Chapter 12

Translation: Word (Microsoft), there are probably errors in the masculine and feminine pronouns.

Chapter 12

I was completely confused.

And the reason for my bewilderment was right next to me: Izayoi Saigou.

The surprise in the room was evident when he walked in this morning. The murmur of the students was not long in coming, and he did not blame them. Just yesterday we had seen her in perfect condition, moving with her usual energy, but today...

Today it seemed to have come out of a war movie.

Her arms, neck and legs were wrapped in bandages, as if she had been run over by a moving truck. Although his expression was as carefree as ever, the contrast between his relaxed attitude and his obvious fitness was enough to make anyone raise an eyebrow.

"What the hell happened to him?"

I wasn't the only one to think so. Some of our companions looked at her in amazement, while others whispered to each other, probably inventing their own theories about her sorry state.

Finally, unable to contain myself any longer, I decided to ask him.

"... Hey, Izayoi-san." I leaned a little towards her, lowering my voice so that only she could hear me. "What happened to you?"

She turned her face towards me with a lopsided smile, as if it were nothing important.

"Ah, this." She pointed to herself with a casual gesture. "It was just a little training."

The way he said it, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, left me speechless.

"Small? You look like a mummy!"

It took me a moment to take in his answer. I swallowed hard before speaking again.

"T-you mean this as 'small'?"

She shrugged. "Senji says that if you don't end up with a sore body after training, then you didn't do well."

My eye trembled at his answer.

"What kind of training has this girl been doing?"

I didn't know who this Senji was, but if this was the result of his training, I preferred to stay as far away from him as possible.

After Izayoi's shocking return wrapped in bandages as if she had survived an apocalypse, the morning passed relatively normally. Well... as normal as it could be when one of your classmates talked about hellish workouts as if they were morning exercises.

But now, there was something much more important on my mind.

The ultimate mission.

My friends and battle brothers on the path of eroticism, Matsuda and Motohama, had been planning this moment all week. The golden opportunity had arrived: the women's swimming club had practice today, and that meant only one thing...

"A glimpse into utopia!"

As the sun shone overhead, we scurried carefully through the school's outer hallways, our heartbeats racing and adrenaline pumping. Each step brought us closer to the promise of a heavenly vision: naked girls.

Matsuda slid against the wall, raising his hand in a military gesture. "Target in sight! We are advancing in training, guys!"

Motohama adjusted his glasses with a perverted smile. "My calculations indicate that, at this point, at least 78% of girls should already be changing. We must proceed with stealth."

I nodded seriously. "For the sake of humanity, we cannot fail."

With the stealth of ninjas on a suicide mission, we approach the women's wardrobe. The door was slightly ajar. A warm breeze hit our faces, carrying away the scent of shampoo and body lotion.

"It's now or never!"

Matsuda and Motohama stuck to the wall, giving me the signal to be the first to look. I swallowed, feeling fate calling me. Slowly, my heart pounding a thousand miles an hour, I bent down to peek out...

And then...

"Perverts."

A single word, spoken in a stoic, emotionless voice, caused my soul to leave my body completely.

I slowly turned my head and there she was.

Shirone-san.

His expression remained unchanged, as if he had already anticipated our attempt from the beginning. His hazel eyes reflected absolute judgment, as if he were looking at three insignificant insects trying to defy the inevitable.

Panic took hold of me.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

Matsuda was the first to react. "Alpha escape plan!"

Motohama and I didn't think twice about turning around and racing like crazy. However, we barely took a step when we felt a terrifying weight on our shoulders.

Overwhelming pressure.

The air became dense.

With superhuman strength, Shirone grabbed us by the collars of our shirts and, before we could process him, smashed us to the ground with a wrench worthy of a professional wrestler.

Life flashed before my eyes.

"This is how I die..."

Shirone looked down at us, her expression unchanged. Then, without saying anything else, he dragged us like garbage bags away from the locker room.

The dream was over.

Utopia... Destroyed.

And so, our glorious attempt to attain godhood ended with us being left in the back of the school building, with nothing but the dust and lament of our defeat.

Matsuda sat on the floor, rubbing his neck. "Guys... I think I saw death up close."

Motohama adjusted his glasses tremblingly. "My calculations were wrong. We hadn't contemplated the Shirone-san variable."

I just sighed, looking at the sky. "We had a dream... but fate said 'No'."

As the three of us lamented our defeat, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket.

A new message.

I pulled it out reluctantly and my eyes widened a little as I read the sender:

Yuuma-chan.

"Issei-kun, would you like to go out with me this weekend?"

I blinked a few times, making sure I wasn't hallucinating.

My friends noticed my reaction and immediately reached out.

"What's wrong, Issei?" Matsuda asked, leaning toward me curiously.

I kept staring at the screen, as if at any moment the message was going to magically disappear. But there it was, crystal clear.

Then, slowly, a smile began to form on my face.

"Guys... it looks like a date is waiting for me."

Matsuda and Motohama were silent for a second. Then, as if their brains had finally understood my words, they reacted the only way they knew how.

"WHATEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The scream was so loud that some students passing by turned to see what was happening.

Matsuda grabbed me by the shoulders with a mixture of excitement and desperation. "Tell me it's a joke! Tell me it's not true, Issei!"

Motohama checked his glasses, as if he could check if there was any flaw in reality. "It can't be... according to my calculations, the probability of Issei going on a date with a beautiful girl was 0.001%."

I smiled even more proudly, feeling the energy of victory coursing through my body.

"Well, it looks like I just broke those stats, you idiots!"

Matsuda fell to his knees, his fists clenched and trembling. "No... no way. How were you able to get an appointment before us? At what point did the world go crazy?!"

Motohama put a hand to his chest. "My heart... I feel that my spirit has left my body."

I laughed with superiority. This was my moment!

"Finally, guys! The great Issei Hyoudou has been blessed by the gods of romance! A beautiful girl wants to go out with me!"

They just looked at me with expressions of total disbelief.

Matsuda, still on the ground, muttered, "Who... Who's the lucky one?"

I took a step back, dramatically, before announcing with a smug smile:

"Her name is Yuuma-chan."

My friends exchanged glances before shouting in unison:

"AND WHO THE HELL IS SHE?!"

We walked away from the backyard and headed towards a bench near the school, where I explained to them how I met Yuuma-chan a few days ago, when I approached her on impulse, and to my surprise, she agreed to talk to me.

"We got along and he asked me for my number," I explained with a smile. "But I never thought she would be the one to invite me first."

Matsuda looked at me suspiciously. "This... This makes no sense. Usually girls reject us without a second thought."

Motohama nodded with the same doubtful expression. "Exactly. Something doesn't fit here... Issei, are you sure it's not a trap?"

I frowned. "Why does everyone assume this is a trap? Is it so impossible for a girl to notice me?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Matsuda. "Not because we are horrible, but because society is against us!"

Motohama held up a finger as if giving a lecture. "The statistics don't lie, Issei. This... This is something that defies the logic of the universe."

I rolled my eyes and looked at my cell phone again, looking at the message again.

"I don't care what they say. This is real."

I took a breath and smiled confidently. "Guys, I know you're in shock, but this is my destiny. My golden age is beginning."

Matsuda gritted his teeth and pointed at me dramatically. "Issei... if you manage to make this event a success... I will officially recognize you as a man among men."

Motohama adjusted his glasses. "I... I still can't accept it. I need more proof."

I shook my head. "I don't need proof, my friends. I just need you to wait and see."

They looked at me in disbelief, but I was too excited to care about their doubts.

In a few days, I would have my first date with a beauty!

Nothing, absolutely nothing, could go wrong.

After surviving my friends' mental breakdown from my upcoming date with Yuuma-chan, I finally said goodbye to them and made my way back home.

The cool afternoon air blew gently as I walked through the park that I always passed through on my route. Everything seemed normal: children playing, old people feeding pigeons, couples sitting on benches...

But then, something caught my attention.

A few feet in front of me, a strange duo of children were walking quietly along the stone path.

My first instinct was to ignore them. After all, they were just a couple of kids, what was so weird about that?

But when my eyes really focused on them, a shiver ran down my spine.

The first was a girl with jet-black hair, long and silky, tied in a ponytail with a large purple bow that stood out against her dark hair. Her eyes were a deep gray, devoid of emotion, and her black one-piece dress, with purple details and ruffles on the skirt, gave her an air of elegance... or perhaps, something else.

Next to her walked a child who left me speechless.

Short white hair, red eyes with fine, sharp pupils. And the most disturbing thing... Two small horns protruded from his forehead, barely visible between his locks.

"What...?"

For some reason, my body tensed up.

I didn't know which was stranger: the fact that one child had horns, or that they both walked with an almost unsettling calmness, as if they were fictional characters brought into real life.

"It's not my problem."

I tried to ignore it, telling myself that I was probably just seeing things. But as I passed them, the white-haired boy turned his head slightly in my direction... and looked at me.

For some reason, my body froze.

It wasn't an aggressive or threatening look, but it wasn't the look of a normal child either. There was something about those red eyes that made me feel like... as if he were evaluating me.

As if he knew something that I didn't.

It was hard to explain. He didn't look like a normal child, but there was also nothing he could point to as "suspicious." It was just... strange.

"Maybe I'm tired. Yes, that must be."

I looked away and quickened my pace, wanting to get away from that uncomfortable feeling.

But when I was far enough away, I turned to take one last look.

And then...

They were no longer there.

I frowned.

"Huh? Where the hell did they go?"

I looked around, but I didn't see them anywhere. Not a minute could have passed since I passed them, and the park was an open space. There was no way they could disappear so quickly.

I felt a slight chill run down my spine.

I didn't know what it was... But something about those two children was not normal.

I shook my head and let out a sigh.

"Bah, what am I thinking? Surely they got into some path that I didn't see."

I decided not to think about it anymore and continued on my way.

After all... the only thing that really mattered now was my date with Yuuma-chan.

Yes, that was all that mattered.

From the rooftop of a tall building, two small figures watched in silence as the teenager disappeared into the illuminated streets of the city.

The night breeze ruffled the girl's hair with dark locks, tied in a long train with a purple bow. Her black dress with purple details floated slightly in the wind, but her expression remained unchanged, indifferent to everything around her.

Beside him, the white-haired boy crossed his arms, his gaze fixed on the spot where Issei had been a few seconds ago. His red eyes lit up.

"Well?" the girl asked, without taking her eyes off the horizon.

The boy closed his eyes for a moment, pondering before answering.

"… It's too weak."

The girl cocked her head, but showed no surprise.

"For he has not yet awakened his power."

The boy opened one eye, clicking his tongue. "Hmph. I guess that's why they've left him alone until now."

The girl nodded slowly.

"The Sekiryuutei of this generation... he is still asleep."

The boy turned his gaze to the starry sky, thoughtful.

"So, do we leave it like that?"

The girl turned to him, her gray eyes reflecting the moonlight.

"For now, yes."

The wind blew harder, kicking up dust and dry leaves from the roof. And when the breeze passed... The two children were no longer there.

In the distance, the silhouette of Issei Hyoudou was lost in the lights of the city, not knowing that his destiny was already written and that soon, very soon... The dragon within him would awaken.