Kado woke up, begrudgingly opening his eyelids to see a strange ceiling, and a warmth pressed next to him on either side. He mentally shrugged and closed them again, snuggling back into the warmth. He'd just died; he deserved some rest.

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes once more, slightly more aware this time, and looked to the left, to see a sheet of black hair obscuring his vision. He turned to the right, and was faced with a sight much similar to the first, except the hair was a bright red.

A few seconds passed before the realization of just what that much hair so close meant for his future. A dramatic widening of the eyes, pupils shrinking to tiny dots. "Oh no."

In a flurry of movement, he was out of the bed, ripping his arms free of two very unclothed females, panicking at his lack of pants, dashing out of the door to the room to find some kind of clothing.

"Wha? Where you goinn..." a fuzzy voice spoke up from the abandoned bed.

"Doomed, we're all doomed," Kado shouted back in response. His only hope was to find some kind of clothing and make for the border as soon as possible!

Ripping open drawers in an abandoned bedroom, he managed to find a spare set of the male school uniform, and put it on a fast as he could, before dashing back out, trying to find an exit.

He was halted by a small girl, no higher than his chest, grabbing onto his arm, somehow stopping him from going any further.

"Pervert." The young girl proclaimed, a vivid red blush on the still emotionless face.

Kado bowed deeply, attempting to show his sincerity, while wriggling his arm to attempt escaping the grip that seemed far too strong for a girl her size. "I do offer my deepest apologies, but I am in a bit of a hurry, and I suggest you let go of me before your arm is removed from the rest of you."

The small head turned up to him, tilting slightly to the right. "You?" Although there was no tone or inflection in the word, he could swear he could feel the condescension dripping from it.

He shook his head rapidly. "No, someone much worse."

She didn't remove her grip on his arm, so instead he kept on moving, simply dragging the short girl with him. After navigating through several rooms and hallways that all seemed to look the same, Kado found himself in a large room with a table, several couches, a shower, and the occasional skull.

In the room was two beautiful women, Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima, both members of the Occult Research Club, telling him where he was at the moment. Neither of them had decided to put clothes on yet, and he carefully averted his eyes before he could see anything, instead checking outside the window to see how high up they were, Koneko Toujou, the small girl, still holding onto his arm.

"Why are you in such a hurry so early," the black haired one said in a sultry tone, bending over and licking her lips. "We could go back for some more… fun."

Kado was next to her in a flash, vaulting over the couch and surprising everyone in the room. His hand was over her mouth, keeping her from pronouncing any further words of doom and looking directly into her eyes. "Shhhshhhshhh. If she hears what you just said, she'll kill you. And me."

Then he was opening the door out of the room as if checking for eavesdroppers, before closing it and pressing his back to it. On the other side of the room, Koneko was staring at her hand, opening and closing it slowly, wondering how he'd gotten out of her grip.

"What are you so worried about?" the president of the club questioned. "If it's about your clothes, those are ruined. But we were able to salvage your phone." She said that last part a bit proudly, holding up the mentioned item from wherever she'd gotten it from.

Kado froze and turned to her in unrestrained horror. "You have doomed us all," he spoke, in a dead tone of voice, causing all three present to look uncomfortably between each other.

Then he seemed to have gathered himself, stood with his feet together and hands at his sides, and performed a deep bow. "My name is Kai Kado. Thank you for giving me my life back." He straightened back up, still holding the stiff position and maintaining eye contact. "I will see you in the afterlife."

Before anyone could react to that strange statement, he turned and opened the door to the hallway just as a girl came flying through it with a drop kick. The girl had long blonde hair tied up in a blue ribbon, a female Kuoh school uniform, and green eyes. All accompanied by the fiercest look anyone there had ever seen.

The girl landed, spinning into a combat stance. "Okay, which one of you hussies touched my man!" Unsure of how to react to that entrance, nobody could do anything in the time it took for Kado to mouth 'sorry' towards them. Then he threw himself at the girl's feet. "It was them! They assaulted me while I was dead!" Pointing directly at the two still unclothed girls.

Suddenly, the already furious visage of the girl morphed into an unrestrained demonic expression and began to leak bloodlust like one of the four satans, the air rippling behind her, before forming into a hannya mask with bleeding eyes. All this combined was enough to make all the girls present ready to flee for their lives, but were frozen in fear.

The feeling was reinforced as the intruder stepped forward towards the accused, cracking her knuckles. "Any last words before I remove your souls?" rumbled the demon before them.

The red and black haired girls looked helplessly towards the window where Koneko had stood, only to see shards of glass, a broken window, and a hastily scrawled sign reading, "You're on your own," signed with a paw-print.

Looking back towards the immediate threat, Rias attempted to hold her hands up in a pacifying motion, but they moved farther up in a sign of surrender without her control. "Any chance we can talk this out?"

The fearsome image seemed to pause for a moment.

"No."

S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S

Thanks to their devil constitution and Kado's attempts to calm down his furious girlfriend, the two devils managed to survive, and even came out of it with all their limbs intact.

They sat across from the girl seated possessively upon her boyfriend's lap, still glaring at the two, now dressed, devils.

Kado attempted to calm the situation down slightly by making introductions. "People-who-I-hadn't-met-before-today, meet my girlfriend, Horikawa Kioko." His voice turned sappy upon introducing her, obviously filled with affection. "Kioko, meet Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima. They brought me back from being dead, so I would kinda appreciate it if you didn't kill them?"

His girlfriend sniffed and turned her head away. "Don't worry, I was holding back. If I was in jail, I'd have a much harder time getting my Cuddles." The two girls gulped, thinking that if it was true she was holding back, that they never wanted to face her when she was serious. They might be some of the most promising devils of their generation, but unable to use their powers without killing her, the human had the clear advantage.

Then the tone turned more serious as Kioko turned upwards to face her boyfriend. "You were really dead?" her seat nodded, looking proud. "And came back to life?" Another proud nod, accompanied by an outstretched hand. Kioko sighed resignedly, pulling out a few bills and slapping them into his outstretched hand. "Fine."

The two devils looked on confusedly. "Erm, what was that?" Akeno dared to ask. Kioko looked at her with grumpy expression, still very unhappy about the situation she had first encountered them in. "He bet me he'd find evidence of a hidden world before we got out of high school."

The two turned to look at Kado's smug face, carefully counting the bills before pocketing them. "Yeep," he said, popping the 'p.'

The two great ladies looked at each other, before looking back at him. ""Chuuni.""

Kado slammed his hands down on his knees, carefully avoiding hitting his girlfriend. "I am not chuuni!" He folded his arms and looked away, miffed. "I just had high hopes."

Rias decided to get to something slightly more important. "I do feel it important to note that we did not actually… assault, your boyfriend," she said, directed at Kioko. "He was badly injured after I revived him, and our healing spell works best with direct skin contact." Akeno got up from the couch, intending to make some tea, but a glare from the victor of their earlier exchange had her quickly sitting back down.

Kioko let out a relaxed sigh as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Kado raised his hand in an expression of helplessness. "Hey, I woke up naked, with two naked girls on either side of me, and no recollection of the past few hours. Can you really blame me for assuming something like that had happened?"

A shake of the head, which was now resting against his clothed chest. "Nope, I would have assumed the same thing. I'm just glad your virginity is still safe." Her voice dipped slightly into the demonic tones from earlier. "And still mine." Everyone else in the room gulped.

The door to the room opened, and Kiba Yuuto entered. "Hey guys, has he woken..." upon seeing two people he didn't know seated on a couch, facing his club president and vice-president, who looked as though they were regretting their life choices, he trailed off. "…Maybe I'll wait outside."

The door closed with a click, and Kioko returned her attention to the two facing her. "Alright, so you're probably not exactly human as we see it. So what are you?"

Unwilling to argue since she was already aware of Kado's death, the devils extended their wings. Rias took the initiative to say, "We're devils, as is your boyfriend now." As if on command, wings sprang out from Kado's back, pushing him and Kioko off the couch, having been unprepared for the sudden eruption of new limbs.

With a few glances between the wings and the president, the reborn devil asked, "You did that?" A nod in response. "You can activate it when you want?" Another nod, albeit more confused. "So you have some kind of power over me?" A very careful nod, definitely not liking where this was going, accompanied by a fearful glance at the girlfriend, now situated back in his lap.

With a slight mental effort, Kado caused the wings to retract, causing a slight burning sensation in his back, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the money he had just placed into it, dangling it with it a sigh in front of the blonde haired girl until she took the proffered money with a self-satisfied grin.

Kioko noticed the look the other two devils were giving her and answered the unspoken question. "I bet him that he'd end up in some kind of servitude before the end of high school."

"I thought that was a safe bet!" Kado complained. "I was pretty sure the odds of that were pretty low, all things considered! How did you know something like this would happen?"

Kioko smirked, settling herself more comfortably in his lap. "Woman's intuition, dear."

"Well then, how'd you get-" "What was that?" "Nothing, dear."

Refocusing on the girls in front of him, who were trying to hold in their laughter, he returned to the previous conversation. "So, I'm guessing I can't simply be released from your service?"

A very nervous Rias shook her head, while eying Kioko carefully. "For life?" Akeno was beginning to edge away from her soon to be ex-president. Kado just sighed, slumping back down. "Alright then, I suppose. What do you need me to do?"

Both great ladies blinked, not expecting that. "What do you mean?" Rias asked carefully, unsure if he was serious.

Kado elaborated somewhat. "Well, I'm in your service now, which means I actually have to do something. Handing out things like lives would be a pretty big deal, so it's gotta have some kind of price."

Rias fidgeted, slightly surprised he'd reached that conclusion on his own. But then she straightened, puffing out her chest further. This was her time to shine, to sway others to the devil lifestyle! "As a member of my peerage, you can form contracts with humans to gain more power-"

"Don't care."

And she was shot down in the middle of her statement! A slightly flabbergasted Rias spoke up, "B-But why? Why wouldn't you?"

Kado shrugged, pulling Kioko slightly closer to himself. "I've got my family, my girlfriend, and my education. I don't really need anything besides that. So, thanks but no thanks. No power for me."

Akeno picked up from her king, who was still processing the firm denial of offered power. "There's also the matter of stray devils-"

And she was again interrupted. "Those being the things from last night?"

Akeno was beginning to grow slightly annoyed now. "Yes," she remarked in a clipped tone.

"How do you become a stray devil?"

Well, she certainly didn't expect that. Rias took up the conversation again, unwilling to disclose information like that during this dangerous time. "The underworld gives out a warning, and then they are hunted down, before they hurt people-"

"You become one from leaving a servitude, don't you."

Rias tsked, but didn't say anything, tightening her expression.

"Juts perfect," he said with a sigh, apparently resigned to the fact.

Rias coughed, attempting to regain control of the conversation. "Well, the official word for it is 'peerage' not servitude, but that's really pretty rare..."

She was met by blank stares. "Do you usually tell people that they will be hunted down and murdered if they try to leave before you recruit them, or just never."

"It never really came up?" Rias said weakly.

"And are we the ones to hunt them down?"

"...maybe?"

"And what do I get out of this?"

Rias sat up straight again, back in salesperson mode. "Well, first and foremost, you retained your life, as well as being granted an enhanced lifespan, and if you gain enough power, eventually becoming a high-class devil, upon which you will be granted your own peerage."

Kado cocked an eyebrow, not exactly happy with the terms. "So I'm in indentured servitude with a stranger, am asked to run errands for more strangers, fight twisted monsters at great risk to myself, live longer than my friends and loved ones, and maybe, in a couple hundred years, get my own slaves, which I care nothing about? And unless years of popular culture are wrong, I take damage from holy artifacts and sunlight, right?"

"...Did I forget to mention the night vision?"

"Yes. You did."

Kado shook his head, looking at Kioko. "Can we have a moment to discuss this? This seems like a pretty big change to make in the spur of a moment."

Akeno attempted to speak up at that moment. "Actually, since you were already revived, you don't really..." and then trailed off at the look she was given by both of the people seated on the other couch. "Yes. Sure. Go right ahead."

Kioko got off of Kado's lap and took his hand, leading him out of the room and into the adjacent one, a simpler room with a small spare bed and shelves lining the room. Once the door was shut, Kioko spun and leaped at Kado, locking him in a kiss, desperate for proof that he was there, still alive and unhurt.

Once she was properly… reaffirmed, she collapsed against him, not resisting as he led her to the bedside where they both sat down, Kioko curling up against him again as sobs began to shake her body. "I was in bed, and suddenly, you were just..." she hiccuped a bit. "...gone! I couldn't feel you! And I was so worried, and I was already on my way to come see you, even if you were..." she couldn't manage to say the word.

"But then you came back, but different, and I just knew what had happened, and, and-" She broke down into tears again, Kado rubbing her back, doing what he could to calm his girlfriend down. "And I just wanted to kill them for doing that to you!" She looked up at him with teary eyes. "You're never going to have a normal life again, and you don't deserve it, and then I had to sit there while they didn't tell you how much danger you'll be in! If I could become a devil, I would, but I can't!"

Suddenly she rose up and hugged him tight enough to make his newly healed ribs creak a little. "I don't want you to be hurt," she mumbled into his borrowed uniform. "I don't know what I'd do if you died again."

Kado finally spoke up, trying to comfort her. "I know, and I'm sorry. But I'm back now, and while it's not perfect, at least I'm here, and we can spend the next few years together, at the minimum." He softly kissed her forehead. "Don't worry. I'll be okay, and in a few years, you can probably find something that will either release me from this, or some way to extend your own life."

Neither one mentioned the most likely option. They would be together, one way or another. That was something they had both promised when they started this.

They spent the next few minutes simply embracing, relishing in the fact that one of them wasn't dead, until the tears stopped. Kioko sat back up, and with a few quick rubs of her sleeve, any signs of tears or distress were gone.

She let out a deep breath. "Alright. No use postponing it any more. You're stuck like this for now, and we'll just have to accept that." She gave him a stern look, making sure he was paying close attention. "Don't fight unless you're sure you can win. Survive, that's all you need to do."

Kado stared into her eyes for a moment, before nodding, showing his promise and determination through the gaze. "I promise, darling. My first priority will always be returning to you." Then he leaned in for another kiss, this one chaste, and filled with his promise.

After they separated, he put his arms under Kioko's back and knees standing up in a princess carry. He looked down at her. "Well, I couldn't do that before, so I guess that's one perk." She giggled as he gently set her down on her feet, before heading back into the main area.

The blonde boy from earlier had returned, and stood in a corner of the room, watching them as they came in.

After sitting down on the couch, Kado took a deep breath. "After much consideration," he glanced at Kioko briefly before looking back towards the devils opposite, waiting for his response. "I have decided to consent to being part of your peerage. Please treat me well." He bowed slightly while still sitting.

In the corner, Kiba blinked, before opening his mouth. "That's… not really how it works." He was ignored by the remainder of the occupants, leaving him to his confusion.

Rias nodded, before stating, "Then I, Rias Gremory, will accept you into my peerage." Then she relaxed slightly, smiling. "And don't worry, it'll turn out fine." Akeno gave a short bow as well, and looked as if she was going to say something, but a quick look at Kioko, seated next to her boyfriend, silenced whatever comment she was going to make.

Once the pleasantries were complete, the blonde girl stood and grabbed her boyfriend's hand, beginning to lead him out of the room. "Well, this has been just lovely, but I think we'll take our leave now. I suppose we'll see you in school then. Goodbye." And the door closed behind them. The remaining people in the room let out a silent sigh of relief. "One down, one to go," was the general thought process.

Then the door opened again, and Kioko poked her head back in. "Oh, and before I forget," the mask formed again. "Don't you dare touch my man." And dissipated. "Okay? Okay. Thanks!" And the door closed once more.

As they left the old schoolhouse, Kado checked the time on his phone. "Okay, it's just before eight now, so I guess that didn't take too long. We still have time to get to our next class." Then before heading off, he gave his girlfriend a quick peck on the cheek. "See you at lunch!"

As he left the shade of the building, Kado realized another negative to being a devil. You get weak in sunlight. Preceding his death and rebirth, he'd always had poor eyes and a bad constitution, so bright light, including the sun, blinded him slightly and he got sunburned easily. That stacked with being a devil seemed to add up to pain exploding in his eyeballs.

With a yelp, Kado collapsed onto the lawn just outside the old building, closing his eyes and frantically crawling back to the sheltering shade of the old building. He steadfastly ignored his giggling girlfriend, instead trying to find a way to make it to the school proper without dying from being cooked alive in his own skin.

After a moment of contemplation, he went back inside, before emerging with a molding umbrella that had been propped in a rack for canes. He tested it out, and it seemed to work well enough, even if it did have a few holes. Advancing towards his girlfriend, who had managed to limit her chuckles, he offered her his arm.

"Would you care to share an umbrella, Madam?"

With a regal air, Kioko accepted, hooking her arm into his, and they made their way into the relative safety of the school proper.

As they headed into the school itself, he passed a boy with messy brown hair, being chased by girls. The boy, Issei, noticed black hair out of the corner of his vision, before doing a double take, seeing his schoolmate alive once more.

He'd seen him revived the night before, but it was an entirely different thing seeing him standing alive and happy, walking under an umbrella of all things into the hallway, a... pretty girl on his arm?

Issei screeched to a stop for a moment, before yelling out, "Darn handsome!" and retreating again, the girls hot on his heels.

With an uncaring shrug, Kado carried on, leaving behind his perverted peerage member to his well-deserved beating.

S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S

After school, Kado was sitting next to Kioko in her classroom, discussing the new movie that had come out when the door slid open to reveal a short girl with white hair. She looked into the room and, seeing Kado, entered it. She reached forward a hand to take hold of his arm but then hesitated, looking to Kioko who's smile just a bit too large, and changed her mind. "Buchou wants you," she said, and left the room, maybe walking just slightly faster than usual.

With a nod to each other, the couple packed up their things quickly before following Koneko through the hallways and back out to the clubhouse. Luckily, the sun was behind a thick cloud at the moment, so Kado was able to make his way across the open lawn without too much difficulty.

Inside, they were escorted into the same main room they had been early, where they found Akeno serving tea to Rias, Issei, and Kiba. Koneko herself immediately sat down and produced a small packet of sweets from beneath the table, before she began to eat them rapidly.

Rias, upon noticing their arrival, stood up, and said, dramatically "Welcome, to those that are new, to the Occult Research Club." She gestured at the staple members of her peerage, one by one. "For those of you who do not know, this is Himejima Akeno," Akeno smiled just a bit too widely, and cocked her head to the side cutely. "Kiba Yuuto," Kiba smiled and nodded his head politely. "And Toujou Koneko." Koneko ignored her and kept eating pocky.

After a slightly awkward pause, Issei raised his hand and asked, "Not to seem rude or anything, but why am I here?"

Akeno put on a fake pout and asked, "Ara? Our cute Kohai doesn't want to be here with us?" Leaning forward and folding her hands below her chest, accentuating something.

Rias was about to answer when Kado's hand went up as well. "Actually, I don't know why I'm here either."

Kioko quickly followed suit by declaring, "I just followed my boyfriend," before beginning to snuggle into Kado's arm, much to Issei's background tears.

Rias resisted the urge to grin. This was her favorite part. "Issei-kun, you are here because, like us, you are..." she paused for dramatic effect, "a devil!"

As she said the word, Each of her peerage members wings emerged, besides the two new ones, Issei because she didn't want to trigger that just yet and lead him down the same road that Kado had thought of earlier, and Kado, who had figured out how to hold them in. She inwardly pouted.

After a moment of slight awkwardness, Issei said, "Yeah, but I already knew that. Did you want something else?

Rias' jaw dropped, and her wingtips visibly sagged as she deflated slightly. "You... do? But how?"

Issei nodded and jerked a thumb over towards Kado and Kioko, who were both standing with a smug smile on his face. "He told me over lunch break. Explained the whole thing to me."

Teeth gritted, Rias spoke. "How... commendable." She paused to re-center herself, before remembering her main tactic to get Issei on her side. "Ah, but, did he explain about how if you gain enough power, you can gain your own peerage of servants?"

Kado's face dipped, and he lost his smug expression, knowing what was coming. Issei stared up with unhidden hope in his teary eyes. "Like... a harem?"

Rias nodded, resisting the urge to smirk. Yes, they were back on track. Two news pawns for her peerage, and now maybe she had some hope. "Yes. Exactly like that."

For a moment, Issei didn't move a muscle. Then a red aura exploded out from him and began to flicker about him like flames. "UUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOHHH! My dream is finally coming true! I'll do whatever I can to reach that utopia! Give me some contracts, and I'll go right now!"

Kiba chuckled nervously, edging away from his fellow peerage member slightly. Koneko glared openly at the perversion, and Akeno just giggled. Then she leaned over to her king and whispered, "Did he just manifest a battle aura of demonic power through pure perversion?"

Rias nodded, her smile not wavering a smidgen. "Yes. Yes he did. He's perfect."

She then noticed the hand still raised in the corner and looked to see Kado still holding up his arm. "So, that explains why you brought him, but why am I here?"

Rias blinked for a moment. "Well, seeing as you're part of the club, I figured that you should be here to welcome your new fellow member."

The boy shrugged. "Well, actually, I'm not."

"Huh? You're not what?"

"I'm not a member of the club."

Rias was slightly befuddled now. "But you're a devil now, part of my peerage! You agreed to it and everything!"

Kado nodded and said, "Yes, but I haven't ever signed anything to join the club. Being part of your peerage and being part of the club are two different things."

Resist the facepalm. Resist the facepalm. Rias did her best to explain. "Well, if you're part of the club, then you can stay here after school, and it gives you an excuse to leave classes or come her for activities over the weekends."

Now Kioko spoke up, going on the attack instead of her boyfriend. "So they can just leave in the middle of classes without any consequences? Isn't that sabotaging their education? And what kind of emergencies in 'researching the occult,' are good enough to appease the teachers?"

Kado leaned over to her and mentioned in a faux-whisper, "Don't forget, they're devils. They probably bribed the faculty so they don't say anything."

Resist the strangle. Resist the strangle. "Actually," Rias said, with a twitching eyebrow, "I did not bribe the faculty. I'll have you know I'm friends with the student council president, and I wouldn't do such a thing anyway."

Kioko nodded sagely. "Ah. So it's nepotism."

By now Issei had calmed down somewhat, and the remainder of the room was watching the conversation closely, Akeno snickering slightly at seeing her king so easily riled up.

"It is not-!" Rias took a few deep breaths. After a moment, she spoke again, in a calm, even tone. "Alright. You're not a member of the club then. Which means that when you're summoned, you'll just have to think of an excuse to get out of classes on your own."

Kado shrugged. "Or I could just not come. What if I decide that I prefer my future career and current education to getting beat up and possibly killed again by another monster."

Rias spoke through gritted teeth, starting to seriously regretting reviving the boy. "Yes. I suppose you could do that instead. Couldn't you."

His eyes began to sparkle with happiness, apparently fueled by his devil power. "I can? Oh joy, Gremory-san! You're the best master an enslaved devil could ask for!" He turned to his girlfriend. "Did you hear that!" "I did!" "I don't have to be maimed or killed!"

And then they hugged, starry eyes gazing up in awe at the ceiling.

...

...

Rias turned to Akeno. "I'm going to go lie down for a bit. I think I have a headache. Would you mind taking over?"

"Not at all. I'd be happy to." Her queen said, barely able to keep her mirth under control.

"Good. I think I may need to destroy a few things. Come get me in half an hour." Then she stalked out of the room, intent on finding something very breakable and very replaceable.

Once the door had slammed behind her, the couple who had triggered her minor breakdown collapsed into laughter, continuing the hug only to support each other so they didn't slump to the floor.

"I take it you still have some leftover annoyance about being revived," Akeno commented dryly.

Kado nodded profusely.

"Alright then. I guess I'll finish getting Issei-kun all ready, and you guys don't really have a reason to be here, so... I guess you can leave?"

Kado stood up, before holding out his hand to Kioko, allowing her to grab onto it and get pulled up. "Yeah, I guess we'll go then. Good luck with the other new guy!"

As they left, Akeno turned to Issei, who was only a few inches away from her and looking at her with sparkling eyes, still overjoyed at the prospect of gaining a harem.

She sweatdropped. I think I got stuck with the worse end of the deal.