Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hyoudou Issei felt tears fall onto his tablet as he worked on the piece of art that held all his love, faith, and devotion to his oshi.

Kiryu Coco.

Her graduation was still fresh in his mind as her final stream ended just hours ago. The feelings it brought motivated him to send her off with his best art yet!

Her final karaoke stream echoed throughout his room and served as background noise as he drew on his tablet.

Memories flashed as he gave it his all.

When he watched her debut on that cold December day nearly two years ago. She was his first VTuber and was the one who dragged him into such a wondrous world.

Thanks to her he started taking his English lessons much more seriously.

Then her 3d model debut. He remembered fondly as bountiful oppai was had that day.

Then there was… her suspension. Those three weeks was torture.

He had wanted to give her a welcome-back gift… but he had no money. So he turned to art… and he was surprisingly really good at it. She even liked his art on Twitter! So he kept at it finding he enjoyed it a lot. He loved drawing oppai and many people enjoyed his art! He truly met his people.

Then she announced her hiatus. He was devastated and took comfort from the other members of Hololive and his horizons opened up. Kaichou would always be his oshi and the closest to his heart… even if Senchou was a close second. She was one of his people after all.

Gura was in the running as well despite her lack of oppai, she was a very cute shark after all. He also remembered Matsuda smugly declaring he was coming around to the pettan side. The fool! He loved all oppai big or small!

Then Kaichou returned and he was overjoyed.

For Christmas, he got a drawing tablet as a gift from his parents since they were happy he found something he was so passionate about. His art only evolved once he had access to digital art.

Then he got his first request and learned he could make money from his art.

He could finally send a superchat to his oshi!

He dived into commissions like a man thirsting for water.

He then shed tears of joy as she read his first supa and said she was proud he got into his dream school.

The next few months were a wondrous time… but it wouldn’t last. She announced her graduation and it came crashing down.

…But he would heed her words, he would laugh till the very end!

He snapped out of his trance as he put on the final touch with a flourish.

He sniffled loudly and a flood of tears spilled forth as he looked on at his art.

Kaichou's smiling visage as she said goodbye one final time.

It was a masterpiece… It was so beautiful that he could barely believe that he had created it with his own hands.

It would be sacrilegious to say it was a simple piece of art. He made it with all the love and devotion he could elevating it to that of religious iconography!

He felt it would be the greatest send-off he could muster.

"Goodbye… Coco," he said softly into the dark room.

Something within burst free and he felt arms wrap gently around him. A familiar voice whispered, "Goodbye… motherfucker."

It was gone as quickly as it arrived… but for that moment he felt her comfort him and so Issei cried out, "Kaichou!!!"

After sobbing for a few minutes he wipes his face of snot and tears and uploads his art to the usual places. Within seconds he sees a sea of comments pop up showing he is not alone in the way he feels.

Hearts, tears, salutes, and many 'goodbye motherfuckers' speed by.

His heart filled with warmth as the comments poured in.

With a small smile, Issei wipes his eyes of tears once more. Not tears of sadness but of comradery. With every beat of his heart, he can feel their shared faith and devotion swelling.

With a lighter heart, he shut off his computer and headed to bed. His eyes shut close as he hugged his Coco daki. He then mumbled as he slipped into blissful sleep, "Good night… Kaichou."

That night he dreamt of flying through the skies while riding atop a dragon.

A.N. Alright this is a stupid idea I came up with that may be the result of playing too much Holocure. First of all, this is an AU with two major changes and a couple of minor ones that will be brought up later. The first is pretty obvious I’m moving the year in which canon starts so Hololive is a thing and the second,

I’m changing Issei’s Sacred Gear.

It is one of my own creations… and well I feel it honestly fits him better than the Boosted Gear.

Just take a look for yourselves.

Faith Caller - The user can summon echoes of powers, items, and figures from myths, legends, and religions by tapping into their personal faith and the faith they inspire in others.

Normally this Sacred Gear works best with priests given they are faithful and inspire others to be faithful… but well Issei is going to Issei. So instead of his abilities and summons being tied to a religion Issei’s are tied to… VTubers.

Chapter Text

“Good Morning Motherfuckers! Good Morning Motherfuckers! Good Morning Motherfuckers!…”

Issei reluctantly turned off his alarm clock after a minute or so. He wanted to hear her voice… just a little.

He then stared up at his ceiling with half-open eyes as the events of yesterday were still fresh in his mind. He felt fresh tears well up knowing that from today onward there would be no more Kaichou. He turned to his side and stared at his Coco Daki and his heart ached… but he still felt that warmth born of comradery swaddle him like a blanket. It blunted his sorrow and was probably the only reason he managed to drag himself out of bed.

He sat on the edge of his bed, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He then slapped his face. The stinging pain shocked him awake, “Alright! Let's get the day started!”

He made his bed, tucked in his Daki after giving it one last tight hug, and got cleaned up for the day.

After his shower, he walked downstairs and let out a yawn. He supposed he did get to bed rather late last night. He rubbed his eyes as he entered the kitchen.

“Hey Issei… did you sleep alright?” asked his dad.

He yawned, “As well as I could.”

His mom placed a plate of food on the table and said, “I know it can be rough Issei. Your father and I were rather down in the dumps when one of our favorite idols graduated when we were your younger.”

His dad's face then scrunched up and he sobbed, “Miharu!”

His mom wiped a stray tear, “We still haven’t got over it if I’m being honest. So if you want to stay home today you can.”

He felt tempted… very tempted.

…But that isn’t what Kaichou would want.

He gave his mom a small smile, “I’ll be fine mom.”

She hugged him, “You're a strong boy Issei. Now eat up.”

He ate his breakfast slowly as his parents hummed a song together, “So see ya! Wave your hand softly. See ya, See ya.” they then hugged as they sang the next part, “No, don’t cry. Ah, because we’ll always be able to look back and see our friends there.”

Seeing his parents like that… made him hopeful. Even after so many years, they kept that love for their oshi in their hearts.

He finished his breakfast and got ready for school. He still felt a bit sleepy so he went to grab a can of coffee from the fridge. He stuck his hand into the back and went to grab one of the cans.

He didn’t notice a can spring into existence with a flurry of golden light.

“Got it!” he said as he grasped a can.

He didn’t even have a chance to look at it as his mom spoke up, “Issei you are going to be late.”

“Okay! Bye!” he said as he grabbed his bag and put on his shoes.

“Have a good day son!” shouted his dad from the kitchen.

His mom waved him off, “I’ll have dinner ready when you get home!”

“See you later!”

He then dashed out of the house and headed to school. He opened his can of coffee, chugged it, tossed it in a nearby trashcan, and promptly shivered as the caffeine hit him.

He muttered, “Woah that’s a strong coffee.”

He shook off the jitters and all but sprinted to school as strong coffee worked its way through his system.

He made good time and actually got to school a bit early. He decided to bum around a bit scrolling through his Twitter while he waited for his friends to get there. He nearly cried five times from all the Coco posts while he waited.

He put his phone away as Matsuda and Motohama rolled up.

Matsuda looked relatively normal. Motohama on the other hand had puffy eyes under his glasses.

Issei placed a hand on his fellow Tatsunoko’s shoulder, “Motohama. I understand your pain.”

His friend sniffled, “Issei, it hurts.”

Issei clenched his eyes as tears threatened to fall, “I know.”

Matsuda said solemnly as his hand rested on Motohama’s other shoulder, “I do not wish that pain on anyone.”

Motohama said as he rubbed his eyes, “For a Pettan-loving Fandead you’re pretty alright.”

Matsuda grinned, “And for an Oppai-loving Tatsunoko you're not so bad yourself!”

Issei smiled, “All oppai is good oppai guys.”

His two friends nodded in agreement.

That was when the first bell rang.

“Time to get to class then,” muttered Issei.

The three of them walked the halls and he noticed that puffy eyes and red noses were rather common. Kaichou truly touched many people.

His first few classes went as usual but when he got to art class… It was quite the sight.

The normally quiet and kind Toba Sensei looked… horrible.

Her hair and outfit were a mess. Her rounded glasses were dirty and askew. They also did little to hide her puffy eyes that spoke of hours of crying. She also carried the faint scent of alcohol. Which explained why she was cradling her head in her hands as she was probably nursing a hangover.

It was quite a shock to see her like that and after everyone filtered into the room the class sat silently not sure of what to do with their teacher in such a state.

Toba Sensei looked up and mumbled, “It’s a free period today. Do what you want and you can grab whatever material you want. Just don’t waste it.”

Her head then slammed onto her desk.

The class then broke into their friend groups and began talking.

Issei sat alone as he doodled in his sketchbook. As he drew yet another Kaichou he heard Toba Sensei humming a familiar song.

Baka Mitai.

So he was right, Toba Sensei was a fellow Tatsunoko.

He knew what he had to do.

He grabbed a lump of clay and got to work. Like last night he channeled his love and devotion as he worked the clay. He hummed along with his depressed teacher.

His hands moved like they were possessed.

The body came first. He made sure the oppai were the best they could be. Next was the hair, then the clothes, and finally the accessories.

He rolled out the clay tools and took a deep breath. He felt it bubbling within him. That faith everyone had in Kaichou. He pulled on it and it filled his being.

It reached its apex and exploded outward.

His eyes snapped open and his hands were a flurry as meticulous details were etched into the clay.

Rias froze as a wave of potent faith washed over her. She tensed instinctively… but from the lack of stinging pain, it meant it wasn’t of Abrahamic origin and she relaxed slightly.

She sent a look to Sona. Then with a shared nod, they agreed to investigate it as soon as class was over.

Issei broke from his trance and gazed at the small statue of Kiryu Coco.

It was perfect.

A small soft smile, a gentle wave goodbye, hair flowed in the non-existent wind, and most importantly (in his opinion) her oppai were bountiful.

He was so distracted he barely noticed the bell ring. The class quickly emptied as they headed to lunch and he was left alone with a groaning Toba Sensei.

He gently picked up the clay statue and walked over to her desk.

“Hey, Toba Sensei?”

She looked up and adjusted her glasses, “Yesh Issei?”

“I wanted to let you have this,” he then set the statue on her desk.

She then narrowed her eyes at the presented statue… and promptly cried out, “Kaichou!!”

She started sobbing and Issei nodded in solidarity.

After a minute she wiped away her tears and blew her nose. Toba Sensei then gave him a small smile, “Thank you Issei. It’s beautiful.”

Issei rubbed the back of his head bashfully, “Well I couldn’t leave a fellow Tatsunoko in such a state now, could I?”

She chuckled and flushed in embarrassment, “I suppose so. I- I really miss her."

Issei wiped away a stray tear, "Yeah me too Sensei."

She removed her glasses and said fondly, "Thank you Issei. I really mean it. Now head on to lunch.”

It looked like she was out of her funk now.

Good.

He smiled, “Sure thing Sensei!”

He washed up and left the classroom feeling his bond with his oshi deepen.

To help someone in need was what she would have wanted after all.

He would strive to follow the path of Kiryu. Both Coco’s and Kazuma’s.

Substory # 1 - A Teachers Sorrow [END]

Rias arrived at the epicenter of the wave of faith and watched as the rather disheveled art teacher walked out of the classroom. Despite her appearance, her stride was one of resolve.

Sona mumbled, “A teacher should never come to school looking like that.”

“Maybe she had a reason? I know she’s not the first I’ve seen today look a bit rough,” she replied.

She had a solid guess as to why a portion of the school was depressed. It involved the loss of a certain dragon.

“Well the others don’t smell of alcohol,” Sona grumbled.

That was a fair assessment she supposed.

She and Sona walked into the classroom and quickly zeroed in on the item brimming with faith… a small extremely well-made statue of Kiryu Coco.

She got a closer look at it and was amazed at the detail put into it. She kind of wanted one now.

The statue's presence also proved her little theory. Toba Sensei was a Tatsunoko.

Coco’s graduation must have really hit her hard. To lose your oshi is devastating.

She knew if she lost Sui-chan or Mousey she would probably lock herself in her room for a while.

She turned to Sona who stared at the statue with a bit of… recognition? Huh, she didn’t take her for someone to keep up with VTubers… especially given her sister’s antics.

Rias was pretty sure at least a third of Serafall’s content was talking about how much she loved Sona. The other two-thirds were gaming and karaoke.

… She may occasionally tune in as Serafall was pretty entertaining to watch. It was especially funny to hear her rants about supernatural diplomatic incidents. They were both interesting and informative to hear even if a majority of her audience excused them as her retelling what happened in a game she played.

Her karaoke streams were also a favorite of hers as Serafall had a wonderful singing voice.

But most of all she had the funniest feud with another VTuber that had a serious axe to grind with magical girls.

The fact she enjoyed watching her would probably make Sona tear her hair out.

Which is why she just made it a point not to bring up Serafall’s VTubing career around Sona.

Said girl furrowed her brow and muttered, “Who made this? It is absolutely brimming with faith. If I didn’t know any better I would assume it’s a religious icon.”

Sona had a point. The faith in this statue rivaled some of the examples of church artifacts her father had shown her so she could get an idea of what to avoid. Being in the presence of those stung quite a bit. In comparison this was rather pleasant to be around… is this what people normally feel with faith? She could get used to it if she was being honest.

…Although she would prefer if it was a statue of Suisei or Ironmouse, preferably both.

She wondered if they did commissions.

Rias placed her hands on her hips, “Well in the end it’s harmless. Maybe keep an eye out on who made it though.”

Sona sighed and gave her a look, “I’m assuming you want them?”

“If they are willing. But honestly, I’d probably just commission them for some statues,” she answered honestly. If they had potential she wouldn’t mind offering them a spot in her peerage but apart from that she would be content to commission a few statues. She already had potential places for them on her shelves.

Sona rolled her eyes, “More to add to your shrines?”

“They are not shrines,” she retorted suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. Her collection of merch wasn’t that bad.

“Rias, they are shrines. I’ve seen pictures of churches with less iconography in them,” deadpanned Sona.

Rias then huffed feeling even more embarrassed, “Well let's get going. We don’t want to be late for our next lunch now do we.”

Sona smiled, “Don’t think you can deflect the conversation Rias.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

They stopped their back and forth for a moment and then shared a laugh.

As they walked to their respective lunch spots Rias saw the art teacher walk past them… and she looked significantly better. A bit disheveled still but she no longer looked like a hungover wreck.

Rias smiled and playfully tapped Sona on the shoulder, “Looks like she pulled herself together.”

Sona huffed, “Well good. Still unprofessional… but I’m glad she feels better.”

Rias snickered, “You do care!”

Her friend flushed slightly and turned away, “Well they are people that have their own problems so I could give them a little slack.”

Rias just smiled at her friend's tsundere act. She was so cute at times!

They soon split with Sona heading to the Student council office and her to the ORC building.

She entered and saw Akeno eating her lunch already.

Her Queen gave her a raised eyebrow, “A bit late today Rias?”

She slid next to Akeno and grabbed a sandwich, “Well, I’m assuming you felt that little wave of faith earlier, right?”

Akeno sipped her tea and replied, “I did. It felt a bit odd but I assume it’s not an issue.”

Rias nodded as she took a bite of her sandwich. After she swallowed she replied, “Someone got a bit too into making something in art class today.”

“Oh, that’s quite the surprise. So what was it?”

“A statue of Kiryu Coco,” she still couldn’t forget the feeling of warmth that the statue gave out.

“Ah, I believe she was the reason you were in tears yesterday, right?”

She flustered a bit. She couldn’t deny she watched the stream and felt a bit emotional.

Akeno then hummed, “Hmm, to think that they held enough faith in her that they could make something like that is interesting.”

Rias nodded at that. Faith on that level was usually found only in the most devout and finding it outside of religion was a bit of an anomaly. An interesting anomaly.

Her queen narrowed her eyes, “I recognize that look Rias. You want them.”

Rias took a sip of tea, “Perhaps. But just like I told Sona I would be content to just commission them.”

Akeno then deadpanned, “Ah, yes your commissions. You're a regular renaissance Patron with how much money you throw around to artists.”

Rias turned up her nose and huffed, “I can do what I like with my money Akeno.”

Akeno giggled, “No need to get so defensive Rias.”

She stuck a teasing tongue out at her Queen who simply laughed at the childish sight.

The talk of her commissions did remind her to check one of her favorite artist's Twitter. They were a Tatsunoko so they probably posted something. She pulled out her phone, tapped on their profile, and promptly paused at the sight of their latest piece of art.

… It was beautiful.

Issei sneezed and had the feeling someone was talking about him.

Chapter Text

Issei rubbed his nose as he walked up the stairs to the school roof. His nose was still a bit itchy and he hoped he wasn't getting sick. Well, if he did he can just binge some VODs in bed till he gets over it.

He then opened the door and saw a common site. His friends are eating and bickering about something or another. Usually VTubers, anime, and the occasional degeneracy, at least at school. Their Discord is another matter entirely.

Motohama and Matsuda were arguing about the recent Disgaea Hololive collab DLC, specifically, their opinions on Rushia’s newly gained boing boing. Aika looked on amused, as per usual then.

They perked up once he arrived.

Matsuda greeted him with a simple, "Yo!"

Motohama adjusted his glasses and said, "Hello Issei."

Aika gave him a wave, ”Hey Issei."

As he walked over Motohama asked, “So why were you late Issei?”

He plopped down and replied, "I was just helping out Toba Sensei."

The three then cringed. Looks like they saw or heard about her.

“Did she really look as bad as they said?” asked Aika.

Issei nodded, “Yeah she was pretty rough. She should be better now though.”

her glasses glinted with mischief, “Oh~ what did you do to cheer her up?”

Issei knowing her thought process (they shared a similar wavelength after all) put up a hand to stop her preemptively. He didn’t want to hear her spout degenerate scenarios… right now that is. She usually inspired him to make some of his more cultured art but now wasn’t the time.

“I’m going to stop you right there Aika. I just wanted to cheer up a fellow Tatsunoko.”

“She was one of my people!?” shouted Motohama.

Aika, ignoring Motohama, rubbed her chin in understanding, “So that’s what it was. Most of the gossip is that she got dumped.”

Matsuda then asked, “So what did you do to cheer her up? Did you make her something?”

Issei smiled as he remembered his teacher's smile, “Yeah I made her a clay statue. She really liked it.”

Motohama perked up, “Oh, you made her one of those. It’s been a while since you made one.”

Issei opened up his bento and nodded, “Yeah it has. I’ve been focussing on finishing commissions to earn my share for our trip so I haven’t had time to sculpt,” he pulled out his chopsticks and pointed them at his friends, “That reminds me how are you guys doing on your end?”

Motohama adjusted his glasses, “I finished my own commission recently as well. I’ve also sold a few Hololive Fumos so I have my share.”

Matsuda nodded sagely, “You did some good work on that Aizawa Azusa cosplay. Made for some really good photos.”

Motohama smirked proudly, “Of course I did! My size scouter is perfect for making sure everything fits perfectly!”

Matsuda chuckled, “Yeah she was really happy about how it came out. She also like how the photo shoot went too. With that and my odd jobs, I earned more than enough for my share.”

They turned to Aika and she smirked, “I finished up one of my own commissions as well. I posted it last night actually.”

Issei narrowed his eyes as he lifted his food to his mouth, “Which one was it?”

There is no way she posted that one yesterday.

She gave him a sinister smile, “It was that Coco and futa Kanata fanfic that I commissioned art for.”

“You dare! On the day of Kaichou’s graduation!” shouted Motohama angrily.

“Aika… why?” asked Issei horrified.

She laughed proudly, “Hahahaha!” she gave them a smug look, “You should have seen how many people were raging in the thread. So many of them admitted they had a sad fap to it and it was Great!”

Motohama looked scandalized, “You monster… I’ll read it later.”

Issei and Matsuda then said at the same time, “Same/Same”

They quickly shared a look and Issei was just a bit faster in saying, “Jinx”

Matsuda raged to the heavens, “Ah, Dammit!” The baldy then clicked his tongue, “Tsk, I’ll get you a drink later.”

Issei smirked, “I’ll hold you to it. But anyway I’ll check it out later Aika.”

“Me too. I do enjoy me some Kanatan,” replied Matsuda.

The smut peddler smiled arrogantly, “Heh, one of these days I’ll make you read my more cultured fics.”

Issei shuddered as he remembered the times she tried to get him to do art for those fics.

The other guys cringed as they too were reminded of Aika’s fujo tendencies.

Aika rolled her eyes at their reaction, “But anyway I got my share.”

Issei ate some of his lunch and replied, “Good. I’ll just talk to my parents about getting everything sorted and we can have our trip.”

“The beach!” shouted Matsuda.

“The hot springs!” shouted Aika.

“The festivals!” shouted Motohama.

Issei smiled at his friend's antics and they spent the rest of lunch talking about their trip.

Issei stretched as he walked out of the school gates. That day wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.

He was feeling rather good actually. He had been feeling a bit fatigued the past few days but since this morning he’s felt pretty great.

Maybe he should go for a walk around town since he’s been cooped up doing commissions for the past month or so. Maybe pick up a few things too since he needed to stock his mini fridge as it was looking rather barren.

With that in mind, he headed downtown… after sending a message to his parents so they wouldn’t worry.

He found his walk was rather pleasant and it felt good to stretch his legs a bit after being glued to his desk drawing for the better part of the month.

During his walk, he contemplated whose VOD he would watch today… maybe Ina’s. He wanted to see her draw her new emotes.

Eventually, he arrived at the grocery store. He grabbed a few bags of chips, bottles of soda, and some candy. With his bounty now secured he walked out of the store.

Checking the time he realized how late it was getting and decided to cut through the alleyways to save some time.

He hummed as he walked briskly through the cool evening air. He then paused his steps as he heard some sounds nearby. With light steps, he walked closer to what sounded like a scuffle. He peered around the corner and froze as he saw two large men holding a woman at knifepoint.

They were mugging her… or at least he hoped they were mugging her. That would be preferable to the alternative.

He didn’t know what to do.

So he thought, what would Kaichou do?

She would of course do what Kiryu would do.

And what would Kiryu do?

He would help, simple as that.

So he did.

He threw his school bag as he yelled out, “Hey! Leave her alone!”

His bag hit the guy holding the knife in the head making him drop the weapon. The other guy turned to glare at him and unfortunately, the woman stood stock still in fear.

… He has to get her out of there.

One of the men yelled at him as he stomped over, “What do you think you are doing you punk!?”

Issei pushed down his fear and put on a shaky smile, “Just being a good citizen.”

“Well you're about to be a dead citizen!” The man raised a hand towards him and Issei tackled him… unfortunately Issei didn’t have that much weight to his attack and only caused the man to stumble back slightly.

Issei let out a grunt of pain as the man brought a hand down on his back knocking the air out of him.

Issei nearly collapsed… but held his ground as thoughts of Kiryu swirled in his mind. He then did the only thing he could.

Punch the guy in the balls.

Not the most honorable thing to do but he had little choice.

With a swift punch, the man promptly let out high pitched noise and fell to his knees. Issei then quickly ran over to the woman only to be stopped by the other man who grabbed his arm harshly.

The man glared at him, “You little shit!”

Issei simply yelled out, “Run!”

The man made a motion to grab her and Issei pulled him away. The woman then snapped out of her state and booked it.

Issei smiled as she was safe. His smile then swiftly left his face as he was thrown against a nearby wall.

“You fucker! You cost us big money letting that broad go!” yelled out the man furious.

Issei let out a pained laugh as the men walked up to him.

Well, he’s boned, and not in a good way.

And he was looking forward to watching Ina too.

That was when he felt his hand touch something metal.

As the man went to kick him Issei quickly grasped the metal object and slammed it into the man's leg.

The man roared in pain and fell to the ground. Issei stared at the crowbar in his hands and at the other man who brandished a knife.

Maybe he can get out of this he has the range advantage after all.

The man charged at him in a rage and Issei swung his crowbar wildly. He managed to land a blow to the guy's wrist knocking the knife away.

Issei taking advantage of the man's pained reaction brought his crowbar on the man's head with an oddly comical *Bonk*.

The man fell backward unconscious and Issei let out a heaving breath. The other man stirred and Issei did the sensible thing, he bonked him too.

With a shuddering breath, he dropped the crowbar, collected his things, and booked it home after making sure they were still breathing.

He didn’t notice the crowbar disappear into a flurry of golden lights.

Chapter Text

Issei took deep gulps of air as he rested against the wall of an alley. With every breath, he winced. His back and stomach hurt but he imagined that would have been peanuts in comparison to what those guys wanted to do.

He only avoided the worst outcome because he found that crowbar.

He slid down the wall as it fully hit him how bad the situation could have been.

He could have been killed.

He looked at his hands and found them shaking. He didn’t know if it was from the adrenaline leaving his system or because he was scared.

He breathed deeply and attempted to calm himself… and was only partially successful. The shaking subsided for the most part but he still trembled slightly.

He was still scared… but at the same time.

He helped someone.

He saved someone.

The trembling subsided completely as those thoughts bounced around his head.

He sniffled loudly and stood up.

He did a good thing and while it was scary… he wouldn’t take it back no matter what!

He felt an odd sense of approval as resolve bloomed in his heart.

He collected his things and headed home with a confident stride.

Issei entered his house and attempted to head up to his room.

Only to be stopped by his dad who was waiting in the living room.

He lifted his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes and said, “Issei, I’m glad you’re home,” his dad let out a yawn, “You’re mom left you a plate in the microwave. Now I’m off to bed. Goodnight son.”

Issei gave his dad a nervous smile as he groggily headed to his own room. He was glad he was too sleepy to notice his disheveled appearance but was still touched that he decided to stay up late to make sure he was okay.

After putting his slightly crushed snacks away Issei headed to the bath to get cleaned up. He looked at his now bruising torso and back. It wasn’t as bad as he thought but they will probably be a pain later. He got cleaned up and only winced a few times throughout his shower.

He left the bathroom feeling refreshed and then headed to the kitchen to have dinner. It looks like his mom made curry. He devoured it ravenously.

With a full belly, he headed up to his room and plopped himself in his computer chair. He eyed discord. He should probably tell his friends what happened.

It felt wrong leaving his parents in the dark… but he didn’t want to worry them needlessly.

His friends on the other hand… well those lovable jerks could take it.

He put on his headset and popped into the VC.

“Yo,” he said.

He received three greetings in return.

Matsuda gave him a simple, “Hey.”

He could hear Motohama’s sewing machine running as he said, “How are you doing Issei.”

In between her chip munching Aika said, “You’re late today. What's up?”

He wet his lips and leaned back in his chair, “So… I may have stopped either a mugging or a kidnapping.”

“What,” Matsuda simply replied.

The sewing machine stopped, “Are you joking.”

Aika made a choking sound, “Fuck wrong pipe.”

Her mic cut out for a moment and he could hear her chugging a drink.

“Okay I”m good now,” her tone then shifted into what he calls gossip mode, “Now Spill.”

He did so.

“I went for a walk today after school and after I bought some snacks I decided to cut through a few alleys since it was getting late.”

He paused for a moment as he heard Matsuda wince, “Bad idea man. Word on the street is a gang is attempting to set up shop so late night is a bad time to be out right now.”

“Well, that would have been handy to know beforehand Mr. Oddjobs. But given I spend almost all my time on the computer I had no idea.”

“Hey don’t get snippy with me! How was I supposed to know you were going for a walk? I’m the only one here who works out. I don’t expect you nerds to do anything remotely athletic!”

“Fair/Fair/Fair,” said three nerds responded.

He took a drink of water, “Where was I.”

“You were cutting through back alleys like a dumbass,” snarked Aika.

“Thank you, Aika. But anyway I heard a sound and turned the corner to see a lady getting held at knifepoint. I then did as Kiryu would do-”

Kiryu Aika interrupted him, “I would run away by the way.”

Issei rubbed his temples, “Not you Aika, I meant the Yakuza Kiryu.”

“I know,” she teased.

He made a grabbing motion at his monitor.

“I can tell you want to throttle me through the screen but continue,” she said as she loudly sipped her drink.

“So I tossed my bag at the guy with a knife. He dropped it and the other guy ran at me. I tackled him-”

He was once again interrupted by Aika, “Bet that didn’t go well. You are like maybe 50 kilos wet.”

Instead of getting mad, he laughed, “Yeah guy barely budged.”

He could feel her smile as she asked, “Feel better?”

That last bit of tension he felt faded, “Yeah. But the guy slams down on my back and I punch him in the balls.”

“Ah!”

“Oh!”

Cringed his fellow males.

“Nice,” responded the one female.

“So he’s down and I run to the girl since she’s frozen in place. Then the first guy grabs me. When he goes to grab the girl I pull him back and tell her to run. She does and the guy throws me into a pile of garbage.”

He takes another drink of water as he recalls grabbing the crowbar. Now that he thought about it he definitely doesn’t remember seeing it there before.

Well, it saved his butt. So magic crowbar it was.

“So when the guy goes to stomp on me I grab whatever I could and hit him on the leg. Turns out it was a crowbar. I stood up and the other guy came at me with a knife. I then precisely hit his wrist-”

“You just flailed around and got lucky didn’t you?” deadpanned Aika.

“SO! Anyway, I expertly knock his weapon away and bonk him on the head. He goes down and the other guy is standing up so I bonk him too.”

“What are you Gordon Freeman?” asked Matsuda.

“Well I was thinking about Ina so maybe she granted me the power of her bonkbar,” he joked.

He then felt a phantom pain on the top of his head. Did he hit his head back there?

Matsuda then said, “She truly is the most benevolent priestess of the Ancient Ones.”

He nods in agreement and suddenly felt the urge to have a cookie.

He shook his head, “So I ran away after that and here we are.”

Motohama then spoke up with a concerned tone, “Are you fine Issei? Did you get hurt?”

“Yeah, yeah I am. I mean I got a few bruises but I helped that lady out of a tight spot and don’t really regret it.”

Aika then chuckled, “Heh, sounding like a Hero of Justice over there.”

“Well, my hair didn’t turn ginger and I don’t have a sword fetish so I should be fine,” he snarked back.

She then laughed, “Hahaha, if anything your inner world would be full of VTubers!”

“Yeah…” he suddenly felt something shift inside him ever so slightly.

Matsuda then cut in, “Well you couldn’t be a hero with a scrawny body like that anyway.”

His eye twitched and the odd feeling was discarded, “Hey I’m not as bad as Aika and Motohama!”

“Hey!/Hey!”

Matsdua then laughed, “Oh, yeah those two are the worst. But that reminds me. Do you guys want to start joining me in my workouts? Get your beach bod ready and all that.”

“I’m perfectly fine as is,” huffed Aika.

“Not according to my latest Size Scouter reading you aren’t. In fact-”

“Okay, I’ll join! Just shut up!”

Issei just laughed and they spent the rest of the night planning their workout routine.

Issei yawned as he walked to school. He felt a bit sore but apart from that he felt fine. Oddly he still felt energized like he had a can of coffee. He just shrugged and continued his trek. Eventually, he saw the gate and as he approached a girl stepped in front of him.

She was Suna Sumiko if he remembered correctly.

The girl adjusted her glasses and asked, “Hyoudou Issei?”

“Yes?” what did a rich girl want with him?

Her glasses glinted in the sunlight, “Were you out in town last night?”

Confused he replied, “Yes?”

She then bowed, “Thank you very much for saving my cousin yesterday!”

Issei recoiled in surprise and suddenly felt many eyes on him.

She then continued speaking, “My cousin was going to be taken by those two ruffians yesterday until you saved her. When she described her savior I knew it had to be you. There are only a handful of boys that match your description in the school.”

She then raised her head and adjusted her glasses, “I have brought you a gift to show my thanks.”

He started to wave his hands erratically, “You don’t have to do that!”

Her glasses glinted again, seriously how polished were those things?

“Nonsense! My cousin is very dear to me. So I have to give you a gift. I know you are a VTuber fan. So I will gift you this,” she snapped her fingers and a team of butlers rolled over a cart that held a covered object.

He blinked in surprise at the scene as it was straight out of an anime.

She then pulled on the cover and revealed to him an object of beauty.

It was a stained glass window of Amane Kanata ascending into the heavens.

He fell to his knees in religious awe as the sunlight refracted a myriad of colors beautifully.

He could feel it.

The faith and devotion to Kanata sufficed every inch of the glass.

The warmth in his heart grew as his own faith in Kanata grew greater.

His tears flowed as he looked at the creator of such magnificent art, “You made such a beautiful piece of art Suna-san.”

She blushed furiously and covered it back up, “T-thank you. Now just give me your address and I’ll have it delivered and installed later.”

Issei wiped his face of tears, “Sure.”

Substory # 2 - Glassmakers Gratitude [END]

Issei felt like he would die. Either of embarrassment as he kept hearing whispers about his actions last night or from the torture Matsuda cooked up for them.

His friends didn’t help! Although Motohama and Aika couldn’t really tease him that much given they looked to be in worse shape than he did.

Matsuda the bastard looked perfectly fine.

Damn jock.

At least he knew what he was doing. He gave them a rough outline of their workout plans and gave them tips to maximize their gains as he said.

He just knew these next few weeks were going to be hell.

They thankfully finished their torture and headed home.

He stumbled into his house feeling like his limbs were jelly. He then shambled to the fridge and grabbed blindly into it. He was pretty sure he sent his mom a text to buy whatever post-workout drink Matsuda recommended. He felt an unusual bottle and pulled it out. It looked sporty so he downed it.

He smacked his lips and found it tasted… pretty good.

He also felt a bit better. Were they supposed to work that fast?

He shrugged and tossed it into the trash.

He never noticed it faded into motes of light.

The next few weeks went… pretty well actually. His gains were pretty good… maybe too good. He had been getting dirty looks from Motohama and Aika who still struggled with exercise. Matsuda had even pulled him to the side and jokingly asked him if he was taking anything and he vehemently denied it! He was just doing what he said and the only thing he did differently was using whatever drink his mom kept buying.

Matsuda got curious of course and Issei brought some for everyone the day after. Matsuda didn’t recognize the brand but seeing as he hadn’t been rushed to the hospital after drinking it for a week deemed that it was okay and likely one of those weird unknown brands.

He started sharing his drinks with everyone. Oddly he always had just enough in the fridge in the morning. He didn’t really question it. Maybe his mom had a box or something and kept putting them in the fridge when he took them out.

The following week was much the same… well apart from him stumbling into trouble a few times.

When he went to buy art supplies he ended up helping a person getting harassed by a wannabe gangster. He may have gotten punched a few times but he was fine.

Then when he went to pick up something for his dad he ran into more wannabe gangsters messing with a cat. He got into a fight and surprisingly came out on top because he once again found a crowbar.

More recently he found even more wannabe gangsters harassing a businessman. He, of course, jumped in and got roughed up pretty bad but oddly enough he found another crowbar when he was getting pushed around and managed to bonk his way out of there.

He knows Matsuda said there was a gang moving into town but he didn’t think he would keep running into them!

And who kept leaving random crowbars around town? He didn’t mind of course since they kept saving his butt but it was weird.

Thankfully he could blame his injuries on his workouts… for the most part. He was pretty sure his parents were starting to suspect something.

He wasn’t trying to find trouble! It just kept finding him!

As he settled into bed for the night he got the odd feeling that someone was exasperated with him.

With a flurry of golden lights, he was brought into existence.

His white snakeskin loafers shined in the moonlight. His grey suit which went out of style nearly three decades ago was pristine.

His attire did little to hide the man's muscular build.

His black hair was slicked back and had a face that could be described as handsome.

The man adjusted the popped collar of his maroon dress shirt as he gazed at the moon.

Kiryu Kazuma spoke into the cool night air, “Time to get a lay of the land. See what punks the kid keeps riling up.”

Seriously the kid was running into as much trouble as he did and didn’t know how to fight for crap. He was going to get himself killed at this rate.

So he summoned himself to help him out. Of course, he was prodded into action by Coco. That dragon could be pushy when she wanted to be.

He still wasn’t sure how he felt about being considered an ‘accessory’ but if it meant he could help the kid then he could suck it up.

He paused as a nearby manhole cover popped open and an ever-familiar voice echoed out into the night, “Kiryu-chan~”

He can get a lay of the land after he deals with Majima.

Chapter Text

Issei opened his eyes and was greeted by the beautiful sight of Kanata's smile. The stained glass window that his schoolmate had installed shone brilliantly in the morning light. He still felt awkward about accepting it but can’t deny that it was crafted with love and devotion. It was nice to see others who cared that deeply about their oshi’s.

He let out a yawn as last night's dream rolled around his head. Maybe he was getting into too many fights if he dreamt about Kiryu beating up the gangsters around town.

Still a cool dream though.

He went through his morning routine and since it was the weekend he just lazed about the house watching VODs till noon.

That was when his stomach grumbled.

He could go for a burger right about now.

He got dressed and waved his parents off telling them he was going out to grab a bite to eat.

His stroll through town was then interrupted when he passed an old mom-and-pop shop. He saw an older lady nursing her wrist.

She saw him and asked in desperation, “Young man! Can you please help Genshirou-kun?! He ran off to deal with ruffians and hasn’t come back yet!”

“Where?!” he quickly asked.

She pointed down the street and he didn’t even hesitate to run towards the trouble. As he ran off he yelled out, “Don’t worry I'll make sure he’s okay”

As he dashed through the street he heard now familiar noises.

A fight.

He paused his run once he saw an oddly familiar crowbar in a pile of junk. He didn’t even question these things anymore. He grabbed it and continued on.

He rounded the corner and saw a somewhat familiar teen struggle with a veritable hoard of gangsters. Not just the wannabees he’s been roughing up, but proper gangsters. The older men were rough looking and wielded a variety of weapons.

This was… bad. Issei held no confidence in his combat ability. Sure he could handle himself decently but that was against punks that also didn’t know how to throw a punch… not old guys that looked like they regularly beat the tar out of people.

So far it looked like proper gangsters stood to the side watching on in amusement while the wannabes fought with the blonde teen.

The sick bastards, but that worked in his favor… up until they decide to jump in themselves.

If that happened then the blonde will get hurt or worse.

He might as well help the guy take down the wannabes in the meantime. If it gets to the point where they have to fight the actual gangsters they can just run… hopefully.

So he jumped in and bonked a gangster on the head.

His schoolmate was startled but continued his beatdown of the gangsters.

The blonde looked a bit relieved at his arrival, “Hyoudou… right?”

Issei bonked a guy and asked, “Saji, right?”

Saji smiled as he dodged a stray attack, “Yeah. thanks for the help. I’m in a bit of a tight spot.”

The blonde then used one of the gangsters as a human shield and if he squinted Issei swore his hand was glowing ever so slightly. He also looked a bit energized but it was probably a trick of the light.

The blonde then pushed the guy into his buddies and knocked them over.

Issei grunted as he struggled to block a pipe, “No problem.”

Saji then squared up and lashed out his fist at a gangster, “I swear these guys have been crawling out like cockroaches!”

Issei sidestepped and bonked another on the head, “Yeah this is the… fifth time I’ve run into them in the last two weeks?”

Saji barked out a laugh, “Only the fifth time? Try tenth for me.”

“Really?” Issei said surprised. He then grunted as a fist impacted his chest and knocked the wind out of him.

Genshirou then backhanded the guy who punched him. Issei then hooked his crowbar and tripped a guy who was about to hit Genshirou.

“You’re pretty handy with that!” Saji remarked as he stomped on a guy.

Issei flipped the crowbar and used it as a sort of makeshift tonfa to block a heavy strike to his forearm, “I keep finding them every time I fight so I got pretty good at using it!”

Saji held a guy by his collar and asked a bit confused, “Really?”

Issei shrugged and then promptly ducked a swing of a pipe. He let his crowbar slide down his hand and hooked a guy's leg and tripped him.

Saji shrugged in turn and punched his captive once more knocking him out.

Soon enough they finished cleaning up the goons but they didn’t come out like spring chickens.

Saji rested his hands on his knees and let out labored breaths. He was beaten and bruised. His lip was split open and he had an eye that was nearly swollen shut. Blood also dripped from his knuckles onto the street.

Issei looked much the same with a smattering of bruises covering his body. Breathing was hard as his chest throbbed with pain.

He gripped his crowbar tight as he looked at the actual gangsters strolling over to them.

They gathered around him and Saji.

A man with a wicked scar running down his face crouched down, “You two punks weren’t half bad. But it’s night night for brats like you.”

Issei then felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He turned just in time to see a pipe descend on his head. He closed his eye waiting for the impact… but it never came.

He opened his eyes to see the pipe held in an iron grip by an older man… who had an uncanny resemblance to Kiryu Kazuma right down to his outfit.

Was he saved by a cosplayer?

The cosplayer then said in a voice that sounded very much like Kiryu’s, “Using a cheap shot like this on a pair of beaten teenagers? Just how much of a scumbag are you?”

The cosplayer ripped the pipe from the gangster's hands and used the guy's own weapon to smash his face in. The gangster’s nose crunched loudly and he collapsed.

The Kiryu cosplayer adjusted his grip on the pipe and looked down at them, “You two move back a bit. Let me take care of these punks.”

Issei dragged Saji along with him as fast as he could. The two teens then promptly collapsed and watched as the Kiryu cosplayer absolutely brutalized the gangsters.

Issei watched as the cosplayer use a few familiar moves and asked, “Hey, Saji-”

He was then interrupted by a raised hand, “Just call me Genshirou. You helped me out of a tight spot so the least you can do is call me my given name.”

Issei scratched the back of his head awkwardly, “Uh, sure. You can call me Issei then. But anyway does the way this guy fights seem…”

“Brutal?” Genshirou said as the Kiryu cosplayer sent a thug flying with a heavy punch. He could see the guy’s teeth flying from here.

“I was going to say familiar but that works too. You ever play a Yakuza game or watch someone play one?”

Genshirou shook his head as he kept his eyes on the fight… or rather one-sided beatdown, “Not really. I haven’t had time recently to do much more than do school work and actual work.”

That was a… surprise to say the least. He always heard about how Genshirou was a delinquent so he didn’t really seem the type to focus on work.

Issei kept up his attempt at small talk despite the slightly awkward atmosphere, “Oh, well anyway a lot of these moves are really similar. The guy is also dressed like the main character so I think he’s a very devoted cosplayer.”

Genshirou turned to him as screams of pain filled the air, “Cosplayer or not he saved our butts and that’s all that matters.”

“Well, obviously but I just wanted to point it out.”

Genshirou just grunted as the beatdown continued.

And so Issei joined him in silence while they watched the cosplayer beat the stuffing out of gangsters.

While Genshirou was focused on the fight Issei eyed him and the guy looked exhausted. It was obviously not just from the fight. He recognized it as a lack of sleep… just more severe than what he himself had experienced. His cases are from the times he worked late to finish his commissions… and from staying up late watching streams.

He said he worked so it was probably from that and it looked to be taking a toll on him.

Issei turned his attention back to the fight… and it looked like the cosplayer was just finishing up. The gangsters were a pile of moaning bodies at this point and the cosplayer looked no worse for wear.

Issei definitely didn’t want to be on his bad side. Cosplayer or not the guy could fight like a beast.

The guy walked up to them and asked, “You two doing alright?”

Issei gave him a thumbs up, “Just a bit roughed up…”

“Just call me Kazuma kid.”

Wow, this guy was dedicated to the bit… or his name was actually Kazuma. It was a common name after all.

Issei simply replied, “Sure.”

Kazuma looked to Genshirou who looked to be nodding off. He crouched down and lightly shook his shoulder, “Hey kid. Let’s get you patched up before you take a nap.”

Genshirou’s non-swollen eye snapped open, “Ah, sorry.”

“No problem kid. Need a hand?” Kazuma offered his hand and Genshirou reluctantly took it.

Issei got up on shaky legs and asked, “So what now Kazuma-san?”

“We get you cleaned up. Can’t walk around town like that without awkward questions.”

Issei looked at his roughed-up appearance and agreed.

Kazuma then led the back to the mom-and-pop shop. The old lady that was at the front looked relieved yet worried when she spotted them.

“Genshirou-kun! Are you alright?” she yelled.

Genshirou gave the old lady a small smile, “I’m fine Hira-san. Just a bit roughed up.”

“Do you have a first aid kit, Hira-san?” asked Kazuma.

The older lady adjusted her glasses and let out a noise of surprise, “Oh! I do. Come on in and we can get you young men cleaned up.”

They were led into the back of the store. Hira-san then offered the first aid kid and Kazuma took possession of it. The Kiryu cosplayer then proved rather familiar with its contents as he dressed their wounds in expert fashion.

Issei looked at his bandage-covered form just knowing that he would have to explain what happened to his parents. Well, they already suspected so might as well come clean about his little vigilante acts.

He turned and saw Genshirou wince as Kazuma finished wrapping his knuckles.

Kazuma grunted as he finished his work, “There that should be the last of it.”

Genshirou then offered his thanks, “Thank you Kazuma-san. If it weren't for you we would be-”

Kazuma held up a hand, “Enough of that. I just did the right thing,” the man then smiled, “And from what Hira-san said, you got into that fight by doing the right thing as well. So think of it as Karma.”

Genshirou looked away cheeks red.

Kazuma then chuckled, “Now why don’t I treat you two to a meal? Nothing is better than a hearty meal after a fight.”

Kazuma then stood up and turned to the older woman, “You shouldn’t have to worry about those punks trying to run a protection racket anymore Hira-san.”

The older woman looked grateful but saddened at their current state, “I’m happy but I just wish you young men didn’t have to get hurt.”

Genshirou just smiled, “I was doing the right thing Hira-san. I know it’s been hard on you since your husband died.”

Issei suddenly felt like he shouldn’t be hearing this conversation.

She looked saddened, “But that doesn't mean you have to risk yourself for this old lady Genshirou-kun. You have to take care of your little siblings after all.”

Genshirou just let out a bitter laugh, “I don’t think I could face them if I just left you to those thugs' tender mercies.”

She gave him a bittersweet smile, “I’ll drop by later with some food. If you don’t mind that is? I think it would do this old lady some good to share a meal with someone.”

Genshirou opened his mouth to refuse her but a nudge from Kazuma-san stopped him cold. Genshirou then folded, “T-that would be nice Hira-san.”

Issei felt very awkward being part of such an obvious tender moment. So he just stood next to Kazuma-san.

Genshirou walked up to them and asked, “Kazuma-san you said you were buying right?”

Kazuma-san smirked, “Yeah. Let’s get going.”

Genshirou waved Hira-san off, “I’ll see you tonight!”

She simply smiled and they left the store.

Issei chowed down on his burger and understood that Kazuma-san was right. A meal after a fight was really nice.

Genshirou swallowed down his second burger like a raving beast. Guy was hungry.

Kazuma-san took slower bites and seemed to savor his meal a bit more than they did.

“Slow down a bit kid. The food’s not going anywhere.”

Genshirou slowed just a bit and apologized, “Sorry. It’s been a while since I could eat my fill.”

Kazuma-san’s eyes narrowed, “Hira-san mentioned you took care of your siblings. What happened to your parents?”

Genshirou eyes’ lost their luster and he looked away, “They died a few years ago in a car crash. My grandfather took care of us… up until recently when he passed of a heart attack.”

Issei gulped and was stock still. He- he had no idea that happened to him. He didn’t even hear a peep about any of this! That means…

Kazuma-san asked what he was thinking, “That means you take care of your siblings by yourself then?”

Genshirou simply nodded.

Kazuma sighed, “That’s a full-time job already kid. Probably doesn’t help that you have to juggle an actual job on top of that and school, right?”

Genshirou stilled but nodded reluctantly, “Yeah.”

Kazuma-san reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and placed a stack of bills in front of Genshirou. That… was a lot of money.

“Take this Saji-kun. A kid your age shouldn’t be burning yourself on both ends. So if this old man can ease your burden a bit then I will.”

Genshirou moved to refuse the money but a stern look from Kazuma-san put a stop to it. The man let out a certain pressure that told Genshirou that he would be taking that money one way or another.

Genshirou slumped and reluctantly grabbed the money. He stuffed it into his jacket and quietly said, “Thanks.”

Kazuma-san gave him a small honest smile, “Don’t worry about it Saji-kun.”

The Kiryu cosplayer then gave the two of them a questioning look, “Now I heard around town that wasn’t your first encounter with those punks. Is that right?”

Issei and Genshirou shared a look and then nodded.

“Well, either you stop getting into scraps or learn to actually fight. Because they won't be sending the green thugs after you if you keep messing with their business.”

Issei gulped as he recalled how close he came to getting hospitalized or worse… but at the same time. He knew he would step in to help no matter what. That’s what Kaichou would want him to do.

Issei steeled his features and his intent was written plainly on his face. Issei glanced to his side and saw that Genshiou shared his look of resolve.

Kazuma-san smiled as if heard an inside joke. He then said, “I should have figured young punks like you are a particular brand of stupid. But I can respect that kind of bullheadedness.”

He then leaned forward, “Then I’ll teach you two punks how to fight if you want to keep throwing yourself into trouble. How’s that sound?”

Issei clearly remembered how the man fought earlier. If he learned even a fraction of that he could help so many more people! As he had already accepted that he would be running into trouble one way or another. So might as well learn to properly defend himself and others.

…The fact he would honor his oshi by learning Kiryu Kazuma’s moves only made it better.

Issei felt a grin of determination form on his face. He felt that was all the answer Kazuma-san needed.

It seemed Genshirou thought the same if the determined grin on his face was of any indication.

The Kiryu cosplayer gave them a grin, “Good. But Hyoudou we will be telling your parents first.”

Issei instantly slumped and knew that he had no say in the matter.

Issei saw his dad adjust his glasses, “Kazuma-san while I thank you for saving our son. Do you really think it would be a good idea to teach him how to fight?”

Kazuma-san eyed him and he spoke… albeit reluctantly, “This isn’t the first time I’ve run into trouble. I don’t know if I have good luck or bad luck but whenever I go out I end up stumbling into people in trouble. I- I then jump in to help them out.”

His parents looked at him in surprise but there was a glimmer of pride in their eyes.

Kazuma-san leaned back in his seat, “You heard the kid. If he sees trouble he’s going to head into the thick of it. Better to give him the tools he needs than leave him out to dry.”

His parents looked at each other and then nodded.

His dad removed his glasses and said, “Very well then. Kazuma-san please teach my son to defend himself.”

His mom then glared at Kazuma-san, “And if you hurt my baby more than necessary then I will beat you black and blue myself.”

Kazuma-san had a smirk of amusement, “Will do.”

And that was how he added getting his ass kicked by a cosplayer to his schedule.

Chapter Text

"So why are you guys following me again?" Issei asked his three friends as they walked to the park after their daily workout.

"Because you said you were going to learn how to fight and I want to see you get your ass kicked," Aika said with no shame.

He gave her a deadpan look and she simply gave him a cheeky smirk.

…Speaking of cheeky.

His gaze traveled a bit lower and found that their workout routine was doing her good. Her butt before was nice but since she had taken to squats with a passion it filled out quite a bit. It looked particularly good in the tight shorts she had been wearing to their workout.

While Issei was firmly an oppai lover, that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate a nice butt.

She grinned as she caught him staring. She then struck a pose that showed off her ass, "Hehe, my butt is getting pretty big right?"

The three males nodded with no shame and she puffed up her modest chest in pride.

One may wonder why she was okay with the ogling. The answer was a shared agreement between the four of them. It was a compromise after… the incident.

They got to look but not touch… otherwise, their relationship would never be the same.

Issei however felt that she was getting more out of the deal than they were. If her constant mutterings of story ideas when they did just about anything meant anything.

He still shuddered whenever he remembered that she used them as inspiration for what she called cultured writing.

Another reason why he will never read those particular stories… her other fics on the other hand were fair game. The girl writes good smut what can he say?

Matsuda spoke up as they neared the park, “So you said this guy was a Kiryu cosplayer right?”

Issie nodded, “Yeah. It’s uncanny. Looks like him, fights like him, talks like him-”

“Dresses like him?” said Motohama as he came to a stop.

He followed Motohama’s line of sight and saw Kazuma-san, who was in what looked like Kiryu’s Okinawan outfit, showing Genshirou a few exercises.

“Huh, you weren’t kidding. The guy looks exactly like him,” muttered Aika.

Issei shrugged and walked over. He then simply said, “Yo.”

Genshirou smirked, “Hey Issei,” he then leaned over, “Looks like you brought your friends.”

“Yeah we just finished working out and they wanted to come,” Issei replied as he set his gym bag on the ground.

Kazuma-san grunted, “Then you are already warmed up then.”

“Yeah.”

His friends had caught up in the meantime.

Aika adjusted her glasses so they glinted in the sun, “So you’re Saji. Resident delinquent of Kuoh?”

Genshirou’s brow furrowed and he glared at the girl, “Just because I’m a natural blonde doesn’t mean I’m a delinquent!”

She smirked, “Oh? But I heard your grades are pretty bad, you get into fights, and you always look like you are about to smash everyone’s faces at school. If that isn’t delinquent behavior then I don’t know what is.”

Genshriou recoiled with every accusation. He then looked like he was about to blow up at Aika but a look from Kazuma-san had him cool off.

Genshriou rubbed the back of his head irritated, “My grades are shit because I’m so damn tired all the time. So it’s hard to pay attention. And I’m tired because I have to work a part-time job and take care of my siblings,” he then looked her straight in the eyes, “I also look like this because I’m exhausted and irritable.”

Genshirou’s eyes gained a bit of steel, “And the only fights I get into is to help others. I can’t live with myself if I just ignored someone in need.”

Aika smiled her usual smug smile, “I know. Did a little digging with the resident school gossip and pieced it together. Issei’s little story yesterday was the final piece I needed. I also just wanted to mess with you.”

Genshirou looked absolutely miffed, “Did anyone ever tell you that you are infuriating?”

She cackled, “All the time!”

Genshirou turned to Issei, Matsuda, and Motohama. He then asked, “How do you deal with her?”

Issei answered in a defeated tone, “It is a constant struggle… but she is a good friend that I wouldn't replace for the world.”

The other two boys nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. She is an absolute pain in the ass at times but you couldn’t ask for a better friend,” said Matsuda.

Motohama said, “She may poke and prod at our buttons constantly,” he then side-eyed her, “A bit too much recently.”

Aika threw her hands up in the air, “Hey! It’s you guys' fault with all the subtext you lot are throwing around.”

Issei then yelled, “There is no subtext! We are just working out woman!”

Motohama then sighed, “Anyway. While she pokes our buttons she doesn’t go too far. It’s all in good fun,” he then smirked deviously, “Because when we get back at her is the best.”

Aika then flushed slightly, looked away, and muttered, “Damned four eyes tattling on me to my mom.”

Issei then said, “Well you did bring that on yourself that one time Aika.”

She grumbled, “That doesn’t mean I can’t be mad about it.”

Genshirou then shook his head, “Anyway. Kazuma-san said today’s lesson was an easy one.”

Aika then perked up, “Oh! Are you guys going to get beat up for the sake of training today? I want to see hot and sweaty man-on-man action!”

Kazuma-san then used that moment to make himself known, “That will be a later lesson. For now I’m going to show you how to properly throw a punch,” the cosplayer then eyed Issei’s friends, “If you want to join I don’t particularly mind.”

Matsuda being the jock he is agreed, “I”m down.”

Motohama adjusted his glasses a bit nervously, “I suppose I could make an attempt. There have been a lot of thugs about lately.”

A lot was an understatement Issei felt. While they weren't around every street corner like in a Yakuza game. They were getting close. Issei felt someone had to be organizing them.

Kazuma-san’s brow twitched ever so slightly.

Aika then swooned into Kazuma-san’s personal space, “Oh! Will you be teaching this fair lady how to defend herself from all these lustful beasts?!”

The older man simply stared down at her. Aika then began to sweat a bit. She then quietly stepped back and bowed slightly, “I’m sorry. Please teach me Kazuma-san.”

Issei and the boys stared wide-eyed at the scene. Issei turned to Kazuma-san and asked, “Can you teach me how to do that?!”

The man smirked, “Maybe one day. In the meantime let me show you how to punch without breaking your hand.”

“Yes, Sensei!” shouted Issei and his friends.

Issei and his friends then learned how to punch.

Matsuda and surprisingly Aika got it the fastest. Matsuda made sense, being the one nerd in the group that did anything physical. Aika on the other hand was a surprise.

She had just shrugged and said, “My parents put me in Karate when I was younger. Didn’t really stick with it but I remember a few things.”

After learning a new thing about Aika they got back to work.

Issei himself got it soon after. Genshirou followed after him. Despite their experience in actual fights, that proved to be a detriment as they had a few bad habits Kazuma-san had to point out.

The last one to get it was Motohama, which made sense. He was the scrawniest and most nerdy of them all. He did look proud when he got the Kazuma seal of approval though.

After about an hour of proper punching, they were free to go.

After that, they added Genshirou to their workouts. It took him a bit to get used to Aika’s… Aika-ness but apart from that he was opening up slowly.

Genshirou also appreciated the drinks he brought and Issei even began tossing him a can of coffee in the mornings as well. The guy seemed a bit less tired with each day.

Issei still didn't question where the strange drinks came from.

As whenever he or anyone looked at the label they couldn't quite recall what it said. Issei did feel a bit bittersweet about it for some reason.

It was a week into their new friendship when Genshirou was dragged to the roof to have lunch.

Aika narrowed her eyes at Genshirou, “You look… better. Finally taking a break?”

Genshirou turned away and sighed, although he could do little to hide the sight blush on his face, “Yeah. Kazuma-san’s been helping me out with my siblings. Keeps dropping by with groceries and cash. Guy’s not that bad at cooking either.”

Motohama paused his sewing, “Huh, that’s nice of him.”

Genshirou rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, “Yeah. My little brother loves the guy. My sister is still kind of wary of him though.”

Aika snorted, “Well duh, Kazuma-san might be a nice guy, but he regularly beats up gangsters and looks like he belongs in the Yakuza. Of course, your sister is going to be suspicious. Probably thinks he’s there to recruit you or something.”

Genshirou paused for a moment then nodded in understanding, “Yeah, yeah. Kaho is pretty sharp.”

Matsuda looked up from his phone, “So what do you do in your free time?”

Genshirou just shrugged, “Not much really. Just work out and practice what Kazuma-san showed me.”

There was a certain glint in the baldies eye that made Issei narrow his eyes. He wasn’t alone as Aika and Motohama joined in. They all knew what he planned to do.

He was going to pop the question.

“Say Saji, do you know what a VTuber is?”

And there it is.

Genshirou shook his head as he lifted his food to his mouth, “... Not really. Those are like those idols you guys like, right?”

The four of them gained devious smiles.

It was time.

They instantly moved into position and posed.

They then began to monologue.

“VTubers are more than simple idols!” Matsuda shouted in outrage.

“They are our companions on this lonely road!” Aika cried to the heavens.

“They are a way of life!” roared Motohama with all his heart.

“They are modern Gods!!” declared Issei with a voice full of devotion.

Around Issei’s neck, what looked like a necklace flickered in and out of existence for but a moment.

As one they said, “Now will you follow us on this path!”

Genshirou’s food slipped out of his grasp as he stared at them like they were some strange creatures.

He just sighed, “You know what, sure,” he picked up his food and took a bite, “So, got any recommendations?”

They all shared a look and an unspoken conversation took place.

As one they spoke, “Nakiri Ayame!”

Genshirou just raised a confused brow and asked, “Why?”

Aika shrugged, “You seem like the type to like student council presidents.”

“... Okay. I’ll give her a watch later then.”

In one fell swoop, Saji Genshirou was converted into a VTuber simp by the cute oni.

As for the following lessons with Kazuma-san … Well to say they escalated quickly would be an understatement.

As soon as he finished teaching them how to punch and kick. He stuffed the basics of street fighting into them.

Those lessons included.

Some martial arts, or more specifically a few moves that fit each person. Guy knew his stuff.

Spatial awareness, to keep an eye on multiple opponents. Issei felt that one was going to come in handy.

Then how to use your environment. Which tied into making the best use of whatever you could get your hands on… although he doubted he would be chucking vending machines anytime soon.

The practical demonstration was very cool though.

Issei then felt he had a pretty good idea of how to use the mystery crowbar he kept finding.

… Well he would if he actually ran into more thugs. They seemed to be a bit scarce after Kazuma-san showed up… the answer was a bit obvious in hindsight.

Soon the day arrived. Summer break! Issei had all his bags packed and in the van already. Now he was waiting for his friends.

Motohama was the first to arrive. He simply adjusted his glasses, threw his bags in the van, and immediately made a beeline into his kitchen to help himself to a cool drink.

It was a bit hot out after all.

A few minutes later Matsuda arrived and looked ready to hit the beach. After he put his bags in the van he joined him and Motohama in the living room.

They were singing along to one of Kanata’s karaoke streams. Matsuda didn’t miss a beat as he joined in on the singing.

Aika apparently joined them while they were singing.

They then paused their singing as they heard a knock on the door.

Issei took a drink of water and then said, “I’ll get it!”

He opened the door to reveal Genshirou and his two siblings, who looked both nervous and excited.

“Hey, Issei,” greeted Genshirou.

Issei smiled, “Yo, Genshirou. Let me help you put your bags up and we can hang out for a bit. But first, why don’t you introduce your siblings to everyone.”

Issei waved them in and then they all stood in the living room.

Genshirou cleared his throat, “So this little lady here is my sister Kaho.”

The small blonde gave them a small bow, “Hello.”

Aika then muttered, “How polite. Unlike her brother.”

Genshirou’s eye twitched. He then patted his little brother on the head, “And this is Gengo.”

The even smaller blonde just waved, “Hi.”

They then talked for a bit. Aika oddly got along well with Genshirou’s siblings… much to the guy's irritation.

Soon enough Issei’s parents announced that they were ready.

His dad entered the living room and asked, “Alright is everyone ready? If you have to go to the bathroom this is the best time.”

Genshirou’s brother pulled on his pants and his dad told them where the bathroom was.

When they got back his mom made herself known, “You guys ready for summer!”

“Sure am mom!”

Aika looked giddy, “I personally can’t wait for the hot springs.”

“I am going to dig the deepest hole!” declared Matsuda.

“I am going to enjoy the festival!” said Motohama as he adjusted his glasses.

“You guys ready for the beach?” Genshirou asked his siblings.

They both looked excited and he smiled.

Issei’s dad then said, “Well let's get going! We are burning daylight.”

They then piled into the van.

As Issei was going to hop in Genshiou stopped him.

He then said, “Hey, Issei. I can’t thank you enough for inviting me and my family. It’s been tough on them so they could use a bit of fun.”

Issei felt a bit embarrassed. He didn’t really do all that much. If anything Genshirou should be thanking Kazuma-san. Issei just rubbed the back of his head with a light blush, “Ah, don’t mention it Genshirou.”

Genshirou gave him a… honest smile and said, “You can call me Gen if you want. You've earned that right.”

Issei felt a bit… touched. He then offered him a hand, “Alright Gen. let's have fun!”

Gen took his hand and smiled, “Yeah!”

They entered the van and a moment later they were off onto what would soon be an unforgettable summer.

Arc 1 - Spark of Faith (END)

Chapter Text

Rias Gremory re-watched what was quickly becoming a favorite hobby of hers. Hyoudou Issei’s antics. It didn't take her long to deduce he was the one who made the Kiryu Coco statue. Rather than go to him immediately… she decided to observe him to see if he had any supernatural abilities.

After two weeks she concluded that had an odd combination of bad and good luck. Day after day he would somehow stumble into trouble but at the same time, he would stumble out with only moderate injuries.

She knew he was rather nerdy and an indoors type… he was also a bit of a perv but that wasn’t exactly a deal breaker for her. So when she saw him go out of his way to help others over and over… well to say she found it attractive was a bit of an understatement.

He wasn’t a delinquent going out of his way to get into fights but rather a good person doing his best to help people even if it meant getting out of his comfort zone. That showed the type of person he was and she wanted that… in perhaps more ways than one. Admittedly Hyodou was cute in a puppy kind of way… but more recently he was shaping up rather nicely as he worked out with his friends.

When she confided in Akeno about her interest in Hyoudou she said that Rias' type was a shonen protagonist. The audacity of her Queen! She had pouted at her for the entire night after that comment but she wouldn’t take it back!

But in the end, she concluded that he was a relatively normal person that so happened to have a lot of faith in VTubers. Also not a deal breaker for her, in fact, it was a good thing.

…Even if Akeno would tease her mercilessly for admitting it.

Her conclusion lasted until he decided to help Saji Genshirou. That is when the signs of the supernatural became a bit obvious.

Firstly they were saved by a Kiryu Kazuma cosplayer. A very good one at that. The man had the look and act down pat. His fighting style also perfectly matched Kiryu’s when one adjusted it to actual combat and not game mechanics. When she found out that he was going to teach both Hyoudou and Saji she had to pull Sona into her little observations. As she was keeping an eye on the blonde.

Now that wouldn't be too out of the ordinary but from Koneko’s reports, the man was not mundane or if he was, he was a freak of nature. Her cute rook couldn't get a solid read on him but she said he felt funny. Her words were he was there yet not. She also had a tough time tracking him down as he would disappear and reappear randomly throughout her observations.

What she did find out was that he apparently made it his mission to beat up the gangsters that moved into Kuoh.

And wasn’t that a mess and a half as well? She initially had no idea why there were so many gangsters moving into town but after a bit of digging, she found reports of gangs being pushed out of cities by unnatural means. There were signs that the Greek and Chinese pantheons were poking around as well. If the reports of muscle-bound toga-wearing individuals and young masters joined with jade beauties draped in silk beating and usurping territory from gangs meant anything.

On that, the only thing she and Sona could do was report it to their siblings. That was a problem an order of magnitude greater than what they could handle on their own. That being, politics.

If the Greek and Chinese pantheons were making a move on Japan that was more of a problem for the Youkai faction and Japanese pantheon. But it did prove to be an excellent opportunity… is what she heard during one of Serafall’s streams.

She said that if the invaders became too much of a problem then the Youkai faction would be looking for allies, and what better allies than the ones in their own backyard? Serafall joked that a deal with the devil was only a matter of time for the Youkai faction if things heated up, especially with how lazy the Japanese pantheon could be.

As for the other non-political reports, the strangeness only continued as there were reports of Mothman of all things terrorizing people! What was an American Cryptid doing in Japan in the first place?

She had no idea how to tackle that one. If anything they were in Japan on vacation and decided to pull some pranks to amuse themselves. If they did that in Kuoh, however, she would have the right to do something, but as it happened a few cities away she could do nothing more than keep an eye on the situation.

As for the reports that she and Sona could likely deal with. There was someone with unnatural charisma banding together the dregs of the beaten gangs that broke apart. On the surface, it looked like they were building up some sort of super gang… but as more reports came in it looked like they were shaping up into a proper criminal organization.

She and Sona had shared many headache-inducing talks about the entire situation. Officially the gangs were mundane and while they could interfere with things like that, it wasn’t preferable. There was also the fact that something supernatural stunk about the situation, but with no obvious tell they could only let the mundane authorities handle it… well, that and the Kiryu cosplayer. He seemed to be handling it better than the police anyway.

So the two of them kept a hands-off approach but were ready to jump in if something obviously supernatural occurred.

As for something obviously supernatural occurring, that would be with Hyoudou Issei and his friends. Since the start of the month, their magical energy had steady growth. That could be attributed to their exercise for the most part. It was a little odd at the rate at which they grew but it wasn’t unheard of.

But once they started learning from the Kiryu cosplayer Hyoudou’s reserves in particular started to grow at a quicker pace. From Koneko’s estimates, he had grown from less than a newborn devil to that of a roughly five-year-old devil. While not remotely impressive in scale, what was impressive was the speed at which his reserves grew. It was as if he was constantly draining his reserves to empty every day.

If he was aware of the supernatural that would be a bit impressive… but he wasn’t. She had his family checked out and not a trace of the supernatural anywhere. Not one drop of inhuman blood in his lineage. Nor were there any magicians, priests, cultists, nothing.

His friends on the other hand had a few interesting notes… well apart from Saji.

Saji was like Issei with no notable lineage but Sona was interested to learn that his living situation was the cause of his apparent delinquency and he was in fact a hard worker that cared deeply about his family. Her friend had an interesting gleam in her eyes at that. Probably thinking of possible negotiation tactics. He would be a decent catch too since from what they could tell he had a latent Sacred Gear.

Sona had dibs on Saji so Rias kept her hands off. Hyoudou on the other hand was fair game. They were still on the fence about his friends, especially with what they dug up.

Yasuaki Matsuda descended from a warrior that fought alongside Minamoto no Yoshitsune. That would explain his natural athletic skills. He would have some good potential as either a Knight or Rook.

Takuro Motohama was distantly descended from a middling Onmyoji which would explain his higher-than-average magical energy reserves… and his odd size scouter ability. Good pick for Bishop.

Kiryuu Aika surprisingly had the most interesting note. She was very distantly related to Kiyohime. The yandere dragon of legend.

… Rias wasn’t quite sure what to make of that. If she inherited some latent dragon power that would be interesting… if she inherited any yandere tendencies that would not be ideal.

So far it looked like the girl was simply a pervert and like Issei, that wasn’t exactly a deal breaker for her.

…The Fujoshi tendencies she could also deal with. If anything Akeno would have a field day with that… Kiba not so much.

The girl would fit any piece really. So she considered a Pawn as she could be any piece should the situation demand it.

Rias tapped her desk in thought as she watched Issei and his friends pile into a van.

Sona sipped her tea and asked, “So will you follow them on their trip?”

Rias shook her head, “No, that would be a bit far for even me. That and we don’t have the right to operate out of Kuoh anyway.”

Sona smirked, “Well here I thought that you had become a voyeur with how much you watch Hyoudou.” 

Rias flushed and coughed into her fist, “You know it was just general observation!”

Sona rolled her eyes, “Yes, yes. Rias. I’ve only caught you rewatching him fighting gangsters a few times.”

She dropped her fist and pouted at her friend. It then turned into a smirk, “But don’t think I don’t know about you doing the same with Saji.”

Sona spit out her tea and blushed, “T-that is different! If I have to discipline him for being a delinquent I have to know about his delinquent activities!”

Now it was Rias' turn to roll her eyes. Honestly, her friend was becoming such a tsundere that it was adorable. Sona simply flustered further at her reaction.

She eventually calmed down and Rias asked, “Another reason I couldn’t watch them is we are going to be training for a week,” she narrowed her eyes at her friend, “We are still doing that right?”

Sona sighed, “Yes Rias. My peerage will join you in training for your ‘practice’ rating game tournament,” she then looked her straight in the eyes, “The fourth ‘practice’ rating game tournament.”

Rias puffed up her cheeks, “What! It’s good practice and my parents are fine with it.”

Sona looked unamused, “Yes all for the chance to offer a human peerage.”

Rias then got a bit irritated, “Mousey is not just a normal human you know!”

Sona raised her hands, “I’m not making fun of her at all. I just find it a bit ridiculous that there hasn’t been a clear winner yet.”

Rias deflated a bit and she couldn’t help but agree. What started as a disagreement between young devils about who would offer Ironmouse peerage spiraled into an all-out tournament that so far never had a clear winner. With each tournament, the ‘practice’ rating games only got more arduous as each peerage only grew stronger. If anything the ‘practice’ games were just as brutal as normal games if not more.

She and her peerage had gotten quite a bit stronger as a result and with the fourth tournament coming up soon. She wanted to get a good training trip before it began. If she could pick up a few new members for her peerage all the better.

But she would save a piece for Mousey, always.

She recalled her familiar as Hyoudou and his friends drove off. They had their own plans and she had hers.

It’s not like anything important would happen anyway. It's just summer vacation.

With a flash of a magic circle, two men appeared in an empty warehouse along with a crate.

A man smoking a cigarette asked another wearing sunglasses, “So you got the Sacred Gear detector right?”

The man in sunglasses smirked as he pulled a device out of his coat, “I did. Took a bit of planning since Dohnaseek’s in charge of inventory right now. The dude is always strict about checking shit out properly when he’s in charge.”

The guy smoking laughed, “Well duh, the dude was a scribe in Heaven. Of course he’s going to be anal about shit like that,” he blew out a puff of smoke, “So we got everything right?”

The man in sunglasses laughed, “Sure do! If he knew what we wanted all this stuff for then he definitely wouldn’t have signed off. The guy isn’t as fun as some of the other fallen.”

The guy smoking blew out another puff of smoke, “Well, some of the other fallen would be all in for joining us. It’s not every day they get to hunt down Sacred Gear wielders for fun anymore since Azazel passed that stupid law a few years ago.”

The man in sunglasses nodded, “Yeah,” he then smiled, “But oh man, I can’t wait!”

The man smoking let out a sinister laugh, “I hope we find a cute girl with a Sacred Gear, those are always fun to break.”

Chapter Text

They hit the road at noon and started going south. Their destination after all was Kamakura! It had it all: beaches, hot springs, and even festivals!

From Kuoh it was about a two-hour drive and so they amused themselves by singing songs and playing games. His parents in particular got along well with Gen's siblings. There was a certain gleam in their eyes when they were with them.

…Issei knew that his parents had tried really hard to have children, with him being essentially a miracle after two miscarriages. Before his grandfather passed he told him about it in hopes that Issei would give them plenty of grandchildren to spoil in the future.

Seeing the smiles on his parents' faces made Issei realize just what his grandfather meant.

Apart from that, Issei honestly felt like a ball of energy. While he certainly hadn’t been exhausted, the past month he had felt a certain fatigue within him. He assumed it was all the exercise. But since Kazuma-san gave them a little break before their trip, Issei felt that fatigue slowly vanish and it culminated in him feeling like he chugged a dozen coffees the day of the trip.

… it wasn’t exactly bad. In fact, he felt good. It was like he was constantly drained of energy every day and he finally had the chance to recover.

The only problem proved to be his desire to move. The van was a bit cramped so he had taken to bouncing his leg and just in general moving at every opportunity he could get. He put up with it for two hours and was ready to burst out of his seat as the ride was about to be over.

After winding through traffic they parked at their stay, a hot springs inn!

He stepped out of the van and gleefully stretched his body. He then spied the sign, The Izumo Inn.

He then smiled as he remembered coming across pictures of this particular inn while he looked for references for some art that he was doing of Fubuki. They had a beautifully maintained shrine to Inari held within. He was actually curious about why it wasn’t packed given it was summer and all. Sure it was out of the way but the reservation had been dirt cheap after all.

They all pulled out their luggage and entered the inn. They were greeted by a woman around his parent's age… who looked more than a bit sickly. Sunken cheeks, frayed hair, and eye bags. More importantly, she looked a bit thin and was obviously absolutely exhausted.

However, Issei could tell that she was still a beautiful woman despite her current state.

His dad greeted her with a slightly worried smile, "Reservations for Hyoudou?"

The woman jumped in surprise ever so slightly, "Ah yes one moment,” she then slowly walked out from behind the counter and waved at them to follow her, “If you will please follow me.”

As they followed after the woman Issei got a good look at the inn while they walked. It was…  a bit run down if he was being honest. The floor was a mess of dust and smudges, the walls looked dirty, and there were cobwebs littering the corners of every hall. Which he found odd as he didn’t really see any spiders in the various webs.

Something also felt a bit off in a way he can’t really describe. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

They passed an open door to the courtyard and he saw it, the shrine to Inari.

…It looked to be in really bad shape. It looked like someone both vandalized it and hadn’t cared for it for a long time. Which was weird since he saw a recent picture of it from just about Three months ago and it looked pristine. But now the paint was worn, the wood looked rotted, and the small fox statue was in pieces.

Issei also felt that something about the shrine was just wrong. Something was out of place and it wasn’t just the damage.

The innkeeper noticed him pause and stopped herself. She then sighed, “The shrine was… vandalized. I’m waiting for an expert to come and hopefully repair it,” she had a pained look in her eyes as she stared at it, “It pains me to see it like this you know? I grew up in this inn and I always did my best to maintain it both growing up and when it came into my care when I was older," she cast another forlorn gaze at it, "But it seems some people just like to destroy.”

His dad gave her a smile, “I’m sure everything will turn out all right…”

She answered his implied question with a small smile of her own, “Asama Miya. And I hope so too.”

The woman walked forward and stumbled. Both of his parents caught her. His mother looked worried and asked, “Asama-san, are you sure you should be working? Do you not have any help.”

Asama-san shook her head slightly, “No. I am currently the only one working here, but worry naught. I am fully capable of attending to you and the other guests,” she then straightened her hakama and continued to lead them into the inn.

He gave his parents a worried glance and he saw a stubborn determination settle into their features. He knew that look, he saw it on his face whenever he helped people after all.

They were then led to their rooms and they began to unpack. After that, he saw his parents slink off likely to talk with Asama-san.

He leaned against a wall and asked, “So… the innkeeper didn’t look too good.”

Aika rolled her eyes, “Yeah, what clued you in? The fact she looks like she’s about to keel over at any second or was it something else?”

Gen frowned, “That’s rude Aika.”

She turned to look at him, “I don’t want to hear that from Mr. Overworking myself in high school.”

Gen made a move to stand up but was stopped by his sister. Gen looked at his sister, “Kaho.”

Kaho frowned at him, “Onii-chan she’s right. That lady isn’t well.”

Gen slumped his shoulders and grumbled, “Fine. But that was still rude.”

Aika just stuck her tongue out childishly and Gen’s brow twitched. Aika really likes messing with Gen it seemed.

Issei turned to Motohama who adjusted his glasses as he said, “I’m going to assume your parents are going to be helping the innkeeper.”

Issei shrugged, “Yeah. I know that look on their faces after all. As long as we don’t get kicked out I don’t mind helping either.”

His friends then smiled.

Motohama’s glasses glinted, “I wouldn’t be opposed to that either.”

Gen grunted, “The lady needs help, so I’m in too.”

Matsuda sat up, “Count me in too.”

They turned to Aika and she raised a brow, “Of course, I’m going to help too. What do you expect me to sit by and just watch?”

“While I appreciate the sentiment. It would be too much to ask my guests to help in running the inn.”

They turned to see the innkeeper flanked by Issei’s parents.

His dad then coughed into his fist and the innkeeper sighed, “...But the Hyoudou’s are oddly persuasive. So I will accept some assistance,” they then felt a certain pressure from the woman, one that promised danger. Issei could swear he saw a hannya mask appear behind her, “But if you cause trouble I won’t hesitate to punish you.”

It was then his mom's turn to cough into her first, the pressure cut off and the innkeeper blushed slightly. She then bowed, “But I will accept your assistance gratefully.”

Issei and his friends smiled and the innkeeper then very reluctantly gave them a list of things to do.

That was how they spent the first day of their summer vacation, not having fun at the beach but helping a sick woman clean up her inn.

Matsuda and Gen handled cleaning up the walls and cobwebs. Motohama spent his time fixing up worn pillows and blankets. Aika was helping clean up some guest rooms. His dad had gotten a toolbox from somewhere and was moving about fixing up a few things. His mom was with the innkeeper helping with cooking.

And he was cleaning the floors. It took him a bit to sweep up and after about two hours he took a break in the courtyard. He frowned as he drank some water. There was something not quite right about that run-down shrine. Before he could ponder it further his attention was brought to one of the guests glaring at a scruffy-looking fox.

He scooted closer to get a better look.

The man having a staring contest with the fox was a tall lanky guy with glasses. The most notable thing about him was that he had a peg leg where his right leg should be.

He muttered to the fox, “You know I need something to go on in order to help right?”

The fox sniffed at him dismissively.

The guy sighed, “At this rate, it’s not looking too good for the both of you. You know that right?”

The fox looked irritated and just walked away.

The man sighed once more, “Prideful beings, always annoying to work with.”

The guy then noticed him and asked, “Ah, I don’t suppose you’ll just ignore that will you?”

Issei shrugged, “I mean I occasionally talk to the stray cats in my neighborhood so it’s cool.”

The man laughed and adjusted his glasses. He then gave him a strange look but quickly hid it. He then introduced himself, “Ohtomo Jin. So what are you doing here?”

Issei then introduced himself in turn, “Hyoudou Issei and me and my friends decided to help out the innkeeper.”

The man smiled, “Ah, that's good. Miya needed the help.”

“So… you know the innkeeper?”

Ohtomo hummed, “Hmm… a bit. We haven’t talked in some time but I decided to drop by to say hello.”

Issei took a sip of water and asked, “So how long have you been here?”

“About two days. My charge and I won’t be sticking around too long though. Maybe another day, two tops.”

“Cool. So I’m going to get back to work. If your room needs to be cleaned or something, one of my friends should be willing to help.”

Ohtomo waved him off, “Sure thing and I appreciate you helping Miya!”

Issei then stood up and got back to work after he waved the guy off.

They finished a good amount of work by the time the sun was setting. So they treated themselves to the hot springs.

Issei let out a pleased hum as he soaked in the springs. He was joined by his male friends and his dad.

His dad gave them a proud smile, “I’m proud of you boys for stepping up to help Asama-san. She needed the help.”

Gen looked a bit embarrassed at the praise, “It’s not a problem. Sometimes people just need a little help.”

Issei chuckled, "Even if they don't want it, right dad?"

It was his dad's turn to blush, "Ah I suppose so. Your mother and I couldn't just stand by and let that poor woman work herself to death."

"You know your pretty cool Hyoudou-san," Matsuda said as he leaned against a rock.

His dad scratched his chin as his blush deepened, "I was just doing the right thing."

Motohama chuckled, "And I can see where Issie gets it from."

His dad simply laughed and they spent the rest of their soak talking about random things.

When they got out of the bath he was practically dragged away by Aika.

She looked… irritated.

She poked him in the chest, "After dinner, you and I are going to have a talk. I need someone to rant at."

"...Sure," was his response.

It wouldn't be the first time she's done this after all.

They then headed to get some food. His mom and the innkeeper did a really good job on their meal.

It was delicious and filling. It paired nicely with the relaxed feeling he got from his soak.

He really wanted to go to sleep… but Aika needed him for something.

Issei stood outside the inn for a few minutes before Aika popped out and dragged him along for a walk.

Soon enough they reached a nearby park. He sat on a park bench while Aika leaned against a light pole.

She then started her rant.

"Let me tell you about this absolute bitch I ran into while cleaning rooms today. Blonde drills dressed in a goth loli outfit. Honestly, she pulls it off really well. But that’s not why I’m mad. No, this bitch was in a crabby mood and took it out on me,” he saw her grind her teeth in irritation. She then began her rant in earnest.

He let her rant for a bit and eventually she ran out of steam after cussing out this Dairenji girl for a bit.

She then joined him on the bench, “So, anyway I’m pretty sure your parents might bang the innkeeper.”

If Issei had been drinking something he would have spat it out, “W-what the hell are you talking about?!”

She rolled her eyes, “Not now I mean. When she’s better.”

Issei looked even more confused, “That’s not what I was asking!”

Aika smirked, “I kept an eye on them all day… well apart from when I was arguing with the bitch, but anyway you should have seen them. They had some good chemistry.”

Issei felt his brow twitch, “Aika. this isn’t another one of your…”

She nudged him almost daring him to say, “Go on, say it.”

Issei sighed, “...This isn’t just one of your delusions is it?”

She leaned back and said cheerfully, “Nope! Your parents are unintentionally seducing the innkeeper. Come on they swoop in at her lowest moment and prop her up? That’s guaranteed to get her interested in them at the very least.”

Issei rubbed his temples, “Aika if anything they would become friends because of it.”

She made a noise of disagreement, “Eh, I can see them hooking up,” she looked up at the clock in the center of the park, “Getting a bit late. Let's head back,” she then hopped up and began walking back to the inn.

Issei stood up and yawned, “Sure thing.”

Issei then felt his eyes become heavy and everything felt… muted. His limbs felt sluggish and his head turned so very slowly as he looked at Aika.

Her eyes were blank and her face was slack.

That look on her face was just… wrong.

His body twitched.

The scent of smoke tickled his nose. Issei then slowly turned his eyes to two guys that casually walked up to Aika seemingly ignoring the effect plaguing him and Aika.

They looked like proper punks with their dark clothes, studded leather, and metal accessories. Tattoos depicting what he assumed to be sacrilegious iconography trailed up their arms. He only knew that due to faint memories of his childhood friend's father muttering annoyed words about some punks at the park.

The one wearing sunglasses lifted a weird device up to Aika.

Sunglasses guy had a wide unnerving grin as it dinged, "Bingo! We have us one sealed Sacred Gear user," his grin took a more sinister turn, "And more importantly, we have a fun toy to break!"

The one that was smoking blew a cloud of smoke into Aika’s face, "Not bad looking either. A bit nerdy but quite the body on her."

The smoker leered at Aika and made a motion to touch her.

Issei’s body jerked slightly in irritation.

They froze and the smoker made a motion to grab something at his waist.

The sunglasses guy pointed it at him, it dinged and he said, "And here is the partially awakened one. Double the spell on him," he narrowed his eyes at him, "Don't want him to get any funny ideas."

The smoker inhaled and blew out a cloud of smoke, "Yeah, yeah. Breaking girls is more fun anyway."

He lifted a hand and a circle spun into existence. Issei then suddenly felt as if his body was made of lead.

The smoker muttered, "That should do it," he turned to the other guy, "Now go on and command the little lady back to the hideout. I can wait a bit for my fun."

Issei gritted his teeth and his body trembled.

Sunglasses guy muttered, "Yeah, yeah. Give me a second," he stuffed the device in his coat, "And don't you dare break her too fast! I'm risking my butt pulling this thing out of inventory. So I get to go first because if Dohnaseek figures it out I'll have a light spear in my ass."

The smoker smirked, “Sure thing buddy. Won’t be that long of a wait anyway.”

The sunglasses guy angrily pointed the finger at the smoker. The smoker simply raised his hands in mock fear.

The sunglasses guy sighed and lifted a hand to Aika's face and a glowing circle appeared in his hand. Her shoulders then slumped and she walked toward him.

He then waved a hand to the smoker and walked away with Aika following close behind him, "Let's get going."

The smoker tossed his cigarette to the ground and ground his heel on it. He then pulled out a fresh one and lit it up. He gave him one last look before walking after his partner.

Issei felt his rage reach a fever pitch as he watched his friend walk off with those two bastards!

Move damn you! MOVE!!!

A necklace flickered into existence on his neck. The Kiryu Coco family crest glowed brightly with righteous power.

His back then felt hot as if something was burned onto it.

A crowbar was suddenly in his hand and he sprinted at them faster than he's ever run before with a haze of heat rising from his body.

The smoker pulled out a weird gun and Issei’s body moved with instincts that were not his own and he avoided the shots.

He swung his crowbar and it was blocked by a sword made of light.

The smoker whistled out, "Well, well, well. Looks like you broke out. Not bad for a normie. Takes some real willpower for that."

Sparks arched off Issei’s crowbar as he glared at the smoker. The bastard just looked amused.

The sunglasses guy then shouted, “Yo, you want a hand?”

The smoker replied, “Nah, kid’s a normie. Should take just a second to make him mince meat!” he then pushed forward with surprising force making Issei stumble backward. He then said, “So what gear do you got? Blade Blacksmith? I don’t think I’ve seen one make a crowbar before.”

Issei stood up and roared, “I don’t know what the hell you are talking about. But I am not going to let you take my friend!!”

The smoker laughed, “Hehehe! You are a riot kid. Do you honestly think you can beat me? I’ve been fighting and killing things way stronger than humans for years. A newbie Sacred Gear wielder has no shot at taking me down.”

Issei simply narrowed his eyes, “And I don’t care. I’m taking my friend back no matter what!”

He then charged and they clashed once more.

A second crowbar found its way to his off hand and he used it to club the guy… or he would have if it hadn’t been shot out of his hand.

Issei jumped back with a wince and looked at his hand. It looked like it had been burned. He clenched his hand and another crowbar was summoned. It hurt like nothing he had ever experienced… but he simply worked through the pain. He had to save Aika.

Issei and the bastard then circled each other while he waited for an opening.

The smoker clicked his tongue, “Tsk, tsk. Come on kid. The old summon a weapon in your off-hand is old hat for the supernatural. Especially with Blade Blacksmith and Sword Birth users,” he pointed his gun at him, “And I’ve fought my fair share of both!”

He fired and Issei once again avoided the shots… but he could tell the bastard wasn’t even trying. The arrogant smirk on his face made that clear.

Issei remembered Kazuma-san’s lesson and hooked a stray rock with the end of one of his crowbars. He then flung it at the guy he blocked it as expected… which meant he couldn’t avoid his next move. With his other crowbar, he flung dirt at the bastard's face blinding him.

“Fuck! My eyes!”

He then began shooting wildly but it was too late as Issei brought down his crowbars on his shoulders… or he would have if a blinding pain in his side hadn’t distracted him.

Issei dropped his crowbars as the pain was blinding. He looked to his side… and it looked bad. If the shot from before was like getting lightly burnt… then this was at least ten times worse. Breathing was hard as with every breath sharp pain radiated from his side.

Issei chastised himself. He forgot Kazuma-sans lesson about awareness!

The sunglasses guy walked over and kicked him to the ground. He knelt down and said, “Pretty clever trick kid, but you forgot one thing,” he leaned closer and whispered into his ear, “That wasn’t a one-on-one duel.”

He then whipped him with the butt of his gun making him see stars.

Issei somehow remained conscious long enough to see the sunglasses guy smack the smoker upside the head, “Can totally handle the normie, huh? That kid was about to beat the shit out of you idiot.”

The smoker spat, “I was just playing around a bit. If I was serious I would have set my gun to higher than stun and blown his hand off when I had a chance.”

The sunglasses guy snickered as he kept walking, “Yeah, yeah. Just know when we get back to base I am going to be telling everyone you almost lost to a fresh kid.”

The smoker yelled as followed after, “Ah hell no!”

Issei watched as Aika wordlessly followed them into the night.

Issei lay motionless on the ground as his heartbeat slowed. His friend was taken and he couldn't do anything.

He had been useless!

He ground his teeth in rage and attempted to will himself up… but his body failed him as the pain from his wound reached its apex.

As Issei saw black spots form in his vision. He heard it, the ticking of a clock.

*Tick* *Tock* *Tick* *Tock*

As he was about to pass out he saw the hands of a nearby clock slow until they froze completely.

In that moment of frozen time, he heard a feminine voice, "Just in time! Hehe."

He couldn't move but he could see the person's shadow. It looked oddly familiar.

He then felt a hand on his back, "Here's a little gift Issei."

Warmth flowed into his body and it felt like a dam had burst open within him. Pure unbridled faith poured out from his body for but a moment before it seemingly vanished.

Then for but a split second within the frozen time, the world around him flickered and he caught a glimpse of a… house under construction?

The image was gone as fast as it came.

He then heard the clicking of a delicate chain, "Well looks like my time is up."

The woman knelt down and patted his head gently, "This is goodbye Issei. I hope you have a better time this go around," she then gave him a playful noogy, "Now get up and go save your friend!"

She ruffled his hair gently one last time and said, “I can’t wait to meet you Issei, bye-bye!”

Issei turned to see a flash of blonde hair as the woman vanished.

Time resumed and the course of the world would be forever altered.

Gained: A Gift From A Time Never To Be

A.N. Well... Things may have gone from 0 to 100. Gone was the safety net that was Kuoh (which is odd considering canon) and straight into the untamed unjust supernatural world of DxD. Remember DxD is a Death World no matter how much it's dressed up in shonen and ecchi. Things suck for people and all it takes is a little bad luck to end up in shit creek without a paddle.

To also preemptively answer a question, Kiryu was not around for one reason... he wanted Issei to have a bit of privacy on vacation... This won't happen again if he has anything to say about it.

And I assume many of you can guess the possible outcomes had Ame not appeared right? This is probably one of the most important turning points in this Issei's life and I will be telling the outcome of the Good End.

Chapter Text

In an instant, the silence of stopped time was broken as the world began to move. The clock ticked forward. Clouds moved. Birds flew by… but more importantly Issei shakily stood up despite the pain.

He had to save Aika!

He looked at his wounded hand and side. He couldn’t do it like this.

He needed to get better.

The pendant at his neck shifted into a sword sheathed in a shield.

Embers started to fall off his body and in an instant, he was consumed in orange-green fire. He jumped in surprise but when the fire didn’t burn him he calmed down. Then he could feel it, his injuries not fading but being burned away and replaced with healthy new flesh. As the fire faded his body felt better than great. He was at one hundred ten percent!

He clenched his fist. Now he just needed to find the bastards!

He ran in the direction that they walked off but then quickly got lost in the unknown city.

Issei slammed his fist against a wall in rage, "Damnit! Where are they!!"

The pendant shifted into a cute stylized wolf.

Threads of light filled his vision… they were beautiful and they all felt like they connected to someone. A bundle of them felt like his friends and family… which meant! He narrowed his gaze on the one that felt like Aika, it was nearly intertwined with two others.

He followed the threads into the night. Through the residential areas, into the business district, and finally to a series of warehouses.

He stood in front of the warehouse that held Aika. Sweat poured off his body but with a lick of flame, he was fresh again.

He had no idea what the hell was going on and he didn’t care one bit. The only thing on his mind was saving his friend!

The pendant then shifted once again into the Kiryu Coco family crest. It burned bright with righteous rage.

His back once again burned and unlike the last time, he felt something click into place. His posture shifted unconsciously to that of his teacher Kazuma-san or more specifically…

The Dragon of Dojima.

He kicked the door off its hinges and stomped into the warehouse. There he saw the two bastards surrounding a tied and gagged Aika with their pants down.

She had tears running down her face and Issei felt his rage reach its apex. A blue fire-like aura burst from his body and he moved.

He crossed the distance in an instant and landed a heavy haymaker on the sunglasses guy before he could react. He felt the guy’s nose crunch and his sunglasses shatter under his fist. The guy flew backward and crashed into several pallets violently.

A crowbar was in his hands in an instant as he blocked a blade of light. At that moment he saw Aika roll away to hide and he smirked. She was a smart one. That meant he can go all out!

The smoker looked beyond surprised as he pulled up his pants with one hand, “What the fuck are you doing here!”

"I am here to get my friend back!!" Roared Issei as he pushed the guy back in a mirror of their earlier confrontation.

The smoker stumbled and tripped on his fallen pants. Issei went to slam his crowbar down on the guy when he was down… but couldn't as he had to dodge backward from a bullet made of light.

He narrowed his eyes on the now former sunglasses guy as he lifted his gun and shot at him wildly through blurry eyes. The blue fire shifted to a pinkish purple and Issei felt faster. Every dodge and dip left behind a hazy afterimage.

In seconds he reached the now panicking bastard. He went in low and twisted his body for maximum torque as he delivered the mother of all uppercuts right on the bastard's chin sending him upward.

Fire filled his blood as he delivered punch after punch to the bastard, “ORA ORA ORA ORA ORAAA!!!”

Issei slammed his fist into the guy one final time and he smashed into the wall hard enough to crater it slightly.

Issei then threw himself to the side just in time to avoid a sword slash. Issei turned to see the smoker had put his pants back on.

“You little shit!! How the fuck are you fine?! That last shot should have left you in the hospital!!” yelled the bastard as he leveled his gun at him.

Issei felt himself smirk, “I won’t stay down if it comes to protecting my friends!”

Two crowbars found themselves in his hands and he rushed him with alarming speed. The bastard's shots missed and as Issei was face to face the bastard just dropped his gun and held his light sword with two hands.

The bastard swung down and Issei blocked with both of his crowbars. He then buckled from the man's unnatural strength.

“I’m not going to go easy on you this time kid!” He pulled back and swung down once more with greater strength and all Issei could do was block and feel the ground crack under him.

He needed more power. The purple fire shifted to an orange gold and Issei felt… bestial.

He growled as his posture shifted to one that exemplified power over all else. Issei lept back and they circled each other just like earlier. This time however his backup was down for the count.

The smoker sneered at him, "Well you're lucky I'll give you that," he pointed at the groaning body of his associate, "Kev over there was a field tech. So he's garbage in a fight," he smirked, "Well unless it's a cheap shot," he waved at himself, "Me, I'm an exorcist. That means I kill the shit that goes bump in the night," he pointed his light sword at him, "And you? You're just some punk so out of his depth it's crazy."

Issei narrowed his eyes, "And like I said before I don't know what any of that bullshit you just spewed means. All I know is that I'm going to kick your ass and save my friend."

The bastard laughed, "Hahaha, you really are a riot," the bastard shifted positions, and an aura of power spilled from his body, "If words aren’t enough then let me physically demonstrate the difference between you and me kid!" 

He kicked off at alarming speed and threatened to cleave Issei in two. Issei lashed out with his crowbars and with one of them caught the blade between the claws of the crowbar.

That act briefly surprised the bastard as he growled out, “What the fuck!!”

Issei then swung his other crowbar with bestial force digging the claws deep into the bastard's forearm. Issei ripped the crowbar out and blood spilled from the open wound.

The grip on his sword weaken and that was when Issei stuck with the ferocity of a beast. He whipped out his crowbars like claws and began to tear into the bastard who did his damndest to block the flurry of attacks. One such attack finally knocked the sword from his hands and it clattered to the ground deactivating in the process.

Issei then let his crowbars disappear in a flurry of golden sparks and walked up to the dazed and bleeding bastard. He opened his hands wide and roughly gripped the bastard's upper arms. With a violent jerk, he dislocated both of his arms and then delivered a heavy open-palm strike to his face. The man span and collapsed into a heap.

Issei dusted off his clothes and spat, “I think the difference between us is obvious enough you piece of shit.”

That was when he heard laughing. He spun around to see the former sunglasses guy laughing as he held something in his hands, “Hehehe, you might have beaten us but what about our commander!!”

Issei walked up to him and delivered a monstrous kick knocking the man unconscious… but it was too late.

A dull gold circle flashed into existence in the middle of the warehouse and suddenly a man was standing in the center.

… He felt much more intimidating than the ones before him. He looked older and carried a proper sword with him. He also looked less like a punk than his two underlings with his long overcoat and suit. Power wafted off of him and Issei readied himself for another tougher fight.

The older man said, “What did you idiots do this time?” he looked around noticing his fallen comrades, and then narrowed his eyes at Issei, “Got your assess kicked I suppose. Well sorry about this kid but we look after our own,” he flicked his sword out and it gleamed with deadly promise, “So I guess you have to take a little nap.”

Issei can tell that this isn’t someone he can overwhelm with power or speed. He needed both. The orange-gold shifted into a brilliant white and his posture once again changed. This time to a balance of all three previous styles.

… That was when he felt his power wink out and he collapsed to one knee breathing like he just ran a marathon.

The older guy made a noise of disappointment as he walked up to him, “Ah, and here I was looking to have a bit of fun. Looks like your tank is empty kid. No hard feelings for what's about to happen alright? I’ll make sure you get some decent treatment back on base, only light experimentation.”

He raised his sword and swung down with the flat of the blade but it never came as he heard a masculine voice yell, “BOOST!”

It was followed by the roar of a familiar feminine voice, “Leave my friend alone!!”

Issei jerked his head up just in time to see Aika emit a raging green aura as she kicked the old guy in the balls… with astonishing force as he flew up a few feet in the air.

He made a high-pitched squeal and collapsed into a twitching heap.

Aika breathed heavily as her hands rested on her knees. That was when Issei noticed an ornate red gauntlet on her right hand.

She giggled with a tear-stained face, “What took you so long?”

He laughed, “Got a bit lost.”

He then shakily stood up feeling drained, “Let's get back to the inn.”

She took a breath, “After I tie and loot these guys.”

He had to ask, “Loot?”

She laughed and raised her gauntlet-clad hand, “Issei. Have you realized the crazy obviously magic shit that just happened?” she then pointed at him, “Have you realized the crazy magic shit that you just did?”

Issei blinked and shrugged, “I mean a little. So…looting?”

Aika deadpanned, “I want to play with cool magic stuff and they have cool magic stuff. So help me tie these guys up so I can take their shit.”

Issei just sighed and helped her.

They quickly noticed that she was… now very strong as she manhandled the unconscious bodies with ease.

Aika ended up stripping them leaving them in their underwear. She also smacked them around a bit… which meant kicking them in between the legs with her new strength.

“This is what you sick freaks deserve!!”

He winced a bit as she got a running start a few times.

After getting her revenge the two of them looked around and found a crate… that was full of things he thought only existed in hentai… well that and a few other things that were obviously weapons of some sort. Aika had a gleam in her eyes as she looked at the contents.

… Issei didn’t know if it was for the hentai stuff or the weapons and he didn’t want to know.

She then gave him puppy dog eyes and he looked for a way to take it with them. He eventually found a dolly and rolled it over to see Aika turning the light sword on and off.

“Having fun?” he asked.

She giggled, “I have a lightsaber now of course I’m having fun!”

He then shoved the dolly under the crate and said, “Well ready to go?”

She smiled, “Yup. Oh, one more thing,” she walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek.

She looked away with a heavy blush and said in a quiet voice, “Thank you for saving me Issei.”

Before he could devolve into a blubbering mess she yelled out, “Now onward my minion!! I want to take another bath!”

Issei just lost it and started laughing as they walked out of the warehouse.

Summons and Powers gained

Takanashi Kiara - Phoenix Regeneration

Ookami Mio - Tracing the Threads of Fate

Kiryu Coco - Channel Divinity: The Dragon of Dojima

Channel Divinity is what it says on the tin. It lets Issei channel the power and skills of his summons to a lesser degree.

Chapter Text

Dohnaseek took a puff of his cigar and then a sip of brandy as he sat in the Grigori's jazz lounge. His day off would have been perfect… if he didn't have to babysit Freed.

So what if Freed disemboweled a guy who said his oshi was shit? He would do the same. The guy even got better so he had nothing to complain about!

It's always the idiots they recruit from America. Most are decent but there have been more than a few entitled lemmings who think they're hot shit lately.

He blamed social media.

At least Freed has the excuse of fucked up genetics being responsible for his insanity. Seriously, he's had a look at his medical reports and he's surprised the guy is as functional as he is.

…Well lately it's probably the drugs some of the eggheads cooked up. DNA stabilizers and all that. At least Freed actually takes them, if only because he's stronger on them. Everyone else likes them since Freed's not as much of a psychotic asshole under their influence.

He was actually a bit worried about that because if they are making DNA stabilizers…that meant they are working on cloning again.

He still remembered the last time they did that, just what, two years ago? They had to shunt the entire base into a pocket dimension and slaughter all the clones.

Admittedly it was quite fun and he vividly remembered that both Freed and Vali had the time of their lives fighting. Especially since one of the idiots heading the project dropped some Fallen DNA into the cloning vats. What came out were abominations to his father. Beasts of flesh, eyes, wings, and teeth.

They were a bit of a pain to put down with the constant regeneration and natural light weapons. They were like living murder blenders that also shot lasers.

So in other words a fun fight.

He took a sip of his brandy as he recalled fighting for his life.

Good times.

Sure he was created to be a scribe but he can't ignore how much fun life and death battles can be.

Probably why he fell in the first place.

He then turned his gaze to the stage where a tipsy Freed was doing an excellent rendition of My Way. Ironically the insane exorcist was an excellent singer, well most exorcists were decent if they grew up in the care of the church. Choir boys and all. Freed in particular had quite the set of pipes on him. Probably the demigod in him.

He finished off the song and the occupants of the bar clapped. He then slurred out, "Thank you, thank you. Now if you fuckers will excuse me I'm going to get hammered."

Freed walked off the stage and fell flat on his face. He then got up, sauntered over, and sat down in front of him.

He lifted his glass and complimented him, "Nice singing Freed."

Freed replied by opening his brandy and drinking it straight from the bottle.

Dohnaseek felt his brow twitch, that was his good brandy. After chugging a good half Freed set it down, "Now that is some good shit! And thanks. Singing is like the one thing apart from murder I like… well except for Noel."

Dohnaseek ignored that and focused on the more important topic, his alcohol, "Freed, that was my good brandy."

Freed lifted an unimpressed eyebrow,  "So?"

Dohnaseek simply stared and Freed sighed dramatically, "Fine, I'll give a bottle of some fancy shit I took from a devil lover's house."

Dohnaseek nodded at that. Freed did hit a rich guy's place recently and he saw some of the pilfered goods, some high-quality stuff. Working inventory does have its perks.

He waved at the bottle, "Then help yourself."

Freed licked his lips, "Don't mind if I do!"

This time he actually poured himself a glass and sipped it like a normal person.

…Dohnaseek felt like he would never truly understand what goes on in Freed's head.

At least Freed was in one of his more stable moods now.

Freed swirled the brandy in his glass and asked, "So what do you think of that new IRyS chick? Some of the other feathered fuckers thought she was cute."

As he was about to respond a familiar beeping echoed out into the bar.

An emergency beacon.

An older man who he recognized as one of the exorcist commanders by the name of George stood up, "It's mine," he turned to him, "Hey Dohnaseek if I'm not back with those two chucklefucks in thirty minutes come and grab my corpse alright?"

He raised his glass, "Sure thing George."

George then grabbed his sword from the weapons rack and with a flash of light he was gone.

He turned to Freed, "So anyway I think she's cute. But she has nothing in Kanata."

Freed nodded, "You say that but Noel exists."

Dohnaseek just rolled his eyes, "You just like her knight cup tits Freed."

Freed slammed his fist on the table, "I like her for more than her tits, Dohnaseek!"

They spent the next half hour arguing about their oshi’s.

Freed sipped at his brandy and asked, “So, it’s been half an hour. You think he’s dead?”

Dohnaseek responded by finishing his glass. He set in on the table and stood up, “Maybe. Come on and gear up.”

Freed smiled and drained the rest of his drink, “Hell yeah! Finally some action. I’ve been cooped up in the base for a week!”

Dohnaseek put on his fedora, “Well you are on house arrest for disemboweling a guy.”

Freed holstered his gun, “Well guy had it coming and it’s not like I don’t regularly eviscerate people.”

Dohnaseek pulled up his phone and flipped to the teleport manager app. He then muttered, “Well on the field it’s fine but in the canteen is another matter.”

Freed stuck out his tongue like a child, “Whatever. So where we headed?”

He tapped recent beacons and the coordinates popped up on the screen, “Kamakura, Japan.”

“Land of the Rising Sun, huh? Been a while since I’ve been there,” muttered Freed.

From the look in his eyes, he seemed to be recalling something.

Hmm… wasn’t he learning under David Cerro before he joined the Grigori? He did remember reading a report that he was in Japan a few years ago investigating the whole Oz nonsense for the church.

Well, that's something he can ask later in the meantime he has to either save or collect the corpses of a few idiots.

With the tap of his finger on the screen, a magic circle spun to life under them, “Well then let's go. Be ready to fight.”

Freed snorted, “I’m always ready to fight.”

In a flash of light, they were gone.

They arrived in an instant. He took a moment to observe his surroundings. It looked like a fairly standard warehouse… well apart from a few things. There were signs of a battle but before he could observe further he heard Freed laughing his ass off.

“Freed what is so funny…” he turned to see quite the amusing sight.

Three members of the Grigori were tied up in nothing but their underwear. Better than being dead he supposed… well they will probably wish they were dead after Freed tells everyone back at base.

He recognized Geroge easily enough and he looked to be in the best shape.

The other two looked like shit. If his memory was right then one was a field tech by the name of Kevin and the other was a junior exorcist named Jerry. Kevin’s face looked like someone took a sledgehammer to it and Jerry just looked like he was mauled by a beast.

They were also knocked the hell out so he left Freed to take embarrassing pictures of them while he looked around.

From where he was standing he recognized the burns from a light gun on the ground. They were set to the highest setting from the size of the burns. It looked like they wanted to kill whatever kicked their shit in. The grouping also showed that they were terrible shots.

At least those little shits from America were crack shots, unlike these two idiots.

He walked over to a pile of broken pallets and touched the slightly cratered wall. Someone was slammed into the wall hard, not too hard. He’s done worse himself but it was pretty impressive if a human did it. He also found a broken beacon. Looked like they tried to stop it from going off.

He cast a look at the unconscious exorcist commander. Not like they needed to anyway.

He walked over to the blood-splattered cracked floor and saw the imprints from the soles of a pair of shoes. From the size and design, this wasn’t any of his men. They were from a teenager most likely.

He then walked over to the open door… or rather the remains of the kicked-in door. And lo and behold on the door was a footprint that matched the other one he found.

He eyed the pieces of broken metal next to the door. From how shattered the hinges were it looked like someone was pissed when they kicked in the door.

The pieces were coming together.

He narrowed his eyes and walked to a pile of rope in the corner. He picked up a piece and found it was ripped apart. He then lifted up a rag that was damp with what looked like saliva.

“Hey Freed! What do their injuries look like!” he yelled at his charge.

Freed shouted back, “Apart from the obvious! Someone stomped in their nuts, hard. Mainly the two dipshits though.”

And with that, he had the final piece.

Dohnaseek sighed as he pulled out a cigar. With the flick of his lighter, the end of the cigar lit up a cherry red. He inhaled and relished the flavor for a moment before exhaling a cloud of smoke.

These idiots tried to rape someone and picked the wrong girl. Either the girl had supernatural powers or her boyfriend did. Front the indents in the concrete he was leaning toward it being the boyfriend.

He looked at the rope again. Maybe it was both of them. From the way it was broken, they ripped themselves out. He recognized that type of damage…from his nightly activities and only someone with supernatural strength could do that.

Especially with the rope they use in the Grigori. They make it a bit more durable than average given most members have some semblance of enhanced strength.

He then furrowed his brows. That rope is the same one they use in the Grigori.

He looked at the ground closer and noticed wheel marks from a dolly that looked fresh. He followed them and found displaced dust in the shape of a square. Just the right size for the crates they use. But to make sure he knelt down and picked up a wood splinter. He knew this wood. It was what they used in their crates.

These idiots stole and then lost equipment. He squeezed his hand and the splinter turned into sawdust. He’s going to have to manually review the inventory when he gets back because he knows they didn’t pull things out properly. Depending on what they lost he’s going to have to get it back. If not then that means punishment detail for him. He really doesn’t want to get put under Raynare again. The bitch has been particularly crabby recently.

He will enjoy sending those two idiots to her though.

He let the sawdust slip through his gloved fingers, “Alright, Freed let's get going. Whoever fought them is long gone.”

Freed slumped in disappointment, “Ah, man. I wanted to fight.”

"Well, you may get one yet. Those two idiots lost some equipment. So we might have to hunt it down or else we might get punishment detail."

Freed made a face of disgust, "Ah, fuck no. I don't want to work with Raynare again."

He puffed his cigar, "It all depends on what they took. If it's the usual party favors it's fine. If it's heavy weapons then we got some work to do."

Freed knelt down and whispered at Jerry, "You fuckers had better just got weird sex shit or I'm going to gut you. I hate leg work."

Dohnaseek pulled his phone out and entered the code for teleport access to the infirmary, “I’m going to drop us near the infirmary.”

Freed stood up and stretched, "I got to pick up my meds anyway."

He got a green light and with the press of a button, they were gone.

In a flash of light, he saw the irritated face of the resident nurse/doctor, Susan. Susan was dressed as sexy as ever in an outfit that screamed fetish wear. Despite that Susan was one of the best doctors they had in the Grigori.

“Susan,” he said as he tipped his hat.

The blonde gave him a smile, “Dohnaseek. What have you got for me?”

He tilted his head to the pile of groaning bodies, “Two idiots that dragged an exorcist commander into their trouble. Make sure the commander gets the full treatment. The two idiots get just enough so they can be conscious when I question them.”

“Alright, then I will notify you when dumb and dumber are awake,” with the flick of a wrist the pile of bodies levitated off the ground. She then paused, “And Freed your medicine is on the counter.”

“Thanks, doc,” Freed swiped his pills and turned to him, “Call me when it’s interrogation time Dohnny.”

Dohnaseek sighed and made his way to inventory. He had work to do after all.

A few hours later he got a message from Susan that the idiots were awake. He dragged Freed out from watching a VOD of Noel and into the infirmary.

He sat on a chair and stared at Kevin and Jerry. They looked scared, as they should be.

He let them stew in their fear a bit. Freed being on the same wavelength for once played with his backup knife for added intimidation… or that was just how Freed acted in general. The guy could and would be unnerving just to fuck with people.

Dohnaseek leaned back in his seat, “So.”

They twitched and looked at him.

“You two have a bit of explaining to do,” he got out of his chair and loomed over them, “Because you pulled some heavy equipment out of inventory and it’s not just your asses that will fry but mine.”

They stayed silent and he just backed off, “Alright if you won't talk then let me ramble a bit and see if my hypothesis is right.”

He pulled out his phone and opened up his notes, “Now let's see what you properly checked out of inventory.”

He then rattled off what they pulled out, "You got the Taimanin special. Which includes; Tarps and cleaning supplies. Condoms and birth control. Dildos, vibrators, and butt plugs of varying sizes. Bondage gear both rope and chains. Nose hooks, ball gags, and mouth spreaders. Aphrodisiacs of the ingestible, injectable, and aromatic varieties. Temporary enlargement, sensitivity, and lactation inducement drugs. Milking machine. Electric stimulation device. And lastly a tentacle symbiote. Oh, and can’t forget the lube, lots of that.”

He lowered his phone, “Now see that sounds perfectly fine for a bit of fun,” he loomed over them once again, “But it's the things you stole that interest me more.”

He brought up his phone again, “As for the things you didn’t properly requisition. One light bazooka, two heavy light rifles, two heavy light pistols, a dozen Class-A explosives, four Class-A traps, multiple sets of heavy magic sealing cuffs, a Class-A barrier generator, and the most damming of all, a Sacred Gear detector.”

He lowered his phone and saw them quivering in their beds, good.

“Now what all this says to me is that you went out to hunt Sacred Gear users, which I should remind you is illegal unless it's under the direct order of one of the Cadre. What’s more, is that you obviously planned to rape those you hunted down,” he glared at them and they looked like they would piss themselves, “You two idiots picked one of the worst spots to do it in as well. Kamakura while not as important as Kyoto, is home to a leyline nexus and thus home to some of Japan’s bigwigs. If you picked up one of their people and either killed or raped them then we would have a political incident on our hands.”

He turned and showed his back to them, “What’s good is you obviously didn’t get the chance to do that,” he pivoted on his heel and looked at them, “Why? Because you fucked up on your first hunt and got your asses or rather your nuts kicked in.”

They made a motion to their destroyed genitals. He read their charts and… well they would need some heavy treatment if they ever wanted functional equipment ever again. They certainly won’t get it from the Grigori though. Their little fuck up guaranteed that.

“Now nod if I’m right.”

They did so and he had a smile on his face, “Well looks like my detective work paid off… not.”

He glared at them with significant heat, “Because those people that kicked your asses looted your equipment… the actually important equipment. Losing the sex stuff would have been fine since you would have just paid for that. The weapons and other equipment on the other hand? Those are the things we assign on important missions and are way out of your pay grade.”

He smiled sadistically, “Now here is what I’m going to do. I’m going back to Kamakura and am going to hunt down our stolen equipment. If I find it that's good for me. If I don’t?” he flared his wings and let feathers rain down over them. With a thought, they turned razor-sharp and cut straight through their blankets right above their junk, “Then I will castrate you.”

That time they actually pissed themselves… thankfully they had catheters in or Susan would kill him for making a mess.

“I think I have a better punishment Dohna?” spoke Susan as she walked in.

“Oh, my lovely nurse what would that be?”

She smiled that sweet smile that promised pain and suffering, “Azazel recently gave me permission to make use of his sex change gun to those who request it,” she eyed the two idiots, “...But I can make a special exception for its use in punishments.”

Freed then spoke up, “I got something to add, I hear that The Pen is running low on volunteers. Just toss them in there after their little gender bender.”

Ah, The Pen, the place where they let the more fucked up members of the Grigori let out their fucked up desires on suitable targets.

The two idiots looked like they were about to pass out.

He leaned on the wall, “I honestly don’t know why you didn't request to work at The Pen in the first place. Well too late now. In the meantime, I’m assigning you two to Raynare.”

That finally got them to speak up… in squeaky voices.

“No anything but her!” yelled Kevin.

“I’ll take The Pen but not her!” screamed Jerry.

He then offered them a deal, “If you help me out then I might get you reassigned somewhere slightly less horrible. Now descriptions of the people you fucked around and found out with.”

They rattled off two descriptions… that applied to most Japanese teenagers. He can just pull another Sacred Gear detector out of inventory if it comes to it.

He sighed as he and Freed left the room. He pulled out a cigar and pointed it at Freed, “Alright you with me on this Freed?”

Freed shrugged, “If it gets me out of the base then sure.”

“Good, because I am going to take my sweet time with this. Make it a little vacation. After all, it’s just some recently awakened kids.”

“Really? Man those guys must suck if they got beat up by normies… or the normies got a good Sacred Gear.”

Freed looked a bit thoughtful at that. Maybe he was thinking of the potential fights to be had being the battle maniac that he was.

He lit his cigar and said, “Yeah might try the recruitment speech. Get me a bonus. If not then I get our stuff back anyway.”

Freed yawned, “Well let me pack my shit then,” he then paused his step, “Hey can we hit Akihabara while we are in Japan? I want to get a few things.”

Dohnaseek smirked, “Good idea Freed! I’ll call you when I get everything filed.”

Freed waved him off, “Sure thing, Dohnny.”

They went their separate ways and packed their bags for a retrieval mission… or rather a little vacation. He then filed all the right paperwork for their impromptu mission and with that, they probably spin most of their spending as business expenses.

Can’t beat a vacation and getting paid at the same time after all.

Chapter Text

The two of them walked through the cool night silently as they both attempted to process the events of the past hour or so. For Aika, it was likely about how close she came to… being raped.

Issei’s hand gripped the bar of the dolly tight as he thought of how close his friend came to such a horrible fate. If he had been just a bit slower then…

He shook his head of those thoughts. He saved her and that was all that mattered. No use in beating himself up about it… for now at least. He won and saved her so he should at least enjoy that satisfaction at the moment. Let him wallow in his weakness at a later time.

But if he hadn’t been… helped. He then furrowed his brow. He was helped by someone, right?

All he could recall was the ticking of a clock and blonde hair.

Well, that and someone rubbing his head playfully.

He sighed and rubbed his head in slight irritation as he couldn’t remember anything else about the mysterious person that helped him. Well, apart from that they were very faintly familiar.

He then turned his thoughts about how he had superpowers now.

The mysterious crowbars suddenly made much more sense given he could freely summon them now.

He also knew that wasn't the only thing he could do given he was on fire multiple times earlier.

The orange-green fire healed up his wounds.

The blue fire made him feel just all around stronger.

The purple fire made him fast as hell.

The gold fire made him way stronger… and a bit feral. He remembered clearly wanting to tear the guy's throat out. Well, he wanted to do that already but under the fire's effects, he wanted to use his teeth to do it.

Then there was the white fire. He only had it for a second but he could tell it was the strongest.

But what was with all the fire? Was he in Katekyo Hitman Reborn or something? Was he going to have to worry about a baby in a suit showing up to train him to lead a criminal organization?

Elsewhere Majima sneezed as he directed his slightly reformed crew of former thugs to the construction site.

But the colors were all wrong though!

Sky flames aren't supposed to heal, that's what sun flames do!

Rain flames don't make you stronger… that's also what sun flames are supposed to do.

Cloud flames… actually both his purple and gold fire did sort of match. Cloud flames Propagation could be used for a speed boost and Sun flames Activation does increase strength.

…Now he's a bit worried. Was he going to get approached by someone from the Mob or Yakuza?

… It was Kazuma-san, wasn't it?

Aika turned to him with a confused look, "What are you freaking out about?"

"That I might get dragged into freaky criminal hijinks by a baby in a fedora."

She just looked even more confused.

He turned to her and explained, “Well most of my superpowers made me on fire and some of them matched the Dying Will Flames from Hitman Reborn.”

She looked at him as if he was stupid, “Issei that is stupid. We don’t live in an anime.”

Issei pouted, “Well obviously. I just wanted to point it out.”

She then sighed and decided to humor him, "Okay so let's say that you did use Dying Will Flames back there," she then looked him straight in the eyes, "That meant you were resolved to die saving me then?"

Issei didn't even hesitate, "Yes. You are an important person to me Aika. If it meant getting you out of there I would give up anything."

She quickly turned away at his declaration and muttered in a small voice, "Idiot."

"What was that?"

She turned to him with tears falling down her face, "I said you're an idiot, Issei! Stop acting like you're the protagonist of some Shonen manga! You keep getting into fights to help people like some Hero of Justice and just like that red-headed idiot, you jump in on fights that are way out of you’re league! Those guys weren't normal thugs they were thugs with magic! If you didn’t have your own magic bullshit you could have died!!"

Issei looked down a little embarrassed, "But I was just doing what Kaichou would have done."

Aika looked at him with new eyes and then busted out laughing, "Hehehaha! Only you would run into a fight with the supernatural because that's what your oshi would do!"

The tears that now ran down her face were ones of amusement. Issei hid a small smile as he saw the tension caused by the night's events leave Aika. She then leaned against him and sniffled, “You are still an idiot… but thanks Issei,” she looked up at him and Issei couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat at her smile, “Really I mean it.”

Issei looked away flustered as he suddenly remembered her kiss from earlier, “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

She giggled and they started walking again… just a bit closer this time.

After a few minutes of aimless wandering Aika spoke up, "We are so lost right now."

Issei nodded and pulled out his phone… only to find about a dozen missed calls.

Aika leaned over and winced, “I know my phone is going to look just like that.”

Issei’s phone then rang again, it was Motohama.

Aika made a go-on gesture, “Answer it Issei.”

He swiped and immediately leaned back as he heard his friend yell, “Issei where the hell are you and Aika?! I’ve been trying to call you guys for like an hour!”

“Well hello to you Motohama,” said Aika sarcastically.

Motohama sighed, “I see you are perfectly fine then Aika. Where were you guys?”

Aika eyed Issei and he licked his lips, “Aika wanted to rant so we had our phones on silent… and now we are a bit lost.”

“Issei… you have GPS on you’re phone,” he could hear Motohama’s exasperation over the phone.

“I have my… pride as a man to get us home without it?” he hesitantly said.

He heard Motohama sigh again, “You know what? I have to the bathroom I’ll be back to yell at you guys again in a bit.”

Issei then noticed Motohama didn't hang up.

Asama Miya watched amused as the bespectacled boy ran to the bathroom. She did serve him tea several times throughout the hour as he waited for his friends. He must have been so worried he didn’t notice till he knew they were fine.

She stood up from her chair and prepared to head to bed. She only stayed up since she noticed him pacing near the entrance.

She was then stopped as an exasperated Jin walked in carrying his bags, “Ah! Good. I was hoping I didn’t have to wake you, Miya.”

Her old acquaintance looked… antsy. She had only seen him this way a few times and those times were never pleasant for anyone.

“Jin, what seems to be the problem.”

He rubbed his temples, “I apologize but my student and I will have to check out early.”

Her head then snapped to him and she nearly yelled, “But-”

He raised a hand, “Miya I know I made a promise but the Agency gave me an emergency assignment.”

She then furrowed her brow, “What could they possibly be calling you of all people for right now? It’s essentially peacetime.”

Jin then sighed deeply and he looked to age nearly a decade, “Well not anymore.”

Despite her weakened frame, she radiated a sense of power and she asked sharply, “Who is it?”

Jin gave her a look and matched her presence with ease, “You’re retired Miya…” the pressure cut out, “But I guess I can clue you in a bit.”

He leaned on his cane, “The Chinese and Greek made their moves months ago. They’ve already made their respective beachheads in Japan. As it stands it would be a pain to kick them out.”

“Months,” she stressed. She knew that the Onmyou Agency was still a mess since the schism between the traditionalist and the progressive factions during the Second World War but to have two foreign powers invade and occupy Japan under their noses?! 

Jin removed his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose, “Yeah it hasn’t really gotten better since you left if I’m being honest. The traditionalist faction has all but crippled the Agency's ability to function properly in recent years. The Five Principle Clans just hold too much sway and they made it their mission to screw over anything the Tsuchimikado Clan has worked on.”

Miya then made a face, “But that’s…”

Jin cleaned his glasses, “Everything? Yes. They don’t really care what happens to the Agency. They are a power unto themselves and if they can get rid of any competition then they will.”

Miya sighed, “I’m suddenly reminded why I retired.”

Jin laughed, “I wish I could have joined you but I enjoy teaching too much… assignments on the other hand I loathe.”

“You were always like that Jin. Lazy for everything except what you enjoyed,” she deadpanned.

He smirked, “Guilty as charged. But I’m sorry I couldn’t help you out more. If I had a few more days I could figure out what’s causing that old fox to…”

Miya stiffened and let out a depressed sigh, “Die. I know what’s happening to my old friend.”

Jin put on his glasses and in a worried voice said, “Miya… I know you’ve been draining yourself dry to keep her alive… but you can’t do this much longer. You’re wasting away.”

Miya clutched at her clothes, “I-I know Jin… but I can’t let them die without trying to help them.”

Jin sighed, “I’ll drop by as soon as I’m done with this assignment. It hopefully shouldn’t take that long,” he licked his lips, “Hopefully.”

She frowned, “What is so urgent that they need you now?”

Jin licked his lips nervously, “...Well. Someone broke into a purification spring. One of the ones the Five Principal Clans manage. So it’s one of the more potent ones that can undue even divine-level curses. They asked for all the help they can get and so they got me going over there in the hopes of making them back off the Agency for a bit.”

Miya froze. A purification spring? The only thing someone would want with that is to either undo a curse… or refine their power. She narrowed her eyes, “It was those damn cultivators wasn’t it? Always on the hunt for anything that will make them progress further.”

“Most likely… but I won’t have a definite answer till I’m done with my investigation. Something about this feels off.”

He shook his head, “But I will have to be checking out now.”

“Very well… but if you are going can you possibly…”

He answered the unspoken question, “If, and I do mean if, I get a chance I will procure some of the spring water. That would most likely solve your problems by brute force.”

She bowed in gratitude, “Thank you Jin, I appreciate your assistance.” 

Jin smiled, “You're an old friend Miya so it’s no trouble.”

She checked him out and that was when Jin’s student burst into the room with her huge suitcase, “Finally we're leaving this shit hole!”

Jin frowned, “Dairenji.”

The girl made a noise of annoyance upon seeing her, “Ugh, what's the walking corpse still doing awake? She should be in her grave already.”

Jin narrowed his eyes in irritation, “Dairenji!”

The girl clicked her tongue, “Tch, excuse me if I’m a bit crabby sensei. You woke me up from my beauty sleep.”

Jin rubbed his temples, “I apologize for her actions. I hope to see you soon… and please take it easy. Let that Hyoudou couple spoil you a bit.”

Miya flustered slightly at that. Those two were rather nice.

Jin then walked out and his student followed after and stopped in front of her. The girl then laughed at her face, “To think that the legendary Hannya of the North was such a pathetic woman.”

Miya's fingers then dug into the wood of her desk… and when it didn’t shatter at her barely-contained rage… she knew that she was now truly weak.

She slumped off and Dairenji walked off disgusted. Miya ground her teeth in irritation. If this brat had done that not even three months ago then she would have beaten her black and blue.

As the brat walked out she heard her grumble to Jin, “Hey how long do I have to review Common style from the beginning?”

She then heard Jin from outside as he raised his voice a bit in irritation, “Dairenji that was your punishment for sneaking out restricted books from the library… But if you do good on this assignment then your punishment will be over.”

She heard the girl whoop in joy, “Fucking finally! If I had to read any more baby onmyoudou then I would have torn my hair out!”

Miya shook her head and muttered, "The children of today... at least the ones with the Hyoudou's are kind and hardworking."

She gathered her things and went off to bed.

Issei turns to Aika, “...Were we supposed to hear any of that?”

Aika slowly shook her head.

Issei hung up and quickly loaded up the GPS, “Let’s get back.”

“Yeah, I need a bath and sleep.”

They swiftly walked through the city and eventually saw the familiar sight of the Izumo Inn. As they approached they saw a sleepy Motohama standing outside.

They awkwardly waved at him and he narrowed his eyes at Issei’s charred shirt.

… He may have forgotten that he recently had almost half his torso burned.

Issei then nervously said, “Hey Motohama… There may be some things we have not mentioned.”

Motohama shook his head, “You know what? We can do this in the morning,” he then eyed the crate, “You can put that over there in the bushes. I don’t think I have the brainpower at the moment to even imagine why you have that in the first place.”

Motohama then walked into the Inn leaving Issei and Aika outside.

Issei then rolled it over to the bushes and paused as he saw a book on the ground. He picked it up and read out the title, “Common style Onmyoudou and you.”

It was filled to the brim with all kinds of notes that stuck out of the book. Was this that Dairenji girl's book?

That meant it was a magic book.

Cool.

He put it in the crate and left it in the bushes so they could look at it tomorrow. He agreed with Motohama. Issei was wiped and wanted to sleep.

They entered the Inn and they both made a beeline to the baths. As Issei was covered in dirt, sweat, and ash. Aika just wanted to feel clean.

After a quick bath, they snuck into their room to find Motohama already knocked out and Matsuda snoring.

Issei got into his futon and felt sleep take him the second his head hit the pillow.

Issei rubbed his eyes and looked down only to find Aika curled up next to him. He immediately noticed she was shaking. She was having a nightmare. Issei then slowly rubbed her head and she calmed down. He then went back to sleep… after pulling her a bit closer.

Chapter Text

Issei awoke to the sound of giggles and laughter. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and saw Matsuda and Motohama taking pictures of him… and Aika. Issei looked at the girl who was currently curled up against him and remembered the events of last night.

He could barely believe it happened… but he could feel his power just waiting to be used like some sort of phantom limb.

He patted Aika’s head gently as he recalled what else happened last night. He then glared at his friends and quietly said, “What are you two idiots doing?”

Matsuda smiled as he took yet another picture, “Getting blackmail of course.”

“Baldy, I won’t hesitate to use my new superpowers to punt you into the horizon,” grumbled the now-awake Aika.

Matsuda mouthed the word ‘superpowers’ and Motohama just shook his head confused.

Aika then yawned, “Ahhh…” she smacked her lips as she woke up fully, “Apart from being rudely awoken, I slept pretty well,” she looked at him with a teasing smile, “You make a good body pillow Issei. We might have to do this again.”

Issei returned the smile. It looked like she was feeling better if she was willing to joke like that. Well… he assumed it was a joke.

Motohama then asked, “So… what is up with the whole,” he gestured at the two of them sharing a bed.

Aika shot them an annoyed look, “We will tell you after breakfast.”

Issei’s stomach decided to make itself known at that moment with a loud rumble

Embarrassed, he said, “Breakfast sounds good. I'm starving.”

He really was. He felt like he could eat an entire cow! Maybe it was all the magic stuff last night. Does using magic burn a lot of calories or something?

Motohama and Matsuda then left the room under the annoyed glare of Aika. That left him alone with her.

He went to stand but was stopped by the pouting face of Aika, "Hey can we stay like this…just for a little longer?"

He laid back down, "...Just for a few more minutes."

If his friend wanted to take comfort in him then so be it.

… He did grab his phone though. He wanted to check a few things.

That meant looking at VTuber clips to pass the time.

Aika tilted her head and looked at the screen, "Oh! Put on that one. It's really funny!"

And that was how they spent about half an hour, just watching funny VTuber clips.

It was… nice spending time with Aika like this and he felt a bit of the stress from last night fade.

Unfortunately, they had to leave the comfort of their shared futon and get ready for the day.

After getting cleaned up they had a delightful breakfast. Issei may have eaten… quite a bit.

Issei downed his fifth bowl of rice and proceeded to gulp down another bowl of miso soup.

Motohama looked at him in horror, "Where did you even put all that?"

"You really are turning into a Shonen protagonist if you are eating this much," Aika muttered as she poked at her own food.

He took a sip of water and said, “Superpowers burn a lot of energy.”

The guys looked confused once again and Aika gained a thoughtful face as she looked at her right hand. She then started digging in with gusto.

The guys then looked at her in surprise.

Once he and Aika finished packing away what had to be a good bit of the pantry they helped clean up.

His parents, Gen's siblings, and the innkeeper then made a grocery run as Issei and Aika demolished the food stores. The innkeeper wanted to give his parents a small tour while they shopped and the kids wanted to join.

That worked in their favor as that meant they could have a relatively private conversation.

Which they needed given the whole magic thing.

Issei and Aika sat in front of Motohama, Matsuda, and Gen.

Aika coughed into her fist, “Well then I will start,” she then gave them a serious look, “Last night Issei and I learned that magic is real.”

Motohama gave her a suspicious look, “Prove it.”

Aika gave him a smug look as she pulled out her lightsaber. She really liked that thing and he noticed she kept it on her all day. What better defensive item than a lightsaber after all?

With a flick of a switch, the blade ignited and the guys recoiled in shock.

Matsuda looked on in disbelief, “That is not real!”

It was Issei’s turn to feel smug, “I have more proof!” with a flick of a wrist a trust crowbar was summoned into his hand.

Gen had a look of realization, “So that’s where you kept getting those crowbars!”

Issei let the crowbar fade into motes of light and rubbed his nose, “Yeah. Apparently, I’ve been doing that unconsciously or something. Because last night it suddenly just clicked and I can do that at will now.”

Aika punched him playfully in the arm, “And thanks to that I am not currently tied up in a warehouse having who knows what done to me.”

The guys then snapped to Aika.

Matsuda’s eyes shadowed, “Who do I need to bury?”

Gen stood up ready for a fight, “Do I need to help break someone's legs?”

Motohama’s glasses glinted with barely contained rage, “I can do some very creative things with needle and thread.”

Issei noticed Aika felt a bit touched that their friends didn’t hesitate to do what he had. He poked her in the side teasingly, “See? I’m not the only one.”

She looked a bit embarrassed, “Thanks guys but Issei and I got vengeance last night. He beat the hell out of them just like Kazuma-san would,” she then smirked evilly, “And I used my new superpower to practice field kicks on the assholes family jewels.”

Issei winced as he recalled the brutal nutcracking. He wasn’t alone as the guys made faces of pain.

Motohama then had a look of realization, “That’s what that crate was! You stole stuff from them.”

Aika smiled, “Bingo!”

Issei then raised his hand, “Actually why don’t we bring that in? I don’t really feel safe leaving most of that in the open.”

Aika then nodded sagely, “Yeah I don’t think the innkeeper would appreciate having a crate of sex toys in her yard.”

Issei then deadpanned, “I was thinking more about the weapons. Especially since one of them looked like a rocket launcher.”

Aika then snapped her fingers, “Yeah those too! Don’t want this place to be blown sky high on accident.”

The guys were a bit speechless at hearing about the contents of the crate and wordlessly followed them outside. They went through some of the dense bushes and arrived at the crate. That was thankfully left undisturbed.

Issei then walked up to it ready to take it inside but was stopped by Aika.

“Let me show off a bit Issei!”

Aika then raised her hand to the heavens and it glowed with awesome power! A green aura of power emitted from her body and condensed at her right hand and there it was a red gauntlet.

The guys were a bit awed at that and he whined, “Hey I did cool magic stuff too!”

Motohama snorted, “Issei you summoned a crowbar. Aika summoned a cool gauntlet and had a cool light show.”

Issei pouted, “My stuff is cool too!”

Aika’s gauntlet then intoned, “Boost!”

Aika then flexed, “Now I am twice as powerful!”

He then muttered, “Twice?”

She shrugged, “Eh, it felt right.”

She then picked up the crate as if it didn’t weigh a few hundred pounds.

… That was actually a bit impressive but if she did have twice her strength then it made sense. Aika was actually a bit stronger than he gave her credit for. She really got into working out and those drinks helped too.

Issei furrowed his brows as pieces of a puzzle he didn’t know he had came together.

His mom wasn’t buying those drinks was she?

“Alright let's head back inside!” she grunted as she carried the crate.

He can contemplate power-generated drinks in a bit.

They walked back inside and Aika deposited the crate in their room.

He then popped it open with his trusty crowbar.

The guys then looked inside.

“Huh, I thought stuff like this only existed in hentai?” muttered Matsuda as he looked at a bottle labeled Sensitivy Draft.

“Hey, do you think this stuff actually works?” Motohama said as he held up a syringe that said GroPlus.

Aika simply stared at him and then said, “Are you really going to risk your junk by injecting unknown substances into it on the off chance it gets bigger?”

Motohama then carefully put the syringe back into the container they came from.

Aika then nodded, “Good boy,” her glasses then gleamed, “You don’t really need it anyway you are packing a decent one as is.”

Motohama then glared at her, “Aika!”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

Gen then lifted up a case that was labeled Vitality Tincture, “This might be useful in our workouts!”

Aika gave him a look and he set it down.

Then they pulled out the weapons. Guns of varying sizes and there was indeed a rocket launcher.

They carefully put that one back and the others back.

Aika then pulled out the loot or more specifically that weird scanner thing the guy had.

Matsuda looked over her shoulder while she fiddled with it, “So what’s that?”

“I think the guy called it a Sacred Gear detector or something,” replied Issei as he set the book he picked up on the table. Said book was then immediately picked up by Motohama.

Aika then mumbled as she tapped at the screen, “Yeah, I think this is what they used to find us. So I want to see if it has any more info about our superpowers.”

“Let’s see it's still in detection mode,” she pressed a button and muttered, “Huh, it says there are three in this room?”

She pointed it at Motohama then Matsuda and finally at Gen. It dinged.

Aika then dramatically announced, “Rejoice young man for you have superpowers as well!”

Gen looked at himself confused, “I don’t really feel like I have a superpower.”

Aika huffed, “Yeah give me a second,” she pressed another button, “And this should be analysis mode.”

She kept it pointed at Gen and after a minute or so it dinged, “Let’s see what you got. You have… Black Dragon’s Pulse? That sounds Chunni as all hell. Oh, wait it’s also called Absorption Line.”

Gen rubbed his chin and asked, “Hey Aika how did you bring out your… Sacred Gear? Is that right?”

Aika kept reading, “I just really wanted the power to help Issei, and bam! Super cool gauntlet.”

Gen then closed his eyes and after a moment he raised his hand out and in a flash of purple energy a small chameleon-looking thing rested on his hand, “That wasn’t really that hard. I guess knowing about it makes it easier,” he then looked at Aika, “So what does it do?”

Aika rattled out a reply, “Well like the name implies it lets you absorb stuff with the lines it can make. Can be anything really from what it says. Magical energy, lifeforce, Ki, and a few other things. It can then convert those things into other things. It can also drain blood and stuff. While gross is cool.”

Gen looked at his Sacred Gear with an appraising look, “Neat.”

Issei then saw Aika point it at herself. After a moment it dinged, “Huh, It looks kind of glitchy,” she turned to him, “Hey how hard did you hit the guy who had this?”

Issei remembered his Ora Ora moment and replied, “Pretty hard. I gave him the Star Platinum treatment.”

The guys then nodded in respect and Aika shrugged, “Well apart from the glitchy text. It says I have a Twice Critical and like I thought, it doubles my power… or well more than just my power. Just makes me twice as strong in everything actually. Faster, stronger, and all that stuff. It even increases the body's recovery rate, huh? Now I don’t have to deal with being sore as long!”

Issei then looked antsy, “So how about me?”

Aika rolled her eyes, “Give me a minute I’m just reading about what I can do with my Sacred Gear,” she pointed it at him. After a moment it dinged, “Let’s see what crowbar summoning gets us…” After a moment it looked like she came to a sudden realization and then proceeded to give him an exasperated look.

“What?” he asked.

She sighed, “Nothing Issei. Only you would get the Sacred Gear that is powered by simping.”

He raised a confused eyebrow, “Powered by simping?”

She shoved the device in his face and he read out loud, “Faith Caller. The user can summon echoes of powers, items, and figures from myths, legends, and religions by tapping into their personal faith and the faith they inspire in others.”

They all stared at him as they too put the pieces of the puzzle together.

It was pretty obvious what Issei worshiped the most after all.

To test this Issei focused and summoned a plethora of objects, specific objects.

Asacoco of all types appeared on the table in an instant.

They all started silently at the pile of VTuber items.

Matsuda looked at him almost expectantly and Issei nodded. A cutting board appeared on the table and Matsuda glared at him. Issei got the feeling that it was actually a good defensive item.

Motohama looked at him next and with a bit of thought a bucket appeared… a bucket full of lava.

They all stared at the seemingly impossible sight of lava bubbling in a bucket and Issei dismissed it immediately in fear of burning down the building and killing them all.

Gen looked at him… and Issei hoped the next item wasn’t as bad. A familiar oni mask clattered onto the table. Whips of ghostly energy flowed from it and Issei too dismissed that one immediately.

Aika then looked at him and he shook his head, “Aika. No. I just summoned a bucket of lava and some spooky stuff. I don’t want to accidentally summon something crazy.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “You only say that because you don’t want to summon anything from a male VTuber.”

They stared at each other for a moment and Issei sighed. A drink coaster that said ROBEL on it appeared on the table.

Aika gave him a look, “Really? Motohama gets a lava bucket, Genshirou gets a spooky mask, and… Actually Matsuda I feel your pain. But I get a drink coaster?”

Issei nervously said, “It will keep your drinks at the perfect temperature?”

Aika raised a finger but then nodded, “Okay that is a bit useful.”

They then sat in silence for a moment.

Gen leaned back, “So…”

Aika chewed on her lip, “So…”

Matsuda scratched the back of his head, “So…”

Motohama cleaned his glasses, “So…”

Issei sighed, “So… Magic is a thing and I can summon VTuber stuff… Do you guys want to hit the beach in a bit and not think about any of this till later?”

He got a resounding yes from everyone.

They immediately put everything away and got ready for the beach.

Thoughts of magic and Sacred Gears are now firmly put to the side.

It was time to be normal teenagers and have fun during summer break.

Chapter Text

Issei breathed in the salty sea air as he looked at the beach. The sands held a variety of people as they played and relaxed.

Children ran around as they played in the sand and ocean.

Adults watched them in amusement while they shared drinks.

Men and women flaunted their toned and muscled bodies.

Grunts of exertion were heard as a beach volleyball game was underway.

The blue waves crashed and he saw surfers enjoying the waves.

In the distance, he saw Mount Fuji.

This truly was summer.

They made a good choice as Zaimokuza was a bit quieter than Yugiahama. From what they saw Yugiahama was pretty packed and while they had to watch for surfers while swimming the fact that it was less crowded made up for it.

He hoisted up a cooler and followed as his friends and family found themselves a nice spot. They quickly set up umbrellas and chairs.

Once that was done it was time.

Issei stared at his friends and they returned his look.

As one they discarded their shirts and posed!

They flexed their muscles earned from hard work… for the most part. They figured out that the drinks he had been providing were in fact Muscle Growth type Asacoco.

That definitely explained how a bunch of twigs, minus Matsuda and Gen, bulked up so much in a month.

But they aren't complaining!

They JoJo posed for a minute and Issei’s parents laughed at the sight. Gen’s little brother thought it was cool… and Gen’s sister thought it was lame. If the look on her face meant anything.

Gen slumped over and Issei patted him on the shoulder to comfort him. He then immediately stopped as he noticed Aika drooling at the sight.

The damn Fujo!

His mom then tossed them a bottle of sunscreen, “Don’t want to end up with a sunburn kids.”

They then put on sunscreen… there was no avoiding Aika’s intense stare as they helped each other put sunscreen on their backs.

The damn Fujo! They can’t do anything anymore!

Issei narrowed his eyes at her as she strolled up to him, “What do you want Aika?”

She smiled sweetly at him as she handed him the bottle of sunscreen, “I want you to put some sunscreen on my back. That’s all.”

Issei grumbled, “Fine only if you knock off the Fujo stare for a little bit. We can feel your thoughts.”

She pouted but nodded, “Fine.”

Aika then laid down on a towel, “Now get my back will you?”

Issei knelt down and squirted some sunscreen on his hands. He then hesitantly placed his hands on her back and began to rub.

Her skin was really soft.

“Go a bit lower Issei,” she asked and he did so. He made sure that her lower back was well covered.

“Lower,” she commanded.

He paused, “That would mean I would be touching your… butt.”

She turned over and the look in her golden yellow eyes told him her answer.

He gulped, looked around for anyone watching, and went lower. His hands sunk into her toned butt and he couldn’t help but mumble in amazement, “Wow.”

It was so soft yet firm.

He felt her stiffen up when he started but after a moment she relaxed as he rubbed in the sunscreen.

After a minute or so he removed his hands. He had to admit it took an act of willpower to do so. He then turned away embarrassed… and also to hide a certain part of his anatomy that made itself very known.

Aika rolled over and gave him a cheeky smile, “Thank you Issei. I’ll grab you a drink so sit here and cool down a bit.”

She knew! That cheeky girl! He then watched her walk away said cheeks glistening from the sunscreen.

Eventually, he was able to stand without a tent in his pants. Issei rubbed his temples mind swirling just a bit and that was when Aika tossed him a bottle of water. He caught it and took a drink.

He let out a satisfied sigh and turned to his companion, “So… what was that all about?”

Aika hummed, “Hmm… can’t I tease my friends?”

Issei narrowed his eyes, “But we agreed there would be no touching after the last time.”

Aika bounced on her feet, “Well… maybe we can make a little exception,” she looked up at him with a light blush, “Can’t we?”

Issei blushed at the sight. He turned away and muttered, “I guess.”

He rubbed the back of his head and then turned back to her, “Let's go have fun, okay?”

She gave him a bright smile, “Sure!”

They then walked over to their friends and started their fun at the beach.

The first thing the guys did was dig a big hole. There was a certain masculine urge to simply dig a big hole with some friends.

Aika looked down at them, “How deep are you going to dig?”

Matsuda was in the zone but replied, “As far as I can go.”

Aika rolled her eyes and looked at Gen, “Well Genshirou your siblings are building sandcastles. Do you want to join them?”

Gen wiped the sweat from his brow, “I’ll be there in a bit… I kind of really want to keep going.”

Issei set down his shovel, “I’ll join them. I want to do some sand sculptures.”

Motohama panted, “And I’m going to get a drink and sit under the umbrella.”

Aika offered a hand and helped lift them out of the hole.

Issei dusted himself off and walked with Aika to where Gen’s siblings were making sandcastles.

He was still a bit embarrassed to talk with her so they stayed quiet.

Issei knelt down and greeted Gen’s siblings, “Hey Gengo, Kaho.”

Gengo waved at him and Kaho just gave him a small smile.

“So sandcastles?” Issei asked.

Gengo nodded and Issei smirked, “Then let me help make something cool!”

Issei then spent some time making a cool sand castle with the kids.

When he finished it was a cool-looking European castle.

“Cool!” Gengo shouted and Issei puffed up in pride.

Kaho smiled and then asked, “Can we get a snack?”

“Sure. Do you want something Gengo?” asked Aika.

The little boy nodded and dusted the sand off of him.

She took the two kids' hands and turned to him, “What about you Issei?”

Issei looked at the sand with a certain need, “I’ll be there in a bit. I want to make a sand sculpture.”

Aika shrugged, “We will be by the food stalls if you need us.”

He waved them off and rubbed his hands in anticipation. It was time to honor his oshis!

He clapped his hands and offered a prayer, “By the seas and sands I do the following acts according to your will.”

He then moved as faith fueled his being.

The first sculpture was of a lifesized Marine stepping on a treasure chest. Many features of the sculpture seemed to defy physics in order for them to stay in place. Issei had a tear in his eye just looking at it.

He still felt that faith bubbling beneath his skin and so he started a second one. This one would be Gura raising her trident to the heavens.

As he was working he was interrupted by the voice of a girl, “These are quite the sculptures.”

He turned to see a rather tall and statuesque teenager in a bikini. She had a wild mane of black hair and striking blue eyes.

She was really pretty, like insanely pretty. It was like she was sculpted rather than born.

He dusted himself off and mumbled, “Ah, thanks.”

She looked at the finished one of Marine, “You put quite a bit of work into these and it shows.”

She had… an odd look as she looked at them. An almost nostalgic one.

She turned to him and smiled, “And what is our sculptor's name?”

Issei felt a bit embarrassed by the attention of such a beautiful girl, “Hyousou Issei.”

She nodded as she looked at the half-finished sculpture of Gura. She ran a finger along Sand Gura’s cheek, “I’m Diana Chthonia… or is it Chrhonia Diana? I’m not quite used to Japan’s name scheme.”

She turned to him and gave him another smile, “But you may call me Diana. I prefer it.”

Issei flustered, “Ah, you can call me Issei then.” 

“You can get back to work if you want. I won’t be a nuisance,” she said.

“Uhm, sure…” Issei then knelt down and got back to work. Diana simply sat to the side and watched him.

Was she hitting on him? Issei didn’t know what to do with that information and just focused on making Gura as cute as possible.

While he somehow fashioned a trident from the sand he asked, “So where are you from?”

“Greece,” she replied.

“Your Japanese is rather good. I can’t even hear an accent.”

She hummed, “Hmm… Well, my cousin was planning this trip for some time so I thought it prudent to learn the local language.”

She must have worked hard to speak such fluent Japanese.

“So you came with your family?” he asked as he detailed the sand.

“Just a few cousins really. Our parents are rather… busy.”

Issei hummed as he took that in. Their parents must really trust them to let them travel on their own.

“So what about you Issei? What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Just summer vacation with my friends and family. Nothing special.”

Well,  if one discounted learning about the supernatural that is. That was pretty special.

They kept having an idle conversation as he finished up the sculpture.

Diana hummed in appreciation, “That is quite the cute little Atlantian you made.”

“Uhm… yeah. Gura is pretty cute.”

Diana tilted her head, “Gura?”

“Oh, yeah. Gura is a VTuber I like to watch.”

“I…see?” she said still confused.

Issei’s stomach then rumbled and Diana laughed, “Well we can talk about what a VTuber is over a meal if you like?”

Was she asking him out? He didn’t know how to handle beautiful foreign women hitting on him!

Flustered he said, “Sure!”

The two of them then walked over to the food stalls.

As they got closer he saw a handsome bastard flirting with a bunch of girls.

He then saw him walk up to Aika.

Aika idly slurped some yakisoba as she rested in the shade. She passed the time by people-watching and imagining various scenarios for her writing. She may have also been using her size scouter for a bit of fun as well. It was always funny to see some muscle-bound guy with a tiny package and then to see a wimpy guy packing a monster.

She giggled perversely to herself as she imagined the tiny wimp topping the muscley guy with his monster dick.

She tapped that into her notes. That would make for some quality smut.

As she slurped up more noodles she saw a guy return from surfing. He was… rather handsome she had to admit. Almost supernaturally so. Dark blue hair and Ocean blue eyes. The guy looked like he was born of the sea.

The more she looked at him the more a weird feeling built up in her.

It called for her to put him in his place. To Dominate him and show him that she was on top.

As she contemplated her growing sadism she saw the guy flirt with a bunch of girls.

She rolled her eyes but decided to use her scouter on the guy. Let her see what he was packing and if he could back up his boasts.

She raised an amused eyebrow as he was smaller than Issei by an inch or two.

Well, not like that was hard Issei was packing a monster. 

So the flirt wasn’t really that bad and actually pretty big… but Issei had him beat in both length and girth.

The guy turned to her and walked up ignoring the girls flocking to him.

That was suspicious. While she did feel a bit of pride in appearance some of those girls were ten out of ten. So unless the guy had a glasses fetish something wasn’t right.

The urge to Dominate grew.

He sat at her table and suavely said, “So may I have the pretty lady's name?”

Now that she got a closer look at him his eyes really were like the ocean.

Aika simply continued to slurp her noodles.

The guy’s smile faltered slightly, “I’m Zale, but you can call me Wave.”

She took a sip of her drink and continued to ignore him.

His eye twitched at her continued silence, “I’m from Greece and-”

She cut him off, “Did I ask?”

She saw him grind his teeth in irritation and she twitched. Why was he getting mad? He intruded on her! She needed to show this little shit his place.

Her eyes narrowed into slight almost reptilian slits and she looked down at him, “So why don’t you buzz off?”

She unconsciously drew on her Sacred Gears power… but it felt much more potent. Almost alive.

Wave then recoiled as if he was looking at some monstrous beast. He seemed to pale, break out into a cold sweat, and his pupils dilated in fear.

She felt something within her let out a satisfied huff.

After a moment he looked extremely confused. Before he could say anything a feminine hand was on the table. She looked at the beautiful woman the hand belonged to. Tall, statuesque, and well-muscled.

Aika wasn't afraid to admit she found her very attractive.

The woman then glared down at Wave, “Zale, what are you doing? I thought you were better than our cousins. What do I always have to tell them?”

Wave grumbled at his admonishment, “Not to press if they aren’t interested.”

The woman turned to her with an apologetic face, "I apologize for my cousin. He's not normally like this," she punctuated her sentence with another glare at Wave who then shrunk down in his seat.

"I better hope not," said the familiar voice of Issei.

She felt him put his hand on her shoulder defensively and she felt a warm feeling bubble up at that.

She looked up at him and smiled, "What took you so long?"

He looked a bit bashful as he scratched his cheek, "I got too into making sand sculptures. I made one of Marine and Gura. I can show you if you want."

She heard his stomach rumble and she held up her plate of half-finished yakisoba, "You can have some of this to tide you over if you want?"

He took the plate, "Thanks Aika! So let's go…"

He looked over at the woman, "Ah, sorry about that Diana."

She raised an eyebrow at how casual he was with this Diana. Did Issei have more game than she expected?

He has good taste at least.

Diana gave him a small smile, "Well you can explain what a VTuber is later I suppose."

Aika then let out an amused sigh as her previous opinions of Issei’s potential game were instantly rendered null. Because of course, the dork would talk about VTubers to the hot foreign girl.

She stood up, "Alright let's go see them. If it's anything like your usual work then it's bound to be amazing."

Issei smirked smugly at her praise.

Diana then gestured at her cousin to follow. Wave stood up and reluctantly followed them.

Issei chowed down on her leftovers along the way and as they approached there was a crowd of people surrounding the sand sculptures.

One of them pointed at Issei, "There is the man with the blessed hands who created such beautiful works of art of our oshis!”

They then swarmed Issei singing his praises.

He better not get a big head over this.

…Well, even if he does she can tease him back into submission.

While they swarmed her friend she looked at the sculptures and smiled at how beautiful they were. She loved to see the love and devotion he put into his art. His passion was second to none.

And she still found it hilarious that those same feelings are what power his Sacred Gear.

Only Issei.

She smiled amused at her friend's exasperated expression as he was swarmed by fans.

If only they knew about his other art exploits.

Hmm… Well, maybe a few will later. She imagined Issei would upload pictures on his Twitter and all it takes is for someone to recognize him.

She turned to Diana who seemed to join her in amusement at Issei’s plight.

Now, did she fall for Issei’s charms… or was she here for something else?

Aika admits she was being a bit paranoid… and maybe a tad jealous. But given she was kidnapped just last night for some hidden magic thing that was shoved in her soul, she felt that she had the right to be a bit paranoid.

Time will tell.

Issei still felt a bit dizzy from earlier. He felt an influx of what he assumed was faith from the people who saw his sculptures. Now that he knew about it he recognized it as what he felt… almost all the time actually. It was just different in scale. Before it was a constant trickle but earlier was as if someone fully opened the facet for a minute.

They had moved away once Aika had gotten a good look and now they sat with Diana and her cousin Zale. Or as he preferred Wave. The guy was giving Aika fearful looks for some reason. It wasn’t like Issei’s or the other guy’s looks of fear about her Fujo tendencies but actual genuine fear.

He didn’t know why he was scared of her, but he preferred that to her being hit on.

They arrived at Matsuda’s hole… which was way bigger than the last time they looked at it.

Diana leaned over the pit and narrowed her eyes and said, “Herc is that you down there?”

A loud booming voice echoed out of the pit, “Diana! Yes, it is. I saw this guy digging a hole and had to join in.”

Diana sighed, “Boys.”

Aika nodded at that.

A moment later a huge guy jumped out of the hole. The guy had to be two meters tall! He was also jacked. His shoulder-length gray hair was filled with sand.

Wave made a gesture, “Herc you got some…”

Herc shook his head like a dog and the sand went everywhere, “Thank you, cousin!”

“A hand please!” shouted the familiar voice of Matsuda from the hole.

“Of course my friend!” Herc leaned down and pulled out Matsuda with ease.

Man, the guy was strong as hell.

Matsuda dusted himself off and Issei noticed that he had a small box in his hands.

“Hey, Matsuda what do you have there?” asked Issei.

Matsuda gained a smirk, “I found it at the bottom of the hole. Buried treasure can you believe it!”

Issei then immediately noticed the Greeks looked at the box strangely for but a second.

Before they could say anything he heard Motohama talking to someone.

“So anyway with that stitch, you can expect it to hold up to more stress,” said a cute light blue-haired glasses-wearing girl.

Motohama hummed, “Hmm… I see. Very interesting.”

Diana raised a brow, “Asfi?”

The now-named Asfi blinked in surprise, “What are you all doing here?”

Once again before they could speak he heard Gen’s voice.

“So anyway I use the guy to bludgeon another guy.”

A guy with neatly combed brown hair laughed, “Yeah that is always a fun thing to do.”

Herc then perked up, “Hey it’s Pe!”

Diana sighed, “I see our little group has now gathered now that you are here Percy.”

Aika let out a laugh, “Our’s too. Ain’t that a coincidence?”

Issei had a feeling that Aika felt that wasn’t a coincidence for some reason.

Diana spoke up, “If that is true why don’t we introduce ourselves? I’m Diana Chthonia.”

The big guy was next, “I’m fine with that. I’m Heracles Iraklidis. You can call me Herc”

The glasses girl adjusted her glasses and said, “Asfi Al Andromeda. Asfi is fine.”

Wave sighed, “Zale Onassis, but call me Wave.”

The neatly combed guy politely said, “Perseus Laskaris, but you may call me Percy.”

It was his group's turn and so they did.

After they introduced themselves they talked a bit just to get to know each other a little more.

After a few minutes, Herc asked, “Hey do you guys want to play volleyball? I think we got enough people and I’m itching for some friendly competition.”

Issei felt that from the guy's smile, he meant for it to be more than friendly competition… but he also wanted to play volleyball. It’s a staple for a beach trip after all.

He shared a look with his friends and they nodded in agreement.

Issei would later regret this.

Dohnaseek sipped at his fruity drink while he looked out at the beach. He was dressed in his Magnum Pi Hawaiian shirt that was tucked into a pair of jeans. He felt like going casual today despite the investigation. Which is also why he was wearing his Magnum Pi shirt.

It was for detective work after all.

Freed sat at his side and ate some takoyaki.

He plucked one out of the container and popped it into his mouth.

“Hey! That was mine Dohnaseek!” shouted Freed.

He chewed on the tasty treat. He then swallowed and said, “Was it now?”

He washed down the octopus ball with a sip of his fruity cocktail. Dohnaseek then narrowed his eyes at a couple of teens playing volleyball, “Oh, now that isn’t fair.”

Freed turned to where he was looking and laughed, “Oh yeah that isn’t fair at all. They are fucked.”

Now what were a couple of Greek demigods and Spirit Inheritors doing playing volleyball with a bunch of normal kids?

The Amazon Diana Chthonia, Daughter of Zeus and Amazon Queen Hippolyta. They decided to rip off Wonder Woman and made her the same way, from a lump of clay… or was it sand? He didn’t really know the particulars since the Grigori’s information network wasn’t that good.

She was however one of the more out-and-about members of the Greek pantheon. From what he’s read she was a good egg with little notable faults… unlike most of her relatives. He still remembered Hercules beating the absolute shit out of whoever or whatever was in front of him when he was in one of his rages.

Speaking of Hercules, his Spirit Inheritor was gleefully hitting a volleyball with way more than human strength. The bald kid took it like a champ though. Hmm… there may be more to the kids than he thought.

But apart from that the new Hercules was… much like his old self for the most part if the reports were right. Just not quite as powerful since he didn’t really have any actual divine blood in him just divine spirit. Still way stronger than a bog stander human though. Enough to give most Fallen trouble. Along with his Sacred Gear Varient Detonation? Well, he was a bit of a powerhouse… just not Original Hercules powerhouse.

Just like the other Spirit Inheritor, Perseus. From the reports on him, he was a polite kid and a strong fighter. The poor bastard ended up getting Aegis Mineralization of all Sacred Gears. He remembered there was a betting poll on if Medusa would somehow kill the kid from within the gear, well that or fuck him. That was how most bets went down in the Grigori actually.

His gaze turned to the daughter of Hermes, Asfi Al Andromeda. Said girl took after her uncle Hephaestus more than her actual father with all the crafting she did. From the reports she often was on the hunt for interesting artifacts and materials. She would do good in the Grigori with all the eggheads.

He then turned his gaze toward the last demigod, Zale Onassis. Son of Poseidon and wielder of the High tier Sacred Gear Grand Chariot. The kid was shaping up to be a monster. From the reports, he’s pretty decent all around though. There were however mentions of him wanting to find his ‘rival’ as it were. That would be the wielder of Incursio.

Grand Chariot and Incursio could be considered a paired set of Sacred Gears much like the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing. In which the holders will inevitably become enemies at worst and rivals at best.

He was just like Vali and his desire to find this generation's Red Dragon Emperor.

He had a feeling Vali and Zale would get along… well that or fight each other constantly.

Throughout his observation, he noted that the kids were slowly getting used to the demigods. Oh, the demigods weren’t really trying but still notable for a bunch of presumably normal kids.

But it would be too little too late as the glasses kid just got hit with a spike from Hercules.

He nudged Freed, “Hey want to go sub in for glasses kid? Against them, you can let off some steam. Demigod versus demigod and all that.”

Freed nodded and smiled his crazy smile. He took out his pills and swallowed one. It looked like he was serious.

Dohnaseek then looked to the side and saw what he assumed are the parents of the brown-haired kid and the siblings of the blonde one.

He grabbed his things and sat next to them, “Hope you don’t mind Freed joining in. Don’t want them to be too much at a disadvantage.”

The man laughed, “Yeah they are having a tough time against them. Man kids these days are growing up tougher than I remember.”

He pointedly looked at Hercules and Dohnseek sipped his drink, “Yeah, yeah they are.”

The woman sipped her own drink, “So is he your son?”

Dohnaseek laughed at that, “Freed my son? Hahaha. No at most he could be considered my ward at the moment.”

The little blonde kid said, “They're starting!”

Dohnaseek sipped at his drink and got ready to enjoy the show.

Because it will be quite the sight.

Issei huffed from exertion and drank some water as Motohama got his nose tended to. He got hit with a monster spike from Herc… and well Motohama was the scrawniest and Herc was the most ripped. So his friend decided to lay off to the side and recover.

Since they were down a player they decided to throw in the towel… well that was before a foreign guy rolled up and asked if they wanted some help.

“Yo, you fuckers want some help?”

He was pretty vulgar.

“Freed Sellzen. Now let’s tear them apart!”

Well, at least he had spirit if anything.

Matsuda served and Issei could swear his hand glowed white ever so slightly. The ball was launched with startling power and was received by Wave… who seemed a tad surprised at the power. Wave then hit it up and Herc spiked it powerfully.

Gen moved and received it. Issei saw his Sacred Gear flash for a split second to absorb some of the power.

How clever.

Gen tossed it up and Aika lept up with surprising speed and spiked it powerfully getting them a point. She used her Sacred Gear too, didn’t she?

Diana picked up the ball and narrowed her gaze at them.

Issei had a feeling the rest of the game was going to get a bit… weird.

Freed was having the time of his fucking life right now! He got to go all out against some Greek fuckers. While it wasn’t a fight to the death it was close enough for him.

And he was with his people too! Because the brown-haired kid kept dedicating his serves and spikes to VTubers! Hell, he wasn’t the only one. The others started doing it too!

He got to let off some steam and hang out with people of actual taste. Best fucking vacation.

It was his turn to serve and so he lept up and spike the ball with some of that Norse juju he can actually use now, “For Noel!!”

The ball glowed with awesome power as it was launched with the power of a cannonball. The big fucker received it with a smile.

Heh, he was alright in his books.

He launched it and the Amazon spiked it. The baldy received and actually held his own even if he had to strain to hold his ground. Baldie's veins bulged as he yelled out, “For Rushia!!”

The ball went up and the glasses girl jumped up and he felt a Dominating pressure descend on them, “For Senchou, for BL!!”

The ball was a red comet and it kicked up a plume of sand as it impacted the ground.

The glasses guy who got his face smashed in raised a hand, “Game set and match!”

“Ha! That was fucking fun! Let's do it again!” shouted Freed.

A phone rang and the Amazon picked it up from her bag. After a moment of talking, she put the phone down, “Sorry but we have to head out.”

The big fucker sighed, “Ah, I was having fun.”

The Amazon shook her head, “Bronte needs us. We were only here because Zale finally found what he was looking for.”

The blue guy smiled, “Yeah I did. A bit disappointed but maybe next time I can have some proper fun.”

The blue girl turned to them and bowed, “I thank you for your time… it was fun. I hope we see each other again.”

The Greeks packed up and left after trading numbers. The people of culture then split to do whatever and so Freed was left alone.

Freed clicked his tongue, “Tch, I’m taking a nap.”

He found a nice spot in the sand and closed his eyes. He then opened them as he felt Dohnaseek look down on them.

“What do you want?” he asked.

The fallen dropped a bottle of some sports drink next to his head, “Drink up. I want to check some stuff out.”

Freed sat up and sipped his drink, “Yeah what are we going to look at?”

Dohnassek smiled, “An inn for the night.”

Issei stretched as he got ready to swim. He had fun playing volleyball but when at the beach swimming is mandatory.

He also wanted to try out his Sacred Gear a bit.

He entered the ocean and started to swim. Once he got far enough the familiar necklace was around his neck. He looked at it and it was still the Kiryu Coco family emblem. He then focus and it shifted into a trident. It was time to try Gura’s powers.

He felt something change, shrugged, and got back to swimming.

That was when he noticed it. He was swimming fast and more importantly, he could breathe when under the water.

So Issei dived and was amazed at the sights of the sea. Without needing to go back up for air he was able to go deeper.

He spent some time just looking around in amazement. It was so beautiful!

As he swam along the sea floor he eventually stumbled on something weird. It was a swirling dome of water that seemed to be getting smaller by the second. He swam up to it and passed through only to find there was a pocket of air. He breathed deeply and looked around only to find a battlefield. There were deep furrows of displaced sand and earth. More importantly, there was blood splattered everywhere, lots of it. He followed it and found a body.

A breathing body… if barely. The guy was huge not like Herc but close. His long black hair was matted with blood and he was absolutely covered in cuts that leaked blood. When Issei looked closer he saw them sealing up. His gaze was then drawn to the shortsword the guy held in a death grip. The sword held an odd red jewel that Issei felt had looked at him.

Issei very slowly walked towards him and the guy shot up and waved his sword at him.

Issei had a crowbar in his hands in an instant ready to defend himself.

“Hey are you okay,” Issei asked hesitantly when the guy didn’t move for a second.

The guy looked around slowly, “Where… where is that Greek bastard?”

He then stopped moving… did he pass out while standing? 

But more importantly, Greek bastard?

Chapter Text

Greek bastard. Issei thought to himself. He had met a few Greeks just recently… but could it be them?

He could see it… a little. He had a suspicion about them not being normal during the volleyball game. Because when the ball glows with an aura of power when it's hit it’s obvious that something supernatural is going on.

He turned his attention to the guy. He was just in a pair of swim trunks that were a cut up like the rest of him. Thankfully not too much. Issei didn't need to see another guy's junk.

He winced at the various slash wounds on the guy. That would rule out Herc. The guy seems more of a punching kind of guy.

Diana… Nah he couldn’t see that at all. She didn’t seem the type to leave someone for dead at the bottom of the sea.

Percy? Nope, the guy seemed to be a bit uptight and this didn't feel like something he would do.

Asfi was ruled out as well. The vibe he got from her didn't paint her as the kind of person to cut up a guy like this. She struck him as more of a… cold anger kind of girl.

That left Wave… and he can definitely see the guy doing something like this.

And it's not just because he tried to hit on Aika.

Well, he could always find out once the guy wakes up.

Issei grimaced as blood kept slowly flowing from the guy's various wounds.

… That can not be good for him. That the amount of blood loss should definitely have killed him. Sure they looked to be sealing up but at the same time that has to hurt.

Issei felt a bit of sympathy for the guy. He was in a similar state just last night… just not as bad.

He should help him.

It was time to call upon his beloved VTubers for power!

Issei closed his eyes and focused on anything that could be used to heal. He raised his hand high as he let his faith surge!

A light weight was felt in his hand. He opened his eyes to see… a bandaid.

“Really? A bandaid! Is that all? Come on, give me something more here, this guy is dying!”

A second bandaid joined the first and Issei sighed deeply, “Fine. I hope this works.”

He slowly walked up to the guy with a bit of hesitation as his sword still kind of freaked him out. When he didn’t lunge out at him Issei then peeled the plastic on the ends. He held up the bandaid and… had the feeling that placing them on his nipples would work best.

Issei had no idea why the nipples… but he wasn't about to question it. It would be an insult to his faith in VTubers.

Well at least not now. He could ponder why at a later time.

He placed the bandaid over one of the guy's nipples and a green ripple of energy flowed from the bandaid and his wounds seemed to heal faster.

Okay, so the bandaids aren’t just bandaids, cool. He got the second one ready and the second he placed it the guy’s eyes snapped open.

The guy looked at him in confusion for a moment and asked, “Why are putting bandaids on my nipples?”

“...To help you?” Issei replied hesitantly. He was honestly just as confused.

The guy looked more confused, “But why bandaids? And more importantly why on my nipples? Like I have about twenty cuts on my torso alone that could use a bandaid… or a few dozen.”

Issei furrowed his brows and attempted to come up with an explanation for the awkward situation, “...The bandaids are magic bandaids that can heal you faster… and my power says they work best when placed on the nipples?”

Wow, that sounded way more ridiculous out loud.

The guy then nodded slowly, “Ok…I guess that makes sense.”

“It does?” Issei asked, bewildered.

The guy shrugged, “I mean. I learned I have magic powers today after getting beat up by some Greek dude. So I’m open to most things at the moment,” he looked down at the large puddle of blood, “It might also be the massive blood loss.”

Issei nodded, “Yeah I learned I had magic powers yesterday after some edge lords kidnapped my friend and shot me with a magic gun. I got better and kicked their asses.”

The guy smiled, “Nice. I wish I could say the same but that Greek dude was stupidly strong. The guy was playing with me the entire time and he absolutely obliterated me. ”

Issei laughed nervously, “I’m kind of grateful for my own situation then given you looked like you were put through the meat grinder.”

The guy laughed bitterly and then winced in pain, “Hehe- Ugh. Yeah. I’d say it was more like a blender. The guy just kept slicing and dicing me.”

Issei looked at the guy’s quickly closing wounds, “Well, it looks like the bandaids are helping.”

The guy inspected himself and nodded in agreement, “Yeah at this rate I’ll be back to fighting shape in no time.”

His stomach rumbled loudly, “All though I would kill for some food right now. That Greek guy ambushed me before I got breakfast so I am starving.”

Issei looked down over himself, “Yeah I got nothing… or maybe I do.”

He could make drinks. What's to say he can’t make food?

He put his fingers to his temples and muttered, “Food, food, food…”

Issei then felt a drain on what he assumed to be his magic power.

On the beach, Issei’s phone vibrated with a notification that his order went through. Another ding showed the receipt… that had an ample surcharge for undersea delivery.

The guy then said, “What are you doing… Is that a take-out bag?”

Issei opened his eyes and it was indeed a takeout bag from Uber… Sheep? He opened it and licked his lips as he smelled the delicious scent of fried chicken. He lifted the bucket out and it was from KFP!

“Tenchou, you have blessed me this day!” Issei yelled out.

Issei pulled out the small note on top.

Thank you for using Uber Sheep! Please order again.

He then offered a small prayer to the sheep for delivering such a bounty.

Issei then pulled out the food and the guy quickly sat down.

Issei and the guy licked their lips at the sight of the bucket of KFP.

The guy said, “I don’t know where the hell this came from or if it’s some hallucination from the blood loss but I don’t care!”

Issei pulled out two drinks from the bag and said, “Help yourself…I never actually got your name?”

The guy already had a leg in his hand. He looked a bit embarrassed as he replied, “... Oh! I’m Hagane Tatsuo.”

Issei set down the drinks, “Hyoudou Issei. Now let's get our grub on!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” shouted Hagane.

They then dug in with gusto and it was the best chicken that Issei had ever eaten in his life. He cried tears of joy. He reached for a napkin to dap away his tears… and wipe off the grease from the chicken.

As they ate they talked.

"So how did you end up down here?" Asked Issei.

Hagane took a bite of his chicken, "Here with a buddy of mine on vacation. I decided to go for a quick swim this morning and that's when this guy ambushed me. I couldn't really fight back since we were in the water but that's when he drags me under. At first, I thought he was going to drown me but it turns out he brought me down here. So then he starts spouting off about how he found his 'destined rival' and stuff like that. After he finished his monologue he started swinging."

"Man, did he really pull that card?" That was like maximum Chunni behavior.

“Yes, he did. Now where was I?”

Hagane then went on to describe the one-sided beatdown. Hearing about how badly he was toyed with really makes Issei appreciate that he just had a pair of idiots to fight and not some… Greek demigod if what Hagane is saying was right.

Issei suddenly felt that their names suddenly made much more sense. Well at least for Herc and Percy… and maybe Diana if she was named after Wonder Woman or something.

"And as he impaled me one last time he said that I better be a better fight next time," said Hagane as he wiped his mouth of chicken grease.

Issie shivered, "Wow that all sounded…"

Hagane smirked, "Painful? Yeah, it was not fun. It was about when I managed to pull out the sword that it started hurting less and I started to heal. So not absolutely horrible. Near the end, it felt more like a Tuesday than getting murdered."

Issei gave him a concerned look, "Why would it feel like a Tuesday? And why is that better!?"

Hagane looked a bit fearful, “Well on Tuesday is when my school gets a fresh shipment of bread. So there are usually fights about who gets the best stuff for lunch.”

“What school do you go to?” Issei asked in disbelief.

Hagane then smirked, “Ishiyama High School.”

Everything suddenly made sense. Ishiyama High School was notorious for the delinquents that made up the school population. He often heard stories about how rundown the school was. Actually, the city itself held a similar reputation given how many gangs roved the streets.

He wondered if they had the same problems Kuoh was having… or if it was just another day of the week for them.

Well, might as well ask, “Well that suddenly makes a lot more sense. But I do have to ask. Have you noticed an increase in gangs? Because in Kuoh there have been a lot of guys causing trouble.”

Hagane looked thoughtful, “I think? There have been a bit more out of towners recently but the gangs kind of kick them out. Bad for business and all that I guess.”

What were they antibodies or something!? Issei shook his head, “Well it’s been noticeable in Kuoh for at least a month or so. I got a crash course in street fighting due to how often they cause trouble.”

Hagane gave him a smile, “You’re a good guy aren’t ya? I do the same thing with my friend,” he then sighed, “But I think for her it’s more about the thrill of the fight more often than naught.”

Issei rubbed his nose embarrassed at his praise, “I guess,” he then smirked, “One of my friends usually helps out… well that and my mentor.”

“Mentor?” asked Hagane.

Issei smirked, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

They then traded stories about fighting thugs and gangsters while they ate their food.

They finished their meal under the sea and sat full. Hagane looked much better by the end of their meal and at some point, the bandaids disappeared. He supposed when they ran out of juice they just vanished.

It wasn’t like Hagane needed them anymore as he looked pristine… well apart from the dried blood still on him. He didn’t have a scar on him either which was good.

Hagane set down his drink and asked, “So… how did you find me in the first place? I’m pretty sure the seafloor isn’t that popular a tourist attraction… well at least around here.”

Issei picked at his teeth, “I was testing another one of my powers and found you when I was swimming.”

“Stroke of luck then?” Hagane asked.

“Yeah. Well, that and it’s not hard to miss the giant swirling dome of water. Speaking of the dome of water, it's still getting smaller,” Issei said as he observed the slowly shrinking pocket of air.

Hagane wiped his face with a napkin and replied, “Yeah I think Wave or whatever his name was said it would last long enough for me to heal up enough so I could get out on my own. In his own words, ‘My destined rival can easily survive such wounds and escape from such a perilous situation!’,” He then laughed, “The guy was such a chunni.”

“Yeah, I think that might be common in the supernatural or something. It seems that middle schoolers had the right idea.”

The sound of swirling water got closer and Issei frowned, “I think we should leave soon.”

Hagane looked at the dome and nodded, “Yeah, you got an idea on how to do that? I’m a pretty strong swimmer… but we are pretty deep.”

Issei stood up and smugly said, “How do you think I found you in the first place? I will show you the power of Gawr Gura!”

Hagane stood up and played along, “Yeah well let's see this mighty power then!”

Issei struck a pose and his Sacred Gear glowed brightly as it was summoned. His body once again shifted and now that he got a closer look… he had gills? He poked the thin slits on his torso and shivered.

Weird.

“Well let's head on out. I can swim pretty fast like this.”

Hagane then nodded.

They approached the encouraging wall of water and Hagane asked, “So how we doing this? Do I just grab you from the back or something?”

Issei looked at the taller teen and suddenly realized he didn’t quite think this through. Before he could reply the wall of water suddenly consumed the two of them. Hagane grabbed onto him and Issei prepared to swim… only for a pair of shark-themed floaties to appear on his arms. The second they appeared the two of them shot upward at an alarming speed.

“Ahhhhh!!!” yelled Issei as they shot up from the seafloor.

His passenger held his breath but Issei could feel him yell despite it.

They passed more than a few alarmed sea life and soon enough they breached the surface.

Hagane took deep gulps of air, “Haah, haah. Oh, man, that was…”

“...Kind of fun,” replied Issei.

Hagane laughed out, “Hehehe, Yeah. Although I don’t want to do that again anytime soon. I think I’ve had enough of the ocean for the summer.”

“I bet. Now let's get back.”

Hagane then narrowed his eyes as he looked in the distance, “Now where’s the beach?”

Issei joined him in his search. He narrowed his eyes at the distant image of Mount Fuji, “Just follow Mount Fuji?”

Hanage nodded, “Just follow Mount Fuji.”

They then swam back to shore… and Hagane wasn’t kidding about being a strong swimmer, the guy was keeping a good pace with him and he had magic powers that made him better at swimming!

As they stepped back onto land Hagane let out a sigh of relief, “Oh man, I didn’t think I would ever miss land like this.”

Issei let his power fade and breathed deeply. That was a bit of a workout.

"So want to let your friend know you aren't dead?" asked Issei.

Hagane looked like he sucked on a lemon, "...Yeah. That would be a good idea. She can be a bit overprotective at times."

They walked the beach for a minute till they found the beach umbrella that belonged to Hagane. He picked up his phone and made a call. A minute or so of some girl yelling at him later indicated that his friend was indeed worried.

“Well, she’s mad and should be at the beach in about ten minutes.”

Issei then yawned,  "Well do you mind if I go grab my stuff so we can meet your friend?"

Hagane waved him off, "It's no problem."

They then walked over to his belongings which were being safely guarded by his napping dad.

His mom was reading a book and gave him a smile once she saw him, “Hello Issei,” she leaned over and looked at Hagane, “I see you made a new friend.”

“Yeah, this is Hagane. I met him when I was out swimming.”

Hagane bowed slightly, “Nice to meet you Hyoudou-san.”

His mom smiled and replied, “You to Hagane-kun.”

Issei grabbed his phone and blinked in surprise at the notifications. He was charged how much!? It seemed more than his magic was drained earlier.

Well, it was worth it as the food was delicious… even if it felt weird to be charged money by his own superpower.

“We will be back in a bit Mom.”

His mom waved them off, “Ok Issei. But don’t take too long we will be heading back to the inn in about half an hour.”

“Sure thing!” he then whispered to Hagane, “Alright let's meet your friend. I think we should tell her about the whole ‘destined rival’ thing.”

Hagane looked a bit put off about that but eventually, he nodded, “Yeah. If the Greek bastard comes back I don’t want her to be left in the dark while I get killed or something.”

Issei smiled as he put a hand on Hagane’s shoulder, “Well you won’t be doing it alone! I will be there to provide what meager knowledge I know.”

“Thank you Hyoudou. I appreciate it.”

A few minutes later he heard a woman yell, “Tatsuooooo!!!”

A beautiful blonde girl sprinted onto the beach and proceeded to tackle Hagane who simply took it like a champ.

“Hey, Leone,” Hagane bashfully said.

She then climbed him and began to noogie him, “Where the hell were you!! I tried calling you for hours!!”

Hagane took his lumps, “It’s a bit of a story.” 

“I got time,” she then looked at Issei, “And what’s his deal?”

“He helped me out. Hyoudou Issei, meet my long-time friend Liane Hoshino or as she prefers to be called Leone.”

“Yo,” simply replied Issei.

“Yo,” she too simply replied. She then climbed off of him, “Alright lay it on me Tatsuo.”

He raised a finger, “In one moment. Did you bring the stuff?”

She rolled her eyes and tossed two small objects at him. Hagane swiped them out of the air and Issei saw it was pomade and a comb.

“Thank you very much!” in an instant he styled his hair… into a heart-shaped pompadour.

That was certainly a look and if Jojo taught him anything it was not to make fun of a guy with a pompadour.

Hagane let out a sigh of relief, “Much better,” he pointed his comb at her, “Now I can tell you the full story later when we aren’t in public but all you need to know right now is that I was taken against my will to fight.”

She looked worried for a moment but as soon as he finished speaking she gave him a look of understanding, “Oh, so a usual Friday then?”

Hagane smiled, “Yup! Just a bit more… crazy,” he turned to Issei, “Hey Hyoudou do you mind if we tagged along back to your inn? You said your friends know so…”

“Oh, no problem Hagane. I think they would want to know more about our Greek friends.”

“What’s this about our Greek friends,” said the ever-familiar voice of Aika.

Issei turned to Aika, “Oh, nothing. Just that one of them was a bit more bloodthirsty than we thought.”

Aika looked vindicated, “Hah! I was right!” she then shook off her excitement, “But we can talk about it in a bit. I came to grab you since we are packing up.”

He turned to Hagane and Leone, “So you ready?”

Hagane gave him a thumbs up and Leone shrugged, “I’m fine with it.”

“Alright then let's head out Aika… Aika?”

She looked at Hagane strangely for a moment.

“What’s up Aika?” he asked.

She shook her head and whispered, “Nothing… well maybe a magic thing.”

Maybe she was reacting to his Sacred Gear? Well, they can always find out once they get back and used the Sacred Gear thing.

He walked over and saw Matsuda still fiddling with that box he found, “Hey Matsuda you can mess with that when we get back!”

The baldy stopped playing with the lunchbox-sized box and put it in his bag. While they packed he introduced Hagane and Leone.

Matsuda simply waved and went back to packing up.

Motohama rattled off Leone’s three sizes on instinct… and the blonde didn’t punch him. If anything she seemed smug.

Saji and Leone shared a moment of understanding. Likely because both were blondes.

The kids liked them both well enough. Gengo climbed on Hagane like a jungle gym and Kaho thought that Leone was pretty.

Soon enough they finished gathering their things and piled into the van. It was a bit cramped with two additional people but it was a short drive.

During the drive they made small talk to get to know each other a bit more. In the process, they learned a bit more about Ishiyama High School.

… It was somehow worse than what he had heard. The school was in worse shape than anyone could have imagined. It was a surprise that it wasn’t condemned. When he said that Leone laughed and said the only reason why it wasn’t condemned is that they don’t want to deal with the horde of delinquents that would be released into the other schools if they did.

That made a lot of sense.

They didn’t have time to go into details as the ride quickly came to an end. They got out of the van and headed into the inn. They then immediately went to their room.

The seven teens stared at each other and eventually, Aika spoke up, “Ok. What happened and what's up with the Greeks?”

Issei looked at Hagane, “Well, take it away.”

Hagane sighed, “Well… it started this morning when I got ambushed…”

Hagane retold his tale and even included when Issei found him. He also pulled out his Sacred Gear as proof.

Aika still had a vindicated look, “I knew there was something funky going on with them.”

Saji looked disappointed, “It’s a shame they were really cool people… but to just kidnap and torture someone like that is inexcusable.”

Motohama ignored the revelations about our new friends and focused on the fact he could summon food, “You had KFP!! I am so jealous.”

At least one of his friends had their priorities straight.

He gave a deadpan stare as Matsuda was once again fiddling with the box.

Leone on the other hand looked apocalyptic, “If I ever see that Greek motherfucker I am ripping out his spine magic powers or not!!”

Hanage raised his hands defensively, “Leone I know how you feel but you don’t have magic or superpowers! I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“Well why don’t we find out?” said Aika as she hefted up the Sacred Gear thing, “With this, we can find out if she has a Sacred Gear.”

She pointed it at Hanage first, “Let’s see why Wave wanted to fight you so bad,” it dinged and she whistled, “Well… that explains that. You have the Sacred Gear known as Incursio. Pretty cool power since it lets you quickly adapt to stuff and comes with a cool sword. You even keep some of the adaptations when dismissing the gear. So cool. I wish my Sacred Gear was that cool,” Aika then made a constipated face. She shook it off and said, “There is a note on here that says that every user of it usually has a beef with the wielder of Grand Chariot. If what you said is right then that is what Wave has.”

Hagane sighed, “Just my luck. My destined rival is a demigod.”

Leone then hopped in place making her rather bountiful chest bounce around, “Do me next!”

Aika stared at the bouncing jugs for a moment while it scanned Leone. It dinged and Aika looked down, “Congratulations it's a girl!”

Leone looked confused, “Eh?”

Aika snickered, “Just kidding… sort of. You have the Sacred Gear known as Lionel. It gives you the power of a beast and happens to hold the soul of a cursed Greek hero, Atalanta. The one that got turned into a lion for doing the dirty in a temple.”

“Okay how do I bring it out?” asked the female blonde.

She received a few answers from the various wielders and eventually, she settled on getting into a stance and focusing really hard.

It looked like she was charging up like Goku. With a flash of light, a belt was on her waist. Then it roared and fire rolled out from the belt and traveled all over her body. When it dissipated her hair had grown out into a wild mane and she had a pair of cat ears on her head.

She looked over her shoulder at the swishing tail and then at her clawed hands.

Leone looked smug as she turned to Hagane, “See! I have a magic superpower too! So next time that fucker comes around we can beat him black and blue together like always!”

Hagane smiled at his friend, “Alright Leone. Just like always. Also, you look cute with cat ears”

“Hehe, I bet I do!” Leone turned to Aika, “Hey what else does it do?”

Aika looked up at her, “You do look cute with cat ears,” she then looked back down, “As for what else it has? Ah! You have three charges of high-speed regeneration so that’s cool. You just have to let them recharge when you use them. So you don’t have to worry about injuries too much. Apparently, it represents the three golden apples she picked up. Man, I should read this thing more often there is a bunch of cool stuff on here.”

“Cool!” shouted the blonde as her tail wagged like a dog… even if she was a cat.

They then turned their attention to Matsuda as he held up the box triumphantly, “Aha! Finally got it!”

The second the lid opened the world was bathed in light.

From the Izumo Inn, a massive wave of purified Ki was released that went on for miles and it was felt by many.

The Heavenly Dragon of Domination opened an eye in interest. It seemed his host’s companion had found quite the treasure.

The consciousness of a Dragon King stirred as new life was breathed into a portion of his soul.

The Tyrant of Evolution grinned viciously and drank greedily of the purified ki in preparation for its rebirth.

A Cursed Huntress’ feline eyes snapped open from a deep sleep.

A Fallen angel narrowed his eyes down the hall along with a cloned demigod.

An exhausted innkeeper felt months of fatigue ease as vigor filled her weary body. 

An old fox let out a sigh of relief as its pain was alleviated.

A jar buried deep under a destroyed shrine cracked as the chittering of insects grew louder.

Various spirits suddenly felt much more lively. Some were benevolent… others were not.

A pair of fox ears twitched in curiosity as they looked at the city, “Hmm…Is that from Miya’s place?”

A young man of Chinese descent raised his brow and smirked, “Well time to get a bit of cultivation done. Not every day a Qi Burst happens,” he settled into a mediation position and muttered, “At least I’m getting something out of this excursion,” he shook his head in irritation, “Sending the True Longinus wielder on a scouting mission, ridiculous!”

But most of all in a fledgling world a collection of girls (and a few guys) felt like they just drank a dozen cups of coffee.

Especially an exhausted rabbit who gained a second wind, “We’ll finish the house in no time now peko! Usada Kensetsu back to work!”

Various groans were heard in the background and soon enough the sounds of construction continued.

A certain dragon smiled warmly as she looked at that sign on the half-finished house, Holohouse under construction.

Chapter Text

Asama Miya let out a long moan as her weary body drank deeply of the purified Ki now permeating the air of her inn. It seeped into her bones and with every passing second her body recovered from the abuse she subjected herself to.

Her skin regained a healthy glow. Her hair regained its luster. Atrophied muscles bulged as strength filled them once more. Her magical energy, which she had squeezed every drop of for the past few months, rapidly filled as the Ki rushed to fill her like an empty void.

Her body and spirit guzzled down the Ki like a man that thirsted for water in a desert.

She breathed deeply feeling like her old self once more… if perhaps better. The purified Ki seeped into her body and soul. She could instantly tell it brought about greater power than what she had before… or perhaps it simply healed her of all the damage she accrued in her life that only served to weaken her.

She had made many enemies and few friends in her line of work. Many of them often resorted to curses and other dark means to wear her down. She always brushed them off… or so she thought.

She flexed her arm and marveled at the strength she felt from it. She then looked inward and found her magical energy kept rising. And the way it felt was like night and day. Before her magical energy was like sludge, sluggish and muddy, now it felt like a wounded bird finally flying free for the first time, flowing swiftly and purely.

She might actually be brushing up against the Ultimate-class now if her estimation was correct. When she retired she had been stuck around the upper end of High-class for years.

She thought she had plateaued.

She paused as a thought suddenly popped into her head.

Could… could she use it now?

She shook those thoughts away. Now wasn't the time to contemplate if she regained that ability.

She narrowed her eyes as she went over her body both physically and magically. Even with her moderate skill in Senjutsu, she knew that she shouldn't have recovered to this level or this quickly.

She could only blame it on the Ki.

She had only felt Ki like that a handful of times and those were when she was sent to guard important meetings… in the Heavenly realms.

She grabbed her katana from under the counter and moved. In an instant she found herself at the source… the young Hyoudou’s room.

What did they have to do with this?

She then realized she wasn't alone and was joined by a pair of recently checked-in guests.

And now that she wasn't tapped dry she noticed that they weren't normal. One was a Fallen and the other held trace amounts of Divinity, a demigod or a descendant of one.

She must have really been off her game if she had missed that.

She simply narrowed her eyes at them while she rested a hand on the hilt of her sheathed blade, "Will there be a problem?"

She must have let her bloodlust slip if the way the two of them tensed meant anything.

She frowned, she must truly be rusty if her bloodlust slipped its leash that easily.

The fallen raised his hands non-threateningly, "Certainly not, right Freed?" He turned to his companion who looked at her with interest. A very familiar interest. He wanted a fight… no he wanted blood.

The fallen placed a hand on the young man's shoulder and stressed, "Right Freed?"

The young man clicked his tongue, "Tch, I'll behave."

Freed’s own bloodlust abated and she nodded.

She looked at them, “Be cautious. We don’t know what kind of relic they dug up to give off this much purified Ki. Whatever it is, has to be old and that means it could be very dangerous.”

The Fallen smirked, “Oh, I know how to act around stuff that Cultivators make. Don’t want to get possessed by an old foggy after all.”

Freed raised an eyebrow, “Possessed?”

The Fallen chuckled, “Yeah, Cultivators like to have that as an option in case their bodies get destroyed. They just stuff their souls in something and wait to find a suitable host to overtake. So don’t put on any jewelry unless I vet it okay? I’ve seen a few things like that in my time.”

Freed made a disgusted face, “Gross, I don’t want some old dude in me.”

Miya sighed and opened the door ready to cut down anything that attacked. The second she opened the door another wave of even denser Ki wafted out of the room.

The Fallen shivered, “Man that is some potent Ki. Haven’t felt anything like that since the Governor has us…”

She looked at him with narrowed eyes and he slowly continued, “... Had us appropriate a few things in China.”

She sighed once more. The Fallen were all like that… actually, she’s pretty sure the entirety of the Abrahamic faction was like that. Always taking from everyone else. The Church, Grigori, and Devils did it. From stealing important items to recruiting Sacred Gear users and even reincarnating notable people. The Abrahamic god certainly did the most egregious examples for the creation of Sacred Gears. Taking and sealing various important artifacts, monsters, and even people into his Sacred Gears.

It was no wonder most other factions walked on eggshells around them and let them run roughshod. They didn’t want to get sealed in some trinket for eternity.

She pushed those thoughts to the side and looked into the room just to find it full of unconscious teenagers.

Her eyes narrowed in on the box that was pumping out purified Ki. In an instant, it was in her hand and closed. The wave of Ki stopped.

She let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t want her Inn to be any more of a target than it already was. At the very least she was back in fighting shape and can knock around any trespassers now.

“Huh, so it’s those kids again… hey is that?” spoke the Fallen as he walked in. He looked at Aika or more specifically the object in her hands and then at the crate in the corner, “Yup, that is our stuff alright.”

She raised her sheathed sword to him, “What are your intentions with them?”

While she had only known them for a day or so she greatly appreciated their kindness. That alone was enough reason for her to defend them. She also had a duty as the proprietor of the Inn to take care of her guests.

The Fallen once again raised his hands non-threateningly, “Oh, nothing. I am willing to negotiate for our stolen supplies once they wake up. They did technically earn it as spoils of battle from a few dumbasses of ours.”

She lowered her sword, “Very well. I will make sure they aren’t suffering from any adverse effects.”

She quickly went around the room and checked on the children. From her middling use of Senjutsu, she deduced they would have no adverse effects from exposure to such pure Ki. If anything it was good for them. They should be quite healthy and expect to live a bit longer from it.

… If they were to live normal lives, that is.

All but two of them held Sacred Gears and even then the two that didn’t possess a Sacred Gear had decent potential in other areas.

Matsuda’s body drank deeply of the Ki and it seemed to be incorporating it better than his peers. He had good potential for Senjutsu… and perhaps Cultivation. The two methods did have a bit of overlap.

Motohama was the reverse, his magical energy incorporated it better and continued to gradually increase even now. It reminded her of Jin.  If he trained properly he could grow into a magical powerhouse.

That’s not even going into what it was doing to the other children.

The one with the odd pompadour especially. He steadily drained a good bit of the ambient Ki… but it wasn’t all going into him but rather his Sacred Gear.

She knew that the ones sealed within the Sacred Gears had little influence outside of them due to their seals… but that didn’t mean they had no power.

She turned to the Fallen, “The one with the pompadour. His Sacred Gear is doing something odd with the Ki. Would you mind investigating? That is what you Fallen enjoy doing, yes?”

“Sure thing,” he said sarcastically. He then swiped the device from Aika’s hand and pointed it at the pompadour boy. He then made a noise of surprise, “Oh, yeah let me do something real quick. The dragon in Incursio can be a tricky bitch.”

He then knelt down and muttered, “Now what was that seal I read about a few centuries ago?”

Rather than a magic circle the Fallen drew on the air with his finger. He looked to be writing in really old Chinese.

He finished with a flourish. The characters glowed and entered the boy. She focused her senses and it seemed to only latch onto his Sacred Gear. Impressive skill.

“And here we are. A seal that limits Ki absorption. Made for uppity Cultivators. That should make sure that old Tyrant doesn't figure out a way to bust out of the gear.”

Miya let out a sigh of relief, “Good. I’d rather not fight a dragon at the moment. Especially one gorged on pure Ki.”

“Yeah, especially Tyrant. Guy was a Dragon King so he’d be a tough fight even without his adaptability bullshit,” spoke the Fallen in agreement.

Freed perked up and the Fallen admonished him, “And no Freed. As you are now you would have been turned into a fine red mist in less than a second.”

Freed slumped, “Man do you have to ruin my fun Dohnaseek?”

The now-named Dohnaseek rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation, “Yes. Especially if it involves Ultimate class threats Freed. You are just now getting out of mid-class so you have a bit before you think about fighting almost any dragon let alone a former Dragon King.”

Freed clicked his tongue, “Tch, let me at least imagine.”

Dohnaseek rolled his eyes, “Imagine all you want just don’t antagonize anyone here,” he side-eyed her, “Because most of them can kick our asses.”

She smirked. It felt good for people to fear her again, “Yes Kamakura has more than a few High-class residents and a few Ultimate-class as well. You would have to be a fool to start anything here,” she then felt a small bloodthirsty smile on her face, “I can give you an example when we have time. It has been oh so long since I had a spar.”

Freed perked up and gave her a bloodthirsty smile of his own, “Hell yeah! I thought you were some frail old lady when we first got here but you're not so bad.”

Miya felt her brow twitch. He was an honest one, wasn’t he?

She then looked to the children, “It should be a bit of time till they wake up. That much pure Ki is a bit overwhelming to experienced people let alone a bunch of novices. So in the meantime why don’t you tell me why you are exactly here for?”

The Fallen smiled weakly.

She did truly miss being able to intimidate people. One of the best parts of the job.

They moved to an empty room and she prepared tea, “So why are a Fallen and an exorcist here?”

Dohnaseek took a tentative sip of his tea. He then let out an appreciative hum, “Hmm, That is some good tea. But as I said two idiots or ours decided to go on an unsanctioned Sacred Gear hunt and got beaten up by two of those kids. Now that wouldn’t be an issue if they hadn’t pulled out important supplies,” he placed the odd device on the table, “Such as this. So the kids took their spoils and we were going to track them down.”

She sipped her tea, “And negotiate?” she didn’t quite believe that. The last time she interacted with the Fallen they tended to be a bit more ruthless.

The Fallen set his cup on the table, “Well a good bit of the Grigori has been changing in the past few years. A bit more… peaceful. So while I’d personally be willing to negotiate, others might not.”

That was more in line with her experiences.

“I see. Now to discuss the elephant in the room,” she set the box on the table.

Dohnaseek looked at the box with keen interest, “The box that holds back a tidal wave of pure Ki. Do you mind?”

She slid the box to him and he began to examine it. He dusted off its surface revealing a rather ornate design, “Yup this is old. Like maybe older than me old.”

“How old are you anyway?” asked Freed as he fiddled with a knife in the corner.

He better not leave any holes in her walls or floor.

Dohnaseek rubbed his chin, “About two thousand and some change. I was created a few years before J-man was born.”

Miya had to blink at that. It was always a surprise how old some beings were.

Freed then eloquently said, “Man, you are ancient.”

In response, the Fallen turned to him, “Freed. Shut up,” he then looked back at the box, “But yeah this thing is definitely Cultivator related,” he squinted his eyes as he ran his fingers across its surface, “Some of the inscriptions on here talk about… Kunlun Palace.”

Miya froze at that. Kunlun Palace!? She stared at the box with no small amount of fear. If it was a simple artifact that would be one thing. But to be from the Palace!?

“What’s Kunlun Palace?” asked Freed.

The Fallen looked a bit nervous now, “It’s… it’s. How do I explain this.”

Miya spoke up, “You could consider it a heaven made from human hands. That is what Kunlun is. A place created for Cultivators by Cultivators.”

Dohnaseek drummed his fingers along the table, “Yeah that’s not an inaccurate description. You see the Chinese pantheon can very roughly be separated into two groups. The Gods and the Xian. The Gods are pretty self-explanatory. The Xian on the other hand is primarily composed of Cultivators who wish to become Xian. The ones who have ascended made Kunlun… and a few other places that we can discuss later. But what you need to know is Kunlun Palace is probably equivalent to the Sixth Heaven.”

Freed made a noise of surprise as he looked at the box with newfound understanding, “Oh, oh shit.”

Dohnaseek let out a weak laugh, “And a bunch of kids found it by digging a big hole in the beach.”

“And we would like it back thank you very much.”

They all blinked in surprise as an annoyed Aika stumbled into the room with Issei following behind.

Aika rubbed her eyes, “Hey Freed. So you were magic too?”

“Yup.”

“Cool. Now our stuff back please.”

Dohnaseek slid the box to the other end of the table like it was a bomb, “Oh, feel free. I don’t want the heat that thing comes with and neither would the Grigori… probably.”

The girl yawned and sat at the table. There was a certain pressure from her as she looked at the Fallen, “So… you with those two rapist assholes?”

The Fallen shrugged, “Yes and no. I wasn’t in charge of them since I work inventory. We are however part of the same organization.”

Issei sat down next to her, “So those guys get punished?”

Freed smirked, “Oh yeah they did.”

Aika’s glasses glinted, “Good. Now… can you please explain the whole magic thing?”

Dohnaseek busted out laughing, “Hahaha! You were acting so serious but you don’t know anything do you?”

Aika gave the Fallen a deadpan stare, “No. I learned I have a Sacred Gear yesterday.”

“I figured… But I want one thing.”

“You want your stuff back?” she said.

Dohnaseek pointed at her with a smirk, “Exactly.”

Aika licked her lips, “I am willing to negotiate… for some of it.”

Freed stared at her and asked, “You want the weird sex stuff don’t you?”

Miya blinked. She wanted what?

The girl then gained a furious blush, “Yes I want the sex stuff Freed! Have you ever heard of tact?”

A whole box of… toys? While Miya was perhaps a bit of a prude at times she admittedly had… a little friend to help her with her needs. But a whole box from the Grigori? One of the greatest dens of debauchery to ever grace this world?

Oh my, it seemed that teenagers these days were rather… scary.

Dohnaseek sighed, “No, he hasn’t. Frankly, it's a miracle that he’s as well-behaved as he is right now. But anyway you can keep that stuff. What I really want is the weapons and the Sacred Gear scanner.”

Aika steepled her fingers and her glasses glinted, “I am willing to part with most of the weapons and the scanner. But what will you give me in return?”

“Data. I can give you a copy of some of our general information. That includes the various factions and supernatural beings among other things.”

“Hmm, that covers the scanner. But for the weapons I want your help with this,” she tapped the box.

The Fallen looked a bit ruffled, “Hey kid I just said I don’t want the heat that thing comes with.”

She gave him a dry look, “I meant help to translate. I can’t read any of this.”

Dohnaseek paused, “If that’s in then fine. Also, what weapons did you want to keep?”

She slid the box back over, “The pistols and the lightsaber.”

“Oh, that’s perfectly fine. Those were the two dumbasses' personal weapons. I could give less of a shit about those. I’ll even throw in maintenance supplies free of charge.”

He then looked at the box again for a few minutes, “... And I think this will stop it from releasing so much Ki.”

He pressed an indent on the box and the box glowed for a minute… and proceed to dump a massive pile of crystals on the table.

Miya lifted one and muttered in shock, “These are Spirit Crystals!”

She had only seen a handful of these in her time. They were traded for extremely important resources… and they certainly didn’t look as luminous as these.

Issei looked confused, “Explain please?”

Dohnaseek lifted one up as well, “Ki condensed into a physical form. And these aren’t your run-of-the-mill Spirit Crystals either. What’s in here is pure Ki. With the amount here… you could probably buy some premium stuff from anyone really.”

Issei rubbed his head, “All this talk of Ki is giving me a headache. Can you just open the box now?”

Dohnaseek shrugged, “Sure thing,” he opened the box and while there was some Ki leaking out it was a trickle when compared to before.

“Let’s see what we got,” he then pulled out a parchment, “It’s a letter. Give me a second I haven’t read this kind of writing in a while.”

Miya got a sinking feeling as he read the letter and she truly hoped her suspicions weren't right.

Because if they were then Japan might get torn apart by Cultivators looking for their stolen artifacts.

Issei rested his head on the table as the guy rattled off the letter. He really wasn’t paying attention. He checked out after a few minutes of everyone rambling about Ki and cultivation.

He just wanted to watch and draw his oshis… not deal with whatever magic bullshit they dug up on the beach.

Aika prevented him from completely zoning out by occasionally nudging him… this stuff was right up her alley apparently as she listened with rapt attention.

He had a feeling it was only so she could write high-quality Xianxia BL. That's what she usually did, she hyper-fixated on something so she could write quality fics.

He did the same for art so he could understand it.

But all he got from listening to Dohnaseek, or whatever his name was, reading the letter was that some guy stole a bunch of really important stuff from China and hid them all around Japan. The only way to find them was to solve some riddles. Classic treasure hunt.

Apparently, the thief hoped his older brother would collect them and make a Sect of their own or something.

Didn’t happen obviously.

The box did have some cool stuff in it like a bottle of body refinement pills, a training manual to establish a foundation for cultivation, and whatever a Heaven Purifying Jade was.

That one was probably important since the letter said it was a Heavenly Treasure.

Dohnaseek explained what it did and it all boiled down to is that it sucked in normal ki and condensed it into Primeval Ki. It then released Pure Ki as a byproduct.

The box itself did stuff too as apparently it was linked to the necklace and would suck up the released Ki and make Spirit Crystals. Which were both a currency and a power-up item?

Issei had no idea what anything they talked about meant but it did all sound cool.

Aika asked Dohnassek to translate everything for them and she would hand over their box of weapons. Not the sex stuff she was keeping that which was fair. She even decided to throw in a Spirit Crystal for more data and the promise that he would translate if they found anything else.

The guy agreed.

Aika was always the best out of them at making deals.

Issei was honestly just tired… despite being in what felt like the greatest shape of his life. Apparently a side effect of getting blasted by Pure Ki.

They finished up their talks and the adults left the room a bit… rattled? He guessed. Issei understood what was in the box was stupidly important… but he couldn’t really bring himself to care at the moment. He has no perspective on supernatural issues.

Aika just gathered the crystals in a large sack that the innkeeper gave them. Issei did think it was funny to drag around in a sack what apparently was a fortune to the supernatural.

He did grab one to play with since it did look pretty.

He and Aika then moved to the courtyard and sat next to each other.

Aika held the box in her lap and she hummed a song.

Issei started at the ruined shrine. He still had a weird feeling about it. Knowing how the past two days have gone it’s probably something magic related.

While he wanted to ignore it… he kind of hated seeing it like that. Especially the broken statue. Something about seeing it broken irked him. It was as if someone broke one of his statues.

… He can do something about it another day. He’s had enough magic shenanigans and his vacation just started.

He watched as the fox dug a hole. He was glad it was feeling better.

As the sun set he asked his friend, “Hey, Aika?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you just want to ignore all the magic stuff for a bit after we tell everyone else what happened?”

“Yeah. My worldview has been shattered enough these past two days.”

“Me too,” he sighed deeply, “I just wanted to have a regular vacation.”

She scooted closer to him, “Hey, Issei?”

He turned to her, “Yeah?”

“Do you just want to go watch Senchou play Touhou?”

He smiled, “Yeah.”

They stood up and walked to their room dragging the sack of crystals with them.

When they got back they gave the others a rundown on what happened. They took it well for the most part.

Apparently, Matsuda was a huge Xianxia fan and he was both overjoyed and horrified that it was real. Which was fair from what little he had read about the genre. Issei did not look forward to running into magical kung-fu drug addicts.

Because they will run into them since they apparently have one of their super important artifacts in their possession.

All of them are going to have to work out more and learn how to fight.

At least they had a nifty training manual from the box to help.

Hagane and Leone said they would join them for training too. Which made sense since Hagane had a demigod after him.

After trading numbers, Hagane and Leone went back to their hotel.

Issei felt they would be good friends.

After that… they all relaxed pushing all thoughts of being hunted by Cultivators and demigods to the side.

They spent their time watching their respective oshis and soon enough it was time to get cleaned up for bed.

The hot springs were as pleasant as ever… if actually more so. He blamed Ki shenanigans.

After his bath, Issei held up the softly glowing crystal as he lie in his now-shared futon with Aika. She didn’t even attempt to sneak in during the night and elected just to join him right away.

“Put that away and go to bed already,” grumbled Aika.

“Alright,” he set it next to the futon and pulled up the covers, “Good night.”

Aika snuggled against him, “Good night.” 

She was getting rather affectionate lately.

Pekora held up Don-chan, “Ok, I need you to go out and get that crystal. Got that peko?”

Don-chan saluted with its tail and disappeared in a flurry of sparks.

Don-chan arrived in the room a moment later. The long rabbit slithered its way to the glowing crystal. It stared at it for a moment and realized it had no hands.

Don-chan then opened its mouth and grabbed the crystal. It then froze as the glasses-wearing boy looked at it in surprise.

It gulped and accidentally swallowed the crystal and decided it was time to go.

Pekora tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Don-chan to come back. A moment later her beloved scarf/pet returned. She lifted Don-chan back up, “Did you get it peko?”

Don-chan nodded and started to shake. The rabbit made a hacking sound and spat out a crystal now slick with saliva.

Pekora made a face and lifted it up, “Ew.”

She shook off the saliva and held it up. It gleamed with power and then she laughed as her plan to go out into the world can finally begin, “AH↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️!”

Chapter Text

Sweat poured from Cao Cao’s brow as he attempted to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. His body flipped between feeling feverish and bone-chillingly cold as the Qi in his body roiled. Yin and Yang fought each other for dominance having grown nearly out of his control from his taking in such pure Qi.

It was a challenge to change his breathing techniques throughout the process but it was needed to bring balance.

One mistake and his Qi could burn himself from the inside out, freeze himself solid, or even both at the same time.

But it was worth it as the Law of Nimbus Conquest was a powerful and profound cultivation method. He could barely believe that Sun Wukong was willing to give it to him when he said he was beginning the path of cultivation.

That further proved that he was chosen. With his heroic heritage, the True Longinus, and one of the strongest Laws in his possession he was destined for greatness!

But that greatness is yet to come as he struggled to bring balance to his raging Qi.

After hours of careful meditation, his raging Yang dimmed and his tranquil Yin rose like a high tide.

As the moon rose he breathed deeply… and there was balance.

His eyes snapped open as he felt himself break through. His Qi settled and held its balance with little prompting from him and he felt his power surge.

He stood and stretched his legs as he had sat in meditation for the past few hours. That was when he noticed the Qi around him stir and ever so slowly it flowed toward him turning like the Taji.

He grinned and itched to test his new strength. He focused his senses on where the Qi burst originated and his smile widened.

Perhaps he will get to test his skill after all.

He opened the window of his hotel and lept into the night.

His smile was wide as he quickly moved through the sleeping city. Faster and faster he moved and he relished the newfound power within his limbs.

As he neared the epicenter he slowed and found himself a perch overlooking a quaint inn.

He stretched his senses outward and learned he wasn’t alone as there were at least a dozen others around him.

Likely all for the same reason.

To investigate the wave of pure Qi.

Some were human and many others were not. He itched to summon the True Longinus… but Senior Brother Zhou instructed him not unless it was an emergency. Instead, he busied himself by rubbing the jade ring on his finger. With a thought, a passable spear would find its way into his hands.

But until then he watched.

After a few moments, he narrowed his eyes as he felt malignant Qi approach the inn.

Demonic Beasts, animals turn monsters by taking in the tainted Qi of the world unfiltered.

They probably looked to gorge themselves on the lingering pure Qi.

He focused his senses further. They had a leader it seemed, a beast that broke through to a higher stage.

They’d make fine resources to bring back for the other disciples.

His hand twitched ready to grasp a spear.

… But he stopped as someone left the inn.

Someone strong.

Asama Miya opened a drawer and pulled out a box she didn’t think she would ever touch again. Her work equipment. She lifted her old work uniform… and she doubted she would fit into it. She had put on a bit of weight in her bust, hips, and especially her butt. Since her retirement, she had been a bit lazy and hadn’t trained as much.

She put her uniform back and grabbed her talisman pouches. That was what she needed at the moment. As she had many unannounced guests sitting on her front lawn as it were. She pulled out two slips and returned the rest.

Out of habit, she reached for her sword… but then recalled she left the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi elsewhere.

She sighed and stood up, she would grab her spare on the way out.

When she reached the entrance back up katana in hand she saw Freed.

She sharpened her gaze, “Do you need anything?”

The young man gave her a toothy smile, “Yeah, a fight.”

She shook her head, “I don’t have the time to teach you a lesson young man. I have uninvited guests that have questions I don’t want to answer.”

Freed’s smile widened and looked a bit feral, “Can I join you? I’m itching for a fight and if I can’t fight you anyone will do.”

She paused in thought and quickly threw her senses outward. When she detected more than a dozen notable signatures and about three dozen pests she nodded.

“Okay. But no light sword or gun. I don’t want to be associated with the Grigori.”

Freed pouted and whined like a child, “Fine. Do you have a spare sword I can borrow then?”

“I got you covered Freed,” said Dohnaseek as he rounded the corner carrying a sheathed longsword with him.

He tossed it and Freed snatched it out of the air, “Hey ain’t this what’s his face's sword?”

“It’s George, the Exorcist Commander’s sword. It was with the other stuff the kids looted. Don’t break it or else I have to get him a new one.”

Freed clipped the scabbard to his belt, “Yeah yeah, don’t break or chip it. Not the first time I’d have to borrow someone's sword,” he then asked the Fallen, “So you up to join us Dohnny?”

Dohnaseek shook his head, “Nah, I’m still busy translating the manual. Been awhile and I’m having fun.”

Freed snorted, “Oh yeah, almost forgot you were a scribe. Well, have fun with that nerd,” he turned to her, “So what we killing tonight?”

It was like being back in the squads all over again. She suddenly remembered dealing with bloodthirsty psychopaths and steering them to do some semblance of good. She smiled sharply and let a bit of her buried bloodlust bubble up, “I’ll tell you what ones you can kill and what ones you can maim, got it?”

Freed matched her smile, “Heheh, I really like you, lady.”

She walked out of the inn into the cool air of the night. She caught the scent of the sea… and beasts.

She pulled out the two talismans and activated them. They burned into ash but not before a pulse of purple energy exploded outward coating her inn and the surrounding area.

“What was that?” asked Freed as he joined her outside.

“I was reinforcing the area. Don’t want too much collateral.”

“I could use me some of those. Half my pay goes to fixing stuff I broke while fighting.”

She chuckled, “Ha, And that is why I learned how to make them.”

They tensed as they heard the sound of hooves on the pavement.

Soon a series of glowing eyes surrounded them. The eyes moved forward and it was… deer.

Freed laughed, “A bunch of deer, really?”

The nearly three dozen deer smiled at them with rows of razor-sharp teeth as their eyes glinted with hunger.

As Freed unsheathed his sword he said, “Huh, never fought bloodthirsty deer before. Well I’m game for anything,” he turned to her, “So we can kill these right?”

She smirked, “Go wild.”

Freed gave her a manic smile, “Aye aye captain!” he then moved and beheaded a deer. The herd then charged him in reprisal.

She would let him have his fun… after all, she has to deal with their leader. An extremely large stag walked up to her. It was nearly the size of a box truck.

With a sickening crack, it stood on its hind legs, and in an action that freaked even her out, it removed its hooves revealing hands.

It said nothing as it looked at her. She unsheathed her blade and it replied by ripping off one of his antlers. The antler in its grasp twisted into a crude blade.

A second later a fresh antler grew out of the deer's head.

It continued to say nothing. So she decided to say something in its stead, “Don’t die too quickly now.”

It moved and then the dance began.

Cao Cao got comfortable on his perch while he watched the woman toy with the honestly freaky deer.

Her form at first was a bit sloppy and sluggish but as the fight continued it steadily became cleaner and speedier.

He could tell she was shaking off the rust and only showing the most basics of swordplay… but he could see glimmers of something more in her movements. Cold and focused.

It was a stark difference when compared to her companion that handled the herd. His fighting style was… wild and unhinged. There was some discipline in the way he moved but it seemed that he preferred to let his instincts run wild as he slaughtered the Demonic Beasts. But even then he could see something in such crude movements. It was hot-blooded and wild.

An epiphany struck him and he immediately entered a meditative pose.

He contemplated Yin and Yang while he watched them fight and felt he made decent progress in his cultivation.

Once they finished with the deer that is when it truly began. One after another the observers descended to talk only to be rebuffed by the swordswoman. Some peacefully left… others fought.

The swordswoman beat down each and everyone that dared to push the issue.

He of course was curious about the Qi burst but he gained the woman's measure and she was out of his league… unless he used the True Longinus.

He wasn’t that curious to bring it out over something like this.

*buzz, buzz*

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, it was Senior Brother Zhou.

He answered, “Senior Brother Zhou, what can I do for you on this fine evening.”

“I just wanted to check up on you Cao Cao. How goes the scouting and observation?”

“The Greeks came to hunt down a Sacred Gear wielder or more specifically the Grand Chariot User hunted down the wielder of Incursio. They were recalled this afternoon after they finished their business.”

“Hmm… I see. That is troubling both the Tyrant and Usurper are active then. While not on the scale of the White and Red Dragon Empeors those two can cause trouble. Have you pursued the Greeks then?”

“No. I was preparing to but a Qi burst took my attention. I have since broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage.”

Senior Brother Zhou sounded happy as he congratulated him, “Ah, excellent news! You are excused from your mission then. We must celebrate such an occasion.”

Cao Cao smirked in pride… but it didn’t last long as Senior Brother Zhou continued, “Especially since you have contact with two of the Greeks, yes?”

Cao Cao frowned, “... Who told you?”

“Little Koumei did… well not on purpose. I asked her to show me how these confounded devices could be used for managing our manpower and she showed me an application called ‘Discord’. She had your ‘server’ open and I saw a list of very familiar names. So when were you going to tell me you were in contact with other Hero descendants and Spirit Holders?”

Cao Cao sighed in relief as he didn't seem to be angry. He shook his head, “Sooner or later I suppose Senior Brother.”

“Very well. Then do you know why the Greeks are in Japan? Having that information would make our activities much easier… well as easier as it can be with me having to manage my fellow Graduates.”

Cao Cao laughed internally at that. Senior Brother Zhou was like night and day when compared to his fellow ‘Graduates’. They acted more like stereotypical Cultivators and raised their own disciples to act just like them. While Senior Brother Zhou was everything a Cultivator should be. Honest, Just, and Virtuous.

He was the only reason Cao Cao considered learning Cultivation in the first place. He knew he couldn’t stand learning from anyone else. The old masters didn’t know how to connect to anyone in the modern age…well apart from the few odd ducks but apart from them anyone worthwhile to learn from was a pain in the ass.

And Cao Cao wouldn’t take anything but the best. And one couldn’t get much better than a Graduate of the Secluded World in the modern day.

“Cao Cao?”

“Sorry, Senior Brother I was lost in my thoughts for a moment.”

“It is fine Cao Cao I have all night anyway.”

“I appreciate your generosity Senior Brother. From what I discussed with Hercules and Perseus. The Greeks are here for much the same reason we are. To retrieve a stolen artifact, the Promethium Brazier.”

“That is quite the valid reason I suppose. That is a very potent artifact but I did hear you hesitated for a second. They have another reason to be in Japan then?”

“They are also here to deal with a cult. One to Narcissus.”

“Narcissus? Why would he be an issue? He nor any of his various reincarnations have been troublesome.”

“Well, this next part might change your mind. You two have something in common. Your Sacred Gear, Faith Caller.”

Senior Brother Zhou was silent for a moment, “...Oh, dear. Narcissus is so full of himself he might accidentally make himself a god.”

“And you can see why so they sent so many demigods.”

“I can imagine. Cao Cao as I said before you are to return to base so we may celebrate your breakthrough… and make a plan of action against Narcissus. If we take too long then he won’t be just a problem for the Greeks but everyone.”

“What about retrieving the stolen treasures?”

“While saying this would more than likely have me punished, I feel dealing with the narcissist is more pressing.”

Cao Cao smiled, “And that is why you are my favorite Senior Brother.”

His Senior Brother chuckled, “Hahaha, Amusing as always little Cao Cao. I will see you soon.”

“See you soon Senior Brother.”

He hung up and looked down at the pile of groaning bodies near the swordswoman. She had been busy while he talked.

He stood up and she looked right at him. He waved and hopped away a moment later. 

He had a party to get to after all.

Chapter Text

Issei woke up and felt great… but he could do without the tv static like numbness from one of his arms. He looked to the side and saw the culprit, Aika. She was snoring up a storm and apparently had decided to use his arm as a pillow sometime last night.

Issei then went through what he assumed all people go through when they were trapped in bed with a heavy sleeper, waiting in silence till they woke up. Anything else would likely incur her wrath… and he didn’t feel like dealing with an irritated Aika this early in the morning.

He stared at his phone with a look of longing. It was out of his reach as it was plugged in near the wall. He looked to his friends with the hope that one of them was awake.

Matsuda had his sleep mask on, Motohama was wrapped up in his blankets, and Gen wasn’t even in the room as he seemingly slinked off in the middle of the night to sleep with his siblings again.

The guy was such a doting brother it was adorable.

But with everyone still asleep he had no choice.

He had to use his awesome magic powers for something incredibly mundane.

Since learning about his Sacred Gear he felt it was much easier to use. So he called on the great power of Ina to summon his trusty crowbar.

It appeared in a flurry of thankfully dull sparks. He then waggled it in the general direction of his phone. He was very careful as he didn’t want to break it… but it was still out of reach despite his best efforts.

The crowbar dissipated into motes of light.

Now what?

He could always try and summon something else, but what? He put his finger to his temple and focused.

He needed something to grab his phone.

Come on magic powers don’t fail him now!

He then heard something thump on the floor. He opened his eyes and stared into the black pits that belonged to a golden skull.

He held in his scream of surprise and then promptly held in his squeal of joy. It was Dokuro-kun!

The skull looked at him with an oddly animated expression. It was as if it was asking him why he was summoned.

Issei whispered, “Dokuro-kun. I need you to do me a favor.”

The golden skull raised a brow… eye socket? Issei isn’t sure what the right term is but it looked interested at his proposal at the very least.

“I need you to grab my phone for me.”

The skull then mimed a deep disappointed sigh and then hopped over to his phone. It gently put the phone between its teeth and hopped back over. Issei gingerly plucked his phone from the skull and thanked it, “Thank you Dokuro-kun.”

The skull stared at him blankly for a moment.

“Uhm… did you want to stay?” he asked.

The skull nodded cheerfully.

This skull certainly had more personality than what he expected from a pirate's mug. Considering it was Senchou’s mug he supposed it made sense… Issei then had the feeling that Dokuro-kun had to put up with a lot. Senchou may be his Oshi… but he imagined that cup has seen things.

Feeling just a bit bad for the animated drinking cup he said, “I’ll use you for tea this morning.”

Dokuro-kun smiled at him and rolled over to him.

“Did you want to look at my phone too?”

The skull nodded once again and Issei shrugged. This was his life now he supposed. So he might as well get used to strange things happening around him. Such as a golden skull offering his opinions on fan art.

That was how Issei spent half an hour, scrolling through his feed while he had a conversation with a cup about if someone drew Calli’s oppai big enough.

They agreed they could go bigger and that they could add more thigh squish from her leggings.

What can he say? Dokuro-kun was a cup of culture.

Here he was discussing fan art with a cup.

Honestly wasn’t the strangest thing he’s done in the last few days.

What kind of life is he living now where that isn’t the strangest thing that’s happened to him?

Soon enough Aika roused from her slumber and thankfully rolled off his arm restoring the limb's blood flow. He shook off the pins and needles as Aika fumbled around in the dark for her glasses.

She turned to him and then stared directly at Dokuro-kun. She lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes. She looked at him and the golden skull again. She then yawned, “It’s too early for this Issei. I’m heading back to bed.”

Issei held in a laugh, “Sure thing Aika. I’m going to get cleaned up in the meantime.”

She set her glasses next to the futon and looked at him with groggy eyes, “Come wake me in an hour.”

He saluted, “Sure thing Boss.”

She hummed, “Hmm… I like the sound of that.”

She then fell back to sleep with a pleased expression on her face.

Issei smiled and picked up Dokuro-kun. He quietly left the room skull in tow.

As he headed to the baths to get cleaned up he spotted a massive mountain of a man talking with the innkeeper. Despite his face being hidden behind a disposable face mask, Issei could tell from the man’s eyes that he was an intense person.

The bandolier of knives on top of a black apron certainly added to the man's intimidation.

“Looking a lot better around here Miya,” spoke the man in a deep rumbling voice… but Issei felt something was off. The voice sounded like it came from somewhere else.

The innkeeper smiled, “I did have a bit of help. So will you help me with my surprise delivery?”

The man chuckled… but oddly his body didn’t move, “Haha! Ya certainly dumped a ton of work on me last minute Miya. But I’ll get it done so long as I get to keep some of it.”

The innkeeper giggled, “Fufufu, sure thing Yanagi. There is plenty of venison to go around as is. I just need it butchered before it goes bad.”

Issei raised a brow at that. Did someone give her a deer or something? Issei shrugged and continued on his way to the baths.

He left the skull a video to watch while he got cleaned up.

After a quick rinse, he took a dip into the hot springs.

He let out a pleased sigh as the water relaxed his body… he was getting really spoiled by these hot springs.

Maybe he could summon one with his power? Create the mythical hot spring collab.

That would be nice.

Issei dried his hair and retrieved Dokuro-kun from the clothes bin. The skull frowned as he snatched his phone. It gave him a look that said, ‘I was watching that’.

He waved off the skull, “I’ll put it back on during breakfast don’t worry.”

The skull mimed a huff as he picked it up. Cheeky thing, probably got that from Marine.

It was time to wake the others and he knew the perfect method.

He burst into the room and yelled, “GOOD MORNING MOTHERFUCKERS!!!”

Motohama yelped and got tangled in his blankets while Matsuda… was actually still asleep. The guy could sleep through an earthquake.

Aika on the other hand lept up like a spooked cat and threw her pillow at him with unreal force. He slammed into the wall of the hallway bewildered. He then peered into the room and found that Aika had indeed summoned her Sacred Gear.

He must have really surprised her… and she then proceeded to stomp over to him. She lifted him with ease thanks to her enhanced strength.

She stared him right in the eyes and slowly said, “Don’t you ever do that again or I will be throwing something much harder than a pillow, Got That!”

He gulped in fear… and possibly a bit of arousal, “Sure thing Boss!”

She nodded, “Good. Now I’m going to get cleaned up and I’ll see you at breakfast.”

Motohama walked up and rather than being mad looked smug as he stared at Issei’s slumped-over form. 

Motohama adjusted his glasses, “That is what you get Issei.”

That was when Matsuda walked up. He asked in a groggy voice, “What happened.”

Motohama chuckled, “I’ll tell you while we get freshened up.”

The baldy rubbed his eyes and yawned, “Sure thing.”

Issei then watched as they walked away. He looked at Dokuro-kun, “Well looks like it’s just you and me buddy.”

Might as well pick up the room since he had time.

Issei sat in the dining room and sipped some tea out of Dokuro-kun. It was an odd experience given the skull mug was sentient but that was its purpose so it was fine with it. Dokuro-kun seemed to appreciate being filled with something other than booze at the very least.

Issei wasn’t sure how that worked. Did his faith give it false memories or something? Well, he didn’t really care for the details too much. If it worked it worked.

He and Dokuro-kun had been watching random videos while they waited for Issei’s friends to arrive from their morning baths.

Soon enough he was joined by Dohnaseek and Freed.

The apparent fallen angel gave him a wave as he sat down, “Hey kid. How’d you sleep?”

He took a sip of tea, “Pretty good.”

Freed yawned as he scratched his junk, “Sup Issei. Nice mug. Fan of the Hag?”

Issei raised Dokuro-kun up to take a sip and paused as he noted that his tea was steaming.

Looked like Dokuro-kun wasn’t a fan of insults toward Marine.

The European started at the golden skull for a moment, “Huh, glowing red eyes and bloodlust. My kind of cup. Where’d you get it? I kind of want one.”

Issei blew on the reheated tea and took a sip, it was the perfect temperature. He then said,  “I’m pretty sure Dokuro-kun would sooner bite your fingers off than let you have a drink from him. Also, I didn’t buy it. I summoned it with my Sacred Gear.”

Freed looked confused, “What kind of Sacred Gear lets you summon a cup?”

Dohnaseek looked up and in an amused tone said, “Well the Sephiroth Graal for one.”

Freed then raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you using the Holy Grail to drink tea?”

“No,” Issei replied as he briefly contemplated the fact the Holy Grail was real. The things one learns in casual conversation.

Freed leaned forward and asked, “Then what Gear do you have?”

Issei took another sip of tea, “Faith Caller, apparently. It lets me summon VTuber stuff.”

Dohnaseek set down his pencil and looked intently at him. Freed on the other hand was suddenly up in his face.

The intense look in his eyes was a bit unnerving.

“Are you fucking with me?” he asked deadly serious.

“No?” Issei said slowly with a hint of fear. 

Freed narrowed his eyes and then violently shook him, “Summon the Knight Cup now!!”

Issei was briefly stunned… but Dokuro-kun wasn’t as he jumped up and splashed near boiling hot tea on Freed’s face.

“Ah!!! My face!! You stupid fucking cup!!” yelled Freed as he rolled around on the ground in pain.

Dohnaseek snorted, “That’s what you get for being too aggressive Freed,” the Fallen then asked, “But I also have a small request as well,” the man then gave him an intense stare, “I wish for Kanatan.”

Freed then lept up and yelled, “Hell no! Noel first you Lolicon!!”

Dohnaseek’s eye twitched, “OH, We doing this again Freed?”

Issei could see the tension between the two and spoke up, “I can do both… sort of. I can’t summon them but I can summon stuff relating to them.”

Freed slumped in disappointment and Dohaseek sighed, “I figured. Well, I guess I’ll have to wait till you get Balance Breaker then.”

“Balance Breaker?” he asked.

Dohnaseek twirled his pencil, “Yeah, it’s a Sacred Gear’s super mode more or less. Faith Callers generally lets you summon a copy of your object of worship if I remember right. So summon say Zeus or something.”

Issei’s mind was then filled with images of him summon and hanging out with his Oshis. His mind was so preoccupied all he could say was, “Nice.”

Freed then put his hands on his shoulder, “Noel stuff please.”

Dohnaseek looked surprised, “Oh damn, he said please. Freed never does that.”

Issei looked Freed in the eyes and saw it, a familiar devotion. Freed truly held faith in his Oshi.

A wave of calm poured over Issei. He knew what he had to do, “Very well.”

Freed pulled back and sat patiently.

Issei then raised his hands and focused on Shirogane Noel.

A bottle of milk appeared before them.

Dohnaseek laughed, “Ha! It would be milk.”

Freed swiped the bottle and downed it within the blink of an eye. He finished chugging it a moment later and as soon as he finished, the bottle rolled quietly onto the ground.

Freed then held a peaceful look that seemed out of place on his normally smug face.

Dohnaseek seemed deeply unsettled when he looked at him, “That look on Freed is just wrong,” the Fallen then flicked his pencil at Freed eraser first. The pencil impacted his cheek but the white-haired young man was unperturbed as his eyes gazed at something they could not see.

After a moment Freed took a deep breath and gave Issei a stare so intense that it nearly shook him to the core, “Issei I will follow you to the end of the Earth. Hell, I’ll follow you to the underworld and back so long as you keep giving me that milk. If you wanted to raid Hevean I’d join you in a heartbeat.”

Issei then felt a powerful stream of Faith come from Freed. He truly meant every word.

Dohnaseek dumbfounded asked, “What was in that milk?”

Freed snorted and his face regained its usual cocky smile, “Nothing was in the milk. It just made me remember something I had forgotten,” Freed gained a thoughtful expression, “Something important.”

“What was that?” asked the Fallen genuinely curious.

Freed gave him a sharp smile, “Not telling you shit, you feathered fuck. Why don’t you drink some and find out?”

Dohnaseek grumbled, “Fine. Hey kid do you mind?”

Issei shook his head and with a bit of focus another bottle of milk appeared.

The Fallen gingerly grabbed it and took a sip. The second it hit his lips he drained the entire thing seemingly possessed.

Dohnaseek then gained a similar faraway look just like Freed only moments ago.

He then stood up and left the room.

Issei leaned over and picked up a dull white feather. Weren’t his black? 

Before he could contemplate the effects of Noel’s milk his friends walked in.

He pocketed the feather and waved at them, “Hey guys.”

Aika looked down upon him with a bit of irritation. She really didn’t appreciate being woken up like that it seemed.

Motohama simply gave him a nod.

Matsuda plopped down next to him, “Hey Issei. What’s up, Freed.”

“Not much baldy. Just drank some milk that changed my life.”

Matsuda looked confused, “... Okay,” his stomach rumbled, “So where’s the grub?”

The door opened once again and the innkeeper walked in, “If you are talking about breakfast it is ready and will be out in just a moment.”

She then left the room to retrieve the food.

“Huh, good timing,” spoke Motohama.

Aika leaned back, “She’s got magic so maybe she has a spell or something for that. I wouldn’t put it past people to do that so they can make dramatic entrances.”

Freed laughed, “That’s a thing all right. You would not believe the amount of showboating egomaniacs there are in the supernatural community.”

Aika looked interested, “Oh, got any stories?”

Freed gave her a sharp smile, “Plenty.”

The innkeeper then returned holding a large tray full of food, “You can tell all the stories you want over breakfast, so long as you don’t let it get cold.”

She then quickly and efficiently laid out the food.

She then held the tray and explained today's breakfast, “Today you will be having a hearty breakfast of venison stir fry. A good meal to give you energy throughout the day.”

Matsuda perked up, “Oh! I haven’t had venison in ages.”

The innkeeper smiled, “Well we will be serving it with every meal for the next few days so I hope you don’t mind,” she eyed Freed, “I recently received quite a bit of it and don’t have enough space in the freezer to store all of it.”

They nodded and proceed to dig into the stir fry… and it was really good!

Freed let out a pleased sigh as he went for seconds, “Nothing like eating something you killed yourself!”

They then paused their meal and traded looks. They collectively decided to ignore Freed’s comment and continue eating the delicious food. If only to preserve their stomachs and sanity.

The perfectly heated tea provided by Dokuro-kun helped soothe his potential worries about the source of their meal.

After breakfast Issei and his friends decided to simply laze around and relax. After the last two days, Issei needed just a simple day with no massive worldview-breaking secrets being revealed to him.

He took to the courtyard to sketch. When he opened the door slightly he heard the voice of the butcher, “Alright Junior just leave me with the old fox and take a dip in the springs. You need to unwind lad!”

Issei peered through the opening and saw the butcher set an old-looking blade onto the ground next to a plate of raw meat.

The butcher then left and the fox walked up.

Then the knife started talking in the butcher's voice, “How ya doing you old furball.”

The fox huffed and started to eat the meat.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Enjoy your meal and I can talk for the two of us.”

The fox cackled before returning to its meal.

They sat in silence for a minute and Issei contemplated the talking knife. His minor knowledge of Japanese folklore supplied him with a possible answer. A tsukumogami… if his memory was right.

Youkai, he should have figured they were real as well.

He’s really going to have to brush up on his folklore, isn’t he? He really doesn’t want a kappa to steal his shirikodama!

The knife then spoke up breaking Issei from his thoughts about a kappa stealing his soul from his butt, “Your shrine looks like a piece of shit. You know that right?”

The fox growled at the knife.

“Don’t get snippy with me! I’m just pointing out the obvious. So when ya getting that fixed up?”

The fox looked frustrated for a moment and ate another piece of meat.

“That bad huh? Well shit, I know the youngsters nowadays don't really have faith like they used to but is it really that bad that you can barely scrape by?”

The fox looked agitated.

“Yeah yeah kids these days and all the classic old people complaining but I do know Miya ain’t one to leave it like this. Something else is killing ya ain’t it?”

The fox huffed in… what he thinks was resignation.

“Still haven’t found what’s doing it? Well, shit has to be around here somewhere.”

The fox tilted its head toward a hole in the ground.

“Digging around for what ails ya, huh? Well, I wish you luck, old friend. This knife will still be around if you need a drinking buddy.”

The conversation then took on a darker tone and Issei closed the door slowly. He walked back to his room with a building resolve. He knew what he had to do. He can’t leave that fox to die… even if it means working through his vacation.

It’s what Kaichou would want after all! And that meant helping people in need.

But he isn’t doing this alone. If anime has taught him anything then the power of friendship can solve anything!

Or was it plot armor?

Well either way he’s going to help the fox and the first order of business was fixing up the shrine. Luckily he and his friends have an assortment of talents that may prove useful in that endeavor.

He entered the room and yelled at his friends, “Whose up for arts and crafts!”

Chapter Text

“Whose up for arts and crafts!” Issei yelled into the room. 

Issei glanced at his friends who had paused mid-action from his entrance. 

They were playing cards… and it looked like Gen was winning since he had a massive pile of snacks. 

“Oi! I thought we were doing this later!” he yelled, irritated that they started without him. 

Aika tilted her head stuck out her tongue and bopped herself, “Tehe~” 

Issei glared at her and then glanced at Gen’s pile of snacks. He recognized some of them, Why? Because some of them were his!! 

“You! Those were not your snacks to bet!” he declared while pointing to Aika, who still held her pose. However, she did start to sweat a bit. 

Gen just gave her a deadpan stare, “Really Aika? I wondered why you were so gung ho with your bets since I heard you were terrible at cards.” 

She broke her pose and immediately turned to Gen, “Who told you that?! I’ve never played cards with these idiots!” 

She received three offended noises from said idiots, but promptly ignored them. 

The blonde shrugged as he answered, “I overheard it from some girl and her friends who were playing cards in the lunchroom. Said that you were a great mark for getting some pocket money.” 

Aika growled out a name Issei didn’t recognize. He imagined that girl would be having some very unfortunate things done to her when they got back. 

Motohama then mused aloud, “That’s why you never join our poker nights!” 

Issei had actually wondered that himself since she joined their other activities like Karaoke night. That does remind him that he should ask his dad if he wants to run a poker night in the inn. Would be fun with Freed and Dohnaseek tagging along since it's usually just him, his dad,  Matsuda, Motohama, and recently Gen. 

Aika grumbled, “I’m trying to get better.” 

Issei rubbed her shoulder, “Don’t worry you will get better,” he tightened his grip, “But in the meantime, I want my snacks back!” 

“Ow, ow, ow! That's up to Genshirou, not me!” she yelled as she tried to loosen up his grip. 

Issei eyed Gen who responded with a smirk, “I won this fair and square Issei. If you want them back you have to win them back,” his smirk grew more devious as he cackled, “But it seems you have nothing left to bet! I cleaned her out! Haha!” 

He (politely) shoved Aika out of the way and leaned against the coffee table. He exuded a certain pressure as he said, “Oh~ but don’t I?” With a wave of his hand a very small glass bottle with a label of ‘NK’ appeared on the table. It radiated a soft pink light that refreshed everyone in the room. 

Issei felt utterly drained after that simple action. Summoning pure Nakirium even in this small an amount was incredibly taxing he learned. 

Gen started at it with desperate need. He swallowed heavily as he began to shake and sweat. His breaths grew heavy as his eyes narrowed into pinpricks. 

He looked like an addict being shown their fix. 

It was such an abrupt change that everyone else was a little worried by the sudden transformation. 

Gen licked his dry lips nervously and asked, “I-is that what I think it is?” 

Issei very slowly grabbed the bottle, “Yes it is. Now why don’t we play a round?”  Gen looked ready to leap over the table at any moment to snatch the bottle from him and the light in Gen’s eyes dimmed as it was secured in his robe. 

The blonde slumped over for a moment and then looked up with hollow eyes, “I will take everything from you Issei.” 

Aika coughed into her fist and asked in an attempt to change the conversation, “Didn’t you say something about arts and crafts when you came in?” 

Issei took the chance to change the topic like a lifeline. He really didn’t want to play poker when Gen looked like that. He didn’t expect his reaction to the Nakirium to be that severe. 

“Yeah, I did. I wanted you guys to help fix up that shrine.” 

Motohama adjusted his glasses a bit nervously and despite not seeing his eyes Issei could tell he was casting a glance towards Gen, “That sounds like a great idea! I have wanted to see if I can use some of the things I’ve read in that book you found.” 

Matsuda nodded quickly, taking care to avoid looking at Gen, “I’m in! I can handle the woodworking and stuff.” 

Aika shivered as she said, “And I can get the materials.” 

Issei nodded slowly as he felt Gen’s intense stare grow more intense, “I can handle the statues.” 

Gen was really freaking him out right now! He even had a dark aura around him as he muttered Nakirium under his breath! 

They all turned to Gen who simply gave them a deep guttural growl, "Give me Nakirium, Now!" He thrust out his hand with his Sacred Gear appearing in a flash. Not even a moment later a bundle of tentacles lashed out and squirmed into Issei’s robes. 

"IYAAA!!" Squealed Issei as he felt Gen’s tentacles wrap around him. They felt so gross! 

Motohama and Matsuda moved quickly and attempted to make Gen stop. He however restrained them as well. With each passing second they grew more and more tired. 

Meanwhile, Aika was blushing up a storm while laughing, "Fufufu!!" She rubbed her hands and she began typing up a storm on her phone. 

The door opened up a moment later to reveal the innkeeper, “I’ve made some snacks if you would like any…”

Everyone paused at the sudden intrusion, even Gen thankfully since one of his tentacles was getting a bit too close to certain areas. The innkeeper took one look at them and closed the door while muttering, “Kids these days are scary!” 

Gen then continued searching for the Nakirium and Aika was no help. A moment later a tentacle popped out between his chest, a small bottle of pure Nakirium resting upon its tip. 

Gen’s tentacle glowed and the pink energy within the bottle vanished into the tentacle. Gen then let out a peaceful sigh and promptly passed out, thankfully his tentacles were dismissed in the process. 

"Aw, is it over already? I was just getting in the mood," pouted Aika from the corner. 

Issei in the meantime lay there feeling a tad violated along with Motohama and Matsuda. 

After a moment they pulled themselves up and looked at the peaceful sleeping Genshirou with dark looks. 

It was time for payback! 

Matsuda pulled out a marker and they held devious looks as they got to work. 

A few minutes later Gen looked ridiculous with all the marks painted on his face and body.

And they wouldn't be coming off that easy either. 

Admittedly they felt a bit bad once they let Aika have a turn because her additions made it quite… lewd. Gen’s face just looked like they doodled on it… as for his body. Well, he now kind of looked like those girls at the end of a mindbreak doujin. His tanned skin only made it worse. 

Aika popped the cap back onto the marker with a satisfied huff as she finished drawing another set of tally marks, "Haa~ I'm satisfied. I've always wanted to do that!"

Issei and the guys made a face when they realized that there would be questions when they went to bathe later. They all locked eyes for a moment and decided to bathe early to avoid said awkward questions. Let Gen suffer for his misdeeds! 

Issei then placed a piece of paper on the table and said, “Alright. Now for a plan of action!” 

His friends all gave a noise of affirmation and so began their plans to fix up an old shrine. 

At the same time, Gen had a happy expression as he napped. 

Despite the tentacle molestation they hoped he enjoyed his Nakirium included dreams. 

Issei, Matsuda, and Motohama had moved outside to make a blueprint of the shrine. Aika had gone off to do her own thing in the meantime. 

Issei sketched it out rather quickly since he had used it before for reference, although it was in much better shape then. Matsuda used his handyman knowledge to get proper measurements and see what needed to be fixed or replaced completely. While the baldy did that Motohama noted what ofuda and other charms were on the shrine. 

Motohama adjusted his glasses as he looked at an ofuda, “Hmm, this looks… burnt?” he rubbed his chin, “That means it's being overloaded by something.” 

Matsuda's tape measure reeled back in as he asked, “And how do you know that? Last I checked you didn’t know squat about magic.” 

Motohama lifted the book Issei had picked up the other day, “From this. It’s rather informative, especially with all the notes and revisions left by its previous owner.” 

“Let me take a look,” said the baldy as he swiped the book and began flipping through its pages. The jock of their group raised a brow, “Who, a lot of these revisions are really condescending… I’m into it!” 

Motohama’s glasses glinted as a light blush dusted his cheeks, “I know right?! It sends shivers up my spine when I imagine that blonde drill girl just talking down to me while she teaches~!” 

Matsuda grunted as he flipped through a passage, “Un, I totally agree. It’s like a tsundere girl tutoring you and bullying you with cute notes~!” 

Issei rolled his eyes at his friend's antics as he fixed up the blueprints with the measurements Matsuda had rattled off a few minutes ago. 

After they had the information what they needed to do next was buy the materials. They left that to Aika as she was pretty good at finding good deals. Issei and the boys decided to goof off while she did that, this was a vacation after all. 

Matsuda went out for a jog and Motohama kept reading the book and practicing his calligraphy. That tied into what Issei was doing. Which was playing around with his Sacred Gear. 

“So what do you need Motohama?” asked Issei.

“Well, I was going to go buy a calligraphy set for the ofuda. But then I remembered you have magic powers that summon random objects. So I hope you could magic me up something and save me some cash.” 

Issei sighed, “What am I, a gacha?” but then he perked up, “Ok, so who would have the things for ofuda?” 

They rubbed their chins in thought. 

Issei then said, “Fubuki?” She was supposed to be an exorcist if he remembered correctly. 

Motohama shook his head and replied, “Nah, she’s more of a melee type, Mio?” 

Issei shook his own head. While Mio could also be a good choice it didn’t feel quite right. 

The two of them snapped their fingers and said at the same time, “Miko!” 

They probably should have thought of her first with her being a shrine maiden and all. 

Issei rubbed his hands and waved them at the table. A moment later a rather cutely decorated if dull pink box appeared on the table. There was a label saying ‘property of Sakura Miko’ on top. 

Issei ran a finger across the top and the dull pink turned bright as he removed a thick coating of dust. 

“Huh, I don’t think she’s used these in a long time,” muttered Issei. 

Motohama nodded his head, “I mean it’s Miko.” 

“True. Still a bit confused why it has dust on it if I summoned it though.” 

His friend replied with a shrug as he dusted off the calligraphy set, “I don’t know, I don’t have a magic artifact shoved in my soul like you do.” 

He opened it up and nodded, “Looks like everything is in order at least. Just need to practice, been a while since I did calligraphy so need to shake the rust off.” 

Issei sat down and leaned against the coffee table, “I didn’t know you did calligraphy.” 

Motohama was quick to set everything up. He then hummed as his glasses glinted with nostalgia, “Hmm, well It’s a tradition in my family to learn at least a little. I’ve actually what made me so precise in sewing since being precise is so important in calligraphy. You don’t get a do-over after all. Once the brush hits the paper you have to commit to what you wish to write.” 

Issei understood that being an artist himself, although digital art kind of made that null being able to undo with the press of a button. Issei doesn’t even want to think of all the times he’s tried to Control Z in real life with pen and paper. 

Issei watched as his friend ground his own ink for a bit. He then noticed the open book to the side, “So what magic writing are you doing first?” 

As he grinded ink Motohama replied, “Actually something that might help you. You see Onmyoudo can be used to channel the power of gods. So I was thinking of making a few ofuda that will let you channel the power of your ‘gods’ easier.” 

Issei smirked, “Don’t you mean our gods?” 

Motohama smiled, “Of course. Now leave me be. I need to concentrate.” 

Issei waved his friend off as he stood up, “Have fun Motohama. Make sure to stretch your hands every once in a while. Don’t want cramps.” 

“Of course Issei. See you for dinner.” 

Issei waved one last time as he closed the door, “See ya!” 

Issei spent about two or so hours playing around with his summons in the forest near the inn. 

From the ones he’s summoned previously (that he felt were safe to use) he learned the cutting board could summon an energy shield. Which was pretty handy. 

He tried a few other things like Gura’s trident or even some of the other girl's weapons but felt like he couldn’t quite pull them out quite yet. Maybe with Motohama’s ofuda, he could. For now, he would have to practice more. 

While he couldn’t summon up their personal weapons, minus bonkbar, he could summon up other things. Like glowstick boomerangs the size of shortswords or a microphone that shot lasers. 

He really hoped he didn’t hit anything important with that laser he shot off. 

(Nearby a young Chinese man dressed in fine silk robes touched the top of his head and found a great deal of his hair missing. His fellow disciples could barely keep their laughter contained. He declared he would make who did this to him suffer one thousand deaths!)

Eh, it should be fine. That thought was soon completely out of his mind as he summoned his next weapon, a plug-type Asacoco! 

“Wow this is bigger than I thought it would be,” he mumbled as he gripped it from the plug end. It wiggled as if it was alive. That was a tad disturbing but he could deal with it, it was Coco’s after all. 

He swung it around a bit and marveled a bit at how much damage it could do. The tail pierced and tore through the earth and trees with ease! Well, he supposed it was a dragon’s tail after all. 

Still, he felt he could do something else with it. 

As if responding to his thoughts the plug-type Asacoco left his grasp and glowed for a moment before firing itself in a random direction with amazing speed!  

(The young cultivator seeking blood continued his search for the one who ruined his wonderful hair… only to be beaned in the side of the head by a butt plug. He lost consciousness and would later be found by his fellow disciples. When he awoke his rage was like a raging bonfire.) 

Issei narrowed his eyes in an attempt to follow the flying butt plug but soon he felt it disappear. He muttered, “So powerful melee weapon and projectile. It would only be natural for something belonging to Kaichou after all!” 

Content with his practice he headed back to the inn.

Issei returned just in time to find an absolutely fuming Gen looming over a bowing Aika. The marks on his face faded a bit… but his face also looked a bit red. Likely from him rubbing it so much. 

Gen looked up and gave Issei an apologetic look, “Sorry about the whole… um, tentacle molestation thing.” 

Issei waved him off, “I’m already over it, for the most part. Besides we already got our revenge.” After a moment he quickly amended, “And just to let you know we only doodled on your face. The rest was all Aika.” 

Gen shrugged, “Yeah I figured that once I found all the tally marks on my ass along with a few other things.” 

“So we cool?” asked Issei with a raised fist.

Gen bumped it with his own, “We cool… just don’t bring out anymore Nakirium anytime soon.” 

Issei gave him a thumbs up, “Got it!” 

The last thing he wanted was to be molested by tentacles again. 

“Now if you don’t mind me I’m going to take a bath because I worked up a sweat practicing with my Sacred Gear.” 

“I’d say I would join you… but I’m going to be taking private baths till all this junk is cleaned off of me.” Gen then turned his attention back to Aika, who had crawled halfway out the door while they were talking, “Now where do you think you are going!” yelled Gen as he summoned his Sacred Gear to drag a screaming Aika back into the room.

Issei gathered his change of clothes and headed to the bath while he ignored Aika’s screams. 

She brought this on herself after all. 

Later that night when everyone was asleep a certain rabbit scarf once again summoned itself into the real world. This time his mission was to grab a few slips of the ofuda created by the one wearing glasses. 

Don-chan slithered through the room and happened upon his prize with a quick movement a few of the papers were in its mouth. With a flex of will it vanished from the real world and back to his owner’s neck. 

Don-chan preened under her gentled touch, “Excellent Don-chan. Now it is time to put my plans into motion! AH↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️!!” 

Pekora waltzed over to a finely crafted table. Upon it laid a multitude of tools and materials. Most importantly it held her pilfered spirit crystal now housed within an ornate box. 

She raised an ofuda to the heavens and then dramatically slapped it upon the box. 

It glowed and she could feel herself being teleported!  

She laughed once more as freedom was hers, “AH↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️!!” 

Her vision shifted and soon she found herself in the real world… did things always look so big? 

She looked around and found that no, things were not supersized. Instead, it was she who was small! 

She looked at her hands, “I failed.” 

She was supposed to be full-sized! 

She had hoped that the spirit crystal would be powerful enough to bridge the energy gap enough to allow a full manifestation! But she miscalculated. 

Pekora slumped for a moment before she righted herself once more. While she may have failed she can still enjoy the world for a bit before she’s forced back! 

She snuck through the room and nudged the door open with great effort. She took a moment to catch her breath only to freeze as she saw someone turn the corner. 

She did as a rabbit does and froze up. 

She was then gingerly picked up, “Wow, Issei is getting really good at making these. I got to show Miki. I’m so proud of our son~” 

Pekora internally screamed as she was whisked away. 

Why were her plans all failing!! 

Chapter Text

Pekora was frozen in mortal terror as she was carried through the halls by Issei’s father. Soon they entered a room and she was set upon a coffee table by her captor. It was then she allowed herself to relax, just a bit. She was still being watched and that meant acting like a figure. But she could look around still.

Around her stood many empty sake bottles and all she could smell was the literal intoxicating aroma of alcohol. With each stifled breath, she grew lightheaded.

There was one more person in the room, a woman that she recognized as Issei’s mother.

The man who was Issei’s father, slurred out, “Hey Miki look at what I found~!”

The woman, Miki looked at her for a moment before she was picked up. She then raised her up and flipped up the edge of her coat revealing her leotard and tights-clad lower half.

It took every ounce of willpower she had not to scream in embarrassment!

Sure she didn’t necessarily cover that, but it's the principle of it!

The woman let out a low whistle, “Woow~ Issei sure is getting good at making these. If he and Aika weren't dancing around each other these past few days then I was worried I wouldn't live to see any grandchildren at this rate.”

The woman set her back on the table. Thankfully Pekora could now see her exit. The man hadn't closed the door all the way, which left a small gap that she could squeeze through.

That was her exit out of here!

Now she just needed to wait for a chance to run off.

Thankfully it came soon as Issei’s father sat next to his wife, “Oho~ are you sure you don’t want to try for another?”

Miki leaned into her husband, hand trailing down his now exposed chest, “Maybe~ I’ve been feeling pretty good these past few days.”

Pekora could only watch the following actions with muted horror. She didn’t want to see this!! She was a seiso idol and this isn’t seiso at all!!

A lone tear fell down her face as she watched them get down and dirty. Just a bit longer and she would have her chance… hopefully.

It was an hour later and they were still going strong. Pekora felt like she was in hell, forced to watch this… un-seiso act.

But thankfully they finally decided to shut off the lights.

Just a bit longer.

…Another half an hour passed and they still had her within their vision… somehow! They were still doing it within view of the door! It was like they wanted someone to walk in on them or something!!

Come on and turn around or finish or something!!

Please?

They only intensified as if to mock her. The rumbling from their actions knocked the bottles off the table.

Wait! This was her chance!

She hopped along with each powerful rhythmic thrust and ‘fell’ off the table. In that instant, she sprinted to the slightly ajar door and down the hall. Once she was free Pekora fell to her knees and began to cry, “Why is this happening to me peko?!”

Her tiny voice echoes through the empty halls.

She sniffled and then froze as she felt something looming over her. She slowly looked up to see a fox. A fox that was looking a bit peckish.

Foxes eat rabbits.

This time she did not freeze up and instead began to run for her life. The fox immediately gave chase.

“Leave me alone!” She shouted as she sprinted down the hall. The fox responded by attempting to nip at her.

Pekora jumped just in time to avoid losing her fluffy cotton tail!

She needed a distraction. Pekora channeled what meager power she could and then summoned a nousagi… which she immediately pitched at the fox. Her aim was true as her minion went straight down the fox's gullet causing it to choke. The fox began to cough and hack giving her plenty of time to run away!

Your sacrifice will not be forgotten nousagi.

She ran until she arrived at the storage shed. She was close to fully escaping the inn! And then her plans can begin! AH↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️

Before she could finish her escape attempt she heard growling behind her. She slowly turned to see the fox… and a traitorous nousagi resting upon its head! Where did it get an eyepatch?

She was cornered… or was she? Her eyes quickly scanned around and she saw it.

Fireworks.

She was quick to grab one. In her small hands, she held onto the stick connected to the small rocket. It was a hefty weight for her miniature form but a comforting one.

The fox paused and stared at her with caution.

She angled it for the window and lit it with flint and steel.

She didn’t go anywhere without any!

The fox scampered back at the lit explosive and she laughed, “AH↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️!! Yes, run from me peko!”

A moment later she jerked as she pulled along with the rocket. She went straight out the window and into the night sky.

She watched as the city passed under her and then realized she hadn’t thought of a landing strategy.

The rocket was also moments away from exploding and her with it.

She gulped and let go. Falling through the sky was oddly pleasant she found. Unfortunately, she had nothing to deal with the rapidly approaching ground.

As the ground rapidly approached a bit too fast, she cried out, “Nousagi’s save me peko!!”

A small mass of nousagis appeared moments before she hit the ground. She collided with the fluffy mass of her minions and was thankfully completely unharmed... several nousagis not so much. Pekora blinked the stars from her vision, looked around… and saw the slobbering maw of a stray dog.

She felt like crying. Why was this happening to her!!

“Nousagis take me to safety peko!!” She cried panic filling her voice. The mass of minions under her moved like a living carpet. They sped down the alleyway carrying her and into the street, the dog was hot on their heels looking for a meal.

“Why Me!!” she yelled into the night.

This was but the first of what would be many unfortunate events for the tiny Pekora.

A.N. Short chapter featuring our favorite war criminal. Mainly felt the urge to do this because of Asamoco might do more chapters soonish though.