A few days have passed since we defeated Riser. That night, we found ourselves in an abandoned factory.
"Hold it right there!"
"Issei! You charged off all cocky shouting, 'I got him!' and then you totally let him slip away!"
"Don't rub it in! It was just a small slip, a slip!"
Ikki and I are chasing down a Stray devil that moved into Rias's territory during our training camp. Akeno, Asia, and Koneko are heading off to deal with another beasty presence, while Rias and Yuuto hold the perimeter outside.
"President Rias, the Stray devil's fleeing up the emergency stairwell on the third floor."
"Understood. Keep pressuring it."
"On it."
We coordinate over comms: firing energy blasts to herd the devil toward the stairs. Logic works like a charm, it bolts out the door into the stairwell.
"Ugh! What the, ?"
"It's pointless. I've sealed this area. Stray devil, you're trapped."
Thudding from above, Rias descends the stairs.
"You fled your master to indulge your desires, such arrogance deserves death. By the name of Duke Gremory, I shall erase you."
With Rias and Yuuto closing in and Ikki and I guarding the exit, the devil desperately tries to break the barrier with a magic circle. But Rias simply declares, "No use!" and obliterates it with annihilation magic.
Still a fighter, the devil tries again, until Rias orders Yuuto to incapacitate it just enough. The devil crumples.
"Pathetic. That's it?"
"Too weak."
Akeno, Asia, and Koneko step through behind us. Koneko tosses something brown about the size of a softball, it looks like a cicada but soon dissolves into bubbles.
"Ugh, gross… that was its familiar?" Issei mutters. Understandable, no one wants to grab that.
"That bug, why was it so obsessed with my chest?"
"Huh? Your chest?"
"Issei is such a bug, huh?"
"Yeah…"
"A duet? You two are getting along!"
"Don't sweat it! Thanks for the bug comment!"
Rias resumes command coolly.
"Stray devil, surrender or fight?"
"…No point. A Gremory royal has the advantage. Still… hehe, a fine chest you have."
Ah, another hentai freak from DxD territory. I've been corrupted too if I can think that through calmly.
"Issei is such a devil."
"A running gag, huh? You two are tight."
"Akeno, restrain him and send him to the underworld."
"Yes, understood."
With that, Rias orders the devil sealed and banished.
"Submit to underworld justice," she calls.
"Yes… my work here is done."
It disappears in a flash.
"President, was that…?"
"There might be residual trouble. Let's split up and inspect this building and surrounding area for anything suspicious."
"Ugh, really?"
"Come on, Issei, no complaining!"
We find what looks like a devil's lab in the basement. Rias and Issei extract only the most critical data and banish it to the underworld. They destroy the rest. We agree to analyze the recovered info later, and disperse for the night.
====================
Later, Issei and Ikki are back at the dorm…
"Hey Ikki, about that guy from yesterday…"
"What about him, Issei?"
"I'm not talking about that, well, sorta. But you were all over talking breasts. Said things like, 'Nice chest!' and stuff, did you meet some amazing boobies yesterday or something?"
"Important, yes, but more pressing, Issei, hasn't Rias been walking with you to and from school a lot? And I heard you were even giving her a lap pillow on a bench! Is that true, are you two dating or something?"
They're both bawling at me like a waterfall, but guess what?
"She's my sister, after all!"
Issei brags "MY sister" with some serious swagger. Maybe he's just teasing.
"But guys, listen up! I heard many female students at our school have been suddenly absent or leaving early lately."
"That's the first I've heard of it, how does it connect to boobs?"
"Well, here's the thing: all the missing girls share one trait, big breasts! And I, yes, I, have all the bust measurements for the girls in the school in my head. Trust me!"
Holy crap, Motohama, you've memorized that and checked attendance? Creepy.
"So all those big-breasted beauties could vanish! Serious problem, yeah?"
"Bro, your priorities are totally messed up."
Exactly. If you can't even say you're just concerned for your classmates, you're not cut out for harem life. But that's hypocritical, gross fantasy guys, I digress.
"Arima-kun, preaching to these sex-hungry idiots is pointless," chimes in someone else.
Asia and another girl, Kiryuu Aika, braided glasses girl, class rep type, have joined the conversation.
"Arima, there are plenty of better guys out there than these idiots! You don't need a boyfriend like him," Aika says.
"Boyfriend?!" Asia sputters.
"That's right, it's complicated, but I've been helping her since she came to Japan."
"Don't say we're only thinking about sex! We just… mostly think about it!"
That's not much of a defense, Motohama.
Aika sniffs: "You two are always so cozy, seen together all the time, even rooming together, people think you're having sex every night under the same roof."
"Sex?!" they gasp.
"Come on, Ikki, no giant robot talk!"
I grin. Someday I'll be a giant robot and invent combining moves… maybe even with a familiar.
Aika continues: "Issei, you always shut down Ikki's erotic talk, but say nothing when I do. Why?"
"Dude, Aika picks her words carefully and doesn't bother the rest of us with loud porn talk or visual violence like lewd mags."
"Hmph. Fair enough. But you've been dealing with these slimeballs since middle school, right?"
Motohama lowers his head: "Yeah… even the student council said sorry."
Aika smirks. "And word has it there's a gay rumor going around about you and that handsome prince, Issei!"
Bleh! Issei, you're rumored gay, too?
"And they say about Hyoudo… he's always seen with Rias Gremory, some suspects he's blackmailing occult girls into depraved orders!"
"What? Me? Devil? No way!"
Issei flails. Good grief, but mixing "devil" into it doesn't help. The girls here are a mess.
"So which one of you is top and which is bottom?"
"I. DON'T. KNOW!"
=============
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