Enjoy reading, rejoice and...
See you all on next time
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(...Continuing)
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Micael just raised an eyebrow as he looked at him, his hands in his pockets as he asked. "What do you mean by that again? You looked pretty scared when you woke up. Did you have a nightmare or something?"
Surprised by the question, Issei blinked a few times as he processed the words, and then, realizing that Micael had probably been there from the beginning, he stammered out a response. "T-that's none of your business!"
Micael kept his gaze calm as his other eyebrow rose slightly at Issei's response. "Calm down man, no need to be rude either, I just asked out of curiosity."
"Uh...right, sorry." Issei ended up apologizing by rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, then he stopped, blinking a few times for a moment as he remembered the context of the situation.
His hand that was rubbing the back of his neck ended up pointing at Micael as his expression changed as he exclaimed loudly. "Sorry my ass! What the hell are you doing in my house?!"
Without answering, Micael walked to the other side of the room, leaning against the dresser and crossing his arms, he asked back. "Don't you remember what happened yesterday?"
"What the hell does it mean by that!? You still haven't...answered...me..." Pausing at the end of his sentence, Issei froze as the memory of what had happened yesterday came to mind.
"What the..." He muttered, looking in disbelief, then his face turned pale as he looked at his belly, his hands quickly checking for the hole made by the spear of light.
"Don't worry, I healed you."
Hearing Micael, Issei looked at him, his pale gaze now also confused. "Healed me? What do you mean?"
"This is a very complicated subject, but if you want a summary, the supernatural is real."
"So, all this really happened..." With a look of realization on his face, Issei looked down as this reality set in, then, a thought crossed his mind causing him to grab his hair. "Damn, so that means the ritual to summon a succubus that Motohama, Matsuda, and I did could have worked!?"
Micael laughed lightly as he shook his head at Issei's words. "Maybe, but look on the bright side, if it had worked you three would have definitely been sucked to death."
"Uh...you're right." Issei replied with a weak smile as his eyes moved evasively to the sides. There was no way he could admit at that moment that he didn't mind being sucked to death.
Micael didn't need to read his mind to know what Issei was thinking, but he didn't comment. "Anyway, I'll explain why you were attacked. I imagine you wanted to know who 'Yuuma-chan' really is."
Hearing that name from someone he thought didn't even exist, memories of her and what she did came back to him, making him realize that it hadn't been a dream he had lived.
Gritting his teeth, Issei pressed his hand against his chest, his heart racing as the memories came flooding back, no longer blocked by his brain.
He remembered that what happened yesterday had literally happened the other day before, when his belly was pierced by Yuuma-chan.
'No wonder I found that place familiar.' Taking a deep breath as he tried to calm his racing heart, Issei also remembered that it was Micael who saved him before, and apparently yesterday too if the healing words were true.
Turning to Micael, he then bowed on the bed, lowering his head completely as he thanked him. "You saved my life twice...thank you so much!"
"You're welcome."
Raising his head, Issei met Micael's calm gaze, in his impression Issei felt that he didn't consider it a big deal, perhaps it wasn't something difficult for him to do?
Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, Issei remained silent until he remembered that there was someone else with Micael yesterday. "Uh...yesterday the girl you were with was Rias Gremory-san?"
"I'll tell you the situation, so pay attention."
Seeing that Micael was going to explain everything, Issei just nodded, waiting for him to begin.
"The situation is as follows..."
...
After a few minutes, Micael finished explaining to Issei what was happening as well as the context of everything, who Raynare really was and why she tried to kill him, about the Sacred Gears and what they were and of course about the Devils and peerage.
"She's...a devil..." Issei muttered in disbelief as he looked at the ground, his mind processing the fact that Rias Gremory was not human, and not only that, but he was also no longer human because of her.
"Not only her, all the members of the Occult Research Club are devils." Still leaning against the dresser with his arms crossed, Micael watched as Issei seemed to be having an existential crisis.
"Right...they're all..." Issei muttered absentmindedly as the thought passed through his mind. He was still trying to assimilate that things like gods, angels, fallen angels, and various supernatural creatures were real, aside from the devils in his school.
Regaining some focus, soon, the fact that he was now a devil because of Micael came to mind, his explanation being that he had a strong Sacred Gear.
Honestly, Issei didn't care much about not being human anymore, not even that he was now apparently Rias' servant, at least he was a servant of a beautiful girl, plus he had a strong Sacred Gear, that was why she reincarnated him, right?
"You said I have a strong Sacred Gear, right? How strong exactly? And what exactly does that mean?" He asked with his hand on his chin and raising an eyebrow, his curious gaze focused on Micael.
"We still don't know for sure how strong your Sacred Gear is, we need to see and test it first, and as for what that means, it means you have potential."
Nodding a few times, Issei still had his hand on his chin as he asked again. "So...does that mean Rias Gremory-san will give me special attention?"
"No." Micael responded calmly, he already understood where he was going with this.
Unfazed by the refusal, Issei smiled lightly and asked again. "But she'll still have to interact with me, right? I'm her servant after all."
"Yes."
Having the confirmation he wanted, Issei nodded a few times until his smile widened, his expression turning perverted as he muttered. "She'll talk to me, hehehe~ A pretty girl will interact with me constantly hehehe~"
Seeing his behavior and expression, Micael took a slow, deep breath before exhaling through his nose. 'This guy is really making it harder and harder to maintain an unbiased opinion of him.' Micael was tempted to slap Issei, but considering that he already intended to do something to him later, he let it go, instead his hands moving to clap.
Clap—!
Coming out of his fantasy scared, Issei looked at Micael in surprise, not understanding what that was for.
"Get ready, we have to go to school."
"School?" Issei muttered absentmindedly, forgetting that he still had class.
"Yes, you will attend classes normally, after that I will take you to the occult research club, some things need to be clarified."
Issei watched as Micael walked away from the dresser and walked to the door, stopping there with his hand on the doorknob, he turned around as he said.
"I'll wait for you outside."
Saying that, Micael opened the door and walked out, Issei just stared in a daze as he processed his words, then scratched his head and began to do as he was told.
...
In front of the Hyodou house, Micael waited with his school bag over his shoulder held in one hand and the other in his pocket as he waited for Issei.
He didn't have to wait much longer until Issei appeared coming out of the door, after passing through the gate, he had a strange face as he asked after approaching.
"What did you do to my parents?" Issei asked feeling uncomfortable, only after a while did he realize that there was no way his parents hadn't heard them talking, not to mention they hadn't noticed a stranger entering their house.
"I hypnotized them." Micael didn't bother to explain what he did, he just gave a simple answer, then he nodded indicating for them to go. "Let's go."
Without waiting for an answer, Micael started walking, Issei followed him with a sour look, the lack of explanation only served to maintain his discomfort.
...
The walk couldn't be more uncomfortable for Issei, with a somewhat strange expression, he silently walked a few steps behind Micael.
It wasn't that he didn't like the silence, on the contrary, since he didn't have any proximity to this guy to talk to, but this silence made him seem a little intimidating.
Looking at that broad back over the uniform, even walking normally, Issei could almost feel a kind of invisible pressure coming from that guy.
Whether it was some kind of instinct because he was a devil or perhaps the result of seeing this guy easily beating up delinquents in the past, Issei didn't know, but either way he would stay away from this guy, just in case.
"We're getting there."
"Eh? W-what?" Issei asked confused, being taken out of his thoughts by Micael's words.
Issei then watched as he turned around, looking over his shoulder and indicating with his head.
"The school."
Following his signal, Issei looked forward, now able to see the front of the school from where he was.
"O-oh." He could only give a simple reply in confirmation, following him as they both approached the large structure.
As they got closer, the sight of other students wearing the same uniform became more common.
Seeing the familiar scene of the girls in their school uniforms, Issei momentarily forgot his tension from being around Micael as a perverted smile appeared on his face, automatically getting involved in his fantasies.
But he slowly came out of it as he noticed more and more eyes on him.
At first, he thought they were the same judgmental looks he received when he was lost in his fantasies, but he soon realized they were looks of surprise and curiosity, some even looking suspicious.
Not only that, in addition to the different emotions, there were a much greater number of gazes, practically every time he passed by they looked at him.
And then he realized that they were looking at him, but not because of him, it was because of the guy who was walking in front of him, because of the fame that this guy had recently achieved.
Now, whether or not this was a good thing for him, Issei didn't know...in fact, it was possible that this guy's reputation would be tarnished by being together with him...
At that moment, Issei felt happy that he had such a bad reputation. 'If his reputation also gets worse, his popularity with girls decreases, and he also gets judged...that would be amazing!' Issei's thoughts made it clear how much he envied Micael for his popularity.
"Isn't that the guy from the perverted trio? Issui or something?" / "It's Issei, and yes, it's him." / "What is he doing with Micaeru-san?"
As he followed Micael, Issei heard three girls talking in whispers passing by them, and he was able to hear them with surprising clarity. 'I-Issui? Is my name that forgettable?' Feeling like crying, Issei looked at the three girls passing by, with them stealthily glancing back.
"I don't know, but I hope they didn't become friends or something." / "That's impossible, from what I heard from the foreign student, he seems to be quite decent, he wouldn't hang out with that kind of person." / "Yes, Micaeru-san is a good person, he wouldn't get involved with that kind of person."
Issei felt even worse hearing those other words... well, they weren't lying, but that didn't make them any less offensive.
"Maybe...but what if that's the case? Like, if the foreigner is actually friends with that guy now, does that mean he's just like him?" / "Yeah...now that you mention it, does that mean he's a pervert too? Geez, that's disappointing." / "I still don't think so...but if that's the case, I wouldn't mind if he spied on me in the bathroom..."
Issei's sad cry turned into happiness when he heard them, until the third girl spoke those words, and shock was what took him as he stumbled.
He stared in disbelief as the first two girls looked at the third one with bangs who had a blush on her face at the moment, their silent gazes speaking volumes.
"What? You guys know I like muscular guys."
That's what the third one said when she noticed the other two's gaze.
The other two girls just stared at her silently for a moment before shaking their heads, seeming to have no more hope in their friend.
With the three of them growing further apart, the exchange between them made Issei realize one thing: even if this guy's reputation was destroyed, it wouldn't make much of a difference because...
'This guy is still a riajuu!'
Exactly, even if he wasn't as handsome as Kiba to the point where his actions would be completely ignored by the female audience if he did those things, he was still a physically attractive guy and still had the "rare" factor of being a foreigner.
Even if this guy acted like him, the chance that there would still be some girls, even if only a few, who wouldn't mind and still wanted to date him wouldn't be low.
This realization only served to increase Issei's unhappiness, as he did his best not to grimace at the injustice of the world.
As Issei followed Micael on what he considered the most tiring walk of his life, he could notice how the gazes remained as they approached the school building.
The same looks that were of curiosity or surprise, looks of judgment or distrust, as well as some murmurs, whether they were similar to those of those girls or other things.
But he realized that the most common theory was that they were now friends or just close, since logically there was no reason for them to interact.
But then again, since Issei had already realized that it didn't matter in the end since it wouldn't affect this guy much, Issei couldn't feel happy.
Walking past the students, Issei finally found himself at the lockers, however, instead of going to change his own shoes, he just stood awkwardly next to Micael, not knowing what to do.
'Uh...what do I do now? Do I wait or do I ask directly what I should do?' He wondered internally, but he didn't have to do anything because Micael ended up speaking.
"When classes are over, I'll come to your classroom and walk you to the club."
"O-oh." Exclaiming in confirmation with a slight nod, Issei watched as the guy turned around and began to walk away, predictably heading to his own class.
"See you soon."
He said this while lightly waving his hand. Issei stood there for a moment, then, composing himself and noticing the looks he was still receiving, he headed towards his locker, already imagining what it would be like when he arrived at his class.
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(Continue...)