For the love of all that is holy, was Riser capable of shutting up? The game hadn't been going for five minutes and Kyousuke already wanted to game end himself. The man just droned on and on about how he was the superior being that Rias' Peerage was destined to be crushed. Oh and something about how another Rook won't make a difference and that will fall into despair - blah, blah, blah.

Punch him.

You know, Kintoki? For once, I agree with you.

Rip his dongle off.

By Satan's Beard, Tamamo! . . . I like the way you think.

But torturing Riser could wait until later. First he had to help Issei and Koneko take down the folks in this center gym.

It was going swimmingly until Issei pulled off the Dress Break spell. He had never seen such a deplorable technique before. He almost performed a team kill right then and there, and he was fairly sure that Koneko was considering the same thing.

They were advancing steadily and had he not been included as Caster, a tragedy may have befell them. As out of nowhere, a massive bolt of energy descended from the sky, only to be reflected by his mirror.

"Now that's not very nice."

He nodded to Koneko, basically signaling her to run ahead.

He'd handle this Queen.

Now one might think that a Rook facing off against a Queen was foolish, but he was anything but. Because he had a secret technique. Kintoki had told him about it.

Install.

Installing was different from Including. Instead of just gaining the servant's powers and weapons, the servant would manifest entirely. Basically, he'd become a clone of them. He could also choose to give them full control. While at first, his body hadn't been strong enough, he had trained his butt off in the days leading to the Rating Game.

While he was unable to use Install with Tamamo due to only awakening her recently, Kintoki was a different story.

He smirked.

"Sorry, Yubelluna, you've fucked up."

He deactivated his Caster include and cackled.

"Install - Rider!"

Yellow electricity erupted around him as his entire visage changed. Gone was blue haired youth and in his place a man with spiky blond hair wearing pink shades. His outfit resembled that which a biker would wear and he had a feral expression on his face.

"I finally get to go wild!" he said with glee as he stared up at the Queen.

"Name's Rider! Let's throw down!"

She responded by hurling a bunch of pot shots at him, all of which he either dodged or punched out of the air.

"Come on! Get my blood flowing! This ain't enough! Not even close!"

He sprinted toward a nearby pillar and used it as a springboard to launch himself through the air. A fist coated with electricity collided with her face. To his surprise, she didn't go down from just that and quickly retaliated with a barrage of blasts.

He whooped and hollered as he bobbed and weaved. He certainly hadn't expected someone to withstand a punch from him like that!

"Stand still!" she screamed at him as she continued her barrage.

"And what? Get hit by your love taps? Sorry. I only accept those from lovers."

She then reached into her bosom and drank something. Whatever it was, it restored her flagging magical powers to full, something that took him by surprise.

"A mana potion? Cheeky!"

He slammed his fists together.

"Then, let's get a little serious."

"Include - Caster!"

Funny little thing about Includes. They could be used even when you were in an Install. And Kintoki was going to abuse the hell out of that.

He focused on the mirror in front of him and channeled both fire and electricity into it.

"Get a load of this, you harpy!"

Fire and electricity fully merged to become a green energy blast. One that pulsated with power.

"Kir Royale!"

A beam of condensed energy shot forth from the mirror and slammed into the Queen before she could even process what was happening.

"Old ladies need their beauty rest, so take it easy, Obaa-san!"

Phenex's Queen has retired.

He turned toward a nearby monitor and smirked before the Install dissipated.

Kyousuke, in control once more, merely gave a thumbs up before collapsing onto his back. Using Install took way more magic than he had expected.

It's up to you now, Issei.

Rias' Rook has retired.

As it turned out, what he did allowed Rias to win the game. While Riser was stronger than the majority of them, between Issei, Akeno and Koneko, they were able to whittle the man down and a combination attack from both Kiba and Rias finished the man off.

Kyousuke was only disappointed that he hadn't been able to defeat Riser himself. But he supposed he still had a long way to go. He wasn't exactly an incarnation of a dragon like Issei was. At least he made up for his lack in raw power with his versatility.

He also received a hug from Rias for his aid, though he waved her off, telling her that she should save the hugs for Sona. It was because of her that he was here, after all.

Either way, he believed he did good and so he settled into his bed, mind drifting off to sleep as he listened to Mittelt's mindless chattering in the other room.

That girl and her new addiction to online gaming.

Sona had a conundrum. It wasn't a major one, but it was certainly something that was quite vexing. See, her parents had noticed Kyousuke's performance in the Rating Game and upon realizing how strong he was, demanded that she teach him chess so that he could hopefully one day beat her.

That's right. They wanted her to marry Kyousuke.

The worst part was, she wasn't exactly against it. Sure, he wasn't a brilliant tactician, but there was something about him that she liked. Maybe it was because he treated her like a girl. As in, he saw her for her. He may call her President, but he didn't kiss the ground at her feet or prostrate himself in front of her. Instead, he joked with her, teased her and basically saw her as an equal.

She had never known how much she wanted that until he gave it to her.

So this led to her conundrum. What if he was bad at chess? What if he wasn't interested? Either one was bad. The former because only those who beat her in chess could marry her. Those were the clan rules. And the latter because she didn't really know all that much about him. She knew he was a good man, if a bit snarky and that he had a fondness for history. But besides that, he was a mystery to her.

Sure, she knew his backstory and how he grew up, but nothing about him as a person.

Perhaps that was the first step. Getting to know Kyousuke not as his Master or President, but as Sona Sitri. As herself.

She flushed red at the thought of that, but quickly composed herself. How hard could it be?

Turned out? Really hard. Not because he was hard to approach, but because she couldn't get away from her duties as clan heiress. Council duties were handled well enough, but all these politics. They were beginning to drive her mad.

She needed to get out.

She needed a break.

And so she left her office behind and made her way home the old fashioned way.

Which ended up leading her into a very familiar situation. Held at knifepoint by a mugger.

"We have to stop meeting this way, Prez," came Kyousuke's voice as he slammed a fist into the mugger's head, causing him to crumple to the ground.

He was smiling at her.

"I know for a fact that you can kick his ass. Why'd ya hesitate?"

Because I wanted you to save me again.

"My mind was distracted with paperwork," she muttered as she adjusted her glasses. "But this is perfect timing. Would you perhaps like to get some tea?"

His eyebrow rose and for a second, she thought he was going to reject her.

"Tea, huh? Sure. I don't have anything better to do."

She allowed a small smile to grace her lips. "Very well. I'll show you to my favorite place."

"Hey, Prez?"

"Call me Sona."

"Uh, alright. Hey, Sona?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't do that again, alright?"

She froze. "Do what?"

"Don't freeze up when you're in danger like that. I was worried about you."

An average person might think he was putting them down, but Sona knew better.

"Worried about me?"

"Yeah. I can't imagine the thought of you getting hurt. And it goes beyond that whole stupid master/servant thing. You're like, my best friend. So, keep your head in the game next time, yeah?"

Best friend, huh?

Her smile widened. Just a tad.

She could work with that.

"Oh, I dunno. I have my very own Knight to come save me at times like those."

"I doubt Mittelt would drop everything to save you."

"I was talking about you, dummy."

"Ah, of course. My mistake."

She huffed, a tint of red coloring her cheeks.

She really was crushing hard on him, dammit.