"Useless pawn," Issei mumbled. "I'll show them." He pulled hard on his arms. "Three."

Issei lowered himself again. He was breathing hard already. Sweat was dripping from his face.

At this early hour, the little playground was completely deserted. The bars of this iron plaything were very suitable for pull-ups.

He gathered his strength and pulled up again.

Almost there. It didn't count if his chin was not above the bar.

Just a little bit mo-

"Uhm, Hyoudou-senpai?"

In his surprise, he released the bar and fell down.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" The female voice said.

Issei looked up at the unbelievably cute creature. It was a cheerful girl with two long ponytails and clippers in her brown hair. She wore thigh-high striped knee socks with a familiar uniform.

"I'm fine," Issei reassured her. He stood up and brushed the dust of his tracksuit. "You go to my school, don't you?" He asked.

"Yes." She made a small bow. "Nimura Ruruko, pleased to meet you, Hyoudou-senpai."

"You can call me Ise, everyone does."

"Uhm, okay, Ise-senpai." She blushed a bit.

Where had he seen this girl before?

"I uhm…" She fidgeted a little. "Wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"You kinda saved me at the arcade."

Oh, right. That's where he had seen this girl before.

And now that she said it, this was also the girl he had pushed aside when fleeing after his little peeping-adventure with Koneko-chan.

"It really wasn't a big deal," Issei said, unsure how to react to this situation.

"If there is ever anything I can do for you," Ruruko-chan said.

She was really cute.

"Well, actually. Now that you mention it. There is something you could do for me."

\

Issei took a quick shower and changed into his uniform.

Obviously, he had not expected massive improvements, but he was still disappointed. He had improved a bit. In the past, he couldn't even pull-up once, but three times was still not that special. And it wouldn't be nearly enough to protect those he cared about.

Buchou had mentioned it could take several days before his body completely adjusted to being a devil, but Issei did not expect much more improvements.

He hopped on his bike and went to school.

The first hours went by relatively uneventful, but at lunch, something happened.

Yuuto-kun approached him.

"Buchou wants to see you after school," he simply said.

Issei nodded.

The hot looking boy left them again.

"Hey Ise," Matsuda said. "Explain yourself."

He saw several girls glaring at him, clearly demanding an explanation as well.

"I joined the Occult Research Club," Issei simply said.

"They let you?" Matsuda said.

"How so?"

"The ORC turns down basically all applicants," Motohama said. "We applied last year, remember?"

"Oh, right." They had indeed applied. Obviously, their application was based entirely on the fact that Rias-senpai and Akeno-senpai were in that club.

"Well," Issei said. "Looks like they changed their mind."

"How did you do that?" Matsuda demanded. "You have to tell us."

"Sorry guys, can't tell you."

"Traitor."

"Hey guys, come on. How about we'll watch a movie tonight? I found a new one."

"No thanks."

"Are you sure?" Issei asked.

Matsuda narrowed his eyes. "What kind of movie?"

"A very special one," Issei assured them.

"All right then," Matsuda yielded. "See you tonight."

\

Issei walked to the old school building after school.

He actually wasn't sure how he felt about Rias-senpai. Although he assumed she cared a lot about her servants, she had a rather cold attitude and ordered them around a lot. She had given Issei no choice in being her servant at all. Of course, he would be dead without her interference and as a stray he would be hunted down, so there wasn't much of a choice, but still, she did act like his master without any sense of guilt and she clearly did not take his desire to have a harem seriously. Especially that last part bothered him.

And although she had said she would try to help him free Asia, so far she had done nothing.

He had half a mind to leave her, but for now, going along with the flow seemed like the safest option. Rias-senpai had not yet displayed her powers, but if she was the King, it was likely they far succeeded those of her servants. Besides, she was absolutely right about Asia. There was nothing he could do to save her. And if he wanted to save her, he would need help.

Issei knocked on the door.

"Come on in," Rias-senpai said.

Issei entered. The others were here as well. Hot looking Kiba with his perfect hair, Akeno-san who hardly threw him a glance and Koneko-chan, still equally cute.

Koneko-chan approached him.

"We didn't get the chance to talk yesterday," she said politely. "I'm Toujou Koneko. Please take care of me." Koneko-chan made a little bow.

"Uhm." Issei was unsure how to reply. Of course, he had expected her attitude to change a little bit, but not to this extent.

Buchou blinked a few times. "I thought you were mad at him."

"I was," Koneko-chan said. "But a classmate of mine pointed out Hyoudou-senpai is a good person. So I'll forgive him just this once."

Ruruko-chan, you're the best!

"Thanks," Issei said. "I won't peek on you again, I promise."

Koneko nodded. Looks like she was satisfied. For now that is.

"Uhm," Issei turned to Rias-senpai. "You called me, Buchou?"

"Yes," Rias-senpai said. "I thought this would be a good moment to explain to you a devil's job."

"Oh."

"It's pretty simple actually. Humans summon us through magic circles our familiars hand out."

"Familiars?"

"Supernatural beings that assist a devil. Every devil has one. This is mine." She made a small black bat appear from a magic circle.

"This is mine," Koneko-chan said. A little white cat jumped out of her circle. It ran up along her arm to curl up on her head. It looked like the cat and Koneko-chan were trying to outdo each other in cuteness.

Yuuto-kun and Akeno-senpai showed their familiars as well: a bird and a small demon (an Oni).

"How do you get a familiar?" Issei asked.

"You go to the Familiar Forest on the night of the full moon and the Familiar Master will help you catch one."

"Oh."

Full moon. That was still some time away.

"Everything in time, Ise," Rias-senpai said. "For now you don't have to bother with the flyers."

"Okay."

"Normally masters make their new devils hand out flyers at first but that is quite pointless since we have familiars for that."

"So I don't have to hand out flyers?"

"No. I thought it would be best to get you straight to making contracts."

"Sounds fun. So, what kind of contracts do devils usually make?"

"It can be anything really. Usually, devils have recurring customers. I do a lot of curse removal from objects. I'm also summoned to deal with monsters or assassins that target certain people. Akeno gets a lot of wealthy businessmen who are stressed out from work and need to relax."

Relax? Did she mean…

"She mostly drinks tea and listens to their problems," Buchou clarified. She must have sensed his thoughts were going off an a tangent.

"Oh, right, of course."

"Yuuto gets a lot of elderly women. He's very good at cooking and housework. Koneko-chan is usually summoned as an opponent for playing games or sports. Cosplay photoshoots are also quite common."

"Cosplay?"

"Now your thoughts are actually correct," Buchou chuckled. "Some of them are just as perverted as you."

So basically he would be helping kids with their homework and doing housework? That didn't sound too bad.

"So we just complete their contract and they give us something in return?" Issei asked.

"Exactly. Usually it's money or objects. In the past we took souls as well, but that is no longer done."

"And if they ask something I can't do? I can't do magic you know."

"Then you just tell them you'll discuss it with your King and you return to me."

"Okay. Seems simple enough."

"I want to go with him," Koneko-chan said.

"Are you sure?" Rias-senpai asked.

"It's his first time, he could use some pointers."

Issei thought of other things when she said 'first time', but he did appreciate the help.

"Thanks, Koneko-chan."

"You helped a classmate of mine. Consider this my way of paying you back."

"Are you good friends with Ruruko-chan?"

"Of course, she's-" Koneko-chan hesitated.

"She's what?"

The girl seemed unsure.

"We're not the only devils here," Buchou said. "I didn't want to overwhelm you with all the information."

"Oh."

"She's a Pawn from Sona. The Student Council is a cover up. They are devils too."

A fellow Pawn?

If she was a Pawn, shouldn't she have been able to take care of that big guy without trouble? Or were all Pawns as useless as him?

He decided to ask her about it later.

Akeno-san prepared a magic circle for them.

Issei and Koneko-chan stood in the middle of it.

"Good luck," Rias-senpai said.

The circle flashed and their surroundings vanished.

A strong scent immediately assaulted him. It was quite familiar.

Blood.

The room was faintly lit with candles. Issei's eyes took a second to adjust. He could definitely see better in the dark now.

Against the wall was a male body. An enormous amount of blood had splashed out of it and covered half of the floorboards. It came from a massive wound in the man's stomach.

Issei crouched down and touched the blood. He felt his fingers burn slightly. Yep, definitely blood.

Koneko-chan tensed up.

"What is going on here?" Issei asked.

"Punishment of the wicked," a voice said.

issei turned and saw a grey-haired man sitting calmly on the couch. He turned to Issei. "I'm quoting the bible here."
Issei knew that. Some biblical knowledge had been taken from Asia-chan. I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. Isaiah 13:11

Strangely, he got a headache just from thinking about it.

"Exorcist," Koneko-chan said. She took a battle-stance.

"Well well," the man said. "Two for the price of one." He stood up.

The man had long white-grey hair and red eyes. He was dressed in a golden-black waistcoat with white clothes beneath it. On his neck dangled a silver cross.

"My name is Freed Sellzen," he said as he made a deep bow. "A priest from a certain organisation."

"A banished one," Koneko-chan said. "A true exorcist would never openly attack us."

"Shut up, you stray cat." His voice completely changed tone. Issei saw a red glow in his eyes. Freed reached into his coat and pulled out two weapons. A large handgun for his left hand and a sword-handle for his right one. It was gold with a red pommel. Blue light shone from it. It formed itself into a blade with a zapping sound. A light blade, stolen straight out of Star Wars.

Issei remembered how the light spear from Yuuma-chan had burned his stomach. This light looked the same but with a different color.

"Watch out, Hyoudou-senpai," Koneko-chan said.

A bang sounded and blood sprayed from Koneko-chan's right shoulder.

She grunted. "Light bullets."

"Are you okay?"

In response, Koneko-chan jumped forward and tried to hit Freed. However, the priest simply danced back and evaded her strike.

He swung his sword forcing Koneko-chan to jump back.

The priest immediately followed up with his gun. Apparently, there was no need to reload as bullet after bullet just flew from the gun.

In an open field, Koneko-chan could have won, but in this small room, dodging was hard. When she jumped to the side, she quickly reached the wall. Not to mention that she had to make sure she did not stand in Issei's path.

Issei just stared with his mouth slightly open until Koneko-chan was hit again.

"Hey," he said, suddenly waking up from his shock.

"You must be a Pawn," Freed mocked him. "Useless. Nothing compared to her. What is she? A Rook?"

Anger flared in Issei's veins.

He raced for the priest and tried to hit him, however, Freed just sidestepped and fired his gun.

Burning pain raced through his knee. Issei fell on the floor. His vision blurred for a second.

He clenched his teeth. Aside from the pain, the bullets also left a burning effect that seemed to spread around the wound to his entire right leg.

He tried standing up, but only managed a crouch. His right leg was numb after being pierced by the bullet. No matter how hard he tried to move it, it didn't respond.

Freed aimed his gun at Issei's head. "Goodbye, devil-boy."
Koneko-chan rammed him in his side which diverted the gun enough to miss the crucial shot. It left a burn mark on the wall.

Freed cursed and pushed his blade inside Koneko's belly. She gasped for breath. Blood poured out of the fresh wound

Koneko-chan stumbled backwards. She fell on her knees, grasping her belly.

"Stupid devils," Freed said. "Always so-"

A loud scream interrupted him.

Issei froze in place. He knew that voice.

He almost did not dare to turn but his head seemed to move on its own.

His guess had been correct. Asia-chan was standing there on shaking legs in her nun-uniform. Her face was twisted into a look of horror.

"Ah, Asia-chan," Freed said calmly. "Are you done setting up the barrier?"

"Father Freed, what are you doing?"

"Exorcising some devils," he said. He stuck out his unnaturally long tongue.

Seriously, how disgusting could you be?

Asia-chan eyed the two wounded devils on the ground.

"Now then." Freed raised his gun.

"No!" Asia screamed.

She took a protective stance in front of the two of them.

"What are you doing? Stupid bitch."

"Please, Father, I beg you."

Freed slapped her in her face.

"What do you think you're doing?" He grabbed her collar.

Issei had to do something. If only he wasn't a useless Pawn. If he was a Rook like Koneko-chan he could…

Wait a minute.

A flash of inspiration hit him.

"Koneko-chan," Issei said. "If this is chess and you're a Rook, then you should be able to do it, right?"

"Do what?" She asked. Her face twisted in pain.

"Get Buchou here."

"What? How would I… oh, of course. Yes, that should work."

"What are you two babbling on about?" Freed demanded. He released Asia-chan.

"Just playing some chess. Koneko-chan."

"Castling!"

A blinding red light burst from her petite body.

Beneath her feet, a magic circle lit up. It transported her away and made someone else appear in her stead. Someone with long red hair.

Freed took a step back. "You were supposed to put up the barrier," he said. For the first time, fear crept in his voice.

"Barriers do not protect against castling-moves," Asia-chan said. "Not mine that is. Not nearly powerful enough."

A black and red beam burst out of Rias' hands. It hit Freed's left hand. With a scream, he dropped his gun.

"Stupid devil," he cursed.

"You dare attack my dear servants," Rias said. Her body was enveloped in a scary red aura.

"Time to go," Freed said.

"Hey."

Before they could stop him, he reached into his pocket and threw something tiny on the floor. The little glass bottle smashed and filled the room with thick smoke.

When it cleared up again, Freed and Asia were gone.

"Koneko-chan," Issei said. "She's wounded."

"So are you."

"Fuck that, Koneko-chan was stabbed in her belly. She protected me and…"

Rias-senpai nodded. She took Issei's hand and summoned a magic circle.

He was weak. Way too weak. He could not protect Asia or Koneko or anyone else.

The magic circle flashed.

They arrived into the clubroom.

Akeno-senpai was already busy with Koneko-chan. Her wounds were bandaged up. Issei saw the bandages around her belly were already soaked with blood.

Issei limped to her and took her hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, Hyoudou-senpai." Her voice was weak. "The blade missed my organs and main artery. You need treatment as well." She looked at his leg.

"Without you I would have died," Issei said.

"She's right," Buchou said. "Ise, we have to take care of your leg. You'll be in trouble if you lose too much blood. Koneko-chan has the sturdy body of a Rook, you were only resurrected two days ago."

"No need to remind me that I'm a useless Pawn," Issei snapped.

She grabbed his jacket and pushed him on the second couch.

"Take off your pants," she said as she knelt down.

"Uhm, Buchou? I'm all for this, but-"

"I'm going to take care of your wound."

"Oh, of course." He unzipped his trousers.

It wasn't easy to get it past his wounded leg, but with a lot of pain, he managed.

Akeno-san handed Rias some bandages and alcohol to clean the wound.

He bit his lip when she disinfected it.

"Sorry," she murmured.

She took the bandages and started wrapping them around his knee.

"Do you really think the Pawn is the most useless piece?" She asked.

"Well, of course. It is, right?"

She sighed. "It's my fault. I should have told you from the very beginning. I never thought of it."

"Told me what?"

"Ise, you just castled. So you know what the Pawn can do."

"Wait, you mean to tell me…"

"Promotion. When a Pawn makes it all the way to the enemy's base, they can promote to any piece except for the King."

"So I can be anything I'd like? Even a Queen?"

"Theoretically, yes. Right now, your body would have a hard time handling that kind of power, but with some training, yes, you can do it. The flexibility to promote to any piece makes the Pawn one of the most valuable pieces in the game, if used well."

So he could be a Rook like Koneko-chan? All he had to do was make it to the enemy's base.

"Done," Rias-senpai said. "You need some rest."

"Sure, I'll just go home."

"It's best if you stay here actually. This academy has strong barriers cast around it. That crazy priest might return to finish the job. Besides, I'll be here as well. In here, you're safe."

"I can't stay here forever," Issei insisted.

"You don't have to. I'm working on a solution. But I need some time, so please, stay here, just for one night."

"Okay."

Rias-senpai visible relaxed.

She left the room and returned with two pillows and some blankets.

Issei was getting more and more convinced she actually lived in this building.

Buchou carefully put a pillow under Koneko-chan's head and threw a blanket over her. She did the same with Issei even though he was only wounded at his leg.

"I have to go now, but I won't be long. I just have to take care of something."

"Okay."

Rias-senpai left them. She took Akeno-senpai with her. Yuuto-kun asked if they needed anything, but when they said no he left as well.

It was silent for a while.

"Hey, Koneko-chan?"

"Yes?"

"If we make it out of all this alive, will you call me Ise like everyone else?"

She chuckled. "It's a promise, Hyoudou-senpai."

It was quiet again.

"Can I ask you something?" Issei asked.

"Sure."

"Why does Rias-senpai act like that?"

"Like what?"

"She's so cold and distant. She forgets to mention important things, she orders us around all the time. You know. She looks a bit stressed out." Of course, she did have things to stress out about. Koneko-chan was just wounded after all.

"She didn't used to be like that," Koneko-chan said.

"What happened?"

"Her seventeenth birthday party."

"Uhm what?"

"Ever since that day, she's changed."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you actually."

"Please."

She hesitated for a moment. "Fine. Her mother reminded her that she's engaged."

Issei almost fell out of the couch. "She's what?"

"Her father set up a marriage with Raiser Phoenix, a high-class devil."

"Oh. Have you met him? Is he a nice guy?"

"A massive asshole," she simply said. "With his own harem."

"Harem?" Issei jerked upright.

"Don't sound so excited, Hyoudou-senpai. He's an arrogant, stupid, high-class devil who will cheat on Buchou in plain sight."

Oh. Well, that explained a lot.

"So, she's supposed to marry that guy?"

"They'll be setting the date shortly after she turns eighteen."

So that was why she acted like that?

"And there is nothing we can do?"

"Buchou insists that she won't marry him, but what is she going to do? Her dad will be in big trouble if the engagement is broken off without a proper reason. The House of Gremory needs a strong heir, certainly after…" she hesitated.

"After what?"

"Buchou has an elder brother, but he can't succeed her father. Buchou is the heir and she will need a high-class devil as her husband."

Looks like Buchou had her own troubles. And they were a lot bigger than his.

"It looks like your wish will turn out alright," Koneko-chan said.

"Yeah."

He didn't have to ask what she meant. He wanted to storm that church and save Asia-chan. That crazy priest had attacked them openly and he had shown he was with Fallen Angels because Asia-chan was with him. So now they had a good excuse to counterattack.

"She's probably talking with some higher ups right now. If there is a reaction from the commanders of the Fallen Angels, we have to be certain the devils will back us up. But after this attack, I wouldn't doubt they'll agree. We'll be saving your girlfriend soon enough."

"Yeah." Looks like he could save Asia-chan after all. "Hey, she's not my girlfriend."

"Sure, sure." Koneko-chan turned on her side and closed her eyes.

True to Koneko-chan's words, Rias-senpai did indeed return shortly after with exactly that news. Issei guessed she had been gone for about half an hour.

"Their activities have been deemed threatening enough," Buchou said. "We can kill them all without trouble."

"So we can save Asia?"

"We'll try. Once both of you have rested enough, we'll attack."

Issei wanted to go right now, but with his leg like this he couldn't do a lot. Not that he could do much with his leg, but still. If he couldn't even stand up, he could not go with them.

"You know," Rias-senpai said. "There is actually something that can speed up your recovery."

"Asia can't heal me now," Issei said.

"I wasn't talking about that. As devils it is possible to share your demonic energy if you're from the same peerage."

"Share?"

"Right now, your demonic powers are working to speed up the healing process. Koneko-chan is doing the same. However, you have been resurrected recently so your demonic powers are incredibly low. But you can tap from mine and that could drastically increase your recovery speed."

"And how does that work exactly? How do you share your demonic powers?" The way she said it made it sound like it wasn't easy.

"Direct skin contact is needed, the more the better. If you want to see some effects, we'll have to hug naked."

…

Come again?

He had heard that wrong, right?

"If you're okay with it that is," Buchou said. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

"I uhm, yeah, of course. Just to speed up the healing process, right?"

"Of course." She smiled.

With deft fingers, she unbuttoned the blazer of her uniform.

Luckily, Koneko-chan had fallen asleep some time ago.

Issei's eyes were fixed on Rias-senpai.

She opened her blouse so Issei could see her bra. It was a different one this time. It had two parts of red lace which were kept together by a string tied in a neat little loop. There was a small gap in between so a tiny strip of bare skin right in the middle was visible. The knot hovered just above where her nipples should be.

It suddenly felt very hot in the room.

When she unzipped her skirt and let it pool around her ankles, he could see she was wearing matching panties.

"You should get undressed too," she said as she took of her white socks.

"Oh, yeah, of course."

He pulled his shirt over his head.

His fingers moved to his boxers, but they stopped before he could take them off.

Rias-senpai was reaching back to unclasp her bra. Last time she had turned her back on him at that moment, but maybe this time…

The lacy red bra slid over her shoulders on the pile of clothes.

He wasn't certain how long he kept staring, motionless. Too long probably.

"Sorry for being such a bad master," she suddenly said.

Huh?

Issei blinked a few times. He had been so occupied with staring at her bare chest he had not noticed her expression had changed.

"I… I sent you of on a mission and you and Koneko-chan almost got killed. If I had sent you alone, which I was planning to do, you would have died. I should have let you hand out some flyers first, make you stronger before sending you to complete contracts."

"Buchou…"

"And it's not just that. I should have told you about the true power of a Pawn way earlier, I should have told you about the Mutation Piece, I should have done more to help the sister, I should have-"

"Buchou. It's okay. It's not your fault."

"It is. It's my fault you died in the first place. You asked me for help, and I let you down. I should have realised the Fallen Angels were targeting you. I should have kept up the surveillance."

"They weren't targeting me. They wanted Asia-chan back, I was just in the way. There was nothing you could have done. You saved me."

"I brought you back, but as what? As a servant."

"You would not go this far for a simple servant. You're willing to share your demonic powers to help me with a wound that's not even life threatening. You don't think of me like a servant. You think of me like a little brother."

She smiled slightly. "So, is this incest then?"

"Well, we're not actually blood related."

"That sounds like a lame excuse an incest-anime would use."

"I didn't know you watched those."

She turned bright red. "Of course not. Take off your boxers, Ise, I have to heal your wound."

"Yes, Buchou."

She took of her panties as well and got under the blanket.

The couch was not that big so they were really close together. Rias-senpai hugged him from behind in a spooning position. The softness of her breasts pushing against his back was definitely the best thing he had ever felt.

"Better?" She asked.

"Way better."

"I was talking about your leg."

"Oh. Well, I had completely forgotten about that."

She chuckled. "I guess that works too. Goodnight, Ise."

"Goodnight, Rias-senpai."