bodies. On the yard nearby the old school building, Issei and Asia were currently watching from side lines as Gasper was still running away from Xenovia and Koneko, the knight was still holding Durandal while Koneko was still holding the garlic in her hand.
"Nooooooo! Koneko-chan is bullying meeeeeee! And please stop chasing me while swinging the Durandaaaaaaal!" Gasper cried as he ran for his dear life. While his two chasers kept running after him with expressions that hinted they were enjoying the poor boy.
While Issei was still not sure what to make out of the situation, Asia was rather sad and regretful regarding Gasper. Prior the meeting with Gasper, Asia had been ecstatic about meeting her fellow bishop, and when she found that the fellow bishop was a human hater in a way, she could not do anything about it. As they were watching the training, or rather, one-sided curb - stomping, a voice interrupted them.
"Hoo…. They're really at it." Issei and Asia turned to see Saji Genshirou approached them.
"'Sup, Saji?" Issei greeted back, followed with Asia giving a nod.
"Yo, Hyoudou." Saji waved his hand. "I heard that there was a shut-in servant whose ban had been lifted, so I wanna take a look."
"Well, he's over there." Issei pointed at the 'vampire hunt'. "The one's being chased by Xenovia. That's our bishop."
"Xenovia-san, huh…" Saji saw the female knight swinging her holy sword around. "Whoa, she's really swinging that Durandal heartily. Isn't that kind of bad? Wait a minute…" Saji got a better look on Gasper. "It's a girl! A cute blonde-haired girl!" Saji seemed so happy at the prospect of meeting another pretty girl.
"Sorry about this, bub…" Issei only sighed as he told Saji the bitter truth. "But that's a guy you're ogling at." Saji only gave a blank look with quick 'Eh?' and Issei continued. "That's a guy cross–dressing as a girl."
And Saji immediately dropped on his fours as he felt dejected and heart-broken. When looking at the boy again, Issei noticed that Saji was wearing a jersey, his arms were covered with army cotton gloves while there was also a small shovel for flower bed.
"Say Saji…" Issei asked, returning Saji from his stupor. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, it's orders from kaichou since a week ago…" Saji regained his bearing. "I have to maintain the flower bed. Since Maou-sama and other important figures are going to come here, it's the duty of us Student Council to make the school look beautiful and presentable." He finished with his chest puffed and proud look on his face.
Issei and Asia could not help but smile at that. However, Issei suddenly sensed a presence was watching over them. He scouted the surroundings for a second before he took a step forward. "Wait here, guys…"
"Ise-san?"
"Hyoudou?"
Issei did not turn back to Asia and Saji as he kept walking towards Gasper, Xenovia and Koneko who also stopped their vampire hu… I mean, training.
"What is it, Ise?"
"Ise-senpai?"
Issei went to Koneko. "Sorry, Koneko-chan. Can you give me that garlic?" Issei asked as his eyes were looking at a certain direction. Koneko blinked, but she gave the garlic without a word.
"Hup!"
After tossing the garlic lightly on his hand, Issei then threw the garlic like throwing a ball towards the mass of leaf on a nearby tree with a speed comparable with a bullet.
WHOOSH!
THUD! *ZA-ZA BRUGH!
The sound of garlic hitting its intended target behind the bushes followed with the sound of something, or rather, someone fell from the tree and that someone let out a small whine. "Ouch…."
Everyone was immediately on their edge when they saw a man clad in a green yukata, with golden bangs on his hair and a goatee. Xenovia readied her holy sword at the newcomer, Gasper squeaked and hid behind a tree, Koneko assumed fighting stance, and Asia quickly ran to hide behind Issei's back, while Saji readied his own Sacred Gear.
"Dammit, Sekiryuutei..." Azazel said rubbing his head as he slowly stood up. "Did you just throw that garlic at me? Didn't your parents teach you not to waste food?"
Everyone sweat-dropped at the fact that Issei just threw a garlic of all things at the governor of fallen angels. Koneko inwardly agreed about the wasting food part. Issei only shrugged at Azazel's complains as he addressed the fallen angel back. "And didn't your parents teach you not to spy on people, Azazel?"
"Touche." Azazel shot back with wry smile.
"Hy-Hyoudou, by Azazel you mean-!" Saji stuttered from fear when he heard the name.
"Yeah, the governor of Grigori and the rest of fallen angels. He's also one of my regular clients." Issei said as he introduced Azazel to everyone. Seeing Azazel's bitter smile, the pawn did not feel any bloodlust or bad intent, but he chose to keep his guard up for good measure.
"Relax, you low-class devils…" Azazel said calmly. "With exception of that Sekiryuutei, you bunch of kids should have known that you wouldn't win against me, right? I don't plan to fight here anyway, so… Can you lot thaw your postures? I just came for a visit and to see the holy-demonic sword wielder…"
Nobody relaxed, especially when they heard that Azazel wanted to see one of their comrades. They just could not bring themselves to trust the fallen.
"Sorry to inform you, but Kiba's not here." Issei replied with the same manner as Azazel. "So can you just go and bug my old man, instead?"
"Already did." Azazel said before sighing. "Well, this is boring if the holy-demonic user isn't present…" Azazel then moved to approach the devils and he saw that everyone still tensed. "Seriously, kiddos… Even though you weren't able to win against Kokabiel, there's no way you can win against me." Then Azazel turned to Gasper. "Anyway, the vampire over there!"
Gasper let out a panicked yelped before Azazel went on. "You're the possessor of the Forbidden Balor View, right? If you can't use it properly, then it will become a thing that causes harm to others. As a support type Sacred Gear, if you can supplement the deficient aspects, it should be fine but….. Now that I mention it, the research of sacred gears by devils didn't progress much. If you invoke it via the 5 senses, if the sacred gear's owner's capacity is insufficient then, it will move naturally, and it will be extremely dangerous." Azazel said as he peered into Gasper's face, or rather, his eyes. And then, with a face of interest, Azazel then turned towards Saji, who also shocked and flinched at the fallen angel governor.
"Is that Absorption Line? If you're practising, try using it. Connect it to this vampire, if he invokes it while you're absorbing the sacred gear's excess, it would probably run less wildly."
Saji only showed a complex reaction and he looked at his Sacred Gear. "M-My Sacred Gear, it can suck the power of the opponents Sacred Gear as well? I thought it simply absorbs the opponents power and weakens them….."
Azazel only looked rather exasperated at Saji's obliviousness. "You see, it's because of this, that recently the sacred gear owners don't try to know the power of their sacred gears well enough. The Absorption Line holds the power of one of the legendary five dragon kings, the Prison dragon, Vritra. Well, this was found out thanks to recent research. That thing can connect to any object, and can scatter that power. If it's a short time, it's possible to separate the line from the owner's side, and connect it to some other person or object."
"The-, then, the line on my side…. For example, I can connect it to Hyoudou or some other person? And then the power will flow into Hyoudou?"
"Yeah, if you grow, the number of the lines will also increase…" Azazel confirmed with a nod. "If you do that, the output of absorption will increase many times as well."
"As expected of someone who is engrossed in Sacred Gear research…" Issei thought after he learned something new about Vritra Sacred Gear.
"There's a faster way to improve the vampire's Sacred Gear, you know…" Azazel said with a gleam on his eyes. "By letting him drinking the blood of the host of the Sekiryuutei. Vampires gain power through blood consumption. The better quality of the blood, the more power they will gain."
Issei blinked at the suggestion, but considering Gasper's earlier declaration about his dislikes towards blood, that idea was shot down.
"Well, do the rest yourselves." Azazel said turning away. However, he stopped on his track and looked back. "Ah, one more thing. I'm sorry about Vali, the Hakuryuukou for making contact with you on his own accord." Azazel then snickered. "And when he returned to me, he seemed rather pissed-off. What did you do to him, Issei-kun?"
At Azazel's question, everyone, safe for Saji and Gasper, sweat-dropped inwardly as they recalled the meeting between two hosts the Heavenly Dragons. Issei himself only rolled his eyes before he shrugged in indifference. "Dunno. He just came to greet us then he left." Then Issei asked another question. "What about you, though? Won't you apologise for coming in contact with me repeatedly without informing me about your identity?"
"…Well, that's my hobby, so I won't apologise." Azazel showed a mischievous smile as he finally left the place.
Everyone slowly relaxed after Azazel's presence had completely gone. Then Saji sighed and moved first. "Well, shall we continue then?" Saji proposed. "For now, I'll use my Sacred Gear on that newbie over there. In that state, let's try using his sacred gear and practice. In exchange for that, next time, I will have you help me out with the flower bed."
Everyone nodded at Saji's suggestion, and the training went on until night.
X
That night, Issei, Rias and Asia returned back to their home. It was late, and when the three came inside the house, Saitama, clad in pyjamas, was found sitting in the living room watching late night television shows.
"Ah, welcome back." Saitama said from the couch.
Issei only looked around before turned to his father again. "Where's mom?"
"Already asleep. I'm here to make sure you kids got home alright." Saitama raised from his seat and turned off the television.
The kids proceeded to the bedroom and sent their goodnights (still except Issei) to Saitama. "Oh, another thing." Saitama stopped the kids before going to bed. "I heard you're releasing Gya-chan. How's he doing?"
It took a second for everyone to figure out who Saitama was implying. Not bothering to ask how the man knew about Gasper's case, Rias answered with bitter smile. "There's still quite a lot to work on." Then she and her pawn and bishop left, leaving Saitama only nodded and entered his own room.
X
Next day after school, the Occult Research Club was going to start their club activities again, as well as to continue with Gasper's training. What awaited them when they opened the door to Gasper's chamber was the sight of the shy bishop, sitting in front of television with a game console, playing an RPG game. However, what surprised them was the bald man who was sitting beside him.
"Alright, Saitama-san…. We had use your last life, so make it count this time, okay?" while there was a timid tone in Gasper's voice, he spoke more confidently compared the other day.
"Okay, okay…" Saitama breathed out as he was engrossed into the game he was playing. "Damn, this boss was really hard! What kind of twisted soul made this game!?"
The rest of Occult Research Club only remained silent with blank expression as they watched the two playing game together.
"Noooo! Wait, wait, waaaaiit!" now Gasper's voice was devoid of any fear. "The boss' HP isn't low enough!" Even the supposedly shy bishop was standing and fearlessly shaking Saitama's body. After few more minutes, the bishop burst out, "There! Mow them down!"
"ORAH!" Saitama cried out as he started to push combinations of buttons on the controller stick.
The screen flashed out 'LEVEL COMPLETE' then both Saitama and Gasper shouted out from their seats. "WOOHOO!" Saitama even gave Gasper a high-five with both hands as they both danced a bit and cried victory cheers.
Now things had become really weird for the spectators as some eyes were twitching in shock and disbelief.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"
To be continued…