AN: I'm going to leave a bulk of the stuff till the end (the explanation of the absence, etc.) but I want to take some time to respond to my readers first.

gta2001: I can't make any promises about whether or not she will, because it'll be a bit difficult to write in a scenario where Rias willingly sacrifices a numerical advantage; so if I do, it'll be a while until then. But regardless of whether or not she joins his peerage, she is going to be a rather important asset to the story, and will remain as a member of the harem.

1337Pwny: Glad to see you approve.

Kirinthor: I do too.

As always, I'm willing to take any feedback (positive or otherwise), so don't hesitate to tell me what you think.

Mittelt is the one who breaks the silence on our walk home.

"So, let me get this straight." Mittelt says, "You decided to reincarnate me as a devil; and you didn't even consider what I might think about it. Is that about right?"

"I thought you might like it better than the alternative." I deadpan in return.

"The alternative being?"

"You dead with a four centimeter hole in the back of your skull."

"Oh."

"You can thank me later." I say, turning back to face the road.

We walk for two blocks before I turn around and face Mittelt.

"Mittelt,"

"What?" she snaps.

"It's later."

When we come within a block of my home, I notice the aura of two fallen angels; one extremely powerful, one not so much.

"Ddraig, is that who I think it is?" I ask.

"So it appears. Might I remind you that we do owe him a great debt; so it's best to stay in his good graces."

I stop, causing the train of women behind me to follow suit; I turn to address them, an irritated grimace on my face.

"Ise-san, is something the matter?" Asia asks.

"Apparently we have an unexpected guest." I let out a sigh "Asia, I was hoping to hold off on this for a while; but you're about to get a firsthand experience of underworld politics."

She just stares at me in confusion while realization strikes Kalawarner like a lightning bolt.

"Politics?" she asks. "Then… you don't mean… He came all the way here?"

Mittelt looks as confused as ever.

"He? Who are you talking about?" she asks, looking slightly perturbed.

"You'll see once we get back to my place." I reply, shaking my head and turning back around.

Rounding the corner onto the street where my home should be, I'm shocked by the presence of a completely foreign complex standing where my house once was.

Standing at the front gate of the building is Raynare, glancing around and looking worried out of her mind.

I walk up to the building, my footsteps drawing her attention.

"Ise, you're alive?" she shouts, looking both shocked and relieved at the same time.

"Did everybody think I was going to die? Glad to see you all hold me in such I esteem."

"Ise, I didn't-"

I hold up my hand.

"Joking, Ray. Just joking."

She sighs, relaxing her shoulders and lowering her head.

"Ise-san, " Asia pipes up from behind me, "she was obviously very worried about you; it's mean to joke about it."

"No, I'm used to it." Ray says. "It's just his style; when he doesn't know what to do, he tells bad jokes."

"But he always tells bad jokes." I hear Mittelt mumble.

"Bad jokes? I'll have you be aware that I'm the funniest guy I know!" I protest.

"Her point exactly." Ddraig says aloud.

"Did anybody ask you?" I yell at my arm; obviously looking completely insane to Asia, who had no idea of the situation.

"Um… Mittelt-san, why is Ise-san talking to his arm?" She asks.

"Well-" Mittelt says.

"It's a long story, I'll explain it later." I interject.

Stepping up to Raynare, I shoulder past her and check out my new home.

"Is he inside?" I ask.

She nods, stepping to my side an opening the door.

"You know, I asked for a house, not this." I call into the building. "Azazel-san, do you need another lesson in architecture?"

"Consider this a way of absolving the rest of my debts." A voice calls back from within the house.

"Well, I appreciate the sentiment; but this might be a little bit too much." I say as I enter the house.

Coming into the den, I see Azazel lounging on the sofa and drinking from a glass of sake.

"I mean seriously," I say. "What did you even put in to make it this big?"

"There are maps in the kitchen." He replies nonchalantly, sipping from his glass.

The rest of my peerage enters the room. Upon seeing my guest, Kalawarner and Mittelt bow deeply; Asia, however, remains standing and looks at me very confused.

"Ise-san, who is this man?"

"Asia, this is Azazel. Governor General of the Fallen Angels, and my adoptive father; Again, long story."

She looks shocked for a moment before bowing like the other two.

"You guys know you don't have to bow to him, right?" I say, turning back around and pouring myself a drink.

"What the hell do you mean?" Kalawarner snaps. "He's our leader!"

I turn around and stare at her looking incredibly condescending.

"Oh my, it seems you forgot one teensy-little-but-ever-so-important-detail." I say in a sing-song voice.

"And that is?"

"I own you!" I shout, creating a wall of flames behind me.

At this they all back up, Asia even going so far as to hide behind Kalawarner. All of them look absolutely terrified.

"Wow." I say while rubbing the back of my head. "I guess none of you have seen Hercules."

They just stare at me.

"Just forget that ever happened; it was a failed attempt at a really bad joke."

"I'm just surprised that you didn't burn the house down." Azazel says.

"Please, like I'd ever let that happen. Do you have any idea what I would do if I accidently destroyed this place?"

They all just stare at me.

"Well, nothing really. I'd probably just call in another favor to have it rebuilt."

"You'll have to excuse him, he's really thrown off guard by what's going on." Ddraig says.

"Anyway, " I say, trying to divert attention from the truth of Ddraig's statement. "It's getting pretty late, so you two had better get going. Azazel, I bet there's a pile of paperwork for you back at the bureau. You know, because of the two rebels I took care of."

He grimaces.

"Yeah, I'm not letting that one go either." I continue to drive in the verbal stiletto. "I mean, what kind of leader needs somebody from a different faction to take care of some rabble-rousers?"

"The kind who knows somebody who's obsessed with vengeance." He snipes back.

I clench my fists and scowl.

"You walked right into that one, partner." Ddraig tells me.

"Not now, Ddraig." I hiss mentally.

"I think it's time for you to leave." I growl aloud.

"Actually, Ise…" Raynare stutters as she walks towards me. "I-I was wondering if I could stay with you, seeing as how you have so much room now."

I roll my eyes.

"Fine, but don't expect anything too different from when we were kids."

She joins the rest of the girls while Azazel teleports away.

"Well," I say, clapping my hands and heading to the kitchen to pick up a map. "It's been a long day, and I still haven't recovered fully from the other night; so I'm just going to head off to bed. If you don't know where something is, don't ask me; I know just about as much as the rest of you. I'll be up in the master if anybody needs me."

I walk up three flights of stairs, open the doors to the master bedroom, and collapse on the bed already asleep.

AN: This took a lot longer than I wanted it to. I know it sounds like excuses and everything, but I had this (and more) written about a week ago. Then, in accordance with Murphy's law (Anything that can go wrong will), my laptop crashed and corrupted my hard drive. School starts back on Monday, so I'm going to be pretty busy (as I said previously) with my job; and thus I won't be able to promise any dates for future uploads. But I promise you that I'm not anywhere near finished, it'll just be a while in between chapters.

As always, let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future.