Chapter 47: For the Sake of the Man We Love

Ddraig and other dragons talking

I don't own DxD; I just use its characters and techniques. All credit goes to its creator. Same applies for anything that I used from other animes. Warning, other animes' techniques will appear.

Welcome to Chapter 47. Last time the gang reached Shalba's castle and the first battle took place between Akeno Himejima and Himekawa, the pompadour powerhouse. Unfortunately for Himekawa, when your opponent is an electricity user, and you use tasers to fight as weapons, the battle usually doesn't end well for you. A few S&M sessions later and Himekawa was finished. Now Irina and Aoi Kunieda face off in a battle that will surely be an excellent catfight… I mean swordfight, an excellent swordfight.

"What's she doing?" Seraphim says shocked. Looking at the sword Aoi was using it was clear that she was holding back.

"You mean the fact that she's not using her best weapon yet? Don't worry, Irina isn't either. She knows using her best weapon is foolish until her opponent does the same." Issei says as the battle begins.

The two combatants immediately charge each other and as their swords clash in the middle, and a massive clash of energy appeared. The two continue to clash with one strike after another.

"Hmm, not bad. You're certainly stronger then that vampire chick I fought." Aoi says smiling.

"You aren't bad either." Irina says before vanishing again. The two resume their clash with neither girl giving an inch. Seraphim is stunned at how easily Irina handled Aoi's fierce strikes. The thing that surprises her is how effortless her battle style is. She then remembers what Issei said and wondered what would've happen if Irina had gone all out.

"Hmm this is quite fun. It's a shame that now things are about to get serious." Aoi says before returning her sword.

"I agree, it's a shame that so much is on the line. I'd enjoy having you as an opponent." Irina says returning her katana as well.

"Come Black Dragon!" Irina shouts as the familiar katana appears before her.

"Come to me, Senbonzakura!" Aoi shouts as the battlefield roars to life. Both girls power skyrockets at the same time. This told everybody watching that the battle was about to begin.

"There it is. The sword that easily managed to beat me." Seraphim says shocked.

"I'm not surprised that sword beat you. Senbonzakura is a special type of sacred gear." Azazel says calmly. "Of course, since it's been in the Beelzebub family for generations, it doesn't surprise me Shalba has it."

"Well let's watch, because now these girls will show off their true worth." Issei says smiling.

"Well now that all the fun and games are over, shall we begin?" Aoi says smiling before she has to dodge a slash to her right side.

"This is a battle so I'm all ready to go. Deva Fang!" Irina shouts blasting a wave of energy around her.

"Hah! So, you're not playing around. I guess I can't afford to either. Scatter!" Aoi shouts as her sword disappears and petals start flying around.

"What the hell?" Irina says shocked as the attacks keep moving.

"Irina don't let those petals hit you. Her sword lets her make 1000's of blades out of the petals. You won't be able to dodge for long." Seraphim yells.

"Well dang, this is gonna be fun." Irina says as the attacks keep coming. As she continues to move she notices Aoi is gone. Irina realized what was about to happen and jumped up just as Aoi appeared behind her to slash her back.

"Not bad." Aoi says smirking. "How'd you guess I was gonna do that?"

"Lucky really. My training partner, despite his claims as a knight, loves those little sneak attacks. So I've learned to guess instinctively what my opponent will do." Irina says teasingly.

"I guess so. But tell me, why are you holding back even now?" Aoi says smiling.

"So, you could tell huh? Then again I can tell you're hiding some serious firepower too." Irina says smirking as the two clash swords once again.

"Well, Issei doesn't want me to use my full power. Something about how if I use it, the battlefield would get wrecked. I think your buddy Shalba is the same way." Irina says smiling.

"Doubt it. Master Shalba cares mainly about Oga." Aoi says calmly.

"Hey Aoi, you mind if I ask you something?" Irina says smiling.

"What's that?" Aoi says relaxing herself.

"What made you fall for that guy? I mean, from the looks of him, he's crude, rude, and cares about himself." Irina says smiling.

"Well you see here's the deal." Aoi says calmly. She goes on to explain the story behind how she and Oga met. About how at first she was a protectorate and she fell in love with him by accident. Wanting to hide the truth she called herself a fake name. Eventually the two worked things out and she fell in love. Sure as Irina said Oga was crude rude and all the other stuff but his good side is what she fell for.

"That was beautiful" Irina says smiling.

"Your turn Irina." Aoi says blushing.

"Umm, yeah, you see, funny story." Irina starts to say before Issei arrives on the battlefield.

"Sorry to interrupt ladies but I'm taking this one" Issei say smiling as he teleports on the battlefield.

"What are you doing? Interfering with the match is a loss for us." Vali says angrily.

"Trust me, I'm not fighting" Issei says smirking. "Anyway here's the deal. Irina actually pretended just like you did. Although instead of faking her name, she faked her entire gender." Issei said trying not to laugh.

"WHAT!" Aoi said stunned.

"ISSEI! That's not funny!" Irina says blushing.

"Oh but it was. For the first year I knew Irina, I thought she was a boy named Ike. We hung out all the time and man was it something. She was one helluva tomboy." Issei says smirking as Irina goes crimson. "One day when we were in the forest we ran into this old guy who talked to us about porn of all things. I listened to the guy, fascinated at what he told me. Irina blushed a lot which I teased him for. Although looking back now it was probably the fact she was a girl.

"HEY!" Irina says angrily.

"What next? What next?" Bikou said laughing from the rafters.

"Crap! Bikou can hear us." Irina says upset.

"Yep, we heard black hair's story as well. But come on Master, regale us with more." Bikou says laughing.

"So yeah, anyway. I became so fascinated that my gauntlet awakened. Man, Ddraig was pissed." Issei said smirking.

"Then what?" Aoi said fascinated. Although it was serious battle Aoi was a softy at heart.

"Well then Irina went home and said we'd talk later. The look in her eyes was odd." Issei said smirking.

"Okay okay, that's enough!" Irina said flustered knowing the next part was really bad. "Anyway, the next day when Issei came over my dad spoke to him. He explained the supernatural world to him. He told him about the fact that Issei was a legendary figure and that he had the power to change the world. He wanted to recruit him, but Issei surprised me and my dad when he said he wanted to find others to join him." Irina said smiling.

"But wait, when did you fall in love with him?" Aoi says stunned.

"Truth is I was in love with him from the beginning. He was so kind and nice. I felt guilty about hiding my gender and, it was time to reveal the truth." Irina said frowning a bit.

"Yep, while her dad explained the truth, Ike had left. He said he had something important to tell me, although her dad looked on curious what would happen. Irina came back down and revealed that she was a girl. She apologized to me for hiding the truth and understood if I didn't forgive him." Issei said smiling. Looking over at Irina he could see small tears in her eyes but he wiped those off quickly.

"So what did you do?" Aoi said curiously.

"Easy, I kissed her right on the lips." Issei said smiling. Irina blushed heavily from the memory and the group was shocked.

"But wait, why did you kiss her? You just figured out she was a girl." Aoi says baffled.

"I had actually figured it out a week before that and I didn't mind." Issei says smiling as Irina looks on dumbfounded. "Ddraig came to me in a dream and told me about Irina being a girl among other things. It made no sense to me at the time, but when you revealed yourself I was happy that he was telling the truth. Of course I argued with him at the time because I wondered why you didn't want to tell me. Ddraig basically explained that Irina was probably nervous because it's a bad thing to hide secrets from your friends. Once you actually revealed yourself I figured why not, so I kissed you." Issei says smiling.

"That's beautiful." Aoi says smiling.

"Yep, sadly she left for England to train with the church a few days later, so we were separated. I started training with Ddraig after that and a few years later, when I turned ten, I left home. My parents were aware of me being special so all they said was be careful. Reckless maybe, but something told me they knew what I was up to. By the time I was thirteen, I had gathered others around me and met the others that made up the order. Of course I returned to England to find Irina, and although she had her partner, Xenovia, it was clear she still wanted to be a part of my squad. There are a lot of other things that happened, but those are details for another time." Issei says smirking.

"Wow." Aoi says flustered.

"Yeah, but that was a good distraction. I almost forgot we were fighting." Irina says pleased by the nostalgia.

"Yeah, my bad. Now take her out, Irina" Issei said smiling before teleporting back to the rafters.

"Got it." Irina said determined. Turning over to Aoi she smiled. "Sorry, but for Issei's sake, I must win." Irina says before powering up even further.

"Yeah, I gotcha." Aoi says before focusing for a second. "Listen up Kuma, it's time to fight. I'm gonna need all your help." Aoi says smiling.

"Got it. By the way this girl has got some great boobies. She might be bigger then you." Kuma says smiling.

"I'll kill you." Aoi says angrily.

"Whoa whoa, it's just a battle" Irina says smiling. She didn't really hear what Aoi's demon partner had said to her, so it was awkward.

"Yo Irina, this girl's about to use some serious power. Be ready." Issei said smirking. Having sensed the demon next to Aoi, Issei was chuckling when he realized just what a mess Irina had gotten herself into.

"Got it!" Irina says focused. To her shock, Irina loses track of Aoi who slams her in the back with a slash causing Irina to cry out in pain.

"Hmph, so this is all you got?" Aoi says with a merciless look in her eyes.

"Not really. But man that's tough." Irina says staggering on her feet a bit. She focuses some energy on her back causing the wound to close. "Now let's get going."

"Hmph interesting. Go Kageyoshi!" Aoi shouts before dropping her blade onto the ground.

"Uhh, okay then." Irina says charging at Aoi before stopping. To her shock blades pop up all around her and then to her horror, separate into countless petals.

"Yep, she's toast." Vali says sarcastically as the rest of the group looks on. The blades keep charging after Irina who despite her continuous movement can't escape the blades power."

"Hah! Nobody can escape Kageyoshi's force!" Aoi shouts as Irina is finally surrounded

"Crap! I'm finished." Irina says panicking even more.

"Goodbye." Aoi sneers as the blades surround Irina.

"IRINAAAAAAA!" Rias says shocked. When she looked over to Issei she's shocked to find that he's barely worried. "You heartless bastard." Rias says annoyed.

"What are you talking about?" Issei says calmly.

"After all those blades attacking her, Irina is likely dead. You're her childhood friend, why aren't you worried?" Rias shouts angrily at Issei.

"Hmph! That was nothing UGHH!" Aoi shouts as to her shock Irina appears unharmed and slams her with an attack of her own.

"Wait, but how?" Rias says shocked.

"Dragonic Clones. Simple as that." Issei says smiling.

"But wait, that's impossible. She isn't a dragon; at least she wasn't unless you did something to her." Rias says shocked.

"How did you dodge my attack?" Aoi says stammering.

"Well, I realized that if I couldn't dodge I'd just get worn out. So I used a clone technique to free myself. It worked too." Irina says smiling. Turning up to Issei, Irina's smile turns to a frown. "Sorry Issei, it seems in order to win this battle, I'll have to use that." Irina says activating a magic circle. Everyone looks shocked as she takes out a pendant with a blood red dragon on it.

"Go ahead Irina. Just be careful." Issei says smiling although it's clear to those around him he's worried.

"What's that pendant?" Aoi says shocked.

"One of the boosted Gear's powers is gift. For my birthday last year, Issei gave me this pendant. Apparently he convinced Ddraig to let him transfer a portion of his power into the pendant. Of course it's incredibly dangerous." Irina says smiling.

"Why would you do that?" Aoi says shocked. She had done some wild things to help Oga but this was worse.

"The same reason you allowed a demon to possess you. We do crazy things for the guys we love." Irina says smiling. Remembering Issei's instructions she grabs the pendant and focuses her energy. To her shock the pendant glows a massive green. All of the sudden a thin red armor starts to appear around Irina. Soon it was clear to everybody just what kind of gift Irina had been given.

"Incredible, you basically gave her a miniature version of your balance breaker." Vali says shocked.

"Yep." Issei says to his longtime friend. Turning back to the battle he yells out. "HEY IRINA! This mode will only last five minutes. You better have finished it off beforehand." Issei says calmly.

'Thank you Issei. With your power wrapped around me, I can't lose.' Irina thinks smiling.

"Oh my, this is a quite the development. What will lady Aoi do now?" Nene, the girl who had been announcing, said. Due to the intensity of the battle, Nene had been unable to keep up and the story was too cute for her to interrupt either. Now she had regained herself and was truly ready to continue.

"Let's go, Aoi!" Irina says smiling.

"Got it, Irina!" Aoi said focusing once more. The new power boost changes everything as this time it was Aoi on the defensive.

'How in the world is she keeping up with Aoi?' Shalba thinks stunned. Looking over at a smiling Issei, Shalba was furious.

The crowd looks on as the two combatants hit each other with massive sword strikes the crowd looks on shocked.

"BOOST!" The armor seems to cry out surprising everybody including Irina. "No way! So I get a boost too? This is awesome!" Irina says shouting.

"THAT'S IT!" Aoi shouts revealing a small tattoo on her left arm. It had the symbol of Beelzebub and a 2 on it. "If that armor is your devotion to your lover this is mine to Oga." Aoi screams as the symbol boosts her strength once again. As the energy in the stadium increases even Issei is getting concerned.

"Kuroka, activate a powerful barrier. Pretty soon this energy is gonna overwhelm everybody here." Issei says nervously.

"Got it, Master." Kuroka says before using her senjutsu to create the new barrier

Back on the field, the two girls continue to strike each other with heavy attacks. Although none are landing, the energy the girls are putting out is truly a sight to behold.

"Oh my this is incredible. I've never seen Lady Aoi fight this hard! Though to be honest I can barely keep up." Nene the announcer says smiling.

"TAKE THIS! KAGEYOSHI!" Aoi shouts as the petals from before appear once again.

"I'm ready this time, Aoi." Irina says smiling. This time Irina grabbed her sword and with inhumanely fast movements Irina managed to stop the slashes.

"Impossible!" Aoi shouts stunned as the sword returns to her without fail.

"Hah, with my new speed, you don't stand a chance." Irina says smiling as she resumes her attacks.

BOOST.

"Uh oh, what will Lady Aoi do? This new power has managed to completely overwhelm her. Could our lady possibly lose?" Nene shouts nervously. Her pride as an announcer making sure she witnesses the end of this battle.

EXPLOSION

"Try this on for size Aoi. Deva Storm!" Irina shouts sending a massive blast of energy. This attack is so large that Aoi is unable to the attack.

"Crap. I gotta block that somehow. " Aoi shouts as the flowers around her create a massive shield to block the attack. As the flowers surround her the large blast connects and a massive burst of energy appears around her. As the explosion hits the burst of energy fills the room causing most of the people watching to freak out.

"LADY AOIII!" Nene shouts knowing that attack had to hurt. The look of panic is shared by a few of the red tails that were in the crowd who can't believe their leader was struggling this much.

"That oughtta do it." Irina says panting heavily. As the dust clear she's shocked. Aoi is extremely dusty and her power seems to have dropped quite a bit. Although it looks like she could still go a few rounds. "You gotta be kidding me!" Irina says terrified.

"Well Master, this worked out pretty well. This battle has been great for Irina." Arthur says smiling.

"Yes I know. I believe you would've still won, but this girl would've given you far more trouble than I originally thought." Issei says smiling as Rias looks on stunned.

'This is unreal. If Irina is this powerful, just how powerful is Arthur?' Rias thinks, wondering just what in the world she can do. She's next and she realizes that if she had fought Aoi, she would've been destroyed.

Back on the battlefield Aoi hadn't given up. "Not bad Irina. I gotta admit I thought you had me for a minute." Aoi says exhausted.

"Me too. I can't believe you survived that hit." Irina says angrily. She was absolutely drained and she knew it. She probably had enough energy for one more attack and since her armor had vanished she knew it was only a matter of time till she fell.

"Let's finish this with one final attack." Irina says staggering to her feet.

"Gotcha." Aoi seems to agree.

The two women stagger to charge for one final attack, but both fell down exhausted from the intense battle.

"Well it seems that neither combatant can continue. This battle is a draw!" Nene says as the crowd surprisingly cheers at the incredible display.

"What a battle." Vali says smiling.

"Yeah, they were both amazing." Issei says smiling before vanishing back to the stadium ground.

"Oga, go grab her" Hilda says sternly.

"Fine fine." Oga says calmly before teleporting down himself.

"That was an odd thing to do Hilda. Are you growing soft?" Shalba says smirking.

"Hardly. She deserved it after a great battle." Hilda says grumpily

"Ugghh...what happened?" Irina said groggily as she woke up from the battle.

"Geez, what a troublesome girl." Issei says smiling as he's standing above her.

"Oh hey, I guess I lost huh?" Irina says smiling.

"No knucklehead, you drew. Both of you were KOed at the same time." Issei says smiling.

"That's good. What happened to Aoi?" Irina said worried about her opponent.

"See for yourself." Issei said with a wiry smile.

Irina looked over and was shocked as Aoi was hitting the chest of Oga, the person who she had her feelings for. "Good for her." Irina says smiling.

"Now let's go, knucklehead." Issei says before pulling Irina into a princess carry.

"Issei, what are you doing?" Irina says blushing heavily. Soon she was mimicking her opponent banging her hands against the young man's chest.

"Consider it a reward for a job well done." Issei said smiling.

"They're troublesome, aren't they?" Oga says to Issei surprising him.

"Yeah, they are. But let's face it, these two did a great job and it's thanks to their feelings for us that they gave such a great battle." Issei says causing both girls to go crimson.

"Whatever." Oga says calmly. Although Issei could swear as the young man teleported away he was smiling.

Back at the terrace where the gang had been watching, Kuroka and Asia worked together to heal Irina after the brutal battle.

"Ahh! That's much better." Irina says standing to her feet.

"Nice work, Irina." Issei says giving his friend a soft hug.

"Geez Issei, the least you could've done is kissed me. I mean I did all that for you." Irina says blushing.

"You didn't win so you just get a hug, Irina." Issei says smirking.

"Damn." Irina says blushing. "By the way, I was wondering something."

"What's that?" Issei says calmly.

"If you knew I was a girl that entire week, why didn't you say anything? I mean you let me be nervous that entire time. It sucked hiding that secret." Irina said pouting before Issei softly kissed her on the lips shocking Irina.

"W-w-w-what was that for?" she stammers shocked that her friend just kissed her.

"Felt like it. Plus it's funny to see you blush." Issei said smiling at the still crimson Irina.

"Now that Irina got the kiss she badly wanted; can we focus on the battle? Let's face it, Aoi was powerful but the last three are also going to be difficult." Vali says sarcastically. The girls of course aren't happy that the mood was ruined.

"Baka Vali." Kuroka says sarcastically.

"That was mean, Vali." Murayama says along with her.

"That was terrible." Katase says angrily.

"Not cool, Vali." Le Fay chimed in.

"What? It's true!" Vali says annoyed.

Issei sweat dropped a bit at the whole thing but gathered himself. "Vali's right. It's time for Round 3." Turning to a determined Rias, he gives his own words of encouragement. "Rias, whatever hesitation you might have, get over it. Hilda is a tough opponent. You better stay focused."

"Got it Issei." Rias says preparing herself for battle.

That's it for Chapter 47. I hope you guys enjoyed the first battle. Beelzebub fans will know that in the show Aoi uses cherry blossoms to attack. Adding Senbonzakura seemed like a fun move. I know last chapter was short and I apologize for that. Expect more chapters of this length moving forward. Next chapter Rias faces off against Hilda in a battle that I hope will give you guys something special.