Chapter 6

"So what do you think?"

Sirzechs leaned back in his seat in his office. There was no one in the room, but a small magical circle was next to his head, acting similar to a cell phone. "Enochlophobia and haphephobia. You were right to keep an eye on him Rias. We knew he didn't want to interact with others, but didn't think his trauma would take those forms, though it does make sense in hindsight. Good work."

"It might make perfect sense to you. Sadly, Sona and I don't have a convenient history with Issei that can explain every action he makes to us." Rias chided from the other side, pretending not to preen from the praise she received.

"Issei? Skipping his last name already?" Sirzechs smiled knowingly.

"He interests me." He could practically hear her throwing her hair back flamboyantly as it to stand her ground. "Besides, his mannerisms have a strong western influence. It would be best to approach him with a hint of that if only to make him more comfortable while dealing with us." Unlike in Japan, where formality was important and everyone initially started by calling one another by their family name, people in western countries did the opposite and addressed others by their given unless in a formal situation.

"How observant." She was obviously irritated that she didn't know more about the Sekiryutei in general, not that he could blame her. His cute little sister was insatiable when she was confronted with a mystery that she didn't know the answer to, especially when he clearly knew the answer.

It's good to be the king… and a trolling elder sibling.

"I take it he spent some time in the States? His accent is quite fluent. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was born and raised there."

"He's a fast learner. Don't let his attitude fool you, he could give Sona a run for her money if he bothered to put some effort into it." He could say more, but what was the point in spoiling the surprise?

"I suspected as much." Much to his curiosity, she didn't seem alarmed by that. "That diagnosis he made while spying on that freshman in the kendo club came natural to him. At the very least, he's had some proper medical training. That's not something many people our age can handle. It's impressive, but I wouldn't go so far as to put him on the same level as Sona."

"To each their own. Regardless, his past education is something you'll have to ask him about and hope that he answers."

"Brotherrrr…" Anyone listening to the conversation could practically hear her pout.

"Haha. Now now Rias. You know I'm not going to just give you what you want. Where would the fun in that be?" It was times like these that Sirzechs could almost forget everything and enjoy his family. Almost. "Besides, I don't think Issei would appreciate it if you became overly familiar with him so soon. Neither would you, for that matter."

There was an ominous silence for a few moments. "Brother, what was that I felt? It didn't feel like any spell or curse I've encountered before, and it certainly was not some sort of holy blessing…"

The Satan sighed and leaned back even further in his seat. "I do not know much of it myself. It's a technique referred to as Presence. I'm not exactly sure of its capabilities, but it does tend to leave a lasting impression. From what I've gathered, two things tend to happen when used. First is that the user's overall performance in whatever they do improves. The second is thing that happens, and the most obvious, is that… an image, or an idea tends to manifest around the user. The stronger the Presence, the more distinct and clear the image is, almost imprinting itself onto the world itself. It doesn't actually do anything else to my knowledge, but you could say that it is a representation of the user's true nature, and quite intimidating under the right circumstances. I believe you have already experienced that part for yourself already."

Rias let out a shaky breath. "Whatever it was, I was completely caught off guard. Why have I never heard of this trait before? Is it related to senjutsu or ki?"

"It might have some ties to Senjutsu." He admitted sheepishly. It was not often that he was of such little help. "The most I've ever learned about using it is that it has to do with, and I quote, "mastering yourself to the point of being your own god". While useful, I find the results to be vastly less grandiose than the introductory description. I've never managed to make any progress in it though. Before you ask, Issei is the only known practitioner of Presence in any of the realms. There no known recording of Presence before him either. Many have tried to get him to teach them, but to my knowledge he's kept the secret to only himself."

Well, he was technically telling the truth. Everyone suspected that Issei had taught one or two guys how to use it as well, but the people in question never confirmed or denied the suspicions. To this day, those two are probably the only people Issei will call friends. A pity they are rarely capable of seeing him.

"Your own god? That doesn't sound tempting at all." The crimson haired beauty allowed herself to sarcastically give her opinion on the matter. "I doubt it is anything as grand as that, but it certainly did make an impression. I'll be sure not to be caught off guard by it again."

"Somehow I doubt he will be enthusiastic with the idea of conditioning you against it." At best, Rias only got a flickering taste of Issei's true nature. "So when will you speak to him?"

"Sometime this week. I kept my schedule open so he did not feel rushed or forced into things. Sona and I have already put into motion a few plans to make him more comfortable during school. I was not stretching the truth when I said he was not taking to life in public well. I hope that the extra measures will help alleviate some of his stress and get him to trust me a little."

"I'll be surprised if it is that simple, Rias. He will accept your attempts to help him, but that will only make him more wary. He smells bait, and will be looking for a trap as a result."

"So I suspect." Rias sighed, already predicting this. "Is there anything you can tell or warn me about before I talk to him again brother? He is a dragon with a short temperament after all. It would be nice to be prepared for the event."

A smiling brown haired boy flashed through Sirzech's mind. Energetic. Young. Eager. Phenomenally perverted. And above all else…

"It would be best if you and your peerage prepare yourselves with thick skin. You'll probably need it. He hits below the belt far more often than most on pure instinct. From a third party perspective, it's actually impressive to see him in action." The man smiled, as if waiting for something equally amusing and painful to happen soon.

… No filter in the slightest.

Sirzechs thought back to a certain event, where a certain young man told a certain female cosplaying devil if she was suffering from a midlife crisis.

For a kid that was touted to be a genius, he really didn't know when to shut up sometimes.

o. o. o.

For once, it was Issei glaring at Raynare all day rather than the other way around.

The second week had been, for lack of a better term, tolerable. Barely.

People didn't crowd around him. Just the opposite, many of his classmates made sure to give him a wide berth whenever possible.

Not out of fear, surprisingly, but of genuine concern.

Apparently there was a rumor going about that he had been homeschooled for so long because of some disease he picked up as a kid. As a result, he wasn't comfortable being near people, his social skills were down the toilet, and if he got worked up emotionally he'd get relapses.

Three guesses who started that particular bit of gossip. The first two don't count.

Of course, the rumor didn't do much to keep three people in particular from leaving him the fuck alone.

The first two were easy enough to deal with. Motohama and Matsuda were sheep whose wool were stained white by their own premature ejaculate. He had a certain complaint that he needed to address with them about regardless.

After a quick, five minute private conversation about how he enjoyed his privacy, and a lecture of some of the potential, purely theoretical, and legally non-proven ways that the Porn Industry got rid of… unwanted factors, the perverted idiots fell into line quickly.

They were allowed to do their own thing most of the time. He wasn't that cruel, nor was he bored enough to be their supervisor, but if they got too loud or out of hand while he was nearby… well, it normally only took an irritated look or two to cull their behavior like a slaughterhouse pig.

Aika on the other hand, well conveniently and ironically, she had addressed that problem all by herself.

Turns out the girl had a bit of a perv streak in her too. She just wasn't an idiot about it.

On Wednesday, Motohama had been harassing the girls in class with his "three sizes scouter" gimmick (he told them it was a retarded name, but true to form they didn't listen), when Aika showed up and pretty much pulled the same trick for the opposite gender.

And everyone bitched to them about sexual harassment. Hypocrites.

There was no way the girl was clean. He made a mental note to ask her about her browser history in public if she ever pushed him too far. Throw in the names of a few easily famous A list male porn stars, gay and straight, and she'd probably light up like a Christmas tree.

She had done a laudable job shutting the two idiots up, but then she had gotten cocky and tried the same trick on Issei himself.

Her confidence didn't last long. Open, twitching mouth. Standing straight and stiff. Unable to form words. Hell, somehow even her glasses had cracked upon reading his "measurements".

It was the first time Issei actually chuckled in amusement at the school. Sadly, the fact that he gave off the impression of an evil plotting psychopath as he did so didn't help his reputation much.

Good news was, after that Aika didn't bug him as much anymore. Plus, most of the girls at the school no longer treated him like trash.

Bad news was that almost everyone in the school were under the assumption that he had the largest dick in the complex. Apparently, Aika was the authority in the school when it came to knowing which guys in the school were worthwhile to waste time fantasizing about outside of Kiba Yuuto.

It was ironic. He was in a place where dick measuring contests were more important to the girls than it was the guys.

As if the place wasn't screwed up enough.

He was admittedly quite a bit above average sure, but for fucks sake people, that was it! He didn't have some mutant monster magic cunt crushing monstrosity that turned women's insides into ground beef if he had sex. It didn't work that way, and most women are turned off by twisted shit like that.

Possibly having the largest dick in a school wasn't even as impressive as it sounds when you put into account that they just barely started allowing male students in the place. There were at best, what, thirty, maybe forty male students at most here, and at least ten times as many female students. Throwing in the male teachers didn't count much since most of them were old enough to be everyone's parents or grandparents. The pool's small enough that most girls shouldn't be worried about being picky.

As for whether his "number one" was actually "number one" was true or not… eh. He didn't care. At all. What he did care about was the fact that everyone now knew he might be, and acted on it. It meant more attention and stares.

Seriously, some of the female teachers were giving him looks now. It was creepy as hell. They weren't even that good looking compared to his classmates. Especially the world history teacher. She was what, late fifties? Ugh. Just… UGH. He needed to shower every time she taught now.

But the icing on the cake was a new nickname that had started to spread about starting Thursday.

… Or rather, an old nickname.

And he knew damn well where it had come from.

"Kya! It's Kiba!"

"The Prince!"

"What is he doing here!?"

"My hair! My makeup! Tell me I didn't forget to do them today!"

"I knew it! I knew these panties were lucky!"

Issei was beginning to think that Kuoh was known as an academy for the gifted for a different reason than advertised.

It certainly matched Sona's modus operandi. That sick, deranged, twisted, enabler…

The handsome blonde teen smiled gently to the class as he walked through the room and stopped a small distance away from his target. "Hyoudou Issei. I've come to pick you up on behalf of the Occult Research Club."

Pandemonium erupted.

"Eeeee! The Prince is facing off against the Sleeping Dragon!"

"No! He'll eat up our handsome knight!"

"Don't be stupid! Everyone knows that the noble knights always beat the beasts in the end!"

Yeah, after the Dragon has already eaten up practically an army and a half of other knights and warriors beforehand. It was surprising how many people tended to forget that particular bit. If anything, anytime someone uses the word "heroic" to describe a person that beat a Dragon, Issei mentally replaced it with "retardedly lucky".

"…Zzzz." He wasn't really asleep. There had been too much talking around him to cross that threshold, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let them know that when he was in just the right position that his arm made a rather blissful pillow and he wasn't going to let this moment go to waste.

"The Dragon's asleep!"

"Should we wake it?"

"That's suicide! He'll rip your head off if you try!"

"Or burn you to death with fire!"

Oi oi. He was fine with being insulted and feared, but since when did he qualify as an "it"?

"Will someone just kick his chair already!?" "Yuuma Amano" groaned with some frustration. "Everyone knows how to wake him up safely by now. Why are you still making such a big deal about this?"

Traitor. Taking away his blissful arm pillow time. He will get his vengeance.

Judging from the nervous whimpering behind him shortly before his seat jerked, Motohama caved into the peer pressure of everyone staring and expecting him to serve as their unwilling patsy again.

Slowly. Painfully slowly. The Sleeping Dragon of Kuoh, a name that obviously didn't originate from Raynare, lifted his head, and gave Kiba a long and flat stare. The sort of stare that was an essential part of the men's non-nonverbal dictionary, a language that crossed all borders, regions, religions, and ages above ten.

"How in the world can you tolerate this level of stupid?"

The Prince of Kuoh maintained his disarming smile, merely tilting his head to the side the barest of margins.

"They're sheep. They do what I want without too much trouble if I ask kindly. Teachers too."

"No kidding?"

"Math. English. And History. Throw a smile and a compliment their way and they let you get away with almost anything that isn't obvious."

"Ugh. You kiss up to that thirsty old hag that's been eyeing me up? She looks like she bathes with her cats."

"Old… oh, OH. Her?! Oh thank hell no. My class has different teachers than yours."

"Lucky."

"It's so tense." One girl whispered as the two held their silent conversation.

"They're sizing each other up."

"It's so hot."

"Maybe we'll see the Knight take the Dragon away and together they'll ride…"

And there went his ability to feel safe in this room.

Issei instantly stood up and glared at the audience, who were for the most part staring at him and Kiba with starry eyes of expectation and hope.

Raynare on the other hand, was having a very hard time holding back her laughter.

And these people had the nerve to claim to be of a higher caste than Matsuda and Motohama? The entire school was as bad as they were!

Issei paid them no mind as he quickly gathered his things and speed walked past Kiba and to the door. "If we get out of here fast enough, we might be able to escape before they stop daydreaming and realize that they have legs and can actually follow us."

Not one to argue, Kiba nodded and quickly followed.

The gossiping started before they even left the room.

Issei didn't remember about bringing Raynare with him until he was halfway to the clubhouse.

He didn't bother going back for her.

It took Raynare ten minutes of asking to find the place when she remembered that she was supposed to be following Issei, and not laughing at his misfortune.

o. o. o.

"You could have waited for me."

"And you could be better at your job." Issei rolled his eyes as he plopped down on the couch in what served as the living room of the Occult Research Club. "What the hell was Zaz thinking, putting a scrub like you on my ass? All looks and no ability."

"Excuse me?!" Raynare snarled.

"Sorry. All looks and no ability. Like a cougar."

"You spoiled little shit! I have more experience in my pinky finger than you do in your entire body!"

"Experience at what? Jacking others off? Because that's the only thing I can see your hands being good at. You live at my place for free, you don't do anything productive, you aren't even in the house most of the time, and when you do come back you're either wasted or smell so bad you should be. You don't do anything productive. Period. You just slap on that fake smile in public and bitch and moan whenever you think no one is watching."

"I don't need to!" The fallen threw her hands in the air. "You lock yourself in your room and get off on pornos every moment you can! I can't do anything, and frankly I'm terrified that I'll catch an STD if I simply look in your room!"

"For the last time, I don't masturbate. How slow do you have to be to not get that by now? Even if my room was what you expect, which it isn't, I don't see how it would be any different than what you lived in before this."

"What are you implying?" Her tone was cold, enough so that Kiba was uncomfortable being this close to them.

"Depends. What were you implying about my room?" Issei didn't seem to be affected by it in the slightest.

Raynare's hand twitched, and Kiba got ready to move.

"Go ahead. See what happens." Unlike Kiba, Issei was completely relaxed, barely paying attention to the woman that was a hair's breadth away from attacking him.

They could see the Fallen's teeth grit harshly for a few long seconds before taking in a deep breath herself and calming down. "You are an insufferable bastard."

"And you're useless."

Kiba winced at the immediate response. He had no love for anyone outside of Rias' peerage, but Issei's treatment of the Fallen was harsh and without mercy. He was starting to see why his King had warned them to be prepared for an unpleasant conversation, but even so he doubted any of them expected Issei to be this bad.

Still, for this guy to not show any real reaction to almost being attacked by someone in arm's reach…

"Ara ara? It certainly is loud in here."

Walking in from another doorway, Akeno Himejima made herself known with her ever-present kind smile, carrying a tray of tea and assortments to put on the guest table.

Issei didn't say anything at first. Instead he just stared at her and blinked several times as if taking a mental photo and making a judgement. Then he focused on her breasts for twice as long. Finally, he just shrugged carelessly and relaxed. "It's nothing new."

He totally didn't hold back a rant because the woman's breasts were both massive and displaying the biggest manifestation of MOB he had seen in his bloody life… outside of that one time he met Gabriel.

Seriously, what was this woman's spine made of? Was passive spinal and trapezius reinforcement also a manifestation of MOB? He must find out!

"Unfortunately." Raynare grimaced, disgusted with how Issei was blatantly eyeballing Akeno's chest as if it held the secret to the universe. The idiot would be turned on by medicine balls if they bounced right. Why other supernatural women never seemed to understand that mortal breasts aren't supposed to move like that, she would never know. As a spy, she was used to making herself as inconspicuous, or at least as natural, as possible. It was why she actually bothered to wearing bras appropriate for her size that prevented her chest from lashing out everywhere as if she had stuffed her padding with live weasels.

"Mmm. I wonder why." Somehow, it looked and sounded as if Akeno was accusing Raynare of being at fault for the bickering as she placed the tea down. She didn't seem to notice, or care, that her other guest was extremely interested in her chest. "How do you like your tea? Rias is still preparing for the meeting, so I thought I could entertain you in the meanwhile. I concocted this blend myself for this meeting. I hope it is to your liking."

Issei couldn't help but confirm her hopes already. The fragrant scent of the tea was already filling his nose and calming his nerves, snapping him out of his internal calculations and theories almost instantly. Whatever she was using was unnaturally effective on him. "Huh? Oh, uh, I'll have it as is. Thank you."

Raynare looked dumbfounded at Issei. "Since when are you polite to anyone?"

"Since she's managing the drinks and snacks." Issei nodded in thanks as Akeno handed him a cup and saucer. "Only an idiot pisses off the person managing their food and drink. There's no telling what a person can do to it when you're not paying attention."

The Fallen didn't know if he was specifically mocking her again, seeing as Issei did cook half the meals at his house, and yet they still argued nonstop. She'd have to check her food next time the pervert cooked.

"Ara ara." Akeno put a hand to her face and tilted it slyly. "I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted. Are you insinuating that I would do something so crass as to tamper with a guest's favors?"

"People do all sorts of things if they have the right motivation." Issei didn't back down from the barely subtle warning. Instead he sniffed the tea deeply. It had a really strong aroma, and seemed to soothe his nerves. Unnaturally so. "I've never had tea with such a smell before. Did you make this blend?"

His question seemed to catch her off guard if the momentary blink was any indication, allowing him to get a glimpse of her violet eyes. "You could say that. I originally looked for blends that were suited for people with your supposed disposition, and made a few additions of my own at the end. I'm somewhat surprised you are so interested in the smell. It does not stand out that much to me."

Raynare skeptically took the cup that Akeno served her and sniffed it herself. It didn't stand out that much if she was honest. There was a faint fragrance, but that was all she could gather. "I barely smell it either."

"Dragons have strong senses. The herbs stand out to them." Koneko muttered from the couch next to Issei and Raynare, munching on a bag of pastries.

Said dragon paused just before bringing the tea to his lips and stared at the white haired girl before turning to everyone else there. "Uh… Was she…"

"She slipped in when Akeno brought in the tea." Kiba sighed, leaning against a wall ear the main entrance.

"Our dear Koneko is so shy sometimes. It's adorable really." Akeno teased the youngest person in the room.

Issei and Koneko didn't say anything. They just stared at one another blankly for so long that everyone else in the room started to get uncomfortable.

The white haired girl broke the silence first, shifting away from him and putting herself between him and her snacks. "You can't have any. Pervert."

Issei developed a tickmark. "Stingy gnome."

Lightning erupted between their eyes.

Raynare sighed before finally drinking her tea. It was good, all things considered. Not the best, but not bad. "Sad thing is, I think that that's the best I've seen him get along with anyone since coming here."

"Oh? I've heard that he does fairly well with those two boys known as the perverted duo." Akeno probed.

"He hates them. Well, he hates pretty much everybody, but he really despises them in particular. Those two weaklings are a complete waste of space and life in general with no redeeming qualities. The only reason why he tolerates them is because they share interests and serve as a solid distraction. I think he's set something up with the teachers where they ignore him sleeping in class so long as he keeps their public sexual harassment to a minimum." Raynare rolled her eyes. No one in the classroom had missed the fact that the teachers had been more lenient with Issei's behavior after he nearly reamed the idiots a new one.

If Issei had heard her, he didn't act like he did. Instead he was too busy pushing the ball of lightning generated from the stare off between him and Koneko back to his opponent.

"Resourceful." Akeno laughed amused, seemingly ignoring the silent childish spat taking place. "Though I do worry about how sleeping in class will affect his grades. School is important after all."

"He doesn't care." Raynare shrugged, getting an odd look from those that were listening to her. "His mother doesn't either. His scores don't matter to either of them in the slightest. Bit surprising considering how most families in this country tend to approach the academic system. I was surprised when I found out about it too, but there's obviously some kind of inside joke about it that I don't know about."

"That's not right." A new voice chided from the far corner of the room. Rias Gremory elegantly closed the door behind her and walked to the only couch that had yet to be occupied. "High School is the first step to the rest of your life. There are consequences if a person in this era does not take their education seriously."

"Tell him that." Raynare tried to not let the Gremory's appearance get to her, but it was hard not to. The younger sister to Sirzechs Lucifer himself. Taking her life would have at one point earned her tremendous credit among her peers, but now… now she was playing a game that she did not know the rules of. A game that had her in the middle of hostile territory, and surrounded on all sides.

Her reactions were not missed by the others either. Kiba and Akeno shifted ever so slightly, easily overlooked by most, but it was clear that they were ready to protect their King at a moment's notice.

Koneko on the other hand…

"Tch. The pervert's strong." The white haired girl grimaced, sweat starting to form as the metaphysical lightning drew closer to her.

"How adorable. The kitten thinks she's a lioness." Issei boasted, donning a wide grin that was totally not appropriate in public.

The tense situation that was between Raynare and the rest of the occupants in the room dropped dramatically.

"I shouldn't be surprised he's not taking this seriously." The Fallen sighed.

"Ara. I almost feel worried for Koneko-chan." Akeno smiled, not looking at all concerned.

Kiba personally thought that whatever Issei and Koneko were doing was getting dangerously close to unspoken copyrighted material, but he held his tongue.

"It's quite rare that Koneko is this eager to confront someone." Rias slyly accused. "Perhaps she has already developed a favorable opinion of Issei?"

The Nekoshou flushed at the accusation. Turning to her King, she was about to argue the contrary when the "lightning" beaned her head. "Ah!"

"HA!" Issei pointed at her in triumph.

"Not fair. I was distracted."

"If we could, can we get back to introductions?" Rias interjected before the two could have another stare off. "I'm certain that you know everyone here already, but just to be certain, I am Rias Gremory, heiress of the Gremory household and one of the two owners of this territory. The devils in this room are all members of my peerage. Kiba Yuuto. Akeno Himejima, and Koneko Toujou. And publically, we are the Occult Research Club."

"Snk. You're Orcs. How do you label ranks? Troglodite to Troll?"

"Will you shut up and let her continue?" Raynare rolled her eyes.

Rias pretended to ignore the "I told you so" look that Akeno gave her from the side. It was a sophisticated and professional name, she said. No one would bother with abbreviating the name in English, she said.

"Nothing as… casual as that." The redhead attempted to recover from the momentary embarrassment. "Since all the club members are part of my peerage, their supposed ranks are simply what pieces they have. I suspect you are familiar with them?"

"Knight. Queen. And Rook." Issei nodded absently, nodding to each of the club members as he brought his tea to his lips, pretending to ignore the momentary flinching that the Devils made, and put the tea down again with a peaceful smile and closed eyes.

"Ara. Now how did you know that?" Akeno asked, her eyes opened just a small fraction once more.

Fallen Angels. Angels. And Devils. The three great factions had waged war on one another for at least a millennia. Blood had flowed like rivers on all sides. It was only natural for a ceasefire to be called at some point simply because none of them could afford to have their numbers culled any further in order to preserve their species.

Devils, while powerful, had a distinct handicap in the form of possessing a low birth rate.

In order to remedy this, one of their greatest minds came up with the Peerage system. High ranking Devils and above could be given "evil pieces", enchanted chess pieces, that could reincarnate individuals as devils, vassals, with all the strengths and weaknesses that came along with it, with the understanding that the reincarnated individual would serve under their "King". Each piece came with their own benefits and traits that were reflected in those that were reincarnated.

Knights were speedy units. Rooks were meat shields and heavy hitters. Bishops were magic users. Pawns were jack of all trades, and Queens were essentially trump cards that excelled in everything.

Normally though, when dealing with new parties, it was standard procedure for peerage members to not display or announce what piece they held for the sake of maintaining an element of surprise.

Rias and her peerage did not deviate from this, which made Issei's identification all the more unsettling.

"…"

"…"

"… Zzzzz."

"Fast." Koneko blinked in genuine surprise, the only one that voiced her thoughts there.

"Ara? I heard that he fell asleep often, but I did not expect him to be like this."

"No. It should take him a few minutes to knock out this deeply." Raynare examined him carefully. There was no mistake about it, he was out cold.

"How should we approach this?" Kiba tilted his head to the side. "It's common knowledge that he doesn't take too kindly to being woken up by others."

"Hah." The "useless" fallen groaned. "Don't worry. I have this." She turned to the narcoleptic. "Oi. Dumbass. Azazel-sama was here earlier. I saw him giving your mom flowers."

The reaction was instant. "Bring me the infidel."

"No. Now stop being a dumbass and remember where you are." She held her ground without so much as a flinch. She was already used to the Sekiryutei's occasional bouts of violent insanity whenever his mother was brought up.

The devils in the room were not. For the most part, they were stuck between being surprised that he was reacting this poorly to something so obviously fake, and stunned with the very possibility that the leader of the Grigori might actually have something for his mother.

Blinking a few times, Issei's glowing white eyes of self-justified rage returned to normal. "Hm? Oh. Right. Devils, what were we talking about?"

"We were, curious as to how you knew what pieces my peerage had." Rias took a moment to regather herself. She was used to dealing with eccentric individuals, but she didn't think that Issei would be one of them after their encounter last week.

"Huh? That? That's easy." Issei shrugged, taking another sip of tea and putting it back on its plate.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… Zzzzzz."

"Again?!" Raynare shouted in disbelief, voicing what everyone else was thinking.

"It's the tea." Koneko observed. "It calms him down too much."

"Really? The herbs I used were known to have a soothing and relaxing effect on dragons, but I didn't think they'd be this effective." Akeno bashfully tried to excuse herself.

"It might as well be a sedative. Or a tranquilizer." Kiba threw in his two cents.

"Do you mind if I brought some of this mix back? His mother would kill for something that would clam him up this fast." Raynare was completely serious.

"Might as well." Rias sighed. There was no point in serving this tea to anyone during negotiations. Either it would leave most people unimpressed, or it would completely knock out the other party every two minutes. "Akeno, can you please get another brew set up in the mean time?"

"Dumbass. Azazel-sama. Your mother. Chocolates." Raynare offhandedly threw some handpicked words in Issei's direction.

"I will pluck all his wings bare while listening to the melody of his screams, which I will record and listen to every night before going to bed."

"That's nice. Hand over the tea. You're getting a new batch." Unlike the Devils, Raynare was not surprised or put off in the slightest by his declaration of violence.

Surprisingly, Issei paused and looked somewhat reluctant to part with his drink, but did so without too much fanfare. Apparently the brew not only knocked him out almost instantly, but it actually tasted good for the brief moments he was conscious.

"Now then, if you could please satisfy my curiosity regarding how you identified my peerage?" Rias pressed, allowing just a hint of frustration to leak out.

"Huh? The pieces? Oh that's easy." The dragon shrugged. He first pointed to Koneko. "Koneko Toujou? You might as well have called her "Kitty Castle". No subtlety in the slightest."

Koneko pouted with a small flush, shooting the somewhat abashed Rias an unreadable look. It was understandable considering Rias was the one that gave the Nekomata her current name.

Rias was beginning to think that she was not exactly the best when it came to naming things.

Issei jabbed a thumb at Kiba. "Sir smiles-a-lot took his position back there the second I came in. Considering how everyone's still uncertain of me, he's clearly there on purpose. It was a coin toss between him being a Knight and a Bishop given the distance he has, but no Bishop gives off as little magic power as he does, so, Knight."

Kiba shifted uncomfortably, not used to being seen through so easily. It made him wonder what would have happened if he had made an aggressive move on their guest under the assumption that his nature was still hidden.

Issei waved his hand lazily. "And as for your reincarnated Fallen Angel, seriously? She never leaves your side, even during school. She was the easiest to peg out of all of you."

Crash!

The sound of breaking dishware was heard from the next room over.

All the devils were staring at him in surprise.

"… What?"

"I… how do you know what Akeno is?" Rias had skipped from genuinely surprised to downright alarmed. Her Queen's lineage was not something that was spoken about frequently, or known for that matter.

Issei shot her an incredulous look and pointed to Raynare. "You're kidding. Right? Ignoring the fact that if she dropped her hair, was a shade or two paler, and put on some makeup she'd look almost exactly like this one here?"

Raynare glared at Issei. She didn't want to admit it, but she and Akeno did look somewhat alike if they wore their hair the same way now that she thought about it.

She didn't want to be compared to a traitor that gave up her kind.

Rias frowned, unable to argue against the similarities that her guest had pointed out now that she thought about it. Drop the hair on one, take away the makeup on the other, and they were unnaturally similar looking. Was this girl a relative of Akeno's in some way? "That could have been just a coincidence. What other proof do you have?"

Issei groaned and rolled his eyes, pointing to one eyeball lazily in the process. "She has violet eyes. Only Fallen have them. It's a common telltale sign that they can't change even under transformation. I didn't spend all my time staring at her focused on her amazing oppai. Surely as a High Class Devil, you must have been taught that much. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the Cougar had her pegged as soon as they saw one another."

Said Cougar pretended to ignore the comment. All in all, that was probably the closest thing to an actual compliment Issei would ever give her.

… Wait. What was that part about amazing oppai?

"Natural born devils can have violet eyes too." Rias argued.

"Different shade." Issei shook his head. "Fallen have a liquid, deep, smooth, almost metallic velvet color. Everybody else is more along the lines of amethyst. Crystal like, sharp and like a gem."

Raynare shifted uncomfortably. If the idiot hadn't described her eyes in such a cold and clinical fashion, she might have almost blushed at the description.

"Ara. My my. You are quite observant for someone that talks so much." Akeno reappeared with a new tray of tea. It was no secret to anyone that she was clearly in a bad mood if the fake smile and cold tone she was sporting.

Issei looked around skeptically, noting the looks that the other Devils were giving him and one another. "… She doesn't like talking about-"

"No." Rias, Kiba, and Koneko cut him off flatly at once.

He shrugged haphazardly in acceptance and leaned back in the couch. "Ok. My bad. Sorry. Didn't know."

The revealed Fallen almost glared at Issei for a few long seconds before letting out a deep sigh and began to fill his cup with tea. "That is quite all right. As you said, you did not know. Your reveal just caught me off guard. It is not often that people bring it up at all, let alone figure it out so quickly. Just please refrain from talking about it again."

"Understandable. I'd prefer it if people left me be as well, though sometimes it is simply unavoidable."

Rias pretended to not hear the unspoken insult. "I hope Akeno's lineage will not be an issue?"

"I have problems with people ignoring my privacy. I couldn't care less who, what, where, or when they're from. Meaningless details as far as I'm concerned." The dragon firmly grumbled before sampling the tea he was served. It wasn't bad. Just the opposite. But it just didn't have that soothing kick that the previous blend had. Ahhh. Now he was depressed.

Rias allowed herself to relax a bit, noticing that some of the stiffness in her Queen's posture had eased at his words. "That's a relief. At the very least, it will make things somewhat easier for you to potentially trust us."

"Nope. Not going to any time soon. Especially those two." He pointed to Akeno and surprisingly, Kiba.

"You can't make things simple, can you?" Raynare hunched over and put her face in her hands in a vain attempt to hide from the world.

The Gremory flinched, realizing she let her guard down prematurely. "And why, them in particular? I thought you said that you didn't mind Akeno's lineage."

Issei drank some of the new tea. "I don't. I have another issue. They smile near perpetually, and it's fake as hell. Your Queen looks like she's one relationship away from going full blood rage Yandere, and your Knight is one trigger from going ballistic and going Columbine on the school. There's no way I'll trust someone as fake as that."

Judging from the fact that Kiba and Akeno were no longer smiling, they didn't take too kindly to his observations.

"Come to think of it, oi Kiba. Are you the only guy in this peerage other than the shutin Bishop?" The dragon turned to look at the only other male there.

"Yes." The Knight replied bluntly.

Looking back around, the guest looked at his hosts skeptically. "… Huh. No wonder he's so deranged. Either he's constantly being used as your personal man whore to the point that his balls are probably inert by now, or you're all passively cock teasing him to the point of insanity every day."

Everyone in the room just stared at him incredulously, unable to utter a word or recover from the whiplash they were experiencing.

Judging from his expression, he really meant what he said too.

"I'm perfectly sane, thank you very much. And Rias has not used me in any way like that. She's too good a person to do such a thing." The blond teen ground out.

"That's what they all say. I'll believe it when I see it." Issei firmly shot down the Knight's claim before drinking the tea again. Seriously, what warm blooded male wouldn't be turned on by being near the redhead nearly every day? He could practically see her nipples popping out of her shirt, and every time she moved, those monstrous mamaries jumped around so much he was worried he might get beaned by them. And yet they still returned to their perfect shape every time!

Either Kiba was flat out homosexual, or he was going through the most severe case of denial Issei had ever seen.

And there was a LOT of denial that went around in the porn industry.

"I'd appreciate it if you did not insult my peerage, or how I treat them." Rias frowned, no longer donning the image of a welcoming host. "I am a Gremory. I love each and every member of my peerage as if they were family. I would never abuse or mistreat them so horrifically."

"Mmm. I guess. Your family does have that reputation." Issei drank some more tea. Haaa. It really was good tea, but it still didn't compare to the first batch. "… Come to think of it, you're half Bael too. Right? Power of Destruction and all that? You have to have it too if Sirzechs is your brother."

Rias withheld a grimace. She rarely discussed family politics whenever possible. She wanted to be known as Rias, but then again, she had opened herself to this when she used her Gremory name to defend herself and her peerage. "My mother is a Bael, yes, though I rarely interact with that side of the family. Does it matter?"

Surprisingly, Issei didn't respond immediately, instead focusing on his tea. "… No. Maybe. If I remember correctly, the previous owner of Kuoh, when I came back here, was a Belial if I recall correctly. I never met her, but I knew she existed. And, she knew I existed. Surprisingly, or not, your dear brother never bothered to let me know that a change had occurred, much like he didn't bother telling you about me. I was just curious if you knew what happened to her. The Baels are supposed to be the political kings of the underworld after all."

The sudden change of topic caught everyone off guard. They didn't expect Issei to have a decent grasp on the workings of the underworld, or question about who was in charge of the area before Rias.

The fact that he was in Kuoh the entire time though was unsettling. They had been living near someone that even had the Satans on edge for years, and yet they didn't notice a thing.

"Cleria Belial. That was her name." Rias shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know what happened to her. She just vanished about three years ago. My grandfather might now more about it, but much of what was talked about happened behind closed doors."

"And you just so happened to snag up the territory that I was in when everyone else was busy arguing over the ghost of a cooling corpse behind said closed doors?" He looked up, probing her with cold, dead eyes.

He was suspicious. That much was obvious. He didn't trust anyone, so obviously he didn't trust this turn of events. Sirzech's and Serafall's sisters both claiming the area he lived in by chance? No, even Rias had to admit that it was too convenient.

"A member of my brother's Peerage is from Japan. I became enamored with stories from his homeland. It was one of my favorite things to do when I was young." Rias shifted uncomfortably, admitting something she considered private about herself.

"… So you're a weeaboo."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Raynare couldn't help but snort in a vain attempt at trying to hold back her laughter.

"A… what?" Rias blinked, not familiar with the term. Judging from the reaction of the rest of her peerage, they didn't know of the term either.

Issei looked at her blankly for several long seconds before a slightly amused twitch ruled his cheeks. It was the kind of reaction that indicated that he was going to immensely enjoy using this information for later. "Never mind. So you were in love with Japan, and when the opening came you decided it would be nice to become the token natural redhead of Asia? Just like that?"

Rias was quickly losing her willingness to tolerate Issei's constant jabs at her integrity. "If you must know, there were several people that had applied. Ruling and managing territory is something of a rite of passage to those born of the upper class, and territory in first world human countries is always in high demand."

That news had caused Issei's amused look to drop instantly, becoming nothing more than an emotionless mask. Something about it did not go well with him.

"… How difficult was it to get Kuoh?" It was clear he was picking his words carefully. "How much of an effort did some of the other devils put into getting this area?"

Into getting me?

The unspoken question sent chills down the spines of everyone there.

Rias opened her mouth to say that there was nothing abnormal about her getting Kuoh, but caught herself.

"Well?"

Rias flinched at the accusing tone, though she couldn't blame him. "There… there were a few others that were interested in Kuoh. Sona was one, but in order to ensure that we came out the victors, we ended up working together in the end, sharing the territory and the responsibilities. Other than her, there were two others."

Akeno blinked in surprise. "This is the first time I've heard of this."

"I told you the process was difficult. I just didn't think much of how competitive it all was. I thought it was normal." Rias shook her head. "Regardless, I only knew of one of the other Devils that wanted Kuoh, but, I don't see how he could be part of any conspiracy you might be worried about."

"Why's that?" Issei frowned.

"Because it was my cousin. Sairaorg Bael." Rias answered honestly. "You can't find a more honest and noble person, human, devil, or otherwise… but, now that I think about it, it is odd that he would apply for territory in the first place. Much less put in so much effort to obtain it. He's a kind and responsible person, but managing territory is not something he would normally be interested in."

Come to think of it, outside of Kuoh, her cousin had never made any effort to manage other territories period.

"… Haaah. Sairaorg Bael. That's a name I haven't heard in a while." Much to everyone's surprise, Issei chuckled as if recalling an amusing memory. "If he was one of the guys that actually bothered trying to take Kuoh…"

"You know my cousin?" It was only natural that she was surprised. She had never recalled Sairaorg spending much time in the human world. Most of the time he focused on training his absurdly powerful body in the most absurd and extreme conditions. There was a reason why he was called the strongest in her generation.

Which meant that there was a chance that Issei might have been in the underworld at some point in the past.

"… In a way." He gave a hedged answer, shaking his head and avoiding eye contact with the others. It was clear he was in deep thought.

Issei was fairly sure that Rias had no clue about how she had been manipulated by her brother over the course of several years. For all her pride and power, she was just another pawn in bigger game.

He didn't think she'd take it too well if he told her that she was being used by her brother though.

But that begged the question, why was Sirzechs using and involving his sister in this in the first place? The guy was a textbook sis-con. There was absolutely no reason why he would involve Rias in Issei's life unless something else was afoot.

This wasn't just about his episode five years ago, or about the Dragons. The one who holds the title of Lucifer was playing a completely new game, and had roped Issei and Rias into it. The problem was, what the hell was it?

Damn it. He made it a damn point to everyone that he didn't want to deal with this shit anymore. Hasn't he suffered enough already?

Ahh. This was really annoying and starting to piss him off. The more questions he had answered, the more popped up. As bad as it was, the best thing he could do was play along for now until he knew more.

Sairaorg. If he had actually bothered to grab Kuoh, then it was likely that the third party that Rias didn't know was…

"Don't worry Issei. It'll be all over before you know it…"

A shallow, yet incredibly heavy growl escaped Issei's throat, catching everyone by surprise.

"Dragon." Koneko murmured.

"Is there a problem?" Rias spoke up, causing him to flinch. "Do you have something against Sairaorg?"

He blinked and looked up in genuine confusion. Something against Sairaorg? Why would she assume…

He flinched and looked down at his hands. They were bleeding on account of the tea cup he had broken in his grip.

Damn it. He let his emotions get the better of him again. That was good tea too.

"Sorry. I got lost in my thoughts." He weakly apologized, his disposition and energy leaving him in spades to the point that he was hunched over and looked barely awake. He would have offered to repair the cups with magic, but expensive and fragile china like the one he had broken required a special touch that he didn't have. "It wasn't Sairaorg. It was something else. I'll pay for the cup if you'll let me."

This wasn't the time to be excited. It was never the time to be excited. Bad things happened whenever he worked himself up. It was better for everyone if he just locked himself away so he didn't risk being interested in others…

If everyone else in the room was surprised just how subdued the Dragon had become so suddenly, they didn't have the time to express it before Issei threw another curve ball in the form of a familiar green light hovering over his hands.

"Healing magic?" Akeno blinked in genuine disbelief as the cuts on their guest's hands closed at a rather fast pace. At the very least, he was as good at it as she was.

"I've had a few lessons." He didn't seem to acknowledge their reaction to his spellcasting, more interested and focused on the task. His hands were as good as new in less than ten seconds. "Not that good at magic in general, so I only focused on the branches that seemed useful despite my limitations."

Rias was impressed, though she didn't show it. Medical magic was a difficult branch of study in general, and yet Issei closed several fairly deep wounds relatively easily. The fact that he put in the effort to learn it despite his so called condition only underscored his dedication to things he felt worthy of his time.

A healing dragon. He was insufferable as a person, but his potential simply stretched in more and more directions the longer she talked to him.

The boy was a mystery. The more she learned the more she wanted to ask. But at the same time, the harder she pressed, the harder he pushed back in retaliation. He was clearly not a person that got along well with others, but at the same time he had already shown several actions that proved that he wasn't as completely insensitive as he made himself out to be. If anything, he seemed to be perpetually retreating from everyone around him.

He antagonized people, but he was interested in their problems. His nature is almost violent at times, and he's terrified of large groups of people and being touched by others, but he went out of his way to be at least be proficient in healing magic and diagnosing others.

It just didn't make sense. She was missing far too many pieces to the puzzle.

Issei Hyoudou. He was not someone that was going to be understood in a single conversation. Not in a longshot. However, Rias knew deep down that it was likely to be worth the effort in the end.

"We can talk about the cup later. I believe we have spent more than enough time on small talk. It clearly doesn't agree with you." The redhead took control of the conversation with a tired sigh.

"Business then?" Issei lifted his head, looking at her curiously.

"Mmm. Now then, I know what your answer is going to be, but just so we can have it on paper and get this out of the way, I offer you a place in my peerage. Will you accept it?" Rias officially inquired.

"Blow me." The dragon retorted bluntly with an irritated frown.

"Is that a rejection, or the price for your cooperation?" Rias playfully inquired. "You know how we devils can be with open ended responses like that."

"No. I don't want foreign objects stuck in my body." Judging by his twitching eyebrow, he did indeed.

"Bet the princess doesn't even know how to give good head anyways." Raynare muttered under her breath. She didn't even react to the angry looks the peerage gave her.

"You would know." Issei patronized, earning a dirty look of his own.

"Aren't you supposed to be the porn industry savant?" She shot back.

He opened his mouth, only to pause in thought and the close it with a careless shrug. "Point made."

Rias wisely chose not to take part in that particular argument. She would have lost regardless of which side she took. "If you don't mind, I'd like to introduce you to Gasper now. After you meet we can discuss payment and procedure."

"Now? As in, here?" Issei frowned in confusion. "As in you lock him in a school for months on end?"

"The school itself is the headquarters for the Devils that manage Kuoh. Most of our resources are located here. This is the old school building at that. Many of the rooms are unused and can be repurposed as we like without issue so long as we run it by Sona first. I have my own private bathroom and shower just next door." Rias casually brushed aside his skepticism as she got up and walked out the room. "Please don't make me sound like some sort of monster. I personally make sure that he is tended to and has all the amenities he wants and needs while in his room. He can leave whenever he wants during the night, but rarely does by his own violation. Like I told you last week, he is severely agoraphobic and has trouble controlling his abilities. There is little any of us can do to help him in general that we haven't tried already."

He couldn't say anything against that, not when he was essentially in the same position as this Gasper guy for the past five years. Instead, he just got up and began to follow Rias. "What's he like? Outside of the whole, shunning the outside world bit?"

"Gasper is very shy and kind." Rias smiled. "He's a year younger than you, and very small. He's a dhampir. A day walker at that."

"Half vampire?" Issei looked at her skeptically, not taking note of the fact that he was being followed by Raynare and the rest of Rias' peerage. "Aren't vamps reclusive by nature? They stay away from pretty much everyone. I don't think I've heard of any reasonable number of them being seen outside of Transylvania this century."

"Somehow I don't find that surprising seeing as you've locked yourself away like him. As for how I found him, I was with my brother on a political trip several years ago when I came across him by complete accident." Rias flushed a little, knowing there was more to the story than that. Technically, she shouldn't have even gone with Sirzechs on that trip in the first place. It caused a bit of a commotion in the end, and she may or may not have accidentally ruined a potential trade deal with the Tepes faction of the vampires by doing so.

"You screwed something up during the trip, didn't you?" He looked at her with a dead expression. He knew that look she had on her face. He was intimately familiar with it.

She didn't confirm nor deny his accusation, instead stopping in front of a wall at the end of a hallway with double doors that was littered with chains and sealing formulas. She coughed loudly. "We're here."

Issei looked at the wall, then back at Rias. Then back at the wall. Then back to Rias. "Overkill much? I thought you said you cared for this kid."

"Don't judge me. All this was necessary unfortunately. Gasper's sacred gear is just that powerful."

"About that. Do you mind informing me of what exactly I'm up against if I accidentally screw up? I'm not going to be randomly thrown into the Dimensional Gap am I? Because that happened to me once and I would prefer it if I didn't relive that particular experience again."

"No. Don't worry. Gasper's Forbidden Balor View is powerful, but it won't kill or harm…" She paused as his words sunk in. "Wait, did you just say that you were once thrown into the Dimensional Gap?"

"Yeah. And it sucked."

"How are you alive?" Akeno looked at him in bewilderment. The Dimensional Gap was the space between realities and worlds. Nothing was able to live or exist there save for absurdly powerful beings that were rules onto themselves, like Ophis and the Great Red.

"Dumb luck. Emphasis on dumb." Oddly enough, Issei sulked like a petulant child answering the question. Almost as if he was just as ashamed of how he survived as he was of being in the Gap in the first place.

Deciding that it was better not to ask question, Rias turned to the door and began to disenchant it. The process took at most ten seconds since it was keyed to her in the first place. "As I was saying before, Gasper's powers are strong, but they won't hurt you in any way, even if you get hit directly. It's best to see it for yourself to understand why we keep him so isolated."

"I can't help but have an immense sense of déjà vu right now." Issei's eyebrow twitched as he tried to look into the dark room that opened up. Memories of his time spent with Azazel flashed in his mind. That confident, disarming, infuriatingly easy going smile that convinced him to do so many things that he immediately regretted…

He didn't have an opportunity to leave though, as Raynare literally kicked him inside. "Quit your bitching and go in already. You've wasted everyone's time enough as it is."

"Was that necessary?" Rias blinked owlishly.

"My my. It seems as if our other guest isn't that far behind when it comes to manners." Akeno chided, though it didn't stop her from smiling amused.

"Oh shut up. He annoys you just as much as he does me. Don't take the high road when it comes to that idiot, traitor." The Fallen crossed her arms and held her ground, glaring at her accuser defiantly.

"He's not stupid." Koneko whispered. "He's a perverted jerk, but he isn't stupid. Healing magic is hard."

"As distasteful as he is, I have to agree with Koneko-chan." Kiba sighed. "The way he talked gave me the impression that he's used to being backed into a corner, that everyone was after him for one reason or another, and he had to fight to find out as much as possible."

"His interest in what happened to the previous owner of Kuoh and who wanted it did seem to say as much." Akeno sighed. "He's quite paranoid."

Raynare held her tongue. It was obvious that the Devils didn't know that Issei was the Sekiryutei, but she wasn't going to bother telling them anytime soon. That was their problem.

That, and out of the three factions, the Devils were the ones that had the greatest reason to kill him. Her job was painful enough as it was. No need to make things worse.

It still confused her though. Why did all three faction leaders seem so sympathetic to the kid?

You'd think that after all the damage he wrought in the underworld, the Satans in particular would keep as little contact as possible with him.

What was the general consensus again? About half an entire territory engulfed in flames wouldn't go out for weeks, and the other half twisted and obliterated to the point that maps were useless?

And that was after the Satans and Azazel-sama supposedly managed to teleport themselves and him into another dimension so they could fight with less worries. Michael for some reason joined in the brawl after that, actually siding with his enemies without hesitating at all.

When their leaders had returned, battered, injured, and bloody, they had claimed that the Sekiryutei had been dealt with. Most took it to mean that he had been killed, but the wording was off. Most people would probably have realized that much, except almost immediately after the incident, the Dragons revolted and turned everything on its head.

Few things were as distracting as a rampaging dragon. The entire dragon population raging was apparently one of them.

No one doubted that the two events were unrelated, but only rumors existed as to how or why.

It was obvious that the faction leaders knew though. As did Issei.

"I don't suppose you would know."

"Hm?" Raynare blinked, shaken from her thoughts. "I'm sorry. What?"

"Why he's this insufferable?" Rias probed. "Outside of his mother, you're probably the closest person in town to him. You actually know how to deal with him."

The Fallen turned green, literally sick at the very idea. "Please don't ever say such a disgusting thing to me again."

Koneko rolled her eyes. "Do you know or not?"

"Why he's an ass? I just thought he was born that way. His mother sure as hell make it sound like it." The Fallen casually brushed aside their curiosity.

"And his mother is…" Kiba reached out skeptically.

"Normal. Believe it or not. Standard middle aged civilian human woman with the patience of a saint. Somewhat eccentric, but that's more to keep him in line. I still don't know if she's aware of the non-human side of things though." It was almost infuriating really. She had tried to lure Asami into conversations about her kind on more than one occasion, starting with the subject of Azazel, but no matter what the woman innocently managed to neither confirm nor deny her involvement in anything. "She's also the only person that can cow the idiot in an instant. He's a total mama's boy, even if he does yell back at her."

"Why don't we try talking to her then?" Rias asked curiously. "If she's that reasonable, then perhaps we should visit one day and…"

"Die." Raynare shot her down coldly. "Not that I don't mind if you do, but if there's one thing that I've learned since staying with the jackass, it's that he will utterly eviscerate anyone that intrudes onto his territory without being invited. I haven't seen him do it first hand, but I'm guessing that's the reason why the enchantments around his place are built like a fortress. Even Azazel-sama put in an effort to play by those rules when he brought me into the house. He likened it to intruding on a dragon's den, and I'm sure that none of you are ignorant enough to forget just how badly they react to having their privacy invaded."

The Devils glared at the lone Fallen, tensions rising slowly between the two enemies.

"You seem quite certain that he would be able to kill us so easily." Rias noted evenly.

"You did say that I am familiar with him." Crossing her arms under her breasts, Raynare held her ground. "As much as I despise admitting it, there is some truth to it."

"Does this mean that you are aware of who and what Issei actually is? It would no doubt make negotiating with him much easier to manage."

"Maybe. Who knows? I'm just some useless nobody as far as he's concerned." She suffered for over a month in that household just to barely be able to manage Issei. She was in no mood for free hand outs.

Before any snide questions or comments were fired off, a new sound cut through the setting effortlessly.

That of a small girl screaming her head off.

Kiba sighed. "I figured as much. Gasper doesn't have the disposition to stay around someone like Issei for long without breaking."

"No." Koneko shivered. "That wasn't Gya-kun."

"… What." Raynare asked, her tone as flat as could be.

Slow, heavy footsteps approached the group from inside the room.

With wide, horrified eyes, and a ghost white complexion, Issei walked out, shaking all over.

"Your Bishop…" He started slowly, his expression absolutely haunted. "… Is a blonde, effeminate, male vampire, that can stop time."

"Y-yes. That pretty much sums up Gasper, physically at least." Rias smiled nervously, not expecting this to be Issei's reaction. "What's the problem exactly? You don't look hurt."

He turned to face Rias directly. "Your Bishop, is a blonde, effeminate, male vampire that can STOP TIME."

"We heard you the first time, Issei." Kiba sighed. "Care to tell us why that is so important?"

The Sekiryutei looked around incredulously, unable to comprehend the confused looks he was getting. "Your Bishop, is fucking Dio Brando."

Everyone blinked in bewilderment at once. While the name did seem familiar to some of them, it for the most part went over all their heads.

"Ah. Ahahahaeeeeeeeeeeee…" From inside the room, a new effeminate voice began to wail loudly like a crying child.

"Who?" Rias tilted her head.

It was at that point that one of Issei's eyes began to twitch erratically.

"YOU ARE A TERRIBLE WEEABOO!"