The group returned to Issei's home and Chris spent the next couple days resting and healing up, mixed in with some embarrassing moments with the girls trying to help him out where they can. One day, Chris heads down to the workout room at Issei's house and finds Koneko training as well.
"Hey Koneko, what's happenin'?"
"Yo, what it do?"
"Uhh… it do good, Whatcha doin'?" Chris laughed and thought to himself, 'Damn it, I'm really botching this conversation.'
"Just getting some training in, would you like to join me?" Koneko said hesitantly.
"Oh yeah, that would be awesome!" Chris said excitedly
Koneko turns to face Chris as they start to spar, just moving through the motion of attacking and dodging, "Hey Koneko, what's with the ears?"
Koneko scowls and sends a kick to Chris's side with a solid connection, "I'm a nekomata."
Chris was able to shrug off the kick, "A… what?"
"My sister and I are Nekomata, think of us like cat people. Her and I are a rare type called a Nekoshou. I was given over to Rias after my sister did some… pretty terrible things."
"You'll forgive my confusion, where I'm from we don't have people like that. It's only… humans."
The two continue sparring back and forth, the punches and kicks getting a bit more aggressive as they continue talking and getting more comfortable with each other.
"Tell me about yourself, you're older than you look, correct?" Koneko asked.
"Yeah, I was 34, I have no idea how old I am here. I'm guessing around y'alls age." Chris throws a punch and Koneko gracefully dodges it and moves to attack. Chris moves and redirects Koneko away from him. She looks back at him and scowls, "I don't have any formal training when it comes to this stuff, I guess it's just learned from this power that I have."
"Let's see about that," Koneko attacks much more aggressively as a few of her punches connect to Chris's stomach and chest. Chris throws a punch that sails over Koneko and she takes the opportunity to flip him over to his back, grabbing his arm and pulling as hard as she can. Chris clenches his fist and tries to pull his arm back toward himself. He switches positions, allowing himself to stand up with Koneko still latched to his arm and breaks her grip. She leaps back and immediately goes in for another attack. Chris counters and wraps his arms around her. She was much smaller compared to himself; he easily lifts her up and suplexes her to the ground. She gets up a little slow as Chris jumps up and rushes back over to her, "I'm so sorry, I didn't hurt you, did I?" Just as the words leave his mouth, she slams her fist into his abdomen and then connects with an uppercut. Chris stumbles and falls on his back. In Chris's daze, he can see several Konekos walking over to him and standing over him. She sits down on his chest, "You got sloppy, dumbass."
"Yeah… well… your face is sloppy."
Koneko giggled slightly to herself, "Real mature, numbnuts."
"Yah know, you're lucky your small and cute, otherwise you'd be through the wall right now there Pussycat."
Koneko blushed and scoffed as she stood up and walked off, "Was it something I said?" Chris laughed to himself.
"Nice working out, Chris. I had… fun." Koneko smirked at Chris as he stood up.
Chris gave her a surprised look because usually she does not act like she has fun or give compliments. He smiled and said to himself, "Well, that's a nice change of pace."
Chris finishes his workout and went upstairs to go take a quick shower. When he enters the kitchen Xenovia, Irina, and Asia were sitting around the table talking. When they saw Chris enter, they each smiled and Irina suggested, "Chris, please sit down with us!"
"I should probably go shower first, though."
"Nonsense! Please sit!" Irina insisted.
Chris sits down next to Asia, "We heard you working out with Koneko downstairs, that was nice of you. She doesn't train with a lot of people, other than Issei once in a while of course."
"Oh, well... it was good..." Irina interrupts, "So, like did you know you could do all that stuff that you did with Ridem? Like form all that armor and stuff?"
"Uhh... n-no... it just... happened, I guess."
"That was... really cool! It's so good to see another holy warrior like myself with everyone."
"I don't think I'm a holy warrior... I only felt... hate. Hate and rage was what drove me to do all that. Where I'm from, God doesn't really teach that."
"Wait, you have a God where you're from!" Irina, Xenovia and Asia exclaimed, "Tell us! You must!"
Chris explained about some of the different religions he was familiar with in his world and the concept of religion, "Which makes this whole paladin thing even weirder, because I wasn't a super devoted catholic in my world. I barely went to church!"
"Maybe that's why you were blessed with the Oathbreaker then." Xenovia said very seriously, "Who or whatever brought you here felt that you were more aligned with this Paladin."
"Huh, that would make sense," Chris looks over at Irina who is staring intently at Chris, "Are you trying to look through me or something?"
"Oh, oh goodness no. I'm curious, can you form that armor whenever you want?" Irina said with curiosity.
"I'm not sure, I can try?" Chris hesitated and he watched Irina excitedly nod. He stood up from his chair, closed his eyes and focused on his body. The black armor began to form all over his body and the girls stood up to get a closer look at the armor, "This is so cool!" Irina said excitedly.
"This is fascinating armor." Xenovia said.
"Good job Chris! We are so proud that you're able to harness your power like this." Asia said, encouraging him.
"Thanks, I think I'm going to call this Paladin mode. It's silly, but I'm curious if I can manipulate the armor to provide me with different perks maybe? I don't really know though, I'm more or less just guessing." He closes his eyes, inhales deeply and exhales slowly. The armor fades away.
"That sounds really great Chris. You can do it!" Asia smiled up at him.
"So can I ask y'all something? Why... Issei?"
"What do you mean?" Asia looked confusingly at Chris.
"Are you jealous?" Irina smirked and squinted.
"What... pshh... no... not really... I mean... nah," Chris tries to play off his feelings, poorly.
"Issei is a perve, we know this, but he's also one of the sweetest, kindest, bravest guys we've met. He looks out for us and he's always there when we need him the most. He fights with all his heart and for what he feels is the right thing, that's a very admirable trait. We love him and he loves us."
"I gotcha... well that's a punch to the dick..." Chris said under his breath, "Well that's just fantastic! So glad to hear!"
"Don't worry, we're warming up to you too. Akeno seems especially smitten with you." Irina coyly stated.
Chris smirked, "You think so? I mean that's cool."
The girls laughed, "Hey we were thinking of going into town in a bit, would you like to join us?" Xenovia said.
"Sure, sounds like fun. I'll just need to go shower and all that."
The girls run off to their rooms as Chris continues to his room and then takes a shower. They meet back up shortly after, downstairs by the front door. The group goes into town and they spend the day walking around, talking, and window shopping. The girls were very inquisitive of Chris's former life, which he was more than happy to tell them whatever they wanted to know, such as what he did for a career and his family. As they walked back to Issei's home, the girls stayed much closer to Chris. As they approached, they could see Rias, Issei, and Akeno waiting by the gate. Issei waves, "Hey guys! We've got some guests that would like to talk to us! Get over here, quick!" The group rushes over to the gate and head into the house where they find several people sitting around the massive table in the dining room. The girls and Issei entered the room followed by Chris. Everyone turned around when Chris entered the room and Zeoticus began talking, "Thank you all very much for coming in, Chris could you please introduce yourself."
"Uhhh...," Chris swallowed hard, "Hey, I'm Chris De Santis."
"Well, well, well. We had to see it to believe it, it seems your Paladin's have made a bit of a comeback Michael." A much older gentlemen pointed out, "Where are my manners, I'm Odin."
"Wait, like THE Odin? Norse God of all Gods?"
"You've already heard of me?"
"Well, yeah, in my world there's a whole set of comic books that have you in them, mostly based around Thor though, and the Norse mythology is pretty well known."
"What? Comics? like some kind of cartoon character?! Better off you being here in this world, if you ask me." Odin looked at Chris with a smug smile. Chris sat down at an empty chair next to Azazel.
"Y-yes, well... let us get back to the matter at hand," Michael strategically changes the subject, "we need to discuss the other paladin threats that still exist. Odin, that is why you are here; have you seen or heard anything about the other paladins and their whereabouts?"
"I've heard of a few things, some unnerving rumors about a couple of strong warriors have been causing trouble for some of the other realms. They're said to share the same immense power as our new friend here."
"That is very unsettling information indeed, this makes three total paladins have made themselves known… this leaves one unaccounted for." Azazel said with a troubling tone as he looked over at Zeoticus.
"The Gremory's are prepared to protect our home and the underworld." Zeoticus said with much confidence.
"You also have the support of the Great Satans as well," another red-head in lavish armor stated.
Chris leaned over to Azazel, "Who's this guy?"
"Chris, let me introduce you to Sirzechs Lucifer, leader of the underworld."
"The... what? Dude, you're like a bad guy in my world. You're supposed to be all goat hooved, horned, with a pitch fork..."
Sirzechs laughs, "Well, as you can see I am not that 'bad guy' in this world. I assure you, I want what is best for the underworld and all the souls in it. These paladins will need to be dealt with in time."
"I agree, we can't have these all-powerful beings running amuck in any of the realms. That would be bad for pretty much everyone!" Odin looked over at Chris, "If you are willing to fight these brothers of yours, I would like to offer my services and help in your training."
"First, they're no brothers of mine! Secondly, that would be great. I'll take any help I can get."
"That's fantastic! We can discuss the details a bit later, the rest of us need to discuss some... further matters. Please let yourselves out." Zeoticus motioned for Rias's party to leave the main room. Chris stood up and bowed, pushed his chair in and followed everyone out of the room, "Well, that was... weird, right?"
"Great! More of those damn paladins are causing trouble! These asshats are really starting to piss me off." Issei clenched his fists.
"Calm down, Issei. There's nothing we can do about it yet. Let's focus on training and getting stronger together as a team and then deal with the paladins." Rias looked at Issei, then over at Chris, "You'll help us still, Chris?"
"I mean, yeah... I ain't no punk bitch." Chris laughed as Rias chuckled and said, "You and Issei are like two peas in a pod."
Chris looked over to a room with a bar in it and saw Rossweisse sitting with a glass in front her, "Is she good?"
"She... gets kind of upset when Odin comes around. They have a... complicated relationship with each other." Issei said exasperated.
"I'll go talk to her." Chris said confidently, "I have many a wild tales dealing with my drunk friends. I think it could be fun to see drunk Rossweisse!"
Issei fake laughed, "Good luck with that."
Chris walks over to Rossweisse and sits next to her. He motions to the bartender to give him a drink and is slid over a small glass of whiskey, "You're not old enough to drink!" Rossweisse slurred out.
"Technically, I'm 34, so I think I'm good." Chris takes a swig of his drink. The whiskey has a good, smooth taste unlike the whiskey from his world. He puts his glass down and sits up a bit, "Damn, that is really good!"
Rossweisse grunts, "What do you want? Come to tell me, 'You shouldn't be day drinking, this is why you can't find a man!' or how I'm not pretty drunk."
"Damn Rossweisse, who the hell tells you that stuff? Seems kinda... harsh!"
"Odin... that old geezer Odin tells me all those horrible things! Stupid old *hick* man and his *hick* stupid face."
Chris chuckled, "To be fair, I like this side of you. Seeing you cut loose is nice, you seem pretty uptight most times."
Rossweisse gasped, "What the hell! There *hick* it is! It's so stressful making sure *hick* everyone is doing what they're *hick* supposed to be doing. Someone needs *hick* to have an adult."
Chris laughed some more, "I think you mean BE an adult. How much have you been drinking?"
"This like my, firth drink."
"Listen, I like this side of you. Show this side, but with less alcohol. You're kind of a lightweight." Chris rubbed his hand across her shoulders. She looked over at Chris, "Thanks Chris. Yah know *hick* I think I undesand why *hick* everyone kinda likes you. *Hick* You're so flacking nice!"
"Yeah? You're pretty flacking nice too."
Rossweisse puts her head on Chris's shoulder, "It was really *hick* great what you *hick* dif aginst that Diem *hick* guy."
"You mean Ridem?"
"Yeah, what a *hick* jerk!" Rossweisse was fading quickly.
"Yep, jerk indeed, what do you say we get you to your room."
"I'm *hick* ffffine," Rossweisse stumbles off the chair and falls to the ground, "I might need *hick* a bitof help."
Chris crouches down next to her and picks her up. She leans her head into his chest and wraps her arms around his neck. She doesn't say much as he carries her to her room. He gently lays her down on her bed, "Oh, fank you, Chis." He smiles at her and covers her up and heads out of her room. Akeno was waiting for Chris in the hallway outside of Rossweisse's room, "I saw what you did for Rossweisse. That was very sweet."
Chris blushed, "Ahhh... no big deal, she's a bit of a lightweight."
Akeno wraps her arm around Chris's arm as they walk down the hallway toward his room, "Hey, so... what is your deal with me? I mean I didn't think you liked me."
Akeno releases Chris's arm and turns to him, "No, I do, but you must understand something, I love Issei."
Chris looked down, his heart feeling defeated, "So, what am I to you then?"
"I'm not sure what you mean by that?" Akeno felt confused and defensive.
"Forget it, nothing... I'm just not used to how stuff works around here, I guess. Just forget I said anything, please." Chris turned around walked into his room. He flopped onto his bed and looked up at the ceiling, "Damn it! What the fuck was I thinking. I'm an idiot!"
"You're not an idiot!" Chris heard a tiny voice from under his bed. He jumps to the side of his bed and throws the blankets up to reveal a box. He pulls the box out and opens the top up, "AHHH! Don't open my box like that!" Gasper yelled.
"Gasper, what are you doing in here, dude?"
"I found an empty room and wanted to hide from all the people downstairs. Some of those people are very scary."
Chris laughed and put his back against the side of his bed, "I am an idiot though, Gasper. Man, I really thought Akeno and I would, or could, be a thing. I was dead wrong, she's in love with Issei."
"Well yeah, Issei is the Grabbin' Dragon! Savior of the Underworld and all that. He's also a strong guy and has saved the girls several times from really bad people."
"Are you making a point here, dude? Cause I'm missing it."
"My point is that once the girls know you're just as capable as Issei, they'll love you too."
"I'm not looking for that though! I just completely just misread all of the signs that I thought Akeno was sending me. But my feelings to her are not the same she feels for me. Rejection really sucks man."
"Akeno is complicated, Chris. Get to know her more, it will be worth it and you'll understand her more."
"That's surprisingly really good advice Gasper. Thanks buddy."
"No problem, now can I get back into my box and under the bed?" Gasper ducks into his box, "Yeah man, you're good," Chris pushes the box back under the bed and he crawls back on top. Gasper's words were floating in his head, Get to know her better, huh? I think I can do that. Maybe this next training trip will be a good chance.
A couple days later, the group travels to an area where Rias had described was a major battle between her group, Loki, and Vali's team had taken place. The team shows up in a tent village with large, lavish tents on top of a plateau. Everyone is in awe of the setup and Azazel, Zeoticus, and Odin are there to greet the team, "Welcome to your training grounds kids!"
Chris looked around and didn't make eye contact with anyone, just kept his head down until someone told them where to go. The boys were separated from the girls in different tents. Chris, Issei, Kiba, and Gasper went to a smaller tent at the rim of the encampment. "Oh man, this is so fucked up. Why are they separating us!" Issei said angrily, "They can't keep me down! I must see those boobs!"
Chris scoffed, "Dude, seriously…"
"What's your problem, Chris! This is not ok, I will find a way to see those beautiful lady lumps!"
Chris shook his head and looks over at Kiba who was awkwardly smiling, "He gets like this sometimes. I just try to ignore it."
"Yeah, well, the girl you like didn't just stomp on your balls for one of you two…" Chris said under his breath as he began to unpack near a cot in the tent.
"Chris, seriously, are you ok man? You seem like something is bothering you." Issei put his hand on Chris's shoulder. Chris yanks his shoulder away and looks at Issei with intensity, "I'm fucking fine, God damn it!" Chris grabs a light jacket and walks outside, throwing the cloth door open. He puts the jacket on and walks over to the edge of the plateau. Chris grumbles, "What the fuck is going on with me. I should not be this hung up on her! What did I expect!?"
Chris looks down from the plateau, "I kinda don't want to be here anymore," He jumps down to the ground below and starts running out toward the rocky wastes. He finds an open area that has a few large rock formations, "This looks like a good place to let out some frustrations!"
Chris starts out punching and kicking one of the large rock formations. The rock starts to crumble around his fists as they begin to bloody. Chris's frustration builds up and his punches and kicks become more forceful to the point where he is burying his arms into the rock formations. His eyes glow that deep red and he unleashes a flurry of blows that knocks the rock formation down. Chris leaps back, yells out as he charges for an attack and unleashes a barrage of blasts at the rubble. His armor forms on his body, as if it were a reaction, as he leaps into the air and comes barreling down causing a massive explosion around him. He stands up slowly and exhales, his eyes go back to normal and his armor dissipates, "Well, you feel better?"
Chris spins around and finds Odin standing with a very large guy just behind him. The guy wore a green cape that covered up his body, his hair was longer and he had a mutton-chops style beard.
"I'm fine, just needed… to blow off some steam. No big deal." Chris said hesitantly.
"Young man, I've been in the universe for a long time. I know when something is up and you have it written all over your face. You're a guy who's just had his heart stomped on. But by whom I wonder?"
"I guess they don't call you the Allfather for nothing. Yeah, you could say that I guess. I was foolish to think that they would want anything to do with me instead of Issei. Just sucks. Sorry, I'm not sure why I'm even telling you all this?"
"Think nothing of it. This reminds me of some advice I'd heard before, 'Sometimes the person you fall for isn't ready to catch you.'
"Yeah, maybe… I don't know. I wasn't good at this stuff in my own world, let alone this one." Chris looked down.
"Listen, don't give up on it. If it's meant to be then it will work out."
"Ok, good pep talk Dad." Chris said sarcastically.
Odin gave a good, hearty laugh, "I like this one Baraqiel!"
Baraqiel did not say anything as they both turned and disappeared from the area. Chris stayed awhile longer and continue training and progressing his Paladin form.
Night came quickly and the group was gathered around a large bonfire in the center of the encampment. Everyone was talking to one another as Chris walked up from the darkness, his clothes torn and tattered. His friends stood up concerned that something had happened. He put his hands up, "Please, I'm fine. Just working through some stuff. Nothing crazy happened I swear."
"You've been gone for hours, where have you been?" Rias crossed her arms directly in front of Chris.
"I needed to get away for a bit. I had a lot on my mind." Chris looked behind Rias and saw Akeno looking at him. He looked down to avoid eye contact.
"You can't just up and run off like that! There's two paladins out there that want you dead and one that is completely unaccounted for. We can not afford for you to be careless!"
"You think I don't know that?! Listen, princess unlike everyone else here, I'm not some piece on your chess board! If I need to leave for a bit to clear my head, best believe I'm leaving!" The moment those words left Chris's mouth, Rias smacked him.
Chris licked his lips and looked at Rias. He exhaled and walked off back to the tent, "Chris, hang on man!" Issei came running up behind him.
"Back the fuck up, Issei. I need some space, man."
Chris went and sat down on the edge of the plateau. Irina and Xenovia came up and sat on each side of Chris, "So… you gonna tell us what's going on or do we need to drag it out of you?" Irina said.
Chris smirked, "I'm sorry about that back there. Rias and you all didn't deserve that. I haven't been myself today. Akeno… I don't think Akeno shares the same feelings I do for her."
"Oh! What makes you say that?" Xenovia asked over curiously.
"Uhhh... well I asked what I was to her and she didn't have an answer. I kinda took that as, I don't like you like that."
The girls laughed lightly at each other. Chris smirked, "Glad this is funny to y'all. I'm an idiot and why am I so bad at this stuff?!" Chris falls back, legs still dangling over the plateau edge. The girls look down at him, "You're not an idiot, you're just... impatient." Irina smiled.
"You think I'm being impatient? She told me that she loved Issei and that she doesn't know what I am to her!" Chris asked very confused.
"We all love Issei, I'm certain we'll always love him because of everything we've been through as a house and as friends. I'm certain I still want to try to have his baby!" Xenovia said with confidence, "But that does not mean we aren't capable of loving others as well."
"Yep, you just need to be patient. The time will come for everyone to show their true feelings!" Irina gave a big smile looking down at Chris.
"Yeah... alright. Thank you for talking me off the ledge, like literally... almost." Chris laughed.
The girls and Chris stood up and walked back to the campfire, "Hey, I'm... really sorry for my attitude lately. None of you deserve this from me. Rias, you've been more than gracious and accepting me into your house and home. I'm so sorry for how I have been acting. Please forgive me." Chris bowed in Rias's direction.
"There's nothing to forgive, now... please enjoy this fire with us!"
Chris sat down and looked over at Akeno, who was sitting next to Rias, as she usually does. He smiled and nodded at her. She reciprocated the gesture and smiled back at him.