Issei could feel a lone sweat falling from his head to his chin, threatening to fall at any moment.
He gulped his saliva into his drying throat to keep it hydrated.
All in all, he's nervous.
One has to wonder why. That was because, for the first time since he began his friendship with Rias, he finally got to Rias's home.
Said home was in another part of the city itself, so it required his parents to come by and drop him off. He doesn't mind it as his parents kept him safe during the journey. However, as they continued, Issei realized one thing.
Her house was in a rich people's district.
It finally hit him that Rias, despite being the humble, fun-loving, and occasionally weird (like why did she love to sniff him when they're taking an afternoon nap) girl, has always been part of a rich family.
When he finally arrived, all he could do was be in awe of her place of residence.
The western house was obviously bigger than his own house, sporting about 3 or 4 stories high and twice as big as his home. The garden was well maintained and there was even an outdoor swimming pool!
Surrounding the residence was an old brick wall that still stood tall. Some cracks could be seen on it and overgrown plants grew in between the cracks or simply on top of the wall, giving the idea it was an old noble's home.
"Issei, stop gawking." The boy quickly turned to his parents, who had an amused expression alongside the Gremory parents.
"I can't help it. This house is so big!"
He never saw such a large house for most of his life at all, so of course he will gawk at it. The idea that Rias and her family lived in this building made him feel small in comparison to her.
"This is just our house in Japan, actually. We got our family house back in our homeland that is as big as a castle." Zeoticus's statement placed Issei into a more shocked state. If what he said was true…
THEN HOW RICH WERE THE GREMORIES?!
Valenala giggled while slapping her husband's shoulder, as if she's reprimanding the man. "Oh don't worry too much. That house in our homeland was passed down from his ancestors since the Gremories were established."
Issei nodded slowly, not trusting his mouth to speak the proper words for this revelation. If anything, this situation was just too much for the boy right now.
With the parents usuring, Issei entered the mansion while saying goodbye to his parents. The boy would have a sleepover with Rias for the weekend and he would very much want to focus on it.
As soon as he entered the mansion, his breath was quickly taken away by the extravagant sight. The gold chandelier, various flowers that are in fancy flower pots, and the red fluffy carpet on the floor.
It was too much for the young boy, who now realized the large rift of economy class between him and his redhead friend.
In his stupor, he accidentally knocked into someone and fell on his butt due to his small stature. Quickly apologizing, he looks up and finds out who he collided with.
A handsome teenager who seems to be around 18 or 19. He has shoulder length crimson red hair and blue-green eyes, making it obvious who was the person in front of Issei. The teenager gave a smile before reaching his hand out to him. "I'm sorry for walking into you Issei-kun."
The boy took his hand and got on his feet. 'It's fine uhm…" Despite knowing the man was a Gremory, he doesn't know which of the family members this man was.
Sensing Issei's internal debate, the man quickly introduced himself. "Ah, we haven't met before. I'm Sirzechs Gremory, older brother of Rias." The man ended his introduction with a bow, which Issei quickly returned while introducing himself nervously.
'I'm talking to Rias's older brother!' The boy thought to himself, trying to keep his composure. Unknown to Issei, however, his body language had revealed his nervousness to the world, making Sirzechs to chuckle in amusement.
"Don't need to be nervous Issei-kun, just think of me like a big brother."
The boy salutes in response. "Yes, big brother!"
Sirzechs chuckles for a moment before giving the boy a pat. "Just treat it like it's your home, ok? You're like a little brother to me when Rias starts gushing over you."
The boy got confused at the last part. "What do you mean?" He never knew the girl gushed over him?
Another chuckle from Sirzechs, who finds Issei's cluelessness to be amusing. "You will understand one day. Now, want me to bring you to my little sister?"
The boy nodded and allowed himself to be guided to see his friend. On the way, Issei observed the mansion and took in the environment. He noticed there was a lack of modern designed furniture, perhaps due to their preference in design. The light bulbs were ceiling based, but occasionally he would encounter fancy designed lamps that were installed on the walls. The floors were mostly made of wood, covered by red carpets that were nice to lay his feet on.
Occasionally, the boys would encounter a maid passing by, who greeted Sirzechs with respect by bowing to him. The man would quickly give his best smile and greet them, thanking them for their hard work.
After innumerable times they passed by a door, they eventually reached one where Sirzechs stood in front of. "This is Rias's room."
The boy gulped and nodded, nearly reaching out the door knob before pausing.
'I almost committed the worst crime in front of Rias's big brother!' He knocked on the door with three taps before hearing the familiar voice.
"Please wait! I'm still changing."
Issei breathed a sigh of relief before trailing his gaze to Sirzechs, who was giving him a grin that suggested the man was expecting something else. The boy just showed an indecorous expression, realizing that the teenager would find the boy's avoidable misfortune amusing.
"Not today, big brother."
That finally broke Sirzechs's composure as he laughed out loud. "Then I better work harder to let it happen, Issei-kun."
When Rias came out of the room, her expression brightened up like the sun, brimming with happiness. "Ise-kun!" She threw herself at the boy, who barely managed to keep his balance and returned the hug.
Sirzechs silently left the two children alone, smiling at the wholesome scene and committing it into his memory.
'Maybe I should ask Ajuka for a memory imprinting device to print out pictures of memories.' He thought to himself before shrugging.
For the children, Rias dragged Issei into her room full of excitement.
Once in the room, Issei noticed various one piece dresses were strewn about on a large bed. The bed frame was adorned fancily and the size of the bed was far too large for one child to be on, perhaps about a dozen children could fit it.
"Sorry about the mess, Ise-kun." She blushed and gave a shy smile. Issei gave a snort, amused by her definition of 'mess'. "You saw my room before Rias-chan. I should get an award for it."
That got the girl laughed before she tapped the boy's shoulder for his attention. He turned to her, only to find her twirling to show her simple pink dress before ending it by leaning forward and a wink. "What do you think of my dress?"
Contemplating for a moment, Issei made a hum before giving a thumbs up to the girl with a grin. "Perfect fit."
The girl giggled and got closer to Issei. "You said it just because."
"That, and I really mean it."
That got her to blush before she simply pushed the boy. Issei got his balance before grinning and lightly pushed the girl. The pair began a game of pushing before chasing each other, eventually landing on the bed where they tickled each other, filling the room with laughter.
Sona Sitri was (self-proclaimed) Rias Gremory's best friend. They had known each other for as long as she can remember, with their first encounter during a party held by the Four Satans in celebration of their coronation.
It was one of the best days she ever got, as Rias was a ray of sunshine in that oppressive party. She could hear some of the older devils from Old Devil Society slandering her older sister for her efforts, thinking that she would lead the society to doom.
As much as she wished to give them a piece of her mind, she knew it would bring more trouble to her older sister. Thus, she left the party hall and found a redhead girl who was in the same situation.
Since then, the pair had been best friends. They hid nothing except the most sensitive things from each other, merely giving meaningless chats to alleviate their weekly stress.
That was until Issei Hyoudou entered Rias's life.
The girl constantly gushed over him whenever they chatted with their phones, dominating the conversation over the topic of the boy. Not only that, one of the weekends was usually reserved to that boy instead of Sona. Sure, they meet up almost everyday when they have freetime, yet it feels like a situation of quality over quantity.
'AND SHE JUST WON'T STOP LOOKING LIKE A SCHOOLGIRL WHO HAD A HUGE CRUSH!' She quickly recomposed herself, cooling down as she made her way to the Japanese mansion. Today, she planned to have a surprise visit to her friend.
'According to big sister, she is here today for some reason.' She marched through the gate and entered after being given permission by Zeoticus, who was happy that she came over. However, her good mood was ruined by one statement.
"You're lucky today! Ise-kun is having a sleepover with Rias. Maybe all three of you can have it!" The man cheerfully stated, unaware of the growing darkness in the girl's heart.
She considered it unlucky, but she sucked it up and continued to march to Rias's room. Afterall, if the boy was here, then she must judge him to gauge whether he was a bad influence to Rias or not.
And it's not because she was scared that she got replaced.
As she got closer to her friend's room, she could hear something coming out of the room.
"Ise-kun! Stop, that's enough already!" Rias yelled.
"Nope! You deserved that. Take that!" An unfamiliar boy's voice came out, which could be this 'Ise-kun' Rias always gushed about
'RIAS?!' She infused herself with some magic to enhance her physical capabilities and sprinted to the room. Her friend is in danger after all!
Her imagination went 50 miles an hour, thinking of the worst case scenarios. 'I knew it! He's waiting for the perfect time to strike!'
Without hesitation, she slammed opened the door to announce herself to the children. "Rias! Are you oka….y?" She trailed off at the last part, owlishly looking at what she witnessed.
It was just Issei and Rias sitting in front of a large television, playing Melty Blood: Actress Again.
Rias turned around, pausing the game before her face brightened up. "Oh hi Sona!"
This took me too long to get it out. Mostly college life and webnovel demands my attention. Other than that, I have already got this chapter's idea for a while but didn't flesh it out until now. Part 2 will be out around December... after my finals of course. Until then, hope you guys enjoy this chapter.