A/N: Welcome to the next chapter. Couple things to add:

I do not own High School DxD or its characters.

This story is a rewrite of the original story by ICan'tStandDroppedStories; Gottheit and is written with permission.

As Issei got Kiba put to bed, he couldn't help but sigh at everything that had happened recently, from Rias and her peerage becoming Angels to his childhood friend coming back to Kuoh in response to Kokabiel. He sighed as he thought back to what he had heard about Kiba's past, and aside from Koneko, who he only knew portions of her past from Arisa, who had offered to tell him about it but he declined saying he'd rather hear it from Koneko whenever she was ready to tell him, he did hear about what had happened to her sister though, Kiba had some of the worst reactions to anything related to it, and Issei hoped he'd be able to help everyone in his group get over anything that was troubling them from their past. Right as he was getting ready to leave the room, the door slammed open surprising him as Irina ran in.

"Issei! We've got a problem!" She said as she finally found him and forgetting that he had asked her to not call him that for now.

Surprised at her sudden entrance, the thought of what she called him didn't come up, especially at the serious expression she was sporting. "What's going on?"

"Ray and Kona…" She started, pausing to make sure she got the names right and kept going after he nodded for her to continue, "just got back to the church and were all banged up, with Ray saying to get you as they ran into an old 'acquaintance' of hers! Yuuma something or other. And she was with Valper Galilei, and she was carrying Excalibur Rapidly!" She said, getting everything out at once, and getting an annoyed look from Issei as he recognized the name.

"Yuuma Amano most likely. We thought she had been killed a few months ago by Ray but apparently something intervened. She's actually indirectly related to Arabella, but that's a story I'm not willing to dive into." He said with a frown, and getting a confused look from Irina, as they moved back towards the front of the church. "Both her and Ray have known each other for a while, but had a falling out which is when I came across her and saved both Ray and Asia." He said as he turned his mind towards the issue. "Are they ok?"

"Besides cuts and bruises, and Kona unconscious, I believe so. Asia was healing them when I ran to get you." Irina replied getting a nod back in thanks as they reached the front of the church with Raynare being glad to see him around.

"Issei! Where's Kiba? She won't be happy to hear what happened but it might also be good for her." Raynare said as she finished getting healed by Asia, and sending her a nod of thanks.

"Asleep. We'll worry about how she'll react later. What happened." He replied with a stern look that made Raynare gulp as she realized he was now in serious mode before she dived into what happened.

"We were out handing out flyers, and decided to stop by the arcade for a bit…" She started, before flinching as a couple people snickered at her as they knew how she was, "and as we were on our way home, we heard a voice that I hoped we would never hear again; Yuuma Amano! And she then attacked us before we could do anything else or prepare ourselves with Excalibur Rapidly. And honestly, if it weren't for Kona, I wouldn't be here right now." She started before having to stop and calm herself for a minute. "After we fought a little bit, going back and forth before we finally gained the advantage, it had to be ruined by that fool Valper Galilei and he whisked her off by using one of those flashbangs and that's when we rushed back here." She said, finishing her statement as she breathed in once again to try and calm her nerves. She didn't know what to think after today and was hoping that Issei would figure out the best way to handle this situation. Right about this time, Kona also happened to wake up after Asia finished healing her wounds.

Thinking about it for a minute, Issei came to a decision to at least get the ball rolling. "All right, good job, both of you. Go ahead and take a break and catch your breath. We need to think this through and not rush things or go straight after them as that's likely what they want us to do. I also want to be the one that tells Kiba about this to help keep her calm and try to keep her from running after them, which would be a terrible idea and yes I know that this could be considered hypocrisy coming from me with my past. Their plan was likely to get us to go after them so that they can steal your two swords," he said pointing at the Exorcists, "and from what I've heard I wouldn't be surprised if he had a Cadre as support so we need to have a plan in place before we do anything, though if we wait too long I have no doubt they'll attack when we're not ready." He finished before making a decision. "The most likely place for an attack would be Kuoh Academy, so I plan on switching us back there." Though he amended his words when seeing the worried faces from Arisa and her old peerage. "Well I switched me, Ray, and Asia since everyone was already there." Getting a nod from everyone at that as the tension in the room lessened before Irina and Xenovia's faces turned serious.

"Since you're the highest-ranking member here Isaac, both as an Angel and a Joker, your words have more power than anyone on the human side of the church. What can we do to help in this situation." Irina said, her voice going from the joyous one she'd had after seeing her childhood friend again and meeting the rest of his group, to one filled with an aura of confidence and professionalism, with Xenovia nodding her head, and making Issei notice how much she had changed since he had last seen her, and that even though he remembered her as his childhood friend, she was trained as an Exorcist and a Holy Sword wielder.

"Uhm, this might sound mean or bad but I honestly don't have a good answer to that right now, but I might get the both of you to help get security measures in place in Kuoh." He said, hoping he didn't offend the girls as he hadn't made any decisions on that right now as well as the fact that he didn't know where their strengths lay as Exorcists. Thankfully the two only nodded their heads in acceptance to his words and didn't seem offended.

"How about for now though, you stick around here and help with anything that might need done here until we find a better job for you to do." He said getting another nod as he turned towards Arabella. "Arabella, take Arisa and Asia with you and go into town and setup some traps and sensors to see if we can figure out any movements or where they might be staying. If you come across any of their group, do not engage and fall back to the church. I don't care how many people they send, just make sure to get back here safe." He ordered, knowing that they, besides Asia and possibly Akeno since she was born as a half Fallen, weren't used to their Angel powers yet so it was better to be safe than sorry. Along with those thoughts, he knew he should at least send a message to Sirzechs to let him know what was going on and go from there.

"Understood. How about we meet back here in 5 minutes you two so we can get ready before we head out?" Arabella said, turning to her teammates for this mission who nodded before heading back to their rooms to get ready.

Right as they left for their mission, things calmed down in the church as people went on their way and Issei went outside to start preparing the defenses for the church itself by putting up barriers, and was happy to see Irina and Xenovia followed behind him. Since the two hadn't been given a job by Issei, they decided to follow him in case something happened to the defenses around the church, they might be able to help out in getting them set back up, or at least a decent replacement. While Xenovia mainly trained in swordsmanship, she had taken a little training in raising barriers, Irina was able to make a decent sized barrier though it couldn't be considered strong by any means yet.

Once he had the barriers raised, he turned towards the Exorcists, next plan in mind. "Now that those are setup, how about we go ahead and start your training since we have time." Getting nods. "Go ahead and get whatever stretching you need done so we can start. We'll start out with simple sparring so I can get a general feel of what I should do to help you, as I'm sure we all don't just want to talk about the swords when we could be using them."

Once they both did their stretching, mostly non stressful forms of it, they got into position for whatever he was going to throw their way. "First off, I want to start with Xenovia since I know what she wants me to help her with, which on that note is there anything you'd like help with Irina?" He asked before getting a shake of her head showing she was fine with general teaching, as she stepped back.

"First off, what I want you to do Xenovia is I'm going to be throwing orbs of light at or near you and since I know you need help getting your control on point, I want you to hit the orbs before they hit you." He said getting a determined look from her as she brought out her sword and nodded.

Issei started out slow with the orbs, throwing two at a time, one a few seconds ahead of the other at her and to either side and watched as she swung her sword with grace around blocking each of the orbs as she used her gauntleted hand on the blade for better control as she shifted her feet around for better control, until he threw one in a curve that required her to actually swing her blade to take it out as it came in from behind. Right after that one, he stopped and prepared to take it up a notch. "Good job taking care of those but get ready for me to step it up a notch." He said, getting a determined nod from Xenovia as she was ready for it and an interested one from Irina as she wondered what he would do next to ramp it up.

Issei started turning it up by throwing more of them at once as well as making them curve more and go back around to try and hit her. She started moving around more but was able to keep up with the rate he was throwing them at her, only missing around three or so in twenty, but about midway through her footwork started to falter as her confusion with footwork got to her along with the attacks he was throwing her way, before he ended this round when she'd missed ten in a row.

"Alright, great job. You started out strong, and are skilled but…" He paused for effect. "You're having an issue remembering that you are wielding a large sword, and started trying to use it like you would a lighter sword which didn't end well once I started putting pressure on you as you tried to do precise individual swings to take out targets. You should be able to take out multiple targets with one swing if done correctly."

Xenovia could only look at him with respect and reverence at what he had been able to determine, which made sense to her once she heard it. She'd spent years trying to gain sword-mastery but had gotten nowhere recently, and any information that could help her would be considered a Godsend to her, literally in this case though she didn't know it.

"You have the right style but you fall back to training when you get overwhelmed, which while normally not an issue, it looks to me like you never trained with a heavy weighted staff which would help with both balance and technique. It's the same with me and my spear. We have to be careful with our swings as they are important for people like us as if we were to scuff a blow, it could cause issues for us and an opening someone could make use of if we aren't careful. Each strike needs to have a purpose, either as a strike or a lead up to one and you can also use the swords mass to keep an opponent off guard and you can use that to your advantage if handled correctly. One other thing to take into consideration is not to overuse your weapons abilities if it has one, and that could also give an edge as it could make an enemy make mistakes waiting on an attack he knows you can do which might not ever come."

Xenovia couldn't believe what she had been told, but after thinking about it, she realized he was right. "Thank you Isaac, you actually helped me out with just that. I never noticed those aspects when training, so I must not have been training hard enough." She said bowing to him, before he corrected her wording lightly, not too mad at her thoughts.

"I don't think you're right with your thoughts. I think you were training enough, just not in the right way for your swords style. I can tell you have the small sword techniques down, you just lack the skills required for swords like Durandal and Destruction. I doubt you would have been able to really use either with your current level without a strength boost but even then it wouldn't be enough to bring out their full potential." He said getting nods from the two.

"R-right. I never thought about it that way. I got too hurried to learn the weapon that I forgot-"

"The weapon itself, yes." Issei said cutting her off but his voice was calm and let her know he agreed with her.

Irina, who had been staying back and watching everything was stunned at how much Issei had changed since she had last seen him and his knowledge. "Wow Issei! You've sure gained a ton of knowledge since I've seen you last! That was a great deduction!" She said, getting an awkward chuckle from him as he rubbed the back of his head.

'Its more like my [The Mind] ability lets me know all of this by thinking about it, but it doesn't hurt that I also have the [Body]'s strength to go with it to help out when needed.' He thought to himself, knowing that now wasn't the time for that secret to be let out. "While I thank you for that, in this case, my observations were something that anyone could give if they knew what to look for." He said still rubbing his head and getting a thoughtful nod from the two as two new faces joined them outside.

"Wow Isaac, still not accepting praise and recognition I see. We've always said you should accept it if someone gives you praise and not worry about any worries you have doing so." Kiba said as her and Koneko came out from the church, with both looking like they were ok, but Issei could tell that Kiba's eyes were still red. "Mind if we join in?" She asked before getting nods of acceptance from everyone as the two moved forward and she summoned multiple swords before finding one she wanted to use and putting the rest up.

Irina couldn't help but notice that the swords felt demonic in nature to her. "Are those demonic swords? That means you have the Sword Birth Sacred Gear doesn't it." She asked, her tone one of contemplation, not trying to be rude or anything.

"Yeah. I know its not anything Angelic, but it's still a really useful tool." She said, getting nods from the two exorcists as they didn't disagree.

"Darkness is as much a part of balance and perfection as light and depending on how one uses it it can also be used for good but also can be used for wicked purposes." Issei corrected, getting a blush from Kiba. "Though this isn't the first time I've mentioned this to you."

"Your right and I'm sorry. It's just something I got to get used to."

"Don't worry about it. You'll get there eventually and we'll all help."

Irina couldn't help but be awed once again at how Issei was handling everything going on. "You really have changed a lot since we were young haven't you. You used to be such a rambunctious child." Getting a face palm from him at her words.

"Yeah I guess I have changed a bit since then but everyone does in one way or the other." He said getting nods from the group, as he started to ask why she seemed to think she was older but then he thought about it and decided just to leave it alone for now.

Right after that, the training started back up with Xenovia standing back this time and Irina, Kiba and Koneko getting some practice in, with Koneko mostly just dodging the orbs and hitting them a couple times. It eventually ended with Kiba being the last one still going after Irina and Koneko getting hit from behind by attacks they didn't see coming. Once they congratulated him on that, they made there way back into the church as the trap team had made it back safely.

Scene Skip

Once they made it back inside they all sat up near the front to hear how things went in town. "So I'm guessing everything went fine. Any issues?"

"Nope. We set traps and sensors around town in any place we could think that might show signs of activity from the ones we are looking for, but we also had to factor in the Sitri Heiresses Peerage being here and how they might move but I think we got it situated just fine. We did have an issue though come up, but I'll let Arisa speak on this one." Akeno said as she turned the reigns over to Arisa who didn't look like she was too happy.

"I thought I kept feeling a Devil's presence following us around town but never got a good viewing of him, but at one point, we got slightly separated at one of the warehouses, he tried to get close to Asia but fled before we could do anything more than get to her side. This might be tied into the letter's she's been receiving lately, and it was that person trying to get her by herself." She commented to an annoyed group before Asia spoke up.

"It might be the Devil I healed that got me in trouble." She said quietly, though everyone heard it to their shock, though it did make sense in a way to Issei.

"That actually makes a lot of sense. From what we gathered someone has been going around trying to get nuns away from the church." Issei said as he thought about it more and how there was more issues to deal with.

"Do you remember what he looks like? I'd love to give a piece of my mind to the person who got my sister excommunicated!" Arisa said, having not thought about it before but it would make sense and she had an inkling of who it might be.

"I tried for the longest time to forget his face and did for a while, but I've been trying to remember recently and when I got a glance at the face it was the same guy. He had dark green hair and a calm expression, but while polite and thankful, he seemed to be a bit touchy. He was well dressed and also seemed to have a nun following him as she was the one that called me over." She said before Arisa let out an annoyed grunt as she knew exactly who it was, while Issei was both stunned and glad that she had remembered the guys face as he hadn't known she was trying to.

Diodora Astaroth! It has to be. He's got a huge corruption fetish and even went after me once. I've heard he's broken many holy maidens and nuns in his time and possibly added them to his peerage." She said, not entirely lying as he had made moves on her in the past but it died down not long before she became an Angel, something that she realized might have had something to do with him moving over to Asia.

"With everything going on, it would make sense for another enemy to pop up. Just great. Why can't the bad guys just take a number and come at us that way." He said grumbling but everyone got a laugh out of it either way as they settled down for now.

A/N: And that's the end of the chapter. Sorry this one took so long to get out but I just didn't feel like writing any for a bit and worked on it on and off. I hope to get back into writing more soon.

Hope you liked the addition of Diodora early on. We won't see too much of him most likely for now but he has made a cameo appearance causing an issue in Kuoh early on.

I've been thinking of adding a section in a chapter of where he meets with Sona and they hash out what's gonna happen just like what happens in canon but I'm not too sure if I'm still gonna do that or not so we'll see what happens.

I'm thinking about next chapter or one soon being a powers and abilities chapter like I did for my other story but based on this one. Just would have to figure out how I want to do it cause with my current thoughts, it would be harder to do one here than with that one.

I've heard and seen how bad the PM messaging system is for FanFiction so I decided to create my own Discord where you can talk about my stories, or just about FanFiction stuff in general if anyone wants to join: zwJu3MZ. Input that code to join, though be warned, as of this chapter, it's a brand-new discord so changes will be happening as the days go by.

To add onto the previous note, if you have tried to message me, either in reply or as a new message, and I haven't answered, its due to not having received the message so just an fyi.