(Rias)

Frankly, she had not expected that this would be how their first meeting would go. Here she was in the clubroom, trying to find a way to approach one of the heiresses without accidentally stepping on her toes, in a way that wouldn't make her look like she had an agenda.

Because she isn't! Rias doesn't only want to get on good terms with the girls because it's beneficial to her, but because she genuinely wants to know more about them. One of them is the foster daughter of a previous chairman, and the other has the blood of a yuki-onna, one of the rarest Yokai to ever exist. She'd love to learn what kind of lives they led up to this point.

Yes, she has the files on her, but those aren't detailed enough, and it's a lot better to hear it from her. Besides, there's a huge chance that the Yakuza fabricated a lot of the information on those.

So after drawing a blank, Rias decided to cut her losses for the day and go home, perhaps she'll think of a better plan tomorrow morning. Until she sensed a sudden spike of magic in the distance. At first, Akeno advised her to stay and wait it out, thinking that the Yakuza would handle it.

But then it became clear that whoever was using magic wanted to be sensed. They did not put a lid on the spells at all, making it obvious to sense by even the inexperienced bunch. This was some kind of a call for help, it had to be.

And in technicality, Kuoh temporarily belongs to the devils until they finish their education, so it was her responsibility to find out what was going on. The Yakuza don't have any reason to stop them considering the contract, so she took her whole peerage - minus one - and headed towards the dark streets.

Well, she doesn't quite know what 'dark' is, devils can see in the dark after all. She just assumed it was, as none of the lights were on for some reason. Perhaps the Fallen's doing to make it easier to escape.

And when they arrived, lo and behold, one of the heiresses was fighting for her life against an unknown assailant. Rias had a lot of questions when she saw the scene for the first time. Like, a lot.

Why is Amamiya fighting this mysterious assailant, and why is she using magic proficiently? Where are the Yakuza? What kind of enemy is that and why is he after the girl? Why does he have anti-magic technology, something exclusive to the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance?

After they drove him off, unfortunately being unable to catch him, Rias invited the girl over for a quick debrief of what happened and called Sona over, now that the curtains are lifted. None of them need to hide who they are, and frankly, Rias prefers that.

And look at this, Akane already knows what they are, so they can cut to the chase.

Once they've made their way to the clubroom, Rias made sure to show the girl hospitality worthy of a duchess. Human or not, this is one of the most important figures in the supernatural world right now, especially with the Yakuza's rapid rise to power with their advanced technology.

Akane showed a neutral face, clearly cautious but not worried. As her Queen put a tray in front of the three heiresses, she bowed and gave the human girl a polite smile. Akane merely glanced at her silently before turning her gaze back to Rias.

She's anxious but not as anxious as Rias expected. More on guard rather than worried.

"I didn't expect our first meeting to be like this," Rias started, trying to ease the tension. "But I suppose anything can happen."

Sona grimaced as Akane stared at her silently for a few, painful seconds, then responded.

"You're not good at small talk, are you?"

Rias blushed in embarrassment at the blunt reply but managed to keep her cool. "I think this is a perfectly valid way of breaking the ice.."

"Let's just skip it and ask what you want to ask," The human girl sighed. "Don't make it painful for both of us."

Sona smiled a little and Akeno giggled in the background as Rias cleared her throat.

"Well, if you say so." She nodded. "What were you doing so late at night? How did you attract the attention of that man? And who is he?"

"Nothing much," Akane responded. "I was taking a walk before the guy jumped me. I don't know who he is or what I did to piss him off, but I had to defend myself."

"You were at the edge of town, taking a walk?" Sona raised a brow. "What brought you so far away from the center, where everything is?"

"As I said, I took a walk," Akane frowned. "Why would I try to seek out people who could hurt me? If I wanted to beat up somebody, I'd drag one of the idiots who think they're hot shit into an alley and kick their asses."

"That's, uh, oddly specific? But anyway, we only want to know why you were so far away. These parts of the city are dangerous." Rias pressed.

"To regular people, yeah," She crossed her arms, frown deepening a little. "I can handle myself."

"But-"

"This line of questioning isn't gonna help your case, Gremory," Akane cut her off harshly. "Drop it before you say something you regret."

Rias flinched at the hostility, not expecting such a response before she decided to forget it. Perhaps the girl was just nervous, it isn't wise to let something like this get to her head.

"Alright, very well," Sona dropped it for her. "Let's change the subject. Amamiya-san, I have a request."

Akane raised a brow, prompting the redhead to continue.

"I'd like it if we are able to assist you in case such a thing happens again," Sona said. "Kuoh, while ultimately belonging to the Tojo Clan, is our grounds as well. It'd be irresponsible of us if we let anyone get hurt in it."

"Well, I'm not gonna refuse help," Akane shrugged. "Appreciated."

Success!

"But we'd like the same from you as well," The Gremory heiress pressed.

Sona stilled as she frantically glanced at her friend, but Rias knew what she was doing. The best way to get close to her is to fight by each other's side, right? Even two people hating each other can get over it if they fought together a few times.

"Since Kuoh technically belongs to all of us, I think we should all do our parts to protect it," Rias suggested. "And what better way than working together as a team?"

"Rias…" Sona warned quietly. "Don't push your luck."

"A team?" Akane parroted.

"Yes. All three of us are important to our respective factions," Rias nodded, ignoring her friend's warning. "Meaning assassins from all over the realms might come after us. Wouldn't it be logical to defend each other? Three are better than one after all."

The girl only stared at her, looking seemingly bewildered for a few seconds before uttering in confusion. "Uh, I-I'm sorry?"

"Eh?" Rias blinked in confusion.

"Please don't mind her," Sona quickly interjected. "She can be quite naive sometimes. Just ignore her."

"Sona?!"

"Right, I can see that," Akane responded, looking more annoyed, which only left the heiress puzzled. "Look, I get your offer, and I appreciate it, but I'd also appreciate it more if you kept your distance. That's all I'm asking."

"We understand and respect that." Sona nodded, giving Rias a scary glare as she tried to open her mouth to speak up again, quickly shutting her down. "We will not bother you in any way concerning the matter, but keep in mind that we will help as soon as you give us a call."

"Cool, so can I go now?" Akane said, standing up. "I promised someone I'd meet up with them soon."

"Of course," Sona nodded. "Would you like an escort?"

"No thanks. I know the way out."

"Very well. Always a pleasure to talk to you, Amamiya-san."

The human girl waved and gave Sona a tiny smile, the door closing behind her as she left the clubroom. As a few seconds passed, the Sitri heiress took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose as she leaned back.

Rias was confused at her friend's sudden change in character, and couldn't help but ask loudly. The redhead clearly had it. If Sona hadn't interrupted, then they could've gotten closer to her.

"You know, it's not like you to start brown-nosing," Rias spoke, a little more aggressive than she intended.

"Brown-nosing?" Sona uttered, then scowled. "For the love of Lucifer, Rias, you were this close to destroying any bridges we built with her!"

"Eh?"

"When will you realize that she is not our friend, she is not a random human we can converse with like this? She's one of the most important human figures in the Yakuza," Sona explained, looking frustrated. "She does not trust us, Rias, and we're on her turf. Anything you say can be used against you, and you decide to demand assistance from her?!"

"W-wha- I didn't demand anything!" Rias frowned deeply. "I've only suggested that we work together-"

"Context, Rias!" Sona cut her off with an uncharacteristic yell, making her flinch. "The context! Take a moment to consider where we are, who we are to her, and what the Devils did to her family!"

"Y-you're just being unreasonable," Rias scoffed. "Everyone knows that the Old Satans are at fault!"

"And you think she cares? For all she knows, all devils are the same. Being reasonable or not isn't the main concern, it's how we handle someone who we know has severe anger issues," Sona argued. "Talking to her is like walking around a minefield, and you decided to take a damned marathon. What the hell were you thinking?!"

"So what are we supposed to do?!" The redhead challenged. "Spend the whole time walking on eggshells, trying to appease her?!"

"What we're supposed to do is make sure she doesn't have a reason to distrust us, then try to be 'friends' with her," Sona deflected easily, making Rias flinch. "From her point of view, you might as well have demanded that she risk her own life for you in her own home."

Rias flinched as she realized what Sona was trying to get at, her scowl dropping as she tried to come up with an excuse. Was she really in the wrong? She just asked for assistance to try and get close to her that way, she didn't mean to push her way.

"But that's not what I-..." Rias faltered. "I-I just thought that…"

"Just do what she says and keep your distance," Sona sighed tiredly. "Your peerage too. Give her some time to adjust to Devils being in her school."

Rias frowned sadly and guiltily looked down, unable to form words of apology. She really screwed this up, didn't she? Not knowing what to say, the redhead decided to change the subject for now.

"W-what about the man who attacked her?" Rias questioned, calming herself down. "Do you reckon we should try to find them? They couldn't have gone far."

"Yes, as long as we don't send anyone to observe Akane, we can tighten security by using our peerages," Sona nodded, putting her glasses on once again. "I'll send a few to the spot where she was attacked. We're clearly missing something if the Yakuza never went to Akane's aid."

"Alright, I'll have Koneko accompany them," Rias said. "Let's hope we're able to intercept them. Knowing they have Anti-magic is concerning."

Sona nodded at her Queen, giving a silent order to tell the rest as Rias did the same with Akeno. The two Queens bowed respectfully and left the room, prompting Sona to stand up from her seat.

"I-I'm sorry," Rias muttered, stopping her best friend. "I-I guess I didn't really realize how different this is, compared to being regarded so highly in the underworld."

It was different; Rias is a Gremory, a ducal clan and one of the highest rankings in the underworld, so as an heiress, she has a lot of authority. It had never truly sunk in that such a title isn't much respected where she is right now, and in fact, might work against her.

It's a well-known fact what the Old Satans did to the Yakuza years ago, after conspiring with other parties to take out certain figures in the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance. The incident ruined the New Satans' relationship with the human factions, making them incredibly hostile for three years straight.

Any devil that would set foot on the human world would get vaporized, and that's a best-case scenario. Earth itself became inhabitable for devils because of it, and her brother did not want a war with the humans, because even if they won, they'd be too weak to handle the Fallen and Seraphim.

Thankfully, after some time, Daigo himself offered a truce, which they took. Most of the time since has been spent to mend their relationship after that incident, which then led to them acquiring Kuoh temporarily. Not everyone was happy about this, but it was something.

It was naive of her to think that everything was fine now that she reflects on it, but she didn't expect this much hostility and distrust from Akane. From what she knew, Sona was able to easily converse with her earlier, and she showed no signs of those feelings at all.

Sona's expression softened, seemingly unable to stay angry at Rias when she saw how genuinely remorseful she looked. Well, hopefully. She didn't look angry anymore, so it's safe to assume that she's fine now?

"That's alright, Rias. We all make mistakes." Sona said, showing a side that only Rias and her sister knew about. "Just keep in mind that we're indebted to the Yakuza, therefore to Akane, someone who very clearly distrusts us greatly. Anything you think is fine to say might come off as pretentious or arrogant."

"Does she even have the authority to kick us out?" Rias questioned genuinely. "From what I know, she has never been truly involved with the Tojo Clan personally."

"She can. The moment she feels unsafe or in danger around us, she can ask the chairman if she suspects treachery, which will not only end the deal but possibly worsen the relationship between the factions. We don't need any more animosity with her." Sona nodded, standing up. "I'll be going along with some of the girls to scout the area and make sure Kuoh is protected in case of another attack."

"Alright, good luck."

With that, Sona left the clubroom, leaving Rias on her own. The redhead sighed and brought her hands up to cover her face, finally getting her much-needed wake-up call. She shouldn't be too hasty, or close calls like this will keep happening, and she doesn't need stress for that right now with the upcoming wedding already making her feel terrible.

Damned devils and their stupid traditions.

(Akane)

I'm not gonna pretend to know a lot about politics. Frankly, I'm just lost when they start talking that stupid language, but I do know how people function, and from the looks of it, Devils are very similar to humans in that regard.

Every time I talk to somebody, I automatically hyperfocus on their body movement and tone. Some are easily able to hide it even from me, like my uncle or mother, for the most part, others… not so much. And I gotta say, I expected better from Sona.

I was admittedly a tiny bit nervous in the clubroom, even when knowing that I practically have them at gunpoint, but I underestimated just by how much. Rias didn't seem to be aware of the fact, which, believe it or not, helped her in this case.

But when Sona twitched, her pupils dilated, and unconsciously clenched her fists, she revealed how nervous she seemed to be when her redhead bimbo friend made that offer, and she told me just how much power I have over the devils here.

Some might question why I acted the way I did instead of trying to get close to them and accepting the offer with a smile on my face, and that's for two reasons. One: When I eventually help Rias with Riser, it'll have more of an 'oomph' to it. The person who dislikes and distrusts her lending a hand out of the purity of her heart sounds like it has much more of an impact than 'friend helping her friend because friendship'.

Two: To remind them of who I fucking am, and how much they technically owe me.

From other points of view, this might sound a little childish or even detrimental, but goddamn it felt so damn good to see them squirm. I don't particularly have anything against Sona, but seeing Rias being talked over like a child almost made me burst out in laughter.

As I said, I'm not good at politics, not yet at least, though, I sure as hell know that keeping people like them at arm's length is common sense. Getting chummy is nice and all, but we're still in different worlds. If things get worse, then we might become enemies on the battlefield.

And I don't know about you, but I already have enough leftover feelings on my plate. I don't want to somehow develop any kind of attachment to them, because clearly, the system can't follow its own damned rules. 'oH yoU CaN'T FoRM AnY EmOTIonaL AttAcHmeNTs' fuck outta here.

Lying fuck.

I glance back at the school gate as a cloud of smoke leaves my mouth, noticing how dark it is around here. Actually, most of Kuoh is really damn dark except the center of it. The lights are working but there are barely any of them around.

Maybe they should work on that. I don't want to deal with idiot muggers every time I decide to take a walk at night.

Or assassins, or supernatural creatures.

Or both.

As I flick off the cig, I stop to pull out another one. Lighting it up knowing full well that they don't harm me anymore. Gamer's Body prevents these things - I can probably snort cocaine and be fine afterward. Not sure if Mind stops the high though.

I'm not testing. I don't trust drugs. Smoking is enough for me.

I flinch with a yelp and let go of the cigarette as I feel two arms wrapping around me then ready an ice spell to gut whoever it is, right until she speaks, making me sigh in relief and dispel the arrow. That scared the fuck out of me - what the hell is she doing right now?

"I was looking for you everywhere- I-I thought you got hurt!" My mother says, hugging me tightly. "What happened? Where were you? Did the devils do something to you?"

"I'm fine," I respond.

"You're not hurt, are you?" She asks, looking at me in worry. "I sensed what was going on and ran as fast as I could, but I didn't see you anywhere. I thought something happened and I-"

"I'm fine," I repeat, this time louder, making her flinch. "Saw someone getting attacked by a supernatural creature and helped, that's all. I didn't mask my magic in case I needed backup from the Yakuza."

"Did they help?"

"No," I deadpan, making her scowl deeply. "Believe it or not, the Devils did."

"What?" She freezes, looking at me in bewilderment.

"Yeah, weird. Thought they only looked after themselves, or that's what you said anyway," I shrug. "It turns out they actually care."

"I- well…" She sighs and shakes her head. "Doesn't matter, I'm just glad you're safe."

She embraces me again, this time not as rough as before, but she certainly takes her time. I don't know what to say exactly, still a little awkward from the fight we had yesterday, so I do what I do best and be blunt.

"Can you let go now?" I sigh.

"R-right." She says awkwardly, letting go of me. "Um, about what happened that night…"

"I'm not apologizing," I quickly say.

"That's not what I-" She groans in frustration. "Can you please let me finish first?"

I give her a nod, gesturing for her to continue.

"I-I just wanna say I'm sorry," Mizuki says. "I shouldn't have. It wasn't right to do any of that."

I remain silent.

"But I just couldn't help it. I was so worried the whole time, I couldn't even think anymore." She looks away with a hurt expression. "Those looks you sometimes have bring back bad, bad memories, ones I don't want to ever remember, y'know? I felt something was wrong, I had to know if you had them too."

"Them?" I raise a brow. Now this is getting interesting.

She pauses for a few seconds then answers. "Akane, you know we have yokai blood, but while yuki-onna aren't the kindest, my father's side of the family is… well, horrible, to put it simply."

"Horrible how? If they're something so much worse than yokai, why are we mostly human?"

I guess that implies that the Yokai heritage came from my grandmother's side. Good to know I guess.

"No, my father is fully human," She shakes her head. "But that bloodline has done nothing but conceive horrible humans, the worst kind. Worse than Devils even."

I blink in surprise.

…What the fuck is my family tree?

"We come from a long line of sadistic, egotistical, and bloodthirsty monsters - they have killed thousands of people with smiles on their faces," My mother explains. "And admittedly, I was never able to get rid of the same disgusting urges that drove them. Even today, while I've learned how to fully control them, I still feel it whispering sometimes."

…Alright, that explains some stuff.

"I know Tatsu and I raised you right, to be a good person, or at least, not a monster like them." She continues. "B-but sometimes, you just have that look, the exact same look they had. I trust you, Akane, with all my heart, I know you'd never be like them, but seeing that same look on your face scares me so much."

She looks ashamed, tears in the corners of her eyes as she admits that. Now I'm not particularly mad, more intrigued than anything. What kind of family did she come from? Yuki-No-Onna and now whatever that is. A strange combination.

Likely has to do with her past job as an assassin, and while I'd like to inquire more about it, I think I'm getting closer to the truth anyway. If I want to regain my AFF with her, I need to, unfortunately, play patient.

But hey, I'm right around the corner of getting her to talk, so silver lining. I prefer an increase in affection over obedience. I wonder if I get something out of it?

"Look, I get it. I understand now," I say. "I still don't appreciate what you did back there, but now that I have context, I can forgive it."

"R-really?" She looks at me with hopeful eyes.

She's like a puppy, I swear.

I'm supposed to be the daughter here, so why am I being a mom right now?

"I had an outburst I'm not proud of, but you know how much I hate it when people try to poke around my things," I say, wiping her tears away. "But I also hate it more when I see you crying, so stop that."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, yeah, we just had the same damned conversation a few days ago." I sigh, making her chuckle shakily. "Now stop crying. I'm not comforting you next time this happens, let Oji-san do it instead."

5 Affection with Mizuki Amamiya [95/100]

-10 Obedience with Mizuki Amamiya [50/100]

My face twitches in annoyance for a second.

"Ouch. Cold." Mizuki smiles, thankfully not noticing.

I can't help but feel a little amused at the unintentional pun. As much as I hate losing points in basically anything, I suppose it's a fair tradeoff. Just a little bit and I max out her affection for me, then I can try to focus on obedience.

Though, to be honest, I'm not sure how that would help me either. With how high her affection is, I can probably get whatever I want from her anyway. Trying to up her obedience will probably be unnecessarily difficult with little to no reward. I'd likely get a perk similar to the one I got from the glasses idiot, and it doesn't look like it's worth the trouble.

We'll see. I have other things I need to deal with first.

"By the way, I smelled something strange when I hugged you earlier," Mizuki says, eyes narrowing slightly as she adopts a scolding tone.

"...What?"

"You were smoking again, weren't you?"

Well shit. Busted.

(Issei)

He looked over the window in worry, still shaken up and unsure of exactly what had occurred earlier. Everything happened so fast - he wasn't able to register what happened until he was finally back home. Both of his parents were out, which he was thankful for because he wasn't ready to explain whatever the fuck went on down there, but he also didn't feel safe alone, even at home.

Kala-chan wanted to hurt him? She had wings, she could shoot light from her hands - she clearly wasn't human. But why? What did he do? Did he anger the wrong person somehow? Pissing people off isn't particularly difficult, but he kept most of the perverted tendencies in school, never out of it.

Honestly, he wasn't sure he'd survive that, but then his classmate came along, equally supernatural with her control over ice, and drove the big-titted winged girl out before the big bald man tried to shoot them.

That's a sentence he never thought was gonna form in his head, but here he is.

What the hell is going on here, and why do people want to kill him?

Maybe his mom was right. He should've stopped the perverted antics. First, it got his friends sent to the hospital - one with busted balls - got his ass handed to him, and now weird winged chicks with huge tits want to kill him.

He wondered if Akane made it out of there, or how she found him in the first place. Was it a coincidence? He didn't know, but what he does know is that she saved his life, and he hopes that she actually got out of there unharmed.

She admittedly scares him, more than a girl his age should, but the scene with her nearly beating the life out of his friends etched itself into his mind. The girl was crazy, but then she apologized to him later, so maybe she isn't that bad. To be fair, he and his friends were the ones who started it with their peeping.

Regardless, he didn't want to see her genuinely hurt. The bald man looked terrifying, and a part of Issei felt absolutely guilty for not trying to help her out. He's a guy, guys are supposed to protect girls, right?

Instead, he turned tail and ran, but what was he supposed to do in that situation? That psycho had a gun for fuck's sake. The police can handle it, right? He's sure they were gonna apprehend that fat bastard - Kuoh Police are fucking fierce.

He rubbed his eyes then turned over to look at his phone, grimacing as his parents still didn't read his message yet, prompting him to send another one. Where the hell did they go?

Issei gazed out of the window nervously and he saw his classmate standing at the front door, meeting his eyes and giving him a blank look. Issei blinked a few times then quickly made his way to her, opening the door for her.

Not knowing what to say, Issei spoke awkwardly. "H-hi?"

Akane snorted, ignoring his greeting. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions about what just happened."

"Yeah," He nodded, then quickly stepped aside. "Oh, uh, you can come in. My parents aren't home."

She came inside, still expressionless as Issei led her to the living room. For some reason, the air felt a little colder now, but that didn't come close to how awkward the atmosphere was, and how uncomfortable it felt.

He could feel her staring at him from behind, and it intimidated him a little too much. Issei cleared his throat and spoke up again, trying to clear the tension maybe.

"So um, would you like anything to drink or…?"

"No."

"Oh, okay."

Well, that didn't help. In fact, it just made everything worse. Might as well get to the point.

It seems she had a similar idea as she started explaining to him what that was all about, not even bothering to take a seat.

"Everything you saw back there was real. It's not a prank, a joke, or anything like that." She said, crossing her arms. "To make a long story short; most of the supernatural things you have heard about from stories exist. Devils, gods, magic, etcetera. Those things are real."

"Oh." Issei's eyes widened, unsure if he heard right. "I-I see."

Oh wow, okay. That was a bombshell if he had ever heard one. He figured that it might be something like that after what happened earlier, but to hear it stated as a fact was mind-blowing. And he had lived most of his life ignorant somehow?

Does the rest of the world know? From the looks of it, the supernatural things seem to be hidden, but that doesn't really explain why he was attacked.

"What you just saw, the girl with black wings, was a Fallen Angel." Akane elaborated. "Part of a relatively neutral organization led by a Fallen Angel."

"A- a Fallen Angel?" Issei parroted. "Kala-chan was an Angel?"

"You saw her wings, didn't you?" She raised a brow. "And I'm pretty sure you saw her use Light Magic. How is that hard to comprehend?"

"No, but I mean, an angel!" He said. "But wait, why did she try to kill me? Did I do something bad?"

"Fallen Angel, and it was because you have something within you," Akane responded. "The Fallen would never target a random pervert for no reason, but you're no random pervert. You have a Sacred Gear."

"Huh?" He uttered in confusion. "What is a Sacred Gear?"

"Superpowers given to selected humans upon birth," She explained. "You haven't awakened yours, so they wanted to kill you before you could."

"B-but why? I never even knew about any of this stuff before this!" This only served to confuse him more. "I-I would've lived my life not knowing anything at all- I would've never tried to interact with them!"

In all honesty, this frightened Issei a lot. He was targeted because of something he had no control over? If Akane hadn't arrived, he would've most definitely died, but seeing that he got away, does that mean they'll try again?

Will they target his family too? Do his parents have 'Sacred Gears' as well? Now he's not saying he's blaming Akane for this, of course not. He's eternally grateful that she actually risked her own life to save him, but now what? Is he gonna have to live in fear? Are they gonna try to kill him again?

"Calm down, it's not your fault," She said, "To be honest, it's a bit strange that they decided to kill you. The Fallen aren't usually anywhere near aggressive as this - they're more likely to try to recruit you than kill you."

"T-then why?"

"I don't know that either." Akane shrugged.

"What am I supposed to do then?" Issei questioned, desperate for an answer. "A-are they gonna hunt me down again?"

"Just relax, man." She groaned in frustration, making him flinch. "I saved you once, I'm not gonna let my efforts be in vain and have you killed the next day."

"Eh?" He blinked.

"What I just told you doesn't come close to being everything that's happening out there," She elaborated. "You have a Sacred Gear, so kiss living a normal life goodbye. If you want to live, then you need to know all about the supernatural world and how it works."

Issei didn't respond to that, opting to listen.

"Early tomorrow, before the sun rises, come over to the abandoned warehouse northwest of Kuoh," She told him, putting her hands in her coat's pockets. "Assuming you're interested in learning more about your power and the truth of the world you live in, of course. You're free to ignore me and go on about your business."

Issei nodded silently.

"I'll leave you to it then. You're probably overwhelmed enough as it is," She said, heading towards the door. "See ya."

"Wait," He stopped her. "Thank you for saving my life. I owe you."

She merely waved and exited through the front door, leaving Issei to his thoughts. He had a lot to think about, especially about her offer. He has superpowers he never knew about? That's reassuring - at least he's not completely defenseless against myths and legends that are apparently trying to kill him. Or, at least, he doesn't have to be.

He paused to think for a moment, a smile forming on his face.

…Does that mean his dream is possible?

Could Issei Hyoudou become the Harem King?

(Akane)

30 Reputation with Issei Hyoudou [50/100]

That's one down. Now I just need to save Ichi tomorrow before Raynare gets him, but they'll likely be a lot more cautious, or desperate if they even try it at all. Not having killed the Fallen or that fat asshole is gonna make it difficult - now they know that I can fight, and they're gonna expect me to involve myself again.

Ugh, this is a pain in the ass. Saving Ichiban is gonna be a lot harder than saving Issei. How am I supposed to lure them out without having Ichi getting hurt? Now they're unpredictable on top of them having assistance from sources I know nothing about.

…You know what? Fuck this.

Fuck being on the defensive.

Fuck waiting for them to make their move.

Fuck the Yakuza for not doing their fucking jobs.

And most importantly fuck the Fallen and their retarded ass plan.

I'm sick and tired of waiting for shit to happen.

My fists clench and I suddenly feel my blood boiling, a frown taking over my face as I pull out my phone, texting Ichi to come by the warehouse tomorrow morning.

If they think they can make my life difficult, they'll get another thing coming.

We'll see how they like being ambushed instead.

Short chapter, mostly talking. sorry. Next one should have more action.

Discord Server link: (Discord . gg / Rjjzt8erYK) no spaces. It's a relatively new server, but I might post exclusive content there. No, I'm not bribing you to join.

And now there are two official lewds of Akane. So you gotta join the server to see them.

If you want to support me, here's my pat reon link: (Pat reon dot com / Mirlnir)