AN: Orlo!

Kind of a short chapter this time, only 7.2k words, but it finally wraps up the Fallen Angel/Asia arc! Huzzah! It only took 11 chapters and probably about 60k. Apologies on how late this chapter is, but I ended up being really busy today and barely had enough time to edit this before getting it out. (Still Monday so it counts!)

It's a bit of a filler chapter, but I wanted to wrap up a few plotlines in preparation for the next arc. I can see some plot relevance in each scene though, even if it's just character development for future arcs. (I have plaaaaans~ lame ones, but plans none-the-less.)

Another announcement, I might be taking a break for this story during February. I've got at least four other stories that I wrote up a 500 word prologue for, but I just didn't have time to really work on them. So I'll work on INtP, (All the cool kids are acronyming their story names!) just slower, while taking time to work on other stories. So hopefully I'll have a 5 chapter lead on this story when I start publishing on the first Monday of March.

This isn't set in stone though. I've wanted to work on my other stories for a while, but if I get something really cool happening in this one or I miss all your lovely comments (*cricket cricket*) then I'll publish a chapter. Hope this works out alright, and see you guys in about a month!

Warning: Akeno being Akeno and Kioko being Kioko because I am apparently incapable of writing wholly sane characters.

Disclaimer: If I suddenly gained ownership over Highschool DxD, I would first scream because WHY and then laugh because MONEY and then scream again because WHY.

Glancing at the clock on the wall of the hallway as I left the student council offices, I grimaced, recognizing that there was just barely enough time to check on Kioko before classes started, but not nearly enough to actually eat lunch. Well, looked like I'd be going hungry during classes today.

Heading down the stairs, I found Kioko's class and poked my head in through the door. There were kids chatting with friends over lunchboxes, but I couldn't see Kioko's blonde hair anywhere in the room and there was no teacher either.

I pushed open the door and asked "Excuse me? Can anyone tell me if Horikawa Kioko was in class today?" Heads turned to face me instantly with most having the same reaction. Namely, recoiling in one way or another.

You've got to be kidding me. What is up with the insanely high power of that rumor! There was a moment of awkward silence before someone lazily raised a hand. A lanky black-haired boy with lazy brown eyes. "Relax, Horikawa-san was here by second hour."

A fist slammed on a desk near the back of a room and a girl with long red hair stood up with a vicious glare. "Quiet, Souya! Who knows what this guy wants? You've heard it, right! Don't be so friendly with a womanizing pervert like him!"

Actually, I vastly preferred that to the general shrinking back from most of the females in the classroom. It at least gave me something to respond to.

I lazily raised a hand. "Hi, sorry to bother you, womanizing pervert here. So, you are referring to the baseless rumor about me performing illicit acts with my girlfriend?"

The girl pointed a finger at me triumphantly. "So you're trying to deny it while looking for another girl now, are you? As if we would be so naive-"

"And are you aware that Horikawa Kioko is the girlfriend in question?" I overran her, talking with a bland tone of voice. "Or that no such thing happened? Or that the person who accidentally began the rumor apologized? Or that it's really rude to insult someone without any proof?"

Ah, maybe I went a bit too far on that last one. That's just gonna make her defensive. Well whatever, I got what I needed. "Ah, sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Anyway, thanks, Souya-san!"

Then I turned and walked out of the classroom, leaving behind the fuming girl, whatever her name was. I didn't actually know many of Kioko's classmates, although she did mention a Kyoko because their names were similar. Anyway, I'd probably only see her again at assemblies, so I didn't care much.

Well, Kioko had made it to school at least, just a bit late, so that was a load off my back. Good thing I hadn't tried calling, since she might have been in the middle of class at the time, and I would have just had to leave a message anyway.

I slowed to a stop and mechanically turned to the wall before I began banging my head on it. "A text! I could have sent her a text! She could have replied between classes!" Ah, I really am such an idiot sometimes.

Well, better late than never at least. I pulled out my phone and just sent a quick sentence saying I was glad she'd made it to school as I headed back to the classroom. I wonder what she was doing that made her late anyway? Just as I sent the message, my stomach rumbled. I sighed as I looked forward to the three hours of classes still left in the day.

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

The bell for class to end had just rang and I was already reaching into my backpack for the bento I'd stashed there. I knew I was supposed to meet up with Kioko like usual, but she wouldn't mind if I was a little late, right?

And I was going to die if I didn't get some food in me within thirty seconds, so that precedence. I clapped my hands together to give thanks just as the classroom door slid open. Issei ran into the room with a panicked look on face identical to the one he had been wearing earlier that same day. Please no please no please no I just wanna eat!

It was with a sense of muted horror that I saw him head down the line of desks towards me looking intent on his destination. I braced myself for impact as he approached and came to a stop at the desk… behind me? "Ashido-san! Please help me!"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

Both me and Ashido let out an involuntary sound of surprise at the unexpected action. I know that I didn't want you to bother me, but you don't have to ignore me like that! If I attacked my food with a little more vigor than was necessary, the brown-haired boy didn't seem to notice. Not like he'd care anyway.

"But, why do you want to talk to me?" Ashido asked, sounding confused. That makes two of us, buddy. You were downright antagonistic to him last time, but does he come to his fellow peerage member? Nooooo~

"Well, you were really helpful last time, so I figured maybe you could do something this time too." Well, that was Issei for you. On an unrelated note, this meatball was really good! Maybe I should go hungry more often if it always made the food taste this good.

I heard Ashido heave a large sigh before asking "Well then, what do you need help with?"

"Souna-Kaichou won't let me live with Asia!" I choked on a bite of rice at that piece of information, pounding my chest before I swiveled to look back at the duo behind me, who were both giving me looks of concern.

"Woah woah woah, how did your relationship progress that fast! And wasn't Asia-" I swallowed the word kidnapped, remembering I was in a public setting. "…busy, last time I knew?" How did we get from point A to point B so quickly? Give me some context, man!

"Uh, Kai-san," Issei pointed out gently, "You have some rice on your chin."

…Priorities, Issei! This is kinda important! I did hurriedly wipe my chin though, before giving the pervert the best glare I could muster. "Okay, so the whole Asia thing is resolved then?"

"Well no," Issei said, scratching his chin. "That's what I was saying, that Kaichou won't let her stay with me."

"I'm referring to her being 'busy,' Issei." I said as patiently as I could, resisting the urge to shake the boy back and forth. Were all my plans for busting in to the secret hideout wasted! I'd spent hours on those!

Issei's face cleared up and he smacked a palm with his fist. "Oh, that? Yeah, that's no problem. We took care of it last night."

They "took care of it?" Just like that? Urgsblurgufl.

"And by "we,"" I asked as calmly as I could, "You mean everyone but me, right?" I'd been left behind again. I really needed to do something actually useful for once or this would keep happening, and that was something I couldn't stand.

"Well, you had already had your own… busy-ness to take care of, not to mention the… papercuts you had." I appreciate the effort, Issei, but please use the metaphor properly, the code is breaking apart! I got when he meant though. I would have gone to help in a heartbeat, but the others were probably worried about my completely healed wounds. Honestly, people seem to have some really messed up priorities sometimes.

"Erm…" a very confused Ashido interrupted, glancing between me and Issei. "Do I still need to be here? Because this kinda seems like a conversation between you two." He stood up and reached for his things, preparing to leave.

I really didn't mind either way, but Issei seemed to want him to stick around. "No, please stay, Ashido-san! You still haven't helped with my problem yet!"

"And I might not anyway," Ashido grumbled, but sat down at Issei's urging. "All right, so what did Shitori-Kaichou say."

Issei launched into his story, first going over how Asia didn't have anywhere to stay and so wanted to stay with him, then to him being called by the student council and the president coldly informing him that she would not allow a non-related female to reside under the same roof as Issei, no matter if the female was willing or not.

The story devolved into general railings against Sona after that, but we eventually fished out the details. Sona was worried about Asia and had said she would even go so far as to personally pay for Asia to stay at an apartment to prevent her from living with Issei.

Now that sounded more like the tsundere student council president that I knew. It sounded like her meeting with Issei wasn't too much after mine though, it must have been really tough for her to deal with both me and him in one day.

At the end of his tale slash rant we sat in silence for a bit before I eventually broke it. "So… what's the problem again?"

"That's not nice, Kai-san," Issei whined. "Asia can't stay with me like this!" Again, what's the problem with that?

I heaved out a sigh before trying to explain. "And why does she need to stay with you? You say that she needs a house, but with the president's offer, that's taken care of. Anything else is just you wanting to spend more time with her." Which I did support for the IsseixAsia ship, but he had to see reason in this case.

"Kado, remember how Asia-chan didn't know how to eat ice cream?" Issei asked, a slightly condescending tone to his voice that bugged me.

"Yeah? So what?"

"Do you think she knows how to lock a door?"

Oh.

Issei continued. "Do you think she knows how to cook? Or clean? Or anything that is necessary for living alone?" All I could do was sit still and listen guiltily to his list of reasons.

As he took in a breath I raised a hand to stop him. "Alright, I get the picture. Sorry, Issei, I only saw the surface and didn't think to look any deeper than that." Kakashi would be so disappointed in me. If he was real and all.

"So… the girl can't stay with you, and she can't stay by herself, is that it?" Ashido asked, speaking up at last. "So don't you just need to find another female that she can live with?"

"That's it!"

"You're a genius!"

Issei and I both clapped him heavily on the back, before turning away and discussing it between ourselves.

"And who do we know that is rich and lives alone?"

"Rias-Buchou!"

"Right. So we just have to persuade her to let her live with her."

"Oh, that should be easy! Asia's part of the peerage now!"

"WHAT?!" These kind of things are important to tell other people, Issei!

"Aha," Issei scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Didn't I tell you that part?"

"No, you didn't!"

I heard a sigh from behind me and turned to see Ashido packing up his stuff with a patient expression. "Well, sounds like you've got that figured out, so I'll just take my leave. But you guys do know that Shitori-Kaichou only has authority over in-school matters, right?"

Looking up, Ashido was taken aback as he was faced with two pairs of pitying eyes.

"Were we ever that innocent, Kai-san?"

"I can only think so, but it all seems so distant, like a dream."

"Ah, I know what you mean. Do you ever wish we could go back to those days."

"All the time, Issei."

Ashido rolled his eyes with a snort. "Whatever, you guys. I'm heading out." He suited actions to words, closing the door behind him as he left.

Gathering up my own lunch and backpack, I asked Issei "By the way, do you know where Akeno-san's class is?"

"3-B," he rattled off immediately. "But why do you need to know?" He gasped in horror. "You're not going to try propositioning her, are you? Even when you already have Horikawa-san?" Says the wanna-be harem king? I get the feeling that you're just upset that it's me trying it and not you.

"Nah, I just want to ask her something." Sorry Kioko, but looks like you'll have to wait today. It was about time I finally started doing something about my weakness instead of just complaining about it.

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

Standing in front of the door to class 3-B, I ran over what I was planning to say again. I needed to get stronger, to protect myself at least, and the two main paths I could see were to either physically strengthen myself, or to learn magic.

Guess which one I picked.

So I just needed to ask Akeno if she would teach me, but assuming she was still in the classroom, she would be around other students, and I would have to be delicate about the topic.

Reaching for the door handle, the door opened by itself just before I could reach it, revealing Akeno on the other side, a surprised look on her face. "Oh, it's you."

"Ah, hello Himejima-senpai." Okay, not how I was expecting it to go, but no problem. Before I could say anything else though, Akeno beat me to it.

"Ara ara, just couldn't stay away, could you, M-kun." The gentle smile on her face and the hand cupping her cheek just made it worse.

A muscle in my face twitched as I responded as politely as I could. "I believe I told you not to call me that, Himejima-senpai."

I plowed on before she could say anything, not trusting her to not twist my words in some way. "I came to you to ask if you could…" I briefly looked past the black-haired girl and there were indeed students in the room, so subtle it was. "…give me some guidance on a few things."

There, that wasn't too bad. Akeno looked slightly surprised before an almost vicious smile split her face in two. "Oh, I'm surprised you came right out and asked me like that, M-kun~"

Huh?

Why am I getting a very bad feeling about this. The sadistic girl in front of me went on. "I thought we were going to keep those kinds of things to a private setting, but here you are in public clearly stating your intentions."

Again, huh? What is she talking about? "I suppose I could put something together on short notice though, parade you around the school perhaps…" Akeno had a finger on her chin as if she was thinking deeply about something, but her eyes exposed her mirth clearly.

Nope, still have no clue what she's talking about. "Erm, Himejima-senpai?" I asked, intentionally putting a confused look on my face. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just wanted your help studying. We are in the same club after all."

The tall beauty's face froze slightly, the amusement fading to first confusion, then disappointment.

The two of us were interrupted by something inside the room, a sound like something heavy being slammed on a desk. My curiosity got the best of me and I looked in to see a red-haired girl breathing heavily with a red face and a fist on a nearby desk. The desk's occupant was leaning back at a dangerous angle and gazing at the fist planted centimeters away from his hand with wide eyes.

"Y-Y-You pervert!" The girl yelled, before beginning to stalk towards the open doorway. Oh, not this girl again. Didn't we already go through this today? And why are you even here if you're in Kioko's class?

"Even if you are Horikawa-san's boyfriend, which I doubt," the girl began, already well on her way to working herself into a rage, "now you are here attempting to do awful acts with another woman, one of the two great ladies even!"

Yeah, I got where this was going. But what did she mean by inappropriate acts? I tried thinking back over what Akeno and I had said, but nothing really seemed to stand out…

A slight blush worked itself onto my face as I facepalmed, dragging the hand away to land a glare on Akeno. "This is your fault, you know." And why am I the one being blamed for it?

Akeno had a face of innocence, although she was barely restraining a laugh. "I have no idea what you are talking about, M-kun."

Oh, so that's how it was going to be, was it? My reputation was already down in the dirt, but this called for revenge. I shelved the idea for later. Someday, somehow, I will have my revenge, Himejima Akeno.

For now though, I would just have to deal with it. Tilting my head, I shot the blandest look I could at the enraged female inside the room. "You can ask Horikawa-san herself if you doubt me that much, and as you probably just heard me say, I came to ask for help with homework and that's it."

The girl scoffed, coming up behind Akeno and forcefully interceding the space to become a point on a triangle. "As if someone like you would know one of the great ladies. This must be an attempt to get familiar with someone who is too kind to turn down an idiot like you."

I breathed out a slow sigh. I really would need to get used to this kind of treatment with how things were going, but the temptation to just verbally tear into this girl was becoming stronger each time she opened her mouth. "Himejima-senpai, back me up will you."

"Mm, why should I?" My dead eyes slowly turned to Akeno's twinkling ones with all the patience of a glacier. Alright, if that was how she wanted to play it. I still had some cards of my own to play.

"Five days ago," I said as blandly as I could, still keeping eye contact with the grinning black-haired girl, "I died." The smile dropped faster than Galileo's experiment. "I was walking down a road when I saw a young woman and a classmate." The expression was rapidly morphing into a form of horror as Akeno realized exactly what I was doing.

Revealing the supernatural to a bunch of high-school kids wasn't very likely. Honestly I was more likely to be called a liar or that I was trying to get attention, and even if someone did believe me, they would probably be mind-wiped by the devils. But if something did go wrong, than Rias would get a huge amount of flak from any superiors she had, and I was sure she had some. And allowing Rias to come into that kind of thing was something that Akeno would never allow.

"Soon after I met the two, the young woman erupted in lightning and-" I went on, but was interrupted by the as-of-yet-unnamed girl.

"What's that? Some messed up fantasy of yours?" Her voice was scathing, but she seemed slightly on edge from my words. Maybe I had just really creeped her out or something.

I spoke, still gazing at Akeno without pause. "Nothing much, just the plot of a story that me and Himejima-senpai are working on, right senpai?" I slowly smiled at the girl while my eyes said that there was only one way out.

"A-Ah, right, Kai-san," the normally composed girl stuttered out, looking away first. "It's just a small idea I had and Kai-san said he would help me with it in return for help with his studies," she informed the suspicious girl and the rest of the class by proxy. "We are in the same club after all." She was smiling as widely as usual, but I knew her well enough by now to tell that she was not happy with me.

There was a moment of pitched silence in the room before the students flooded forward. "Are you really doing something like that?" "That's incredible!" "I can help you, you don't need him!" "How did someone like that get in the ORC?" "Want me to read what you have so far?" They edged the red-haired girl out of the doorway in their haste to crowd next to their adored "great lady."

I caught Akeno's strained eye and sent her a wink. "My gratitude, senpai. I'll wait out in the hallway until you are done." I carefully slid the door closed, avoiding stray fingers and toes, but was soon left in relative quiet, so long as I ignored the sounds from inside the room.

Well, that was a lot more complicated than it needed to be. Honestly, why did Akeno feel the need to tease me so much. Weren't senpais supposed to be courteous and helpful? Apparently she had decided that didn't apply in my case. Was it just because she knew I was a devil or that I knew her true personality?

I forcefully ran a hand through my hair, mussing it up slightly further. Aah, why did girls have to be so complicated? It would be so much easier if they came with an instruction manual or something. Akeno's would have to be in multiple languages, if that was true.

A few minutes later, a smiling black-haired devil exited the room, smiling and waving at her new supporters as she left. No sooner had the door slid closed behind her than the smile was replaced with a haggard expression and she turned to glare at me. "Very funny, kohai. I'll have to actually write a story to show them now."

Was she that devoted to her reputation? She could simply tell them that it was nothing more than an idea and she was too busy. There were other options, you know. "And I'm pretty sure at least one person in there thinks that I'm forcing you into some kind of twisted pervert's paradise, S-chan." I turned away and started to walk down the corridor. "Besides, it'll be good for you. Builds character and all that."

A smug feeling was simmering inside me as I took a few steps away, right before I remembered I had come to her in the first place to get her to teach me magic. Annoying the sadist and putting her in a bad position was probably not the best way to achieve that goal. I inwardly winced and was just turning around to apologize when I heard a sound behind me.

"…fufufufu~" Looking behind me I saw that Akeno hadn't moved from where she was standing, and was instead holding her stomach while distinctly foreboding giggles came from the laughing girl.

…Did I break her?

I was about to apologize when her head lifted up, bangs shadowing her eyes. My mouth snapped shut as I caught a glimpse of her eyes. And what lay in them, instead of anger or frustration was undisguised interest. I realized the laughing had stopped and we were just staring at each other.

Clearing my throat awkwardly, I shifted my gaze to the side, suddenly nervous. From what I'd gleaned of Akeno's personality, having her interested in someone like me wasn't really something to be excited about, even though most of the boys in the school acted like they'd kill for the opportunity.

"Well, I actually-"

I was interrupted by Akeno's smooth tones completely overrunning my words. "Nobody has ever done something like that before, you know." Her voice didn't have it's usual teasing quality, but there was an undercurrent of something there, I just couldn't make it out. Ah great, I could already imagine her making vague references to me being her "first" in class or some other time.

Words slipped out in a tone that was far more sarcastic than I meant it to be. "Well sorry if I-" I was again ignored as Akeno spoke over me, cutting off what I was saying.

"Mm, maybe that's not a bad thing." Whatthehuh?

At this point I was so done with Akeno and this whole conversation I was ready to bolt down the hallway and just pretend I had some kind of emergency if we ever met again. I turned to run, but the escape plan was cut shockingly short when I felt two soft arms loop gently but securely around my neck and a heavy weight drop down onto my back, forcing me to lean forward and making it impossible to run.

A hot breath in my ear, uncomfortably close. "You know, I can be an M too~" Nope. Nopenopenopity nope. I focused on emotionally curling in on myself and restraining the part that was screaming in panic and pure confusion.

"Could you get off me?" I spoke as evenly as I could, pulling at her arms in a way that wasn't forceful, but made my opinion clear. So a sadistic devil with control over lightning had just barely found me "interesting," whatever that meant, and was now teasing me however she could. Why? Because girls and because Akeno.

So I needed to find some way to either deflect her interest or get her to become serious. The two limbs slowly loosened their grip and the weight on my back lessened, allowing me to stand up. "Aww, but you were so warm~"

Next, bring up the discussion of the magic lessons. I turned to her, calm and collected, making eye contact. "Himejima-senpai-"

Once again, interrupted. "Mm, why so cold? Call me Akeno~" It was intentional, throwing me off my game, keeping her in control of the conversation.

"Himejima-senpai," I repeated, ignoring the girl's obviously fake pout. "The original reason I wanted to talk to you was to inquire if you would be willing to teach me magic?" hopefully that would do the trick. At least give her something else to focus on besides… whatever she was currently focusing on.

Akeno took a moment to think, tipping her head to the side as her hair drifted across her face. "Hmm, so you want to learn magic, do you? And why ask me instead of Rias?"

Wasn't it obvious? "Because so far as I know, Rias uses her destruction ball most of the time while you fight using actual magic. Rias probably knows about the theory, but why not go to the person who has the most experience in actually using it?"

Akeno looked slightly taken aback at that. I heard her mutter "…really… after all…" It was quiet enough that even my devil-enhanced hearing could barely make out what she said. Standing still, I waited for her to reply to my question. If she refused due to whatever reason, I could always go and ask Rias if she would teach me.

Akeno's eyes seemed to return to full focus, zeroing in on me and the same amused look arose on her face. "Ah, so you want me to give you guidance, is that it?" Well a weird way of phrasing something I'd already said, but that was the gist of it so I nodded.

The black-haired girl slowly walked over to me, sashaying slightly, clearly taking her sweet time to rack up the tension. "Well then," a hand rose up to gently touch my cheek. "I will simply have to instruct you, won't I."

Well that was a relief, I was certainly worried-

I felt a pulse of energy coming from Akeno's hand and tried to yank my head back, but was too late. I saw a pulse of yellow before it felt like every nerve in my body lit up at once, blanking out everything in my surroundings but the floor beneath me and the darkness of my eyelids.

Then the feeling was gone, and I could tell that it had only been a few seconds. My body didn't burn like I expected it to, instead just feeling sore, but energized. Like I'd just done a hard workout and then eaten a pound of sugar afterwards. Not that I'd ever done that.

I sat up from my prone position and looked upwards at the noirette leaning over me with a mischievous expression. "That was a dirty trick and you know it." From the feeling, she wasn't trying to actually harm me, simply revenge for what I had done earlier. But it was still an attack from someone I had seen as an ally. I would forgive her, but I wouldn't be forgetting it for a while and would watch my back a little more closely around her or the other devils.

Akeno gave me an innocent look that quickly turned into a sadistic smirk. "Ara ara, already so lively after that? Perhaps I misjudged you after all~" So the previous actions were a setup for her revenge then? Ah, that makes sense then. Another mystery solved!

I shook my head and rose to my feet, wincing as the recently stressed muscles complained. "Ah yeah, whatever you say, Akeno. We're still on for the magic lessons though?" I was going to be seriously annoyed if that was part of her ploy too. Killing someones hopes like that is just cruel, ya know?

Akeno giggled again, taking a few steps back from me. "I suppose so, kohai. We can begin those tomorrow then, see if we can't make you a spell-slinging shaman in no time."

Rolling my eyes, I turned away to go find Kioko, muttering "Worst senpai ever." just loud enough for her to pick up. Judging by the dark-haired girl beginning another set of giggles, I assumed she had heard me.

Well, that was one thing down, and hopefully it would be smooth sailing from now on. Now just to check that Kioko hadn't killed someone or anything while I was away.

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

I watched with a distinctly odd sense of fondness as my innocent kohai walked further down the corridor, grumbling the whole way. It really was rather odd how he didn't react to or even notice the small signs I was sending his way. Most boys would have already fled or become completely enraptured by my wiles, but this peculiar reincarnated devil seemed to be utterly immune to them.

Hmm, perhaps it was the girlfriend he already had that was keeping him in check? She certainly had made quite the impression when she first met with us, but she seemed to have calmed down considerably since then.

Speaking of which…

Turning to a hall closet that lay a few meters farther down the hallway, I said "You can come out now. Don't worry, I won't punish you too much for eavesdropping on a private conversation." Naughty kohais needed to learn some manners somehow, though~

As soon as I stepped out of the classroom, I had picked up the feeling of her energy, no longer masked by the masses of students in the classroom. While most devils had gave the feeling of sulfur and ice, most fallen angels gave off the feeling of a live electric current, and most humans had the feeling of a small firecracker, Kado's girlfriend was different.

She had the same faint feeling of a sparkling light as other humans, briefly flaring up before dying again, over and over, but vastly overshadowing that was the feeling of what I could only describe as time. It was like a river that flowed backwards and forwards simultaneously, never ending. It was an unnerving feeling, even to creatures so immune to the stress of time as devils.

Rias and I had discussed it, but there was no sign that there was enough reason to take the risk of introducing a possibly volatile element into the peerage, no matter what odd energy she had. It was only possible to recognize these various energies after sufficient training with magic however, so my innocent kohai probably had no idea what kind of creature his girlfriend was.

It sent a shiver up my spine to imagine what kind of face he might make when he understood her true nature, something so eternal it was beyond comprehension. What kind of despair might it create within him?

As I considered the mysterious girl's inner self, the hall closet slowly opened, preceding the girl in question's emergence. She stood there with no sense of tension on her face, but a few glances at her joints revealed the stiffness inherent in adrenaline-fueled forced stillness. The girl was either angry or scared, and I felt a smirk slip up at the corner of my mouth. Two mice to play with in such a short time? Ara ara, how fortunate for me.

"Hmm, you know it's rude to eavesdrop on another's conversation, right?" I grinned at the blonde girl in both a teasing and threatening manner, although her face still revealed nothing. "Are you worried that your precious toy might be… unfaithful to you?"

Now that was an interesting idea~ I'd always considered causing an affair with a schoolmate, but had resisted due to the need to keep my public persona intact. But the challenge of luring away the resistant devil in front of his girlfriend was almost too much to pass up. Was it for the thrill? That I might have actually found a fine catch? Or maybe simply to spite this prideful child in front of me, leaving both their hearts broken.

Mm, now that had a sweet ring to it, and I barely resisted licking my lips, intrigued by how the girl in front of me would respond to the blatant heckling. She surprised me by showing no signs of anger, simply letting out a care-free laugh instead.

"I have no need to be concerned," the girl said easily, although her limbs were still tight with unresolved tension. "Kado-kun isn't the type to be lured away by false pretenses or a bit of skin."

Haa~ It was almost too tempting to prove her wrong, to prove how her toy would fall when presented with easy temptation. But I didn't want to ruin anything for Rias, and breaking the boy's heart might damage the potential of the peerage when Rias needed every bit of strength she could get.

"Ara ara, so confident in his inner strength then, are you?" The smile I gave her was admittedly condescending. Certainly the girl had a sense of beauty with a nice face and figure, but it was no match for the supernaturally-gifted bodies of a devil, and I had never met a boy who could resist the feminine form. Aah, but perhaps he would be the first~

She shook her head softly, a smile similar to my own reflected back at me on her face. "See, you don't really know him, or you would never think something like that would work."

The girl's arrogance was beginning to anger me. "And you are so-" I was cut off, much like I had done to the girl's boyfriend minutes earlier. It was distinctly frustrating to be on the other end of the feeling.

"And," the girl said, uncaring of her rudeness, "You clearly don't know me, or you would never dare to think of something like that." Her voice had turned caustic unnervingly fast, acid pouring off a sharpened blade. It even sent a shiver up my spine, although I wasn't sure if it was from fear or excitement.

Before I could give a response or even gather my thoughts, the girl before me blinked, and where here once green eyes had been there hung pure red orbs. (blood,fruit,rose,hair,red) I reacted in an instant as the feeling of time swelled, nearly bursting free from the deceivingly frail body, and realized I was already a meter back with my wings extended, a bolt of magic ready to cast in my hand and lighting up the walls with flickering arcs.

"What," I rasped, before swallowing, "What are you?" My voice held a small quaver in it and my eyes were constantly scanning the form in front of me for any sign of weakness or hesitation to take advantage of. Disturbingly, I found none. While the creature wasn't in any kind of combat pose or even acting aggressive, she was completely confident, and my well-honed instincts screamed at me that to attack would only invite destruction upon myself.

The creature tilted it's head slightly with a hum. "Well, that's the question isn't it. But I'm afraid that's not the reason I came here to, as you put it, eavesdrop." It took a step forward and I unconsciously took one back, keeping an equal amount of distance between me and those red eyes.

It took another step, forcing me back as it continued. "You see, I'm not here about Kado-kun. I'm here for you."

Then it was in front of me, no sign of movement between beginning and destination, and not even a sign of ruffled clothing. I leaped backwards, frantically considering whether to attack or if fleeing by air would be a way to escape. The thing couldn't fly, could it?

Thankfully, it didn't follow me further, just standing where it was and talking in a calm tone. "I'm actually holding back right now, staying in control instead of ripping you apart." I wanted to take the opportunity to run, but I was held in place by a sense of pride and curiosity. What was inside this girl that had puzzled Rias and I so much over the past week?

"And the only reason that I am not is because it might send Kado-kun searching after the killer in a fake goose chase wasting his time," the thing went on. "Not for revenge or anything, although he would certainly mourn you, but to prevent the killer from harming anyone else." Why was it so confident in what Kai-san would do? It couldn't actually know him that well, could it?

"That and the fact that he would never understand your advances in the first place. You see," the thing laid a hand on it's cheek and shook it's head mournfully. "Kado-kun doesn't understand love.

"It's not that he doesn't try, but love is inherently a very selfish thing, and Kado-kun is anything but selfish. He would gladly jump in front of an enemy to save them from death, something I believe you are already familiar with.

"So it is not that he doesn't feel love, it's that he has so much of it that he can't recognize it at all." It looked distinctly saddened as it narrated, laying out in a matter-of-fact way something that I couldn't understand. "He doesn't even really believe that I love him," it confessed in a heart-broken tone, and if it wasn't for the inexorable eternal feeling it emitted, I might have confused it for an honest-to-goodness human.

"So I am unconcerned about any possible plans you may have to seduce or lure away Kado-kun," the thing concluded, and I realized I had somehow been so distracted by the dialogue that I had forgotten the situation I was in, the ball of light in my palm almost going out from distraction.

I began edging away, but froze when the thing took a step in response, maintaining the constant distance between us. Uncaring, it went on. "Instead, this is about me. As I believe I told you, love is an incredibly selfish emotion."

Her voice lowered to barely a whisper, but I shivered as I felt warm breath caress my ear, regardless of the meters between us. "And I am a very selfish person."

It blinked and the plain green eyes returned even as the river receded. The sudden calm that blanketed the hall made me feel awkward for standing ready to fight with my wings out against a human like what was in front of me, but I remembered what had just barely happened, hanging onto the feeling by a thread, and kept the magic prepared.

"…What do you want from me?" I eventually spoke, wary of what might happen. Had the girl been waiting to give me a sob story about how her boyfriend didn't love her after all? Was it really something so mundane that had caused me to fear the girl in front of me?

"Hmm, I suppose you could consider this a warning," the girl said, rocking back and forth on the tips of her shoes. Was that an attempt to seem taller, more threatening? "If you try to tease Kado-kun again or toy with his heart, I'll kill you." I nearly snorted at the arrogance of the girl before me, finally retracting my wings and dousing the magic in my hand. As if a human like her could actually harm me, much less kill me, no matter what power she had.

As if she could sense my thoughts, the girl turned away, waving a careless hand in dismissal. "Well it doesn't really matter if you believe me or not, but trust that I'll keep my word."

She walked farther away and as she turned around the corner, the door to the classroom flew open as if on cue, depositing several groaning students. "Finally!" a red-haired girl who I remembered was the same one who had been beleaguering Kai-san, said. "Of all the times for the door to jam!"

My gaze whirled to the corner that the blonde-haired girl had gone through just moments before, but slowly shook my head. No, it was impossible that she had engineered that. It must have been a coincidence.

A slight exertion of devil power, and I was unseen and unnoticeable as I ventured through the hallways to the old school building. I toyed with the idea of telling Rias about the girl's power, but rejected the idea in the end. No reason to tell Rias about what equated to a jealous girl's complaint.

I put the whole debacle out of my mind, instead planning how I was going to begin teaching my cute kohai the next day. He would need lots of incentive, that was for certain. And probably a fair bit of punishment as well, fufufu~

End AN: I'm gonna confess, I was tempted to have Kioko just kill off Akeno in this scene, but decided that would destroy canon way more than necessary and held off.

No, I'm gonna hold off on that until later in the plot.

…

Kidding, kidding!

Maybe. Honestly not 100% sure. The winds of writing take me where they wish, and I have no magical conductors stick to shape them.

On a slight side note, the original ending to this chapter was Akeno coming back to her house after school to find it burned to the ground, a threatening note in the middle of it clearly left by Kioko.

I couldn't think of a good reason that it needed to be included though, and couldn't think of a way for Kioko to get out of it without Rias and the others being told, so I ended up scrapping it.

Last thing for that scene, Akeno being really arrogant and condescending to Kioko isn't wholly natural. Hopefully you guys picked up on that, but just in case, that was not normal. Akeno might have the pride of both a devil and fallen angel, but she is still kind to innocents and her friends. Most of the time. So yeah, that was some more mumbo-jumbo coming from Kioko. Because maaaaggiiiiiic~

To repeat what I've said before just in case, Kado does not and will not have a harem. Akeno's mostly teasing him, not romantic affection, and Kioko is paranoid as a turtle.

I've had Asia not living with Issei planned for quite a bit, as it matches my sterner version of Sona, who doesn't care if it's Rias' peerage, no hanky-panky is going down on her watch, or her name isn't Sona Sitri! There was also a certain degree of spite against Issei, who has certainly caused her enough stress to make up for it.

Last comment is that Kioko's views on love do not reflect my own. Kioko sees love as a selfish emotion that makes her want to make sure that Kado never sees another girl, but is restraining herself for both their sakes. She's ignoring the part that is selfless, that makes her want to protect Kado and would leave him if he fell in love with someone else. Of course, those could also be argued as being selfish, not wanting to feel the pain of Kado disliking her.

In the end it's a matter of opinion and experience, and I'm certainly not qualified to say which one it is, if either.

Teaser for next month, I have done some craaaazy things to the Riser arc. I regret nothing.