AN: Ahahahaha! I am reborn!

Okay, taking a month off was really relaxing, but I'm excited to get back into writing two hours a day. This chapter was written before the beginning of February, but I edited it at least three times, so hopefully it's good. I only got one extra chapter written, but I got five more stories started, two of which are fanfiction and might actually get posted on this site at some point.

My fight scenes are horrible, so I tried to fix the chapter by adding in character interactions and failed at that too. So I made up for that by making the chapter almost 10.5k words long. Hopefully that's not a problem, since I've been having problems writing chapters shorter than 8k. Man, remember those days where my goal was to get over 5k? Or the first chapters that were about 3k? I honestly have no clue what happened to them. Good news, next chapter should only be... no wait that's also over 10k. But I'm sure nobody wants to have two chapters of training camp.

(If you do want two chapters please tell me it will give me so much extra time.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD, but decided that the magic system was too bland and ended up redoing the whole thing. Because ""

Breath fled my lungs in a forced exhale, the fist impacting my stomach with enough force to push me back a meter on the polished wood floor as I barely kept my balance. I doubled over in pain, raising a shaky hand to signal "please-don't-kill-me-I'm-dying-right-now" while I regained the ability to move or speak.

"Ara ara, is that all you can do, M-kun?" Don't act like I'm so weak! I'm pretty sure that punch would have knocked me unconscious if I wasn't a devil! Taking a few deep breaths, I straightened back up to look into the innocently grinning face of the devil. Literally and figuratively.

I could feel my body shuddering and knew I only had enough strength for one last effort. Better make it count then. "As if! Get ready, Akeno! I'm giving you all I've got!" I yelled out to her.

Planting my feet solidly, I lowered my stance and breathed in deeply, preparing myself for the upcoming defeat. For some reason, devils had an insanely good sense of balance, almost to the point of shifting their center of gravity around at will. Mostly this seemed to be used for being graceful at all times. But after getting kicked around by Akeno for the last month, I had figured out an alternate use.

With a slight push, I was falling forwards, face rapidly approaching the floor. My right leg was already up and slamming down onto the wood with enough force to splinter the floor if Akeno hadn't reinforced it, and blasting me forward at high speeds.

Coming in so low meant that Akeno would have to extend farther to hit me, hopefully giving me an opening. Akeno hadn't moved since she hit me, so it was only two steps before I was almost beneath her, my fist shooting up in a punch aimed directly at her solar plexus.

The heavy blow was casually blocked, Akeno's hand shooting into place and absorbing the force without so much as a twitch. That was what I expected anyway. My right leg came up, cocking into place before shooting out in a side kick meant to at least push her back.

It was blocked with as much ease as the last blow, the same hand darting in with the sinuous grace of a snake and latching onto my ankle with a deceptive gentleness that belied the rock-hard grip, forcing the limb to halt barely over an inch from her stomach.

Gritting my teeth, I hopped into the air with my other leg, extending the trapped one to at least give me some distance. The noirette easily released the limb and gave me an indulgent smile as she returned to her usual position, hands folded demurely in front of her. A taunt.

My breathing was labored and I felt like my appendix was going to come flying out of my mouth, but I wasn't giving up yet. She had agreed to train me, and I certainly wasn't going to waste that time just standing around. I dove back in, this time stopping a few steps away from her and rotating my torso to let loose with a powerful right hook heading straight for her head. "Rraaagh!"

Akeno's eyebrow raised slightly, even as she bent her head back a few centimeters to let the attack pass by unchallenged, a simple waste of my energy. "So eager, M-kun~" My left hand shot out in a straight jab, even as my right curved back to a ready position. This time it was blocked, a quick motion of Akeno's hand deflecting the force to the side, although I pulled back instead of overextending.

This pattern continued for the next few moments, each attack either deflected or dodged, all without the noirette changing her expression once. I was on my last legs, pouring everything I had into each attack.

I gasped for breath as I lashed out with an open palm, barely even trying to hit her. "Mmm, out already? So little stamina, M-kun," laughed Akeno as she grabbed the wrist with a pathetically simple movement.

Then I grinned. I would have made some kind of witty comment, but I barely had enough breath to move, much less talk. My trapped wrist rotated with what little give in had inside of the training gi I was wearing and grabbed onto her own wrist. Position secure, I jumped, kicking my legs out to the horizontal as I pulled with all the strength I had left, coming in with a jump kick to the torso.

With me trapping one arm, there was no way that she would be able to dodge or block both incoming feet. This would be my win for sure!

Akeno sighed, and I knew something was about to go horribly wrong. She casually pivoted on one foot, letting my feet carry on past her unopposed. And then, just as gravity began to overtake my momentum and drag me to the ground, her hand, the one I was still holding onto, whipped upwards with the greatest of ease, dragging my arm and upper body with it.

I tried to let go, but her hand was still gripping my wrist and it was too late to back out. There was a spike of pain as my torso and legs wanted to go disagreed as to which way they were going before Akeno's arm rotated fully above her body, slamming me on the ground as a groan of pain escaped my lips. Only then did she let go of my wrist, allowing my arm to flop down onto my body like a dead fish released back into the water far too late.

All I could do was lay there panting for a while, taking heaving gulps of air that I could literally feel bringing strength back to my temporarily useless limbs. And above it all, Akeno looking on and making what I'm sure she thought were exceptionally witty comments.

"Did you lose your enthusiasm so quickly?"

"Or perhaps I was too much for you to handle?"

"You were rather bold with that last attack. Something I should know?"

"Your face is so red! Am I making you that excited?"

I'd figured out by now, with no help from Kioko whatsoever, that about half of what Akeno said was apparently some kind of double-entendre. And for whatever reason, that seemed to be upped to three-fourths whenever she was training with me. So instead I just ignored the pervert unless it was actually important. I was pretty sure making fun of me as I recovered didn't count, so I was content to tune her out.

This was most of what Akeno's "training" was, beating me up for over an hour each day before taking the rest of the time to lecture my near-comatose body about the basics of magic. I'd improved as of late, and was able to keep fighting for longer, but I still had yet to actually land a proper hit on the black-haired devil. Not for lack of trying, I can tell you that much.

Usually in anime or manga we see the main character leave for training, then they come back in the nick of time and with a nifty power-up that lets them beat whatever mini-boss had completely crushed them before.

But let me tell you something.

The time-skip is a lie. And the main reason that shows used it at all was probably to keep the viewers from being demoralized by seeing said main character get absolutely destroyed by his trainer over and over. That and the fact that it was probably crazy boring.

Nope, instead people apparently got power-ups by chance or by desire, just because they wanted one. I realized I was frowing slightly and carefully smoothed over my expression, but Akeno had already noticed.

My trainer from hell let out a sigh and dropped to a seat next to me, sticking her long legs out in front of her and leaning back on her hands. "You're not satisfied with your progress," she said. It was a statement, not a question.

I lifted my head up slightly so I could let it fall back down in a gesture of helplessness, almost relishing in the pain from it hitting the reinforced wood. "Am I that easy to read?" It was kinda hard to feel satisfied when literally everyone around me could easily crush me. And yeah, that included Issei now.

Akeno hummed slightly, still just looking ahead. "You shouldn't compare yourself with Issei, you know-"

"I know!" I interrupted harshly before taking a deep breath to calm down. "I know," I repeated softly. "It's just… a little unfair." A week earlier, some thugs had tried to mug Asia and Issei while he was taking her on a date. The two get dragged into an alley, and all of a sudden it turns out that Issei's sacred gear actually has a dragon inside it and the power to kill gods.

I wasn't jealous, but it kinda stung that something like random chance had given Issei something so powerful while I had nothing. And for all my efforts, I was still falling so far behind the rest that it was just pathetic to watch. How long before Akeno gave up on a lost cause and started spending her time on more important things?

"You're right, it's not fair."

I'd forgotten that Akeno was there for a moment and turned to face her as she started speaking. "It's just random chance, with no rhyme or reason to it. He doesn't deserve something so powerful, and I'd be surprised if he hasn't already used it to peek on the clubs changing."

"Wow," I drawled sardonically as she paused for a moment. "You are exceptional at these motivational speeches. I'm amazed that you haven't already been recruited to go on tour around the country."

Akeno continued, ignoring me. "But moping about it isn't going to help any, so are you going to keep lying there, or are you going to show me what you've been working on."

…That was worse than I thought it was going to be. Closing my eyes for a moment, all I could do was let out a sigh. She was right though, this was just wasting time and I was rested enough to walk by now.

Letting out a groan of both frustration and pain, I flexed my sore muscles and slowly climbed to my feet. "Yeah yeah, sure. Might as well." Stretching and feeling the now-familiar ache of sore muscles, I made my way over to the single training dummy Akeno had managed to find in the old school building.

Although Akeno's training was a lot more physical than I had first believed, she did start teaching me the basics of magic. Demonic energy was a mixture of bloodline, training, and energy accumulated by completing contracts. Since I was a human, had almost no training, and had barely completed any contracts, that meant that I was basically bottom of the barrel.

On top of that, each devil had some kind of magical attribute passed on to them by their bloodline, a special attribute that their magic could pass onto them. Rias' family had the power of destruction, while Akeno had lightning and some kind of exorcism ability.

And again, my family was human. So I got nothing. It was still technically possible to change magic from one form to another element, but Akeno had refused to teach it to me until I got at least a few basic spells down. Which I had yet to do.

Taking my place in front of the plastic training dummy. I lowered myself into a stance and pulled my latent magical energy to the surface. I could feel it thrumming beneath my skin, feeling like one of Akeno's electric shocks. Invigorating but hard to hold onto, slipping away like soap.

But I didn't have to grab it, didn't have to force it to where I wanted it to go, I just had to direct it and then alter the output. So I pushed it down into my right arm and held it there for a moment, pulsing and crackling. Rearing back my arm, I took a step and let loose a punch at the chest of the dummy, releasing the stored energy as close to the moment of impact as I could manage, focusing as hard as I could on shaping it to my desires.

The dummy scooted back a few centimeters and wobbled slightly on it's heavily weighted base. Not a mark on it's white plastic chest. Another failure. Meanwhile, my hand felt like I'd left it on a hot stove for too long, the flesh red and throbbing. It would heal in a few minutes, but I didn't want to get chewed out by Akeno for not even being able to cast a spell right if she caught sight of it.

Folding my arms to try and hide the injury, I turned to face Akeno, keeping my face expressionless despite what I knew was coming. Indeed, the normally jocular devil was looking down at me, an unimpressed look on her face. "And that was supposed to be… what, exactly?"

Biting my cheek as my hand gave out another pulse of pain as it rubbed against my shirt, I tried to act nonchalant. "I was attempting to alter the mana as it emerged, shaping it into physical force at the moment of impact and cause a more powerful strike."

Akeno disregarded my incorrect use of the term as she strode forward and harshly flicked my forehead, the enhanced strength giving me a momentary headache. "And did you at least do what I told you to? Practice drawing magic circles?"

"No ma'am, I did not!"

She flicked my forehead again. "Don't say it so proudly!" She sighed and took a step back. "Altering the nature of demonic energy is far too advanced for you right now. What you're trying to do is take water, and by splashing it on someone, set them on fire. Just do the basics first, at least you'll know what you're trying to fail at then."

As harsh as her words were, she wasn't entirely wrong. Hanging my head, I said "Yes ma'am," hoping if I acted penitent enough she wouldn't make me finish the circles after all. While I had originally imagined something like alchemy or seals, it ended up being a lot more boring.

The first step, drawing a circle. A perfect circle. And Akeno wouldn't let me move on until I could draw one perfectly without any kind of tool. Because apparently using a protractor was "cheating."

"Now then," the cruel trainer began, her voice returning to her more usual teasing tone, "I do suppose you require some form of punishment for disobeying me, do you not?"

Even though I had been expecting this, I still winced, knowing just what was in store for me. I trailed after her despondently, ignoring the twinges of pain from my healing hand. "Yes ma'am…"

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

I sat on the steps in front of the school's main door, wincing as Kioko smoothed burn cream onto my right arm, burned from Akeno's obstacle's course, "The Dragon's Mouth." Kioko was ranting about irresponsible teachers and my own stubbornness as I listened with a smile.

"-why fire? Paint or a harmless gas would work just as well! But no, she calls it 'motivation,'" She paused in her ministrations to make air quotes, and I barely held in a chuckle at the motion. "And she giggles about it! She could at least heal you up afterwards instead of forcing you to deal with this!"

I took the opportunity as she paused to speak up in defense of my teacher. "Actually, she did offer to heal it up. But I turned her down." While it hurt to have bruises and other minor pains, the pain was minor and I wasn't willing to go that far to get rid of them, especially since Asia could probably heal me when I saw her tomorrow.

Kioko paused, realizing what the healing would probably entail. She went back to rubbing the burn cream in, more gently this time while mumbling about annoying devils that didn't know boundaries. I might have agreed with her a month ago, but by now I had a better idea of Akeno as a person.

She certainly had her… quirks, and had no problem demonstrating them, but beneath that she really did care for all the members of the peerage and would never really do anything to hurt them. Well, permanently at least. I was pretty sure Kioko knew that too by now, and was mostly just grumbling for the sake of it. She might still be stinging after Akeno turned her down after she asked to be trained as well.

The mumbling broke off as we both heard an indistinct shout coming from somewhere else on campus. Kioko closed her eyes with a sigh. "What time is it, Kado-kun?" She asked, a tone of long-suffering in her voice.

I checked my watch and yep, it was right about time. "Just after five-thirty, so clubs will have just gotten out. Which one do you think he went after this time?"

Kioko hummed, tapping her chin as another noise rang out from across the school that we both ignored. "Well he's already targeted the Kendo Club, the Tennis Club, the Tea Ceremony Club, the Women's Basketball Club, and the Swimming Club this week. So it's probably the Judo Club today."

Nodding, I thought it over. "Nah, he went after them last week, and there's only two girls in that one. I think it's more likely to be the Cooking Club. A lot more girls and he's been after the housewife type lately, even if they aren't going to be changing clothes."

My girlfriend shot me a cold look out of the corner of her eye. "And you know Issei's current tendencies how, Kado-kun?"

I raised my hands in a form of surrender, only to receive a soft slap to the left one, which had the burn on it. I got the picture and lowered it back down so Kioko could finish bandaging it. "It's not my fault! Issei keeps coming over to my classroom and talking about this kind of stuff." I'd already given up on having any kind of reputation and was just glad to have at least one person still talking to me, Ashido having given up at getting through to Issei weeks ago and now just left us alone.

"Mhmm, I'm sure," the blonde girl said in a skeptical tone of voice. She pulled the ends of the bandage tight, making sure it was secure around the burn. "Yep, that ought to do it," she said in a proud tone of voice.

I slipped my uniform jacket on, covering any sign of damage besides the few green and blue patches on my face. "Thanks, but you know that Asia said she'd heal them tomorrow, right?" Not much point in putting on a healing salve if it was going to be healed anyway, really.

Kioko rolled her eyes and slipped closer, putting an arm around me. "Yeah, I know. Let me do the girlfriend thing though, will you?" It was nice to have her so supportive, an assurance that she was okay with what I was doing.

Putting my arm around her in return, I tilted my head so it touched her own and looked out over the school lawn. It was a nice moment of peace for all the two seconds it lasted.

"Come on guys, are you trying to make me jealous!"

Issei's voice rang out from above us, a teasing tone to it. I looked up with a sense of resignation to see the pervert's head poking out from the canopy overshadowing the stairs. "And how long have you been there?"

He grinned, showing no sign of repentance. "For about fifteen minutes now. Why do you ask?" …I really missed the old Issei. The one who shouted out his feelings with no shame and did whatever he wanted. He did the same now, but he was a lot better at not being caught.

He pointed a finger outwards to the noise and chaos that was slowly growing closer, still upside down. "It is the Judo club, for the record. All that training makes them really toned, you know? Quality over quantity." Then he winked at me, as if I was going to agree with him or something.

Resisting the urge to facepalm, I turned away from Issei, really wishing he had something better to be doing, or somewhere else to be doing it. The girls were going to find him eventually, and I didn't want to be caught up in whatever torture method they had planned out this time.

Kioko slowly pulled her arm away from me as she glared at Issei. "And you couldn't have just let the moment last?"

Once again, a smile with no regrets. It was slightly ruined by how his head was beginning to turn red from the blood rushing to it. "Nope! I am the self-professed enemy of love and justice, there's no way I could let something as romantic as you two carry on unopposed."

After his two friends, the bald guy and the one with glasses, got expelled, Issei was pretty listless for a while. The entire school was hoping it would give him a reality check and he'd lay off his ways. Instead, Issei took it into his head that he'd carry on their "sacred mission" by himself.

Going by the self-claimed moniker of "Perverted Solo," he spent his time either training with Rias or peeking on the various girls. And the training he did only made him better at it too, something that was incredibly frustrating to Sona, who was still unable to expel him since he was part of Rias' peerage.

Kioko threw her hands in the air, giving up on trying to dissuade him. "Fine, whatever. But if you've been here for that long, what's up with them?" She gestured towards the crowd of people that were coming across the campus. She had a point. If Issei had been with us so long, shouldn't they never have known he was peeking on them?

Issei flashed another vibrant grin. "I left them a note, of course!"

…Because of course he did. This was Issei, he never did anything by halves. At least he never did the stupid things by halves. I cocked an eyebrow at him. "And do Rias and Asia know you're up to this?" Those two seemed to be the only ones that could keep him in line, Rias with promises of something better to look at, and Asia with her silent but teary disapproval.

Issei flinched for the first time in the conversation, a hint of guilt showing on his face. "…Well no, they don't." The thoroughly flushed face retracted and after a moment, the young devil dropped down onto the ground on front of the stairs, landing safely but with his face still completely red.

Issei stood up with a smirk and a casual salute, apparently uncaring of the miniature mob heading his way. "Thanks for the chat guys, I'd better get going before those guys catch up to me." He sent the two of us a final wave before taking off, just as the club of gi-clothed students caught up. Mostly made up of boys, but with two girls leading the charge with angry blushes on their face.

Then they were gone again. I shook my head, unbelievingly. "Knowing Issei, he probably left a critical review on that 'note' of his, too." Kioko laughed next to me in agreement. It would be just like him.

He really had changed in the last month, though. If Issei hadn't left the safety of the canopy, the club probably would have just passed by, completely missing him. I was pretty sure at this point that he let the clubs catch him most of the time, some kind of atonement for the peeking. He still enjoyed perverted things and peeking, that was for sure, but now he did it all with a lackadaisical kind of seriousness. At this rate he would become a school legend instead of a school horror story.

I stood up and stretched my arms wide, disregarding both the ache in my damaged arm and the glare that Kioko shot me for the careless action. "The student council wanted me up in their little attic thing after school again, so I should probably head over before Sona sends Shinra-senpai after me."

The student council president tended to be rather strict about these things, and she had been annoyed but resigned to the fact that I already had two hours set aside each day for training. Didn't stop her from insisting I stopped by once a week after training anyway.

Kioko wrinkled her nose, clearly unhappy as she looked worriedly up at me. "I still don't like how she calls you in for her 'desensitization' like you're some tool." And yes, she used air quotes again. Yes, my girlfriend was adorable.

I sent a mischievous smile back at her. "Sure that you're not just jealous of me being around the all-female student council?" It was something I was worried about, actually. Did Kioko feel like I was being stolen from her, spending so much time around other girls, whether for training or to help them?

Kioko blushed, but didn't look away. "As if, I know you're too hard-headed for anything they'll try."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I drawled, ignoring the casual assumption that they would be trying to get my attention at all. I was already lucky enough that one amazing person had hit her head hard enough to see me romantically, it would take a nuclear apocalypse for it to happen again.

We stayed there in silence for a moment before I broke it, rubbing my head slightly awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm just going to help though. So don't worry about any of that stuff. See you later, Kioko!"

As I headed inside the school and began the long walk up to the highest floor, I mentally bemoaned my social skills. Couldn't I have reassured her a little more, given her a hug or something? Man, I really hope she wasn't worrying about me.

Hmm, maybe I should get something for her on the way back home? Ice cream might be nice, but it would probably melt before I got home. Assuming Koneko didn't bump into me by "accident" again and make off with the frozen treat. Was she a highway robber or something?

My thoughts continued as I made my way towards the student council offices.

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

Pushing open the door into the office, I was met with a chorus of greetings from most of the peerage and a stack of paperwork pushed onto me by Momo before I was led to a small table in the corner and told to be done in a half hour.

I huffed lightly and rolled my eyes at being so casually treated, but started going over the stack anyway, writing notes on what needed to be dealt with by Sona herself or what could be relegated to others. Not being an official part of the student council, I couldn't actually sign any documents myself, but I could at least make it easier for the others.

Since I'd first begun coming at Sona's request, the rest of the peerage had slowly warmed up to me, although Tsubaki and Tsubasa still seemed to dislike me and Momo would spend as little time around me as possible. It certainly hadn't stopped them from pushing as much work onto me as they could.

The others seemed to get along with me alright, though I was confused as to why Tomoe kept challenging me to arm wrestling contests or why Reya would keep coming to me and asking for pens. Did I seem like the type to carry pens around with me all the time?

Christie tended to act odd as well, avoiding me for most of the time I spent in the offices and then moving in for the last five minutes and hovering around me until I left. Sona, the one who actually called me here, would force herself to talk to me a few times before stiffly leaving to return to her actual duties.

I honestly didn't mind helping them out, since it hopefully meant becoming friends with the student council, and no harm could come from having friends in high places. Maybe I could get let off from running in the halls once in a while?

Ha, fat chance. I got the feeling that Sona was the type to go even harder on her friends than on strangers. So in a way, doing this made it even more dangerous for me. I sighed out loud and pulled the next portion of paperwork closer to me on the small desk, flipping through it to get the main points.

Half an hour later, I was done with the three-inch stack of paperwork and leaned back in my wooden chair, stretching to try and work the kinks out of my back and wrist. I easily ignored the pulling ache from my burn, focusing on loosening up my muscles instead.

A throat cleared in front of me and I looked up to see Sona standing in front of me. And by in front of me I mean a good meter away from the desk I was at, but that was honestly probably the same thing when it came to Sona. "Yes, Kaichou? Anything else I need to do?"

Sona shook her head, but her eyes kept darting around for something to draw her attention away from me and her hands were tightly held behind her back. Said back was still perfectly rigid though. That was Sona, never losing her perfect posture. "Not for the moment, but as I am currently without duties, I was wondering if you would be willing to play a game of chess?"

I'd never played chess before, but I'd looked it up before when finding out if being a "pawn" meant anything. Turns out they can promote to any other piece while in enemy territory, and I was passive-aggressive against Rias for a week that she didn't tell me. And after Sona went to the trouble of inviting me to a game, how could I refuse?

"Yeah, that sounds fun," I said, moving the paperwork onto the floor so we had enough room. Sona pulled out a chessboard from somewhere in her own massive desk, attracting the attention of the rest of the council.

"Hey, Kaichou's gonna cream the new guy!" Ruruko shouted, and chairs scooted back to crowd around and watch the spectacle. Reya tried in vain to calm them down, but even Tsubaki and Tsubasa came around, standing behind me with a threatening aura.

Their presence eased Sona's mind though, the President's movements smoothing as she set up the chessboard with a practiced ease, precisely chiseled figures quickly materializing before each of us. Sona was white, while I played black.

It was an… interesting game, since the majority of the peerage cheered each time their king took one of my pieces, while the two shadows behind me would lean forward threateningly each time I prepared to take one of her own. A situation that only happened thrice in the entire game.

I was beaten in twenty rounds, a number that Tomoe gleefully shouted out, apparently having been keeping track. I was sure that the group would split up and go back to their original duties after that, but Sona began to set up the chess board again without asking for a rematch and the peerage stayed.

The second game only lasted seventeen rounds before I was defeated, and it got worse from there. Not necessarily in the number of turns it took, but Sona grew vicious, intentionally hunting down my pieces before calling checkmate, while always keeping the game under twenty rounds.

By game five I was simply throwing my pieces in the way of her inexorable forces, just trying to buy enough time to reach that forbidden turn twenty-one. I was once again denied as a bishop I'd forgotten about slipped through my defenses and trapped my king.

Three games later and I was beginning to despair, both whether the chain of games would ever end and whether the school would go up in flames without the paperwork completed. The rest of the council had never said as much, exactly, but with the rigid deadlines I was always given, I'd assumed it was something along those lines.

The only bright point of the entire ordeal was that Sona seemed to become more at ease each game, casually pointing out moves I should have taken a turn too late and taking a sick joy in crushing both my pieces and my spirits.

Then after the tenth game, as if by some secret signal, Sona packed away the chess set and the peerage scattered, the scratch of pencil on paper more frenzied than usual. Was this some kind of tradition or something?

Surprisingly though, Sona chose to stay behind. As her friends left I saw her walls rise slightly, her back straightening and her hands folding in front of herself, but she was still more relaxed than she usually was while in my presence. "So, you are bad at chess," she said with an air of amusement.

I threw my hands in the air, exasperated. "Well, what caused you to come to that conclusion?" I asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. I noticed the corner of her mouth lift up into a smile and let loose a huff, folding my arms.

Clearing her throat, Sona looked into my eyes. "Well, not simply that. I can tell a lot about a person by how they play chess." Oh just great, not only did she know I was an idiot, she probably knew I was right-handed too.

"So," the president continued, still keeping her gaze locked onto my own, "Kai-san. Why don't you value yourself?"

The joke died on my lips as things that Kioko had said to me previously rang through my head. I didn't pause though, my smile remaining on my face. "Where'd you get something like that from a chess game? You could probably tell me my IQ by now, but that seems a little far-fetched."

Sona shook her head, finally looking down at the desk and at her fingers, nervously intertwined with each other. "When you were playing," she continued as though I hadn't spoken, "you were always playing to win, to beat me."

Well yeah, wasn't that the point of chess? I opened my mouth to say as much, but the words froze in my mouth as those violet eyes pinned my own once again through her glasses. Sona shook her head, both disappointed and worried. "That's not the goal of chess, Kai-san. The goal of chess is to protect your king.

"Both chess and war should never be about simply defeating your opponent, or reaching some goal and saying 'that's good enough.'" I was frozen as the shorter girl went on, laying down facts as if they were law. While I supposed she was right, did that mean each game within twenty rounds was to test me? That actually kinda stung, that I had been played that much.

I kept my expression unchanging as the girl in front of me went on. "Not only did you begin to focus more on extending the game instead of reaching a true goal, from the beginning, you never even tried to defend your most important piece except for when it was directly in danger. And even then it was because keeping it alive would extend the game."

Her hand rose, and I got the feeling that she would have poked me in the chest if I wasn't male. Those violet eyes, when glaring at me like that, actually reminded me a lot of another pair of purple eyes, and I had to resist the urge to grab my suddenly-aching chest.

The sensation faded as the president's voice grew quieter, her gaze more subdued. "So why, Kai-san, is it that you don't value yourself? What is so important that you would place yourself at second value to it?" My first instinct was to jokingly say "everything," but I got the feeling that would be a bad idea.

Instead I gave another smile, waving off the accusation. "Oh come on, it's just a game. It's not like I'd do something like that in real life." True enough, it's not like I'd ever be commanding troops.

Sona stared at me, eyes trying to search my own for truthfulness. I met her gaze squarely and buried the guilt. After a moment the president opened her mouth again. "Are you aware that you have a file at the police station?"

What? "I do?" I asked, still not sure if she was telling the truth or looking for some kind of reaction. "But I've never been arrested or even stopped for something before." Why would the police have a file on me? I'd never done anything illegal. Well, nothing illegal that could be proved. Or at least they hadn't yet.

I realized that the scratch of graphite on paper had stopped, apparently the other members were listening in. I felt a brief flash of anger at that before reigning it in. I couldn't control them, and Sona must have done this in public for some reason.

The girl before me shook her head. "Not for that. It's a record of all the times victims have claimed that a male with black hair and brown eyes helped them. They don't know it's you yet, but I was able to put the clues together."

I resisted the urge to sink down into my seat at hearing that. "Oh, that," I said lamely. It made sense they would have something like that, but I'd just never thought about it before. And was that really such a big deal?

Screwing up my courage, I squared my shoulders and looked back with a stern expression. "Okay, but what does that have to do with not valuing myself? I just helped out when I could."

Sona rose an unbelieving eyebrow. "Some of the crimes you stopped were committed late at night, well past when a high-schooler should be asleep. I wonder what causes a boy your age to take long midnight walks in the darker parts of town."

Okay, she had me there. So maybe I looked for them once or twice, but only when it was some kind of repeated case! She made it sound like I was sneaking out nightly to hunt down criminals or something.

"And what does that have to do with me not protecting myself?" I asked again. It was starting to feel repetitive, but she kept dodging around the question.

The violet-eyed girl closed her eyes in concentration, before beginning to recite something. "October twelfth, twenty-twelve. Nichi Kusari and Nichi Irai were awoken by their doorbell ringing at about three in the morning. Opening the door, Nichi Kusari discovered an unconscious man in black clothes and with a bag next to him. Upon the body was a note apologizing for the disturbance, and an advisory to call the police."

The situation was starting to come back to me and I was honestly stunned that she was able to locate the event and actually pin it to me.

"Upon arrival, the police discovered that the unconscious man was in possession of an illegal firearm and his bag was filled with burglars tools. The man was taken in and upon later questioning revealed that he had been in the act of breaking into the Nichi household when a mysterious assailant had come up behind him and applied a chokehold until he was unconscious. The robber reported that he attempted to shoot his attacker, but the gun was knocked from his hand before being able to."

Sona gave me a look, like she often did, but this one seemed different. "So, you attacked an armed robber while he was in the act of robbery, and instead of taking him to the police, you left that to an elderly couple?"

I licked my lips before slowly opening my mouth. "…Can I say how impressive it is that you can recite all that from memory?" The glare Sona shot me was answer enough and I raised my hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I get it! I just didn't want to be well-known or anything, I guess. I mean, there's not much point, and vigilantism is illegal, isn't it? So see, I was looking out for myself."

The gaze that Sona leveled at me was so loaded with pity that it made me twitch. It wasn't like that, really. I just… wanted to help. They were a nice couple and I didn't want anything to happen to them. Probably. I didn't know them, but they seemed like nice people.

After a moment of silence, the girl before me slowly rose from her seat at the desk. "It seems that we will have to continue these sessions." I heard a few sounds of agreement from the other members behind her, but I didn't get it.

"Huh? Continue what?" Please not the chess, please not the chess.

Instead of replying to me, the president turned away and made her way to her own desk. "Next week at the same time, Kai-san. You are dismissed if you wish." The sound of paperwork resumed as the others returned to their duties as well.

Yeah, I had no clue what was going on. I just shrugged instead of arguing though, simply happy that she was willing to drop the subject. Gathering my things, I made my way to the door, but was interrupted before I reached it by Christie, the silent silver-haired girl.

"What's wrong?" I asked, unsure of what she needed. Christie tended to be a little odd, but she didn't seem like the kind to come to me about her problems.

The quiet girl stalled for a bit, a look of hesitation on her face, before she swooped in and engulfed me in a hug. I was sure I heard the sound of a pen dropping onto a desk, but I was a little preoccupied at the moment.

While Christie tended to hover at times, she had refrained from actually touching me before, and I was surprised to find that her body was cold, almost like ice. Apparently feeling my hesitation, Christie began to pull away.

I restrained a shiver and returned the embrace, wrapping my arms around the girl in what I hoped was a comforting manner. For whatever reason, she had chosen to come to me for this, and I'd be both a lousy person and assistant if I couldn't endure a little cold to do what I could.

It was a little longer before Christie pulled away, but I let her go, offering a smile at her embarrassed face. I didn't know what that was about, but it really wasn't that bad in the end, and hopefully it helped her.

Ruffling the slightly shorter girl's hair, I passed by her and exited the student council rooms. Closing the door behind me, I gave a long sigh and stretched once more to get rid of any lingering cramps.

Then I paused, and stretched my left arm again. Any lingering pain from the burn was gone. Rolling up my sleeve, I carefully unwrapped the bandage only to see unblemished skin. Huh, maybe Christie was the one helping me instead. I looked back at the door once again, but it didn't feel right to poke my head back in for something as small as a thank you. I'd just have to be nicer to her in exchange.

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

I fought the urge to facepalm and focused on the work at my desk, documents that only the president could sign. I also did my best to ignore the silver-haired girl that was almost floating back to her own desk, a dreamy look on her face.

Not. My. Problem.

But if she started turning in her paperwork signed as "Kai Christie," me and her were going to have words about how she could be better spending her time.

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

It was the afternoon of the next day and so far, it was following the same pattern as usual. Being shunned by my classmates, Issei excitedly bursting in and telling me about a dream he had with Rias and a maid, Asia trying to distract him, and spending time with Kioko after school.

I wish I could talk with Kioko more, or just go home and catch up on my reading. Instead I have to suffer more tort- I mean, training. I was already tired after staying up late the night before, trying to convert my mana into physical force and still failing to lift even a piece of paper. Adding more grueling sparring sessions and, inevitably, "punishment" on top of that was enough to make me want to skip town.

When I told this to Kioko, she both called my bluff and called me a wimp, telling me to go and train already. Some supportive girlfriend she was…

Still grumbling under my breath as I opened the door to the borrowed acrobatics dojo, I was somewhat surprised to see nobody else present in the room. Usually Akeno was here by the time I arrived, waiting gleefully for her next chance to legally beat me up.

Instead, there was a white piece of paper on the ground in the middle of the empty area. Another one of Akeno's tricks, perhaps? I was cautious as I crossed the room, carefully placing each foot down to make sure I didn't step on any traps until I was standing in front of the suspicious parchment.

Bending down to pick it up, the paper read: "M-kun, you're late again." Whether or not that's true has nothing to do with this letter! "In a meeting with Rias, come as soon as you arrive. There will be punishment afterwards." We're already assuming that? I haven't even done anything wrong yet!

At the very end of the paper was a small footnote. "P.S. This message will-"

I immediately broke off from reading and tossed the paper away from me. I'd read enough spy novels to know where that was going. A scant second later, a magic circle pulsed on the back of the lightly fluttering piece of paper and burned it to a crisp, leaving only ash to land on the wooden floor.

I gave the scattered remnants a deadpan stare before sighing and rummaging through the dojo's closets to find a broom. Honestly, didn't that girl think this through? No way I could leave a mess like this behind when we were the ones borrowing the room.

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

A few minutes later I was seeing something I really wish I hadn't. I mentally ran over the checklist of what I did to get here. Entered the old school building. Walked up the stairs. Found the main clubroom. Opened the door. Yep, everything seemed normal.

So why was I currently staring at a blonde haired stranger in a red suit deeply kissing some purple-haired girl with not nearly enough clothing in said clubroom!

The "action" seemed to pause as the occupants of the room took in my new presence. I noticed the members of Rias' peerage on one side of the room, while there was a good dozen more women on the other side, close to the blonde guy.

I blinked. "…Excuse me, I can see you're busy." I quickly closed the door and once again checked to ensure I had the right place. Indeed, this was the same door I'd gone through many times before, including the smear of red on the left side that I was pretty sure was blood.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the room door again to see the same scene as before, but instead the red-jacketed guy was openly squeezing the woman's chest with a disgusting look on his face. Okay, that was the limit.

I was already walking across the room at a fast clip when I noticed Issei with his new gauntlet out looking at the stranger with an angry expression. Was he seriously about to attack some random guy out of jealousy? It was probably better I broke this up before someone got hurt.

"Look," I said, getting closer, "You can mess with your girlfriend all you like in private, but don't do that kind of stuff in here!" I waved a hand over towards Rias' side of the room, and more particularly towards Koneko. "Quit corrupting the children!"

Koneko gave me a glare that promised more candy shakedowns coming to me in the near future. I was already regretting the way I'd decided to handle this. While looking in her direction, I noticed Rias' face growing paler and trying to subtly motion me back toward her.

Well that probably meant this guy was dangerous somehow, didn't it. Well… drat. I'd just look weak for backing out though, so it was probably best if I didn't suddenly try to retreat.

Looking back at the messy-haired blonde, I immediately noticed both his distinctly annoyed expression and the fact that I could practically feel the demonic energy emanating from him at this range. Guess I should have let Issei handle him after all, huh.

"And who is this fool?" The admittedly-handsome stranger asked, pinning a scathing gaze away from me. …Eh, let's go for broke.

I straightened up and looked him as square in the eye as I could without viewing his scantily-dressed girlfriend. "Excuse me? I'm an idiot, not a fool. And my name's Kai Kado. Now will you please take your hands off your girlfriend?"

The stranger raised an eyebrow, but did as asked, letting the girl go as he stared me down. The girl, for her part, shot me a nasty look as she walked back to the rest of the girls on that side of the room. And if he was a devil…

"Why do you have a peerage with only girls?" I asked him straight-up, really hoping the answer wasn't what I thought it was.

The predictable response came from behind me, instead. "The fried-chicken has a harem, Kado-san! He's already got himself a harem and yet he's still going after Buchou!" It was depressing how much I had expected that. Although the last part was new.

The "fried-chicken" flashed me an aggressive grin as he stepped closer into my personal space. "Apparently, you're another one of Rias' devils that doesn't know about me. Well then, allow me to introduce myself."

His hand rose in front of him before an orange flame burst into life, uncomfortably close to my cheek. "My name is Riser Phenex, and Rias Gremory is my fiancee." Before I could think the words were already tumbling out of my mouth.

"Well that's odd, because Rias hasn't ever mentioned you before. And don't you already have a girlfriend?"

The stranger's eyes darkened, an arrogant sneer covering his face. "I don't believe you are in a position to call my fiancee by her first name. And it is none of your business what I do with my peerage."

"Sounding awfully possessive there, aren't you?" I shot back, not budging. "Surely you're not worried about her doing things with someone else behind your back, are you?" I widened my eyes in realization. "Oh wait! That's exactly what you're doing!"

I noticed the flame next to my face burning hotter with each statement, scalding my cheek, but didn't stop for two reasons. One, I was an idiot. And two, this guy really made me mad. "And not just double-timing either. This seems to be…"

I did a quick head count and mentally widened my eyes at the fact that he had a full peerage. "…sedecimtuple-timing?" I gave the now-furious devil an admiring glance. "Wow, that is bold. Imagine if her family found out and canceled the whole engagement? Then wouldn't you just be heartbroken?"

At this point I was clearly overstepping my boundaries and the strangled noises of panic coming from behind me were pretty clear that I really should start apologizing now if I wanted to walk away with all of my face.

Refer back to reason one, if you will.

The Phenex was snarling at me now, almost spitting his words. "Now you listen to me, you low-ranked worm!" Ouch. My soul. "The Gremory's are the ones who begged us to accept the contract! This is for the survival of the seventy-two pillars!" Yeah, that meant nothing to me.

I interrupted his tirade, staring him straight in the eyes and not backing down. "And you are the one who is taking advantage of that contract to prey upon someone else." Admittedly, I was assuming that Rias was against the engagement, but this guy didn't really seem like her type.

"So the question is," I asked as casually as I could with what felt like a miniature sun next to my face, "are you the kind of person who doesn't take other people's feelings into account and simply take what they want, or are you the kind of person who's so arrogant that they genuinely believe nobody else matters."

His pupils were practically shaking with rage and beginning to turn red, but I kept my gaze locked on them. What kind of person are you, Riser Phenex? When you're pushed to the breaking point, how do you respond?

I got my answer when his hand-o'-fire came up in a sizzling punch that was directly aimed at my face. I yelped and lurched back, but had already given up my roguish good looks for the cause when a burst of cold so violent that it left frost on my cheek flashed just past me and landed on the incoming hand, extinguishing the flame and leaving vicious cracks in the skin.

The enraged look in the blonde's eyes immediately died down and his fist paused just before hitting me. It held in place for a moment before falling back to his red-jacketed side as he turned away, the damaged skin already fading.

"Girls, we're leaving," the Phenex bit out, walking to stand in the middle of his peerage. "Ten days, Rias." As the teleportation circle beneath his group activated, he shot me a look full of burning hatred. "Be grateful for the interruption. When we next meet, I will destroy your for your arrogance."

Then they were gone. After a moment of pause, I turned back to the shocked peerage with a wide smile. "Well, that went better than expected." Then I blinked and noticed something that I was positive hadn't been there before. "Wait a second, when did that maid get here?" Was she a ninja-maid? She must have been the one who shot that burst of cold too, since I didn't think even Akeno was that good at cold magic.

Which made her dangerous. I hadn't even felt any kind of demonic power fluctuation, so a carefully targeted beam of cold that vicious was as easy to this person as breathing. If I ever faced off against her, I wouldn't stand a chance.

Apparently that was enough to jolt the rest of the peerage into movement. Naturally Issei was the first one, bounding up to me with all the excitement of a puppy. "That was awesome, Kado-san! You just walked up and told him off like it was nothing!"

Asia was next, rushing up next to me and nervously manifesting Twilight Healing to heal my burned and frozen cheek. I noted with a sense of sadness that she still wouldn't say a word to me or look me directly in the eyes. It had been like that ever since Issei and the rest rescued her, but I wished she would tell me what was wrong so I could try and fix it.

I felt a harsh tap on my back that sent me stumbling forward almost into Issei. Standing up straight again, I glanced back to see Koneko behind me with an outstretched fist and a glare. But she hadn't hit me as hard as usual, so I guess that was her way of saying I did okay?

Rias followed afterwards, glaring me down while I could see her eyes roving my face and down my clothes, making sure I wasn't too hurt. "You idiot, what made you do something so stupid? That was a high-ranked devil that you insulted, and he's going to remember how you slighted him."

A hand laid on my shoulder was the main sign of support I got from Kiba, but I tuned out both the soothing coolness in my right cheek and Issei's chatter to focus on Rias. "Nice to know you're worried about me, Rias." I flashed a grin before absentmindedly rubbing the back of my neck. "And yeah, I shouldn't have gone that far. Sorry if it causes trouble for you later."

The red-head's eyes flashed, but she let the subject drop. I realized someone was missing and looked around for Akeno. She was hanging back by the couches with a tray of tea in her hands and a faraway look. "Erm, Akeno-san?" I called out. Did she know the guy or something?

The black-haired sadist blinked before refocusing onto me, a wide grin splitting her face as mirth danced in her eyes. "Ara ara, so bold, M-kun. Facing down fire like that without flinching. Are you perhaps looking to pursue Buchou yourself with that kind of fervor?"

Issei yelped an objection and Koneko hit me again, but I just laughed. "Nah, I'm happy enough with Kioko, I'm not looking for anything else. She'll probably make someone else very happy, I'm just trying to do my job and make sure it's not that jerk." I pointed a thumb back towards the vacant teleportation pad.

Rias' face went slightly red at that comment, but I didn't miss her reflexive turn of the head towards the still-complaining pervert next to me. I guess she was worried about how he'd take it, and rightfully so, since he'd already begun shouting about how Rias was gonna be in his harem, and there was no way he was going to hand her over to fried-chicken or a chivalrous idiot.

Which, in turn, made Asia pout and tug on his sleeve to try and get his attention, clearly not happy about him talking about other girls while he already had her. I mentally shook my head as I realized that we've already got a womanizer almost as bad as Riser Phenex in here. And then Koneko hit me again, for some reason. First she mugs me for sweets, now it's senseless violence? What was with this girl?

A throat cleared, Rias and Akeno immediately snapping to attention and facing towards the person who caused the sound, the stern-looking silver-haired maid of doom. Rias went so far as to slap a hand over Issei's mouth, immediately cutting him off so that the room was silent.

The maid's icy glare zeroed in directly onto me before she began talking in a glacial tone. "While Riser Phenex went too far with a direct attack upon one of Ojou-sama's pieces, you are not innocent either, provoking him like that. Be more conscious of your position as a pawn in Ojou-sama's peerage." So don't get cocky, huh?

Her mere voice and attention was enough to make me swallow in apprehension, but when did I let a little something like abject terror for my existence stop me? "My apologies, maid-san." I gave a short bow to show my sincerity and also because I had the feeling that if I didn't respect this lady, she would blast me to pieces. "But I couldn't simply stand there and let him be."

As if I could do nothing while Rias had that look of anger mixed with fear on her face. Anyone who made someone else cry or be scared like that needed to be dealt with, one way or another. And yeah, that basically made me the scum of the earth, didn't it.

The older woman held my gaze for another moment before deciding that I was undeserving of her attention and turning away. "Very well. Ensure it does not happen again." I released a silent breath of relief, relaxing somewhat. That lady was scary. But she had been content to stand back in the corner and look on without interfering while Riser was clearly disrespecting Rias, so she had already lost some of my respect.

While the room was still hushed from the maid's aura, I turned to Rias. "Just to make sure, you don't want to be engaged to that guy, do you?" Rias' face had a disgruntled expression before it became somewhat complicated, although I could detect anger, worry, and… guilt mixed in there.

Eventually she sighed and raised her gaze to meet my own. "Yes. I want to be free from this accursed engagement, and that's what I've been spending my time in the human world working towards."

I nodded and met her resolve with my own, smiling something between a smirk and a grin. "Then you have me on your side, Rias. I'll do whatever I can to help." Because when had Kai Kado abandoned someone who needed saving?

The moment barely held for a second before it was broken, Issei clamoring, Koneko hitting me again, and Akeno making more vague insinuations above the crowd. Rias though, returned my smile with a vicious one of her own. "I'm very glad to hear that." Then she called over to the maid in the corner. "Grayfia, do we still have that summer property in the mountains?"

…Why does that question send shivers up my spine?

End AN: Everyone feels OOC now.

Fun Fact: I looked it up, and apparently fiancee is the term for the female engagement partner, while fiancé is the male. I always just thought they were the same thing before.

Points of interest: Sona has now accepted Kado beneath her wing and will proceed to mother-hen him until he dies. She's both worried about his mental well-being and worried about accidentally driving him away, so she's trying to take it slow while still being way more forceful than a normal person.

And for the record, Christie is the only person in Sona's peerage who has a crush on Kado, but Kioko is paranoid and sees five child-hungry-harpies where there really aren't any. She hasn't taken any action yet since they haven't been overt, but she is pretty unhappy with the entire peerage right now.

Akeno's backed off on the physical teasing after Kioko talked to her, but has no problems with innuendo and her more sadistic tendencies, which Kioko sees as barely acceptable.

Don't have much else in the way of comments or clarifications, but please let me know if I missed something or you have a question. See you all next time!