19 Chapter 19

"How did you even find my house?" It had only been one day and Artemis was back in front of his house. She had found where he had lived by just sensing his presence... Issei really did suck at hiding his presence.

"What do you mean? I found you pretty easily... That's beside the point. I wanted you ask you... Why did you save my huntresses?"

Issei kind of figured that this might have been asked since Artemis was the Goddess that supposedly hated all men. "Being honest with you... I saw two human girls about to be butchered by a giant one-eyed monster... My instincts told me to come in and intervene... so I did."

Artemis looked at him with a skeptical look. She had met many people that did the same but for some intentions of their own. However, just the emotionless stare that Issei gave her made her believe otherwise. There was no intentions in those eyes... It was just a man being... a hero.

"Could you hurry up? I have school to go to."

Artemis widened her eyes and looked at him in shock, "What do you mean you have school to go to? You're not... an adult? I thought you were done with school!"

"Hey... I'm not that old. I still have... this year and next year of high school."

Artemis was... just so... confused with this boy. How could he be this... emotionless and also this gigantic but still be a high school boy? Never mind that, she just wanted to know where her savior lived.

While Issei was thinking something completely different, 'This woman has to leave quickly... if my mom finds out I'm talking with another girl... she would go crazy. My dad wouldn't really care since he believes that I have everything under control.'

However, there was something bothering him... he didn't want to be stickler, but one piece of her hair was sticking out and he just couldn't get his eyes off of it. "Alright... let me do this really quickly..." Moving his hands, he watched as Artemis tensed and narrowed her eyes, but Issei didn't care. Gently pulling that one piece of hair down, he sighed in relief... now he could look at her in the eyes rather than that one piece of hair strand.

Now what would he say... His mother always told him to compliment someone when the situation was weird... it would direct the conversation somewhere else. "Sorry... there was a single strand of hair that was poking out and it really bothered me. Your hair was beautiful and that one piece of hair was ruining its symmetry. Now you look perfect..." Fuck, he hated how he was forced to say something so corny. However, when he looked at Artemis's face, she was blushing slightly. 'Shit... I embarrassed her... I need to leave before shit goes down here.'

Taking his bag, Issei patted Artemis on the head and ran off saying he had class in a couple of minutes. "That was... the first time someone had patted my head like that. I... liked it... a lot."

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Reputation with Artemis has increased

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He shut that message immediately... he wasn't going to deal with that right now.

Now, here he was going to school... approaching the main entrance, he saw Rias standing right there. Upon seeing Issei, her entire face cheered up and she ran to him. Everyone else in the area was shocked that she would even dare approach the pervert of the academy. One thing Issei did notice was that no one cared about his appearance change which meant that Rias had changed the minds of everyone in the entire town to think that Issei was this behemoth from the very start.

Before Rias could reach Issei, Katase, one of the people who deeply despised Issei, stopped Rias and shook her head. "I'm sorry Rias, but I can't allow one of the very queens of this academy to come anywhere near Issei."

Rias glared at her and watched as Issei began walking away. "What do you mean? Issei is my friend!"

Katase remained strong, "Sorry Rias, but this is for your own good. I don't want you to be corrupted by any diseases that disgusting man has."

"You speak as if I'm a useless piece of shit..." There was just something about her speaking to him like this that was beginning to piss him off. Something about her looking down upon him and treating him like he's a waste of space.

Katase glared at Issei before turning back to Rias, "He's not even worthy of words at this point... please Rias."

Rias grabbed Katase by the neck and brought her face-to-face to her, "I want you to understand one thing... You don't make decisions for me and just because he's a pervert doesn't mean he's some insignificant being. He's far more of a human and hero than you will ever be. One more thing... No one talks shit about my friends... especially my hero." Throwing her onto the ground, Rias watched as Issei walked away. She clenched her teeth and looked down at Katase with rage. This bitch ruined this perfect reunion...

Sighing in frustration, Rias walked off to her class leaving Katase to think over what happened.

Sitting down in class, Issei watched as everyone began getting ready for his class. To his surprise, his two friends weren't here today. Today was definitely going to be a boring day... if he skipped classes, he would get a phone call sent home... the reason why he was able to skip last time was because... they thought he was kept at the occult building for the entire day. He didn't have that excuse anymore...

Closing his eyes, he began falling asleep before Katase slammed her hands into the desk. "What did you do to Rias?"

Looking up at her with his regular emotionless stare, Issei watched as Katase was seething in rage. "Rias... I did nothing."

"Bullshit! Why are you close to her, you perver-"

"Say that word again and I'll show you why they call you a bitch for a reason." Issei interrupted her immediately... the number of times he had heard himself being called pervert and being singled out from his peers for it began to anger him. Not only that, but this was one of the very women that used to beat him with a stick mercilessly.

"Excuse me-"

"Coming from a woman with a mouth as large as yours... it's not surprising to be honest you would talk more than you can think."

"WHAT-"

"Speaking of which... I never have seen your mother even during family visits. Was it true that you were a mistake made in a bathroom because I can definitely see the brain rot kicking in and the mother not loving you showing vibe." That definitely hit hard for the girl, but Issei didn't stop there. "I mean... like come on... you think you're this top woman in the school, yet you still don't have a boyfriend or any actual useful hobbies. Kendo isn't saving you when you're in a street fight."

"Why you-"

"I double dog dare you to use your sticks on me... no, I triple dog dare you to try bitch! I'll rip you to shreds this time!" Issei spoke with such hatred and anger that it shook Katase and everyone in class to the core.

Looking at the girl who was frightened and everyone else who was silent... Issei thought he went a little too far. He sighed and said,"I was just ranting... I need to cool off." With that, he got up from his desk and walked out of class leaving the entire classroom silent.

That was the first time that they have ever seen Issei that angry before and the first time that they ever seen him blow a fuse. Katase was left speechless... part of her was shocked in seeing Issei like that and the other part was angered from what he said.

Another person in the class had noticed this behavior, Kiba was watching this from afar. He felt saddened for Issei knowing that he would forever be known as the pervert at the academy when he was much more... he was a hero. He was the same person that saved him and his master from dying. He was the very same person to risk his life in saving his master... he hated watching his hero be shamelessly disgraced for his childish habits...

While walking in the hallways, he came across Sona and Rias talking with each other. Upon seeing Issei, Rias stopped and waved childishly. "ISSEI!" Seeing her, Issei was beginning to be grateful for Rias and Sona being the only few people that didn't despised him for being a pervert... Sona tilted her glasses and gave Issei a knowing nod.

"Hey Rias... Hey Sona..."

"How are you doing on this fine day?"

Sona shook her head at Rias's terrible acting of trying to be different with her greetings, "Why aren't you in class?"

"I'm taking a break... Could you do me a favor?"

Rias and Sona, upon hearing Issei's dejected tone, narrowed their eyes slightly. This was the first time that they had ever heard him being dejected, "What's the favor?"

"Give me the locations of the strays around. I'll deal with them alone."

"Wait, Issei I want-"

Rias was interrupted sharply by Issei, "I want to go solo..."

The tone and the look Issei had, it asked for no more questioning. Sona summoned some papers and gave them to Issei. There was something definitely wrong... "Thank you... I'll be taking a break from school. Could you prevent the school from calling my parents?"

Sona nodded but before she or Rias could ask Issei for anything else, Issei disappeared from sight. He decided that he would grind in the Dungeon of the Drakes.

"Rias... something is definitely wrong." Rias nodded and looked a little saddened from Issei's dejected tone.

"I think I have a clue... I think I know what is happening." Rias said while Sona tilted her head confused. "This is going to be a long talk between us..."