Number one.

Chapter thirteen.

''So… How is this going to work, exactly?'' It had been a solid minute of nothing but silence with the occasional furtive look thrown from Akemi towards Akeno, both of them still remaining on their shared bed like two people that had known each other for their entire lives.

''Whatever do you mean?'' Akeno inquired at him, directing an innocent look that didn't suit her at all. It was obvious for Akemi that she was taking pleasure of making his next words rather difficult, after all it's not every day you wake up next to a girl you have never interacted with before. ''Is there something we should work out here?''

'This girl… What's her deal?' Akemi bit his tongue, it was hard for him to determine if he was impressed or frustrated at how bold the raven haired girl was. Right now he was leaning more towards frustrated, after all school awaited him and he was in for another scolding from the Student Council should he arrive late again.

He took a moment to rethink the situation, after all it was hard to believe a girl would be ok with something like this, no matter how unorthodox, bold and perverted that girl in question was. Could it be a test of some kind? Some sort of test to his character to determine if he was worth their time? No, that sounded unlike Rias.

Rias Gremory was a girl willing to let the most perverted and degenerate individual in the world join her peerage, when compared to him Akemi was –although still a degenerate- much more reasonable to deal with, or at least that's what he was telling himself.

''Alright then, stay there if you want.'' He came to a decision at last, a decision that required his entire focus and willpower to carry out. Leave the bed with no one else than Akeno who looked to be more than willing to remain with him there. ''I'll be leaving to school, I have had some problems with Tsubaki from the Student Council and I would rather not get on her bad side again.''

''Tsubaki-san?'' Akeno giggled at that, she could picture the scene just fine given she knew Tsubaki rather well. The both of them wielded the position of Queen in their King's Peerage, which meant that the occasional chatter amongst the two of them was not all that uncommon. ''I can see that, but…''

The beautiful girl slurred her words, leaning closer towards him, close enough for him to feel her breath on his face, her pearl-like skin touching him for just the briefest of moments. ''… I'm sure she would understand if we explained it, right?''

'This woman is dangerous.' Akemi gulped, moving back to the edge of his bed, now just on the verge of falling off the bed straight into the floor. Her movements were almost addictive, he was having some serious trouble believing this was really a virgin girl.

''I think telling her that would just make her angrier…'' Akemi retorted, but it was obvious his resolve was wavering thanks to her charms, that much both of them could see. She took advantage of his visible weakness, pushing closer to him certain that one last push would be enough for his will to break.

What followed was for someone else to determine if it could be described as fortune or misfortune, but given the fact he was on the edge of the bed, the last movement from Akeno managed to get him off it, making him fall to the ground in unceremonious fashion.

''Agh! Fuck this, not again! '' He cursed out loud, he had fallen for what had to be the third time in the past month head first against the ground. Not a fun experience, he could attest to that.

He was not about to miss his shot though, he was certain this was a test of some kind, he had realized that much during the end of their interaction. Akeno might have been a straightforward girl but even this was too much for her.

It was clear now that she was looking to find out if he had some sort of ulterior motive, he could very well be some kind of womanizer just looking to take advantage of her vulnerable friend for all she knew.

''Look, I really need to leave.'' Akemi noted that he was still in his underwear, it looked like Akeno had not managed or refused to undress him down to his birth suit so he rushed for his school uniform on his wardrobe. ''I'm not sure what this is all about but I'm not that sort of guy.''

That much was true, whether Akemi liked her or not was another matter altogether, he knew when and where to do this sort of thing, and this was not the time. He was not keen on the idea of having Akeno get the better of him.

''You should get dressed too…'' While buttoning his white shirt, he took a glance at Akeno who had decided to get up from her spot on the bed at last, her long hair raining down her back now that it was free from the orange lace that tied it together.

Her breasts bounced with the first step she took out of the bed, whether it was an intentional motion or not he was not certain, but with someone like Akeno one could never be too sure.

''… Shame.'' Akeno mused while she walked to pick up her uniform folded with care on top of his desk. He couldn't help but notice she had an extra bra, one that was much plainer looking than the one she was wearing right now. ''You don't expect me to wear this bra to school, right?''

''It's too uncomfortable, this one is more for… This sort of mood.'' Akeno replied to the question he had not even asked, almost like she could read his mind and the meaning behind his curious look.

It was obvious now that he thought of it, even he could tell that pink bra didn't look all that comfortable, much less for a girl her size.

''I see.'' Akemi was not too sure what the best response for that sort of comment was so he decided to keep it simple, now wearing the black blazer to complete his school uniform.

It took a solid minute in silence for Akeno to dress herself up, wearing her skirt and now just missing her shirt. She had stopped at that point to look at Akemi, a look he had not failed to notice and had him wondering the meaning behind it.

''You mind lending me a hand with this?'' The raven haired girl asked at last, turning her back at him while lifting her plainer looking black bra for him to see. The meaning behind her words was obvious, so he offered another short nod in response.

''…'' Silence followed for a while, her unhooking her bra with her back turned at him, and him hooking the new one back the moment she got it into position. It was all done in a matter of seconds, with him staring at her naked back.

''That was fast.'' Akeno complimented, now turning back to face him while picking her shirt up from his desk. It looked like she was in a much more cheerful mood now, a mood that suited far more how she acted in public. ''You might have some talent for it, not the first time you do this sort of thing?''

Akeno tied her hair with her dear orange ribbon, taking a second to look at herself in the mirror on one of the walls. She managed to catch him looking at her again through the reflection of the mirror, and the girl winked at him.

''Not the first time.'' Akemi replied while walking to open the door for her, and she returned an appreciative smile in response. He walked after her, now making a conscious attempt to avoid having her catch him glancing. ''Hopefully not the last one either.''

That last comment thrown at her was something he himself had blurted in an impulse, some part of him was still in obvious disappointment of missing what could have been the time of his life.

''We will have to see about that… Who knows what the future holds, after all?'' Akeno said in response, both of them heading to the door in a now much more comfortable mood. ''You did well, I can tell you that much.''

'Not sure about what the future holds… But I know what the past does.' Was the one phrase Akemi could think about inside his mind.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

''It looks like being a devil has some benefits even inside of our school.'' I commented in a whisper to Akeno while we walked through with Tsubaki not even muttering a single word to us two despite having arrived an hour late. ''I will be sure to keep it in mind.''

We had both walked together back to school and she had somehow decided it was a good decision to hold onto me like were some sort of couple. I was certain now she was teasing me for the fun of it, no doubt taking this whole thing as a personal challenge for herself.

''Right? There's a lot of things to look forward should you decide to join us.'' Akeno chirped in at the chance to throw some words of encouragement for what was a difficult decision for me. A decision that was looking all the more complicated to make the more I interacted with them all. ''I know the word 'servant' doesn't sound all that welcoming but I can assure you…''

''Yeah… 'We are not like that, we are a family', I know how this goes. We can call it whatever we want but at the end it's quite simple, but believe me when things turn hard for us at the end that's all we would be.'' I interrupted her mid-sentence, I had given this specific topic a lot of thought so I had a lot to speak on the topic.

''Rias isn't like that.'' Akeno assured me, from her tone alone I could tell she meant it, but that was hardly enough for me. ''Give her a chance, talk with her in private, I'm certain she will change your mind.''

Since neither of us had established an interest in heading back to class and interrupt our respective classrooms in the middle of a lesson, we had both auto piloted towards the Occult Research Club, me following her lead a few steps behind.

''That's the problem. This is something I want to decide on my own.'' I gave a quick response to her, a response that I had been thinking about for weeks and weeks ever since arriving here.

This was no small decision to make after all, this would not just determine the alignments available for me in the near future, but establish clear strengths and weakness I would have to deal with for the rest of my life.

''I can tell even from talking to her once, she's a nice girl and doesn't mean harm to me but…'' I decided to make a point in these next words I was about to utter, it was imperative for them all to understand where I was standing. ''It is obvious she is desperate, I don't know why but she needs someone to help her out, or at least more people to do so.''

''Look at it from where I stand… There is this devil that looks in need of help that wants to recruit me, however I do not know why is she in need of help nor do I know how well prepared she is for the problem she is about to face.'' That was not all that true; I do know what she is about to face, a flaming chicken that also happens to be a womanizer. ''I might be a little bit insane but that's a huge red flag if I have ever seen one.''

''…'' There was silence after my words, it seemed like I had managed to give Akeno something to think about for a while, no wonder she was now looking at things from a new angle.

Even in that silence, we still managed to keep heading to the Occult Research Club despite our short argument, I expected Rias to have at least found one or two stray devils by now, that would prove to be a nice bonding experience for us all as well.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

'… Man.' Issei groaned while giving himself soft pats on the head. He had managed to get beaten up by a mob of girls even before the first break had arrived, this time because of something he might or might not have done to them before this past weekend.

That one time had somehow managed to outrun them at the cost of the lives of his two best friends and he had thought he was safe from them but it was clear the girls had held a grudge for peeping at them for the ninth time in a row. Who would have thought?

His head was hurting, his chest was hurting, even his crotch was hurting! The evil of those girls knew no limits, what is some minor sexual harassment when compared with a kick to the balls!?

It did not help his case the fact that two of the classmates he had peeped on had been staring daggers at his back from the moment the class had started. It seemed like even beating him up was not enough to earn their forgiveness.

'… It's not all that bad though.' Issei added in an attempt to better his depressed line of thinking, his mother had been looking happier for some reason, he had been talking here and there with Akemi and now thought he could become a new friend if things went well.

''…'' He couldn't help to think something was off though, the last couple of times he had been out there was this odd feeling that was creeping him out, the feeling of being watched.

'It must be some cute stalker that wants to confess to me! She just hasn't found the courage to face me!' Was the one logical conclusion Issei could come to. There was some hope left for him after all, the Gods had not abandoned him!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

''… It looks like someone overslept a bit.'' I whispered with stifled laughs, next to me I could hear Akeno releasing some soft laughs too match my own.

It was a sight to remember for sure, the sight of someone like Rias Gremory salivating over her desk with her scarlet hair flowing wild all over the surface of the wood. From what both of us could gather it looked like she had managed to fall asleep in the middle of some paper work, looking rather undignified for someone of her status.

''So it would seem.'' Akeno agreed, walking next to Rias and tapping her gently on the shoulder. ''You will have to excuse her, she has been working hard to find us a target to hunt together. For some reason stray devils have been a little shy as of late … You wouldn't happen to know about that, now would you?''

I groaned in frustration at that, I had been attempting to find one or two on my own at nights but I had also been unsuccessful, who would have thought giant looking monsters in the middle of a town could prove so hard to find!

''Ufufu… It does look like someone is quite fond of hunting some strays. You wouldn't happen to have some exorcist parents, by any chance?''

The continuous tapping on Rias's shoulder proved to be useful when we heard her moan in displeasure at having someone wake her up so soon.

''Mmh, n-no…'' I had to admit, she looked quite nice like that. More like a normal girl that didn't have in mind the innumerable responsibilities she had on her shoulders from her status as an heir. ''Five more minutes…''

''Oh my.'' I watched Akeno lean closer to her master, pointing her index finger towards Rias and poking the beautiful girl on her side. ''I do remember you telling me to wake you up whatever means necessary should he come and visit… Whatever. Means. Necessary.''

Akeno muttered that last part loud enough for me to hear, her tone turning a little dangerous at that last part. From her index finger that made contact with Rias, I saw yellow lightning spark to life and give a quick shock to the redhead, making her jump from her seat while releasing a loud undignified yell.

''HIIIIY!'' Huh, who would have thought a girl in extreme pain could look that cute. There was even a trail of smoke coming from her clothes from the sheer strength of the lightning that had shocked her. ''W-W-What was that for, A-Akeno!?''

It didn't even take her a single look to be able to tell who was the one to blame for the pain she was feeling, and the moment she took sight of her dear friend Rias knew in an instant she was the one behind it all.

It was not like Akeno was making a lot of effort to hide it either, her right palm doing a poor effort at covering her laughs from the enraged redhead.

''That would be because of me… I think.'' I decided to defuse the situation before the whole thing escalated into a full blown fight. These two had the capabilities of making quite a mess in a small space like this, and that was not what any of us wanted. ''I came here to visit since someone…''

I pointed at Akeno, she had teased me the entire morning so I was not about to make things easier for her. ''… Decided it would be a great idea to break into my house and get inside my bed without me noticing; I thought it was a good of an excuse as any to come here and have a nice talk.''

''Ah… Akemi!'' I saw Rias lighten up the moment her gaze landed on me, it looked like she had been wanting to talk to me much like I had. Her rage vanishing, she walked past her Queen and stopped right in front of me. ''Great timing; I have some news.''

''You found a stray, then?'' I matched her smile with one of my own at the idea, this was what I had been waiting for all this past month after all. ''That's good, I was starting to think those things are rarer than I gave them credit for.''

I realized a little too late that calling them 'things' when in essence the girls next to me belonged to the same species was kind of harsh, but if either of them was offended by what I said, they managed to hide it very well.

''Ufufu… Like I said, you are almost too eager to go and fight them.'' Akeno chimed in, I had to agree with her though, I was excited to fight one of them again, spars with Tsubasa had been effective but there was nothing better than a good old 'fight to the death'.

''… Kind of.'' Rias cringed at her own response, her enthusiasm weakening for some reason I couldn't quite grasp. ''I didn't find one, but I believe there is a reason behind that. I think someone, be it an individual or a group is taking them out for reasons I ignore.''

'… We are around that time already?' I wondered in my mind, it was not mentioned in the series in detail but it made sense to me that this had to somehow be involved with the arrival of the Fallen Angels and Rogue Exorcists.

That in turn meant I needed to keep a closer look on Issei unless I wanted him to get merked whilst I was not taking care of him… Yeah, I was not about to let all the good work I did building a relationship with him go to waste.

''Let me guess then, we are about to search for whoever is taking care of them?'' I inquired, her own words had lead me to that conclusion. From what I could gather it was her job to eliminate them so it made sense to track down whoever was responsible for that.

''Yup! I understand if it's a bit too much to ask since it's not exactly what you were looking for, but I promise…'' Rias started, but I had made my decision long before she even finished her sentence.

''There's no need.'' I jumped in. ''This works for me too, I am in.'' Both of them smiled, a pair of genuine smile on their faces that I could not help but match.

There was just something about these two girls, I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was but there was something special about them. The pair of girls was powerful, beautiful and charismatic on their own, that much was obvious, but there was something else.

'… I will figure it out soon.' I gave up on finding an answer to whatever I had in mind, this was not the time for all of that nonsense. I had a lot of work to do, Issei might need a helping hand soonish rather than later plus there was a scheduled hunt now with Rias and the others.

'It all starts here…' Will what little I know be useful? Have I changed too much to be able to predict what will soon happen? I had tons of questions in mind right now and like usual, next to no answers for them.

However, of one thing I was certain.

'If I am next to these two… It can't be that bad, right?'

End of chapter thirteen.