It's been three days since then, and everything was going relatively well. Everyone has been growing stronger at a steady rate, a dozen or so increase in stats every day. I haven't really worked on the whole therapy shtick yet, because I want to at least grow closer to Rias and Akeno before doing it. Otherwise, it's more likely gonna push them away than help them.

Seeing Rias actually show up made me feel a lot better than I thought I would. I half expected this to be a waste of time, considering how she's against training, so it's good to be proven wrong for once. Maybe she isn't a total waste of my energy after all, even if she most likely appeared out of courtesy.

Which is better than nothing really. I might be able to get her to stop being a little bitch and work on herself for once instead of looking for shortcuts. Heh, and people call me mean. Look at me trying to help that bimbo for little more than self-gratification when she mops the floor with that fried chicken moron.

Anyway, once Rias and her peerage arrived, I told her and Sona what I have planned. First, we were going to put everyone into different groups for maximum efficiency. Sona, Rias, Akeno, and I are in one, seeing how we're basically the strongest magic users out of everyone.

And of course, I put myself close to the strongest of the peerage, who also have the easiest problems to fix. Sona's with us because I might need her help to convince the two morons to stop whining. If anything, Rias and Akeno are their only chance of winning.

Kiba, Ruruko, Tomoe, Ichiban, and Koneko are in another, as they're all more reliant on physical strength. Ichi seemed pretty uncomfortable about it because he's the only human in the group, but I have hopes that he'll get over it fairly quickly. I know they're genuinely nice people, and while awkward, Ichiban usually responds extremely well to that.

Though he won't have to worry about it much, because the third group that includes everyone else has Issei, and Issei is going to be directly mentored by Tsubaki and Kiba, thus making him part of two groups. Why? Because they're experienced Sacred Gear users, and even though their Sacred Gears aren't exactly the same, it's still valid to someone like him.

But to be honest, I'm far less inclined to lend a hand with Rias' record in these few days. It doesn't take a genius to realize that she's training as little as she can. Whereas everyone would be panting in exhaustion, she'd sit on a comfy couch and fiddle with her phone.

So much for showing up.

I've been letting it go, not wanting to risk the possible consequences of pressuring her, but my patience is starting to run thin. At the very least, the rest of her peerage are actually pushing themselves to their limits, making me somewhat respect their efforts in trying to save their idiot friend.

I frown to myself a little as I think about a lost opportunity. Having Asia here would be incredibly useful. Her Twilight Healing works on everyone, so she can keep restoring stamina and healing wounds, thus making us able to train for longer hours. It wouldn't necessarily help me, seeing how fast my regen is, but everyone else? Her Sacred Gear would be a godsend. Pun included.

But if I took Asia, my mother would get suspicious and possibly stalk us, and I'm pretty sure she won't be happy with us being with devils here. Assuming she hates them as much as I think anyway, and from the way she talked about them, it's probably even more.

I didn't ask for the full story yet, but there's an obvious implication that they did something to my father, and mom was head over heels for him. So in all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if she went 'kill first, questions never' on the devils here if she figures out what's actually happening, and I don't think that's going to be pretty for anyone involved.

Damn it, I need to get Asia here if I want to maximize our gains, but how do I do it? I can't just kidnap the girl, that'll just make my mother look for her everywhere and probably come to the worst conclusion if she found her here.

What should I do…

"What are you thinking about?" Sona suddenly asks as we walk to the other half of our group, having finished a light sparring session.

She, and most of the devils she brought for that matter, wore the bloomers given to us by the school. Sona forwent the glasses for the training, apparently having perfect vision anyway, but had no other visible changes. She obviously looked a little tired if the sweat trailing down her cheeks and neck was anything to go by.

I'm the same in that regard, but my stamina returns a lot quicker. So while I was visibly sweating, I'm not really tired.

"Hm?" I glance at her.

"You seemed deep in thought." She noted, looking curious. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Just thinking of ways to make this training more efficient." I answer kinda truthfully, sighing. "Aside from the personal issues that need to be fixed, I don't think two weeks are really enough."

"I suppose not." Sona frowns in worry. "I know Rias has it in her, she just needs to drop this image of an unbeatable Riser. He's not as strong as she thinks he is."

"Clearly not if I was able to manhandle him alongside his Queen." I scoff, spotting Rias and Akeno practice in the distance. "But I guess that wasn't really enough to convince her, is it?"

"I wish it were that easy." She mutters.

I scowl deeply and clench my fist. How's she heiress material? I'd rather have my entire bloodline die off than get a failure like her to be born much less be next in line. What a pain in the ass.

I quickly calm myself as I feel my rage bubble inside of me. Cool it, now's not the time to get all pissy. Finish your goddamn work, then you can complain about it later.

"Well, I'll see what I can do, but as I said before, no promises." I address Sona after a moment. "And I hope you can forgive me if I resort to something drastic."

Sona's frown deepens in concern at the implication of what I said, but doesn't argue and just nods. You know, I'm beginning to actually like her. She's intelligent, not annoying, and always sees the bigger picture despite what she feels about the subject.

With that, I approach the two girls with Sona following behind me. I notice that they still had a good amount of magic left in them, making me frown in confusion. They've been here for an hour already, they should be out of it. Well, Akeno seems more exhausted, but not as much as she should be.

"What's going on?" I ask calmly, getting their attention. "Is everything alright?"

Rias smiles slightly and nods.

"Yup, nothing to worry about here." She waves it off, but I'm not convinced. "We were just practicing."

Akeno looks a little more nervous than her King, but nods in confirmation, her soft smile never leaving her face. Please, I know a fake smile when I see one, as impressive as it is. They're hiding something and I don't like it.

"Weird, you don't look tired at all," I say, my tone dripping with sarcasm. "Must have a lot of stamina, huh?"

Rias flinches slightly, her smile almost falling apart, but she still persists.

"Well, I mean, I have a big mana pool." She shrugs. "Besides, I am tired. We've been here for hours after all."

"I'm sure…" I mutter coldly.

"Anyway, we're gonna take a break for a bit," Rias says. "Don't worry, we're going to stop by the gym for more exercise. Come on, Akeno."

As the two girls pass by us, I try very hard to stop myself from strangling Rias. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath through my nose. I glance at Sona, who came to the same conclusion as me with her face downcast.

The bitch isn't taking my training seriously.

And it's pissing me the fuck off.

"I…" Sona starts.

"Don't bother." I cut her off, keeping my voice even. "I'll get her to train for real. Just stop worrying about it, alright?"

10 Reputation with Sona Sitri [65/100]

That was not meant to comfort you, but I'll take it.

"Alright." She nods, giving me a small smile. "I'll trust you on this."

"In the meantime, how about we spar for real?" I give her a challenging smirk. "That back there was clearly us testing the waters."

"True." Sona crosses her arms, looking at me with determined eyes. "It'd be great to see how powerful you really are."

I need to do something that'll take my mind off this annoying bullshit, and I haven't really sparred with Sona properly, so that'll be pretty fun. She's decently powerful, and her growth is among the best here. The fact that she's much more experienced with her magic than me will make her a pretty good challenge.

I make a distance between us, around thirty meters, and get in a stance, casting my defensive spells. Sona does the same, magical circles forming over her the palms of her hands as she focuses on me. We're pretty far from the main courtyard, deciding to go deeper into the forest in case we get a little destructive, so I think I can afford to go all out.

Quest added

[Ice and Water]

Objective: Defeat Sona Sitri in a sparring match

Bonus Objective: Don't suffer any damage

Rewards: 25 to INT and WIS, Moderate EXP, Increase reputation with Sona Sitri, Rare Gacha Token

Bonus Rewards: 100 to DEX, Major EXP, Greatly increase reputation with Sona Sitri, Epic Gacha Token

Interesting. I'm not very sure I can get the bonus objective– Sona is fairly formidable like I said, but maybe if I aim for a quick knockout as I did with Ichiban, I can pull it off.

I crouch slightly and sharpen my gaze at her, waiting for her to make the first move. After a tense minute, Sona starts the match by waving her arm, creating multiple hawks of water. I rush forward, casting and throwing ice knives, perfectly hitting the incoming water constructs and dispelling them.

Though, by then, Sona had already created a big tiger rushing toward me, following up with multiple spears and tridents. I smile and stomp on the ground in front of me, turning the ground into ice and freezing the tiger. I easily evade the water spears, ducking and side-stepping out of the way, and respond with my own weaponry of ice. Swords, knives, and arrows appear around me, soaring towards the devil who has a much harder time dodging the spells.

Sona waves her arm again, and a giant stream of water comes out of the ground right next to me. I form a wall right before it gets to me, blocking the stream but not being able to evade the small knife that she threw at me, which scratches my cheek.

I scowl as I see the failed objective, but quickly calm myself, looking at the smirking Sona. Fair play. That giant stream of water was just a distraction. An amateur mistake on my part. I'm still winning this, though.

As more and more animals and weapons made out of water rush towards me, I retaliate with my own brand of spells, unleashing cold hell on Sona. A single spear from me is worth three of hers. That's how bullshit my ice magic is.

And she should know that, so why is she fighting me like this? Another distraction? Probably. I need to be sharp, she's probably hiding a trick or two.

As I charge towards her, breaking every single spell heading my way, I sense the spell directly above me, quickly creating an overcharged shield to put over my head. A huge flood of the devil-made sea falls down on me, hitting the ice shield and forcing me to grit my teeth and fall to my knees.

Sona uses the chance to unleash multiple spells on me, but I act quickly and release my aura, increasing my magic power significantly and freezing the flood that's keeping me in place. At the same time, I create multiple walls around me that block all the spells.

I smirk, wings of ice sprouting from my back and charging at my own walls, breaking through them as I shorten the distance between us massively. Sona tries to desperately hold me off, flying away and using all kinds of spells, but I counter each and every one of her moves with my stronger ones.

While I could've probably beaten her at a safer distance, it would've taken me a lot longer to do it. Sona doesn't have a lot of defenses when someone's physically close, and she thrives when she has good space between her and her opponent. She's a pure mage type, unlike me who can adapt to both close and long-range combat.

So I don't want to give her that luxury. Plus, the fact that I failed the bonus objective means all concerns about playing safe don't really matter anymore.

Seeing that I'm significantly faster than her, I easily catch up, and once I do, I slam her back down to the ground with my fists. She plummets down but lands on her feet, cracking the ground and releasing multiple torrents of water from beneath her to catch me off guard, but I see it coming and evade them gracefully.

I didn't see or sense the avian constructs that followed me, though, one of them colliding with my face at high speed. I recoil, giving Sona a perfect chance to counterattack, but I finally pull out a spell I've been working on for quite a while, aiming my hand at dozens of polearms, birds, and swords approaching me, and releasing the charged-up magic.

A burst of frost instantly freezes all the water spells in front of me, prompting them all to fall down and shatter on the ground. Sona gasps in shock, and before she tries anything else, I lunge towards her, grab her by the collar, slam her against a boulder, and point an ice dagger at her neck, all in the span of a second.

We stay like this for a few moments, as I actually feel pretty tired with how much magic and stamina I've spent, my eyes glaring at her very soul, but then I smirk arrogantly.

However, I then notice that Sona isn't actually meeting my gaze. Instead, she's looking away, a light pink color dusting her cheeks. I blink at her nervous expression, not really sure what's up with her until she speaks.

"Y-you're too close." She says quietly, her tone unusually high-pitched. "I'd like some of my personal space back if that's possible."

I blink.

"I win though, right?"

"Yes." She confirms. "Now, please?"

I back off a bit, a satisfied smirk on my face as Sona clears her throat. Dunno what her problem is, but I think I get it. Getting too close to people you're not overly familiar with can get fairly uncomfortable. Too bad for her though, since it was a fight.

"Good fight," I say. "You actually handled yourself pretty well."

"You as well." She returns the praise. "That spell back there caught me off guard."

"It's one I've been working on for a bit now." I nod. "Like you saw, it basically flash-freezes everything in front of me. Leaves me spent, though."

It's a genuinely powerful spell, and I didn't actually expect myself to use it so soon, nor did I expect it to be so strong when I first made it.

[Cryomancy: Ice Burst+5] – Spell

Unleash a powerful gust of frost that easily freezes everything in front of you. A strong, short-range spell used by many wizards, swordsmen, and martial artists alike due to its excellent versatility.

Deals 2250 + INTx6.5 Ice Damage

Inflicts [Frozen] and [Frostbite]

Costs 3600 MP

It takes a lot of MP though. I should find a way to increase my MP to more than just 13k. It's a problem because I'm a mage, but I can't be too wasteful with my mana due to my low pool. Part of the reason why I decided to go for a more balanced build than a pure caster.

"I can see that," Sona says, smiling after a pause. "That was… fun. I never thought something so taxing could feel this way."

"That's training." I shrug. "Or exercising in general really. Might sound tedious, but it's fun when you do it."

"You're right." Sona agrees, frowning sadly a second later. "...I hope Rias realizes this too. For her sake at least…"

Oh goddamn it, now you've gone and ruined the mood. She cares way too much about that redhead moron, more than she probably should in my opinion.

"Anyway, we've taken enough rest," I say, not showing any outward reaction to her muttering. "Get ready. We're not nearly done."

"Again? Already?" Sona looks at me in surprise and concern.

"We're not stopping until we squeeze out every drop of stamina you have," I say, smirking viciously. "I want to see just how long you can last."

Sona flinches but nods, returning a few dozen meters as she readies some water spells. I need to handle the Rias problem fast, so if she's not going to be taking me or this training seriously?

I'll make her regret ever stepping one foot here.

– Ichiban Kasuga –

Let it be known that Ichiban was never a man who would underestimate his opponent, no matter what they looked like. He knew that appearances could be deceiving, he learned that the hard way twice. The first time was with Akane, and the second was with his Boss' son, Masato, who looked like a wimpy nerd.

So he hammered it into his head. No matter what they looked like, they could be some god-slaying barbarian and he wouldn't know it. Wisdom came at a price, and he wasn't willing to pay said price again.

So while a little surprised, he was not very shocked when he learned that the very short white-haired girl could throw hands like a champ. Koneko, if he remembered right, apparently Kuoh's mascot, was a very skilled hand-to-hand combatant.

Ichiban blocked her jab with his right forearm, gritting his teeth as he felt the pain and impact from the punch. He backed off to gain some distance, circling around her but never leaning against the edges of the ring, not wanting to get cornered by someone as fierce and strong as her.

And she packed a lot of strength beneath that tiny build. Holy fuck, she hit hard. He'd seen her bench press several tonnes before, and while he could do that himself, Koneko was a girl that barely reached his chest, and she did not have any visible muscles like him or the other girls. She wore yellow sportswear that exposed her stomach, yet the girl didn't have even a hint of abs.

She was, however, still very cute, and Ichiban was willing to admit that.

He'd gotten a bit comfortable around the devils, seeing that they were basically regular kids like him, and managed to work up the courage to ask one for a sparring match. Beforehand, he had only really pushed his muscles and stamina to the absolute limits via Boosts and heavy exercise, but he felt like he's been getting rusty, and Akane and Issei were too busy with the others to spare some time for him.

So after some time, he asked the small girl to see if she could spar, and to his surprise, she nodded and accepted his offer fairly quickly. Ichiban had noticed that this girl only really visited the gym and nothing else, so she felt like the best option he had.

He had to admit, he was having quite a bit of fun. She fought well and didn't really throw any dirty tricks like how his best friend would, so this sparring match felt refreshing.

"Get his ass, Koneko-chan!" One of the girls, Ruruko he believed, shouted from outside the ring. "Ain't no six-foot handsome bastard is beating you!"

"Weirdly specific, Ruruko." One of her friends, the other white-haired one, said.

Ichiban had to agree with that as he threw a hook, which Koneko evaded barely. Why 'bastard'? Yes, it's true, he was born in a fucking brothel, but you didn't have to say it.

"Don't give up, Kasuga-san!" The only devil male in this whole group cheered. "You can do this!"

Koneko parried his next blow, responding with a painful gut punch that made him recoil, but Ichiban had taken much worse than that and retaliated by grabbing her shoulders and headbutting her harshly. She gasped and stepped back, clearly dizzy from that surprise attack, and Ichi used this moment to wail on the girl, throwing punches and kicks.

"Eeeeh? Aren't you supposed to be rooting for your friend, Kiba-san?" Another girl said, to which Ichiban also agreed fully.

"Well, I mean, someone needs to cheer for Kasuga-san, no?" He chuckled sheepishly. "I'm sure Koneko-chan will understand."

Oh.

…Ichiban kinda appreciated that.

Koneko recovered quickly, however, and prevented him from doing too much damage by kicking his knee. Ichiban flinched and stumbled forward, unable to defend against the heavy uppercut that connected with his nose. The blow was so powerful, it made him flip in the air and fall on his stomach.

He heard the gasps and 'ooh's from the crowd seeing the fight but ignored it. Ichiban gritted his teeth as he struggled to stand up. He was helpfully assisted by his opponent who held him up by the arm, proceeding to deck him in the face a few times.

Do something, or you'll lose.

I know that!

Ichiban had enough and tanked a jab using his forehead, countering with quick bodyshots before sharply circling around her, grabbing her by the neck, then sweeping her off her legs and putting her on a chokehold.

Koneko grunted as she tried to get him off, but his grip was firm, and he knew that he had more power than her for all her absurd strength. She was faster and more nimble than him, more skilled to boot, but Ichi had fought hundreds if not thousands of punks in Kamurocho. Sure, it was mostly dirty fighting that involved the objects on the streets, like traffic cones and some poor guy's bike, but they're still valid.

This fight was over, and that was made clear when Koneko slapped the floor of the ring a few times, prompting him to let go. Both of them were panting in exhaustion. They were in the ring for what felt like hours, and before that, they were already working out the whole time.

Fuck me, my everything hurts. He thought as he stood up, a small smile forming on his face. That was really fun, though.

Well done. At least you did not disappoint me this time.

Yeah, yeah.

Ichiban looked down at the smaller girl, hesitating for a bit before extending his arm to her. She noticed him and blinked, then took his hand after a moment. His smile widened as he pulled her back up.

"Good fight." He said, gaining newfound respect for the girl. "We should do it again sometime."

Koneko looked at him blankly for a moment, then pointed at her nose, making him raise his brow for a moment.

"You're bleeding." She said tonelessly.

"I am?" Ichiban wiped his nose and finally noticed the blood. "Ah, shit, I am. You must've hit me a lot harder than I thought."

To his surprise, Koneko gave him the tiniest of smiles before leaving the ring, with him following after her. He was immediately surrounded by some of the audience as the rest went with Koneko, the Ruruko girl leading the group as she stared at him with sparkling eyes.

"That was a very great fight, Kasuga-kun." The white-haired chick, Momo, said. "You didn't even use your Sacred Gear for it. I'm impressed."

"Heh, thanks." He grinned, taking the tissues off her hand and putting them over his nose. "Was a hard-earned win, that's for sure."

"Goddamn, you're really good!" She squealed. "Come on, you and me, let's go!"

"Nimura-san, his nose is broken." Kiba came to the rescue, gently pushing her away. "Maybe when he's healed."

Ruruko whined and complained as Kiba led him away from the others. Ichiban scanned his surroundings for Koneko, seeing her heading to her room, and then focused on following Kiba, who walked straight to the medical room.

"Sit there, and do keep your head up," Kiba said as he headed for a drawer. "Don't breathe through your nose."

"Right…" Ichiban groaned as he finally realized what a broken nose could do to him these two weeks. "Shit man, it hasn't even been a week and I'm already injured. Fuck."

"Oh don't worry, it shouldn't last long." His… friend(?) responded, the easy smile never leaving his face as he gave him a pack of ice. "You're not a regular human anymore, remember? Hold this to your nose."

"What do you mean?" Ichiban frowned in confusion as he did what he was told.

"You've unlocked your Sacred Gear, haven't you?" Kiba said, and Ichiban confirmed with a nod. "Well, that alone should speed up the healing process significantly."

"...Unlocking a Gear gives you super regeneration?"

"No, not that specifically." He chuckled. "What it does is strengthen your body, every single cell of it."

"Oh, damn." Ichiban's eyebrows shot up. "Never knew that. So how long till it heals?"

"Likely a day at most. I'd be surprised if it's more than that." Kiba shrugged. "It's no gaping chest wound or anything, so you'll be fine. Or should I tell Koneko to be more gentle next time?"

"Hey, I still won anyway." The human grinned proudly. "Though, she's really damn good. Who taught her?"

"She learned the basics from a few masters, but for the most part, she's self-taught, if you can believe it." The blond devil said. "Koneko was and still is a very big fan of these kinds of sports. Boxing, wrestling, MMA. All of it."

"Damn, for real?! Shit, I like that stuff myself!" Ichiban responded excitedly. "She never struck me as the type to be into it."

"Why, because she looks like a little girl?" Kiba grinned.

No, because she's a devil. Ichiban thought, nearly blurting it out.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." He smiled nervously.

Ichiban thought to himself for a moment, hating the fact that his first ever experience with a devil was meeting a raving lunatic. It wasn't fair for the devils here, not when they'd been very nice to him and just so… normal.

They genuinely seemed like regular people, actual kids his age. He didn't want that one bad incident to make him all twitchy and nervous around them. It didn't feel fair, not to them or himself. He had to get over it, no more fear around them.

Just then the door of the infirmary opened, Akane peeking in with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"Ah, Amamiya-san." Kiba smiled politely. "Everything alright?"

"Just finished with my training, Heard he got hurt." Akane nodded towards Ichiban, then smirked as she addressed him. "Seriously, got your nose broken by a girl that tiny?"

"Fuck you, I still won." Ichiban smirked back, unfazed by her words.

"Of course you did. I'll spare you the bothersome orders and let you recover for now." She giggled, then turned to Kiba. "Thanks for taking care of this moron for me."

"Oi."

"No need to thank me." He waved it off. "Just doing what must be done."

She nodded at him gratefully.

"By the way–" Akane suddenly said. "You've been in the gym the whole day, right? Did Rias and Akeno ever join you for a while?"

"W-well, Akeno for a few hours, yes, but Rias…" The blond trailed off, looking quite a bit nervous this time.

Ichiban noticed the twitch in his best friend's face, eyes flashing blue for a split second as the room temperature dropped. He frowned worriedly, meeting her eyes for a moment.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"...Yeah." She answered after a moment, seemingly calming down. "And where is Akeno right now?"

"I'm not quite sure," Kiba answered truthfully. "I think she said she was going back to train her magic outside."

"Right…" She muttered to herself. "Anyway, you guys can take it easy for the rest of the night since it's getting late anyway. I'll go check up on the rest."

"Sure…" Ichiban responded as he watched her leave.

What the hell was that all about? She seemed genuinely angry right there, and it seemed to be directed at Rias specifically. Did the redhead do something that could've pissed his best friend off?

If Kiba's expression was any indication, that didn't seem very good for her.

– Akeno Himejima –

Releasing another huge bolt of her thunder magic, Akeno panted in exhaustion, her reserves fully emptied after hours and hours of training under the full moon, deep into the forest. She was very far away from the building, not wanting to wake them up with how loud her magic could get.

Her knees shook violently, vision blurry and sweat trailing down her face. She could barely breathe– a whole day of nonstop training wasn't something she was quite used to, but she had to. They had to. There was no other choice.

She was fully certain that Koneko and Kiba were still training, breaking their backs for whatever crumb of an advantage they could get a hold of. They were the physical fighters of the group, but even Akeno visited the gym for her own physical exercise. Sure, she was more of a mage, but as a Queen, she didn't want her physical capabilities to go to waste.

Her muscles still ached and burned, but this was nothing. No matter how exhausted she was, she had to get strong enough to win this upcoming Rating Game, for her King's sake. Her best friend's sake.

She wanted to prove to her that they can be powerful enough to defeat Riser, to motivate her into taking this training seriously, but Rias was utterly stubborn. Akeno tried to nudge her into practicing but was only ever met with half-hearted attempts just so she could look good in front of the Tojo Clan Princess.

But everyone knew Rias would never be able to fool Akane. The human girl easily saw through her attempts but did not voice her frustrations or concerns at all. Though, everyone also knew that she was slowly but surely getting sick of it.

So if Rias wasn't going to do something about it, it was her peerage's responsibility to beat her enemies. Akeno would take care of Riser himself if it meant Rias got to be free from this constricting marriage. Akeno was saved by her once, and now it's her turn to save her.

She took a deep breath, her mana gathering between her hands as sparks of electricity danced around them. With a focused glare, Akeno unleashed another concentrated bolt of her thunder magic, one powerful enough to damage any High-class Devil, before falling to her knees.

Akeno tried to get her breathing under control, hands shaking uncontrollably, but soon enough, she managed it, eventually getting back up on her two feet. As she began to prepare another bolt, a voice called out to her and prompted her to dispel her magic.

"That's enough," Akane said, prompting the fallen-turned-devil to look at her leaning against a tree. "Any more could be more harmful than helpful."

"Ah, Amamiya-san." Akeno smiled politely. "I didn't notice you there. Did I perhaps wake you up? Thunder magic is quite loud after all."

"No, I just sensed you." Akane shook her head, then threw her a water bottle. "It's getting really late, y'know. Sun will rise in a few hours. I respect your work ethic, but at this point, what you're doing is torture. It won't help you at all."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm alright. " Akeno said, her smile never faltering. "I can go on for much longer. Perhaps a few breaks here and there, but I'll be okay."

"Yes, but what about tomorrow?" The human girl raised a brow. "You'll be tired and won't be able to exercise as much. Sleep is important."

"True, but devils don't need to sleep as often as humans do, so time isn't quite an issue either." The former shrine maiden deflected. "I… need to do this. For Rias' sake."

Akane only hummed in response, staying quiet as Akeno gulped from her water bottle, feeling significantly better than before. Felt like she hadn't drunk anything for days.

"You know, at the very least, you can train smarter not harder."

"Oh?" Akeno tilted her head curiously at the suggestion. "And whatever could you mean?"

"Simple." Akane shrugged, her gaze suddenly sharpening. "Your birthright. Use that."

Akeno's smile immediately dropped, looking at the human girl in shock and slight unease.

"H-how did you–"

"How I know is none of your concern." Akane cut her off harshly, making her flinch. "What matters now is you throwing away that petty grudge aside and using your Holy Lightning."

"You have no right to order me around." Akeno scowled deeply, her tone doing a total 180. "My burden is none of your business, so stay out of it."

"So you'd rather let your friend lose her freedom to choose who to love?" Akane smirked condescendingly. "Rather cold, don't you think?"

"Shut it." The devil girl gritted her teeth. "You know nothing."

"Oh, I know enough." She responded, taking a step toward her. "I know full well how you feel, how much you think you suffered, but do you know what I think about that?"

Akeno flinched once more, her heart suddenly pounding wildly. The freezing glare on Akane's face was… it scared her. The fact that the weather suddenly felt cold did not make her feel better.

"I think you're fucking pathetic, more so than that stupid defeatist bitch can hope to be." She said coldly, her tone quiet but loud enough for her to hear. "Bottom of the barrel, miserable filth."

Akeno took a step back, her hands balling into fists as she refused to meet the human's eyes.

"Stuck in the past, incapable of ever moving on." Akane chuckled. "How can some lowlife like you ever hope to be useful? You can't. You're worthless."

"S-shut up," Akeno repeated. "You know nothing about me. You know nothing about the suffering I had to go throu–"

"My father died on my birthday." Akane suddenly revealed, shutting her up completely.

Akeno was so shocked at the blunt reveal, she looked up to gaze at the human directly, whose smirk never left her face. The suddenly dropped bombshell had her mouth agape, not quite knowing how to respond.

"Imagine that: Little Akane all excited and happy, constantly asking when Tou-san will come home so we can play around." She continued. "...Only to be told he'll never be back. Excruciating, isn't it? The rest of the year definitely was, and so was every birthday I had since then."

"W-why are you telling me this?" Akeno asked, both confused and intimidated. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that unlike you–" Akane poked her shoulder. "Despite the pain I had to go through, being reminded of his passing on every single birthday, I moved the fuck on."

Akeno flinched.

"I stopped whining about what the world took from me." She said. "I stopped having these stupid grudges, and I certainly stopped blaming other people for these accidents."

"It… wasn't an accident…" Akeno weakly defended, looking away.

"See? This is what I mean. You'll always be your sad little self, blaming everyone because holding onto that grudge makes you feel slightly better about yourself." Akane scoffed. "You sicken me. Absolutely vile, to let your own petty grievances be above your best friend. You don't care, you never did."

"I-I do care!" Akeno cried out, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. "Of course I do! Rias is my best friend! S-she-"

"Then get a fucking grip, for fuck's sake!" Akane screamed at her. "What does Rias have to do with anything you had to go through?! Why the hell does she get to suffer because you couldn't set your stupid hatred aside for her?! Stop letting your past control you and move on already!"

Akeno wanted to refuse, she didn't want to hear it. Of course, she wanted to help Rias– she loved her more than anyone since her mother, more than even herself, but she also despised that side of her.

She hated it for what it did. It was why she instantly accepted Rias' offer to become a devil because then she wouldn't be who she hated, a chance to finally accept and love herself. Though, she knew in the back of her mind, that she will never, ever get rid of it.

She couldn't possibly bring herself to use it– it was a stain on her soul and blood. She wouldn't– she will not hold that power, no matter what… but was it worth it? Did she truly value her own hatred more than Rias?

"Whatever." Akane clicked her tongue after a moment of silence. "Do what you want. Hopefully, you'll think about it and finally, decide to pull your head out of your own ass for once in your pitiful life. I don't really care either way."

Akeno couldn't even call her out on that, feeling too mentally and physically tired. As Akane left her on her own, the devil girl fell to her knees and choked back a sob, the exhaustion finally catching up to her. Tears ran down her cheeks and onto the ground.

Truly, there was nothing she hated more than herself.

– Akane Amamiya –

That felt good but not as good as I wanted it to. I held myself back from going too far and demotivating her too, so I didn't really say everything I wanted to say. Plus, my anger was getting the better of me, and that was bad.

I need to get a better hold of my anger, so going off too hard on that moron wasn't the smartest thing to do, especially seeing that it could be far more detrimental to me in the long run. She'd be far less motivated and I'd be less liked by the other devils. I did mean everything I said, though. So in that department, I didn't go easy on her.

In all honesty, I didn't want to be negative on her at first. I wanted to be more inspiring and the like, but my resentment and rage got the better of me and it all spiraled down from there.

… I don't think I'll be able to contain the rage inside me if this keeps happening. Catching a glimpse of the redhead bitch was enough to piss me off to no end, and that's not healthy at all. I need to motivate her before I blow up on her.

After my and Sona's extensive training – literally from morning until midnight – I spared her from going any harder and let her go back. This was the hardest we've ever trained, with the past two days mostly spent on making them adjust, so the girl was limping and gasping the whole way back.

It was kinda funny, but I felt oddly proud of her. She took my training very seriously. That makes me feel better at least. Her peerage, too. They were incredibly enthusiastic about training, especially that Ruruko girl.

Fuck, Rias' peerage trained a million times harder than she did. Koneko and Kiba spent most of their time in the gym, alongside Ichi and some of Sona's, while Akeno was nearly killing herself with her training.

She's still a dumbass though. All this pain when she could've just done minimal training with her Holy Lightning and easily made the biggest difference, but no. Daddy is bad, so I don't use his incredibly powerful side that'll make the entire match a fucking cakewalk.

Fuck me, it's stupider every time I think about it.

Still, though, I hate the fact that I wasn't able to get Asia with me. She would've been very helpful, damn it. Ichi broke his nose today and she could've instantly fixed him like it's nothing.

Why can't anything be easy for once?

As I'm walking to the building, still fairly deep into the forest, I stop and pause as an idea crosses my mind. Maybe I can't do anything about Asia without bringing suspicions from my mother, but someone else can?

Worth a try.

I take out my phone and dial-up Majima's number, waiting for him to pick up. A minute passes, but no response, making me frown. He's busy maybe? I mean, there are cameras everywhere here, extremely small ones too, but why would that make him–

"Yo."

His voice makes me jump with a startled gasp. I turn around and see him leaning on a tree, looking at me with a smirk.

"How do you keep doing that?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Yer a lil too young ta know that." He chuckles, making me scoff in slight annoyance. "So whaddya want?"

"Right…" I cross my arms. "You know the blond girl living with Kaa-san?"

"Hm? Ah, the Italian girl?" He nods. "So ya want her here?"

"If it's possible," I confirm. "I don't know what my Kaa-san will do if she thinks Asia got kidnapped, so I at least want her to know that she's in trusted hands."

"Consider it done." He throws a thumbs-up. "Anythin' else?"

"That's it, thanks," I say, then pause in thought for a moment, getting another great idea. "Actually..."

"Yeah?" Majima, who is on his way back to… wherever he was, stops and looks at me.

"I have another idea." I smile. "A very good one."

"Hoh?" He mirrors my smirk, listening intently. "Well, let's hear it."

If this actually works…

Then Rias and Akeno might not be all that necessary after all.

– Rias Gremory –

Seeing everyone so motivated to work made her feel slightly guilty about herself, but what could she do anyway? She tried to tell them it was useless, that it really wouldn't matter in the end, but nobody ever listened to her. None of them could understand, not Sona and her peerage, and especially not Akane.

Seriously, Rias only showed up out of kindness, not to get the girl's judging stares everywhere she went. Yeah, sure, she only put minimal effort into this training, and that was because it was pointless. Sure, she might feel good while doing it, but it wouldn't help her in the long run.

She was well and truly screwed against Riser, so unless some miracle were to show itself soon, Rias won't feel one bit motivated to do anything. Growing stronger won't make her able to go through Riser's nigh invulnerability.

Of course, Rias couldn't just tell Akane that, because aside from it being incredibly rude, frankly, the girl kinda scared her. She was too hot-headed and blunt, not caring if her occasional rude remarks hurt anyone. And with the ways she'd been looking at Rias recently, it was better left unsaid.

Fifth day of training, and Rias still felt utterly drained at the beginning of it. Waking up was tough, getting off her bed was equally difficult, and wearing her bloomers felt impossible, but she knew the consequences of sleeping in would be a lot worse.

She saw it happening to Issei. To wake him up, Akane straight-up poured an entire bucket of ice-cold water on his head. It was… fairly amusing, she had to admit, with the way he screamed like a little girl. Safe to say he never slept in again

She shared a room with Akeno, though, so she'd never actually sleep in with her Queen by her side, ready to wake her up whenever. Akeno was very disciplined in that regard, which was always nice to see.

Though, she noticed an odd change in her Queen. She was a lot quieter, smiled a lot less, and looked… exhausted. Mentally exhausted. She'd barely give anyone a smile anymore, not even a fake one, and it worried the redhead.

What had happened to her friend? She'd been like this the entire day, so what was wrong? She tried to ask, but Akeno only said that she was tired. Now, Rias wasn't exactly some gullible moron, she knew that her Queen was lying, but she didn't want to press the issue.

Akeno didn't even follow her back to the building after their 'session', which was basically playing ball with their magic, saying she wanted to train on her own for a while. Whatever happened, it must've shaken her greatly. Rias wanted to help, but she didn't know what to do with her friend's distance.

So instead, Rias went back on her own, feeling even worse than before. Why do her friends keep doing this? Training for their unavoidable defeat? Why were they so hellbent on getting her out of that marriage when they'd already lost their chance?

As Rias headed towards the door, she spotted Akane and Sona next to it, with the former giving her a judgemental glance. Rias wore a fake smile and waved slightly, putting her hand on the doorknob.

Before Rias entered, the human girl spoke.

"Where do you think you're going?" Akane said tonelessly.

"I'm taking a break." She lied.

"And where's Akeno?" Sona questioned.

"She said she'll catch up with me in a few minutes." Rias lied again. "I'll wait for her until then."

As Rias was about to leave it at that, Akane suddenly grabbed her by the arm, her grip very firm. The devil heiress flinched, and before she asked what this was all about, Akane spoke, her voice very cold.

"We're sparring." She said. "Now."

"B-but–"

"You won't go inside until we spar," Akane growled. "Got it?"

Rias flinched, inwardly groaning in exasperation at the headstrong human girl, but nodded. Whatever, not like it was anything other than a mild inconvenience. She'd give her the fight and then she could be on her merry way.

She expected to go deep into the forest, but instead, she was dragged to the courtyard, where almost everyone was at the moment. Rias didn't quite expect herself to be fighting in front of a crowd, but did that really make a difference?

…Well, quite truthfully, there was added pressure, but it didn't really matter in the end, did it?

As everyone turned to look at the commotion, Akane made a distance between herself and Rias. A… very short distance. That was like, ten meters? This is supposed to be a magical duel, right? Mage versus mage?

"I-isn't this quite–"

"It's good enough." Akane cut Rias off, seemingly reading her mind. "Sona."

"Of course." Sona nodded, looking concerned and serious. "Are you two ready?"

The two girls confirmed, prompting her to nod once again.

"Then the match will begin in three, two, one…"

Rias readied her Power of Destruction, magical circles forming around her hands. Her opponent, surprisingly enough, did not move an inch. Not for a stance, not even preparing her ice magic. She just stood there, glaring at the devil's soul.

Rias didn't know what Akane was planning at the moment, but she felt uneasy as she awaited the final countdown.

"Go!"

As soon as she heard that, Rias unleashed two blasts of her Bael heritage, which Akane casually evaded by tilting her head and sidestepping. The devil girl flinched as Akane suddenly rushed towards her, faster than she could react, and landed a heavy punch on her face.

Rias recoiled and gasped in pain, blood pouring down her nose as she stumbled back. She quickly recollected herself, but not fast enough to evade a kick on the same spot. The blow was strong enough to send her skidding across the hard ground.

The redhead flinched in pain but immediately got back up on her feet, preparing another blast of her magic, but Akane was already in front of her, grabbing the extended arm, bending it, then elbowing Rias in the same damned spot again.

As Rias tried to do something to protect herself, Akane punched her right in the gut hard enough to knock the wind out of her. The redhead's eyes bulged out of her skull as she tried to breathe, failing to do so as the brutal human girl did it again.

And again.

And again.

Rias wanted to call off the fight right then and there, as apparently, everyone was too shocked by the brutal display to do anything. She wanted to say that she forfeits, that she didn't want to fight anymore. She wanted to scream it but wasn't able to as Akane suddenly tightly grabbed her by the neck.

Rias gasped, trying to get some air inside her lungs, but on top of being choked, the cold, unforgiving eyes on the human girl made her almost forget how to breathe. The veins on her forehead were visible, the disdain and overwhelming rage on her face were prominent, and a sense of fear gripped the devil's heart.

She desperately tried to get the iron grip off her neck, kicking and flailing around as her very magic failed to respond due to the terror she felt, but nothing she did worked in her favor.

"Wretched." Akane growled, seeming to barely contain the fury raging inside of her. "Your very existence disgusts me, Rias."

"E-enough!" Sona suddenly said. "You win, Akane. Let Rias go."

Akane only tightened her grip, prompting the redhead devil to start tearing up from the lack of breath. She couldn't do anything, not with how overwhelmed she felt. This sheer terror prevented her from focusing. She couldn't even do magic in this state.

"Oi." Ichiban stepped forward, a very worried but determined look on his face, and firmly gripped Akane's shoulder. "That's enough."

Akane clicked her tongue in annoyance, but relented, letting Rias fall to her knees, gasping and coughing. She felt herself shake as Sona rushed to her side, putting a comforting hand on her back as Rias panted less and less, finally getting her breathing under control.

Rias slowly peeked at her opponent's expression, and saw nothing but rage and contempt, making her flinch. She'd never seen someone with this look before, certainly not directed at her. Not even Riser ever looked at her this way, and she was sure he hated her.

"Not even ten seconds into this duel, and you already wanted to give up," Akane said, eyes glaring at her very soul. "You're a fucking joke."

"Akane, this is enough!" Sona glared at her. "You've–"

"Quiet." She responded coldly, making her childhood friend flinch. "Someone as worthless as she doesn't deserve your sympathy or kindness."

"That's not for you to decide–"

"As her 'beloved family' breaks their backs trying to get this fuck up of an heiress out of a problem she should've solved years ago–" Akane cut her off, pointing and glaring at Rias as if she was nothing but trash. "She has the gall to cry and complain about how unfair all of it is. She's never once even fucking tried to take it seriously."

Rias looked down, hands grasping a fistful of dirt in frustration.

"You think I'll be all smiles and tell her how great she's doing? Like all the fucking yes-men she's had over the years? I don't do that here." She said angrily. "I say it as I see it, and you, Gremory, are nothing more than a whiny, pathetic little brat, desperate to pull every trick in the book to avoid accountability."

"Akane…" Sona growled warningly.

"Tell me I'm wrong?" She turned to look at the Sitri Heiress who did not give a response. "If I was, she wouldn't even be in this situation. Has she even tried to lift a finger to help herself? No. She'd rather cry to 'Onii-chan' so he can shield her from any responsibility, like the spoilt little bitch she is.

"So is she even worthy of respect? Of leadership? Someone who couldn't even begin to solve her own problems?!" Akane continued, growing angrier with every word that came out of her mouth. "Are you, ANY OF YOU, proud of this?! One who would give up even before the fight started?!"

The addressed peerage of Rias, mostly Koneko and Kiba, flinched violently but were too intimidated to say anything, which only made her feel even worse. Why weren't they saying anything? Why weren't they… denying…it…

Rias' breath was labored, but not due to the lack of breathing from earlier. Her heart pounded wildly as her emotions began to run wild. The tremble in her arms became noticeable, and not even Sona's comforting hand made her calm down.

"You got so desperate, you even asked ME For help, your supposed enemy!" She spoke incredulously. "And now look what happens? Your idiot friend wasting every bit of my generosity just so she can wallow in her own self-pity and defeatism. Congratu-fucking-lations. We're so proud of you, Gremory. Absolutely outstanding."

Nobody argued, not like they could, and for a minute, there was nothing but tense silence. Akane then sighed deeply, though, it sounded more like she was taking a deep, calming breath than anything.

"Whatever. I'm done." She said with a much calmer tone. "I give up. There's no helping someone who doesn't want to be helped. Just go home. Can't believe I wasted my fucking time with you morons."

As Akane was about to leave, Rias spoke, stopping her in her tracks.

"What am I supposed to do, then?"

As if she was frozen solid, Akane did not move for a while, but quietly parroted her words.

"What are you supposed to do?" She muttered quietly, slowly turning around. "Are you being serious right now?"

"You think you know everything, but you can't even begin to comprehend what I know!" Rias argued, raising her voice as she stood up back on her feet. Frustration and rage spilled through every word. "You think some measly training is gonna help me win this?! In two damned weeks no less?! Are you fucking delusional?!"

Akane's pupils suddenly shrunk and she rushed forward, grabbing the redhead by the collar as she snarled.

"I'M delusional?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" She screamed, but this time, Rias met her glare with her own. "Are you hearing yourself you braindead whore?! I'm not the one who's whining about this being pointless, I'm not the one who didn't even TRY to take this fight seriously!"

"You clearly don't listen when someone tells you what they know, you pretentious bitch!" Rias shot back. "Riser can't be defeated on such short notice!"

"That dumbfuck isn't as invincible as you make him out to be–"

"You don't know anything–"

"I WIPED THE FUCKING FLOOR WITH HIM IN FRONT OF YOU!" Akane roared, ice slowly covering Rias' shirt. "HOW CAN YOU STILL BE IN SO MUCH DENIAL?!"

The audience finally made their move, pulling the girls off each other as Akane struggled to drag everyone that was keeping her at bay. The animalistic snarl on her face made it clear that she had lost control, and if she made it to Rias, she would not hold back. The very ground under her began to freeze as her magic leaked.

"How dare you insist that after what you witnessed!" The human girl growled deeply. "How fucking dare you waste the time you were given by accepting defeat when your friends try their hardest to give you whatever advantage they could!"

"I didn't ASK to be here!" Rias argued. "You dragged me into this meaningless boot camp, and for what? So you can stroke your ego?!"

"I did this on your friend's request, you blithering dipshit!" Akane said, pointing at Sona. "Right after she nearly got on her knees and begged me to help you!"

Rias flinched and glanced at Sona for a moment, not responding to the rage-filled human as her childhood friend looked away.

"So why can't show some respect and take these few days seriously?!" She questioned. "Even if that kaarage reject was as invincible as you say is, the least you can do is make him work for that victory, and not simply bend over and let him do as he damned pleases!"

Rias, in a sudden moment of vulnerability, could not continue the argument.

"Now I've seen just how fucking worthless you are, I hope get stuck with him for the rest of your life!" She continued to scream. "Someone like you doesn't deserve these loyal friends who would rather tear their own pride to shreds and humiliate themselves than ever see you in such a position!"

That seemed to shake the redhead a little as she flinched at it, losing her will to deny whatever the Yakuza Princess – who was currently trying to tear Rias a new one – said. She didn't know what to say or do, so she settled to look down at the cold ground.

Thankfully, after a moment of being held back, Akane seemingly calmed down, The human girl stopped struggling, scoffed, and left the courtyard, but not before whispering a few last words of mockery.

"What a disgrace…"

With that, Akane headed towards the building, Ichiban giving them a nod before following after. Sona helped Rias up as she spoke to her peerage, but the redhead was too out of it to comprehend what she was saying.

There were too many thoughts running through her head. Rias couldn't even think clearly, not when she was hit with all of that. She felt emotionally drained, she could barely stand anymore. She didn't want to do anything. She didn't want to think of anything.

She just felt so tired.

I understand that some of you might not really like how Rias is written here because it kinda sounds like I'm bashing her, but trust me, this is not my intention at all.

I promise you Rias will be a much better character soon, possibly becoming one of Akane's most trusted confidants. Just bear with me for now, yeah?

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