*Ahem*
As he entered, Issei coughed into his fist, drawing everyone's attention.
Rias's foot tapping ceased momentarily. She looked up with a miffed look, her jaws set tight and ready to snap at the unrequired intrusion. But it eased slightly when she realized it was him. Just slightly. "Ise…"
"Uhh…Hey." He greeted in a small voice. "You said…last night….ermm…I thought…about Asia…."
His voice went even quieter when Kiba easily skidded past him to join Akeno standing across the room. Koneko had already distanced herself earlier as she was now sitting on a chair in the corner, instead of the empty couch.
It left him standing all alone under the gaze of the rest.
"Oh, yes, I said that, didn't I?" She muttered, more to herself. She turned around to glare at Grayfia.
The silver-haired maid, for her part, remained stoic and asked Rias back, "Ojou-sama, this is…" gesturing at Issei.
"He is Issei Hyoudou. A transfer student who recently joined the academy." She answered vaguely, "He is also the current wielder of the [Boosted gear]. And he helped us clear that dangerous stray last night, I told you about."
…Well, not so vaguely.
She didn't introduce Grayfia to him. Too annoyed to bother with it.
"A student?" Grayfia's mouth opened to form a small O. Just enough to show her surprise at the reveal. She gave a slight bow, "I thank you, Issei-sama, for helping my young lady with the stray devil. She told me how you put yourself in danger for her sake."
"Ahaha…don't…don't mind it…Pfft-" Rubbing the back of his neck, Issei tried to play it cool, but watching her treat him completely like a stranger, the laugh slipped through his lips. Shit.
"Hmm, is there something on my face?"
"Ah, no, no. I just…uhhh…It's a little strange getting a formal apology with a lady in a…y'know…" he lied, shifting the attention to her maid dress. "Miss…"
"Grayfia. I am Ojou-sama's…"
Rias cut her off. "She is my big brother's wife. My sister-in-law. But forget that." She stood up suddenly. Her attention shifted to the rest of her peerage. Koneko, in her seat, jolted upright at the attention.
"Now that you all are here. I'll start with why I called you over. There is something that I need to tell all of you."
"Ojou-sama, do you want me to explain?"
Rias waved away Grayfia's offer.
The gloomy atmosphere intensified. The shadows in the corners started to feel longer, darker. Issei felt his heart palpitate. This was the last moment for him to backtrack, "I…I think…I should go…"
The room ignited in a bright glow. A teleportation circle, different from Gremory's dark red circle, appeared in the centre of the clubroom's floor. It was bright orange in colour and bore the sigil of the immortal Phoenix.
"-Phoenix!" Issei heard Kiba murmur.
The circle thrummed with power. It radiated pure demonic energy, very wasteful for any practical occasion, except for its current purpose-- a show of power. Seconds after the circle appeared, the warm wind started to churn around the clubroom. The paper lying on the president's desk flapped loudly, the doors behind him slammed shut, and the wind grew hotter and stronger till it pushed Issei back where Kiba stood.
"Show off."
A burst of flames erupted out of the circle, and when it died down, a tall man in a maroon suit stood in its place. He had his eyes closed, fingers in the blonde locks of his hair, and he was looking up.
"Yep, definitely a show off," Issei whispered back, dusting the embers off his linens with slight apprehension, agreeing with Koneko's assessment.
"Fuh, it's been a while since I came to the human world." The tall man said. He was wearing no tie, and his top buttons were open. Paired with his suit and that cocky smile that gave the impression that he owned the place, he looked like a typical handsome bully in Korean dramas that had failed class half a dozen times, since he appeared to be in his early twenties.
With his hands in his pockets, he looked around the room. His deep blue eyes scanned around the room breezily, taking in all of Rias' peerage, and stayed on Issei for a microsecond longer, before losing interest and settling on Rias.
"Ah, my lovely Rias. I came to see you."
Rias shared none of his enthusiasm. She looked at him with half-lidded eyes. Issei had a feeling she was rolling her eyes.
But true to his appearance, the man didn't seem to care about her reception. He grabbed her hand and continued.
"Come, Rias. Let's go and take a look at the ceremony hall. The date of the ceremony has been set, so we need to check it out before then."
'Uh-huh. This guy is trash.' Issei thought to himself. Well, trash might be a bit too harsh. But he seemed like the type to eat the cake first before blowing out the candle on his birthday. And when someone asks, respond with 'It's my birthday. Of course, I am eating first.'
A man full of himself.
"…Let go, Riser."
Rias said that with ice in her voice while shaking off his grip.
Riser let go of her hand, showing white teeth, "Haughty as always, hahaha."
In the corner, Issei pulled out his gum packet and slowly began to peel off the outer layer. Slowly, not silently. The low crinkle coming off the shadowed corner caught Riser's attention. However, noticing it was Issei, he lost interest again.
Was it out of patience or simple disdain? Issei tilted his head and quietly whispered to Kiba as he put one in his mouth. "Hey, why aren't you stepping in?"
Kiba blinked, "Should I?"
"You're a knight, aren't you?" He put the rest back in his pocket and began to chew the gum. He gestured with his hand at Akeno brewing tea for the Phoenix boy. He had sat down on the sofa beside Rias, his hand casually around her shoulder.
While Rias kept trying to shrug his hand off her, Riser kept his fingers exploring unhurriedly. Sometimes, he'd touch her hair, sometimes his fingers would stroke her jawline, and other times he would caress her cheek.
Kiba appeared taken aback momentarily. He looked at Akeno, who had gone ahead to brew tea for the Phoenix boy. Then at Koneko, Grayfia, and finally Rias, until he finally said, "I don't think the president would like that."
"Hmm, is that trust or just following hierarchical manners, I wonder."
"…Quiet."
* * *
The rest of the things unfolded exactly like how Issei expected. Riser was being unbearable, Rias was barely tolerating him, Grayfia was trying to be a mediator, Akeno was being a good queen to her king's consort, and the remaining three of Issei and company were watching from the sidelines.
While that happened, Issei's bubblegum had softened in his mouth. And he was boringly blowing small bubbles. During this period, his nerves had also settled somewhat.
Until Rias finally thought enough was enough.
"I said, Stop it already!"
'Finally, some development.'
Rias had gotten up from her sofa. And she was glaring daggers at Riser. "Riser, I told you! I will not marry you!"
"Yeah, I heard you. But Rias, that won't do, you know? The situation of your household is quite serious."
"That is none of your concern. If I'm the next heiress for the House of Gremory, then I will choose who will become my husband. Everyone is just rushing it! Also, it was promised that I will be free until I graduate from university in the human world!"
"Well, yes. But your father decided to push the date forward." Riser gave a small shrug, as if to say he, too, was just playing along with what their clan head had decided. "Besides, you will still be free. You can go to college or do whatever you like. Your father and brother are worried that something will happen to you. We might have lost a great number of devils in the war, but our enmity with the Fallen angels and God hasn't ended. Even you know that, right? It's not rare for devils to die in worthless battles against these factions. So, for a pure-blooded devil, who also happens to be a high-class devil, getting together is na-"
*Pop*
As Riser was going on with his selective breeding eugenics, Issei accidentally blew too big a bubble, which burst with a loud pop.
"Oops…"
Riser's head whipped around like a whip. His deep blue eyes settled on Issei, rocking back and forth in his chair, and his eyes twitched. "Who is this insolent fool?!"
"Ehe…"
____________________________
People, I have a small question.
Do you prefer the writers to let the Japanese honorifics slip into the English story, or would you rather not?
Ofc, I am not talking about the canon, but rather fanfics. And if yes, till where? Just the honourifics, or even buchou and onee-sans?
Honestly, I am kinda conflicted. I kinda want to do all english. But writing someone like Grayfia without using honorifics feels kinda weird.
Anyway, please add it to your library!! And if you already have it in your library, can I get a shiny stone? Just one, pleaseeee!