Chapter 1 - Hyoudou Issei, the Lone Tiger

"One day I will become a real hero! And then, I will go to find Irina then ask him to become a hero too!"

"Tell me then, boy..." The old man expression was filled only with amusement, "What do you think is a hero?"

"A hero is an awesome guy who beats bad guys and always saves the world!" He answered with a big grin.

"Hoo... And what else?"

"Umm...he also saves people! He makes people around him happy! Like Superman!" The boy answered with a slight pause due to thinking about his reply.

"Make people happy, eh? Then, what about the villain?" The old man asked again.

"Well, the villain always loses! The hero always beats him after all!"

"But if the villain loses, he will be very sad. Shouldn't heroes make all people happy?"

The boy scowled at the logic, "But the villain is a bad guy! He makes people sad! If the hero beats him, then people will be happy!"

"The villain is not always a bad guy, boy. For example, Irina's father leaves with your friend and makes you sad... does he count as a bad guy?" The old man asked and the boy was taken aback. He put on a thoughtful face for a moment before slumping in defeat.

"No...Shidou-san is not a bad guy..." He murmured, "But then, what should heroes do if the villain is not a bad guy but he keeps making people sad?" He asked.

"Heroes should try to understand the villain...Why they became bad guys in a first place and then try to persuade him to stop. If the hero can't, then the decision is in the hero's hand. Whether he will he stop the bad guy or not depends on him..." The old man said with a fatherly smile and the boy seemed to process the words.

RIIIIIING!

...

RIIIIIING!

...

RIIIIIING!

"DAMNIT!"

I yelled as I smashed my alarm clock, hitting the top part of it and silencing it. Damn! Can't a guy get a nice sleep for once? Ughh! I hate school sometimes! Why the hell did Mondays exist?!

Ah? Hello everyone, my name is Hyoudou Issei. I'm seventeen years old, a second-year student at Kuoh Academy and also an employee at the McDonald restaurant in this city. Last night it was also very crowded with costumers, and apparently my friend that works there was sick, so I agreed to help him by taking his shift as well, which took until 4.00AM

And before you ask, no. My life actually is pretty normal, my family is not so poor that they couldn't pay my school fees or anything like that. We are a completely normal, average family. The reason why I work is because I also need some money. I mean, sure my parents don't have any problems giving me a bit now and then, but I want to get by with my own strength!

Also, I had been gathering money because it was used for my own problems.

"That dream again..." I murmured while rubbing my temple.

It had been 10 years ever since I first dreamed about that event. It was strange actually, but ten years ago I dreamed about meeting an old man in a park

No... Rather than a dream it felt more like... a memory perhaps? I didn't know for sure. To be honest, if I recalled correctly, I fell asleep in the park that day after crying due to Irina's departure to England.

I thought maybe it was dream, a dream where I met an old man and talked about being a hero with Irina in the future. I was pretty sure in the past that it was a dream, and to be honest I don't remember it anymore

But lately I had been dreaming about that more and more often. This was already the sixth time this week I had that dream, what a truly strange thing. Dreaming about a dream...

"Ise! Are you awake now?! Be quick honey, or you will be late for school!"

Ah, it was my mom's voice. I turned and saw the clock, it was already 7.45! The school started at 8, ah damn! I overslept again!

"Shit! Coming Mom!" I shouted as I stood and began to strip out of my pajamas. Twelve minutes to take a shower and another three minutes to walk to school while eating!

Kuoh Academy, a private school. That's the school I attend.

It's a co-Ed school right now, but before that it used to be an all-girls school until a couple of years ago, so there were more girls than boys even now. The number of boys was still slowly increasing, but the girls were still a great majority.

I'm a 2nd year high school student and the ratio of girls to boys in my class is 7 to 3. For 3rd year students it's 8 to 2. Even now the girls still have a much stronger authority than the boys, and the majority of the students in the Student Council are girls, and the Student President is also a girl.

It's a school where boys can't stand tall, but I still joined this school. Why?

Let me tell you why! This school is quite expensive to be honest, and for someone who comes from an average family like me, it is not easy to get in. But hey! While it is quite expensive, the facilities and materials this school provides are more than worth the effort!

My parents had also agreed with me after seeing the school by themselves, so they enlisted me in this school. But now that I have entered this school, I have to admit that this academy is a bit strange.

My grades were good so far, not as high as the ones of the Student Council President Souna Shitori of course, but I damn well have entered the top 10! That is also something I'm proud of, though I still need to work hard to become number 1!

"Late! Late! Late! Late! Late!"

I kept repeating the words like a mantra while I ran as fast I could. The distance between the academy and my house was actually quite far, people would need 30 minutes if they were to walk normally and maybe 10 minute if they could run the entire way.

Me? Well I don't intend to boast, but I'm fast. Very fast in fact, so I only need one minute or less to reach the school if I run at full speed.

Of course none of my friends know that, I never intend to gloat or boast about it at school after all, so I've been keeping it for myself.

I broke out from my thoughts when I saw the school gate. My eyes widened when I saw that the gate was slowly being closed! Oh, hell no! I pressed the ground further before I increased my speed!

If there was one thing I didn't want to do it was to meet with Souna Shitori in her office! To be honest, that woman scared me actually!

I had already been on her bad list in her book due to always almost being late. And for some strange reasons she always seemed to expect me to be late! Thankfully, I was not late – only almost.

"SAVE!"

I skidded my feet on the ground, and if this was an anime, I was sure that dust and dirt would be flying because of my feet digging into the ground as I passed through the gate.

I turned my head and saw that the gate was closed, the gatekeeper who had closed it only shot me an amused look while shaking his head. I let out a sheepish chuckle while waving my hand in a greeting manner. Man, this increased my almost-late count to...

"This is the 56th time that you're almost late in this year, Hyoudou-san..."

I immediately froze for a moment when I heard a familiar feminine voice. Slowly, I turned to the woman who was wearing glasses and adjusting them slightly slightly while giving me a stern look.

"Then it could be considered as a world record... Right, Kaichou?" I asked with a small grin.

The Kaichou was a woman with short hair, and her figure was slim and healthy. She was not Japanese, I'm sure of that. Perhaps she was Asian, but she was definitely not from Japan. She was quite beautiful in my eyes. What? I'm a boy! It's just normal if I'm attracted to opposite gender! Especially at my age!

Anyway! Meet Souna Shitori, a 3rd year student of this school and also the Student Council President. She was the third most popular student in school, and it seemed her strict and bossy behavior were quite appealing in the eyes of male and female students alike.

While I attempted to make a joke, Souna unfortunately didn't share my humor as she shot me another glare, making me raise my hands in a surrendering manner.

"It's not something to be proud of, Hyoudou-san!" She said sternly.

"But 56 times almost being late could be considered as an epic thing! I mean it could-"

"I don't care..." Souna cut me off again and I only sighed. "There are rules in this school and if you wish to study here, you have to obey them."

"Technically, I never broke the rules! I'm not even late! Only close to being late!"

Souna opened her mouth before slowly closing it again when she found that my argument was right. She also closed her eyes and I could tell she was quite upset now.

"Just go to your class now, Hyoudou-san..." She breathed out with sigh of resignation.

"Sure!" I replied with a smug tone before started to walk away. However, when I was in middle of way she called me again.

"And Hyoudou-san, I'm really looking forward to seeing you when you're late..." She said, a sweet smile plastered on her face and I knew one thing for sure. That was not a kind smile, no matter how sweet it looked and how cute it was on her face.

No, really. It was not just my imagination, clearly there were something strange and wrong with this woman.

A few hours later

"You're almost late again today eh, Ise?"

It was during lunch break, in the cafeteria where I usually sat alone and ate by myself. To be honest, it wasn't like I was anti-social, I just really enjoyed eating alone as it allowed me to focus on my meal.

Most of the time I got to enjoy eating lunch alone like this, but sometime there was this woman who kept coming and approaching me.

"Aika..." I greeted back and gave a nod to her. "Yeah, close one today." I told her, smiling slightly.

"Really Ise, you're always almost late. Just what the heck do you do every night?" Aika asked me as she sat on the opposite side of my table.

"Working..." I said simply as I began to eat again "Last night I worked until 3:00AM and went to bed at around 4 AM..."

Everyone, meet Aika Kiryu, one of my friends. We have known each other for a year already and while we're not that close, we're still quite good friends. And let me tell you one thing, if you're a man, never, ever let her stare at your crotch. I don't know what magic or trick she uses but she clearly can see the size of your genital organ just by looking at your pants!

"You took another shift?" Aika asked me with slight scowl.

"Well, he promised to give me his bonus for taking his shift, so..."

Aika only let out sigh at my response and shook her head, as if tired from dealing with me "If I didn't know why you are working, I would say that you are greedy, Ise..." She said while sighing "So you're going to visit them again today?"

"Yeah, Misaki-san said that she needs my help again today." I said and Aika hummed "Are you going to come too?"

"Eh? I wish I could, but sorry, no can do. I have promised Akane and her group to go shopping with them." She replied with a shrug.

"Shopping..." I murmured. Really, I didn't understand girls at all. Why the heck do they keep buying new dresses? I mean, sure new clothes were needed occasionally, but did they have to buy a new stuff every month? Didn't they know it was a waste of money?

"Hey! Hey! What's with that tone of yours? You must be thinking something like, 'Why the heck do girls always need to buy a new dress every month?', right?"

Jackpot!

I stared at Aika with a bewildered look. Holy shit! That was almost true, how the hell did she do that?! It was really scary if you ask me, did she possess some kind of supernatural power or something like that?!

My expression must have been revealed my thoughts as Aika shot me a smug look.

"Unlike you Ise, we girls like to appear beautiful every time! We also take care of ourselves pretty well!"

"You're wasting money that could be used for things that are more useful." I deadpanned while shaking my head "Really, I don't get it. I mean, come on! You're already looked good enough just like that, why the heck do you need to make up or dresses?" I lamented and let out sigh. Then I heard a choking sound and I opened my eyes again to see Aika had choked a little on her own drink "Hoi, are you okay? Aika?"

"I-I'm fine! *cough* damn it!" She coughed while pounding on her chest, her face was slightly red as she glared at me "Really Ise! Don't say such a thing out of the blue! It's dangerous for health!"

"What the heck are you talking about?" I asked with a scowl and she scowled back before she huffed.

"Nevermind... Idiot..." She said while turning away and I sweatdropped.

I would probably never understand women.

Before our conversation could resume, something happened.

There was a squeal from few groups of girls that made me and Aika turn our heads to see what was wrong. And as soon as we saw it, we knew the source.

My eyes were staring at the girl with crimson red hair that walked into the cafeteria. She was our school idol whose beauty was beyond everyone else in this school. Her slim proportions weren't the shape of a Japanese girl as well. Of course, she wasn't Japanese after all. I heard people say that she was from Northern Europe. It seems like she was attending a Japanese high school due to her father's work.

Rias Gremory.

She was a 3rd year student of this school. So that made her my senior. And the reactions we had seen happened almost every time she walked around. Everyone looked at her when she walked past them. Some people stopped walking. Others stopped talking. Everyone always turned around to look at her.

Her long crimson hair which came down to her hips made her surroundings look like they were colored in crimson when the wind blew her hair. Her beautiful skin, which was as white as snow, was also remarkable.

Beautiful.

That was the only word befitting of describing her. It was the only word needed to describe her.

Anyone would get their heart stolen away by her after witnessing her beauty. Even Aika at my side was showing a fangirl's behavior and she was a woman! Hello! Women should be with men! Not with another woman! ... That might have been jealousy speaking actually as there was nothing wrong with women liking other women! ... At that point I decided to stop thinking about this issue as my teenager brain was taking things into a direction not suited for public locations.

Anyway, everyone was clearly smitten with Rias Gremory. Well, everyone except me.

I had to admit that Rias Gremory was beautiful... I'd even dare to say that among students in this academy, her beauty was unmatched

But at the same time, something about her made me feel uneasy.

When I mentioned there was something strange about Souna, I did not mean it as a joke about her behavior. What I meant was that there was something strange with her... Aura... Or something like that.

In my eyes... No... Deep in my mind, whenever I saw Souna there was something that warned me and told me that she wasn't normal.

The same thing also occurred whenever I saw Rias Gremory... The moment I laid my eyes on her for the first time, a part of my mind told me to be wary of her. There was something strange about her. There was something... inhuman about her...

And not just her to be honest... Most people who were famous in this school were strange... Like Yuuto Kiba, Tsubaki Shinra, Akeno Himejima, even Koneko Toujo.

All of them, in my eyes, were not normal... And when I tried to talk with one of them there was something inside my mind that made me feel uneasy about them. No matter how perfect I hid it, when I was talking with them, to be honest, I couldn't stand near them for longer than ten minutes without feeling a strong urge to leave.

It was like the saying about humans being afraid of what they didn't understand. It happened to me the moment I made contact with any them. There was something that I couldn't understand about them, but the problem was that I couldn't figure out what it was.

Among those inhumane creatures my mind was mostly wary of Souna Shitori and Rias Gremory. Those two... caused me to feel anxious the most.

Kuoh Academy was strange, I said that before, right? And I didn't just mean it was strange due to having the Perverted Duo who were always peeping at girls at least three times each day, but there was something strange about it in general. Just like when I thought about Souna and Rias, this academy felt not normal in my mind, as if there was some kind of barrier around here, something that surrounded the entire school area.

I never got close or tried to find out more about them, the aura they radiated made me too uneasy to try. True, I talked to them if they started a conversation, but I always tried my best to make it short.

Rias Gremory... Souna Shitori...

Just what the hell are you two?

End of school

"So that's him, eh?" Rias said as she was staring down at Ise, who was walking home.

"Yep... Hyoudou Issei, the student that has been almost late 56 times during this semester." Sona replied as she adjusted her glasses from window of the Student Council Office. "His magical aura seems quite high, strong enough to the point of being aware that there's something wrong with us, very skilled in Kendo and Archery but stopped attending the clubs for unknown reason, grades high enough to become number six in the whole school, works as an employee at McDonald, is friends with Aika Kiryu and some of her peers..." Sona listed the things she knew about Ise before she crossed her arms and stared at Ise's retreating back. "Due to his reputation he is called the "Lone Tiger" of Kuoh Academy."

"Lone Tiger?" Rias asked while blinking her eyes before a twinkle of understanding appeared. "Ah, you mean that incident?"

Sona nodded at her friend's remark. That incident happened one year ago when Ise was a first year. There was a reason why Aika was so clingy towards Ise who was kind of a loner.

It was during last Spring, when Aika had been going home, she had been stopped by thugs and thieves who were intending to steal her stuff and... do certain things to her. Now, Kuoh City might be a peaceful city, but that didn't mean there were no crimes, thugs or other things like that in this city.

Back on track, when Aika was cornered, Ise coincidentally was on his way back home from his work, and helped Aika by beating the four thugs that were trying to hurt the girl.

The next day those four thugs went to Kuoh Academy along with eleven adult men who were carrying blunt weapons and even some knives.

The result? Ise still demolished them. None of them were dead, but they sure as hell got the message that Ise was someone not to mess with. And afterwards they didn't come back and were never seen again, Sona and Rias also made sure of that since they used small magic to make them leave Kuoh City.

And afterwards rumors began to spread. The whole school began to pay attention to what Ise was doing and discovered that he was actually quite a loner. He still associated with others and talked with everyone who approached, heck, he even would help everyone who asked him.

But he was still quite a loner. For some reasons he couldn't bring himself to make friends as easily as normal people did, no matter how normal he appeared to be.

And thus the Lone Tiger of Kuoh Academy had born...

"Koneko also sensed something inside him. Something powerful... Maybe he possesses a strong Sacred Gear..." Rias said and Sona nodded.

"He most likely does... " Sona agreed and Rias hummed.

"By the way, I still don't get it. Why 'Tiger'?" Rias asked.

"Because he's not wild... He's in control of himself and smart... He's not just some ferocious beast who lashes out at anything. Tigers are calm and smart while hunting their prey, they won't attack you if it is trouble it and you don't bother it. Ise is like that.." Sona explained while adjusting her glasses.

"Hoo... That was quite descriptive..." Rias giggled "You are quite accurate, eh? As expected from you..."

Sona in response merely silenced herself, her expression still stoic when she caught some women were talking with Ise.

"I want him..." Sona said bluntly, making Rias blanch. "He is a good person for my peerage, and for the Student Council. He's smart enough to enter it and we can clearly use a boy in it. His almost-late reputation isn't really a problem and I still have some pieces that I could use for him." Sona told her rival before she sighed. "The only reason why I didn't recruit him already is because of you, Rias. If Hyoudou Issei were to contain a hidden talent, then he would be good for your Peerage against Riser."

Only silence was Rias' answer for that. She actually knew how interested Sona was in Ise. Rias was not the first one that had laid her eyes on the boy. It had, Sona had, even before the event that had given Issei the nickname 'Lone Tiger'. The boy was quite smart and also often helped other students, he even sometimes fixed old school equipment, saving the school the costs of hiring a repair man.

Sona had planned to recruit the boy when he had become a second year, because she had wanted to observe Issei a bit more and to get to know him better after he joined the school. Originally she her plan had been to recruit him in this month, but she hadn't. The reason was because Rias had asked her to.

There was news about her engagement with Riser being hastened somehow. Rias of course was angry and had demanded to know why, but her father hadn't told her and her big brother had been also the same. Then Rias had asked Sona to give her a chance to recruit Issei, if the boy really was that special, then he could become the key for her freedom.

Sona of course was not happy, not one bit. She had been after Issei for over a year already and the only reason she had not invited him before was because she had wanted to observe his growth. In a sense it was Sona was a farmer who slowly and carefully grew her crops and just when she was ready to harvest them, someone else came along and tried to take it instead.

Had it been any other person, Sona would have fought for Issei. Oh yes, she would have fought it. However, Rias was her friend, best friend ever since they were children and they had grown up together... And for that she was willing to give her a chance, one chance for Rias to recruit Issei.

However, if she were to fail then that would be it. There wouldn't be another chance for her.

"Don't worry Sona, when I get Issei I will make sure he's going to spend some times in Student Council..." Rias tried to reassure her friend and Sona inwardly snorted.

'I don't think you will. If there's one thing I'm know about you, Rias, it's that you are very greedy and protective of your peerage.' Sona thought but did not voice it out loud. She was aware that Rias herself actually also knew about that. She even noticed that Rias said 'when' and not 'if', indicating that she pretty much saw it as a done deal. "The fallen have already made a move on him as you've predicted... Hopefully you'll get what you want." Sona simply replied with stoic face.

"I must..." Rias said firmly as she stared at Ise. "For the sake of my dream, I must..." She muttered.

------------------------------------

"Onii-chaaaaan!"

I saw a black blur dash towards me and didn't do anything to prevent her from approaching me. Instead, I opened my arms wide and grinned. With a high speed, the black blur crashed to me and I let out a soft grunt. However, my feet dug themselves into the ground strongly so I didn't fall.

"Shizune-chan!" I greeted back with a grin as I stared down at the brown haired girl that had just tackled me.

The cute girl raised her head and met my brown eyes with her own golden brown ones, showing a grin of happiness as she stared at me.

"Onii-chan! Did you bring that figurine for me?!" She asked cutely.

"Of course I did! I've brought you the new figurine!" I said warmly as I lifted her up like a doll with both my hands as she wasn't that big. Her height only reached to my chest and she was quite petite.

"Really?! Really?! Gimme! Gimme!" She demanded with an eager face and I couldn't help but smiled at her.

Shizune was a girl at middle school age with golden brown eyes and long brown hair. And despite her petite and slim figure, she was quite well endowed for her age for some reason. She was wearing a red sweater and short green pants that reached the middle of her thighs, as well as a pair of yellow shoes.

"Shizune!"

Shizune and I turned our heads when we heard a familiar voice that called the little girl's name. With brown hair that reached to her shoulders, wearing a formal suit for women and appearing to be around 24, this woman was Misaki Akamatsu, a scowl on her face as she stared at Shizune.

"Shizune! I told you not to run! What will happen if you were to fall and get hurt?" She asked as she approached us.

"But I wanted to meet Onii-chan!" Shizune whined with a cute pout.

"You would have reached him sooner or later, so you didn't need to run!"

Everyone, meet Misaki Akamatsu and her adopted daughter, Shizune Akamatsu. As you can see, I'm quite close to these two. Let's cut the story and explanation short:

Misaki is only a simple employee that works at an office in this city. Five years ago she found Shizune, who was trying to find food by going through garbage cans and she took her in out of sympathy. At first she had planned to drop Shizune at orphanage, but the girl had insisted to stay with Misaki and after a while the woman had finally relented.

However, when Shizune turned 8, problems arose. She needed to be educated and go to school. Misaki simply didn't have the money for that and she needed to work harder in order to enroll Shizune at a school, not to mention when she went to work there was no one to guard Shizune if something were to happen.

And that's where I came in.

I met them accidentally when Shizune made me drop some food that I had bought. Of course I forgave her and tried to find out about them due to curiosity.

Thus, after learning about the situation, I offered my help. Misaki was reluctant at first and even had one of her friends silently monitor me for a while, but when she found that I was trustworthy enough after staying with Shizune for a year, she decided to give me some trust.

In order to help them, I also began to work and I found a job as an employee in a McDonald restaurant. True, it actually took away some of my free time, but hey! It was my time, so I could do with it what I wanted.

"You said you want to be a hero, right?"

"Uhm! I will become a hero!"

There was a reason why I often helped people. It was silly of course but it was due to that silly reason that I have become what I am now.

Now, now. I was aware that it was almost impossible to become a hero in this era. I mean, in a highly technological and modern place like this? It was pretty much a pipe dream, the only conflicts that existed now were mostly politics, and there was no war in this country or anything like that in this era.

However, that didn't mean I gave up. If I couldn't become a hero like people in the old era, then I would become one for the people I could see around me, people I could find here. Shizune here was one of those people, if I could help her, then I would.

Being a hero meant helping people. Maybe I wasn't a real hero, but hey! Helping people was fun, especially if it meant I got to see seeing them smile and live in peace, hear them laugh and enjoy spending time with their beloved people.

This world really was an amazing place.

"Now, now, Misaki-san. I don't think you need to scold Shizune-chan that harsh. She-"

Whatever I was going to say stopped in my throat when I saw Misaki's glare turn to me. Let me tell you, Misaki might look gentle, but she is a Lion King-err Queen, I guess. She was a Lion Queen when she was angry! Sometimes she could be scary like my Mom! And that meant something, seeing how my Father was quite perverted and she had to keep a leash on him, so the perverted beast inside him would not rise up again.

Yeah, they were strange, but they were my parents and I wasn't embarrassed about them.

"Now, Shizune. Kaa-san will go to work okay? Make sure you play nice with Ise-kun." Misaki lectured her adopted daughter.

"Haiii!" Shizune squealed with a big grin, ah... This girl is really cute!

"Ise-kun, I'll leave Shizune in your care like usual. I will be back at 9.00PM, okay?"

"Yes Misaki-san, leave it to me..." I said while kneeling to reach Shizune's height "I will protect my dear and beloved Shizune-chan with my life!" I declared while hugging Shizune and rubbing my nose to her cheek, making her giggle.

"Onii-chan, that tickles!" Shizune giggled while pinching my cheeks.

"Yeah, I can see that. Just make sure you'll control your hormones, Ise. I don't want to report you to the police due to you harassing Shizune." Misaki said to me while rolling her eyes.

"Hey! I take offense on that! I'm not into that!" I defended myself with a scowl.

"Really?" Misake eyebrows furrowed "Need I remind you what you did to her last Friday?" Misake asked flatly and I blushed.

"I was just dressing her! There's nothing wrong with that!"

"Ise, you turned Shizune into a magical girl! You even bought the wig and the dress for her, complete with the magical wand..." Misaki deadpanned and I pouted.

"And what's wrong with that? Shizune-chan looks good in that dress!" I defended and Shizune bobbed her head up down at that.

Shizune released herself from my hold before she raised one leg dramatically and began to spin around. I swear I saw a rainbow appeared around her as she did this and she took a stick out of nowhere that she swung around like a wand before she declared with a dramatic pose: "Magical Girl Shizu-chan has arrived to save the world!"

Ahhh! I felt my heart melting due to her cuteness! Shizune-chan, you are really the best! I even shed a single lone tear of pride!

"See what I mean? You've turned my daughter into a Chuunibyou patient!" Misaked glared at me.

"Hey! Chuunibyou means Eighth-Grade Syndrome! Shizune-chan here is an Eighth-grader, mind you, so it's not my fault! I only support her current behavior!" I defended myself before slowly grinning "I even have few pictures of her! And when she's old enough I can't help but imagine the look on her face when I show her these pictures." I said while cackling like a mad scientist.

Misaki only shot me a dirty look before she slowly edged away from me "You are the worst."

"In my defense, I'm a normal teenager! I might be polite and always helpful, but I need amusement for myself!"

HIT!

"Ouch!" I yelped when I felt something hit my head "Shizune-chan! What was that for?"

"Onii-chan is being creepy again. Okaa-san told me to hit Onii-chan whenever you're being creepy." Shizune said with huffed cheeks.

I only shot Misaki a glare but the old hag only-

HIT!

"Ouch! Hey!"

"Don't call me an old hag! I'm still only 24 years old!"

How the hell did she know?! Is she some kind of a psychic or something like that?!

"You know what? Just go to work, leave me and my dear Shizune-chan alone!" I said with a glare as I hugged the girl at my side.

Misaki only rolled her eyes while shaking her head, seemingly resigned to her fate. "Yeah, yeah, I will go now. Remember, I will be at home 9.00PM. If you want to cook dinner there are vegetables, meat and eggs in the refrigerator." She said to me and I nodded. After that, she gave a salute to Shizune and me and then left to work.

"Onii-chan! Where's my figurine?" Shizune asked me.

"I have it with me in my bag, Shizune-chan." I said and she smiled happily. "But first, you have to finish your homework" I chuckled while seeing her happy face deflate and turn into a cute pout.

"Ah, poo!" Shizune pouted "I don't want to do my homework! It's going to be collected by the teacher next week too! Can't we just go to a mall or something like that?" She whined with big and fake teary eyes.

"Nope! Homework first Shizune-chan! But after we're done, we can go to the mall."

This girl was in middle-school but she was acting like an elementary student. *sigh* Though it wasn't like I was protesting since she was cute.

"But it will be night already when we're done!"

"Then we better get started soon! The sooner we finish, the sooner we go to the mall! I will help you this time!"

I only let out another laugh when she let out a deflated 'awww'. She's really cute! Ah, if only I had real little sister. It made me wonder though if I could be a siscon.

Nah! I might love Shizune, but clearly I'm not that bad! I'm definitely not on the level of a siscon! Hahahaha, what a silly thought.

-------------------------------------

It had already been few hours

Right now, I was on my way home. I had no shift today because I was being replaced by my friend as payment for my work yesterday. That was why I was able to go check on Shizune-chan and spend time with her.

Ah, by the way, my shifts in work were Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, I started working at 06.00PM until 11.00PM.

While I was on my way, I glanced at the watch on my wrist and noted it was already 10 o'clock. I had already told my parents that I was at Shizune and Misaki's place and had also told them that I had no work so I would come home early.

To be honest, my parents never really supported my idea of working at young age, but after few conversations and persuading, my parents agreed so I could gain some experience at a younger age.

Today was quite fun actually, seeing how I spent much time with Shizune-chan. Though I had to say that I felt sorry for that Yuuma girl, she tried to ask me out on a date but I rejected her.

Now, now to be honest I found her attractive, but when I saw her, I got the same strange feeling I got when I was near Souna and Rias. True, the sensation seemed different but my feelings told me that she wasn't human.

To be honest, recently I had become paranoid. Not just that I kept having strange dreams, I also sometimes dreamed about a hill... I couldn't see it clearly, but it was about hills and battles... I didn't know what that was about but it was clearly giving me bad times in my sleep.

"He...p!"

!?

"He...lp!"

It was faint, but I clearly heard someone's screaming. I had sharp ears and great eyesight too, so I was sure of it. And not just that, apparently I'm quite strong for someone at my age. I never tested my limits since I didn't have time for that due to me always helping people.

Where was it?! The scream! Where was it coming from?! I sharpened my ears further and began to concentrate.

"Help!"

There!

I immediately took a posture before I kicked the ground and began to dash! Fast! I was going at full speed now and I must say I was very fast!

"HEEELP!"

The scream got louder! I was getting closer!

I increased my speed further and then I saw it! Behind a fence, a group of people wearing white robes were surrounding a small girl with blonde hair!

While running, I tried my best to find a route so I could cross over the fence and arrive there as quickly as possible. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find it! Damn! That fence... It was around 1,40 meters... It was time to make a gamble!

"OI!" I yelled to them while running and the group turned towards me "GET AWAY..." I kicked the ground and immediately soared to the sky, my feet passing over the fence as I extended one leg "FROM HER!" I shouted as I kicked one the robed persons.

"Gagh!"

I could feel the man's jaw dislocate when my kick connected with his cheeks - it was a critical hit! As the man I hit flew away and crashed into one of his friends, I landed on the ground and balanced myself.

One, two, three, four... Eight... Eight people excluding the one I just kicked.

"Who are you?!" One man growled at me.

"Who I am doesn't matter. Leave this girl alone!" I commanded as I stood in a protective manner in front of the girl behind me. I could tell the girl behind me was trembling slightly because of fear.

"Leave you alone? And who are you brat? There are eight of us! We also have weapons!" The robed men sneered while revealing their... Were those swords? Yeah, no doubt those were swords! Where the hell did they get them? This city didn't sell such weapons, there were either knives or short swords you could find, but not the type those men wielded.

Foreigners? Possibly.

"I don't care if there are dozens of you, either you leave this girl alone or you'll face the consequences." I stated sternly as I glared to them while cracking my knuckles.

They only looked at each other before dashing towards me at the same time while letting out battle cries and raising their weapons.

So be it!

I kicked the ground beneath me and also dashed. I was fast! Faster than them! Quickly, I slipped through the defenses of one of them and delivered an elbow hit to a robed man's stomach, knocking him down. I immediately pivoted my leg, twisting my body and delivered a heel kick to another one, hitting him in the stomach as well.

I ducked and dodged the slash that was aimed to my face, I pushed my leg and delivered a knee attack to his groin before grabbing his robe and throwing this robed man at the other one that was trying to ambush me.

I jumped a little and dodged the swing before delivering a spinning kick that smashed into three other robed men, sending them down to the ground.

As I landed, I noticed that a few of the ones who I had knocked down were already standing up again and readying themselves. I also noticed one of the swords had fallen down near my leg. I kicked it upwards, grabbed it and took a stance. I kicked the ground, spinning my body in the process and delivered a slash to one of the men.

The force of the ground-pushing and spinning of my body proved to be very strong as the man who blocked it was sent flying and crashed into the fence, no doubt he wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

I gripped my sword tightly before glancing at my surroundings. There were twelve of them in total and now they were already down to five. It seemed I had hit a few of them too hard. The robed men were circling me like hyenas that tried to pounce their prey, however, I could tell few of them were shaking, no doubt that they were shocked from seeing me take them down with ease.

A silence appeared around us as I observed my surroundings. My eyes were narrowed and sharpened as I stared at their legs and hands. It was time to finish this!

I stomped the ground with one leg before rotating my body again and created a burst of dust and smokes. After that I dashed, they couldn't move freely since they were too many but I was alone! I could swing my sword in the area without problem.

I smashed my sword on one man's hands and knocked his sword away before delivering a kick to his face. Then I moved to another and delivered a stabbing attack, my sword pierced something, I could feel it sink in.

Believe it or not, for some strange reason I never felt disgusted or strange during a fight. It was as if there was something inside me that had already accustomed to battle.

I kicked the man away before spinning my body and delivering a strong slash. The man clumsily tried to block it, but due his lack of vision on me he got his sword knocked away, my hand quickly extended to grab his robe before throwing him away to the last man standing and delivering a strong axe slash.

CLANG! BREAK!

His sword broke into two under my slash and my sword sliced a part of his chest as he let out a scream of pain before he dropped to the ground.

I let out small pants as I stared at my surroundings. Everyone was already down, there were no more enemies. I turned to the blonde girl who was gawking at me, no doubt that she was surprised.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I approached her and threw away my weapon so she would not afraid.

The girl blinked before she stared at me with wide eyes and she let out a squeal "Oh my God! That was so cool!" She lunged at me and gave me a hug, I let out a soft grunt when her body crashed on me. I was expecting her to be crying or things like that, but it seemed she was too amazed from my performance for that.

"Hey! Hey! Now don't say that! First, tell me, are you okay?" I asked as I pushed away and began to check her for of any wounds.

"I'm okay! Onii-chan has saved me before those big mean people got me!" She said with a grin.

"I see... Wew, I'm glad then..." I replied with a chuckle as I stared down at the smiling girl. Now that I had time to observe her more, it became clear to me that she was also a foreigner. That blonde hair was natural, not dyed, and she seemed two or one year younger than me. She was also wearing a gothic lolita fashion outfit.

It was then that I finally sensed it.

My eyes widened slightly at the girl who was smiling to me. Part of my mind once again screamed, yelled to alert me.

This girl is not a human...

My muscles' reactions must have been quite visible as I saw the girl below me noticed them as well.

"Onii-chan? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Oh? I'm okay, no need to worry about me. It's just some bad memories!" I replied with a lie. I didn't know why, but for strange reasons my body seemed very wary to this girl.

The girl continued to smile at me after hearing my response. She then glanced at the group around her. After that, she turned to me with a sad expression "Onii-chan... Can... Can I ask you a favor again?"

"Huh? Sure, what is it?" I asked. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Ah? I'm Mittelt! What about yours?" She asked with a grin.

"Hyoudou Issei..." I grunted with a smile as well. "So what do you need?"

"Oh right! I almost forgot!" She let out her tongue cutely. Then she opened her eyes and grinned to me "Onii-chan, I need you to die for me!"

Eh?

SQUEEELCH

A crimson pool of blood immediately splattered on the ground.