He's focused on his past!

After Issei was healed up, they headed back out to the tournament. The remaining matches went smoothly, up until they met Sona's Peerage in the semifinals. That was a pitched match, not made any easier by the fact that Kiba was still out of it. In fact, Issei was the last one left when he finally managed to get the last guy, funnily enough, Saji, in the face, winning the match.

After that, the finals were laughably easy. "Well, we won the ball tournament," Issei celebrated with Raynare, Akeno, Asia and Koneko. "...no thanks to Kiba," he added with a grumble.

"He really has been acting strange these past few days," Akeno agreed, and Raynare scoffed.

"Who cares what is up with Pretty Boy? If he can't keep his head on straight, we didn't need him!" she noted.

"...regardless, Rias took him outside to have a word with him... she didn't seem happy," Asia added, looking a little worried for Kiba. Even if the only time Issei got hit in the tournament was due to him being... elsewhere.

"...I'm going to go check on them," Issei decided, walking to the exit, and letting himself out.

"...I'll go with him," Asia decided, following Issei into the rain.

Issei turned a corner in time to see Kiba walking away from Rias, giving her a careless wave, and Issei noticed a bruise on his cheek. He put together that Rias must have smacked him at some point. Regardless, he approached and told Kiba while putting a hand on his shoulder, "Kiba, you've been acting really weird these past few days, you know? Just what is eating at you?"

Kiba remained in place for a moment, before turning his head listlessly towards Issei. "It doesn't concern you," he finally said.

"Maybe not, but I'm worried about you," Issei countered.

Kiba snorted. "Worries? Who worries about who? I thought Devils were supposed to be shrewd creatures... guess it's my fault for not following my King properly..."

Getting annoyed, Issei grabbed the front of Kiba's jacket. "If you keep going on like this, it's going to cause problems, you realize that, right? Today, it was just a ball tournament, but in an actual fight, we need to be able to back each other up, like we did against Riser! We're comrades, aren't we!?" he demanded.

"...comrades, huh?" Kiba asked, before brushing Issei's hand aside. "You're too high on emotions... though I suppose I'm one to talk, given that I remembered the essential thing I'm living for..."

Issei blinked. "Isn't it for Rias?" he questioned, but Kiba shook his head.

"No," he denied, before a dark, steely gaze entered his eye. "I'm living for ****. To destroy the Holy Sword Excalibur. That is the reason I fight." Issei stood frozen, taken aback at Kiba's sudden intensity, before Kiba strode away.