Vash
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Chapter 80
🕑 Added 2025-08-27 12:57:52 +0000 UTCThe training room erupted in a shower of sparks as Vali's silver aura clashed against my golden energy shield. His fist connected with the barrier, sending shockwaves through the reinforced space.
"Not bad," I said, sliding back a few feet from the impact. "But it's becoming predictable."
Vali smirked. "Says the guy who's been blocking instead of attacking for the past ten minutes."
"I'm studying your patterns," I replied, launching myself forward with a burst of speed that caught him off guard. My fist connected with his ribs, sending him skidding across the training mat.
"Ow." He rolled to his feet, grinning despite the hit. "Okay, point taken."
From the sidelines, Bikou groaned dramatically. "Come on, you two! Some of us want a turn before we die of old age!"
"Speak for yourself, monkey boy," Arthur called out, adjusting his grip on Caliburn. "I've been waiting patiently for my chance to test my sword against Leon."
"Patiently?" Lefay laughed from her position cross-legged on the floor, various magical circles floating around her as she practiced spell formations. "You've been complaining for the past hour."
"That's not complaining, that's strategic commentary,"
Kuroka, who had been lounging on a cushion near the wall, stretched languidly. "Boys and their toys, nya. Always so eager to beat each other up."
"Says the cat who was taking bets on how long before Vali landed a hit," I pointed out, dodging another of Vali's lightning-fast strikes.
"A girl has to entertain herself somehow, nya," she purred, examining her nails with exaggerated innocence.
The Vali Team training sessions had become a regular thing over the past week.
"Alright, alright," I said, raising my hands in surrender as Bikou started making increasingly dramatic gestures for attention. "Your turn, monkey king."
"Finally!" Bikou leaped to his feet, extending his staff with a flourish. "Prepare to face the might of—"
"Wait a minute!" Arthur interjected, stepping forward with Caliburn gleaming in his hand. "I called dibs ages ago! You can't just jump the queue because you're being dramatic!"
"Dibs?" Bikou turned to stare at him incredulously. "What are we, five years old? Besides, I was here first!"
"I was here first," Arthur corrected with the kind of precision that only came from noble breeding. "You were doing that weird monkey meditation thing in the corner when I arrived."
"That's called 'stretching,' you pompous pretty boy!"
"I am not pompous!" Arthur's voice cracked slightly. "And my hair is naturally this perfect!"
From her cushion, Kuroka snickered. "Oh, this is much better than watching them fight Leon, nya."
"You two are ridiculous," Lefay said, though she was clearly trying not to laugh. "Just rock-paper-scissors for it like normal people."
"Normal people don't carry legendary swords," Arthur pointed out, hefting Caliburn.
"And normal people aren't descended from the Monkey King!" Bikou countered, his staff spinning in complex patterns.
I leaned against the wall next to Kuroka, thoroughly entertained. "Should we stop them?"
"Are you kidding, nya? This is the best entertainment I've had all week," she purred, conjuring a bowl of popcorn from thin air. "Want some?"
Arthur and Bikou had moved into fighting stances, circling each other like predators.
"I challenge you to honorable combat for the right to spar with Leon!" Arthur declared with way too much ceremony.
"Honorable?" Bikou laughed. "You're the guy who used a smokescreen last week to get out of washing dishes!"
"That was tactical thinking!"
"That was cheating!"
They launched at each other simultaneously. Arthur's precise sword work clashed against Bikou's chaotic staff techniques in a shower of sparks and increasingly creative insults.
"Your footwork is sloppy!" Arthur called out, parrying a particularly wild swing.
"Your face is sloppy!" Bikou shot back, which made absolutely no sense but somehow felt devastating in the moment.
Vali sat up, looking between them and me. "How long do you think they'll keep this up?"
"Knowing them? At least another ten minutes," I replied, stealing some of Kuroka's popcorn. "Arthur's too proud to back down, and Bikou's having too much fun."
"I TRAINED WITH THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE!" Arthur shouted, executing a perfect thrust that Bikou barely dodged.
"WELL I TRAINED WITH ACTUAL MONKEYS!" Bikou replied, somehow making that sound like a legitimate credential.
Lefay sighed and returned to her spell practice. "Boys are weird."
"Tell me about it, nya," Kuroka agreed, offering the popcorn bowl to Vali. "Though I have to admit, the monkey's got better comedic timing."
"I heard that!" both Arthur and Bikou yelled simultaneously, before immediately returning to their increasingly acrobatic fight.
I couldn't help but grin.
"You know what?" I said to Vali. "I think we should just let them tire each other out. We can discuss that other matter afterward."
Vali nodded, settling back to enjoy the show. "Agreed. Besides, this is way more entertaining than our sparring session."
As Arthur and Bikou continued their increasingly ridiculous duel—with Arthur now shouting something about "the honor of Camelot" while Bikou responded by making monkey noises—I turned to Vali with a casual expression.
"You know," I said casually, tossing a piece of popcorn into my mouth, "There's something I think you'd be very interested to hear."
Vali's silver eyes immediately sharpened, his attention shifting from the ongoing comedy show to me. "Oh? And what might that be?"
“The Red Dragon Emperor is about to awaken."
Vali's entire body went rigid, his relaxed posture vanishing as he sat up straight. I could practically feel the intensity radiating from him.
"The Red Dragon Emperor?" he repeated, his voice low and dangerous. "Are you certain?"
“Of course.”
"When?"
"Soon," I said, keeping it casual.
I leaned back against the wall, thinking about what I knew. Truth was, I hadn't heard anything concrete about Issei since our conversation at my place. Koneko said he was still mulling over his options - whether to stay human, join the supernatural world, or become a devil.
Though she'd also mentioned that Issei wanted to talk to me about his decision. Which was... weird. It'd been a few days now, and radio silence. Even in class, the guy had been unusually quiet - no perverted comments, no dramatic outbursts about the unfairness of life, just sitting there staring out the window like he was wrestling with something heavy.
That wasn't like Issei at all. Usually the guy couldn't shut up about whatever was bouncing around in his head, perverted or otherwise. The fact that he was taking this long to reach out, combined with his silence? Either he was really struggling with the choice, or he'd already made up his mind and was avoiding me because he knew I wouldn't like his answer.
Maybe he was scared of what choosing the supernatural world would mean for our friendship. Hard to say - when it came to serious stuff, Issei could be surprisingly hard to read beneath all that perverted energy.
Vali shot to his feet. "Where is he?”
"Easy there," I said, waving him down. "He hasn't even figured out how to properly use his Sacred Gear yet. You go charging in now, and you'll just be disappointed."
"I've been waiting my whole life for this fight!"
"And you'll get it," I said firmly. "But let him grow into his power first. Trust me, when you two finally clash, it'll be worth the wait. Rushing it now? You'll just end up fighting a confused teenager instead of the Red Dragon Emperor."
My thoughts drifted back to Issei. Whatever was going through his head right now, I hoped he'd make his decision soon. The longer he waited, the harder it would get.
Either way - human, devil, or something in between - he was still my friend. And friends looked out for each other, no matter what path they chose. Whether he wanted to stay in the normal world or dive headfirst into the supernatural chaos, I'd be there to guide him through it.
That's what friends do.
=====
Issei pushed himself lazily on the swing, his feet dragging against the ground with each half-hearted motion. The metal chains creaked softly in the evening air as he stared down at the worn dirt beneath his shoes.
Another sigh escaped his lips.
This was the third time he'd come to this park since... well, since everything had gone completely insane. The same park where that fallen angel—Raynare, not Yuuma—had tried to kill him. Where Leon had shown up like some kind of supernatural superhero and saved his life.
Where his entire world had been flipped upside down.
He pushed off the ground again, swinging forward slightly before gravity pulled him back. The repetitive motion was oddly comforting, even if it wasn't helping him think any clearer.
"Devils, angels, Sacred Gears..." he muttered to himself, running a hand through his messy brown hair. "And I'm supposed to just... pick?"
The worst part? Leon had made it sound so simple. Stay human and live a normal life, or dive headfirst into the supernatural world. Maybe even become a devil if he wanted.
But it wasn't simple at all.
Issei had always been straightforward about what he wanted—a harem full of beautiful girls who'd love him and think he was amazing. It was a stupid, perverted dream, but it was his dream. And becoming a devil? That could actually make it possible. Power, immortality, hanging around gorgeous devil women like Rias-senpai...
So why couldn't he just say yes?
He kicked at a pebble, sending it skittering across the ground. "Because you're an idiot, that's why," he told himself.
The thing was, after everything that had happened with Yuuma—Raynare—the idea of trusting someone who offered him everything he wanted made his stomach twist. She'd been perfect, too good to be true, and look how that had turned out. A light spear through the chest and bleeding out next to this very fountain.
What if the devils were just using him too? What if they only wanted his Sacred Gear and didn't actually care about him as a person?
Issei groaned and let his head fall back, staring up at the darkening sky. "Leon said I could talk to him about it," he mumbled. "But what am I supposed to say? 'Hey buddy, I'm scared of making the wrong choice and ending up dead again'?"
That sounded pathetic even in his own head.
The truth was, Leon probably wouldn't judge him for being scared. The guy had always been weird like that—actually listening when Issei rambled about stupid stuff, never making him feel like a complete loser for his perverted dreams. Even after finding out about all the supernatural craziness, Leon had just... been there for him.
But talking about his fears out loud? That was different. That was admitting he wasn't the confident, determined guy he pretended to be.
Another sigh, deeper this time.
"Maybe I should just flip a coin," Issei said to the empty park. "Heads I become a devil, tails I stay human and pretend none of this ever happened."
Except he couldn't pretend. Not anymore. He'd seen too much, knew too much. The supernatural world wasn't going away just because he closed his eyes and wished really hard.
He needed to make a choice.
And maybe... maybe he needed to stop being such a coward about asking for help.
Issei was just starting to seriously consider heading home when he heard it—a sharp yelp followed by the sound of someone hitting the ground hard.
His head snapped up, scanning the darkening park. There, near the edge of the playground area, he spotted a figure sprawled on the ground next to what looked like a small pile of groceries that had scattered everywhere.
"Oh crap," he muttered, jumping off the swing. His legs were a bit stiff from sitting for so long, but he jogged over anyway. "Hey, are you okay?"
As he got closer, he could see it was a girl around his age with blonde hair, wearing what looked like a nun's habit. She was pushing herself up on her hands, looking dazed and a bit embarrassed.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said quickly, her voice carrying a slight accent he couldn't quite place. "I just tripped over my own feet. How clumsy of me..."
Issei slowed his approach, suddenly feeling awkward. He wasn't exactly known for his smooth social skills with girls, especially ones he didn't know. But she looked like she could use some help gathering up her scattered belongings.
"Here, let me help you with—"
That's when he noticed it. The girl was still sitting on the ground, and her position had caused her skirt to ride up slightly, revealing a glimpse of white underneath.
Issei's brain immediately short-circuited.
His face turned bright red as every perverted instinct screamed at him to look away like a gentleman, while another part of his mind—the part that had earned him his reputation as one of Kuoh Academy's biggest perverts—was definitely not looking away.
"Oh no," he whispered to himself, frozen in place as his internal moral compass spun wildly between doing the right thing and being true to his perverted nature.
The girl was still trying to collect her scattered groceries, completely oblivious to her wardrobe situation and Issei's growing panic.
This was exactly the kind of situation that usually ended with him getting slapped or worse.
