A week after the defeat of the fallen angels, Issei, Mash, and Asia were walking to school together. It was Asia's first day of school and she was nervous. Issei patted her on the head and smiled at her. "Don't worry Asia, everyone at school is gonna love you. After all, no one would be upset with a pretty girl in their class." He said playfully.
Asia blushed at the compliment and Mash chimed in as well. "It will be strange at first, but the other students mean well, even if they are a bit misguided. I'm also new to school life as well so we can learn things about school life together." She said with a smile.
Asia smiled happily at Mash, grateful to learn that she was not alone in this. "Thank you Mash-san, Issei-san." She said as the three continued to school.
The school day was pretty hectic once Asia was introduced to the class. Everyone was happy to have another cute girl in the class and were quick to try and make friends. It also didn't go unnoticed how nice Asia was to Issei which naturally brought up questions. During the lunch break the girls in the class started to question Asia about what she likes and where she is living, in the meantime Matsuda and Motohama rushed to Issei to question him.
"Hey bro, how do you know the new transfer student?" Demanded Matsuda.
"Yeah man! And how do you keep getting girls to talk to you?!" Whined Motohama.
Issei was looking at the pair with slight annoyance but couldn't blame them. From their perspective their buddy is getting in good with girls and leaving them behind. Before he could say anything back to them they were interrupted by one of the girls in the class shouting in surprise.
"What! You're living with him!" One of the girls yelled. Asia had a look of surprised confusion, not understanding what the problem was. The girls huddled around Asia and began to question her. "He hasn't tried to do anything to you has he?!" Asked another.
"Do things like what?" Asia asked, still confused.
"Has he asked you into his room?!" "Has he tried to peep on you in the bathroom?!" "Has he tried to touch you?!" The girls were practically interrogating her. At the side of them Mash was making an unpleasant face at the girls' behaviors while Kiryuu was making a mischievous smile.
Before the questions could continue everyone heard a loud slamming noise and looked to the source. Issei was sitting at his desk with an annoyed look while the other two of the perverted trio were on the ground twitching. Hearing that Issei was living with a beautiful foreign girl was finally too much for them and they swung at Issei. Issei nonchalantly dodged their swings and punched them both in the face, knocking them down. On the ground you could hear the pair cursing Issei. "D-damn you!" "Y-you bastard!" They muttered.
"That's what happens when you attack me, idiots." Issei said and returned to eating his lunch. Asia just looked around completely confused about everyone's reactions.
After classes had ended Issei, Mash, and Asia were preparing to head out when they were called out by someone who just entered the classroom.
"Hello again, Issei-kun, Mash-san, Asia-san. Buchou has asked me to bring you three to the clubroom as she has something to discuss with you all." Said Kiba.
The trio looked between each other then looked back at Kiba. "Sure, that shouldn't be a problem." Replied Issei nonchalantly. They grabbed their things and left as the class made its usual ruckus.
As the group arrived in the clubroom they were greeted by Rias. "Hello Issei-kun, Mash-kun, Asia-san." She said cheerfully.
"Uhm… You can just call me Asia, Rias-senpai." Asia said shyly.
Rias smiled at the girl and nodded. "Very well then Asia." She straightened herself out to make herself look more official. "So the reason I called you all here was to ask if you would be interested in joining our club?"
Issei, Mash, and Asia had a surprised look on their faces. Issei seemed cautious though. "Isn't the Occult Research Club meant for people in your peerage?"
"While that is how things have worked out it is not strictly true. Seeing as how we are all going to be working together for the foreseeable future, having you in the club makes it easier for us to coordinate. On top of that I thought it would be beneficial for you to learn more about devil society and have a chance to interact with our government."
She did make a good point, but considering all the help she was giving it was obvious she wanted something. "What's the catch?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
Rias remained stoic and simply smiled. "No catch. Like I said this is so that we can continue to build a better relationship for the future."
Issei stared at Rias for a bit then looked at the other two. "What do you two think?" He asked them.
"I'm fine with whatever you choose, Senpai." Said Mash.
"I-I don't have an issue with joining the club. It sounds like it could be a lot of fun." Said Asia happily.
Issei smiled at her then turned to Rias. "All right, we'll join the club. We have plans for tonight so we will start tomorrow if that's fine with you." He said casually.
"That's fine. I'm glad we came to an agreement, and now with three more members we will be all the more prepared for school activities and the sports festival later this year."
Issei smiled wryly. "Already looking for ways to take advantage of us huh?" He said sarcastically.
Rias gave a wry smile of her own. "You can't exactly blame me can you?"
"No, I guess not. All right, we will see you all tomorrow." He said, giving them a wave. Mash and Asia bowed as they left the room.
Some time after they left the room Koneko gave Rias a thumbs up. "Mission successful."
"Ara ara, Buchou can be so devious. Having them as a part of the club will make it easier to convince them to reincarnate." Said Akeno.
Rias just smiled satisfactorily while she picked up her tea to drink it. As she sat there she thought back to a conversation she had earlier that week with Sona.
(Earlier that week)
"He is the Red Dragon Emperor?!" Sona said, shocked at the news.
"Yes he is, which means it is now in our best interest to make sure that we don't make an enemy of him. Even as a human he holds incredible power, not to mention who he has serving under him." Said Rias.
Sona pushed up her glasses. "I'm still having a hard time believing that he has someone as powerful as Angra Mainyu serving him, but I don't have any reason to doubt you." Sona narrowed her eyes. "Still this is all the more reason to get him on our side."
"Very true. He might be the solution that I have been waiting for to get me out of this engagement." Rias said, the determination clearly visible on her face.
"Be careful Rias. If you rush this you might lose your chance and that would be just as bad for you as making him an enemy." Sona warned.
Rias looked down contemplating her next move. "... I think I will have him join my club in order to get him more comfortable with devils. He mentioned before that he had a bad experience previously. Even if he didn't elaborate, all we have to do is just overwrite his bad memories with good ones. I will also invite Mash-san and Asia-san to make things more comfortable for him."
"That's a good start but you need to make sure not to make any mistakes. You only have a few months until the deadline." Sona stated.
"Don't worry. I will make it work." She said confidently. Sona just sighed at her childhood friend.
(Back in the present)
Rias finished drinking her tea and spoke her thoughts out loud. "Getting Issei on our side will be our best chance to beat Riser. We have to do whatever it takes for him to join us." The other members in the clubroom nodded in agreement.
Issei, Mash, and Asia were walking home for the day after meeting with Rias when about halfway home Mash asked a question. "Are you sure this was a wise decision Senpai?"
Issei gave a glance at Mash before looking ahead again. "I'm not sure. It's obvious she wants us to join her peerage. Inviting us is just a pretext to get more interaction with us. But we still don't know what she wants us for."
"Isn't it just to make herself and her peerage stronger?" Mash asked.
"Rias doesn't strike me as the power hungry type. She wouldn't turn it down if it was offered to her but she doesn't seem the type to search for power just for power's sake." Issei said.
Asia who was listening next to them decided to give her own thoughts. "Maybe she is in trouble and needs help too?" She suggested.
Both Issei and Mash looked at the nun in surprise. They hadn't considered that they needed any help until the fallen situation happened. Issei thought about it some more. Come to think of it. When we first talked during the meeting she was desperate enough to try and use my desires against me, despite having gone to the trouble to say that she would never force anyone to join her peerage. If she is having a personal problem it would make sense to add me to her peerage, since that would make me her property and thus involved with whatever she needed to deal with. Issei seemed more convinced the more he thought about it. He looked over to Asia and patted her head. "Thank you for the suggestion Asia. I never would have thought of that. Of course it is only a theory right now until we figure out what her issue is, but it is good to keep in mind for now."
Asia smiled happily with a slight blush from being patted. Mash made a small pout at the attention Asia was getting. Issei noticed this and pulled Mash in and wrapped an arm around her. Mash was surprised but leaned her head on Issei's shoulder. Asia saw this and looked down, doing her best not to show her unhappiness.
As they continued to walk home Issei thought to himself. Looks like things really begin here. My life is about to get interesting all over again. A brave smile found its way to his face.
So, this is the end of Volume 1. I will start uploading the next chapters when I finish writing the last few chapters of volume 2. Just to reiterate for the comments who want me to change who gets with who, the story is still going to be mostly similar to the original only with additions of the FGO characters and plot lines. As for the concern with the girls being overly reliant on Issei, this partially the reason I didn't make him Rias' pawn in this story, meaning there are going to be certain plot points later on where Rias and her peerage are going to have to rely on themselves. Of course, this doesn't mean Issei isn't going to help but he will be less directly involved in stuff like Rating Game matches and other official things involved with the various supernatural governments. But every story needs something to push someone to be better and volume 2 will be that start for Rias. Anyways, thank you all for reading and I hope for your continued support and constructive criticism.