It was the next morning; unfortunately, yesterday was Sunday, so it meant that there was school today. Issei had just skipped a whole week of it, so he had to go today. He went through his routine, and once he was ready, he made his way to the stairs and heard his sister Rias and that other girl talking to his parents.
Issei internally cursed, "Shit, I was hoping they would be gone by now. I don't want to talk to them after last night."
Umbris suggested, "Why not go out your window?"
Issei exclaimed, "Are you crazy?"
Umbris retorted, "No, I'm not. Your body's more durable; you could easily brush off a fall from that height."
Issei realized, "Oh, shit, you're right."
And so, taking his partner's advice, he went back into his room and snuck out the window. At first, his legs stung a bit, but his healing quickly remedied it.
Issei remarked, "Man, this healing factor really is great."
Umbris agreed, "Agreed, but as I've warned before, don't become cocky..."
Issei interjected, "Yeah, I know."
Umbris continued, "Good. I just want you to be safe; my survival is directly tied to yours."
Issei joked, "Jeez, I feel so loved."
Umbris assured him, "Oh, come on. I do care for you, my boy. It's just that if you die, it will take me millennia to regain the strength to remanifest."
Issei grinned, "Good thing I don't plan on dying."
Umbris chuckled, "Ha, good indeed."
The two then settled into silence for the rest of the walk. Eventually, Issei arrived at his school, Kuoh Academy, and he was once again reminded what it felt like to be a ghost, a shadow as he moved through the halls. No one looked at him, no one greeted him, asked where he had been the past week. He eventually settled into homeroom, his usual spot in the back right corner.
Soon, the teacher came in and began attendance.
"Issei Hyoudou," the teacher called.
"Here," Issei replied.
The teacher remarked, "Oh, that's a surprise. I thought you had died or something. I mean, you missed a whole week without a word."
Issei explained, "Sorry, I was sick."
The teacher shrugged, "Eh, doesn't matter much anyways. Next name is..."
At this point, Issei began tuning him out. Even teachers could care less about him. He was beginning to feel like coming in today was a mistake. So, Issei tuned out the world and for the next couple of hours went through the day as a ghost, unnoticed by the hordes of students as he moved between classes, until finally, the bell rang and the end of school was signaled.
Issei thought to himself, "Uh, finally, it's over."
Umbris agreed, "I agree; this has been excruciatingly boring. Let's go do some training now that you'll be hunting. You'll need to be a master of our power."
Issei nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I think I'll focus on somnophages now that I have crabs down."
Umbris approved, "Good idea, my boy. Somnophages are our most useful tool right now."
The two continued to discuss the training as Issei packed up. He quickly made his way into the hallway, and when he did, a blonde boy he recognized as the treasurer of the student council approached him.
"Saji asked your Issei Hyoudou, correct?" the boy asked.
"Yes, I am," Issei replied cautiously, sensing the aura of a devil around the boy.
"Would you please come with me? The president wishes to speak with you," Saji requested.
Issei inquired, "Have I done something wrong?"
Saji reassured, "Not necessarily. Just follow me, please."
Issei complied, "Okay then."
And so, Issei followed him to the council room. Upon entering, he noticed that most of the council was missing; only the president, Sona, and another member whose name he couldn't remember, were there. He took a seat, making note of how Saji stood in front of the door, blocking the only way out of the room.
He sat in silence for a moment before speaking up.
"Uh, so what was it that you wanted to discuss with me, Miss Sitri?" Issei asked.
"We had an anonymous report that you had a tattoo on your back and wanted to verify whether that was true or not," Sona explained.
Issei's thoughts raced, "Shit, Ichika or Rias must've tipped her off about my sigil. Umbris, what the hell do I do?"
Umbris advised, "Don't panic. That's key here. You need to act nonchalant. If they see you're nervous, they'll begin to suspect."
Issei agreed internally, "Right, I can do this."
Umbris encouraged, "I believe in you."
Issei replied externally, "Oh, I see. So, what happens next?"
Sona continued, "First, we verify. If you would please show your back?"
Issei stood and pulled up the back of his uniform, revealing his sigil to the three present.
"So, it's true. You do have a tattoo," Sona observed.
Issei explained, "Well, yes, but I'm not part of the yakuza or something like that. I just thought it would look cool."
Sona nodded, "I see. So when did you get this tattoo?"
As Issei maneuvered his way through the conversation, he didn't notice that the blue-haired girl snapped a picture of the sigil.
"I see. So, you simply thought it would look cool to have some kind of weird magic circle on your back, so you got the tattoo," Sona summarized.
Issei confirmed, "Yes, that's right."
Sona concluded, "Well, I think we can excuse this one due to the fact it's clearly not gang-related, and it's easy to hide. Just don't go around showing it off, and we'll call this matter settled."
Issei agreed, "Deal. I promise not to go around showing it off."
Sona nodded, "Very good. You're free to go."
Issei bid farewell, "Alright, um, have a good night, you three."
And so, Issei left, and the three remained.
"It's hard to believe he's the same boy," Sona reflected.
Saji inquired, "What do you mean, ma'am?"
Sona reminisced, "When we were younger, we were both social outcasts, so we wound up hanging out a lot. He is one of the few who can say they've beaten me at chess. But, I moved back to the underworld soon after, so I doubt he remembers."
Saji commented, "That's too bad, Pres."
Sona agreed, "Indeed. But back to matters at hand." She spun to face the blue-haired girl. "What's your verdict?"
Tsubasa reported, "He's still human, but he's not normal. There's definitely something supernatural about him. When I tried to get a closer look at whatever it was, I just saw this mass of black smoke around him, obscuring it."
Sona mused, "I see. So he is still human, but he has some kind of tagalong or sacred gear?"
Tsubasa confirmed, "That's my theory, ma'am."
Sona concluded, "I see. Well, this is certainly a peculiar case. Did you manage to get a photo of the tattoo?"
Tsubasa replied, "Yes, ma'am," holding up her phone.
Sona instructed, "Good. Send it to me. I'm going to ask my sister to look into it for me."
Tsubasa confirmed, "I just sent it to you, ma'am."
Sona concluded, "Good. You two are free to go."
Saji nodded, "Alright, see ya tomorrow, Pres."
Tsubasa bid farewell, "Have a good evening, ma'am."
Sona acknowledged, "Yes, goodbye, you two," as the two left. Sona then dialed Rias's number into her phone. It rang a couple of times before Rias picked up.
"sona, did you manage to figure anything out?" rias inquired.
sona responded, "Well, I can confirm he's still human, but there's definitely something supernatural going on with him. What it is exactly, we don't know."
rias stated, "I see. Thanks for looking into it, Sona."
sona replied, "Of course, Kuoh is my territory as well. If there's some unknown threat about, I wanna know what it is. Oh, and Rias, I'm sending a picture of the tattoo to my sister for her to look into. Until we know what's going on with Hyoudo, we should be very careful around him."
Rias agreed, "Yes, I know, I know."
Sona concluded, "Alright then, I have other matters to attend to tonight, so I'm going to let you go."
Rias bid farewell, "Bye, Sona."
Sona reciprocated, "Goodbye," and hung up. She then texted her sister the picture and asked her to look into it. It took time to decipher the string of emojis and magical girl talk, but she figured out that her sister had agreed. She walked over to a picture on a shelf showing her and Issei playing chess, "Just what have you become, Issei?"