A couple of days passed by after the dinner with the Gremory Family, in that time Jinrang and Issei trained, but they had a new training partner, Genshirou Saji. Sona asked Jinrang to help him as well, after she saw Issei's results in the Rating Game, she decided that it would be for the best. At first, Saji was a tad bit reluctant to join them, but since it was a request from his crush he gave in.
Currently, Jinrang was busy sparring with Issei, in some forest apparently Saji knew how to make a seperate space, so they could train in peace without worrying about anything.
"That was a close one." Jinrang said as he slightly leaned back to dodge Issei's fist, he dodged a few more before he grabbed his hand and punched him in the face. Issei took that blow head on, before countering and landing an uppercut on Jinrang.
Jinrang took a step back, the blow from The Red Dragon Emperor had enough power now. Granted, Issei was maxed out on 'Boosts', but still it is a great feat.
The two continued their sparring session with Jinrang mostly being on the defensive and counter-attacking here and there, but Issei was relentless he continued charging and advancing towards Jinrang, slowly but surely, he was growing.
Jinrang avoided a barrage of swift and strong blows, before quickly releasing his knees, and striking Issei's knee with his elbow, Issei groaned as he almost fell down, but managed to quickly do a 360 degree turn before landing a kick at Jinrang's face.
Jinrang's face remained in place, thanks to his unnatural endurance, but he definitely felt the force of that kick, he couldn't help but smile seeing the progress his friend made.
Issei quickly jumped back, needing to regain his breath and footing, Jinrang gave that chance and didn't press him, this was a spar and Issei needed to learn, if this was a real fight Jinrang obviously wouldn't let him regain his breath. Issei took a fighting stance once more, before rushing towards Jinrang.
The speed of Issei's rush was amazing, kicking up dust, and left footprints on the ground below, he then jumped as if positioning himself for a kick, what he was going for was a devastating punch instead.
Jinrang realized his intention and formed an X-shaped block using his hands, Issei's punch landed and it caused a shockwave that caused the branches and leaves to move.
Seeing his punch not work, he instead grabbed onto Jinrang's hand and tried to knee him in the face, but was slammed into the ground instead, with air knocked out of his lungs he struggled to breath for a second before retreating again.
"Alright... I guess it's time to use this then..." He muttered to himself, before raising his fist, and a red orb of mana appeared in front of his fist.
"What are yo-" He didn't manage to finish his sentence, before Issei punched that red orb from behind, and a powerful burst of mana shot towards him in an instant.
Jinrang's eyes widened before he raised his hands to block the shot, the burst of mana slammed into his forearms with such immense force, that he barley managed to hold on.
*BOOOOM!!*
There was massive explosion at the place where Jinrang stood, Issei stood in front of him with shock written on his face.
He didn't expect that to be so strong, "JINRANG!" he yelled worriedly, but upon receiving no response, he fell to his knees, thinking he might have just killed his best friend and mentor.
"ISSEI! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE MAN?!" Saji's panicked voice came from the side.
"I-I d-didn't- Why-" Issei struggled to form words.
"Enough standing there! let's quickly check, he could still be alive!" Saji ran towards the cloud of smoke.
"Hahaha!" A sound of laughter came, and a figure appeared from within the cloud of smoke, before Jinrang walked out.
His shirt was almost completely ripped, he was a bit diry, and had a few bruises on his forearms, but aside from that he was relatively unharmed.
Issei released a breath of relief, before immediately getting angry, "YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" He yelled.
"HE'S ALIVE!" Saji shouted happily.
"HAHAHA! My bad! My bad!" Jinrang yelled out as he waved it off as he walked towards Issei.
"That was a great attack, I didn't expect it at all, great job Issei." Jinrang complimented while patting Issei's head, which Issei immediately slapped off.
"Hey! Don't do that, you're ruining my hairstyle."
"I wouldn't call that a 'style'." Jinrang retorted
"He got you there." Saji jumped in as well.
"Like you two can talk, have you seen yourselves in the mirror lately?"
"You're right, but my hairstyle looks cool on me, and Akeno likes it as well." Jinrang shot back with a smile.
"Hmph! I'll patiently wait for the day when you go bald."
"Aye Issei, that's a bit too far man." Saji said.
"On second thought... you're right, I wouldn't wish hair loss on my worst enemy."
"You wouldn't... but I would."
"You're a monster with no heart." Both Saji and Issei spoke at the same time.
"Maybe, but let's go take a bath or something, after that I'll treat you guys to my favorite burger place." Jinrang offered.
"Sweet!" Saji cheered.
"Free food and training, Jinrang you're the best man!" Issei cheered as well.
Jinrang chuckled, as they went back home to meet up later.
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After a couple hours, the three met up again dressed casually.
"So? Where's this burger place you mentioned?" Issei questioned.
"In the mall." Jinrang answered
"In the mall? Hmmm... Oh! it's that burger place." Saji exclaimed.
"You know about it?" Issei turned towards him.
"Yeah, I've never been there though, didn't have time ever since the whole student council thing." Saji sighed tiredly just from thinking about all the work he has to do.
"You have it rough huh, Saji?" Jinrang patted him on the back.
"Yeah... and if I don't finish my work in time... she's gonna get the slipper..." Saji shuddered just from thinking about that.
"Glad I'm not in her peerage..." Jinrang muttered.
"Oh, Speaking of peerages, may I ask why you didn't join Rias's peerage?" Issei asked.
"Well, at first it was a matter of trust, you don't just go up to someone and say 'Hey, you look strong, wanna join my peerage?' seems sketchy doesn't it? But then I don't know... it might be weird but, something in the back of my mind kept telling me to not join yet, not sure what it was." Jinrang answered truthfully.
"It's a good thing you didn't join her.'" Ddraig answered.
All three young men jumped in surprise from his sudden intervention.
"Don't do that man! You almost gave us a heart attack and what if someone else hears you?! I haven't learned the mind erasing magic thing yet!" Issei whisper yelled to his partner.
"Sorry about that partner, but you needn't worry, no one heard me other than you three."
Issei sighed in relief.
"'Could you tell me why?" Jinrang asked while blankly looking at Issei's hand.
"It might interfere with the awakening of your blood, right now as a human you're a blank canvas, the blood will paint on that canvas, if the canvas becomes too dirty... then the change in strength wouldn't be as great as it normally would, If you really want to join her peerage, only do so after your awakening." Ddraig explained.
"What's this about 'blood'? Are you guys doing some cult rituals or something?" Saji questioned curiously.
"Don't ask, it's a pain to explain all of it, but just think of it as Jinrang having something like a Sacred Gear that hasn't awakened yet." Issei answered.
"Got it."
"I didn't get a chance to ask, but how exactly does one 'Awaken' the Dragon's blood?" Jinrang inquired.
"There are a couple of ways, one is by simply waiting it'll happen on it's own, and the other way is when your desire for Power reaches it's peak, the blood will respond." Ddraig explained.
Jinrang pondered over his words for a bit, before thanking the Red Dragon Emperor.
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The three finally made their way into the mall, and looked around for a bit, before deciding to play some arcade games.
Which Issei dominated completely.
"Holy shit." Jinrang muttered, looking at the screen.
"You got completely destroyed man." Saji said, blankly looking at the screen as well.
"Well? Do you see how amazing your friend is?" Issei said smugly.
"Keep yourself safe, or you'll wake up bald." Jinrang responded without missing a beat. That sentence shut Issei up immediately.
"Speaking about hair... I've got an idea!" Saji said excitedly.
Jinrang was intrigued, "Oh? Let's hear it."
"There's a barbershop here right? Let's all get a haircut or something."
"I'll pass, I like my hair as it is, you and Issei should get one."
Issei sighed. "Alright..."
"Don't worry bro, trust me when I say that Rias will take a glance at you and immediately fall in love." Saji said with a thumbs-up.
"...I doubt that, but I won't be going back on my word... even though I might regret this later." Issei muttered.
"I'll... shave off your head for free if the barber does you dirty." Jinrang offered with the kindest smile Issei had ever seen on his face.
They made their way to the barbershop Saji mentioned, Issei and Saji took a deep breath before walking in.
"Oh my, welcome just give me a second and I'll be right there with you~" They heard a strangely... masculine voice trying to be feminine.
Issei gulped, because something about this voice was... VERY familiar.
"Uh, guys? I think we should go..." Issei muttered, slowly going back to the door.
"Don't be such a wuss, Issei." Jinrang spoke.
And as soon as his word fell, a massive muscular, man wearing pink and feminine clothes walked out from what seemed to be the storage room.
He walked up to the three with a kind smile.
Jinrang's eyes widened upon seeing the giant who was even bigger than he was!
"Woah..."
"Oh~ such handsome young men you three are, now what style do you have in mind?" The barber asked getting straight to business.
"It's not Mil-tan... Phew, it's someone else..." Issei muttered to himself.
"Mister, my two friends here need a haircut as for the style..." Jinrang spoke before looking at his two friends.
"Ah, I know exactly what your friends need~ If they'll trust me of course." The barber cut in.
"Sure, it's better to trust the expert in this situation." Jinrang agreed.
"Let's start with you first, cutie~" The barber pointed at Issei who gulped while sweat rolled down his forehead.
After ten minutes, the barber was done.
"What do you think?" He asked.
Issei looked at himself in the mirror, not believing what he was seeing.
"Is this... is this me?" He asked.
Issei's messy hair was fixed into a manbun, the barber maintained the length because it would've been a total waste, and did that.
(Think of it as Vasco's current hairstyle, I'll post a picture.)
"HOLY SHIT! THAT"S HYODOU?! WHAT THE HELL MAN?! YOU TURNED INTO A TOTAL PRETTY BOY!" Saji shouted.
"Impressive, you're one elite barber." he complimented the barber's work, who thanked him for his compliments before turning to Saji.
"Don't you worry, I'll fix you up just as nicely~."
And he delivered exactly what he said, Saji admired himself in the mirror for a couple minutes before snapping out of it.
The barber took of Saji's sides, and slicked his hair back.
They paid the barber for his magnificent work, and put in an extra as well, before going out and finally going to the burger restaurant.
"Man... that barber really knows his stuff, he might've single-handedly saved your entire bloodline." Jinrang said.
"Oh c'mon! No need to go that far! And not everyone can be as..." Issei stopped mid-sentnce, he REALLY didn't want to call Jinrang hot, or handsome because that would be gay, and Issei is the furthest thing from that.
(No disrespect towards people with different sexual orientations.)
"As what? Go on, finish your sentence." Jinrang pressed.
"Nope."
"Go on Hyodou, answer the man's question." Saji pressed as well.
"NO!"
"Your order is here!" Issei was saved by the waiter.
"Let's eat, the food's gonna get cold."
"Tsk."
The three dined peacefully, Saji and Issei enjoyed the food so much that they almost stormed the kitchen kissed the hands that prepared it, it was just that good.
After that Issei and Jinrang said goodbye to Saji, and both then decided to go to Issei's house. They were holding the club meeting there, because their room at school was undergoing some repairs and stuff.