A mask hides many things.

The winds of change and a dark past, Chapter 4

"Speaking out loud"
'Thinking'
"Screaming/Pain in voice"
Emphasis of actions
:Telepathy:
"Sacred gear speaking"
:Sacred gear speaking with host:

No real author notes today, enjoy the story as always~<3 Thank you for the support and all I get on discord and for the few of you who have DM'd me on the site. :) 

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                  ~Close to six in the morning, Koneko's room~

Around two hours had passed as the trio had completely gone out cold in Koneko's bed, Issei was once more pulled into his mindscape, His very soul so to speak to talk with Boreas once more.

The goddess seemed more then slightly pleased to be in his presence once more with a soft giggle leaving her lips :You really didn't hold back to pass my test now did ya? Took you a whole two hours to come back to me after that stunt. What do you have to say for yourself?" 

To which the boy could only awkwardly scratch the back of his head with a sweatdrop above his head pretty visibly as he began to speak rather calmly all things considered "Where do I even begin.... First and foremost, Boreas. I have to thank you. I... Have never experienced such joy, such freedom and to be able to share the skies with one as powerful as yourself was nothing more then ecstasy itself." If nothing else, the boy's vernacular was well versed and quite diverse.

He seemed to take a moment more to think before speaking not giving her a chance to reply just yet "Words cannot convey how I truly felt in that moment. There was a desire to win, A desire to surpass myself, A desire to go so fast it would kill me... that last one was... Worrying to say the least.... But, Above any of those, I desired to share the winds with the three who were with me and show them what that freedom felt like to me, It was the same freedom their very presence offers me..." He'd nod twice on that note, clearly blushing a deep shade of red admitting that to the woman. 

The sheer lack of any personal vanity, pride or negative traits blew her away. She only seemed to blink a time or two before her head cocked to the side seeming lost in thought :... Artemis didn't tell you what that test truly was, well.. She did, But you clearly were far too focused, Issei. It wasn't a test to gain the right to use the sacred gear, It was a test to become my successor. My equal, My partner. And, I can say with absolute certainty I could never ask for a better partner. You understand the value of freedom that my power offers yet you don't wish to gain it for negative reasons... I can feel everything that you are feeling and in regards to that. I will grant you complete control over how we design the sacred gear's abilities, Unique forms and everything there in... All but one, That is one I will make a mirror of myself... I just hope you never have to resort to that as it will be a copy of my powers at their very peak and it may drain everything out of you, Your own life included if you don't train well enough to handle that level of power..."

He was just nodding along all the way until that last bit as he'd raise his hand as if it were a class room causing the goddess to raise an eyebrow before he spoke pretty bluntly "I won't use your power if that's the case." A true look of shock, rage and disappointment overtook the goddess to the point she actually fell over staring up at him "EXCUSE ME? IS IT NOT WORTH IT TO YOU?" 

To her surprise, He would answer quite curtly in regard to that accusation and it was with a very measured line of thought "Worth it?...Yes, Yes it is worth using but not at the chance I could make my cat cry. I never have had good luck, for what it is there's a high chance that ability could get activated over something small due to how emotional I am before I even have a chance to begin training for it. I don't believe even for a fucking second that a single week will bring me within a reasonable level to contain that much power. I've played far too many video games to understand what that kind of curse could do to me." 

The raven cloaked beauty would slowly rise to her feet acting like she was dusting herself off as she took a deep breath... More like ten or twenty of them, But hey. For genuine a moment her anger had gotten the better of her because refusing the gear was akin to refusing a goddesses blessing by proxy... It didn't just hurt her ego, It demolished her pride something she'd never experienced to that extent until then... She could definitely confirm she didn't like that, But- He was completely right.

"...You actually bring a fair point to the table, I... I hadn't even considered your say in that and was just going to grant you my full power from the beginning, That was foolish on my part... For being a young human, You certainly hold more sensibility then some of the gods I've met." Her tone was calm and collected at this point if not a bit perplexed. In all her years she never once met a man or woman that would refuse her blessing let alone have a good reason to do so to the point she couldn't even be angry about it.

"I guess I'll put that on the backburner for now then, and instead for my conditions; I will be the one to name the sacred gear and I will be in charge of your balance breaker... I feel I have the perfect thing in mind for it oh and uh. A balance breaker effectively is a form that defies the rules of the world. I'd say it will take more then a week for you to learn but with you. I really believe you could pull it off within' three days with your potential if you were given a true reason to need that strength which is ridiculous to be able to admit, Boy you are a monster in your own right that even the gods will fear one day." She put a finger to her lips debating saying this next bit or not before just settling on getting it off her chest. "Oh.. And one last thing, I was listening in to you talking to the white cat... You aren't a cruel or merciless bastard but I feel bad for anyone who actually manages to piss you off enough to snap, That will be the day people witness a true storm."

That last bit drew out a wide range of emotions out of the brown haired boy. Surprise, disgust at himself, a very obvious look of deep thought, a look of realization and then one of mild fear that dulled his eyes once more worrying the woman before him leading to her voice to soften alot as she asked a simple question. "You good.. Do you want to talk about it before we get into things?"

There was a truly long pause. Thankfully for both of them they were in a space where time moved far slower so he had all the time in the world so to speak. 

He would sit down on the purple floor of her amethyst domain with his hands over his face clearly with a racing mind trying his best to think of how to word everything as he'd slowly uncover his visage revealing an almost vacant stare which caught the woman offguard as his voice came out rather dead and hollow.

 "It was... Sobering to hear that and it really does reignite my fear of becoming stronger to a point.... I am glad you all think of me as better then I could ever see myself. " There was another reveal of what he meant when he told Koneko just how broken he saw himself as, It was rearing it's ugly head in the worst of ways as Boreas was getting a first hand look at what years upon years of isolation from others and mental trauma had done to the boy...

Even if the winds could grant him freedom physically, It wouldn't alleviate the pain in his mind just yet. That was the 'bumpy road ahead' that the white haired catgirl, now girlfriend had hinted to. She had seen every bit of the damage done to his mind and it hurt her

 Even if she was within' his soul, She had only just woken up and had no idea of the extent of the damage just yet... But, This was a pretty clear sign of it as she'd get down to his level looking into his eyes "Dear boy, I wish you could have awoken me sooner even if we wouldn't have gotten along with each other as we do now, Even if it meant I would have most likely killed you... No one deserves to be alone for that long... I'd know that better then anyone. I should have been there for my host instead of choosing to remain asleep...... The shock of nearly losing you is what woke me by force."

Those words of a kindred spirit had struck deep within' the amber eyed boy as life seemed to come back to them all at once as he reached out to hug her. An act that she genuinely hadn't experienced in her life as she felt such a kind soul pull her in it was clear neither of them had it easy in life as for the first time in her life, The goddess wept and the winds within the mindscape had turned into a ferocious storm that threatened to blow away the building they were in. It didn't deter Issei in the slightest as he just pulled her closer though it did reconfirm his first thought, She was terrifyingly powerful. 

The woman truly could feel it now, She could understand why the girls around him fell for him with such ease. The same warmth the nekoshou outside of the dream felt and it was... Comforting. It was as if the worlds' cruelty had no place within' such a kind boy's heart. That was the sole thought that ran across her mind as his voice broke her train of thought coming out as a soothing whisper. "Boreas, I have not and will never blame you for not being there for me. I was too weak to awaken you, I was too pitiful to be worthy of such a place beside another... No, That's not quite right... I guess what I want to say is this. I am thankful to have you here now and for the adventures we will go on together... No self-deprecating bullshit. None of my usual nonsense as that would be pointless here..."

The volume of his voice would raise slightly as he spoke to her clearly doing his best if not awkward attempt to comfort the sobbing woman. "Just, Gah... How do I even put this to words. For weeks, months even a whole year I wanted nothing more then to just walk out in front of a truck and see if I go to another world or not... But, In the past twenty-four hours I've been basically invited to a whole new world within' my own and I even gained wings to explore it from such a drop dead gorgeous goddess, How the fuck can I beat myself into the ground given that chance...? I get it, I'm a depressive asshole. It's going to get ALOT worse through probable therapy before it gets better but... I am thankful to have you here by my side if the other girls can't be here. I uh... I'm sorry for the long winded rambling,  The long and short of it is you all have become the greatest a blessing to me."

He would finish off clearly having tears threatening to spill over at the corners of his eyes. He didn't wish to see the one who gave him such a great gift crying like this as he reached down gently wiping her tears away with his fingers finally getting a good look at her close up. His eyes met with her's merely inches away as his breath hitched in his throat. It would seem he was beginning to get a thing for women's eyes as her piercing stare stopped his brain from functioning for a moment only simply saying "And, here I thought the sky was the deepest blue I'd ever see..." Through and through the boy was an absolute lady-killer even if by accident or coincidence. 

In all her years as a goddess, No one could ever look her in the eye be it because of her piercing stare or because of fear of her power. Even the other gods couldn't manage it yet here was a young boy who couldn't even amount to a fraction of her existence doing so fearlessly and the first damn thing he did was compliment her eyes. Her tears would stop immediately and she was over the fucking moon straight to cloud nine. It was an experience she'd never be able to describe. 

People often thought Artemis was the goddess who hated men the most but she didn't hold a candle to Boreas in the slightest for that regard and for the first time in her life, She felt her heartbeat increase as her face turned red or what appeared to be a dark purple under the visage of her cloak's ability as her voice came out as a true stuttering mess screaming like an actual character trope you're all probably all too familiar with.... "I-I-Is-Issei! YOU CAN-CANNOT JUST DO THAT TO A WOMAN... Yo-you are.... V-v-v-very bad for my heart... You... Idiot."

Ladies and gentleman, The textbook definition of a tsundere has arrived.