One-Punch DxD: NEO

Chapter 8:

Peace finally returned to Hyd Household.

The Devil that plagued Asia had been apprehended, shamed, and stripped of all he owned - plus the shit had also been beaten out of him live in front of every Devil in the Underworld, a feat Issei was proud of. Issei resumed his training with his friends, trying to compensate for his slacking, and Asia was safe from harm, at last.

Rias was still adamant about recruiting him and turning him into a Devil, but Issei could keep her at bay as he kept rejecting her.

All was well until one Sunday night.

When Issei and his mother were lazing in the living room, enjoying late snacks with random shows on television entertaining them in their rest before facing the new Monday.

The neighborhood was safe; Freed Sellzen was no longer in Kuoh, not a single homicide report ever since. With Diodora (former) Astaroth thrown into jail, Asia had become a new member of the family, in a practical sense.

It was the day she first took Rover out for a walk, a routine usually done by either Issei and Haruka. However, considering how Rover had grown fond of Asia in such a relatively short time, Issei and Haruka saw no harm allowing Asia the chance to bond with the family dog.

Too bad their relaxing night ended with their optimistic expectations shattering with Rover's sudden disappearance.

They were staring at the teary-eyed Asia. She was clad in a hoodie over a pink T-shirt and light-green shorts. Dirt and dirty water had smeared her clothes, implying the difficulty of her escapade in finding the missing dog.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" She sobbed and bowed deeply from where she stood. "I-I only looked away for a second and he suddenly ran away to a dark alley-way! I should've held the leash tighter!"

"Whoa, whoa, relax Asia. It's okay." Issei stood up and walked over her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder in a comforting manner and guided her to the couch. "Shh Shh. Are you injured?"

"N-no, I'm fine" Asia replied as she sat on the couch while kept sobbing. "...I just don't know what else to do."

Hearing this made him remember his first time walking the dog. That time Rover broke into a supermarket, raided the meat section, and stole a chunk of prime beef worth of ten thousand yen.

"Don't worry, Asia. We've been there before. I remember the first time I walked my husband's dog as well. Trust me, I know how it feels." Haruka also joined in consoling Asia.

Issei remembered the story as well. His mom told him that he ate a Chimera-looking monster in an alleyway just when it tried to attack them - he honestly thought it was awesome.

"You heard her." Issei nodded while smiling knowingly at his mother. "So, let's start over, shall we? You're walking with Rover and he suddenly just ran into an alleyway when you're not looking." Issei recounted the past, which Asia confirmed with a nod. "Okay, that's, um Actually enough for us to know what to do. Mom?"

Haruka was already heading to the kitchen and she began to rummage through the fridge and the pantry. Soon she returned with a bag of frozen meat and a few bags of dog food.

"Do you need help?"

"I'll manage. You and Asia need to stay here in case Rover comes home on his own." Issei replied as he took the frozen meat labeled 'in case the dog is missing.'

"You do realize that Rover could be anywhere now, right? And you plan to find him alone?" Haruka asked with a skeptical tone.

"Who said I'm doing it alone?" Issei retorted with a smirk.

oXo

"You know, when I received a summoning from you, I wasn't expecting this."

Tsubasa Yura stood with an unamused expression on her face. She folded her arms together while tapping her foot on the ground.

"...And why the hell do I have to come too?"

Saji Genshirou also stood next to Tsubasa, wearing an expression that screamed his desire to go home.

"Sorry." Issei said with an apologetic smile. "But you two are the only ones I know who can handle Rover."

"Ha! 'Can handle Rover' he said." Saji retorted. "In case you've forgotten, the spot where your dog bit me still aches whenever I go to bed!"

Issei tried to suppress a snicker but failed.

"I heard that!" Saji scowled at the dog owner's snort.

"S-S-Sorry, sorry." Issei apologized while trying to steady his breath. "But seriously, I really need every help I can get. The longer Rover stays out there, the more likely I don't have to say it. You know what happens if he's loose, right?"

Tsubasa and Saji did not answer. They could already imagine what Rover could do in a populated area, like a bomb waiting to explode at the worst time, Rias and her peerage being a prime example of the consequence of angering the puppy.

"Alright, you got me, but you really owe me for this, Hyd," Saji spoke.

"You're a handful, but I guess we're friends, after all." Tsubasa nodded with a small smile.

"Thanks, I'll make it up to you guys later. Promise," Issei smiled in gratitude.

"Sure, although" Tsubasa then tilted her head to look past Issei's head. "Are you sure you want to bring them along?"

Behind Issei were several girls of formerly Diodora's peerage; Mary Sapphire, Catherine Lazuli, and Amanda Jade.

"Yeah, like I said; I need all the help I can get." Issei shrugged before addressing the other girls. "Sorry again for dragging you three out here. Are you sure you want to come along?"

Truth to be told, Issei thought it was a good opportunity for him to mobilize his newly acquired peerage and bond with them, but unfortunately, when Issei briefed them their mission suffice to say some of the girls were terrified when he told them his dog can grow to the size of an elephant and shoot exploding spheres of death. The testimony from Catherine and Zama did not really help the case either.

Hence, Issei found the Queen, the Rook and the Knight were the only volunteers, while the rest rejecting his request.

"Please, mast Mister Issei. I deeply apologize that the rest of us are indisposed at the moment. While all of us agreed to follow you There are some of us who did because they favored the alternative even less." Mary replied with a slightly bitter tone.

"Still, thank you." Issei nodded, which the three returned in kind. "Moving on, I'll say this again. When you see him, just let us know. Do not engage him no matter what. Rover hasn't known any of you so he might get antsy."

"Unless you bring him treats." Tsubasa interjected with a snicker.

"Yes, unless you bring him treats." Issei rolled his eyes. "You girls got it so far?"

[Understood.]

The three women replied in affirmative and Issei proceeded to address everyone.

"Good, we'll split into teams of two. Mary, with me." Issei nodded at the Queen. "Catherine with Amanda, and Tsubasa with Saji." Issei then looked through the bag he had carried with him and handed a bag of dog treats and a small whistle to the latter pair. "Use these to lure Rover, then keep him busy until I arrive."

Saji took the bag, looking at the words 'in case the dog is missing' with curiosity, while Tsubasa took the whistle and eyed it with interest.

"...Funny bag," Saji replied with a humorous scoff. "Actually, can't you call someone from Rias' peerage? I don't think we can cover the entire town."

"Well, for one, I don't know their number," Issei replied while holding out a finger, followed by another one. "...And two, looking back at their past experience with my dog, I don't think they're willing to deal with him anytime soon."

Saji and Tsubasa regarded Issei's reply for a second until they remembered Rias' peerage's run-in with their resident monster dog. "...Fair enough." The former replied with a shrug.

"Yeah. Any more questions?" Issei asked, and when nobody spoke, he nodded. "Okay, we'll head over to where Asia saw Rover last, then we'll split up there. Stay safe and we can finish by tonight! Now, let's go!"

Turned out Asia had lost Rover near the edge of the suburbs, so there was a chance that Rover had made its way towards the town.

Currently, Tsubasa and Saji were trekking through the shopping district, where most of the shops had closed for the day and only a little to no people loitering around. The boy was blowing out the dog whistle, while the girl was dangling a piece of bone-shaped biscuit between her fingers, while holding the treat-bag as well.

"Rover! Buddy! Can you hear me? I got something for ya!" Tsubasa shouted around the place.

Saji was reluctant to call out for the monster dog, but he still blew the whistle every now and then.

"I don't think he's nearby, Tsubasa. Otherwise we would've known." Saji scanned the still-intact street, spotting several stray dogs and cats attracted at the ultrasonic sound from the whistle. The dogs and cats were salivating at the meat in Tsubasa's hand. Some of them were even giving Tsubasa googly eyes as if begging for the treats.

"Ack" Tsubasa was torn between shooing the strays away or feeding them right here and now Why must they be so good at being cute?

"...Are you giving in?" Saji asked, knowing Tsubasa's struggle against the cuteness.

"No" Tsubasa did not sound convincing to Saji.

"Really?" Saji asked, snorting at her with a very big grin.

"Shut it, Saji." Tsubasa turned around and left. If she stayed longer, then she might lose to those combined googly eyes.

"Alright, if you say so." Saji snickered as he followed her, leaving the cats and dogs sad.

Fortunately, a few minutes of walking later, they ran into a familiar face; Reya Kusaka was standing in front of a closed antique store. "Saji? Tsubasa? What are you two doing here?"

"Same goes for you, Reya. Are you running a contract, too?" Tsubasa replied as she and Saji approached the Bishop.

"I just finished a job from my regular client and was about to head back. Now, on with you two; what are you doing?" Reya asked back after answering.

Tsubasa shrugged, "Well, I guess you can say we are also doing a contract From Ise."

That caused Reya's expression to shift in amusement. "Oh? From Hyoudou-kun? Saji too?" She glanced at the Pawn.

"Yeah, remember about the guy owning a dog? He basically asked us to help him find the lost said dog."

Reya blinked a couple of times, "...You mean the dog that's been said to have destroyed a factory complex, as well as nearly killed Koneko-chan?"

Tsubasa and Saji shared a brief glance before the former replied with a sigh. "Yes, the very same."

"That. Sounds bad, doesn't it?" Reya commented with a worried look.

"No shit, it's bad." Saji retorted, receiving a surprised look from Reya, before apologizing for the small outburst. "Sorry, I honestly am kind of freaking out at finding the thing. I don't want to get eaten."

Tsubasa patted his back, knowing his suffering. "Can't say I blame you," Tsubasa replied.

"Do you need my help?" Reya then offered.

"...Are you sure? What about your job?" Tsubasa asked. There was a very high chance that Reya might get hurt or worse, if she goofed.

"I'm done for tonight, so it's fine." Reya winked. "I need to contact the President, though. Perhaps she can help as well."

"Yeah, you do that." Tsubasa nodded. "But seriously. Are you sure you want to help?"

"Well, if both you and Saji are willing to go this far, then I guess it's important, no?" Reya gave a knowing look.

"That's kind of an understatement, but Yeah. Thanks, Reya." Saji nodded.

oXo

"Rover~!"

Issei shouted as he dangled a piece of raw meat between his fingers. Behind him, Mary just blew the dog whistle which attracted some of the local strays. So far, the only thing they had found was Rover's discarded leash - the dog had probably found it constricting and decided to tear it off altogether.

That also meant they were on the right track in finding it.

"Rover, buddy? If you're around, look what I got!" Issei shouted again as he wiggled the meat he held. "Your favorite! Fresh and juicy, just the way you like it!"

Next to him, Mary asked, "Mr. Issei, are you sure this is going to work? If I'm allowed to be honest, this feels like a, and I quote, wild goose chase."

"Not that I don't understand you, but this is the only thing we can do for now." Issei turned to Mary - she was giving him the stoic stare, but he could feel the silent criticism behind her eyes. "...I know what you're thinking, but I have experience trying to find him."

"Hm... Forgive my disrespect, but do you have a viable method of finding your dog?" She asked.

"Hang around the butcher shop or deli stores until Rover shows up. We're holding this just in case hoping he gets hungry enough to follow the scent. The meat is also seasoned with the most aromatic spices Kuoh can sell for that as well."

Mary did notice that the meat had a stronger smell to it than normal.

"...Right." Mary nodded, unconvinced. However, before she could have spoken more, Issei's cell-phone rang.

"Hello?" Issei answered the call and heard a familiar voice coming through.

[Good evening, Mr. Hyoudou.]

"President Sona?" Issei glanced at his phone for a moment, registering the number on the screen in his mind. "Wait, how'd you get my number?"

[You do remember that you filled your contact information in the school registry, no? Also, Tsubasa has notified me through one of my servants about your current conundrum.]

"Ah" Issei somewhat expected this to happen at some point anyways. "Right So, err You wanna help?" Issei could not help but to sound hopeful.

[Yes, I will; not that I have much choice in this matter. It is either refuse and let a monster dog tear through the town or find it and risk your dog eating my servants.]

Issei could not help but wince at the sarcastic, reprimanding tone. "Um Sorry."

[Just do your best to see this through without sowing chaos, Mr. Hyoudou. I have instructed my servants to help your search as soon as they're available, and I have contacted Rias as well. Suffice to say, she's not thrilled about your dilemma.]

Issei could see Rias' heavy reluctance to find his dog, her cute face glowering at the mere mention of Rover. Yuuto would be very nervous. Akeno she might try to find an excuse to avoid Rover. Koneko would just flat out refuse.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised" Issei shrugged in reply.

[Nonetheless, Rias' peerage had a handful of familiars that can at least help your search. Those should be enough for the time being.]

"That's actually more than enough, President. Tell Rias-senpai I said 'thank you.'" Issei replied with a small smile.

[Noted, but be sure to tell her yourself in person when you're able. I'll let you know when something comes up from my side. Until then.]

"Wait, I gotta ask. How much is this gonna cost m-"

Sona hung up. There was only the droning silent static in his ear. He looked at his phone just to make sure his ears weren't deceiving him, only to see that Sona did leave him hanging. Issei was starting to worry about his well-being, as he stared at his cell-phone screen.

"Uhh." Issei stashed his phone back to his pocket. He turned to Mary, seeing her lips curling up in a small smile. She looked very amused.

"If I may digress, I believe you might become a Devil at this rate, sire," Mary commented.

Mary seemed to be getting better at least, even though it was at his expense.

Rover found itself in a pinch.

The black cat that smelled so similar to a certain white cat pulled it too far away from the very nice girl. It admitted it lost itself chasing that one down that alley, ran up the walls, and hopped across the rooftops. It smelled of fright and it hissed at him before it suddenly disappeared before its eyes, leaving it alone and confused, in a place it had never been before.

Rover recalled the last few times it ran away. One time, it raided the place full of meat - very tasty meat, despite its lack of tongue to understand the taste. Another time it ate something fat and juicy with claws. It smelled disgusting, but it did not taste bad - though its masters gave it weird looks afterwards - Rover almost forgot what the taste of blood was like.

What should it do? It could try to re-track his steps, but as far as Rover saw around it, it had no idea where it was; it was too accustomed to follow the son of the man that made him sit without paying real attention to the road.

However, Rover recalled the first thing his best friend told him was to avoid plain sight. Its masters told him that it could not afford to scare or hurt other people unless necessary or instructed.

Luckily for Rover, the street was deserted due to night time, so Rover did not have to stay hidden all the time as it paddled its way down the street.

However, Rover sniffed something - the boy's scent.

It was faint, but if Rover followed it, it might be able to reunite with the masters. He hoped the woman would give him treats for coming back on his own, hopefully the very tasty kind. Paddling his little legs down the street, taking some turns left and right, he stopped upon seeing a certain metal gate with a building behind it.

The building looked fancy. It reminded him of his time with the others of his kin a little, only more outdoors. It tilted his head in confusion, wondering if his best friend was here. Either way, Rover hopped over the fence and paddled deeper inside, sniffing the ground for where the boy's scent was the strongest.

Walking down the road and into the woods past the grass, Rover found himself at a certain building. It also looked fancy, colorful, yet a little worn out and covered in vines. His best friend's scent was strongest there for some reason, many lingering familiar scents from different days heading in and out of that building.

The dog paddled towards the building, wondering if he was in there. He did smell something else, something sweet and tasty.

There was a place with food inside for him to raid. Rover salivated upon wondering what tasty treasures lay inside.

The front door was closed, but not too sturdy to be an obstacle. Growing its size enough to break in and enter the building, Rover then bit the knob, yanked it slightly and pulled the door open.

Unfortunately, Rover did not know that the door was supposed to be pushed. Its strength ended up breaking the doorknob, and without anything to hold them together, the double wooden-doors slowly opened inside. The black dog itself stared at the broken door for a second - that was not supposed to happen, what did it do wrong? The dog contemplated as it put down the broken handle-bar.

Well, what's done is done - the dog made its way inside and began trekking through the halls, until it saw a room with the lights on, as well as where the delicious scent came from. Without wasting time, Rover then eagerly jogged towards the lit room.

oXo

Gasper Vladi believed it had been an 'okay' day serving as Rias Gremory's Bishop. No scary people from the outside, nothing bad from the outside, his clients which he responded through social networking and e-mails were all satisfied, his club president was pleased with his job, and he was free to indulge himself for the rest of the night.

He had restocked his favourite snacks and candies for another all-night gaming, but he forgot about the drinks. The weather was still a little chilly despite entering mid-spring, so he opted to brew some tea in the kitchen.

His brewing skill was nowhere near as good as Akeno, but instant tea-bags were more than enough for him to last a night. Gasper was in the middle of filling the pot with water to boil when he suddenly heard a loud noise from the front door, prompting him to close the water tap in order to hear clearer.

The noise sounded like something had broken through the door. Who could that be? Gasper wondered as fear easily crawled into his heart. It could not be his friends from the club, they would have simply teleported back in the clubroom; at least they would not break through the front door.

Could it be a burglar?! - Gasper was terrified at this point. He was weak, unlike the others who could hold themselves against a simple intruder; he was merely a reincarnated devil half-breed who could not even look at a stranger face-to-face.

Gasper's already-pale face had become even worse when he heard the steps; whatever broke in was making its way to the kitchen, where he was. He looked around in panic, what should he do? Book it? The closest exit would have led him straight to the intruder. He could open the window to escape, but would he make it before the burglar noticed his presence?

He gasped when his blood-red eyes caught something appearing at the kitchen's entrance.

It was a quatro-pedal creature covered in a mass of black fur.

During his entire life, Gasper had not really encountered any animals outside his home, even before he became a devil. From the many books he had read to pass time, the creature before him was supposed to be a dog, but the creature was nothing like the cute little things he saw from the pictures. The fur was too messy to the point of spiky, and its glowing red eyes were too intimidating. Not to mention, a dog's maw was not supposed to look like that.

The dog-like creature immediately caught Gasper within its sight, and took a few steps inside the kitchen, sniffing around before returning its attention to the boy, who was frozen in fear.

The creature paddled towards him, sniffing the boy's shoes a little before looking up at the kid with what seemed like curiosity in its ruby-red eyes. Gasper couldn't withstand seeing the dog thing anymore as he started to panic, his eyes lighting up with the power.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

In that instance, the black dog suddenly stopped moving while glowing in a purple hew, giving Gasper a chance to scurry away and left the kitchen pronto.

It was his Sacred Gear - the Forbidden Balor View, the Evil Eye that Stops the World; which allowed him to temporarily 'freeze' everything within his line of sight. Gasper glanced at the still-frozen creature for a second before he quickly made a bee-line back to his room.

oXo

Rover was bewildered; the young boy was there for a second, and after something occurred, he suddenly vanished a second later. The dog blinked and looked around; noticing the boy just left the kitchen.

What was that? Who was that boy? The boy possessed an interesting scent - similar like the ones with bat wings, but there was also a scent that reminded Rover of a monster Or something close.

Then Rover remembered when he recalled that one person before when he was with its kin. There was he believed he called himself Vampire. He never saw that one again, though.

Back to its mission, Rover paddled towards the refrigerator, wondering if there were any tasty things inside as it grew and grabbed the handle with its teeth, opening the door to see if they had any meat or something sweet.

However, Rover saw nothing but sweet things inside the refrigerator. No meat, just crunchy things they call cookies and cake. Not that Rover dislikes sweet food, but it wanted meat at the moment.

But beggars can't be choosers. Rover then decided to thrust its open maw and devoured the entire content of the fridge, tearing the glass and plastic shelves and the sweets whole. Having had its fill, a few minutes later, Rover's mind returned to the pale boy he ran into some time ago. Since it still could not find his best friend, Rover opted to indulge in its curiosity and traced the pale boy's scent out of the kitchen.

He smelled more sweets from the boy's hands after all, so there might be more waiting for his stomach.

Rover returned to its puppy size and paddled out of the kitchen, its snout on the floor sniffing for the pale devil-vampire's trail. It did not take long for Rover to track the scent until he ran into a double door at the end of the hall. Strange - there was something that prevented Rover to even 'feel' the door with its snout.

The dog sniffed at the door, trying to understand the mystery around the wooden obstacle. Truly strange - the scent ended at the door, which meant the pale boy must have been beyond, but for some reason, Rover could not detect any smell from the said door.

Should it try to break it down by force? Rover had the idea for a second, but the image of frowning faces of its family deterred it from using its 'atomic bark' as its best friend dubbed it. The family was, most of the time, never happy when it used its atomic bark. So instead the dog just thumped the door with its little paw, wondering how it could enter inside first. If it could not find a way, it would break it down with force.

oXo

Gasper hid in his box, yipping when he heard the small creature hitting the door as it was trying to get inside.

What should he do? Gasper might be Rias' Bishop, but he never fought before He wailed as the thumping of the door grew more prominent. The creature was trying to get in through the sealed door, and he did not know how to drive it off other than freeze it in place. He wondered if Rias' seal could even hold the creature off. He did hear a loud noise in the kitchen after all.

The thumping became more intense; despite the popular belief, magic was never invincible. It is possible to overcome magic with brute force, albeit anyone possessing such might was rare these days.

Gasper wondered what he could do. All he had around him was a computer, games, TV, game consoles, and the pile of his favorite snacks

"Fueeeeeeeeeeeeee.."

Gasper really did not want to deal with the dog. He was afraid it might eat him or something. Maybe he could feed the thing with snacks and hopefully make it go away?

The thump started to turn into bangs. The doors creaked, buckling as splinters appeared.

"Eeeeeeeep!" Gasper shivered in his box as the door continued banging more and more until it finally broke down with a large crash. The thing broke through Rias' seal!

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Gasper wailed inside his box, tears flowing out his eyes and dripping onto his female school uniform.

However, his shriek actually spooked the creature as it jumped and scurried away from the room in bewilderment.

A minute later, Gasper did not sense anything approaching, and gathering a little left of his courage, he peeked out from his card-board box.

The black creature was still there; but somehow it was cautious of something. Much to his horror, however, the creature had grown bigger - it was roughly the size of a lion, and most importantly, it possessed not only a pair, but three pair of ruby-red eyes, making it even more intimidating.

"Fueeeeeee!" Gasper looked away, trembling as he held his head with his knees to his chest.

Gasper could hear the creature thumping towards him, making him tremble even more. He closed his eyes as the box was lifted, afraid that the beast would eat him.

"Please don't eat me! I'm not tastyyyyy!" Gasper whined. Gasper embraced himself for his inevitable demise. He apologized to Rias for being useless. He apologized for his friends for not being able to do anything. He was sorry that he was still helpless even after Rias took him in.

However, instead of the expected bite, Gasper felt a gentle nudge on his back. He blinked, unsure of what just happened, and dared himself to look back. His breath hitched at the face of the creature looming right above him, as he could see the tiny reflections of his face on the creature's red eyes.

When Gasper slowly faced the creature fully, the creature tilted its head as if it was curious. The gesture also prompted him to mirror its action as well.

"...Eh?" Gasper blinked at the creature. What was it doing? Was it not going to eat him? It looked like something that would eat him, honestly.

The creature then proceeded to sniff around him some more, pressing its snout on his clothes and skin, confusing Gasper even further. It did not take long until the creature's treatment became annoying, ticklish to Gasper's skin.

"U-um Please stop" Gasper meekly asked, closing his teary eyes tight in fear. What if he accidentally offended the beast?

The creature pulled back as it whinnied a little. Gasper did not expect it to stop could it understand him?

Guuurururuur.

Gasper heard something grumbling. It was not from him it came from the dog creature. Was it hungry?

"Umm" Gasper blinked as he looked back at the pile of snacks he got from the kitchen. He wondered if it liked sweets. "Are you hungry?" Gasper asked.

The dog opened its mouth, panting as if confirming Gasper's question. The dog's understanding of his language made Gasper wonder how intelligent it was, filling the dhampir with growing curiosity.

"U-um" Gasper wondered if it liked candy. Maybe if it was fed, it would leave him alone? It was not attacking him, so Gasper gulped, hoping it would work.

Gasper mustered whatever courage he had left and timidly got up and picked a snack from the pile, returning with a nice crunchy Snickers in hand. Gasper peeled off the wrapper and offered the brown sweet bar to the creature.

"W-would you like some?" He asked again.

In response, the creature shrank. It changed size so swiftly, now at puppy size. The dog opened its mouth and bit off a large piece of the bar, wagging its tail at Gasper. Gasper smiled a little as the dog's attempt appeared to be cute.

He then proceeded to hold the bar on his palm, expecting the dog to take it, and the dog delivered. After the bar had been chomped and devoured, Gasper then tried to offer some cookies as well. When he accidentally jerked the cookie up, the dog perked up as if it wanted to play.

Noticing the change in behaviour, Gasper jerked the cookie left, right, and watched the dog's eyes following intently. Feeling curious himself, Gasper then proceeded to lightly toss the treat upward, and much to his amusement, the dog gave chase and caught the cookie in its mouth.

The dog then released a bark, which surprised Gasper at the sound that was more akin to a roar rather than a bark. Nonetheless, he kept himself together and proceeded to entertain the creature by tossing several snacks at the dog, who chased and caught all of them perfectly.

Gasper soon found himself giggling at the sight - perhaps the creature was not so scary after all.

Rias and her peerage just arrived at Kuoh Academy's old school building in a hurry, as dread was filling her entire being. Some time ago, she sensed that the barrier she and Akeno had erected in Gasper's room had been destroyed.

She did not know what could destroy the barrier she made to seal off Gasper Vladi, but considering what she just heard from one Issei Hyoudou, she had a hunch and she hoped that it was wrong - else the little bishop would endure a fate similar to Koneko. There was no way that the abomination would find its way to Kuoh like this; it just ran off from Asia after all.

Her heart sank when she and her peerage found the entrance of the building was trashed, as if something had forced its way through. They went inside and found the kitchen's light still on, and much to their growing horror, the refrigerator was in the state of disarray, its contents had been devoured by something.

Koneko's eyes widened as her face paled; her stash - her stock, all of them were gone. Not only that, the inside looked as if something had bit the inner shelves off. However, she soon quickly reminded herself of the real matter at hand.

"Quickly!" Rias shouted as she, Akeno, Yuuto, and Koneko ran deeper into the building.

They made their way to Gasper's room soon enough and found the door had been forcefully opened.

"Oh no" Rias cupped her mouth as tears started to fall down her eyes. The thing had broken through. The same beast that nearly wiped her and her peerage out was now in the same room as little Gasper. The rest of the peerage shared the same thought and despair

Until they heard giggling inside. They blinked, then shared glances at one another, before they steadily approached the room and took a peek.

Inside the room was Gasper cuddling with the black creature, who was huffing and pleasantly nudging its face against Gasper's cheek.

"Stop it, that tickles!" Gasper laughed as his hands rubbed around the beast's neck, eliciting more happy responses from the creature.

Rias and her peerage could only watch with their jaws hanging.

Their Bishop was playing with it.

Yuuto blinked as his neck slowly craned to Rias.

Akeno also veered her sight to Rias.

Koneko looked at Rias as well, all sharing the same thought in a manner of speaking.

How in the hell did their cowardly dhampir manage to tame the dog that had tried to kill them with explosive death before? In a sense, it was bizarrely unfair.

However, Rias' internal turmoil was interrupted by Akeno's elbow on her side. She was snapped out of her musing and was met with the looks from her servants, which prompted her to do something, anything.

Looking at her timid Bishop still playing with the monster, Rias then walked away to make a phone-call.

When her call was answered, her face cracked into a very stiff smile. "Hello, Ise?"

Her only way out was to contact the dog owner. She had an idea of the intent behind her peerage's collective gazes and she did not want to answer them.

oXo

Issei was leading Mary, Amanda and Catherine running towards Kuoh Academy, after the former had received a phone-call from one Rias Gremory.

Issei was carrying the special smelly meat in hand as he ran to the ORC club building. He saw the state of his front door, making him grimaced as he entered. He caught sight of the kitchen, seeing how the open fridge was raided. Definitely Rover's work when he gets hungry.

He ran upstairs and down the hall with the others until they saw Rias and her friends in the distance. Issei slowed down, letting out a small huff as he walked towards them.

"I came as soon as you called. What happened? Did Rover hurt anyone?" Issei asked quickly as he held the meat in hand.

"Thankfully, no." Rias replied, albeit her face was not amused at the sight of Issei holding a slab of meat. "But can you please do something about. That?"

Issei blinked at Rias gesturing inside the room, he then held his hand up at the girls behind him, silently telling them to wait, before he made his way into the room.

Lo and behold, Rover was sleeping with a girl resting her head on top of its grown frame with a peaceful expression. If Issei were to be honest, he found the scene adorable.

"Um Who's that?" He asked the others while pointing at the girl sleeping on Rover's body. "Looks like Rover made a friend."

Rias and the others pursed their lips at the mention of 'friend.' Yeah, Issei could tell what they were feeling inside regarding their first meeting with Rover and the bizarre unfairness of it all.

"That, Ise, is Gasper Vladi - my Bishop." She replied cryptically before she narrowed her gaze at Issei. "Now, would you get that thing off him?"

Issei blinked at the small detail. "...Him?"

Issei scanned the girl from her pale-haired head to her school shoes. No matter how Issei looked at it, that person was a girl, unless God was screwing with him.

"Yes. My Bishop is a boy." Rias confirmed Issei's suspicion.

"...Hah?" Issei dropped his jaw as he looked at Rias, pointing a finger at the fake girl. "H-Him? Are you serious?"

"Yes. Yes I am." Rias nodded without emotion.

"I uh" Issei scratched his head as he turned back to the 'boy.'

He remembered hearing something about effeminate males from Matsuda and Motoyama, something about the trope of 'traps' and such, but Issei never considered that he would actually meet one in real life. What the hell?

In any case, Issei shook his head off those thoughts and made his way to the sleeping duo. His footsteps seemed to alert Rover, as the black dog perked up and turned to see its master crouching before them.

"You're really a handful, you know that? You're going to apologize to Asia later." Issei remarked with a small smile.

Happy to see its friend, Rover got up and barked, waking Gasper up in the process. "Munya" Gasper yawned cutely as he rubbed the sleepiness off his eyes. "What's wrong?"

When his eyes finally registered the man crouching in front of him, he was immediately wide awake and yelped in fear, while scrambling to hide behind Rover's frame.

"Yiiiiiiii! S-Save me!" Gasper squealed, shivering behind Rover.

"Whoa, whoa, relax. I'm not gonna hurt you." Issei leaned back while holding his hands up in peace. "I'm just here to pick up my buddy here. See?"

"H-huh?" Gasper blinked his teary eyes and saw Rover slowly shrunk back and walked to the man's side. "D-doggy?"

Rover barked in reply as it sat next to Issei, before it nudged its head against Issei's frame, much to his amusement.

"His name is Rover. Mine is Issei. May I know yours?" Issei asked with a friendly smile.

Gasper was still spooked, but considering his new friend belonged to the stranger before him, Gasper felt a small reassurance. "G-Gasper" He meekly introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, Gasper." Issei nodded and offered his hand.

Gasper jumped slightly at the offered limb, before he glanced between the hand and its owner. He then let out a tiny hum while slowly grasping Issei's hand in a gentle shake.

"Thanks for taking care of my dog. He is quite a handful whenever he runs away." Issei gestured to Rover who was trying to tear the slab of meat from Issei's grip with sneaky tugs.

Before Gasper could have commented, Rias came to view with her expression filled with worry. "Gasper!"

"Prez!" Gasper quickly leapt up to his feet and came into his master's embrace.

"I'm so glad you're alright" Rias cooed as she caressed her Bishop's crown. "You've done well on holding out."

"Well, it was very scary, but" Gasper trailed as he turned to smile at Rover. "Mr. Rover isn't so scary in the end."

Rias and the rest regarded Rover with conflicted looks after they heard Gasper deemed the beast who nearly killed them as 'not so scary.' They don't know if they should attribute it to plain luck or Gasper's courage as a whole.

Nevertheless, Rias could not help but smile at Gasper's development; monster dog or not, it was up-lifting to see the anthrophobic Bishop to make another friend after a long time.

"E-eh?! So Mr. Rover cannot stay?" Gasper weakly asked.

"Sorry, man. But Y'know, he's my dog and all." Issei smiled apologetically while shrugging in return.

"B-But" Gasper whimpered as his eyes quivered. Issei was starting to question whether the person in front of him was a guy or a girl inside a guy's body. He looked at his side, seeing Rover giving him the six pleading eyes. It appeared Rover had been making new friends with strangers so quickly - first with Asia and now with Gasper, so this could be a good opportunity to get Rover to open up with others.

"Alright, alright. How about this? Instead of Rover staying, you can visit Rover whenever you want." Issei stated his conditions.

"E-Eh?" Gasper blinked a little, his eyes still watery.

"What? I can't bring him out every morning or afternoon. And Rias kind of has some bad blood with Rover, so" Issei glanced at Rias behind Gasper. She wore the same eyes-closed-smiling mask to hide her irritation.

"Ehhh" Gasper looked at Rover, seeing the monster dog giving the boy his version of the puppy dog eyes. "So I have to go outside?"

"Well, yeah. Is there something wrong?" Issei replied.

"I" Gasper gulped. Issei watched as Gasper closed his eyes. His body was kind of trembling a little, quivering on his feet. Issei wondered what was going on through his head.

"I-I'll think about it." Eventually, Gasper opened his eyes and nodded. Rias widened her eyes upon hearing Gasper's response. "But can Can Mr. Rover comes over to play sometimes?"

Issei blinked at the request, but did not see any harm in the end. "Yeah, sure. Why not. Want to exchange numbers, then?"

"O-okay" Gasper nodded as he took out his cell-phone.

Rias was watching with disbelief after she threw a quick glance at the rest of her peerage behind her, who were equally as shocked as her. She expected Gasper to go into another panic at the prospect of going outside. But for him to actually consider instead of refusing outright?

This is a cause for celebration.

"Welp, I'll see you later, Gasper."

Issei's voice snapped Rias out of her happy thoughts as the man and his dog walked towards the door where she and her peerage were.

"Sorry again about the mess, Rias-senpai. I'll pay all the damages." Issei smiled apologetically.

Rias sighed with a small smile in reply. "You don't have to, Ise. In fact, I'd like to thank you."

Issei blinked. "...What for?"

"Come with me, I'll walk you out." Rias beckoned and turned briefly to her servants. "Akeno, Yuuto, Koneko, can you accompany Gasper until I return?"

The servants obeyed, and Rias were walking with Issei and Rover - with Mary, Amanda and Catherine following behind them, through the halls of the old school building.

"To tell you the truth. Gasper has issues about going outside and socializing with people. I was surprised to find him making quick friends with your dog." She gave a narrowed look at Rover.

Issei looked back at the room where he left before replying. "Huh. He's shy, I admit, but I thought he could talk with me and Rover just fine."

The boy-girl did not look like a hardcore introvert to him.

"Exactly. For that, I owe you one." Rias smiled.

"No, you don't." Issei replied. "As far as I recall, Rover nearly killed you and ransacked your kitchen. So I say I only have one more debt to repay." He gave a knowing smile.

Rias giggled into her hand in amusement. "Fufufu Fair enough. I'll make the whole thing about Gasper as a make-up for the incident at the old factory."

"Deal."

Overall, Issei and his peerage bid Rias a goodnight and the boy opted to walk the girls back to their apartment.

"You really don't need to bother with us, sir." Mary retorted, albeit she had a small smile of gratitude on her lips.

"Nah, it's fine, really." Issei waved off. "Rover and I've dragged you all into this mess in the first place. Let me do this much."

"Compared to what Diodora had put us through, this is a blessing." Amanda quipped with Catherine nodding in agreement.

"Well, glad that you enjoyed it, then. Should I try having you to walk Rover sometime in the future?" Issei asked with a playful grin, accompanied with Rover's bark.

The three girls' faces paled, colors leaving their cheeks.

"Um Maybe once we are more accustomed with our new life-style." It was Catherine who replied.

"Hahaha! Relax, I'm kidding. You don't have to if you don't want to." Issei replied jovially, receiving relieved sighs from the girls.

A few minutes of walking later, Mary suddenly blinked. "Um, Mr. Issei. Forgive me to sound presumptuous, but aren't we forgetting something?"

Her question garnered questioning looks from the others, even Rover.

oXo

In the middle of the night, two individuals were walking through the secluded street within the town.

"Seriously, how hard is it to find a black dog with six red eyes!?" Saji roared as he nearly broke the dog whistle in his grasp. "Piss off, you mongrels! We're not here for you!" He even snapped at the strays that had been following him and the treats in Tsubasa's hands.

"Ise, you so owe me one for this" Tsubasa grumbled as she lazily still held the dog treats in her hands.

Here's a breather before we enter the Phoenix Arc. Speaking of which, the first and second act of canon vol.2 adaptation are now available in my (P) atreon, the link is on my profile. The first act is available for free-viewing, while the third act is in the making. See y'all later, folks!