Good Afternoon All,

Many thanks to all the reviewers from last chapter; as I always say, good reviews = faster chapters. This chapter ended up being slightly shorter than usual but it reached an excellent stopping place and I didn't want to push it any further. As usual, I will make some chapter notes at the bottom that may help explain a few things from the chapter.

As always, please do enjoy yourself!

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes as he resumed soaping himself up. He could easily see Rias through the nearly indestructible transparent shower door, but he had no intention of pretending the situation bothered him.

Rias pouted as she approached closer to the fogged up shower door.

"You could at least pretend to be flustered; it's no fun when things like this don't phase you."

Sasuke gave her a droll look as he continued washing.

"I'm sure heartlessly embarrassing teenage virgins is a huge source of amusement between yourself and Akeno, but you'll have to get infinitely more creative before you find something shocking enough to embarrass me. Did you have an actual reason to be here other than your brazen attempt at peeping?"

Rias said nothing as she gave him a long, considering look top to bottom as Sasuke watched her with a raised eyebrow.

"See anything you like?"

Rias quirked a smile that spoke volumes.

Sasuke chuckled and shook his head as Rias continued her voyeurism.

"It seems wrong that the girls at your school persecute those perverted boys so ravenously when they have an equally perverted idol."

Rias shook her head while giggling.

"Now now Sasuke, as an engaged couple this sort of thing is to be expected. In the Underworld marriage is mostly for political and societal reasons; increasing the population is encouraged as much as possible."

It was Sasuke's turn to smirk at her.

"And yet, for all your worldly talk I get the impression that you're still a virgin."

Rias colored slightly and became visibly uncomfortable as she looked at the stone tile floor and shifted in place.

"It's true, I have never actually been with anyone before. Akeno, Sona and I have occasionally practiced a few things like kissi-"

"For your continued sanity, I would suggest you never repeat that statement in front of any male at school. The daydreams alone would likely cause collisions in the hallways for weeks."

Rias snorted a laugh, her embarrassment quickly fading as fast as it appeared.

Sasuke turned off the steaming water and opened the door, allowing some of the steam to escape as he briskly retrieved a towel and wrapped it around his waist while using another to dry himself.

"I'm surprised that you showed embarrassment when I mentioned your virginity; is it a sore spot for some reason?"

Her mirth vanished as Rias adopted a more neutral expression.

"There have been those in the Underworld, mostly among my female peers in the major houses, that have teased me mercilessly for it. Whereas there is often a sizable stigma among promiscuous girls in human society, there is ironically an ever greater stigma attached to perceived chastity among girls and women in the Underworld due to our population problems."

Sasuke snorted.

"Sounds like every teenage boys dream; I'm surprised they don't use that more on their human recruitment speeches. Is there a particular reason why you haven't been with anyone yet?"

Rias adopted a thoughtful expression.

"In all honesty, a lot of reasons. You have met my nii-san so I don't think I need to explain to you above how having an overprotective brother as the leader of the Underworld scared away most interested parties."

Sasuke felt a phantom pain as he heard the affectionate term, memories of his childhood with Itachi playing through his mind before he refocused on Rias.

"Add to that the fact that my family is already in a precarious position with our pro-human views and I think you get the picture. Needless to say, our at times tenuous status among the Aristocracy can make it difficult to approach anyone of similar status."

Sasuke nodded.

"I'm sure being the younger sister of the sitting leader also made it difficult, considering how many would seek you out just to improve their family's standing in the pecking order."

Rias sighed wearily.

"Between all those things and generally being isolated from most of my peers outside parties and other large social gatherings, is it really so surprising that I have never been with anyone in that way?"

Sasuke frowned minutely.

"I sense there is more to it than that though; while I realize that in general girls do not feel the same level of urges teenage boys do, there was no doubt some part of you that would have had both the inclination and opportunity to experiment."

Rias rolled her eyes before laughing ruefully.

"Very well, I suppose you caught me. As Sona mentioned, my family has often times been one of the few families in the aristocracy to practice monogamy. For reasons my family has never fully been able to understand, we are drawn very closely with our chosen mate. Most devils have political marriages and casual flings; not to say that love doesn't exist, but in general we believe in minimizing attachments and weaknesses as much as possible."

Rias stepped closer to Sasuke and placed a hand on his bare chest.

"As I have said before, our first few meetings could only be described as disastrous. Even back then though, there was some part of me that was drawn to you; to your strength, your leadership, your unwillingness to compromise your beliefs. Since then, that feeling has only grown stronger as I have gotten to know you more."

Sasuke saw the metaphorical fire burning in her eyes and knew that he had found himself at a small crossroads. It was obvious given the literal steamy situation and how worked up Rias was that it would be extremely easy to nudge this in an interesting direction. As always though, the pragmatist in him won the day.

Sasuke lightly stepped back as Rias made a noise of protest, her hand sliding off his chest.

"I am not opposed to this Rias, but I want you to be sure about it. This whole relationship began on the premise of a political arrangement and has rather rapidly become something else entirely. Being with someone obviously means a great deal to you, and if we are going to continue working together in the future I want to make sure that our being together doesn't ruin that. Take some time to think it through and talk with Sona; if you become certain that you will have no regrets and it is what you want, then we will discuss it further."

Rias gave him a heated look as Sasuke began to dress.

"You certainly know how to tease a girl Sasuke; now I just want you even more."

Sasuke chuckled ruefully.

"Welcome to the frustration that is most men's every waking hour. On a more serious note though, was there anything else you came to discuss?"

Rias shook her head.

"Very well then, I'll walk you out; I'm on the way to a meeting with the local Yakuza leadership anyways."

At the door, Rias whirled around and grabbed a fistful of Sasuke's shirt as she passionately kissed him. Finally pulling away she, gave him a smoldering look before sauntering away with her most seductive gait.

Straightening his shirt, Sasuke gave a small smirk as he likewise departed.


Sasuke scowled at the deafening crowd outside as Vali relaxed on a nearby padded table, being massaged thoroughly by a buxom young blonde.

"Sounds like they are pretty worked up out there, eh king?"

Sasuke grunted as he once again skimmed over the contest rules Sona had helpfully translated. The arena fights began so long ago that the rules had been written in Ancient Mesopotamian, one of the many languages that Sona had learned over the years.

"I don't know why you are reading over that old rulebook; isn't it just a fight to the death?"

"That's exactly why I am reading through this old rulebook. No, it is not a simple deathmatch; the idea is that you force your opponent into submission by any means necessary, then the crowd determines whether the loser lives or dies."

Vali snorted.

"Not how I heard it; rumor was that most of those matches ended in a fatality before the audience ever got involved."

Sasuke grunted in affirmation.

"It does appear that the ring served as a simple executioner more often than not; those that had fallen out of favor politically would often be forced into a match with a far superior opponent. In those cases, the match always ended in an 'accidental' fatality."

Sasuke continued to read the rules as Vali relaxed, the skilled masseuse obviously lingering on certain areas longer than was professional. Sasuke snorted to himself and shook his head; he had forgotten that Vali was quite the infamous figure in the Underworld. Known as the "bad boy" of the younger generation, Vali's devil may care attitude and bishounen looks had snagged quite a few female admirers in the Underworld. Obviously, the enthusiastic blond was one such follower.

Unfortunately for her, she might as well have been a sixty year old man for all Vali cared at the moment. He was about to experience the greatest joy of his life, glorious battle, and nothing would distract him from it in the meantime. Sasuke clapped his hands together to get her attention and made a shooing motion, ignoring her pout as Vali sprang up and started to dress once more.

Sasuke helped him limber up as they went over the basic rules, of which there were few.

"Just remember, unlike when I helped Rias and her team there will be nothing I can do here. While the fight isn't supposed to go until the death, just assume that the other guy isn't going to bother getting the audience opinion before executing you if you lose."

Vali grinned cockily.

"In other words, just treat it like a real battle. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Sasuke nodded as Vali fell into step with him.

"It's not a timed match, so how long or short of a fight it is I leave to your discretion. Just remember, don't toy with your food. If he's weak, crush him and let the audience get their kicks playing god for two minutes. If he's weak enough for you to crush him outright, I won't count it towards your monthly fight quota."

Vali nodded contentedly as he waved to the fans.

"See, this is what I appreciate about you king; you get me."

With a final nod of deference Vali immediately summoned his Albion Armor, making the crowd go ballistic as Sasuke huffed in amusement.

Silence fell over all as the announcer's hologram appeared in the middle of the stadium. The announcer cleared his throat nervously before beginning.

"Due to the change in lineup from the human that claims House Andromalius to Vali Lucifer the Albion Dragon, Lord Berith has withdrawn from the match."

The crowd began to boo quite vigorously.

The hologram announcer had his hand to his ear, obviously receiving further instructions before grimacing.

"In fact, it appears that all the Lords have withdrawn their complaints regarding Sasuke-san inheriting Pillar Lord of House Andromalius."

The uproar was thunderous as the crowd came to its feet, loudly booing and obviously gearing up to charge the announcer booth.

"R-r-rest assured your money will be refunded-"

The crowd was not placated in the least.

"I don't want my money back, I want a fight!"

"Those cowards, they have no pride!"

"No way a human gets to inherit a Pillar!"

Vali looked like he was on the edge of ecstasy, obviously incredibly excited at the bloodbath that was likely about to unleash. Sasuke tensed as he prepared his Shinra Tensei, ready to mow down the crowd if necessary.

Suddenly an expression of power was felt over the entire stadium as the low to mid class devils immediately cowered in their seats. Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Beelzebub made a personal appearance in the middle of the arena, his voice magically booming out to the crowd.

"Calm down you jackals! Rest assured, you will get your fight!"

The crowd quieted down, temporarily both cowed and mollified.

Beelzebub gave the crowd a few moments to further settle before continuing.

"Obviously, the status of Lord Sasuke Andromalius is no longer in question since the major voices in opposition have forfeited their right to protest. In lieu of any formal challenge, I have been given the authority by Sirzechs Gremory himself to formally instate Lord Sasuke as Pillar Lord of House Andromalius."

There were some half hearted boos and a few shouts of outrage from the braver souls before Beelzebub suddenly gave them a wide smile.

"Since there are still a few dissenters, I leverage my power as Lord to grant any of you the chance to fight Lord Andromalius. Of course, you would be facing his champion the Albion Dragon, but i'm sure that many of you will want to prove the pride of the devil race. Are there any takers?"

The silence was so profound a pin could be heard dropping from the cheap seats.

"As I suspected. With that settled, let me be the first to apologize for this travesty of entertainment. As a long time lover of the Arena, I was appalled that the first opportunity to see a match in centuries was cancelled. Thus, I have set up a winner take all rating game to end all rating games!"

There was some golf clapping all around, but the devils were obviously dissapointed that they were not going to see a real arena match.

"Oho, too boring for you lot eh? I guess I'll just let him speak for himself since he came all this way. Please welcome Sairaorg Bael!"

The crowd went nuts as a raven haired muscular figure detached from the crowd and went to stand next to Beelzebub.

"Thank you Beelzebub-san; needless to say our team is excited for this match. We realize that the circumstances are unusual given Vali-san's very small peerage, but given his reputation we feel he and Lord Sasuke are up to the challenge!"

The crowd started wildly stamping their feet and clapping in glee; surely the Lords would reverse their decision when Sairaorg's team flattened this "Lord Sasuke" and his one piece.

Sasuke smirked as he watched the charismatic young man work the crowd. It wasn't a coincidence that he had addressed him as "Lord" Sasuke; this one obviously had ambitions for himself that went far beyond the rating games.

Beelzebub stepped forward once Sairaorg finished speaking.

"Obviously we will need to check with Lord Sasuke before we set anything in stone-"

Sasuke immediately used a shunshin to appear next to Beelzebub and amplified his voice with an application of Chakra.

"You have my approval."

The crowd roared its own approval at his swift acceptance, their discontent with Sasuke formally becoming the Andromalius Pillar Lord fading to the background as they were promised a good rating game.

Time stood still for a second as Violet eyes met Onyx, the two Kings taking a moment to size each other up.

Sairaorg let out a genuine grin as he held out his hand to Sasuke.

"You have a strong gaze; I hope the rumors about you are all true."

Surprised, Sasuke shook his hand and gave him a smirk in return.

"I suppose we shall see soon enough."

The two Kings nodded to each other in respect before Sairaorg returned to his seat with his peerage.

Beelzebub grinned as he assumed a showman's pose.

"Of course, all that will happen after we have our scheduled Arena match!"

The crowd roared its approval, reassured that they would get what they came for.

"Now, as you heard earlier the original combatants have dropped out. However, when the announcement went out that the lineup was changing, there was one devil that absolutely insisted on being the one to face young Vali. At the time we refused since the lineup was full, but it appears that the floor is now completely open for this challenger to compete. Just to be clear, he is not here for political reasons; he is here solely to, in his own words, "Put that boy in the ground."

To Sasuke's shock, the cocky Vali immediately lost all color in his face and his hands started shaking.

"Please welcome to the Arena, Rizevim Livan Lucifer!"

A slightly aged version of Vali appeared in the center of the arena, smirking at the armored Vali and ignoring everyone else presence.

"It's been a while boy."

So as promised a few notes on the chapter. We have a slightly steamy scene to start things off, even if it was mostly just setting up future events. Even still though, I may upgrade this fic to M here shortly just so I have the freedom to do as I like with regards to violence and "situations" that may arise. Like I have stated multiple times, I probably won't write any explicit sex scenes but there may be some heavy allusion and reference to them, which might be out of place as a theme for your typical "Teen" fic. Not a whole lot of actual fighting in this chapter, but plenty of exciting events just around the corner.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, technically Sasuke's peerage falls under the Devil "youth" bracket that Sairaorg's group is the leader in. At this stage the Underworld only know of Sasuke's Queen piece officially, even if some elements may know that he technically has a few more pieces now.