"Who would have thought that one of the trio would have an aversion of any kind when it came to sex?"

On any other day, Issei would have been more than just a little annoyed that Aika was bugging him yet again. But last night had gone well, so his temper was more easily controlled.

The cafeteria had the unfortunate effect of being rather empty for some reason, which meant that each conversation could be heard if any passerby decided to pay attention.

"A wonder of the world, I'm sure. Why are you here?" He sat back in the generic chair with his arms crossed. With the way the new building was constructed, voices echoed all the way from one corner to the other if conversation dropped.

In his experience, a conversation with Aika Kiryuu always had that one point where something was said that you really didn't want anyone else to hear. The classroom was the safest place to talk to her.

[Tonight, your dreams will be unpleasant.]

Issei felt his hand twitch from the not so veiled threat.

'C'mon man! I was minding my own business!'

He knew that wouldn't help. Ddraig would have preferred that Issei get up and walk away, not caring of how that would look and the way that Aika was likely to just follow and bug him even more if he did so.

[And you should have kept on minding your own business.] Just as soon as the big bad dragon had invaded his mind, he left. Issei could only feel a huge amount of dread of what his partner would put him through.

"What, am I not allowed to have lunch with a classmate?" Aika asked, a smirk on her face that went completely against the innocent tone she used.

There was an angle here that she was working, Issei was sure of it. Problem is… what the fuck is it?

"Allowed, sure, but other than yesterday the only time we've talked is when you go all high and mighty on the three of us."

Aika gave a single chuckle, like there was a game being played, only some of the players weren't aware it had started. From someone with a mind like hers, that was a dangerous thing indeed.

"You make me sound like some repeating villian that has a new monologue for each encounter."

Issei shrugged, noticing the change in volume of the room. It dipped significantly for about 2 seconds before picking back up, though there was a noticeable whisper to each of the other conversations happening.

"More of an act 2 boss. The kind that pops up a lot, but only stays around until they're dealt a certain amount of damage before running off to annoy you another day."

Her brow raised as she too crossed her arms, Issei didn't even have to look to know the effect it would have had. He'd checked out the girls in his class enough. The only thing that set Aika apart from the general public were her eyes, those piercing hazel orbs behind rimmed glasses that stared into your soul.

Her body was nothing special all things considered. Not bad, but nothing that made her stand out. No, it was the way she made you feel like all your secrets would be exposed if she looked at you long enough, the kind that you never wanted anyone knowing about.

She couldn't hold a conversation with the more innocent students of kuoh for fear of reducing their minds to sexually fueled mush with all of her innuendo's, but those with at least a basic tolerance were at risk.

"And what would the act 1 boss look like then?" She asked, that unnerving look placed on him.

"If me, Matsuda and Motohama are the characters, then I imagine it's a diverging story with separate origin chapters."

"Sounds tragic and overly complicated."

"Meh, probably. gives the game more replay value though."

He should really cut this conversation short somehow, otherwise Ddraig might make his dreams into something that made watching a twilight marathon seem like a pleasant sunday afternoon. Those movies are a horrible, angsty creation that serve no purpose.

Vampires that sparkle?! C'mon, that's just wrong.

"Why do I get the feeling that you just thought of something that would have a horde of angry girls chasing you with torches and pitchforks?" There was a dangerous twitch on her brow as Issei came back from his reminiscing on how all media was not equal in its value to society.

"If I ran off a cliff and those lemmings followed me, the world would be a better place." Obviously he would be just fine. Issei understood that female fanservice was just as necessary, but that was an abomination. Tall and heavily muscled poets with that 5 o'clock shadow perpetually on their face, that kind of thing Issei understood and accepted. Not that 'woe is me, I live forever and shine like diamonds in the sun. I'm cursed with incredible speed and strength, but i'm miserable because no one understands me' bullshit. Oh, and he's rich because...stereotypes.

A staring contest had begun, in one corner there was the known lecher from the east side of town. Stunt double for the one of the more frequent antagonists on Sera's show, kama sutra connoisseur, Issei Hyoudou.

In the other corner, attempting to glare through bone and brain matter, the meat measuring master, Aika Kiryuu.

"May I sit with the two of you?"

Ah, a third contender enters the match!

Issei broke eye contact with his bespectacled opponent to see the owner of this familiar and far too polite voice. Blonde hair that hung around his head and face, Grey eyes with just a hint of blue and that mole under one eye that Issei had honestly thought to be fake for the longest time. There was a friendly, disarming smile on his face, one that Issei recognized.

From the corner of his eye, Issei was able to spot Aika eyeing the guy up like he was both a sculpture of marble and a juicy steak, the lightest hints of a blush on her cheeks.

Yuuto Kiba, 2nd year student and knight of Rias Gremory. He was built like your typical knight, slender, sure-footed, not an ounce of fat or much muscle on his frame to keep lean and quick.

Aika's blush and smile faded when her eyes came to his waist. There was no need to guess on why her mood had just deflated.

'Heh, this is what they get for putting him up on that damn pedestal.'

She must have seen the smirk growing on his face, because she glared at him with renewed intensity. He'd have to cover his junk with a book or his bag or something. Inconspicuously of course, he couldn't have her aware that he suspected her to measure him out of spite.

'Not that i'm ashamed, but it's just weird that she can do that without some sort of magic.'

Motohama's ability was different. His friend had taken all the types of bras into consideration when he gave his assessments.

"I would say no on the grounds of not fraternizing with the enemy, but that would make me a hypocrite given current company." Issei gestured to the open seat right in front of the guy. There was no way this wasn't going to get back to Matsuda and Motohama, and they were certainly going to rant about it.

Taking the seat graciously, Kiba placed his tray on the table with a book beside it. Did this guy intend on reading in the cafeteria after asking to sit with them? Weird but whatever.

"You never answered my question on why you decided on sitting with me Kiryuu." Issei asked, taking a bite of his own food. The stuff they had here was alright, better than what he assumed most schools would offer, but then again this place was run by extremely wealthy devils. To them, this was probably gruel hardly even suitable for human consumption.

"Our conversation yesterday was entertaining and-"

Issei raised a hand and interjected "We are not going there again. You ruined it with that horrible excuse for a joke."

"All I was gonna say, was that I am surprised how much it got to you. Never thought the line in the sand would be so deep."

Unfortunately, Kiba looked all too interested in the conversation. Issei had nothing against the guy personally, only that his looks and demeanor attracted the attention of pretty much any girl he came across while Issei was left to wallow in the mud.

Aside from the fact that the joke Aika told where things had gone too far being about a kid, there was another aspect to it.

Issei was aware of how Kiba had ended up becoming a devil, so bringing up a priest joke probably wouldn't go over well. On a more personal note, Issei's first real friend had been from a very religious family. Like… the kind that were probably exorcists and were aware of how the world really worked.

He hadn't seen or heard from her since she moved away all those years ago, but the thought of her being abused by some of the sick fucks in the church made bile rise in his throat. The chances of them meeting and being on good terms were extremely small, but he'd like to entertain the hopeful thought.

"Well now you know." Issei turned towards the new person at the table to make sure the conversation didn't continue down the line he knew she'd bring it.

"So, Kiba, don't you normally eat with the rest of your club? What is it again, the occupational research club?" Around the school, everyone always referred to it as The ORC, so his intentional blunder was understandable. Even more so because some of the more popular and voted to be successful students were a part of it.

"The president and vice president had something to take care of off campus, and Koneko isn't much for conversation so I decided to eat here today." There was the smallest twitch in his lips, something that Aika had certainly not seen.

'Hmmm… something devil related then. Can't be good news either soooooo, something to do with Riser?' Issei had seen Kiba interact with other students too many times to know that his little slip in expression wasn't of no consequence. Sirzechs had also boasted about how his sisters' group were like a family, protective and loving and always there to help each other.

With him receiving that flyer yesterday, Issei had been expecting some sort of encounter with the redhead sooner or later. This wasn't exactly how he'd envisioned first contact being made though.

"Gotcha. Must suck having your friends bail like that, reasonable excuse or not." He was going to keep the subject matter on mundane things.

"No it's alright, we don't have to be around each other all the time. Sometimes a change for a day or two is nice."

Aika snorted. "Right, like you'd rather be here than with two of the hottest girls on campus."

It was hard to argue with that logic.

"They might be beautiful, but Rias and Akeno are also very kind. They have helped me out a lot since I met them." Yea, the whole making sure he didn't die bit was pretty helpful.

Since Aika had taken the plunge, Issei decided he'd join in the good natured ribbing.

"Or he just has a kink that none of them fill." After he spoke, Aika smiled the same way as she did when she was about to tear down him and his friends.

"Kink?" Kiba questioned. He was ignored.

"That would explain why none of the girls here have been able to lock him down for even a single date."

Maybe together, they could get Kiba to decide that a tactical retreat was in order. Ddraig was already going to torture him tonight, so what's the harm?

"Wonder what it is? Damsel in distress maybe?" Issei noticed Kiba's eyes glaze over, likely zoning out of the conversation so his friendly veneer didn't crack.

"Nah, too obvious. Plus that box was crossed out last year."

Right, the sports day thing when one of the runners twisted her ankle. Kiba assisted her to the infirmary, said injured runner having stars in her eyes until the faded from view. Nothing seemed to have come from that.

"Maybe he's into the power play stuff. Y'know, like a servant or butler thing?" Kiba seemed to want a redirection of the topic after that.

"Speaking of dating, Issei, I heard you found yourself a new lady love. Congratulations." His smile seemed genuine then, but Issei had a hard time not tensing from the quick redirection. Yuuma had only been detected by Issei because he used some techniques that were rather unique to a devil. Koneko should have been able to notice, but the girl all but shunned her true nature.

The little rook would have had to get almost nose to nose with the fallen to sniff it out.

"Say what now?" Aika turned her eyes to him, eyebrow raised and a hungry look in her eyes. It was well known around his classmates that Aika loved gossip. Any sort of juicy info was likely to come to her ears before almost anyone else in the school. He wasn't sure how she did it.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have a girlfriend." Technically true. While the date yesterday had ended up going better than expected, he and Yuuma had agreed to just see where things went. Though the kissing wasn't something that a high school student would generally associate with 'just friends'.

As happy as he was in getting to know her, Issei wasn't fool enough to think that she was staying in Kuoh for much longer. Didn't mean he'd like to see her go though…

He mentally sighed. He still hadn't told Sera.

"Strange, I heard that you were out on a date with quite the beauty yesterday." Issei really wanted to narrow his eyes and tell Kiba to fuck off. Kiba was using Koneko shadowing him as a source of rumored information. It was a cheap trick and Issei didn't see what the other guy wanted to get out of it.

"Is that why you didn't go with the nitwits yesterday?"Aika had a hand to her chin, eyeing him in a way he didn't like.

"I had a prior engagement, if you recall."

"Yeah, but the sports clubs weren't done with practice for like another 20 minutes after you finished. Plenty of time to meet up with them." He was actually more surprised that she didn't comment on her own innuendo attempt then the fact that she knew what time the showers would have been in use.

Actually….

"Hold on a second. How do you know where they were going?" That was a very important question with a potentially disastrous end for his two buddies. Granted it was probably a bad idea to be peeking directly into the showers to begin with, but he couldn't refute the urge wasn't something most men would feel. They just had less self control.

"I'll tell you about mine, if you tell me about yours." That one was closer to something suggestive. She knew it too, judging by the wiggle of her brow.

He had to make a quick decision on where to go from here. Having more people snooping around his life wasn't exactly something he wanted, and Aika was the persistent type. The reputation of a pervert gave him a sort of cover, made others less likely to care about anything he did unless he was caught peeping.

Issei was left with the nagging thought that Ddraig had warned him about this. The red and white dragon emperors were never allowed a peaceful and pleasant life. There was always some idiot that fancied themselves the next big thing and wanted to take out the wielder of a legendary sacred gear.

On more than one occasion, Ddraig had said that Issei was experiencing a length of relative peace none of his hosts had ever achieved once the gear was activated to the state his was. If they had managed to unlock balance breaker, it seemed like all they were able to do was fight. Issei wondered how many of those were out of self-defense rather than losing control.

As for whether or not to tell Aika anything, he wasn't sure. There wasn't much he could say definitively, and Issei wasn't a fan of speculation. So if he didn't know anything for sure, he wouldn't say it at all. The only part that didn't apply to was her name.

"Shame I don't have anything to tell you then." Was his answer.

It was too much of a risk, one that he wasn't willing to take. One slip of the tongue, one sighting, that's all it would take to unravel the hard work of staying hidden. Matsuda and Motohama were his friends, but Sera and the others were like family.

And he had so little in terms of family.

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and the few minutes before classes restarted.

Issei tried to tell himself that it had nothing to do with the budding thing he had with a fallen angel.

He wasn't entirely successful.

-LineBreak-

Rias drummed her fingers on the desk, the only outlet she felt was appropriate for her frustration at the moment. If she were more inclined to her mother's side, she may have started breaking things.

But Venerana was quite thorough in her teachings. Calm, collected, thoughtful. That's how she should be, even in the face of danger. The power of destruction made their bodies a conduit for demise, it had to be kept under control, especially since she was living in the human world.

Rias couldn't claim to be completely without her moments of rage, but no one in her family would believe such a statement anyway, so why bother?

Taking the day off from school had been a poor choice on her part. She should have demanded they accommodate her own schedule and held the meeting in the late afternoon.

Perhaps if she had, Koneko could have given her a report on the happenings of her prospective peerage member that morning. Maybe there would have been something in her findings to lift her mood.

Issei Hyoudou.

At first glance, there was nothing special about him. For over a year she hadn't noticed a thing. But one day a little over a month ago, there was just this… feeling, that someone around her was holding something spectacular.

Rias couldn't describe it any more accurately than that, and it certainly didn't fit any of the sensations she'd felt before when dealing with other supernatural entities or sacred gears. Even Gasper, her sealed mutation bishop, had given a more directed feeling than this.

It had taken her almost two weeks to narrow down where it was coming from. It felt like a gentle tug, similar to when Millicas had been a baby and pulled on her pinky finger. So light, but so secure.

Both her brother and parents acknowledged that she had a gift when it came to finding people. Akeno, the daughter of a fallen angel cadre. Kiba, an orphan of the church that had been set for 'disposal'. And Gasper, a dhampir with the ability to stop time.

But this one was different.

Having not felt it last year, Rias thought that perhaps one of the first year students was the culprit. Hall after hall, class after class she searched, and nothing. There hadn't been any new 2nd years, so she thought to check the third years, because there had been a number of them that were new to Kuoh.

Kiyome was the only one to set off that nonhuman feeling, but Rias knew that the Tennis captain was a beast tamer. They had talked about it openly.

A few days later, having just spoken to her sister-in-law, Rias felt it again. School had been let out already, so she was free to wander the grounds. She was confused when she was led near the kendo club, most were third years and already vetted.

But then the feeling started to flee.

She'd followed it, walking along the tree line and keeping out of view. The edge of the building gave way to three boys, and Rias had only known their reputation at the time, she couldn't place a name to a face.

One bald with more… Neanderthal type features. One with longer black hair and glasses. And one with somewhat baggy clothes, brown shaggy hair and a feeling of ease about him. Rias didn't know which one was the culprit, but she had decided to find out.

The perverted trio, getting the names was easy. Akeno kept her ears open and had even interacted with the one wearing glasses before, though all he did was grin and stare at her chest apparently. Her queen admitted that she was looking forward to an opportunity to fluster him beyond belief.

Sirzechs had contacted her one night, asking how things were going and if she was enjoying her time in Japan. She'd said yes, and that she was certain there was a potentially powerful person nearby that she could recruit.

It was the very next day that she saw him without his two friends, and that feeling pulsed like a separate heartbeat within her. Walking by him on the staircase had been somewhat difficult, because all she wanted to do was stare and try to figure him out. Color her surprised when he didn't even notice her walking by.

That was strange, because the humans in her school always turned an eye when she was around.

He had looked different then, more… assured.

It wasn't a perfect way to describe what she saw, but it was the closest she could come to. There was something in that gaze, more than what he displayed for everyone else. She was positive of that.

As for the specifics, she hadn't a clue.

So Rias had watched, trying to put the puzzle pieces together with what she knew. It wasn't much admittedly, but a vague idea had formed.

That feeling she got from him must have been from his sacred gear activating, and that look she'd seen only twice now was from a boost in confidence from the changes a mystical tool would give any normal human.

Strange thing was, she never noticed any power sources from within the town to suggest her theory was correct. Until she heard the report from Koneko, that was the best she could come up with.

"Is the meeting still bothering you, or is it something else?" Akeno asked asked she walked with practised ease, the tray of tea and snacks not wavering in the slightest.

While Rias heard, she didn't answer, merely humming indecisively. In truth, it was all plaguing her mind in one way or another. The clink of the tray of her desk diverted aquamarine eyes from that one swirl of grains in the wood.

"A rating game is the only way to get out of this Akeno, and we don't have the power to win. If it were all of us against Riser himself, then maybe. We might be stronger than the average for our age, but a full peerage with a man that can regenerate near endlessly…"

Rias trailed off as the cup and saucer were placed in front of her, catching the troubled look on the face of her best friend. Her Fiance had been rather blatant with his stares during the meeting, and it made Rias wish she had the same strength as her mother of brother.

Wiping that look from his face would have been a very enjoyable act.

There were rumors floating around that Riser had sex with each girl in his peerage except Ravel. No one had come out and just asked the man about it, partially because nobody really cared what one did with their peerage, and partially because many were likely envious of him for it. Devils did not enjoy being shown that someone had it better.

Pride was such a fickle thing.

While a member of the Gremory family couldn't outright order Rias' peerage around, marriage was… different. What was his would become hers, and what was hers would become his. A merging of assets.

Unfortunately for Rias, Akeno, Koneko and Kiba, a peerage was considered an asset by devil law. A possession, property.

'And people wonder why so many high-class marry their queen.' She thought bitterly.

The queen was the closest confidant, the second in command, the one always by their side. It seemed a natural progression in her mind, having so many with queens of the opposite gender getting married to the king.

On the more selfish side of things, it also kept power more in the hands of the king. They would not be expected to share the peerage with anyone else.

"If only Lord Lucifer were able to…" Akeno started, something almost resembling a grimace on her face.

"He can't show favoritism. As much as i'd like to be rid of this whole ordeal, my brother can't do anything without causing more trouble." Not that she'd particularly like for that to be held over her head anyway.

If Sirzechs did something like that, who knew how he'd leverage it on Rias later. A plethora of embarrassing ways for sure.

Akeno looked like she was about to say something more, but the door opened and in walked the other two members before that could happen. The dark-haired beauty seemed unwilling to say her previously planned thought with the new onlookers.

The blank look on Koneko's face betrayed nothing, but the smile on Kiba looked a little strained.

"Hello you two, how was school?" Rias asked, sounding and feeling more like a parental figure than a classmate or someone of similar age.

"Nothing new." Koneko spoke in her typical quiet voice, no discernable tone to be inferred. Her strides to the couch were purposeful, almost like she had something that really needed to be said.

"Quite pleasant, if a bit strange for a moment, thank you president." Kiba on the other hand, was easier to read since any differentiation was obvious to the older girls. From what they could tell just by looking, Kiba seemed to have found himself in a situation that unnerved him. Not greatly, but just enough to show.

As Akeno went about serving tea and snacks, which Koneko supplemented from her own vast supply, Rias watched her two servants carefully, wondering who to call upon first. The report she might receive from Koneko had the possibility to derail any thoughts on what Kiba may have experienced, so her priority should be the knight of the group.

"Is something bothering you Kiba? You seem… Tense." Perhaps that wasn't the best description, but nothing else felt like it would be close enough. Her knight didn't look particularly stressed, but there was something on his mind.

The smile he graced her with was easier, thankful. But still he shook his head while expecting to hear of some wrong done to him, light as it may have been.

"Not so much as anything being wrong, I was merely party to a conversation with Issei Hyoudou and Aika Kiryuu during lunch. It was… Well, it caught me by surprise to be honest."

With such a simple statement he had captured the entirety of her attention.

"Did you now?" She tried to keep her voice level, calm, only slightly interested, being successful to a degree that only Akeno seemed to pick up on her true feelings on the matter. The Serene queen seemed amused at her interest in such an unusual target.

"And what transpired during this conversation that seems to have rattled you?"

Her question was answered by a recount of what happened during lunch.

One thing in particular seemed odd to Rias, but first she needed details from Koneko. Turning to the small rook, who was nibbling on her usual candies, the heiress questioned.

"What can you tell me of last night Koneko?"

The rook hesitated, torn between answering her king and the bite of sweet bliss centimeters from her mouth. Duty won out, in the end.

"He was… mostly normal, almost made me think he had an identical twin until after they came out from the woods." While both Rias and Akeno rose an eyebrow, the glint in the queens eyes clearly suspected something of a more adult nature happened.

"You lost sight of them?" Koneko nodded to her senior.

"Too dense to keep silent and out of view." A rook she may be, but Koneko had her species and smaller frame to her advantage. The rook was light on her feet, a whisper on the wind when she wanted to be. If Koneko didn't think she could stay out of sight and out of mind, then that's how it was.

"How long were they there?" Rias wasn't even sure why she wanted to know.

Koneko shrugged. "Ten minutes or so." Then her face scrunched in something like wary confusion.

"What is it?"

The thing on her mind was just speculation, that being the reason she didn't mention it to Kiba.

"The girl… changed, when they walked out."

Confident? No, that wasn't it. From the moment they walked out of his apartment building, she knew his eyes were on her. Was she a neighbor, or had she actually been in his apartment? Not that Koneko had any desire to, but she hadn't thought of a way to get that close.

It was more like the girl had accepted something, let some facade melt away and just be herself.

Strange. Why would she want to be around that pervert anyway?

The conversations for the first portion of the date had been average, and hadn't changed much after the woods. It was the looks traded between them that changed. Seeing the pair kiss wasn't something that Koneko appreciated, a fan of PDA she is not.

Now that Rias had the information, her earlier pondering was all the more present.

'Why would Issei hide, outright deny, the fact that he had a date?'

Her curiosity only made Rias want to meet him more. The summoning flyer hadn't yet worked, so what would be the best way to go about it?

-LineBreak-

"Okay, peanut butter, crunchy or creamy?"

Sitting on his couch, Issei was in a position he'd found himself in multiple times.

Just never with 'Yuuma'.

"Crunchy." He answered quickly, hands rubbing the small soft foot of the girl that looked ready to fall asleep.

"What?!" Her exclamation only had her raising her head, opening her eyes and propping her torso up via elbows planting into the cushion.

"Crunchy." He repeated, firm in his choice.

"How can you say that?" lowering herself down to her previous resting position, Yuuma brought both hands up above her head, hanging over the armrest of the couch.

"Creamy is obviously the better choice. Seriously, even just eating a spoonful of it is better." One hand rose, three fingers lightly touching her cheek.

"The taste, the smooth, slightly salted taste swirling on your tongue and sliding down your throat." Issei wasn't sure they were talking about peanut butter anymore, her fingers gliding ever so softly down to her neck, stopping at her chest as one eye peered over to him.

"It's so… satisfying, feeling that as I lick the rest off my lips." Diving in to her act, Her tongue peeked out and swept over her lips.

For just a few seconds, Issei was unable to say, think, or do anything. He'd been unprepared for the innuendo and the follow through. Normally any sort of innuendo was immediately followed by a grin or laughter.

But she looked entirely genuine.

It made him wonder.

"Fucking teasing succubbus." Issei managed to grumble, getting the fallen to smirk when she felt something stirring beneath her calf resting on his lap.

For Raynare, this was strange. She was essentially doing nothing, just laying on a couch as her… boyfriend worked magic on her foot with fingers that seemed to know all the points of tension.

And yet she didn't feel like this was a waste of time, she wasn't bored or annoyed with the only other occupant in the room being a human.

Unfortunately, this contentment wouldn't last. She'd already informed Issei that she'd need to head out rather early. The reason hadn't been offered and he never asked, accepting her word at face value.

She had two theories about that. The first was that Issei was just trusting by nature. The other was that the devil chick had conditioned him not to ask too many questions. Which one was better had yet to be decided.

"Who said i'm teasing?" Sure, Raynare hadn't been with a guy that she'd actually felt the desire to suck him off, rather it was a measure of reciprocation. A quid pro quo kind of thing, but it wasn't like the act was something she found revolting. Just another thing that felt like it had to be the right guy to recieve a spontaneous blowjob from her.

She couldn't deny the little power trip it gave her though, something about knowing that every little thing she did was the sole reason for the things he'd feel. A purse of the lips, flick of the tongue, clench of her throat.

Some of the fallen women even went so far as to turn it into a near artform, but they were… more promiscuous than herself. She'd rather not say they were slutty, because with the missions they had sometimes you just had to find a way to turn a situation to your favor.

To her surprise, Issei moved the conversation along from the very obvious line she'd brought them towards.

"Are you an animal person Yuuma?"

'Should that bother me?' She might not be in her true form, though there wasn't a whole lot different besides height, but Raynare had figured that a guy like Issei would follow down the path of trying to get some action. Or rather, the baseline perception that people had of Issei.

'I shouldn't be surprised after how last night went.'

The two of them were getting closer slowly but surely, however, she didn't feel the need to divulge every thought the moment it popped into her head. They weren't anywhere near that level. And besides, she was actually looking forward to where things might go between them.

"Not for the exotic kind, but dogs, cats, and that sort of thing." Raynare answered after a pause she hadn't been aware was building.

Her eyes hardened as she made an addition to that statement.

"If you tell me that you have a pet squid, spider, centipede or anything with more than four legs I am leaving and never setting foot in your home again."

Her boyfriend looked both shocked and amused at her answer.

"I was gonna say i'm more of a dog person myself than anything else, but damn." He chuckled at the end. She couldn't help it, spiders and centipedes were probably a normal thing for people to dislike. Squids, or an octopus she supposed, had just been...defiled by a section of Japanese culture.

'ONE TIME! I let a target show me a video of his fetish one fucking time!' Needless to say her respect for the Japanese had gone down below what her threshold for humans was.

Actually, now that she was thinking about some of the weird fetish categories…

"And if you tell me that you have one of those full body animal suits where the mouth moves… I will slap you so hard you'll get testicular torsion." She was serious too.

When her head cleared enough for her to get out of the horrifying things she'd unknowingly agreed to watch, Raynare noticed that Issei was staring at her intently.

"You hate furries?" His gaze was sharp, unreadable, and Raynare couldn't help but feel just a little turned on that it was focused entirely on her.

Then his face shifted, expression easing into a relieved smile with a good measure of lust behind it.

"Thank all that is good in this world." She must have been giving him that kind of look that radiated the question 'Uh….. what?' because he elaborated.

"Furries are an abomination. Pure evil. Indecent. Unnatural. A plague that must be wiped off the earth."

'Well alright then.' She wasn't going to disagree, but Raynare was sure that there was a story behind his animosity. Still though, the tentacle stuff was higher on her list of 'disgusting things that humans are into' list.

-LineBreak-

Under the cover of darkness, Issei walked through the woods bordering Kuoh. Yuuma hadn't stayed much longer before leaving, a few kisses shared before she headed to… wherever it was she needed to be.

As had happened a few times, Issei was thankful that she hadn't been there when his dispatch to take out a stray came through. A human wouldn't have been able to feel the magic affecting a specific shelf in his living room acting as a sort of transport tube for communications, but a fallen definitely would have.

Given that Rias was still without a full peerage, the higher ups would pause at offering her even a B rank stray, let alone an A rank or S rank. Sure, Sona could have helped, but the division of labor for the territory specifically made it the task for the Gremory heiress.

[Ahhhhhh, that was cathartic.] Ddraig was more than pleased to see some combat, short lived as it had been. Issei had agreed to go a little overboard, only using the boosted gear on the thing that had at least looked humanoid at some point in its life. Doing so granted Issei some measure of atonement for what Ddraig considered to be a capital crime, conversing with Aika.

"How was that an 'A' ranked stray?" Issei asked his companion. The ranks ranged from D to SS, and since there were only a few listings to fit in, the ranges of power from those in any rank could vary greatly. Sirzechs for example, would be considered an SS rank because it was the highest tier, and the likes of Ruval phenex would share it because of his power being in the category of the lowest ultimate class devils.

D and C rank were generally considered among low class power tiers, B rank for middle class, and A rank for high class. The thing Issei fought hardly felt B rank.

[How long has it been since you've had a fight that required more than a single strike in your base form?] Ddraig asked flatly.

Issei had to actually think for a few moments on that. Stray knight pieces were always a pain to deal with because he wasn't exactly the best at turning on a dime. He could… but in the heat of the moment it usually meant there was a short chase if he missed.

"A few months." He shrugged.

[Try over a year.] Ddraig corrected [The only reason the manticore lasted as long as it did was because you didn't lead your shots.]

Ugh. That one sucked. Whoever thought it was a good idea to give that beast crystal meth deserved every right step to be on a lego and every left step to stub his pinky toe.

"Point taken, it's been a little bit for any kind of challenge."

[That wasn't my point, Partner. My point was that you're still growing, your body still developing and adapting to its power. The hardest of your training was done either before puberty or during its beginning stages.]

Not even Issei was dumb enough to not get where Ddraig was going with that. The training had pretty much come to a halt after he defeated Grayfia, and anything beyond that day had been of his own accord.

"How much stronger do you think I am?" He asked with the barest sense of unease.

Him being Sera's queen was already going to be a source of heated debate between the pillars. The other queens were all pure-blooded, notable persons. He on the other hand was just some kid that happened to have a god given tool of mass destruction.

If he had crossed the last threshold in terms of a devil's power… debate would be the least of his worries. How many assassins had been sent after Tannin when he was reincarnated and almost immediately given an ultimate class promotion?

Some of the pillar members were extremely petty, paranoid, and prehistoric in what they thought was the best course of action for devil society.

[It's hard to say, but I doubt it's enough for you to decisively defeat your king in Balance Breaker.]

"Fuck." Issei caught that last hint as well. He and Ddraig had agreed that they should compare his strength to others with either his base form or Balance Breaker and not… the other thing.

It was too unstable still, the secrecy he had to abide by meant that he couldn't train it. The power drain wasn't something he was too concerned about anymore, just that it felt so completely different and he lost control of it too often.

Before long, Issei was approaching his building and walking inside. Keys entered locks, doors were opened, stairs were climbed. Finally, Issei was back home. He wasn't a fan of stray hunts, it made the fault in the peerage system all too apparent to him, and even more so was the way that the higher ups handled it.

After that thing with the SS stray Kuro-

"What the…"

Issei clearly recalled leaving on the lamp by the door and the hallway light between the living room and bedroom. What he walked into was a dark expanse, his vision as a devil being the only reason he could see anything at all. Even then, his vision was tinted in a slight red hue as the magic transmitted the sights to his brain.

There was also the slow, rhythmic beat of some unnameable song playing through the stereo below his TV, and the scent in the air…

A smile spread across his lips, remembering a scene so much like this one.

"Sera-" His body rocked before catching his balance as a rocket of flesh and hair attached itself to his side.

"I've missed you." A breathy whisper washed over his right ear, a soft cheek pressed into his neck.

Pressing a hand over the ones wrapped around to his chest, Issei felt both elated and nervous. He couldn't put off the conversation any longer.

"I missed you too." But he could delay it in order to calm himself.

"There's something I need to tell you." There were multiple things actually, but one had priority over the others.

"Me too. But first…" There was a rasp in her voice as she let one hand slip down-

"Take me to bed." -And it slipped right into his boxers to grab hold of what was obviously her goal at the moment.

His desire to please her, to love her, overruled the rational thought that his interaction with a fallen was the most important thing at the moment.

"As my king commands."

END!

FURRIES ARE EEEEVVVVVIIILLLL!

Maybe lemon next chapter, not sure.

Rias stuff, Ray stuff, Sera stuff too.