Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the High School DxD anime/manga/light novel all I own are my original characters and plot twists.

'Talking'

"Thinking"

'Ddraig talking and Sacred Gear sounds'

"Ddraig thinking"

*expression*

Flashback

Chapter 15 – Ryuujin

The day of the meeting was fast approaching and Issei was slowly cracking. Everyone, even the most oblivious started to notice the sudden shift in Issei. Issei started coming to class late every day and frequently went to the nurse's office in discomfort, occasionally he would even leave school early. His parents were starting to get worried about him and none of the girls living in his house could figure out what was wrong with Issei, or how to go about fixing it. Anytime someone asked Issei what was wrong, he would vaguely respond that he was not feeling well and thinking through some things before walking off.

'Sona, I don't understand what the problem is. Sure, I understand that at best we are neutral with Hyoudou and while it is true that he is behaving oddly, it shouldn't be something to worry about.' Reasoned Rias, as she sat across from Sona in the Occult Research Club room with her peerage barring Asia, standing behind her.

'It is a problem because the one thing we could say about Hyoudou previously was that he was rather straightforward, we didn't have to think about anything odd occurring by his hand.' Replied Sona, with Tsubaki and the rest of her peerage behind her, barring a few who had duties to attend to.

'So because his behaviour has changed rather suddenly, you now believe that he is a threat?' Questioned Rias calmly.

'Exactly, whatever may have been said about Hyoudou previously, while I don't trust him, I didn't have any real reasons to be suspicious of him, this however is the first behaviour he has exhibited which has me genuinely worried.' Continued Sona.

'I suppose given that the meeting of the three factions is approaching I can understand your concerns, but how bad could it be? I mean, maybe he is dealing with his childhood friend coming and then leaving again?' Suggested Rias.

'True, I did consider that, however the timing does not correlate, no, something else caused this change and since neither of us nor any of his companions know what is wrong with him, it appears another party is involved somehow, that is what worries me.' Concluded Sona.

After a brief pause, Koneko made to leave the room, drawing everyone's gaze towards her.

'Koneko, where are you going?' Asked Rias.

'Out of sweets.' Said Koneko, before quietly opening the door and exiting the room, before shutting the door behind her.

'Rias, I don't claim to be an expert on your peerage's mannerisms, but was that not something rather odd?' Questioned Sona with a raised eyebrow.

'It was; however, I will speak to Koneko about it later, that being said, I don't think there is anything more that needs to be discussed here until we have some new information to go on.' Answered Rias, to which Sona nodded, before she and her peerage left, leaving Rias, Akeno and Kiba alone.

'So what do you two think?' Questioned Rias.

'Well, I don't claim to be an expert in Issei's behaviour and patterns, but this does read as something genuinely odd… it seems similar to how I acted when Excalibur… appeared again.' Said Kiba with a steely voice.

'Hmm, I do agree with Yuuto as well, he is acting very similar to how Yuuto was just a short while ago… but I don't understand what could have caused this, no new devils have come near him, of that I am certain we can be sure of.' Added Akeno thoughtfully.

'Do you think it could have been another faction? I mean, we didn't know about Azazel and apparently Issei is rather close with him, the leader of the fallen angels no less… you don't suppose it could have been an angel? That might explain his sudden change. As far as I can gather, he has never made contact with the angel faction outside of the two exorcists Irina and Xenovia.' Theorised Rias.

'Hmm, that does seem possible, but also unlikely.' Said Kiba giving his opinion.

'I suppose what you are saying makes sense, but I doubt it, Issei does have a rather secretive past and there is always the chance that something brought back old memories, maybe a person or a special date?' Suggested Akeno.

'Hmm… well, in the meantime I suppose we should just continue to observe him and try not to aggravate whatever is bothering him. Although where did Koneko go off to?' Said Rias.

-line break-

Issei was sitting, back propped up against a tree in the shade, with his eyes closed thinking deeply.

"Can I? Can I really just let my hate go?" Issei questioned, as he clenched his fist tightly.

'Issei-senpai.' Said Koneko in her usual monotone, breaking Issei out of his thoughts.

Issei paused for a moment and simply stared at the petite girl standing in front of him, studying her briefly before he blinked and unclenched his fist.

'Oh, hi Koneko.' Issei replied softly.

'Senpai, can I speak with you for a minute?' Questioned Koneko rather timidly.

'Uh, sure I guess, but aren't we talking now?' Questioned Issei in confusion.

'Privately.' Added Koneko.

'Oh, ok, I don't see why not, lead the way.' Replied Issei, now a little intrigued.

Issei stood up and followed Koneko, Issei was surprised when they left the school grounds and was baffled at the strangely rebellious behaviour from the small devil.

Issei followed Koneko into the market area, after which she shortly led him to a sweet shop. After buying enough sweets to cause thousands of dentists to cringe, she then led Issei to a small park and sat on a bench. Issei stared at her in confusion as she started to eat her sweets, after her fifth one, she pointed to the spot next to her indicating she wanted Issei to sit. Surprisingly, Issei obliged as he was very interested in the behaviour Koneko was exhibiting and momentarily shelfed his moral dilemma in favour of indulging his curiosity.

'Senpai, do you know how I came to be a devil?' Asked Koneko, as she continued to eat her sweets.

'Uh, I might have gotten the general idea of it from Rias.' Replied Issei, matching Koneko's quiet voice, so no passer-by would hear their conversation.

'My sister killed her master while drunk on power. She used sage mode, a special ability of certain Youkai. It made her mentally unstable.' Said Koneko slowly, before she started eating a new sweet from her bag.

'Youkai? So… does that mean you are a Youkai as well?' Questioned Issei, despite already knowing the answer.

'Yes.' Replied Koneko simply.

'You wouldn't happen to be a nekoshou would you?' Asked Issei, which caused Koneko to abruptly stop eating her sweet.

'As a matter of fact I am… how did you know that?' Questioned Koneko sharply, as she narrowed her eyes.

'I may have run into a few in the past.' Replied Issei disinterestedly.

'If I may ask, around how long ago.' Questioned Koneko, as she hesitated in bringing the next sweet to her mouth.

'Uh I dunno, maybe five or four years ago.' Issei said while scrunching up his face in concentration.

Issei was startled when Koneko dropped the sweet she was holding to the ground. Now Issei didn't claim to be an expert on the matter, but from what he had seen, Koneko valued sweets the same way most kings valued gold and seeing her drop a sweet was a rare sight indeed.

'S-senpai, did the nekoshou you ran into in the past happen to have black or white hair?' Questioned Koneko with a shaky breath.

'Hmm, well it was a while ago… but that does sound about right, I remember one of the bigger ones I saw had black hair and a younger one I met later had white hair, why do you ask?' Questioned Issei curiously.

After no response for a moment, Issei looked over and noticed Koneko was trembling.

'Is something wrong? Asked Issei with a hint of worry in his tone.

'Ryuujin.' Mumbled Koneko, causing Issei's eyes to widen and make him abruptly jump off the bench, standing ramrod straight as he looked straight at Koneko.

'What did you just say?' Questioned Issei with bated breath.

'You… are you… Ryuujin?' Muttered Koneko, as she stared at the sweet, she had dropped on the ground.

'No, it can't be, no.' Said Issei firmly, as he looked away.

'Shirone missed Ryuujin.' Muttered Koneko.

Issei whirled around and dropped to his knees so he could catch the downed gaze of Koneko, if he was expecting to see tears, then he was sorely mistaken, as Koneko was not crying in the slightest, but possessed a small smile on her visage.

'Y-you're Shirone… b-but how?' Asked Issei in shock.

'When Rias found me, I didn't respond to Shirone, I decided that name wasn't who I wanted to be anymore, so she called me Koneko instead.' Explained Koneko.

'No, not that, I mean how could you become a devil after all that? How? You saw what they were capable of, the depths of their evil!' Questioned Issei, his voice slowly rising.

'They saved me, not the devils, but Rias and her family.' Explained Koneko with a smile, as she looked up.

'But how could you just accept that, surely you realised that devils are evil?' Questioned Issei frantically.

'I did, I realised, that some devils are evil, but also, that some are kind.' Replied Koneko softly.

Issei couldn't respond and merely sat back next to the still smiling Koneko, a slightly sour expression appearing on his face.

'So all this time, you were safe… did you realise who I was from the start?' Asked Issei.

Koneko nodded slowly before speaking.

'Yes, I didn't want to say anything because I saw how hostile you were to devils. I don't know if it was because of what happened to me, or because you saw something else later on, but I didn't want to bring back bad memories.' Explained Koneko.

'Why mention it now?' Muttered Issei quietly.

'It is four days after that date, I thought that maybe the memories came back to you and wanted to help. Devils aren't bad people Issei, you've just been unlucky enough to meet more of the bad than the good.' Said the petite white-haired girl.

The two sat there for a good fifteen minutes; sitting there in silence, both deep in thought. As the sun started to peek around the clouds, Issei stood up and turned to Koneko.

'Well that's that then, I guess it is about time we head back to school, right?' Questioned Issei with a smile.

Koneko nodded and stood up as well, the bag of sweets clutched in her left hand as she ate a chocolate bar, held in her right.

'Yes let's go, Ryuujin.' Said Koneko with a smile.

'Lead the way, Shirone.' Replied Issei with a smirk, as the odd couple headed to school.

Along the walk, the two were silent aside from Koneko's quiet chewing of her sweets, but both were rather content. As they neared the gates of the school, Issei noticed that it must have been lunch time, as the students were milling about aimlessly and chatting with their friends, although the chaos was soon silenced once people noticed Koneko and Issei walking through the school gates. The odd duo paused for a moment, taking in everybody's stares, before walking through the crowd and heading towards the Occult Research Club room. As they made their way through the masses, many people openly stared at Issei and just before they had gotten out of earshot, Issei distinctly heard two voices call out in unison.

'ANOTHER ONE ISSEI! CURSE YOU!'

Issei face-palmed and sighed deeply as he continued walking besides Koneko, who merely snickered.

'Ero-senpai.' Koneko said with a snicker, as she took another bite out of her sweet.

'What did I do to deserve this… oh right…' Muttered Issei, as he glared at his left hand for a moment.

'Eh, the pros outweigh the cons.' Issei said with a shrug, before dropping his arm.

-line break-

When Issei and Koneko reached the club room, it was mostly empty with only Rias inside. When the two entered, Rias was noticeably surprised, even more so when Koneko took her usual spot on the couch and continued to eat her sweets, for the most part ignoring the other two occupants in the room. Issei approached the desk Rias was sitting behind and stared at her for a while with an intensely scrutinising gaze. Rias matched Issei's stare, slightly unnerved at the look he was giving her which made her feel as though she was being examined. Issei's stare didn't waver as he slowly bore into Rias with his gaze, until eventually he nodded and closed his eyes, before sitting down next to Koneko with his eyes closed.

Rias watched all this with a critical gaze and was rather surprised when Koneko crawled her way into Issei's lap and continued eating her sweets and was even more surprised when Issei started to absentmindedly stroke Koneko's hair.

"What the hell happened?" Questioned Rias, who outwardly was maintaining a calm appearance, but internally, was utterly gobsmacked.

"I don't understand what happened. How on earth is Issei suddenly so comfortable with devils? This kind of change is not normal!" Shouted Rias internally.

The sound of a door opening brought Rias out of her internal musings, as oddly enough Raynare entered.

Raynare had been trying to track Issei for a while and after some asking around, learned that he was heading with Koneko, a devil, to the Occult Research Club room, a devil gathering area. It was enough to arouse her curiosity, so she headed to the room in question and entered, finding the same strange sight that Rias had currently been the sole observer of. Raynare sat opposite Issei on the opposing couch and stared at him.

Eyes closed, a small smile on his face, relaxed posture, it honestly made Raynare wonder what had happened to bring about such a change.

'Did you get laid or something?' Raynare blurted out inappropriately, after watching the strange scene for five minutes.

'Ero-fallen angel.' Muttered Koneko disdainfully, as Issei opened his eyes slowly.

'No, what makes you think that, I mean, aside from your usual perverted fallen angel disposition?' Questioned Issei in boredom.

'Then why the hell are you so calm and relaxed now, no less in the presence of devils, especially with one of them literally sitting in your lap?' Shouted Raynare.

'I've changed my mind.' Said Issei with a shrug, as he continued to caress Koneko's hair.

'About what exactly, if you don't mind me asking?' Questioned Rias, now very interested in the conversation.

Issei stared at Rias for a good minute, which caused Rias to become self-conscious once again.

'About you and those like you.' Said Issei at last.

'You mean your entire opinion on devils has changed just like that?' Questioned Rias sceptically.

'Exactly.' Replied Issei with a nod.

'Why?' Questioned Rias with a narrow gaze.

'Reasons.' Responded Issei vaguely.

'Sounds to me like you did get laid and given how comfortable the little girl is on your lap, I bet this means you are a lolicon.' Accused Raynare.

'Shut up ero-fallen angel.' Said both Issei and Koneko in a harmonised monotone.

"That was a little creepy." Thought Rias, as the two berated the fallen angel.

'Oh come on. Replying in unison just supports my idea even more.' Retorted Raynare, as she crossed her arms under her bust.

Once again, in a strange moment of unity Issei and Koneko simply ignored Raynare, with Koneko continuing to eat her sweets, while Issei closed his eyes once again and continued to brush Koneko's hair.

Shortly thereafter Kiba arrived, but he was content to merely watch. After Kiba, Ravel arrived and like Kiba, Ravel merely watched, although she did seem to send a few glares at Koneko, who responded by meeting her gaze challengingly. Lastly, Akeno arrived and did a small double take when she saw the scene in the club room.

'Ara, ara, have I missed something?' Akeno asked pleasantly.

'Apparently so, it is a rather odd scene to walk in on.' Replied Kiba with a smile.

'Well, I don't see what is so odd, true, I never made any qualms about letting you know that I hated devils, but I have never been directly hostile to any of you here.' Said Issei, finally speaking up after a solid hour of sitting in silence.

'I don't know, your little training session was filled with hostile intentions.' Retorted Rias with a slight grimace, as she remembered the aftereffects of that training session.

'That wasn't because you were a devil though, that was because you made me climb a mountain because of your incompetence.' Replied Issei sharply, causing Rias to blush slightly in embarrassment and go silent.

'Still, your sudden change in attitude is rather strange, it is almost comparable to the rapid shift in Riser's attitude after you beat him.' Commented Ravel plainly.

'Yeah, it is like you had a complete change of heart… I still say you got laid.' Raynare commented, getting Ravel to blush at the insinuation.

'Ara, no, I don't think so I'm fairly certain Issei is still a virgin.' Said Akeno playfully, as she leaned behind Issei, pushing her bust against his head.

'Senpai, please stop, your making things uncomfortable.' Koneko said, while looking up at Akeno.

'Ara, uncomfortable?' Muttered Akeno in momentary confusion, as she pushed Issei's head further into her chest, which had the result of making Koneko pout with a small blush.

'Senpai.' Said Koneko with a slight whine in her tone, as she shifted uncomfortable in Issei's lap.

'Ara, I see now, sorry Koneko.' Said Akeno with a pleasant smile, as she stood back up, allowing Issei's head to escape from her bosom's embrace.

'*cough* Now, back on topic. Recently it has been brought to my attention that I may be being… how shall I say, a little biased towards all of you. Truthful, I was wrong to have been so, especially since none of you have really done anything that threatened me or those I care about and have in fact helped me more than once.' Begun Issei, getting everyone to pay attention to his next words.

'In all honesty though, you may be devils, but you have not acted at all how I envisioned devils to be, and it wasn't fair for me to lump you all together under the same umbrella. For that reason, I wish to apologise. From today, I will not see you as devils, but rather as individuals, and, maybe in time, friends. I only request that you give me the opportunity to do so.' Said Issei as he bowed his head.

The room was silent for a while as everyone took the moment to process Issei's words. After a minute, Akeno, Kiba and Raynare all looked towards Rias waiting to see how she would react, Ravel was more or less indifferent to the conversation though and was glaring at Koneko, who merely returned her gaze with an almost imperceptible smirk.

'So you won't explain why you have had a sudden change of heart and yet you would still like me to take this apology at face value?' Questioned Rias analytically.

'I expected as much, you know, at times you are a great deal smarter than you look Rias.' Issei said.

Rias narrowed her eyes, not entirely sure if Issei's apology was faked and he was going to show his true colours now, or rather, if he had just insulted her intelligence.

'Now, now, no need to get all suspicious, while I would rather say nothing now, if you wait until the meeting of the three factions, I can explain what has brought about the sudden change in me, although Koneko did play a part in changing me as well.' Said Issei cheerfully, as he continued to stroke Koneko's hair, unaware of the staring match currently going on between her and Ravel, or how him stroking Koneko's hair caused her smirk to increase in size which annoyed Ravel.

'I knew it, you totally had sex with her didn't you, admit it?' Challenged Raynare.

'Is a sensitive time in your monthly cycle right now, because all you seem to be thinking about now is sex?' Questioned Issei tiredly.

'Ha! A fallen angel is always thinking about sex, the only thing that changes is how prevalent it is in our thoughts.' Replied Raynare with a self-satisfied smirk.

'Ufufufu, the promiscuous fallen angel isn't entirely incorrect either.' Added Akeno cheerfully.

'*cough* So moving forward, what exactly is it you want to get out of this?' Questioned Rias, trying to bring their attention back to the topic at hand.

'I just want a fresh start, free of suspicion. I know you and Sona suspect me of being a sleeper agent of some sort.' Said Issei flatly.

'Can you blame us? Especially since you've just admitted to secretly despising us.' Retorted Rias.

'Touché, but the fact is that I don't wish to be antagonistic towards any of you, rather, I realise now that I was being foolish, and let's face it pretty racist.' Said Issei with a shrug.

Rias paused for a moment mulling Issei's words over.

'I suppose that we could try and start over, that being said, since you have more or less proven most of Sona's suspicions, I doubt she will let up on her scrutiny on you so easily.' Said Rias at last.

'That's fine, however, if you could give Sona one message for me…' Requested Issei, as he waited for Rias to nod in acceptance.

'If you ever try to manipulate Akeno again, or even try to mess with Irina, Xenovia, Raynare, Xuelan or Karlamine and try to get them to spy and/or manipulate me in any way, there will be consequences.' Said Issei in a steely tone of voice.

Most in the room gasped at Issei's statement, but Akeno seemed to have felt it the most, especially when Rias sighed before nodding, which caused her to abruptly storm out and slam the door behind her.

The room was deathly quiet for a moment, before Issei sighed and nudged Koneko slightly as a cue for her to get off his lap. Koneko shuffled over back to her usual spot on the couch as Issei stood up.

'I'll go and speak with Akeno, but you should do better in the future. You and Sona are both kings and if you really cared about Akeno as much as you claim, you would have never even considered using her as a spy, even if Sona thought it was a good idea.' Said Issei, before he too left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

'President, did you really use Akeno as a spy?' Questioned Koneko quietly.

'*sigh* Yes, I did, I'm not particularly proud of it, but I did, I will try to fix things and become a better master, for all of you.' Said Rias ashamed.

'Worry not, I'm sure Akeno will forgive you; she is your queen and oldest piece, she isn't one to hold a grudge, right?' Questioned Ravel.

'Uh, I wouldn't be so sure about that.' Responded Raynare.

'Ah, it would seem that most of us in this peerage do in fact seem to hold grudges, rather long ones too.' Muttered Kiba in embarrassment.