Issei should have been over the moon about the current situation.
The Occult Research Club was, as its name implied, filled with all kinds of occult stuff. Like candles on skulls, strange-looking tomes, the whole theme just fit their name.
And at the center of this place was a shower room with a very thin curtain separating it from the outside view.
A shower room that was currently occupied by one of the most beautiful girls in his school. Her silhouette on the curtain showed curves and shapes that would tempt anyone who even glanced at it.
For Issei Hyoudou, it was paradise.
At least, it should have been.
However, the boy was currently occupied by something else entirely.
Namely, his thoughts on how to handle this situation and make sure he makes it back home to his parents and not make it home to his ancestors in heaven.
One must really congratulate Shirou, and to some extent, Zelretch, for properly instilling the fear of the supernatural within the very soul of the boy.
Subtly glancing to the side, Issei spotted Koneko Toujou, the mascot of Kuoh Junior High, and Akeno Himejima, another sought-after beauty in the school.
And apparently, combined with Kiba Yuuto, some of the most desirable people in the school were located in this room right now.
'Seriously! Are all Phantasmals this beautiful? No wonder Shishou told me to be careful of getting charmed and tricked into handing over my soul or blood or something else like that. With this kind of face value, there would be people lining up to hand over their everything.'
Akeno Himejima smiled politely and placed a teacup in front of Isse.
"Here. Have some tea."
"T-Thanks. Akeno-senpai. But I've just eaten, so I'd like to decline."
Akeno still continued smiling even as she took away the tea, making Issei sigh secretly, but still felt like patting himself on the back for handling that situation like a pro.
Based on the many horror stories Zelretch told him yesterday, there was no way Issei was risking drinking or eating anything from here until he was absolutely certain that they posed no threat to his little life or his sanity.
Finally, the noise of the running shower came to a stop, and soon after, Rias Gremory walked out in a fresh set of clothing.
Plopping down on the couch, she sat imperiously and smiled at Issei.
"Sorry about that, Issei-kun. I like to feel fresh when greeting guests."
"R-Right. It's fine."
'Get it together! Issei Hyoudou! You are a mouse in a cage full of cats right now. Admittedly, most of the cats are fucking sexy, and I would love to touch them given the chance-no! Stop! Now is not the time!'
Issei finally took a deep breath to clear his thoughts and stared seriously at Rias Gremory.
"I heard you called me to discuss about Yuuma...?"
There was no physical change, but Issei somehow felt like the room suddenly became charged with tension.
Rias nodded and leaned forward a bit, giving him a generous look at her cleavage.
"Indeed. I do have some information about the situation. But, before that, I want to ask you something."
Suddenly, her blue-green eyes flashed with a strange light, and Issei felt lightheaded for a single second.
Then, the noise of something breaking resounded across the room, forcing everyone to look at the ring on Issei's thumb that now had an empty socket where a ruby sat until just that moment.
And at that exact moment, the lightheaded feeling fled Issei's mind, and he became even more alert than before.
He did not know what it meant for that ruby to break, but he remembered that Shirou told him to run with all his might should that ruby ever break.
And Issei was definitely going to follow through.
Unfortunately, Kiba moved to block the door before Issei could even get up from the couch.
Rias leaned forward even more with a grin.
"That's interesting. So you are already aware of things then?"
"...To an extent."
Rias's eyes gleamed at those words.
"Hmm. Then, tell me, what do you know of Devils?"
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"After that, she gave me this grand speech and a pitch to recruit me into her peerage thingy that the old man talked about yesterday."
Shirou Emiya stared with a dumbfounded look as Issei explained the ridiculous situation the boy found himself in the single day Shirou was away from school.
Iseei figeted a bit before speaking.
"She gave me Yuuma's real name, Raynare, and the information that she was a Fallen Angel. However, it seems she is not aware that Raynare is dead and promised to help me search for her should I join her Peerage."
"...What else did she promise?"
"A lot of things. Money, status, immortality.....women. She said I could gain anything I wanted if I joined her peerage and became a devil."
"And? Are you going to take her up on her offer?"
"....At first, I wanted to."
Shirou did not say anything and listened patiently.
Truthfully, Shirou did not have much impression on the Devils aside from what he knew about them from the books Zelretch gave him and the memories he had about his counterparts' worlds, where they were pure monsters.
However, he still did not like the idea of these creatures having the power to convert a human into a devil.
To him, it felt like a betrayal of the human race for people to choose to abandon their humanity.
However, he also knew that it was not upto him to make such decisions for others. Every person is allowed to make their own choices, and so long as they made those decisions willingly, there is nothing Shirou would say about it.
If they became his enemies, however, that would become a different matter entirely.
He watched as Issei's face went through a multitude of emotions before settling on a determined look.
"But then, I remembered what you said about my parents. I tried to think if it was worth it to trade my humanity and the mundane happiness of my parents for my selfish goals."
"Somehow, it did not feel right. It is true that I might be able to achieve my dream of being a Harem King if I become a Devil. But, I can't help but think about what you and the old man said. Is that dream worthy enough to cost me my humanity?"
Then, he shivered and hugged himself dramatically,
"Not to mention all that spooky stuff the old man talked about. I definitely don't want to become some slave to a devil playboy. I don't want to lose my virginity to some prettyboy because Rias grew bored of me and traded me away!!"
'....there it is. The real reason why he rejected that offer.'
Shirou sighed exasperatedly at Issei's actions, but internally, he could not help but feel proud.
Proud to know that his efforts that day to ignite that inner fire within Issei's soul with his speech had truly succeeded and put the boy at the beginning of the proper path as a man.
"Then, what help do you want from me since you've already made a decision?"
Issei smiled wryly and scratched his cheek.
"Well, while I have made up my mind to reject her, I can't bring up the courage to face her again and say that to her face. I definitely don't want to become a corpse in a ditch somewhere, so I wanted to ask you for ideas on how to reject her."
Shirou gave him a flat look.
"You do know that phones exist, right? And if you don't have her number, there is also the method of writing a letter and putting it at her club's door or something along those lines."
"....."
The way Isse's eyes widened, and jaw went slack told Shirou enough to know that the boy did not even consider those options.
Shirou shook his head and motioned Issei to follow him.
"Well, since you are here anyway, I guess we can brainstorm more ideas. Meanwhile, I heard from Zelretch that you wanted to get some practical training?"
Issei perked up immediately at those words and nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah! I heard from the old man that you are like a master of combat or something, so I wanted to ask you to teach me some super secret martial art or something that can make me strong."
Shirou hummed and thought for a moment before nodding.
"Alright."
"...Wait, you really know some super secret martial art?"
The way Shirou's grin widened did not comfort Isse, and neither did the colossal stone axe that was larger than Issei that materialized in Shirou's hand.
"I guess you could call it a secret art, given that not many people know about it these days."
The older teenager's grin became downright creepy while Issei's instincts blared at him to run as fast as he could
"Tell me, Issei, do you know about the ancient sport of Pankration?"
That evening, many screams of fear and roars similar to a beast rang out in the ruins of Ryuudou temple, and it did not take a genius to realize which sound belonged to whom, should someone know who was occupying that place at that moment.
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1