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The frequent slips he gave her when the redhead came to talk to him could not be misconstrued as anything else but avoiding her. Still, Rias had not given up, and the more he avoided her the more she persisted in finding him. In the few months he had arrived at this school, it had almost become a game to them, with him hiding and her seeking. It was a game that required patience, and he was confident that he could win for he had patience in ample supply. That, and from the recent sour looks she would send him after spending a lunchtime of searching only to discover he had been in his homeroom all along, told him he was close to victory.
He regretted he could not at least be friends with her. She just resembled Mitsuru in too many ways for him to even consider the possibility.
He did not consider Issei Hyoudou a friend, though from the way the perverted boy treated him it was clear Issei considered him one. He had tried to make himself scarce but like Rias, the boy would seek him out. Unlike Rias though, Issei could actually find him, and long were the hours he suffered as he was regaled with tales of harems, women, and womanly body parts. It seemed that was all Issei could talk about, and he had a sneaking suspicion the boy had not a clue about what a real relationship was like.
He had experience with Mitsuru, and an inkling of what would have happened if he had tried the harem route when he announced his relationship to the rest of SEES. From the way Fuuka suddenly excused herself and the fact that Yukari would not speak with him for the next three days spoke volumes of how badly he had missed the signs. He had been so focused on strengthening the bonds of their Arcana that he had not noticed the inevitable feelings that arose as a result.
He had felt like an ass afterwards too.
He apologized, of course, and Fuuka at least had been fast to forgive. She required him merely to taste some of her cooking, and he had survived that only with some mild food poisoning. He considered that a victory compared to some of her more... exotic dishes. Yukari had not been so lenient. He had suspected she had liked him from the very start, but either had not the opportunity or courage to tell him. Ever since that day the girl had been noticeably distant to Mitsuru, and though Yukari had always made sure that it would never affect her combat performance, the awkwardness between the two still lingered.
Issei, however, was blissfully unaware of all this. From what scatterbrained ideas the perverted boy had let slip, it was clear that he thought that everything would come together flawlessly. It was as though he didn't factor jealousy, envy, or even simple human emotion into the equation.
He could not bring himself to hate the boy, however, nor dislike him for that matter. For all his shortcomings, Issei was still a decent person at heart, and possessed an admirable streak of loyalty. He would not leave his friends, no matter the odds, and he could respect that, at the very least.
It reminded him of Junpei, oafish and clumsy as he was, the Magician Arcana was still steadfastly devoted to his friends, and the obstacles they had overcome together merely added to that loyalty.
Nevertheless, Issei's constant talk of women and harems still irked him to no end, if not from the impossibility of it, then from the sheer frequency of it. He had been honestly glad when the boy found a girlfriend, happy that he would have some relief from Issei's inane jabbering. That relief had lasted for all of one day. And then Issei had come back from what was supposed to be his first date and from the stunned look on his face he knew something had gone wrong. The melancholy affected the boy for weeks, and for some reason their roles had been reversed, with Issei being the one to avoid him in the halls and actively retreating from his presence when they met.
It was a time of relative peace for him, but to his surprise, he did not enjoy it.
And then the boy had come to him, as suddenly as he had disappeared, anger on his face instead of sadness.
"What would you do, Arisato-san," Issei had asked him, "if one of your friends was in danger but your other friends said it was too dangerous to rescue her?"
The question had been so out of the ordinary, so unlike Issei, that he had actually set down the book he had been reading to give the boy a look of pure disbelief.
"I mean it was me who got her into trouble in the first place, so I can't just leave her, you know," the boy had continued on, unmindful of the stare he was receiving, "I know Gremory-san told me I shouldn't go, but damn it, it was my fault to begin with!"
What happened to the usually boisterous, cheerful Issei that he had grown used to- Wait, Rias? What did Rias have to do with this?
"I can't stand the thought of her suffering in the hands of that... that bitch," the boy spat out and he raised an eyebrow in response, surprised at the vehemence in his tone, "I need to help her right away! What would you do Arisato-san?"
He considered the situation. From the limited information that had just been dumped onto him, caution would clearly be the wisest choice. He told the pacing boy as much.
"You're right!" Issei pounded a fist into his palm, "I should be cautious about telling Gremory-san what I'm going to do and rescue Aria right away!"
...
That... was not what he had said at all.
The boy flashed him a confident grin.
"Thanks Arisato-san! I'm going to do as exactly as you say!"
Wait... what?
And with that, Issei had spun on his heel and left, his gait so fast that it might as well have been running.
He had a sinking feeling that the boy was about to do something incredibly foolish and incredibly stupid. With a sigh, he had risen from his feet and after a backwards, longing look to the unfinished book still on the table, he had stepped after Issei, and hastened to follow.
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