DxD: Reincarnated Trickster in Ecchi World

I never saw Issei make that kind of face before that very moment.

Sure, I had seen him freak out both in Anime, Manga, and Real Life, but right now he was making the kind of 'I am dead' face that could only come out when someone was besieged by threats of various entities and degrees.

The fact he barged inside the Student Council Clubroom without knocking and that he was half-screaming when letting out that request only cemented the fact that something bad had happened.

And it had to do with what happened about yesterday's dinner at the Hyoudou's household.

I had been suspicious that something was off from the very moment I noticed the blonde skipping school.

Then I realized that Rias too had for some reason missed today's lessons and Akeno was as clueless as everyone in the classroom was when that news became evident during the roll call.

Sona seemed to have heard nothing about her rival's current situation and Koneko didn't know anything too when I reached for her to see if she knew something about her missing King, leaving me completely floored when I failed to genuinely predict what could've tied up these two events.

What could've happened to make this possible and… why? And why was Issei pulling me left and right away from the public as I accepted his request?

We eventually wound up by the rooftop, cue my best effort to not facepalm at the classic anime scene meant to be private, but possibly eavesdropped by someone nearby.

Hopefully I wasn't going to be forced to answer some awkward question I didn't need to reveal to anyone.

"So, what happened to Asia?"

The brunet gulped nervously, but then he sighed and stared at me with a serious look.

"I messed things up."

…

"What did you do?"

"I swear I didn't mean to say that so suddenly-"

"Ise, I'm not going to say or do anything bad to you, but you need to tell me without delaying this,"

I interjected with a calm tone. "I want you to be honest with me so if there is a real problem I can offer some assistance."

He sighed again.

"Dinner started quite tense. While mom and dad could see that and tried to keep things from going too far… well, the entire situation turned messy, especially when Buchou's brother started to annoy her at the table."

Classic Sirzechs, pestering his little sister in the worst of moments.

It's not like you're going to possibly pester little Kunou when she will bring home her first boyfriend.

Why would I pester her? I would pester the poor fool that tried to- You know what, I don't think I should continue that sentence?

Why? Having some trouble trying to be the better man in the brawl of brothers?

I decided to ignore the sarcastic question, focusing only on the real conversation I was sharing with the poor Pawn.

Issei had grown a lot considering how clueless he was supposed to be about his entire life.

Despite the fact romance was still a subject he wasn't much decent in handling, he sure had made progress in trying to work out a proper relationship with his current life as a 'human student' and the one he had as part of a peerage.

It was somewhat similar to Saji. Except Saji had some common sense from the very beginning after garnishing the favor of Sona and becoming a close associate to the Student Council before being taken in as part of them.

Now that I think about it, I should probably prepare a free day to go fish with the guy. It's been too long since we both had a friendly competition about who gets the most fishes.

Plus I really wanted to get some fresh seafood instead of relying too much on the store nearby home.

"Grayfia-san was very calm about the entire predicament and she was the one who made sure her husband didn't go too far with the embarrassing tales of… when Buchou was little,"

Ise continued with a tense voice. "It seemed things weren't going to go beyond that and… and then a strange question came up."

"A strange question?" I said while really hoping it wasn't anything romantic, sexual or even about marriage. Those three points were what worried me the most and-

"It was about cooking."

…

"Cooking?" Oh dead God, please don't tell me he just- "You didn't answer that question-"

"I-I had to!" He admitted being terrified. "Buchou's brother was pressing me and my parents wanted me to answer that one too and… and I said that… that it was Asia."

…

"What did Rias-"

"Cooking competition."

…No.

Yes. It's so glorious.

I really don't need this.

This is going to be hilarious.

Only because you're not here to do some damage control-

Why should I care? I am THE Devil.

Oh really? And I thought you were a self-centered prick that lived off-rent in my head.

Hey… you forgot to add 'handsome'.

Still, for some time I thought something grave had happened at the dinner. Sure, the cooking competition is going to turn in a disaster, but I really really thought it was something much worse than that with the way Issei presented it.

"Issei-"

"I know, I should've tried to stop them but… but Asia decided to skip school to study and try out new recipes and I believe Buchou is doing something similar to that since she isn't in class too."

"Kohai. I need to ask you something."

…

"Y-Yes, senpai?"

"Did you pause for a moment to consider the chances of me taking what you were saying as something a little more serious than that?"

…

"What?"

"For a moment I thought something horrible had happened to Asia from the tone you had. I want to know one thing, and you have to be honest about it, okay?"

He sighed, trying to steel his nerves. "Yes."

I nodded. "Okay, can you… tell me how terrified you are about picking one of the two?"

His eyes widened, clearly caught off-guard by the ultra-serious question.

"Senpai-"