Hey, guys! I'm just letting you guys know that I'm not abandoning this story!

So to prove it, I'm giving you a preview of the next chapter!
(...Also, I'm finally 18! :-D)

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD. It belongs to Ichiei Ishibumi. OCs are mine. Anything referenced in this chapter belongs to their respective owners.

"Wait, wait! Why am I here, too?!" Kuro asked as he and Ikuto stopped in front of a door inside of a large mansion.

"Well, my Devil work is tonight and my client requested that I bring an Angel with me. Since you're the only Angel I know, you're the man," Ikuto explained while knocking on the door.

'Oh, right! I never told him that Asia, Irina, and Xenovia-san are Angels now… Yet… he never met Xenovia-san… and I forgot to tell him Irina's in town. There's a lot of things I haven't told this guy!' Kuro thought in remembrance.

After a minute or so, the door opened and out came an adult male with black hair with golden yellow bangs. Ikuto's description of him was that he was a foreigner, and yet despite that he was wearing a yukata.

"Ah, Devil-kun, Angel-kun. Please come in. And leave your shoes in the foyer," the man greeted the two with a smirk. Both boys went in as requested. After taking off their shoes, they followed the man into the entertainment room. It had all your basic means of entertainment: a TV, gaming systems, etc.

Anyways, Ikuto's client turned on a nearby gaming system and took out a video game to show the him and Kuro.

"Care to play a game with me? I just bought this fighting game this afternoon and playing by myself can get boring. I can go up to four players as well, so you can play too, Angel-kun."

"You had me at 'fighting game.' Let's roll!" Ikuto agreed to his client's wished and Kuro merely grinned. The man returned their grins and started setting up the game. It only took two minute to get the game started and the man handed Kuro and Ikuto their respective controllers.

"Thanks! And warning: I'm pretty good at these games," Ikuto stated confidently.

"Well, then, this is gonna be fun. But I'm not one to trifle with either, so don't get too confident," his client retorted.

"Right… Let's GO!" Kuro shouted and the three men started their first match of the night. Another thing to not was the large dry erase board right next to the sofa that Ikuto was seated in. Ikuto's client mentioned that he was going to keep a running tally of how many wins, losses, and draws they all earned.

"Ready? …FIGHT!"

"WINNER! Player 2!"

"Ah, yeah!" Ikuto basked in his victory in the final match of the night. The other two men chuckled softly before Kuro moved towards the board and drew one final tally mark next to Ikuto's name. The end results were:

Me: 8

Devil-kun: 6

Angel-kun: 8

Draws: 3

The night ended with a tie between Ikuto's client and Kuro. Ikuto slumped over in reaction to his mark as dead last.

"It's mine and Angel-kun's victory, Devil-kun… no, more like: It's mine and Kuro Kaizukki's victory, Ikuto Ryukotsusei…"

Both teens stood flabbergasted at the man knowing their names. They then felt a chill run down their spine, a chill that Kuro felt was familiar.

'I can sense a dark presence coming from him that wasn't there before. This guy… he isn't human. (gasp) He's a—!'

Right before Kuro could finish his thought, twelve jet black wings expanded from the man's back. Kuro's thoughts were confirmed: this man is a Fallen Angel. A powerful one at that. Both boys went on high alert and their expressions hardened.

"My name is Azazel, leader of the Fallen Angels. Pleased to meet you both… Ikuto Ryukotsusei. And Kuro Kaizukki, holder of God's power…"

Kuro and Ikuto had many thoughts in their heads, but there's only one thing they're both thinking simultaneously—

'(Rias-senpai)(Buchou) is gonna be pissed…'

The next afternoon…

"That's absolutely ridiculous!" Rias raised her voice. Kuro and Ikuto had relayed to her what had transpired the night before all the way down to meeting Azazel, who explained that he was in town for the sole purpose of attending the meeting of the Three Factions. That part alone is what flared Rias's anger. She went on an angry tirade whilst resting Kuro's head on her lap (to which Ikuto got hella jealous about…).

"The governor of the Fallen Angels dares to intrude upon my territory. I can understand that he would come for the meeting between Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devil, but to think he would actually interfere with our business…!" she then looked towards Ikuto and then down to Kuro, stroking his hair affectionately. Her expression softened, yet only marginally before growing into another annoyed scowl. "And then, he tries to lay a hand on my cute servant and my sweet kouhai… He deserves to die a thousand deaths!" Ikuto and Kuro blushed at being called "cute" and "sweet" respectively.

{"I think a thousand deaths is a little over the top…"} Xurok commented.

'Hey, man. If it's weird to you, it's weird to me… Well, not entirely. She's just really protective of her friends it seems. Besides, my current situation isn't all that bad. Nice and soft…'

["I think you're slowly becoming a pervert, Kuro-kun…"]

'…No, this is called me being an average guy…'

["If you say so…"] It was after this that Kuro decided to speak.

"Wait. I remember Sirzechs-san telling me that Azazel's kind of a prankster. But he's not a battle-hungry bastard like Kokabiel is…"

"…was…" Koneko mumbled in her usual tone and Kuro looked her way with a sheepish grin. Rias sighed before resuming stroking Kuro's hair.

"Right… Another thing that bothers me… is the location of the conference between the Three Factions. It's going to be in this very clubroom." Everyone's faces, minus Akeno and Yuuto's, turned to ones of shock.

"Are you kidding?!"
"You've got me all types of joked out right now!"

Kuro and Ikuto were the ones to voice everyone's mental questions.

"No, I'm not kidding. Even I was surprised when I first heard of this, but Kuro, I would've assumed the Michael had told you about this…" Rias explained and then looked down to meet Kuro's eyes.

"He probably did, but I was too busy mentally ranting to actually pay attention to what he was saying…" Kuro responded honestly with a shrug of his shoulders. All who were present merely chuckled while unanimously thinking—

'Typical Kuro…'

"You're an idiot, Kuro…" Ikuto deadpanned to which the black haired teen responded with a hard glare.

Mountain Trail

"What the hell?! Put me the hell down!"

One brown haired girl was hoisted over Kuro's shoulder, futilely struggling to get out of his grip.

"No. You resisted. I used force." Kuro retaliated.

The current Gremory team, Kuro, and Raimai Hyoudou are climbing a long slope of a mountain. Yuuto, Koneko, and Kuro were responsible for carrying the luggage.

"Kuro. Hurry up." Rias urges him while waving.

"You know… Senpai… It's difficult to focus on climbing a mountain when there's a girl slung over your shoulder, struggling to get down… And might I add that you yourself said 'There's no way in hell that I'm climbing up some damn mountain!' so I'm going with the alternative: carrying you!"

"Rrrrrrggghh… Rat son of a bitch…" Raimai mumbled as she was carried further up the slope…

A few more minutes of mountain climbing later, the group walked up to a mansion belonging to the House of Gremory.

...Aaaand, preview stops there! Look forward to the rest!

Shoutout to Kurumi Lover 6451 for the idea of applying Rule #63!

And like always, favorite, follow, and review please! :-D
~ Peace!