Our little bonding experience the day prior had some interesting ramifications. It started with Kiba, right as Asia and I got to our room, the young swordsman warmly greeted us, it an interesting experience, our closeness, mine, and his specifically, made our female classmates squeal in delight, apparently, they fantasized about some supposed romance between us two… Crazy women.

A better experience was our lunch period, we all decided to do it together, thus all six of us gathered at the school's roof, where Koneko usually ate and shared a nice picnic of sorts.

This made it clear to me that I needed to talk with Asia and Rias. It all began when our king had the idea to feed me, since, according to her, 'it's something couples do'.

That didn't go well with our former nun. I think she didn't really understand the steps of a relationship, I don't think anyone talked about that with her, but she understood what Rias meant by 'couple'.

Luckily she was too meek to confront Rias, instead, they began competing, each one offering different food to me. It kind of worried me because they were more interested in me giving them attention and not that I ate what they gave me.

It took me a while to figure out some way for me to not eat more than I could, but I eventually did. My idea was brilliant, however, now that I can think back to it, maybe I started something extremely troublesome.

My opportunity to put my plan in action came when the two competitors looked down to get another piece of food from where we had put them together. The opening only appeared because the food close to us had all been consumed.

So, while they were busy putting things in a bowl I grabbed Koneko, and without any second thought plopped her on my lap, she was confused at first, but a smile and a few pets to her head made her look down and focus on the small cookie she was taking tiny bites from.

That was the easy part, now I had to see if I could make those two not notice her. My first try was successful, their actions had become so automatic that they didn't even look at me to see if I grabbed the food they gave me. I guess that they knew by feeling the loss of weight on their chopsticks, I knew they didn't look, because they kept staring at each other.

Thus, while I took an offer from one, I moved Koneko so she could get the other. I have no idea how it worked, I even got curious to see if they'd notice if I put Kiba or Akeno in my place.

Alas, I didn't move on to see what'd happen, instead, I tried to make it so only Koneko ate whatever they gave me, I was full and I don't think they'd stop their little competition.

I could see that my little kouhai was on cloud nine, she was acting like the royal cat from ancient Egypt, being pampered by me and given tasty food by the girls that sought my attention.

Asia and Rias only stopped when they heard me, Akeno and Kiba failed to hold our laughs, the situation was too abnormal to be real, it looked like a scene from some TV show.

Unsurprisingly, neither of the two were happy with me, Rias punched me softly, and Asia turned away pouting. That gave an opening to our president and she captured my lips, and everything became awkward.

Akeno gasped, Kiba looked surprised, Koneko mad, I think because the food stopped coming as did my littles pets, the silence made Asia look back at us, and I have no idea what her expression looked like because I only saw her running through the exit.

I felt bad, I should have talked with her about my experience with Rias, about our relationship...

After that we didn't feel like continuing our little picnic, Rias was confused but by the somber tone of everyone she could imagine what happened. We didn't comment about it, we just picked everything up and went back to our classrooms.

I didn't see Asia there, something that worried me, I had no idea of how much my parents had talked with her, if they only mentioned marriage, or if they told all the steps for it to happen.

My worry only increased when it was time for class to begin and she hadn't appeared, so I decided to go look for her. The professor wasn't happy about it, but I didn't care.

I looked everywhere she'd mentioned she'd like to go, we had some conversations about nice places we could waste time on. She wasn't in any of them.

She wasn't in the club room, she hadn't gone back home or to the dojo, I had called both mom and Miki… I was starting to get desperate, and at that state of mind I just walked around, I hoped that it'd help me think of places she could be at.

Instead, only bad thoughts surfaced, what if she tried going home and something happened, what if she was attacked, some car hit her while she crossed some street, some stray devil kidnapped her… These thoughts only made me panic more, and just as I was going to leave to go look for her outside the school's premises, I heard sniffs, crying sniffs.

I rushed towards its source, the closer I got the higher my hopes of it being her grew. The sound was coming from behind a tree that stood close to the school's entrance gate. I couldn't see who it was from where I was going from, still, I went…

And, right there, behind the bigger tree of the school's front area, I found her.

She sat with her knees to her chest, her head was covered by them, she looked so fragile, so hurt.

And I felt even worse, I could've avoided all of this had I not been scared of what she'd say, the thought of her changing, of not seeing her smile anymore hurt, but not as much as I was hurting right now.

At that moment I was scared, I wanted to hug her, but what if she refused me? What if she ran away again?

I couldn't make those scenarios leave my head, I tried reasoning with myself, I could explain to her, I could hold her and not let her leave, I could hold her so tight that she'd know that I care about her and that I'd not let her go.

I did just that, I sat beside her, and put my arms around her trembling body. She looked up, I could feel, not see, for I was too scared to see her hurt face.

I heard her cry harder, but she didn't try to leave my arms, instead, she turned towards me and hugged me back.

I felt my shirt get wet from her tears, I felt her hold get tighter on the buttoned shirt I wore over the one she was crying on, and with courage from unknown origin, I opened my eyes.

She wasn't looking up, her face was buried in my chest, which allowed me to see our position. She was in an uncomfortable half kneeled, half seated position, I had my legs spread open around her.

I wanted to make her feel better, at least so she wouldn't hurt herself by sitting awkwardly.

It was easy to move her, she was light and I had improved my strength, she also didn't put any resistance, she just didn't let go of me.

I managed to put my back to the tree, she sat on my lap, my legs crossed so she'd be more comfortable, hers naturally rested close to my feet.

This new position moved her head, she now was laying it on the crook of my neck, she still held on to me and I to her. I didn't know if I should say something if just sitting there would be enough.

All the movement made her tears stop, only her small sniffs could be heard every now and then… It was in this situation that I decided to stop being afraid and just tell her.

"Asia-chan… I'm sorry, I should've told you… I-I was afraid of what you'd say… I didn't want to lose you, but now that I saw what I made you pass through I feel even worse."

She said nothing, I couldn't see if she was looking at me if she was paying attention… But I had to finish it, so I pushed down my hesitation and continued.

"The night before we had the conversation with Riser, Rias showed up at my room, she looked in panic… She wanted me to take her virginity, she said it'd break the contract, but I didn't feel it was the right thing to do."

She moved her head, I looked down… I could see her eyes, she was looking at me, I had her attention.

"She didn't agree with my response, so she kissed me, and then we kissed a lot… It was until that maid Grayfia showed up, we stopped when we saw the light of the teleportation circle, she took Rias and we haven't talked about that ever since."

Silence took over, I was waiting for her answer, she… She looked confused.

"So now you two will have a baby?"

What? "What?"

And she's embarrassed…

"Th-That's what they told us at the church… When a boy kisses a girl, the Lord…" We both wince at that, "He blesses them with a baby."

Hmm… What should I say now? I didn't know, so I said nothing.

It became awkward, so much so that she hid her face on my neck once more.

"We're not going to have a baby, I don't think that's how it works, I'll talk with mom about it when we get home."

She distanced herself a little bit, our eyes met again, and she questioned me for a second time.

"Will you two marry?"

It sounded innocent as if she thought that a kiss was all that mattered for a couple to get married, but to me, it was much more, it sounds as if she's asking for a choice, her or Rias.

"I don't know…"

I expected disappointment, anger, even though I think she'd never get angry at me… Anyway, out of every emotion from her, the one that I didn't anticipate was hope.

My confusion was clear, she saw it and blushed, this was the time I had seen her the reddest.

"Th-Then... D-Does that mean I could still m-marry you?"

Red, pure red was the color of my face, I'm sure… I could feel the heat on it, all the way from my forehead to my neck, and I'm sure that she saw it.

"Uh… Su-Sure… I… I don't see why n-not."

Then I saw the most beautiful smile I had ever seen, she looked so perfect, so precious. What followed next was even more surprising than our conversation… She kissed me.

It was a simple chaste kiss, our lips simply met and stayed so for a few seconds, her eyes were closed, mine wasn't for that had frozen me.

She was the one to move away, however, only distanced her head, we were still hugging each other, both blushing furiously.

"Wha…" I tried saying something, but I couldn't form words.

She giggled at my stunned condition, which made me start to get a hold of myself, she was happy, my initial fears could be forgotten.

We stayed in silence for a while, I was composing myself, Asia was cuddling with me, she seemed happy.

"Asia-chan, we should talk about us… I should've done it much earlier."

Her bliss was cut off at my words, she looked at me, our position was the same as it had been when she kissed me, I couldn't get that out of my head.

"Do you know how a couple decides to get married?" I managed to continue talking, even though I was really embarrassed.

She seemed confused, it was enough of an answer.

"Normally, when two people like each other, they spend time together, first as friends, then as boyfriend and girlfriend, it's only they are sure that they are the right ones for each other that they decide to get married."

I looked to see if she understood… By her expression, I'd say that yes, she did. So I asked an important question.

"If you understood that, then what do you think is our relationship? We're definitely friends, I don't know about girlfriend and boyfriend, we never talked about it…"

She didn't have to think too hard about it, a few moments later she had an answer for me.

"We're friends, but… I want to be more, just like Kaa-sama said, I want to be your wife, I want to be with you."

It was nice to hear those words, to have someone who'd like to spend time with you… However, I was different, I had made a promise to Issei, I said I'd fulfill his dream, and as much as I'd like it to be just me and Asia, I know that I already like Rias enough to consider her whenever I think about a relationship.

"Asia-chan… Before you make any decisions, I have to tell you something." With her attention on me, I continued what could be the end of this relationship, "It started when I was eight, some old guy was telling stories at a park near my house, and one of them followed a boy who became the Harem King, he was so cool that I decided I wanted to be like him."

So far she hadn't turned her head away, she still paid attention to my words.

"It's silly, but this dream connects with this younger me, and I wanted to at least give it a try…"

I looked expectantly at her, that'd be an important answer. Unfortunately, she seemed a bit lost.

"It is great to know about your dream Issei-kun, but I don't really understand it."

So I try to explain it to her, "My dream, Asia-chan, is to have more than one girlfriend, more than one wife, all of it at the same time."

Realization down at her cute face, it was followed by a pensive look.

I waited, this couldn't be an easy thing to consider, I'd be surprised if anyone just accepted this idea, maybe it'd be easier thanks to the culture of the Underworld, but still, this shouldn't be a rushed decision.

I didn't know how long passed, I just kept looking at her face while she considered what I wanted from her.

"If I became your wife, would it be like the stories Kaa-sama and Otou-sama tell us?" By that, she meant the stories of their own relationship.

"Yes! It's only natural that I make sure that whomever I chose to spend my life with is happy, and I think their stories are from a happy couple."

My affirmative response generated a happy smile, "Then I accept, I'll be one of your wives."

I held myself from the surge of happiness that came to me, I had to make sure she knew what this meant.

"Are you sure? You looked hurt when you saw Rias kissing me, that will probably happen more often than not… You see me kissing other girls."

She, in turn, gave me a determined nod.

"I'm sure! I don't like the way my chest hurts when I think about that, but I want to be with you… You're the one who gave me a new life when I was alone, you're the first one to help me and make sure that I was happy again, that's why I want to spend this new life with you, even if I have to share you with other people."

Her words broke the dam I had put on my emotions, joy overcame me, and before I realized I was kissing her again, only this time I pushed it a bit.

My tongue asked permission to enter her mouth, I felt her confusion with the gesture, however, I kept on, a bit more forcefully, but I wasn't really thinking at the moment.

Her mouth opened slightly, my tongue entered and explored the new place, gently caressing everything it touched, I heard a moan escape her lips, my hold on her got tighter, her tongue was now dancing with mine, caressing one another making us both feel pleasure, sadly it ended, we had to breath, something that neither of us thought to do while we enjoyed each other.

It was through some small gasps that I managed to ask her, "In that case, I wanted to ask if you wanted to be my girlfriend, Asia-chan?"

She smiled and kissed me again, this time she didn't wait for my tongue to ask permission, she was the one who took charge. I took that as a yes.

We didn't stay there for long, she was a bit shy about skipping class to make out, and I didn't want to push her too much.

Fortunately, we only missed one class once we got back, Kiba looked worried, but he didn't say anything.

Much like every other day, the three of us went to do our peerage duties at the sound of the bell that signified the dismissal of our studies.

Asia and I held hands the whole way, which was common at this point, what wasn't was the slight skip to her steps, something that Kiba noticed and asked about.

My answer was for him to wait until we got to the club room.

Once there, he wasn't the only one to notice the brighter atmosphere around my girlfriend, they could tell something good happened, but I don't think they knew what it was.

"Asia-chan, you look very happy… I wonder if Issei-kun had something to do about that~" Our queen didn't miss the opportunity to tease us.

Her attempt was simple and something that she'd probably expected to not generate any reaction, however, her words brought our time under the tree back in my mind, and just as I had been before, I was now sporting a heavy blush.

Akeno's surprise at getting the wrong person was amusing, too bad I wasn't really thinking about that at the moment.

The strange situation stopped when our king showed up, my friends didn't know what to do, everyone remembered how Asia had run after Rias' stolen kiss. The former nun was an exception.

"Uhm… I'd like to apologize to everyone for leaving our lunch earlier." She did a ninety-degree bow and all.

"It's fine Asia-san, are you alright? You can skip anything that you might've to do today if you're not feeling well." Rias looked truly concerned, she probably felt bad about the situation.

Asia just grabbed my hand and smiled, that seemed to be enough of an answer for her because she didn't say anything more.

"Right… We have to talk about our Rating Game with Riser." I saw that it was starting to get uncomfortable, so I changed the subject.

I succeeded in grabbing their attention, they all looked excited, that was good, we have a mission to help our king, and the first step is for everyone to be willing to do what is necessary.

"We have a month to get strong enough to beat them… Rias, do you have any information on their powers? Have they fought before? It'd be nice to have something that we could use to study them."

The redhead paused to think for a bit, I couldn't help but let my eyes stray from how her bosom jiggled when she raised her hand to her chin…

"I think he had a few rating games in the past, he definitely had one when he completed his peerage… I'll ask Grayfia about the recordings, it shouldn't be hard to get them."

That would be half of our work done, now we had to start training.

"Great! Now we can focus on getting stronger, we'll fight against a lot of people, so we have to be at our best."

I expected to get some negative reactions from the group, seeing as they don't have the initiative to do it themselves, surprisingly, only Rias had any sort of negative reaction, as small as a frown could be considered as one.

"Sadao-sensei could help Koneko-chan, I don't know about you Kiba-san, I don't remember him mentioning using weapons… Akeno-san should look to improve her lightning attacks, maybe look for some magic to complement them, Rias should try to do the same, get better control of her power and look to find things to compliment them."

None of them expressed any rejection to my words, so I continued with my suggestions, "Asia-chan needs to learn some defensive magic, her healing is progressing well, and she doesn't want to learn anything that might hurt others."

"Right! We should get started then, the earlier we start, the earlier we finish." I think Rias' words were targeted to encourage her more than us.

All that decided, Akeno went to look for some books on a shelf that sat in the corner of the room, Asia helped her, Koneko sat to eat some biscuits, and Rias sat at her chair, likely to write the message to Grayfia.

I saw that Kiba had been left out, so I went to him to find ways for him to improve.

"Kiba-san, have you thought about anything to improve yourself?"

He had looked thoughtful, he should already have some sort of training regiment considering the way he fights is dependent on technique.

"I sometimes go to the kendo club, unlike you Issei-kun, I don't have a sensei to teach me…" He sounded bitter about it, maybe I'm just imagining it.

"We could spar, Sadao-sensei will be busy with Koneko-chan so I'll have to train by myself as well, we could help each other."

The vicious grim that adorned his face showed me that he had been bitter about it.

"Sure! When do you want to do it?"

"We could start today, but I have to talk with Rias before that, so… How about when I finish talking with her, we go find someplace?"

He gave me an approving nod and left to help the girls at the shelf.

I went to our king, the whole scene with Asia running and crying surfaced in my head, I don't want a repeat of that.

"Rias, could we talk in private? It's about that night." I tried my best to say the last part quietly since no one minded us, I guess I managed it.

Before leaving with her, I got Asia's attention and made a signal for her to follow us. I reckon she should be a part of the conversation.

It was my second time in Rias' bedroom. I was again there to talk about serious business, hopefully, this time it goes better than the last.

The redhead wasn't expecting the blonde to accompany us, but a simple nod of my head let her know that I was the one responsible for this.

"So Issei, what do you want to talk about?" She sat on her bed and waited for me to begin.

Once I saw that the three of us were inside, and the door was properly closed, I put my serious face on and started our discussion.

"You have feelings for me, it was obvious from what happened yesterday and during the night when you went to my room… I took a step forward with Asia-chan, and I think it'd only be fair to you if we talked about this now."

Rias looked at me and then at Asia, repeatedly, as if she was trying to find the connection that we'd made. The blonde was simply smiling, she also inched closer and took my hand, no doubt to make it clear to our king what I was talking about.

With my girlfriend's move, Rias' expression became somber, she was probably thinking that she'd lost any chance of anything with me.

"After what happened at lunch, I went looking for her, and when I found her we talked. I told her everything that happened between the two of us…" She looked mad at that.

"You couldn't! Not without my say about it, that was something between us two… W-Why would you do that?" Her voice was starting to break, her eyes were starting to water.

"I made a mistake with Asia! I led her on, I let her think that we had something that we didn't, and when you kissed me in front of her… She was really bad." My words flew out of my mouth, I was afraid to make another girl I like to cry, I couldn't handle it if it happened, not on the same day.

Rias' sniffs started appearing, I forced myself to ignore it and continued with what I was trying to tell her before.

"During our talk, I figured that she didn't understand much about relationships, and after explaining to her about them I asked if she wanted to be my girlfriend…" Another sniff, only this one was accompanied by a tear that trailed down her cheek.

"However, there was a condition for that. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to have a big family. My parents couldn't have any more babies after me, so I figured I'd find this new family myself. I didn't know how, until I met an old man at a park. He was telling stories of heroes and their adventures, but he always focused on breasts and other alluring parts of a girl."

My story wasn't helping much, it was a bit cold of me to not get to the point quickly, but at this point, I felt as if I had to tell her everything. Asia being here with us turned out to be great. After Rias started crying, she sat beside her and tried to give her some comfort.

"The tales of that old man gave me a way of getting a big family. Every hero of his had a harem, and after all of those stories I wanted one too."

"I told this to Asia, and she, somehow, accepted my dream. I'm telling you in the hopes that you will accept it and give me a chance to make you happy… If I haven't ruined my possibilities already…"

I waited for her. She had got a grip on her emotions, but she was thoughtful. I was afraid of rejection, after what I made her go through I wouldn't be surprised if she did reject me.

Rias didn't realize my state of mind, she was too caught up in her thoughts. Time passed, I had no idea how long it had been. I felt as if this was some form of vengeance on her part, but she didn't look at me once during the silence…

"Issei-kun… I like you… And I don't mind polygamy… But, I don't think we should do this right now."

Her words hurt. In the end, I got rejected, even if the possibility was there.

"W-Why? Is it something I said? Or I…" I sounded a bit desperate until now I had gotten everything that I wanted, this was the first time I didn't, and it didn't feel good.

"No! No, it's not you… I know that you are caring, I know that you didn't want to hurt me, and that makes me want to be with you… But, I can't right now."

"Rias…" "I'm afraid. What if we don't make it? What if we lose to Riser… I don't want to get closer to you only to have to break up later…"

Who cares about that… We will win! Issei did it, he avoided the marriage, I can do it too...

Those thoughts flooded my head, I wanted to tell her that, but I couldn't. She's stubborn, and she's afraid, and I'm afraid to push her away by forcing this.

"Yo-You heard Riser… He doesn't care about you having other relationships, it wouldn't be that bad…" My attempt turned on me, for she looked mad.

"He might not be bothered with it, but I am! I don't want to have many lovers, I don't want a harem, I only want one person! And I don't want to have to think about what I'd do if I had to break up with that person to marry another one who I despise."

"Bu…" "But I said I don't mind polygamy. Yes I did, and I don't, I just don't want to do it myself… It might be silly of me to want something special… Something that I'd share with only one person, but it's what I want, and it's what I'll try to get."

At this point her tears had disappeared, there weren't any signs that she had gone through what she did.

"So this is it?"

"Yes, this is it. We will wait for the Rating Game to end, then we will talk about it again… It's for the best, we won't have distracting thoughts, our chances to win will be bigger…" She was trying to reassure herself, it was clear.

She was determined, I'll respect that, I'll do just like she said… Focus on my training, focus on our enemy, because before I did it to make her happy, now I'll do it to make me as well.

"I understand…" There was a long pause, I waited for her to say something, to do something, but she didn't. "We should go back, the others might get worried… And Rias, I'll make sure to win this thing… Riser wants something that I want, I won't let him have it!"

Her smile warmed me. I looked at Asia, afraid that she might dislike what I've done, even though I had her approval, I wasn't certain she'd take all of this well. It looked as if she did, for she was giving me the same warm smile she gave when I was taking a beating at our training.