Are you guys ready for some GudaGuda Goodness? Me neither!


-Vessel of Legends-

[As if it was a Dream]

Rias is no Stranger to Danger. It is practically a part of the everyday life for her Kind, even more so when you have carried the blue blood of a particularly high-standing and distinguished noble house in the underworld such as the seventy-two Pillar lineage, with her case being the Gremory family who has a direct connection to one of the current Stans that governed their Realm. Coupled with the fact that she would be appointed as the next heir of the household means there would be countless people who would want nothing more than to see her dead for one reason or another, Fallen to destroy the fragile truce between the major powers and reset the war over again, Angel who wished to fulfill their divine's duty or even other Devil out of envy. Precisely because of that, the Crimson Princess of Ruin has been taught at a young age by her parents and Elder Brother to be prepared for all sorts of threats that have the innate potential to come from anywhere, at any time, and delivered by anyone.

Although it is quite an unsettling knowledge to be imparted to a child, thanks to these lessons, Rias has managed to avoid numerous assassination attempts, even retaliate in kind to the people that have the gall to try and claim her life on several Occassion, provided that her Beloved Brother does not do it first, sometimes with much more force than strictly necessary. He has always been the protective one, a fact that everyone is aware of, thus it takes a truly brave, or more accurately, an incredibly idiotic or suicidal fool to try and bring harm to her way, for she has the protection of the one who holds the Title of Lucifer along with has a friendly relationship with the Sitri, a Lineage that is related to the Devil who is the current Leviathan, even if said individual can be rather…eccentric, if one would kindly put it. Using her training as a Gremory, her power as a high-ranking Devil, and her intellect as Rias, it is not an exaggeration to say that she posed more of a danger than her would-be enemy.

That being said, however, nothing could have prepared her for this current situation, one she could not have ever imagined even in her wildest dream, for the mind has a limit to the kind of absurd fantasy they could conjure up, entirely depending on the concept they can comprehend, and the Crimson Princess of Ruin could confidently admit without any hint of shame nothing about this make any sorts of sense whatsoever. It all started one morning, at the prestigious Kuoh Academy, there was a topic of conversation among the student body, with Rias herself apparently being the main subject of these words on the streets, or rather, school. Now that in of itself was not anything news, when she first enrolled into the institution, she was all her fellow students talked about for months on end, be it about her peerless beauty, her well-endowed figure or just her generally being a foreigner, and seeing that the effect of her presence in the school has not diminished in the slightest over the years, it was nothing out of the ordinary. What was unusual, however, was the exact nature of these discussions. Because it is not about Rias herself, it is seemingly about the things she has supposedly been doing as of late these past few days.

Dropping by Class 3-B at random times, be it during recess, a lecture, or even an exam, hanging around the main school building, or visiting the Otaku's club completely unannounced, all of which for the express purpose of spending time with one Issei Hyoudou, a fairly unique...individual as far as appearance and personality goes. Regarded by the faculty as the most troublesome student, though not for the same reason as the infamous perverted duo of the Academy, Issei is known for exactly two things by everyone, the first of which is the enigmatic nature of their gender, something that nobody, not even the education staff have information on, lacking concrete data in the documents of the student. With an androgynous appearance of long black hair and crimson-colored eyes, most people generally assumed Issei was a man at first glance due to the fact that they wore a male uniform, only disproven by the fact that the person in question appeared quite feminine upon closer inspection, not to mentioned their thin frame that is similar to the female students, has never once addressed their gender, using any gender-specific pronouns, even frequently dodging any questions related to it, as well as the fact that nobody has ever seen Issei in either locker rooms, which has lead to a good number of students, especially the aforementioned perverts to become curious and try to uncover Issei's secret using all sorts of tricks, with none have yielded any result as the individual always caught on their intention, leaving their exact gender something up in the air to this day.

The second reason that gives them their notoriety within the Academy is their character, with 'Flamboyant' and 'Brutally Honest' as the only words that could do Issei justice. Loud, prideful, and self-assured, constantly announcing their actions and thoughts, Issei can be quite decisive about their intention and always speaks their mind whenever they want, wherever they want, and however they want, as though they never heard about the concept of keeping their thought to themselves, as such, many people mistaken them for lacking tact when they just openly expressed their immediate feeling and personal opinion toward someone or something, which usually lacked any sort of filter and delicacy, like when they called Murayama a 'violent girl who actually wanted the perverts to peek on her so that she could have excuses to beat up people without any repercussions and would be a potential menace to society when out of school', or the staff as 'sad, miserable adults earning minimum wages by teaching ungrateful students when they could be out there chasing after their dream', resulting in them earning quite a bit of scorn from their fellow classmate and teachers alike when they pointed out their distinct flaws, something that cut deeper than any insults, seeing that Issei did not hold any sort of malicious intent when they made their criticism.

But while most people begrudged the black-haired person for this trait of theirs, Rias honestly finds it rather refreshing, seeing someone so free-spoken in their feelings toward everything and completely unashamed about doing so. Such a personality would be a great asset for her peerage, judging by the fact that they are quite analytical in how they evaluate people, meaning they can point out the flaws of people and thereby allow for a better grasp on how to improve on them, as well as their keen intellect, with them nearly beating Sona of all people in a game of chess when she heard it from her best friend, surprising her greatly to hear someone who was one move away from besting Sona, on top of the report Kenko has given her that Issei has a sharp scent of magical energy, akin to smoke from a roaring fire, a rather unique way to described it, making them quite the high priority target in the potential recruitment list.

With that piece of knowledge in mind, it is only reasonable to assume that the ongoing Rumors about Rias appearing at the main school building to spend time with Issei have some truth to them, right?

No.

Even though she did planned to enlist Issei at some point in times, she has made the deliberate decision to keep her distance from the androgynous student until the opportunity presented itself, in order to honor her agreement with Sona to not take a direct approach in the recruitment process, so the fact that the rumors about her supposedly hanging out with the Black-haired individual is a cause of concern, because as much as it is in-line with the relationship the Crimson Princess of Ruin would wanted to have with her potential peerage member, Rias would never just appeared at random time whenever she pleased or consistently appeared at the main school building as this talk suggested, though she would admit that she is fairly interested in the Otaku club herself, with her spending most of her time in the Occult Research Club's building to make prepration for the rating game, as such, whoever it was that is regularly appearing at class 3-B to meet Issei, it couldn't be her, she even verified that fact with Sona when the president of the student council confront her about the gossip perpetuated by the attendees of the academy, which in turns made Rias grew curious. For everyone to mistake this acquaintance for Rias of all people, they must bear a great resemblance to her for that to happen at all.

Countless speculations were made as to who this person of interest could be. Her best friend and Queen, Akeno suggested that it might be one of Rias' more…Shall we say, passionate admirers, going as far as to dye their hair a bright crimson red to match the Crimson Princess of Ruin, because aside from a distant relative of the Gremory, people with Red hair are few and far between. Speaking of such possibility, that was what her Knight, Kiba has proposed the possibility of, though he is unsure about that himself since he has never seen this person before, while Koneko, her Rook, just disregarded it as an imposter, out to try and tarnish Rias' reputation by befriending the infamous faultfinder of Kuoh Academy. As for Gasper's opinion on the matter…well, he is still sealed away, so he can't contribute much to the conversation.

Unable to hold back her curiosity that is basically eating her away, Rias decided to launch an impromptu investigation to find out who this is that has been appearing in the area, after all, this is her territory, it is only right that she keep track on the state of affair transpiring in it, or so at least that is what she has been telling herself and the other members of her Peerage about the reason of why they would even bothered. Kiba seems convinced, Koneko less so, while Akeno just merely giggles, finding the excuse to be rather adorable, "It just sounds like you are jealous." Was what she had teased her King with, thoroughly enjoyed the flustering expression of the Gremory's Scion and her trying to stammer out some kind of denial to such a claim. She is NOT jealous thank you very much! She just wanted to see who it is that has been meeting up with Issei. Just out of pure curiosity, that's all!

Well, whatever the case may be, the Gremory Peerage did eventually come to an agreement to try and investigate the Rumors further, which they started off with observing the pattern of this person's visit. As the Rumors suggested, the time at which this Rias' Impersonator appeared was completely unpredictable, arriving when everyone least expected to go and fetch Issei, who appeared to be rather annoyed by this as seen through Batty, Rias' Observation Familiar, who proceeded to follow the androgynous Student and the enigmatic redhead out of the school ground upon making sure no one has seen them, with the security guard not even them any attention, even though the bell has not chime to announced the end of the school day. A mental suggestion perhaps? Or maybe he just doesn't care who goes in and out of the Academy. That would be a massive security negligence. If it is the latter possibility, she should inform this to Sona.

Keeping track of the two individuals while maintaining a good distance between them, her bat Familiar was eventually led to one of the countless desolated buildings on the outskirts of the Town, specifically, the one Rias has been suspecting to be the nest of a Stray Devil for a while now. That made the Gremory's scion to grow paranoid. Stray Devil is a blight to society, be it the surface or the underworld, and poses a potential threat to all unfortunate enough to unknowingly step foot into the vicinity it has marked as its territory, and seeing the two deliberately entering one such location, with utmost confidence going by their posture, made Rias could only assume the worse out of it. Could it be…They are working for a Stray Devil? Such a concept is not all that uncommon. They may no longer possess a master, but these devils still retain a good portion of their power, and are more than capable of fulfilling most earthly wishes a Mortal could harbor in their heart. If that is the case, then as regretful as she was, she would have to stop these two from doing whatever they are planning to do alongside the Stray, lest innocent people be involved.

As much as she wanted to get an answer out of them, she must first deal with the stray devil that had been spotted in that particular area, which is what her Peerage had gathered in the middle of the night for, much to Koneko's displeasure. Cat is not normally nocturnal after all, so Rias can hardly blame her Rook for feeling that way, as such, all she asked from everyone was to keep a high alert when they entered the abandoned compound, as they could never know what their enemy was capable of, before stepping foot inside the Nest of the Stray, where they encountered not the one who used to call this place home, but rather an…an…Well…To be honest, they have no idea how to describe what they saw, nor is there a word in the known language out there that could possibly describe what it is they are seeing with their eyes.

It was some sort of…gremlin-like Creature, greatly resembling Issei Hyoudou of all people, only that it is wearing some kind of military uniform…and the fact that the creature barely even reached their Shin, "NOBBU!" Oh yeah, on top of their ridiculous facial expression, which looks like it came straight out of a comic book, they also only speak in one word and one word only, 'Nobbu', much to the utter confusion and disbelief of the Gremory Peerage toward such a Bizarre being, not sure what to make of it, or understands why it looks like Issei. Admittedly, it looks rather adorable in Rias' personal opinion, with Akeno expressing an agreement to such sentiment, even jokingly asking if they could keep it as a pet, there is nothing wrong with having two mascots for Kuoh Academy, but Koneko felt particularly terrified by its presence for some reason, silently tugging Rias by her shirt's collar as an silent pleading to chase this...Thing away.

Although hesitant at first, since she felt a little guilty about having to threaten such an adorable creature, they do have a mission to do, and this 'Nobbu' creature is currently standing in their way, halting their progress. So by channeling the power of destruction, Rias leveled it at the miniature being, or rather, the ground beneath its feet, hoping that her display of power would be enough to chase it away, which it did, with it letting out a Terrified "NOBBUUUUUUU!" as it bolts away in the distance in fear, making the Crimson Princess of Ruin to felt even worse about herself, having to intimidate the thing like that, especially when she saw it bursting into tears of terrors as it ran away, but she doesn't have much of a choice, her Rook was scared of the little creature for some reason and she cannot bear watching Koneko trembling like that.

She is going to wish she had taken a much more gentle approach, because not even a moment later, the 'Nobbu' was back, and this time, they came with more allies, in the form of even more of these little creatures, and a not-so-little one that towering everyone in the place that caused the group to trembled with each step, all armed with what appeared to be a rifle, specifically a flintlock of all things in their hands, taking aim at the Gremory Group, who felt their jaw slowly unhinged at the sight, clearly not expecting there will be more of them, or that they would be highly armed, "NOBBUUUUUUUUUU~!" The largest one let out a cry that echoed across the ruins, shaking the place with the sheer volume of its voice, causing Koneko to collapse when that ear-piercing sounds reached her hidden pair of ears, but she stood her strong, remaining strong as she assumed a battle stance like the rest of the peerage, preparing to take on these hordes of bizarre creatures and their titanic leader.

The Rook should have fainted right then and there, could have saved her from the humiliation of being tied up like a wild animal just like the remaining members of the group, while a Nobbu took turn with getting up and stood on of them, striking an over-the-top pose with a rifle in hand while its fellow creatures snapped a picture as if to commemorated a hunter for their latest kill as they all cheered in celebration of their victory, something that Rias could never anticipated the possibility of. Then again, how could she expect that the flintlocks, one of the most primitive forms of firearms are capable of shattering through her barrier with such a level of ease? These creatures are definitely magical in nature, that is one thing she is certain of now, but that just gives birth to more questions than resolving them. Such as what are they. Why do they look like Issei? And why are they so absurdly powerful? Is this the creation of the Stray Devil that Issei is working with? if so, then this one is quite possibly the most dangerous they have encountered yet. She needed to find a way to get her and her Peerage out of the situation and get help.

But just as she was thinking of a way to destroy the ropes that bind them, a familiar voice pierced through the booming commotions of celebration from the Nobbu, "Oi! What's with the noises you deformed degenerate?!" Once the voice made itself known, the makeshift celebration came to a sudden halt, with the Gremory Group recognizing it, for it is the voice of the person that was the reason behind their journey here in the first place; Issei Hyoudou, who they can see to be clad in an attire vastly differed from their school uniform, consisting of what seems to be a waist cape of crimson color with golden tags strapped onto it, the teo color that made up the military cap that rested on their head that obscured most of their crimson gaze that pierced through the split gap, which seems ro gleamed in recognition at the familiar faces lying on the ground, "Hey…Aren't you…The Hocus Pocus weirdos at school?" Well, that is certainly one way to describe the Occult Research Club, the group thought sheepishly, "The hell you are doing here?" When the question was made, it was clear that they wanted an answer immediately, if the fact that they were directing their weapon, a colossal of Gatling gun that was as large as Issei was tall, with blades attached to the barrel leveled at the head was of any indication.

At the sight of the barrels all pointed at her, still fresh with the scent of gunpowder from recent discharge, Rias has to muster up all of her mental willpower to remain calm in the face of the gun being an inch away from pressing against her fair skin in order to give a proper answer, "Forgive us for intruding this place, Issei Hyoudou, but we are here to…subjugate the atray devil that has been sighted here." It was not technically a lie, since she had been planning to do this for quite some time now, it was only through coincidence that her investigation of Issei happened to lead them to the same location. With an answer provided, the black-haired individual cocked his head to the side, trying to process what Rias has said, before it dawned on them, they must be referring to the one they killed a few weeks ago before taking up shop of this place!

"Oh yeah, about that, already dealt with it." To prove their words, Issei makes a gesture to the Nobbus, who hands him the withering and charred skull of the Stray Devil they must be trying to eliminate, which seems to be the case judging from their expression full of disbelief. Good thing that they keep the carcass as a trophy! That way he can prove his kill to these people, who under normal circumstances would no doubt be skeptical about the prospect of them, a seemingly normal human being able to take on a supernatural being. Then again, they are the furthest thing one can get to a Human Being at this point, "It put up quite a good fight, but nothing a few rounds to the chest can't fix."

"Wait a minute, Hyoudou-San, you know about the Stray Devil?" Kiba could not help but ask, and not without a good reason to do so, from the way they phrased it, Issei knows what a stray Devil is, seeing that they did not even question Rias on what she is referring to, which means the black-haired individual is aware of the supernatural, something that he has been suspecting since he fought the Nobbu, who bare great resemblance to them. At least they can confirm the fact that Issei was not working for the stray Devil, if anything it would be the opposite judging by the blackened skull in their hand, but that begs the question; Why is Issei here, and who was it that accompanied them to this place?

"Yeah, Been fighting them since seven too. Been offered the position of exorcist before because of that. But couldn't bring myself to associated with the church. The others and I don't mix well with religion of any kind." Plunging the bladed weapon onto the ground, Issei starts undoing the bindings on the members of the Occult Research Club one by one, much to the protest of the surrounding Nobbu, but whatever words of disagreement they may have had, which is just going to be an annoyed 'Nobbu', was shut down before they have the chance to utter it by the glare of their master, before assuming on freeing the unfortunate victims that came at a wrong place at a wrong time.

"You and 'Others'?" Now they are getting somewhere, some Progress on finding out about the redhead that has been seen with Issei as of late. With the way the androgynous individual worded it, there seems to be more people here than just the woman with the crimson locks, perhaps someone has taken up shop here and established a new organization of some sort that is dedicated to hunting Stray Devil, with Issei and the Woman being a part of it. A splinter faction of the local exorcists' branch here in Kuoh, possibly? They are well aware that the practice of the church can be quite questionable, Kiba could attest to that, so it would not be out of the realm of possibility that the group Issei is a part of is comprised of disillusioned exorcists, if what he said about them not having a good relationship with religion are of any indication.

It was a good guess, but ultimately an incorrect one.

"Yeah, follow me, I'll introduce you to them. The rest of you, keep watch at the entrance for any intruders." Becokened them to follow with a slight motion, Issei led the Gremory Peerage deeper into other decrepit building, where on the way, they could see more of those miniature creatures running around, hard at work with various tasks, such as being trained in battle, target practices, renovating the space, transporting the material for said renovation, developing more flintlocks and given them to a long line of other Nobbu, and generally kept busy with all sorts of task that they seem to be quite efficient in doing, despite their stubby appearances and limbs, "And I see you have become quite familiar with these little fellas, Sorry about their behavior by the way, they were only doing what they have been told."

"...What are they?" Not wasting a second after that statement, Koneko immediately questioned about these bizarre beings, something that her fellow Peerage members would wished to know themselves as she tried to steer clear of them. There is just something about these creatures that she doesn't like, and she doesn't even know why it is the way it is, But the moment she laid her eyes upon the first Nobbu, a sense of dread filled her entire being, her instinct practically going haywire in their presence, with each of her senses telling her that these things have the potential to be the most dangerous live form to ever exists and that the underworld would stand no chance against them should they decided to invade the other realm. Quite an absurd notion, she would admit, and she didn't even know why she felt that way about these adorable little things, but that feeling of discomfort around them still remained, "And why do they look like you, Senpai?"

"Oh, These little guys? They're Mini Nobbus, or at least that is what we call them. As to what they actually are and where they come from...Your guess is as good as mine." Not a very helpful answer, but at least they now know what to call these things, "As for the second question...Well, it i more accurate to say that I look like them. It made sense when you met the other 'Me'." The other...Him? What does he mean by that? There is more Issei? Is Issei some kind of artificial Human then? After all, they are nothing new, especially when it comes to the supernatural world. That could be it, which also explains the Mini Nobbus, who they are now suspecting to byproduct of the experimentation that created Issei. Of course, that is just a mere theory, but an interesting one nonetheless, "Hey, I brought the 'intruders' with me."

With a gentle knock on the door at the end of the hallway, Issei twisted the door knobs, and pull it open, being the first to take the first step inside with the Gremory Group closely behind him, who held a deep bated breath as they glanced around the room, which though lacked the sign of age that this abandoned building is riddled with, almost make it looks brand new compared to the outside. it is still nearly as empty as the rest of the structure, with the only thing that decorated the vast open space of the chamber being a single seat of table surrounded by four couches, where sat two individuals. On the furthest right side, Rias can see that her supposed impersonator rests on it, and now that she has gotten a good look at her, Rias can now understand why people have mistaken her for the Gremory's scion. The woman looks like she would fit right into her family, what with her flowing crimson-colored hair that burns brightly on her waxen skin and towering stature, with her lying on the sofa, trying to find the position that she is comfortable with, resulting in her resting in a rather…suggestive manner, much to Kiba's discomfort and Akeno's amusement.

Trying to move their eyes from the Crimson-haired woman who doesn't seem to care about them, their collective gaze shifted to the other person at the table, which is…Issei? That Raven colored hair…With that same crimson eyes, frame, and even facial structure, they look identical to the Androgynous student, but that is where the similarity ends, for they can tell that unlike the Individual they know, the gender of the one that is sitting at the table is much more clear than Issei, because her garb, which is the same one as the Mini Nobbu favored, wrapped tightly around her form, making her female assets much more visible. While the Group was occupied with staring at a spitting image of Issei, said black-haired person moved to assume a seat on the left side of the table, where once they made themselves comfortable, prompted the one in the middle to begin, "Hoooh, to think you would willingly tread the territory of Nobunagas, the Demon Kings of the Sixth Heaven. Not sure if I should commend your bravery or condemn your foolishness."

"Nobunaga?!" Rias gasped in shock, able to recognize that name through her elder brother's knight, Okita Souji, former captain of the Shinsengumi of old, who has been recently going on and on about three individuals she become acquaintances with, all goes by the name of Oda Nobunaga, after the Warlord of japan's Sengoku period, mainly about how they constantly make fun of her and supposedly, her 'lack of a swimsuit' for reason unknown. At the time, the Crimson Princess of Ruin and her Brother did not pay much thought to the excessive ranting of the Knight all that much, considering that it was just her whining about her not having a swimsuit and begging Sirzech to let her get one, leading to everyone dismissed it as Okita going insane from works and her King forced her to take a break, but it would appeared that the Former Captain was telling the truth after all, "Then…You three are the one Okita-san has been talking about!"

"Oh? It seems that you know Souji." The crimson-haired Nobunaga, who through the memories of what Rias could remember from Okita's mad rant, is the 'senior' of the Nobunaga trio, preferred to be addressed as Demon King Nobunaga for the sake of conveniences, perking up in fascination in her otherwise dull blood red eyes, standing from her seat to addressed Rias, who she towered over by at least several foot, "Tell me, how is my girlfriend doing?" Nobunaga smirked, both from the question and the expression on the face of the Gremory's scion, utterly speechless at the unexpected inquiry. Nobunaga is in a relationship with Okita?! Since when?!

"Oi Oi, Demon king! You mean OUR girlfriend?!" Issei suddenly spoke up in outrage, ignoring the looks they were receiving in favor of marching straight at their Demon King counterpart, fearlessly glaring at the unamused Nobunaga. They had an agreement damn it! If this is how She wanted to play it, then the Vessel of The Fool of Owari is more than willing to oblige. Nobody is getting Okita other than them!

"Stop with the joke, Kippoushi you stupid Monkey."

"We are literally the same person asshole! If there is anyone that deserves Okita, it would be me! Because, unlike you and Nobu, I have a di-!"

"Bah, keep that disgusting thing to yourself. Okita will want me more than you, for I shall show her the pleasure only another woman could understand."

"Oh fuck you!"

…What is even going on anymore? That is the question Rias' peerage could only ask themselves as they watched Issei, whose real name apparently being Kippoushi going back and forth with Demon King Nobunaga, whose argument became worsened when Nobu stepped in, seemingly to mediate the two, only for her to added more fuel to the fire with just a single sentence, "You fools! I am the Original here! You two are nothing but my fragment! I will be the one to take Okita for myself!" Through that, the argument devolved into a three ways shouting match between the Nobunagas, while their guests could only watch in disbelief, not knowing when they should speak up, Maybe it's for the best that they didn't get involved because the situation started to escalate even more when out of nowhere, a magic circle manifested in the room, and out from it come…

"Mumyou Sandan-Zuki!"

"Waaargh!" "The fu-?!" -"Grngh!"

Three Thrusts, Three Targets, flawlessly executed by one flustered Okita Souji, whose face sported the same shade as Rias' own hair color as she snapped her head to face the three fools of Owari, gripping her sword tightly, "I AM NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND DAMN IT!"

"Oof, still bitter about the swimsuit incident I see." "I'd say." "My dear Souji, if you wished to have a swimsuit of your own to display that luscious form of yours, You just needed to ask."

"WAAAAAH! NOBU YOU IDIOTTTTTTTTT! SANDAN-ZUKI!"

"…President, let's leave."

"Good idea."


Do any of you guys remember the Deleted Fanfic where Issei become the host for Nobu? Yeah, this is a tribute to it. I missed that fic.