Chapter 12 : Shutting off from society

Sighing and placing her hand on her forehead, Leiko turned to look at her adoptive cousin.

"Issei. What is your opinion on life?"

Raising a confused eyebrow at the unexpected question, Issei rubbed his head.

"Well, I don't really have an opinion, Leiko-san. I know that life is short, but..."

Staring at her cousin with an unreadable look, Leiko closed her eyes and shook her head.

"So small."

"Huh?"

"You're so small, my Ise-itoko. Too fragile."

Issei widened his eyes at the reply. Leiko turned to glare at her cousin with harsh and sharp crimson-ruby orbs of vision.

"With the way you are always acting, life is not going to be your greatest ally. Life is going to take advantage of you, because it relies on your personality to help screw you over."

The young man looked at his cousin in surprise.

"I-I..."

Narrowing her crimson eyes until they were slits, Leiko stood up from her seat and maintained her harsh glare.

"You're weak, Issei. And because you're so weak, you'll never be strong enough to live your own life if you keep acting like this. You need to stop being so nervous and better yourself!"

Leiko sharply gulped down the lump in her throat. She knew what she was saying was harsh, but she had to get through to her cousin. With his shy personality, the world was going to be something that he would always fear, and god knows, Leiko didn't want that tragedy to befall on Issei.

As he looked up at his glaring cousin, Issei adopted a shocked look on his face. As he remembered bits and portions of his life so far, he widened his eyes on how Leiko was correct. The harassment from the kids about his eyes wasn't the only thing that was harming him.

It was himself.

Shutting off from society and not interacting with people had certainly hindered him as a person. He had always stayed to himself, fearing that everyone would judge him based on his appearance.

He was hurting himself. He was the one who was stopping himself from moving on.

'L-Leiko-san's right. I'm only hurting myself. And if I keep doing that then Life might just...no. Life will hurt me.'

"Ise-itoko..."

At the call of his cousin's nickname for him, Issei looked up just in time to see Leiko placing her hand on his cheek. With soft yet stern eyes, Leiko stared at her cousin with concern and pressed her forehead against his.

"I am telling you all this, as a concerned cousin who loves you. So, so much. Do you understand?"

Staring wide-eyed at his cousin, Issei gained a slight serious look and he slowly nodded. Satisfied at her cousin's answer, Leiko removed her hand from Issei's cheek, and went to walk away from him.

"I'm going to walk around the mall for a bit. I'll meet you back here. All right? Stay here and wait for me."

Maintaining his sad yet somber look, Issei nodded to his cousin. Staring at her cousin, Leiko went off to another direction.

'Ise-itoko...'

As he sat on the bench, Issei placed his hand on his cheek, thinking about what Leiko had said. She was right, no doubt about that. He really had to toughen up if he was going to survive life. Here he was, avoiding everyone, and he wasn't even an adult yet.

'I still have a lot of years ahead of me. And here I am, wasting them away.'

"Excuse me? Are you Issei Hyoudou?"

Looking up, Issei rose an eyebrow as he saw two girls in strange clothing.

'Who are they?'

One was a well-endowed young woman of Chinese descent with shoulder-length black hair and blue-green eyes. Her hair had two Chinese-style buns on both sides of her head, while the front features bangs formed a slight V-shape across her forehead. She wore a navy blue qipao with gold accents, a white sash around her stomach, and black, low-heeled shoes. She also wore a black armbands over her forearms.

The second girl had blue hair and light brown eyes. Her hair was styled with four short ponytails, with two of the four pointed up and the remaining two pointed down. The front of her hair featured split bangs going across her forehead, with side bangs framing her face. Her outfit consisted of a white haori with a red obi, which was worn under a red happi coat. She wore bandages on her forearms and shins, and wore black guards over her hands. Covering her feet, were a pair of zōri.

Issei noticed the proud smirks on the girls' faces, and he felt that he was about to be in a dangerous situation.

"Who are you?"

The girl of Chinese descent placed her hand on her hip, narrowing her blue-green eyes.

"Who we are is none of your concern. The only thing you need to know is that our master, Riser-sama, requires your presence."

"...Riser?"

At Another Section of the Mall

Leiko sighed as she ordered a beverage. She was getting mixed feelings about her talk with Issei.

"It had to be said. I'm aware of his past, but I can't have a cousin who shuts himself away all the time. If he keeps doing that, his life is going to be the worst. It just had to be said."

Taking a sip of her drink, Leiko closed her eyes and walked off to another section of the mall. Looking around her surroundings, Leiko rose an eyebrow as she felt something behind her.

Stopping for only a second, Leiko turned around, only to see nothing. Raising an eyebrow, Leiko turned back around and her crimson-ruby eyes widened as she dropped her drink in surprise.

"AHHHHHHH!"

The Occult Research Club

"Why on Earth do you want to fight Issei?" Rias asked.

She was genuinely confused on why Riser Phenex wanted to fight someone he didn't even know. Her blue-eyes green widened.

'Did Riser sense his power as well?'

The Phenex male scoffed and crossed his arms.

"That's none of your concern, Rias."

Rias narrowed her eyes.