PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO READ ALL OF THIS, BECAUSE SOME PARTS ARE IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY THE P. S.

Wow, I'm back! Hey, everyone! How you all doing? Just barely survived my school's midterms and I wasn't able to focus much in writing, so I took longer than expected. Anyway, going back to the story, during the last chapter, the truth has finally been made clear and it was a huge relief that nobody reacted negatively or harshly to what has been explained, not even Rias or Saji. Not only that, Serafall received a nasty spanking courtesy of Issei himself and at the end of the chapter, Rossweisse finally admitted her feelings for our hero. How will things play out from there? Oh, I can't wait to find out! Now, let's go through them damn reviews before starting!

P. S. I have put up another poll in my profile. I've decided to do another Akame ga Kill fanfic soon but I need to decide on what pairing to use. Harem or single? That's up to you guys to decide! Head on over to my profile and pick your choice! If any case that single pairing wins, another poll will be posted on which girl should be Tatsumi's lover. That's all!

Mr. Green37: She's crazy obsessed... oh well, I don't really care about it dude.

Shizuku Ren: Haha, really? Well, be on the lookout for more Serafall madness in this chapter, man!

Yoga pratama: Well, Tanahashi has won, which is a bit shocking... but I have no problem with it. Omega still hasn't beaten Ibushi in a singles match, but their match was exceptional! Did you watch Takeover and Summerslam recently as well?

TheLaughingStalk Lenny-kun: What do you mean?

Fenrir44: I dunno yet, dude. Maybe I'll think about it first.

TheRealMexican: You'll find out in this chapter!

MrKristoffer1994: Read on to find out, dude!

TheLastNanaya: Dude, I like them too... but I want to become reasonable in this fanfic. And that includes not stealing wives from other men, or banging older women. If this was a pure crack fic, I would add them in a snap. Deal with it.

BlackTyrantValvatorez: Lol, ikr? We'll see if she does just that! I don't know if that will really happen, though... and no promises!

Zerecue: She's not in. End of story.

autor godz: Well, if you want to quit reading, go ahead.

Guest #1: Yep, Issei's too nervous to explain anything! And Serafall becoming a masochist, seeking out punishments... you know, that might just happen in this chapter! I wonder how would Issei react to it once he finds out that he just turned his fiancée into an M unknowingly.. XD

PraetorXyn: Thank you! I hope you keep supporting until the end!

LaserBr0: Eh, we already talked about this in Discord... other than that, haha thanks! I appreciate your support! An honor to make you enjoy this fic! I hope you stay tuned for more!

D: Issei's queen piece.

LordxSesshomaru: They will have their chapter... eventually. :p

Cboylan: I don't know man... Serafall might cockblock her again! I don't want that to happen!

jp0625: Explain that to Serafall. That woman only cares about her sister's well-being, so she didn't bother understanding Rias' understanding on the situation.

ShadowLucas15: No problem, and I will! I hope you continue supporting the story bro!

antifanboy: Thank you! And thanks for giving me an idea on who to focus next! See ya in Discord!

Riatsu: *spoiler alert* MORE SPANKING HERE! *spoiler alert*

AI. Oeder: Yes, she is... XD.

"Normal Talking"

'Thoughts'

Flashbacks

[Ddraig Talking]

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD or any of its characters...

Issei sighed, before he smiled weakly at the former Valkyrie just hovering above him.

"I-I guess I haven't been paying attention to you lately, sensei… maybe if I did, I would've noticed your feelings a whole lot sooner…" he said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment before he cupped Rossweisse's cheek softly and pulled her closer that their foreheads were touching and they were staring straight into each other's eyes, which also caused the girl to blush even more out of embarrassment and because their lips were nearly touching once again.

"Ise-kun…" she muttered, unable to say anything else at the moment.

"Sensei, this will take some time for the two of us to get used to, but I promise that we'll take it one step at a time… after all, you're one of the people that I deeply care about… and what I only want for you is to be happy in your life… if you really want to be with me, I'm more than willing to give us a shot in being together…" he told her before leaning in to capture her lips for another kiss.

'Ise-kun…' she continued in her thoughts, shocked that he accepted her confession without even considering the consequences. It made her extremely happy inside, so she couldn't help but wrap her arms around his neck and return the kiss. 'Oh, you've made me so happy!' she thought happily, tears of joy now streaming down her cheeks.

The two devils continued to explore each other's mouths for the next few minutes before Rossweisse finally pulled away with a smile on her face. "Thank you for giving me a chance, Ise-kun… I promise that I will do my best to win your love…" she whispered loud enough only for them to hear as she hugged him tightly, feeling as if she was the happiest woman in the world.

"Heh, don't mention it, sensei…" he replied, somewhat embarrassed that he manage to attract even the '100-yen Valkyrie' and gained her affections. "Besides, you are —" he was cut off from his words when Rossweisse put a finger on his lips, silencing him.

"Please call me by my first name from now on," she requested with the same smile. "If we're going to be together, you're going to have to look past our relationship as teacher and student… or just call me 'Rose', if you think my name's too long…"

"All right, Rose…" he said, already using the name she told him to call her by. "I'll call you by that name when we're alone, is that fine with you?" The silver-haired girl couldn't help but nod repeatedly in response. "Okay then, now we have to — SHIT!" he screamed out, noticing the time that just passed by.

"Is something wrong?" Rose asked out of concern, quirking an eyebrow.

"WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL IF WE DON'T HURRY UP!" he yelled, immediately going through covering his whole body his soap. Rose couldn't help but giggle at his unfortunate luck for the day as she took her time in grooming herself, stepping out of the tub to let Issei tend to himself.

She was, after all, his teacher.

'Man, we're back to the same old routine, as always…' Issei thought to himself as he tried to avoid falling asleep. If he did, Sona would never forgive him for being tardy. So far, he was doing good; it was currently the second-to-the-last subject for the day, and he was doing his to stay up and listen.

'Wait for it…' he continued in his thoughts, noticing that the teacher just noticed the time on his watch. 'Yes! Another subject down!' he exclaimed internally when the class instructor just took his briefcase and then after a quick farewell, he marched out the door.

'Finally!' he let out a sigh of relief before stretching his limbs for a bit as he slumped his head down on his deck. 'Now I have some time to myself!' Issei was about to let his head slump down on the desk if it weren't for the captain of the Kendo club standing just in front of him.

Seeing Murayama in front of him immediately got him to reposition in his own seat, raising an eyebrow at the girl who was staring at him with a neutral expression on her face, despite the fact that she was frowning slightly. Following her gaze, Issei looked at his own self, thinking that there might be something off with his appearance.

Giving up on trying to find what was strange about himself, he decided to just ask the girl head-on. However, he could only hope that she would be gentle enough to let him even ask a simple question.

"Is there something wrong with my face, Murayama-san?" he asked, raising, an eyebrow in confusion. "Or is there something you want to ask me?"

The brunette took a deep breath and averted her gaze to the side. "Look, instead of hiding the truth from you, I'm just gonna blurt it out," she stated with a light blush staining her cheeks. "During the past few weeks, I've noticed that you suddenly stopped with your perverted antics… is this 'change' hopefully going somewhere?"

"What do you mean?" replied Issei, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm trying to ask if this new attitude is for real, Hyoudou… try taking this seriously, would you?" she tried to stay calm, but it was hard not to get angry with the brown-haired boy due to his history as a blatant pervert. "Are you going to stop being a pervert or not?"

"Um…" An image of Sona appeared in his mind. "I don't think I'll be up to any more perverted antics, Murayama-san…" he said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Really?" she asked with interest, raising an eyebrow. "Why the sudden change in mindset, then? Are the rumors somewhat true regarding the student council teaching you on how to act like a proper student back then? Or perhaps this is just an underhanded for you to get some girls of your own, and then act like a pervert again?" she suggested, planting both her palms on her hips as she scowled at him.

"You could say it like that…" he admitted, looking down on the floor in slight embarrassment. "But let's just say that I'm doing this for my own good… since I was a part of the student council, it's expected that I should act mature and like how a proper student does… it'd damage the image of the council if people find out that one of the members is an open pervert…" he tried to joke around to liven the mood.

Much to his surprise, Murayama started to chuckle softly, feeling calmer due to his words. "Well, this is good, then…" she muttered, placing her palm against her forehead in relief. "That's one pervert off our backs… I knew that it was a wise move to follow my instincts."

"W-What are you talking about?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing really… just the fact that I decided to watch you closely while you were working for the student council and see if you really made a huge change in your perverted attitude. I was hoping that you really did change, and look at what's happening right now… you're not the same pervert anymore."

"Oh, I get it… well, it makes me happy that somebody appreciates that fact…" he smiled at the girl. "I thought that nobody would even bother that I can change my ways, and that includes Katase-san, no offense…" he immediately said in the end to prevent himself from getting into trouble.

"No, I understand..." she waved him off. "I know how you feel... and if I had to be honest, she's getting really out of hand in her whole scheme to 'bring out the perverted beast' inside of you... I would stop her if I could, but I think even you know that simple words won't stop her and I don't want to risk my friendship with her too."

"I get ya... it's hard to deal with someone like her regarding issues like this," he said with a smile, and that was the moment when they found themselves laughing with one another as if they felt a connection between the two of them. A few more seconds later, they finally stopped, and that was when Issei cleared his throat and began to speak, completely forgetting the fact that there was likely only a few minutes left before their last teacher for the day has her period with them.

"So, um... is there anything else you want to tell me, Murayama-san?" he asked, intending to finish the conversation before somebody else butts in.

"Just one more thing..." she said quickly before outstretching her right hand. The boy threw her a confused look before she started to speak yet again. "Well, since you made sure that my guesses about you changing for the better were right, I think I should do the right thing in return... let's start things all over again, Hyoudou... you deserved all the beatings I gave you, but please understand that it wasn't intentional," she spoke.

"Okay, sure..." he replied quietly, shaking the brunette's hand, accepting her act of making peace with him. "And don't worry, I don't hold any grudge towards you or Katase-san... because it turned out to be for the best. You could say that I'm thankful for those beatings..." he chuckled at his last statement.

"And I guess this also means that you're staying away from those two perverts that you call 'friends'?" she once again asked with hope lingering in her tone, retracting her hand back. But to her surprise, he did the opposite by shaking his head no. "W-Wha —" she tried to answer, but Issei cut her off before she could even fully answer.

"Sorry, Murayama-san..." he replied in a sincere tone. "They may be perverts, but they're still my friends... they were my first friends going into this place, and that's something I just can't throw away like trash... I prefer to remember the good times we've had with one another, instead of thinking what their flaws are. I'm not talking about the times that we've peeked on you and other girls... If they are my friends, then they are my friends until the end."

The girl's eyes slowly widened; she didn't expect that kind of answer from Issei, and it caught her off guard. Although reluctant, she then found herself smiling in response, understanding his words and taking it to her very core.

"I get it now," she replied, hiding a smile from him. "I see that under all that perverseness, there's a good side in you, Hyoudou..." she pointed a finger towards him in a manner of giving warning. "I'm giving you a chance to change, Hyoudou... don't waste it because my trust is not easily earned, especially by someone who I considered a shameless pervert for a long time... later," she finished, walking back towards her seat and leaving Issei to his thoughts.

'Okay, that was totally unexpected... I never expected her to actually talk to me in a civil way like that... hang on, why the hell did she leave without even letting me answer? Okay, this is — OH SHIT!"

Turning his attention to the door, he then saw their teacher for the last period of this school day walk inside the room, about to start the class.

'I didn't even get to take a nap...' he internally groaned.

As soon as his classes were finally over, Issei had no hesitation in rushing towards the school's tennis court, the place where Saji told him that they would meet. While he had no real idea on why Genshirou want to talk to him, the latter made it clear in the text message that he sent earlier this morning, it was about Sona Sitri. Issei could only hope that it wasn't about him 'stealing Kaichou' away, because he didn't want anything to happen that would jeopardize his relationship with his friend.

Finally reaching his designated location after only a few minutes of running, because he didn't want to piss Saji even more; it was obvious to almost anybody that he was affected on a negative part when he found out about Issei's relationship with Sona, and him being late even for a simple meeting shouldn't add to his problem.

Looking around his surroundings for a few moments, he noticed that there were no nearby eavesdroppers who would try to listen to his conversation with Saji. Once he was sure that no other person besides him in the tennis court, Issei cleared his throat.

"All right, Saji…" he spoke, putting on a serious look. "I'm here and we're all alone… come out now so we can have that little talk that you wanted!" he said loud enough that it could be heard all over the whole court, but not reaching the point that it could be heard by the whole school.

"I see you agreed to meet me here," said a voice from behind some tall bushes, causing Issei to turn his head towards its direction. "If you didn't show up, I would've marched straight to your clubroom and confronted you there," Saji stated, standing up so that he could be seen, before walking towards Issei slowly.

"All right, I don't want this to take too long between us, so just spill it…" Issei continued, keeping his vision focused on the approaching blonde. "I know that this is about my relationship with Sona, so what do you want to know? Wasn't my explanation yesterday enough for you?"

"No, I'm not an idiot… I get what happened yesterday…" he waved his rival off. "You and Kaichou got engaged because she lost in chess, and then her sister, Leviathan-sama, chose you to be her future husband…" he explained, causing Issei's eyes to widen slightly, as he had assumed that Saji wasn't listening to the rest of the explanation that went on yesterday after hearing that 'his Kaichou' was stolen.

"You were still listening that time? I thought you weren't —" he tried to speak, but the blonde cut him off.

"I talked to Hanakai," Saji revealed, stopping just a few feet in front of Issei. "She told me what happened for the rest of the day… told me all about Leviathan-sama getting engaged to you too… I just have a few questions that I didn't get to ask you yesterday."

The Sekiryuutei nodded. "Okay, then… I'm listening."

"Is it true that you had sex with Kaichou?" he asked with a stern, making Issei sweat nervously in response, afraid of what would happen if he told Saji the truth.

"Um, I… I didn't… you know…" he stuttered, unsure of what to say in response.

"Just spit out the truth, Hyoudou… I won't act out of place and attack you if I didn't like the answer," Genshirou assured him with a nod. "I just want to be sure of a few things."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion but maintaining his composure, Issei finally had the strength to spit out the truth to perhaps, Sona Sitri's biggest fanatic.

"I did," he simply stated, averting his gaze to the side.

Saji nodded as a reply. "I see… so Hanakai was telling the truth, then…" he threw Issei a scowl afterwards. "Did you force her into doing it with you, or was it out of her own will? I want the truth from your mouth, Hyoudou."

That was when the brown-haired pawn frowned at his rival; this was definitely not how he pictured Saji to react, because he seemed to be calmer than he should be. His master was involved in the conversation, and it was only natural that he acts out of place since it was indeed obvious that he had a crush on Sona. Deciding to push his curiosity aside for now, Issei then answered his question.

"Well technically, she did out of her own will…" he explained. "But it was only after Sera-chan had a discussion with her… and it was probably about Sona letting go of her strict and cold nature just for once in order to be happy. Is that good enough for you?"

Saji nodded once again, but before Issei could even speak, he had cut him off. "Be honest with me, Hyoudou… how could you have fallen in love with Kaichou… in just a few weeks? Isn't love supposed to take months or years to develop? How can we be sure, as Kaichou's peerage, that you're not playing with her or anything? How can we trust you that Kaichou is in good hands?" he demanded.

"I don't know what's your definition of love, Saji…" he replied in a sincere tone. "But I do love Sona, as much as I love Sera-chan, Rias, Asia, Akeno-san, and the others. She did many things for my sake, more than you could ever know… I'll never get tired of saying it to anybody, Saji. I owe her so much that I can't bear the thought of her being unhappy… I want Sona to always smile, despite being cold and cunning almost all the time. Because like you and me, she's a teenage girl who likes to have fun and enjoy life once in a while… and I'm willing to give her the life she deserves in the future."

The Vritra carrier couldn't hold back a chuckle, something that he was trying to tone down ever since Issei spoke. It was an action that caused Issei to raise an eyebrow in confusion, before Saji finally answered back after taking a few moments to satisfy his own humor.

"That's what I thought you'd say," he spoke, clearing his throat. "Look, as much as I hate the fact that you stole Kaichou from me as well as the fact that I'm itching to kick your ass right now, I can't do it because Kaichou will be pissed once she hears of it. Oh well, I can at least be sure that she's in good hands… you're a good person, Hyoudou... even though you were a pervert back then, you still care more about your friends and comrades. Just promise me that you won't hurt her feelings, otherwise you're dealing with me."

"Y-You're serious?" Issei asked incredulously, shocked that Saji was able to cope well with this revelation. "You're not… you know, angry with me, or something?"

In response, the blonde pawn sent him a glare. "I'll say it again… you better not hurt her, Hyoudou… I'm serious... I won't stand for it..." he paused after that to growl like a feral animal. "The moment that you make Sona cry, I won't hesitate to go after her again and show her how much I care for her after I beat you to bits... that is if I can control myself enough to prevent killing you... I still care about her, Hyoudou... and nothing will ever change that... the moment I hear you break Sona's heart... Rias Gremory better find a new pawn," he threatened, before turning on his heel, walking away from the stunned Issei Hyoudou.

"T-That's it? That's all you wanted to tell me?" said Issei, making a frown at seeing Genshirou just leave him hanging like that.

"Yeah, that's it…" Saji waved him off. "Go enjoy the day with your harem or something… Kaichou's gonna kill me when she finds out that I'm actually skipping out on a task that she gave me."

As though an electric shock just ran through his whole body, Issei couldn't help but rub his eyes immediately afterwards, having second thoughts about what just happened. Finally, he was convinced after a little over half a minute that Saji indeed let him off the hook, wanting to just give him a warning before he let him go.

'D-Did that... did that really just happen?' Issei thought to himself as he took in a few deep breaths to recompose himself. 'Man, I never would have thought Saji would act like that...' he stared at the blonde's retreating figure and sighed. 'You can count on me, Saji... I won't and I will never make Sona cry... she's way too important to me for me to even let go...'

Looking at the time on his watch after a few more seconds later, he noticed that it was 1:13 in the afternoon, and that was when he decided to head back. Who knows? Rias might be looking for him right now, and Issei knew better than to make the Gremory heiress worried about him.

'Well, I think I should be getting back now...' he thought to himself, also heading out of the tennis court like Saji.

"Ise-kun! Can you help Rossweisse-sensei in arranging the table?" Akeno called out from the kitchen. The whole ORC was preparing for dinner as it had been a long and tiring day for them, especially for Issei Hyoudou.

"Okay!" said Issei almost immediately. Throwing himself off the couch, he headed towards the dining room, where he saw Rose, who was wearing a white apron, arranging saucers all over the table that would be enough for all of them. "Hey there, Rose!" he greeted eagerly, jogging over towards her.

"I-Ise-kun?" Upon hearing his voice, the silver-haired girl turned her head to the direction where she heard his voice, only to be surprised by a pair of lips going over hers.

After only a few seconds of contact, Issei pulled away with a smile while Rose was blushing. "Nice apron you're wearing… and Akeno-san told me to help you in arranging the table for dinner," he told her, taking a bunch of chopsticks, knives, and forks from the utensil rack to get started.

"Was it really necessary to kiss me like that?" she asked rhetorically, looking down on the floor in embarrassment. Her attraction towards Issei has been the hot topic inside the Hyoudou residence all day, because as soon as the two devils left the bathroom earlier in the morning, it turned out that Akeno managed to overhear the whole conversation and it spread like wildfire in mere minutes all over the whole house. Of course, the other girls congratulated Rossweisse for being honest with what she feels and at the same time, became a bit hostile because of the fact that there was another girl who was fighting for Issei's affections. It greatly embarrassed the former Valkyrie since her confession was supposed to be a secret, but went along with it nonetheless.

"Don't pretend you didn't like it," he said with a smirk, returning to the table and carefully placing all the utensils on each plate at the table. He then frowned a bit upon seeing the pout on the girl's face. "Come on, there's no need to act all tsundere on me…" he walked over to where she was and patted her head softly, causing the girl to sigh.

"Why is it so hard to be mad at you?" she huffed, crossing her arms and continuing on her work to prepare the table. "Anyway, since I'm almost done here, why don't you go tell the others that dinner is going to be ready in a few minutes?"

"Akeno-san told me to come here and help you," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"We're almost done anyway, Ise-kun…" she replied, sending him a smile. "Go and call the others and tell them that dinner's almost done… wouldn't want anybody being late to the table, would we? I'll take care of things here so just go on and tell them, okay?"

"O-Okay…" he muttered, leaving the girl to deal with the rest of the work in the dining room by herself as he went towards the living room, where most of the girls in the whole house were currently waiting for dinner to be finished, because it was indeed a long day for almost everyone.

He spotted Rias just sitting on the nearest couch while reading a book. He sighed upon seeing her once again; Issei never spoke about it, but he felt bad for his master. Just last night, she tried to have sex with her beloved pawn, only to get rendered unconscious by Serafall Leviathan. Issei felt angry towards the devil king and proceeded to punish Sera afterwards, before he eventually went to sleep beside Rias. He didn't want to wake her up since she was deep in her slumber, so the least he could do was pull up the blanket to cover the two of them before holding the Gremory close towards him.

The following morning, he woke up with Rias gone from his bed and was nowhere to be found. Although he was worried on where could she possibly be, he then found out after his bath that she was just eating at the dining table, preparing to go to school peacefully. Apparently, Rias didn't remember anything at all from the previous night when Issei asked her about it, confusing him to no end. It led to him thinking that there was a chance that Sera might have erased some of Rias' memories, and he had only hoped that it wasn't true. In order to prevent more trouble from brewing up, he decided to just keep it as a secret from Rias and deal with Serafall himself when they see each other again.

Steeling himself to even last a minute with her, Issei slowly walked towards Rias while trying to keep a strong facade. Having noticed his presence through his footsteps, the redhead averted her gaze from the book she was reading towards Issei, putting on a smile before she spoke.

"Hello, Ise…" said Rias, standing up from the couch and walked towards her pawn, greeting him with a light peck on the lips. "With you here, I'm assuming that Akeno's done with dinner?" she asked with a smile.

Issei could only nod in response.

"I see… well, if you have anything left to do, you better do it right now, because we'd appreciate it if we eat at the table altogether." She turned her attention behind her, looking at Asia, Ravel and Koneko. "Let's go, you three… it's time for dinner!" she called out and the three girls stood up from their places, looking at both Rias and Issei before they followed the former in walking towards the dining room.

Issei was left standing in his position, simply staring at the three girls as they went towards their destination. He smiled to himself, remembering that he had feelings for them just like how he had feelings for Serafall and Sona. He then raised an eyebrow when he realized that Irina wasn't with them right now, causing him to look around the living room a few times to search for her.

'Where could she be…' he thought to himself before he suddenly remembered something. 'Oh, right! Michael-sama called for her in heaven early in the morning, that's why she wasn't with us when we went to school too…'

Irina was currently at Heaven at this very moment, because just this morning, she received a very important call from Michael, saying that she needed to speak to her about something important. It was regarding her status as an angel should she ever have any impure thoughts about Issei, the boy whom she loved dearly. Although she was scared that she might fall, Issei reassured her that everything will be all right, further adding that if ever she becomes a fallen angel, he would still love and treat her the same way, because she was still Irina.

'Man, I hope she doesn't really fall…' he continued in his thoughts, silently regretting that he jumped into conclusions. 'I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself if she really fell, and it was because of me… all she wanted was to be an angel, and to throw that away because of me… argh, never mind!' he scolded himself at the end.

That was when he noticed that somebody other than Irina was still missing, because she wasn't at the kitchen, dining room, nor the living room. 'Come to think of it, I wonder where Xenovia is…' he wondered, crossing his arms as he thought of where could the blue-haired beauty might be. 'Maybe she's still sleeping in her room?' he internally suggested, turning his attention to the staircase that directly led upstairs.

'Might as well check her room out and see if she's there,' he shrugged, heading towards the stairs.

As he approached Xenovia's room, he couldn't help but hear some strange noises along the path as he walked through the hallways. He had no direct idea on what could those particular noises might be, and he knew that it can't possibly be coming from the girls since they were already at the dining table, except for Xenovia, so he didn't bother checking all the bedrooms that he passed by.

Finally, upon reaching the blue-haired knight's room, he was about to knock at the door when he heard strange noise coming from inside the room itself. Out of curiosity, he pressed one side of his head against the door to get a better hearing of what was happening.

The moment that he heard glass shattering from inside the place, his eyes widened and he had no hesitation to knock on the door furiously, afraid that something bad might have happened inside.

"Xenovia? Xenovia, are you in there? Open up!" he called out, trying to turn the doorknob so that it would open, but it didn't budge. "Xenovia? Xenovia! Hey, answer me! What's happening there?"

"Ise?" she replied, opening the door slightly so that she could get a good peek at whoever was knocking on her bedroom door. "What brings you here?" she asked innocently as if nothing happened, but Issei wasn't going to have any of that.

"What's going on in there?" he quickly asked as though his body just gave off an emergency alarm. "I heard the sound of shattering glass, did something bad happen here?"

"No, nothing bad happened," Xenovia stated, opening the door more widely for the boy to see, revealing the girl to be wearing only a pair of blue lacy underwear in the process, causing Issei to blush furiously. "I just accidentally kicked the closet next to my bed, and I was unaware that a clear glass was on top of it, so it fell and shattered into tiny little shards."

However, Issei's attention was somewhere else as he tried to look away from the knight's exposed body. "X-Xenovia, mind telling me why are you dressed like that?" he asked with a raging blush. "It's not even time to sleep and you're already dressed in your underwear…"

"I apologize for that… you see, I was sleeping here in my room ever since we got home from school… I've been asleep since earlier, and I only woke up now. And speaking of which, do you like it?" she asked, pointing to her bra. "I bought it earlier before we went home at a nearby clothing store, and I wanted your opinion on it whether I should keep it or just give it to Irina."

"Aaannnyyywwwaaayyy," he said, drifting the direction of the intended topic towards something else out of embarrassment. "Dinner's almost prepared downstairs and we're just waiting for you… go on and head there, I'll clean up the glass shards that made a mess here."

"Oh," Xenovia sounded like she just got rejected in a competition. "I see… well, just let me change back into my normal clothes and then I'll go there immediately." With those words, she went back inside the room and closed the door, just in time for Issei to miss a lone tear that fell down the girl's cheek. As soon as the door was closed, the boy sighed to himself afterwards. 'Yep, I definitely don't get Xenovia sometimes…' he said to himself.

Leaning on the door, Xenovia slowly sunk down until she fell on her butt. She looked at the floor in sadness, before turning her gaze towards her own right hand before she clenched it tightly, feeling an intense amount of emotions wash over her.

'Is it wrong to think that I have no chance?' she wondered, letting a few tears roll down her cheeks before she slowly got up to dress herself up.

"I'll catch up to you, okay?" Issei said, smiling warmly at Xenovia. "I'm just going to the bathroom for a leak. Go on and join the others at the table, I promise it'll be quick."

The girl made no hesitation to nod in response, although she was a bit sad that she would be left alone for the rest of the day. "Sure, Issei."

After he went to the bathroom for a bit of private time to himself, Issei continued on his way back towards the dining room, a bit worried that the girls might be getting impatient by the second. After all, ever since the truth about him getting engaged to both Sitri sisters was out, the girls of the ORC became a bit nore possessive and loving towards him, possibly out of jealousy or the desire to not get left out, in Asia's words.

However, it seemed that fate decided to give him one more obstacle on the way.

'There we go, there's that stupid noise again…' Issei grumbled inwardly. 'I'm getting sick and tired of it already! Where the heck is that noise even coming from?!' he nearly screamed out, walking past his own bedroom.

That was when he noticed something strange.

He turned his head to the side and frowned in confusion, hearing the same noises which indicated that the source was nearby. Issei looked around himself to get a better hearing of where it could be possibly coming from, and it led him to face his bedroom door, causing him to press his ear against its surface to check if the weird noises were coming from there.

'That's strange, I thought all of them were already downstairs waiting for us?' he asked himself upon hearing some strange noises from inside the room. Of course, he couldn't directly point out what kind of noises he was hearing because the door was closed.

'Xenovia's not trying to mess with me, is she? Or did Irina come back from Heaven already? Maybe Sona decided to have dinner here?' he asked himself, thinking of all the possible answers before he finally shrugged his shoulders.

'Oh well, might as well see what's going on inside… surely it's not something like a stray devil, right?' he joked, holding the doorknob before he finally made his way inside.

The moment that he opened the door to his room, he was greeted by a familiar sight who was sitting just at the edge of his bed. However, it was somebody whom he wasn't expecting to show up at the moment, especially with what he has been dealing with in his mind right now. It wasn't Rias, it wasn't Sona, not Akeno, Asia, Xenovia, Irina, Koneko, Ravel, or even Rossweisse. The girl's eyes lit up like lanterns in the night sky upon feeling his presence as she smiled widely.

"Ise-kun!"

It was Serafall.

"Sera-chan!" he exclaimed out of surprise, taking a few steps back in the process. "Wh-What are you —?"

The girl didn't let him speak, running over towards him with her usual cheerful and innocent smile. In a shocking move, she twirled around a few times to let her fiance observe her whole body.

Issei's eyes widened when he noticed just what she was wearing right now. She wasn't in her Magical Girl outfit nor her Maou uniform. Sera was wearing a silken brown dress which ends short midway down her thighs, letting her long and slender legs be exposed to the open air; her back was totally shown, because the whole garment was tied altogether with a single pink ribbon. Pink frills filled all the borders of the brown dress, with the straps on her shoulders being the same. Most of her pink panties could be seen from behind, and the pink mini miniskirt she was wearing didn't help covering it up as well. She had no bra strap on her upper back, which would only mean that she had no bra on, and her naked chest was only covered by the thin dress she was wearing. To complete her outfit, she was wearing a frilly pink maid's cap that was situated in between the pink ribbons that held her twin-tails.

To put it simply, Serafall was wearing a maid's costume.

"Ise-kun!" she exclaimed, bowing her head slightly as a sign of respect, confusing him all the more. "I didn't have time to visit earlier because of a meeting but now, I'm here so we can be together for the rest of the night! Aren't you happy to see me?"

Issei however, didn't pay any attention to her words at all. Instead, his gaze was focused on the revealing choice of clothes that his fiancée had worn.

"Sera-chan," he almost gasped out of surprise. "Why are you dressed in that revealing outfit?"

"Oh, do you like it?" she asked in return, twirling around one more time to give him another view of her clothes. "I thought it would be good enough to satisfy your desires, but if you don't like it, I can always change into another outfit if you want!"

"Satisfy my desires?" he said out of confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Oh? You forgot already, Ise-kun?" she said in a thoughtful manner. "I still remember it from last night! How could you have forgotten it already? Oh! Perhaps you need me to refresh your memory? Is that what you need?"

Nothing came out of the Sekiryuutei's mouth afterwards, but Serafall wasn't going to have any of that. She held his hand and pulled him all the way towards the bed, where she used her hands to brush off any dust that was on Issei's clothes.

"This is perfect! I hope this will make you remember, Ise-kun!" she paused for a few seconds after that before she gasped and covered her mouth with one hand, before she started giggling cutely afterwards. "How silly of me! I'm not supposed to be calling you that way! It should be 'Ise-sama', right?"

'Ise... sama?' he asked in his own thoughts, confused to no end.

The devil king leaned in a bit closer and whispered towards his ear. "Oh no, I made a mistake, Ise-sama..." her hot breath sent shivers towards Issei's spine, and he was desperately trying to keep himself from having his way with his fiancée since her nearly naked body was almost pressed to his, but it felt like something was pushing him to do so. His intention to apologize to Serafall for spanking her was long forgotten, replaced by one question on his mind.

'Why the hell am I having the urge to be with Sera-chan right now?!' he asked himself once again, preventing his own hand to reach behind her and grab her backside. 'It's like I can't stop myself!'

[Mmhm, I think I see what's the problem here…] said Ddraig from inside the Boosted Gear.

'What are you talking about?' Issei asked him. 'Do you have an idea on what's going on? Because if you do, now is a really good time to tell me because Sera-chan is trying to tempt me!'

"I've been a bad girl, Ise-sama…" Sera continued to whisper in the same voice, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body against his. Due to the thinness of her dress, Issei could almost feel her naked flesh against his clothes, leaving him frozen in place as he tried to resist his urges.

'Argh! It's getting harder to resist her!' he complained in his mind. 'Ddraig, tell me what the problem is before I lose my mind! I could almost feel Sera-chan's breasts on my chest!'

[Before I explain what's going on, do you remember what you just did to the Leviathan last night?] the dragon asked.

'Yeah, of course I do! I… spanked her… because… she… ruined my… time with Rias…' he started off confidently, before he realized what he had forgotten to do in the first place. 'Crap! I have to apologize to Sera-chan!'

[Save it, Partner… you won't accomplish anything even if you apologize… you'll only end up making things worse.]

'What are you talking about?'

[I was afraid this might happen… but you basically made the Leviathan attracted to your dominance just by spanking her. You didn't know it because you were acting out of your own emotions last night.]

'I-Is that a good thing?' Issei asked, gulping slightly as he felt Serafall grab his hands and place them towards her sides, causing her to get goosebumps at his touch. As a result, he tried even harder not to fall victim to his own lust, which was becoming harder to do as the seconds passed.

[Well, in some ways, it's both a good and a bad thing.]

'Cut to the chase, will you?!' Issei nearly screamed out of frustration.

[Partner, this isn't really surprising to happen. You see, dragons are supposed to be more powerful than devils because we represent them as a whole, and in other words, we are more dominant than them. It's because of the fact that people associate us with devils often.] Ddraig explained.

'And you're trying to say that I'm dominant over Sera-chan, Rias, Akeno-san, and the others?'

[Pretty much… and since devils are also creatures of lust like fallen angels, it's safe to assume that the Leviathan is lusting after your dominant side. At the same time, a dragon is supposed to act dominant over his mates, Partner. It looks like your inner dominance got triggered when you gave into your emotions.]

Issei was left hanging after Ddraig's explanation. 'Are you implying that me having the urge to have sex with Sera-chan is happening on purpose?' he asked with widened eyes.

[Hey, it's quite fine to be dominant over mates, Partner… the Leviathan is not complaining about it if you look more closely… unless you prefer to get pummeled by girls more.] Ddraig tried to calm him down although he was chuckling to himself.

'No, it's not fine!' Issei continued to protest, closing his eyes in an attempt to resist his urges even further. 'I'll just close my eyes then! I can't fall to these urges if I can't see her!' he tried to reason, but Ddraig only sighed in response.

[There's no stopping it, Partner… even if you shut your eyes, you can still smell the Leviathan… and it's clear that she wants you to give her what she wants.]

'Is this a permanent thing or what?! I can't possibly survive if Sera-chan continues on being like this even for a week!'

[Hmm, since her mind is clouded with lust for your dominant side, I'd say you have to adjust to her change of attitude for maybe a few weeks or something. And then when her mind is back to normal then, that's the time where that lust and her normal self merge into one.]

'So I have no way out of this? Is that what you're trying to imply?' asked Issei, left shocked with his partner's words.

[That's one way of putting it altogether, Partner. It's a win-win situation if you ask me.]

The brown-haired boy then screamed internally. 'I don't care anymore! I need to resist it no matter what!' he told the dragon. However, it was clear that actions speak louder than words, because he could feel Serafall's fingers tracing up and down his arms, further arousing him even more. The urge to throw the girl on the bed and have a round of sex with her was getting stronger now, and Issei was slowly giving into it.

[Easier said than done, Partner. I'll leave you to deal with this yourself… you'll see that there's no escaping what your mind wants. Later. Hehehehehehehe…]

'What? No! Ddraig, come back! Come on! Help me with this! Maybe you can help me knock Sera-chan out so I won't deal with her anymore!'

The response wasn't what Issei was expecting.

[Please charge 25¢ for the next call.]

Issei sweat-dropped for a few seconds before he put on a serious expression. 'Fine, you stupid dragon! I'll deal with this myself!' Drifting his attention back to reality, he felt that Serafall stopped tracing her fingers down his arms as she felt her move away. He raised an eyebrow, but he didn't open his eyes yet as he heard her speak.

"Ise-sama, I'm sorry for ruining your time with Rias-chan last night…" she said in an apologetic tone. "It was really wrong of me to have you to myself…"

Remembering that he still needed to apologize to the Maou, he shook his head in reply as he began to speak as well. "It's fine, Sera-chan! Just don't do it again because I don't like it when one of you treat me as their own! Can we just forget about it?"

"If Ise-sama wants me to forget about it, then I will!" she replied cheerfully before she huffed. "But what if I don't follow what he says? Ise-sama needs to make sure that I follow his order! Don't you think so, Ise-sama?"

That was when he felt something poking his crotch area; he didn't know what it was and thought it was just something hard. Using his right hand, he smacked that particular object away, but he was shocked when he felt that he didn't hit any wood or metal.

It felt like… cloth… or was it flesh?

Before he could even ponder about what he just hit, he heard a loud moan coming from Serafall's mouth, which immediately caused him to snap his eyes open. He took a few steps back upon realizing that he just slapped the devil king's bottom yet again, as she was at the edge of his bed on all fours. Her butt was facing him and after seeing Issei move away from her, Sera shook her ass seductively in an attempt to get what she wanted.

"Come on, Ise-kun…" she whispered in a sultry tone. "Punish your naughty fiancée for keeping you all to herself…"

Issei just stared blankly at her, unaware of the fact that some of his teeth just turned into fangs all of a sudden, with his mind repeatedly urging him to go fulfil the Leviathan's desires. He shook his head desperately, trying to resist these urges that Ddraig was telling him about.

'I need to stay strong! Sera-chan is not herself right now! It's only for a few weeks… and then… and then… and..." he looked down on the floor, unable to continue resisting anymore. Without him and Serafall even knowing, Issei's Boosted Gear suddenly appeared and enveloped the boy's whole self in a reddish aura for a few seconds before it eventually dissipated into thin air as he slowly looked up.

"You want to get punished?" he asked in a voice that was completely different from his own, similar to what happened last night when he gave Serafall the spanking that she deserved.

His eyes were no longer brown. Instead, both had a green tint which made him look like a humanoid dragon coupled with the two fangs that his incisors just transformed into. His fingernails have grown sharper and a bit longer too, and finally, his skin looked like he was made of reinforced dragon scales. He marched back towards the bed and licked his lips in satisfaction.

"Iya!" Serafall squeaked out upon both her twin-tails getting pulled back hardly as she tried to look behind her. The moment that she did though, she felt Issei's hot breath on her neck that sent chills towards her spine.

"Don't blame me if you cry because of this," he growled towards her ear before giving it a slow lick, causing a tickling sensation to be sent all throughout her body as she buckled her hips in response to his action. "You wanted punishment, then you'll get it."

SMACK!

"AAHH!" she moaned out once again after he gave her butt another rough slap. "Oh~ Ise... sama..." she whispered softly when she felt that Issei was now kissing his way down her neck, which wasn't hard to do since her hair was pulled back. "Give... me… more…"

SMACK! SMACK!

Serafall screamed out in pleasure once again before her lover forcefully turned her head around so that she was looking at him straight in the eyes. Since she wasn't her real self at the moment, she didn't notice the green tint in her fiance's eyes and it wasn't for less, because she was also clouded with lust right now. She then felt her panties getting pulled down, making her slightly wet and bare butt come into view, already starting to glow red due to the spanking.

The girl wiggled her ass as she tried to claim his lips in a kiss. "Punish me… more… I deserve it for… ruining your time… with… Rias-chan… make me… learn my lesson…"

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

"OHH!" she screamed out in pleasure and pain, feeling Issei becoming even stronger in the next slaps to her butt, all while tightening his grip on her hair. Sera was getting wet by the second and she would love to have Issei's manhood to slam inside her right now, but she decided to stay quiet about it.

"You're not the one dictating the pace here, bitch… I am," he snarled while glaring daggers at the helpless devil king. That was the moment when his hand felt more of her juices oozing out from her entrance, causing him to grin devilishly. "Oh? So you're getting more aroused when I use dirty talk against you?" he asked with a smirk.

She tried to avert her gaze away as a blush settled on her face. "N-No, I'm not…" she quickly said out of embarrassment, which only served to fuel Issei's dominance even more.

SMACK!

This time, the Leviathan gasped as her body rocked forward slightly, feeling that the next spank was stronger than the last one, but this was exactly what she was hoping for. "Iya!" Serafall then squeaked out in surprise when Issei ripped her dress apart from underneath, revealing her jiggling breasts.

"I hate liars, Sera-chan!" he roared out, giving her left boob a rough squeeze with his free hand and causing the girl to let out a loud moan once again. "Maybe I should start teaching you a lesson about honesty… and then you'll finally have no problem in expressing what you truly feel… how about that? Your choice," he told her, continuing to grope her breast and play with it as if it was a toy.

"That… depends…" she answered, trying to keep up her stern voice. "What if I say no? What are you going to do about it?" she tried to stand up to him, which would only lead to her judgement.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

"AAAGGHHH!" she yelled out, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth in an erotic way as she felt her butt and both her breasts get slapped by Issei harshly, leaving her bare bottom to glow slightly red, while her chest was seemingly asking for more.

"You'll be punished again… and this time, I won't show any restraint," he said in a sharp tone which made it clear that he wanted to be in control. Like what Ddraig said before, dragons are supposed to be dominant over other beings, and that includes even a devil king like Serafall.

"Then… my answer is…" she gulped slightly in nervousness. "No."

Issei growled at being refused like that and to prove he was the alpha in this situation, he let go of her hair and quickly subdued both of her hands behind her back, tying them up with her pink maid cap. Her face was on the bed, muffling any kind of sound that she tried to make and her ass stuck out high in the air, her wet and slippery entrance on view for the boy to see.

"I'm going to show you… why dragons are the most powerful supernatural beings, Sera-chan… you can't possibly overpower me…" he mocked, preparing to lay down his desired punishment for her.

Until…

There was the sound of knocking on the door.

"Ise-san, are you in there? Everyone's waiting for you downstairs, it's time for dinner!" the unmistakable voice of Asia Argento called out.

Since he had no control over his own emotions, Issei paid it no heed and focused entirely on the girl lying on the bed. Serafall however, had a different response. As soon as she heard someone knocking on the door, her head lifted up from the bed to get a better hear at what was being said. The moment that she found out that her fiance was getting called for, she immediately flipped around and faced the Sekiryuutei.

That was when something rather unexpected happened.

Almost as quick as lightning, the devil king released her powerful aura, causing the maid cap that bound her hands to get frozen and eventually brittle enough for Sera to shatter it into pieces, m freeing herself from it as she sat up on the bed, her dress ruined and her soaking womanhood leaking with her juices.

Before Issei could even react, she released more of her aura, powerful enough so that it could get through the Sekiryuutei. Since Issei had no control over his emotions right now, it also meant that he didn't possess the full power of a dragon, which was to be more dominant than other supernatural beings. It gave Serafall the advantage over him at the moment, and in a shocking move, Issei Hyoudou fell beside her on the bed, knocked unconscious.

'I'm sorry, Ise-kun…' she thought to herself, patting his head and running her hand through his brown locks. 'As much as I would love to continue this between us, I need to keep this as a secret from other girls… otherwise, they'll copy me and I'll lose my place as the top girl in your harem!'

The knocking on the door came once again.

"Ise-san? Are you asleep? Can you hear me? Hang on just a minute, I'll get this door open for you!" Asia's voice finished, which was followed by footsteps afterwards.

Serafall quickly turned her attention back towards her unconscious fiance. She leaned in closer towards her ear and began to speak in a low voice. "I'll make sure that no other girl will do what I do to pleasure you, Ise-sama… girls like Rias-chan may have bigger breasts and bodies than me, but only I can and will let you do anything you want with my body…"

A bright light enveloped her body for a few seconds before it dissipated, revealing the Leviathan dressed in her Maou uniform, the maid outfit completely forgotten.

"As your top girl, I will be the only one who'll let you do these kinds of things to me…" she then gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ise-kun!" she finished before she moved away and created a magic circle to teleport herself out of there.

Just in the nick of time.

"Ise-san?" came the voice of Asia Argento as she opened the door and walked inside the room with her innocent smile. "Are you in here?"

"WAAHHH!" screamed Issei, shooting upright from the bed with a terrified expression on his face. He looked around himself for a few times until his eyes settled on the blonde nun who was just standing by the door to his bedroom. "Asia?" he asked, holding on to his head as he felt a sudden pain hit his brain. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get you, Ise-san!" she replied, closing the door behind her. "Everyone is already downstairs, including Xenovia-san as well, and we were waiting for you so that we can start eating! What were you doing in your room, Ise-san?"

"I just… I thought…" he stammered, suddenly remembering that his fiancée was here just a few moments ago, causing him to look around one more time to see where had she gone. 'What the what?' he thought to himself. 'Sera-chan was here just about a few seconds ago! Where the hell did she go? And why was I sleeping? Damn it, I didn't even get to apologize to her!'

"Yes, Ise-san?" she asked again, thinking that he just said something that she might have not heard.

"No, it's nothing!" Issei said almost immediately, shaking his head a few times to shake off his nervousness. "Look, I'm sorry for making all of you wait, but I guess I was just so tired that I wanted to rest a bit!" he lied, faking a smile that he tried to make it look realistic.

"Okay, Ise-san!" she replied with no hesitation as she ran over towards the bed and hugged him tightly. "Just please tell us when you feel tired again, okay? We'll do our best to make you feel better no matter what!"

"Sure, that won't be a problem, Asia!" he replied, returning her embrace by wrapping his arms around her. In his thoughts though, it was a completely different story.

'Yes, she bought it!' Issei cheered inwardly. 'I feel kind of bad for lying to Asia, but I can't let them know that Sera-chan was here earlier… speaking of which…' Images of Serafall Leviathan wearing her maid costume earlier began to flood his mind before he shook his head repeatedly to rid himself of it. 'Why in the hell was she wearing that kind of outfit earlier? And why was she asking for punishment? Is it really true what Ddraig said about her lusting over me?' his mind drifted off for a few moments to think about what he should do.

'If that's the case, then I'll just have to avoid her attempts at all costs… she's not herself right now, and I don't want anything to happen to her while she's unaware of it… Ddraig said that it would only last for a few weeks, right? I think I can hold out for that long…'

Little did he know that it won't be that way anymore.

Because the cute and innocent Sera-chan that he knew had just undergone a change in her state of mind.

The following day, Issei was on his way to the basement for some training since he figured that it would be a good way to make sure that he didn't lose track of his own abilities despite all the drama that he had been involved for the past days. Today was a national holiday, so there won't be any classes throughout the whole country. In all honesty, Issei should still be in bed right now, sleeping.

But in order to stay strong and become even stronger, he had to train.

After sharing a quick cup of coffee with Rose, he proceeded on heading towards the basement level of the humongous house, where the training rooms were situated. Issei decided to further improve his Balance Breaker by prolonging the time limit in which he can use it, as well as his swordsmanship using Ascalon since it was his best weapon if his Balance Breaker nor promotion wasn't available. However, he would need help with it since swordfighting wasn't Issei's forte, and either Xenovia or Kiba could lend him a hand.

It was in his luck that there was somebody already there.

'There's someone else training right now?' he thought to himself, hearing the sound of sticks clashing with wood inside. 'Probably Kiba or Xenovia since they're knights… what the heck, either of them can help me anyway!' he finished with a smile, making his way inside the room afterwards.

Xenovia wiped the sweat off her forehead as she destroyed another training dummy using only a kendo stick as a weapon. It was quite amazing that despite her speed as a knight, she had enough destructive power to nearly rival that of a rook's. Due to this, she has been doing nothing but destroy training dummies for the past hour that she has been here.

Walking over to the nearest table, she used the towel that was placed there to further cleanse herself of her sweat while she opened a bottle of water and began drinking.

'What should I do after this?' she asked herself, taking deep breaths out of exhaustion. 'I haven't had a proper breakfast yet… all I ate earlier was a small loaf of bread and a cup of coffee… yes, that sounds about right… training in the morning… what a good way to let out some steam… and I wonder what time will Irina be returning home… Michael-sama did say that she would be gone only for a day —!' sensing that there was somebody walking behind her, she cut herself from her thoughts and turned around, pointing her kendo stick at whoever it was.

"Morning, Xenovia!" said Issei with a smile as he walked closer towards the bluenette as she widened her eyes slightly in surprise at seeing the Sekiryuutei at this kind of place, especially this early in the morning.

"I-Ise…" she muttered weakly, her kendo stick lowering because it was not a threat. "What are you doing here this early? Not that I'm complaining, but it's too early in the morning for you to wake up and go down here, in my opinion…" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, well I decided to go do some training for today… a lot of people are looking up to me as the Red Dragon Emperor, so I need to keep my image strong and I'm not talking about — WHA-WHAT?!" he explained, although he didn't quite finish his sentence because that was the moment when he noticed what Xenovia was wearing.

Xenovia was dressed in a black sports bra with blue linings which left her smooth, flat stomach exposed as well as her modest bust and back; she was also wearing black cycling shorts which perfectly fitted her curves and slender body and left a lot of her legs showing a lot of flesh. Issei has never seen her wear clothes like these; sure, he may see Xenovia wearing skimpy outfits or something else, but this workout gear she had made her look absolutely stunning.

Resisting the urge to drool at the sight in front of him, he shook his head and blushed a bit.

"Uh, why are you wearing that kind of outfit? I'm not angry about it, but… I think this is the first time I've seen you dress like this?" he asked, trying to look innocent by looking to the side.

"Well, since I wanted to do some training, the best way to become faster in attacking is to shed all unnecessary clothing," she answered, continuing to wipe her face with the towel as Issei nodded in response.

"Oh, I getcha."

"I tried to be naked while fighting since it will make my body move at its fastest, but Rossweisse-sensei insisted that I wear this gear," she continued.

'Really? Naked while fighting?' Issei sweat-dropped for a bit before his mind tried to imagine Xenovia destroying training dummies while naked. 'Argh, stop it…' he scolded himself before he looked at the girl again, just admiring her appearance while staying quiet. 'Damn, it feels like I've just noticed how beautiful she is…'

"I-Is there s-something wrong with how I am dressed?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're staring at my clothes for a while now."

"No, nothing's wrong!" he immediately said, feeling that he might have said something off. "It's just that… you look sexy and pretty beautiful while in that sports bra and shorts…" he admitted in a nervous tone with a cute blush staining his cheeks. "I have to say that it suits you, Xenovia."

The girl wasn't expecting that kind of response from Issei as she looked down on the floor to hide a blush. 'He thinks… I'm beautiful…' she muttered to herself, a smile adorning her features. 'Maybe… I

I really do have a chance, ' she thought hopefully, feeling reenergized for another training session.

Noticing that the atmosphere was getting a bit too quiet now, Issei decided to continue in his words. "Anyway Xenovia, do you think you could help me with something?" he asked her.

Snapping herself out of her own fantasies, Xenovia looked back up at the boy with a small smile.

"Sure, Issei. What do you need?"

"Right. As I was saying, many people look up to me as the Red Dragon Emperor so I need to keep my strong image up so that I don't end up embarrassing myself, and I decided that the best way for that to happen is through some training."

"Go on," she said, interested in where this talk was heading to.

"I realized that if my Balance Breaker is unavailable as well as my Evil Piece promotion, the best weapon I'll be left with is Ascalon…" he threw the bluenette a nervous glance. "Do you think that you could… I don't know, help me train in sword fighting? With your background as an exorcist and since you're a knight, I'm sure that you can help me get better! But, i-if you don't want to, I can just ask Kiba because it looks like you're too busy —"

"No, it's fine!" Xenovia cut him off, causing him to widen his eyes slightly at her suddenly heightened voice. "I'd be glad to train with you, Ise… I am done with my training anyway," she walked over to a nearby armory and threw him a kendo stick that was similar to hers, and he managed to catch it in his right hand. "It'd be an honor to help train the Sekiryuutei in swordsmanship."

"Awesome! I knew I could count on you, Xenovia" he cheered on with a toothy grin, which once again caused the blue-haired knight to blush.

The two devils continued training for two hours straight until exhaustion finally got the better of them, leading to them resting on separate chairs while wiping off their body sweat as much as they could. Like what he had hoped for, Issei improved remarkably in how to wield a sword and how to properly fight using it in combat. Hopefully, the next time that he trains with Xenovia, he'll be able to fight on par with her because it was clear that he is way inferior compared to the girl in terms of skill in using a sword.

On the other hand, Xenovia clearly had a fun time training with Issei; the boy could be hard to teach at times to the point where she would have to demonstrate it first-hand, but she did enjoy it nonetheless. It resulted in her hopes of capturing a place in Issei's heart become higher, and in the process, gave her more confidence in herself.

"You sure are an extraordinary swordswoman, Xenovia!" Issei praised with a huge grin, drinking a whole bottle of water afterwards. "Man, if I was in a real fight with you right now, I'm sure that I'm going to lose!"

Xenovia smirked in response. "That was quite flattering, Issei… but I'd consider myself to be leagues behind the top exorcists of the church. And you are improving as well, I must say… I'm sure Irina will be extremely happy once she hears of your progress as soon as she comes back."

Something then clicked inside Issei's mind, something that would help him spend some time with the other girls that he loved. Not as oblivious as he was back then, he knew that Xenovia was attracted to him; whether she only wanted his babies or his love, it didn't matter. What mattered was that he also had feelings for the blue-haired knight like the other members of the ORC, and he wanted to show her just what he exactly thought of her as. Looking at the time at the nearest clock, it was 9:53 in the morning, which would be the perfect time for a certain something.

"Hey, Xenovia?" he called out, gaining her attention. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Aside from a cup of coffee and a small piece of bread… no, I haven't," she answered, shaking her head. "Why do you ask?"

"I know this sounds crazy, but what do you say we go grab brunch together at a restaurant?" he asked with hope in his voice, which soon fell quickly when Xenovia raised an eyebrow in confusion, and forcing him to explain his words even further. "Brunch! You know, breakfast and lunch altogether? You and me, out to eat! It'll be my treat!"

Her eyes widened slightly, thinking of eating with Issei alone in a restaurant. 'I-Ise wants to eat with me? Alone?' she thought to herself. Due to her unwavering feelings for the brown-haired pawn, she couldn't help but blush at his words, very different from her usual and stoic self which is not really that weird since she was still a girl and could experience these kind of feelings when in love. 'The two of us… together… I think I do have a chance! I have a place in his heart!'

She pretended to sniffle her nose with her hand to hide a smile that was threatening to take over her face. "I-I-I… the idea is tempting… I think it would be — WAIT!" she suddenly cut herself off, mid-sentence. "W-What about Irina? She's due to return today from Heaven, and I don't want to miss being the first person to welcome her back."

"Don't worry, we won't take long, Xenovia," he assured her with another smile. "Unless you plan on becoming picky in choosing food and being a slow-eater, that is…" he joked, averting his gaze to the side. "I also want to welcome Irina back, but we have to think of ourselves as well, because I haven't had a real breakfast yet either… and since it's itching closer to noon, it'd be better to have both breakfast and lunch at the same time! This'll be a good way to spend some time together too, if you think about it…" He turned his attention back to Xenovia. "So what do you say?"

Xenovia bit her lip in nervousness, something that she rarely experienced throughout her life. She began to weigh the pros and cons in her mind, thinking what could happen if she did go with him or not. If she did, there was a chance wherein her worries would be laid to rest and if she didn't, she would lose her only chance in finding out whether she had secured a place in Issei's heart.

She wasn't really sure what to pick due to her lack of common sense, but instead of following her mind, she decided to follow her heart. With a smile, she nodded her head and told him her response.

"Sure, I would love to, Ise."

Almost immediately, Issei's eyes lit up like fireflies in the night sky. "Really? You mean it?" he asked, unsure if he heard her right. Xenovia only nodded again in response, causing Issei to bear grin on his face, showing his happiness at the moment. "This is great! What time do you want us to go then?" he asked, wanting the girl to make the decision.

"Just allow me to take a shower… maybe in about an hour, I'll meet you at the front door, Ise. Let me just finish everything up down here."

"Great! I'm gonna go take a shower too, then! I'll see you!" he exclaimed, turning his heel to walk out of the basement, making the bathroom his destination. 'Yes, this would be a good way for me to spend time with Xenovia… I feel like she's the only one who I'm not close with in this house… and I don't want that to happen!' he thought to himself with determination.

The two devils left the basement with smiles on their faces.

They had a date to attend to, which they were both oblivious of.

However, it seemed that it was fate who decided that trouble would find the two of them today.

Xenovia and Issei were walking down through the streets after leaving the Hyoudou residence, both dressed in casual clothing and currently looking for a good place where they could eat. It was a good thing that both Rias and Akeno were still asleep, otherwise they would have ogled their way to get involved in what the two were planning. Rossweisse and Asia, who were both awake when they left were fine with Issei and Xenovia eating brunch together, just as long as the former wouldn't forget them. Koneko and Ravel were at their own rooms according to Asia, both working on homework so that they wouldn't have anything to do for the rest of the day.

In other words, the two devils were as free as the wind today, and that nothing seemed to be bad enough to bother their temporary peace. Except if Serafall shows up out of nowhere and clings on to Issei, of course.

Temporary.

"Do you want to choose where are we gonna eat, Xenovia?" Issei asked.

"No, I'm fine with whatever place you choose, Ise," she answered, waving him off and focused on matching his footsteps so that they were walking together.

"Okay… I just wanted to ask you what you wanted," he stated, shrugging his shoulders. "It'd be wrong of me to pick a place that you don't like," at his words, he never noticed the growing blush on the bluenette's face as the girl turned her eyes to the side.

But while they were walking, they were stopped by 3 delinquents, all of whom looked like they were no more than troublemakers just by the way they looked and how they were dressed. The one on the left was a bit skinny but he was nearly 7 feet tall, towering over his comrades; the one on the right was the opposite, shorter than his fellow lackeys but his weight and body size told the difference. The one in the middle looked like he was the leader, due to his muscular structure and lean body figure, and it was obvious that they were up to no good.

"Hey, sweetie, you wanna go and have some fun? Forget this scrawny weakling and why don't you go hang out with the real men?" the man in the middle looked at her with lustful and disgusting eyes. His eyes then fell to the blue-haired girl's chest, which caused her to scoff and look away.

"I don't like interacting with people who are nothing more than douchebags," she replied harshly, [internally thanking Irina for telling her that insult] causing Issei's eyes to momentarily widen in surprise before the short one stepped up to her.

"What'd you say? Who the hell do you think we are?!" the delinquent got in her face but that didn't do much to provoke Xenovia. "Answer me!" he demanded again, but her silence only invoked rage in him as he tried to punch her in the face. Xenovia, with amazing speed, merely grabbed the tall one among them and blocked the punch with his jaw.

The punch knocked out the poor man out and Xenovia proceeded to kick the short one in the face before punching him in the chest a few times and spun around afterwards, kicking him across the face and sending him plummeting to the ground in an unconscious state.

The leader looked like he wanted to back off but after seeing the taunting grin on the girl's face incensed him to attack her, although it was futile.

Xenovia dashed behind him and hit him behind the head with a swift chop, knocking him unconscious as he dropped to his knees.

She merely let out a sigh, a bit irritated about having to deal with local thugs on a day that was supposed to be only about her and Issei, especially when she knew that this would be her only chance in getting answers about her place in Issei's heart.

Issei was about to intervene but he knew that Xenovia would be able to deal with all of them, knocking all of them out before he could even think of attacking. With a grin on his face, he walked towards Xenovia, grabbing her arm softly as he looked at her brown eyes. "That was amazing… but I think we should leave them right here and let somebody else clean up the mess they made," he said. "We wouldn't want to waste time now, would we?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized, looking down on the ground in shame. "I shouldn't have snapped and attacked out of nowhere… I just didn't want anything to ruin this day for us…"

He patted her head in response, throwing her a smile. "Don't worry, they deserved it anyway. Besides, if you didn't make a move, I would've knocked them all out. Don't think bad of yourself just because of that, okay?" he asked, and the girl nodded, staring straight into his eyes. "That wasn't so bad, was it? Now, let's get a move on!"

As the two were about to leave with Issei holding Xenovia's hand firmly that made her blush furiously, the three troublemakers got up again, although they were all battered and bruised, they could still walk and speak.

"Tch… yeah, you should be sorry. Some fighter chick like you, nobody would ever want you, ya hear me?! Guys like pretty and submissive girls… some tough bitch like you would never get a guy, even that scrawny weakling with you is gonna dump you! You charmless pr —! " the leader that was speaking couldn't finish his words because Issei charged at him and punched him right in the mouth, knocking out his teeth and sending him skidding across the ground before he could.

"I don't like it when others badmouth my friends and loved ones… if you wanna get all of your teeth knocked out, then get ready… or you could get the hell up and don't bother us again," Issei threatened the three with an angry glint in his eyes.

Having understood his message, the other delinquents frantically bowed and apologized before picking up their fallen colleague and finally ran away with frightened yelps.

'Nobody talks about my friends that way,' Issei thought with a smirk, before he looked back at Xenovia and saw that she had a worried and disturbed look on her face.

What the leader of the men earlier said had hit a chord in her and it bothered her immensely since she agreed with what he said to an extent. If she was just sure that she also had a place in Issei's heart, she wouldn't be having these thoughts. But his words were true, and it caused her confidence to diminish greatly, her doubts returning once again, just like how it had been the previous night.

Was it true? Would Issei dump her as well?

"Xenovia, you okay?" Issei looked at her in worry, she might have been affected by what the stupid delinquent just said. "Look, don't listen to what that stupid idiot said, Xenovia… you're better than this. Don't let yourself get looked down upon by just an insult."

"Yeah, I'm fine, Issei…" she lied, chuckling lightly to hide her sadness but this only made Issei more curious about how she was feeling, having a suspicion that there was indeed something wrong with the girl. Deciding that he'll just look into it later on, he turned his attention back to choosing what place they should eat in.

Continuing their journey together, they had just passed by a burger restaurant when Issei suddenly heard something.

"Oh no," Xenovia whispered, blushing a bit when her stomach let out a strong and loud rumble, showing just how hungry she just got after giving three troublemakers a piece of their minds.

"Oh… Gahahahahaha!" Issei let out a good-hearted laugh when he heard her hunger echo, unable to stop himself from making fun of the blue-haired knight.

"It's not funny, Ise! Cut it out!" Xenovia retorted, smacking him in the head out of embarrassment as she put a hand over her stomach in an attempt to silence it of its cries.

"Hehe… sorry… well, since your stomach's pretty hungry for food, how about we eat brunch in this burger joint? If you don't want to, we can always look for another restaurant, Xenovia," Issei suggested kindly as he pointed at the burger joint just behind them.

Xenovia shook her head. "This place is fine, I'm sure we'll be contented here," she said while Issei nodded in response, and then finally, the two went inside.

Issei ordered a huge meal only for the two of them since it was going to be their breakfast and lunch altogether, which consisted of six burgers, a small bucket of fries, two plates of onion rings, two hotdog sandwiches, and two milkshakes. When Xenovia argued that she had doubts on whether they could eat everything that he ordered, he just shrugged it off and bring the leftover food back home for the other girls. It took about fifteen minutes for their food to arrive, and during that time, Xenovia's stomach growled louder than before which earned Issei many smacks in the head for laughing at the girl.

While they were eating in silence at the beginning, the two devils began to have a conversation, but slowly, the conversation took a deeper tone because of Xenovia. This was her chance to find out if she really did have a place in Issei Hyoudou's heart.

"Hey, Issei, what do you plan to do with Irina? How do you feel about her?" Xenovia was curious about Issei's relationship with her ever since she found out that Michael had created a special room where mating was possible for an angel without falling. If things went out all right, it would be likely that she returns home with the interdimensional room complete. With Irina's strong connection and history with him, Xenovia felt insecure about being able to compete with her for Issei's affections, especially when she can now freely chase after the same boy.

She, a woman who had merely brawn and a stubborn head, had small chances of winning against Asia and Irina, her two closest friends. Even though she would provoke flirtatious attempts and try to seduce Issei, she secretly felt like she had less chances of capturing a piece of his heart, if not the whole thing. If she had to recall every moment that they had spent alone, it was either interrupted or stopped by Issei himself, and it made her feel like he didn't really like her.

Issei was surprised with her question that he didn't speak for a few seconds before he finally sighed in response. "Do you want the honest answer?"

Xenovia nodded.

"Well, she's my childhood friend, and I do have feelings for her too, but we're not exactly 'there' yet… I think I'll try and spending time with her when she returns… I feel as if there's a spark there somewhere in me. There's something in my heart that helps attract me to her, maybe it's because we've known each other since we're kids, and I know her so well… despite the fact that I thought she was a boy… but ever since she left for England, I feel like I've forgotten that she existed in my life… but I'm not going to let that happen because I know to myself that she is someone who is important to me… so as soon as she returns, I'm going to try asking her out," Issei gave her his honest opinion, slurping a bit of his vanilla milkshake.

His answer was something that Xenovia was a bit glad about, albeit barely. This would at least give her time to make a move on him and would give her a chance to advance her relations with him, even if it was only a day. She didn't care, as long as she would get a chance.

"Say, Issei, what about Asia?" Xenovia's tone grew shakier as her worries grew stronger, losing her self-confidence once again and feeling that she might have lost that particular chance.

'What the heck is going on with her? Earlier, it's pretty clear to me that she was lying about her being fine… now, she's getting all nervous? For what reason? What is she thinking?' Issei was quite a bit worried at how she was acting right now, but he wasn't really sure on what to follow.

"Asia? Well, to put it straight, I love her too. She's gentle and kind is never violent on a natural level. She's always willing to help and she is always forgiving of others no matter what she endures. I love that part of her. Ever since we first met, I felt some kind of natural instinct that I would stay with her and protect her until the end." Issei felt terrible for throwing this in her face since it seemed like Xenovia's mood was sinking with every word that he said about Asia and Irina.

Downtrodden was an understatement for how she was feeling right now.

Her sense of defeat was starting to take hold of her and Issei knew that he had to find out why.

"Xenovia, why are you asking all of this? Is something wrong? Please tell me." Issei was growing concerned about her as she looked like she was at a breaking point, ready to cry at any moment and he didn't want to see the stoic and prideful Xenovia crying over something that he didn't know about.

"Nothing, I just wanted to know." Xenovia shook her head, made a fake smile and tried to look convincing but Issei knew something was amiss. Over the past few weeks, he had learned how to read people's emotions under the blanket out of his own experience while he was struggling with his trauma, so it was safe to say that the blue-haired beauty was going through something.

But for the sake of finishing their food, he didn't say anything more.

It doesn't mean that he would give up, though.

Leaving the restaurant, the two returned home in silence, with neither of them wanting to speak about what just happened between them, especially Xenovia.

Upon reaching the Hyoudou residence, they found out that Irina still hasn't returned despite the time being 11:04 in the morning, before they received a scolding from Rias that they went out without her permission, although it was clear that she was speaking out of jealousy since Akeno was giggling in the background. Issei made up for his mistake immediately by showing all the leftover food that him and Xenovia didn't manage to eat to the other girls and told them all that it would be their lunch for the day and that Akeno wouldn't have to cook anymore, which managed to distract them since his mind was focused on something else.

After that whole ordeal, Issei decided that he needed to talk to Xenovia about what was going on at the restaurant. About why was she acting all emotional, trembling, doubtful, questioning, and sad. It just didn't make sense for someone like her to act that way because it was not in her personality to be all emotional.

He quickly made his way towards her room and knocked on the door gently, hoping that she would answer. Because just after Rias scolded both him and Xenovia, the blue-haired knight immediately went out of sight from everyone else except for Issei himself, and he figured that she might have headed towards her bedroom.

He waited patiently for an answer, but after a whole minute, there was no response from the other side of the door.

Issei knocked again, a little bit louder this time, but found silence yet again. He was getting even more worried for Xenovia with every passing second that he didn't receive any reply from the girl.

"Xenovia?" Issei tried calling out through the door, hoping to get a reaction from her. A few seconds later, there was still no answer from the bluenette and he was getting more frustrated by now. "Xenovia! Open up! Let me in!" Issei called out calmly with a more forceful tone this time.

On the other side of the door, Xenovia was in a sobbing fit. She had her head between her knees and she sat on top of her bed.

This was so strange. The blunt and strong Xenovia was sobbing like a girl that had just lost the love of her life. It seemed like the words that the leader delinquent had said towards her had affected her more than she ever knew.

She had spent the time from when her and Issei had gotten home, up until now, crying in her room as her mind tortured her with the small chances that she had at obtaining some of Issei's affections since she knew that he loved other girls. Especially Sona Sitri and Serafall Leviathan, two devils whom, as far as she knew, barely had any connection with Issei.

And then she just found out that he was engaged to the two of them?

And then there was also the undeniable fact that she had the least involvement with his past and she had the least intimate moments with him. Yes, they were comrades, but that didn't mean that she would have the most meaningful and major memories with him because she was always overshadowed by others. Now, she was overshadowed by two people who had already made their move on Issei while her back was turned.

She remembered how Issei requested and begged Michael to allow her and Asia to pray again. This act made her overjoyed since she could continue her faith but it also started the development of her feelings for him.

It hurt to know that she probably wouldn't have a shot at having a child with him, let alone have a family, nor a life together with him.

Of course, these were all nothing but lies, but she didn't realize that because of her own stubborn and blunt mind. She was too quick to jump to conclusions, but she was clouded with angst right now, so correcting herself of her own thoughts would be near-impossible.

Xenovia had spent a while sobbing in her room, thinking about how the other girls had advantages over her. Rias was his master and she was the one who reincarnated him into being a devil, saving him from a horrible fate. Akeno was always spoiling and teasing him but she would also help him whenever he needed help. Asia was always gentle and forgiving and Issei had went into [Juggernaut Drive] just for her. Koneko heals his life force with senjutsu after every battle they have so she had extra private time with him, not to mention the fact that she liked sitting on his lap. Irina, as far as she knew, was his first kiss and childhood friend so she knew him better than all of them, and Issei was planning to take her on a date tomorrow. Rossweisse was his teacher and it was revealed that she also loved him; she could also cook, clean, and she was extremely intelligent for a Valkyrie. Lastly, Ravel was going to be his manager (Sirzechs mentioned it once) and she was an excellent strategist who was always close to Issei just as much as Koneko was.

Now, there were two other girls who stood atop them all.

From what she remembered, Sona grew closer to Issei after she lost to him in a game of chess which resulted in them getting engaged to one another. From there, it seemed like everything just went its own way because it led to her being completely in love with Issei by now. Serafall had a different situation, because she chose the Sekiryuutei to be her fiance, which led to Issei losing his virginity to the devil king herself after only two simple but special dates. By now, Serafall was clingy towards him just as how she was towards her sister, showing just how in love and obsessed she was with Issei.

The two sisters were surely at the top of Issei's heart right now, with her fellow clubmates somewhere near that or by the middle.

She had the least intimate interactions with him and it felt like she was at the bottom.

However, she was wrong.

Outside the room, Issei pressed the right side of his head against the door since she wouldn't reply. He then heard sniffling through the door and that was when he decided that he'd been negligent enough for one day. He forced the door open with a strong push and surprised Xenovia that she turned her head towards the doorway.

Upon seeing Issei's face, she turned her head to the opposite direction with bloodshot eyes in an attempt to hide her face from him, not wanting him to see just how vulnerable she had gotten because of her own emotions for him.

"What are you doing Issei?" Xenovia questioned him with a frustrated tone.

Issei didn't respond and immediately walked over towards the bed and sat right in front of her. He rested both his hands on her shoulders and prevented her from turning her body away, which she tried to do after he just sat in front of her at the edge of the bed.

"Xenovia, please tell me the truth. What's wrong?" Issei asked with a concerned and gentle voice.

The girl couldn't lie anymore, and she couldn't hold back. She bit her lip and tried to repress her emotion but it all came out, regardless of what she tried to do.

"I-I can't…" she whispered, barely loud enough for herself to hear.

"What?" Issei asked again, unable to hear what she was saying.

He then saw Xenovia's tears trickle down her face and fall onto her lap, causing him to widen his eyes slightly, because the blue-haired knight was crying. This was something that he only saw once, which was when she found out the truth that God was dead. And during that time, her emotions have gotten the best of her.

That could compare to what was happening right now.

"I can't compete with the other girls!" she confessed to him with a red sobbing face and tearful eyes, tearing her arms away from her head so that Issei could see her face.

"What? Why?" Issei was truly confused. Back then, until recently, she was always trying to take the chance to make a move on him to try and bear his babies but now, she was surrendering? What exactly happened that made her think like this?

"All of the other girls, they have the advantage! They have relationships that are so much closer to you! They have more special memories with you! They have better traits than me! They can cook, clean, and they can understand what's going on in the atmosphere! They've helped you in your problems whenever you needed help! Now, you've slipped away and I don't have a chance anymore… Kaichou… and Leviathan-sama… they are two girls that I think of as strangers… but they are engaged to you! All I can do is break and destroy things! Why did I ever think that I could get some of your attention and affections? I have nothing to be exceptional for and I know other men wouldn't want a girl like me!" Xenovia ranted as she let all of her repressed thoughts out. She sobbed afterwards and refused to meet his eyes as she stayed in the same position she was in earlier.

Issei was initially caught in a state of shock with what she just said, before he sighed and was ready to prove her wrong. 'I should've known… no wonder she was asking questions about Asia and Irina earlier…' he said to himself.

He gripped her shoulders, and brought her head onto his shoulder and comforted her by patting her head and rubbing her back to help calm her down.

"Xenovia, you and all of the girls are unique. You all have great traits and bad traits like any other living person. You mean so much to me just as much as the others, so stop crying," Issei spoke softly to her but she still cried nonetheless.

"Like what?" she questioned him as she couldn't find an answer herself.

"You're strong, resilient, and you care so much for your friends…" he explained, a smile grazing across his features. "When Asia was nearly killed by Shalba, you were the first to charge at him in anger and vengeance just to pay him back for Asia. You tried to help Gya-suke with his fears in order to help him grow. You made sure that he didn't lose on purpose during the match with Sairaorg-san's peerage. You care so much for your friends that you're strong for them. I think that puts you on equal footing with the other girls. You stand up to others and you stick to your beliefs and your confident. Even when I reject your advances, you bounce back. So don't ever think that you're at a disadvantage. It's true that Sona, Sera-chan, Irina, Rias, Asia, and all the other girls hold a part of my heart, but, you also hold some of it too. Nobody is on top of anybody here, because you are all equal to me."

Issei's words left Xenovia stunned.

'He-He thinks of me like that? I… hold… a part of Ise's… heart… so… it's true… he… likes me… as well…' Xenovia couldn't be more overjoyed. The one thing she wasn't confident about, was true all along. She did hold a part of his heart after all. He did have feelings of her as well. She did have good traits. All of her fears and self-inflicted mental torture were for naught, for it was all just a fabrication in her mind. They were all immediately forgotten like the wind blows, because Xenovia was not the type of person to hang on to the past.

Chuckling slightly, he pulled back from their embrace as he stared longingly into her brown eyes, before he inched closer to her and did something that was to never be expected of him.

"I think… I love you, Xenovia… and I'm not kidding around," he whispered as he brought his lips against her soft ones in a deep kiss. The girl's eyes widened in surprise and joy, loving the feeling of Issei's lips on hers. A few moments passed, her tears have dried up and was forgotten, because a newfound emotion just took over Xenovia, feeling that she could scream out of happiness right now.

Instead of sorrow, she started to cry tears of joy as she realized that even if she couldn't have all of Issei's love, she still had it. Even if it was just a piece.

Issei cupped her cheek with his hand while she wrapped an arm around his neck, deepening their kiss even further so she could show just how much she loved the brunette. Their passionate liplock continued for a few more seconds before they finally parted lips and Xenovia wiped away her tears.

She smiled brightly at Issei and hugged him.

"Thank you, Issei…" she whispered to him as Issei returned the hug.

"Of course, Xenovia." Issei whispered back to her.

"Can I… can I ask you something?"

He made no hesitation to nod in response. "Sure, what do you want to ask?"

"Since you just showed me how much I mean to you… can I show you how much you mean to me in return?" she said, trying to prevent a blush from appearing on her face out of embarrassment before she noticed him raise an eyebrow. "I want to make a baby with you."

LEMON ALERT! LEMON ALERT! LEMON ALERT!

"Um…" he didn't know how to respond, feeling that the Xenovia he was talking to was the same one from back then who would constantly try to make babies with him. "Honestly, it's really up to you, Xenovia… I'm fine with whatever decision you make. But don't you think that we are going too fast if that's the case? You were just crying a while ago, and it doesn't feel right to be doing it just after that. Nobody's rushing us, and we can take this slow."

Her mood immediately changed into a slightly serious one as she threw him a light glare. "Do you deem me as a weak person? You know that I still have my pride, Ise… and I am not going to stand by while two other girls already had intercourse with you. I'm going to have your babies as well, because that has been my goal ever since."

He had no idea what's going on, but what happened next managed to catch him off guard.

Xenovia slammed her lips back into his, engaging another intense liplock between the two devils, which was also completely different from their earlier kiss. Again, the girl's sadness has been completely forgotten and was replaced with this new girl who was longing to prove her love. Their kiss just a while ago was full of passion and it showed the love that they had for each other beneath it; what was happening between them right now was a bit different, because lust had just found its way towards the two. Being a devil, Xenovia soon found herself giving in to her desire and lust for the boy, sneaking in her tongue in his mouth to start its exploration.

Issei could not help but moan in surprise at the way Xenovia was kissing him at this very moment. He had thought she was in this kind of thing, but then again, it must be because of the two of them being devils and that she must be acting under her lust. He didn't know what to do until his more primal side began to take over him. Once that side of him got a good enough grip on the brunette's wits and mental faculties, he reacted the way any man would.

'To hell with slowing down,' he thought to himself, letting his emotions flow out of him.

He kissed Xenovia back and began to touch her body slowly through the clothing. Xenovia moaned out as she began to increase the passion in her kiss and also using her hands to touch and caress Issei's own form through the red shirt that he was wearing. Once the kiss between the two of them ended, the blue-haired beauty looked at Issei and he could see that she had a blush on her face even after kissing him with such intensity and passion.

Using her extraordinary speed as a knight piece, her attention drifted to his clothes, clearly knowing what she wanted to do next. She started by removing the red shirt that he had on, revealing his naked chest. Xenovia couldn't help but smile a bit at the sight of Issei's well-toned and built form, there were muscles all over him and he was certainly fit in more ways than one. She wanted to bear strong babies, and this was a good sign of that happening in the future.

She couldn't help but feel very attracted by the sight of Issei like this. She also couldn't help but feel that she was slightly responsible for this happening, mostly because of the intense training that they just had earlier this morning. But she knew that now was not the time to be all googly-eyed and there was still a lot for her to see. She then moved to begin removing Issei's pants and boxers, her lust for him fully taking over.

She couldn't help but be amazed by the fact that Issei was actually buffed up right now, and to see his fully naked upper form all alone was very good to her eyes. He was well formed and muscled, there was not a single trace of fat on his body and he looked very healthy, a strange thing considering that he was rarely seen training by almost anyone.

Xenovia went for his pants next, and then followed by his boxers. She broke up their makeout session as she looked at Issei and she couldn't help but look at him from head to toe over and over. While she was busy drooling over his naked form, he smirked for a moment before he kicked both of his shoes off and proceeded to resume their intense liplock.

Taking advantage of her trance, he slowly pushed her down to lie on the bed as he grabbed the hem of her shirt and slowly pulled it off her. Xenovia pushed herself off the bed in order to help get her shirt off, leaving her in a blue bra that seemed too small to contain her cleavage. He snaked his left arm around her and into her back, unhooking her bra hook as he pulled away the useless piece of underwear with one tug, throwing it to the side as he gazed at the girl's naked chest.

Her breasts were not as large as some of the women's breasts he had always felt, Rias' breasts being among those in his mind. But they were not small either, they were well formed and large enough to suit Xenovia's body figure, and her nipples were well shaped and each was topped with a pink, eraser-nub shaped, nipple. Now that he was all alone with the blue-haired beauty in her own room, he couldn't stop himself from staring at Xenovia's breasts because of his damn fetish, an action that caused the girl to look away slightly in embarrassment.

Snapping himself out of his own perverted thoughts, he decided to save those desires for later as his eyes fell on her purple leggings that hugged her legs tightly and showed off her curves. He looked back up and that was when she pulled him in for another deep kiss, hiddenly showing that she didn't want to move on with things just yet. In response, Issei pressed two fingers on her crotch, slowly rubbing her clit through her clothing and causing the girl to squirm slightly underneath him out of pleasure. He kept on doing this until she stopped exploring his mouth with her tongue, giving up in the fight.

Parting from the kiss, he kissed his way down her neck and slowly took in her scent before he planted his mouth firmly on her right breast, making the bluenette gasp in surprise. While his mouth started to work its magic on her boob, he grabbed the hem of her leggings and slowly pulled it off her as well, and Xenovia didn't hesitate to lift herself off the bed to help it get off. Along the way, he also grabbed the hem of her blue panties and pulled it off as well, leaving nothing covering her lower regions.

Issei separated from her breast momentarily so that he could pull off the rest of her clothes all the way, and now both devils were naked in each other's presence. Then they found themselves staring at one another, taking in each other's image and burning it into their minds.

A few seconds passed with nothing but silence, Issei finally broke the rising tension in the atmosphere by saying a few words that would affect her to her very core.

"You look so beautiful, Xenovia…" he said with a smile. "This is what I'm talking about earlier… you don't need to compare yourself to the other girls because you're all fine just the way you are."

Xenovia could tell that Issei was not kidding or teasing her at all and that was something that she enjoyed immensely. She could tell that she was actually blushing and she couldn't stop herself from flashing a smile that represented her feelings right now.

"Thank you Ise, I never thought of it that way. And you look handsome as well, if I must say. Our baby will surely inherit your muscular structure in any case that it'll be a boy, but I am quite contented with a girl too… I can just train her into becoming a strong woman," she said, smiling as well.

Issei couldn't help but blush a bit after hearing her make those kinds of remarks about them having a baby this early. But his embarrassment became only a mere memory because. But he was not going to get a break as Xenovia decided to finally ramp things up between her and Issei as she moved up to kiss him, causing him to moan slightly in surprise.

This was more than enough to convince him that doing nothing was not the best of ideas and he was more than willing to respond as he was making his move on Xenovia, despite the fact that it was her first time in this act.

"Mmmm…"

Xenovia let out a low moan as Issei was now beginning to kiss her slowly once again, leaning down to press his body against hers. The blue-haired beauty responded by wrapping her arms around his body, allowing her naked form to grind against Issei's own. The feeling of their bodies rubbing against one another sent shivers of pleasure through her body, something that she enjoyed considerably and causing her to grind her body against his even more. What's more, the feel of his hot skin on her own served to increase the heat inside her body and only served to make the kiss between them a lot hotter than before.

Issei enjoyed the more passionate response from Xenovia and found it to be all worthwhile as he began to use his own tongue as they duelled with one another inside their mouths. Like the fighter that she was, Xenovia didn't want to lose this particular fight but she had to admit that she was enjoying Issei's taste and when they parted from the kiss for air, they did so with some level of reluctance due to how well they liked each other's mouths.

That was soon going to fade however as Issei decided to take the initiative and began to lavish kisses and licks on Xenovia's skin, making her moan a bit louder at his actions. Between the two of them, Issei was the one who had more experience in sex, so Xenovia had no problem with him taking the lead.

"Aahh~"

The girl started to moan even louder as Issei began to lavish attention on her breasts and nipples, making her very happy as the sensations ran through her nipples, through her breasts and spread from her chest all the way to the roots of her hair to the tips of her fingers and toes… and back again. However, she wasn't able to hear her own noises of pleasure because the boy just clamped his left hand over her mouth to ensure that no other person can hear them. It felt wonderful and the way that Issei was using his tongue and mouth on her breasts and nipples, she could have sworn that he was trying to take in her very taste right to her bones.

And she enjoyed it for all it was worth… a child with him.

Xenovia couldn't stop herself from reaching out with her hands to hold him close to her and make sure that he was still giving her breasts and nipples the pleasure she wanted. It looked as if that aside from making a baby with Issei, she also wanted to treat her first time as if it was her last day in the world. As good as that felt however, she decided that now would be a good time for him to direct his oral ministrations on other eager places on her body and she spoke to him gently.

"Ise… keep… going…" she muttered weakly, almost unable to formulate even simple statements.

He was more than willing to do just what she wanted him to do as he began to use his hands on Xenovia's naked form and she was more than happy for the physical contact between the two of them. She felt his hands moving from her shoulders, to her arms, back then to her shoulders and down to her chest, which were all likely one of the sensitive spots of her body. Xenovia moaned deeply as she felt her lover's hands on her breasts, moving around to caress them gently before moving his mouth on her chest and nipples.

"Mmmmm!"

Xenovia moaned gently as she enjoyed the moments of pleasure with Issei. Nothing was on her mind right now except the fact that she was about to have sexual intercourse with the man that she had feelings for, the man she loved. He sucked on her right nipple slowly, licking and rubbing his lips on them. He was not just doing that to her right nipple as he moved to her left one, endowing it the very same pleasure he had given her right earlier to it as well. Xenovia enjoyed it as she moved her hands over to his hair, enjoying the feel of his hair, surprised that despite the way it always looked, it felt good and she enjoyed it all while running her hands on his face. Xenovia moaned out even more as Issei carried on with his actions on her breasts, moving from her nipples to licking and touching her breasts, enjoying the feel of them on his mouth and tongue.

And she was more than willing to scream out her pleasure for the actions that he was doing her at this very moment, even if her voice was muffled so that no one would hear it.

"Ohhh…"

Issei moved from her breasts and nipples, as he began to run his hands on the rest of her body. She gasped in surprise at the feel of Issei's hot hands on her skin before he moved his hands up and down her sides, all the way to her hips, much to her delight as it gave her goosebumps in response to his touch.

"Ise…"

Xenovia sighed in happiness as Issei was now touching and pleasuring her body once more and he was a lot more impassioned than before with his actions. She could tell it was happening as he sucked and licked her breasts and nipples while moving his hands over to them. He started caressing them in time with his mouth and tongue which served to make her all the more pleasured by his actions. He moved his fingers to her entrance and her leaking juices already told him that she was really wet as well as hot and eager for more, and he was more than ready and willing to give her just that.

The boy enjoyed the feel and taste of Xenovia's breasts and nipples along with the warmth of her luscious and well-formed fleshy orbs. He however, was sure that he was going to take things to a much higher state as he began to move away from her breasts, intending to take things further. He moved his mouth away from her bust but not before kissing her deeply, and once the kiss ended between them, he moved back to kissing and licking his way between her legs.

His hands were already ahead and when he touched her clitoris, Xenovia was more than willing to react to his actions as she quickly parted her legs without hesitation. Issei took that as a good thing and positioned himself between Xenovia's thighs, he did not waste time as he placed her legs on his shoulders and to the girl's surprise, Issei moved to his knees before sitting down on his butt, making her hips rise up and allow him to see her womanhood in a very interesting angle and made the beautiful swordswoman blush at the embarrassing position she was in.

After making sure that she was not against this or anything, he began to lick her soaking pussy and he started to use his fingers to play with her hips, ass, before parting her outer folds, allowing him to really see her in all her glory, much to Xenovia's embarrassment. He only chuckled slightly before he started to lick her inner sheath and outer walls slowly to make sure that she would be happy.

And Xenovia was more than willing to shout out the results of Issei's actions on her sex.

"Aaaah! Keep… going! Ise!"

She was utterly happy as the pleasure flowed through every nerve in her body at that exact moment as Issei continued to use his tongue to lap up her juices while also rubbing into her inner walls. Each moment that Issei ran his tongue on her pussy and even thrusted it into her inner sheath was more than enough to make Xenovia moan out with each passing breath. And she relished the sensations as those feelings flowed up and down every part of her body and it was a wonder to her that she had not reached her orgasm yet. Being a woman of the church back then, she had no knowledge about things like this up until now that she became a devil.

And Xenovia loved the way that Issei was quickly finding out just how to pleasure her the way she wanted. He was quickly able to learn just how fast he could move his tongue in and out of her entrance and how to really touch every part of her inner walls. She wailed away her pleasure while Issei also caressed her body slowly and patiently which was a contrast to the passionate and frenzied way he was licking her womanhood, also showing that there was a clashing of sides inside of him.

"It feels… good…"

It was not going to be long for her to reach her limits, but she didn't want the pleasure to stop. This was so good and she was going to savour her climax when it came, and arrive it did as she wrapped her legs around Issei's waist and her body trembled as she cried out her orgasm.

"AAAGGHHH!"

Xenovia's back arched up from the bed and she felt like she was about to pass out from all the pleasure that had suddenly slammed hard into her brain. She couldn't help but look downwards to see Issei continuing to lap up her juices from her sex and he didn't seem to mind at what he was doing and the fact that the girl just had her first orgasm. That made her very happy and she decided to enjoy it all as Issei began to gently lower her down and place her legs back on the ground slowly while still lapping up her wetness.

As for Issei, he enjoyed the way that he was able to bring Xenovia to her climax and he enjoyed tasting her wetness on the tip of his tongue, and soon all around it. He also made sure to reach out and use his fingers to once more play with her pussy and clit once he was able to take in as much as he could. He also enjoyed watching Xenovia as she began to recover from her orgasm and as soon as he was sure that her breathing was finally normal, he moved himself up to kiss her. And the girl did not mind that at all that she tasted her own juices on his lips as well as his tongue, as long as she would be able to kiss him.

Once that was done between the two of them, Issei looked at Xenovia as he began to rub his throbbing manhood on the outer folds of her entrance, making her moan as her pussy was still sensitive from her first climax of the night. He looked at her one last time, wanting to make sure that she was fine with this before he could make any further moves. "Are you really fine with this, Xenovia? We can wait a little further if you want to. Like I said, there's nothing really rushing us."

The blue-haired beauty sighed. "You can say that, however, not only do I want your babies, but I also want to make sure that my place in your heart, Ise. And from how I see it, this is the only way for me to do that, so please continue. This is what I want."

That was more than enough to tell Issei that she was more than willing for him to do so and her next words were more than enough to make him double sure of what he was about to do.

"This may hurt a little..." he warned her, looking at her with eyes of concern. "Are you ready?" he threw her a quick glance and she nodded without any hesitation. Taking a deep breath, he pushed forward, taking her purity with one move. The action made Xenovia wince in pain, closing her eyes tightly to resist it. The girl broke her hymen during her training a few years back, but it didn't stop the pain she felt when her virginity got torn.

"X-Xenovia, you're so tight… are you okay?" he asked, feeling her inner walls clamp down on his erection that he felt it was harder to move.

"Yes, I'm fine… don't worry about me… I broke my hymen years ago…" she said, trying to keep up a strong look as she didn't want to look weak. Xenovia was trying her best on resisting the pain that she felt, but that particular feeling said farewell too soon as she was brought back to reality when Issei started moving in and out of her womanhood slowly to let her get used to his size.

Xenovia felt like heaven at this very moment. She had never felt more pleasure in her entire life, that she couldn't help but scream out how good she felt. However, remembering that somebody could possibly hear them, she willingly slapped her right hand towards her mouth to muffle her voice so that she wouldn't be heard by others. Issei then leaned down and captured her lips in a deep kiss, wanting to savor this particular moment with Xenovia.

It was true, the blue-haired beauty had the least number of moments with him, as well as the amount of time that they have spent together. It felt like it was only right that Xenovia was with him right now, because he had no idea how long she might have been longing for him.

Their two tongues danced and twisted in each other's presence that every time the two devils pulled away, a trail of saliva would connect their mouths together.

"Oh, you look so hot, Xenovia!" replied Issei with vigor, feeling an intense boost in his energy the moment that the girl was staring straight into his eyes. He then began thrusting faster into her, which only caused the girl to turn into a moaning mess, her eyes becoming filled with lust and desire, the stoic church girl momentarily forgotten. Soon after, the both of them were sweating hard and the room only became a lot hotter despite being air-conditioned which was accompanied with by the loud sounds of their moaning and their skins slapping against each other with every movement.

In a shocking move, Xenovia grabbed both of her lover's hands and placed them on her own breasts, silently telling him to play with her assets while they make love, which only drew more loud moans from the girl as soon as Issei complied with what she wanted. After a few seconds of squeezing and groping both of her perfectly-shaped mounds, he separated from their kiss and dove down towards the valley between her breasts, giving her chest a long lick downwards until he reached her navel. Xenovia's toes curled in pleasure when she felt the boy kiss and lick her bellybutton as Issei made his thrusts even faster and harder than before.

Just a minute later, she felt that familiar feeling in her pussy and her toes curled even more at the intense but extraordinary feeling, nearing her climax once again. "That feeling… I can feel it again… I'm going to… Ise!" she moaned out, which only made Issei continue pump inside her pussy with exceptional speed, causing her to cry out in total bliss and ecstasy. She stared into his eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting to attain as much contact with him as possible.

"AAAHHHH!" Xenovia moaned out as loud as she could, another mind-blowing orgasm was escaping her body, and coating Issei's member with her juices.

"I'm not done yet… we're just getting started…" Issei breathed out, while taking a moment to catch his breath since the blue-haired knight just had an orgasm. Her body was still shaking and she was sweating so much, the toll of their love-making being taken from her. But the pleasure and seed that she would be receiving in return was worth it, so she simply rolled with it like she always did when faced with a serious situation.

"But nothing happened to me, so you better prepare yourself!" He then grabbed the girl from behind her back and carried her so that she was sitting on his lap. Without any warning, he thrusted his still-erect member inside her womanhood again, causing her to throw her head back in pleasure as he began a new batch of thrusts, faster and harder than before, ravaging her insides in the process.

"Faster!" she moaned happily, enjoying the pleasure that he was giving her, succumbing to her lecherous and inner desires. "Do it harder!" In compliance with her pleads, Issei started squeezing both of her butt cheeks, fondling them like what he did with her boobs, which caused her to pull the boy in for another deep make-out session, and nothing but lust had taken over the atmosphere. "It feels so... good..." she moaned out every time they separated for air, nearly losing her voice.

"Just a little bit more…" he said while smirking, grabbing both of her legs once more as he carried her while standing up from the bed, pinning her to the wall while still deep in their kiss. This new position allowed Issei to slide into her even deeper as she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly to further intensify their liplock.

Xenovia was raking her fingernails all over his back, leaving scratch marks everywhere but Issei paid it no heed when his hands found her ass once again, and began to play with it like what he did earlier. Her hands then moved up to run over his brown hair wildly, letting her devilish intentions out. In return, his fingers then travelled up and down her sides, tickling the girl and causing her to slightly giggle into their kiss in response. As time passed by, he thrusted into her even faster than before, causing her breasts to bounce in sync with his movements as the sound and scent of sex filled the bedroom.

A few minutes later, she was feeling that familiar feeling in her nether regions once again, and that caused her to wrap her strong legs around his waist and pulled Issei even closer to her.

"Ise, I can't take it anymore! It's… it's coming out!" she moaned out, losing strength in her own body that she had to plant her hands on the wall to keep herself elevated from the floor.

Xenovia's naked body only strengthened Issei's lust and desire, and the sound of her screams were like a drug towards him. Her womanhood was clamping down on his cock with every second, making it harder for him to go faster, but that didn't stop him from grabbing the girl's butt firmly in his hands and began to go at his fastest, penetrating through Xenovia's deepest parts with his pulsating dick. He had been holding his orgasm ever since Xenovia's last climax, but now the intense feeling in his manhood returned due to how fast he was going as if he didn't want to stop. It was doubled with Xenovia's inner walls chewing down on his member even more, his orgasm approaching.

"Xenovia, me too!" he moaned out, gritting his teeth. "I'm close! I'm going to cum!" he thrusted into her as fast and hard as he could, making Xenovia scream like a wolf that was in heat. "I'm gonna cum inside!" he announced as he felt his release.

"Inside, Ise! Give me a child! I want your child!" she cried out happily, finally reaching her limit after another intense round of sex as Issei pushed inside her for the final time as they, reached their orgasm together, unable to hold down their scream of pleasure.

"ISEEEEE!"

"XENOVIAAAA!"

Both devils threw their heads back as their mouths were left wide open and hanging after their special time together. Issei's white load shot inside her and was met with Xenovia's juices, so much that it was leaking out of the girl's pussy and started dripping on the floor.

As soon as things began to cool down, Xenovia's head fell down on his shoulder as she started to pant in exhaustion. Issei hugged her close to him as he carried her over to the bed and sat down, relaxing after their pleasurable time together. He ran his hand all over her blue hair, which caused the girl to separate from him slightly, staring at his handsome face. Xenovia smiled warmly at him as he smiled back, they hugged one another as tears of joy once again escaped the girl's eyes, as she was successful in her goal. She indeed had a place in Issei's heart and she was going to have his babies.

They knew to themselves that they only had a few minutes of rest, so they lied down on the bed with Xenovia holding on to him in a possessive manner, letting their bodies rest after an exhausting hour.

Because Irina would surely be expecting them to welcome her back.

Unaware to the two of them, somebody was watching the whole scene from outside the window. This particular person hid her whole body from view that only her eyes and the top of her head could be seen. She was wearing a pink maid cap and the pink ribbons holding up her hair perfectly suited it.

Although her whole face couldn't be seen, it could be pointed out that she was pouting just from her eyebrows and eyes. Her devil wings suddenly came into view, showing what kind of being she was.

"Darn, I was beaten to him!" Serafall whispered to herself, watching the two devils cuddle in bed. "I wanted to spend time with Ise-sama today! Mou, I should've acted a lot sooner… oh fine, all right… I'll see if I can spend some alone time with Ise-sama today… just thinking about his punishment is getting me so hot…" she whispered seductively to herself, rubbing her legs together.

No more than fifteen minutes later, Xenovia left her room with Issei to go join the others downstairs in the living room because she was sure to herself that Irina was now back. Just as how she predicted it, as soon as Issei and her reached the living room, they saw Irina being welcomed back into the Hyoudou residence by Rias, Akeno, and the others with smiles on their faces.

While she was busy greeting the others with her cheerful expression, she didn't notice the two devils that just entered the fray. The moment that she heard her name being called though, it was enough to get her attention and get her to look at whoever spoke.

"Hey, Irina! Welcome back! We missed you, even if you were just gone for a day…" Issei said, rubbing the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh, Ise-kun!" replied Irina with a blush on her cheeks, closing her eyes in happiness. "How nice of you to say that! I missed you too and everyone else as well!"

"Welcome home, Irina. I hope your meeting with Michael-sama went well, Xenovia stated, holding Issei's hand on her own before burying it in between her breasts involuntarily, having no control over her own action, yet Issei didn't seem to be bothered with it at all.

Opening her eyes once again, she looked at her blue-haired friend. "Yeah, it went well! Thanks a lot, Xe —" she cut herself off from her words with what she just saw.

When Irina caught sight of Xenovia holding on to Issei's arm, the smile on her face disappeared and it was replaced with curiosity. Her eyebrow raised slightly and her mouth slightly opened.

'What happened while I was gone?'

She then noticed the smile on Xenovia's face; it was a smile that was different from all the times that Irina saw her like that during their time together in England. Xenovia looked like the happiest girl in the whole country, which was strange for the usual stoic and bold swordswoman.

'Why is Xenovia smiling like that?'

That was when she noticed Issei's smile, the smile that she loved seeing ever since they were kids. His smile was one of the only things that reminded her of him while she was away in England, the main reason why she was separated from her crush.

The one obstacle that prevented her relationship with Issei from deepening.

The place that prevented her from being with her childhood friend.

The reason why she wasn't able to capture his heart.

'The two of them… w-why are they s-smiling like that?' she asked herself, feeling an intense wave of sadness wash over her as if she just lost a war.

Harem flags: (those with * means they are completed)

Sona* - Complete.

Serafall* - Complete. That spanking from last chapter seemed to have given her a change in attitude… now turned into a masochist looking for punishment… hmm, I can't say if this is a good thing or not, but I'm interested in seeing where this masochistic Serafall leads to.

Momo - Nothing.

Xenovia* - Complete. I apologize if it was quick, but Xenovia's problem was pretty shallow, guys! She was too conflicted on whether she still had a place in Issei's heart, and making him have sex with her was the only way to solidify her position. Oh well, at least she got what she wanted, and that's what's important.

Irina - Well, she didn't appear for most of the chapter except for the end. She just returned from Heaven, but what did she do there? What happened? And why did she look sad in the end? Did she figure out that they had sex? Let's see where this leads to!

Tsubaki - Nothing.

Meguri - Nothing.

Akeno - Nothing.

Asia - Nothing.

Reya - Nothing.

Yura - Nothing.

Rossweisse - YES! Issei accepted her feelings! Now, all of the ORC girls are with Issei! I can't wait to see her chapter and see how things unfold there… in the meantime, let's all appreciate the fact that the Valkyrie is now officially in the harem, shall we?

Koneko - Nothing.

Ravel - Nothing.

Rias - Nothing.

Kuroka - Nothing.

Le Fay - Nothing.

Ophis - Nothing.

Murayama - Finally, she buried the hatchet! I thought she was going to be stubborn like Katase! It's a really good thing that she decided to finally be friends with Issei! Surely, it's only a matter of time before she falls for him as well, don't you think? Let's see what this flag has in store for us in the future chapters!

Katase - Nothing.

Aika - Nothing.

Raynare - Nothing.

Kiyome Abe - Nothing.

In the works: Bennia, Kunou, Elmenhilde, Valerie

Potential candidates: Tiamat, Seekvaira, Ingvild, Coriana

Definitely no: Yasaka (she's too much), Grayfia (Sirzechs, duh), Venelana (NO MILFS), Gabriel (she's Asia 2.0)

How is this chapter? Please give your opinion and review! No flames, please!

Next chapter: A Never-Ending Fairy Tale

Discord link; Join if you want to hang out with me or other DxD writers: [discord . gg / TGPM9pH]

Goodbye... and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*

-Lance