Previously.
"Alright." Grayfia picked up a rock off the ground. "When this hits the ground, you may begin." She tossed the rock in the air.
Kenshin and Raiser kept their eyes on each other as the small chunk of earth fell to the ground. Then finally when it hit the earth, two of Kenshin's cards disappeared and he shot toward Raiser, his fist cocked back. "Flash Bullet Fist!"
Kenshin's fist tore through Raiser's stomach as he shot by the Phenex Heir. He turned as the wound created by his attack as flames seemingly restored his body. "..." Kenshin narrowed his eyes.
"Heheheh...you dumbass, that isn't going to work on me." Raiser said, smirking at him.
Rias and the others watched Kenshin's face as an unreadable expression appeared on it. "What's he thinking?" Rias wondered. Suddenly Kenshin smirked widely and said.
"Good, I'd hate for this to end too early."
Raiser narrowed his eyes. "You'd hate for this to end too quickly you say?"
"That's right, I wasn't joking when I said I was looking forward to fighting an opponent who could get my blood rushing." Kenshin said. "That said, you're the one who wants this fight to end ASA&P!" He said as he shot toward him again, holding his naginata in a iai sword position. "Demon Decapitation!"
Raiser felt himself being bisected at the waist as Kenshin shot by him. It healed and he turned around. "Doesn't decapitation usually mean cutting off the head? Regardless. Why do I want to end this early? I'm content as a cucumber to let you wear yourself out trying to land an attack."
"Then we'll be here for a fortnight." Kenshin said. "You really think your regenerative abilities can last that long? !" He asked as he punched Raiser in the chest, his fist tearing through. He turned to find it healing again.
"Do you think your stamina can?" Raiser asked with a smirk.
"It'll last long enough for me to strip your regeneration away." Kenshin said. "Everyone has an achilles heel somewhere. Which as a bit of advice, you don't want me seeing it too often!" Kenshin said dashing at him slashing a star cutting all his limbs off and his head. "Because when I do figure it out, and trust me...I will. I'm gonna beat you like a drum."
Raiser pieced himself back together. "Hmph...he earnestly believes he can accomplish such a task?"
"Heh..." Raiser said collecting flames into his left palm. "You may be an Elemental Dragon, but trust me...you are no Ragnarok Kuroshi!" He said shooting off a large stream of fire at Kenshin.
"..." Reacting quickly Kenshin took his Salamander card, and canceled his Sylph card and slid them into their slots at either end of the dual ended naginata and allowed it to spin rapidly in front of him as the flames collided with it. He brought his hands together in a hand sign. "Burning Gale: Kagami!"
"!" Raiser stared in shock at him, not from worry, but from disbelief as Kenshin sent his own attack back at him. "Is he really that stupid? !"
"I'm a Phoenix you idiot! Fire heals me!" Raiser said catching the flames and absorbed the attack into his palm. Imagine his shock when he found Kenshin directly in front of him after he finished. "Shit! No time!"
"Earthly Armament: Fist!" Kenshin shouts slamming his fist into Raiser's stomach, driving the wind out of him.
"? !" Everyone stared in astonishment as this happened.
Raiser cocked his fist back and socked Kenshin across the left cheek. Kenshin jumped back afterward to avoid another punch. He smirked. "Seems the Phoenix...isn't so invincible after all."
"Guhh..." Raiser coughed. "How did you exploit the timing between me absorbing fire and launching it back out? No, how did you even know about it?"
"I didn't." Kenshin said simply.
"You didn't? ! Then? !" Raiser was cut off.
"I merely acted upon a hunch." Kenshin said. "You see nothing is really instantaneous. Just like there's no way for you to be in two places at once. I figured there'd be a cool down period however short it might be, between you launching an attack, absorbing an element or launching it back out again. During that time, your body is solid, so I figured if I could reflect your attack back at you, and use the momentum created by my spinning blade to close in behind it, I could land an attack, I can see now I was right."
"Tch!" Raiser scowled.
"Whoa, he actually did all that off of a hunch?" Ravel wondered.
"My my, Kenshin-kun's mind is a steel trap in battle." Akeno thought.
"Interesting. According to him he doesn't have all his power, but he can do a lot with what he does have." Kiba said.
"He's strong..." Koneko thought.
"So that's what he meant by saying he's an 'on the fly strategist.'" Rias thought. "He could be a prodigy in Rating Games if paired with someone opposite of him in the regard."
"You got all that from a few failed attacks?" Issei asked.
"Have to fuck up a few times to get to the right answer. Crudely speaking that's one of the principals of science." Kenshin thought.
"Yes, but you can't hope that this will work forever." Salamander said. "Especially since you just explained that to everyone."
"I know." Kenshin thought. "Just need to pressure him some more. He'll show his cards eventually."
"Pay attention, Kuroshi." Raiser said appearing next to him, grabbing his wrist. Flames spiraling in his other hand. "Reflect this."
"Get away from him!" Rias shouted to Kenshin.
"Already done." Kenshin said leaping to the side, leaving a trail of blood behind as his naginata whizzed in between them.
"Huh? Ullgh!" Raiser said realizing he was holding Kenshin's dismembered hand and tossed it away.
"Lord do I love doin' that." Kenshin said with a smirk as he regrew his hand.
"Just a piece of advice, Raiser-Sama. Kenshin-San retain his regenerative prowess from his days at a demon, which improved in relation to how many wounds the body in question had absorbed over the period of his or her life." Grayfia said.
Kenshin caught his naginata and took his Sylph card out of it's slot. He re-equipped it and rushed Raiser, "Lightning Sword Flash!" His blade tore through Raiser's shoulder. He pulled it back and it regenerated. Kenshin repeated this over and over again with the same result. Raiser finally had enough and slammed his knee at high speed into Kenshin's stomach knocking him away.
"Hehehahahaha! It isn't gonna work, give it up!" Raiser shouts with a smirk. "You can't beat me!"
Kenshin spit out a glob of blood. "You know Phenex, back home...ya meet all kinds of people, in my position, they tell you the same thing, your sword can't cut me, you can't kill me, you can't defeat me..."
"Maybe you should have taken their words to heart then." Raiser said.
"But the thing is, I haven't met a person whose said that yet, that hasn't eventually fallen to me in defeat." Kenshin said with a smirk. "You're showing me how you regenerate too much Phenex, I'm going to make you regret it."
"Oh really? Then maybe I should..." Raiser appeared next to him again. "...end this already then."
Kenshin already had his free hand extended toward him with a green magic circle in his palm. A focused blast of wind shot Kenshin away from Raiser and toward a tree just to the left of Grayfia. He kicked off of it and leaped upward, un-equipping his Gnome card and slid it into it's slot, while moving the Salamander card into his hand. He lifted the blade over head and bore down on Raiser.
Raiser was about to use his flame control to split himself in half when he realized his wind was being pulled away. "!" He looked up and saw another green magic circle on Kenshin's chest. "What's that, no matter!" He thought jumping out of the way as Kenshin's attack struck the ground he previously occupied, creating a small crater.
"He...dodged?" Rias murmured.
"Why did he dodge it?" Ravel wondered.
Raiser landed back on the ground, casting away his flaming wings. Kenshin flew out of the crater and levitated in that spot. "How interesting, you dodged."
"Yeah, so what? It's a basic instinct in battle." Raiser countered.
"Oh? Mm hm, you're right, most certainly right." Kenshin said with a nod as he landed back on the ground and recased his wings. "But then tell me, why didn't you dodge my previous attacks hm?"
"..." Raiser glowered at Kenshin who strode toward him.
"You've been splitting yourself off into pieces of yourself multiple times, so what stopped you there? Share your information with the class." Kenshin said.
"Fuck off!" Raiser said firing a shot of flames at Kenshin's head.
"Undine." Kenshin said as his sight faded once more. He jerked his head out of the way as the fire ball crashed against a tree, igniting it. Kenshin extended his hand toward the flames that were created, a blue magic circle appearing on his palm as a medium sized shot of water extinguished the blaze.
"His eyes...is he blind?" Ravel said aloud.
"Why yes I am. But this isn't about me." Kenshin said as he slashed at Raiser, this time he was able to split apart. "Answer my question Raiser."
"..." Raiser glared daggers at Kenshin's amused expression. "Why didn't he do it that time?"
"Wow, I can literally feel the hatred." Kenshin said. "Nonetheless, if you won't say anything, I will." He stabbed his naginata in the ground and walked toward Raiser. "Go ahead, try and split yourself up at the chest, that's my target!" Kenshin said shooting toward Raiser quickly.
"!" Raiser attempted to do so, but Kenshin's fist ended up against his chest. Doing no damage, just remaining like it is. "!"
"? !" Everyone watched it happen, some astonished while others went silent with wide eyes.
"No way, Raiser-Sama's splitting up isn't he?" One of his Pawns asked Ravel.
"No doubt about it, his wind is trying to split up, but..." Ravel said, her mouth slightly ajar.
"...Interesting." Grayfia said.
"How curious isn't it?" Kenshin asked. "You can't do it can you?"
"...Rrgh!" Raiser socked Kenshin in the nose, then bashed both his fists together across the top of his head, then kicked him in the ribs, making Kenshin step back. He finally grabbed Kenshin by the head and slammed him into a tree.
"Kenshin-San!" Asia cried out in worry.
"Relax Asia." Akeno said. "Kenshin-kun is just fine."
"Yes, the ability he's using now is a defensive upgrade." Kiba said. "He'll be fine."
Raiser ignored them and squeezed down Kenshin's temples. "Dude, do something before he crushes your skull!" Issei said.
"He ain't got the strength to do that." Kenshin thought. "Have in some faith in me."
"Actually Kiba, I'm not using Gnome, her card's still in that naginata." Kenshin said.
"How did you negate my flame control, answer me!" Raiser snarled.
"Let me demonstrate." Kenshin said as the green magic circle appeared on his left fist, which proceeded to deck Raiser across the face, making him loosen his grip, then he drew his fist back and uppercutted Raiser making him flew away from him. "Fuck, you can really give someone a headache with the heat you were using to try and melt my face."
"Grrh!" Raiser dashed at him, kicking at Kenshin, only to be intercepted by Kenshin's leg, their shins meeting. A circle glew on Kenshin's leg. They landed on the ground and met fists multiple times. They locked hands pushing against each other, until Kenshin ducked under, releasing his grip, making Raiser go over him. Kenshin grabbed Raiser's leg and swung him into a tree Raiser split himself in two and recollected himself near his peerage. He was missing a leg that Kenshin still held.
"Missing this?" Kenshin asked, tossing it to him. It dissolved into fire and reattached to Raiser.
"Tch..." Raiser scowled. "How?"
"You still don't get it?" Kenshin asked.
"It doesn't make any sense! Nothing should be able to stop me from splitting my body to avoid being attacked!" Raiser yelled.
"It makes perfect sense." Kenshin said closing his eyes with a smile.
"How? ! You're blind so you can't see me coming, and yet you intercept all of my attacks and in turn deal damage to me instead! How does that make one iota of sense? !" Raiser shouted.
"My Undine card takes my sight and gives me heightened perception. I can still feel them coming, even with my Gnome card which takes my sense of touch. That and losing my sense of sight and smell due to my Sylph card increases my hearing." He said twitching his ears.
"Krgghhh." Raiser growled.
"Now, onto how I've been negating your split fire." Kenshin said. "Have you noticed whenever we traded blows, the limb that connected with yours had one of these on it?" He asked raising his right hand which had the green magic circle on it.
"What does that have to do with it?" Ravel asked.
"Simple, earlier I used this same circle to evade one of your darling big brother's attacks and shoot myself into a tree which I used to spring myself skyward. After trading my cards out I merely moved the circle across my body and edited it's size to be a bit bigger. After I saw Raiser jump out of the way of my Earth Rumbling Decapitation, I knew then I was on to something. So naturally I acted on my second hunch of this duel and then tried to exploit it, but I needed more proof, so I activated my Undine card, even though I could evade the attack he had used against me without it. I attacked him to see the flows of his magic after having 'wounded' him. That's all I can see when I assume this state, nothing else, just the flows of energy as they relate to the world." Kenshin explained. "Then I knew I had my answer."
"What is it?" Rias asked.
"When a member of the Phenex is wounded, they use their wind control to fan the flames inside their body to either recreate limbs that were lost, or to reattach them, or to cauterize wounds before they can bleed." Kenshin said. "They can also use the wind to split their bodies apart by surrounding what they wish to lose in wind and spare themselves the pain of losing the limb as it will have already transformed into fire. Upon realizing this, I wondered to myself, what if someone were to interfere with the flow of their wind? You see this circle actually has more than one function, the second one is to suck wind in. So when I close in on you Raiser, it creates a vacuum effect. Your wind gets sucked away, and by the time it's brought back to you, it's already too late, the attack's already making contact." "That is why it makes sense, without burnable gases in the air which are present in the wind, a fire cannot burn and will extinguish."
Raiser jerked his head out of the way as Kenshin punched at it. Kenshin smirked and twisted his hand around, grabbing the back of Raiser's head and bringing his knee up into his stomach. Raiser scowled and drove his elbow into Kenshin's head.
"Grh." Kenshin grunted, pushing Raiser to a vertical base and punched him in the face, then the chest, stomach, ribs and face again in the order in quick succession. He then spun, backhanding him, and spun again roundhouse kicking him in the right temple, knocking him to the ground.
"Card cancel, Undine." Kenshin said as his Undine card appeared in his hand.
"Raiser-Sama!" Raiser's peerage cried out.
"Whoa...he's really giving Onii-Sama all he can handle." Ravel thought.
"Grh..." Raiser grunted as he pushed himself upward. Blood dripped from his nose. "!" He stared at the drops of blood in shock.
"First time you had your nose broken?" Kenshin asked. "Yeah the first time always sucks, but from experience, it gets easier."
"How dare you spill my blood!" Raiser roared. "Such a thing should be...
"Quite entirely possible." Kenshin said cutting him off. "I'm just a better fighter than you. You may upend me in power, but I'm more skilled than you. Now are you gonna get up so we can start round 2 or do I ask Grayfia to call the match in my victory?" He called his naginata over to him and took out his Gnome card. "Card Equip: Gnome." Kenshin whispered, holding the card close.
"Krgh!" Raiser growled and got to his feet. "Don't get so full of yourself, Kuroshi!" He said gathering flames into his hand and firing a large stream at Kenshin. "Phoenix Breath!"
Kenshin made no move to avoid as the flames engulfed him. "? !" Rias and the others gasped at this, except for Koneko who shook her head. "Relax." She said. "Kenshin's OK."
"Ha! You fool, you maybe tough, but even you can't stop yourself from being burnt to a crisp by the Phoenix flame!" Raiser said.
"Oh, I beg to differ." Kenshin's voice resounded around the clearing making Raiser look around wide eyed.
"Where are you? !" Raiser shouts.
"Where am I you ask? I never moved." Kenshin said walking out from the smoke of his attack shocking Raiser. "Aaah, Gnome is so helpful when it comes to tanking attacks."
"He's in Raiser's head now." Rias thought. "That's how he wins, he gets into his opponents mind and destroys their confidence, piece by piece."
"No damage, how in the world...?" Ravel said.
"Oh, it's not that there wasn't any damage Ravel-Chan." Kenshin said making a small, nearly unnoticeable blush appear on her face. "It's that I merely ignored the pain. Something that your brother here..." Kenshin said appearing in front of Raiser, jumping into the air and kneeing him in the chin. "Just cannot do."
"Gahh!" Raiser gasped in pain as he was driven back.
"You see, someone like you, who seems to be from some kind of lavish, rich boy lifestyle, can't hope to do what someone who came from nothing does." Kenshin said with a smirk. "Not any time soon anyway."
"I've won eight Rating Games, only having lost twice!" Raiser countered.
"And how many of those, did you actually do any physical fighting in?" Kenshin asked. Raiser glowered at him, going silent. "All Ten, five...one...None?" Kenshin asked. "I didn't think so, you piggybacked off your innate gifts as a member of your clan, the Phenex. Never bothering to really train yourself physically, except to keep yourself from getting flabby, and the rest goes into your flame and wind control, am I right?" Kenshin shrugged off his jacket followed by his shirt. "Damn, I'm getting a bit of a work out. My body heat's starting to go nuts." He muttered. "You see, I don't rely on just the spirits to get by, mainly because, at least two of them boost my physical strength and speed, but the boost wouldn't really be much without training."
"Krh!" Raiser scowled.
Kenshin narrowed his eyes before turning to Grayfia. "Call the match."
"? !" Raiser's scowl deepened.
"Why?" Grayfia asked.
"I grossly overestimated this idiot." Kenshin said. "He may be powerful, but he hasn't got a whole lot of skill to pair with that power. Now that I've figured up a way to rip away his ability to avoid my strikes, he's racking his brain to figure out what he could to beat me." "How disappointing, only able to get my blood rushing for just a bit. This fight is over."
"Yes, but you must incapacitate him. He won't accept me doing such." Grayfia said.
"Well he can build himself a bridge and get the fuck over it." Kenshin said. "He's lost. We could keep fighting sure, he could show me a few more techniques, maybe even wound me." As if on cue a gash tore open on Kenshin's shoulder. "One moment." Kenshin disappeared, and reappeared in front of Raiser in the air, and punched him dead in the face. He pursued him and repeated his action, before kicking him in the back of the head, sending Raiser to Kenshin's right. He reappeared at his previous spot. "See? He can't counter me because I leave no openings, well any that he could exploit. I'm a trained ex mercenary for cripes sake. Am I to believe that some posh, pretty boy firebird with power that seems wasted on him can beat me now that I've seen what he can do?" Kenshin scoffed. "Give me a break."
"D-Damn you..." Raiser snarled.
"To where? Hell? Heaven?" Kenshin asked. "Tell you what, I'll give you half a minute to incapacitate me, or give me a reason to keep this fight going." "If you can't give me a reason, Grayfia ends this thing, got it?"
"Whatever." Raiser said.
"That is acceptable." Grayfia said with a nod.
"Starting...Now." Kenshin said.
Raiser appeared in front of Kenshin with a fist coated in flames and socked Kenshin across the face, sending him flying to his left. Raiser chased after him, grabbing Kenshin's leg swinging him into the ground. He was on top of Kenshin in a second, driving his face across the ground, before punching him in the stomach and throwing Kenshin into a tree.
"..." Raiser stared in anger as Kenshin walked back out, throwing the tree he had knocked over to the side.
"You still have five seconds." Kenshin said. "Bah, no matter. Grayfia-San, now this match is..."
"Wait!" Raiser called out.
"..." Kenshin stared at him with narrowed eyes unequipping both of his cards
"...Tell me Kuroshi, what is the world you came from before this?" Raiser asked.
"What does this ha-" Kenshin held his hand up to Grayfia, then lowered all but his index finger telling her to wait.
"What does that matter?" Kenshin asked.
"Just answer the question, I guarantee that you'll want to continue after hearing me out, Kuroshi." Raiser said.
"The world I came from was called Mundus Magicus." Kenshin answered. "Now get to the point Phenex."
"Did you know that about forty years before your clans met their end one of them was killed and had their clan garbs stolen?" Raiser asked.
Kenshin narrowed his eyes. "I did." He said.
"Don't tell me he's going to..!" Ravel thought. "No, Onii-Sama. Don't!"
"Silence Ravel." Raiser said reaching into his shirt for something. "About a week or two after. A large settlement was razed to the ground by someone garbed like a Kuroshi. Not everyone died, but that was apparently the plan as in the months following, the Kuroshi and their ally the Tsuki could no longer have a permanent settlement they would spend the next forty years as nomads, I hear they even stopped copulating because of it."
"..." Kenshin scowled. "Tell me what you know. Now." Kenshin said with a snarl.
"?" Rias looked at him. "What's wrong with him?"
"Gladly." Raiser said taking out a folded set of old clothes. He unfolded them and showed Kenshin the insignia on the back, a dragon roaring at the moon..
"!" Kenshin stared at it in shock. His arms going slack dropping his Gnome card, which levitated and went into his pocket.
"Heheheheh...I kept it as a souvenir to remember the destruction by." Raiser said with a smirk.
"...You did it...?" He turned to Grayfia. "Can you confirm this?"
"...It did indeed happen, but nobody knew who it was...until now." Grayfia said.
"Onii-Sama! Don't!" Ravel yelled.
Raiser's smirk widened. "Sure did."
"My grandfather saw someone fleeing the scene wearing that, it was you?" Kenshin said.
"I told you already...I was the one to kill those people and frame yours." Raiser said.
"..." Kenshin went silent bowing his head slightly so his bangs shadowed his eyes. Raiser's smirk only grew. Rias looked down at Kenshin's hand to see it shaking and dripping blood.. Suddenly the Sylph card vanished and she looked up to see him baring his fangs at Raiser.
"...YOU BAAAASSTTTARRDD! !" Kenshin roared appearing in front of Raiser in a burst of wind.
Raiser caught his fist and held him there as an explosion of wind shot out from them. "Shit...he's getting stronger!" He thought.
"Gh!" Rias and the others shielded themselves and held their ground as the wind hit them.
"So you did it? !" Kenshin said ripping his hand away and punching at Raiser's head. "You were the one he saw that night, running away! So then why? ! Why did you do it? !"
"I thought you knew the reason." Raiser said meeting every one of his punches with one of his own.
"Krrggghhh! ! None of those people had anything to do with Ragnarok! Most of them didn't even know his name! !" Kenshin roared.
"Hahaha! That doesn't matter, one piece of Kuroshi filth is no different from another." Raiser said grabbing Kenshin by the arm and ripping it clean off.
"Ggrrrrnnn! !" Kenshin jumped away. "Hrrrnn! !" He growled and regrew the limb.
"Now then, let's keep this going and finish this fight." Raiser said creating his wings with his fire and flying upward.
"Finally, something you're dead right about! Emphasis on DEAD! !" Kenshin said taking off at him.
"You really loved them didn't you? Must be why the hatred is literally rolling off of you in waves." Raiser said as he shot back down, making Kenshin chase after him. "You can't have one without the possibility of the other." Raiser said as Kenshin stamped his foot down at him. He disappeared, making Kenshin stamp his foot down into the ground fracturing the earth. He reappeared behind Kenshin and stabbed his flame covered hand at the back of Kenshin's neck. It was grabbed as Kenshin quickly turned around.
"You're right, and I'm gonna love killin' you!" Kenshin seethed.
"Hahahaha! We'll see if you can do it!" Raiser said splitting his arm off making Kenshin release it.
"Kenshin calm down! You're getting too worked up!" Undine said. "Your blood is beginning to boil! I don't think I need to tell you what happens after that!"
"!" Rias, who was reading Kenshin's mind at the time stared at him in worry. "Kenshin..." She thought.
"I have to say, the Kuroshi that was killed was really weak, your clan must have really fallen from grace since the days of Ragnarok." Raiser said. "You, yourself aren't really even that strong compared to me."
"Are you gonna keep running that cock holster you call a mouth, or are you gonna fight me? !" Kenshin shouts.
"We will, but I don't see the point...I just don't think you're strong enough to avenge their fate." Raiser said with a smirk.
"Kh! THAT'S IT! ! I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU! !" Kenshin roared as wind exploded from his form.
"!" Salamander turned to Sylph. "Sylph, no time for jokes or anything. You have to prevent Kenshin from going into Wind Overdrive! He's not ready for any of the Elemental Overdrives yet!"
"Ri-Right!" Sylph said.
Wind condensed around Kenshin's fists as he strode silently toward Raiser who narrowed his eyes. "Th-There, but...this has to end soon!" Sylph said. "I can't keep this up for long."
"What happened to you?" Raiser said with narrowed eyes.
Kenshin reeled his fist back punching at Raiser, it veered off course and went to Raiser's left. He started laughing. "Hahaha! You can't hit me, can yo-!" He turned around and saw the wind impact the trees behind him. Most toppled while while others were crudely, violently cut. "He did all that with one punch...fuck."
"What's the matter...Phenex? Are you scared?" Raiser turned to find Kenshin standing in front of him.
"!" Raiser punched at Kenshin's face only for Kenshin to grab his wrist.
"An arm for an arm." Kenshin said placing his other hand on Raiser's shoulder and tearing Raiser's arm off.
"Aaaagghhh! !" Raiser cried out in pain as he jumped back. "Hn!" He regenerated his arm, only for Kenshin to run him down, and punch him in the face sending him flying backward.
Raiser looked at him with wide eyes. "What? ! Another vacuum effect? Where are the circles?"
Kenshin ran Raiser down again, moving underneath of him, and slamming both fists into the Phenex heir's back. "Unless...when the wind condensed around his fists...it created it's own vacuum effect! Dammit!" He caught himself in the air and looked around. "Where is he? !"
"..." Kenshin stared at Raiser from behind.
"!" Raiser slowly turned his head, feeling Kenshin's presence. He aimed both hands at Kenshin turning around fully. "Phoenix Breath!"
Kenshin made no move to avoid as the flames engulfed him again. "Heh." Raiser smirked, only to lose that smirk as Kenshin's head poked out through the blaze, unharmed. "Kulh!" He grunted loudly as he was uppercutted higher into the sky. Kenshin took off after him, taking his back, he stopped and drove his elbow hard into Raiser's back.
"Guuaaahh!" Raiser gasped as he rocketed toward the ground. "Shit!" He stabilized himself as Kenshin landed on the ground across from him. "You...what in the hell are you? !"
"The dragon you pissed off." Kenshin answered with a glare. "When they died, one of my reasons for living was to run down whoever had a hand in leading them to destruction...and make them PAY!"
"...!" Raiser readied himself for another onslaught. Rias tried to step in to stop him only for Grayfia to stop her. "Grayfia, move I need to stop Kenshin." Rias said.
"Ojou-Sama, right now I don't think he'll heed anyone." Grayfia said.
"But...this isn't him. I may not have known Kenshin for very long, but I know this isn't him!" Rias said as Kenshin ran Raiser down again, the Phenex doing everything he could to evade Kenshin. "End the fight in his victory."
"Raiser-Sama would never accept that." Grayfia said. "This is the same clan that shamed his."
"Is he so damned pigheaded that he'd get himself killed over a blood feud?" Rias asked.
"Clan honor has always meant a lot to Onii-Sama and the last few heads of our clan." Ravel said with tears in her eyes. "...I can't blame that Kuroshi man for being angry, but I don't want to lose Onii-Sama because of it!"
"Damn..." Rias said looking up at them as the battle had now went back to the skies.
Meanwhile in Kenshin's mind Salamander had turned to Issei. "Listen, I need you to find Kenshin, he's probably not in the control center of his mind, so...if I had to guess he's in the memories section." "Don't try and take control, he's using our power, if you jump in now, you'll both die."
"R-Right!" Issei said taking off. He quickly found the control center and walked in, no one was in. He read the last given command which was written quite sloppily. It read. "KILL HIM!"
"Shit! If I don't move fast we might have a dead body on our hands!" Issei said. "Hey! Salamander! Where's the memories!"
Salamander nodded toward Gnome who nodded back. Earthen mud dolls appeared in front of Issei's path. "Hurry!" Sylph whined.
The dolls pointed left. Issei nodded and ran by them, turning left. Another set appeared and told him to go left again, then right then straight, then left, then right, then right again until he arrived at a door labeled Memories.
He opened the door and saw Kenshin sitting in a chair, a blank, soulless...almost dead look in his eyes. "K..Kenshin?"
"..." He didn't respond.
"Kenshin, come on, we gotta get you back to the control center." Issei said.
"..." Still nothing.
"Kenshin!" Issei said placing his hand on his shoulder. "!" He felt himself being pulled into something.
(flashback)
Issei found himself at the edge of a large campground. "...Where am I?" He wondered, making his way inside. He saw someone, a girl with deep red hair wearing a somewhat similar outfit to what Kenshin wore, only the shirt and pants were blue, run by him with tears in her eyes. "Wait!" He was ignored and she disappeared into the foliage. "..."
"What could possibly go wrong?" Issei heard Kenshin's voice say.
"OK, our clan's future is in your hands." An unidentified woman said.
"Yeah, after all, what have we got to lose?" An unidentified male asked.
"Thank you...I won't let you down." Kenshin said...the phrase echoing.
Issei looked around. "The...same insignia that was on that set of clothes that firey bastard pulled out." He said looking at some of the tents. "!" He then smelled the air. "Blood...No...no way!" He took off until he found Kenshin looking up at the moon. "Kenshin...?"
He was ignored as Kenshin's eyes screwed shut. "Aaahh! !" He grabbed his head and screamed. "Aaaah! !" He thrashed. "NO! NO! ! NO! ! NO! !" "I..I DIDN'T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN! SOMEBODY PLEASE WAKE ME UP ! ! THIS HAS TO BE A NIGHTMARE! ! PLEASE! !"
"Kenshin?" Issei said in surprise. "...It's like he's a completely different person..." He thought.
Kenshin fell to his knees and slammed his head into the ground. He raised his head back up, Issei saw a blood spot on the ground. "No...this can't be...DAAAAMMMMMMMIIIITTTT! !" He shot up a moment later. "Yukari!" He said taking off.
"...Tell me..." Issei said hearing Kenshin's voice. "Did your promise come to pass? Where is everyone...what happened to them?" He saw the scene shifting to Kenshin running through the forest. "What's the matter...answer me, my past self?" "Everyone is dead...every last soul...Dead..." "For your promise for the false hope you gave them...ALL WERE SNUFFED OUT!" "Men...women...old and young...and even...yourself..."
Kenshin left Issei behind. Issei looked up at the sky with a glare. "Hey! Enough!"
"Oh? And who are you?" Issei looked behind him and saw a Kenshin with white hair, garbed in complete white clothing, the colors of his eyes were purple. "His friend? Tchhahahaha! You better run then! His friends die because of him!"
"Shut up! I can see now why Kenshin never wants to talk about his past! I wouldn't want to talk about it either if I were him! What happened back there? !"
"Someone annihilated the Kuroshi and Tsuki clans, except for those two and two babies who weren't present." 'Kenshin' said with a smirk. "As for who...I'll leave that for Kenshin to explain."
"Boosted Gear!" Issei shouts calling upon his Sacred Gear.
"Hahahaha! You want to fight me? You must really care for him as a friend, but nonetheless." 'Kenshin's' form shifted to that of an old man wearing an all black kimono. "You stand no chance against me."
"I don't care, just leave!" Issei said with a snarl.
"Yes, just leave...Shinigami." Issei turned around to find Salamander glaring at the old man. "You aren't supposed to be here Yama, take off before I burn you out of here!"
"Huhuhuhuhu...very well." Yama said. "Kenshin's about to murder that Phenex lad anyway and ruin what chance he has at a normal life here, so my work in keeping him occupied is done." Yama disappeared. "Tell Kenshin...we'll meet again."
"Come on!" Salamander said pulling Issei out of Kenshin's memory. Issei shook Kenshin awake.
"What? What is it?" Kenshin asked.
"Come on! You got possessed and came here to wallow in your memories!" Salamander said. "You need to get back to the control center!"
"By who? !" Kenshin asked as they ran.
"Somebody named Yama, Salamander said he was the Shinigami." Issei said.
"Him? ! Fuck! When this is over, make sure he's nowhere around here Salamander!" Kenshin said as they ran toward the control center.
"Got it!" Salamander said.
Kenshin ran into the control center. "Shit...Shit!" On the outside. Kenshin stood over Raiser, holding him by the shirt the Phenex heir's body was battered and bruised. His hand reeled back in a stabbing position. He looked around and saw Rias and the other watching in shock, Grayfia moving in to stop him. Most of Raiser's peerage about to cry, Ravel included. "Cancel that order! I repeat! Cancel that order! !"
"!" Grayfia stopped as Kenshin's hand halted just short of Raiser's heart. Kenshin threw him back to the ground and walked away. "Kenshin-San?" She asked.
"I quit..." Kenshin snarled bitterly.
"Grruh..." Raiser rose up, his wounds healing. "What?" He said.
"...By way of forfeit, the winner of this duel...is Raiser Phenex." Grayfia said.
"..." Raiser glared at Kenshin's back. "I don't need your mercy Kuroshi! Let's continue this fight!"
"Fuck you." Kenshin said glaring at him. "Wake up from your blood feuding haze and look at your peerage over there, or more specifically your little sister, you fucking dumbass! What you said pissed me off, but I realized it wasn't worth killing you over, but trust me, if we fight anymore today. I will kill you. I promise you." He walked past Grayfia. "I apologize for causing you trouble. So as punishment, from now until the time the Rating Game is over, Hyoudou Issei will control my body. However, I will retain the provision that if my life is in danger, I will re-assume control."
"That is acceptable." Grayfia said.
"Very well." Kenshin said closing his eyes. They reopened to reveal Issei's eyes.
"Fine." Raiser said getting to his feet. "In the end, I didn't come here to feud with the Kuroshi anyway, no matter what was said." "I'll see you in ten days Rias."
Raiser and his peerage left and when they reappeared back home, Ravel smacked the taste out of Raiser's mouth. "What? !" Raiser shouts.
"Are you insane? ! You know damn well that you had nothing to do with that incident, you weren't even born yet!" Ravel shouts. "And you go and tell the last one of them you had a hand in guiding them toward their destruction and you didn't think it'd piss him off? ! How stupid can you be? ! I don't blame him for wanting to kill you, I'm just glad he came back to his senses before he struck the final blow. He was clearly possessed by something, amplifying his rage! We may be descended from the Phoenix, but that doesn't mean we're completely immortal." "We only gained the Phoenix's Cyclical Rebirth as far as that goes, we can still be killed if our spirit and mind are worn down enough, which yours obviously was! Cyclical Rebirth takes forever, I might not remember you when you come back!"
"Ravel, wai-!" Raiser said as Ravel stormed off.
"No! You better be glad I'm deciding not to go to Okaa-Sama or Otou-Sama with this!" Ravel said reaching her room and slamming her door shut after walking in.
"Tch, dammit" Raiser said.
(break)
Meanwhile
Occult Research Club.
Issei sat on the couch with everyone looking at him. "What?" He asked, finally fed up with their stares.
"You saw something in there, we just want to know what it is." Akeno said.
"Don't you think Kenshin deserves his privacy?" Issei asked.
"Certainly, but what just happened is very concerning." Rias said. "Issei...we just want to know what happened, so we can work on not letting it happen again."
"I don't know if you can do that." Issei said. "Kenshin's sleeping so I guess I can tell you. The full story...I guess Kenshin can tell you when he feels like it Chief."
Issei explains what he saw to the others. "You saw an encampment where all the tents had the crest of Kenshin's clan?" Kiba asked. "And you smelled blood?"
"Yeah, it was very pungent smell, like it was all over the place." Issei said. "Then...I saw Kenshin looking up at the moon, until he closed his eyes, and started screaming and thrashing around. He explained to them what Kenshin had said.
"He didn't want it to happen?" Akeno asked. "And he was crying?"
"It almost sounds like he felt responsible for it." Koneko said.
"What else?" Rias asked.
"Someone calling himself the God of Death appeared in Kenshin's image, saying that Kenshin's friends die because of him, and said that someone annihilated the Kuroshi and Tsuki save for him, this Yukari person who is his twin sister, and two babies who weren't present at the encampment." Issei said. "He was an old looking man, Salamander said his name was Yama as she chased him off." "That's all I know. Needless to say...what that bastard said to him, obviously struck a huge nerve." "Yama said he kept Kenshin where he was, so he would murder Raiser unconsciously. He said that it would ruin Kenshin's chances at a normal life here."
"Well, he didn't do it, and Raiser's sense of shame will prevent this from getting out." Rias said. "He doesn't want to be known as the second Phenex to be beaten like a drum by a Kuroshi. So Kenshin should be fine."
"That's good." Issei said.
"Alright, now we have no time to waste. Akeno come with me." Rias said. "We need to go over our strategies." Akeno nodded and followed her out the door.
"Tactics training huh?" Issei said. "Man even though she's strong in her own right, it still is her first contest."
"Yeah, and the Rating Game's not for ten days so we can't waste a second." Kiba said.
(break)
The next day.
Issei was on his way to his bathroom to take a shower. "Could you at least come out to speak with my parents, it's already getting annoying to speak to them in your voice." Issei thought.
"No." Kenshin said. "By the way, I should stomp a mudhole in your ass for telling everyone one of my memories."
"I'm sorry! I didn't think she'd let me go unless I told her!" Issei thought.
"Great...now I'm a basket case." Kenshin said with an eyeroll.
"So having your friends worry about you makes you a basket case?" Issei thought.
"When pressing matters await and the time used being concerned about me could be used getting strong, better and faster? Most certainly." Kenshin said.
"Look man, there is obviously something in your past you can't cope wi-" Issei was cut off.
"Just shut up." Kenshin said with a scowl. "You were just a high school student before Rias and I got to you, so what the hell would you know about coping? !"
"Ok man, fuck!" Issei said as he approached the bathroom.
He opened the door to find Asia showering, their eyes met, Issei started mentally panicking then gushing over how she looked.
"I-Issei-San?" Asia squeaked quietly with a blush as her eyes scanned up and down his...well...Kenshin's unclothed body.
Kenshin sighed to himself. "Uh hey Issei, listen that was a rude thing for me to say so I just wanted to say I...yai-yai-yai..." Kenshin said as he saw what Issei was seeing. "Crap! What am I doing? ! Issei get your ass outta there!"
"R-Right, and apology accepted!" Issei said, only to notice where Asia's eyes were looking. "Fuck!" He said covering his groin.
"I-I saw it!" Asia thought in embarrassment as she looked away.
"S-Sorry, I'll be going now!" Issei said turning around and attempting to leave only for Asia to grab his arm.
"I-I'm s-sorry, it was the first time for me...to see a male's..." Asia's voice trailed off.
"No, it's my bad." Issei said. "I was speaking with Kenshin and I forgot to check if anyone was in."
"Well...um...don't they allow for this sort of thing?" Asia asked.
"U-Uhhhh...?" Issei said.
"Say something you idiot!" Kenshin shouts.
"Don't people get to know each other better in the baths?" Asia asked.
"Who the hell taught her this stuff? !" Kenshin and Issei thought.
"W-Well, I was told that people deepen their bonds by practicing skinship together, and...I want to deepen my bond to both Issei-San and Kenshin-San...would you two practice this with me?" Asia asked in a very shy tone.
"A...Ayaiyaiyai..." Issei said his mind shutting down for a moment.
Kenshin glanced over and saw a fogged up mirror. "Ahem." He cleared his throat.
"Eh? K-Kenshin-San?" Asia said.
"Asia, you do realize what you're asking us right?" Kenshin asked.
"To bathe together." Asia said.
"Yes, but generally when two people practice skinship...it's usually done in a bedroom...together..." Kenshin said.
"E-Eh?" Asia said with a scarlet blush.
"What you just want to do is bathe together, but when you say practice our skinship...it's like your asking for..." Kenshin said.
"I-I understand." Asia said with a squeak. "N-No, that's not what I want. I just want to be closer to you and Issei-San, n-not that close though...n-not yet..." She whispered.
"Huh?" Kenshin asked.
"N-Nothing!" Asia said she she walked back toward the shower only to step on a bar of soap and slide into Issei, landing on top of him.
"H-Huh?" Issei said.
Issei's mother opened the door. "Asia-Chan did som-" She saw the position the two were in and ran out. "Papa! We're gonna have a grandniece or nephew!"
After the embarrassing explanation and a full day later Issei and Asia sat down in her room. "S-Sorry, K-Kenshin-San explained it to me."
"Thanks." Issei thought.
"Sure." Kenshin waved him off.
She smiled at him. "Kenshin-San always tells me to be wary of ecchi people, but...if I'm in any danger you two will come and save me right."
Issei chuckled. "Yeah, Kenshin said you'll run him ragged though."
"S-Sorry Kenshin-San." Asia said.
"Still you need to at least be aware of the dangers around you. The fact that you can't distrust people worries us." Issei said.
"Worried? You two are?" Asia asked.
"Yeah, what if someone like Raynare comes along and kidnaps you again?" Kenshin said from the mirror. "Issei will probably hurt them, I'll probably kill them."
"Alright, I'll try not to do anything that will worry you two." Asia said smiling at them. She glanced away. "Could I ask you two something though?"
"What's up?" Kenshin and Issei asked.
"If it was Chief Rias...would you two have done anything differently yesterday?" Asia asked.
"Errr...w-with Rias?" Kenshin asked.
"Wi-With Ch-Chief?" Issei said.
Issei went off to fantasy land while Kenshin cleared his throat. "W-Well...t-to some extent we have already." Kenshin said with flushed cheeks.
"E-Eh? !" Asia said.
"Back when you were still human, after we encountered Freed. Rias got in the shower with me and helped heal me." Kenshin said.
"O-Oh." Asia said. "That's all?" She asked.
"Yeah." Kenshin said. "Speaking of which, here she comes." He said as his voice faded away.
"Ch-Chief Rias? !" Asia said as the door swung open.
"C-Chief? !" Issei said. "Wh-What brings you here?"
"Come, we're leaving. Both of you." Rias said.
As they left Issei contacted Kenshin. "Um...Kenshin?"
"Yeah?" Kenshin asked.
"Could you show me how to get stronger?" Issei asked.
"...look I know what you're getting at, but there's simply no way I can make you stronger in eight days. At least, not strong enough to face Raiser head to head." Kenshin said. "The Phantasmagoria doesn't transfer physical training all that well, it'll mainly be working on your muscle memory." Kenshin said.
"Then help me control your strength! Like you said, I can't control your body's strength as well as you." Issei thought
"Fine." Kenshin shrugged.
Later, Issei was following the others up a hill. He was carrying everyone except Kiba's luggage. "Hurry up Issei, you're being sluggish."
"But Chief...he's carrying all of our luggage as well." Asia said.
"It's fine, if Issei can't handle that, he can't get much stronger." Rias said. "It maybe Kenshin's body, but it's Issei's muscle memory."
Kiba and Koneko, both who were carrying heavier things, walk by Issei. "We're going on forward." Kiba said.
"We're going ahead." Koneko said glancing at him with indifference.
"Huh, if it was me, I'd probably be juggling everything, literally." Kenshin said.
"I won't lose!" Issei said taking off like a bullet past them and Rias, Asia and Akeno.
"I wonder what happened?" Rias wondered with a curious smile.
"My oh my." Akeno said.
Issei stopped as he got to the front door of a large manor. Rias and the others walked up behind him. "Well, here we are, we shall do our strength training here."
"Yeah, because while we train, we'll also be living in comfort too." Kenshin sniped.
"What's wrong with that?" Issei asked as they all went inside.
"Sometimes to get stronger, you have to go out in the wilderness and fend for yourself. But, if she has a plan I'm interested to see what it is." Kenshin said. "By the way, I know when you're reading our mind Rias."
Issei saw Rias hastily turn her head to the side with an expression like she had just gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "OK, we're going to change, don't peek." Rias said
"I'm going to hit you if you do." Koneko said with a slight glare.
"I'll obviously peek!" Issei thought with a slight drool.
"I'll hit you if you do." Kenshin said.
What happened next brought a tear to Kenshin's eye, not from anything sad, but because he was laughing too hard. "Issei-kun, I'm going to change over here." Kiba said. "D...Don't peep." He said with a shy expression.
"Don't make me kick your ass, bastard." Issei said.
"Hahahahahaha! !" Kenshin laughed.
The two started changing, when Issei realized his shirt was over by where Kiba was and walked over to it. "Aaah! You're peeking!" Kiba cried out.
"You're wrong! My jersey is over here!" Issei shouts.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! !" Kenshin was rolling on the floor in his mind laughing madly.
Rias looked into the manor watching this go on after everyone else had changed. "What are you two doing? ! Hurry up!"
(break)
Later.
Issei was sword training with Kiba, with Kiba schooling him at every turn. "Behind you dumbass." Kenshin said. "Do as he's telling you, don't just watch the sword movement, if they have another weapon you'll be a corpse before you can blink! Expand your vision and watch the entire body move and your surroundings as well. Your opponent could have set a trap or have allies."
"Funny, you would think with Kenshin-kun in your head, you'd be better at this." Kiba said.
"He doesn't teach me how to sword fight." Issei said with a glower.
"Maybe because you don't have a sword?" Kenshin said. "And have never expressed interest in having one till now."
The next day, Issei and Asia were inside the manor's kitchen with Akeno who was wearing a white kimono top and red hakuma pants. "Not like that, let the aura that's covering your body flow naturally in order to gather it." Akeno said pressing her front against Issei's back.
"All my nerves are concentrating on my back right now!" Issei thought.
"If you can't do this, Raiser's gonna wreck your shit." Kenshin muttered to where Issei couldn't hear. "Half the reason I was beating him was because I'm a good battle mage."
"I did it!" Asia said holding a big orb of light in her hands.
"I knew it, you might have a real knack for this Asia-Chan." Akeno said with a smile.
"Makes sense, she's a healer." Kenshin said.
"Grrh! Concentrate!" Issei said. Finally a small...and I mean small light popped to life. "...Really?"
"Alright, take five and allow me to explain." Akeno said. "Magic is all about imagination, think of your specialty, if it's something you imagine all the time, it should manifest quickly."
"She's right, if you don't have some kind of imagination, you will not make it as a mage." Kenshin said.
"My specialty..." Issei thought.
"Is being a pervert...so it could come in really handy here." Kenshin said.
"Lemme ask Akeno-San really quick." Issei said.
He did so and she giggled. "That is just like you Issei-kun." Akeno said.
"You mean I can actually do that?" Issei asked.
"Well, let's find out." Akeno said pulling out an assortment of fruits and vegetables. "Please peel these using only your magic."
A few hours later, Asia's sets were peeled immaculately, while Issei...failed miserably.
The next day, he was being beaten like a drum by Koneko. Issei punched wildly at her and was sent into a tree for his troubles. "What are you doing? Your punches should be aimed for the centerline of your opponent's body as well as being precise and powerful." Koneko said. "Kenshin-Senpai, why have you not taught him to fight yourself?" She asked.
"He keeps telling me that I need to learn to control his physical strength before he does anything." Issei said.
"Well, he has a point. You'd kill someone with the lack of control you're showing." Koneko said. "Now, one more set."
"Riiiiggghhht..." Issei said.
Near sunset of the fourth day Issei was running up a mountain with a large rock tied to his back with Rias sitting on it. "Gotta hand it to Kenshin, he has some good ideas. Now pull yourself together!"
"G-Gotcha!" Issei said.
When they got to summit Issei was instructed to do 300 pushups with the rock and Rias on his back. "Is this good for you or should we take a break?" She asked as Issei began.
"No, I can handle it!" Issei said gasping for air.
That night he was bandaged up. It seemed that he didn't get Kenshin's regenerative abilities when they switched to he needed to actually be patched up. "I have no talent with swords, hand to hand combat, or magic..." Issei said. "All I can do is peel veggies and fruit...I'm weak...truly weak and useless...especially compared to..."
"Shut up." Issei looked at his reflection in the mirror glaring at him.
"Kenshin?" Issei asked.
"Who do you think?" Kenshin asked.
"Why are you telling me to shut up? It's obvious that I'm..." Kenshin cut Issei off.
"Again, shut up." Kenshin said. "Let me tell you something. There was once a boy who couldn't stand to be away from his father's presence, could do almost nothing right, got schooled by his twin sister in most aspects of combat when he met her. Had his spells blow up in his face constantly. Hell his father could beat him in a spar with both hands tied behind his back. You know who that was?"
"..." Issei stared at him.
"It was me." Kenshin said pointing at himself. "Now listen you perverted dope. Yes, you can't do anything right now, but that absolutely does not mean that you never will be able to." Kenshin said. "I mean look at me. I was nothing, absolutely nothing special growing up. Just the son of a former war hero. But I had a couple of things on my side. My creativity in using my magic, and the support of my family, my few friends and later, the four spirits. The rest...just came sooner or later."
"Kenshin...but I.."
"If you think you have no one to support you, you're an idiot." Kenshin said. "What about Asia? And even though they're being harsh outside of Akeno-San, but Rias, Kiba and Koneko are supporting you as well and so am I. So don't worry about it." Kenshin said. "We're in this together, so I'm not gonna let you drag your feet." He said.
"Haaahh, heh." Issei grinned. "Thanks."
"Not a problem." Kenshin said. "Say, weren't you working on a technique of your own these past few days?" He asked.
"Oh yeah! We should get out there and start working on it some more." Issei said
"Indeed." Kenshin said. Issei snuck out of his room and made way for the door when a voice called out to him.
"Issei?" Issei turned his head, finding Rias walking down the stairs wearing a pink nightgown wearing a pair of glasses.
"Chief? Can't sleep huh?" Issei asked.
"I was actually just going over tactics for the game." Rias said holding a large booklet. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing special, just going out to get a little training in with nobody telling me how bad I suck right now except for Kenshin." Issei said.
"I see...well if you have a minute, I was going outside for some fresh air, would you join me?" Rias asked.
"With her...alone?" Issei thought with a blush. "Uhm...w-well.."
"Please?" Rias asked with a cute, near begging look.
"F...Fine..." Issei said glancing away.
"Hmhm..." Rias giggled to herself and led Issei out to the gazebo just outside of the manor. She took a seat on the railing leaning against one of the support pillars.
"So you were going over the plans, did you find anything out to beat him?" Issei asked.
"Not really, these are mainly for my own peace of mind." Rias said setting her booklet to the side.
"Why is that?" Issei said.
"Because our opponent is a Phenex, descending from the immortal bird." Rias said. "It used to govern over life, it's tears can heal any injury and anyone who drinks it's blood gain's eternal youth. Sharing the same name and most abilities, Raiser's immortal."
"No he's not." Kenshin said with a scoff.
"Why do you say that?" Issei thought.
"Because if he was, his sister and his peerage wouldn't have been crying when I was about to strike the so called killing blow." Kenshin replied.
"Or at least that's what I thought until Kenshin fought him. Not only is it obvious he isn't fully immortal. Kenshin also exposed some holes in his armor, but...at the same time I fear they are holes only he can exploit." Rias said. "Raiser might even be gunning for you first because you wear Kenshin's image."
"Let him." Issei resolutely said. "I'm not gonna run from him, and I'll take as many down as I possibly can before I'm taken out." He then smiled awkwardly. "S-Sorry, but it kinda feels like something Kenshin would say in my shoes."
"Kenshin..." Rias said with a distant tone. "Um...Issei, it's not that I don't want to talk to you, but could you please ask Kenshin to come out?"
"Aah don't worry about it Chief, after all that's happened, I can understand why. Just give me a second." Issei said closing his eyes.
"Get out there!" Issei said.
"I'm not her servant anymore I don't hav-" Kenshin was cut off as Issei decked him in the cheek.
"She's obviously worried about you, at least talk to her like you've been doing whenever you play chess!" Issei said.
"..." Kenshin sighed. "Fine..."
Kenshin opened his eyes back up and leaned against one of the supports himself. "You rang milady?"
Rias narrowed her eyes. "Come on, you know to call me just Rias or Chief at this point. You know I hate titles like that.
"...Sorry." Kenshin said. "For just now...and causing problems for you."
"Don't worry about it." Rias said shaking her head. "Now...what Issei said just before you switched, would that be something you'd say?"
"You've seen me in battle a couple of times now, don't worry. This body of mine is tough." Kenshin said.
"Yes, but...I still worry about you." Rias said.
"..." Kenshin glanced away with reddened cheeks and laughed. "Hahahaha...you don't need to, I've taken way more punishment than that firey dick can throw at me...something bugs me though, your friend the class president...Sona was it? (nod) Her numbers are barely under his, we're even worse off in that department."
"He lost two Rating Games to his family." Rias answered.
"Lovely." Kenshin said with an eyeroll. "Meaning he probably took a fall a piece to dear ol' Mom and Dad."
"You're right." Rias said.
"Yaayy." Kenshin said waving his index finger around.
"Anyway, there's really no need to worry about any trouble you might have caused. Thinking back on it, knowing about what happened between your two families in the past, the fight between you two might as well have been inevitable." Rias said.
"I still probably shouldn't have fought him, no matter how much he was annoying me with how he acted." Kenshin said.
"Why did it bother you so much?" Rias asked.
"Because I've seen a man try to take advantage of a woman like he did. I've got sisters and a mother back home, I think, what if it was them? And if I have a friend in front of me that it's happening to, I don't even need to do that." Kenshin said.
"Well, no matter." Rias said looking out at the lake with a slight blush. "You actually helped us speed things along. My father, knowing I was likely to lose anyway, set up this Rating Game, saying it was like chess, a swindle." She said taking off her glasses.
"I've...been meaning to ask since...well that night." Kenshin said. Rias nodded, knowing which night he was referring to. "If the Seventy Two Pillars are crumbling one after the other, why deny arrange marriage with someone...not saying it has to be that jackass, but why not someone else?"
Rias closed her eyes and she got to her feet and walked across the railing. "Regardless of where I go, I am the daughter of the Gremory clan. I'll always be a Gremory Devil." She leaned against the other support column she had walked to. "If I were to ever marry...the line of Gremorys would end." She looked up at the moon. "Pride plays a part in this...but...if I am to marry someone...I'd want them to love me for who I am...not the clan I hail from." Rias said. "It's selfish, but...I want to hold on to this dream of mine."
"..." Kenshin walked toward her. "No, there isn't anything wrong with that, it's not selfish at all. Deep down...I think everyone wants someone to love them for who they are." Kenshin said glancing up at the moon. "If it were me, I'd do no different...if it were me..." He trailed off, before looking into her eyes. "I wouldn't care about anything else, except who we were...I never even knew who the Gremorys were until I met you. So...I believe I've gotten to know the real you...and that's all I care about."
"Aaah..." Rias let out a soft gasp, staring back at Kenshin, clearly surprised by what he just said.
"Ah...s-sorry, did I say something strange?" Kenshin asked. "I...kinda winged it on something I felt Issei might say, but what was said was genuine, I promise you."
"...I...I don't get it though...I've only known her for a few weeks, nearly a month...could it be possible that I..." Kenshin thought to himself.
Rias closed her eyes and smiled. "Oh...if only I wasn't tied up in this arranged marriage." She thought absentmindedly.
"Rias?" Kenshin said seeing the reddening of her cheeks.
"It's nothing." Rias said. "But we're going to fight him and we're going to win."
"There we go" Kenshin said with a grin. "By the way, I heard from Kiba that you're known as the Princess of Ruin. He said that you were hailed as such a prodigy that they referred to you as the Princess of Obliteration. To think that your fiance is a jackass like that."
"You're wrong in what you heard." Rias said. "My power and my strength wasn't some gift from the heavens. They are proof of the efforts the Gremory clan has put in, something that I, as a Gremory have earned. That's why I will never be defeated. I can't be defeated...I will win." Rias resolutely declared.
"..." Kenshin turned around. "The effort of your clan huh? It...must be nice." He said walking away a bit.
"Kenshin..." Rias said. "Is everything...? That...reminds me...at the near end of your fight...you earnestly tried to kill Raiser...for what he said he did...what was that all about?"
"I told you that if we got to know each other better, I would explain what I said about my life back home." Kenshin said sitting on the gazebo railing across from her joining his hands together on top of his knees. "When I was a young boy, I was separated from my father, dropped into a virtual metropolis of humans...and immediately exposed as a demon. The Senate there wanted to know where my father was so he could be put to death for past crimes against them, when I said that I didn't know, and wouldn't tell them even if I did, they threw me out."
"A demon...in a human metropolis...!" Rias stared at him, eyes wide with shock.
"Yeah, for the next four years I spent my days running from mobs eager to purge me from the world...each night my body would heal, regenerating lost limbs and the process would begin anew...day by day, night by night. For four years, I knew only pain." Kenshin said looking her in the eyes as he stood up. He unbuttoned his shirt and exposed his chest to her. "A year and a half in I had met my breaking point, I stole a knife from one of the people who had enough sense to know I didn't mean them harm, even healing me...and I stabbed myself four times in the heart. One for each chamber, by all counts...I should have died that day, but I was healed by people I would later find out were my sisters and the process continued as they were unable to get me out of there. Four years after I arrived, I finally met my other breaking point and slaughtered the Senate and left the metropolis and found refuge in the lands of their on again, off again enemies and earned myself a position as Colonel of one of their armed forces divisions, my only task really was to act as the retainer to the land's Emperor who was like a second father to me."
"...H...Holy...shit..." Issei said.
"..." Rias stared at him, wordlessly.
"Shortly afterward, like a few weeks...the same man I retained was taken out by my sworn enemy the same man that separated my father and I and dropped me in that place. After I beat that person...I found out I was being charged with the Emperor's murder." Kenshin said as a mocking smile appeared on his face as he let out a morose laugh. "The man who was like a second father to me, and I'm being charged with his murder, the court ruling went alright, I won, but the council was corrupt so they would hound me to my doom anyway, they could do it too, with the Emperor out of the way, they gained all of the brass in the Empire, The world I came from consisted of three nations, two who were embroiled in a cold war while the third was a nation made up of the other two's citizens who wished to get away from it all. So in short...I had basically an entire world that wanted me dead."
"Kenshin...I..." Rias said.
"...Wow...I...I had no idea." Issei said
"I'm not finished...please...let me go on." Kenshin said looking up at the moon. "Five years later, I had been doing work for an underground organization in the mean time...I had come into possession of a time machine."
"Like the Tardis?" Issei asked.
"A time machine?" Rias said.
"It means what you think it means." Kenshin said. "I had gotten sent back into time with my sister, not because I wanted to, the damned thing activated on it's own, and I met my grandparents and my family in the past. They were being ostracized in a similar fashion as I was in the present, my sister and I vouched to go to the nearby kingdom and work out a treaty...and it worked for a time, but the king of that place had lost his mind and wanted them dead...we flipped on him, then tried to appeal to him only to be brainwashed on the spot...and ordered to kill them ourselves."
"!" Rias gasped as she stared in shock at him. "Di...did you?"
"No...you...you didn't...did you?" Issei asked.
"...We did...my grandmother canceled the brainwashing, but she and my grandfather were the very last to die." Kenshin said bowing his head. "I tried to protect my family...they were slaughtered by me...I tried to protect my emperor, his death is pinned on me...I can't protect anything...that's why I think your brother Sirzechs made a huge mistake bringing me here. When I try to protect something, it either vanishes or it's destroyed by my own actions." Rias looked down at his hands and saw they were shaking, one of them moved upward and wiped his eyes. Rias stepped down and walked over to him and embraced him. "...Huh?" He blinked.
"Hey, don't say that about yourself. You may not have succeeded, but you obviously cared enough about them to try. No one knows what the future holds. But...I think you and Issei can both protect something or someone, namely me, just fine." Rias said.
"..." Kenshin pulled away. "Rias..."
"Yes?" Rias said with a smile.
"Thanks." Kenshin said.
"Well, at least now I know why you always seem so aloof." Rias said with a quiet giggle.
"Right back at you." Kenshin said with a quiet chuckle.
"Man Kenshin...I had no idea it was like that." Issei said. "I wouldn't have asked if I did."
"Well that's the point of me not telling you to begin with." Kenshin thought.
The two quieted down and stared each other in the eyes. "Rias." Kenshin said.
"Yes?" Rias replied.
"Have you ever done anything physical with a member with the opposite sex, well anything other than lay against them in the nude as a way of healing them?" Kenshin asked.
"Dude, Kenshin are you going to?" Issei asked.
"Well...fortune favors the bold." Kenshin thought.
"I only did that with you and Kiba, other than that, no...nothing." Rias said.
"I see." Kenshin said cupping her cheek. "Then...might I impose on you for something?"
"What?" Rias asked staring into his eyes.
"Let me be the first one to claim...this." Kenshin said pressing his thumb gently against her bottom lip.
"You...want to be my first kiss?" Rias asked with a rosy blush.
"Well..hahaha...I already talked my way out of taking your chastity from him for you. So if you want I can at least give you some thing he never could." Kenshin said.
Rias glanced away. "Well...it probably wouldn't be all that great..." She looked down at his chest. "I can't be your woman unless this matter is settled...but...if you want we...!" Her eyes widened slightly as Kenshin tilted her head up.
"Nonsense, if I didn't think I was going to enjoy it, I wouldn't have asked." Kenshin said with a smile.
"...I see...then..don't keep me waiting." Rias said, smiling back at him.
"Kenshin, you lucky devil!" Issei shouts.
"Doesn't that make you lucky as well? We feel the same things." Kenshin thought.
"Oh yeah!" Issei said with a gleeful tone.
"As you wish." Kenshin said before closing the gap between their lips.
"Mmn..." Rias moaned at the contact, and then again as it disappeared. She opened her eyes and stared into Kenshin's. "Why did you...?" She said.
"Well, I didn't want to take it too far for your first kiss..." Kenshin said.
"One more...please..." Rias said with a deeper blush.
"..." Kenshin leaned in kissing her again, with more force than before.
She stared as he pulled back again. "Again...and...don't be afraid to take more initiative." Rias said.
"Alright." Kenshin said, moving in for a third kiss, this time pushing his tongue past her lips. He felt something wet land on the hand he had cupping her cheek and cracked his eye open to find a single tear trail coming from her eye which was closed. His thumb wiped it away and he moved his hand behind her neck. He felt his tongue being pushed against by hers as well as her legs giving out. He fell with her and they stood on their knees, still lip locked.
Kenshin's other hand reached up on an impulse and grabbed her left breast. "Mmm!" Rias moaned loudly into him.
"I...I can feel her heart beating...it's racing..." Kenshin thought. He was surprised when instead of pushing his hand off of her breast, she cupped her hand over his pressing his hand harder against it. "What is she...?"
"She's letting us grope her? !" Issei said
"Kenshin...I wouldn't be unsatisfied with you...or you and Issei..if you two did in fact completely become one...you both seem to genuinely care for me as a person, and not as just a Gremory Devil..and I..." She clenched her hand which laid over his heart into a fist. "I...I don't want this to end!
The two parted slowly and stared longingly into each other eyes. "Rias...I'm..."
"No, don't...I...I wanted that as badly as you did." Rias smiled and pecked him on the lips again. "So...there's no need to apologize." She said.
"I...I see." Kenshin said.
"So...would you like to head back to my room? I'm...actually feeling kind of sleepy." Rias asked.
"...Sure." Kenshin said.
The two got up and headed back inside, they laid in bed together and nodded off.
(break)
The next day
Rias, Issei, Kiba, Akeno, Asia and Koneko stood outside. "Alright, if I'm right about this, the duel will begin two minutes after Issei calls on his Sacred Gear." Rias said. "The opponent will be Yuuto."
"Right." Kiba and Issei nodded.
"Alright Issei, go ahead." Rias said.
"Right!" Issei shouted as the Boosted Gear appeared on his hand.
"Boost!" The Boosted Gear said.
"Huh...I feel like I can handle more than this." Issei said looking at it.
"You boosted before and couldn't move after a few minutes right?" Rias asked.
"Yeah." Issei nodded.
Rias read his mind as Kenshin said. "Well yeah, think of yourself like a pickup truck Issei, if you overload it, the wheels will just snap right off and you got yourself a totaled truck."
"Uh huh, just what I was getting ready to say." Rias said. "That's why we did all that training to improve your stamina. There are a few things that don't get left behind when Kenshin lets you control his body. His physical strength control, his magical control, his regeneration and now apparently his stamina."
"And his all around skill." Issei added.
"Yes that too." Rias said as the Boosted Gear increased Issei's power once more. She looked at her watch. "Alright...three, two...one...stop Issei." She instructed.
"Alright, Boosted Gear!" Issei called out.
"Explosion!" The Gear shouted.
"What does it feel like Kenshin?" Rias said holding up a mirror next to Issei's face. "It's your body, explain it to him."
"Kuh..." Kenshin grunted. "There's an intense pressure on my muscles, while Issei's moving in this state he'll probably get exhausted faster than normal." Kenshin said. "A fair trade off for increased power. Issei, I suggest that while you're preparing to go into this state, you have a plan of attack in mind as I can sense that the power is slowly weakening with each passing second, if you attack too early you'll be exhausted, but if you attack too late, you'll lose the power before you can use it."
"I see." Issei said looking at his gear.
"So, I want you to fight Yuuto in this state. Do you want a bokken or something?" Rias asked.
"No, Kiba's better at using swords than I am, I'll go unarmed.." Issei said.
"Alright then, let's begin." Kiba said vanishing and reappeared in front of him slashing downward.
"Hrn!" Issei grunted, blocking the slash with his Boosted Gear.
"He stopped it?" Kiba thought as Issei punched at his face. He disappeared again and appeared above him stabbing downward, striking Issei in the head.
"Point Kiba." Kenshin said.
"Grh! Take this!" Issei said kicking at Kiba as he landed, only to hit his bokken as Kiba backpedaled.
"Damn, I'm not going to be able to hit a knight because of their speed." Issei thought.
"Issei, try and use a magic attack." Rias instructed.
"Magic? ! Well, alright...still damn small." He muttered at the end as he summoned up his tiny magic ball. "Alright!" He said grabbing it with his hand. "Go!"
"? !" Kiba quickly jumped to the side as the tiny sphere doubled in size at least twelve times and roared by him and exploded a distance away.
"...Eeeeehhhh? !" Issei shouts in astonishment.
"Whew..." Kenshin whistled. "Nice, very very nice. Your Boosted Gear's gone, but nice."
"That's enough." Rias said.
"Oh crap!" Issei said falling to his knees.
"Issei-San are you OK?" Asia said.
"I'm just exhausted." Issei said.
"Well Yuuto, what did you think?" Rias asked.
"To be honest I was surprised, I tried to end it with the first strike." Kiba said.
"You mean the one I blocked?" Issei asked.
"Yeah, I tried to break your guard, but it failed, then I tried to knock you out with the second attack, but it seems you came out of it unscathed." Kiba said. "I could have kept going, but if I did I'd have lost my weapon." Kiba said showing the extensive damage to his bokken.
"Huh, I guess it's not just a power boost, it's all around." Kenshin said.
"So Issei, how did it feel? Still feel like you have no power?" Rias asked.
"Uhm...well..?" Issei said.
"That assumption is only half correct. When your Boosted Gear isn't active, you are most certainly the weakest one present, to the point you should allow Kenshin to retake his body." Rias said. "However, when it's active, your power jumps ahead of even Akeno's as it stands right now.
"I'd say it's about even with mine." Kenshin said.
"Oh, Neat." Issei thought.
"That attack was on par with a high class devil's, if it hit, most people would have been blown to smithereens." Rias said. "I haven't seen all of what Kenshin can do, but I'd have to agree with him, you and Kenshin would be considered equals."
"I can only use two spirits right now, but the fact that you can jump to my level so quickly is damn impressive." Kenshin said. "Seems to me when we get a good grip on our abilities, you'll still be able to keep up."
"Cool." Issei thought.
"See? Now you're like a secret weapon of ours that no one will be expecting. Granted if you were fighting alone, there would be a massive opening which would be scary." Rias said.
"I have an idea for that, but we'll try putting it into practice later." Kenshin said.
"Sounds good." Issei thought.
"However, this is a team battle we're going into, as long as you count on us to cover you, we should have no problems and we can win." Rias said with a confident smile.
"Chief...Everyone..." Issei thought.
"This is your show for now Issei, do make the most of it." Kenshin said.
"Right!" Issei thought.
"Alright then, let's go show them how powerful we really are!" Rias shouted.
"Right!" Issei, Asia, Kiba, Akeno and Koneko all shout in reply.
Kenshin watched this with a smile. "Haaah."
"Kinda reminds you of home doesn't it?" Undine asked.
"Yeah, the good parts anyway." Kenshin said. "...I really hope he can handle it. I mean the more I think about it, the more I think Raiser was just bullshitting me, but I still earnestly tried to kill him."
"That was Yama, his possession of you in your moment of weakness served to amplify your rage, and that cocky Phoenix was the target. That is all." Undine said.
"I know that, but...what if it happens again when it looks like Issei's about to get killed? What if I can't control myself and end up hurting someone who honestly didn't deserve it?" Kenshin asked.
"Hey, just count on us to make sure that doesn't happen. The more you use our power the higher your resistance to him gets." Undine said. "So don't think like that."
"...Thanks." Kenshin said.
"Of course." Undine said.
"Nonetheless, this is going to be interesting." The two glanced back to see Salamander walking up to them. "I saw that Undine, trying to score some early points with our new master huh?" She said with a smirk .
"Oh shut up." Undine said with a glare.
"Hahahaha." Salamander laughed.
"Early points?" Kenshin asked.
"Deeny lik-" Sylph who just appeared was surrounded in a water bubble.
"Shut up!" Undine snapped.
"To be honest so do the rest of us." Salamander said with a shrug.
"I...see." Kenshin said. "Well, why do you think it'll be interesting." "Ooook, I guess the four forces of nature like me...good to know. With everything I've been doing I thought I might have been upsetting them." Kenshin thought.
"Because he maybe a pervert, but he's also earnest, and honest. He kinda reminds me of you when you were a kid you know..before all that." Salamander said. "This is like a rite of passage for him."
"I see, you're right." Kenshin said. "Well, it should be fun to watch. I just hope I don't have to get in on it, Not because of what Undine and I were talking about, but because that would mean that Issei was about to buy the farm."
"Yeah, but we won't know until we get there." Salamander said. "For now, you should go into the Phantasmagoria and train with us, your physical prowess may not increase much, but you could benefit from the memory of what it feels like to have more improved control of our power."
"Right." Kenshin said walking away. He walked by his memory room, stopped and looked at it before shaking his head. "...I can't let myself get tied down to those memories anymore...Grandfather, Grandmother and the others...wouldn't want that. If I live like that, I could never face them in the afterlife. She was right." Kenshin thought referring to Rias. "Maybe I have failed in the past to protect those close to me, but at the same time, giving up would truly mean failure."
Kenshin walked on by, he had training to do, as did Issei. The Rating Game that would decide Rias' fate was almost at hand.