Chapter 120: Issei's POV

Back to ORC.

"Yes, I haven't told him, but I am planing to call him on lunch break or after school ends." Rias said.

Just then, Akeno approached with her signature serene smile, carrying a tray with tea. She gracefully placed the tea on the desk before Arthur, her long black hair cascading down her shoulders.

"Thank you, Akeno," Arthur said, lifting the cup. "I see the service here is as impeccable as always."

Akeno smiled sweetly, her eyes glinting with amusement. "Only the best for our honored guest," she teased, before stepping back beside Rias.

Arthur then turned to Rias, "Can I also join you when you call him."

Arthur took another sip of the tea, savoring its warmth before responding to Rias's confused question.

"Why?" Rias repeated, her brow furrowing slightly. To her, Issei had already been converted into a devil, and informing him of the fact seemed like a routine matter. She couldn't understand why Arthur was so interested in something that appeared mundane.

Arthur set his cup down gently and leaned back, locking eyes with her. "Because it's fun watch, Rias."

"Just that?" Rias asked.

"Just that." Arthur replied.

Rias studied Arthur for a moment, unsure whether to take his words at face value. His presence always brought a sense of mystery, and his reasons often ran deeper than he let on.

But if he said it was for fun, she couldn't outright dismiss it. Still, it seemed strange that someone like Arthur, who has the ability to see and change future, would take interest in something so trivial.

She let out a sigh, leaning back in her chair. "You really are something, Arthur. Fine. If you want to be there, you can join us."

Arthur smiled, satisfied. "Perfect. But instead of calling him here, let's go to him."

Rias raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. "Go to him?"

Arthur leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. "Yes. It'll be more... intimate that way. Less intimidating for him, I think."

Rias considered his words. While the Occult Research Club's room wasn't particularly foreboding to her or her peerage, for someone like Issei—who was just starting to grasp the supernatural—it could be overwhelming. Meeting him in a more familiar place might ease the transition.

"Alright," Rias agreed, "We'll go to him after school." She glanced at Akeno, who nodded in silent understanding.

[You are really putting him through some traumatic experience, Sir.] Friday suddenly said.

"It's not traumatic experience, Friday, it's for issei's character development." Arthur said with a little chuckle.

[Is that so, then you will also experience some character development events soon, Sir.] Friday said.

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[Issei's POV]

Issei sat with a deep frown on his face, frustration etched into his features as he stared at his two friends, Matsuda and Motohama.

They always acted like this, dismissing his concerns about *her*—about Yuuma-chan. Every time he brought her up, they shot him down as if she had never existed.

"Like I said before, we seriously don't know her," Matsuda said with a lazy shrug, his usual mischievous grin still plastered across his face. "You should really get a doctor to check you. Right, Motohama?"

"Yeah, I'm going to repeat this again," Motohama adjusted his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose. "We weren't introduced to a girl called Yuuma-chan."

Issei's brow twitched. He thought at first they were just messing with him, as they often did. It wasn't unusual for Matsuda and Motohama to tease him, especially about girls, but this… this felt different. No matter how serious he became, they insisted they didn't remember her.

But *Issei* remembered. He *knew* he had introduced Yuuma-chan to them.

His memory was crystal clear: the teasing from his friends, the incredulity in their voices as they mocked him. "How come a beauty like her is *Ise's* girlfriend?!" Matsuda had yelled, almost falling over in shock. "There must be a system error happening in this world… Ise, you haven't done anything illegal, have you?"

And Issei, feeling more confident than ever, had shot back, "You guys should get a girlfriend as well." He'd been proud—too proud, in hindsight. But it was real. He knew it had happened. He could remember every word, every laugh, and every reaction from that day.

Yet, here they were, acting like it had never happened. Like *she* had never existed.

It was like Yuuma-chan had just… vanished.

It wasn't just Matsuda and Motohama. When he tried looking for evidence—something, *anything*—it was like she'd been erased from the world.

Her phone number, the one he'd memorized, was suddenly out of service. There was no record of her contact info in his phone, no saved messages, nothing. It was as if someone had gone through his phone and wiped her from existence.

"But why?" he wondered, trying to make sense of it all. "I didn't delete her number. I'd never do that."

He had even called the number multiple times, hoping it was just a mistake. But every time, he was met with the same cold message: "This number is no longer in service."

Was it possible he had imagined everything? Was Yuuma-chan just a fantasy he had conjured up? No, it couldn't be. He *remembered* her—her face, her voice, the way she smiled at him. It was too real to be a figment of his imagination.

Issei tried retracing his steps, thinking of every moment they had spent together. He even went as far as visiting the school where she said she was from, but no one had ever heard of her. The uniform, the face, the name—none of it existed. It was like the world had swallowed her up, leaving no trace behind.

Who was she? Was she even real? Or was it all some elaborate dream he had tricked himself into believing?

Lost in his thoughts, Issei barely noticed when Matsuda clapped a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance.

"Well, man, we're in the middle of our youth. Weird stuff like that can happen to us." Matsuda gave him a reassuring smile, his usual carefree demeanor never wavering. "Come over to my place after school. Let's watch my secret collection together."

"That's an excellent idea," Motohama chimed in, nodding sagely. "You should definitely invite Ise-kun too, Matsuda."

"Of course I'm inviting him, Motohama-kun!" Matsuda declared, puffing out his chest. "We're high school boys driven by our sexual desires! If we don't indulge in our perverted ways, it would be disrespectful to our parents who brought us into this world!"

Issei managed a weak chuckle, even as the confusion and frustration lingered in the back of his mind. For now, maybe it was better to forget about the mystery of Yuuma-chan. But deep down, he knew something was wrong—terribly wrong.

Something, or someone, had erased her from his life.

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