PROLOGUE

"Pfft. This is even worse than the last one. It's like you're doing this on purpose."

"You did like the blue one."

"And I'm beginning to think that it was a fluke. Who taught you how to pick out clothes?"

"You did."

"Right. Just cause I spent the last fifteen minutes advising you doesn't mean I'm responsible for the disaster you call fashion."

Rias was bewildered. When Akeno had coerce— cough convinced her to join this impromptu shopping trip, Rias had resigned herself to browsing through shops of the more kinky variety. After spending the usual hour moving between such stores, she left her queen to her own devices in one of the more depraved BDSM boutiques and proceeded to take a stroll through the mall.

Once she had acquired a set of novels, refreshed the standing delivery order from Koneko's favorite candy store and acquired a new console to tempt Gasper out of the box he had retreated into again, Rias had returned to the store where she had left her queen to find herself playing witness to quite the unusual situation.

Akeno was utterly immersed in a discussion of the various BDSM themed lingerie with another customer. That was a normal occurrence with her queen who loved to share her interests with fellow enthusiasts who, in turn, would soon be offering a private session. Rias had even been expecting a repeat of the Collar incident.

Instead, her queen was engaged in a heated debate over the lingerie designs with a teenage boy. In fact, she was so engrossed that she had failed to note Rias' arrival.

Akeno's lips twitched into the smile that charmed most of the school. "You did offer your expertise."

The boy snorted. "I just said that this piece," he held up a bra, "did not match your skin tone. You're the one who dragged me into this insanity."

"Ara, Ara." Akeno wore her Yamato Nadeshiko smile, a signal to those who knew her that trouble was in the air. "I do recall a certain someone who inserted themselves into my shopping trip without apology."

The boy gave an exaggerated shudder. "Can you not pull that creepy smile again?" Under his breath, he muttered, "Freaking Esdeath-wannabe."

Rias blinked. That was the first time she had ever heard anyone call her queen creepy or compare her to the sadistic general in a popular anime. Poor boy did not know how right on the mark he was.

Akeno crossed her arms under her breasts with great emphasis, still wearing her smile. "It is not polite to call a lady names."

The boy snorted and jerked a thumb at the queen. "If you're a lady, then I'm Emperor Jimmu himself."

"Glad someone agrees with me." Rias interjected, drawing the attention of the duo who probably would have continued their argument until the store closed. "She is far too troublesome."

"Rias." Akeno's smile acquired a wicked edge. "I found a wonderful piece that your broth-"

"Finish that sentence, bitch, and I'll burn your ponytail." Rias infused her tone with utter sincerity, enough so that even the boy looked very surprised.

"Prude." Akeno pouted.

Rias refused to cave to that adorable pout. The last time she had let Akeno run her mouth in one of these stores, she had to close three mail accounts and ask a favor from her brother who had been far too happy to abuse his power. It almost made her wonder why anybody would think her brother made a good leader until she remembered the disposition of the other Satans. "Got enough to restock your dungeon?"

"Wait." The boy blurted in surprise. "She really has a dungeon? I thought that was a joke."

Akeno turned on her most enticing smile. "I did offer a private tour."

To his credit, the boy merely gulped instead of turning into a drooling idiot. "I really don't want to be that guy in those hentai."

His controlled reaction was far more telling of his nature than he probably realized. Rias knew she and Akeno needed to share a private chat about the boy.

"I promise you the most wonderful time of your life." At that moment, Akeno's smile was tempting to Rias.

"Is that before or after you dance on my grave?"The boy returned the word serve with a smirk and turned to Rias. "So, you're the friend she's been bragging about?"

Rias just knew this was another one of Akeno's schemes to make her life interesting. The bitch was going to lose her beloved hair to a shampoo mishap soon. "Take anything she says with a grain of salt. Or even a bag"

The look Akeno gave her let Rias know her queen was expecting retaliation and would fight fire with fire.

The boy's gaze flitted between Rias and her queen "Looks like there's a story or two here."

Rias decided to move the conversation forward before her queen decided to turn the moment into a twisted BDSM rendition of her life. "Akeno, could you introduce me to your new friend?"

"Of course." Akeno faced the boy. "Your name, Stranger-san."

Rias wanted to facepalm. "You didn't even ask his name?"

"Stranger-san failed to follow proper etiquette." Akeno replied in a bland tone.

"What goes around, comes around, Esdeath-san." The boy retorted. "You didn't give me your name either." He offered a smile to Rias. "Issei- Ah, right. Family name comes first in this country. Name's Hyoudou Issei. You can just call me Issei though. My family's not big on formalities."

Rias shook his hand in slight confusion. "Gremory Rias. You're not a Japanese citizen?" She had assumed he was a citizen and there were no hints of foreign ancestry in his features.

"Long story." Issei Hyoudou replied with a smile that spoke of a great deal of joy. "Maybe when you've got the time."

"Himejima Akeno, and Thanks for asking." Her queen interjected with a pout. "And why would we not have time?"

Hyoudou looked quite confused. "Cause your friend's here and I'm sure the two of you have plans for the day."

Rias understood that Hyoudou knew he had intruded and wanted to give them their space, even though he did look reluctant to leave, judging by his focus on her queen.

"Ara, Ara." Akeno covered her lips with her hand, an action in pure mockery of the Yamato Nadeshiko role she regularly compared to. "You cannot leave a woman in the middle of a trip, Hyoudou-san. Or did our promise mean nothing?"

Hyoudou blinked in apparent surprise before his eyes widened in recognition.

Akeno leaned towards the boy, her breasts all but brushing against his chest. To his credit, Issei only glanced at them twice. "You do not wish to see what I do to bad boys, Hyoudou-san." She licked her lips. "Join us for the day and lend your expertise."

Rias nearly winced at the amount of innuendo in that last word.

"You are one wicked woman." Hyoudou's comment merely caused Akeno's smile to twist into a wicked, wicked smirk. He shook his head with a smile and asked Rias, "You don't mind me butting in?"

"Do not worry. Rias can be quite accommodating." Akeno's smile was blinding.

Rias decided to give Hyoudou a reprieve from her queen's antics and find out exactly what happened before she returned to the shop. She grabbed the back of her queen's blouse and gave a hard tug, not so incidentally stopping her queen from distracting the boy with her huge... assets. "Stop distracting him with those useless sacks and tell me what's going on!"

"Why so mean, Rias." Akeno draped herself over Rias lazily.

"During our discussion before you arrived," Hyoudou tried to interrupt but Akeno rolled over him, "Hyoudou-san argued that the best kind of seduction happened when the woman was dressed like something out of Victorian England. A time period that sucked the sex out of everything."

"Don't put words in my mouth." Hyoudou interjected and looked at Rias. "Gremory-san, your friend kept saying that more skin was the best way to get a guy. I argued that the best kind of seduction was when the girl kept all her clothes on and still made the guy fall straight down the rabbit hole."

Akeno expanded upon his words with an amused drawl. "Do not forget your challenge to prove me wrong by outfitting me at cost."

Rias had to blink at the novel experience of being surprised by a boy who wished to cover up a female instead of the far more appealing alternative favoured by every human teenager in town. Especially where her queen was concerned. "I would love to see that. Though I do hope your fashion sensibilities are better than your hideous dress."

"Hey!" Hyoudou protested. "There's nothing wrong with my dress."

Rias begged to disagree. Hyoudou's attire truly was ridiculous. With a thick hoodie with what were probably wool trousers and a pair of oversized headphones that looked closer to earmuffs, he was dressed for the thick of winter in the middle of spring. And that ridiculous green and black color scheme… She was honestly wondering if the boy was color blind.

"Do not worry, Hyoudou-san." Akeno spoke up and Rias just knew she was digging a deeper hole for Issei to put himself into. "If you do mess up, I will keep away the wooden horse. For now."

Hyoudou's lips parted with a blush before he shook himself, turned around and walked towards the door. "I'll be waiting outside." He spoke over his shoulder before muttering, "Why do I feel like one of those spineless romcom protagonists?"

Rias giggled at the comment. "Is his taste in clothing any good? Or were you just riling him up?"

"He does have good taste in lingerie." Akeno admitted and turned to pack her potential purchases. "I would like to know if that translates to other items."

Rias decided that this the most private moment she would get. Besides, the store owner understood the meaning of privacy and was a youkai himself which meant she did not need to censor her words in case he overheard. Besides, there were no other customers. "He resisted your charm." Her queen's charm was a potent weapon, enhanced by her fallen angel heritage. The fact that Issei Hyoudou did not turn into a dazed mess did indicate he was not part of the average crowd.

Akeno turned a wicked smile on her. "Jealous for his attention, Rias? Maybe I can see if he's interested in a thr-"

Rias slapped a hand over her queen's mouth and did not remove it even when a wet, hot tongue ran over her palm, sending a sudden spike of desire through her body. But she was long since used to resisting Akeno's charm and simply pushed the feeling away. "Hyoudou will die if he dated me. Now, Is he a problem we need to deal with?"

"He approached me." Akeno admitted with a shrug. "Hyoudou is either a very confident spy or is exceptionally thick headed. Or he had enough resistance to not bend over backwards for a pretty face."

"You kept pushing him for a reaction." Rias pressed before she realized something tha had been bugging her since she met Hyoudou. "Wait… You only started on that angle after I arrived."

"I do like an audience."

Rias spanked her queen.

"So mean, Rias." Akeno pouted.

"I'm not enabling your kinks." Rias knew if she gave her queen an inch, Akeno would grab a mile. "Did you find anything?" While not on the same level as Koneko in terms of sensory skills, Akeno had a keen sense for anything magic within her range.

"He had the smallest mana reserves of anyone I've ever seen." Akeno gave her assessment. "I doubt he could pull off even the simple spells."

Rias blinked. That was… certainly not the answer she was expecting. To be fair, she had not expected Hyoudou to be hiding power on par with high class devils but she had certainly not expected him to be an ant after being able to resist Akeno's charm so thoroughly. "Any chance he's a gearhead?" If Hyoudou had a sacred gear, he might be worth recruiting to her cause, especially since she would need all the magic and muscle she could get her hands on as soon as possible.

"Probably." Akeno admitted while biting on a nail.

Rias rolled her eyes and smacked her queen's hand out of her lips. "Stop trying to seduce me and answer the question."

Akeno shrugged. "It's not like it's easy to know if a sacred gear is active or dormant. Even if it is active, they are usually so entwined with the wielder that we can barely differentiate between the two. I asked Koneko to show up a while ago and see if she could find anything."

Rias knew Koneko. After Akeno called, the rook would have arrived at the mall and chosen a location where her senses could capture Hyoudou's scent and anything else she needed to find more information. Drawing upon her connection to Koneko through the rook piece let her know her favorite nekoshou was standing on the same floor. "Koneko's here."

Akeno tucked her arm around Rias' upper arm and dragged her to the counter. "Koneko can take care of things while we enjoy the day with a delicious mystery on our hands."

"He clearly looked like he was angling for a date" Rias snorted in good humor. "I have to admit though, he must be the first teenager who wants to dress you up." She sniffed in mock disdain. "You must be losing your touch, Akeno."

Akeno took the last of her packages from the cashier and gave Rias a mischievous smile. "Ara, Ara. Hyoudou can play the long game, Rias, and I intend to savour every second of it."

Her queen smiled in wicked amusement. "Trust me. Things are going to be very interesting around here."

Rias just hoped the old adage of 'living in interesting times' did not come true by Akeno invoking the gods of irony. She could do without the extra work, especially with war coming to Japan soon enough.

This is my first stab at writing a full fledged fanfiction. I chose DxD because while the light novels set up a world that was a wonderful arena for beautiful character arcs interspersed with amazing battles of conceptual powers, we instead received a punch-kick-shoot fest on the level of DBZ with a protagonist that would make women swear off men forever and cause any self-respecting actual Shonen protagonist to kill the guy on principle.

Plus, the light novels do not truly address the various pantheons, their relationship with Earth and each other and the reason they all seem to congregate to a planet they could take over in their sleep. Not to mention the problems with the Khaos Brigade.

So, stick around if you want to see Canon take a boot to the face.

Enjoy the story. Don't forget to leave a review. It's the fuel of any writer.