Disclaimer: I don't own anything. (Only my OCs)

So, this is the first chapter! Hope you like it~

Also, this story was previously called 'The Path Of Ascension.' I just changed the name to The God Of Magic.

Chapter 1 - Prologue

At the beginning, for the first three hours or so, Issei was just like a normal new-born baby. It didn't matter if it was his ugly appearance, his endless cries, his closed eyes... everything was absolutely normal, just like it should be.

The difference happened when around three hours passed since his birth. At that moment, he opened his closed eyes. His cries stopped immediately. Instead, they were replaced by an eerie silence.

Everyone in the room was surprised, no matter if they were the doctors, Mr and Mrs Hyoudou, there was no exception. That was because, not only did he stop everything and opened his eyes, he begun to look around. His look wasn't filled with the innocent look of a baby. Instead, it seemed colder... more sinister.

Just from opening his eyes, it seemed as if the temperature of the room had dropped a few degrees.

The little Issei looked around for a couple of minutes, absorbing every detail, before finally closing his eyes and going back to sleep. With that, the room ceased its coldness.

That was the first time that Issei demonstrated his uniqueness.

After that, he didn't cry even once. He was always quiet, observing the world with a bored look. No matter if it were babysitters, clowns, his parents... his expression didn't waver.

He would never cry or laugh. His expression remained the same all day long. The doctors couldn't explain why he was like that, and his parents could only deal with it.

After some months, they came to the conclusion that Issei was simply that way. Nothing could be done about it.

It kept like that for a few more months, before Issei begun speaking.

Not even a year old, but could already speak.

His parents were elated, but they soon discovered that although he could speak, he would only do so when necessary. As such, his sentences were short and cold.

When Issei became two years old, he could already read.

His body was no longer baby-like, and was more child-like by that time. His gaze, ever since the beginning, was set on a bored and even aloof look.

To Issei, the world was dull and boring. There was no such thing as fun or interesting. It was all.. plain and boring.

It was as if the world was colorless. He viewed the world differently from everybody else. While everyone thought it was a blessing to be alive, Issei simply couldn't stand it.

Everyone was so stupid... so plain... so boring...

It was as if he viewed everyone else as nothing. As if no one could ever hope to match up to him, as if he was superior to everyone else.

With such a strange child, Mr. and Mrs. Hyoudou were saddened. They then tried hard, and when Issei was four years old, she got pregnant.

Curiously enough, on the day of his birthday, April 16, his new sibling decided to that it was time to be born.

As if destiny decided to play a sick game on the Hyoudou family, ten hours later after arriving on the hospital, his mother died during childbirth, along with his future little brother.

Mr. Hyoudou, utterly depressed, committed suicide soon after.

All that was left of the Hyoudou family was the little Issei, that even as his parents died one after the other, his gaze only wavered lightly.

Within his eyes, a hint of surprise could be seen, but it was soon awash with his usual look of being bored.

On his fifth birthday, both of his parents died. At the moment, Issei couldn't help but to feel the irony of the situation. He wondered if the heavens wanted to give him a birthday gift, but screwed badly on the process. Like, really, really badly.

Three days later, since he had no other relative, he was moved into an orphanage. The orphanage was the best one in Kuoh city. It was composed of large building, with various employes.

The children in there could enjoy a pretty good life, and were treated fairly good.

As soon as Issei arrived, he came to the conclusion that this place was also boring. Even more boring that his household.

At least there, his parents could talk and read. In here, it seemed as if the children only knew how to scream and run around.

The children weren't found of Issei either. With his cold and distant look, no one wanted to approach him.

As such, for the first week, Issei spent all his time laying on his bed, reading. He would only get up when he felt hunger or when he needed to go to the bathroom.

On one of his daily trips to the bathroom, he came across a strange room. Because this time he tried to take a short-cut, he ended up facing a black door.

It was like any other door on the orphanage, only that on its surface, a paper was glued onto it. On the paper, the name "Shiro" was written.

Looking at the door, Issei took a mental image of it and then went to the bathroom. On the way back, he didn't immediately go to his room. Instead, he walked over to the door.

Not bothering to knock, he opened the door. Immediately, for the first time in his life, his eyes widened.

That was because, not too far away from him, sitting on the ground, was a pale-skinned girl.

She had long, messy white hair with a plethora of colors mixed at its ends, such pale blue, purple, pink, green, and yellow. Her eyes were large and beautiful, painted in a golden color. She was small, seemingly only five years old.

She was sitting on the ground, a chessboard in front of her. She looked at the game briefly before moving her black horse. Soon after, she spun the chessboard around and moved a white rook.

Issei stood motionlessly at the entrance, looking at the girl who was entranced by the game.

From all of those, what truly caught his attention was the girl's eyes. Within them, he could see the reflection of his own eyes.

At the moment he saw them, he understood that she was just like him!

After reaching that conclusion, he directed his attention to the chessboard.

He had never seen that thing before, and he was wondering what someone that seemed to be like him was doing with it.

After a couple of seconds, he understood that it was a game to be played by two players and that she was acting like those two players.

Some time later, he understood that the objective of the game was to capture the piece that was slightly taller than the others.

A couple of seconds after that, he already knew how each piece moved.

With that information in mind, he walked over. The girl ignored him and was about to turn around the chessboard, but was then stopped as Issei held it down.

Looking up at Issei, she gazed at him confusedly. That was when she also noticed his eyes. They felt similar... she could feel.. they were like hers!

Without saying anything, Issei moved a piece.

Seeing his movement, the girl didn't bother opening her mouth. She then moved another piece. Issei then calculated a little and moved another piece.

They kept at that for a few minutes, seemingly in a situation where one could not get the upper hand, before the girl came to the conclusion that the boy in front of her was truly similar to her. Deciding to kick things up a notch, she focused on the game more.

Their situation of being tied was then reversed, with the white-haired girl taking the lead. She then ended up winning the game.

Without them saying anything, they rebuilt the chessboard again and once more played. This continued on for a few hours. At the end, they had played twenty matches in total.

Although the girl started out winning, at the end, they had an equal number of ten losses and ten wins each.

Issei looked up and looked at the girl at the same time she did. Their eyes met and Issei couldn't help but to smile lightly. That wasn't a forced smile, it was one from deep within his soul.

In his entire life, he had never felt so... alive.

The girl was the same, and also smiled.

At the moment he saw her smile, his dull world changed. Colors appeared, blue, green yellow, red... they were so beautiful!

Lights, shadows, colors... everything that didn't exist, now came to life.

At that moment, his smile grew even wider and so did the girl's as she experienced the same thing.

"My name is Issei," Issei said, with the smile still on his face, "What is yours?"

"Shiro," The girl answered. Although her answer was smaller, her smile was just as wide. Her voice was that of an angel; soft and sweet.

From that day onwards, Issei returned to his room only once. That was to grab his things, such as his books as well as his other necessities.

He then brought them over.

In his mind, why would he live anywhere else? He had finally found someone like him, someone that understood him, and he wasn't about to let her go.

The girl also thought the same, and didn't mind having a new roommate.

Immediately after bringing his stuff over, he went back to playing again. While playing, they talked a little.

Through her short answers, Issei understood that she had been in the orphanage from since she could remember.

She, like him, excluded herself from others. Because of that, the owner of the orphanage decided to give her her own room. The kind man also arranged for her to have some board games, along with food delivered to her.

Although Shiro didn't show much affect towards the owner, he loved her like his own daughter. After all, she had been in the orphanage since she was a few months old, so he naturally grew to care for her more.

They then played the entire night, and after it reached nine in the mourning of the next day, they went to sleep.

Issei climbed onto Shiro's futton without saying a word while she did the same.

Soon after, both of them fell asleep, with Shiro slightly holding on to Issei's clothes.

Even though they had only met for one day, they felt an affinity to each other. They knew that in the entire world, only them could truly understand one another.

They felt as if they had known each other their entire lives. As such, things as sleeping on the same bed were nothing. Furthermore, they were only children.

For the next five months, Issei and Shiro's relationship only grew better. When the owner found out about Shiro's new roommate, he immediately had people deliver food to him too.

In the entire orphanage, Issei was Shiro's only fried, and the kind owner was determined to let him go away.

He even went as far as placing another bed on the room, but ever since it was placed, it was never used. They only slept together.

At the start, they only had a sense of familiarity and of understanding one another. However, within a week, Shiro had already begun to seek his physical contact, making sure to keep a hand tugging on his shirt whenever she could.

On the second week, she begun calling him Nii.

By the third week, they were already inseparable. They would stay together every moment of the day. They would either play board games or video games.

About the video games, they were a new addition to Issei's and Shiro's lair.

It happened one month ago, when the owner of the orphanage bought a television along with a video game. He then handed a test to each child and said that whoever could finish it within a week would win the television and the video game.

At that moment, for the first time in four months, Issei left the room, with Shiro glued behind him, holding onto his long shirt with her tiny hands.

Issei then casually went there and without even looking at the others, picked a pencil. Ten minutes later, the television along with the video game were already on his and Shiro's room.

From that moment on, they begun to play video games all day long. They also had developed a way of playing.

No matter if it were single player or multiplayer games, Shiro would always, without exception, be on his lap.

After getting the video game, it didn't take long for they to become addicted to it. They, children of four and five years old, would pull various all-nighters.

And so the days were spent on this manner for the two of them for five months, but suddenly one day, an apparently normal couple arrived at the orphanage.

They, who already had an adopted daughter, were hoping to find a little brother for her, since she had been begging for a little brother to take care of for quite some time now. Since the daughter was seven years old, they wanted a boy of ages between five and six. Not too old, but not too young.

In the entire orphanage, only Issei fit the criteria. All the other boys were either too old or too young. The couple then asked the owner of the orphanage to meet with their, hopefully, future child.

At that moment, the owner was in a tough situation. He knew that it would be impossible to separate Issei from Shiro better than anyone. They were simply glued to one another.

"You want to meet with Issei-chan?"

The husband nodded, "Yes. His age seems to be close to that of ours Little Angel, so we wanted to meet with him."

"Well, we might have a problem..." The owner said with a bit of uncertainty.

"Oh? What might it be?"

"Well, you see, if you choose to adopt Issei, you'll have to adopt another one with him."

"Oh? But the papers said that he didn't have any siblings..."

At the moment, the owner sweat-dropped. How was he supposed to explain this?

"Well..." He begun, before deciding to bring the couple to meet with Issei. It would be easier for them to see with their own eyes. "Follow me."

Back in the room,Issei, with Shiro on his lap, was playing a hack-n-slash. Although the game was single-player, they constantly kept changing who got the controller, depending on the situations.

Suddenly, just when they were about to face a boss, the door to the room opened up, and the owner along with a man and a woman, both around their early thirties, walked in.

Issei turned his head around, his hands never stopping from playing the controller, and looked at the newcomers.

He first looked at the owner, then at the man, and finally at the woman. When he turned back, the boss was already dead.

Issei smirked internally, Beating a boss without even looking...

The owner could only sweat-drop at Issei's antics. Not only did he not greet the visitors, he completely ignored them. But, at least, he bothered looking at them. The entire time, Shiro was snuggling in his lap, only paying attention to the television screen.

The owner than spared a glance at the couple, in order to see if they were annoyed or something, but, thankfully, they were only staring at Issei and most specifically, his hands on the controller and the screen.

"Issei, Shiro, you must greet your guests." The owner said, using a rather forced tone.

Issei and Shiro: "..."

Sweat-dropping again, the owner used a more forced tone, "Greet your guests."

Deciding to end this bullshit, Issei turned around, looked at the couple, and said, "Hello, guests," He then turned around and shot the owner a look that said, "What the hell are these losers doing here?" And finally returned to his infinitely more important game.

Shaking his head, a little embarrassed, the owner said, "I'm sorry... he's just like that..."

The woman immediately shook her head, "No, its not a problem... but, I wonder, how come they have their own room?"

The owner's eyes then widened a little before he explained, "You see, both of them are a bit anti-social, and in the entire orphanage, they only have each other as friends..."

"I see..." The woman said before walking forward and sitting on the ground, this time facing Issei side-ways. "Hey, sweetie, why don't you try to socialize with the other kids?"

It was at that time that the owner's eyes widened and inside, he started saying a silent prayer, Please don't tell them that, please don't tell them that..

Without even bothering to look at the woman, Issei, while still paying attention to the game, said, "Too stupid."

"Huh?" asked the woman. Did he just say "Too stupid"?

"As I said, they are too stupid. Not worthy of my or Shiro's presence," Issei continued casually, as if what he said was the most obvious thing in the world. Once again, he didn't turn his head from the screen.

Issei, why must you be so hard? Can't you see that they are planning to adopt you?! The owner exclaimed in his heart, while he already knew that Issei was doomed to never be adopted.

The woman then looked at the man, who looked back at her. They then smiled lightly. Turning her head around to look at the boy once more, she said, "Too stupid? Can you prove that you're smarter than them?"

Sighing, Issei looked over and also paused the video game at the same time. Since her source of entertainment was stopped, Shiro started looking at Issei, as if it was a new type of fun to watch her Nii. Of course, like before, she didn't even glance at the couple.

If it was said that Issei was haughty and aloof, Shiro was even more. To her, the couple's existence were not more important than the dust in the ground. Would you bother talking or looking at dust? No, and Shiro thought the same.

"Prove that I'm smarter? Sure, but that would take from my precious game time. How are you willing to make up for it?" He said with a bored look as he looked at the woman. Seriously, can't these losers just go away? I'm dealing with important business here, you know.

"Make up for it...?" The woman asked, slightly taken aback by his question.

"Yes, you must give me something in return. Or else, it wouldn't make sense for me to stop playing video games to prove the obvious," Issei continued in a matter-of-fact tone.

At that point, the owner felt like banging his head on a wall, What the hell is up with that arrogant kid? Isn't being arrogant to the other kids enough? Why must you be like that with even adult guests?

"Hmm... how about..." The woman began, before taking out her wallet, that happened to be filled to the brim with money, "1500 yen (~13.26 dollars)?"

Issei's left eyebrow was raised a little, "Money? Well, that works too..." He then, with utmost care, got Shiro out of his lap and grabbed the chessboard that was near the futon. He then came back, placed it in front of the woman, and said, "How about chess?"

Shiro, immediately, climbed up to his lap once more. That was her favorite seat and no one could make her seat elsewhere.

The woman looked at the little boy in surprise before glancing back at her husband. At that time, both shared a knowing smile. She then looked back at Issei, "Chess? Okay..."

She, along with Issei, began to place the pieces on their places. When they were done, she was about to move, since she had gotten the white pieces, but Issei's voice stopped her. "How about we bet?"

The woman, along with the man, looked at Issei with surprise, "Bet?"

"Yes, betting," Issei began, "That would make stuff more interesting, no?"

"I see..." The woman said, before asking Issei, "So, what do you want?"

"Let's see..." Issei began, before smiling a devious smirk, "3000 yen (~26.52 dollars)" In reality, there was a game that Issei and Shiro wanted, and its price was exactly 4500 yen (~39.79 dollars). As such, from the moment he saw the thickness of her wallet, he knew that he had hit jackpot.

"Oh? 3000 yen?" The woman said, slightly surprised, but then smiled afterward. For some reason, she was liking the little kid. She then glanced back at her husband, and after a mental conversation, she looked back at Issei, "Okay, but if I win, I'm adopting you. How's that?"

"Sure," Issei said offhandedly. It wasn't like they would win, anyways. To him, he was nigh-invincible. Furthermore, he also had Shiro with him. They were good when they were playing alone, but if they were playing together, no one could stop them.

Even if they asked for his life, he would gladly accept.

Seeing him agree so easily, the woman as well as the man couldn't help but to be taken aback because of his confidence. Was this kid so sure that he could win? How interesting...

"Then, may I start?" The woman asked, receiving a nod from Issei. At that moment, she was already thinking of what room she would place Issei in. Sadly, it wouldn't go that way.

What followed was a one-sided slaughter from Issei's part. Not even ten minutes later, he had won. Looking at the woman who was staring at the chessboard with disbelief, he extended his left hand and with a serious face, said, "Money."

Looking at the board with disbelief once more, she chuckled, before getting out 3000 yen and handing them to Issei.

After receiving the money and placing them on his pocket, he said, "Anything more? Or can I go back to my other business?"

In reality, he wanted to say important business, but restricted himself. Although the woman had lost, she managed to put up quite a fight. Sadly, even if she was a thousand times better, she would be no match for him. But, it was still a fact that she managed to do something, so he treated her with slightly more respect.

Issei was a person that only gave respect to those that he thought deserved it. Even if it was God, if Issei deemed him stupid, he would disrespect him completely. On the other hand, be it a beggar, if he could challenge Issei mentally, Issei would treat him as a friend. That was how Issei worked.

Shiro, on the other hand, was slightly different. She would treat any and everyone with indifference. Even if they managed to win against her, she wouldn't care. For her, the only person who deserved her attention was Issei. She belonged only to him, and him only to her.

The woman then smiled and said, "How about another match?"

"Another match?" Issei asked, slightly puzzled. Did this woman like losing money or something? He had thought that she was smart, but that thought was immediately washed away by that sentence.

"Yes, another one."

"Same stakes?" Issei asked as he turned back to the chessboard.

"Yes."

"Good, more money isn't bad."

The game then began once more. Surprisingly, this time, the woman had gotten better, but ultimately lost in the end.

Even tough she had lost, Issei was looking at her in a new light. This time, the way she played was over ten times better.

Looking up at the woman, he saw that she was smiling at him. He then saw as she looked back at the husband, who also had a large smile on his face, before she looked at him again and handed him the money.

Right after giving him his reward, she said, "Again?"

Issei was startled. Did this woman have so much money that she couldn't spend it completely even if she tried? Nevertheless, he wasn't the type to let such a fat sheep go away.

Once more, they played and she lost. Surprisingly enough, this time she was over ten times better.

Looking over at her in surprise, Issei saw that she was smiling even more. She then handed him the money, and immediately said, "Once more."

Nodding his head, Issei rearranged the pieces and played after that. Not surprisingly, she lost, but this time, the match lasted over twenty minutes. This time, the woman got a hundred times better than her previous match.

At that point, her face could barely contain her smile. She then asked as she once more handed him 3000 yen, "Again?"

And, with that, they played once more. Much to Issei's surprise, the match lasted over an hour, and he had to use quite a lot of his mental-power to win it.

The woman had improved by over a thousand times since her previous match!

At that point, Issei was excited. He was even thinking about willingly losing, since he knew that if he were to live in a house with people so smart and with so much money, his life would be even better than here. Obviously, he would take Shiro with him. No way in hell was he going without her.

The woman then handed him more 3000 yen.

"Again?" This time, it was Issei who asked. Not only did he want more money, he was also enjoying the match. He could only play like this with Shiro, and playing with another person aside from her wasn't too bad.

"Of course," The woman said, this time she decided to end this once and for all. She had already decided that she was taking this boy home, no matter what.

Seeing the resolution in her eyes, Issei couldn't help but to feel a foreboding feeling. He knew that this time, he might not win!

He then decided that he should do something about it first. Just as the woman was about to start moving her pieces, Issei said. "Can I change the gambling stakes a little?"

"Oh? Of course..." The woman began, "What do you want to change?"

Issei then sighed and looked down at Shiro, "If I lose, you'll have to adopt both me and Shiro."

"Shiro?" The woman said as she tilted her head to the side. She then pointed at the little girl, "You mean her?"

Issei nodded his head while sending Shiro a warm look. Shiro had also noticed that there was a chance of losing, and she was about to ask Issei to suggest that, but since he had already done so, she kept quiet.

By that point, even if she had to bring the whole orphanage home, she would accept. She came here looking for a little brother for her daughter, but ended up finding Issei. Not only would her daughter definitely like him, he was also smart! Insanely smart! And she was determined to bring him to her house.

But, as she looked at the little girl, she could also feel that she was incredibly attached to Issei. This might be troublesome later on... our little angel is extremely possessive, and I'm sure she will attach herself to Issei greatly... Oh well, they must learn how to share.

The woman finally nodded, "Sure, if you lose, I'll adopt both of you."

They continued playing, and look of concentrations appeared on both of their faces. Neither of them were willing to lose. It had already been two hours since the match started, and at this point, they had already disregarded the betting stakes. Now, it was a question of pride. They reached the point where they would battle until the very end.

It was currently the woman's turn, and it had already been fifteen minutes since Issei had made his move. But, neither of them felt hurry. In their minds, they were thinking of countless upon countless of plays. They were devising a strategies for every move the opponent may or may not make, thinking of every possible variable. The what-if's were infinite.

This level of thinking was already above of the one of a mortal. They thought of thousands of possibilities each minute, calculating moves, strategies, possibilities. Even Shiro had begun helping and was also thinking of thousands of strategies.

The man and the owner of the orphanage, on the other hand, had long since directed their attention to the television to the room and were watching a basketball game. To them, who didn't have an absurdly impressive patience, watching the game where neither player moved for minutes was the same as throwing time out of the window.

If they had to wait, might as well do something worthwhile, right?

Occasionally, they would look back to the game, only to see that both of them had yet to make a move. They could only sigh as they though of just how much longer this match would go on for...

After five more minutes, the woman finally made a move.

As soon as both Issei and Shiro saw it, they crushed dozens of strategies that were in their mind and already came up with back-up ones.

Both of them looked at each other before nodding. Shiro then beckoned for Issei to bring his head down a little, and started whispering in his ear the best strategies.

Issei nodded through the whole ordeal. After Shiro was done, he looked back at the board and started to mix his strategies with Shiro's own. Dozens of minutes later, he moved a pawn.

Once more, everything repeated itself as the woman started thinking of countless strategies. It was an inexhaustible, endless cycle in which thousands of possibilities and variables were in play. A wrong move could be your doom.

This endless cycle repeated itself for hours, again and again. By the time they were on the last, decisive, and future-changing move, it was already evening.

At this point, both the owner and the husband noticed that the mach had reached it's zenith, so they had turned off the television and were now gathered around the board, watching with rapt attention. After all, this next move would decide their future.

It was currently Issei's turn. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he looked at the chessboard, his look one of helplessness. He was thinking as hard as he could, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a way out.

He sent Shiro, the petite white-haired little girl on his lap, glance. His message was clear; he was looking for help. But, sadly, not even the white haired otherworldly genius could find a way out. At this point, they both knew that they had been utterly and thoroughly defeated.

But, Issei wasn't one to give up so easily. He glanced at the board one last time. He tried to think of every move he could, but no matter what, it all amounted to nothing. She had him cornered in all sides. No matter what he did, his King would die.

Looking at his King, he sighed. He had failed him. He had lost, and that lost would be the cause of his death. He couldn't help but to feel bad for him, although he knew that in the end, he was an inanimate object and couldn't do anything.

He then looked at Shiro one more time, and saw the look in her eyes. He could clearly see the meaning behind them- It doesn't matter where we go, Nii. As long as I'm with you, it's heaven for me.

Although those words weren't spoken, her eyes said those words and a thousand more. His heart couldn't help but to feel happy. He was truly blessed to have found such a good companion.

Seeing that Shiro was fine with it, Issei no longer had any regrets. All of his previous down-cast mood vanished as he playfully winked at Shiro. After that, he raised his head up and looked at the twenty-something woman, who was observing him with her smart and entrancing eyes.

He sighed, "It's my loss."

Hearing his heartfelt words, that although sad, didn't contain a hint of resentment or regret, the woman flashed a beautiful smile.

She couldn't help but to playfully say, "Check-Mate."

Issei sighed. He looked over at Shiro, and his face brightened over once more. No matter his mood, as long as he glanced at Shiro, he would turn happy. That girl, even just by doing nothing, could lighten up his life and free him from his worries.

He looked back at the woman and gave her a smile, that at the same time wasn't one. "So, do I pack my things right now?"

The woman nodded her head, "Yeah. I'll just sign the papers."

Issei then nodded as carefully lifted Shiro from his lap and started to gather all of their valuables, which weren't many to begin with. Sadly, they couldn't bring the television and the video-game with them, because although they monopolized them, it was still a fact that they were property of the orphanage and not theirs.

At the same time that the Issei and Shiro were packing their stuff, the wife and husband pair were signing the papers that the owner of the orphanage had brought some time ago.

"Are you sure about this?" The owner of the orphanage asked. Normally, he would encourage parents to adopt the children, and not the other way around, but he couldn't help but to make sure that they knew what they were doing. After all, Issei and Shiro weren't normal children by any means.

The woman nodded happily as she finished signing her name. Seeing that his wife was happy, the husband didn't bother thinking about it and just signed the paper.

Now, the process was finally done. The husband and wife pair turned around and saw that Issei and Shiro were already walking towards them. On Issei's shoulder, a small bag could be spotted. In it, there were some spare clothes, underwear and some books. In other words, everything they truly owned.

Shiro was by Issei's side, holding on to his sleeve. She was just like a little cat that relied on her owner.

A couple of minutes later, Shiro, Issei and the husband and wife pair were standing outside the orphanage, near a black, big and extremely expensive car. On the entrance of the orphanage, the owner could be seen waving his hands at them, sending his goodbyes.

The four of them then got inside the car, with the man driving and the woman in the front, by the man's side. On the back, Issei and Shiro were sat extremely close to each other, with Shiro's head on Issei's shoulder.

The woman then turned back to look at them and flashed a smile for the two of them. "It will take quite some time before we arrive. How about we introduce ourselves and get to know each other?"

Normally, before adopting a child, the soon-to-be parents would first talk with them, introduce themselves and get to know each other. Obviously, the woman had no need for such formalities. Just from seeing how smart Issei was, she had already decided that she would adopt him!

As for whether Issei wanted to or not, he even went as far as to gamble that, so it could be seen that he was ready to be adopted should he lose. As such, the woman had no qualms or regrets.

But, now that they had time, she figured that it would be good for they to learn a little more from each other, and create a deeper understanding of one another.

"I see no problem with it," Issei said calmly as he caressed Shiro's hair, playing with it once in a while. The little girl, on the other hand, just couldn't get enough of the feeling.

The woman ignored the sweet actions that were happening between Issei and Shiro, and introduced herself with a straight face and a smile, "Well, I should start first. Let's see... Well, my name Chie Ikusa. My husband here is Nobu Osamu."

Issei nodded his head, "My name, which I presume you already know, is Issei and this little girl here is Shiro," Shiro, in turn only slightly nodded her head, confirming that her name was indeed so.

The woman, now identified as Chie Ikusa, nodded, already knowing the information before-hand. What she wanted to know was more personal information, such as what they liked, hated, loved or enjoyed. Only the basic, primordial, stuff.

"So..." began Ikusa, trying to continue their conversation, "How long have you been on the orphanage?"

Issei thought over it for a while before saying, "For me, five months. As for Shiro..."

"My whole life," Shiro immediately added with a monotone look. Issei nodded slightly.

The woman nodded, not finding the information too surprising. She then continued talking with them for a while, thirty minutes or so, until the car finally came to a stop in front of a large, large, mansion.

The building had at least four floors, and it was HUGE. Like, seriously, the backyard alone would be more than enough to fit three orphanages. The mansion itself? Almost as big.

Ikusa then got out of the car alongside Osamu, and both of them helped the children off the car. After that, they both walked to the front entrance.

On the entrance, however, they stopped. Ikusa looked back at the two children and smiled, "Welcome home," and with that, she opened the door.

Inside, what Issei saw was extremely luxurious furniture, made from ivory and other expensive woods and materials. On the ceiling, there was a huge chandelier hanging from it, lightning up the room it's majestic radiance.

As he looked around, Issei couldn't help but to wonder how much this house was worth if the rest of it was just as luxuriously decorated as the entrance. From his estimations, a couple hundred million yen wouldn't be too far-fetched.

This made him wonder even more as to just who was this woman. Not only was she extremely rich, she had also managed to beat both him and Shiro in chess. He knew better than anyone how good he was, so, consequently, he knew just how hard it was to beat him.

Also, when he looked at the woman, he couldn't help but to have an uneasy feeling. She had an aura of ancientness around her, and Issei just couldn't understand it.

However, just as he was in immersed his thoughts, he heard the sound of light footsteps coming from somewhere. Looking forward, he saw a girl in white climbing down the luxurious stairs that lead to the second floor.

The girl in question had long, flowing, golden hair and blue-turquoise shining eyes. Her beautiful were extremely clear, just like a river of stars. She seemed to be either six or seven years old, only a year or so older than the five-years old Issei.

Her face was also no trifling matter. She was beautiful, the heavenly kind of beautiful. When one gazed upon her, they would feel like they were in a dream, watching an angel that descended from the highest of heavens. All in all, the best way to describe this girl in terms of appearance would be above perfect.

But, still, no matter how beautiful she was, in Issei's eyes, she still couldn't match up to Shiro. Even if she was hundreds of times prettier, to Issei, Shiro would still remain unbeatable. After all, Shiro was his Shiro and no one could ever dream of matching up to her.

When the little girl caught sight of all of them by the door, a dazzling smile appeared on her face as she said while looking at Ikusa, "Athena, you're back!"

Read & Review~!