Chapter 22

Issei didn't respond to that. He went back to Rias instead.

"Buchou, exactly how did you come about finding me and resurrecting me?"

Though he was being polite and kept a warm smile up, Rias could hear the hint of suspicion in his words. He didn't trust her. She supposed it was understandable, given the circumstances.

She shrugged to herself and decided to answer honestly.

"I've been keeping an eye on you for quite some time. There are a few humans attending this school who have the potential of wielding Sacred Gears. I'm not too sure which ones do and don't. However, it was undeniable with you and so I thought about recruiting you to my peerage. Unfortunately, I never succeeded in finding the right moment to talk to you and explain what I just told you. But who would have believed we were Devils ruling the school and going against Fallen Angels? After all, you were just a normal high school student."

Her eyes narrowed slightly; not in suspicion, but in curiosity, "…Or at least I thought you were. You did very well in fooling everyone. I'd have to say you're nothing short of a genius to have come up with a façade of debauchery. Not to mention humble and shameless to be the bane of women everywhere for so long. These are the things I admire about you. No one pays a second glance at a pervert after all. This morning you could have taken full advantage of our situation but instead, you were concerned for my modesty."

"R-Right…" Issei had to look away from his King as he nonchalantly sipped his tea.

"Façade…"

Yuuto raised a hand as though still attending a class, "Buchou? What do you mean? Sorry but I'm a little out of the loop."

Rias smiled proudly as though it was her who achieved something so great.

"Ise was able to hold his own against a Fallen Angel. By the looks of things, he was winning. Unfortunately, he went down due to a cheap shot from behind. If Akeno and I hadn't sensed the Fallen Angels' energies, Ise would have been long dead."

"And Hyoudou-kun did this as a human?"

Yuuto asked for reassurance. His eyes went over towards the subject of the matter.

Having been the center of everyone's ire due to his choices in life, Issei had no idea how to react towards admiration and praise.

He shuffled in his seat and continued to use the teacup as a means to draw out time… even when it had been empty for some time. Akeno had seen this and refilled his cup a few times.

After a while, he cleared his throat.

"Regardless, they attacked me because of my Sacred Gear even if I had nothing to do with them."

He leaned back as he looked across the room, staring into open space. His mind was full of thoughts Rias couldn't theorize of what.

"Whatever the reason, it was more than enough to scare them into acting so desperately. Buchou, how long have you been keeping an eye on me?"

Rias sipped her tea before answering, "About a little more than a year. Ever since you entered Kuoh Academy I would have to say."

"So around the time Shitori-sempai…" whatever he was about to say was drawled off in his thoughts.

"Speaking of which," she crossed her legs again. "What is your relationship with Sona? She was very… concerned about you before you entered."

"Oh… uh…" Issei put his cup down and scratched his cheek. He made noises of thought to gain as much time as possible to find a suitable answer. He didn't try to hide the epiphany as he snapped his fingers when finding an appropriate response.

"Shitori-sempai helps me out with class assignments and sometimes tutors me. Yeah, that's it."

The room was silent. No one believed his excuse but no one was going to call him out on it.

"I think it is starting to turn into more of an interrogation than an introduction," Rias sighed and waved her hand in dismissal.

"I apologize for that, Ise-kun. Well, I think that'll be all for today. Why don't you head home and let the information soak in? Tomorrow we can get started on your duties as a Devil."

Issei grimaced, "You're not going to have me dealing in the trade of souls, are you?"

Rias gave a light laugh, "No, no, we no longer deal in acquiring souls from humans. Although there are some groups that do, likely the oldest of clans, I assure you we, the Occult Research Club, do not partake in any of that. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. For now, have a good night Ise. I hope you're a bit more rested by tomorrow."

"Ah, that's good," Issei gave a sigh of relief. He then stood and bowed, "Thank you for your hospitality, Buchou. And thank you for the tea Himejima-sempai—"

"Onee-sama," Akeno corrected.

Issei just did his best to keep the smile. He then gave the same departing gesture towards Yuuto and excused himself from the room.

Akeno laughed into her hand, "My, oh my, he seems to be quite the character."

Rias nodded in agreement.

"Um… Buchou?" Yuuto raised his hand once more. "Are we going to do anything about Koneko-chan?"

It wasn't like Rias had forgotten about her Rook. It was more like she didn't know how to get a startled cat out of a tree. She wasn't going to like having to deal with Koneko's claws

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Author's Note:

Issei won't be like this forever and the story will progress more differently soon. I don't want to spoil everything but the story will have some cool battles and Issei will become more badass. This side is just temporary.

As for those mentioning his defeat against the fallen angel, that was a sneak attack as Issei isn't actually still well versed with human combat at that moment so was taken out by surprise. Doesn't mean he is weak.

For the reason he joined Rias, that is because he understood even if he is strong, he can't fight against everything alone without any knowledge and help. There are always ways to take out a dragon as done in the past and other dragons won't help him ever.

I've also showed a few moments here and there where Issei reveals his inner dragon side. Especially when he was evaluating Rias and accepted to make her his master. Rias even commented that she felt like Issei completely changed for a few moments as if this all act was a facade and he was looking at her with eyes of a being above her.

Every other thing will be revealed as the story goes. Give the story some time to develop people

And once again I'll say this that this is just a fanfic and if you don't like it then I can understand.