Last time we got to see Lucien battle a Stray Devil and encounter Issei Hyoudou as well! The two agreed to start sparring together to improve both their skills. Although he apparently had a disagreement with Rias and the rest of the peerage.

Located near Kuoh Academy was a seemingly rundown building that was overgrown with vegetation.

This was in fact the club house of the Occult Research Club, or O.R.C. for short. Of course the club was simply a front for Rias Gremory and her Peerage. Unfortunately there was currently some discourse amongst them members of the aforementioned Peerage. This discourse centered around one Issei Hyoudou and his recent actions.
               Issei looked down at his phone at the text he got from Samurai. "Meet me in the usual spot at the park, we'll pickup from where we left off last time." That text was sent a half hour after everyone met up in the O.R.C. Building. "Dammit, why do they suddenly care that I'm getting out of their hair?" Issei mumbled to himself as he he looked to see if anyone was watching him. "You have been going out to train quite frequently for the past few weeks. It is a rather strange change in behavior partner." Ddraig said telepathically to Issei as not to be heard by any of the other members of the Peerage.
             Issei let out a quiet groan as he knew Ddraig was in fact correct. Issei decided to just go for it and hope no one gave him the time of day. "Where are you going Issei?" A stern voice said from behind him that caused him to flinch slightly. Issei turned around to see the red haired beauty, Rias Gremory.

Issei could feel everyone's eyes on him, but thanks to the Count's Gentleman Training that he gave the teen to "whip him into shape" as the Thief put it helped him remain calm. "Sorry President, got something important going on at home tonight." Issei lied calmly as he hoped she bought what he was trying to pass off as the truth. "You've been rather busy as of late haven't you Issei?" A sultry voice said as he turned to look at a girl with long dark hair and much like Rias, a nice figure.

Issei could tell they were trying to distract him. "Well it's better then me sitting around here all afternoon doing nothing right?" Issei said calmly as he was still holding strong despite him realizing everyone was going to gang up on him. "We're not saying that Issei, it's just that...." Rias trailed off as she tried to find the right word for the situation they found themselves in. "What the President is trying to say is what does a pervert like you have that's so important?" A rather blunt voice said as Issei looked over at a short girl with white hair.

             Issei was starting to get frustrated by this, it didn't help that he was already late for his training session with Samurai as it is before they all decided to jump him. "Why are you complaining anyway? Shouldn't you be happy that I won't be around here ogling all of you?" Issei said with a little more bite in his tone then he intended. This response of course shocks the rest of the peerage as they didn't expect that type of statement from Issei of all people. "A-Are you still mad about the argument from a few weeks ago Issei?" A gentle voice said as he looked over at an innocent looking girl with blonde hair.

            Issei let out an annoyed sigh as now a big misunderstanding was happening because of his new schedule. "No Asia, I just want some space is all, is that really to much to ask?" Issei asked as he looked around the room at everyone to see if they thought it was such a bad thing, despite it being a lie. A hand landed on his shoulder in a supportive manner as he looked over to see a boy with short blonde hair.

"They're just showing concern Issei, after all you usually spend a lot of your time in the club building." Kiba said as he tried to be supportive of his friend.
              Issei let out a sigh before looking at Kiba. "Yeah I guess it was a bit sudden, but I just want some space, seriously." Issei said again as he hoped everyone would just drop it and let him leave already. Rias then walked up to Issei before gently resting a hand on his cheek. "Well if that's the case, why not let me join you? We could make a date of it." Rias said as she knew that this would surely get Issei to finally crack. Issei paused at her words as he processed the situation. "No it's fine President, this is something I gotta do on my own." Issei said as everyone completely froze in shock, Issei just turned down Rias.
Issei took this opening to quickly exit the club building while the rest of the peerage was completely stunned. "D-Did the pervert just turn down the President?" Koneko said in complete shock as she still couldn't figure out if this was a dream or not. Rias's eye twitched as she didn't know what was going on, but she didn't like it at all. "Everyone, we're spying on him." Rias said curtly as everyone followed the peerage leader out of the club building to follow the Sacred Gear user. "Issei what has gotten into you?" Rias thought to herself as she was starting to worry about her pawn.

At the Park
Issei walked into the park as he let out a tired sigh. "That could have gone a lot better." Issei mumbled to himself as he looked around for any signs of Samurai. "I'm starting to think the others are getting suspicious partner, after today you might be under close watch." Ddraig said telepathically as the teenager let out a groan. "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it." Issei mumbled before he finally spotted a familiar black beanie. "Hey Samurai! Sorry I'm late!" Issei said as he ran up to the katana wielding Devil. "There you are! For a moment I thought you bailed on me!" Lucien said as he gave Issei a smile.
                  "Sorry about that Samurai, I got interrogated by the President and the others." Issei said with a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his head. "Ah it's fine, you ready to head over to the usual spot?" Lucien asked as he gently rested his katana on his shoulder. "Yeah, if we don't hurry we won't be head in home until midnight!" Issei said with a chuckle as he took notice of the setting sun. Both Devils sprout their wings before taking off into the air and flying off towards a secluded part of the forest near one of the mountains. Little did either of them know, they were being followed.

The Forest
Rias and her peerage landed in the forest they followed Issei and the mystery Devil. "Are you sure they landed somewhere around here Rias?" Akeno asked as she looked at her best friend with curiosity in her eyes. "I'm certain, Issei has some explaining to do. What is he thinking going off with a random Devil?!" Rias growled as she was not amused by her pawn's recent actions. "BOOST!!" The group heard a familiar voice shout as they saw dust being kicked up and trees falling over. Rias and her peerage ran over, but remained out of sight as they saw Issei clashing against the Devil he referred to as Samurai.
"The pervert brought him out here to fight?" Koneko asked as she was only more confused by the situation unfolding in front of them. "I think their sparring Koneko, that however still doesn't answer who this other Devil is." Kiba said as he trained his gaze on the Devil with the large katana. "What's the matter Dragon Boy? That the best you got?" Samurai taunted as he rested the blade of his katana on his shoulder. "You think I haven't been studying the way you fight these past couple weeks we've been sparring?" Issei fires back as he raises his Sacred Gear and takes aim at Samurai.
"By all means Dragon Boy, hit me with your best shot!" Samurai shouted as he readied his katana once again. Energy started to charge in the palm of the Sacred Gear as Issei straightened his aim. "Dragon Shot!" Issei shouted as he fired a large red energy beam at Samurai.

To Rias and the others surprise, instead of dodging, the other Devil stood his ground. "I think we found a bigger idiot then the pervert." Koneko said as she thought the other Devil had some kind of death wish. To there absolute shock, the katana wielding Devil began rapidly deflecting the beam with his sword before finally using his sword to redirect it to the trees behind him.
               "Not bad, that one was a lot harder to deflect that the one from two weeks ago." Lucien commented as he gave Issei a reassuring smile. "We're not done yet! Let's go Ddraig!" Issei shouted as he charged towards Lucien with his gauntlet ready. "BOOST!!" Ddraig shouted as Issei attempted to strike Lucien with a downward punch but the Devil both deflected and danced around all of his attack. Issei dodged any attacks that Lucien sent his way as well.

"Looks like I got to start taking this seriously, you learn fast Dragon Boy." Lucien said as his right arm burst into obsidian flames as his cursed arm took on its true form. Issei launched himself towards Lucien once again as Lucien gripped his katana with both hands ready to attack.
"BOOST!!!" Ddraig shouted again as Issei closed in for the attack. The sinister purple energy surrounded Zankoku Otome's blade as it mixed with the obsidian flames from his cursed arm as the sword's blade was powered up. Lucien quickly blocked the first attack before preforming a follow up attack that Issei blocked, but sent the boy flying backwards.

Lucien quickly went on the attack with his flaming, energy infused katana as he slashed Issei once across the chest a his shirt and jacket ripped, but only a small cut was left on his body.
Issei knew he got lucky avoiding the brunt of that attack, but he couldn't relax just yet. "What should we do now partner?" Ddraig asked telepathically to his partner to avoid tipping their opponent off. "We're gonna lose soon anyway, might as well go all out!" Issei responded as he was surrounded by energy as a large suit of red armor formed on his body.

"Alright Samurai let's see if you can handle the power of the Scale Mail!" Issei shouted before rocketing towards Lucien with his fist raised. "BOOST, BOOST, BOOST, BOOST, BOOST!!!" Ddraig shouted as Issei slammed his fist into the blade of Lucien's Katana as the Devil was sent flying backwards and through a few trees. Lucien shakily got back on his feet before his wings sprouted from his back as he flew towards Issei.
The fist of his cursed arm was engulfed in obsidian flames as he feared it backwards. "Berserker's Fist!!" Lucien shouted as he swung at Issei's head, but the armored teen caught the fist. Despite being in Scale Mail, Issei struggled to restrain the punch thrown by Lucien. Lucien reversed the hold on his katana before slashing Issei across the chest, leaving a gash in his armor that flowed with the purple energy from his sword. Issei delivered another punch to Lucien's chest that sent him sprawling across the ground before resting a hand on top of the gash in his armor.
"Even with the Scale Mail this hurts like hell!" Issei groans as he gets back into a fighting stance. "That energy from his blade must be amplifying the damage caused by the wound, be careful not to get hit by that again." Ddraig said telepathically as Lucien got back on his feet before snapping the fingers of his cursed arm. A black magic circle appeared above Issei as it shined. "Rain of Agony!!!" Lucien shouted as bullet sized obsidian flames rained down on Issei as more cracks appeared across the Scale Mail as the energy from the sword amplified the pain dealt by the sudden magic attack.
Lucien was tired and he could tell a few of his ribs were broken from those punches. "What do you say we end this Dragon Boy?" Lucien asked as he readied his katana once again. "Couldn't agree more Samurai!" Issei responded as they both charged towards one another. "BOOST, BOOST, BOOST!!!" Ddraig shouted as Issei continued to power up his next attack. Lucien ducked under the punch as the purple energy coating Zankoku Otome's blade only intensified in color. Lucien delivered one final slash to Issei's chest, but Issei punched him in the gut with his other fist.

           The Scale Mail completely shattered off of Issei's body before he collapsed face first onto the ground from the pain. Lucien dropped to his knees as Zankoku Otome clattered to the ground. Lucien shakily stood back up as he let a small chuckle escape his lips. "Man you pack some serious punch Dragon Boy!" Lucien said as Issei rolled over onto his back to find Lucien offering him his hand. "Your one to talk Samurai!" Issei fired back with a pained chuckle as he accepted Lucien's hand before the swordsman helped him back to his feet before they shared a laugh.
The two boys heard someone clear their throat as they turned to see Rias and the rest of the peerage standing there. "Oh...hey President, what are you doing here?" Issei asked nervously as he had been found out. "Following you, apparently you've been training in secret with a Devil outside of the peerage." Rias said in a dark tone as she glared at Issei as she wanted answer, and she wanted them right now. "Looks like we have some explaining to do huh Dragon Boy?" Lucien said as he gave his sparring partner a teasing look that only annoyed him.
After Asia healed the two and Lucien sheathed his Katana, both boys explained how they met and the training they've doing for the past few weeks. "So you a lone Devil? No peerage, you just work on your own?" Rias said as she looked Lucien in the eyes. "That's the king and the short of it, can I go now? My roommate is probably wondering what's taking me so long to get back." Lucien said nervously as he did his best to hold eye contact with Rias. Rias remained silent for a few moments before answering. "Fine, but this isn't over!" Rias said before letting the Devil fly off into the night sky.

Later that Night
Rias couldn't stop thinking about that sword wielding Devil, there was something oddly familiar about him, yet she couldn't put her finger on it. "Those blue eyes, where have I seen them before?" Rias thought to herself as she stared out at the moon. This had been driving her crazy since they got back from the forest. "Just who exactly are you Rhythm Samurai?" Rias thought to herself before heading to bed for the night. Little did the Gremory know that this mysterious Devil was closer to her then she could imagine.

So we got to see Issei and Lucien train together! Although Rias and the rest of the Peerage had followed them to figure out what was going on. Now Rias is curious about who the Rhythm Samurai is! Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments as always! What awaits Lucien now that his sister is determined to figure out who he is? What other dangers threaten Kuoh? How long can Lucien remain hidden from his family? Find out in the next chapter of Highschool DxD: Cursed Arm!