Monday was supposed to be a normal day for Issei Hyoudou. A return to normalcy after the upheaval his life underwent on Saturday.
However, things suddenly changed when lunch came around.
"Ooh! Look at that figure!"
"Right!? I knew you would appreciate it!"
Motohama and Matsuda were too engrossed in the magazine they bought to school from Motohama's personal collection, a magazine series that the three friends enjoyed regularly.
However, something felt wrong with the picture to those who would bother to examine the scene.
Issei Hyoudou was there, just as it was expected, and was looking at the magazine just like his friends with a lecherous expression.
However, in truth, he did not feel the same kind of thrill he would normally feel when looking at such things.
In fact, it was not just the magazines. In the morning, when he went with his friends to peep on the Kendo club again, he did not feel that desire, that passion for the female form, that he felt ever since he hid puberty back then.
It was subtle, but it was there. That absence, that hollow feeling in his heart, like he had lost a part of himself.
The man called Zelretch, the one that Issei had taken to call the 'old wizard', had said that it was the result of trauma and would heal with time. But Issei felt like there was something else going on with him.
Because every time he tried to indulge in his hobbies, that conversation he shared with Shirou Emiya, his senior and the one who saved his life, would ring out in his mind.
'Is this what you truly want to do for the rest of your life? Is this what you want people to see you as when you have so much more underneath it? Do you truly wish for your pervertedness and your lust to define your entire personality? To define you as a person?'
Maybe it was like the Old Wizard had said, that it was trauma, or maybe it was something else. But one thing was true.
Issei Hyoudou was starting to change.
He was starting to seriously look at himself from another perspective, analyzing his actions to see how others would see him.
And he found that he did not particularly like what he saw.
He was true to himself, that much was true. However, he found that, by looking at things from another perspective, as Shirou asked him to do, his being true to himself was actually hurting him in the long run, whether it was his social image or his own mental health.
Suddenly, he was brought out of his thoughts when a shout rang out near him.
"Damned handsome bastard! Why doesn't he just die already!?"
"That's right! Bastards like them should just die and leave the babes to us!"
Issei turned to look in the direction where his friends were glaring, and found one of the most sought-after men in the school, Kiba Yuuto.
Initially, the boys thought he would just walk past their class like always, but when Kiba entered their class instead and walked casually straight for them, they knew that something was wrong.
Under the stupefied looks of the class's girls, Kiba came to a stop in front of Isse and smiled in a way that would capture the hearts of any girl who saw it.
"Hi there, Issei-kun, right?"
If Issei was not aware of things that he was now aware of, thanks to that Old Wizard's torture/training session that the boy went through for the entire day on Sunday, he would have simply dismissed Kiba's greeting as nothing more than some kind of pity greeting or something along those lines.
After all, ever since they entered the school as first years, Kiba never even approached Issei for anything, an action that Issei could not fault Kiba for, given how Issei was starting to realize his own flaws.
However, now that he was aware of some stuff and the warnings that Shirou gave him yesterday about a few students in the school being from the other side of the world, Issei could not help but go on guard instantly, the memory of his near-death at Yuuma's hands still fresh in his mind.
"Yeah? What do you want?"
Kiba just smiled at Issei's guarded look.
"I'm here on an errand for Rias Buchou. She asked to meet you after school in the Occult Research Club's clubhouse to discuss matters regarding Amano Yuuma."
It was as if the temperature fell a whole ten degrees when Kiba spoke Yuuma's words, as Issei's body nearly went limp.
How could he not feel shocked when he realized in the morning that nobody but he remembered Amano Yuuma's existence?
But now, Kuba Yuuto was acknowledging her existence and spoke about how Rias Gremory, the third-year student, was asking to meet him after school.
Normally, he would have been over the moon to be associated with one of the great 'Onee-sama' of the school. But now, he knew that things were fishy and could not help but feel even more on guard.
Especially after he heard from Shirou about how the supernatural creatures that he called 'Phantasmals' viewed humans as nothing more than playthings at best and food at worst.
Unfortunately for Issei, he could not rely on Shirou right now for advice since he had taken the day off for something, not to mention that even if Shirou was at school, he would have been in the third year division, which meant Issei would still have to give Kiba an answer here before he went searching for Shirou.
So, with his guard still up, Issei decided to bite the bullet and see what he could find out about Yuuma.
"Alright. I'll come over at that time."
Kiba nodded with a smile.
"Good. I'll inform Buchou about it."
As Kiba left, the class descended into chaos, showering Issie with curses and questions, but the boy in question did not care about all that.
For now, he had a lead on finding out more about the woman who tried to kill him and got insta-killed by Shirou instead.
And that was more important to his heart than anything else.
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In the forest at the edge of Kuoh, underneath an invisibility barrier that nobody knew about, Illya happily flew about in the air, practicing her manuverability for the upcoming rematch against the Class Card after Luvia and Rin returned from their trip, while Miyu stared at Illya with envy from her platfomr that she made with mana, allowing her to walk in the air.
Unlike Illya, who let her imagination go wild and use flight that way, Miyu's thought process was firmly anchored in the scientific principles, thanks to her upbringing, which meant that she whoel heartedly belive in the concept that humans cannot attain flight on their own, leading to her failing to manifest the ability to fly as Illya could.
In simple words, Miyu failed to delude herself enough to believe that she could fly, which ironically resulted in her not being able to fly like Illya.
"Ah! That's right! Rin-san gave me this to practice with when she left."
Illya took out the Archer class card.
"She said that it would help in the next fight if I could master this power and use its fantasy thingy as you can."
Miyu nodded her head at those words and stepped next to Illya in the air.
"Its not fantasy, it's called a Noble Phantasm. Crystalized myths of potent power."
Illya nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Yeah! That! So, let's try it out!"
She turned to the Kaleidostick.
"Ruby? How do I use it?"
"Just place it on my star and call out Archer: Include! And I'll take care of the rest!"
"That easy? Alright then! Archer: Include!"
Instantly, Ruby's form changed into a familiar black bow, confusing the girl greatly while Miyu just stared with a dumbfounded gaze.
One that was shared by a certain someone who was hiding in the shadows on the ground.
———————————————————————————————————
'What the actual hell is this? Both the Angra Mainyu version of Archer Card and the Ainsworth Archer Card contain my Counter Guardian self? Is this some kind of cosmic joke?'
I could not help the chill that went down my spine at that thought as I stared at the black bow in Illya's hand.
Granted, it was a mere replica given that the Kaleidosticks are merely drawing on the weapon of the fragmented Heroic Spirit within those cards. But still, I cannot help but want to dash up there right now and take it out of her hands before something bad happens.
I simply cannot trust that particular version of myself anywhere near my sister.
Watching Illya wave around the bow with confusion before dismissing the 'Include' function and going away with Miyu back home, I sighed in relief and let go of Carnwennan's projection, letting the shadows concealing me disperse.
While the reason I took a day off today was mainly to relax a bit and calm my mind after the recent excitement, I never imagined that I would end up stumbling upon Illya and Miyu taking off to practice on their own like this.
I know that I am acting kind of overprotective, but I also know that my paranoia is justified, especially after I learned about the Stray Devils I've been hunting here for such a long time now.
Turns out, the population of these Stray Devils was never supposed to be so high in the first place, since they were originally either humans turned into devils or other supernatural devils who joined the devils through the so-called Peerage system.
However, ten years ago, something serious happened in the Underworld, the home of the devils, that sent ripples of polluted demonic energy across the realm.
According to the notes that Zelretch gave me, this polluted demonic energy has little effect on most Devils who are ranked in the Midium-class or above. But to the devils ranked in the Low-Class range, this pollution was no different than poison or drugs.
It corrupted their thought process and drove them mad in a matter of weeks, turning them into Stray Devils.
Worse yet, these Stray Devils somehow still have a semblance of logical thinking left, along with their abilities enhanced, allowing them to escape into the human world.
When the first wave hit the world after a mass outbreak ten years ago, many lives were lost, according to Zelretch, including Rin's Father and Luvia's sister.
Ever since then, Stray Devils had become a headache for everyone involved, thanks to the mutations the polluted demonic energy forced on the Stray Devils, allowing them to rapidly multiply like rats and give birth to more Stray Devils naturally.
In essence, they have become a supernatural pest species across the world.
And it is precisely because of this pest issue that I refuse to let Illya and Miyu out of my sight all on their own.
Watching the girls leave and feeling the barrier around the area that the Kaleidostics set up fade, I took off after them as well.
I only left them alone when I was sure that they would not be going out again and headed back to Ryuudou Temple to get in my daily training.
But of course, the universe was not done messing with me.
Because Issie Hyoudou was waiting for me there with a nervous look while clutching his phone in a death grip.
"Shishou! You are finally here! I....I found out about Yuuma- no. Raynare, and I got an offer that I am not sure about. Can you...help me?"
"...."
Truly, what is my life?
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1