Shortly after the brief encounter with the Stray Devil, Drake had managed to remain conscious long enough to make it to the ORC clubroom. From there, he was treated for his bite wounds after Akeno and Rias used their magic to pull out a portion of the venom.

"Drink this, it will cure the rest of the venom in you that we couldn't get out." Rias said, handing the boy a small vial filled with a green liquid. Rias Gremory was a third year like Akeno, and without question the most popular person in all of Kuoh Academy. From her stunning crimson red hair, her greenish-blue eyes, and her fair skin all served to further her beauty without even mentioning her curves.

"Oh um… thanks…" Drake initially gagged as he looked at the vial, hating the taste of medicine of any kind with a passion. But considering his situation, he didn't have much more of a choice than to chug the substance down. The taste caused his throat to burn, pushing him to cough after swallowing it. "Oh that is disgusting! What's in that!?"

"Lamia scales, wyvern fangs and grounded sprite coal." The redhead answered, smiling as she saw him shiver in response.

"Sorry I asked." He groaned as he placed a hand over his mouth. "Would it be bad if I puked it back out now and just let the venom kill me? It'd be better than knowing I just drank that kind of crap."

"…Don't even think about." A third girl spoke as she stared at Drake without an expression. The girl was Koneko Toujou, a first year student at Kuoh and widely considered the "Mascot" of the academy. She had pure white hair and bright hazel eyes, with two cat clips in her hair. Unlike the other two girls present, Koneko appeared very young and underdeveloped, almost appearing around the age of a first year middle schooler.

"If you drank that you'd understand." Drake said as he gagged a bit on the vial's aftertaste. "I can't believe I drank liquid scales, that can't be good for me."

"It's purging the venom in your body, there couldn't be anything better for you at the moment." Kiba responded, the boy having appeared a minute after Akeno came in with Drake. He was currently wrapping the last bandages around Drake's injured arm, hiding the holes left by the Stray Devil's bite. "There we go, that should do it."

"Thanks." Drake nodded as Kiba got up, stepping away from the couch the two were on and joining Rias and Akeno, the three standing over him while Koneko sat on the couch across the table from him. "I uh… guess you have a few questions for me?"

"There are more than a few that come to mind." Rias stated, an air of authority surrounding her as she stared down at him. The first should be simple, who and what are you?"

"That's two questions, and little mean." Drake muttered before sighing. "Well there isn't too much special about me. My name is Drake Naga Etheron; I'm sixteen and work at Granny Porlyusica's orphanage. As for what, I'm just a human that grew up in Granny's orphanage."

"Just a human doesn't explain how you used a Lost Magic such as Dragon Slayer Magic." Rias countered. "You also clearly have experience with using it and even interacting with Devils to detect a Stray Devil. Not something someone from an orphanage can do."

"Maybe the orphanages you know, but Granny's is a little different." Drake noted. "Back in the day she was a top notch healer, and her control over her magic keeps her health even in her current age. I learned a lot on magic from her."

"She taught you?"

"At first, no." He chuckled. "I grew up in Granny's orphanage, I knew most of her routine after three years of staying there. Once a week she always would seclude herself in the back room, telling me and the others not to bother her. I wanted to see what was so special about it, and I discovered all of her notes and totems of magic. I kept it a secret and was teaching myself for about a month before I summoned a small flame and nearly burned the building down."

'Only a single month to figure out magic?' Rias thought, impressed by how quickly the boy caught on the concept. Humans, much like most living creatures, have magic in them. However since they are born without knowledge of it, it often takes them roughly a year of study and training to summon a successful spell.

"After that, she gave me a real earful over the dangers I had risked in learning magic without her knowing. And since I was clearly not gonna stop, she figured teaching me was the best thing to do. And now I know everything I do."

"A healer taught you how to use Dragon Slayer Magic?" Akeno questioned.

"What, no that's just what sort of happened to me." Drake revealed, tapping the side of his head with his knuckles. "Granny said it was because of something called a Blessed Cog or some weird junk like that."

"Sacred Gear." Rias corrected.

"That's it." Drake snapped his fingers, pointing to the redhead. "Apparently there's a few of those that have Dragon Slayer Magic packed into them, either in weapons or physical changes in the person's appearance."

"Which one of those are you?"

"Granny said I'm not supposed to show anyone." Drake stated. "She says it'll bring the wrong kind of attention if my powers get out."

"You don't have to worry Drake." Kiba said, giving a comforting smile as he did. "I can promise that we won't let anything be known. But we need to be aware of what your powers are in order to assess what we're dealing with."

Drake looked over to Kiba for a few seconds, weighing his options before relenting. "Okay, I guess I can show you guys if you promise to keep it a secret." He then reached down to his right arm, placing a finger on the wrapping he had set there. A black aura then formed around his finger, spreading into the bandages and causing them to loosen and fall off.

When he raised his arm, it revealed there was a set of black tattoos that formed into a random symbol at the center. The markings had a faint purple glow to them, releasing a subtle magic that felt like a pulse going through the air. "Granny didn't tell me what the Sacred Gear is, but this is what formed on me after it activated."

"Koneko?" Rias asked, looking back to the girl as she suddenly had a massive book out.

"…Nothing." She answered after looking through it, seeing nothing that matched with the tattoos.

"Granny said Devils wouldn't have records on it, something about your barbaric nature had rather kill the hosts with it rather than understand it."

"She has a rather negative look on Devils, doesn't she?"

"She feels like that to everyone." Drake shrugged. "Devils, Angels, Fallen Angels, hell she doesn't even like humans that much. All of the races in general upset her over the constant wars and pain everyone causes."

"But what is she then?" Drake shrugged in response, surprising them as he couldn't answer it. "She hasn't even told you?"

"I think she's a Dragon, or she used to be maybe?" He scratched his head. "She doesn't like to talk about herself a lot, and the only evidence I have is her old cloak and her eyes." When the group looked at him, he went into more detail. "The collar of her cloak looks like a Dragon's claw while the fabric looks like scales, and her pupils are slit. You know, like a reptile's?"

"Rias, this Porlyusica might be a former high ranking Dragon." Akeno whispered to Rias, getting a nod from her.

"Can you tell us how you knew we were Devils?" Rias questioned, looking back to Drake to continue the conversation.

The boy crossed his arms in response, looking up to try and figure the best way to explain it. "Well, I guess it's how you smell."

"How we smell?"

"Yeah, at a distance I couldn't tell. But now that you're all this close I can definitely tell by your scents." He then tapped his nose, grinning as he did. "Since I'm a Dragon Slayer, my body changed and my senses became a lot stronger. I can see, hear, and smell better than any of the other races excluding Dragons themselves."

"That's how you saw Akeno in the dark?"

"I don't have night vision, so I couldn't confirm who she was. I could just see the uniform and recognize her scent a bit. I thought it was the school's scent that I was picking up, but now I think I was smelling her lightning."

"I didn't know magic had a scent that could be picked up."

"Akeno's smells like lemon and a crow feather." Drake said, detailing the closest he could to what the smells were like. "Kiba smells like all kinds of stuff, but I pick up the trace of metal the most. Koneko-chan kinda smells like a cat and grass though, kinda weird considering how there's also something familiar to-gah!" Drake was then hit in the head by the closed book Koneko held, knocking him over the back of the couch and onto the floor.

"What was that for!?" Drake shouted as he pocked his head over the couch, nursing a bump on his head from the book hitting him.

"…I don't like perverts smelling me." The quite girl simply stated.

"Cruel!"

"What about me?" Rias asked, attempting to avoid the argument. "Can you tell what my magic smells like?"

Drake raised an eyebrow at the clear evasion, but took it as a chance to avoid getting into trouble and sniffed the air. "You smell like pure demonic nature." He revealed, appearing more confused himself on it. "I don't mean like a demon or Devil's nature either, almost like… like pure destructive magic."

"You can smell that?" Kiba wondered, not expecting raw power having an identifiable scent.

"You know how certain smells and tastes can make you feel something?" Drake questioned back, getting a nod from him. "It's kind of like that. I can't put down exactly what the smell is but the feeling gives me an idea of what it's like."

"Interesting… you can pick up details on someone just by scent alone." Rias noted as she seemed to measure him out. "Do you know if your Sacred Gear does anything else besides give you Fire Dragon Slayer Magic and heightened senses?"

"Nothing, Granny doesn't let me train much with it." Drake admitted. "It took forever just to get her permission to try out my fire, I couldn't even think of convincing her to let me develop it more."

"Why won't she?"

"I live in an orphanage, you know, a bunch of homeless kids? Granny says if I start developing my power I'll attract all sorts of danger; and that in doing so I'll put all of them at risk." He said, looking down in disappointment as he did. "I want to get stronger, but I don't want any of them to get hurt. I have to hold back on my training until I finish high school. After that, I can leave Granny's orphanage and start using my magic more."

"What if I could offer you an alternative?" Rias spoke, getting Drake to look back up to her. "I understand you know about Devils, but are you aware of our current affairs?" Drake shook his head in response, signaling her to continue. "Well to put it short, our people have suffered a blow to our population in the past centuries. After the Great War, we had a civil war that left us divided and struggling to keep our population up."

She then reached into her skirt's pocket and pulled out a chess piece, one that Drake recognized as a pawn. "To counter the issue, we created these items known as Evil Pieces that reincarnate any being into a Devil, adding them to what we call a Peerage. They have special properties that can boost your powers based on the piece used."

"Okay… where do I fit in this?" Drake asked.

"I would like to offer you the opportunity to join my Peerage." She stated, surprising Drake. "To be truthful, we've been detecting several dormant powers among the students for a little over a month now. You were among the priorities, as we were unaware of what held within you."

'So it was her that I felt watching me.' The boy thought, remembering the traces of red hair he saw in the window that morning.

"If you join us, we can help you with discovering and developing your Sacred Gear. And will be protected under my family name." Rias continued, confusing Drake at the last part.

"Buchou is a High Class Devil, her family is known as one of the Three Pillars." Akeno explained. "They are very influential, and with her over watching the actions within Kuoh there won't be many people that are willing to take the risk of breaking the ceasefire. We can even provide protection to the orphanage should anything happen."

Drake was hesitant at the offer, looking down as he seemed to be thinking over everything. The offer was a good one; he understood Devil society enough that they had enough power to back up a bark with a bite. And it would even give him the chance to discover what he was really capable of. There weren't many negatives, except maybe for the fact that he was aware of Reincarnated Devils were looked down like filth by most of the Pureblood Devils.

"If your concerned about how you'll be treated, I can promise you that I won't let you be looked down by my peers." Rias stated, seeing Drake's hesitation. "My servants are my family, and any offences taken against them is an offence against me. Your life will be similar to before you became a Devil, there will just be a few extra responsibilities you'd have."

"It's a good deal Drake." Kiba said, smiling and holding his hand out to him as an offer. "I know it's a lot to take in, but now you have the chance to take your life into your own hands. If you join us, you can even achieve your dream one day." That last bit caused Drake's eyes to widen in shock, his right arm almost trembling as he was about to lift it.

'It… it's actually in reach.' He thought. 'I actually have the chance right before me; I could get stronger and even track after it. All I have to do is… is go back on Granny and…'

As his thoughts went to the pink haired old lady, he grabbed his markings as he felt them begin to heat up, taking a second to calm himself. "Thank you for the offer… it means a lot that you'd extend something like that. But… I'm going to have to decline." The refusal caught most of the Peerage off guard, the only one not reacting being Koneko as they watched him begin to wrap his markings back up again.

"Are… are you sure Drake?" Kiba asked. "You might not have this chance again. Porlyusica won't give you the chance to even practice using your power, how do you plan on fighting a Dragon and achieving your dream."

"I want to reach my goal, but I won't betray Granny's trust to get there." Drake said, placing a magic seal on the bandaging and causing his markings magic to weaken. "I've waited for the opportunity for twelve years, what's another two to me?" Once he was finished hiding his markings, he looked back to Rias, who had returned to a focused stare. "So have I answered enough to satisfy you senpai? I have to get more groceries now and I'm sure Granny's going to be tearing the town apart if I'm any more late."

Rias nodded in response, sighing as she did. "I can tell you aren't going to do anything to harm my servants. And now that I'm aware that you possess a Sacred Gear I'm able to put one issue to rest."

"Thank you, sorry to waste your time." Drake bowed, turning to walk out of the room.

"Should you ever wish to change your mind, the offer remains open." Rias said, getting him to pause at the door.

"Thanks, but I wouldn't hold my breath." Drake muttered, walking out and closing the door behind him.

"…You didn't push him about his Sacred Gear." Koneko stated, looking to her president.

"If he doesn't want us to know it, than we can hope that he won't unleash it by mistake." Rias responded, reaching down and picking the catalog of Sacred Gear up from the ground and looking at the cover. "He has a decent grasp on magic, he should be able to avoid the same mistakes as his predecessors."

"We will keep an eye on him though, so it's best to try and understand him more in the coming days." She'd continue, walking back to her desk and placing the book down. "But that can wait for another day. For now, we need to get back to our contracts, we'll fall behind if we don't hurry."

"Yes Buchou." The three Devils responded, following their master's orders.

"Hey Granny, I'm back." Drake sighed as he unlocked the door and walked in. He had a new set of groceries with him, which he placed down on the counter top after he kicked the door closed behind him.

"You were out late." Porlyusica responded, looking up from the couch where she remained for the entire time he was away. She had a measuring gaze, signaling to Drake that she was aware that something happened.

"Had to make a small detour, there was a problem."

"A problem that required you using your magic in front of a Devil?"

"Not necessarily required, but I didn't feel like I could leave without doing something." He admitted, placing the groceries away while Porlyusica got up and started to walk to him.

"You were recently healed with Devil magic and an elixir of their formula."

"There was a Stray Devil, it had poison and bit me." He said as he held his left arm up, showing the bandages the Devils wrapped around him. "They drew out most of it and gave me a drink to get rid of the rest."

"Venom, and that's not the worst of what you've done." Porlyusica stated as she reached him, giving him a disappointed glare as he finished putting everything away. "You took your wrappings off and revealed your markings, to the very same Devils I told you not to."

"They were investigating me, I couldn't just hide it." Drake said, trying to avoid looking at the woman as he did. "But they do think it's my Sacred Gear, so that should throw them off a bit."

"You stupid brat!" Porlyusica yelled as she pulled on Drake's cheek. "The problem is they now know that you have one! They're going to keep pursuing you now, and then they'll learn that you lied to them about your Sacred Gear! If you aren't careful they're going to drag you right into their world and pile every problem on you!"

"That won't happen you old hag!" Drake yelled back, trying to pull away from her grip.

"Devils are manipulative and conniving, they will trick you into joining them! That's what they do, that's what every race does! The Gremory child will no doubt wait until you have no other options before forcing you into her Peerage!"

"She already asked!" Drake shouted, the reveal surprising Porlyusica enough to release him.

"She did what?"

"Rias already asked me to join her Peerage." Drake winced, rubbing the pain away on his cheek. "After I told her about my Sacred Gear and what I knew on the supernatural, she asked me if I wanted to join her. She said she'd offer protection here and to help me get stronger. They even said I'd be able to achieve my dream sooner if I did."

"And you… turned that down…" Porlyusica looked genuinely surprised at the news, not even needing to ask if he had. Her nose was as sensitive as his, if he was a Reincarnated Devil she would have smelled it on him.

"It wasn't easy, I can promise you that." He chuckled, trying to ease the tension in the room. "I was pretty close to accepting it, but I couldn't do that to everyone." He then sighed, looking up to the second floor where everyone was sleeping. "If I became a Devil now, that could put all of them at risk. I want to hunt a dragon, but not if I hurt everyone else along the way."

"You said that you intended for all of us see each other as family, and I still hold on to that sentiment." Drake smiled as he walked past Porlyusica, the woman having recovered from her shock and watched as he walked to the stairs. "I've lived here for twelve years, and you've been my parent for the whole time. I would never just turn my back on everything you've done for me."

"I can never figure out what goes on in that head of yours brat." Porlyusica sighed before smiling.

"I'll be sure to wake up early enough to make breakfast, you can sleep in if you want to." Drake said, going up the stairs. Just before he was out of sight, Drake flashed a grin at her, instantly setting off her "brat" signal. "At your age, you need all the beauty sleep you can get."

"BRAT!" Drake then moved with a purpose as Porlyusica threw an ungodly amount of objects at him, her anger bursting right away at his shot at her age.

"So Issei is dating someone?" Sasha asked as Drake was fixing her hair, the two sitting on one of the couches as the other kids were all still eating breakfast.

"Yep, and he said he'd swing by to introduce her." Drake responded as he put the finishing touches, having tied her hair into pigtails this time. He was wearing a long sleeved white shirt and black sweatpants, keeping his attire simple for the day.

"So while they're here, I expect you to be on your best behavior." He then looked over the couch to a table with several boys and girls, all with some food on them. "Tatsumi, I'm looking at you."

"Aw come on, you always go to me!" The boy complained, getting a chuckle from Drake as he rested back.

"That's because I know it'll be you."

"Oh yeah, well can you know this will happen!?" Drake then quickly got up and caught a ball of food, magically sewn together with thin blue threads.

"Tatsumi! You know Granny's rule about using magic in the building!" He shouted, using his fire to burn the food away.

"Granny's not awake." The kid grinned. "Which means there's no one to keep the rules in check."

"I'll do it ya punk." Drake said as he cracked his knuckles. "And don't think I forgot what you did to my favorite pair of jeans last week. This'll be payback."

The kid's lip went thin as he remembered the prank he pulled on the Dragon Slayer, instantly retreating by jumping over the table. "Grand escape!" He announced as he threw his hands up, firing several thin threads and connecting them to the high beams and pulling himself up.

"You aren't escaping that easily!" Drake shouted as he jumped over the couch, getting everyone's attention as he ran up the stairs. Once he was to the top, Drake quickly leaped onto the railing and lunged up, reaching high enough to grab the support and pull himself up to the same level as Tatsumi.

The boy quickly tried to back up, but felt his back touch the wall. "You do this every time Tatsumi, and every time you back yourself into the same wall." Drake commented as he slowly walked towards him, a grin on his face. "I'm not like Granny where you can run up here and hide for ten minutes before she gets tired of you dodging, I'll drag you down with my bare hands."

"You're right, I always go here." Tatsumi admitted, confusing Drake as he smirked. "Which is why I've always made sure to set up a few traps." He then flicked his fingers and Drake's eyes widened in realization as he felt Tatsumi's threads wrap around his ankles. "Going down Drake."

"You little sh-!" He was then dragged off the supports and fell nearly to the floor, hanging a few inches off the ground. "Tatsumi you squirt, put me down right now!"

"In a second, Hami wanted to show you something." Drake looked forward to see the mentioned brown haired girl approach, her hands glowing as a multicolor liquid came out from her palms.

"Hami… don't. You. Dare." He said simply, getting a smirk in response. "Ah crap."

"Are you sure it's okay to visit him so early?" Yuuma asked as she walked next to Issei, the two approaching the orphanage. Yuuma was the before mentioned girl Issei mentioned to Drake and current girlfriend. She wore a casual white and black outfit, the colors going well with her long black hair and violet eyes.

"It's okay, I talked with him yesterday about it." Issei reassured. "I'm sorry if I dragged you out for this though, I just really wanted to introduce you two."

"Oh, I don't mind!" Yuuma responded, not wanting Issei to think like that. "I was just concerned that he would be too busy to spare any time."

"Nah, he's usually always free. Drake just helps out with the meals is all, Ms. Porlyusica is the one who watches the kids most of the time." Issei responded, the two reaching the door before he knocked on it.

"Oh crap, they're here!" The faint sound of Drake shouting as the sound of struggling was heard. "Tatsumi, come down and drop me! Hami put that away! Everyone else, go back to eating!" A loud thump was then heard, followed by a pained groan from Drake. "I asked for that…"

Issei and Yuuma both tilted their heads in confusion, waiting for Drake as they heard him walk up. When they opened the door however, both stared wide-eyed at him as he was covered head to toe with what appeared to be paint.

"Ise, you're here a little early." Drake instantly looked to Issei, seemingly not noticing Yuuma at first as her shock remained.

"Sorry, I didn't know exactly when you wanted me to come." Issei apologized, rubbing the back of his head as he looked at Drake's complete mess of an appearance. "Did… did something happen?"

"Oh, nothing bad." Drake responded, waving his hand nonchalantly. "I was taking a nap after making everyone's food when Hami decided to dump a bunch of paint on me as a prank."

"Oh, that makes a bit more sense." Issei said, understanding what he meant. He wasn't a resident of the orphanage, but he's hung around long enough to know the antics some of the younger kids that were residents. Hami and Tatsumi being the regular culprits for the pranks that happened.

"So, am I going to meet this mystery girlfriend or we just going to stand here?"

"Oh, sorry." Issei spoke before motioning over to Yuuma. "Drake, this is Yuuma Amano. We met yesterday and she asked me to be her boyfriend."

"If she asked you, she must have weird taste." Drake chuckled as he turned to Yuuma. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name's Drake Etheron-ack!" Drake was once again brought to shock as he saw Yuuma's appearance; his jaw dropping as he instantly recognized her.

"Drake? You okay dude?" Issei asked, waving his hand in front of Drake. He however grinned shortly after, a sudden thought coming up. "Oh I get it, you're surprised to see that Yuuma was a super ho… pretty girl." He corrected himself, getting the impression as he crossed his arms in pride. "I told you someone actually wanted to be my girlfriend, must be quite the shock I got one before you huh?"

Drake eventually brought his hand to his jaw and closed it, slapping himself to snap out of his stare as Yuuma collected herself. "Um, yeah that's it… complete shock someone started dating you." He then wiped his hand on his ruined shirt, cleaning it before holding it out to Yuuma. "Hi Yuuma, it's a pleasure to… finally meet you."

"No the pleasure… is all mine." Yuuma responded cautiously, slowly reaching out before shaking his hand.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Issei asked, noticing the awkward air surrounding them.

"Yeah, everything's fine Ise. Just… first meeting jitters." Drake would say, giving a pointed look to Yuuma as he did. "Right "Yuuma"?"

"Of course… Drake. It's nothing to worry about Issei, I promise."

"That's good." Issei sighed, glad there was nothing apparently wrong. He was excited to have a girlfriend finally, but he didn't want there to be a problem between her and Drake.

"Please, come in." Drake said as he opened the door fully for them. "I'm going to change and wash all this paint off. I'll be back in a few minutes and we can talk."

After the two came in, Drake was quick to clean up, washing the magic paint Hami coated him with and put on a new pair of clothes, a long sleeve dark blue shirt and a pair of jeans. When he had come back down so that Issei could properly "introduce" them, the two were sharing measuring glances that were unnoticed by the boy.

When the simple introduction was done with, Drake held a finger up to get their attention. "Excuse me Ise, but there's something I'd like to discuss with Yuuma. Would you mind if we walked over to the kitchen while you…" Drake was trying to think of an excuse when he saw Sasha working on her homework. "Help Sasha with her math!? She's been struggling for a bit and could use an outside tutor aside from me and Granny."

"Huh?" Sasha hummed back, confused at the notion when she was almost a grade level ahead of the homework she was given.

"I'm calling in a hair tying favor, go with it." He whispered, making sure Issei didn't hear.

"Oooohhhh… okay." Sasha winked before looking over to Issei. "Yeah, could you help me? Granny's still asleep and Drake sucks at math."

"Gah!" Drake looked genuinely betrayed, his jaw dropping at the girl's excuse.

"Oh, um sure? I guess." Issei said, off put by the request. "Don't take too long though, I was planning on us maybe going to the park and it gets really busy in an hour."

"Don't worry Ise, we won't be long." Drake responded, shaking off his betrayal and getting up. "Yuuma, if you would please."

"Of course." Yuuma nodded, the two walking over to the kitchen. While there wasn't any doors or walls to block out any sound, Drake quietly tapped on the countertop, creating a thin invisible magic barrier that could.

"What are you doing Raynare?" Drake asked as he looked to the girl, appearing both concerned and nervous as he did.

"That's none of your business Drake." She responded, sounding hostile as she did.

"You're dating my best friend, I'd say whatever you're doing IS my business." He countered. "What are you even doing in Kuoh? You were adopted ten years ago and I know the Fallen Angels wouldn't order you to come back here unless it wasn't important."

"Then you already know that I can't tell you anything." Raynare said, crossing her arms under her bust as she did. "I'm here under orders, that's all I can say to you. So if you're trying to get anything else, you can save your breath."

"Raynare please, I need to know." Drake pleaded. "We grew up together for two years, we shared a room here. There has to be something you can tell me?"

Raynare turned her head away in response, appearing annoyed at the attempt at using her past. She did look at him with a side-glance, seeing that he was staring at her pleadingly, getting an annoyed grunt from her. "…You don't have to worry, I wasn't sent here to harm Hyoudou."

That instantly brought relief to Drake, as he let out a sigh he was holding in. "That's good at least." He then looked to her appearing confused as he did. "So if you're not here to ice Ise or anything, than why did you start dating him? No offense to the guy but the mega-pervert isn't your type last time I checked."

"Believe me, it still isn't." She winced with a sneer as she looked to the wall. "You can't imagine how difficult it is to try and keep up an appearance while trying to ignore the tendencies he has."

"I never took you for the shy type, considering you're a Fallen Angels and everything." Drake said, raising an eyebrow at the comment. "I thought all of you liked being ogled at by guys."

"It's not because of that you dense idiot!" Raynare shouted. "It's annoying how badly he hides it and tries to act like nothing happened! I have only been around him for less than three hours and I have almost dropped my cover to smack him twice!"

"Then why date him, when that'd likely lead to that more as the relationship goes on?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot Drake?" Raynare asked in return. "I already told you what I could, you're going to have to settle with it." As Raynare was about to walk away, Drake grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving. "What?"

"You don't have to act like you hate me, we're friends aren't we?" Drake questioned, slightly off put by how hostile Raynare had been.

"Friends? We grew up in an orphanage together ten years ago. We were just staying here together, there wasn't anything more to it." She stated coldly, surprising Drake before pulling her arm free. "Whatever you think there was wasn't there, so don't even bother trying to appeal to me."

As she walked towards the barrier, Drake was staring at Raynare with shock and pain. Her cold words pierced Drake deep and made him look down, his hands trembling as he closed his eyes in sorrow. Just hearing those words shook him to his core, having always thought of Raynare as a friend from the memories he shared with her.

"And don't touch me again, I'll run you through with a Light Spear if you do." Her last words before she stepped through the barrier were the final slap in his face, leaving Drake to remain silent as the barrier disappeared and Raynare returned to her Yuuma persona. "Issei! We're done talking!"

"Oh, that's good!" Issei grinned, getting up from beside Sasha and walking over. "So we good to go then?"

"Yeah…" Drake said quietly, wiping his arm across his eyes before putting on a bright smile, his sorrow gone almost instantly. "Let's head out!"

(A/N): Yeah, chapter 2's done! Took a bit of focus from me at the beginning, but I've managed to get by it. A little bit of a slow chapter, but I think it'll be a good walk in as I plan on getting some excitement in next chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Peace!