Dxd: A demon Among Devils-Chapter 15: []:Hyoudou-san

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His eyes travelled down her face to her chest where a key hung from a necklace of silver chain.

Well, shit.

She followed his gaze and smirked when she realized the object of his attention.

"It is uncouth for a boy to stare at a girl's chest for so long," she purred, "But if it is you, I don't mind."

He swallowed. The feeling of imminent doom returned tenfold into his mind.

The school's hospital room was not that different from Gekkoukan High's, though Kuoh Academy's was slightly more furnished. There were a few more accessories but the feel of the room was the same, as was the smell. The scent of chemicals hung heavy in the air, and he found himself disliking the artificial odor as he sat by the lone bed that was occupied.

Dissuading Rias had not been easy. She had pressed the issue quite persistently, and it was only the school bell that saved him in the end, signaling an end to lunch and for classes to resume. Never before had he felt so relieved at something all students naturally detested.

The smile she had given him before they parted ways left him far from comfortable, however, suggesting that there would be a continuance of the day's events if not after school than certainly tomorrow. It seemed that his days of going unnoticed was about to come swiftly to an end. He was sad to see it go. Peace and quiet had not come easy when he was with SEES and it looked like they were abandoning him now as well.

He counted himself lucky that he managed to avoid both Rias and Sona when the last class ended. It had been a simple matter of blending in with the flood of students heading home and then backtracking his way into campus grounds. It also meant he could do what he had intended to do at lunch, but had been unfortunately sidetracked. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

He glanced sideways towards the frail figure covered in white sheets. Asia Argento, the girl that Issei had tried to save, the girl that he did save, lay before him, her chest rising and falling in sporadic patterns. It was a testament to Rias's influence with the school that the priestess was allowed to stay at all on academy grounds. In any other case she would have been rushed to a hospital, not that it would have done any good. The condition she was in could not be cured by mere medicine. It would have just brought more questions, and for beings who wished to remain hidden in human society, more questions were never a good thing.

He felt a pang of sympathy as he watched her. The girl's face was sickly pale, and beads of sweat gathered on her forehead and around her neck. She looked so incredibly weak, so extremely fragile, that he was loathe to wake her. However, it was still a better look than when he first found her, when she wore the grey pallor of death like a cloak. Now she just looked sick, and with sickness came fitful sleep, interrupted by periods of tired awareness. Such a period came now, and he watched as her eyes flickered wearily open.

"Issei?" she murmured as she registered a presence beside her.

He fought the urge to smile.

He had heard that boy had not strayed far from Asia's side ever since she was brought in, sacrificing his own free time to remain in the same room as her to keep her company. He could at least respect him for that. More and more the pervert resembled Junpei, buffoonish and foolhardy on the outside, but tempered with steel within. When Chidori had sacrificed her life to save him, that steel had been cast into the fire and emerged as something indestructible. The slacker still retained his reckless ways, but there was a certain strength about him that had not existed before. Chidori's sacrifice had hardened him, given him something to live for besides food, women, and games.

And as it turned out, it wasn't much of a sacrifice to begin with, as shortly afterwards, Chidori somehow managed to revive herself. He had been there when Junpei received the news and had been genuinely happy for his friend. Happy enough that he did not mind when the emotional boy picked him up, crushed him to his chest, and sobbed into his shoulder.

He had honestly not expected Junpei to be capable of such emotions, and apparently neither did Junpei, for it had been an exceedingly awkward walk back towards their dorms.

They... didn't really talk about that incident anymore.

He waited until she was fully cognizant before he replied.

"No."

"Oh," the girl rubbed at her eyes tiredly, "I'm sorry. I thought you were Hyoudou-san at first," she blinked blearily at him, "You are Arisato-san, aren't you?" when he inclined his head in acknowledgment, she straightened herself on the bed, "Hyoudou-san said you saved me. Thank you for that."

"You are welcome," he replied.

The girl gazed at him curiously when he said nothing more.

He frowned.

He was not good at expressing concern. It had never been his way. He preferred to listen and act only when it became necessary. It had worked for the social links. He had listened to their troubles and only responded when it became required. So where others would have made the question sound genuine with compassion, his came out strained and awkward.

"Are you... well?"

"Yes," despite her condition, the girl still had the courage to smile, "I am weak right now, but Gremory-san says that with time I should be able to heal."

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