An omake hour isn't ideal as a new update, but it's pretty important to let you all know that I'm actually alive and making the story still. This update comes with 2 things, actually. One, is this chapter. Second, is a whole bunch of rewriting all the way to the 9th chapter. I'm actually surprised I finished either of these, considering I had plans to intervene with EXTRA no. 2 all the way back in October and November.

Either way, I hope you enjoy this edition of turning Issei into one-to-one clones of sexy historical and mythical figures. That was the plan at first, but I forgot what I was going for again. Next main story chapter is still up in the air for the meantime, but hopefully you'll see it just a little later. As it is, however, I brought in 2 canon side stories into the fold as well to fill in the gaps and tide you over.

Side Story 4: Eight Flowers

They were a picture-perfect couple. Coming straight out of nowhere to confess to the local village idiot, and yet they turned out a lot better than anticipated. Kissing and chatting together so wholesomely, it was almost smothering. Almost too saccharine.

Of course, that wasn't totally the case. It had to happen to him. Out of all the women he had to start dating, she was the kind of girl who would stab him in the face for the slightest bit of infidelity, what with the glowing yellow spear poking through his cheeks right now. He had not much to say at all, his mutilated body being totally unable to speak, or breath, at this point.

As he lay dying in the ground, his blood soaked the ground in a large pool gathering all around his body, coating very part of him that had yet to be covered in a thick coat of his gore. SPLAT, his intestines sounded as they smacked into the ground, and he shook violently. He imagined multiple things as they went by, even as the girl he had trusted with his life left.

She came into his mind. The one who he was imagining, or thought was imagining, was of that one girl. The beauty with crimson hair.

She who had been called to be contracted, was called in by the boy to be saved. She had other plans to consider her next move at the time, but this time she felt that she had to intervene herself. His destiny would, and should be decided from this moment forwards.

"So you were the one who called me." A whisper tore through the wind. Issei's eyes widened slightly, even as his strength failed him.

Suddenly, someone appeared in front of him, red sparks going through the evening wind. She spoke to him, the girl he had his eyes on this entire time. He had not much to say, however, as he lacked the ability to do so in the first place.

"Looks like you're dying. Your wound... oh my, looks like something interesting was happening here. So you're the one they had targeted... Truly, this is intriguing."

She's laughing as if she found something legitimately interesting. Indeed, she coolly went through his being, and observed him all around. His heartbeat was beating strong still, despite the damage done to him. Was he being healed?

"If you're dying then I'll take it. Your life, that is. From now on, you'll live only for me." Her voice was beautiful to his ears, soothing his broken soul. Whatever bargain she was offering, he would take it. Anything to see his family again. Anything.

However, for a moment it felt as if another person had arrived. She froze, and a cold chill went through her as her eyes bounced back and forth around her upon feeling a great ray of mana beaming through their general area. "Who are you!? What do you want with us!" She immediately went and attempted to set up defensive wards around her as she prepared for impact.

The other magic circle, conveniently painted underneath the tiles, glowed, and bright glow covered the entire park. The girl who had only just arrived had been frozen in time, right in the middle of her defensive position. In her place as negotiator, another girl had arrived in a flash of light, wearing a white cloak and holding in her right hand a long red spear with 6-pronged edges to stick to a person once impaled. On her left she held a bronze katana, looking no less dangerous than the other with her own niche of martial arts.

"Do you yet wish to live?" A distant voice asked. Healing energies pointed towards him, allowing the otherwise completely dead boy to deliriously move his eyes to a bright figure to his side, her figure almost angelic compared to the fetishistic and downright evil appearance of his traitorous girlfriend. She looked at him with a smile, which would be otherwise completely welcoming if not for the total lack of empathy in her face. It was almost robotic.

"Or are you willing to lay down your arms and die in the Buddha's embrace?" Her face froze for a moment, then afterwards she chuckled, realizing something. Taking the time to look to the side, where the girl had been frozen, she continued. "Though I have my doubts that even that would last in this scenario. The girl has her intentions for you, you know, binding you to a contract for nigh aeternum."

"It's your choice at the end of the day, boy. Eternal servitude to a devil, or eternal bindings to the God of War?" She smiled even harder, a tinge of malice going through her entire being. It disturbed him to no end, but... He had to choose.

Normally, his choice would have always been to take his chances with the Crimson haired beauty, forever locking the two together as devil and her servant, but this time he had another option. In the countless number of realities that existed across the universe, another option would almost never be considered. But of course, here she was.

Even in his banged-up shape, his head slowly turned to the strange, hooded figure. He slowly raised his index finger, blinking slowly. His tears slowly fell as he fell unconscious on the spot.

Her facade, covered under her hood, rose to face the finger pointing at her still. She smiled, one part genuine, and another part smug, as she sealed their contract as master and servant. The unique characteristics of their contract are to be skipped over as you would probably already get the idea, so on with the show. "Very well," she began. "I am the Servant Lancer, of the Eightfold Blossom as I have called myself a few times before. But you should know that you could always call me-"

"WAKE UP, WAKE UP! IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT, I'M GOING TO HAVE TO KISS YOU!" It was a Tsundere-voiced alarm clock, but not once did it wake up its owner in the right and proper away. Rather, said owner appeared to have interpreted the events of the previous night as a nightmare induced by the disturbing amounts of hentai and anime merchandise that he uses to get off most of the time. Yes, the alarm counts.

"Hrrmm..." Issei Hyoudou hummed as he slowly woke up, unable to totally stave off all forms of sleep still lurking around his mind. He shook his head twice, the second time after smacking the offending noise with a loud bang and fell off his bed just afterwards.

He drifted off to sleep just afterwards, trying his best to avoid dreaming of crazy women killing him again. He faced down, still doing his best to ignore the ringing sound banging on his ears like a drum, and failing. Loud steps came up the stairs as both his father and mother banged on his door to wake him up.

"Wake up, Ise! Ise!" She shouted, making their displeasure quite clear to both parties. She attempted to pull him up from the floor, but failed to do so as Issei Hyoudou attempted to scramble himself up. Father looked to the side, still disappointed at the sound of his alarm's snooze sound.

As Issei sat up, he shook himself awakeand looked back at his parents. "I know that ma, I'm up now! Jeez..." And yet, he blinked, confusingly so, as he tried to process her parents' expressions.

Blinking even more, he raised a brow. "Uh, is there something wrong with my face?" They froze dead on their tracks, as they both chuckled nervously.

"Y-Yes Issei, just... Take a look at this." The mother said, taking a quick snapshot with her smartphone. She turned it around for Issei to see clearly, and Issei didn't know what to think at first.

Sure, there was his face. It looked a bit chubbier than before, but then again he was eating a lot lately without all too much exercise... Then there was a bit of some sharper facial features, which he could probably blame on puberty and his father's genes; he looked pretty plain either way though. And lastly, his hair was a bit longer with some white signalling that he might be getting stressed out too much.

"What's so bad about that, Ma? It just looks like the closing stages of puberty to me..." Mother shook her head, pointing at something more distressing.

"Not only that, Issei, look! Look up between your eyebrows! And more than that, look at your eyes!"

"Eh?" In closer inspection, it seemed as if his mother was right. There was a little blackish-brown tuft of hair poking out right in the middle, but what was so bad about that? But then he moved his gaze to his eyes, and saw exactly what the problem was now. Circling around the pupil and lining his sclera were circles, concentric from the middle. But more than that,

"EHH!? WHY ARE MY EYES SUCH A CREEPY SHADE OF YELLOW!?" And indeed, the combination of factors meant that despite still being recognizably Issei Hyoudou, Issei Hyoudou was even less Issei Hyoudou for once in his short lifetime. A little more feminine, leaning on a little girlier look

His parents, mind you, had not much to say, and could only sigh in discomfort. His father approached him slowly, and, patting his head, offered a thumbs up. "Ganbatte, Issei-kun." His expression told him, but his expression was blank and he didn't want to do any more of this. So he just told his parents to meet him down the stairs as he tried to process the things on his head now.

Rubbing them down, he felt better after leaving the restroom, but nothing had actually changed to his hair or facial features beyond a bright pink scratch on his face. Sighing in defeat, he picked up his bags and changed to his uniform, heading for school immediately afterwards while saying goodbye to his parents on the dinner table. The trip to school was largely uneventful by comparison.

Even so, he had arrived to school with only a few people staring at him, so he that much going for him. He went ahead and went his merry way to his classroom until he noticed a girl from a distance stare at him. It was the red haired beauty of the school, Rias Gremory, through and through, but in some way she stared at him in... fear? What?

Even if he tried to call her in, however, he was interrupted immediately by his intrepid comrades Motohama and Matsuda as he walked by. Her silhouette slowly disappeared over the distance, and Issei didn't have much to note of at all. Still staring back, Matsuda attempted to call Issei's attention. "Hey man, you feeling alright? You seemed groggy for a while now."

Snapping out of his trance, Issei looked to his side and responded. "Y-Yeah, just... just felt a little dizzy was all. I think something like that's happening at least..." Motohama's turn. "Yeah, more than that, where the hell did this strip of black and white hairs come, man? You feeling stressed lately?"

"Yeah, I guess... Yuuma-chan was scaring me a bit yesterday. Got a really creepy nightmare too." He shivered, thinking of the nightmare he had the night before and of the stuff that happened that morning as well.

"Yuuma-chan... Wait, you have a girlfriend Issei!?" The other two boys yelled, to Issei's confusion.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you about her already?"

The rest of the day had progressed without much fuss afterwards, with much of the same events occuring as they did in the original timeline. Of course, there would be one major difference. The servant Issei had summoned, that is. And the fact that Yuuma didn't go out of her way to scrub her being completely from their minds, seeing that they'd still trusted Issei to an extent.

Issei left the movie theater with his friends, and split afterwards, Issei taking the time to say goodbye to both. He looked up to see the time, and sighed. He walks through the park aimlessly, looking side to side the people walking past him. And as the moment passed, he could feel an eye brush past him from behind, and Issei was on high alert.

"This is rare. To meet someone like you out in the open is a totally new occurence for me." A masculine voice echoed behind him. Instantly, Issei turned back, seeing a creepy, menacing man in clean a suit approach him slowly.

'A dangerous man, that's what he is!' Issei nervously noted, taking care to avoid any handguns or knives that might pop out of nowhere. He tries to put some distance to no avail, as the psycho got ever closer to him.

"Trying to run away now? It must be someone with either a very low rank or a weird hobby to choose this place as a territory. So, who's your master?"

He tries to run away, but a black feather pops as he realizes that the man out to get him was flying. "Don't even bother, I'll always catch up to you. Now give it up! I'll make it easier on you if you do."

A sense of familiarity sparked through him as he gulps, raising his hands up in surrender. Better to die quickly than slowly and painfully, he thinks, but his mind goes blank as just after a spear threatened to disembowel him, he panicked, and fell unconscious. Just after, a surge of strength pulses through the boy, changing his clothes into a white robe and armor, and holding a spear and sword in hand. The shock of the change was enough to knock the fallen angel into a stupor, just in time for both weapons to be lodged in their body.

A girl had followed him this entire time, it seems. So she raised her weapons to the intruder, and called her. "If you would please stop hiding in that bush over there," she smiled. "I would have no need to execute you if you explained yourself."

Sighing, she walked out of the bush. "You're... You're the same girl I saw three days before. The one that Issei turned into, that's who you are, right?"

"And so what if I am? I've been contracted to protect him to the bitter end, and that means drastic measures as taking over his body before he could be hurt in any way." She shivers mildly, and clutches at a weak spot on her gut. "Ah... It appears I don't have much time left... If you would, please bring Issei back home and put him to sleep there. Ugh." She keels over, right onto Rias's arms.

She looks back and forth, and sighs when she notices that his clothes went back to normal. Deciding right there, Rias Gremory picks up the boy in a bridal position and lugs him in a bridal position. She could hypnotize his parents into thinking he had already arrived already, but what of her? What would be her excuse?

Ah. Of course. She'd strip down naked and sleep next to Issei on his bed, that would work, yeah, that would... Honestly it would be debatable, but it would be better than nothing. Might be funny, too.

Nagao Kagetora -alternatively, Uesugi Kenshin- wandered through the halls of the large complex she had found herself in. She had figured fairly early on that the reason why they had decided to assassinate her master, so she had to act quickly.

Finding the dragon was pretty easy. Dragons practically radiated magical energies by just existing, so she only had to follow the yellow paved road of prana to it. In a world where the influence of the Buddha was as strong as it had ever been, even the Bishamonten solely could not help her on their own, so she had to dig deeper. The dragon had to be coaxed one way another.

Finally, she felt as if she had found the right one. Knocking on a large gate, the doors had been opened immediately afterwards, allowing her to take in the sight before her. A dragon, one of the most iconic of European mythologies, sat before her. On his left arm was, curiously enough, a large cup the size of Kenshin herself with what she could gather to be the smell of an Earl Gray. Curious.

"You have come." The dragon boomed. She had put a sleeve over her face to cover it from the beast's breath, coughing all the while.

"Yes, I have. Ddraig; the great Welsh Dragon, whose image was raised over the banners and flags of the very same King Arthur of Camelot in the distant past." She leaned her neck left in deep thought. "I presume that you already know what I've come here for?" Her smile hadn't left at all still, giving an interesting impression of herself to the dragon.

"Ha! Of course." He sips on the cup. "I've seen that little boy grow to such a virile youth over the years. It would only make sense that I support him, you know. There will be so much to gain with such little loss." He took a strong sip on his cup, depleting a full third from it.

"If anything, this just proves how dangerous the world has and will become over the years. He will eventually need both of our help." The dragon sighs, looking down still. "Of course, he would have to learn the ropes, both of our own, before he would be anywhere close to defending himself."

"So, we have a deal, then? You know the troubles he will face eventually? The supernatural powers that even I cannot handle?" She smiled neutrally as always, looking up still at the beast of legend.

"Provided you have justifiable situation to require my help. That would come very soon, I can tell." His eyes returned to the question maker. "So yes. We do have a deal." They both smiled, and both shook their hands in agreement, with Kenshin clutching the dragon's ring finger to make it work on both ends.

As Issei Hyoudou slept on his bed, a bright red glow flashed through his blanket. On the one hand, were a set of Command Seals, constantly regenerating despite never quite being used yet. On the other, was a red gauntlet, Issei Hyoudou's boosted gear and otherwise his sole claim to fame. Both would flash moments after again, with the one on his left disappearing outright, only appearing again whenever needed, and the one on his right only appearing as a scar only noticeable by people with great magical powers.

Issei Hyoudou rolled over and over his bed, scratching his head lightly as it grew ever longer and whiter. His skin grew a shade paler, and two nubs started to make themselves known. As you would imagine, of course, Issei had to be dreaming of rolling over the massive mounds of real estate that he imagined hot women to have.

For Kagetora, if this were to be the distinction that set her apart from the Demon King, then so be it. It would have given her the chance for both of them to prepare more for the worst. This was to be expected when she had accepted this role, but she had to make the most out of it anyway.

As the Lancer of Eight Flowers walked away from the gates, she considered something. She smiled a bit more, for once wholly genuine as she set to make her next move. "I should introduce myself to master properly this time around," She thinks, already making her preparations.

-O_O-

For what it's worth, I pulled this concept out of my ass. First, I wanted a Megumin self-insert, but then I realized how tacky I'd look in her outfit so I scrapped that. Then, I wanted to do a self-insert with Kenshin as the protagonist, but I thought the way I wrote it was too creepy for even me, so I scrapped that as well. All of that, leading to this. Well, better than nothing out of that old concept piece. Also do keep in mind that this was going to be a hell of a lot longer, but got cut for simplicity's sake. It's just one omake for god's sake, and getting too hurty for my small brain. If response is positive enough to justify another installation, or a story of its own, just tell me. I'll consider it.

Also, I think that the Kenshin here is a lot less vibrant and excitable than the actual Kagetora written in Guda Final, but I think I can get away with this sort of interpretation. I think of it as a Type Redline cocktail, and a little bit of overt seriousness just because. Speaking of, you'll be seeing a little bit of that next. Not next directly, just a little later.

So basically, Issei doesn't know Kenshin exists at all, at least for now. Once they do, they're going to lead into a lot of fucked up shit involving Issei slowly having his values skewed by her lack of human morality, but otherwise he'd be the straight man here. And thereafter, Kagetora would actually, willingly allow Issei to fondle her tits because she doesn't really understand humanity and wants to start with his libido. Nice, eh?

Side Story 5: AOwSaJHS Canon Omake – An Old Friend

Himeji Castle, Hyogo Prefecture. It took them a few hours to hitch a ride in Tokyo (they were handling some kind of business) and another few to actually arrive there. For what it was worth, Issei only agreed to their inevitable altercation because Rias-senpai had an important business meeting with some of the other groups and she was in some undisclosed deal with them, too. Whatever it was, didn't matter because all he remembered was that she said:

"I'm so sorry Issei, but I need to do something with them right now. I might be gone for a whole week, but I'm not so sure what else to say but take care with the rest of the club." She bowed down and went out of the hotel room with Akeno and Kiba towed behind her.

Which led him -though her would be more appropriate at the moment- to this. Staring straight at the legendary Himeji Castle, wearing a red t-shirt and cap, a pair of denims and of course carrying a light assortment of equipment on a small blue backpack behind her. Her swords would not need to be carried physically seeing how they'd be very suspect in Japan nowadays, but Musashi still felt the need to carry them somehow.

She did it successfully with a pair of sheaths hanging just next to her backpack, and despite the curious shape no one really bothered her about them, which suited her just fine. From what she could understand they saw her swords as a pair of shinai, or she might be mistaken. Well, it didn't really matter now.

What did matter was for her to find some temporary lodgings in time. Seeing the Inn just a few blocks away was enough to alleviate her concerns however, and it only took a few minutes talking to the owner about her week and a half long stay to give her the keys to her room, from which she stuffed her belongings near her futon. Sighing, she waited until it was nighttime to make her move. It wouldn't do well for anyone to see her go inside, after all.

After a quick dinner at a local eatery, she set off. Getting her swords, she swapped into her kimono and disappeared from sight. Walking slowly to the entrance, she let Musashi take over and handle the rest. She knows her more personally, after all, and it would do well for her to negotiate.

Musashi walked around the hallways with ease. In her lifetime, she was already somewhat familiar with the layout but it was a good idea regardless to find something to make her wandering more fulfilling. She paused at an intersection, noticing the restroom sign on top of the door in front of her. Modern furnishings would be expected if she thought of the Osakabehime that lived in Chaldea, but she didn't think it went this far.

In fact, it did, considering all of the modern implements she wasn't really expecting a UNESCO World Heritage Site to have sockets dotting the hallways. She guessed that she used some kind of trick to hide them from any tourists, but brushed the implication off. Or maybe she did? She did have a pretty high Morph skill, and she also made that massive Eli-chan mech that Halloween.

She froze, and smiled. She could hear the wailings and footsteps of a girl all around her, and that voice was distinct enough on its own. Even if this world's Miyamoto Musashi was a man just like the last world she found herself in, she'd recognize her immediately. Though, did she really have to go for the white lady aesthetic? She could see her wearing that bedsheet around, and for maximum effect she even took her glasses off.

She thought she was a fox, or at the very least a bat… But that didn't matter. Even in this world it seemed that Osakabehime-chan had the same face she had when she extorted was gifted that snazzy sword the first time she ventured into the castle. After that, she visited from time to time to keep her company, and the rest was history.

Even if her techniques to keep people from bothering anymore, she was sure it was still the same Osakabehime she remembered. And so, when the foxfire popped up in front of her, the telltale appearance of her Sailor Uniform/pink coat with a cheap bedsheet on top, it felt like she was right on the money. Her face, though

"Osakabehime, it's been a while!" Though not recognizing her immediately, the sword stance the swordswoman was was intensely familiar to her. And not to mention, her magical aura… Her eyes widened, pointing at the other girl.

"Mu-Musashi-chan!?" She basically shouted, shocked that her old friend was back to life. And a girl, at that. The latter part was more important to her, honestly, since she's seen the revival thing often enough with the local Devil community.

She dropped all pretenses and leaped straight at Osakabehime, pushing both of them on the wooden floor with a bang. She nuzzled next to her shocked face, even as Osakabehime attempted to and failed to resist her affectionate glomping.

"It's been so long, Okkie! Don't you know that?" Musashi shouted, glad to see another familiar face after so long hanging out with new ones.

"M-Musashi-chan, weren't you a guy- o-or were you a girl, I can't even remember anymore!" Osakabehime had evidently been quarantined in her home still this entire time, which was unsurprising considering how long she's been doing it. "H-How are you still alive, I saw you dead centuries ago!" She paused. "AND WHY ARE YOU A GIRL!"

Musashi stopped nuzzling and stared straight at Osakabehime's face, which made the omega NEET blush. "Oh, that's a long story, silly." Releasing the hold, wherein both awkwardly stood up afterwards. Still grinning, Musashi continued. "Come on! Let's talk about it in your room – It's still in the top floor, right? We have a lot to go over."

"W-Wait Musashi-chan, I don't think you're understanding my need for privacy-"

"Oh, will you relax? I'm just getting started!" She smiled, and picked up the approaching girl on her two arms, carrying her like a bride to Osakabehime's room.

The rest of the evening was a joyful and tearful reunion between the two old friends, even if one of the two happened to be an alternate dimension, big booby version of her old friend that looked nigh identical to the version of her that she had in the game she was playing. That part wasn't as important, somehow, but it was still brought up. And wasn't she glad that she met a fictional character in her home? Though she was mildly offended that she was dubbed a fictional character, it wasn't too bad and they sparked

When the time came for her to leave, to put it bluntly, she didn't have to. She got a room near Osakabehime's, and even came to the point that Osakabehime personally requested that she cuddled next to her. Which she agreed to, at least. She was starved for attention after stuffing herself in her room for so long, that she wasn't sure if it was 5 centuries or 7 since she first met her.

And so, the only thing she had to do when she came back to her room in the inn the next day was explain bluntly that she woke up flat drunk and sleeping in a dumpster after a rowdy night. They didn't need to explain any more than that afterwards, letting them fill in the bits themselves. It was the same pattern over and over again until the day she came to leave.

And on that day… "Okkie-chan, can you promise me something?" Osakabehime waited for the response, knowing what to expect, and nodded. "Do try to be a bit more sociable, okay?" Osakabehime nodded, nervously, looking around at the crowd gathering near the trains, and of the people staring at her curious attire.

"I already gave you my contact information, so if you ever need something, just give me a call." She paused after hearing her train arrive at the station. "Ah, that's my train! Take care!" She said goodbye, ran towards the doors, and the image of the travelling girl would be etched in Osakabehime's memory for the rest of her immortal life. She smiled, and nodded once again, mostly to herself this time.

The train slowly drove away from the city, and Osakabehime walked back home. Arriving at the castle, she nodded off all the security guards who were wondering what the princess was doing outside of the castle for once. Arriving at her room, she wondered if her NEET lifestyle was really going to be sustainable with Musashi coming in and out whenever she wanted now. She'll see.

Lying down on her futon, she would pick up her phone and play around with it, but a piece of paper sparkled like crystals on top of her kotatsu. Walking over to it, she gasps, and realizes exactly what it was. She cries, thanking Musashi over and over again for being such a good friend and promises to keep her end of the deal.

Motivated, she runs over to her desktop PC and immediately went on a buying spree on Amazon to buy workout equipment and socialization books. Because Issei and Musashi were feeling generous.

The gifts she gave?

5 400$ Google Gift Cards.

And that was enough to make the NEETest of NEETs to finally work herself to proper shape.

-O_O-

This was the last one finished before I uploaded everything at once. Have to say, it's kind of underwhelming. I think? Oh well. Initial outfit is her travelling outfit as you would imagine. I find it cute.

Though the drabble was a bit on the short side, try to imagine the train scene with Never More from Persona 4. You're kind of supposed to fill in the bits anyway.

Side Story 6: A Miko and a Fox Girl, 2?

Servant Caster slowly formed into being after she had realized the intruders coming into her home out of nowhere. They had tripped the wards she had set up around the perimeter and invited themselves inside of her home without even asking for permission. How rude! And by the time they realized that they've been duped, it was already too late, and the two of them suddenly found themselves inside a second room floor with no one else

Tamamo-no-Mae slowly poured a few cups of tea for her esteemed guests, two members of the well-recognized Rias team Koneko Toujou and Kiba Yuuto. On the one hand, their snooping around her home to confirm their suspicions of some sort of hypnosis or geas having been applied to their

"I hope you could explain why you have been snooping around my master's home for so long…" Tamamo began. She tapped impatiently on the table, raising an elegant eyebrow at their plead for forgiveness. "I do hope you've realized by now, but it's late at night during a Saturday of all times, and he needs all the sleep he needs for the exam next week."

"And what did you do?"

"We snuck inside of your house to confirm our suspicions… Miss Rias wasn't budging at all when we asked her about the details behind her and your master's meeting a few days ago." Kiba raised his head from the floor. "We were worried when we felt a little magic pouring out of her eyes, so we had to act in some way to make sure that she wasn't being hypnotized." Koneko looked at him for a moment from her kneeling position, then continued her observation of Issei's so-called Servant.

"Good. That was all you needed to say. That said," Her eyes lidded dangerously. "You don't think you could have asked us directly? Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal. Just a mutual geas to ensure neither of our secrets were leaked by accident without the consent of the other." 'Though I have my doubts that a pornographic magazine should truly be considered a major secret in her part,' she thinks to herself, considering the myriad of other skeletons just waiting to come out of her closet.

"Ah, Tamamo-san, if you wouldn't mind, could you please tell us where Issei is the entire time? I know you've been telling us this entire time that he needs his beauty sleep to prepare, but it's almost like he's never been home the entire time we've been here." One of the two asked, but she wasn't taking care to identify either of their voices this time around with her eyes closed.

"Oh, that's very simple, Mikon! Just watch." She snapped her fingers and her body and eventually the whole room was enveloped in a bright light. Her lean and slender physique turned rougher and more masculine, turning into a picture-sperfect copy of Hyoudou Issei in his school uniform.

"Ah." They both blinked, looking at the transformation with not much else, though just afterwards she had transformed again into Tamamo-no-Mae. "I'm to guess that you're filling in for Issei-san then?"

"In a way, but it's only during situations like this. I can guarantee you that you wouldn't see me most of the time because he does this kind of thing better than me." She grinned with both of her arms propping her face up.

'So, he's busy right now and can't interact with us himself? Tough luck, honestly.' They thought inside, but still accepting of the hospitality given to them by their host. They waited for whatever she had to say next.

A moment of silence came afterwards. None of them interacted in the slightest, even with Tamamo's disarming smile staring straight at them. Kiba awkwardly took his cell phone out of his pocket to see the time, and felt dejected to see it's only been 5 minutes since then. Opening his mouth, he began.

"So…" Kiba began. "Are we done here?" Tamamo smiled maliciously under her breath at the question, both of their expense, and prepared to counter whatever she had with whatever they could still get their hands on.

The tension dropped dramatically when instead of a weapon, she had brought out a half a glass baking dish's worth of lasagna from underneath the kotatsu. It was covered with a piece of cloth and, despite looking like a day old, it still looked palatable and edible, which made both of them think that she had in some way preserved the food presentably. Presumably using some kind of magic, but it was better than nothing.

"Do try to eat as much as you can, okay? I cooked a little too much the other day but despite my attempts to make it smaller, it still ended up being too much." She pushed two plates at them with forks and knives, and offered them to eat. The two looked at each other momentarily, eating slowly despite the absurdly sweet taste of the sauce used. It was good, but it was too sweet to be pasta.

After a while…

"We'll send the message to Rias-sama that we've worked something out. You can expect an invitation to the club in just the next week. So until then," Koneko brushed her hair out of her face. "Do take care." She smiled, an emotion enough for Kiba to look at her in turn.

"We'll be seeing you!" Kiba shouted, looking back at the home while facing the rising sun. They both walk away from the front door and Issei sighs.

He takes a broom out of the hallway closet and sweeps the floor of any dirt and debris that may have been left over, whistling a cheerful jingle all the while. A few steps rang down the staircase, signaling that his parents were arriving now, queueing his morning routine of making breakfast for the whole family. With mastered multitasking, he washed the dishes, cleaned the floor and cooked breakfast for all of them at the same time.

It wasn't the life the real Issei Hyoudou would have been capable of doing, but she would still do her best to try. She smiles melancholically as she sees it all front and center, even as her parents compliment her on her diligence and cooking skills. The fact that she wasn't him 100% anymore was irrelevant from that point onwards, because as far she could tell?

They were still home.

-O_O-

As it turns out, Tamamo!Issei refers to Issei in the third-person. Not wrong, but it's kind of a bit of both I'm seeing here. Kind of like how Space Ishtar or Maou Nobunaga does it, like how they know that they're all the same person but treating them like a different person regardless. I'd use Doctor Who as an example, but you know, he actually spoke to himself on numerous occasions, to the point that it's kind of a gimmick you'd expect for anniversary productions.

Canon Side Story: Promotional Material, and Professional Cosplaying

"No seriously Issei, what did you need us to do?" Issei Hyoudou looked on with a glassy look on her face.

The day immediately after Issei Hyoudou showed her two friends the light novel with her face in was… interesting, to say the least. They very well recognized the appearance of her uniform on the upper right corner, with her looking more than spooky and upper class enough when she would bother with all of that. That said, they raised a very important question.

Why in the bloody hell did Issei look so much like her to begin with? And so, Issei Hyoudou realized right then and there that it may have been a bad idea to invite both of her friends to discuss her apparent presence in the book if she didn't want either of them knowing the identity of the equally violent and aggressive little girl inside of her. Her heartbeat raced as she thinks up ways of getting out of this.

A lesser writer would admit defeat, noting that there would have been no logical way of explaining how Issei would get away with still retaining her secrets but still showing them the problem with the serious Koha/ACE light novel and her mirror image on the front page. Then they would retcon the whole event and pretend it never happened. Easy peasy, but I wouldn't go for that; it's a cop-out, and I already have an explanation.

Because, very simply put? They never made the connection to begin with. Issei stumbled over herself after she saw the two, though mostly Sona, have Yen symbols on their eyes and even just a little drool coming out her mouth. They, not caring much about the connection of the little girl that seemed so sociopathic, took note of a very lucrative deal that they could make out of this. Especially considering the exorbitant expenses incurred in very high-class restaurants, Eat All You Can buffets, and steakhouses, courtesy of the girl they were going to have work her way through to pay for most, if not all of it eventually.

Issei Hyoudou looked at both of them with a nervous smile as she slowly crawled away into the frameworks of her bed,

Which is how Issei found herself in a small local convention near them, the crowd of cosplayers gathering around her for her picture-perfect cosplay of Oda Nobunaga, the Demon Archer, in a mildly suffocating fashion. Sona looked from the side, taking a picture every now and then and acting as a sort of negotiator to a representative from the Marketing Team of Fate/Grand Order for Issei to do some work with them on the side. Something she happily obliged.

Another snapshot and pose later, and Issei felt absolutely exhausted. She excused herself from all of the waiting photographers and people surrounding her to get some fresh air and R&R, to their massive disappointment. Sighing deeply after leaving the outhouse, she moves to go back to the crowd of photographers waiting for her to return, until something stops her on her tracks.

On the way back, she brushes past a blonde haired cosplayer wearing a blue haori, evidently an Okita cosplayer of some sort. She excuses herself until they both spark, as they both stare at each other with widened eyes. "H-Hey, are you-!?" She began, until she was dragged over to the crowd of photographers by her manager yet again, not getting the chance to realize what was going on.

Oda Nobunaga knew what was going on in her mind. She already knew who that girl really was. The girl they went past… It was her Okita Souji. Another Servant… How does that even happen? The servant in question stared back at her aimlessly before turning back and continue walking. Her face seemed almost unreadable to her.

As much as she wanted to ask her something, they just didn't have time or circumstance on their side right now. She just had to do her job right now, and that was to entertain everyone at the fest. Needless to say, they both went out of the convention center roughly a few thousand dollars richer, which was nice. What wasn't nice for her but totally euphoric for the other girl however were her plans to eventually dress her up in even more characters for the next few cons, starting with a cosplay of Kagura from Gintama.

-O_O-

A bit underwhelming as far as side stories go, yeah, and a little too serious especially since this is supposed to be the follow up to the one I made back in December. My deep apologies about that. The rant about lesser writers was actually about me.

I might actually fill this up soon enough. That's for when my head's not full of fuzz, though, because I've been creatively starved for months. God knows how my lack of human interaction is affecting my psyche.

Canon Side Story: How Nobbu Seduced the Glasses Pervert Girl by Accident (pending title)

Nobunaga was in a tight spot, it seemed. Moments after another succesful mission with Sona, Issei Hyoudou tripped and fell on a branch on the way back to school just as they were about to transform back into their original outfits. The green light enveloped her body, but as she lacked the physical willpower to transfer her consciousness to the front and center due to being out like a light, she transformed into her regular uniform once again with Nobunaga Oda accidentally given the reins.

Which, as you would imagine, was the bulk of the problem already. As her presence in Issei's body has been a closely guarded secret that not even the Leviathan was allowed to know about, thus not even made aware that they'd swap places sometimes, it made it very clear that if Nobbu was unable to act like Issei normally would, then the secret could come out in flames. As she slowly stood up, trying her best to acclimate to the physique of her Avenger form's second stage, she realized that Sona was approaching her from behind. She turned around, awkwardly, to meet her honest confusion.

Sona Sitri tilted her head, puzzled. "Is there something wrong, Issei? Did Emerald tell you something irritating again?" The Student Council president-to-be had long since outgrown the concept of magical girl cosplays and roleplaying, but out of habit she still went out on the operations with Issei for old time's sake. Her limited knowledge on the specialized equipment that Issei had only extended to knowing that it greatly amplified her powers and allowed her to fight like a regular magical girl.

Emerald was well aware of their agreement to speak not a word of Nobbu's presence as well, awkwardly shifting around Issei's belt pocket. She replied, quaintly, "Oh nonono, Miss Sitri, nothing happened! Nothing happened at all!" Nobunaga concurred. "Y-Yeah, it just hurt a little bit, don't- don't mind me." A bead of sweat fell of her brow, and Sona sighed.

"Just remember to go to your class this time, Issei." Sona admonished the younger boy, still mildly surprised that he actually found out a way to retain his old plumbing. "We had enough trouble with Miss Taro complaining about your tardiness. Our special operations do not qualify as an excuse for people who are unaware of the supernatural, understand? Good." She started walking away, and Nobunaga released a deep sigh she didn't know she was holding in.

The Demon King wasn't particularly familiar with Issei's daily routines at her school, being that she mostly focused on the more auxiliary and supplemental aspects of school life such as the extracurricular activities, sports and of course, Modern Japanese History. As a result, there were a few moments that Nobbu could've used in preparing for Issei's next class, but ultimately wasted by her indecisiveness and lack of awareness towards those daily activities. In fact, just ten minutes before the time hit one, the teacher meant for her next class passed by, reminding them both of the test on Mathematics that was supposed to be covered that day.

Nobbu froze, realizing that for the last 2 hours before Issei went to bed she studiously read textbook after textbook, numbers too complex for her to understand were pasted on the wall of the shared bedroom as she recited on it over and over again. Issei may not always be the greatest in Mathematics, but that time, that evening? She poured her heart out, telling Nobu over and over again how this time, she'll pass, that this time, she'll have a high score.

Too bad she wasn't able to see it through this time, that crazy girl. Nobunaga faced the classroom floor in an OTL position, silently muttering 'I have failed you, I have failed you!' over and over again. Her classmates looked at her worrringly, viewing the boy as the best in their class overall despite his otherwise average markings in the Mathematical end of the spectrum. If even he has began to keel over, what could they possible do to tide the pain over?

But Nobunaga had a plan in store. From the perspective of the entire rooom, he stood up and walked back to the arm chair with a determined look on his face. Yet just as much on the inside, they had a plan to consider.

Kaleido Emerald was a work of magical art. A mystic code devised by the Kaleidescope and based of its sister models, Ruby and Sapphire, Kaleido Emerald was unique among all of them for featuring all of their utilities, including the usage of class cards as the battery and power source of a lot of its strengths and its direct connection to the Multiverse as a whole, and also by featuring a full fledged scientific calculator and various other doodads within its programming.

Yes, Kaleido Emerald was one of the unique mystic codes in existence. Despite being powered by magical powers, it also held an entire microcomputer within its circuits despite the clear contrast between machinery and magecaft. As Kaleido Emerald would put it just a few moments before it began, "I am what you may call an anathema. Despite being magical, I am also technologically superior. And despite being technologically superior, I do not curtail the development of magic as a whole by my entire existence for I do not exist to simplify life."

And as far as computers go, he was pretty good. He came with a built in clock, an MP3 player, a small holographic screen to watch movies in and even a USB port that Issei sometimes uses to charge her phone. But that wasn't the reason why Nobbu was so excited, oh no. Rather, it was Emerald's ability to connect to the Internet through a micro copy of Mozilla Firefox on her storage units that came so handy. And through Mozilla Firefox came multiple online calculators that were more than willing to supplement Nobu's lacking knowledge in Basic Calculus.

The stage was set, and all that was left now was for Nobunaga to wait for the papers to be passed over to her. On the teacher's table were stacks of paper that almost reached the top of the blackboard. Any of Nobunaga's pride left over after such a spectacle burned out in an instance, but she held on for as long as possible. It couldn't be that bad, she thought, but looking through her copy, her meek smiles turned into deeper frowns and an open mouth when she realized she might have swallowed more than she could chew.

Even with Nobunaga's ace in a hole, there was no chance for her to legitimately win like this at stake. But she realized a solution just as quickly. She opened up Issei's belt pocket, asking the magical stick as discretely as possible. "You think you could wander around and tell me the answers of some of the smarter looking kids when you're invisible." The look of realization on both of them widened happily as they set this plan in motion alongside their original plans.

The test went on and on for the next 30 minutes, but despite that it didn't feel as exhausting as it could have been. Oda Nobunaga stared blankly at the test sheet as the answers came in soft whispers, just barely heard by the muggle population of the classroom. She wrote them down as accurately as she possible could, making sure to include the equations as requested by the instructions given. A cold sweat gathered in her brow, as she tried her best to write them down as they went.

As the test drew to a close, Nobunaga rested her head on the armchair with no cushioning. She was just about to sleep it off, until...

SLAM! The teacher's desk was slammed by the teacher in charge with a loud "Silence!" The teacher gathered in the miffed looks on all of the students faces and so they thought to themselves, oh boy what is it this time. "I've been hearing loud whispers gathering around here this entire time, and I know that they're the answers to the quiz! Who could possibly be audacious enough to help someone during the middle of a major exam?"

Her buttons decided that at that point, it was the best time to split. POP goes the buttons, and the sound of a pen rolling over a desk rattled through from the front columns, and they all looked there. The teacher looked to the general direction of the transparent wand, and both Issei and the teacher gasped.

"Matsuda-kun, how could you!" The boy sputtered uncontrollably as his scheme unravelled itself, letting the cheat sheets fall of his clothes one by one. His seatmate, Motohama, palmed his face as he muttered how he should've taught the boy right, until he realized that he was also right next to the teacher. The teacher took the boy's paper and ripped it in half, solidifying their current position as the boy began crying into his seat, while glaring holes into the glasses wearing otaku.

A girl next to Issei spoke up, referring to Issei in particular. "Gee, what did he do this time to go out of their way to do that, huh? Don't you agree?"

Nobunaga blinked. Looking to her left, she asked. "To what?"

"Well, you know. Desperation forcing their hand and stuff, could've done more to study and stuff... He wasted more time ogling at girls instead of actually studying."

"Yeah... I guess." Kiryuu turned to face him,

"You think he could've done better?" Nobunaga thought about it, and realized yeah. Yeah, she probably did. It wasn't the most positive of opinions, not at all, but their antics really soured her opinions of them tenfold.

"I guess he could've. I don't remember too much about him, but I could tell that the guy did all of that as some sort of twisted coping mechanism." She sighs. "Don't you think so too? There's no way any normal human being would be so obssessed with a pair of fat in such a short span of time. I get that kids get perverted in puberty, but look at me! I'm not salivating over every new episode of Kaben Rider like a loon.'

"I mean, take a look at the guy. He's a sputtering mess." Nobunaga sighed deeper, letting her disappointment at their wasted potentials known. "Despite having an elaborate plan to cheat in the exams, all it took was looking at our teacher's pair of boobs to leave him open to counterattack. Honestly, you'd think that they'd be doing much better if they didn't let their libido control themselves all the time. What a waste..." And that, to be honest, was her take on the truth here.

For once in Aika Kiryuu's life, she was at a loss. Certainly, her grades were better than most, but she went through most of her life thinking that her talent was something that she could use to get out of any situation without worry in any way. Now though, she wasn't so sure if it was either the morally right or smart thing to do. She blushed, and coughed.

"I... Oh, I don't know. I didn't honestly expect a response that intelligent from you, pretty boy. Thanks for that." Nobunaga blinked once again, confused who she was referring to. "Well," She stood up. "Guess this is my time to leave. See you next time, then."

"The same to you." She took her bags, and left the room, leaving behind a teared up Motohama and Matsuda, and a really incensed teacher. The Kaleidostick followed quickly after, inserting herself into the belt pocket without needing to be notified.

Just as Nobbu prepared to leave the school, Issei regained control, a fuzzy feeling in her vision. Issei had to ask, "What did I miss this time?"

Nobunaga answered excitedly, "Oh, I answered your exam for you, Issei! I might have cheated a little bit, but it shouldn't be too bad. They'd be the same answers anyway, right."

Issei nervously agreed, but she still had a great sense of foreboding coming after her for the next day. She could worry about it next time. And worry she did.

The next day, the test results were released. That day, Issei screamed, as though his score was not bad in any way -it was 70% of the exam-, a very laconic "Remember to add in your justifications and solutions, Issei." A little addendum after that read "And make sure the equations are correct to begin with!"

Canon Side Story – Canon Lead-Up

Raynare went inside her safehouse, tired after a day of doing menial labour to pay off her rent and working on the side to get on her boss's good side again. Plopping down on her couch, feeling tired, she would just about fall unconsciousness if it wasn't for her feeling a rough piece of metal poking her arse immediately afterwards. Rubbing her sore arse, she picks up the offending material and realizes that it's a communicator of some sort. Just after, however, it rings, making her reel after hearing the voice on the other line.

"Raynare."

"Sir?"

A few explanations later... Midway through, she finds the box in question. She raises her eyebrows and her pupils turn into pinpricks as she realizes what kind of contract she's being asked to do.

"I don't get what you mean that, Azazel-sama, I am not going to go out in that reprehensible attire!"

...

"What? What do you mean it's the only way to mend our relations? That Gremory girl hasn't talked to you in years? Doesn't she actively avoid you to begin with!?"

... ... ...

"I could give a rat's ass about that brat's opinion about it, what I'm asking is why you felt the need to stuff me in this thing just to make amends!"

... ...

"I think you're acting nerdier than you've ever been, if I'm being quite honest."

...

"Wha- Azazel-sama, that's totally uncalled for! Y-Yes, I called you that in the first place, but... Haah...!?"

From the other end, the Governor-General only smirked. "It's either befriend the kid or don't, Raynare. Either way, I'll let you be if your presence has made a positive effect. Your punishment would be lightened, as a direct result. And don't you think that so good? Just start as soon as you can. I expect results." The sound of a phone being slammed down, and the beeps of a dial tone afterwards.

Raynare dropped the communicator to the ground, realizing the implications. She gulps deeply, and looks at the box full of clothing. Blinking twice, she approaches it.

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do..."

She awkwardly takes the school uniform up and shivers, taking in the smell of the morning sun. It was evidently and very recently ironed. Looking at her windows, she realizes that the morning sun had penetrated through, and on a Monday at that so she had to act quickly. Taking a quick shower, she started by putting on her socks.

"Alright then, Issei... I hope you're going to enjoy me, because there's no way I'm going to try and pay off all my debts in another decade." She sighs, and puts it all on. Walking out of the door with all her identification papers, Yuuma Amano stepped out of the door wearing the Kuoh Academy uniform with a frown on her face.

Locking the door behind her, she breathes in deeply. Moments after, she marches towards the school with a fire in her eyes.

This'll be related to Chapter 9 in some way, I'm sure. I'm just gonna figure out a way to implement it to the story since I still don't know how to start it. If anyone has recommendations, hit me up, please. I'm brain dead and totally drained nowadays. Being stuck in your house isn't good for your creativity.

Either way, sorry for the long half-year wait. I'm back, and hopefully for good. All bets are off.

The low, low likelihood of me making these stories independent are low but not impossible. Just hit me up if you want me to give you the blessing to adopt one of these or for me to write them myself. K? K.

Also, lastly: It seems I've been downplaying how powerful Maou Nobunaga is as a whole. Like hell I'm going to downplay Papiyas Metamorphosis! It's the Ultimate Divine killer, and makes a good case of beating up most of DXD's supernatural brouhaha if she could maintain it. Kind of like a cursed secret technique that comes with the real risk of harming your friends for good, which fits for drama.