-----------------19+ Warning -------------
"Hey, Issei. You've been pretty busy lately, huh? Hmm?"
"What's with you two all of a sudden?"
Several days had passed since the Fallen Angels were locked up in the church, and as Issei was heading to school as usual, his friends Matsuda and Motohama suddenly pounced on him from behind and threw an arm around his shoulders.
It was the kind of atmosphere that said, "Hey, let's have a little talk."
"What do you mean, 'what's with us'!? You idiot! Have you forgotten what you've been doing!? Huh!?"
"Yeah! If it's Rias-senpai, then she's the academy idol everyone admires, men and women alike!"
"And there've been all kinds of rumors that you've been getting along with her lately, haven't there!?"
"You'd better come clean while we're still being nice!"
As expected of Issei's friends, they couldn't stand seeing him get ahead, and more than that, they were green with jealousy to the point their stomachs must have been twisting. Ever since he made a friendly agreement with Rias, the number of times Issei and Rias met had increased. Sometimes they came to school together, sometimes they ate lunch together, and sometimes the two of them disappeared into the old school building. Rumors of every kind had started flying around.
"Ahaha, well, that's because we made a friendly agreement with senpai."
After that, Rias had unexpectedly used the friendly agreement as an excuse to come all the way to his classroom and take Issei away. Once his identity was exposed, she even waited for Issei in the old school building while he freely used the Flying Thunder God Technique, then went to school with him. She even lured him into having lunch together. Of course, the chance that a girl-loving Issei would refuse was zero; in fact, it was a secret that he had nearly leapt for joy.
"Ah, well, since we're in the same club activity, there's nothing strange about us being together, right?"
"Huh!? Same club activity!?"
"There was a club activity like a miracle from God? Then let us in too, Issei!! No, please let us in! Lord Issei!!"
That was right. Rias had said that if they were going to strengthen their cooperative relationship from here on out, they needed to get to know each other better, so she had even had him join the club activity. And although Issei had been suspicious when Rias herself came on so strongly, all those doubts were blown away the moment she sat beside him and gave him a little skinship.
"Sorry, but that's impossible."
"Huh!? If there's something good, shouldn't friends share it!?"
"You bastard, hogging it all to yourself!"
"Shut up! If you've got time for this, go and get yourselves girlfriends already!"
"Huh!? You don't have a girlfriend either!"
"No way! You and Rias-senpai are already that close!?"
"Well, not exactly..."
Like Matsuda and Motohama said, if that were true, Issei would have no complaints in the world. But in reality, it was only that he'd gotten the chance to spend time with her; their relationship was nothing more and nothing less than friendly. After all, even today, as usual—
"Issei, welcome."
"Thank you for your hard work, senpai! And this notebook..."
"Mm, I'm looking forward to it again today."
"..."
"Your ninjutsu."
That was it. It turned out that Rias had her reasons for keeping Issei at her side. Ninjutsu—Issei, who possessed unknown power and knowledge, was a treasure to someone as hungry for knowledge as Rias. Of course, that was true for Issei's ninjutsu, not Issei himself... or so Issei thought. But if he could meet and talk with Rias like this, he didn't really mind.
"Then let's start like last time, with me answering the questions senpai asks."
Issei began explaining about ninja while answering Rias's questions, and Rias carefully summarized the key points in her notebook. And so their conversation and interrogation continued until the sun set and the moon climbed high into the sky.
"You worked hard again today, Issei. Sorry for asking you so many questions all one-sided like that."
"It's fine. Thanks to that, I learned a fair bit about devils too."
Rias hadn't simply demanded things one-sidedly; she had also talked about the things Issei was curious about regarding devils. And perhaps thinking that still wasn't enough—
"Then, Issei, what should I give you as a reward?"
"Huh? A reward!?"
"Mm. I think it'd be unfair, so if there's anything you want, tell me."
"N-no, it's fine! Just being able to talk with senpai is enough for me! I don't need anything else!"
"Issei, are you really okay with just that? Just talking with me?"
"Yes! I'm fine!"
"Really. You're such a good boy..."
Issei asked for no reward at all and spent the precious, limited time humans had on her. And Issei saying that simply talking with her was enough made Rias think there really were such pure children in this world. She also found it strange that he accepted the friendly agreement, which could only bring him trouble, so casually, and kept staring at Issei's face with fascination.
"Senpai...? Is there something on my face?"
"No, nothing. I was just thinking about something for a moment."
Unusually for Rias, she blushed a little, looked flustered, and coughed awkwardly.
Then—
"Come to think of it, Issei, you like women's breasts, don't you?"
"Y-yes! I like them the most! No, wait! That was a mistake just now! It's not like I want to look at senpai's breasts or touch them or anything!... W-w-whoa..."
At Rias's sudden words, Issei blurted out his true feelings like a home run and then clapped both hands over his mouth, flailing in panic. He squeezed his eyes shut, wondering if he was about to be hated for this.
"Ufufu, would you be happy if I did this?"
"!!"
When he opened his eyes, he felt something soft and warm press against his face.
"Senpai!?"
"Do you hate it if it's me?"
Rias had buried Issei's face between her breasts. And true to Issei, the incarnation of lust, he chose not to resist and instead enjoyed the sensation of her chest.
"N-no! It's the best!"
"Mm, Issei, don't talk like that while you're in there... it tickles."
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
Tickling her breasts only made Rias's reactions even better, and if this went on, he really might do something irreversible. Or rather—
"Ufufu, that's enough for today."
"Hehehehe, heaven... I can see heaven..."
Before Issei's reason snapped completely, Rias let go of him. As Issei swayed in a daze, Rias suddenly recalled a conversation with Grayfia and went to the window, sat down, and gazed at the moon.
"Issei, what do you think about getting married when two people don't even love each other?"
Bathed in moonlight streaming through the window, Rias rested her face on her knees and stared at the moon with a gloomy expression, as if weighed down by worry. It was a side of her Issei never got to see, a fragile, almost girl-like Rias. He stared at her for a while, then thought,
'So senpai had things she worried about too.'
He had always thought of her as mentally perfect, but right now Rias looked just like any ordinary person—someone who made mistakes, worried, and struggled. Looking at her like that, Issei said,
"I think that kind of thing should never happen, no matter what. Marrying someone you don't even like... that's the fastest road to misery for both people. No matter what the family circumstances are, I think what matters most is the person's own heart."
He thought of his parents from his past life, who had entered an arranged marriage and ended up walking a path of mutual unhappiness, and he let those feelings strike straight through his words. Then Rias—
"Issei..."
—stared at him in surprise.
She had only thought of him as a cheerful, lively junior, but hearing such angry words come from his mouth left her flustered, and at the same time, strangely relieved. It was as if Issei's words had given her strength.
"Senpai?"
"It's nothing. You're right, what matters is the person's own heart... isn't it?"
"Yes. Could it be, senpai..."
"No, I just happened to read something in a book that left an impression on me, so I mentioned it. Sorry for asking something unnecessary."
"Ah, I see."
Thinking it was something related to Rias, Issei had stiffened, but at her words he let out a sigh of relief. The thought that his most admired senpai might marry someone else had even made him want to destroy everything, but above all else, he did not want Rias to walk such an unhappy path.
"Thank you, Issei."
"Yes, if it's a discussion about books, I'm always welcome to it. I don't dislike reading either!"
Well, of course he wouldn't dislike it. Red books—the incarnation of lust would never hate dirty books.
"Ah, my, look at the time already. Sorry for keeping you this late."
After answering Issei softly, Rias suddenly seemed to remember something and checked the clock. It was already past midnight.
"Ah, it's already this late..."
With only three hours left until school, using the Flying Thunder God Technique would let him sleep a little, but sleeping only three hours before going to school was still pretty rough.
"It can't be helped. Sleep here tonight, Issei."
"!!! S-sleep here? Was there really such beautiful Japanese phrasing!?"
"Do you hate it if it's with me?"
"Whaaaaat!?"
Issei had only interpreted it as staying the night and never once imagined sleeping with Rias, so he looked as if he'd been smashed in the head with a hammer.
"No! Please, please let me sleep with you!"
"Ufufu, then I'll go wash up first."
With that, Rias began undressing right in front of Issei. He reflexively tried to cover his eyes in the sudden situation, but—
"S-senpai!?"
"Is this your first time seeing a woman's naked body?"
"W-what is this! Is this heaven!? Yes, it's my first time!"
Of course, it probably wasn't his first time. He had done this and that to Raynare... but since the Rias he had admired was now naked, the joy he felt was beyond words!
"If you want to look, you can look as much as you like."
"Th-then I won't hold back! I'll preserve it in my brain at full power! Preserve it!!"
Once Rias gave him permission, Issei lowered the hand that had been covering his eyes and stared only at Rias without blinking, his eyes drying out. Rias's beautiful proportions, the very ideal female figure, were on full display, and Issei's nose was just about to burst.
"Ufufu, are you that happy?"
"Yes! I'm ridiculously happy."
"Then do you want to bathe together?"
"B-bathe together? Was there really such beautiful Japanese phrasing!? Of course I'll bathe together with you!!"
"Ufufu, I'm joking. Wait until I'm done bathing."
"Whaaaaat!?"
At Rias's order to wait, Issei despaired as if the sky had collapsed. But who was he? He was a gentleman—no, a pervert—called the incarnation of lust. There was no way he would simply pass by the heaven before his eyes.
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!!"
He decided to peek. After completely masking his presence with ninjutsu, he approached slowly, very slowly. Then, beyond the semi-transparent door, the silhouette of Rias's naked body came into view.
"Haa... haa... calm down. If I rush in here, everything's over! But!"
Once he crossed that door, he would see the ultimate sight all gentlemen dreamed of: the naked body of a beautiful girl, soaked with water. His instincts answered with a resounding no to choosing vegetables when meat was right in front of him.
"But if I go in, everything I've built up with senpai until now will...! But I want to go in!! Aaaah!!"
The scream echoing deep in his heart left him unable to enter, only pacing in place in agony.
"Issei?"
"!?!?!?"
In the end, time ran out. Rias came out wiping her hair with water still clinging to her body, and they ended up facing each other right at the door.
"Ufufu, what's this? Were you trying to peek?"
Rias smiled faintly, finding Issei's flustered expression at the door adorable, and when Issei saw that—he finally...
"Senpai, I can't take it anymore!!"
"Ngh! Issei..."
He hugged the naked Rias.
Rias was startled by the sudden attack, but—
"It's your fault, senpai! If you show something like this to a healthy high school boy... I'm a man too!"
"Ufufu, do you want my body that badly?"
"Yes! I want it! I want it like crazy!!"
Issei blurted out his instincts without any filter at all, and Rias wrapped her arms around his body in return.
"Good... if it's Issei... I..."
[Wooooooong]
Before Rias could even finish speaking, a magic circle suddenly formed in the middle of the clubroom, and a silver-haired maid appeared.
"Grayfia..."
"Lady Rias... if you keep behaving so indecently with such a lowly one, Lord and Sir Szerx will be saddened before the wedding."
"..."
At Grayfia's words, Rias fell silent and covered her body with a cloth. Issei, who had been interrupted at the best possible moment, looked back and forth between Grayfia and Rias in confusion, then hurriedly put some distance between them and tried to explain.
"N-no! I, I and senpai are, um, so..."
Thinking it must be something related to the family, he quickly backed away and rushed to make excuses, but—
"I would appreciate it if you would act with some sense of proportion. No matter how special a human's power may be, to so casually expose your lust toward Lady Rias, the next head of the Gremory family, is beyond the bounds of propriety."
Grayfia already knew about Issei, apparently having been briefed by Rias. Issei had only treated her as a senior from school, but as the matter somehow grew larger, he began to shrink back a little. It seemed he truly respected Rias, and thought that if he pushed back, he would cause her a great deal of trouble, so he had no other choice. And then—
"Y-yes... I'm sorry..."
"Stop that, Grayfia. I brought him here."
"Lady Rias... to think you would protect such a lowly human..."
Rias shielded Issei, and he felt genuinely happy that she was protecting him. In the end, thanks to Grayfia and Rias's private conversation, he was kicked out of the clubroom.
"Aah... it was such a good moment too... haa..."
It felt like having a perfectly cooked piece of meat set right in front of him, only for it to be snatched away the instant he reached for the spoon. The best way to calm this feeling would have been to sleep, but if he slept now, with the sun already beginning to rise, he'd only get about two hours. In the end, Issei chose—
"I'll skip class."
There was no way he could send his shadow clones to class, because one of them would definitely kick him in the balls out of sheer jealousy. So he decided to skip school openly and head straight to the church. Since he couldn't skip class at home, he went there immediately.
Then, when he entered the secret room where he had prepared a bed for times like this—
"Aah~ Lord Issei~ More, make me even more of a mess~ G-go on, make me cum!"
"..."
There was Raynare, lying naked on the bed and enjoying herself alone. Whether she had fully become obedient after her awakening or whether this was just how she was originally, even Issei couldn't tell. And perhaps because she was so absorbed, she didn't even notice Issei coming in. Seeing that, Issei froze.
"What are you doing..."
"!?!?!? H-Hyoudou Issei!? T-this is, um..."
"Perfect timing."
"Huh? For what?"
"For this, of course! It's punishment time!"
"Kyaaah, stop!!~"
He was already exhausted and she was fooling around, so in a fit of irritation he pounced on Raynare. When he got up again, Raynare was wrapped head to toe in a blanket, crying that she'd never get married, but that was something he'd have to keep secret from Rias. Or rather, what happened there is best left to the imagination.