Alright, I promise I won't do this much, having an author's note at the beginning of a chapter, but I thought I would need to say something for the upcoming chapter. As many of you probably are aware from the last chapter, I hadn't used any Japanese honorifics with any of the names. This is because A) I'm not all that great at doing the whole honorific thing, and so, I didn't want to screw anything up by doing it, and B) I think it would be easier for a western audience (at least I can assume that most of you are from the 'west') to read things in a more 'Latinized' way, so to speak.

However, there are things that I'm probably going to keep, if only because after reading the light novel and loving it so much, it's kind of hard to not hear things certain ways. One such thing is the whole 'Oppai Dragon' thing. 'Breast Dragon' or 'Boob Dragon' just doesn't have the same effect on me as 'Oppai Dragon' does after reading it for so long. The very few things I should keep are probably "-senpai/-sensei"

All in all, if you see certain words stuck here or there, I apologize, but I'm trying to write what feels right, compared to what should be right, if any of that make sense.

Alright, sorry about that, now on to the fanfic!

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Volume 1, Life 2

Issei seemed to be doing a lot of the same thing lately. He was standing in the middle of the first basement floor hallway of his house, dressed in his school attire, waiting outside one of the many doors that riddled said hallway early in the morning. He had been contemplating if he should wake the person up inside to talk to them before heading out to school in an hour, or leave them to slumber and talk to them after school.

The person in question he needed to talk to though was of course, Kuroka herself. As much as he argued that she should become his queen, he had forgotten the most important thing and actually ask her if she even wanted to do so. The fact that he had put it off for so long, especially after what had happened the night before, was embarrassing to say the least.

With one final deep breath, he managed to gather up enough courage to tap the oak-door in front of him three times, hoping for an answer.

A few seconds passed by with no sound coming from the other side. Worried, he was about to begin tapping a second time, until he heard the shuffling sound of a young girl, cursing herself in a cutesy manner about how the room wasn't clean enough for a guest to see. A minute passed by as the door finally flung wide open to reveal, not the cat demon that Issei expected to see, but a girl, younger than he, standing in the doorway. The girl in question surprised Issei for a second, not because he hadn't been expecting her, but rather because she had been wearing the same attire that the female students of his school wore, and not the usual grey blazer and black-skirt outfit she wore often.

"O-Oh, Mr. Issei, what a pleasant surprise." The girl said with the best of her ability. Though she did her best to hide it, she had been breathing heavily for a few moments, trying to catch her breath from trying to clean up her room. Her usual curly-blonde hair was a bit frazzled as well, and missing the huge blue hat that usually accompanied it.

'What the hell?' "… Good morning to you too, Le Fay." Issei finally managed to say, breaking his gaze away from the uniform the girl was wearing. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you so early in the morning, but…" His gaze wouldn't last on her face too long though, as it went right back down to her body, his mind still trying to register what had happened when he wasn't around.

Le Fay Pendragon, witch and descendant of King Arthur Pendragon of England, followed the boy's gaze down to her own body. Under any normal circumstance, a misconception would result in the staring and the girl would more than likely believe that the boy in front of them had been staring down at their chest. Le Fay, having lived under the same roof as the boy for quite some time though, knew he was lustful, but not… disturbing, for lack of a better term.

She smiled as she looked back up at the boy, ready to willingly answer what was on his mind. "Over the past month, I talked to big brother. He believed that because we're no longer wanted criminals thanks to joining DxD, that I should try to interact with human society again. I'll be going to Kuoh Academy starting today as a first year." She explained happily. "I should probably start calling you Issei-senpai from now on, huh?"

With the pieces finally falling into place, Issei felt like face-palming himself for what should have been an easy problem to solve. "Of course, I should have known, and yes, I suppose you should. Ahahaha…" He said, trying to laugh off the embarrassment that he brought onto himself. Wanting to quickly forget the brief moment seconds ago, he continued speaking. "Le Fay."

"Yes, Issei-senpai?"

With rubbing the back of his head with a free arm, Issei continued on with the question he was going to originally ask. "This may sound a bit weird, but… Would you happen to know if Kuroka is awake? It's kind of important."

Unexpectedly to Issei, Le Fay was more than willing to comply with the request. Looking back into the room, she noticed the Nekomata doing her usual thing of sleeping for over sixteen hours a day. Continuing to smile, she turned back to Issei to answer his question. "It doesn't seem like it at the moment. If you'd like though, I'm more than willing to wake her up for you."

"Oh, u-uh, no, no, that's okay. Thank you for the offer though, Le Fay. Do you think she'll be awake when we get back from school?"

The girl put a finger up to her chin, trying to think of what the daily habit of the Nekomata was, before shaking her head to give him the answer. "Because of her nature, she has the habit of a cat and seems to sleep throughout most of the day. Chances are she won't be awake for solid ten hours unless we were to wake her up." Being told that, Issei came to the conclusion that perhaps it would be better to wake the Nekomata up like was offered.

Issei was invited inside the room that had been supposedly messy a few moments ago. As he went inside though, he could see no marks of such things. All of the girl's books were neatly categorized on a nearby bookshelf in alphabetical order. The covers and blankets for the futon that the girl used had been obviously put away, as the dark green carpet that covered the entire floor could be seen, with no stains to dirty its look. The desk that Issei could only assume where she did any type of work she needed to focus on was also clear any of debris that might hinder the look of the girl's room.

All-in-all, as he was invited to sit down on the floor, he couldn't help but marvel at the fact that the girl had been complaining about the room being dirty at all. His admiration was quickly stopped though, as the moment he sat down on the velvety-soft floor, he could hear a low growl growing from one of the darkened corners of the room. A large, ashen-grey wolf, larger than any type of wolf that could be found within the mortal realm, stepped out of the shadows of the room, bearing its fangs towards the boy.

Issei knew the wolf all too well, as he remembered the time had been forced to fight against it around nine months ago, when the beast had been under the control of a different master. He wished he could say that he wasn't afraid of the wolf when it came out of the shadows like that, but remembering the fact that the beast's nickname was "Devourer of Gods" and could bite through the strongest of steel didn't exactly put his mind at ease.

"No, bad Fenrir! No harassing Issei-senpai like that! We are the guests of this house, and I want you to respect him as host." Le Fay scolded, pouting a bit as she felt upset at the beast.

Fenrir, in response, perked up its ears as it picked up the sound of its new master speaking, and compelled with what she requested. Laying down where it had been standing, the beast kept its eyes on Issei. He didn't know if he was imagining it, but Issei could get the feeling that the beast wanted Issei to make a move of some kind towards Le Fay, if only so he could have an excuse to bite off the hand of this new intruder.

'Just my luck, one more thing to be worried about.' Issei thought to himself as he laughed outwardly to try to ward off the insecurities and anxiety he had.

Usually, the wolf wasn't this hostile to anyone, always calm and respectful of even the Heavenly Dragon in front of him. The problem was that the boy in front of him was known to be quite the lewd beast, and would do everything possible to protect his master. Because his master seemed to believe that the boy was not a threat though, all the beast could do was be on alert for any notice of hostility towards himself or his comrades.

On the other end of the room, Kuroka was being shaken politely by the witch. The cat was facing belly up, one arm on her stomach as she scratched it subconsciously, her mouth wide open as she snored and right leg outside the futon. It was a complete mess to look at her, really. Sadly, shaking someone so gently won't really cause them to wake up so easily.

After what should have been only a few moments, the cat finally emerged from her slumber with a big yawn, her eyelids still feeling heavy as she barely managed to open them to see the troubled face of Le Fay. Her first instinct was to ignore the unwanted trouble and fall back asleep, as she did so. The witch wouldn't have that though, and continued to shake her awake until she opened her eyes fully.

"Nyah, what do you want, Le Fay?" The cat asked as she swiped an arm towards the witch, trying to get her to leave her alone.

"Mr. Issei is here to see you, Kuroka. He says it's important." Le Fay answered the cat, switching back to a more formal way of speaking as she addressed the two people.

With the mention of the Oppai Dragon having come seen her, the cat brushed it off as some poor attempt of trying to get back at her for all the trouble she had caused around the house. The problem was, even with her half-asleep mind, Kuroka knew that Le Fay wasn't the one who would enjoy pulling pranks on others, especially such poorly executed ones at that. With eyelid opening and showing a single golden iris scanning the room, the cat couldn't help but grin as she found that the witch was telling the truth.

Getting up and sitting in a more talkative position, the cat's kimono that she had been wearing to sleep in had begun to slip off, nearly exposing her breast as it rolled down her arm casually. "It seems he has." She said as her attention switched from the witch to the dragon. "What is it that requires my attention, Oppai Dragon?" She asked in a mocking tone. Usually she wouldn't have done such a thing, but since this was probably one of the first times that the Oppai Dragon had sought her out by himself, she couldn't help but be intrigued. "Or have you finally decided to take me up on my offer, nyah?"

The 'offer' she spoke of, was of course something that was more or less created to annoy her little sister, while at the same time, being something that she was serious about. Much like Xenovia, the cat wanted offspring, but not just ordinary offspring. Her race was dying slowly, and it was becoming harder and harder to find suitable mates to create children strong enough to survive the next generation. Of course, her little sister Koneko, whilst being old enough to have children, did not have the body capable to guarantee a safe birthing. This irritated the white cat to no end, especially since her elder sister flaunted her body around the Oppai Dragon and talked of sleeping together.

Issei, like always, couldn't help but think of the offer, especially now. With the cat in front of him acting so seductively, and with Rias nowhere to be found and school only an hour away, it could be considered an ample chance to finally lose his virginity. In the end though, he had to talk himself out of it. If the fear of Rias sending him to Hell for cheating on her wasn't enough, he also felt it to be too rude to kick Le Fay and Fenrir out of their room if only to be intimate with Kuroka for half an hour.

"Actually, Kuroka, I came here to talk to you about something else." He replied with the most serious tone he could muster. If he wanted to be taken seriously, then the first thing to do was to act like he wanted to be taken seriously. The next question he was going to ask wasn't going to be easy to say though. "Kuroka, have you…" He paused a bit as he rubbed the back of his head, trying to come up with an easy way to ask her the question. "Have you… have you ever thought about changing the road you're on?" He asked in a simplified manner, remember the lyrics from a song he had heard a few days ago, albeit in a screwed-up way. He couldn't help but be thankful he managed to catch it, even if it was a confusing way to ask the question he wanted.

Kuroka, not understanding what the boy meant, tilted her head. She said nothing, trying her best to figure out if the boy was attempting to talk to her in code or something.

"W-What I mean is, have you, um… Have you ever wanted to become an, Evil Piece… again…" He trailed off, hitting his index fingers together as he mumbled the last few words. He had hoped that despite asking the question, the cat wouldn't have picked up on the words. Being a cat, and an exiled devil to boot, he wouldn't have the chance.

Kuroka stayed quiet, motionless, as she stared at the poor boy across from her. Le Fay, having heard the question as well, felt it as though her mind wasn't needed at the moment, and took Fenrir outside of the room to leave the cat and dragon alone. Though she did not know what her new senpai was up to, a part of her knew he wouldn't have asked such a question unless he meant it in a positive way. Granted, from the stories she had been told to from Kuroka, she couldn't help but feel that being asked such a thing was pouring a massive amount of salt on a gaping wound, a wound that would take a very long time to heal on its own.

Issei couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed as he watched Le Fay and Fenrir leave the room, but he could understand why. What he was asking was something that should be asked in private. The fact that he was asking Kuroka of all people this though, made him a bit uneasy, and could use all the support he could get, which was unfortunately none.

Kuroka continued to watch the boy like the cat she was watching its prey, clearly unamused by the question she was asked as the grin she had had long since faded away, replaced by a stoic line to show no weakness. Her previous life as an Evil Piece hadn't been a fun one like it seemed to be in the Gremory family, and now she was even one of the most wanted criminals in the Underworld because of the choices she made and evading the law for so long. And yet, did she want to become an Evil Piece again? It was a question she hadn't really asked herself before, nor one she had really thought about. All she could do was to let the boy continue speaking before deciding to kick him out of the room in anger.

"Kuroka, I, I… I'll be honest. I don't know how hard your previous life as an Evil Piece was like, nor could I ever truly wonder what it was like." The boy spoke, letting the words roll off his tongue. He hadn't come up with a proper argument before speaking to the girl, and yet, he wanted to connect with her, to show her that he was there for her. If she was to become his queen, then the first thing was to make sure their bridge of trust was built structurally sound. "B-But, I don't bring it up because I want to bring up bad memories, I do it because… I… I care about Koneko, and it's because I care, that I don't wish see her or you, continue hating each other."

"… And what does me becoming an Evil Piece have anything to do with Shirone, nyah?" She finally asked, her eyes still intensely watching Issei. "Whether I'm devil, or I'm Nekomata, what I am should not matter to my sister."

"But what if you're caught? What if you're driven away from your home and not able to see Koneko ever again?"

"Then I am caught, nyah. That is the life of a criminal…" She said softly as the thoughts of how long she had been on the run ran through her mind. It wasn't exactly a lie to say she hated this life, but she fully understood the consequences when she took her master's life that day.

"And if you're no longer wanted? As a criminal, I mean…"

Those words seemed to finally pierce Kuroka's defenses, as her ears perked up she seemed to focus more intently on the boy now, thinking it was some sort of sick joke. Though she knew this could all be a dream, she never thought that those words would be true, not in her life. As she looked at the boy though, all thoughts of it being a joke or a dream seemed to fade away, as the boy went back to have a serious expression on his face. It was because his expression was serious though, that made her on edge more. Narrowing her eyes, she refused to believe the boy was earnest.

But earnest he was, as he continued to speak. "Rias is on the phone with her brother at this very moment." He explained. "If we can convince him, then chances are, we can get the four Devil Kings on our side to help make a case and show the courts that you've redeemed yourself."

With the way things seemed to be going, Kuroka wanted to be happy, to think that this was all real. There had been one question that bugged her though.

"… Why, nyah?" She simply asked, her eyes still narrowed and her mouth beginning to frown at the boy. "Why are you doing this, Crimson Dragon? If you think I'm unhappy for not receiving any awards for helping out DxD, then I'm afraid to say that you're sorely mistaken, nyah. I'm perfectly content with how my life is now, nyah."

With how much she seemed to be hating the idea of him going to court for her, Issei hesitated in showing her his Queen piece. On the other hand, if she was shown the Queen piece, then chances are, she would begin to understand where he was coming from. Taking a large breath to calm himself, Issei reached within his pants pocket to grab hold of the piece had been keeping close by for all this time, to remind him what he was doing here, and pulled it out for the cat to see.

"But what if I can make that life better?" He asked. Usually he wasn't one for convincing or long-winded speeches, but for some reason, for right now, he just said whatever felt right. He could only pray that it was right. "Kuroka, if you become my Queen, I promise you, you'll never have to feel lonely again. No longer will you have to hide from the authorities, and with me being Rias' pawn, you could see Koneko whenever you wanted to without fear of endangering her life again… So I ask you, Kuroka. Will you become my Queen?"

With the revealment of the Queen piece, numerous memories rushed through Kuroka's head. Memories of her being experimented on, of how she would have to go through sick and twisted evaluations, testing her abilities as she suffered through massive amounts of pain, all in the name of her previous master. Rage began to boil inside of her when the memories of how she heard her master planning to do the same type of experiments on her beloved sister, shortly before ending his pathetic life. The mere thought of his smug face, seeming to be pleased at the outcome of her results, as she ripped out his throat with her claws… She wanted to puke.

"Get that away from me." She muttered harshly, looking down at the ground as she tried her best to contain her anger.

Having thinking he heard her wrong, Issei's eyes went a bit wide as he asked, "What?"

"I said get that away from me!" She jumped towards the boy, lashing out at his hand and knocking the Queen piece away from the two of them, hitting the nearby wall and landing on the floor with a small thud. She climbed on top of Issei, ready to scratch him as she raised her hand above her head, the irises in her eyes becoming thin as she saw the boy as a new threat. "Never! Never again! Nyah!" She screamed as she came down with her hand, aiming for the boy's throat.

Luckily, despite being confused at how things seemed to have gone from bad to worse, Issei managed to catch the cat's paw before she could rip out his throat. The last thing he wanted to do was harm her. He wanted to help her in any way he could, but in order to do that, he needed to understand the hurt she had been through, a hurt that he wished he could understand. All he could see in those golden irises was pure rage. Rage of the past, of what couldn't be let go.

From the sound of yelling, Le Fay and Fenrir burst in the room. Seeing Kuroka pinning Issei down on the floor, Le Fay could see the boy trying his best to hold the cat back. She didn't know what happened, all she knew at that moment was that she needed to help Issei, to get the screaming cat off of him. She knew that the cat had killed once before, and was capable of killing again.

Getting behind Kuroka, Le Fay wrapped her arms around the cat's, and began to pull backwards as best as she could. Fenrir tried intervening as well, trying his best to get between the cat and the boy. He didn't want to hurt her, as she was a precious comrade, even if he did think she was at the bottom of the totem pole.

Kuroka continued to scratch at Issei, going for his face and his throat, trying to do as much damage as she could. With pure wrath controlling her, she could not fully grasp that she was harming someone that truly wanted to help her. But as she was scratching and scratching, Issei was doing the unexpected. Only blocking the scratches that would be fatal, he let the cat pummel him, to let loose her fury as he wrapped his right arm around her and Le Fay. With Fenrir being pushed away from Kuroka, and with all his might, Issei brought the cat towards him, pinning her in a close hug before wrapping his other arm around her and the witch.

The cat continued to flail around, trying to get away from the devil as he held her in place. The boy didn't know if this would help, but it was the only thing he could do at the moment, to let her know he was there for her.

After what felt like an eternity, but had really been a half hour, Kuroka had finally begun to calm down. Her flailing started to become less violent, as her nails began to retract, her breathing beginning to slow down as well as she began to come back to her senses. The boy underneath her, regrettably, would be without some pain himself. His face, while it hadn't been the most handsome, was now covered in scratch marks on top of bruises, crimson blood oozing out of the cuts. The damage was the worst around the eyes, as both of them were swollen and puffy, with his mouth being lucky with a single cut across it. If Asia didn't get to him soon enough, the chances would be his scars would be permanent.

Luckily, Fenrir, being the smart dog as he was, had gone to fetch the former-nun a while ago, and would soon be back with her to help clean up the mess. That was neither here nor there though, as Issei could feel something wet, but not of his own making, falling on his face through the numbness that began to build. It seemed the wetness, as it turned out, was coming from Kuroka. Crying once she returned to sanity, seeing and regretting the damage she had caused, she could simply weep, and it was all Issei needed.

Le Fay climbed off the cat, allowing for Issei to fully grasp Kuroka and hold her tightly. As she got up, she didn't have to wonder much as to what caused her friend to go into a rage like that. Remembering the words from half an hour ago, about Issei asking her about becoming an Evil Piece again. She wished she could cry with the Nekomata, but she knew she needed to stay strong for her friend, and held back any tears she could feel forming.

Kneeling back down, Le Fay wrapped her own arms around the cat, trying to soothe the soul that hurt so much.

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Another fifteen minutes passed by as Asia managed to come back with Fenrir. Upon seeing the damage done to Issei's face, rather than begin asking questions about what happened, quickly ran to Issei's side and immediately began healing his face, though the blood stains on the carpet and on his school uniform would remain. As Asia went to work, Kuroka managed to calm down enough to get off Issei, wiping her own puffy eyes from any remaining tears. The glimpse of red in the corner of her eye could make go into a frenzy again, but instead, it only brought more tears to her eyes.

Here Issei was, trying his best to make her free, to clear her name and let her be with her sister without worry once again. She knew, deep down in her heart, that the boy was not one to take advantage of others, as she mentally cursed herself for letting herself get out of control like that. She wished to apologize, while at the same time, believed that no apology, no matter how much she meant it, could make up for what she just did.

"I'm sorry."

Kuroka, among the other people in the room, where shocked to hear those words, as it hadn't been her that had said it.

With his face healed, Issei began to get up, sitting cross-legged as he groaned from the pain that could still be felt despite being healed. He could see how much pain Kuroka was in, and he knew that not only was the pain he feeling nothing compared to what she felt, but that he was responsible by bringing said pain up in the first place. So, he apologized, like he thought he should.

"I'm sorry, Kuroka." He apologized again, coughing a bit as he let some air into his lungs.

"Why…?" She asked, confused by the apology. "Why are you-"

"Apologizing?" He cut her off, smiling wide to try to make her feel better. "Because I was only thinking of myself." He answered, looking over and picking up the Queen piece that had still been on the floor, and continued to look at it. He said nothing for a few moments, thinking of what to say. "Kuroka…"

Stiffening up from her name being said, the cat became a bit tense. It was funny really, for someone as playful, as easy-going as her, she was becoming tense at a boy who was simply apologizing to her for something he did nothing wrong. She wanted to say sorry a million times already, but she knew that the boy wouldn't allow it. "Y-Yes, nyah?"

The boy held the Queen piece in front of him, bringing it back into the view of everyone and making it the subject once again. "Kuroka, I do think that by becoming my Queen, you could live a life much easier than the one you're living now. However, it is not my place to tell you what and what not to do… And for that, I'm sorry."

"Issei…"

Kuroka pretty much wanted to wrap her arms around the boy, to cry for him, to let him know that he wasn't the one who should be sorry. Once again though, she knew that wouldn't be enough, and instead, opted to do something more for the boy.

Inching closer to the boy, she wrapped her arms around him, holding him in a close embrace. Out of the four people and the one beast in the room though, what she did next shocked Issei the most. As she closed the embrace, she pushed down the boy once again, but not out of hostility. This time, it was out of love, as she pressed her breasts up against his chest, and had her lips meet with his own.

Le Fay, while shocked, was a bit jealous of the Nekomata and how she seized the opportunity to kiss her idol. On the other hand, Asia was getting jealous as well, but only because she realized that the boy hadn't kissed her in a while. She would have to let it go though, as she knew she couldn't ruin this precious moment. Of course, once the kiss starting to last over a minute long, that's when Asia had to jump in and break the two apart.

But it seemed that Asia's intervention in the kiss was unneeded, as the boy's eyes that had glazed over from the sweet taste of the cat inside his mouth, finally snapped back open as the cat pulled away, a trail of saliva connecting the two as her hand grabbed hold of his own as she took the chess piece that had held it. Sticking her tongue out a bit and giving the boy a teasing look as she closed one eye, Kuroka spoke. "If you can make me forget about my previous life, and help clear my name, then I'll accept this token, nyah."

"O-Oh? And how do you propose I help make you forget?" He asked, not sure how exactly he was going to do that.

Going back to her easy-going and teasing manner though, Kuroka winked at the boy as she placed her hand on his thigh. The blood from earlier had been washed from a rag that Asia had brought in, as she teasingly rubbed his leg. "I can think of a few ways, nyah." She said seductively as she crept closer to his crotch, something that Issei noticed a lot of the girls doing lately, not that he complained any, and began to lick his neck sweetly.

Of course, with Le Fay, Asia, and Fenrir there to intervene, the boy wouldn't get anywhere near Valhalla. Well, that, and the fact that an alarm he had placed on his cellphone he had bought not too long ago began going off, alerting him that it was time to leave for school.

He wanted to destroy the phone, to stop reminding him that school was beginning, and that he had missed breakfast that morning. No such thing could happen as Asia and Le Fay quickly grabbed him, warning him that they had to leave immediately. Oh how he cursed his life sometimes…

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Alright, think I'm gonna stop the chapter here. As it's obvious, I wanted Kuroka to become Issei's Queen because of what happened last chapter, but I also feel as though it shouldn't be so easy, may even have some PTSD concerning her previous master. I don't know, that's just what my headcanon says. On to the next chapter!