After Issei fell asleep, he saw the image of the fox from before in his dream.
He saw it's 9 tails become one, it walked up to him so calmly and looked at him straight in his eyes for a few seconds but it felt so much longer than that to him. The fox then went behind Issei, to Issei's surprise the woman from before came up from behind him, he looked in her direction.
Issei: who..are you?
The woman smiled gently.
Woman: find me.
Issei: how? I don't even know who you are. Please tell me.
Woman: before it's too late. Please! I need you.
She says as she faded away and is replaced by the creature she was when he fought her. It was too close and Issei couldn't defend himself as the creature bit Issei on the same shoulder as before.
Issei woke up in shock, clutching his shoulder, cold sweat on his forehead and breathing rapidly. His eyes darted everywhere thinking that the creature was here but after seeing nothing, he calmed down but in a way disappointed that the woman wasn't there. He laid back down and his arm felt a familiar bump, he saw that someone was under his blanket and suddenly had hope that it was the woman. He slowly removed the blanket and saw long black hair, he thought it was the woman and removed the whole blanket from joy but found Akeno in his bed and looking at him. His expression went from joy to disappointment. She was wearing her see through lingerie, Issei saw and covered her body.
Issei: oh it's you.
Akeno: you seem disappointed...
Issei: .......What are doing here? I locked the door for a reason.
Akeno: I couldn't help it, I wanted to check up on you to make sure that you were okay, you got hurt by that creature yesterday.
Issei: thanks but I'm fine. Asia healed me remember?
Akeno: physically......you were having a bad dream, weren't you?
Issei: having bad dreams is nothing new for me.
Akeno: meaning?
Thoughts of Raynare stabbing him with light spears, seeing Asia die in his arms.
(Raynare: will you please die for me? She's dead! Stone cold dead and you're still whining about protecting her? HAHAHAHAHA. I played you like a cheap kazoo. Weak! You failed to save her from freed and from me!)
Issei:........... nothing.
He gets out of bed.
Akeno: where are you going? It's only 4am.
Issei: anywhere but here, I told you guys that I need space but here you are in my bed at 4am. You all have your own rooms you know.
Akeno: but it's lonely without you....we miss you Issei.
Issei:.........
(Ddraig: who's fault it that? I wonder).
Akeno: Issei your dragon power still needs to be siphoned out.... I know you hate us but at least let me do that.
Issei doesn't respond and just goes to the training zone underground. Akeno sat on his bed and saw the man whom she fell for walk away without a word.
Issei promoted to queen and practices extending the time limit on his new form. He trained till it was 6:30 am and was drenched in sweat, he was taking deep breaths and was exhausted.
Ddraig: your new armour can lant much longer. Before it was 5 minutes but now you can maintain it for 20 minutes. Incredible!!!
Issei: thanks Ddraig, I can't help but wonder how strong I would have been if I wasn't a pervert.
Ddraig: actually you would be dead.
Issei: how so?
Ddraig: it was lust that turned into love and then into power for them which became the desire to protect them and others as well. It was the real deal but as to how you managed to maintain that form from 5 to 20 minutes so quickly.... It's almost too good to be true even for you.
Issei: even I'm surprised but I'm not going to question the good thing we got going.
Ddraig: Sairorg will be having a tough fight ahead of him. Haha
Issei: I promised him a good fight and I plan to deliver.
Issei went to his bathroom and took a shower, after that he got ready for school and went to the kitchen.
Hunger finally got his attention. He entered the kitchen and everyone including his parents were already there. His mother and father spoke up.
Miki: well well look who's up. You took your sweet time.
Gorou: why are you up so late?
Issei: it's only 7am and school starts at 8. I've been up since 4am.
Miki: don't talk back young man!
Gorou: watching porn no doubt.
Issei: no I...
Gorou: and why are not spending time with our daughters in law? So many beautiful women here who love you but I have yet to figure out why.
Issei: *grrr..*
He goes out the door angrily. His parents clearly favour the girls and don't really care about Issei that much anymore. The girls became gloomy as they watched him leave without acknowledging their presence and saw how his own parents tore into him.
(Asia: since when did they start hating Issei so much?)
They just looked at each other and stopped eating their breakfast, Issei left without eating anything and he trained for 2.5 hours straight according to Akeno. Asia shed a tear and the parents saw it.
Miki: now look what the boy did, he upset Asia.
Rossweisse: forgive me but it wasn't him who upset her, it was you two.
Gorou: what did we do?
(Rossweisse: Issei you poor soul, you were right about your parents favouring the girls and not you. I'm so sorry you had to live such a life.)
Rossweisse: you tore into him for no reason.
Miki: he's ignoring you girls and he's a good for nothing perv.
Rossweisse:..... There's so much more to him, he's done good that I know for a fact that only he's capable of. Also he's not a pervert anymore. As his sensei I can confirm, he hasn't caused or been in any trouble for months now. His room is devoid of anything lewd. Even his grades have improved considerably. He's becoming the most athletic student to date.
Gorou: well we don't believe that. He always keeps his room locked, clearly he's still a perv.
Rossweisse:.....
Xenovia: Mr and Mrs. Hyoudo please stop. Issei is hurting too much already. Let's not make it worse.
Miki: well I'm sure that whatever happened to him is karma for being a pervert.
All the girls got a little mad and depressed as their words reminded them of what Issei said on the rooftop. He also blamed himself but now they see that his parents got under his skin and gaslighted him for who knows how long. They all got up and left for school without saying another word to them. They wanted to defend Issei but right now his parents were acting like they did so it was pointless.
Even after becoming exhausted from training beyond his limits, he had already made it to school as he ran once he shut the door behind him, his speed increased greatly because of those weights. He had almost an hour to spare and he's going to need it to calm down. After finally calming down Ddraig spoke.
Ddraig: are you feeling better?
Issei: better? No idea....I just feel numb.
He wasn't lying. His face was blank, nothing going through his mind, no emotions whatsoever. His eyes were devoid of the spark of life he usually had. Issei looked at the time in his phone and saw that it was nearly time for class. On his way down, he encountered Ravel.
Ravel: oh hey Issei....are you doing okay?
Issei: yes. How are you?
(Ravel: there's...no emotion AT ALL. Just what did they do to you Issei?)
Issei: Ravel?
Ravel snaps out of her thoughts.
Ravel: ah yes I'm fine. Thank you for asking....
Issei: class will start in a few minutes. Let's get going.
Ravel: okay...
Issei: are you alright? You don't look like it.
Ravel: I should be asking you that. You're not acting like your usual self.
Issei: I'm fine. Thank you for your concern.
The bell rings.
Issei: hmm..it rang a little early. Let's get going.
Ravel:.....
Both go to their classes and those who saw Issei walk by them noticed that his movements were almost mechanical, the empty look in his eyes worried them. Even Murayama and Katase tried to talk to him but Issei's response was as mechanical as his movements. He just went to class and took out his book.
Katase: never thought I'd say this but....I miss the pervert..
Murayama: whatever happened to him....I don't think he deserved it.
Aika saw the look in his eyes and decided to get to the bottom of this, when she and Issei hung out during lunch she was enjoying their time together, she saw that there's more to this former perv then they thought.
(Aika: the ORC really upset him that day and he said something about them jumping to conclusions, I need to ask them but I know that they won't sing like canaries...wait student council president Sona is Rias's best friend, they all hang out so maybe she can help get to the bottom of this but.....is it really my place to do so?..... I think it is, Issei is in pain and my friend, I can't leave him like this. An anonymous tip is a good and subtle start.)
The day went on, Issei was sitting in the cafeteria eating his lunch all alone until Saji showed up.
Saji: hey Issei, you feeling alright? And no I don't want to hear a lie.
Issei: very well, I feel numb.
Saji: I heard you left the ORC. Want to talk about it?
Issei: Not really because if I told you what happened then you'll tell Sona as you're supposed to and it'll just make her dig deeper until the truth comes out and believe me when I say that it's not worth it. So let me just say that it's between the orc and myself, things got the wrong kind of heated and now we're not exactly on speaking terms.
Saji: I'm sorry.... If you ever want to talk to me as a friend then let me know.
Issei: thanks.
Saji: hey want to train together for the rating game? Our team isn't complete so we are not taking part but your team is.
Issei: yeah. Sure we can train.
Saji: see you at your place after school.
Saji leaves.
Issei:....it's not my place....never was and surely not my home.
He put on his headphones and listened to music.
After school Issei and Saji went to his place and got ready for training. Once they both changed into the combat gear Issei suddenly felt something, a desire, a desire to get stronger and fight. His eyes had a fire in them.
Issei: you ready Saji?
Saji heard the determination in his tone, he looked at Issei and saw him grinning and had a fire in him ready to burn. It made him smile and lit a fire in him.
Saji: hell yeah. Promote to queen.
Issei took a fighting stance.
Saji: aren't you going to promote?
Issei: not unless you want to get a beat down.
Saji: oh ho so that's how it is?
Issei: YUP!
He charged at him with full speed and if it wasn't for Saji using the queen promotion then he wouldn't be able to dodge, he used his absorption line to ensnare Issei but he twisted himself out of the way, he grabbed the line and tossed Saji over to the side, he caught himself midair and summoned Viritra to fight Issei. Issei used balance breaker and took Viritra head on, he promoted to knight, rook and Bishop as he saw fit and gave Saji a tough time but he was hanging in there.
Saji: that's a neat trick Issei but looks like it's not strong enough.
Issei: you just jinxed it. Promotion: queen.
Saji retorted in a squeaky voice after feeling Issei's power on a new level.
Saji: what?
Issei now using his Cardinal crimson promotion was radiating power. He used the same powerful against the creature he fought before, it hit Viritra directly and knocked him out. Saji couldn't believe that one punch took out one of the dragon kings.
Saji: you win but why didn't you just boost your power?
Issei deactivated his promotions then his balance breaker.
Issei: you brought out the dragon within so I had to get serious. Boosting my power in my balance breaker wasn't going to cut it. You got really strong.
Saji: like wise so tell me, when did you get so ripped?
Issei: I use weights and a strong workout regiment without any use of my sacred gear. The stronger I am as a devil, the stronger my balance breaker and promotions oh and speaking of which, don't tell anyone about my queen form. I'm saving it for Sairorg.
Saji: that was a given and I believe Sairorg would love this surprise. He might even be super proud that you trained so far fulfill your promise to him. Got an extra weights?
Issei: sure, I can get you in tip top shape, even Sona might start peeping on you. Haha
Saji: ooohoho. I like the sound of that but she prefers guys with brain over brawn.
Issei: both are equally important and you used the absorption line to not only restrict my movements but to take away any power I had. Both brain and brawn since you made me use my trump card almost immediately. Now let's get training.
Saji: right!
They start training together day and night from that point in, Kiba and Gasper felt replaced. Sona and her peerage noticed Issei and Saji training really hard together but whenever Issei was alone....he would go numb again. At times he would sit in his room and just hold his blades in his hands, admiring the cold stainless steel. The next day his set of stiletto switch blades arrive, he paid cash and added the knives to his collection but would always carry one around. Rossweisse saw him cutting up some apples with it, the cut was so effortless and silent, a truly sharp blade, she admired the blade greatly. Issei later ordered a set for her as a gift for helping him but a part of thought of it as compensation for putting up with him and his pervertedness since she joined. Once the package arrived he placed it in his closet and waiting for the right time to give it to her, if he gave to her right away then it would make her think that she indirectly begged him to buy them for her since she's not much of a big spender. The girls finally gave Issei some space and little by little he was showing more emotions around people, he ignored his parents whenever they started to belittle him but would leave the room when they did it in front of people. Their true feelings about their son were laid bare now that they have the daughters they always wanted. Sometimes he would barricade his bedroom door and shut the windows to stop anyone from coming in. Why? So he could for once let out all the pent up emotions he bottled up deep down. He would instinctively bring out ascalon and wanted to kill those who hurt him. Everytime that happened Ddraig would pull his consciousness into the boosted gear and try his best to comfort him but even that became a problem as the past hosts would tell him to use the JUGGERNAUT DRIVE to end those who caused him pain. Ddraig would sometimes be able to keep them at Bay. During one of these times..
Issei: hey Ddraig, I'm sorry.
Ddraig: for what?
Issei: for you being stuck in this gear and with me as a host, I'm forced to use your power again and again just like those before me, Forgive me.
Ddraig: do not blame yourself, I'm honestly happy that you and I are partners, you are the first to ask to use my power, you never forced me. You used the power to do good while others including myself have only caused chaos. If anyone deserves to have power it's you so don't apologise Issei. My life became more interesting to be honest. I never would have bothered to see how unique humans are, how they overcome obstacles and how you are a truly unique and kind soul. It pains me to see souls like yourself being hurt so deeply and yet still hanging on.
Issei: thank you Ddraig.
Ddraig: I'm just happy to be of help. This may be one of the few times I did some good.
Issei: speaking of which.... Ddraig, am I wrong for still loving them?
Ddraig: I'm sorry but that's for you to decide. I can't help no matter how much I want to. I don't understand the feeling since I've never been in love myself.
Issei: for real?
Ddraig: yes it is true but I've seen how happy you became because of it. I feel envious.
Issei: envy is an ugly thing, with it comes pain.
Ddraig: I can see that pain in your eyes. It's the kind that one can't recover from.
Issei: no....no we can't.