Chapter 46

Disclaimer: I do not own High school DxD or Fairy Tail they are property of Ichiei Ishibumi and Hiro Masima respectively.

Kriim-Sauce786: I hope this chapter is to your liking and thank you for the idea. I will explore this a bit more before the rating game and maybe add a more private scene between the two where it is't all about comforting Rias.

-ORC Building-

Even though club activities at the school had taken a backseat for the up and coming sports festival the ORC usually saw its members meeting after the daily training sessions. While Rias and Akeno helped Sona and the Student Council in preparing for the festival other members like Issei, Asia, Wendy, Xenovia, Irina and Kiba were hard at work training for their classes.

Koneko had become more attached to Natsu in this past week and was rarely seen away from his side during the time he was present, otherwise, you can find her in the kitchen. Being beside Natsu for extended periods of time leads the young Nekoshou to gain an interest in baking, something she wanted to bond over with the pink-haired Dragon.

The ORC members were currently sitting in the main room waiting for Natsu and Koneko to come out of the kitchen. This would be the first time Koneko presented her baking skills to the group and they all agreed that sampling the treats would be a good way to spend their break before they had to return to training for the events.

They didn't have to wait for too long before they saw Natsu and Koneko walking through the door with two plates filled with cookies.

"Those smell delicious," Wendy said as the aroma of the freshly baked cookies seeped through the room. She had waited in anticipation to try out her friend's cookies for the past hour, ever since the white-haired girl brought the idea up with her fellow pink-haired baker.

"Seems like the time you spent with Natsu is paying off," Rias said with a happy smile. She was relieved when Koneko came out of her room with a small smile the day after Irina's welcome party and she knew that whatever bothered her, Natsu had sorted it out.

"It's nowhere near Natsu's level, they are just some basic ginger cookies," Koneko softly said.

"We all start at the basics, and you have shown great progress. For me, it took about a month before I managed to make something that wasn't burnt to a crisp," Natsu said before kneeling down and whispering the last part to Koneko with a hand petting her head.

The ORC group had smiles on their faces at Natsu's encouraging words before confused looks took over their faces when Koneko let out a giggle since they weren't able to hear Natsu's whisper.

The two bakers presented the group with the fruits of their labour and were quickly greeted with praise. While the group was enjoying the treat Rias took the chance to address Asia.

"Asia, I have another stack of love letters for you from Diodora, along with a few other gifts," Rias said. Hearing this Asia could only let out a sigh as her mood seemed to drop a bit.

"What's this about him sending you letters, I thought he understood you weren't going to marry him?" Issei said with a frown.

'Ever since we bumped into him, he has been sending me things every single day," Asia explained.

"Movie tickets, dinner invites, stuffed animals, chocolates, flowers, the works," Rias listed the things she had to receive in Asia's stead while she was training for the sports festival with Issei in an amused tone.

"I'm sorry," Asia said in a saddened tone.

"There is no need to apologise for a little crush. The poor thing just doesn't know the way to a woman's heart," Rias dismissed Asia's apology.

"That guy has a serious problem, he's a legit stalker. It was bad enough that he proposed now this," Issei said with anger brimming in his eyes.

"I hope he doesn't continue this for too or else the mail service will run into a lot of problems," Akeno commented in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"And why would that happen?" Asia asked.

"Well, Wendy's birthday is coming up and so far each year she receives a mass of letters from devils who wishes for her to join their peerage or others requesting to join hers. We usually help her sort through them to ease the burden," Rias explained.

"They never seem to understand that I am happy where I am, and that I don't want to create my own peerage. I do appreciate that they offer me a place in their peerages, even some of the stronger ones, but that just isn't what I want," Wendy added.

'That is not to mention the morons who tried to appear in person with less formal arrangements,' Natsu thought to himself as he remembered the times he had to… prevent some unwanted guests at Wendy's parties. 'Though there is no need to inform them about that,' Natsu thought.

As the last of the cookies vanished the group started to get up and prepared to return to their training. Koneko and Natsu took bot plates to wash them.

"How about I get rid of these?" Akeno asked the blond girl, getting a nod from her.

This only left Rias in the room, her eyes dropping a bit, a small frown formed on her forehead. 'That expression, does he like…' Rias thought with doubt in herself starting to invade her mind.

'Of course he would fancy her. Just look at the improvements she made ever since she joined. She has become a wonderful healer, second only to Wendy, her familiar is a rare Dragon Sprite and she has greatly improved her combat magic. Even all the other members of my peerage improved greatly, Koneko gaining more and more control over her Nekoshou powers by the day, Akeno having her new golden-yellow lightning along with the Draconic powers she gained, Gasper controlling his powers, even Issei is far surpassing all expectations considering how long he had to practice in his powers. And what have I done…' Rias' thoughts turned down a dark and self-loathing road.

"Rias, is something wrong?" a concerned voice asked the red-haired devil. Rias was snapped out of her thoughts before it could corrupt her confidence and her eyes fell on Natsu who had a concerned look on his face.

"N-No, everything is fine," Rias tried to convince the pinkette as well as herself.

"Come now, who are you trying to convince? Where is the confidence that has defined you throughout your childhood?" Natsu asked as he moved closer and took a seat next to her.

"W-What do you mean, nothing is wrong," Rias tried once again to dissuade his concern. Something within her didn't want to bother Natsu with her problems. Could it be her pride as a high ranking devil, or was it her fear of being seen as weak?

"Come now, I have watched over Wendy her entire life and that also means that I have seen the person you are. You aren't one to doubt yourself like this. I am here to help," Natsu said as he placed a comforting hand on Rias' shoulder.

"It's not really anything you can help with," Rias said.

"Try me," Natsu countered.

"You're not going to let up are you?" Rias asked with a defeated look.

"Though my task was to watch over Wendy, I have come to care for you as well throughout your childhood, I see you as something akin to a little sister," Natsu revealed with a soft smirk.

While Rias was expecting some reaction to confirm her question but his reasoning behind it shocked her. Even though a caring brother wasn't something foreign to her, to be honest, her brother can sometimes be overbearing, the idea of Natsu in that role brought a small smile to her face.

"You mean it?" Rias asked as she glanced up at him. The soft smile gave her all she needed to know his answer. She took a breath to steel her resolve.

"I know this will sound stupid, but it feels like Issei likes Asia and not…" Rias started but her words got caught in her throat, saying it out loud made it a lot worse. A warm hand rested on her head and as she looked up a soft smile was present on Natsu's face.

"You really are a silly girl. Rias, that idiot is barely ever quite about wanting a harem so him only loving one person is farfetched already. Along with that, much like devils, strong Dragons are able to have multiple mates. And this about him not liking you? Have you ever seen the infatuation that guy has with you?" Natsu started with a sigh in a soft tone before amusement could be heard in his tone.

"But why would he like me. Everyone around me has made leaps and bound in their powers while I just fell behind" Rias rebutted, her mind still having trouble breaking out of the dark place she found herself in.

"Now where did this come from? Sure the other ORC members had progressed in their powers, but that is only natural. And where do you get the delusion that you have been left behind?" Natsu asked with a frown. Rias looked up at him with sad eyes, tears starting to form. A sigh escaped from Natsu.

"Listen here Rias, the power you already have within you is amazing, the Power of Destruction. When it comes to powerful magic, the level of control needed to just call upon it without it blowing up in your face far exceeds that of other magic and you are able to command it beautifully to do your bidding. Just that fact alone already places you above most mages. Then your leadership skills have improved greatly, without you the others would not be able to achieve the level they are currently at," Natsu comforted the redhead.

"When we faced Loki that sure didn't happen. If it weren't for you I would have done something stupid," Rias said.

"Emotions are influential things, and when it comes to those close to us we can lose ourselves within our emotions. Your reaction was nothing out of the ordinary and the only reason I was able to act rationally is due to my years and years of experience dealing with my emotions. Tell you what, how about I help you out and we improve you as well? And don't worry about your little crush not liking you, his attention is just on Asia at the moment because there is clear competition for her," Natsu gained a serious face before a grin started to spread as he made the suggestion and finally amusement lit his eyes at the end as a teasing tone could be heard.

Rias stuttered incoherently as a red blush formed on her face at Natsu's teasing, her darker thoughts vanquished from her mind.

"I heard you still had a few things to do for the festival," Natsu said as he stood up and walked off to the small kitchen to see whether Koneko needed any help. A soft smile was present on Rias' face, her confidence reinstated as she made her way to the Student Council room to speak to Sona.

-Later that day-

The members of Rias' peerage were all seated and waiting for Rias to make an announcement. Issei sitting next to Asia with Kiba on his other side while on the couch across from them Xenovia, Koneko and Gasper had taken their seats. Akeno was standing slightly behind Rias with something in her hand while Rias sat behind her desk. While Wendy wasn't a part of the peerage she was still present, having heard from Rias what this was about.

"I have just been informed that we will have our next rating game next week. I know that you have been keeping busy with the sports festival but please don't slack on your magical powers," Rias announced. 'I'll see if Natsu can help us this weekend when we aren't celebrating Wendy's birthday,' Rias thought.

"A rating game, what's the reason this time?" Issei asked. He still remembered the last time they had to participate in one and their stakes. 'This better not be another ploy for Rias' hand in marriage, that's just too much to handle alongside Asia,' Issei's mind raged.

"It's not quite like that Issei. This is an event the Devil community has come up with to test and rank the power of the new generation of devils. This will be in a tournament format," Rias explained.

"Wait, if this is between all the young devils, does that mean we will fight Sairaorg?" Issei asked with a shaky tone. The power that guy wielded was terrifying.

"While he is participating in the tournament as well as being the favourite to win it, we won't be facing him in our first match," Rias said.

"So they already chose the bracket?" Koneko asked.

"Yes, and some of the matches had already been fought, Sairaorg's for instance, he already won his first match and we have the recording to watch," Rias said as she threw a quick glance at Akeno who gave a nod in return.

"Wait, so who is our first opponent?" Kiba asked.

"Our opponent for the first round will be… Diodora Astaroth," Rias said, a pause before revealing the name of the devil that had managed to creep under the skin on the Red Dragon Emperor.

The tension in the room grew heavy. The constant letter and gifts that were sent to Asia and her displeasure of them wasn't a secret between the members and that lead to all of them having some level of aversion to the newly appointed heir of the Astaroth Clan, some only mild annoyance while others might feel a deep hatred.

"That is one of the reasons why I wanted us to watch Sairaorg's match so that we can see how one of the strongest devils handles things and hopefully learn from this," Rias nodded to Akeno to start the recording.

The domination shown by Sairaorg was simply amazing. The combination of power and teamwork made quick work of their opponents in a flawless victory for the Bael Clan heir.

"Now let's talk about how he won and how we can integrate this for our own game," Rias said.

Before they could start talking though a magic circle appeared that brought scowl to Rias' face. 'This isn't the time for him to be here,' she thought as she uttered one word, "Astaroth". She was pissed that her time with her peerage that she dedicated to strategizing was interrupted by none other than their future opponent.

From the circle, the dark-haired Diodora rose with a kind smile and a pleasant greeting.

Another chapter for you all to enjoy. Just a heads up to all the readers who follow my other stories, I will be busy with my exams until 19 July and thus uploads will be delayed even more. After that, there shouldn't be any more delays for a while though. Anyway on to the story, as you can see I extended the time in this part of the story a bit to give me some time to add the Natsu and Wendy moment in the form of her birthday. Now this will take place before the Rating Game. I have a plan for the next chapter and a large even during the big conflict that is coming up but that doesn't mean that things can be altered if you guys have any great ideas. As always I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and feel free to leave a review with your thoughts.