Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with High School DxD and Koihime Musou..

Chapter 1: Past and Current Friends

"I'm not originally from this world, and I'm not originally a human. You could say that I was once a Dragon."

"Umu, umu." Issei's last words echoed within the minds of the three sworn sisters. The three of them closed their eyes and nodded nonchalantly as they took a moment to absorb that last tidbit, resulting in brief silence amongst them. Then the gravity of his words finally hit them as all three of them yelled out in surprise.

"EHHHHHHHH!?"

"UWAH!" Issei jumped up in surprise as the sudden outburst broke the silence. As he settled down, he glared at the three shocked girls. "Oi, don't surprise me like that! Going all silent and then yelling out like that!"

Touka waved her arms around frantically as she puffed her cheeks. "But, but! How did you expect us to react when we hear you're not a human but a Dragon?"

However, Rinrin had a different opinion as she grabbed her stomach and began to snicker loudly. "That's funny, Onii-chan! You said that with such a serious face that I couldn't tell it was a joke at first, nanoda!"

Issei almost face faulted to the ground after hearing Rinrin's candid laughter and gave her a strained smile. "But it wasn't a joke!"

"And I thought he actually had something interesting to say." Aisha rubbed her forehead with her hand as she sighed with a dejected face. She glanced at Issei again and noted his somewhat annoyed expression. "I'm sorry, but it's rather impossible to believe that you are actually a Dragon unless you have some proof."

"That's right, Onii-chan!" Rinrin was hopping around Issei in circles as she half-expected that Issei was going to do something special. "Can you make it rain or fly around!?"

Issei had to admit that Aisha was right. At the moment, there wasn't anything "Dragon" about him. He doesn't have his Evil Pieces nor does he have Boosted Gear. Right now, he was just as strong as a regular human. Though to be fair to himself, he retained his hand-to-hand combat skills from Koneko's and Tannin's training, and he had some sword skills due to sparring with Kiba, Xenovia, and Irina with Ascalon. But even if he knew how to fight, he can easily tell that Aisha and Rinrin were several levels above him right now.

So what can he say to make them believe him? Nothing right now.

"No...I can't...right now..." He mumbled so quietly that Aisha and Rinrin couldn't hear him but Touka managed to catch his words.

Issei then laughed suddenly as his mood suddenly took a reversal. "Ahah, of course I can Rinrin-chan!" Issei began to flap his arms around as if he was a bird and then hopped. "See, I can fly for a few seconds!"

Rinrin laughed even harder as Issei looked quite ridiculous flapping his arms around. "Ahaha, Onii-chan is such a joker."

"Ahaha, you got me there. The mood was getting quite too dark, so I thought you guys would appreciate a joke!" Issei lied as he rubbed the back of his head while laughing awkwardly.

Aisha also began to lighten her expression a bit at his antics, but Touka wasn't too convinced as she believed there might be some sort of truth to what he just said. Issei looked a little too serious about the prophecy for him to dismiss it so easily right now. Also, unless her ears were deceiving her, she felt his quiet words were filled with such sadness. Surely there wasn't a reason to be sad if it was a joke like he said?

"Is there something wrong, Touka-sama?" Aisha noted her sworn sister's solemn expression as she asked quietly to not attract Rinrin's and Issei's attention as the two of them were currently talking animately with each other ahead of them. Well, more accurately, Rinrin was the one doing the majority of the talking while Issei tried his best to keep up with his energetic buddy.

Touka decided not to voice her opinion on Issei just yet. Rousing herself, she dismissed Aisha's question. "Ah ha it's nothing. Ise-san sure gets along well with Rinrin-chan, ne, Aisha-chan?"

Aisha peeked back at the rambunctious duo above them. They looked like an older brother playing with his younger sister, and it warmed her heart to see it. It reminded her of her relationship with her late older brother in the past. She smiled as nostalgia rose up within her. "It's true. Even though we just met, Rinrin trusts him."

"And what about you, Aisha? Do you trust him as well?"

Aisha was silent for a moment. Her mind was telling her that he was rather suspicious with his unknown background, but her heart was telling her he wasn't bad. True, he had an occasional perverted look to him, but he seem like a honest person. Aisha hoped she wasn't wrong. "For now, yes. There's something about him though. Even though he said it as a joke, somehow I felt like he wasn't lying about it."

Touka couldn't say anything else as Aisha said what she was thinking. "I had the same feeling as well. Perhaps only time will tell..."

XxXxXxX

A breeze of frigid air whistled past Issei's head, waking him up from his slumber.

"Brrr...that's cold...Where am I?"

Issei yawned and opened his eyes to take in his surroundings as he found out that he was on a rather hard surface. He blinked for a few moments to focus his eyes and then realized that he was sitting in the desk that he sat in Kuoh Academy.

"My classroom? But where is everyone...?"

There wasn't any students around at all nor were there any signs of activity. Glimpsing out of the window, he saw no one in the courtyards, but he noted that the sky was rather orange when he looked outside of the window. It looked like the sun was about to set. He stretched his arms out and yawned as he slowly stood up from his desk..

"Did I fall asleep in class? Why didn't anyone wake me up then...? Maybe I should head to the club room."

As Issei walked through the hallways, he began to feel unease rising within him. The atmosphere seem too strange. He walked for a while yet he didn't reach the club room, and he did not encounter any other students. Then, feeling impatient he began to run faster and faster as it seem as if the hallway was never ending. As he finally reached the door to the Occult Research Club room, he reached for the knob and turned it.

"Finally made it! Hello? Buchou? Akeno-san? Are you in here?"

There was no response at all. Issei stared at the lone couches, and the empty chair where Rias would sit during meetings.

Issei sighed in disappointment as he stared at Ria's empty seat, trying to think to himself. "Odd...did they all went home without telling me? No, they aren't that mean enough to do that. Maybe something urgent came up? But then, why didn't they get me? "

Scratching his head, Issei tried to think out the reasons why they were gone, but he felt a similar and sudden chill as the lights dimmed eerily, casting a pallor of darkness upon the room. He stood alert and turned around, trying to see if there was something. He then heard soft laughter, but it wasn't the cheery kind that they often had when they met up in the club room after school. It was cold...lonely...dark...

Issei felt sweat on his brow, even though the temperature appeared to get even colder. "Guys, are you there...? This isn't funny, so you can come out now!"

"...Find us..."

A soft voice ranged around through the silence. It was familiar yet Issei could not recognize who it belonged to. "Hey, what do you mean by that?! Where are you!?"

The door to the clubroom opened abruptly with a bang, causing Issei to jump around as it revealed nothing but frigid darkness. More soft and familiar whisperings can be heard again, each one with coming from a different source.

"...Find us..."

"...Find US..."

"...FIND US..."

"What do you mean find you!" Issei tried to shout out, but nothing came out of his mouth. He frantically tried to say something, but it was no use. The whisperings grew louder and desperate as the growing darkness enveloped the club room until Issei saw nothing but black.

Panicking, he tried to run.. But where would he run? More importantly, how could he run? The darkness pressed upon him as it begged to him to "FIND US". He could not ask where it was or what it wanted him to find as the pressure began to constrict his breath.

"...FIND US HYOUDOU ISSEI..."

XxXxXxX

"Ise-san, wake up!" Touka shook Issei a bit more roughly than she would've liked, but Issei's appearance was abnormal. He was sweating a lot as he tossed around violently. His mouth was open as if he was trying to yell, but no voice came out. It was rather disturbing to see as the three girls tried to find ways to wake Issei up, but he wasn't responding to their calls.

Aisha also joined in to help Touka wake Issei up, but as she nearly recoiled in shock as she touched his shuddering arm. "Touka-sama, his body is extremely cold!"

"I know Aisha-chan. This isn't normal if he was just sleeping. We need to wake him up soon." Touka replied desperately with a frown as she continued to call out to Issei. "Wake up, Ise-san! Something is wrong, wake up please!"

The three girls' faces fell when it appeared that Issei's face was slowly losing color. Rinrin had an idea so she ran out of the room. Moments later, she rushed came back with a pot filled with water. "Here, this will wake Onii-chan up!" She then dumped it all over Issei's face, hoping it would work.

"UWAH!" Issei spluttered out as he snapped forward to consciousness, coughing out water. They breathed sighs of relief as the color rushed back into Issei's cheeks with his heavy heaves for air.

However, this caused him to grabbed onto whatever that closest to him, which was Touka's shapely body. "Eh? Ise-san?!"

"Hmm? Did I have such a soft pillow?" Evidently not quite conscious of this actions, Issei squeezed the soft "pillow" with one of his hands, enjoying the jiggly sensation that was somewhat strangely familiar to him. Drooling slightly with a perverted grin, he dove deeper with his head into Touka's vast pillows. "Ahahaha, it's just like a marshmallow."

Touka's face reddened more and more as Issei continued to snuggle against her chest, eliciting deep embarrassment and another feeling that left her dazed with pleasure. When it appeared that Touka was about to faint from embarrassment as her heart was beating quite loudly, Aisha cleared her throat extremely loud, causing Touka to snap out her daze. Once she realized what was happening, she slapped Issei away from her with a "KYAAAAAAAAAA!"

With the force of Touka's slap, Issei flew into the air and landed roughly on the floor with a thud and a strangled cry of pain, which caused Rinrin to whistle in admiration. "Wow, Touka-neechan. Maybe you could've waked him up with that slap instead!"

"Uwah...ow, ow, ow. What hit me...?" Issei grumbled as he stirred with consciousness. The first thing he noticed that his entire head was wet, and his cheek was stinging with pain. The second thing was that he was off of his straw mat and on the hard ground. As he opened his eyes, he saw Rinrin staring at him with widened eyes, Aisha with a mixed expression of annoyance and worry, and Touka peering shyly at him with extremely red face and arms crossed over her chest as if to cover it from him.

"Oh that's right...we managed to find a room at the inn." There was only a two-beds room left available when they got to the inn. Touka was a little embarrassed to share a room with a man, but she didn't say anything. Issei couldn't really blame her for feeling shy though. Aisha and Rinrin didn't really care as Aisha saw herself as a warrior first, while Rinrin saw Issei more like an older broher figure. Issei didn't really get that excited sharing a room with girls any more since he usually woke up under a dog pile every morning at his house. In any case, he insisted on the three of them taking the beds while he slept on the straw mat, much to Touka's and Rinrin's displeasure as Touka didn't feel right letting him sleep on the floor while Rinrin wanted him to sleep with her.

"Is it morning everyone? Also, why am wet and hurt as well?" He inquired innocently the trio as he slowly rose from the ground and patted himself down for dust.

Touka just blushed even further, unable to answer him nor to meet his light brown eyes, while Aisha coughed suspiciously as she shifted her eyes back and forth between Rinrin and Touka. Rinrin just laughed brightly at Issei as she rushed up to help him. "Sorry about that, Onii-chan. Rinrin had to pour water on Onii-chan to wake him up! Everyone was worried when Onii-chan wouldn't wake up from his nightmare!"

"Ah, that explained why my face is wet..." Issei's body then began to shiver with fear as he remembered the coldness of the darkness in his dream. "Was it really just a nightmare? It felt so real...so cold...so lonely. What did it mean to 'find them'?

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he then wondered why his cheek was swollen with pain as he rubbed it tenderly."Did I tumble all the way here then?"

"Ah...that would be my fault, Ise-san." Touka passed him a towel for him to dry off his face, while she answered him sheepishly. Then she gave Ise-san a critical look in the eye with a flushed face. "But it's also Ise-san's fault for being so perverted in the morning! What was I going to do when you suddenly touched my...my..."

As Touka trailed, she glanced away while rubbing her voluptuous chest slightly. In the middle of drying his hair, Issei caught her action and recalled the heavenly soft pillow he felt before waking up. Panicking as he connected the dots, he threw up the towel and kneeled down into a dogeza to apologize to her. "SORRY! I thought it was a really soft pillow! Please forgive me!"

"Eh?!" Touka didn't expected for Issei to suddenly bow down to her and quickly tried to pull him up. "You don't have to bow to apologize Ise-san! You weren't awake and besides it felt really... Ah, what am I saying!? I mean! Please, get up Ise-san!"

As the two of them continued to apologize and reassure another, Aisha pinched the bridge of her nose while sighing deeply. It was going to be a very long morning. Plus, there was something that needed to be answered. "Ano sa...we aren't going to get anywhere with the two of you going back and forth like this so just leave it aside for now. That being said, how do you really feel, Ise? Your condition wasn't normal for a nightmare since your body was getting colder."

"That's right! Is onii-chan really okay?" Rinrin circled around Issei to examine his body's condition, while patting him to see if his body temperature was back to normal.

"Ahaha, that tickles, Rinrin-chan." Issei's body twitched as Rinrin kept on tickling him by accident with her examination. Issei took a quick glimpse at their faces and noticed that they were really worried. Even the stoic Aisha looked a bit distraught. "You don't have to worry, it was just a bad dream. I must not have heard you guys trying to wake me up. Thanks though."

Issei gave a warm smile as he patted Rinrin on the head, like he would often do with Koneko. Both of them were somewhat similar, so he figured she would cheer up with a pat.

"Aheheh" As Rinrin gave a contented hum, Issei felt nostalgic as he recalled the first years of the Gremory peerage. It's like I got another kouhai.

Touka wasn't totally convinced with the way that Issei downplayed his nightmare. She felt how cold his body was. It was as if he was about to...no, she shouldn't think like that. Then, she noted how Rinrin looked extremely pleasured as she had a goofy smile on her face and decided it would best to let them be. She reasoned that he had a right to keep his own secrets. She put on a eager face as she asked. "Eeh, that looks nice! Ne, ne, Ise-san, I got you a towel, can I get a pat too?"

"Eh? Well, thank you I guess?" Issei was bewildered at Touka's sudden mood change, but he wasn't going to question it much as he patted her head with his other hand. "What is it with girls and pats on their head...?" Issei noticed that Aisha wasn't saying much and checked on her to see if there was something wrong, but she had a strange look on her face.

"What is it? Do you want a pat too?"

Aisha stuttered in surprised as she shook her head rapidly in denial. "N-n-nooo! A-a-absolutely not!"

XxXxXxX

After they had breakfast, they took a short reprieve to digest their food in the backyard of the inn. While they were stretching their legs on the porch, Rinrin disappeared for a moment and later reappeared with something in her hands. She then shouted out to Issei as she threw him a thick and long stick. As Issei managed to grab it in the air, he glanced at Rinrin who also had a similar stick. "Ne, onii-chan! As promised, you'll spar with me!"

Issei was slightly confused at her sudden outburst, but then he recalled her previous challenge last night. He jumped onto his feet as he smiled at Rinrin's eagerness. He tested the stick's weight with a couple of practice swings, eventually getting the feel and the range of the stick. "Alright then, how should we do it?"

"Eh? Do you feel well enough to spar with Rinrin, Ise-san?" Touka was a bit worried that his body hadn't recovered from his "affliction" in the morning.

"It's alright, my body is fine!" Stretching his arms and legs, Issei tried to reassure Touka as he realized that she was still worried about what happened in the morning. "Plus, I promised Rinrin-chan yesterday, and I keep my promises."

"Well, it looks like the both of you are full of energy. Though, I haven't really seen a time where Rinrin wasn't energetic." Aisha stood between the two of them as she looked over Issei with a discerning eye as to determine whether he was really fit to spar. It looked like he regained back his pallor from the morning so Aisha couldn't really find a reason to stop them. Crossing her arms over her chest, she sighed with a solemn face. "I'll watch over this spar since Rinrin can never hold back her strength."

"Oi! I can hold back my strength!" Rinrin stomped her feet in indignation as she waved her stick at Aisha, only to look a bit sheepish as Aisha gave her a deadpanned look and Touka laughed nervously in disbelief. Rinrin shuffled her feet around as she murmured dishearteningly. "Okay...maybe I can't hold back my strength. But we're using wooden sticks so it'll be alright! Are you ready then, Onii-chan?"

As Rinrin readied her stance and strengthened her hold on the stick sword, Issei gave a similar response as he nodded his head. "Here I go!"

"Strong!" That's all Issei could think of as he could barely withstand Rinrin's monstrous strength when he blocked her swing head on. Gritting his teeth and shrugging off the attack, Issei dashed backward to make space between the two of them. Ignoring the twinge of numbness in his arms, he studied Rinrin as he prepared himself for Rinrin's next move. Jumping away from another tremendous swing, Issei could feel the shock wave.. Issei wondered how such strength can come from someone so small. "I shouldn't underestimate her strength just because she's small...Koneko-chan would hit me over the head if she saw me like this."

Rinrin laughed boisterously, clearly pleased that she is able to fight someone that wasn't weak. Of course, she could spar with Aisha, but she wanted to fight someone new for once. Even bandits weren't much of a challenge to her as they were easily dispatched with one hit. Smirking at Issei, she readied her grip on her wooden stick for another attack. "That's amazing, Onii-chan! Normally, Rinrin would've beat people within one blow, but you're still able to fight!"

"Hah." Issei let out a heave to gain his breath during this brief intermission. He rubbed his arm to ease the numbness as he gave a faint smile to Rinrin. "You're pretty strong yourself, Rinrin-chan. My arm is a bit numb from blocking one of your blows."

"I didn't expect Onii-chan to have enough strength to withstand one of my blows either. Here I go again! Hiiiyaahh!" Rinrin unleashed a flurry of blows onwards to Issei. Noting that he shouldn't try to meet Rinrin's strength head on, he decided to focus on dodging or parrying the blows to divert the power elsewhere. If Kiba can see him now, he would be so proud of him "trying" to use something other than brute strength to power through his fights. However, "trying" and "doing it" were different things. As it was, Issei cursed himself for not training hard enough to be more skillful as he could barely parry Rinrin's attacks. He could only rely on dodging, which was hard enough as Rinrin was also swift.

Meanwhile, the two spectators quickly found themselves more and more interested in the sparring match. Aisha was impressed by Issei's constitution and quick reactions to Rinrin's strikes. It wasn't that often that you'd see someone who can take a hit from Rinrin and still stand, even if it wasn't Rinrin's full strength. As the fight went on, she observed that though Issei wasn't that skillful with a sword, his battle instincts were on par with hers and Rinrin's. While he could not dodge all of the attacks, he did manage to block the ones he could not. That alone showed Aisha that Issei was well trained in the art of reacting to attacks and how to respond to them. Of course, she had no idea that Issei had to learn to dodge attacks or else Tannin would've crushed or burn him up.

Sitting on the porch, Touka's eyes gleamed in excitement as she watched Ise dodge another of Rinrin's blows and retaliating with one of his, only to be dodged by Rinrin as well. It was such a high pace battle that she only expected from a match with Aisha and Rinrin. "Ne, Aisha-chan. Ise-san is quite amazing to be able to fight Rinrin evenly, ne?"

"You can say that. He is quite more skilled than I thought originally." Aisha admitted as she saw Ise in a better light in respect for his battle skills. "Rinrin is at a disadvantage when fighting against someone of his caliber."

Touka tilted her head sideway and raised a finger to her lip in confusion as it wasn't obvious to her. While she knew how to fight with a sword, her skill wasn't quite up to Rinrin's and Aisha's level. "Eh? Really?"

"While Rinrin's pure strength is even higher than mine, I usually beat Rinrin when we spar. It's because Rinrin's attacks are too straightforward. It's a problem she has ever since she was young. Against a lesser opponent, her attacks will usually overwhelm them." Aisha explained as she crossed her arms over her chest; her eyes still tracked on the two fighters. "Ise appears to be experienced in reacting to attacks, so he is able to read Rinrin's attacks easily. That is why Rinrin isn't able to land a decisive blow onto him yet."

Touka nodded as she recalled that in most of the spars between Aisha and Rinrin, Rinrin wasn't really able to hit Aisha. Though, if Touka was following Aisha correctly, there could only be one conclusion then. "So does that mean that Ise-san will win?"

"If it continues like this, most likely. However..." Aisha trailed off as the two fighters broke apart again.

Rinrin's grin stretched cheek to cheek as she was completely enjoying the spar. Issei was proving himself to be quite stronger than she expected. "Not bad, Onii-chan! Rinrin thinks she can get a little serious now!"

"Eh?" Issei began to felt the pressure on him as Rinrin began spiking her battle aura, causing Issei to break sweat in admiration and fear. He clenched the wooden stick hard and grit his teeth, trying to shake off the immense pressure Rinrin was emitting. "Wow, this amount of aura is insane. It's like I'm facing someone like Sairaorg again. I guess she wouldn't Chouhi Yokutoku if that was her full strength just now. Uwah, this isn't the time to admire her strength right now!"

Noticing that Rinrin was about to unleash her full strength against Issei, Aisha tried to step in but was too late. Issei could barely get his wooden stick up in time to block Rinrin's fierce attack. With a mighty yell, Rinrin swung with all of her power and shattered Issei's stick at the moment of impact. The shock wave from blocking the blow knocked Issei backwards into the air, causing him to land roughly on his back for the second time today.

"That's enough, Rinrin!" Aisha shouted out to snap Rinrin out of her battle furor, while Touka rushed over to Issei and knelt down by his side to check if he was seriously hurt. Snapping back to and noticing that Issei on the ground, Rinrin threw her stick on the ground and ran towards him with her arms waving around frantically.

"Onii-chan, are you alright!?"

With a groan of pain, Issei began to shift himself into an upright sitting position and massaged his sore back tenderly. Giving Rinrin and the others a shaky smile and a thumbs-up, he laughed at his decisive defeat. "You're really strong, Rinrin-chan. I didn't expect to be beaten with just one blow."

"Ehee, of course, Rinrin is strong!" Rinrin puffed her chest out in pride of her strength until Aisha growled in anger and clonked her head really hard with her fist. "Ow! Ow! That hurts Aisha!"

"Don't give an "ehee" and look proud of yourself for not holding back your strength like always!" Aisha scolded with her one of her hands on her hips and the other stretching Rinrin's cheek like a rubber band, causing the younger girl to squeal in protest. She then lowered her head in shame to apologize to Issei. "Sorry, it was my negligence that I didn't stop her in time. Are you really alright?"

"Iya, iya. You don't need to apologize! It was just a practice spar, and I'm not that hurt, just surprised really." Issei waved his hand back and forth quickly to disperse the tense atmosphere. "Really! I don't think Rinrin-chan did anything wrong. It was that I wasn't that good enough to keep up with her."

"Plus I'm used to being hit hard anyway..."

Then Aisha decided to give one final tug before finally letting go of Rinrin's cheek. Giving Rinrin a half-hearted glare as she watched her little sister rub her cheek, she gave a sigh of relief as she lent a hand to help Issei up. "Really now, you don't have to keep praising this muscle brained girl. She'll get too much of a big head for her own good."

"Ma, ma, Aisha-chan. I think Rinrin-chan is already sorry enough." Touka skipped over to Rinrin and gave her a slight pat on the head and slight hug around the shoulder. Tilting her head slightly, she took a glance at Issei who was currently dusting his clothes for dirt. "Though, Ise-san, you were still good enough to make Rinrin-chan fight you seriously. I haven't seen anyone else but Aisha-chan who could manage that."

"Haha, I'm not that good." Issei smiled slightly as he remembered the times where he sparred with his friends. Facing Rinrin was slightly similar to facing Xenovia. Heck, it almost reminded him of his own style until he underwent training. They were pure power users, rushing forward and dominating with their strength only. He had to admit that Kiba really had a point when he wanted more technique users in the peerage. "I had good teachers and friends who taught me how to fight."

The female trio peaked their ears up in curiosity. Touka realized it was a good opportunity to find out more about Issei. "Oh? You mean your friends back in your village Japan?"

"Yeah. You know, I was really weak back then. Every one of my friends were a lot stronger and more amazing." Issei glanced at his left hand, seeing a phantom image of the Boosted Gear gauntlet. "I couldn't just let my friends down though. Our enemies were also incredibly strong, so I had to train. I was far behind in power, and I wasn't the smartest guy around. But I never gave up. I had to find out ways to fight them in order to protect them."

Touka gave a warm smile as she could relate to Issei's feelings. She felt the same way about Aisha and Rinrin. "You must really care for your friends a lot then, Ise-san."

Looking at Touka smiling reminded him a lot of Rias. She always encouraged him to do his best, and her "rewards" were also great! She was the main reason on how Issei became the person he is today. She saved his life and introduced him into a whole new world, filled with happiness and sad times. Issei shaded his eyes as he stared at the white clouds that were slowly drifting with the slight breeze in the air. "Yeah, I do..."

XxXxXxX

"Well then, what are you planning to do now?" Issei asked the three sisters as they were preparing their bags to set off on the road once again.

"We were planning to head towards north where one of my childhood friend is." Touka answered. "She is now a general in the Imperial army, and the word is that she is enlisting help to combat the Yellow Turbans."

"I see. The three of you plan to serve in the army then?" Issei asked.

Touka gave a slight nod, clearly not enthused with the idea of bloodshed. "It is currently the best idea to help end the rebellion and bring peace faster. I may not have Aisha-chan's and Rinrin-chan's strength, but I can't stand around doing nothing. Even if it's a little, it may help save more lives."

"Don't think so lightly of yourself, Touka-sama." Aisha tried to reassure Touka as she knew Touka had the potential of a great leader. "You are well educated in the classics and the stratagems of warfare, and you care deeply for the people. You have the signs of the great leader, Touka-sama. As the three of us have sworn on that day, we shall follow you to fulfill our goals."

Rinrin gave her usual cat-like grin that bared her teeth. "That's right, Touka-neechan! Rinrin and Aisha will protect you!"

"Thanks, everyone." Touka smiled brightly, touched by the strength of their sisterhood. Her smile faltered as she looked back at Issei. "What would he do? I know that we're traveling together to find an idea where he might have came from, and that he promised to help us in return. But isn't it really selfish of me to ask him to fight in a war? I have to make sure..."

"Ano sa, Ise-san?" Touka then asked quietly, catching the attention of everyone as they walked on the dirt road.

Issei turned his head around to answer. "Hmm? What is it?"

Touka twiddled her fingers nervously, unsure of how to speak her mind. "I know that you are looking for clues to find your way back home, and also that you wanted to help us in return. But...are you willing to fight the Yellow Turbans?"

"Are you asking if I feel comfortable fighting in a war?"

"Well...to be honest, yes. It feels really selfish if I ask for you to risk your live to help us. After all, we just met each other..."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared of war. However, what I'm more scared of is losing my friends." The Occult Research Club Members came to Issei's mind, and although, they only met for just a day, Issei considered Touka, Aisha, and Rinrin as his friends. He then glanced at his left arm again, remembering a conversation he had with Ddraig after a confrontation with Sousou and Khaos Brigade.

"Beings with power will attract others with power. Even if you just want a peaceful life, you'll continue to attract those who want to destroy it. It's your destiny as the Sekiryuutei, Partner. I'm sorry."

Ddraig murmured sorrowfully, eliciting a surprised reaction from Issei. Though he had always got along well with Ddraig, it was the first time that Issei heard him apologize, even if it wasn't his fault.

"It's okay, Ddraig. Even I know that I have to fight for who knows how long. But, you know what? I never regretted being your host, Ddraig. If anything, I have to thank you for giving me this life. Without you, I would have never met Rias and the others. So thanks, Ddraig! For being my friend!"

Ddraig chuckled at Issei's enthusiastic reply and merely watched as he returned back to Rias and the other. "Friend, eh...sounds good."

"Even if I don't want to do anything with war or fighting, I can't just ignore it. In order to protect my friends and bring peaceful times, I'll fight and fight no matter what. So, count me in -wah!" In the middle of his sentence, Issei tripped over a rock and fell face first onto the ground.

Rinrin bursted out in laugher as she rushed towards him and lowered her hand for him to take. "Onii-chan sounded really cool for a moment! Well until you fell!"

Issei groaned as he took Rinrin's small palm and pulled himself upward. "That was like the third time I fell to the ground today."

"Ahaha, maybe you should fly like a dragon instead of walking, ne, Onii-chan!" Rinrin teased, causing everyone to laugh. It was truly a joyous moment between friends.

Friends. Issei's clumsiness didn't diminish the value of his words. Touka and Aisha were now throughly convinced that Issei was extremely loyal to his friends, based on his brief comments of his past. The fact that he already considered them as friends proved to them that he would be a valuable companion in times to come.

"When friends work together under a common cause, there's nothing that they can't accomplish." Touka thought to herself as she hummed merrily, eager to see what the future may hold for them.

XxXxXxX

"Hey, Aniki! Take a look at this!" A short shrimp-like man shouted out as he discovered something rather shiny in a small crater. Disregarding how the crater was created, the short man widened in admiration at it was appeared to be a red jewel in a strange shape as it shimmered brightly with the sunlight.

The taller yet slim man, referred to as Aniki, sighed as he walked slowly towards the short man. A larger and fatter man followed him sluggishly as well. "What is it now, Shorty?"

"Here, look at this!" He raised his hand up to show the red piece to his fellow companions, catching their attention.

Immediately, the man snatched it from his shorter companions hand to take a closer look, clearly intrigued. "Where did you find it, Shorty?"

"Over here in this hole here..." Shorty pointed back to the crater, blackened with char marks. "Now that I think about it, what made this hole?"

The man rushed over to the crater and peeked into it to search it. Scowling in disappointment, he turned back to the smaller man. "Forget what made it, was there anything else in there?"

The dwarf shook his head and shrugged. He pointed at the red shaped piece, grinning eagerly. "Nope, this was the only thing. What do you think, Aniki? You think it'd fetch a lot of gold?"

The man licked his upper lips greedily. "Definitely. This thing must be some sort of treasure because it appears to be shaped. I don't know what it is, but such a jewel would fetch a lot of gold if we cashed it in!"

"Does that mean we get food tonight then?" The fatter man asked, drooling in anticipation of promised food.

"Yes, yes, you'll get your food, Fatso..." The man ushered his companions towards the nearest city as he pocketed the red jeweled piece into his pouch. The oblivious ragtag trio were unaware as the red piece began to shimmer with energy. The prospect of hitting it big time ruled their thoughts to notice anything else.

XxXxXxX

It took them a couple of days to finally reach the city where Touka's friend was. Throughout the days, they took the time to get to know each other. Touka told Issei about her mother's revelation that she is related to the current Emperor, and her duty and dream to protect the people. Aisha and Rinrin also spoke of their past, as they both lived and trained together in the same village until they decided to travel the land to make use of their strength. The three of them had met together on the road, and they vowed to become sworn sisters.

Issei had to give a slightly modified version of his past since he was sure that they wouldn't believe him or even understand what fallen angels, devils, and magic were. So he said he was living an ordinary life, until he attacked by someone from an evil "organization", and Rias "saved his life". He owed her his life so he "vowed" to serve and protect her. Over time, he slowly gained the trust of his other companions, having shared fun and painful moments together.

Aside from talking about their pasts, Issei sparred with Rinrin and sometimes Aisha when they took a break to rest for the day. While Rinrin was careful to hold back her strength after her first display, it didn't mean that Issei had a easier time against her as she was quick and tenacious. Aisha was an even harder opponent as her moves were precise and harder to read than Rinrin's yet they were also heavy and hard to parry. Issei had to admit that they surely earned their titles as the strongest warriors in the Three Kingdoms era. Though, Issei held the advantage in hand-to-hand combat as Rinrin and Aisha were more used to fighting with weapons. It was a learning experience for all of them as Issei learned how to better wield a sword, while Rinrin and Aisha benefited from hand-to-hand techniques just in case they could not use their spear and guan dao.

It was a different story at night however. He had the same dream, wandering the endless hallways of his school until he reached the empty clubroom where disembodied voices whispering to him to "find them". Each time he had the dream, he felt empty, lost, and cold inside, but he could not understand why. Touka and the others certainly noticed his restless sleep, but they chose to let Issei play it off as a regular nightmare. It was apparent to them that the dreams were something that he was not yet ready to confide in them, no matter how close they've gotten over the days of traveling together. They knew that he wasn't giving him the full story of his past for some unknown reason, but they still trusted in him.

As they walked into the heart of the city, Issei was quite taken by the sight. After only seeing just one small village, it was quite a different sight to see a large city. The streets were filled with all sorts of people passing through. You can see poor and rich people as suggested by the way they dressed. There were scholars and warriors alike. Vendors attracted customers by displaying whatever they were selling in plain sight for people, while restaurants lured people with the appetizing smell of their cooking.

"Wow...amazing..."

"It must be your first time entering a city as huge as this, ne?" Touka asked after seeing Issei's expression. Seeing all the miscellaneous vendors reminded her of the time where she sold straw mats and sandals for her mother.

"Yeah, I've seen a lot of places before, but I haven't seen anything quite like this." It was true, he's been to the Underworld and other cities in Japan, but they weren't as historical looking as the sight before him. The busy atmosphere spoke of hard times, yet it also illustrated a moment of peace and prosperity. It looked like this city wasn't affected by the rebellion like the previous village was, probably due to the fact that a large standing army was situated here to ward off any likely attacks.

"Touka-sama, we should take a break before meeting with your friend." Aisha advised as they were quite worn from their traveling. It would be best to refresh themselves before presenting themselves to a general of the Imperial Army. To even make the point more relevant, Rinrin's stomach growled loudly, causing everyone to look at the embarrassed girl rubbing her stomach weakly.

"Ehehehe...it looks Rinrin is hungry nanoda..."

Everyone laughed in merriment before setting off to find a cheap restaurant. While walking around, there was a loud commotion that attracted their attention. Taking a peek to see what was going on, three of them appeared to be harassing a frail old merchant who seems to have a business appraising items.

"What do you mean you don't know what this is priced at, old man!?" The slim and shady looking of the bunch scowled in anger. He thought he could easily get a bunch of gold pieces for this red jewel instantly.

The old man chose his next words carefully as he did not want to risk angering them. "Exactly what I said. I have never seen such a particular piece before. I'm not even sure what it is made of. Hence I can't give you an accurate price nor can I buy it off of you."

The shrimp-like of the trio groaned in disappointment as he spit on the ground. "Ugh, this old man is useless. We should go find someone else to buy it off, Aniki."

"Bah, fine." He pocketed the red jeweled piece in his pouch with disappointment and anger over his face. "Let's go you two. But before we leave..."

The slim man kicked the old man in the stomach, causing him to crash into the floor with a loud bang. "That's for being damn useless, old man!"

The passing people then stopped to see what was going on and gasped when they saw the old man spit out blood.

"Oh no!" Touka rushed forward to see what she can do for the old man, while Issei, Aisha, and Rinrin stopped the trio from moving any further.

"Hey, you bastards! Why did you have to kick him for!?" Issei shouted in anger as he clenched his fists.

"That's right! Apologize to the old man nanoda!" Rinrin growled, giving her a visage of an angry tiger as she bared her fangs.

The man scoffed arrogantly, clearly thinking that these kids were meddling for no reason. "Psh, serves him right for being useless and wasting our time. You think you three brats can tell us what to do?"

Aisha frowned, clearly not pleased at being looked down upon. She readied her guan dao and shifted into a battle stance before asking them once again. "If you do not repent your actions, then we shall bring you in the proper authorities. So apologize properly...or else."

The three bandits paused for a moment to take in what Aisha said. Then they looked at each other in confusion before laughing harshly. The shortest one wiped off a tear from his eye. "You think the three of you can take on us? You're outta of your minds, these swords we have aren't for show, you know!"

"Looks like we have to fight then..." Issei murmured to Aisha and Rinrin, and they nodded in agreement. Aisha and Rinrin couldn't condone such acts even if they had not taken the oath to protect the people as sworn sisters, and Issei was the same.

Rinrin twirled her spear around in one hand as she smirked confidently. "I'll take the big one then!"

"Don't go overboard, Rinrin." Aisha sighed as she hoped Rinrin would leave her opponent alive at least. "What about you, Ise?"

"I'll take the taller one...I feel something familiar from him..." Indeed, Issei felt power from the taller man. But Issei knew that it was not the man's power that he felt, but it was rather from something upon him. The power felt nostalgic, yet it also felt cold and lonely...like his dreams. Shaking his head to prepare

"I see..." Aisha wanted to ask what Issei meant, but it didn't matter right now as she shift her focus on the diminutive foe in front of her.

The said foe was not amused at the turnabouts as he drew his blade at his side. "Tsk, Aniki. These brats are underestimating us."

The scowl on the Aniki was even more pronounced as his rage grew. "Damn brats...I'm pissed off enough already, and now you just had to get in our way. Whatever, it's your blood. Get the-!"

Before he even finished talking, Rinrin and Aisha both dashed forward and smashed the non-bladed end of their respective weapons into the stomachs of their opponents, causing their knees to buckle and collapse instantly onto the ground

Rinrin nudged the unconscious enormous person with a foot and then clicked her tongue. "Psh...you'd think that it'd take more than one blow to take out this big guy nanoda..."

The Aniki of the trio couldn't believe his eyes, and neither could the crowd. Two of his followers were taken down with just one blow and from little girls no less. He actually broke out in sweat, feeling a sense of fear. His attention returned as Issei slowly advanced towards him, his every step making an ominous crunch.

Issei decided to ask once again as he did not want to fight. "Give up now. Your two friends are unconscious, and it's three to one."

Even if he knew the odds were against him, he couldn't just take the supposed cockiness of the boy who was threatening him without any weapon. Out of blind rage, he drew his sword and charged right at Issei. "And you think you can beat me without a sword? I might as well cut you to knock that arrogance out of you boy!"

"Too slow...looks like training with Rinrin and Aisha paid off." Issei thought as he clearly was able to read the attack path of the enraged man. He sidestepped to the right just before the man tried a heavy cut with his sword. As the man followed through his attack, Issei bent his knees and thrust his fist upward, delivering a heavy blow to the man's stomach. Combined with the momentum of the man's attack, it was like running directly into a pillar. The man flew backwards and landed roughly on the ground. However that blow caused his pouch to open in mid flight, and the red jeweled piece fell out rolling on the ground..

Issei's eyes widened in surprise as he recognized what it was...clearly a Rook Evil Piece. However, he was confused to why there would be an Evil Piece in this world. It was also strange as he felt like the Evil Piece was familiar to him, yet his Evil Pieces were Pawns, not a Rook. As he reached out with to examine it much more carefully, a red bolt of energy sapped his hand and caused him to jump backwards in pain and surprise.

Suddenly, more energy emanated from the Evil Piece, crackling with red lightning around it as it levitated several feet from the ground. Every spectator around began panicking and ran away, believing it was some sort of wrath from the heavens. Aisha and Rinrin joined Issei, while Touka looked on in worry from her place next to the injured old man. She only gave some basic treatment by wrapping the bruise with old cloths that the old man had in his store. It would have to do until they could find a physician.

Rinrin shaded her eyes from the intense red light that illuminated the entire street. "Are you alright, Onii-chan?"

Issei kept his gaze on the Evil Piece as he answered vaguely. "I'm alright, but that Evil Piece is out of control...I need to find a way to stop it..."

Aisha and Rinrin were confused yet again by Issei's weird sayings. Aisha stared at the Rook Evil Piece, trying to make sense of what is going on. "What is an Evil Piece?"

"I'll explain later, just be careful of the light it emits. It could be..." Issei trailed off as the red light condensed into a human-like shape that was most familiar to him. "No...it can't be...why are you here?"

Noticing that the red light lessened in intensity, the three sisters looked back at where the Rook Evil Piece used to be. Touka, Rinrin, and Aisha could not find words to express their confusion of what is happening. Standing right in front of them appeared to be a white haired girl about Rinrin's size. She wore clothes that strangely seem similar to Issei's in color scheme, yet different from what they've seen before. What struck out the most were what appeared to be cat ears on the top of her head.

"...Koneko-chan?" Issei asked in uncertainty as the girl in front of him had the exact appearance of his kouhai, yet her aura was different from what he can remember. It was familiar, but in a different sense to him.

The petite white haired girl gave a cat smile as she replied. "...Ise-senpai...you've found me at last..."

XxXxXxX

Author's Note: Well, it took me a long time to finally gather my thoughts and write the next chapter of this story. Thanks for waiting! All I can say that it's hard to write fighting scenes since I don't really have a feel on making them.

I should make a few clarifications on Issei's power level compared to Aisha and Rinrin. Right now, without his Evil Pieces, he has the current strength of a human. However, he should still retain his skills in hand-to-hand combat as he was able to go head to toe with Sairaorg, whose practiced martial arts all of his life and won. So while both Rinrin and Aisha has higher raw strength and better weapon skills than him, he should still be able to confront them in hand-to-hand combat.

One of the reviewers was wondering what can challenge Issei if he were to regain his powers. While I will not have him re-obtain Boosted Gear that easily or fast, there are a couple of ideas that I might like to try. Seeing as some characters have unique weapons, for example, Kii has a kendama and Lulu has a Yo-Yo...I could give them unique properties similar to Sacred Gears. It's a work-in-progress as antagonists haven't been thought out yet. If you have thoughts or ideas you would like suggest, tell me!

Next, on the romance and harem part. I don't think Issei will be the type that'll try to woo multiple girls at once. He's not a playboy flirter like Kazuto, and he's rather innocent with romance despite his perverted side. While Rias is the one he loves the most, he still cares for the other girls in the Occult Research Club, and that'll be the way this story will handle it. While Touka and the others will not fall in love with him immediately, my plan is that they'll slowly fall in love with him as they get to know him.

If I left anything out or if you feel that a character is too OOC, then feel free to PM or leave a review! I don't particularly like to make OOCs because I feel like it wouldn't be the same person, but my own OC.

(2-20-2014) Edit: First, made some edits. For some reason I thought Rinrin's full name for Enhito Chouhi. I must've gotten it mixed up from the youtube translation somehow. Thanks InMemories.

Next, since I won't be able to write the next chapter for a while to answer this guest reviewer, I decided to update the chapter to answer his/her comments. Hopefully, this'll answer questions that people might have. He/she implies I don't understand the fact that Ophis and Great Red created Issei's new body. I can see why you may think that as I indirectly suggested that Issei's power level is due to his lack of Evil Pieces. I'm sorry for causing a misunderstanding.

The reason why Issei's current power level is at a regular human's, despite having a body of a Dragon, is because his powers are currently sealed away. It'd be completely overpowered if I start having Issei transforming into a Dragon (which he can do because of his new body) or use the Scalemail in a world without Magic or anything. Also, remember the fact that he cannot talk to Ddraig or use Boosted Gear? Even though, we as the readers, know that Boosted Gear wasn't extracted from him? Issei doesn't know what happened to him in the aftermath of the battle between Shalba and him. He thought he died because he couldn't feel his Evil Pieces, nor could he use any Devil Magic, Dragonification, or Boosted Gear.

So while it may be incorrect to say that he's currently at human's power level because of his lack of Evil Pieces, it is what Issei himself believes. After all, before he got turned into a Devil or awaken his Sacred Gear, he was an average human with low stamina and endurance. Though, right now, he is better than he is before because he has higher stamina and strength as he is able to withstand Rinrin's blow. Rinrin is the strongest character aside from Ren in the Koihime Musou world in pure strength. That is saying something.

There are reasons behind everything in this story, and I have left clues in the form of the Prophecy on how Issei may regain his powers and what opponents he may face. Not all of them will be human, and not all of them will be powerless humans. So, if you had the wrong idea that I don't "read" or "understand" the DxD universe at all, I hope that clears something up. Next time, don't imply that I shouldn't write something because you don't know what I have planned for the future chapters either. I could have him use Boosted Gear and Balance Break to end the entire Yellow Turban Rebellion right here and now, but what purpose does that have? In this fanfic, Great Red sent him to the Koihime World for a reason, refer to the first chapter. Also, Great Red has the power of Dreams. Why is Issei having such dreams?

You fear that I'm downgrading Issei too much. Here's an example of a power-up that I'll reveal. Hopefully it'll show why I believe that potential antagonists may need weapons on par with Sacred Gear. Please note that it is still a work-in-progress and it may change when it's finally ready for the story. It's not quite Illegal Move Trident. All I can say that it's an evolution of regular Promotion.

Promotion to Bishop - Aspect of Asia Argento. Effect: Ability to heal minor wounds and restore stamina. Drawbacks: Cannot heal Fatal Wounds, Cooldown Time of Several Hours to a Day depending on severity of the injury.

I appreciate your comments on the story's "flaws", but at the same time, I don't appreciate your last remark of "damn sure to enjoy a pity amount of reviewers and reader as before." I don't claim to be a good fanfic writer as I only write on my whim, but please don't insult me. Criticism is one thing, but insults are just pointless and rude.