AN: The author does not claim ownership of Bleach or Highschool DxD; they are the property of their respective owners. The author has no desire to profit off of the publication of this fan work and does not endorse any attempts to do so. Preliminary notes:

Thanks to all of those who have been favoriting, following, and reviewing. Your metaphorical pizza rolls have been sent in the mail, those living in the United States should expect them in a few days; for anyone outside the country it may take longer. Previous notes from Chapter 1 remain in effect.

Well, there seems to be a great deal of fear over Orihime's ultimate fate. Thank you, Wellthatdidn'twork, for figuring out the answer to many people's questions, and putting the source!

Everyone go thank general zargon for being a beta this chapter. In addition, this author has been a great idea-bouncer. Go check out his/her Bleach/DxD/Gamer crossover, Game of Life and Devils, which I had the pleasure of helping out on!

When the intercom on the train mentioned his stop Ichigo ceased his daydreaming and walked to the doors at the side. The train seemed to slow down despite not being close to the station, and Ichigo fidgeted impatiently. A few minutes later and the train finally pulled up at his stop, and the doors slid open. He stepped out onto the platform and made his way down the stairs to the ground floor, since the train was elevated above the ground.

Ichigo then walked home in silence, a cool breeze in the air. It was a routine he did every day after school, alone. After his somewhat lengthy walk through the neighborhood the relieving sight of his house came into view. What wasn't particularly comforting was the fact that several contractor trucks and a road crew were parked on his block, in all likelihood because of a Hollow attack. Ichigo quickened his pace, wanting to make sure that his peerage members were safe. Walking up the doorway of his house, Ichigo gave on last look over his shoulder and entered the building.

The door quietly opened, Ichigo ready for anything his father had planned for him. When there was no attack the Shinigami cautiously stepped inside, the unusually peaceful entrance a surprise. He walked through and set his bag down, freezing at the scene before his eyes.

The living room was packed with people. Orihime, Karin, and Yuzu all sat on one of the couches, chatting about something. The room was filled with enough chatter that Ichigo couldn't make out what the three were saying, or anyone else, for that matter. His father stood off to the side of the room, talking to a pair of Shinigami. One of them was male and the other female, and if Ichigo had to guess then these were the new Shinigami for Karakura. Chad was being the silent giant he normally was, towering over the three members of his peerage. Viser and Kalawarner were looking over Raynare, who had an arrogant look on her face. The white wings attached to Raynare were what caused him to wonder what had gone down while he was away, however. How had Raynare achieved her goal so quickly?

"He's here!" announced Yuzu. With that the conversations around the room grinded to a halt, and his friends and family turned their attention onto him.

"Uh, hi," said Ichigo sheepishly. "What exactly happened today, and why does Raynare have white wings?"

A small furor erupted as everyone tried to explain (though Chad just stood there, mute), until finally Yuzu ordered everyone to be quiet. There was a small argument on who should explain, and eventually Raynare was impressed into telling the story. The Fallen Angel looked like she would have preferred to not have to tell the story, but she stepped to the forefront of the crowd.

"So, today we got attacked by a Hollow," explained Raynare. "And your friends helped us out. Since the thing nearly killed me Orihime had to heal me, and well... let's just say I'm very happy about the change in my wing color."

The Fallen Angel looked particularly self-satisfied after her last statement, and she waited for a response of some kind.

"So, Orihime, what exactly did you do?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, after I took out the wood beam from her body I decided to see if she needed to be healed anywhere else," answered the healer, who was a bit surprised at being put on the spot. "When I used my Soten Kisshun around her wings they started to turn white."

"Now I'm an Angel again!" added a giddy Raynare.

"I'm pretty sure that considering your behavior, you aren't an Angel," an amused Kalawarner remarked.

"Well, since my wings haven't turned back yet I'm pretty sure I'm in the clear, Kalawarner!" Raynare shot back.

Ichigo in the meantime rubbed his eyes in irritation. The two women continued to bicker, and he and the others gently moved away from them. As Ichigo finally made up his mind on what he wanted to ask next, a shout interrupted him.

"God damn you Kalawarner!" said Raynare.

At once Ichigo, his family, his friends, and the two Shinigami turned their heads. The Fallen Angels were both huffing at one another, but now there was no difference in the set of wings. Raynare's wings were black again.

"Uh, Raynare," said Kalawarner, speaking for almost all gathered. "You may want to check your wings again…."

The Fallen Angel did as asked, her face getting a shade paler as she finally saw the change for herself. Raynare sunk to her knees, and began to rub up and down on her wings as if to see if they were merely covered by soot or paint rather than back to the wings of a Fallen Angel.

"How? What happened to my wings?" Raynare shrieked. Kalawarner thought for a moment and then began to laugh.

"You shall not take your Lord's name in vain," she said, and Raynare's eyes widened as she realized that she had sinned.

"Can you fix them again?" Raynare asked Orihime, who looked uncomfortable. "Please?"

The healer sighed and uttered the words of her healing incantation. Ichigo and the others, even though some had seen it done before, watched as Orihime ran her glowing hands across Raynare's wings. The color change occurred, and Raynare smiled confidently when the process was finished before leaving the room and going downstairs.

Ichigo watched Raynare leave, and said nothing. Right now he wanted to speak to Orihime, Chad, and the others, and he would talk to Raynare later. His only fear was that this would come back to haunt Orihime, since he was pretty sure that the Fallen Angels had never been able to change their wings…

"So, why didn't you tell us what was going on, Ichigo," said Chad.

Ichigo was in the hot seat at the moment, surrounded by suspicious friends and Shinigami in his recently-repaired room. Around him Orihime, Chad, and the recently introduced Ryunosuke and Shino stood in a circle, waiting for an answer. Ichigo took a moment to organize his thoughts and put everything in order, as his friends and the new Shinigami were going to demand answers one way or another.

"More or less it started very suddenly. I was at a tour of my school, and Kalawarner attacked me out of nowhere once I left. I got a new Zanpakuto since my old one broke, and with these new factions and new powers coinciding with my transfer I didn't want you guys to worry," Ichigo explained.

"You broke your Zanpakuto? On what!?" Shino asked, somewhat in Ichigo's face.

"On one of Kalawarner's light spears, though I think it coincided with something else," Ichigo answered.

With that burning question out of the way his four interrogators went silent, as they considered what they might ask. A minute passed, and surprisingly Chad was the first to speak.

"How did Raynare and Viser get involved?"

"Well, I guess they attacked me too," said Ichigo. "I do have a weird habit of making friends with things that attack me, just look at the Shinigami."

Shino gave an irritated look at him for that remark, but Ichigo decided to ignore it.

"Viser I sort of… latched on to. She was losing control of powers, and I decided to help her. Raynare is a bit more… complicated," Ichigo continued. "She has her own personality problems, and I chose to help her out of my own curiosity."

"With the pieces?" Ichigo stopped and looked at Orihime, who had spoken.

"Yes. The pieces. Who told you about them?" Ichigo asked.

"Viser. She said that she and the others are part of your peerage, is that right?" Orihime replied.

"Yes. I don't really know much about the Peerages, but mine seems to parallel the system used by the Devils. I can have fifteen members with varying levels of power, and they seem to form some sort of inner circle of mine. I'm willing to bet that the Devils have a very feudal system, considering the use of Peerages," Ichigo explained, veering off topic near the end.

"You mentioned that all of your peerage members attacked you. So what is the situation in the north?" asked Ryunosuke.

"Complicated," Ichigo said, sitting down on his bed. "There's a few Devil groups working together, and I recently helped them get rid of Raynare's group, which were Fallen Angels. Those two groups are officially fighting a war, so I'm sort of no longer neutral. There's also the problem that I revived Raynare, which made the Devils angry."

The room fell silent for a few moments as Ichigo let his friends digest the information and think of any other questions. Eventually this relative peacefulness was broken by the sound of running footsteps in the distance, first up the stairs and then across the hall. The door burst open as Raynare entered, her wings black once again.

"Can I get some help?" the Fallen Angel asked, embarrassed. Orihime left the room with a sigh, joining the Fallen Angel outside and closing the door behind her. A glow from underneath the door came and passed, and Orihime rejoined them.

"So, from now on no more secrets," said Shino. "They're you're friends-" This was accompanied by a nod at Chad and Orihime. "-and we're your allies."

"I understand, guys," said Ichigo. With this the group exited the room and went back downstairs to rejoin the other members of Ichigo's family and his peerage...

"It's so strange, isn't it?" Orihime said as she, Chad, and the Shinigami stepped outside the Kurosaki home. The healer crossed her arms over her chest, and turned her head to look back at the house. Chad gave an 'm-hm' of acknowledgement, while the Shinigami said nothing. Admittedly they only had stories to go off of what Ichigo was like, so they didn't have the experience that she and Chad did.

The question that she and Chad most likely wanted answered was why Ichigo didn't tell them. There was distance, an awkward distance, between Ichigo and them, so perhaps she was thinking too much in terms of around the time of the Winter War. The year that followed the conflict against Aizen and the Arrancar had been spent in almost all of its entirety with Ichigo powerless and out of the loop in the world of the supernatural. And Tsukishima's Fullbring had turned many of his close friends against him.

This was far from what Orihime wanted. Despite the somewhat strained friendship she did have an attraction to Ichigo. He was a tough, faithful, determined guy, and he was certainly good looking too. It was a little frightening for Orihime that with so many attractive females around him Ichigo might wind up with one of them. Viser was quiet, Kalawarner straightforward, and Raynare was… Raynare. The Fallen Angel had asked her no less than three times after the first fix to change her wing color. The Fallen Angel/Angel or whatever Raynare was just couldn't get her act together.

"Well, we need to get back to Urahara's Shop," said Ryunosuke, and he and his companion Shino disappeared with a burst of Shunpo. A slight breeze accompanied this, sending some leaves into the air.

"Orihime, do you want me to drop you off?" asked Chad, the giant evidently ready to leave.

"No, I'm not ready yet. You can go ahead," she replied.

With a burst of Bringer Light Chad was gone, leaving Orihime alone in front of the Kurosaki home. Now that she was alone Orihime sat down on the ground and began to think about the situation. She knew that her shyness was going to cost her. The crush on Ichigo was not as strong as it had been, but she still liked him. Tatsuki sometimes berated Orihime over her unwillingness to make a move, and now Orihime could see why. In Karakura Ichigo had been seen as edgy, which made him someone most girls stayed away from. A reputation for fighting and a sullen expression made it that way.

Yet things had been different with his transfer to Kuoh, and as such he was now living with three women. It was a now or never moment: put herself in a position to be close to Ichigo or give up on a romantic relationship with him.

"Orihime? You're still here?"

With this statement from Ichigo Orihime's train of thought derailed. She had wanted to think about this more, and now she felt a need to make a decision.

"Oh, hi Ichigo," Orihime replied.

"Something wrong?" Ichigo asked, sitting down beside her.

"No….. Just thinking about how separate we've gotten from you," Orihime replied. Ichigo was quiet for a moment, digesting what Orihime had just said.

"It is true that it's not the same as it used to be," Ichigo finally said. "After I lost my powers I wanted to stay away from anything supernatural, let everything go back to normal, and then…."

"Xcution."

"Right."

The two were quiet, sitting together. The darkness of their surroundings and the dim light made the discussion a little more somber than it would have been otherwise. Orihime felt anxiety rise as she continued to weigh asking about his peerage. Do or die.

"So, about your Peerage..." Orihime began, stopping almost as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Yeah?" Ichigo said.

"….How do you join it?" she finished.

"Uh… well, I guess I would have to give you one of the chess pieces from my Bankai. Though to be honest that's not what I would consider a good idea. I have no idea as to what effects that would have, Orihime. The long term effects are completely unknown," Ichigo said cautiously.

"I don't mind the risk," Orihime said, steeling herself.

"So you want to be in my Peerage?" Ichigo asked.

Orihime stopped to think. Yes, that was what she was asking, although she was still hesitant about doing it. Would she take the risk? It was a now or never situation, and Orihime had to ask herself one question: what would Tatsuki tell her to do?

"Yes… I do," Orihime said.

Now it was Ichigo's turn to say nothing, her classmate's brow furrowing as he thought about her request. Out of Ichigo's sight Orihime crossed her fingers, hoping Ichigo would say yes. With a place in the Peerage Orihime would be in an ideal spot to get more serious with her crush.

"Are you really sure, Orihime?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, I'm sure Ichigo," she replied, and Ichigo sighed. Grasping his Substitute Shinigami Badge from his pocket, Ichigo released his soul from his body. The Shinigami drew his two blades from his body, and prepared to bring Orihime into the peerage.

"Bankai!" he uttered, which was followed by a surge of power and his two weapons changing their shapes. Orihime noted that one weapon shifted into a chessboard with various pieces on top of it, while the other merely became longer and more wicked-looking. She brought her hand forward toward the chessboard, which floated at just above waist level at Ichigo's side, wondering which piece she should take. Eventually one of the pieces at the back, a Bishop if she recalled correctly, floated up and made its way towards her. A sudden burst of light momentarily blinded Orihime, causing her to cover her eyes and wait, as it touched her open hand.

When the flash died down Orihime felt an extra weight at her side against her left hip. Orihime looked to her side and noted that she now wore an extra pitch black belt with a similarly-colored scabbard and sword. This made her frown, as she found it odd that she had a weapon. Orihime was a martial pacifist, which bent the rules a bit, but she was a healer first, not a fighter.

"So, I'm in your Peerage now?" Orihime asked.

"Yeah, that's it," Ichigo replied. "I hope you know what you're doing Orihime."

"Don't worry about me, Ichigo. And thank you," she said. With a wave Orihime set off into the night. She knew there were risks, but ultimately she felt it was worth it.

Most people in Ichigo's position would not be inclined to feel angry or depressed. The teenage boy was currently lying on his bed, awake, staring up at the ceiling of his room. He was sandwiched between two very beautiful women, with Kalawarner lying against his right side and Viser lying against his left side. If Keigo knew about this then Ichigo knew he would never hear the end of it. Heck, anyone at his old school would never let him forget about it.

At least nothing happened, they just slept together. With the closet capable of holding only one person (in this case Raynare), he had to provide somewhere to sleep for someone else. His dad had made it 'Ichigo's responsibility' to make sure the girls had somewhere to sleep, after all, Ichigo had let his three Faction Peerage members 'follow him home'.

Of course, the living arrangements in his room aside, Ichigo was more concerned with the events earlier today. The combined efforts of Viser, Kalawarner, and Raynare hadn't been enough to kill a single Hollow. This itself was a problem, as he needed the three to be able to defend themselves if need be. Of course there was the issue of his friends returning into his life.

Ichigo had mixed feelings about the issue. It was good to have everyone back in action, and he now had Orihime in his Peerage. Of course, there was also the problem with his friends taking their own actions, which could reflect negatively on him. And there was always the problem of his friends getting dragged into a new conflict, which was the last thing he wanted.

Ichigo sighed, and shut his eyes. He lay still for several minutes, attempting to drift to sleep, when he heard his closet slowly open. Cracking his eyes open and covertly moving his head to get a better view of the closet, he saw Raynare climb to her feet and walk to the window in his room. The Fallen Angel's wings were still white, which hopefully wouldn't change any time soon.

Raynare sighed as she gazed out the window and looked down on the street below. Ichigo said nothing, content to lie still and just watch. The Fallen Angel's behavior was much better than it had been at the start, though the wings may have had something to do with that. Ichigo wasn't complaining, and he decided it was time to sleep. With school tomorrow he needed all the rest he could get…

"It's not wise to look down when you're so high up, Issei," Rias said.

This disrupted Issei's thoughts, and he looked back up at Rias instead of at the buildings down below. He and the Devils flew in a convoy several stories in the air above Karakura, though he and Asia weren't flying yet. They were carried, with Issei in Rias' arms and Asia in Koneko's. They were still adjusting to their Devil bodies, and this meant that flying was still an issue for them. Of course, Issei was happy to be in Rias' arms (and by extension, close to her breasts), but the fall below was not particularly reassuring. He would probably die, even with his enhanced Devil physiology, if he hit the ground from where he was.

"Yeah, sorry Rias. So where are we going?" he asked.

"Right now we're within Karakura, and we want to explore where Ichigo lives. He's been inside our territory quite a few times, but we've only been inside his once or twice," Rias replied.

There was one outstanding issue with this, though it remained unspoken. Issei knew that with relations being so bad between Rias and Ichigo they were going to be in trouble if anyone saw them. After all, they had put a death sentence on Raynare if she entered their territory, so Ichigo could just as easily set up the same rules for them.

Rias continued to fly above the city, the others trailing behind in what was roughly a straight line. Rias occasionally dipped down, risking being seen, to check a street sign. This was the worst part for Issei, because Rias did it quickly, providing a lurching ride. Finally Rias came to a stop, and turned them around to find the others. Kiba, Akeno, and Koneko with Asia soon caught up and stopped beside them. They formed a small circle, and Issei wondered why they had stopped.

"Well, we're currently standing above Ichigo's house," Rias explained. "Be on your guard while we're here, if any Shinigami or someone who's aware of them sees us we could stir up a hornet's nest."

The Devils nodded, and they slowly flew down to one of the many houses on the street, gently landing on its rooftop. Rias let Issei out of her arms, and he took a few moments to regain his land legs. Asia did much of the same, the two walking around the roof for a few minutes in order to re-adjust.

Kiba in the meantime circled the house, looking through the windows covertly to make sure no one was awake. Eventually he came back up and settled on the rooftop.

"I found Ichigo's room," he informed them.

Issei yelped as someone suddenly put their arms around his body and lifted him into the air, but he relaxed as he looked to see Rias was the one who had done it.

They followed Kiba down to the front of the house, and the blonde Devil first checked the window to make sure there had been no changes. He motioned for them to come over. Issei and Rias peered inside the room and saw the bed. Ichigo slept in the middle of Kalawarner, the Fallen Angel who had joined them in attacking the church, and Viser, the former Stray Devil. Issei couldn't help but be jealous, as despite that first morning with Rias, he didn't go to sleep with not one, but two hot girls! At this point not only was Ichigo an enemy, but he was also practically a rival for Issei's ultimate dream: getting a harem!

Orihime was bored. Yes, even she, who could be enthusiastic about the most trivial, uninteresting assignments, was bored. After the excitement of the day before it was unfulfilling to have to go to school. There was also the fact that she was now in Ichigo's Peerage. The healer still felt distant from him despite the acceptance of the chess piece the night before. Which reminded her of the blade from the night before.

Orihime looked down at her unblemished hand, though it had not been that way last night. The sword's blade had been inverted, for some reason, and she had cut herself when she had tried to get a feel for the weapon. The part of the blade that usually was blunt had been sharp, and vice-versa. Thankfully the cut on her palm was a quick heal, and until Ichigo taught her basic sword safety she had no desire to use the weapon again.

"Orihime!" a familiar voice shouted, followed by a yelp of pain.

Orihime looked over her shoulder to find Chizuru on the floor of their classroom, clutching her leg. Tatsuki was huffing and puffing at the school's well-known lesbian, and Orihime sighed. Getting groped by Chizuru wasn't pleasant, but the methods Tatsuki used were a bit too violent for Orihime's preferences.

"Are you alright, Orihime?" Tatsuki asked.

Orihime realized she hadn't really responded to the attack, and stood up.

"I'm fine. Just thinking," Orihime replied to the query.

Chizuru slunk off, disappointed with her failure, but Tatsuki stayed with her.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing," Orihime replied to Tatsuki.

"I know you better than that, Orihime. What happened yesterday?" Tatsuki asked again, pressing the issue.

"Well, I met some new people that Ichigo met through his new school," the healer replied, keeping her voice down. "And Ichigo has some new powers."

"What powers, I thought he already had that Bankai thing?" Tatsuki asked, confused.

"Well, he has a new Bankai. And he can give people some special weapons," she explained.

"Special weapons?" Tatsuki asked, a fighting glint in her eyes…

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