The Death We Seek

Bellowing Smoke Signals Where Home Is [Chapter 5]

His head pounded a wicked drum melody against his skull. He couldn't even stand. Fatigue draped his every movement and every muscle he possessed was torn.

Issei's own fault of course, he had overestimated himself and had died for it. Ddraig had healed him, yes, but that was mainly the self-inflicted brain damage, sensory overload and the gaping hole around his heart. The shredded muscles would have to wait for when he could stand to use magic again.

He would thank any god out there that it was the weekend, but he had business at school. It seemed like that had slipped the minds of the four Maou as well since they had called him in today, under the impression he would be skipping classes again.

Regardless, Issei wasn't on a time limit this time. He could crawl like an earthworm to school and the only consequences would be peculiar looks from bystanders. Gathering himself mentally and preparing for the agony, he had inched himself up and while falling over had decided his desk chair would make for a lovely walking stick.

The marks had spread across his entire shell now. The slight mishap yesterday must have finalised his engravings. The soul was the body, and the body was the soul after all. He couldn't cover it up with a technique, so he would have to settle for looking like a particularly mediocre villain roaming around Kuoh.

While admiring how intricate his etchings were, he caught a whiff.

Issei fucking stank. He didn't get a chance to shower after dying yesterday, and had just gone to rest immediately. He, still grabbing the walls and mirror just to stand, couldn't shower like this. Then, his genius struck. An idea had taken root in his head, and he internally embraced himself for his intelligence.

He slumped into the bathtub, face down, and turned the shower on. After plugging the drain, it would fill up with water and he wouldn't need to stand at all, nor bear the headache from the window's light piercing and lobotomising him through his retinas. It was a stroke of brilliance, until Issei was choking and drowning in a bathtub. He didn't even fit properly, and the position of keeping his feet and legs pointed upwards had doomed him.

Why did he not take his clothes off. The weight, small as it was, had stopped him from being able to push himself up. Every muscle and tendon he had was frayed twine and he was human. Humans tended to need air. To breathe.

Twenty minutes later, his mother had woken up to the extremely loud banging coming from the bathroom prior. Upon getting dressed and walking to the bathroom to brush her teeth and take her medication, she saw her pitiful son in the dirtied, torn and now soaked clothes she had seen him wearing yesterday. He was performing a walk of shame back to his room while hacking up concerning amounts of red-tinged water. As he passed by, she caught a faint smell of him and almost gagged.

Just trying to comprehend what just occurred gave her an even deeper headache, so she settled for completely ignoring it and continuing her daily morning rituals.

Issei was a complete and utter moron. Ddraig was practically throwing up cackling at the thought of the strongest Red Dragon Emperor almost drowning in a bathtub. By himself. Said Dragon Emperor couldn't stand the loud booming laughter from a dragon stupid enough to forget why he had started a blood feud with another dragon even after both getting sealed. His headache had gotten worse.

He couldn't even stand at this point, he was just lying flat on his floor trying to dry himself off with a dirty towel. Dousing himself in a cheap cologne lying somewhere on a pile of worn clothes, it would somewhat mask the smell.

Grayfia Lucifuge was slightly embarrassed. Herself and Lady Serafall had forgotten that the Red Dragon Emperor didn't have school scheduled today. Regardless, he could come so she figured he would make it there eventually.