Issei listened carefully to his dear mother's advice, "You have to be chivalrous, flowers are good, gifts are fine, be attentive, polite, and show interest..."
He wrote everything down in a small notebook to review later more thoroughly, His eyes were shining, his mind wandered through countless thoughts as his body made its way toward Kuoh Academy.
Issei repeated all the phrases his mother had told him in his mind. He was convinced it all made sense.
Treating women well—being a gentleman, giving flowers and gifts, being attentive, polite, showing interest—it all genuinely made sense to him.
His steps grew faster, and he quickly arrived at Kuoh Academy, heading to the abandoned building next to the school, he had bought some flowers at a nearby store, wrapped them into a bouquet, and rushed up the stairs.
In his mind, he imagined Rias Gremory blushing and accepting the flowers, after that, he'd go to Akeno, then to Koneko, he'd marry them all and have lots of children.
However, when Issei opened the door, Rias Gremory and Akeno were deeply focused on reading a strange, massive book, neither of them paid him any attention as they talked among themselves, speaking words that made Issei narrow his eyes.
"According to what Sona said, Itachi was warned about the presence of a ninja from his old world, we don't know if it's the same Orochimaru we encountered, but it should be..." Akeno paused, touching her forehead with weariness.
"It should be the same Orochimaru, so I contacted Sona to see if she can get Itachi to visit us today..." Once she finished saying that, Akeno smiled and looked at her tired friend.
Rias Gremory's face was a mix of emotions—from exhaustion to a sort of uncertainty—before it finally shifted to a smile, "Itachi, huh?" she murmured with some calm before letting out a sigh.
Issei saw this and narrowed his eyes, "Something's not right..." he murmured in his mind, "Why did the president react like that? Itachi hasn't been kind, hasn't been attentive, wasn't polite, and yet..." Issei narrowed his eyes again, starting to feel that maybe his mother had lied to him.
Still, he shook his head and stepped forward, "President," Issei cleared his throat slightly before speaking, catching the attention of the two demon girls, "A flower for another beautiful flower..." Issei said the words his mother had taught him earlier that morning.
Rias's face turned confused, she looked at Issei with slightly wide eyes and raised eyebrows, then she took the bouquet of roses and smiled softly, "Thank you, Issei, you're a good boy," she said, Akeno also gave an approving smile.
Issei's heart quickly filled with a special joy, a wide smile spread across his face, and he blushed like a tomato, "T-thank you, P-president," the poor boy said before taking several steps out of the room.
Issei's behavior was erratic—his legs trembled, and he kept his eyes low, it would've been considered adorable if it had been done by a girl.
Rias Gremory stared at the door after Issei left and finally let out a calm sigh, "Issei seems to be maturing a bit, what happened yesterday was... never mind," she said, shaking her head with a bit of guilt.
"Yesterday was an exception, President, not even all of us together could defeat that strange demon, and..."Akeno narrowed her eyes with nostalgia, the absence of Kiba could be felt throughout the room.
Rias also nodded before simply sighing, she threw the bouquet into a nearby trash bin almost absentmindedly before turning her attention back to the book on her desk.
...
Time passed at cruise speed.
Classes started at Kuoh and recess came quickly too.Itachi was promptly informed by Tsubaki that Rias Gremory wanted to speak with him about Orochimaru.
At that moment, the ninja's expression changed almost completely—his pupils dilated slightly, his gaze on Tsubaki sharpened, becoming more intense.
Tsubaki Shinra noticed the change in Itachi, she raised her eyebrows, took a few steps back, let out a choked breath, and swallowed hard as she looked down, "Itachi, has something bad happened?" she asked.
However, Itachi simply ignored her, stood up, turned around, and began walking.
The day was overcast, with some storms threatening to fall, and Kuoh City was covered in a sort of dark veil.
Itachi walked down the halls again, scanning his surroundings, analyzing the peace of this world.
Students chatting, laughing, arguing, many girls glanced at him shyly as he passed. All of it gave him a feeling of unprecedented calm. But—"Is it really possible to preserve this peace?" Itachi asked himself in his mind.
Halfway through, he ran into his old friend, Issei Hyoudou, the boy was walking next to a cute girl, though she didn't have much of a figure.
Issei quickly noticed Itachi, his eyes widened slightly as he recalled Rias Gremory's words earlier—how her face lit up with "life" when she talked about the ninja.
The poor boy narrowed his eyes, finally remembering how that strange demon had nearly killed him, and then how the red-haired president had blushed at his gift that morning.
Issei finally smiled confidently, he raised a hand to greet Itachi and said, "Bro, good to see you..."
However, Itachi wasn't stupid, he noticed the shift in Issei's face—the way he initially looked at him with a bit of hatred, and how it ended with a touch of mockery.Itachi simply walked up to Issei and nodded.
"Issei, you're here, How have you been lately?" Itachi asked, raising an eyebrow, observing Issei's condition and then focusing his gaze on the small Kiryuu beside his friend, she quickly hid behind Issei as if Itachi were some kind of girl-eating beast.
"I can say... I'm making progress, Do you know?, My mom gave me some tips on how to pick up girls..." Issei lifted his head proudly, but Itachi just sighed.
Back in Konoha, he had met many boys who followed their moms' advice to pick up girls' hearts. And all he could say about that was: "They never work."
"I see..." Itachi said, staring at Issei for a moment, as if expecting him to continue the conversation, as the ninja predicted, Issei grew embarrassed under his gaze and opened his mouth again, "I actually wanted to ask you something..."
Issei's face turned serious almost instantly as he spoke, "You..." Issei narrowed his eyes.
"Do you really think an ugly girl is the same as a pretty girl?" he asked, he had been questioning that for some time, "You told me that the bones of a pretty girl are the same as those of an ugly girl, that their skin is made of the same stuff... but that doesn't seem to make sense," Issei demanded.
Akira Kiryuu peeked her head out, still keeping her body hidden behind Issei, and stared wide-eyed at Itachi, "Is this really Itachi's way of thinking?" she wondered, a tiny spark lighting in her heart, making her smile.
"If that's the case, then... I don't have to be a pretty girl to be appreciated by Itachi?" Akira thought, her eyes gleaming.