I don't know what I'm doing with this story's timing. Why would I keep it to one chapter a week like everything else when I could just give one a day earlier as well? I'd like to think this wasn't screwing me over, but hey, that's up to readers like you. Anyway, let's go!

Super hero time!

Shuujin: Looks like you need some time to talk things through.

Issei: It's time to enter the palace! Wait, I'm meant to enter the palace...

Shuujin:Don't turn this into the bootstrap paradox. Keep to your own timeline.

Issei: Don't I have to replace someone? Doesn't that mean becoming... me?

S + I: Break the chains! Phone up the future!

Rias Gremory liked to think she was in control. Of course, there was also the idea that she was forcefully engaged to a terrible man by her parents, but with many of the over aspects of her life, she was well controlled. Rias wasn't the kind of girl to take advantage of her peerage, incomplete as it was, for nefarious purposes and she didn't purposely make use of her bountiful beauty. It would set a bad example and as a king, she didn't want to do that.

It couldn't be helped if the female school uniform was designed to emphasise such beauty though. If Kuoh academy believed that it would be best if the uniform made sure to show off the girls' slim waists and great chests, who was she to judge? Rias was no way in control of whether the boys instantly fell in love with blood red hair or endless blue eyes and if the skirt was perhaps a few centimetres short of where it usually would be to tease people of what may lay beneath, then so be it.

However, the appearance of a young yokai at the doors of her clubroom rather than Issei and Kiba as she sent out for did make that sort of control slip, replacing calm geniality with a sprinkling of surprise. That surprise wasn't entirely bad, not at all, for a cute young girl at your doorstep rarely was an unwanted surprise unless she was causing trouble.

"Hello there. Can I help you?" Rias asked the child, who was looking around her club room from the door in awe. She was quick to admit that it wasn't the most normal choice of interior in japan, Victorian English usually being in, well, England, but she was happy with it.

"Oh, I'm Kunou! You're a devil right?" the child cheerfully asked with an expectant smile upon her face, even when Rias near stumbled at the blunt question. With the tails and ears, it was clear that the yokai wasn't exactly trying to hide her supernatural origins and most yokai were gifted with innate sensing capabilities, but they were still at a school where not everyone had gone home yet.

"Um, yes I am." Rias answered dumbfounded, standing to the side and gesturing for Kunou to enter and take a seat. "Do you need anything?"

"Ara, who's this adorable little thing?" Akeno, Rias' long-time friend and queen piece, gasped as she walked in with a steaming pot of tea and two cups. Placing them gently on the coffee table that sat between two sofas, she knelt down to Kunou's level. "I could almost eat you whole." There was something about that statement that made Kunou fear for her life, tails standing on end.

"Please don't!" she hurriedly yelped before regaining her composure with a small cough. "Actually, I would like some assistance. I need to find my way to Kyoto; how do I get there?"

"And why are you so eager to go to Kyoto?" Akeno asked, reminding Rias of the fact that she hadn't really educated her peerage on the separation of Japanese territory. Fortunately, it seemed that Kunou was happy enough to explain in her steed.

"Do you not know? That is the place where all yokai dream to be, home to the leader of all Yokai, my mother!" she boasted with a hand to her mouth for a haughty laugh. "Now, can one of you help me return there or not?"

It was at that moment, where Rias was trying to digest the fact that this random Yokai in the middle of Kuoh was proclaiming herself to be the child of Yasaka, the feared Kyuubi leader of Yokai, where Kiba returned with a polite knock on the door, Issei and a young girl in tow.

"President, I've got Issei for you. This girl is his cousin." Kiba stated with his typical bishounen smile that had melted the hearts of many female students in the school, though he was pleasantly surprised when another girl had appeared in the clubroom, wearing Miko clothing not too far unlike what Akeno wore during intense battles. Ophis approached without hesitation, looking into Kunou's eyes in her blank manner, Kunou apparently not caring in the slightest.

"Hey, my name's Kunou! What about you?" she exuberantly asked, the young Lolita girl giving no facial change in reply.

"What, do you mean?"

"What's your name silly!"

"I, am Ophis."

"That's cool! Can I call you Phis?"

"Who would you do that?"

"Well it's a nickname, to show we're now friends!"

"I, see. Then, you may."

Considering how dismissive she had been of the various students they had passed, paired with the way that Sona had mentioned she made no attempts to try and befriend or even talk to any of the student council members during her stay in their office, Issei was surprised to find her so easily accepting the girl's offer of a nickname. Perhaps it was the idea that none of the student council members tried or perhaps it was how Kunou was so openly different, with nine swinging golden tails and a pair of ears that twitched in happiness.

On the other hand, Rias was internally freaking out, not even the quiet entrance of her rook, Koneko, being enough to bring her out of it. The crimson princess of destruction was secretly hoping that Issei might've rejected her offer so she could put off talking with him, but now he was here and with a practically royal member in attendance as well! She had her familiar give him a magic circle when she first discovered his hidden power that was apparently great enough to attract the attention of a fallen angel, believing that he would wish for life when the fallen inevitably killed him and she would gain access to that power. When there had been no response from the circle though, she had believed he had died without a wish and had Sona swiftly arrange for a tribute to be prepared for him. After all, she had been the cause of his death; it was the least she could do. Luckily, Rias had yet to inform the parents of his death before he miraculously appeared in school, only to be faced with the terrible implications of what was meant to be a sweet tribute.

"So what did you want me for Rias?" Issei questioned as he turned to the resident of the occult research club. It was no secret that entering the occult research club was a goal for many at the school, often ending in failure. Filled with those that were seen as the most desirable people in Kuoh, including the two great sisters of Kuoh, Akeno Himejima and Rias Gremory and the prince of Kuoh, Kiba Yuuto, the occult research club was an instant status symbol; if you were able to enter, than the greatest students had deemed you worthy.

"Oh, yes… Um, how to put it…" With the way her fingers were being poked together, it would give any person the idea that she was gearing herself up for a heartfelt confession and she was in a fashion, but not of the sweet love kind. "I heard you went on a date yesterday."

"Oh yeah, doesn't really seem like me, does it?" Issei replied awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. Just as she was famous for her alluring looks and great intellect, he was universally reviled for perverted antics alongside his friends. Maybe looking at Rias' and Akeno's chests as he walked in wasn't exactly a good first impression, but had you seen them!? Luckily for them, Kunou was too busy trying to speak with Ophis, who would only answer in her minimalistic fashion, to care that her request hadn't been answered.

"Not at all, to be brutally honest. Did anything… weird happen, by chance?" Rias was hoping that by being blunt with her first part, he would be too offended to care too greatly about the other end and just answer it truthfully. However, Issei was nought if not observant and his ears were well tuned; it allowed for the greatest of peeping and avoidance of deadly dangers known as the kendo club.

And that cleared up one of his questions. So Rias had been the one to find out about his death and plan all of the 'he's dead guys' stuff. But why? Had she been there when it occurred? The way she posed the question would say no, but maybe she wanted to cover up the fact that she found him dead, anyone wasn't likely to boast about finding a dead guy.

"Well, we went to the park and it didn't work out really. It honestly felt like a stab to the chest, or five." That was the giveaway. A wince at the word stab, that meant she knew the connotation behind his word usage. That meant she knew he had died through that method and hadn't just been informed through the school like everyone else.

"That must've felt… terrible. Was this girl, I don't think I was told her name… odd in any way?" Rias probed further. If he spoke of what she was expecting, then everything would fall into place. She would be able to provide protection, seeing as she sensed no form of reincarnation that would prevent her from using the evil pieces on him, and then get a powerful piece still! Issei had other plans though as he was unwilling to let the blatantly obvious attempt to skip around the issue.

"Look, you clearly know what happened last night, why don't we skip the unnecessary parts?" Issei declared with a sigh, sinking into one of the sofas at Rias' insistence. "Do you know who Yu- Raynare is?"

"Well, I suppose that would make things quicker. I suppose my first question though would be, do you believe in the supernatural?" Rias began, leaning forward on her wooden desk kept at the corner of the room, her fellow club members taking their seats at the other spaces of the sofa while Kunou dragged Ophis into a corner to continue their discussion.

Issei couldn't say he didn't believe in the supernatural at this point, not reliably. After all, a bright white hallway with a woman that looks like a goddess? A piano that contains a world of its own, with a happily thriving town? It just couldn't be done without serious mental fortitude to hide the obvious lie.

"I Do. I've had, or pretty much am, evidence of things beyond human understanding." Issei stated wearily, receiving pitying faces from each of the members of the ORC.

"Well then I'll give it to you plainly. Raynare was a fallen angel after the power within you." Rias announced basically, interlinking her fingers to hold up her head as she watched Issei's reaction. However, when there was no change to his face, stuck similarly to the neutral expression of Ophis. What was actually was that he gripped the phone in his pocket even harder. Well at least he had a reason why he was chosen to be killed. Fallen angels were corrupted through sin right? So she was looking to satisfy her warped desires.

'Wait, power within me?' was that what the woman had been referring to when she called him her 'chosen one'? A warmth in his pocket made him draw out the item in curiosity, attracting the eyes onto the phone. Kunou excitedly grabbed a hold of Issei's legs, looking into his eyes with an ecstatic smile.

"Is it true!?" she excitedly asked, tails wagging as Issei could only freak out mentally?

"What is?" he questioned back, rather proud of the way he held back his confusion, even when Kunou unleashed the deadliest weapon a young girl could, lost in age and highly effective. It was known as the dreaded puppy eyes.

"That you can get me home dummy! Can you or can you not!?" she practically begged, putting her head down onto her hands. It would've been a rather convincing manoeuvre, had it not been for the fact her hands were on his legs, meaning her head was right before his crotch.

'Why is it always the young girls?" Issei whined in his head. Normally, he would be perfectly fine with girls placing their heads at his crotch, but if they weren't aware of what it meant and would probably would get him in jail in anyone noticed, then it wasn't as entertaining.

"I don't see why not." He eventually conceded. After all, how far away could it be? When he was captured in a great bear hug, only paused to bring Ophis over to join in, Issei began to think of another point that was becoming abundantly clear other than unintentional near fellatio.

"I guess helping people could be fun.' The heat of the phone was growing to be slightly unbearable though, making him flip the device open to see if there was an issue, only to find the button for 2 burst in a small flicker of flame, now red with an image of Kunou's face on it. Before he could investigate further, the excited young girl snatched it out of his hands, admiring the small picture.

"It looks just like me! So that's what you were talking about Phis!" Kunou exclaimed, causing Issei's eyes to widen.

"Ophis, how much do you know about this phone?" he asked, the gothic dressed girl giving him an odd look.

"Were, you not told father?" she asked in reply. "I thought, mother would tell you." That was good enough to grab the attention of the occult research club, sitting up in their seats almost in synchronisation.

"Ara, Issei, I didn't think you would do something so naughty so quickly." Akeno commented with a hand to her cheek. "I suppose someone so open as you would be the quickest to try though…"

"That's not at all what she means!" Issei immediately protested, waving his hands in front of him frantically. "What she means is I'm taking care of her in place of her mother, but that isn't important! What do you know about the phone?"

"It, is a tool for battle. Call, us to your side. We, will fight for you." She explained, Kunou giving a firm nod despite the fact she didn't even know what the phone looked like until mere moments before.

"Phis was telling me about it before! I can fight, so you can count on me!" she promised with a thumbs up, before she placed a finger on her cheek, tapping it in thought. "but maybe it would be better if I just stayed with you if you're just going to call me back again!"

"But, don't you have people to go back to? Parents or any siblings?" Issei asked in confusion, only to be dismissed with a raspberry and wave the concern off, as any child might if they were told to go home before they wanted to.

"I know the address, I can send them a letter to one of the shrines." She declared, though Rias was less willing to take that approach.

"But you said you were the daughter of the leader! How do you think they're going to react when they find their daughter has chosen to stay away from home?" she wondered aloud. She certainly was unwilling to take the blame for harbouring the heir to the leadership for all yokai and considering that she already had a yokai as a reincarnated devil, a nekomata, then her explanations would appear even more suspicious. Of course, letting Issei hold on to her would just be shifting that blame and he didn't have the backing of a high level devil to protect him.

"Don't worry, as soon as they know I'm safe, then they'll probably send someone to watch over me and maim anyone they don't like." Kunou remarked casually, as if the thought of powerful yokai maiming people was a constant occurrence, sending shivers down everyone's backs bar Ophis. "Bu I don't want to go back! It's all training and boring stuff, there's never anything exciting! You're going to get into fights, right? With the devils?"

"Devils?" it didn't take long for two and two to come together, Kunou's excitement revealing something that, if he were in his right mind and not being systematically numbed to every shocking discover, might have frightened him. With a heavy sigh at not being able to reveal their secrets herself, Rias let out her wings, leathery pinions that had no right allowing people to fly according to the laws of physics, followed by her fellow club members. Issei couldn't tell if there was a twitch to his eye, being frozen on the wings everyone grew.

"Yes Issei, she is correct. We are devils." Rias confirmed. "I apologise, but it isn't really something we can tell freely, is it?" she said, Issei slapping himself across the face, only to find that the wings still remained.

"I don't know anymore. I, I just don't know." The boy finally said with his head in his hands. There was so much he could take after having just come back to life after death. He was to be granted a reprieve, or perhaps it would be better to say he was granted a chance to blow off steam, when a small imp like creature entered the clubroom, leaping onto Akeno's shoulder and whispering words unheard by anyone else before disappearing in a blast of smoke.

"Rias, it appears that our lovely target is trying out some more feeding. Shall we end this now?" the black haired beauty asked, Rias giving a quick nod before turning to Issei and the two young girls.

"Perhaps we could give you a show of what we truly do. Do you want to accompany us?" she offered, Issei looking between her and the phone in his hands, the new picture of Kunou upon the button letting off a crimson sheen in the light."

"…Okay then."

"Yeah! Time for some fun!"

Time for a break. So is how the phone's going to work clear yet? Well all you have to do is wait for tomorrow before you get a clearer explanation! It's time for a fight against the stray devil known as Viser... or is it...?