The rain was cold. The water droplets dripped down on the inked black wool of Issei's rental suit. The liquid precipitation just served as a reminder that God was crying too. Well at least the pain wasn't shouldered by Issei alone. Issei was kneeling on the grass of the cemetery and couldn't remember if the wetness on his cheeks came from his tears or the rain. He heard the presence of the two nearby girls on the side of him. Another sign that he wasn't alone.

The funeral had surpassed Issei's expectations, but in the wrong direction. His suppositions were already low enough, but somehow the funeral managed to prove him wrong by tumbling further down the rabbit hole. His mother had told him to take as long of a break as he needed, Motohama's mother left after forgiving him a day prior, and Matsuda had claimed he was moving to a different school. So many doors had closed.

"Issei we have to leave now, it's getting late. You can stay at the old school house for as long as you want, but I don't think the funeral staff would appreciate seeing a moping teenager still here when they come back tomorrow." Rias' silky voice didn't do much for Issei at the moment. It still sounded as euphonic as ever, but his ears were clogged by his distractions. Her voice barely resonated with his body, but Issei nodded his head in affirmation that he had indeed heard her.

He saw red particles drift in the air as his knees tingled from underneath him. It was a funny feeling, but Issei couldn't muster up the energy to laugh right now. He didn't even need to look down to see the particles. The emerging crimson seal soon became large enough for him to see in his peripheral vision. Everything turned white, and Issei could feel himself being whisked away.

Once his vision came back again, Issei saw the familiar wood of the second floor of the Occult Research Club. Mentally exhausted, Issei immediately let gravity do its due course and fell backwards towards the rough ground. He landed with a thud, and hurt his head as a byproduct. He would probably regret this later, due to the high probability of a future headache, but the pain felt therapeutic as of right now.

The light source was still illuminating Issei's idiocracy, but blackened subsequently after. Issei heard a flicker from the opposite side of the room. Rias must've turned off the light switch.

"Get some sleep, Issei." He heard before the double doors loudly closed behind her. He felt tired, but sleep was the last thing on his mind right now. Weighing his options, Issei decided to at least attempt to get some rest.

Issei turned over on the wooden floor, suddenly coughing. He could see the dust in front of his eyes kick up off the ground. The room couldn't have been cleaned in the past year or two. That's probably why it's called the 'old' schoolhouse, Issei mused.

Issei then heard someone drop to their knees beside him and felt the pain of his headache alleviate. Issei closed his eyes, not feeling anything, but rather in an attempt to try to imagine the comfort of healing that was missing in the moment.

Issei opened his eyes and saw a green filter around everything. He had forgotten that Asia had come along as well. She was completely silent as she hadn't said a word after Motohama's funeral. Whether that was to give Issei some space or due to some other ulterior motive, Issei did not know. Nor did it matter. The quietness was extremely soothing. Issei closed his eyes once more, trying his best to fall asleep. Not that his best was anything close to being good enough, since he ended up just waking up not two hours later.

He turned over on the wooden floor, dirtying his clothes and seeing Asia sleeping right next to him as well. Not wanting to wake her up with his commotion, Issei tried to go back to sleep once more. After failing again, Issei decided on a different idea. There was something stuck on his mind that kept him awake. Issei imagined the throne room of Zangai no Metsu in his head, needing to converse with Ddraig.

The world shifted to emerald gems and flames and Issei found himself staring at his green-eyed duplicate. Ddraig was currently slouching on his throne with his head on his fist in a bored manner, looking very indifferent to his surroundings. He clearly didn't expect to see any visitors in the inner world, not that anyone would be able to come here besides Issei.

Ddraig finally made eye contact with Issei and noticed him for the first time in the full minute that Issei had been standing there. "Ohayo, Issei." Ddraig's deep voice boomed across the throne room, leaving echoes behind in its wake. He seemed calm, but Issei knew that he was unexpected.

"You didn't hear me coming?" Issei was confused. How was he able to surprise Ddraig, when the heavenly dragon knew everything Issei thought? The measly feat that Issei just achieved, if you could even call it that, should've by all means been improbable if not impossible.

"I'm not actually able to hear your thoughts all the time. Well, that's not true. Due to the nature of our bond, the host of the relationship always takes precedence over the 'guest'. However, because I would like to hold onto the little sanity that I have left, I cannot be listening to your thoughts at all times.

"When you felt Umastryx's mother touch 'your' shoulder during the memory, that was because he was another host, just like you. I can't feel what you feel, Issei. I can't touch what you touch. I can see what you see, hear what you hear, and listen to your thoughts, but I will forever be cursed to watch for eternity." Ddraig finished. He didn't sound like he was thinking it over, it must've been something he had accepted a long time ago.

"About that…" Issei started. The topic of the conversation was actually the exact same reason he felt the need to talk to Ddraig in the first place. It was obviously a sore subject for Ddraig and Issei felt extremely guilty about going out of his way to make it even worse. "You said you could only have access to my physical body when I gave you consent?"

"That's what I assume. I do not know the rules of which I have been sealed, Issei, however there must be a theoretical consensual floor in which I cannot cross. If the mere thought crosses your mind to let me control your body, I don't think that would be sufficient enough for the seal to grant me free reign."

"So if I was unconscious, there would be no way for you to escape. You would essentially be trapped in my body." Issei surmised. He thought back to the time where Raynare had killed him. Was Ddraig scared when that happened? How many years of sealing would it take for Ddraig to get used to being alone?

"It wouldn't be anything new. But yes, I don't believe I will be able to take over simply due to the fact that my host is unable to dictate control over their body." That was reassuring and terrifying at the same time, but Issei knew he had to put his foot down. He needed to do this for himself.

"Ddraig, I know that you are unable to stop me from doing what I want to do, but I still want to tell you why I'm doing the things I'm going to do."

That wasn't a good sign. The wording was so ambiguous and vague that it had a thousand interpretations in its meaning alone.

"Issei?" Ddraig was getting scared. He wasn't currently listening to Issei's thoughts right now and he hoped his host wasn't about to do anything imprudent. Ddraig had just started to get used to Issei, and wasn't looking forward to switching hosts for what would probably be the millionth time. He wasn't keeping track.

Issei looked down to the red carpet, preparing himself for the hell he was about to unleash onto Ddraig. He looked back up with fiery resolve in his eyes, emerald flames licking the edges of his irises. It was a thought that had been lingering in his head, pestering him since the moment Ddraig had taken control for the first time.

"Ddraig, when I'm fighting, you will never have control over my body as long as I am still living."

Issei saw the emerald eyes of Ddraig widen. Out of all the possibilities, this was quite frankly the one Ddraig had hoped it wouldn't come to. There was a small voice in the back of Ddraig's mind telling him that there was a slight chance, but Ddraig tried his best to silence it.

Ddraig immediately knew that he needed to start listening to what Issei was thinking right now. He was suddenly bombarded with a catastrophe of the millions of thoughts running through Issei's mind right now, but one strand stood out. His determination and conviction to get stronger.

"This isn't about honor or pride, Ddraig. I am always willing to learn from you and to fight alongside you, however when I am in combat, I cannot allow you to take over control. That is something that I have to do by myself. I will still permit you to use my body from time to time, but never when I'm fighting. I know this is extremely selfish for me to ask, but please put your faith in me."

"Do you understand?" Issei continued, awaiting Ddraig's response. Ddraig did, since he was able to access Issei's thoughts, but it still didn't make it any less foolish. This was extremely out of character for Issei to do, he even acknowledged Ddraig's feelings about his host dying. Issei's passion was overwhelming to the point of stupidity.

"Issei-" Ddraig tried, trying to convince his host of another solution. But it was to no avail. It seemed that Issei didn't want to listen.

"Do you understand?" Issei repeated, interrupting anything Ddraig had to say. His voice was stern, and held no room for argument. There was no way Ddraig would be able to convince his host otherwise, it seemed. Ddraig sighed.

"Yes, Issei. I understand." The moment the last syllable left Ddraig's mouth, Issei's face immediately fell. He didn't know how much longer he could keep up his stern composure. Ddraig was always someone he would take seriously, but it didn't make it any less difficult to talk to someone who was tens if not thousands of times stronger than you.

Issei knew he was being selfish, it was disgusting; it was inhumane. He felt the need to retch, just thinking about what he just did to his partner. He was using Ddraig's emotions against him. Ddraig had already told him about his feelings on Issei's death, but Issei still continued to focus only on himself.

The scenery changed to just a small room in which both of them were confined in. There were two chairs, and Issei sat down on the one closest to him. Ddraig took the other chair and turned it around, sitting in the unordinary opposite direction with both of his legs going off the sides of the chair. Ddraig placed both arms on the railing of the chair and leaned forward to stare at his host. Issei just put his hands behind his head and propped his elbows on his knees, looking downcast.

"I'm sorry, Ddraig." Issei apologized. Ddraig cringed, immediately turning off his hearing ability. Sometimes it sucked to have an honest host. Issei really did regret having to tell Ddraig straight, but it was something that they both had to deal with now.

"I know. You're forgiven, Issei." Ddraig didn't hold anything against Issei. He trusted his host not to let him down, however doubtful that trust may be at the moment. Ddraig didn't know how to deal with teenagers, even after all his experiences with his hosts. He still wasn't used to how differently humans thought. He felt like he needed to do something, but didn't know what. Perhaps a switching of the subject would do them a little good for a change.

"That was very draconic of you to do, Issei. I'm impressed." And Ddraig truly meant it. Standing up for what you feel was right was a testament for one's strength. It was something that was extremely valuable in the eyes of a dragon. It was quite a shame that the sentiment wasn't shared by many other races.

"I don't want to be a dragon, Ddraig. I want to stay human." The behavior that Issei just exhibited was a clear contradiction on what he just stated, but it didn't make it any less true. Sometimes the line of staying what it meant to be human becomes extremely blurry and what just happened wasn't an exception.

"Who says you can't be both?" Ddraig's voice finally pierced through his host's defences, accomplishing what it was meant to do in the first place. Issei looked up to see Ddraig's face smiling down at him. He truly did care for his host. Issei found that he was in fact capable of procuring a smile.

Ddraig waved his hands over Issei's face and Issei slumped towards the ground. Ddraig dissipated the chair and caught Issei in his arms. He conjured a bed and laid Issei on it, hoping his host would have a satisfying slumber.

Issei awoke, still feeling tired but more importantly, extremely anxious. No, that wasn't the right word. Angry, pent up, aggravated, frustrated. Any one of those could work but would still be selling Issei short. They were all understatements.

Issei tore his blanket off the couch and put his hands on his hair, gripping it and almost to the point where he was considering pulling it out. He growled an ugly growl. Pacing around the room, he was making a bit too much noise for a certain nun in training.

"Issei?" He heard Asia's groggily voice say. She was dressed in teal cotton pajamas, her robes nowhere in sight. It had seemed she had forsaken her original outfit for a much more comfortable style of clothing. Teal might be her favorite color, Issei mused. It definitely suited her well.

Issei couldn't see the bags under her eyes, her muscles obscured by her blindfold, but she seemed extremely tired. She must've been up awake for a while or at least unable to go to sleep. Issei faintly recalled her sleeping right next to him, but he also distinctly remembered the cold of the wooden floor.

"Asia did you carry me to the couch?" The last thing Issei remembered was the dust bunnies that weren't of the animal sort. Either Issei sleepwalked when he was talking to Ddraig, or somebody had to have moved them. He hoped it was Asia, he still wasn't comfortable with Rias yet.

Asia rubbed her eyes, which proved less than useful due to the existence of one blindfold. A blindfold that was newly white, Issei noticed. She had a black blindfold during the funeral, Issei realized as well. Asia stopped her finger movement after a few seconds, whether that was due to the pointlessness of the action or a sign that it somehow worked was unclear.

"No, silly. I levitated you." Disregarding her wordplay, that would make sense. He didn't know what he expected, but Issei couldn't imagine Asia lifting him up with her bare hands. Unless she was able to enhance her strength with magic; that was an interesting thought. A reminder of strength in general just prompted him to remember his anger.

"Issei, calm down. You're making me angry as well." Asia's soft voice fluttered in the air, making Issei feel an exorbitant amount of guilt. He hadn't forgotten that she was an empath, but he didn't apply that ability to his actions most of the time.

Issei tried his best to do exactly what she told him to do, but just attempting to do it made him remember about what the reason he was angry for, which in turn made him more angry. Feeling clustered and extremely itchy, Issei unbuttoned his funeral wear and his left hand unconsciously morphed into his sacred gear.

Issei ripped apart his white dress shirt and focused his anger on it. His magic seemed to be listening, and it burst into flames and started burning into ashes. Issei threw his black jacket and tie on the floor, and blasted it with his left palm. Vision going red, Issei heard a slam, and suddenly he was facing in another direction with his hand embedded into the wall.

He had punched through the exterior wood and half of the wooden stud behind it. Issei pulled his arm back, but flinched as he realized it was broken and it hurt. Thankfully, there seemed to be no splinters on it, but his red ichor bled down his knuckles like wine and ironically, his hand looked like a grape now.

Sighing, Issei was reminded once more again of his weakness. Except this time, he didn't get angry. The wall held up against Issei's strength and served its purpose of admonishing Issei of any further damage to both of them.

On another note, it was Issei's right hand. Non-dominant, and the one that didn't hold his sacred gear. Whether that was a testament to his devil biology perhaps giving him enhanced strength or him somehow having an increase of strength, Issei didn't know.

He heard footsteps approach his spot as they came near him. A green glow emitted around his hand, and Issei could actually feel the healing process. Nevermind, that was just the feeling of his hand coming back to him. His nerves healed and now he could be able to move it without hurting.

White energy was sent in the direction of the holes Issei created and the wood flowed from the inside out and fixed itself. The floor was reverted back to normal as well, but the clothes were missing from the equation. Issei turned around, the green glow around his right hand following him. He looked at Asia, who for the most part, seemed relatively okay. She was still smiling like she always did, except Issei could see a tear stain on her left cheek.

"That's...better." Asia let out. She didn't seem scared of Issei; that was a bright side to her tears. Issei didn't really want to go down that avenue right now.

Remembering Asia's role in his resting place, Issei apologized and thanked her at the same time, realizing that he had forgotten to in the first place. "Sorry, Asia. Also, thanks for putting me on the couch."

Asia's face brightened up, and her smile got wider. "It's my pleasure, Issei. Also, you know. You could've just asked me." Asked her about what? The thought was on Issei's mind as she finished healing his hand and approached him once more.

The green energy of her hands completely dissipated in her left hand and on her right, it condensed until just her index finger was glowing green. Asia then got on her tippy toes and proceeded to place her finger on the center of Issei's forehead. She didn't press it hard into his skin, she only needed to lightly tap it.

"What are you doin-" Issei could feel himself completely relax as his eyelids almost shut on him. After the brief moment of relief, Issei felt suddenly reinnervated and fully awake. Asia had healed his insomnia? She took her hand off Issei's forehead and fell back to normal height. He immediately started questioning her magic.

"How. What. When? I'm so…" Or at least, attempted to. "So confused apparently." Issei finished, a bit embarrassed at his current inability to form words. He cleared his throat, seeing Asia just smile at him. "Did you just focus your magic on my neurology?" It shouldn't surprise Issei, but it did. His admiration for her shone brightly, and she seemed to take notice of it.

Asia's cheeks blushed a bright red as she fidgeted in her place. "Stop that, Issei. You're making me feel all funny." Issei immediately suppressed his respect for Asia, with his admiration still lingering but not nearly as much as it was a second ago.

"Oh. Sorry, Asia." Issei apologized to her for what was probably the fifth time today. "So how exactly did you-" He got cut off by her reaching forward to trace the scar on his back. Issei shivered at her touch, and took her hand off it out of reflex. Asia seemed to be shocked at Issei's sudden outburst, and he let go immediately. He breathed in and out, understanding that he had overreacted. "You mustn't heal that wound, Asia. It has to stay there."

Asia looked up at him like she wanted to argue with him, but didn't say anything of opposition. "Okay, Issei. If you say so. I can't heal everyone, that's what you told me right?" She smiled at him, causing Issei to return the favor by smiling back. He must've put her through so much hurt by ripping her off of Motohama, but it was necessary. It had to be done.

"Issei?" He heard Rias' voice from behind the door. "What was that noise?" She must've heard Issei punch the wall. Issei wasn't about to apologize to her as well. The matter had already been dealt with, and Issei felt better than he had been in a very long time.

"Everything's fine Rias. Don't worry." Well, it was fine now. Rias didn't seem to be in the believing mood however, and just talked back to him from behind the door. Her voice was a bit muffled by the interference of the object obstructing the passage of her sound waves.

"O..kay. Your clothes are on the desk. I'll be waiting outside Issei." That was alright with Issei. He needed to talk to her anyways. He looked back towards Asia. It looked like she felt a little bit left out; something that Issei never wanted her to experience.

"Issei, do you want me to come as well?" Asia inquired. Normally, Issei would tell her that she didn't even need to ask but alas, this was indeed an exception. It seemed that Asia had understood that.

"I'll be right back, Asia. Don't worry." Hopefully he would. He didn't intend to take a long time to talk to Rias, but depending on her response, it might lead to a lengthier conversation.

"Okay, Issei. I'll just be waiting over here for you, then." Asia said it with a smile on her face, so Issei didn't feel too bad not including her. He was doing this for her sake, anyways. Issei approached the desk and looked at Asia.

"Asia, I'm about to change." He said, telling her of his intentions.

"Okay." She said simply, and Issei was immediately hit with his silliness. Asia had a white blindfold on. Issei proceeded to dress himself, and burnt the pants and shoes of his suit. He just held them in his hand, and flames continued to lick his palm even after the clothes were gone. He was resistant it seemed. Imagining the tan dermis of his human arm, the scales went back into his body and the color shifted back to normal.

Issei took that time to marvel at his accomplishment, and then the clothes of the Kuoh Academy uniform ensued right after. Tying his lace, Issei stepped back and stood up straight. He went to go talk to Rias.

Issei opened the door and shut it behind him. Rias was twirling her hair on the opposite side of the room. Well, at least she wasn't nosy. Issei didn't know what he would do if he caught Rias trying to snoop on him and Asia.

"Rias, we need to talk." Rias stopped what she was doing hurriedly, looking extremely anxious about something that didn't seem to concern their current situation.

"About what?" It looked like Rias had already something serious to talk about. Issei thought about making it clear that whatever he said didn't take precedence, but decided otherwise at the last second. It could wait, but Issei wasn't really in the patient mood.

"It's nothing too important. I was just wondering how you learned Japanese since I don't believe you were born here. Is there language magic of some sorts? Asia could really use it right now." Issei didn't know how long Asia was going to stay in Kuoh, but it would at least help her to interact with the locals. He planned to get her out of those clothes, if she was thinking about living in Kuoh. She stood out like a sore thumb.

Rias put her finger on her lips and rolled her eyes up to her head in contemplation. "I actually don't know if such a branch of magic exists, but I think there might be a way that she can learn quickly, perhaps even instantly." If there was anything, Issei would take that chance. Well, it depended on the cost and the consequences of potential backlash. He didn't want Asia to learn Japanese only for it to backfire on her.

"Really? How?" If a way truly did exist, it would definitely assist Asia in her adjustment to her new surroundings. Perhaps Issei wouldn't even need to talk to Asia in Italian anymore. He still didn't know how she hadn't punched him in the face for his horrendous pronunciation.

Rias took her hand off her mouth, causing Issei to stop his thought process. "I know a person... she's one of my closest friends you could say. She offered to help me assimilate to Japan when I moved here five years ago. I politely declined her assistance, because I thought that it would ruin the whole point of me coming to a new place."

Five years ago? How old was she? Issei wisely chose not to voice his thoughts as she continued on. "I observed the folk for the first few months, before I started learning the culture and the colloquial language from tv-shows and movies." That would make sense. Most foreigners usually went through the same process Rias did when immigrating to a new country.

She mentioned a friend, Issei remembered. "Can you take me to this friend of yours, Rias?" He was about to go inside and ask Asia to come along with them. It would most likely speed up the process tremendously.

Rias seemed to consider it, before agreeing. "Sure. I have nothing else to do. Well, at least until the other members of ORC wake up. Only Gasper-kun and Koneko-chan actually live in the building. I'm quite surprised that they didn't wake up to the sound of whatever you did, but I guess they are heavy sleepers."

" 'O-R-C' ?" Issei questioned Rias.

"An acronym for the Occult Research Club. It doesn't spell out anything besides 'orc'. Don't worry though, it doesn't mean anything."

Issei nodded his head before opening up the door to tell Asia the good news. He saw her kicking her feet in the air, sitting on the couch. He went to call out to her, but it seemed that she was already aware of his presence.

"So, did you finish what you needed to talk to Rias about, Issei?" She turned to face him with a polite smile on her face. She seemed eager to get out of the cramped up building. Issei could relate.

"Actually, believe it or not, I was just talking about you with Rias." Issei revealed to her.

"About me?" Asia questioned. She didn't seem insecure about her importance, just surprised.

"Yeah. Rias says she knows someone who might be able to help you learn Japanese. Is that okay with you? I asked without asking you first, I'm sorry." While being able to speak another language definitely had its uses, it was also unnecessary information if it wasn't going to be utilized. Additionally, it might actually ruin the fluency of the original language and the new language due to their differences or similarities, causing both of them to be worse off.

"Oh. I was actually looking for a solution for that. There's only one person who I believe contends with this type of magic. However, I'm not too sure if she actually knows the means of how to cast it. She probably knows the mechanics and how it functions, but I'm not too sure if she has actually ever used it before." Asia seemed to have an alternate solution. That would work as well, Issei mused.

"I sense a 'but' here." Issei assumed. There had to be a reason she hadn't brought this up before.

"Yeah, I kinda don't know where she is right now. She hasn't talked to me in... " Asia cut herself off, thinking in silence. "I still pray to her everyday though. I hope she's doing okay." Asia then brightened back up. "Anyways, I'm glad that Rias can help me. Thank you for asking, Issei. You didn't have to do that."

That was true, but Issei didn't care about duty. "I did it because I wanted to, Asia." He told her.

She smiled at him. "Well, thank you anyways." Asia got up off the couch and interlaced her hands with Issei's. She seemed like a very tactile person, Issei pondered. It might be compensating for her lack of sight.

Issei turned around with Asia in tow, and walked out the door to greet Rias. She was waiting for them with her hands behind her back, pacing across the hallway. She took notice of them and stopped in her tracks.

"Issei, you came back. And this is Asia I assume?" Rias outstretched her hand for Asia to shake it.

Looking at Asia, Issei noticed she didn't understand a word Rias was saying. However, she did comprehend her name, as Rias used Issei's pronunciation of it. He forgot that's what he introduced Asia as.

Asia took the offered limb and Issei felt a spark. Rias had a much more severe reaction and she visibly shook. She looked like she had a couple of ghosts that suddenly came back to haunt her. Issei stared at Asia.

Asia immediately noticed the shift in tone and dropped Rias' hand. "Oh, sorry. I'm still not used to keeping my ability off." Asia made the same mistake as Rias by speaking in another language.

"Asia says she's sorry, Rias." Issei explained to her. He didn't like having to assume the role of a translator, but it had to be done. He just wished there was a better way of communicating with each other and hopefully they would find it soon. That's what they were here for, after all.

Rias got over her shock and accepted the apology. "It's okay." Asia on the other hand, seemed to be confused but about something else entirely. She looked up to Issei's face with a question on her face.

"Rias?" She voiced, the word standing out to her in the sentence. Issei went to go tell her that Rias was her name, but it seemed like the person in question had already beat him to it.

"Hai. Rias desu." She said while pointing to herself. Asia seemed to understand, and smiled at Rias.

"Rias." She repeated, apparently satisfied with the name. This in turn caused Rias to signify the end of the conversation by walking in the opposite direction. Issei and Asia followed Rias along as she headed down the stairs. The noise of the steps filled the silence as Rias opened the door of the first floor, exposing all three of them to the sun's rays.

They walked along the courtyard with seemingly nowhere in destination. Issei was getting quite bored. "So Rias, what can you tell us about this friend of yours?" It wouldn't hurt to know something prior to their meeting.

"Her name is Sona and she is the heir daughter to the house of Sitri. We grew up as childhood friends until she traveled to the human world when she entered teenagehood. We barely missed each other as she immediately moved back to the underworld when I arrived on Earth. She came back recently for reasons unknown to me, and has worked her way up to president of the student council."

Rias slowed her pace down, almost to a halt. "I've been trying to pick up the pieces of our old relationship, but she's constantly busy. She usually leaves all her duties to her vice-president as she is working on one or more things in the underworld."

Issei looked in front of him and saw another building, this one looking like an established part of the school, unlike the old school house. The words 'Student Council' was engraved into the stone at the front of the building. It made the student council seem way more important than it should be if Issei hadn't ever seen or heard of it before. Not even a small tidbit mentioned by an offhand comment or an appearance of one of its members in class to advocate for its recruitment.

It would make sense for Issei to not be aware of the Occult Research Club, it seemed like it wasn't the most popular of extracurricular clubs. Although the ORC did have both Rias and Akeno as its members, Issei highly doubted anyone cared about the actual purpose of the club.

Being part of the student council was indicative of a goal that every high schooler should seek to accomplish in order to look good on their resume. However, the requirements to join appeared to be undisclosed as far as Kuoh Academy was concerned.

The building had two stories to it; the only similarity between it and the old schoolhouse. Whereas the ORC building looked like a haunted house, the student council building looked more like a mansion. Rias opened the door and started walking up the stairs. The ORC building had wooden treads separated by air that creaked with the slightest pressure. As Issei was walking up the black fabric treads with white laminated risers, he started to appreciate the upgrade in groundwork.

As soon as they reached the second floor, the group was greeted with the sight of a secretary working at a desk. The secretary was a female with long black hair with semi-rimmed glasses with blue outlines on the bottom. She seemed to be in the middle of some paperwork, before she noticed the three people that weren't there a second ago.

"Yes, how can I help you?" She asked out of routine it seemed. She then finally looked up and saw the crimson-haired lady. "Oh it's you, Rias-sama. I'll get Buchou, I'll be right back." She backed up her seat and stood up straight, flattening the skirt of the female Kuoh Academy uniform.

Rias went to stop her and outstretched her hand in a 'hold on' gesture. "Wait, Tsubaki, it's been a while. Let's catch up." It seemed that 'Tsubaki' didn't care for pleasantries. The black haired woman just smiled at Rias before walking somewhere in one of the back rooms. Rias sighed, letting her hand just drop to her side.

Tsubaki returned with another woman, this one being substantially shorter than her. Issei didn't notice how tall Tsubaki was when she was sitting down, but now that she was standing comparatively to a 5'5 woman, Issei approximated her to be about 5'8 or 5'9. He was standing even-eyed to her, so Tsubaki was exceptionally tall.

Taking his eyes off Tsubaki, Issei looked at the new girl who seemingly echoed Tsubaki's 'no nonsense' appearance. Like Tsubaki, this girl had spectacles as well, except hers were fully rimmed and colored purple. The etchings complemented her violet eyes. Did everyone just have violet eyes nowadays? Issei thought back to Raynare and Akeno, and now this girl as well.

The girl spoke up with a pompous voice. "Rias, it's always a pleasure. When I heard from my vice president that Rias had come to the student council building, I couldn't believe her. I had to see you for myself. So, what can I do for you today, Rias? For some reason, I don't think you came to hang out." Issei corrected his previous assessment. Not necessarily pompous, but merely slightly arrogant. A sign of familiarity perhaps.

Rias grimaced at the violet-eyed girl. "Sorry Sona, not this time. I wanted to ask if you still had the language scrolls you talked about five years ago. Do you remember what I'm talking about?" Rias tried to bring up Sona's memories of their talk so long ago.

Sona gave Rias a placid smile on her face. "Of course, how could I forget? I believe that's when you 'politely' declined my assistance and proceeded to engulf yourself in the Japanese culture and forget about me."

Rias cringed at Sona's passive aggressiveness. She clasped her hands together and started looking around the room; everywhere but in Sona's direction. "I'm sorry about that, Sona."

Sona continued to smile at Rias' uncomfortableness. "So you say. Don't worry, you've already apologized many times before and I've forgiven you for it a long time ago. What happened is in the past now. I believe you asked for a scroll, no?" Sona opened her hand and a scroll was pulled out of a blue insignia. It seemed relatively tame, with tan paper and a red ribbon wrapped around the center of it. She handed it to Rias.

Rias took it and unfurrowed the piece of parchment. She looked at the scroll and just saw the Sitri family crest. She looked back up to Sona, awaiting an explanation.

"You just place your hand on the circle and input your magic into it." While Sona was talking, Issei heard a crash come from the back room. The door flung open loudly and a man came charging out of it.

"You called me, Buchou? I'm here to protect you." The man stated warily. Sona didn't seem to be too pleased with his abrupt arrival.

"No Saji-san, I did not." Sona responded grittingly, stressing the last syllable of her sentence. The man put his hand behind his neck and started rubbing it sheepishly.

"Sorry, Buchou. I just thought that I could be of use, somehow." Issei looked at the boy. He was a young man around Issei's age, with spiky blonde hair and grey eyes. Another white boy, Issei mused. This one was taller than Issei, and Kiba by comparison. Somewhere around the 6 foot metric. Issei didn't know how to get a good read on the guy. Sona however, had a pretty obvious approach on how to deal with him.

"Saji-san, must you continue to be so imprudent? We are in the company of the heir of the Gremory family. You are standing in front of Rias Gremory, the crimson princess." Issei looked at Rias, who flinched at the mention of her status. Saji didn't even deign to glance in Rias' direction however, ignoring her in all entirety.

"Buchou, I keep telling you to call me Genshirou." He took his hand off his neck, still smiling, but finally looking in their direction. He wasn't looking at Rias, though. "Issei isn't it? Nice to meet you, I'm Saji Genshirou, pawn of the house of Sona." Issei could see the tick marks on Sona's face in the background. Saji extended a hand for Issei to shake, but quickly let it down after finding another target of interest. "Who is this cute blonde you have over here, Issei?" Saji was looking at Asia with close eyes. Issei felt like he had a good enough read on the boy as of right now.

Asia backed away from Saji's touch, avoiding him by hiding behind Issei. Saji looked surprised before he let out a laugh, and punched Issei on the shoulder. "You treat her good, Issei." Tsubaki then put her hand on Saji, reeling him in. Issei raised his eyebrow at Saji's poise. His informality was certainly different from most people Issei had met.

Rias looked at Issei and said, "Why don't you and Asia go back to the old schoolhouse? See if Koneko-chan and Gasper-kun are awake as well." Issei let out a deep breath, happy to be relieved of Saji's presence. Instead of having them walk back to the ORC building, Rias spread her hands and a crimson circle appeared under Issei and Asia's feet. The world turned white.

Sona looked at her unobedient pawn and called him by his name, so that he would actually listen to her for once. "Genshirou-san, would you leave us please?" He smiled widely at the usage of his surname and walked away with a little extra energy to his stride. Sona looked at Tsubaki and her vice president just nodded at her before leaving as well.

Once they were alone, Rias opened her mouth to start talking. Sona raised her hand, open palm shutting Rias up. "Not here, follow me." Sona walked down to the first floor with Rias right behind her. She stopped at the center of the sign-in desk. Rias looked around the room, and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "You might want to bring out your wings for this one, Rias." Sona added. Rias obeyed, not seeing what Sona was seeing apparently.

Sona stretched her hands above her head, before harshly bringing them down in the air. Her arms started shaking as blue energy emitted from her palms. The center floor started separating in half, revealing a secret tunnel of some sorts underneath it. Rias immediately started falling, and flapped her wings valiantly, trying to maintain her aerial balance. Sona then soared past her, fastly. Rias felt the 'whoosh' of the wind as her hair blew due to the gust created by Sona. Rias sped up to Sona, creating bright crimson energy in her hand so she could see.

She caught up to Sona, and both of them continued on following the path of the tunnel, until there seemed to be a curve of some sorts. Rias looked back to the area where they came from, but only saw darkness. It had probably shut behind them, then. Staring in front of her, Rias saw a bright light.

Both of them slowed to a stop, and Rias brought her arm up to cover her eyes from the light. Sona waved her hand, and the light dimmed to an acceptable level. Arm down now, Rias looked at what the light had been illuminating. The sight seemed familiar. "This is…"

"Hai. I modeled this cave after the Sitri house springs back in the underworld. I miss when we were younger, Rias. I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them." Sona commented, smiling at Rias. The crimson haired girl was just happy that Sona seemed to be in a good mood.

The place was a construction of walls with limestone all around it. There was a clear walkway to reach the center of the wall, and on the sides of the walkway were what appeared to be magically kept fresh water. Sona contracted her devil wings into her back and started walking down the middle. Rias followed in pusuit.

Reaching the epicenter, Sona placed her palm on the wall, causing it to separate horizontally, not unlike the entrance to the tunnels. It only separated far enough for a person to cross, and the walls closed behind the two devils after they entered.

Sona and Rias undressed and put their clothes off to the side. Rias dipped her toes in the steamy water, it wasn't as hot as she thought it would be. Holding her breath, she fully submerged in the water before emerging with dripping hair.

Sona had a little more dignified approach and just walked in the water, before sitting down on one of the cobblestone formations. She opened a portal with her hand, and put her glasses inside for safekeeping. "So, Rias. What is so important that you decided to drop by to see your best friend?"

Rias decided to see if Sona was comfortable enough to joke along with her. "About to be my ex-best friend if you keep on mentioning it." She made sure to make it obvious that she was being humorous by flailing her hair in a mock-aristocratic style.

Sona didn't laugh, but did smile back and said, "I'm just surprised you still consider me your best friend after not seeing me these past two years." Her words didn't hold any spite to them and regardless of the topic, Rias felt reassured that Sona didn't seem to be holding too much of a grudge.

Rias supposed she still needed a little more time, before dropping the ball on Sona. "How have you been, Sona? I've missed you." Rias had spent the last few years of her life thinking about her future, while Sona had already determined it long ago. She never shared it with Rias, however.

The last serious talk they had was about the emergence of humans as a potential fourth faction. It was something considered by the angels, fallen angels, and the devils, however the idea ended up being scrapped. Humans were considered too ignorant to the magic world and their own magicians had no problem keeping it that way. After the Great War, humans were considered free game to reincarnate by their own people.

Sona waved Rias off. "I'm sure you're content with your peerage, Rias. I haven't heard about the Gremory house in quite some while, but your new addition has made headlines all around the Underworld." Rias' eyes widened. That wasn't good news. If they knew about Issei, the marriage would be pushed to an earlier date.

"Sona, do you know about what's going on in the underworld right now?" Rias' only source of information was her brother, and he only came on official business. Most of the time, he delegated everything to his queen anyways.

Sona looked back at Rias, her eyes looking more calculating without her glasses hiding them. Rias felt like her best friend was staring at her soul. The silent judgement treatment that Sona was known for was something that Rias couldn't ever get over. She just hoped her best friend would speak up her mind soon.

"You mean your engagement to the head of the Phenex clan, or you mean the introduction of the super-enhancement drug on the economy?" Rias widened her eyes. It seemed like Sona didn't play around talking about semantics.

"The former. Has my brother said anything about calling the marriage off yet?" Rias' brother had been silent in the past, but she had kept faith that he would someday stand up for his little sister. Rias really disliked devil politics.

"No. Your brother hasn't as much as uttered a single word about the matter. That's a good thing since Lord Phenex keeps pestering him, but a bad thing since he hasn't directly opposed it. The proposition had been approved a long time ago, but I don't know how far your brother's authority reaches." More bad news. It seemed like the only positive would be held in Sona's next response to Rias' administration. "I suppose you didn't come to ask me for the favor about the scroll?" No, she did not.

"Well, I did come to ask you for a favor." Rias admitted. Sona's eyes shot to meet Rias'.

"How big?" The conversation steeped into a direction that Rias hoped to gradually steer it into. It was too late to turn back now.

"Very big. I need to borrow your rook, your knight, and bishop for the Rating Game." Sona looked back at the wall. She was convinced that Rias was joking, but the remaining silence said differently.

"I thought you grew out of that dream, Rias. You told me that you had gotten over it." Sona admonished her best friend. Rias still had a lot to learn, especially since she chose not to dwiddle in devil politics.

"I know, Sona. I know. But please-" Rias almost said 'as your best friend', but decided differently.

"Please, Sona. I need this favor." Rias knew that it was a shot in the dark. They had only just reacquainted after two years and even then, no devil would do what Rias had just asked of her.

"You're telling me, you want me to perform a ritual on my peerage, and just hand them over to you so you can borrow them? Do you know exactly what that entails, Rias? Do you know how their reactions might be?"

Rias cringed at the fact that she was almost about to say 'You could order them' to Sona. Her desperation was pathetic at best and sickening at worst. "I'm sorry, Sona. I don't know what else to do." Her best friend sighed.

"Where are my glasses?" Sona got up out of the water and proceeded to put her uniform back on. She zipped up her corset and thrust her hand to the side, opening up a portal. She grabbed her glasses and flicked them straight. She breathed on the lens of the glasses and rubbed them with her white undershirt.

Sona put on her glasses, making her eyes look bigger. She blinked, the fogginess of the steam making it seem like she hadn't cleaned her glasses thoroughly enough. She lowered them and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Rias, I don't know what to tell you. I want to let you know that you're not on your own. As the head of the Sitri house, I will back you in whatever decision you take. Whether that be deserting from the underworld, or forming pacts with the angels, I don't care. However, I'm sorry. I cannot do what you've asked of me. Just because I'm their master does not mean that I don't take into consideration their feelings on the subject. You should do the same as well."

Rias looked down at her chest sadly. She got up as well, and started putting on her clothes in silence. "Rias." her best friend called out to her. "Rias." Her name was repeated. Rias felt her cheek getting pulled in the other direction. "Rias look at me." She obeyed her best friend's orders. "What you're doing right now is extremely foolish, I want you to know that. You have to grow up. You're an idiot, but you're my idiot. Got that? Don't leave me just because some stupid pure-blooded devil asked for your hand in marriage."

Rias collapsed in her best friend's arms and burst into tears of both happiness and sadness. She didn't deserve a friend like Sona, but not even Sona could save her from her treatment it seemed. Sona brushed her hands against Rias' hair, combing her crimson locks. Rias sniffled one last time, before composing herself and standing back up. Her best friend took her hand and wiped the tears off of Rias' beautiful face. They didn't suit her, anyways.

"Are you okay, Rias?" Sona held her best friend at an arm's distance, hoping that Rias would see the truth of the matter. If there was a small possibility to help Rias, Sona would take it. However, Rias' situation seemed hopeless. Sona was reminded of her own predicament. 'No.' Sona shook her head. She had got lucky. Extremely lucky. There was no need to involve Rias into causing chaos in the underworld simply for the fact that Rias had connections through her brother. She didn't want to give Rias false hope.

Rias nodded her head, looking like she was about to cry once more. "I think so." Sona laughed. There was absolutely no way that Rias thought she would believe such a blatantly obvious lie. Both of the women were too smart for that. Sona's laughter ended up making Rias smile as well, thankfully not offending her in some sort of disrespectful way.

Rias leaned her body on Sona's shoulder all the way to the gate of the wall. Sona pressed her hands on it once more, separating the wall for the both of them to walk through. Rias pushed herself off of Sona, and spread her devil wings. She weakly flapped them, but it was enough to rise herself off the ground.

Sona matched her slow pace as she flew up the tunnel behind Rias, ready to catch her if she may fall. She opened her palm and procured a ball of light, throwing it to the far ends of the tunnel. It reached the other side and stayed stable. The spectacled devil clenched her palm into a fist and the light source expanded, with Sona opening it back up and holding out her hand to keep it in place. Once they were close enough, Sona snapped her fingers with her other hand from underneath Rias, seperating the ground formation above them.

They came through the top of the cavern and the entrance closed behind them. Rias turned the side and looked away. Sona heard footsteps from behind them. She turned and saw Saji starting to walk down the steps before suddenly reading the mood. He did a one-eighty and immediately went back from where he came from. At least he wasn't clueless. Just extremely taxing, on pretty much everything.

Sona watched as she saw her best friend walk away, hoping that Rias would find the answer she desired. Her figure disappeared from Sona's sight through the open doors of the student council building. Sona went back up the stairs, looking for some tea to calm her mind. She would reprimand Saji for his actions later.

Back with Issei and Asia, a certain chestnut eyed boy was getting frustrated with the lack of simplicity of the Japanese language. Asia was trying her hardest to learn, but Issei could feel the seeds of exasperation start to form in his mouth. It didn't help that Asia was able to feel Issei's emotions, but couldn't understand what she was doing wrong, only that she was doing something wrong.

"Gomenasai, Issei-sama." Asia apologized to Issei after failing to appease him. Issei put his face in his hands. She didn't know she was addressing him by the wrong suffix. Grammar was something that Issei couldn't teach, and it would make sense for it to be lost in translation. "Watashi no namae wa Asia Argento." She tried again. Issei sighed. She was being way too formal. No one in Japan used the word 'watashi' in regular day usage.

"I think we should work on this some other time, Asia." Issei said in Italian. Her Japanese was most likely better than his Italian, but for some reason Asia didn't seem to mind his broken attempt to speak in another language. She smiled at him, understandingly.

"Ok, Issei." He heard the double doors open, seeing Rias come in. She didn't even knock, Issei noticed. He ignored it however when he saw that she looked extremely mopey. She smiled in their direction, probably thinking that Issei didn't notice, but even her smile was crooked.

"Rias, I wanted to ask you about school." She sat down by her wooden desk, and fell halfway down the chair, her hair trailing on the seat of it. She looked devastated.

"What about school?" She inquired, half into it.

"I was wondering if you had control over the grades and attendance. I wanted to have something as a backup, but I don't think I'll be going to class anymore." Issei wanted to get school off his mind, and if Rias turned out to be unable to help him, he would just drop out.

Rias just nodded at him. "Mhmm" She said uncaringly. However, Issei knew that she probably had heard what he said. There was no reason for her to lie to him.

Issei went to go sit on the couch, and Asia followed him. He sat there patiently, waiting to see if Rias wanted to talk. He wasn't going to prod her, and if she stayed silent, there were other things he had to do. Namely, getting Asia out of those clothes. She redonned the teal outfit that Issei had originally seen her in when he met her for the first time.

It was a bit torn and worn by all that happened in the past week, and Issei thought about getting her a new outfit. However, he was fresh out of money in that department. His allowance was limited to lunch money that his mother gave him. He had saved up since he never bought school food, but it still wasn't nearly enough yen for anything substantial.

Rias seemed to have an endless supply of Kuoh Academy uniforms, so he supposed he could ask her about one for Asia. However, he didn't think she would actually appreciate looking like a schoolgirl fetish instead of a nun fetish. He had omitted that thought from his mind right after.

He heard a knock on the door, and Akeno's voice came from the other side of it. "Rias, it's me and the rest of the family. I went to go get Yuuto-san like you asked me to. Koneko-chan was asleep and Gasper-kun was hiding in his room. I got them both here as well."

Rias sat up and spoke back to Akeno. "Come in."

The door opened, revealing the four members of Rias' peerage. Kiba had a smile on his face, before he opened his eyes. He saw Rias' expression and summoned a sword in his hand. Kiba turned serious, before pointing the sword at Issei's face. "What did you do to Rias-sama?" Issei simply raised an eyebrow at the knight of the Gremory house.

"Put your sword down, Yuuto-san. Issei didn't do anything to me. It's actually what I did to myself, or rather what I did to you guys." Kiba didn't dissipate his sword, but it was now at his side.

"Rias-sama?" Kiba questioned.

"Why don't you guys have a seat?" She gestured towards Issei and Asia, who were already sitting on the couch.

"He's sitting at my spot." Koneko simply said, referencing the fact that Issei was currently seated down.

Issei got up off the couch and proceeded to stand instead. Asia stood up with him and they both moved away from the piece of furniture. Gasper and Koneko both walked and sat on opposite couches. Kiba finally dissipated his sword and settled for leaning on a wall.

Akeno went to go behind Rias and started massaging her shoulders. Rias smacked her hands away. "Not now, Akeno. You should probably sit along with the rest of them." Akeno understood.

"Shall I go get tea, Rias?" Akeno offered. Perhaps it would calm down the mood and tension.

"That won't be necessary, Akeno." Rias replied.

"Alright then." Akeno moved away from Rias' desk.

Rias' expression was stony, as she waited for everyone to get situated. "There is something I need to tell you guys."

Akeno looked a bit peeved at Rias' comment. "You said there would be no more secrets, Rias." She reminded Rias of something Issei hadn't recalled her saying. Something more personal, then. This was the first time Akeno had expressed any genuine emotion that Issei had known about.

His original interpretation of Akeno revolved around the idea that Rias could be replaced for any other master and Akeno couldn't care less. Issei imagined she would continue to flaunt her fakeness like it was nobody's business, since that attitude would stay consistent regardless of who she was the servant of. It was quite intriguing to see that something had bothered the black haired woman enough to break her persona.

Rias' face fell sadly. "I know, I promised. This was my deepest, most guarded secret that I have known since I was a small child." Rias gave a serene smile. "Since none of you were born devils, you haven't been acclimated with devil politics. Well, something that I've kept hidden from you all is that I've been engaged from birth."

Akeno gasped. That was such a huge fact that Rias had chosen not tell her, or anyone else for that matter. Seeing Akeno's intense reaction, Issei assumed this revelation was a big deal. Marriage contracts were practically nonexistent in the human world after they had been abolished during the middle ages. He didn't know how to feel about the concept of them since they were considered primitive, but Akeno seemed to have a strong opinion on the subject.

"I'm betrothed to the heir of the Phenex Clan. A man by the name of Riser Phenex." Rias finished.

Issei raised his eyebrow. Was this someone important?


AN: I didn't actually know I published this chapter. This was actually extremely unedited. Like I didn't even bold Ddraig's speech. Oh well, it's too late now. I'll edit it later. I am in the process of working on the next one. I was supposed to do a triple upload.

Stuff from the canon is going to change btw. I'm sure I don't need to reiterate that by now, but something as simple as Riser's status is included in that category. And chess is going to be focused more than in canon. I am going to be using some terms that you may or may not know.