"Woah... and this is just a summer home?"

"Yep. We don't really use it much, so it's perfect for an occasion like this."

Rias and her peerage stood at the bottom of a slanted path that led to a large mansion. While it was a normal house to the redhead, her servants were all amazed by it. She wasn't the type to let her family's wealth define her, but she couldn't help but feel proud at her group's comments about the mansion.

Her main reason for bringing them here was to train for the upcoming Rating Game against Riser. While she did a good job of looking calm, she was actually quite anxious. She had never participated in a Rating Game before. She had watched them many times, but this would be the first one in which she'd play.

Deciding to push her thoughts of stress and anxiety to the back, Rias instead watched as Issei, Izuku, Kiba, and Koneko all carried the luggage up an incline. Kiba and Koneko were doing quite fine, though it was rather odd seeing Koneko carrying a bag more than three times her size with no trouble.

Issei and Izuku seemed to be struggling with their luggage, but Izuku was carrying a larger bag than Issei. Both boys had pained expressions on their face, making the girls want to help them, but they knew they had to let them do it themselves.

Eventually, Izuku and Issei made it to the top with everyone else, and they all walked into the mansion. They were once again surprised once they got in. Izuku especially couldn't stop looking around with wide eyes. "Umm... P-President... don't you think this is a little too big for us?"

Rias giggled as Izuku repeatedly looked around. "Nonsense. It's nice to have all this breathing room."

Once everyone had brought their luggage to their rooms, Rias led them out behind the mansion, where there was nothing but an empty field of grass. She then had her servants split up into groups of two and spar for a bit.

Asia's ability, healing, didn't quite allow her to fight. Instead, she sat on the sidelines, trying to extend the duration of her healing.

"Looks like you've got something on your mind."

Asia jumped slightly when she turned around to see Akeno sitting down next to her. "Sorry, Asia. Didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to talk."

Asia was still having a hard time getting used to frequent social interaction, but she was getting better. She had not talked to Akeno very often, however. "...huh?"

Akeno slightly scooted away to give the shorter girl some space. "I couldn't help but notice that you seem to have a hard time staying focused. Is something up?"

Asia was about to say no and tell Akeno to not be concerned, but that would go against her nature. Instead, she hesitated briefly before telling the truth. "Um... it's... it's Issei."

Akeno wasn't the biggest fan of Issei, as his perverted tendencies got on her nerves more often than not, but she still respected him as a trusted ally. "Yeah? What's the matter?"

Asia was noticeably blushing now. "It's... it's nothing bad... it's just that um... how do I say this? I uh... I'm... I'm in l-love with him!"

Akeno stared blankly at Asia. "Well, if you know you love him, then what's the issue?"

Asia looked over at Issei, who was trying to break through Kiba's defense. "I'm too nervous to tell him. I-I guess I'm just scared that he might not feel the same way about me."

'Huh. That sounds familiar.'

Akeno awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "W-Well, why don't you just tell him? The worst that'll happen is that he won't date you, but you'll still be friends. That's not so bad, right?"

Asia smiled, feeling a bit more confident now. "You're right. You're great at giving advice, Akeno!"

Akeno gently patted her friend's head with a more serious look on her face. "I'd agree with you if I could actually follow my own advice."

Asia was confused. "Huh?"

Now it was time for Akeno to reveal her secret. It was only fair. "You see, I'm in love with Izuku. Like, really, really in love with him. It's gotten to the point that it's hard for me to think of anything that doesn't involve him. Despite my intense feelings, however, I just can't find the courage to tell him. I'm usually a confident person, so I don't know why this is happening..."

Asia chose to remind Akeno of her own advice. "Well, just tell him...?"

Akeno pointed to Izuku, who was sparring with Koneko. "I can't, he's busy now. I want to do it when it's just me and him."

The two girls spent more time talking about relationship advice while the others trained.

Izuku's bruised face would definitely raise concerns, but he was the one who told Koneko to stop going easy on him. She hesitated, but agreed when he said that he couldn't get better at fighting if she didn't try her hardest.

Izuku tried to catch Koneko off guard with a high kick, but she caught his leg and flipped him over. He immediately got back up and threw a punch, but she had no trouble knocking his arm up and kicking him in the stomach.

"I think we should call it quits now. You're pretty banged up." said Koneko as she stood over the now fallen Izuku.

Izuku let out a pained cough. He was about to say that he needed to train more, but she had a point. Any more hits and he'd likely need a doctor. Instead, he just grabbed her hand as she helped him to his feet. "Y-Yeah, sorry."

"Eh?"

Koneko surprised Izuku by reaching out and petting his hair, still keeping a straight face. "I like your hair. It's soft."

Izuku blushed, though he enjoyed this. "Th-Thanks."

The two followed the other Devils as they walked into the mansion.

———————————————————————

"Izuku, let me feed you."

"Um, I think I can do it myself."

"Come on, let me do it."

"Okay..."

The Devils all sat at a large table in order to eat their dinner, which was cooked by Asia and Akeno. They decided to be the ones to do it so they could use food to please the targets of their affections.

Akeno was taking it further by insisting on feeding Izuku. This gesture made the boy feel slightly embarrassed, but he couldn't deny that it was nice that a girl wanted to feed him. It was also nice that the food tasted amazing. His praise of the food earned him a pat on the head from Akeno.

As they ate, the Devils chatted about various things like school and contracts. Izuku mentioned that he got summoned by an older woman and gave her a massage, to which both Issei and Akeno expressed jealously.

After a delicious meal, Rias announced that it was time for a bath. She and the other girls were about to head outside when Akeno whispered something in her ear. Rias then turned to look at Izuku before speaking out loud. "It has been brought to my attention that Izuku should come in the bath with us. What do you think, girls?"

Akeno said yes right away, as she was the one who asked in the first place. Koneko also encouraged it, and Asia shyly said that she didn't mind. Issei was quite jealous of Izuku now, accusing him of doing this on purpose. Kiba was much more civil and just smiled at Izuku while watching him get dragged to the girls' side of the bath.

Once he got into the bath, the first thing Izuku did was stare at the wall in order to avoid looking at the girls who were obviously naked. While he definitely liked girls, he was embarrassed far too easily and opted to avoid feeling uncomfortable altogether.

Things were going quite well for Izuku until he felt two large, soft objects press against his back. He slowly looked behind himself and saw none other than Akeno smiling at him.

"Hey, cutie." said Akeno while gently rubbing his shoulders.

Izuku could barely respond. His face was bright red as usual, and all he could think about was how a girl was touching him. "H-Hello..."

Koneko came over and reprimanded Akeno. "Give him some space, he can't even think with you using those weapons of yours."

Akeno reluctantly moved away from Izuku and apologized. He assured her that no harm was done, which made her happy. 'To be honest, I was kind of enjoying that. Wait, no! I'm not a pervert! No perverted thoughts!'

Izuku's blush returned when Koneko started rubbing his cheek. "K-Koneko?! Wh-What are you doing?"

Koneko remained neutral, though she had a small blush on her face. "You have soft skin."

Akeno immediately returned to her position upon hearing this. "Koneko, did you just try to get me away so you could have him to yourself?"

The shorter girl replied while her hand was still on Izuku's cheek. "Possibly."

Akeno fought back by once again pressing her chest against Izuku's back, but this time she wrapped her arms around his chest.

'Get a hold of yourself, Izuku. You can do it, power through this, don't pass out, don't pass out, don't pass-

He passed out. Luckily, he woke up just three minutes later. He once again felt his face heat up when he noticed that he was in Akeno's arms.

Akeno began to slowly move her hands up and down Izuku's back. As usual, he felt embarrassed, but he was enjoying this. He let out a squeak when another pair of hands began caressing his chest. He was surprised when he looked up and saw Rias smiling down at him. "I can't let Akeno have all of the fun, can I?"

Things were a lot quieter on the boys' side of the bath. Issei and Kiba had several short conversations about various things, though Issei was currently staring at the dividing wall. Kiba had jokingly asked if Issei was having a staring contest, to which the latter replied that he was sure he'd be able to see through the wall if he tried hard enough.

Issei could at least hear what was being said on the other side of the wall, which gave him a rough idea of what was happening, though the actual situation wasn't as intense as what he had in mind.

Back on the girls' side, things had calmed down. Koneko and Asia bonded over their smaller chests, which made them jealous of Rias and Akeno.

The hot water of the bath was now getting to Izuku. He looked to be in a dazed state, as he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Akeno quickly noticed this and decided to ask him about it. "Izuku? What's the matter? You feeling tired?"

Izuku didn't say anything, he instead just nodded. Akeno smiled, as this was another good opportunity for her. "Come rest your head here." she said as she patted her chest.

Because of his current state, Izuku did not hesitate to rest his head on Akeno's chest. "'kay..." he quietly said as Akeno's arms brought him closer to her. This continued until everyone got out of the bath and prepared for bed.

———————————————————————

'Maybe if you take a swan dive off the roof, you'll get reborn with a Quirk in your next life!'

Izuku jolted awake, heavily breathing with a cold sweat. He quickly looked around to make sure that he was still in his room at the mansion. He blinked a few times and felt some wetness in his eyes.

Ever since the day Katsuki told him to end his life, Izuku couldn't stop having nightmares about it. Even though his life was much better now, he just couldn't forget what he went through before.

Izuku was now conflicted. He wanted to just go back to sleep and forget about the nightmare, but he felt too distressed to sleep alone now. He had something in mind, but he didn't think it would work. He'd still try, though. After a brief internal debate, he grabbed his pillow and walked down the hall.

Once he got to the door of the room he was thinking of, Izuku gently knocked on the door three times. When nothing happened, he was about to turn around and go back to his room, when a soft voice interrupted his thoughts. "Izuku?"

He looked up to see Akeno looking down at him with a concerned expression. She immediately saw the tears in his eyes, which only made her much more worried. "Come in." she said as she brought him into the room, closing the door behind him.

While this was happened, Izuku was struggling to process that he was in a girl's room. He was able to hold it together, though, as there were more important matters. As he lied down on the floor, he heard Akeno once again, this time sounding confused. "Izuku, what are you doing?"

He looked up at her, equally confused. "Um... sleeping..."

Akeno shook her head. "Not on the floor. Come here." she said with an almost disappointed tone of voice while picking him up and placing him on the bed. He then looked at her with a worried expression. "Where will you sleep, then?"

Akeno smiled smugly as she climbed in bed next to him, and couldn't help but giggle when his face turned bright red. "Right here."

Izuku was going to reply with something else, but he knew that this was going to happen no matter what. He wasn't going to complain, though. He never thought he would be held by a girl in bed, but he certainly liked this.

As the two lied in bed together, Izuku was slowly falling asleep. Before he completely drifted off, he remembered something. There was something very important that he needed to tell Akeno, but he was having trouble building up the courage to say it.

'It doesn't matter how she responds. I just... I have to tell her before it's too late!'

Izuku quickly sat up. Akeno had not fallen asleep yet, so she too sat up with Izuku.

"Um... Akeno..."

"Yeah?"

'Crap. I know I have to tell her, but I just can't! I'm a nervous wreck!'

Akeno could tell that he was thinking intensely, so she gave him time.

'Come on, I can do this! Why am I struggling to do this?! Screw it, I'm telling her now!'

Izuku gulped before looking up at Akeno. While he tried to avoid giving in to his feelings, he couldn't deny that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. He could stare at her for hours. Now was not the time for that, though.

"Uh... I um... how do I say this... you see... I..."

"Take your time. I have all night."

"...I love you!"

Those three words caught Akeno off guard. While she had no problem relentlessly teasing him, she was certainly not expecting him to react like this. For the first time ever, Izuku was the one making her blush bright red, even though he didn't do it on purpose.

As Akeno tried to process what she just heard, Izuku justified his feelings. "I know that uh... I'm not very tall, or strong, or good looking, but either way, I really l-love you. You're really smart, pretty, and I feel safe whenever I'm near you... so that's why I lo-

He was cut off when Akeno held him tightly and kissed him on the lips. After thirty straight seconds of passionate kissing, Akeno broke the kiss and looked Izuku in the eyes while breathing heavily. When he looked up at her with a glazed expression. She hugged him gently with his face resting on her chest.

When she felt Izuku's arms wrap around her, Akeno began speaking. "I love you too, Izuku. I love you more than anything else in this world. I've been in love with you for a while now, I was just worried that you didn't feel the same. I guess it was really silly to worry about that, huh? Izuku?"

Izuku didn't respond, which worried Akeno. She looked down once more and saw that he had a large smile on his face and was quietly giggling to himself. His smile proved to be contagious, as she felt herself smiling now. She then lied down as she pulled him close to her and began gently caressing his hair.

'I will do everything in my power to protect his smile.'

———————————————————————

Forcing myself to wait until now to have Izuku and Akeno get together was borderline torture. This is where the fun begins, though.

As I said before, I'm working on some other stuff that I may or may not publish. It all depends on whether I feel like it or not, I guess.

For those of you keeping up with Side Stories, I've started working on a new chapter for that, so be on the lookout for that at some point.

'Till next time!