Chapter 45: Jin's Roommate

Chapter 45:

"___" - Speech

(___) - Thoughts

(___) - Internal Voice(s)

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Issei wearily opened his eyes as he breathed in the chilling air first thing in the morning. "If only I could keep my Sacred Gear activated for longer," He groaned, being forced to endure the blistering air around Jin's abode as he removed the countless layers of blankets he had placed atop him one by one. 

He clutched his stomach as he got up, a deep rumbling sensation vibrating from within. "I could use something to eat, those sandwiches they were eating looked pretty good, wonder if he'll let me have some." Living with Jin was certainly an odd experience. 

Through both his, and the eyes of the members of the Occult Research Club Jin had always just been the "Guy from Grigori", but now Issei was up and close with him. "No use overthinking it, he's a Dragon host just like me so I'm sure he'll be able to help me out." Jin had given him a helping hand in the form of a pep talk during his first encounter with Vali, so overall Issei had a relatively good impression of him. 

Before heading downstairs, Issei spared a moment to peer out of the window, taking in the extravagant scenery of the arctic lands around him. "I don't understand, why would you leave behind everything in the human world to come live in a place like this? Even as a fellow reincarnated it doesn't make sense to me." He scratched his chin as he put on a thick jacket Azazel had preemptively put in the guest room. "Maybe it's because he's a Fallen Angel, or something else. I'll ask him about it at some point if I get the chance." He set his brooding aside as he headed downstairs whilst clutching his jacket for warmth. 

"Tch, still no good pulls." He heard a voice grumble, only to be met with the sight of Jin opening packets of what appeared to be trading cards. "Whatever, at least I got them for free." As expected, he was completely covered in snow from head to toe, his couch included. 

But what really seemed to catch his attention was the fact that Jin's right arm was completely exposed at the moment, the Fallen Angel seemingly uninterested in covering up anymore. 

"It's rude to stare you know," He chided, side-eyeing Issei in the process. "Especially when you have it as well." 

"Sorry it's just," Issei hesitated. "Mine isn't nearly as extreme as yours." Jin raised his brow as he noticed Issei's left arm looked completely normal, though his senses obviously told him otherwise. 

"Hm," He pondered for a moment. "Come over here." Jin noticed his mild apprehension. "Don't worry, I don't bite."

Issei somewhat reluctantly did as he asked and approached the apparently curious Silver Dragon. "That's not right," Jin murmured as he grabbed Issei's arm. "That's not right at all." He continued.

"Is something the matter?" The fact that Jin genuinely seemed bothered by his arm worried him to a certain degree. 

"Yes, your arm should have become like mine by now. There's no reason for the transformation to not have completed at this point." Before Issei could reply, Jin seemed to have already figured out what was going on. "Wait a minute, don't tell me you've been purposefully removing the Draconic Energy from your arm?" 

"Akeno-senpai's been doing it for me, is there a problem with that?" Jin held back the desire to face palm as he let out a dejected nod. 

"Of course there is, as you've been training your body your arm has been trying to evolve alongside you, but constantly siphoning out its energy has stunted it from growing. You've basically delayed your own progress." 

Issei took a step back as his eyes widened in shock. "That can't be right!" He exclaimed in a defeated tone. "Whenever I let the energy linger my arm starts burning up like crazy!" 

"Well yeah, you're transforming your arm into a Dragon's one, of course it's going to hurt. But it'll go away eventually, haven't you heard the phrase 'pain is just weakness leaving the body'?" 

"Wait, so you're telling me I'll be fine if I just let it happen?" 

"Your arm would have imploded a long time ago if that weren't the case, Ddraig should have told you this." There was no feasible way Ddraig could have made such an oversight, but at the same time it didn't make sense why Ddraig wouldn't constantly be informing Issei of what he did and didn't need, at least to Jin. 

"Ddraig? Me and him don't really communicate that often, and he didn't tell me anything about it." 

The truth was simply that Ddraig didn't want to intrude on Issei's time with Akeno, especially after he sensed how heavily he was lusting after her. Sacred Gears were designed to respond to their hosts' wills after all, no matter what they might be. Having his arm fully transformed would've undoubtedly helped him out to an extent, but he still wouldn't be able to compete on the level of people like Kuroka and Bikou with that alone. 

Through Jin's eyes however, it simply looked like Issei was choosing less over more. 

"That needs to change, listen, nobody can educate you on how to improve better than Ddraig himself. You are harnessing his power, and he knows infinitely more about it than you do. I don't care how much you need to pester him, make sure he tells you what you need to know." The worst thing a Dragon host could do, was ignore their Dragon. "Got it?" 

"Got it." 

Jin nodded approvingly.

"We're going to go running in a bit, but before I take you outside there's a few things I need to know. First, can you speak Draconic?" 

"You mean like, Dragon language?" 

"Yes, do you speak it?" 

"Uh, unfortunately not." 

Jin sighed as he internally wondered what the hell Ddraig was doing. "I see, in that case when we're outside you are to stick to me at all times, and under no circumstances should you interact with any of the Dragons we meet along the way. Especially the younger ones, even if they come up to you, just pretend as if they're not there."

"Are they that dangerous?" 

"Not particularly to me or Raon since they've already been informed of our presence, but they haven't been told that you're here. When they look at you all they're going to see is a Red Dragon appearing in their territory out of nowhere, at the very least they'll be startled." 

"Oh, then what should I do if one of the older ones come up to me?" 

"I'll be there, if that happens I'll try to talk them down." 

.

.

The three of them, Raon included, enjoyed a light breakfast as Jin and Issei switched into outfits better acclimated for physical activity. "Don't you have a long sleeve version of these or something?" Issei moaned as the cold air had already begun to assault his exposed skin. "It feels like I'm trapped in an iceberg." 

"Relax, once we start training you'll warm up in no time." The corners of Jin's mouth curled upwards as he opened the front door, feeling the air around his skin plummet even further than it already had. "Mm, this weather is perfect." 

Without warning, he took off in a jog that appeared to be as fast as a full on sprint with Raon following suit behind him. 

"Wait up!" Issei called out, scurrying to catch up with Jin's fading figure as he endured the numbing sensation of the frigid atmosphere around him. 

"Your first task is to keep up with us!" He shouted from a distance. "Try not to get left behind Heavenly Dragon! Hehe!" 

Obviously, Jin made sure his senses remained around Issei just in case any of the nearby Dragons decided to get a little too close, if push came to shove he'd more likely than not have to fabricate some sort of justification for having Issei around. 

"At this rate I'll be lucky to have even a few minutes of relaxation time, some boss he is." He muttered under his breath, unaware that Sairaorg's regimen was slowly turning him into an endurance monster. "Let's see how much further you can go in one month, Hyoudou." 

"Don't get ahead of yourself!" He heard Issei's voice cry out from behind him, turning his head as he watched him progressively get closer and closer. 

"Haha! Good good! As a reward I'll pick up the pace a little!" Just as promised, Jin's speed increased almost twofold as Issei's eyelids widened in desperation. 

(Azazel, just what kind of monster have you paired me up with?) Issei grimaced internally, a stitch forming on the side of his waist as he forced himself to speed up. 

The torturous marathon continued on for ten more minutes, Issei now fretting about the lack of air in his lungs rather than the sub-zero air around him. Meanwhile Jin looked as if they hadn't even started training in the first place. 

"What's the matter? If you can handle training with Tannin then this should be nothing for you!" He taunted playfully. 

"Both of you huff are sadists pant when it comes to training!" Issei placed his hands on his knees, feeling the urge to puke out his breakfast as Jin simply patted him on the back. 

"Don't look so grim, we're almost there anyways." 

"You haven't even told me where we're going to begin with!" 

"Oh right, how forgetful of me." He jokingly tapped himself on the forehead. "We're headed to the upper course of the river, seeing as I just moved in I thought it'd be a good idea to go have a look."