This is part three to chapter 3. Leave Power Stones if you enjoyed reading.
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Surprised by the specific question, Issei took a second to answer. That wasn't the particular conclusion he expected her to arrive to, but a fair one nonetheless. "N-no, I don't."
She stared at him with imperceptible hazel eyes that further set him on edge. Though her gaze was strong, it didn't seem like she was searching for deceit. Rather, she believed what he said and was considering another possibility. "Is it another ability from the dragon?"
"Maybe..." Issei lied, guilt striking him internally. Fighting against it, he continued to sell it. "W-well, I did learn how to do it after my Boosted Gear grew in power, so that's probably why...?"
The short-haired girl grabbed another snack; a lime bag filled with fluffy marshmallows and pulled it open. Carefully, she held it up to her mouth and made a small noise of dissatisfaction before inserting it through her glossy pink lips.
Never had Issei ever wanted to be a marshmallow until then.
"Issei..." Koneko spoke after swallowing her food item, snapping his attention back. He thought she was going to rebuke him, but she looked more gloomy than angry. "You're... strong." Her statement was low, like the words were a confirmation to herself than anything.
"Me? Strong? Of course I'm not... I'm nowhere near as strong as someone like you," Issei spoke truthfully. He had no idea what brought that on or why she thought so. Their conversation had turned in a way he hadn't expected. The normal dry and blunt girl looked insecure, something which confounded him to no end.
Hearing his response, she shook her head in denial. "You will be... At your rate, you'll be much stronger than me..."
"But you're incredibly strong. I don't know how strong I can be, but I'll be lucky if I'm anything like you."
Koneko shook her head again, knowing he was speaking out of sheer ignorance. She didn't want to keep pushing it. The feeling of jealousy was awful and she didn't want to show that to someone she was meant to protect. "When you are stronger... Rias's door will still be open..."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
Contemplating how she should respond, Koneko's frown deepened. One of her duties was to make allusions to the peerage and indirectly catch his interest so he would be more inclined to join. It was something Rias informed her and Kiba before Issei was brought to the club. It was a sudden and more urgent ask, which was unusual for the occult leader. She hadn't explicitly mentioned anything beyond that, but Koneko could tell the busty red-head would permit anything if it enabled the boy to join.
Had Rias and Akeno been in her place, they would be all over him, flattering the perv with all of their filthy tactics. Getting close and rubbing up on him, letting their oversized balloons squish against him. Once nighttime rolled around, Rias and her propensity to sleep in the nude would've put the breast lover on death's doors.
That... wasn't something she could do. She didn't want to and she wasn't that type of person. Luring Issei in with something so obscene and unchaste may have been a surefire way to get him to accept, but Koneko wasn't like her big-boobed seniors. The truth was that she didn't even want to convince him at all. She wanted him to make his own decision.
So, she told him the truth.
"Rias wants you to join her peerage," She said plainly.
Now this was more along the lines of what Issei expected to be brought up. He thought maybe Koneko would be more subtle about it, but true to how she was, the loli wasn't the type to beat around the bush. Feeling her intent, he understood what she was trying to say. Still, he wasn't exactly pleased to hear it. "Why... does she want me so much?" His lips curled into a frown.
"It isn't my place to say." Koneko gently placed another puffy marshmallow in her mouth, carefully deciding which words she should use to satisfy him and avoid the subject directly. "Rias won't screw you. None of us will. It's up to you."
Her words were comforting. At the very least, he knew he could trust them. But in typical perverted fashion, Issei had to ask, "If I join, does that mean we'll be together forever?" He asked dreamily, drooling over the idea.
Koneko blanched. "I'd rather die."
"But Koneko! We'll be together forever!" Issei stressed with joy, as if her rejection continued to spur him on. "That means we have to get to know each other better, so lets get to it! Let's watch parts 1-9 of Teetering Titties!"
Her face became green as the unfortunate scenario entered her mind. "Puke-fest. Another word and it'll be a punch-fest."
"I'm just kidding!" Issei waved frantically, seeing her hands ball up. "You don't gotta be so serious!"
"You don't gotta be so gross."
They bantered for a little longer, mainly Issei getting hit with one-liners that bordered on aggravated assault. He felt glad he could banter with her somewhat without getting kicked into next week. Though the occasional shot would come, it wasn't something he didn't deserve and a part of him understood that.
What Koneko said, or at least implied hadn't been lost on him. He was well aware of both Rias's and Sona's interest with him and joining their respective peerages. It was the fact that the white haired girl had spelled it out for him gave the impression that it was at least more important to Rias than he thought. Feeling grateful for her honesty, he reevaluated his circumstances and her offer.
Excusing himself for a moment, Issei headed towards the bathroom thinking it over. Becoming a devil wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Forget about everything else he could have, he'd get to spend a lot more of his time around hot babes and that was enough.
But it shouldn't be, which is why he continued to hesitate. He was fine as he was now as a human and his Gamer power guaranteed he could become strong enough. On top of the variety of abilities he could obtain, he also had his Boosted Gear.
How long would that last? Even if they fended off the fallen angels, would there be more people coming after him? Would they be stronger? And if they were, could the devils continue to protect him?
"You seem to be thinking awfully hard."
"Gah!" Issei looked down at his left hand, as the circular green light on the back began talking to him. "Couldn't you at least warn me before you do that?"
"Are you expecting me to knock? I can't exactly do that, you know."
"No, just- you know what I mean. Just try not to spook me anymore."
"Grow a pair and there won't be any issues."
Getting mocked by a dragon inside a bathroom he was about to use sounded ridiculous, yet it would now be something he'd have to get used to in life. Issei couldn't help but sigh at the beast's words. "Is there a reason you showed up now? I'm trying to take a piss and it's a little weird with you being here."
"You better hold it in until we're done. Your dreams are bad enough and reality is where I can escape. I won't have you tarnishing that," The dragon scolded, admonishing Issei for his wild dreams.
"Chill out. I don't have any interest showing my wang to some dragon, especially if he's a dude."
"Fool. Not 'some dragon.' The Welsh Dragon." Ddraig tried sounding threatening, but the fact he was trying to remain secretive meant he couldn't raise his voice in the booming way he wished.
"I know, Welsh Dragon. Dude dragon is the problem." He emphasized.
"You have an all-powerful dragon in your arm and your problem is that I'm male?" Ddraig asked with incredulity.
"No, I meant- never mind, just forget it."
"How can I forget? I live knowing what you do with your hand at night."
"Will you just tell me what you want?!" Issei seethed.
"It's not what I want, but what you want." Ddraig informed him.
"What do you mean?"
"You were thinking about joining the devils."
Issei stared at his hand with surprise. Clearly Ddraig had been listening in on his earlier conversation with Koneko. Apparently, he could always do that. "Yeah, I was... what do you think I should do?"
"Do whatever you want. That's what a dragon would do."
"But I'm not a dragon. I'm a human way over his head and I don't know what choice to make. There's so much about all of this and it's all so confusing. I don't want to make a choice I might regret. Not just my life, but others could be on the line if I choose wrong." Issei confessed, his mind in a race against itself.
Every choice he'd made up to now hadn't been difficult. His system had pulled more than its fair share of weight, even outright telling him what to do so that he wouldn't need to think about it. But when he asked whether or not he should join the devils, it didn't respond. Though that likely meant that whatever he chose wouldn't directly cause him harm, the choice was still his.
Maybe he was overthinking it, but it felt important. He felt like he shouldn't make the choice willy-nilly, regardless of what he was offered.
"Then the choice is clear. Don't become one." The dragon stated, already coming to his own conclusion.
"But what if I should?"
"It doesn't matter if you should or not. If the decision is the very thing making you that indecisive, then decline. You won't have gained anything, but you won't lose anything, either." The red dragon spoke matter-of-factly. His words were wise, but not enough to fully sway the boy.
"You're right, but I can't help but worry. It's more than just me that I'm worried about. My decision could indirectly effect my parents as well. And if I don't join, it could cause problems for Koneko." Back when they were talking to the blonde nun, Koneko had been very reluctant to approach the girl, much less speak to her. She was contracted to him, but if he kept poking his nose where it didn't belong, it would only spell trouble.
"Quit prattling on over inconsequential creatures. You're a dragon, so hold your head high. The angels, fallen, and devils won't be a big nuisance for you. All of my hosts have always had bigger issues than them."
"Wait, you're saying there's gonna be a bigger threat to me?"
Ddraig sighed, getting fed up with having to console the teen. "Don't worry about it for now. Just focus on gaining some power. Whether by joining the devil's ranks, or by training."
"I gotta train? You mean like how they do in anime?" Issei asked, feeling both excited and dubious. If he had to train, didn't that mean he'd be getting tossed through trees and stuff?
"I don't know what that is, but it won't be like anything you're imagining. If it's just that white-haired devil girl helping you then you'll be lucky to only get tossed through trees."
"So it's exactly what I'm imagining!"
The dragon made a strange sound, as if Issei's response threw him off. "...Prepare yourself. Training with magical beings won't be like anything you've experienced... probably." Ddraig forewarned, now doubting himself.
Psyching himself up, Issei wondered if he could really ask Koneko to help him train. It would be tough, sure, but he was more concerned with the questions that would follow up after he asked. "So ask Koneko for training... she's the only person I can really go for this. It'll be hard to convince her." Now resolved, he prepared himself to ask her.
"Before you try, there's something else we need to discuss."
"What now? Can't ya see I'm trying to think here? You're a really old dragon, so don't you got any sage advice on how to ask girls for favors?"
"I've been stuck inside a gauntlet for many millennia. The only woman I've spoken to were a few of my hosts."
"So you have experience with women?" To Issei, a little experience was better than none.
"No. A dragon such as I has no interest in creatures of flesh." Hearing the boy whine to himself, Ddraig felt a headache growing. His host had a lot of shaping up if something this trivial bothered him. "Just tell her you wish to become strong. That should be enough."
Remembering what he and Koneko talked about earlier, Ddraig's suggestion wasn't unfounded. "You might be onto something..."
"Focus. We must discuss you're other power." Ddraig reminded him of what they discussed earlier that morning. "Now that you've contracted with a devil, these instances are the only times we can speak during the day. Troublesome as it may be."
"You really wanna talk about that now?" Issei questioned. He didn't believe the topic was as urgent as him preparing to rescue an innocent nun from a gang full of priests who were packing heat and flying monsters in the guise of angels.
"It's important, Issei." The red dragon was serious, much more than he had been about his problems. "Tell me everything you know about it."