Accidental Multiverse Planeswalker

I didn't realize the mistake I made in travelling until I appeared under a purple sky in what was clearly not a normal world. I hadn't readjusted my travel method from the last time I had used it, which had been from inside a locked and reversed pocket dimension to reach a normal world. I held in my sigh at not being more careful and quickly put on an invisibility cloak to hide.

It took me several hours of investigation and eavesdropping to figure out I was in a kind of Hell dimension that I had to assume was nothing like the one in Buffy's universe. I eventually copied one of their cell phones and quickly hacked it to give me better access.

It was shocking to find out that I was currently in a Devil society and that a Holy War between three factions, Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels, had happened millennia ago. About two centuries ago, there had been a civil war in Hell, or the dimension that everyone but the Devils called Hell, and the old generation was pushed aside and a new generation was put into power.

Four of the most prominent members had become the New Satans, the rulers of the Underworld. They were also ridiculously overpowered. It was almost too much information to assimilate in so short a time and it took me a while to compartmentalize it.

I also knew that my power usually brought me to a place where I would be near or in the main part of the action, either right away or soon. Since I was immortal, soon could mean anything from months to years. I mentally accepted that it might take me a long time to figure out how to leave this dimension, since movement here was highly regulated.

It was so stringent that going between different Faction-owned lands needed extensive paperwork and going to the real world on the only approved physical method of travel there, an inter-dimensional train, needed both sponsorship and twice as much paperwork... the first time. After that, you could freely move back and forth in any method you wanted.

That made me laugh so hard that I had to give up my current hiding place and flee from several low class devils looking for an easy target. I didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to myself, so I had to avoid conflicts, even if I could defeat my opponents. However, I didn't know what extra powers they had and anything could happen in a fight.

After a bit of searching, I soon found an abandoned and partially wrecked house that had a flooded basement. I couldn't do anything obvious, not yet anyway, and took some time to seal the basement off from the rest of the house.

With the stolen phone, I settled in to do a lot of careful research. Could whatever spells were cast inside the dimension be detected? What about different technology that wasn't registered? Could I chance taking Eye out without giving myself away? Would I set off a manhunt if I did anything at all that was out of the norm for Devil society?

I sighed and started my exhaustive search. With luck, I would discover a back door or something to a main server and could slip in things I needed to whatever registry they had and make exceptions for myself. Then again, this place didn't seem too friendly to people and races that weren't born to a pureblood Devil family. Wonderful.

*

A week of deep searching and examining the rules and regulations of the Devils, and there were a lot of them, I couldn't find anything that they legally used to detect things like technology and magic. That didn't mean they didn't have anything, it just meant I couldn't find it using a stolen phone with no discernible detection software that worked to find it.

So, that meant I had to do some physical experiments. I snuck out of my hiding place, not willing to lose the safe place I had found, and made my way to a high traffic area with several stores, eateries, and stalls selling things. My first experiment? I created a different cell phone that wasn't a copy of a Devil's or on the Devil's network and left it on one of the outside tables after I turned it on.

Nothing happened for about ten minutes, then I felt a barrier of magic form over the area. I walked away as I dissolved the phone and joined the crowd leaving the area as what looked like police made their way over to where the phone had been. That meant they did actively scan for unregistered technology, so I couldn't create or take out anything that wasn't their own tech.

That meant I needed to raid one of their stores or a private residence if I wanted to do anything electronic here. It sucked, because Eye would have had a ball pilfering their systems. He would be found out almost immediately, though.

My next experiment was casting magic. I had only done things physically since I had arrived, because I didn't want to give myself away. The rules and laws for interlopers and intruders were harsh, even if they arrived here accidentally. I did not want to spend a year in jail and interrogated about how I had shown up here out of the blue.

I went to a private residence this time, a mansion, and created an invisibility cloak. I waited ten minutes before moving onto the grounds and searching around. Was there anywhere specific that they practised their own brand of magic? Was the place guarded or warded? Did they just cast magic all over and didn't care about being detected?

Two hours later, I had my answer. Devils were lazy and decadent. Even their maids and butlers did the bare minimum, so I had a lot of practice casting different cleaning spells and transfigurations inside one of the many unused rooms. Luckily, no one showed up. I then started casting diagnostic spells and the results were... to put it mildly... completely stupid.

There was nothing in place to detect magic. Nothing at all. There were no wards around the building, in the area, or anywhere else. There was no way for any magic to be detected, except for one simple thing that I discovered when one of the maids stumbled into the room looking for the 'returned young master'. It was the Devils themselves that detected magic.

I stunned her, fed her some truth serum, and she told me everything I needed to know. Any technology was doled out by their resident expert and no other electronics were allowed. I knew that meant it was full of tracking and monitoring software and hardware, probably more invasive than a constantly running GPS that I had disabled in my stolen cellphone.

Of course, that made me wonder if the one I copied the phone from had been picked up or arrested. I did a quick search through the contacts and found the guy. He was at home with his Peerage and hadn't been bothered by anyone. It seems I had lucked out and he lost phones all the time. No one bothers to check his search history or where any of his phones were.

Now that I had access to a maid in a mansion that seemed to be only used by the youngest member of the family, also a completely lucky thing on my part, I soon discovered why. He was sent off to a boarding school in another district and wouldn't be back to visit for another month. She had thought he returned early and was overjoyed to see him.

With some regret, I had her tell me everything about him, gathered up the boy's papers and official information, and I copied everything. A few pictures and pilfered memories of his behavior later, I had a stolen identity that I could use. I just had to figure out what I was going to do with it and try to not get caught.

On the plus side, I could use my gold and silver jewels to cash in for the local currency. It was magic and no one cared if they felt it nearby, so I produced a literal ton of it by using half of my available stock. The maid fainted when the room filled with Devil Dollars.

I spent almost no time at all creating an expanded trunk and tossing all of that money inside. With that much capital and a copied identity, I could pretty much do anything I wanted.

*

The security job at the train station was usually a boring one. The young man sat at his desk, just inside the station, and watched the television monitors as passengers entered the place, bought tickets, and boarded the train. Most usually took the normal trains to go to different Faction-owned lands and weren't interesting, so those he barely paid any attention to.

His eyes went to the split monitor watching the Up-World Express ticket booth. He saw an unaccompanied teenager approach with a single bag and ask to buy the ticket. Normally, this wouldn't be much of a concern and easily ignored. The problem was that the split monitor showed a physical scan of the person standing there and he was not the teenager his eyes could see.

The guard hit the button on the phone to call the ticket booth and saw the woman pick up the receiver. “Stall them. They're under an illusion.”

The ticket girl stiffened slightly and the guard sighed when the teenager buying the ticket also stiffened. The guard hung up, hit the alarm button, and activated the teleportation circle to go there. By the time he arrived five seconds later, the teenager was long gone and the ticket girl apologized as she asked about the money left on the counter.

“Keep it for hazard pay.” The guard said and the young woman smiled.

*

Dammit, dammit, dammit. I thought in frustration as I retreated to a safe location. How the hell did they detect the concealment spells? I made sure to have my hair and shirt go through different colors to explain using a glamour.

I sighed at not being able to slip through and board the train anyway. It wasn't leaving for another hour and they could easily delay it and keep me there, even if I was invisible, and I couldn't board the train without a ticket.

I sighed again at the failure and now I needed to do something drastic. Something I had only done to spend time with Gloria a long time ago. I had to de-age myself again. It was the only way to get by whatever they used to detect me and I couldn't rely solely on magic. I had been lucky again that paying upfront had distracted her and she hadn't asked for my information before that phone rang.

I also needed a different reason than what I had already told the woman when buying a ticket. Being a tourist for a week was not going to work the next time. I would have to work on it after I checked the retooled sarcophagus to make sure it would work properly in the Underworld.

*

The clerk in the Beelzebub Electronics store had a banner day. A handsome and very rich client had just bought their top of the time laptop, a home computer setup, several high-end servers, and a bunch of network components. When she asked what he was doing, he said someone told him he needed all of it to play his favorite Earth game.

The woman didn't care why, she just needed something to add to the purchase slip. She rang him through and she asked if he wanted it all delivered. He laughed and took off his backpack and put every single thing inside, to her shock.

“Family magic.” The young man claimed and waved goodbye as he left.

A few seconds later, the clerk smacked herself on the forehead. “I should have asked to be a part of his Peerage! Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

*

A week later, Sona Sitri was working at her computer in the Student Council's office when it beeped. She minimized her report on how well the integration of boys was going in the previously all-girl school and clicked on the email sent from the Underworld. It was from a minor family name she didn't recognize and she read it through.

Her eyes widened at the sponsorship deal to allow another name to be added to the incoming students. It wasn't unheard of, especially since that was how both she and Rias Gremory had brought their peerages into Kuoh Academy. What was curious was how did this unknown family learn that detail? As far as she she knew, only her friends and family knew she was in charge of things like that.

Sona looked at the name of the student and frowned. John Hansen was a normal human name and not one that would be innocuous in Japan like her own chosen one of Souna Shitori. That made her question the validity of the sponsorship, until she saw the amount offered and her mouth dropped open.

It was twice the academy's operating budget for the year!

Several minutes passed before Sona shook off the shock and she hit the accept button for the money transfer. She was not surprised when a teleportation circle appeared beside her desk and a silver metal briefcase rose up out of it. She picked it up and placed it on her desk, then she stared at it for another few minutes.

Her hands moved almost against her will and she clicked open the clasps to open the case and looked at the contents. Again, her eyes widened at seeing the expanded space and the stacks and stacks of money inside. She picked up the note on top and almost laughed at the polite thank you for accepting the transfer student and was being gifted the briefcase for her own personal use.

Whomever this John Hansen is, he is definitely making the right impression. Sona thought and closed the case as she put the note on her desk. He had piqued her interest, that was for sure.

*

It was surprisingly easy to hack into the Underworld's systems when using their own technology against them. It was almost like they had never expected something that they made could do it. That made me laugh, because it explained why unapproved technology was so stringently regulated and usually confiscated and destroyed.

The Devils were not even allowed to bring simple gaming systems back to the Underworld, which was ridiculous. Their claim of unfair business practises was stupid because they didn't have fair business practises in the first place. How could anyone compete in a market that was solely owned by a single company that had a monopoly on everything? That's right, they can't.

I shook those thoughts off and packed everything up. I thought about leaving it all here, since it wouldn't really work anywhere else but in the Underworld, then shrugged. Taking the evidence was better than leaving it for someone to find. Plus, I had a date in the human world to get to, now that I had official papers with my actual name on them and a legitimate reason for travelling.

It was almost ridiculously easy to bribe Devils to do the backroom dirty work when you could get a hold of them. Five thousand devil dollars here to grease someone's palm, ten thousand there for adding a fake family background, and everything was registered officially and issued with legitimate stamps of approval and a transfer into a school registry with another bribe of twenty thousand.

How many times had I been to high school? I asked myself with a soft chuckle.

It really was funny, actually. I had lived for millennia and been with dozens of women, and yet, I could still adapt to situations instead of running roughshod over everything. Then again, when I ignored the local conditions and did whatever I wanted, it almost never worked out well for anyone and always wrecked things.

That was one of the main reasons I had decided a long time ago to try and live my life in each world I appeared in. This last one was quite the doozy, though. I couldn't actually make myself into a full Devil to blend in or could accept becoming a Reincarnated one and join a Peerage, because I would be fundamentally changed and my powers would be altered or lost completely.

It had happened to Gloria when I saved her from her condition and I didn't want the same thing to happen to me, assuming I was changed in the same way. Since my powers were so much more versatile than hers before switching her body, losing my ability to touch and gain things would pretty much end how I do things wherever I go. That would suck big time.

It would have been hugely detrimental to me if I had already done it, because I couldn't have survived here in the Underworld for long or figured out how to escape, at least not without using my travelling power again. Like Gloria had told me a long time ago, I had never activated my power so soon after travelling.

I didn't know if that would screw things up more than they already were or if nothing would happen. That would also suck big time, especially if it ended my existence. I had grown too used to moving on instead and having it all end wasn't something I wanted. At least, not now. After all this time, it was more important for me to keep on living.

I finished packing up and transfigured my clothes into the fanciest on the market in the Underworld. I left the abandoned basement wrapped in an invisibility cloak and made my way to the train station. I avoided running into anyone and ducked into the normal train car, stood out of the way in a small alcove, and rode it to the main station.

When the doors opened, I took off the cloak and created two suitcases of clothing. No one looked at me as I went over to the Up-World ticket booth. Since I wasn't using any disguises this time, magic or otherwise, it didn't activate any security measures and the ticket girl, or ticket Devil as the case may be, didn't even blink an eye as she checked my papers and told me what train to catch, issued a ticket that I paid for, and she waved me into the small office off to the side of the booth.

My bags were checked thoroughly and nothing was found. When I asked why they checked them on the way out, the guy said it was to make sure no one was smuggling Devil artifacts out. I laughed and asked if they ever found people that were stupid enough to try that. He laughed as well and said they get one every few weeks and someone had tried last week to sneak through.

I wisely kept my mouth shut as I stuffed my clothes back into the bags. I thanked the man for being personable and not making this the chore it usually was. He kept laughing and led me back out to the right platform and said the train I wanted was yellow and to have a nice time at school. I thanked him again and waited patiently.

Four trains stopped and then passed me by before a bright yellow one appeared. I checked my ticket and it was the right number, so I boarded the completely empty train car and the announcer said there were two other stops to make at other cities before it would ascend to the plane of humanity.

That made me wonder if it could be modified to ascend to any other planes within this existence, since my Shield Hero abilities were still locked within my arm. Dr. Fate had explained that after he fixed it, it would only activate on certain worlds where it was viable to use it properly. It was just too bad that he had no idea what kinds of worlds that meant and I still hadn't found one yet.

Surprisingly, one of the stops was within the Fallen Angels area of the Underworld and an absolutely gorgeous woman with purple hair and large breasts stepped on. I didn't ogle her, even though she wore a very revealing outfit. What caught my eye was the short blonde girl with blonde pigtails that boarded with her. She wore a Gothic Lolita dress that somehow suited her small frame perfectly.

“Why are we being sent as backup to that crow bitch?” The short blonde asked, clearly irritated.

“Orders are orders. If we don't follow them, no matter who gave them, you know what would happen to us.” The tall purple-haired woman said and she turned her head to look at me. “It seems someone is finally interested in you, Mittelt.”

“What the fuck are you...” The mentioned blonde turned her head to also look at me and her eyes widened at my expensive clothing. “...talking...” Her voice trailed off before she could finish her question.

“I'm sorry for staring.” I said and walked over to her with my hand held out. “I was admiring how nice you look in your outfit and how well it fit you.”

Mittelt took my hand and shook it as she stared up at me. I was about a foot taller than her 4 foot 9 inches, which meant I was just as tall as the purple-haired woman. She looked like she didn't know what to say to me and I was stopped from reassuring her that things were okay when her tall friend spoke.

“Most people would say a girl was pretty or something instead of commenting on their clothing.” The purple-haired woman said with a teasing smile.

I smiled back without letting the blonde's hand go. “I had a feeling she wouldn't believe me if I said that while she's standing next to you.”

The purple-haired woman's teasing smile changed to a genuine one.

“Fucking right I wouldn't.” Mittelt said. “I'm Mittelt and she's Kalawarner.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you.” I said and bent down to kiss the back of the short blonde's hand.

Mittelt blushed, just like I figured she would at being treated like a lady. I let her hand go and held it out to Kalawarner. Her hand almost teleported into mine and we both chuckled when Mittelt cursed at her for being so eager to steal me away from her and we had only just met.

I kissed the other woman's hand and let it go. “Where are you headed?” I asked and their faces started to close down. “If you don't mind me asking, that is.”

“Where are you going dressed like that?” Mittelt asked instead of answering.

I pulled my papers out to look, even if I had already memorized them. “I'm transferring into a Devil run high school in Japan called Kuoh Academy.”

Both women stiffened and didn't speak. Their wide eyes gave them away, however.

“I had the option to go to several other Devil controlled areas, except none of them were anywhere near the United States. Since I had lived in Japan before, I figured I might as well go there.” I explained and the two clearly nervous women exchanged looks. “Of course, having relatives of two of the Satans there is bound to keep me safer than anywhere else.”

Mittelt made an obvious and fairly loud swallowing sound. Before she could say anything about it, the train car came to a stop and the doors opened to let in six people. I catalogued them and the main one was a tall blond guy that was quite arrogant and the others were women of various hair colors and body types. The two youngest were twins and also cat people.

Mittelt and Kalawarner moved off to stand at the far end of the train car, probably in a bid to get away from me. I thought about going with them and decided to let things play out for however long the train ride was instead. I added tracking charms to where I had kissed their hands, just in case. If they were going to cause trouble, I might have to stop them.

“Ah! Finally! Someone else with a proper sense of fashion!” The blond guy said and walked over to me as the train car's doors shut. “I'm Riser Phenex and these beauties are the core of my Peerage.”

“John Hansen.” I said and shook his offered hand as I decided to lie. “I haven't had a chance to recruit anyone yet.”

Riser laughed as if that was the funniest thing he had ever heard. “You're missing out on the easy pickings, John! Just walk around the capital and you'll have women throwing themselves at you for wearing a suit that costs more than their yearly salaries!”

I chuckled at that. “Easy pickings? Try stupid pickings. I'd rather do what you did and genuinely search to gain much higher quality companions instead.”

Riser looked pleased at the compliment and the women and girls in his Peerage beamed happy smiles at me. “Then I better introduce the ones I brought with me. We're heading to Italy for a vacation and it's Yubelluna's fault.” He said and the tall woman smacked his arm. “I mean idea. Yes, idea. It's a great idea!”

The other girls laughed and I did as well.

“At least it won't be boring.” Yubelluna said and offered me her hand.

I gave Riser a look and loudly whispered. “You don't mind if I kiss her hand, do you? I don't want to offend either of you if that's out of line.”

“Oho! You're a true gentleman? Riser approves.” Riser said and nodded.

“Thank you.” I said and took Yubelluna's hand and bent over it to lightly kiss it. “It's a pleasure to meet you. Can I ask what position you hold?”

“She's my Queen, of course.” Riser boasted. “The Bomb Queen!”

Yubelluna blushed and gave my hand a squeeze before letting it go. “I used to hate that nickname.”

“I once told someone in a similar situation that it's better to own it than ignore it.” I said in reference to when I had been in the Harry Potter universe and created a Boy-Who-Lived to save Harry from his fans. “It eventually worked out for him and he ended up happily married to one of his biggest fans.”

Yubelluna blushed and looked right at Riser, whom completely missed the implication.

A short blonde stepped forward and her hair was in two drill-like pigtails on either side of her head. “Unlike the others, I'm in his Peerage; but, I'm not one of his girls. I'm his sister, Ravel Phenex.”

I blinked my eyes at her as I took her hand. “Wait a minute, that matters?”

Everyone in the train care stared at me.

“What? Incest is a sin and Devils and Fallen Angels wallow in sin.” I commented and they all lost the pointed looks. At least, that was what a lot of my research had come up with. There weren't any laws stopping anything like that, so I had assumed it was okay. “I guess I assumed incorrectly.” I said and bent down to kiss Ravel's hand. “I apologize if I impinged upon your honor, future Lady Phenex.”

Ravel blushed deeply. “It's all right. Most people assume I'm doing my brother and I have to deal with it all the time, even if I barely like him as a person.”

“Hey! Riser is a great guy!” Riser and the other girls said at the same time.

I gave Ravel a knowing look and a wink, then we both softly laughed. I let her hand go and didn't point out that she and Mittelt could be sisters. They looked so much alike, except Mittelt had small breasts that were appropriate for her slim body and height, while Ravel was a short-stack with large breasts.

I was introduced to the rest and we chatted about different things, mostly their training, weapon preferences, and what they would be doing in Rome. Ravel kept eyeing me and I was tempted to ask her what she wanted, except I was sure it would be for me to join them. Riser had been right that women would want to throw themselves at me for wearing such expensive clothes.

The train stopped to drop them off first, much to Ravel's regret. I could actually feel it as she gave me a sad look, so I stepped forward and took her hand, bent to kiss it, and promised that we would see each other again someday.

Ravel opened her mouth to ask me how I could be so confident of that and saw the folded piece of paper I had slipped into her hand. She opened it and it had my Devilphone number on it, so she smiled at me and nodded, waved, and walked off with her brother and his Peerage.

“So, you're a filthy cheating liar as well as a Devil.” Mittelt said, angrily.

I looked over at her and then at an amused Kalawarner. “It seems Mittelt has completely missed the fact that Ravel looks so much like her that I thought they were sisters.”

Mittelt made a choking sound and Kalawarner laughed.

I walked over to them and handed another piece of paper to Mittelt. “When I said I was going to Kuoh, you looked shocked, so I thought you gave up anything to do with me. If that's not true, give me a call in a few days. I should be settled by then.”

Mittelt looked down at the paper and back at my face. “You're going for the filthy cheating part?”

I gave her my best smile. “Is it cheating if you know there's someone else?”

“Yes, you asshole.” Mittelt said and crumpled the paper in her hand.

I chuckled and winked at her, nodded to Kalawarner, and walked to the middle of the train car. The ride to where we needed to go was surprisingly short. I was sure it was like the transition bus when I was at Yokai Academy and it crossed dimensions to make the distance much shorter.

The train car came to a stop at a normal train station and the doors opened. I picked up my two bags and stepped off as I took in a deep breath of air. I was really glad to finally be back in the real world and had access to a real sun again.

“Excuse us.” Kalawarner said from behind me.

I was only slightly surprised when I stepped aside and she and Mittelt stepped off of the train as well. Mittelt gave me a look that seemed to be assessing me right down to the bones, then Kalawarner grabbed her arm and they rushed off the platform and out of sight.

That explains why they reacted like that when I mentioned Kuoh. They were coming here, too. I thought and moved off of the platform myself and put my bags down to take out the map I had. Again, it was just an affectation for others to see, because I had memorized it. I nodded to it like it was giving me information, and picked up my bags and walked out of the station.

A taxi cab was there and I hopped in and told the driver the address. It was also a short ride and I tipped the guy well before getting out and looking at the house that one of my bribes had arranged for me. I wasn't sure why Devil Dollars were worth so much more than normal dollars and I didn't care. I had a huge account filled with them and it made everything so much easier.

I went to the front door of the modest house and a small teleport circle appeared on the ground. A set of keys and papers appeared and I dropped my suitcases to pick both up. I unlocked the door and brought everything inside and locked it again. Like I said, it made everything easier.

The first thing I did was sweep the place for listening devices, spells, and anything else that wasn't supposed to be there. I found several unauthorized teleportation destination circles in the living room, kitchen, and main bedroom. I thought about dispelling them, then chuckled as I cut them out of the floors and went out to the backyard and made a small mud pit and dropped them there.

I repaired the damage and then set about expanding each room to make things more comfortable and added appropriate furniture. I dismissed the fake suitcases and went to the closets and filled them with what was expected to be found there, namely normal clothes for living in and uniforms for the school. Again, it was an affectation, because I could make anything I wanted whenever I wanted and I didn't need closets or extra storage space.

The next thing I did was add proper protections to the house and the yard. I wasn't going to suffer random burglaries, visits from unwanted or uninvited guests, or risk having the place burn down or be destroyed by a passing battle or something. This world was full of dangers and I wasn't taking any chances.

Well, chances I wasn't willing to risk. Talking to Fallen Angels and Devils while I was human was a huge risk, especially bluffing like I did. I had no Evil Pieces or any access to them, even with bribes. I knew what they were, of course. They would be quite interesting to research, especially the longevity and conversion processes they performed on any race to change them into Devils.

Then again, despite gaining harems in the form of Peerages, Devils sacrificed their fertility rate for it and that was the same problem I had. I couldn't reproduce my own race or could grant them my powers, which meant I only had run-of-the-mill normal humans when I allowed my partners to get pregnant.

I had accepted it a long time ago as a fact of life and it seemed that the Devil race had as well. It took them years, and in some cases decades and centuries, before they could conceive a single child. It also meant they were highly sexual beings when necessary and quite promiscuous, which made me mentally sigh. I had just gotten used to only having one sexual partner at a time and would have to adapt to having multiples again.

On the positive side of being here, as a medical professional, I was very interested in researching every aspect of Devil biology. Unfortunately, things like that had to wait for now. I needed to finish setting things up in my house and prepping the space for my lab, then I needed to try to bring out each bit of technology that I had access to and test what was and what wasn't usable here.

I couldn't do that in the Underworld with their tech ban and I hoped that the real world didn't have any restrictions like that. I missed my little buddy Eye and wanted to make sure he wasn't fried as soon as I took him out of my inventory. The first step was the dimensional expansion of the basement with the time component cranked up for my research lab.

That was when I felt someone essentially knock on my protection ward and I had no idea what had caused the visit. I hadn't been moving quickly while making everything else bigger inside the house and this was the first time I had used the time alteration ability on an expanded space.

With a sigh, I closed and locked the basement and went up the stairs to the front door. I cast the spell to make it transparent on this side and was surprised to see Sona Sitri standing there with another girl that was slightly taller and could have passed for her sister. It made me wonder if that was a thing here, since it was the second set of people I had met that probably weren't related and also looked so alike.

I cancelled the spell and opened the door as I gave the co-ruler of the Kuoh Territory my best smile. “Miss Sitri, what a welcome surprise.”

Both girls gave me surprised looks before Sona sighed. “When we're at school, please use my cover name. Some of us are trying to hide our natures from those not in the know.”

I gave her a bow and waved her and her companion inside. “I'll do that when you greet me in the morning at school for the official welcoming. Please come in and make yourself at home.”

“Thank you.” Sona said and her friend nodded at me when they walked by me.

I closed the door and followed them into the huge living room.

“How did you find a place like this here?” Sona asked as her keen eyes glanced around and then she caught her breath. “You didn't find a house with this much square footage. You made it this big.”

“The rumors of your intelligence are unequal to the reality.” I complimented and smiled at her blush. I motioned for the two young women to sit on one of the large comfy couches. “Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? Wine? Magical alcohol?”

Both of them had wide eyes at my last offer.

“I should warn you that it's called firewhiskey for a reason.” I said with a grin.

The bustier of the two softly laughed. “I'll try it just to see what you mean.”

“I'll be right back.” I said and walked across the large living room into the expanded kitchen.

“You were right, President. He really is interesting.” The other girl whispered.

“Tsubaki, please restrain yourself. Save the flirting until we find out what his agenda is.” Sona whispered back. “If he can alter his living space this much in so short of a time and also put up protective wards the likes of which no one has seen before, there's no telling what kind of magic he can perform. We must stay on his good side.”

Tsubaki giggled. “We don't have to worry about that, President. He was checking you out like he was thinking of buying a brand new car. He almost kicked the tires to make sure you were real, too.”

“I don't like that analogy.” Sona whispered with a sigh and her friend giggled more.

I held in my laugh at the girl teasing Sona and created a tray and added a butterbeer that I was sure Sona would enjoy and a bottle of firewhiskey with a shot glass for Tsubaki. I carried the tray into the room and the pair of girls stopped whispering and looked at me.

“I grabbed a bottle of something else that you might like, Miss Sitri.” I said and set the tray down on the coffee table.

“You may call me Sona when we are in private.” Sona offered.

“Then please, call me John.” I said and handed her the chilled bottle.

Sona raised a single eyebrow at me. “You're still using your cover name when you know my real one?”

I chuckled and sat down on the coffee table as I poured out a shot for Tsubaki. “Funnily enough, John Hansen is my real name. I've used pseudonyms before and chose to give you my real name instead.”

Sona stared at me and held onto the butterbeer without trying it.

“I suggest you down this and don't sip it.” I said and handed the shot to Tsubaki. “You should also look up afterwards.”

Tsubaki took the shot in her hand and gave me a pointed look. I gave her a smug smile and lifted the bottle to match her. She nodded and downed the shot in one gulp. Her face turned red and she gasped at the burn, then she felt a burp coming and looked up and opened her mouth.

*BRRRRAAAPPP!* *WHOOOSH!*

Sona and Tsubaki stared at the gout of flame that had come from the loud and very unladylike burp.

“My turn.” I said and upended the bottle. I downed about a third of it, to their shock, and tilted my head back.

*BRRRRAAAPPP!* *WHOOOSH!*

The extremely loud noise shook the couch and the huge burst of flames licked the ceiling. It would have went afire if the house hadn't already had all the protective enchantments on it.

“Okay, that was impressive, even if I do say so myself.” I said with a laugh. “Remind me to not do that anywhere else.”

“Don't do that anywhere else!” Sona and Tsubaki shouted immediately.

I laughed at the shocked looks on their faces and I put the bottle down to cap it again. “You have to admit that it's a great party gag when you're only doing the shots.”

Both girls shook their heads and didn't agree with my assessment at all.

I held in my laugh and motioned to the butterbeer. “Go ahead and try that. It has a low alcohol content and it's a soothing taste. There are no aftereffects, except maybe wanting another because it's so good.”

Sona looked down at it and at Tsubaki.

“Of course, President.” Tsubaki said and took the bottle and sipped it. Her red face faded away and she reached up to rub her throat. “It really is soothing.”

I nodded and she handed the bottle back to Sona, whom waited for a minute to see if Tsubaki suffered from anything. When she stayed fine, Sona took a tentative sip and she sighed.

“It's kind of funny and also insulting that you expect me to trick you with everything.” I said and Sona blushed.

“We're wary of anyone new that appears out of nowhere like you did.” Tsubaki said Sona glared at her. “I'm not insulting him or angering him. I'm telling the truth, which he surely knows, since he's not casting any spells on us, either innocuous ones or harmful ones.”

I gave her a searching look and she smiled. “You could tell if I did.”

“Of course. Some of us are very sensitive to magic cast around or near them, especially in a low magic area like a human city. When you put up your very impressive wards, I think you warned most of the city's supernatural elements that you were here.”

“Well, damn.” I said with a sigh. “I was trying to stay out of things and protect myself. I didn't realize I was setting off a magical nuke as a warning beacon.”

“That's a good description of what happened, actually. It pinged off the alert wards of the school and I felt it right away.” Sona said.

That made me speak before I realized what I was giving away. “You didn't feel anything magical just before you knocked on my wards?”

Both girls exchanged glances and then gave me quite pointed looks.

“As the designated ruler and protector of this territory, I need you to explain what you did that should have gained my attention and didn't.” Sona said and Tsubaki nodded.

I opened my mouth to refuse and realized I screwed up and had shot myself in the foot. “It's easier to show you.” I said as I stood up and I walked by them across the living room, down a hallway, and stopped at the basement door. I opened it and walked down the stairs with the two girls right behind me.

Sona and Tsubaki were both quiet as we approached the door that entered the basement proper, which meant they could feel the dimensional gradient that were about to cross. I opened the door and walked in without looking back and stepped into the stadium-sized concrete enclosure. The two gasps of shock from them was what I had expected to hear.

“I haven't added anything yet, as you can see. I finished the expansion just before you knocked.”

“John... dear Lucifer, John... you made this? How? How is this possible?” Sona's voice was barely above the sound of her breathing.

“Why does it feel weird in here?” Tsubaki asked.

“It's an expanded dimensional space that's not inside a separate dimension already. You've probably never experienced anything like it before.” I reasoned, since I couldn't feel anything different about it. Then again, I had been using them for thousands of years and probably couldn't tell if it really was different from any of the others I had experienced in my many lifetimes.

“What are you going to do in here?” Sona asked in a normal tone of voice. She had recovered from the shock that the basement's ceiling was much higher than the second story of the house above it.

“I'm not at liberty to share that at this time.” I said, guardedly.

“Why not?” Sona asked, a bit harshly. “If anything you do here could be a danger to the people in my city, I need to know!”

Instead of responding that it wasn't any of her business, I took several deep breaths and composed myself. “Would you tell me, someone you just met, when you're going to do something that might potentially put innocent people in danger?”

“Of course not! There's no need to worry you over something that you have no control over and...” Sona stopped herself and looked embarrassed. “Your protections.”

“I'm going to enchant the walls and put even more stringent protections in here than the house has. I've had several failed experiments...” I shook my head. “I know how much damage what I do can cause and I do everything to ensure that no one but myself is in any actual danger. I can also promise that I won't bring anyone else in here until it is safe to do so.”

“I volunteer to...” Tsubaki started to say.

“I cannot ask anyone to do for me what I am unwilling to do myself.” Sona interrupted and Tsubaki pouted at her. “When it is time, I will be here to see what you are doing, John.”

I was going to refuse and saw the determination on her face, so I nodded and motioned towards the door. Both girls looked at the enlarged space one more time and then walked ahead of me. I started to follow them and was surprised to have an eyeful of Sona's lacy underwear as we went up the stairs. I hadn't intended for that to happen, mostly because I hadn't realized their skirts were so short.

Sona's chosen underwear barely covered her main area and none of her ass, which gave me a very good view of everything. I had to admit that she looked great and I could tell that she was clean shaven, because her panties clung to her like a second skin. The bit of moisture on the cloth, probably from her own arousal at seeing the huge basement, let me see a bit more of her than I probably should have.

When we returned to the living room and went to the front door, Sona turned around to say something to me, only for her to catch her breath and her eyes dropped right down to my waist instead. My arousal was easily shown through the expensive Devil clothing and she blushed before she looked back up at my face.

“I need to send a note of appreciation to whomever designed the school's uniform and then admonish them for the exact same thing.” I said to her very red face. I slowly took her hand and kissed the back of it with as much tenderness and care as I could. “I would also like to thank you for visiting and giving me a great housewarming gift.”

Sona looked both pleased and embarrassed at my compliment, so I summoned the bottle of firewhiskey and handed it to her. She hugged it to her chest and both she and Tsubaki stepped out onto the front step.

“I'll see you both in the morning.” I said and closed the door and cast the transparency spell on it.

“What was the gift you gave him?” Tsubaki asked as they walked down the walkway to the street. “I didn't see you pass him anything.”

“Never mind that.” Sona said and walked a little faster. “It was nothing.”

“President!” Tsubaki walked faster to keep up with her.

I chuckled and cancelled the spell on the door. “Genuine compliments to her intelligence and her beauty hold a lot more value than it normally would. That's good to know. If I'm going to fit in, I can't be as isolationist as I planned, not after making so much magical noise in the area.”

I went back down to the basement to get to work. I needed to reinforce things to make sure any accidents wouldn't shatter the dimensional expansion or break the basement's containment. I'd start by taking out a small naquadah generator used in cars as a power source. I would test it extensively to make sure it was safe and then I would work my way up to the full-sized ones.

I would start on the magic crystal power sources after that and it would keep me busy for a long time. I was very thankful that the time dilation had held and hadn't collapsed or caused a cascading failure on the expansion. Not being able to work for as long as I wanted would slow my progress to a crawl.

*

Sona Sitri stood at Kuoh Academy's front gate and felt nervous as she hid it behind her normally calm demeanor. Her Queen saw through the deception easily and had needled her until Sona admitted the gift that John thanked her for was that he had admired her underwear and what he could easily see through the dampness, thanks to her short skirt and the stairs.

Tsubaki had taken the high road and hadn't teased her too much about it, mostly because she regretted not letting Sona go up the stairs first and it would have been her ass that the handsome young man had stared at and got hard over. She had been too worried about guarding her King to notice it at the time, though.

“There he is.” Sona whispered and forced down her blush. She wasn't a stupid air-headed girl that fawned over pretty boys and she did not want John to think she was. A long deep breath let her calm down and she smiled warmly at him.

“You're smiling, Miss Shitori.” Tsubaki teased her in a whisper.

Dammit. Sona thought and held her hand out, her smile staying, because it was too late to change it now. “Welcome to Kuoh Academy, Mister Hansen.”

John took her hand and shook it, then he surprised everyone there by bending down to kiss it. “Thank you for the warm greeting, Miss Shitori. I feel like this is going to be the best start I could have had here, especially with you to personally show me around.”

Several of the nearby girls let out happy twitters and chirps at the gallant and romantic move being done in public. They also liked how nice the new guy sounded and he was so polite. The blush on the President's face was also gossip-worthy. She never blushes. Oh! She was smiling, too!

“It's the least I could do for a new transfer to the academy.” Sona said and motioned towards the school's gate. “If you'll follow me, we can stop in the office first to get your schedule and locker assignment and then we can start the official tour before I bring you to your first class.”

“That sounds like an absolutely wonderful plan, Miss Shitori.” John said and bowed. “I am in your gentle and firm hands, President. Please take good care of me.”

That really set off a lot of the girls that were listening and they whispered loudly as they talked about it. Could the scene get any better?

“I'm honored, Mister Hansen. I will do my best to do right by you.” Sona replied.

“Thank you.” John said and stepped forward. “May I take your hand and remain close to you? The press of the other students might cause me to lose you in the thick of things if we're not careful.”

The girls around them almost lost it. He was so bold! And crazy! No one does that to the President!

Sona almost glared at him as she offered her hand. “I suppose it is better to be safe than sorry.”

John took the hand and beamed a smile at her that made most of the girls watching them feel weak in the knees. “You're intelligent, beautiful, and wise. I've always said that was a deadly combination.”

Sona blushed and couldn't refute his words in public, so she nodded towards the school and they walked off.

Tsubaki stayed at the gate to wait for the rest of the students to arrive and would close the gate when it was time. She couldn't help but feel jealous that her King was getting the new guy's attention, then watched as a veritable horde of girls hurried off to follow them and watch them. Her jealousy died a quick death and she giggled under her breath at Sona's new popularity.

*

Teasing the shy and reserved girl was worth the tight hold she had on my hand. Sona had somehow figured out I was a lot tougher than I should have been as a normal human. She tested it a lot as she gave me a tour of the entire campus and I kept asking her about which places were the best for secret rendezvous and sneaking off between classes and after school for some alone time.

“You're doing this to me on purpose, aren't you?” Sona asked me in a whisper when we came to a stop in front of my homeroom class. It had just started and the teacher was doing the roll call, so we had a few minutes left to talk.

“Yes, I am.” I answered her honestly.

“Why?” Sona asked, almost as if I was betraying her.

“Because I think you're adorable and you need to relax a little before the stress you're under tears you apart inside.” I responded and her eyebrows rose. “I'm going to kiss you now as an apology.”

Sona opened her mouth, probably to tell me no, so I stepped close and pulled her in to give her a great kiss. She fought against my tongue at first, then she seemed to shiver and her arms went around my neck as she really got into it.

I felt her nipples get hard through her bra and her top and she felt my erection grow and then press through her thin skirt and against her panties. We both let out a groan and a moan at the contact, since neither of us had gotten any in a while. In my case, anyway. I had no idea what Sona got up to before she met me.

The roll call ended and I broke the kiss, because that was the cue for Sona to bring me inside the classroom. The disappointed look on her face made me smile and I gave her another quick kiss before I stepped back to adjust myself. She looked down at it and then at my face, looked smug for a second, then she knocked on the classroom door while she schooled her face to be impassive.

I was brought inside by the teacher and Sona stood outside to listen. For some reason, three boys yelled something about having another pretty boy that was going to steal all their oppai, whatever that was. The girls around them smacked them down and made them go quiet, then they smiled at the nodding approval of the teacher.

“Go ahead and introduce yourself to the class, Mister Hansen.” The female teacher said.

Redundancy is redundant. I thought with a smile and turned to the classroom and saw those three boys were the only boys in the classroom, which meant I had to play this up as much as possible. I did not want to be on the wrong side of fifteen impressionable girls from day one. “My name is John Hansen, or Hansen John in the proper iteration. Please feel free to call me by my given name or my family name.”

That had earned me a lot of approval and I saw it on the faces of the girls.

“I'll be in your care from now on, thanks to the help of the President and her diligence in making sure I was properly prepared to meet such important people that will be a part of my daily life from now on.” I said and bowed deeply. “I look forward to talking to each of you and getting to know my honorable classmates.”

Every single girl looked flattered and very happy while the three boys looked murderous. They apparently knew a good insult when they heard it, cultural differences or not. They apparently weren't honorable and they knew it, as did everyone else in the classroom, including the teacher.

“You can take any available seat, Mister Hansen.” The teacher said and waved at the classroom. There were four empty ones and all of them were around the three boys that sat together in a huddle. The girls had given them all of the available room to stay as far away from them as possible.

I gave the empty chairs a brief look and then looked at the teacher. “Perhaps one of my future senpai would be gracious enough to let me share their seat?”

“RIGHT HERE!” A girl with glasses and braids yelled and jumped to her feet. Nearly all of the other girls sighed sadly at her and a few groaned in disappointment.

I held in my laugh at both the girl's enthusiasm and the reaction of the other girls. I walked across the classroom and sat down in the offered seat and the girl unashamedly sat down across my lap and put her arms around my neck.

“My name is Kiryuu Aika and you can call me Aika.” The girl said and her glasses steamed up a little as she nestled her ass against my erection. She gave me a very sexy smile. “You're a big one.”

“That's President Shitori's fault. She is a very diligent tour guide and ensured I was warmly welcomed.” I responded, giving Sona the credit for it. I had to hide my smile at hearing Sona's shoes quickly walk away down the hallway.

Aika blinked her eyes at me several times, then she let out a snort. “Souna's diligent? That's the understatement of the year!”

“She's the strictest President of the Student Council that's ever been here at Kuoh Academy.” The girl sitting across from us said. “It's just too bad that she lets certain people run rampant around here and ignores all the complains made against them.”

I did not have to have her pointedly look at the three boys glaring at me for me to understand who she was talking about. “I'm sure she hasn't done anything to them for a reason. I'll find out what she thinks at lunchtime.”

“Oh? Do you have a date with her already?” Aika asked me with a wicked gleam in her glasses.

“No, I'm just going to show up at the Student Council office and intrude on her lunch.” I said, honestly.

Aika made another snort sound, clearly not believing me. “For someone that's always so aloft, she works fast to ask you out on the first day.”

The girls around us nodded.

“She beat you to it.” One of the three boys said. He wore glasses and looked at Aika angrily.

“Only because I met Souna first.” I responded and several girls gasped. “If Aika had found me yesterday and offered to spend half an hour this morning giving me a personal tour of all the best places to hide and make out with a girl around the school, I'm sure it would be her I'd be spending lunch with and not Souna.”

Everyone stared at me with shock on their faces and I didn't regret letting that little tidbit out.

“Ahem.” The teacher said and faked coughed to gain our attention. “If everyone is done speculating on the School Council President's personal life, we have work to do.”

“Hai, sensei!” The class responded.

The teacher smiled warmly and turned to the board to start writing.

“You can share my books for today.” Aika offered me in a whisper, probably because I hadn't brought a bookbag with me.

“Then I'll take notes.” I said and took out a large tablet from my pocket and used a finger to write on it in perfect Japanese Kanji.

Aika stared at the thing, at my finger, then looked at my face. “You're not looking at it.”

“I don't have to.” I whispered and she smiled as she wiggled her butt on my lap.

“Then... I can... hmmm.” Aika softly moaned and reached down between us to fondle me over my pants.

“We should have warned you that she's a pervert.” The girl whispered from next to me.

“That's okay.” I said and gave her a warm smile. “I kind of figured that out when she used me as a chair and didn't mind the large bump on her new seat.”

The girl looked shocked for a moment and then blushed deeply.

“You are soooo cooool.” Aika whispered and moaned as she kept stroking me through my pants with her hand and her butt. It was kind of neat that she could do so much movement and barely be seen moving at all.

I didn't tell her that I wouldn't finish unless I wanted to and would let her discover that on her own.

By the time the lunch break rolled around, I had a very frustrated Aika giving me glares. I kissed her cheek and helped her stand as I stood up, making her sigh sadly at losing the game she thought she was playing. I whispered to the girl beside us, Kaori Murayama, whom had been staring at us the whole morning, that I would copy my notes for her, too. She blushed with a nod and I left the room.

I wasn't surprised that Sona really was in the Student Council's office. However, I was surprised that the room was full of people. The desks all along the walls had people working on computers and writing reports, which seemed like a lot of work for only a small amount of people to handle.

I lightly knocked on the doorframe of the office. “I'm sorry for intruding.” I said and everyone looked up from what they were doing to stare at me, as if I was the most interesting thing they had ever seen. “Would you mind if I borrowed the President for lunch? She needs some time to relax and I want to give it to her.”

Not one single person missed my innuendo and not one single person called me on it.

Sona glared at me for saying things like that and I gave her a bright and unassuming smile. She lost the glare a few seconds later and sighed loudly. “I can't leave the office. If anyone comes here looking for me...”

“Ah, I understand.” I said and ducked out into the hallway and took out two large bento boxes before going back into the room. “Instead of whisking you away from the drudgery for a short period of time, I'll have to deliver my delicious goodness to you for easy access.”

Every girl there blushed and made a noise of surprise, then quickly hid it under coughs, sneezes, and looked away. None of them wanted to let Sona focus on any of them for making sounds.

Sona glared at me again. “You're not helping my reputation by saying such things.”

I sat down across from her in a chair that wasn't there a second ago and no one noticed. “I believe we have two different definitions of what your reputation should be, my dear Miss Shitori.”

Sona took a deep breath and let it out. “All right, fine. You have twenty minutes.”

I couldn't stop my chuckle at the implication and had to tease her for it. “Souna, I would barely be done kissing and worshipping your feet in under twenty minutes.”

The entire room fell silent and no one moved or even breathed as Sona's face went to a very bright red and she looked faint. Her brunt agreement for me to attend to her had left her open to one of the best teases I could come up with.

I ignored their reactions and handed over one of the Bento boxes and untied it for her. “The top layer is various vegetables cooked with different methods. The middle section is the main course. The bottom holds several different desserts. It's all heated, so it's all quite fresh and ready to eat. Please enjoy the food with my compliments.”

Sona stared at it and her nose worked as she sniffed, then she leaned in and inhaled a huge breath through her nose. “Oh, Lucifer! What is this?”

“It's something I managed to come up with while in my new kitchen. You wouldn't believe the things that are for sale and edible in... certain market squares in certain areas.” I hedged and didn't outright say the Underworld. I sure as hell implied it, though.

Sona was quickly surrounded and the girls all took in huge breaths through their noses as well.

“Oh... oh, Lucifer's children. I think he has... is that razorbeast?” Tsubaki asked with a bit of drool coming out of her mouth when Sona removed the top layer to reveal the main dish.

“It was a nice roast of about 30 pounds and took about six hours to cook.” I said and opened my Bento, too. I had no plans on eating it, though. I was human and stomaching demon-infested and magically corrupted meat was not my idea of a good meal. “The thunder-crow legs needed to be marinated for two hours before I could deep fry them.”

A second later, all the chairs in the office were dragged over to surround Sona's desk and both Bento boxes were completely pilfered of everything they had inside. I didn't bother asking where the plates had come from.

“He even has grilled Demon dill pickles.” One of the girls said and chewed happily on the small cucumber garnish from Sona's Bento and quickly scooped up mine into her free hand. “I love these things!”

“Give me a bite!” The girl next to her begged.

“Never!” The first girl responded and shoved the remainder of the first pickle into her mouth and held the other pickle up above her head.

The second girl gave her a calculating look and then lunged forward and kissed her soundly. The first girl moaned into her mouth as their tongues fought. A few seconds later, the second girl pulled away and started chewing on the pickle that the other girl used to have in her mouth.

“That's... cheating.” The first girl accused halfheartedly, her face flushed.

“I didn't bite it.” The second girl said smugly.

The first girl looked both shy and pleased as she started eating the second pickle.

I fought to not laugh at the interaction and the food I brought was pretty much shared and disseminated among the girls as all of them enjoyed playing around and eating each other's claimed portions. It was pretty damn funny, especially with the satisfied looks on their faces, Sona's included. She had enjoyed it, too.

“Thank you for allowing me the pleasure of your company. I enjoyed the allotted time immensely.” I said to no one in particular as I stood. “Please keep the enchanted Bento Boxes. They'll always stay hot and you don't have to worry about gummy sauces or cooling and clumpy rice.”

Sona and the other girls nodded, surprised and happy with the offer. None of them had noticed I hadn't eaten anything, either. I walked over to the office door, gave the girls a wave, and left the room. I was tempted to stay and listen to their conversation after an event like that and chose not to. Some mystery was good for a relationship to be built on.

I walked down the hallway and found one of the alcoves I had discovered before and took out my real lunch and walked to the stairs to go to the roof. I wasn't surprised to find the trio of boys there and they were perving on the girls in the courtyard below. I had quickly learned they were called The Perverted Trio and had a horrible reputation for their behavior and peeking on girls as they showered and changed at the school.

I walked over to them and touched each of them, tossed them into Azkaban, and created three magical clones of them and their lunches. “You guys are going to act normal for a few days when not around me and then start curbing your antics. By the end of the week, I want you all to apologize and tell the girls you had several long and involved talks with me about your behavior.”

“Yes, father.” The three of them said and we sat down and ate our food.

When we were done eating and packed up, the Issei clone held up his arm and pointed at it. “There's something weird inside my arm.”

I cast a diagnostic spell on him and the results were just as he said. Weird. It almost looked like the weapons with bound souls from the Shield Hero universe, only there wasn't technically a physical component. Yet, anyway. It looked sealed, almost like the shield in my own arm.

“I guess I need to handle that.” I said and created a Dementor. “Is it possible to suck that out?”

The Dementor gave the arm a tilted look, then bent down to latch onto it. We all saw it sucking hard, much harder than anything else I had seen a Dementor suck on anything, then there was a distinct popping sound and a burst of magic as the Dementor glowed. It instantly became two, then four, then eight, then sixteen, then thirty-two, then sixty-four, then a hundred and twenty-eight.

My mouth dropped open at the ridiculous power that sleeping soul had and the entire roof of the school now had an inch thick layer of frost on it. “Do any of you know what the hell kind of soul that was?”

All of the Dementors shook their heads.

“Well, damn. That's... all right. I can't let you roam about here, even if you aren't hungry right now.” I said and then had an idea. “Go to Azkaban and split the real one between you when you start feeling hungry.”

The Dementors nodded and I sent them all there.

“We better leave fast. Someone's going to notice the magic burst and the sudden temperature drop.” I said and the four of us beat feet out of there. It was just in time, because I felt a teleportation circle form as I shut the roof's door and locked it. “Go, go, go.” I whispered and cast silence on us as we ran down the stairs.

*

Rias Gremory stared at the completely frozen roof and had no idea why anyone would do that. The only two devils she knew that could cast wide range ice spells were her brother's wife, Grayfia, and her co-ruler of the Kuoh Territory's sister, Serafall Leviathan. She would have felt it if either of those two powerhouses had shown up and she hadn't.

The magic surge had been a surprise out of nowhere and her Rook named Koneko, a cat-girl called a nekoshou, claimed it had a touch of dragon energy in it. That surprised Rias, because she didn't think the boy she was interested in recruiting had activated his Sacred Gear yet, so she was sure this wasn't him. Then again, it wouldn't take much for her to check on the cute pervert. He did like ogling her chest a lot more than the other boys did.

Precious oppai indeed. Rias thought with amusement and used some of her Devil magic to melt the frost and let the water run off the roof. There was no further damage that she could see from the ice and she disappeared in another teleportation circle and reappeared inside the ORC building to meet with the rest of the Occult Research Club.

“What was it?” Akeno asked from behind her as she slipped her arms around her King's waist to tease her with hot breath on her neck and ear.

“I don't know. Nothing was there but a bunch of frost.” Rias answered, unbothered by her Queen's closeness, and leaned backwards into her. “I need to check and see if Issei's all right.”

“I'll do it.” Kiba offered. “I'm heading in that direction for class anyway.”

“Thank you.” Rias said, gratefully. “Text me if he's okay.”

Kiba nodded and left the room.

“Now I have you all to myself.” Akeno whispered sexily and lightly bit Rias' earlobe.

“Hentai.” Koneko said from the couch without looking up from the muffin she was eating. Both Rias and Akeno sighed at their fun being interrupted and missed Koneko's brief smile.

Rias checked her cell phone when it beeped and she nodded. “Issei's fine and about to go into class.”

“Then what was it?” Akeno asked. “We can't call in the big guns without any real proof, just like with the Fallen in the abandoned church.”

“We can't do anything about them until they come after us or interfere in our business.” Rias said and sat down on the couch and Akeno sat beside her and snuggled in.

“I want to tear them apart, limb from limb.” Akeno said with a deadly voice.

“I know.” Rias said and hugged the girl. “All we can do is watch them and hope they mess up somehow.”

Akeno sighed as she let Rias comfort her and Koneko licked the muffin crumbs from her fingers.

*

Aika loved the new guy and was completely frustrated by him. She was teasing him a lot and he didn't take advantage of her vulnerability like she wanted him to. It wasn't like she was being subtle about it with how she was pretty much giving herself to him. They were in between class periods at the moment and she seriously thought about telling him to bend her over the desk and do her already.

There was a small vibration under one of her ass cheeks and she let out a soft moan, then his hand groped her fairly well and she was lifted slightly. Before she could ask him what he was doing, he had a blood red cell phone in his hand and was texting on it in some weird shorthand. With one hand. His other hand was still holding her up and he wasn't struggling at all with her weight.

“It seems I can't ask you out this afternoon, Aika. A previous engagement seems to have changed her mind.” John said and slipped the cell phone back into his pocket and lowered her down onto his lap again.

Aika stared at him and wasn't sure if she heard him correctly. “Excuse me?”

“I probably shouldn't have said it like that. I apologize if I offended you.” John said and bowed his head to her.

“No, no. Not that. You were going to ask me out?” Aika corrected his wrong assumption.

“No one does that. All the boys know she's a pervert.” Kaori offered and Aika nodded.

“Unlike a lot of people, I'm pretty open and accepting of people's little quirks.” John said and then he turned his head to look at who everyone called The Perverted Trio. “As long as they don't take things too far and I don't have to talk to them about curbing their behavior.”

The three boys wilted slightly and ducked their heads, which gained everyone's attention.

The bell rang and Aika decided to not tease John too much for the last class of the day. It wasn't because she was giving up on him, since he really did seem to be okay with her behavior, it was because if he really did ask her out, she didn't want to use up all of her skills and tricks before they went on their first date.

Aika wanted to save some of her moves or she might look inexperienced later. She was, especially on dates, she just didn't want John to know that she was. As if he knew what she was thinking, his hand slipped up under her skirt and his fingertips lightly caressed right beside her special place.

“I'd like a raincheck for a future date, Aika. If that's okay?” John asked her in a whisper.

Instead of answering, Aika reached down to grip his wrist and pulled his hand in closer. She bit her lip to stop her moan as his caressing fingers rubbed her just right and she gasped as she finally went over the edge and came. She almost collapsed against him as she breathed hard, even though it wasn't a huge orgasm. It was the whole situation that made it that much better than her normal little ones.

John kissed and nuzzled her neck and Aika shivered at how good it felt. “I'll take that as a definite maybe.”

Aika snorted and slapped a hand over her mouth before she laughed out loud in the middle of class and barely managed to muffle it. John gave her a bright smile and went back to taking notes, which she really appreciated. She hadn't paid any attention to anything else the whole day and had edged herself the entire time. That was why she came so easily when he touched her and it was wonderful to finally get that release.

When class ended, Aika didn't wonder why her panties were dry and wouldn't realize it until she went to the bathroom to clean up. She was already clean when she checked and that surprised her a lot more than anything else had that day. How the hell was she not soaked and dripping all over the place?

*

I walked down the street after ducking into an alleyway to change my clothes into a more appropriate outfit. Mittelt wanted to meet and it wasn't far from my house, so I had agreed and now I was walking towards the small park that the GPS map had showed me where to go. The place was nice and there was a huge fountain in the center of it.

“You brought me to the best romantic spot in the area right from the start? How bold of you.” I said as I walked over to the short blonde girl standing beside the fountain. She wore a light yellow summer dress and was honestly cute with her hair out of the small pigtails she had them in before.

Mittelt looked both embarrassed and angry. “Shut your face or I'll shut it for you!”

I gave her my best smile as I wrapped my arms around her. “I wasn't complaining, Mittelt.”

Mittelt blushed and looked away from me. “You're a pushy bastard.”

I chuckled and bent down to kiss her cheek. “You asked me to come here to meet you. Which one of us is pushy again?”

“Smug, too.” Mittelt grumbled.

“Do you have anything planned or should we wander around and look for something to do?” I asked her and her arms went around my waist.

“Before we do anything, I have a couple things to say.” Mittelt said and looked up into my eyes. “I'm not some blushing little bitch that falls for all that romantic dating crap. If you expect me to spread my legs after a walk and some dinner, your expectations are very fucking far below reality.”

I nodded, despite knowing she was as horny as I was. “Right. Work harder for your affection.”

“I also can't fucking stand it when people baby me.” Mittelt said. “If you even think about treating me like some delicate flower instead of a real person, I'll fucking skewer your ass and mount your head on a pike!”

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. “Do they make pikes anymore? Where would you even get one?”

“I'd fucking improvise.” Mittelt growled at me and took a deep breath. “That's pretty much it. You keep those things in the front of your tiny brain and we should get along reasonably well.”

I stared into her eyes and waited for a few seconds before I spoke. “That's it? Those are your only restrictions? No warnings about going slow? Taking advantage of you? About wasting my money buying you things you'll never need or use?”

Mittelt huffed. “Are you stupid? Why do I have to warn you about using common sense?”

I blinked my eyes at her for a few seconds, then I realized what she said. “Common sense. You won't warn me about using common sense. That... that's...”

“Hey moron, snap out of it!” Mittelt spat at me and one of her hands dropped from my waist to smack my butt. “You're ignoring the woman in your arms!”

“Right, right. I just need a minute to wrap my head around what you just said.” I told her and closed my eyes. No one I've met in a long time had ever said anything about common sense. No one. That a Fallen Angel, someone who lost their innocence and was kicked out of the realm of Heaven for their sins, warned me about using common sense.

“If you weren't so fucking handsome, I'd be upset that you're making me wait.” Mittelt said.

I opened my eyes to look down at her. She really was cute, even with the near permanent scowl on her face. It only took me a moment to make my decision and I gave her one of my best smiles. She lost the scowl and smiled back, then I used my apparate spell to take us both from the park to appear in my bedroom.

Mittelt looked startled and glanced around. “I didn't see or feel you cast a teleportation circle!”

“That takes too long.” I said and let her out of the hug I had her in and snapped my fingers to switch our clothes with the air above the dresser.

Mittelt's eyes widened at my erection and then she realized she was naked, too. “What...”

“Fuck going slow.” I said and scooped her up, making her squeak in surprise. I tossed her onto my bed and let her see the desire on my face and what I was going to do to her.

Mittelt moaned at the look on my face and spread her legs for me. I dove in there and assaulted her with my mouth and tongue, making her yell with pleasure for several minutes. I kissed my way up to her face and kissed her as I shoved myself into her and made her cry out again. She let me have my way with her for quite some time before she growled and rolled us over.

“All right, you greedy fuck! It's my turn.” Mittelt said and started to really work herself over while using me. She knew what she was doing and I wondered if the sin was lust that made her fall.

“Just so you know.” I said and reached up to grip her small breasts to massage them. “You're my first sexual partner on this world.”

Mittelt stopped moving mid-thrust and gasped as a pair of black feathered wings popped out of her back. She also gripped my penis hard as she came and squirted. “I can't believe it!”

I reached for her hips and finished pulling her down and she moaned again. “Believe what?”

“I'm breaking a taboo by having sex with a Devil and it's his first time.” Mittelt said and braced her hands on my chest. “How has no one tried to have you before now?”

I decided to tell the truth, for the most part anyway. “I was hidden the whole time I was in the Underworld. Once I eventually figured out how to escape to the real world without getting caught or jailed, I bribed several officials for papers and then arranged for a legitimate reason to be here. Going to school. Now I never have to go back.”

Mittelt moaned and she came again, then she laid down on top of me and kissed me. “Abusing the system for your own ends is a huge fucking turn on.”

“Thanks for telling me that. I couldn't tell.” I joked and Mittelt laughed, then giggled, then she laughed some more. We laid there joined together for several minutes as her wings settled down and almost hugged me.

“I fell because of pride. I was proud that I was an Angel and better than everyone else. It was my right to be above the humans and the lesser creations, just as Father intended.” Mittelt informed me.

I knew exactly what to say. “Pride cometh before the Fall is a famous quote for a reason.”

Mittelt moved up to rest her elbows on my chest and looked into my eyes. “You're not going to rub it in my face for falling for something so pathetic?”

“Why would I berate you for one of my own sins?” I asked with a shake of my head. “I've suffered from excessive pride more than once...” I paused and chuckled at that massive understatement. “...more than a few times.”

Mittelt looked happy about that and then looked thoughtful as she smiled at me. “Why do I get the feeling you're surprised it was pride and not something else?”

“I was thinking your sin was lust, actually.” I admitted.

Mittelt opened her mouth, looked embarrassed, and sighed. “Not with a body like this.”

“There's nothing wrong with your body.” I said a bit sternly and her embarrassment gave way to surprise. “I've been with women just as short and even shorter than you, actually. They were like you, too. Perfectly proportioned for their size. One was barely four feet tall and she was over a thousand years old.”

Mittelt's shock changed to anger and she sat up, her wings flaring out. “You fucking liar! You said I was your first!”

“You are.” I instantly reached up with both hands to grip her shoulders and held her in place before she could jump off. “Remember, I said on this world.”

Mittelt stopped trying to get away and stared at me. “You... what...”

“I'm not from this world.” I said and mentally kicked myself for letting another thing slip out without thinking about the secrets I was revealing. “I'm pretending to be a local to fit in. I don't want the added attention that being an outsider would bring me from... well, everyone.”

Mittelt stared at me for almost a full minute before she understood. “You appeared in the Underworld and posed as a Devil to blend in.”

“No, I told you the truth. I really did hide completely while I was down there. Once I had the money and the means, I did exactly as I said and arranged to leave. I never once claimed to be anything and people just assumed what I was because of where I was when I met them and what I wore.”

Mittelt opened her mouth to refute that, then sighed. “I just remembered how you acted on the train.”

I smiled at her and slid my hands down her shoulders to cup her breasts again. “Sometimes, just being nice to people lets them relax around me, even rude people like a particularly cute blonde I won't mention.”

Mittelt sighed again. “I guess I deserved that.” She said and looked down at my hands caressing her breasts. “I'm not really in the mood anymore.”

I gave her my best smile. “Give me a minute to fix that.”

Mittelt huffed. “You're still stuffed inside of me and I'm saying I don't want to keep going. Are you really going to force me?”

I moved my hands down to her waist and then under her thighs, grinned at her, and easily lifted her up and brought her up to sit on my face.

“You already did that before.” Mittelt said. “It was slightly impressive before; but, your tongue isn't going to-OHHHHH!”

I hissed in Parseltongue that she hadn't seen anything yet and she came instantly, then again and again. Mittelt started grinding herself on my mouth and screamed and yelled so loudly that if I hadn't had silencing charms up, the whole neighborhood would have known about it and might have called the police on us. She wouldn't let me stop after only a minute, either.

Needless to say, Mittelt stayed in my bed for most of the night. I pretended to fall asleep when it was close to morning and she waited another hour before she slipped out of bed. She went to the bathroom and took a shower, or at least it sounded like she did, and she entered the bedroom again and dressed in her clothes.

Mittlet gave me a weird look and I couldn't tell if it was a longing look or a resigned one. She half-climbed onto the bed and leaned down to give me a tender kiss, stood back up, and disappeared in the flash of a teleportation circle.

I sat up and cast a couple detection spells and found several teleportation markers, which she must have put into place at some point. It might have been when she visited the bathroom and set them at a distance, so I cut them out of the floor and brought them to the mud pile in the backyard and added them to the others. I was tempted to add barriers around it, then shrugged. Besides being funny, being dropped in mud would be a suitable punishment for vain people.

I didn't go back to bed and went to take a shower instead. I didn't have long before I had to go to school and made breakfast for myself, packed several Bento Boxes for Sona and her Peerage in my backpack, and headed off to school. I wouldn't try to stick around for lunch with her this time and would just drop them off.

Aika was sure to want me to sit with her in the cafeteria and I wouldn't refuse if she asked. After yesterday, I knew she would be a lot bolder in her acts today. Would she try to slink off with me to one of the many hiding places or would she do something outrageous in full view of the other students? Only time would tell.

It was Sona by herself that stood at the school's gate to greet students today and she gave me a bright smile, despite her mental resolve to not encourage me like that. I smiled right back and stopped briefly to give her hand a kiss and thanked her for being so diligent in ensuring students weren't tardy.

Sona looked like she was going to say it was her job, then seemed to realize it wasn't. She had made it her responsibility when she became the Student Council President and a light blush appeared on her face.

I stepped close and kissed her cheek. “You are so cute, President Shitori.” I whispered and walked by her to enter the school.

The girls watching us made swooning motions and whispered complaints that I wasn't giving them the same attention. I had to fight to not laugh as I thought about going to each and every girl to compliment them and kiss them, then I would watch the fallout of all of them being treated the exact same way.

The thing was, would I be vilified for playing them like that or would they fight among themselves to be the first one to get my attention the next time? It was a 50/50 shot that either way would happen and I honestly didn't know which it would be, mostly because it was the same way in Devil Society.

Was that because they were so child-oriented with the low birthrate? Would changing that change how they dealt with harems and Peerages? I asked myself as I walked through the school.

I shook those thoughts off and went to my homeroom class. Aika was there already and she hopped up from her chair with a huge smile on her face. I chuckled under my breath at her reaction and walked over to her. I handed a small stack of pages to her and sat down.

“Thank you so much, John!” Aika said and hopped onto my lap and kissed my cheek.

“It's the least I could do for distracting you yesterday.” I said and handed another stack to the girl sitting beside her. “It's sorted by class and category, too.”

“Thank you.” Kaori said and looked at Aika and at me. She didn't say anything else and tucked the pages into her desk.

“Who was the girl you met yesterday?” Aika asked.

“She was someone I met on the train coming here. I didn't think she would call me that soon after getting my number, however.” I told her. “I had a feeling that she doesn't reach out to people very often and I didn't want to disappoint her by saying I was busy.”

“That was nice of you.” Kaori complemented me and I smiled thankfully at her.

“Are you busy today?” Aika asked me.

“Not so far.” I responded.

Aika smiled in a way she probably thought made her look sexy, except she looked more like she was grimacing and was about to do something she wasn't used to doing. As soon as she opened her mouth to say something, the entire classroom of girls let out gasps and the three other boys in the class complained about the Prince of Kuoh appearing.

“John Hansen?” The pretty blonde boy asked as he walked over to my desk. “I'm Yuuto Kiba and I was asked to extend an invitation to lunch with the head of the Occult Research Club, Rias Gremory.”

Aika whispered a curse before she could stop herself and looked embarrassed.

I winked at her and her eyes widened. “I'm afraid I have to take a rain check on that offer, Mister Kiba. I have a lunch date with the girl on my lap today.” I said, even though Aika hadn't asked me yet.

The entire class gasped, even Aika, and Yuuto Kiba looked shocked.

“Please extend my regrets to Miss Gremory and that I would be happy to meet with her for lunch tomorrow.” I said, not wanting to make the other ruler of the Kuoh Territory annoyed at me. Plus, it would give me something else to tease Sona with when I dropped off the Bento Boxes for lunch.

Kiba nodded and walked back out of the room at a faster pace than the rebuke should have produced. Was he fleeing? I asked myself. I had been respectable and let him save face and honor as the current culture demanded. Wasn't it enough? Did I embarrass him?

“You said no to one of the great beauties of Kuoh Academy.” One of the Perverted Trio said in disbelief and awe. “You actually said no. How could you say no?”

That set off the whole class and they all started muttering about the scandal I had inadvertently caused. Even the teacher looked surprised and she didn't start teaching until a few minutes after the bell rang.

I started taking notes and tried to ignore Aika as she snuggled into me and peppered my neck and ear with tender kisses. Her soft whispers of me denying the prettiest girl in school for plain old her, made me feel bad that she thought she was plain. I tried to whisper encouragement to her about her looks and she had to muffle her laughs against my skin.

“John, I'm the plainest girl in the entire school. Even the school mascot Koneko is prettier than me and she's near emotionless, keeps everyone at bay with her indifferent attitude, and she's a year younger than me.” Aika advised me.

I stopped taking notes and set a device under the teacher's desk to record the lesson, then I cast several spells around us to muffle everything and made them all ignore us. “You're wrong, Aika.”

Aika stiffened at my normal tone of voice, because I wasn't trying to keep quiet. “John, what...”

“No one can see or hear us right now.” I said and her eyes widened as she glanced around and no one was looking at us. “Yes, it's magic.”

“But... but... magic's not real.” Aika denied.

“It's as real as everything else in the world.” I said and she looked skeptical. “You've heard about healing miracles, weird lights in the skies over certain areas, and everything else strange and unexplained. I know you have.”

Aika sat there on my lap and thought about it for several minutes. “The... the suicide forest.”

“Completely true and controlled by vampires. They compel depressed people to enter after visiting them several times, then they use them for food or make them into servants and lesser vampires.” I said and her mouth dropped open in shock. “I haven't done anything about it yet because I don't want to set off a war between the vampire clans that are fighting for dominance and control of their people.”

Aika managed to close her mouth after about thirty seconds. “You're not lying.”

“No, I'm not. If I could take them all out at once, I would. The problem is, they are diversified and dispersed over several countries and control a frightening amount of businesses and finances that keeps a good portion of the world's economy from collapsing.”

“Oh... oh, god.” Aika whispered.

“That's only one aspect, my dear. Just one.” I cautioned her and she caught her breath.

“It's all real? All of it?” Aika asked.

“In some respects, yes. The gods and goddesses of several pantheons, only not quite the versions you think they are, monsters, creatures of fairy tales, angels, devils, and everything in between.” I said and her arms around my neck tightened.

“I... I... John, I... I don't... what do I do with that information?” Aika asked me.

“You do the same thing I do. You ignore it until something can be done about it or something comes for you.” I said with resignation.

“But... I... I can't! People need to know, John! We need to do something about it!” Aika exclaimed.

I smiled at her. “What should we do, Aika? Hunt down every last supernatural thing? Torture it? Kill it?” I asked and she didn't respond. “Most of them are just people with extra bits that are trying to live their lives in an unfair and biased world.”

“But... but, they're monsters.” Aika whispered.

“Some of them are, yes. Some are literal monsters and are killing people. Others are hunting them down as we speak and dealing with the real ones so that normal people like you can be a little bit safer and can sleep peacefully at night.” I said, soothingly. “I'm watching things and will step in when it's needed. Trust me.”

Aika blinked her eyes at me. “You... you're a monster?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “No, I've been tested and I'm 100% human. I do have abilities that aren't normal, though.”

Before Aika could ask me to prove it, she gasped when I held up a hand and a normal copy of Rowena Ravenclaw's diamond encrusted tiara appeared in my hand. She reluctantly let my neck go and very slowly reached for it.

“Is it real?” Aika asked in a whisper so low that it was barely above a breath.

I briefly touched her mind and she was reliving her girlish fantasies about being a princess and waiting for her knight in shining armor to show up and rescue her. “Please adorn your crown, Princess.”

Aika's hands slightly shook as she lifted it and stared at the beautiful goblin-made jewellery. With one final glance to me, she lifted it all the way to the top of her head and nestled it into her hair.

“I can make it so that no one else can see...” I started to say.

“NO!” Aika gasped and then blushed. “I... I mean... I want them to see. I want them...”

I reached up and put a finger on her lips to stop her. “I don't need to know that you want them to feel jealousy and envy, just that you don't want it hidden. I will cast a few spells to make sure it can't be stolen or knocked off if you want.”

Aika nodded and I did exactly that. “Can I...” She gave me a longing look. “...tell them that it was you that gave it to me?”

“No.” I said and she looked sad. “I'll be doing that as soon as class ends and I'll make sure that everyone sees it.”

Aika blushed again, only this time it was from feeling flattered. “Th-thank you, John.”

“You're welcome, Aika.” I said and gave her a kiss, then another, then she was all over me and her top went flying and her bra disappeared before she broke the kiss and tried to shove one of her breasts and a very hard nipple into my mouth.

I did not fight her desire and suckled on it, which made her moan so lewdly that I was instantly hard. I suddenly stood up and sat her on my desk, pulled off her soaked panties, and opened up my pants.

“Ohhhh!” Aika moaned at the sight and her orgasm dribbled onto the desk.

“You don't need any prep work for this.” I said and stepped forward and shoved myself into her soaked and eager opening. She made that same indecent moan again and I pounded into her like her mind was screaming at me to do.

Aika wrapped her legs around me and used her hands to grip my hips and pulled and pushed me to go faster. I took the hint and did what she wanted. She moaned, and came, and screamed, and told me her first time was the best. I touched her mind again and she had always imagined it would happen at school and had been waiting years for someone to accept her for who she was.

She had developed early in puberty and her libido, or sex drive, had been yelling at her to hurry up and get some. She couldn't help how forward she had become because of that need and she was soon labelled a pervert by friends and foes alike. Even the teachers gave her odd glances occasionally for her proclivities.

Unfortunately, instead of enticing them, it made the boys stay away. Even The Perverted Trio kept their distance, despite her being their perfect foil and conquest material. She was so desperate for affection that she was almost to the point where she would have offered to take all three of them at the same time, just so she could lose her virginity and find out what real sex was like. Toys just couldn't do it for her anymore.

Of course, being railed on her desk in front of her entire class had brought her more exquisite pleasure than she suspected it would. She was having sex right under everyone's noses and none of them knew it, which drove her to heights that had her screaming so loudly that she nearly shattered the silencing and concealment charms.

When I finally unloaded inside of her, she came so hard that her eyes almost rolled into the back of her head and she professed undying love to me for giving her everything she ever wanted. Her sweat-soaked chest heaved and dropped as she took several deep breaths and tried to recover from several full-body orgasms.

With me still touching her mind, I knew she was completely serious in both her proclamation and her devotion. I also found several errant thoughts about getting more girls for me to have fun with so that she could play with them, too. She wasn't bisexual or anything and was only curious about how other girl parts felt in comparison to her own.

I pulled out of her body and her mind and cast cleaning spells on the both of us. Aika gave me a knowing look before she pulled me down into a searing kiss that had her orgasm again and brought me back to full mast.

“The bell... is about to ring.” I warned her.

It took Aika a moment to remember she wanted to show off her crown and she beamed a smile at me. I chuckled at her thoughts of making everyone jealous and I snapped my fingers to dress her again and she was very happy about that. I sat down and she slid onto my lap just as I ended the spells hiding us.

The girl sitting beside us caught her breath as her eyes locked onto the diamond tiara on Aika's head. The bell rang just then and Kaori refrained from saying anything about it.

I couldn't have that, so I stood up with Aika in my arms. “Aika asked me out on a date and I hope no one holds that against her. I gave her a present as a thank you because she knew what she wanted and I can't deny that confidence in a woman always gains my interest.”

Everyone stared at us in surprise at my declaration, even the teacher, then they all saw the glittering diamond tiara. Each and every one of them made surprised sounds and commented about feeling envious and jealous, just as Aika wanted, and she looked both embarrassed and pleased at the attention. For the first time in her life, her perverted nature had benefited her.

I sat back down and Aika tried to not preen at the looks she was getting from a few of the girls and the teacher. I lightly skimmed their minds and they were all thinking they had misjudged her because of my acceptance of her.

The teacher also seemed regretful that she had ignored Aika's situation and it was another student that had brought attention to it and also marginalized it. It wasn't that big of a deal for a girl to act like she had, especially in a mostly all-girl school, because boys only just started to attend and everyone had to adjust to their new reality.

The rest of the morning passed by and Aika did her best to not giggle every minute or so as another girl gave her and her diamond tiara a pointed and sometimes longing look. I could almost feel the waves of emotions from them and had to stop myself from laughing, too. Aika had slightly underestimated the strength of their reactions and I was glad that I had cast those spells on the tiara.

I added a tracking charm when the lunch bell rang and copied the recording device under the teacher's desk. Aika gathered up her things and handed me her backpack to hang on my other shoulder before she took my hand.

“We're stopping by the Student Council's office to drop off Bento Boxes for Souna and the rest of the Student Council.” I told her as we left the classroom.

Aika nodded and led me through the school to the office. The door was open and I knocked on the doorframe like I had the day before and gained everyone's attention.

“I remembered how much you liked the food yesterday, so I thought I'd drop off another meal today. I hope that's okay.” I said and everyone hopped to their feet with huge smiles on their faces. I let Aika's hand go and took off my backpack and pulled out the two large Bento Boxes and handed them to Tsubaki.

“Thank you very much, John.” Sona said and bowed slightly, as did the other girls.

“It was no trouble. I told you the roast was 30 pounds and there's no way I was eating it by myself.” I said and she smiled. “I'll be busy at lunch tomorrow, too. Miss Gremory of the Occult Research Club asked me to join her...”

“No!” Sona gasped and then covered her mouth at interrupting me.

“...for lunch. She sent Mister Kiba to fetch me today and I was busy.” I finished and she looked relieved. “Perhaps the day after that we could spend lunch together again?”

“I'd like that.” Sona said.

I nodded and put my backpack back on. “Enjoy the food.”

As Aika and I walked away, we heard two of the girls loudly exclaim that the pickles were theirs and then there was soft laughter. Aika giggled and gave me a pointed look.

I smiled back. “Girls seemed to like the taste of my pickle.”

Aika laughed and pulled me into one of the private alcoves I had pointed out the day before to Sona and she dropped to her knees. “Let's see if that's true.” She said smugly, then she proved it was. She really liked the taste of my pickle and swallowed all the juice it made, too.

*

I was halfway home when I felt one of the teleportation markers activate in the backyard. I sighed and ducked into an alleyway and apparated back to the house in the living room. It was just in time, because a very angry mud-covered dark haired man with blonde bangs smashed through the back door and growled at me as he charged.

I charged myself up and boosted myself instantly with all my buff spells, then slammed my fist into the man's face. He cried out as his cheek shattered and he flew backwards through the wall and out into the yard. That brief touch was enough for me to gain the image of Fallen Angel - Grigori Leader and saw he had the Angered condition, which was both a buff to Strength and a debuff to Intelligence.

Twelve black feathered wings came out of the man's back after he bounced off the ground and slowed him down, caught himself in the air, and he yelled incoherently and flew at me as two bright white lances of energy formed in his hands.

He was moving too fast for me to do anything significant like a Kamehameha, so I cheated and pulled out a heavily modified plasma rifle from the Starship Troopers universe and opened fire. The man dropped his lances and covered his face as he tanked six shots while still flying towards me. The sixth shot finally killed his momentum, which was what I wanted, and I switched to a rocket launcher from the same universe that we used on the giant plasma bugs.

“Fire in the hole!” I said and pulled the trigger.

The man yelled as the mini-nuke hit him right in the chest and threw him out into the yard and outside the house's protective wards and inside the property's energy shield.

*WHHHOOOOOOSH-BOOOOOM!!!*

I covered my eyes as the bright light of the nuke burned through the man's highly resistant body and he screamed while the clean nuclear energy used him for fuel. The energy barrier generator in the basement whined because it was nearly overloaded and I heard several warning beeps.

“Eye! Divert the excess energy to the protective wards! Everyone knows we here anyway!”

“Beep!” Eye responded and the warning beeps stopped and the bright light started to fade away.

I blinked several times as I uncovered my eyes and saw the tips of twelve wings and several charred feathers fall to the ground. “I probably overreacted with that last shot.” I said and stored the remains.

“Beep.” Eye agreed and floated over to me on his modified Dragon Drone. Getting the same magic protection barrier from the house onto a small moving object had taken months of hard work.

“What are the numbers like from the near overload?” I asked and he showed me a hologram of what the mini-nuke did and the energy shield's containment. “Damn, that was a close one, wasn't it?”

“Boop.” Eye said and turned off the hologram. “Beep beep?”

“Oh! Yes, I did manage to touch him.” I said and thought about the best way to handle this, then waved for Eye to follow me and we went down into the basement. I walked over to the holding cells and created a magical clone of the Grigori Leader.

The Fallen Angel made a scoff sound when he appeared. “You were right to detain me, father. I feel like breaking your neck for humiliating me like you did with the pig mud puddle.”

“I hadn't intended for it to be seen as a pig's sty.” I said and then smiled. “I also assumed you couldn't become a leader without a lot of pride and arrogance.”

“I could break out of here if I wanted to.” The Fallen Angel said and then smiled and sat down on the bench inside and relaxed. “I don't want to, though.”

I chuckled and created a seat to sit down on. “I assume you're here because of Mittelt's report?”

The Fallen Angel nodded. “It was a fluke, really. I just happened to be goofing off nearby when Kokabiel tried to hide the communication.”

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“He was shuffled off to do whatever he wants to do. It keeps him out of my hair.” The Fallen Angel said dismissively. “I was more interested in you not being from this world.”

“It's one of my main powers. I can travel to different universes.” I said and saw the very keen interest on his face. “It's only one-way and only I can go. I can also never come back, usually because the world ended or the universe died.”

The Fallen Angel stared at me and looked at a loss for words.

“Whatever plans you thought you had, you can forget about them. None of them will work.” I told him.

“How do you know what I had planned?” The Fallen Angel asked.

“They're the same plans of every leader that wants to have an advantage over everyone else they are going up against.” I said and he frowned. “I'm not calling you down for that. I'm just saying there's nothing you can say that will surprise me.”

“I want you to work for the Grigori.” The Fallen Angel said.

“Heard it before. Next.”

“I want those weapons.”

“Heard that many times before. Try again.”

“You can have a research team, unlimited funds, and minions...”

I chuckled. “Yeah, you can stop talking about predictable plans. What are your actual plans for your faction and for the world?”

The Fallen Angel sighed. “I want peace. My people can't survive if there's another Great War. We simply don't have the numbers. Even the breeding programs have failed.”

My eyebrows rose at that. “Your people?”

“Angels and Fallen Angels. We're the same race and just suffer from different circumstances.” The Fallen Angel said. “Angels are highly restricted in their emotions and actions and Fallen Angels are not.”

I was a little surprised that was the only difference.

“Anyway, I came here to bribe, coerce, blackmail, and trick you into signing your life away to my faction's service. Your little prank derailed that, unfortunately.” The Fallen Angel said with a sigh.

I chuckled and he glared at me. “When was the last time something angered him irrationally?”

The Fallen Angel lost the glare and sighed. “At least a hundred and fifty years. Serafall cock-blocked me when I was about to yank Gabriel's toga aside to finally gaze upon her heavenly golden globes.”

I stopped chuckling and stared at him. “Gabriel? Isn't that...”

“Ha. No. You mortals and your adherence to gender specific names.” The Fallen Angel said. “Of all the Seraphim in the realms of Heaven, Gabriel is the most beautiful female among them and above all normal angels.”

That set me back a bit and I had to think through a few things. I had in front of me a very valuable information resource and I wasn't going to waste it. “I want you to tell me everything.”

The Fallen Angel sighed at the order and gave me a glare, then started talking, and talking, and talking. I was glad that I had several recording devices going and that they never needed recharging, because the Fallen Angel didn't stop talking for six years, three months, two weeks, and five days. The damn masochist took my order literally and told me everything he had done over his very long life.

Thankfully, he also stopped when I asked for more information on certain subjects and delved into them with both enthusiasm and vigor. He was particularly passionate about recreating the Sacred Gears that humans were naturally born with and had been mostly successful in creating artificial ones that weren't a part of the official Gear System and still used it for the rules and restrictions.

It also let me know why my shield couldn't activate in this world, because it wasn't a part of the Gear System. I also had no way to register into that system and the Fallen Angel didn't know how to arrange it, since his were technically cheap knock-offs of real Sacred Gears and couldn't achieve the same lofty heights, despite being nearly as powerful.

At the end of the interrogation, I dismissed him. As he fought against it using all of his power and slowly dissolved, he yelled about it not being fair that he wasn't allowed to take the original's place to subvert the Grigori for his own machinations. Unlike the original, he thought staying back was a mistake and would have become active, just like the second in command Kokabiel wanted.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that forcing peace wasn't going to work, either. You couldn't make people treat each others with respect or without hatred or distrust. You can't erase centuries of ingrained brainwashing like that, and it really was brainwashing. If you grew up knowing nothing but hate for another race, there was nothing for you to undo, since they never had any experience of being nice to someone else for them to go back to.

I worked in the basement for another year and created and integrated several last ditch weapons into my security system with Eye's help that would protect my home much better than just wards and a shield, now that I knew about the various major threats that existed in the world. What was hinted at on the Devil-net was not everything that existed, unfortunately.

I left the basement and went upstairs when I was done. Only an hour had passed in real time for each year, so I had plenty of time to rest before morning. I took a shower and went to bed, fully expecting another visit either tonight or tomorrow from the Fallen Angels, because the Grigori leader was not coming back. I just hoped he hadn't told anyone where he was going or who he was paying an unexpected visit to.

After my recent experience with creating a Fallen Angel that could pass for one of their own, I knew the ingrained influence I had with my magical clones was not enough to keep them under control. They were too used to subverting all rules and regulations because of their nature as a Fallen Angel. No matter what I ordered, they would find some way to use it against me and to their advantage.

I suspected that any Devils I recreated would also suffer from the same deficiency and I couldn't rely on making one to help me. I thought about making a copy of Sona and shook my head as I closed my eyes. She was magically powerful and I couldn't take the chance that she would object to me ordering her to reveal all of her secrets, just like the Fallen Angel had.

The night quickly passed by and I woke up in the morning, had another shower, and dressed in a school uniform. I left the house and made my way towards the school as I took out my Devil cell phone and checked my messages. There was nothing and I contemplated sending something to Mittelt, just to test the waters, and chose not to. Not yet, anyway. It was too soon after our 'date' for me to contact her.

I sent a message to Ravel Phenex instead and said hello before I asked her how her vacation was going. I tucked the phone into my pocket and didn't expect a response for quite some time, especially with the time difference between Italy and Japan.

With that thought in mind, I reached up and tapped the small school pin on my lapel. “Eye, have you hacked into the local security camera system yet?”

“Beep.” Eye responded in the affirmative.

“What about depositing the funds for them to expand the coverage?” I asked.

“Beep.” Eye answered.

“Thanks, buddy. It's nice to have you around again to have my back.”

“Boop beep.” Eye agreed.

“We can sneak away on the weekend to check on if the ship is viable here. If not, we'll have to work on it like we did for your drone to hide it from supernatural elements. We do not need to have anyone after us for our superior technology.”

“Beep?” Eye asked.

“Ha ha! I doubt we can get the Japanese Space Agency to launch anything for us to hide behind on such short notice.” I said and Eye beeped several times. “You know what? Go ahead and try if you want. There's a lot of money in my human account and my Devil account that you can convert to Yen. Have fun playing around with bribing them.”

Eye happily beeped at me and ended the call.

I chuckled under my breath at making him happy and soon reached the school's entrance. I saw that it was Tsubaki waiting at the gate this morning for students and she waved and smiled warmly when she saw me. I walked over to her and smiled back as I took off my backpack.

“Before you ask, yes I have two more Bento Boxes to share.” I said and cast a notice-me-not spell.

Tsubaki shivered at the magic use and I pulled another backpack out of mine and unfolded it, then put the two Bento Boxes into it and handed it over. Her eyes were wide and she stared at it.

“Yes, you can keep that, too.” I said and she gave me a pointed look as I dismissed the hiding spell. “I have hundreds more, so you don't have to worry about it being a bribe or something.”

Tsubaki's eyes widened at that and stared at me with a look of utter disbelief on her face.

“You're almost as cute as Sona when you make a face like that.” I said and kissed her cheek as I walked by her. The tittering sounds and mumbles from the girls listening and watching were pretty loud and Tsubaki made sputtering sounds behind me. I ignored them all and went into the main building.

Aika was sitting on our seat when I reached the classroom and she didn't hop up this time. She stood with a bit of grace and motioned for me sit down, then she sat like a lady on my lap and didn't flop like she had before.

“You didn't let me say you can mount your throne again, Princess.” I joked.

Aika let out a giggle. “After how you treated me yesterday, I almost expected you to be wearing a crown on your own head or a purple cape or something.”

I chuckled at that image. “If I had thought of it, I would have, just to see everyone's reaction.”

“We all would have looked, that's for sure.” Kaori said as she sat down beside us.

“You're all looking anyway.” Aika said with a laugh as the classroom filled up with the other students.

Kaori blushed for a moment and then shrugged. “I told the rest of the Kendo Club about yesterday and they all wanted to be here to see John and the gift he gave you, except they have class in other parts of the building.”

“They're not all in your year like Yui Katase?” I asked and she shook her head as the pink-haired girl on her other side also shook her head.

“We have members from all years at the academy and the club benefits a lot from that.” Kaori said and gave my body a look and then looked at my face. “Are you interested in sword fighting?”

“Not really, no. I'm more of a hands-on kind of person.” I said and Aika nodded her head several times. “I can be a ranged fighter when I have to be, too.”

“Oh? Archery or javelin?” Yui asked, probably assuming I meant Olympic sports.

“Grenades, assault weapons, and energy beams, mostly.” I said and I could see her brain short-circuiting. I held in my laugh at that reaction and decide to mitigate the damage as I saluted her. “Private Third Class John Hansen reporting for duty, Ma'am!”

The entire class gasped, even the teacher.

“Of course, that was before I moved to Japan.” I said and dropped the salute. “I doubt the JDF would accept me into their ranks without a lot of exhaustive background checks and vows of obedience and loyalty.”

Everyone in the class nodded. There was no way an American would be allowed to step onto one of the Japanese Defence Force bases without full body searches and a military escort.

“With that revelation, let's tackle the first topic of the day.” The teacher said just as the class bell rang. “Calculus!”

Most of the girls groaned and the rest sighed. I just chuckled and gave Aika's waist a squeeze.

“Don't look so disappointed, children. You'll need this when you go to college.” The teacher admonished them and began the lesson. She was right, too. Anyone going to college would need it, even if they never used it for their everyday life. It looked great on your school record, too.

Lunchtime took a very long time to arrive, according to Aika, Kaori, and Yui, and they pretty much ran out of the room with the rest of the girls to get away from the horrors of university prep math and physics.

The sad sigh from the teacher at her classroom emptying almost instantly made me feel sorry for her, so I walked up to her desk and pretended to take out a container of the most popular Japanese desserts from my backpack.

“I hope you don't take what happened personally. I thought you handled those hated subjects very well.” I said and put the container on the desk.

The teacher looked at it and then at me. “What is that?”

I opened it for her and she caught her breath at what she saw inside. “Homemade desserts. It's part of what I brought for lunch with the Occult Research Club today. I think you need it more than they do.”

She reached into the container and picked up a cute cat-shaped rice ball that had a chocolate belly with custard inside. “It's so cute!” She said and blushed.

I had a hard time not laughing at her reaction. “I have it on good authority that it's delicious, too.” I said and bowed slightly to her. “Have a good lunch, Miss Yamanaka.”

“Th-thank you, John.” She said and went to bite the treat and hesitated.

“I always start at the tail because I don't want to stare at the cute face as I eat it.” I said and walked over to the door and glanced back to see her happily doing as I suggested. I refrained from telling her how cute that looked and stepped out of the classroom just as Yuuto Kiba showed up to collect me. “Hello, Mister Kiba. You have perfect timing.” I said and lightly patted his shoulder. “Lead the way.”

Yuuto nodded and did an about-face move and we walked down the hallway and then down the stairs.

“Does Miss Gremory always send you out to do her errands?” I asked to make small talk.

Yuuto shook his head. “I usually volunteer if it's nothing too cumbersome. My own classes are only on the floor above, so it was no trouble to divert to here when she mentioned inviting you to lunch.”

I nodded and we left the building. “I hope she wasn't too disappointed that I couldn't make it yesterday. I really did have plans with Aika that... ahem... lasted almost the whole lunch period.”

Yuuto gave me a surprised look and then chuckled. “I'm not going to ask what plans she had.”

I chuckled, too. It was funny, because despite her reputation that the whole school knew about, Aika was still a virgin and hadn't had sex before. Hell, she hadn't even given a blow job to anyone and she had an inherent ability to tell how big a guy was when he was both soft and hard. How she managed to develop that without any practical experience was beyond me at the moment.

“The food I ate was delicious, too.” I joked and he laughed.

We walked around the building and over to the old school building that the Occult Research Club had commandeered. It was a bit run down and a little eerie, which seemed to fit the theme of the club, and probably why they never tried to fix the place up on the outside. On the inside, it was immaculate.

Yuuto saw my appreciation and he smiled as he led me up the stairs to the main club meeting room. He brought me into a nice place that had a couple of couches, large windows on the side, several desks, and a shower.

I blinked my eyes at that detail and then heard running water. Before I could ask him if this was really happening, I was pointed at the couch that had a short white-haired girl sitting on it. She gave me a very pointed look and took several deep sniffs, clearly trying to sample my smell or to figure out if I had anything on me.

I decided to help her and walked over to her side of the couch and hid my smile at her almost crawling off the end of it to stay away from me. I slipped off my backpack and opened it to pull out a small Bento Box to hand to her.

The girl's eyes dilated and she took in a very long and slow sniff.

“I hope it's to your liking.” I said and she snatched it from my hand and tore off the top covering and buried her face into the meat and vegetables. “I'm going to assume that means you might.”

Yuuto chuckled and sat down at one of the desks. “Koneko is our resident food aficionado.” He said and watched the small girl devour the food. “It's a good thing it's not poisoned.”

Koneko didn't pause at his words and kept eating.

I walked over to hand him one, too. “By the sounds her nose made, I'm sure her sense of smell is strong enough to detect anything bad.”

Yuuto nodded and smiled as he accepted the Bento Box. “Thank you.”

“It's no trouble. I enjoy cooking.” I said and set out two more on the coffee table and then took out my own as I sat on the far side of the couch that Koneko was on. I put the backpack down and opened my Bento Box to started eating, too.

That was when the shower cut off and a fully dressed tall brunette with very large breasts stepped out of the enclosure where the shower was and handed a towel back inside. I ignored her and used my chopsticks to pick up a fairly juicy piece of normal beef that was slathered in gravy. I started chewing on it as the gorgeous redheaded girl named Rias Gremory stepped out of the shower stall wearing only the towel.

The shocking thing was that it barely covered half of her fairly large breasts and stopped just below the tops of her thighs, which meant if she moved to sit down across from me, like she seemed to plan to do as she approached the other couch, I was about to get a very nice show.

Since I didn't want to insult her by ignoring her to her face, I stopped eating and watched her like she wanted. She gave me a bright smile and made a little show of sitting down, giving me the nice show that I had known she was going to give me, then she had the audacity to cross her legs in front of me without any underwear on.

“Thank you for agreeing to come here to meet me, Mister Hansen.” Rias said, her voice welcoming.

I debated inside my head for a few seconds if I should tease her or not, then mentally shrugged. “Miss Gremory, I should thank you for arranging to give me a gift that was nearly as nice as Sona's was when she visited my house a few days ago.”

Koneko, Yuuto, Akeno, and Rias stiffened at my words and looked shocked. I barely held in my laugh at the looks on their faces and started eating again to keep my mouth occupied. It took Rias a few seconds to recover from the thought of Sona showing off like she had and her mind started racing.

I did not correct her assumption and let Rias think what she wanted, because I really did have a much better view between Sona's legs back then. She might not have been naked at the time; but, she had a spectacular ass and was an intellectual that became wet from the mere thought of me magically expanding a space for her and her Peerage to use.

“Please, help yourself.” I said and motioned to the two unopened Bento Boxes on the coffee table. “I hope you like what I've prepared.”

Rias shook herself slightly and bent over to take one, intentionally giving me a nearly full view of her breasts, and only the edges of her nipples held the towel in place as she did so. I had the thought that perhaps selective magic was being used and cast a very discreet dispel spell.

The tiny knot under her armpit unravelled and her towel almost exploded as her slightly compressed breasts were set free from the cloth binding them. Akeno gasped and Yuuto whipped his head around to stare at the wall, his face red.

Koneko finally lifted her head from her food to give her a good glare. “Hentai.”

Rias blushed deeply and snatched up the towel to cover her chest and sat back on the couch. She uncrossed her legs and tucked the end of the towel between her thighs and then tucked the other end of the towel under her armpits and I saw two brief flashes of black-colored magic to hold it in place.

“I apologize for flashing you like that, Mister Hansen.” Rias said, only a little embarrassed.

“You don't need to be embarrassed. Your body is quite impressive and you should be proud of it.” I said and gave her my best smile. “Also, after a show like that, I think you can call me John.”

“Ufufufu.” Akeno laughed a fake laugh, probably to diffuse the situation. “I think someone appreciates beauty when he sees it.”

I had to chuckle at that. “Says the other beauty of the Two Great Beauties of Kuoh Academy.”

Akeno gave me a searching look and smiled sexily. “Hmm.” She hummed and opened two of the buttons on her blouse. “Does that mean you want to see me have... an accident... and unintentionally reveal my assets?”

A comment like that I just couldn't leave alone. “I doubt you've ever done anything accidentally.”

Akeno giggled and undid a third and a fourth button, showing off the top of her black bra. Not surprisingly, her breasts were a cup size bigger than the ones Rias had and she was quite proud of that. She took two steps around the coffee table and bent over to let her blouse fall open and showed herself off.

“Is this much more to your liking?” Akeno asked me, teasingly.

I slowly reached a hand up and she braced for me to grope her, and would have let me if the thoughts in her head were to be trusted. I lifted my hand over her breasts and cupped the side of her face instead.

“What can I do for you to remove the sad look from your face?” I asked her.

The other three people in the room stiffened slightly and gave me surprised looks.

Akeno on the other hand, blushed for real this time. “J-John...”

I easily plucked what she wanted from her head and gave her a sad smile in return. “Would it really make you happy or would it make you even more sad underneath everything?”

Akeno looked into my eyes and sighed as she closed her own eyes. “I don't know.”

I pulled her in close and gave her a tender kiss on the lips. “That is the most mature answer you could have given to such a difficult question, Akeno. I'm proud of you.”

Akeno opened her eyes and she looked surprised before she smiled crookedly. “You just stole the first kiss from a blushing virgin, John. I hope you can take responsibility for it.”

It was my turn to be surprised and I dove into her mind, only to find out that it was true. I had been the first male she had ever kissed on the lips and she hadn't had sex yet, despite her masochistic and teasing personality. She talked a great game, gave off an air of experience, and it was all an act.

I moved my hand down from her face, gripped her blouse, and pulled her down and onto my lap. She let out an 'eep' sound and then I cuddled her and she nestled into my embrace. No one asked where my Bento Box went, because they were all staring at what I was doing.

I cuddled the girl like she was a teddy bear and I kissed her like she was the most precious thing in the world. Akeno responded by moaning and her hands were not idle as she caressed and touched me everywhere she could reach. We stayed there and made out like the teenagers we looked like for almost ten minutes, then I broke the kiss.

Akeno's face was flushed red and her breathing was heavy. “J-John, I... that was...”

“I hope you can accept that you won't be the only woman I have in my bed.” I said right away.

Akeno stared into my eyes as she whispered. “So bold.”

I smiled crookedly. “Only because someone told me to take responsibility.”

Akeno smiled back. “A fantastic kiss isn't really what I meant.”

“I know. It's what you deserved before we go any further, though.”

Akeno nodded and almost purred as she spoke teasingly. “When would you like to... get together?”

“Akeno!” Rias gasped.

“Ufufufu.” Akeno laughed and slipped off of my lap and stood up, looked down at her exposed bra, and looked at my face. “You didn't grope me.”

“There's no rush. We can get to second base when we're in private.” I told her and she pouted.

“You shouldn't ignore a lady's offer so blatantly.” Akeno said and her pout changed to a smirk when I took out my Devil cellphone. She pulled her own out of her cleavage and shared her details with mine, then she sauntered around the coffee table and sat beside Rias, her phone out of sight again.

I was smart and didn't remind Rias that despite her being the one to show me most of her goods, it was Akeno I had kissed and cuddled and not her. I picked up my chopsticks again and started eating my lunch once more. No one noticed or asked how it had reappeared.

“Now that the important things are out of the way, why did you invite me to have lunch with you?” I asked and ate another piece of beef. My cooking skills were still phenomenal and my mouth watered as I chewed.

No one missed Akeno looking proud at the compliment.

“I wanted to meet you.” Rias said and motioned for Akeno to hand her one of the Bento Boxes still on the coffee table.

Akeno handed hers to her and took the other one. They both opened them and took in deep breaths, then started eating with gusto. They weren't as prolific as Koneko had been while eating hers; but, it was close, because they looked like they wanted to dive into the specially prepared food from the Underworld.

I held in my laugh at the simple explanation, the utter lie it was, and the two girls wanting to scarf down the tasty food and still trying to act lady-like as they ate quickly. “Well met, Rias.”

Rias stopped eating briefly to smile at me and then went back to eating. Apparently, gluttony wasn't as rare of a sin for Devils as I thought.

I took another lunch out of my backpack and gave it to Koneko. She let out a growl like a kitten being fed for the first time and hugged it as she tore it open and used her bare fingers instead of the chopsticks. It was honestly cute how she was acting and it made me smile.

With them so distracted, I finished eating my own lunch, easily cast a notice-me-not on myself, and slipped out of the room. I thought about leaving a note saying I had to leave and chose not to. They would notice I left when they finished eating and saw that I was gone.

Aika met me in the main school building's entrance and dragged me into the girl's bathroom. I didn't object, mostly because she had kept her antics to a minimum all morning. Plus, she said it was a fantasy of hers to have sex right there and having other girls hearing her and knowing she was getting railed and they weren't.

I would have to work on her social problems later. For now, she needed a good lay and I was going to give it to her.

*

Just as the day was put to bed and the night was let out to play, a stray devil left the comfort of their hidden lair and searched for prey. They were hungry and needed to expand their power again. The danger of being inside Devil-controlled territory gave it a thrill, even as it kept to the shadows and used its powers to ensure that no one could see or hear it until it wanted them to.

It hid inside an alleyway and it cast a spell over it to make the darkness cover half of it, and waited for some prey to pass by the opening. It hunkered down and prepared to spring on its victim, its mouth salivating with the thought of fresh blood and meat, and it was eager for the hunt.

A young man walked in front of the alley and came to a stop, turned to look right into the darkness at it. “There you are! I've been looking all over for you.”

The stray devil felt something it hadn't felt in months since it escaped its master and captivity. Fear.

“Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. Hopefully.” The young man said with a smile.

A red light was the last thing the stray devil saw before it fell unconscious.

*

A relative six months later in my lab, Panacea sat down beside me and let out an exhausted sigh.

“Before you ask me if I want the good news or the bad news, I already know there's no good news.” I told her and finished typing up the updated monitoring program Eye and I had been working on to help us track down stray devils.

“Beep.” Eye said and landed beside us.

Panacea gave me a tired look and nodded. “It's taken me this long just to figure out what the hell happened to the thing to make it into whatever the hell it is.”

I could only nod, because my own power of gaining images and my copy skill didn't work on the thing. Whatever had magically altered it, had completely screwed it up beyond recognition.

“It's a mutated RNA based biological virus that overwrites any other DNA it comes into contact with to make it into a specific kind of DNA. I have to assume it converts the original being into a Devil, since we don't have access to an actual non-corrupted sample.” Panacea said I motioned for her to go on. “As far as I can tell, it originates from a chess piece lodged inside the body, only it's not quite a physical thing and has a massive magical component.”

I sighed myself. “I was worried about that.”

“Why?” Panacea asked.

“Because Eye and I have been trying our best to hack into the programming and it's more magical than numerical.” I said and turned the computer monitor to show Panacea the coding. “There's ritual runic sequences I can't decode, almost random bits of data that are both unconnected and integral to the programming, and any piece of technology that tries to run any part of the code will explode.”

Panacea thought about that. “It needs a biological source to run the code on, since it's designed to convert any DNA into the specifically coded DNA located in the chess piece.”

“Yes, it does.” I said and motioned to the 'patient' she had put into a coma as we worked on them. “Now tell me why she looks like that creature and not like a normal person.”

“If what you said is true, and I don't doubt that it is, then the re-sequencing program is intentionally running rampant and causing almost random physical mutations. The subjects need to consume flesh and magic to maintain the process, since their original source is unavailable.”

I nodded and Eye beeped in agreement.

“So, how do we stop it?” Panacea asked.

“We haven't figured that out yet.” I said and Eye beeped again. “It's going to take a while to work out how to make a kind of EMP to knock out the programming, even temporarily. If we can do that, then you can easily revert the host back to a more humanoid form.”

Panacea shook her head. “That won't work. As soon as the programming starts up again, any changes I made would be lost and a possible new mutation could form and make an even deadlier creature.”

“What about removing the piece completely?” I asked.

“Instant death.” Panacea said and I stared at her. “It's like a magical heart. Remove it, the magical creature dies. There's nothing to maintain it anymore.”

“Because of the programming.” I said in understanding. “Once they were initially changed, that was it. There's no reverting back from becoming a magical being, since the DNA has been altered.”

“As far as I can tell, the changes start almost as soon as the piece is introduced to the being. It also takes a few days to a week for the entire process to finish corrupting them.” Panacea said.

“The problem comes when they break away from their King.” I said. “The failsafe kicks in and it starts changing them. It could happen quickly within days or take months. It all depends on the extent of the changes.”

“It took weeks for that one to change into the horror it became. They've also eaten about a dozen people, if the content of their stomach only contains what they've eaten so far.”

“DNA evidence?” I asked and she nodded. “Should we try to save her if she's already so corrupted that she's devouring people?”

Panacea looked away from me and took several breaths. “John, she became a monster when she fought against her owner. Even if we don't know the circumstances of her becoming a Devil, she never would have mutated and eaten people if they just let her go.”

I sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. “I understand. I'll see what I can do by searching through her mind, despite the complete mess it is in there.”

“Is it better or worse than it was with River?” Panacea asked as she looked back at me.

“It's much worse, because the creature fully succumbed to the magical programming.” I told her.

Panacea gave me a sad look and then nodded. She knew there wasn't much hope if there wasn't much of a mind to restore, even if she managed to return the body to a normal shape and we successfully removed the chess piece.

“After we exhaust all of our other options and they fail, we can forcibly extract the Evil Piece, fix the body, and try the magical sarcophagus.” I said and her eyes widened. “Maybe reducing them to a child will let their mind recover as they grow up again?”

Panacea smiled. “I agree that's a good idea as a last resort.”

“Thanks.” I said and stood. “Let's get to work and see what we can do to save the pour soul trapped in a monster's body. I just hope the mind isn't just as monstrous and we can't recover anything.”

“Me too, John. Me, too.” Panacea said and followed me over to the operating table.

*

Sona Sitri stood beside the school's entrance gate the next morning and she felt something close to trepidation. She didn't know why she felt that, until the object of her obsession appeared at the end of the street. She couldn't stop herself from concentrating on him as he walked the full distance to reach where she stood and the look on his face made her feel deeply sad and she didn't know why.

“I need a hug.” John said and pulled her in close and held her.

Sona hugged him back and she waited for him to tell her what was going on. She also ignored what the girls around them were whispering about them secretly dating.

“Thank you, Souna.” John whispered and pulled back slightly, then he pulled her back in for a passionate kiss.

Just like the last time she had kissed the handsome young man, it curled her toes and made Sona feel like she was the epitome of sexiness that she secretly thought her Queen and her sister were instead of her. When he broke the kiss, the sadness she had felt from him was lessened a significant degree.

“I'll see you at lunch.” John commented.

“Yes, you will.” Sona promised and watched as he walked by her and she tried to not concentrate on the comments that the other girls were making about her hogging the new Prince of Kuoh Academy. She very slowly closed the gates when she was supposed to and allowed three almost tardy students slip inside. Their very thankful thanks made her secretly preen at gaining their favour.

With the gate closed, her personal task for that morning was done and Sona made her way back to her office. She had a lot of paperwork to get through before she could take the entire lunch period off and she fully intended to give John as much attention as she suspected he needed today.

When lunchtime came around, she told her peerage she would be indisposed for the next hour and met the slightly sad-looking young man at the office door when he knocked on the doorframe. She didn't say anything to him and took his hand, gave him an understanding smile, and led him away from the office that took up so much of her normal time.

Neither of them spoke as she led him to the less frequently used gymnasium storage room. She sat him down on an exercise mat and gave him a very pointed look. He almost looked apologetic as he brought out their lunches and the two of them sat there in complete silence as they ate. When the food was gone, Sona once more stared intensely into his eyes and waited.

“You're not going to let me leave without telling you what happened, are you?” John asked.

“If you have to ask that, you don't know me very well.” Sona responded.

John sighed a long and exaggerated sigh. “I don't know where to start.”

Sona took the initiative and pushed their empty Bento Boxes aside and climbed onto his lap. “Start at the part where you lost hope in the world.”

John gave her a startled look and then huffed. “Am I that easy to read?”

“Only to someone that has a modicum of intelligence.” Sona responded. “I can also feel you growing hard with me this close. If you don't tell me what's bothering you, you'll never be this close to me ever again.”

John looked surprised for a second and then barked a laugh. He put his hands on her hips and his thumbs caressed her sides. “There's no way it's that simple to get that close to you, Sona Sitri, the heiress of the Sitri Clan.”

Sona blushed slightly, then wiggled her hips and made him groan. “Try me.”

John took a deep breath and let it out. “I discovered why members of peerages that flee their masters become stray devils.”

Sona gasped and needed a moment to recover from the shock. “Please, John. Tell me.”

“I don't think you're ready for what it means or what dealing with it means.” John said as his hands slid up her back to hug her close.

“The only way you can find that out is to tell me.” Sona informed him.

John looked deep into her eyes and let out a relieved sigh, then he started talking, and talking. The bell rang to end the lunch period and they both ignored it and neither of them regretted skipping schoolwork as John continued to talk. Sona listened with an intensity that all of her previous teachers would have been envious of and she absorbed everything the handsome teenager told her.

When John was done unloading everything he had learned about the Evil Piece system, skewed as it was from a single perspective, she fully believed him. There was no way for him to come to the conclusions he had without doing extensive experimentation, both physically and metaphysically. He would have needed access to a stray devil as well, which meant the one that had been reported to her had been caught by him.

“What happened to Viser?” Sona asked.

John looked into her eyes and decide to be honest about it. “After several very extensive medical procedures that were unsuccessful, she was reverted back to long before she had ever become a Reincarnated Devil and her memories were erased. All of them.”

Sona caught her breath and couldn't fathom what that meant.

“It didn't take long to find a family that wanted to adopt a newly born baby girl. She should grow up without any idea about the supernatural or about what had happened to her to make her into the monster she had become.” John explained. “All traces of modified DNA have been eradicated, too.”

“J-John, you... you...” Sona whispered.

“It was the last resort when everything else was tried and failed. Nothing else worked, even after...” John stopped talking and sighed. “A new life without influence was what could be given to her and that was barely possible after everything else she had been through.”

Sona could do nothing but nod. The revelations were too numerous for her to do anything else.

“I'm not sure where to go from here, though. After such an epic failure...” John stopped talking again and sighed, resigned that he couldn't do anything else.

Sona thought about what he had told her and she decided to do something that no one else had ever done before. She willed her remaining Evil Pieces to her hands and held them out to him.

John stared at the Rook, Knight, and four Pawn pieces.

“Would examining these help?” Sona asked.

John looked up from the pieces and smiled. “Sona, I... this could... I don't know what to say.”

“They are registered to me, so don't do anything to them that could damage or destroy them. I can't get new ones and once they're used up, that's it. I can't get them back unless someone dies.” Sona warned him and he nodded.

John ran his hand over each of the pieces and made sure to touch each one, then he smiled warmly. “This could be the thing that will change everything, Sona. Thank you.”

Sona looked down at the pieces and back to his face. “Aren't you going to take them?”

“I don't have to. Just touching them is enough for me to advance my research.” John said and reached up to pet her hair. “Are we going back to what we should be doing at school or do you want to... you know.”

Sona blushed and glanced down to where his erection was still pressed against her damp panties, because he had remained hard the entire time. “We haven't had our first date yet and we shouldn't go too much further than this.”

John gave her one of his best smiles. “That leaves me a lot of leeway, you know.”

Sona kept the blush on her face. “I know.”

John laughed at her boldness. “I'm glad, because you're not getting out of my grasp until you have to.”

Before Sona could ask him what he meant, she was somehow straddled across his face and moaned as his talented tongue plunged into her depths. She didn't wonder where her panties disappeared to as she came, and came, and came some more. Sweet Lucifer, John knew exactly what to do to get her to come, and she liked it. She liked it a lot.

Her breasts were played with, her nipples suckled, and he had kissed her everywhere. Sona wasn't going to let him get away with that and returned as many actions as she could, all while maintaining her main purity. She sucked him off, swallowed his surprisingly delicious expulsions, and suckled his nipples, too. Hearing his moans made her quite happy and she let him spray his latest load across her modest chest.

“You are... so beautiful.” John said between moans.

Sona blushed, because she knew he really meant it. He wasn't in a position to lie to her, not with her licking the head of his member and her teeth were right there as a potential danger.

The next bell rang and John snapped his fingers and they were both cleaned up. Another snap and they were both dressed again and looked immaculate, which made her give him raised eyebrows. He smiled at her and helped her to her feet, then he gave her another toe-curling passionate kiss that had her head spinning, just like it had the first time.

John broke the kiss and saw she was blushing again. “So, have you picked the room you want altered for your exclusive use yet?”

Sona wasn't thrown off by the sudden change in subject and nodded. “The Student Council's Auxillary office is next door to the actual office. It has our filing cabinets and backup servers and is just out of the way enough and close enough at the same time to be perfect.”

John nodded. “I'll pop by sometime tonight to start the modifications.”

Sona gave him a pointed look. “I want the time gradient to be 10 to 1. One outside hour to be ten hours inside.”

John chuckled. “Are you sure that's all you want? Because I can manage a little more than that.”

“How much is a little more?” Sona asked as they walked out of the gym building and towards the main school building.

“With some special materials added, I can stretch it anywhere from 100 to 1 to 1000 to 1.”

Sona stumbled and almost fell. John easily swept her up into his arms and held her. She stared at him and he stared back with an almost insufferably smug look on his face.

“Think of it as a thank you for offering me what you did to advance my research.” John offered.

Sona wanted to ask if he meant letting him touch her Evil Pieces or for letting him touch her.

“Yes.” John said and there was that smug look again.

“Am I so easy to read?” Sona asked.

“Only to someone with a modicum of intelligence.” John said her line back to her and stopped just outside the school building and set her back on her feet.

Sona nodded at him not embarrassing her by carrying her in front of witnesses and they entered the building together. They went to the Student Council office and she wrote out a note for him to excuse him from his missed classes because he was helping her.

John wisely did not tease her about not adding what he had helped her with.

Sona showed him the next office and John examined it before he nodded and said he could get it done by the morning. She walked him to class and John apologized to the teacher as he handed over the note, Sona nodded to the teacher to confirm that he really was with her the whole time, and went back to her office.

Once she was there and alone, Sona sat down on her chair and went over everything that happened to her. The revelations were phenomenal and she wasn't sure she could accept that she had really experienced everything she had gone through that day. As she contemplated it, her eyes widened when a bouquet of red roses appeared in front of her and a note asked her out on a date that Saturday.

Sona smiled and wrote 'accept' on the note and it disappeared. Of course, she would bring her chess set as well. She wasn't going to give her virginity to someone that didn't earn it properly.

*

I had to suffer through the rest of the classes that afternoon before I could head home to work on the Evil Pieces I had successfully gained the images of. It was the biggest breakthrough in my research so far and I didn't want to waste it. I was sure that I wasn't going to lose the images or have them corrupted somehow, probably because Sona was willing to let me borrow them.

Eye beeped at me as I ran by him and down into the basement. He flew after me and the door shut behind him and he joined me over at the living area I had made for Panacea. I politely knocked on the door, since I wasn't going to intentionally interrupt her if she was spending time with Lake.

The door opened and a half-dressed and grumpy Panacea stood there. “What?”

Instead of saying anything, I created a non-corrupted and non-mutated Pawn piece and handed it to her. Panacea gasped and grabbed it with both hands and her face went blank as her power analyzed the thing.

“What is it?” Lake asked as she suddenly appeared behind her lover.

“Hopefully the key to fixing the procedures we used to try and save Viser.” I told her.

Lake nodded, because she fully understood what it cost Panacea and I when we had failed to rescue the woman from what had been done to her. The changes had been too extensive and her mutations too uncontrollable to do anything except completely reset her life to that of a baby. Her mind had been pretty much destroyed as well.

Half an hour later, Panacea came out of her trance. She didn't say anything as she handed me the piece back and walked over to the operating area and opened the secure container and pulled out the corrupted and mutated Pawn piece. She held it in one hand and spent another half an hour working on it. When she was done, it was no longer a twisted mess.

“I can't do anything about the corrupted and changed programming.” Panacea said and handed it to me. “I have neither magic nor technomancy to fix more than the DNA and biological components.”

“Leave that part to Eye and me. We'll get to work and see if we can patch a few things first. If it survives the other corrupted programming, we can work from there. If it doesn't, we'll try to wipe it completely while keeping it magically intact and copy over everything from the new one.”

Panacea nodded and stepped close to me, gave my cheek a kiss, and walked over to Lake to hug her and the door shut behind her.

“Beep?” Eye asked.

“Yeah, she's the same as me. Even if this works, it's still going to take some time for us to get over it.” I said and walked over to my work area. “We'll spend the next year or so going over the new Pawn's programming first. We might not understand everything that's going on in the program; but, that doesn't mean we can't figure out how things work with an unused piece.”

“Boop.” Eye agreed and we went to work.

*

Sona couldn't resist observing whatever John was going to do to the secondary office. She set up both her familiar and some hidden monitoring equipment to watch and record the procedure. Little did she expect for the man to just appear without any kind of teleportation circle or even sound.

“Oh! Hi there, little guy.” John's voice said on the monitor.

Sona's eyes widened as John reached into the shadow where her familiar was hiding and picked him up.

“Aren't you the cutest little thing?” John said and pet the little furred creature with bat wings. “I suppose any magic being cast would bring something like you around, hmm?”

The familiar made a please sound and he chuckled.

“Then go ahead and perch on my shoulder. You might as well have the best view.”

The familiar purred and flew up to land on his shoulder.

“All right. Watch carefully.” John said and held his hand out. The room shimmered slightly and then pretty much exploded away from him and became the size of a stadium. “Now for the time component. It screws with anything trying to connect through it during the expansion, so any electronics have to be disconnected because of the time compression.”

Sona sighed when she lost visual and sound. Even her familiar was sending her bursts of images every few seconds through her mind and giving her a headache, so she disconnected. She rubbed her temples and stood up, checked that the feed was still out, and left her office. She went to the one next door and thought about knocking, then opened the door without warning... only to see the exact same office.

“What the hell is going on?” Sona asked, just as part of the back wall where the filing cabinets were, pulled back and slid aside to reveal the fully expanded space.

“Hi, Sona.” John said and waved as he stepped through and the wall slid back in place. “This is a trick I learned to use a while ago and it works like an airlock. You still have access to the expanded space, only no one will ever know about it until you tell them.”

Sona watched as he reconnected everything electronic, even the supposedly hidden monitoring devices and the backup servers.

“I took the liberty of adding training areas, modified gym equipment, an arena for practice fights, a hot spring for you and the girls to relax in, and living areas for 16 people in a 4x4 apartment complex along the right wall.”

Sona was almost stunned into immobility. Almost. “Show me!” She shouted in demand.

John chuckled and pointed to a knothole on the back wall. “Hit that and it opens. The same knot is on the other side.”

Sona strode across the room and poked the knot. It sank in like a push button and the wall moved back slightly and slid aside.

“It has the time gradient of 720 to 1, or 1 normal hour equalling 30 compressed days.”

Sona stepped inside and shivered slightly with the same feeling she had when she entered his basement. She gasped when she saw the professionally done space. Her eyes roamed over everything she could see and she couldn't believe it. How the hell did he get all of this done in so little time?

Her thoughts skidded to a stop as she did the time conversion in her head for how long he had been there and she turned around to look at him. “Why did you work at this for over a week?”

John stepped close and took her into a hug. “Your contribution to my research let me start working on a counter to stray devils. There's no way to test anything definite and I don't have anyone to test it on. I also need to work out a delivery system that didn't endanger the person delivering it, or corrupting them, or a bunch of other things.”

Sona stared at him and didn't know what to say.

“Yes, before you ask, I'm going back home to keep working on it, now that I have some way to do so.” John said. “I'm also staying on the lookout for any stray devils to grab and keep experimenting on.”

Sona knew what to say about that. “You don't feel guilty about that?”

John took in a deep breath and sighed. “I do and I'll live with what happened for the rest of my life. Having to reset someone because both their mind and their body couldn't let go of the horrors they went through...” He shook his head. “I just hope not all of them are as lost as Viser was.”

Sona wanted to lie about it and sighed. “All of them go insane after their first taste of forbidden flesh. I've never heard of anyone that came back from the corruption after it started.”

John looked deep into her eyes and nodded. “The truth won't discourage me, Sona. I'll keep working on it and hoping that I'll save them from themselves and maybe from some of their torment.”

Sona understood what he meant. “Then I won't keep you any longer.”

John nodded and let her out of the hug. “Have fun with your new playground.” He said and pointed to a large double faced digital clock on the wall above the exit. “That keeps track of the outside time compared to the inside.”

“Thank you.” Sona said and watched as John left. She felt her shadow shift and her familiar popped out of it and flew up to her shoulder. She pet it and it purred. “You like him, too.”

The familiar purred louder.

“He'll never accept an offer to become a member of my Peerage.” Sona said and tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

Her familiar rubbed against the side of her face and flew off into the air.

Sona turned to watch and saw it going towards the clearly marked hot springs. She smiled as she followed and chose to indulge in the great idea her familiar had. Introducing the rest of her Peerage to their new training facility could wait... for a day or two of expanded time. It had been a long time since Sona could genuinely relax and time wasn't constantly pressuring her to keep working.

*

The next real-time day, I spent the school day making up for missing the day before. It was eay with the notes Aika had and my recording devices, which made the teacher very happy. She loved the apology desserts, too. I ate in the cafeteria this time, for the first time that week, and had a great conversation with several of the girls from the Kendo club and Aika loved the attention her tiara gave her.

I went home and relaxed on the couch in my living room, since I had nothing pressing to do. The work on the stray devil problem was stalled until I could capture another one and Eye and I had bottomed out on the reprogramming project. He still picked at it, just for fun, and tried to figure out what the runic sequences could mean. Eye digitizing magical books was a solid goal to stick with for now.

My Devil cellphone pinged at me and I took it out to check it. It was a message from Ravel and she apologized for not responding before now. Her idiot of a brother stole and hid her phone last week and she didn't get the message until this morning when she blew him up and he told her where he had stashed it.

I laughed at that image and sent a message back that I had a really busy week with all of the girls I was courting and wouldn't have been good company anyway. She sent me an emoji of a tongue sticking out and complained I sounded like her brother, which made the both of us laugh. The LOLs were proof of that.

Ravel asked if she could come over for a visit and I agreed, sending her my GPS data and location. A teleportation circle formed right in front of me on the floor and a bright flash of light later, a very cute and slightly blushing Ravel stood there wearing a frilly dress.

“Just because it's you, I won't be moving the teleport marker out to the mud puddle in the backyard.” I said and she laughed. I changed my school uniform to match her more formal-looking outfit and stood to give her a bow and took her hand to kiss the back of it. “Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”

Ravel shook her head and stepped close to me to look up at my face. “Don't lie. How many girls have to slept with at an all-girl's school?”

I let her see the honest truth on my face. “Only one, my friend Aika. She's a pervert and people ostracized her until I told them I fully accepted people's little quirks.”

Ravel smiled and nodded.

“I should also tell you I bedded a Fallen Angel at the start of the week. She hasn't called or responded to messages since.”

Ravel snorted and then laughed. “You're expecting them to talk to you after doing that? I'm surprised she didn't try to kill you afterwards.”

I laughed, too. I also thought that perhaps she did, since she reported me back to her superiors in the Grigori. I motioned to the couch. “Will you sit with me? We can watch something or we can talk.”

Ravel nodded and sat down on the couch like a lady, all demure and proper, and I grinned at her and flopped down to recline against the arm of the couch. She giggled and shook her head at me, which was why I did it.

“How have you been?” I asked her and smiled evilly. “Was your vacation keeping your brother in line as bad as I thought it was going to be?”

Ravel laughed. “You only just met him and you know him so well already? How smart are you?”

“Reasonably smart.” I said and sat up properly. “I hope you had some fun at least. Italy's a great country.”

Ravel beamed a smile at me and started to tell me everything she did for the entire week, making jokes and highlighting the times she saved her brother from some embarrassing moments. I enjoyed listening to her talk and added my own observations when necessary, so she knew I was actually listening and not just humoring her.

When suppertime arrived, Ravel chose to stay, as long as she wasn't a bother. That made me laugh and I brought her into the industrial-sized kitchen and she laughed, too. Surprisingly, she was a deft hand at cooking and helped me prepare several of her favorite dishes. Because we both liberally used magic to help, supper was done in record time and we sat down to eat.

I faked eating, of course. I wasn't going to poison myself for her and switched my meal for something I could eat and cast an illusion over it. We kept talking and she mentioned her family's business. Phenex Tears. They were magical potions that could heal almost everything and were in high demand.

When I asked how much they were, she shocked me by saying they were thousands of Devil Dollars each, even the diluted ones that healed minor things. The high tier ones that regrew limbs were worth tens of thousands.

“How long would I have to wait if I ordered ten of them?” I asked and she almost choked on her wine. I cleaned up the mess and she stared at me. “How about one of each tier? Is that more reasonable?”

Ravel put a hand over her heart. “John, you can't be serious. Even if you only wanted the chaper ones, that's still several hundred thousand dollars.”

I walked out of the room and went to a spare bedroom and created a standard briefcase, generated two million Devil Dollars, and packed them inside. I went back out to the kitchen and Ravel's eyes locked onto the metal briefcase. I set it beside her plate and opened it.

“Two million.” I said and closed the case. “If it's not enough for one of each tier of Phenex Tears, message me and I'll send over more.”

“J-J-John...” Ravel stammered and waved a hand in front of her face. “It's more than enough.”

“Any extra you can keep as a seller's fee.” I said and she gasped. “If it wasn't for you, I might not have heard of them.”

Ravel shook her head. “This isn't why I came here.”

I chuckled. “Just because we're on a date, that doesn't mean we can't do other things.”

Ravel blushed and looked away from me.

“Would you like to go for a walk? It's only a quick pop across the continent to visit the Great Wall of China.”

Ravel blinked her eyes at me and looked unable to speak.

“I mean, if we're going for a walk, why not do it in style?” I asked and created a small fancy purse and shoved the briefcase inside, which made her eyes go very wide. I handed it to her and she slung the bag over her shoulder. “Shall we?” I asked and held my hand out to her.

Ravel looked at the bag and at my hand. She straightened her back and nodded as she took my hand and interlaced our fingers.

I smiled at her acceptance and cast a notice-me-not spell on us and then the apparition spell. We disappeared from the kitchen and reappeared on the top of the Great Wall of China. It had been perfect timing, because the sun started setting and the sky was filled with clouds that were a brilliant wash of oranges and reds.

“Wow.” Ravel whispered and stared at the scene.

We stayed there for quite some time and watched the sky grow darker, then started walking. We talked about a few different things, about some other places we had travelled, and about nothing in particular. When we reached the next tower of the wall, Ravel whispered that she had a wonderful time on the best walk she had ever been on.

“It's the company that makes things bearable.” I commented and she nodded. I hugged her close and she tilted her head up to give me a look of anticipation. I did not want to disappoint her, so I bent down and gave her a very tender kiss. I didn't go all out like I did with Sona, mostly because Ravel was a much more reserved girl in both demeanor and behavior.

Ravel's hands reached up and ran her fingers through my hair and held on, stopping me from ending the kiss before she was ready for me to. When her tongue darted out, I almost laughed, because it was her demanding that I kiss her better. So, I did. She moaned softly and pressed her large chest to mine.

I deepened the kiss and apparated us back to my living room and we made out for several minutes. When she thought it was enough, Ravel let my hair go and pulled her lips away from mine. She gave me a proud look and I knew she appreciated that I let her dictate how far things went.

“I will message you when I can fulfill your order.” Ravel said and walked over to the middle of the living room.

“I look forward to it.” I said and bowed slightly. “Goodnight, Ravel.”

“Goodnight, John.” Ravel said and activated a teleportation circle. A flash of light later, I was alone.

“Beep?” Eye asked over the open comm signal.

“Exactly, my friend. Phenex Tears could be exactly what we need to finally crack the stray devil mutation problem. I just hope her family doesn't try to cheat me, because I'm pretty sure we need a pure and undiluted sample to make it work.”

“Beep.” Eye agreed.

I changed my clothes back to my uniform and went to my bedroom, changed, and went to bed. I had a date with Sona tomorrow to get ready for, too. Maybe a visit to a tech show or something would keep her interest? I asked myself and took out my cell phone and started searching.

I found something twenty minutes later and booked two very expensive backstage passes to a technology expo and conference in Tokyo. I drifted off to sleep with the thought that maintaining multiple relationships was both daunting and time consuming.

I had to keep it up, because it was practically a requirement for powerful people to have a harem in this world and you were looked down on if you only had a single love interest. I knew this for a fact, mostly because Sirzechs Lucifer, the most powerful of the Four Satans that ruled the Underworld, only had a single wife in his peerage and a single child.

Devils, Fallen Angels, and several other races openly felt sorry for him because he only had one lover and he had no plans to ever expand his Peerage or spread his powerful seed to other women. Sirzechs accepted their view as their own and he hadn't changed his mind in over two centuries, so he was never going to buckle under peer pressure.

This world was definitely one of the weirdest I had ever visited before.

*

Sona was in what she classed as 'geek heaven'. She didn't know how John had gotten tickets to the most exclusive technology show on the continent and she didn't care. She brought him to every stall, talked to every vendor, and felt her face flush as John bought her some of everything that she mentioned or even glanced at.

She felt guilty about it until he said he had more money than god and that if she didn't want him buying her things, she should have mentioned something fourteen stalls ago and before he had spent over 300,000 Yen. It made her blush at being called out, so she kissed him and dragged him all the way back to the first stall and had him buy even more things. It made John laugh and the stall owner very happy.

They found reserved seats waiting for them in the main auditorium and Sona almost vibrated in her seat. She had wanted to hear the main speaker talk for ages and had read his book on integrating electronics three times as she imagined building her own computer servers that she could program with training programs for Reincarnated Devils to learn how to control their powers and fight in Rating Games.

Sona's hand was clasped in John's as she listened to the speaker and she would nod her head and whisper the related theory as the man broached the topics she wanted to hear about. She listened and absorbed the man's theories as her own and only disagreed on a few things that her personal experience proved weren't as well used or necessary as he suggested.

To her surprise, John also whispered a few things in her ear. His theories were almost in the realm of science fiction and she wanted to know if what he was saying had any basis in reality. The speaker's main theory about the future including quantum computers was already decades ahead of anything currently available and it gave the entire industry something to look forward to.

Three other scientists and tech geniuses spoke as well and Sona had the best time. When the conference finally ended for the day, she almost fainted when one of the staff workers invited her and John to dine with the speakers. John had caught her when she started to sway and he brought her into the private dining room.

Sona was kind of on autopilot as she greeted and talked to each of the speakers, even the man she had wanted to meet for years, because they all loved chess as much as she did. They all sat down and talked shop and discussed things for two whole hours. She couldn't believe it. Random chess matches eventually sprang up and a fierce competition took up most of the evening, with her and John ending in a draw in the last Round Robin match.

She barely noticed John teleporting them from there to the hotel room and stripped off her clothes without caring who saw, then she climbed into bed with the man she adored. She kissed him with a passion she thought she had a firm grip on and soon realized a little too late that it was his penis she was eagerly pulling into herself.

With a mental shrug, Sona gave herself over to the wonderful feeling of this being one of the best days of her life. Having sex with someone she was falling hard for was just the icing on the cake. Also, he was handsome and really knew what he was doing as he played her body like a fiddle and plucked her strings. They also tied in a chess match after destroying the competition and that really turned her on.

A few minutes later, Sona had her first full-body orgasm and lost all hope of remaining composed. She dove into sexual debauchery with reckless abandon and she did things with John that she only heard stories about, usually from her giggling friends about her never ever experiencing them firsthand like them. She definitely showed them that they were wrong.

She was Sona Sitri, heiress of the Sitri Clan, and master of the family's Water Magic. No one was ever going to tell her she couldn't do something. No one.

*

I laid in the bed, soaked with sweat, and had a very happy and lightly snoring Sona clung to my side. Four hours had been a good measuring stick for Sona's endurance, especially since each orgasm seemed to give her more of a reason to keep going instead of making her pause and recover. She was almost a literal demon in the sack and that was nothing like the cool and reserved young woman I had thought she was.

After a quick mental check on her, I knew she really was that way and going to bed with me had been something that made her completely abandon trying to stay lady-like. I wasn't sure of the reason, just that some verbal prodding from her friends had pretty much forced her to prove to herself that she could do everything they teased her about.

I had to muffle my laugh about that, because she had taken their outrageous suggestions as something they themselves did in bed and didn't want to be left behind. Was I upset at being used as an example? Not even a little bit. I also wasn't going to tell her that her friends didn't actually do those things. Why would I hurt her feelings like that?

Plus, it was fun while she ordered me to please her the way she wanted me to. It gave me the best way to actually pleasure her instead of trying to discover things for myself. Sona did not accept any fumbling on my part and demanded I perform to her satisfaction. She kind of reminded me of Isabel from the Arrow Universe when she acted like that and I remembered that time fondly.

I checked the time and laid back to try and fall asleep. We had an early morning and the rest of the conference to attend. With luck, they changed the stock they showed off at the vendor stalls and I could get a bunch more things to play with by buying them for Sona and getting a copy for myself. We were both happy with that deal.

I had no idea that she had built the computers and backup servers at the school herself. She claimed that it had been cheaper than buying them off the shelf and also let her modify them to perform leaps and bounds better than the standard. Of course, she used a lot of tips and tricks to squeeze out as much performance as possible, just like I usually did when I found something new to play with and integrate into my own tech base.

We were more similar than I suspected at first and it was a nice revelation to have, especially just before sleeping together. It made the whole thing that much more intense and we both had a lot of fun. Now I just had to hope things don't become awkward in the morning when she realizes we really did have sex... a lot of sex... and I had chosen to deny her request to get pregnant.

I was pretty sure she was just caught up in the impregnation fantasy she was roleplaying and didn't actually want to get pregnant. I wondered how she will react when she remembered begging me to 'fill her womb up like the filthy whore she was'. I had a hard time not laughing at those words coming out of her mouth, knowing full well they were completely against her normal personality.

I fell asleep with a smile on my face that matched Sona's.

I was woken up by the gasp in my ear and I opened my eyes to turn my head. The utter shock on Sona's face was hilarious and there was only one way to stop myself from bursting out laughing and destroying our relationship before it barely started. I kissed her passionately and then distracted her by bending her in half, tucked her heels behind her ears, and gave her several more screaming orgasms.

An hour later, a happily smiling Sona clung to me once more. “We really did do all of that last night?”

“And more.” I said and she looked startled, then she blushed to a deep red.

“I can't believe I said those things.” Sona whispered, fully embarrassed.

“I can't believe I said no.” I responded and her eyes widened. “You don't realize how sexy you looked when you begged to bear my children. It almost broke my heart to say we were too young to be parents and saw your disappointed face.”

Sona blushed for a completely different reason. “J-John, I... that was...”

“I know, Sona. I know.” I said and gave her a slow kiss. “We both went a lot further than either of us thought we would after our first date. Then again, we were both turned on last night after the tech debates and chess matches. I don't even remember taking off my clothes after we came back to the hotel.”

Sona softly laughed. “I'm pretty sure mine are in a pile over by the bedroom door.”

“I think I dissolved mine into nothing. Your delicious body completely distracted me and then you dragged me into a kiss and I forgot we weren't supposed to do anything but sleep last night.” I told her and didn't miss the almost proud look on her face.

“I admit that I also forgot that we shouldn't have jumped into bed together.” Sona said and then smiled demurely. “However, I can't say that I regret it, now that it's over and done with.”

I blinked my eyes at her and then looked down at her bare breasts and back to her face.

“I meant our first date.” Sona said with another blush.

“Ah. Okay. I thought you meant I could never see you again, which would be absolutely terrible.” I said and she looked pleased. I checked the time and nodded. “We have enough time for a shower and to get dressed before the doors open at the expo.”

Sona smiled and climbed out of bed, gave me a 'come here' look, and walked towards the bathroom as she wiggled her hips. I hopped out of the bed and was right behind her to help her wash, and come, and then wash again.

We barely made it to the expo in time and Sona laughed at successfully distracting me.

*

Freed Sellzen finally escaped his minders on Sunday night and tracked down one of the filthy devil summoners that were corrupting the population with their filth. That he cursed constantly and murdered more people than any other devil in the world, didn't bother him. It was his personal mission to clean up the trash and he was going to do that, church permission or not.

Even those dirty Fallen Angels wouldn't let him kill who he wanted and he hated that they were interfering and controlling. They were almost as bad as the church and he argued his orders to maintain the peace and to stay hidden. How could he remove the filth that corrupted the innocent if he wasn't allowed to kill the heathens?

After he assaulted the young man and raised his light sword to decapitate the little monster for daring to have one of those summoning papers on him, a thin red laser cut through the window and burned a hole right through his forehead. His hands opened and his dead body dropped to the floor, the wound cauterized, and no blood escaped.

An invisible man appeared and injected the nearly dead young man in several places with a glowing blue liquid and lifted him to put him on the bed. A single spell was cast on him and then a few spells were cast on the room. The place was returned to its undamaged state and nothing seemed out of place, then the hole in the window was repaired and the man, the weapons, and Freed's body vanished.

It had been the fourth incident that night that the invisible man had to step in to handle things. Whatever the rogue exorcists were doing, it was escalating and he wasn't sure what to do about it. Was it only there in Kuoh or was it happening all over? Maybe this was the testing ground? In any case, more autonomous drones were released to give better coverage and surveillance on the population.

*

I walked to school on Monday morning with worries plaguing my mind. I still wasn't sure what to do about things and it was going to become a problem. I couldn't attack the not-quite-abandoned church to deal with the rest of the exorcists, because they were under the control of the Fallen Angels, one of which was Mittelt. I had sent her a message and she didn't respond.

Issei's magical clone ran over to me and brought me out of my thoughts. “John, I'm sick.”

I was surprised by that, because it had never happened before. Magical clones were always perfect. When I took his hand, I cursed, because a new image formed in my head and told me that he was suffering from the Devil Corruption and had four pawns inside of him. Four!

“Dammit, what happened?” I asked and let his hand go. “Tell me as we walk to school.”

Issei nodded and told me about his date with Yuuma and how at the end, she changed into a Fallen Angel and killed him, only for him to wake up at home in his bed and healed.

“I can tell you it wasn't Sona.” I said, fully familiar with her Evil Pieces and their programming.

“That means it's the other King of Kuoh, Rias.” Issei said and then he smiled. “Do you think she'll show me her breasts if I asked?”

I barked a laugh. “If you wait for her to send someone for you, she'll probably take a shower with you right there.”

Issei grinned at me. “I can't wait!”

I shook my head and changed my mind. “No, go right to her before classes start and tell her she shouldn't have brought you home without telling you anything.”

“But, I already know about it all.” Issei said.

“Yes, you do. However, she doesn't know you do.” I said. “Think about that.”

Issei did for the remaining time we walked to school and met Tsubaki at the gate. “She left me ignorant and vulnerable after I was attacked and almost died.”

“You got it.” I said and took Tsubaki's hand and kissed the back of it. “Good morning, Vice-President.”

“Good morning, John.” Tsubaki said and waved us through. “I hope that doesn't sour things between you and Rias.”

“I will have words with her about it, no matter what Issei decides to do.” I said and Issei nodded.

Tsubaki didn't comment further and we walked across the courtyard and I entered the school while Issei ran around the building to go to where the old school building was to talk to Rias.

When I reached the classroom, Aika had a sad look on her face. It only took a moment for me to see why. The empty desks around where The Perverted Trio sat were spread around the room instead. Luckily, the one behind her was one of them now. I sat there and she kept the sad look on her face as she stared at me longingly.

“Who blabbed?” I asked her.

“Half the class.” Aika said with a sigh. “The other half wanted to change seats with me.”

I chuckled at that and saw Kaori's slight blush and knew she was one of people that wanted to share. The squinted eyes on Yui's face beside her told me she was one of the people that reported it.

“It was nice while it lasted.” I commented and Aika sighed again. “I'm busy for lunch today. How about we meet up today after school?”

Aika lost the sad look. “Can you show me where you live?”

“Sure. If you can stay, I'll cook us up some supper and then I'll take you home.”

“It's a date.” Aika said and then told me about her weekend until the bell rang.

Before the teacher could shut the door, Issei slid through the opening on his face and everyone laughed. Miss Yamanaka stared down at him and barely hid her laugh under a cough. She waved him out of the way and finished closing the door. We all ignored Issei as he crawled over to his desk and up off the floor. He looked quite happy, too.

Rias must have flashed him. I thought.

Issei glanced at me and wagged his eyebrows, which was confirmation enough for my thoughts.

Class proceeded with everyone there and seemed to pass by quickly. The teacher was in her element as she shared her knowledge of her favorite subjects with her students, and it showed. Even the three boys known as The Perverted Trio were paying her rapt attention and it wasn't because she was pretty. This time, anyway.

When lunchtime arrived, I packed up my school things and Issei matched me, then we left the room together. Surprisingly, no one commented on it.

“We're following your orders about cutting back and apologizing.” Issei whispered as we walked down the hallway towards the stairs.

I nodded in acknowledgement and we went down the stairs and out the side entrance. It didn't take us long to reach the old school building where the Occult Research Club was and we entered and went up the stairs. Issei opened the door to their main room and walked in like he owned the place.

“You didn't have to come right here as soon as the bell rang, Issei.” Rias said and then snapped her mouth closed when she saw me enter. Her eyes didn't narrow and I suspected that was because she was used to dealing with unpleasant things a lot. “Hello, John.”

“Rias.” I said and stepped aside when I felt Koneko approaching the door from the hallway. She looked at me as she walked by me and entered the room and sat down on the couch. Akeno entered right behind her and she gave me a very pointed look, seemed to shrug, and went over to sit beside Rias.

No one spoke until Yuuto Kiba showed up a minute later, proving Rias lied and that Issei was right to come here right away. It was much better to be early than being late and the look on Yuuto's face showed that he believed it, too. He was not happy to be the last one to show up.

Rias broke the silence after another minute. “To what do I owe the pleasure of you being here?”

“It hurts my heart that you're so formal after everything we've been through.” I joked and only Issei chuckled. “Is it because I took Sona on a date before I took Akeno out?”

Rias had a sour look show for a moment before she blanked her face. “I doubt my Queen wants to associate with someone that's being groomed by another King for their Peerage.”

I did not like the implication of that, so I looked right at Akeno. “Does Rias speak for you? Has she ordered you to not flirt with me anymore or return my advances, just because I'm dating her childhood friend?”

Akeno blushed and opened her mouth to respond, closed it, and turned her head to look at Rias.

“Would you mind if I asked you why you're upset?” I asked Rias instead of waiting for Akeno to answer, because she clearly doesn't want to upset her and doesn't know what to say.

Rias looked like she was going to refuse, then she let out a frustrated sound. “She broke our agreement! I was to have first option on anyone interesting that showed up and could add them to my Peerage!”

I was a bit stunned by that explanation, especially since it doesn't take into account how any of those interesting people felt or thought.

“Is that why you let me be attacked by a Fallen Angel?” Issei asked. “I died because you wanted to bring me back as a Devil?”

Rias looked embarrassed, Akeno gasped, Koneko looked surprised, and Yuuto looked emotionless.

“That's not... I know it looks like it; but, that's not what happened. I just... I was watching you and...” Rias stammered and then sighed. “By the time I detected the protective barrier, found the proper coordinates of the summoning paper my familiar had planted on you, and teleported in, you were already bleeding out on the ground.”

I figured this was the best time to step in and stop the argument before it started. “You didn't realize you could have avoided all the murder and bloodshed by just offering to show Issei your breasts?” I asked her and Issei's head nodded several times. “He would sell his soul to you and voluntarily joined you for a bit of promised skinship.”

“I really would.” Issei said, his head still nodding up and down. “Your boobs are heavenly!”

Rias let out a sad sound and dropped her head into her hands. “All the time... the planning... the waiting to be sure...”

“All wasted because a bare nipple would have given you the keys to his loyalty months ago.” I said and she made another sad sound. I did not tell her that the original Issei would have, too. He was a simple boy with simple needs that were very easily met.

Akeno rubbed Rias' back to comfort her. “It's all right, Rias. You have him now and he activated his Sacred Gear, thanks to you.”

I gave Issei a look and he nodded and gave me a thumbs up, which meant Rias showing off her breasts gave him the power to do that. Ha. Boob power. His sacred gear runs on boob power.

“I only hope that it's enough.” Rias said and leaned into her friend.

“Enough for what?” I couldn't help asking, the idiot that I am.

The next half hour was spent listening to Rias and her sob story about an arranged marriage to an asshole that she hated. It was a political marriage and she refused to be a trophy wife and let him rape her and use her peerage members as sex slaves to pass around to his friends.

“What's his name?” Issei asked as he leapt to his feet. “Tell me so I can deal with him! I won't let him take your breasts away from me!”

A bit overly dramatic; but, a good sentiment. I thought.

“His name is Riser. Riser Phenex.” Rias said, sadly.

Oh. Oh, damn. I thought and successfully kept the surprise off of my face. The horrible person that Rias just described was not the one I had met and talked to for hours on the train, nor was it the quirky and idiot brother that Ravel talked about and was a Bishop piece for.

“Lunch is almost over.” Koneko said, her voice sad.

Thank you for the distraction. I thought and pulled off my backpack and handed her a large Bento Box. She tore into it like it was the last food on the planet and ate it at a ridiculous pace. She didn't choke on it, though.

With her example, I handed food out to the others and left before anyone mentioned me staying there to eat with them. I had a particularly difficult call to make and a lot of questions to ask. A lot of hard to answer questions. Questions Ravel probably wouldn't answer without it being face to face. Dammit.

I managed to avoid everyone and ducked into a bathroom and placed the call. Unfortunately for me, it was a short call, because Ravel told me she was coming to the Occult Research Club tomorrow after school with her brother for a meeting and could talk to me face-to-face afterwards, since my need was so urgent.

Fuck, fuck, and double fuck.

That was going to be just a little bit too late to do any good, for anyone, so I skipped the rest of the school day and went home. I needed to save the metaphorical train before it was wrecked after falling from the bridge that Rias was about to blow up with Issei's help. I had a lot of work to do and I just hoped it would be enough to save all of the people involved, myself included.

I still had a normal date with Aika to go to as well. I was not going to make the mistake of ignoring her, even if it would gain me a few extra years to work on the disaster that the meeting tomorrow was going to be. Aika was more important than that. I could also bring her in for a bit as well, assuming she was open to not going home for a year or two.

It made me chuckle at the thought of what her face would look like if I asked her if she wanted to stay over and have a date for a year. In fact, it made me make the decision to ask her. I wanted to see how she would react, since I had already told her about the supernatural world. If she was open for such a simple thing as manipulating time, she might be open for a bit more than that.

I made it home and raced Eye down to the basement and we went to Panacea, whom was floating in her olympic-sized pool. Yes, I spoil her and she loves it. She also loves the interesting biology problems I bring to her every few years and this one was a doozy. Changing created beings with the modified Miracle serum with the magic add-on.

We spent three years working on it, using one example of each person I could create, and the results were mixed. Some worked well, some did horrible things to the test subjects, and others were almost super-charged by it. We eventually figured out it wasn't the magical component and was one of the fundamental laws of the universe we were in. Certain things were not allowed and that was that.

When it was time, I left Panacea working in the basement and apparated to a hidden alcove at the school. I easily found the classroom Aika was in and gave the teacher a copy of Sona's note with the date changed for today. Aika dropped some things at her locker and she asked me to take her home to change.

I brought her to the same alcove I had just used, smiled knowingly at her as I plucked the location from her head, and apparated us to her room at her home. Aika caught her breath and looked around her room and looked back at me.

“Yes, it's teleportation.” I said and she beamed a smile so wide that I thought her teeth were going to fall out. When I told her that, she laughed and laughed as she kept slapping my arms and chest. It had struck her funny bone and she didn't stop for several minutes.

Aika calmed down and pulled me in for a kiss, then she stripped off and went to the bathroom to shower. I was not an idiot, so I stripped off as well and followed her. She giggled when she saw me and welcomed me into the shower stall for some clean fun.

Half an hour later, we were dressed and I asked her if she wanted to spend a year or two with me in an expanded dimensional space that would only be an hour or two in real time. She seemed to stop breathing and gave a little squeak sound, then fainted.

I woke her up and she didn't bother asking if I was kidding. She packed her things for an extended stay and didn't wonder if she would age or not. She would, except I would pop her into the sarcophagus and revert her back a few years when our date was over, assuming she wanted me to. It would depend on her, actually. When I mentioned it, she said she didn't care.

So, we apparated to my living room and went down into the basement. Panacea barely noticed that I brought someone else in with me and waved at Aika before she poked me hard in the chest and ordered me to get to work.

Aika laughed and asked to use the pool. Lake joined her and they had fun for a while as Panacea and I finished up the latest experiment. The results this time were exactly what we wanted and the heavily modified programming of the copied Evil Pieces no longer had Sona's magical signature and still worked.

We still had the problem with not being able to fix the rampant mutation without experimenting on the Phenex Tears first, so that was still a problem if the Reincarnated Devil ever tried to break the inherent programming of obedience and consumed flesh to maintain their strength.

Ravel still hadn't delivered them, which was what I assumed she would bring tomorrow in real time. Why make several trips here when she could handle everything in one visit? The three things being there for her brother, delivering the vials, and filling my request for a serious talk.

The problem was that all three things were completely dependent on each other and would ruin everything if done at the same time and not in a certain order, namely reversed. The talk first, then the vials, then dealing with Riser's visit. The disaster was coming and I had a mostly complete way to deal with it. I just hoped that I could convince Riser to go along with it.

I put that aside for now and picked Panacea up, changed her work clothes into a skimpy bathing suit, then ran over to the pool area. “CANNONBAAAALL!” I yelled and jumped into the deep end with a screaming and flailing Panacea in my arms.

The multiple bruises on my face and arms from her retaliation was totally worth making Lake and Aika laugh.

*

Rias had her Peerage arrayed around her in a defensive formation in the clubroom, because she knew the meeting with her fiance was going to be a nasty one. She hated the man's guts and she also knew he was going to push, and push, and take liberties that she was not allowed to refuse, specifically because the marriage contract allowed free touching and flirting. It disgusted her.

The set teleportation circle lit up and Grayfia appeared first, making Rias even more defensive, because she knew her brother's wife had the opinion that Rias should do whatever it took to advance the family, even if it was personally abhorrent to her. It was her duty and she should accept it and stop fighting the inevitable.

Rias let her face go completely blank when Riser appeared and she tried to not show open distaste towards him, then the main objects of her ire formed around him and his core Peerage appeared. Before she could bark at him for bringing them along during what was supposed to be a private meeting, the door to the clubroom slammed open and startled everyone except Grayfia.

“Riser! Old buddy! It's so nice to see you after so long!” John Hansen said as he walked into the room like he owned the place and wore the same style of expensive suit that Riser did. “I see you brought one of my favorite people, too.”

Riser looked slightly confused for a moment, then he laughed. “John! I wondered where you snuck off to.” He said and hugged the young man. “Why the hell did you do come here to live?”

John laughed. “I have to have a high school diploma to show the Satans! I'll be tossed out of this territory if I slack off.”

Riser laughed, too. “I hear that. My father is just as bad about me giving him proof I'm actually doing something.”

“It's a right pain in the ass, is what it is.” John said and let him go as he focused on Ravel and took her hand and kissed it. “My dear lady, it's very nice to see you so soon after our last visit.”

Ravel blushed. “It's nice to see you so soon, too.”

John let her hand go. “If you will excuse me, I should greet Riser's Peerage as well. I can't be seen as uncouth in current company.”

Ravel lost the blush and gained a knowing look. “Thank you for acknowledging me first as a family member, so I'll allow it. This time.”

John chuckled and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Your rebuke is accepted, future Lady Phenex.” He said and went to Yubelluna first. “Riser's Queen. I hope you haven't been letting the scoundrel get away with too many things.”

Yubelluna giggled and let her hand be kissed. “Why would I stop my King from having fun?”

“Why indeed?” John asked and went to the Bishop, greeted her and kissed her hand, then went each other member to kiss their hand and stepped back. He gave Grayfia a searching look before looking at Riser. “I am unfamiliar if I should greet or even mention the great Ice Queen of the Underworld. In what capacity is she here to oversee your visit?”

Riser and Ravel looked very pleased to be deferred to in that way.

“Miss Lucifuge was kind enough to ferry us here and to ensure that nothing untoward happens.” Riser said. “On either my behalf or my fiancee's.”

“Ah, then I was right to wait and ask.” John said and approached the tall woman dressed as a maid as he bowed to her. He did not try to take her hand to kiss it. “Miss Grayfia Lucifuge, it is an honor to meet someone of your stature and reputation.”

Grayfia gave him a nod of her head, clearly impressed with the man's composure. Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Yuuto, and Issei were kind of in shock at his performance. He had kind of destroyed their atmosphere of animosity.

“I normally wouldn't have shown up like this, except I messaged Ravel yesterday and she said she was coming here, so I dropped everything, changed all of my plans, and had to show up here.” John said and again impressed Riser, Ravel, and Grayfia, while stumping Rias and her Peerage.

“We can handle other business after the meeting.” Ravel said and patted her bag.

“Of course, of course. Please, have a seat.” John said and the couch grew to twice the length and became wide enough for Riser and his Peerage to sit without crowding. “I brought snacks, too!”

Koneko's unexpected purr startled a few people and they gave her surprised looks.

“I think someone appreciates my cooking.” John said and set out a dozen different dishes of Devil Food delicacies.

When he put out the desserts, Koneko leapt and stole half of them before she retreated to a corner of the room to munch on them.

“I'm sure I'll find out later who it was.” John joked and most of the girls laughed.

Surprisingly, that set the atmosphere of the meeting and it became much more jovial than anyone had expected, especially Rias. Conversation was as easily shared as the food, which was delicious, no one was angry or caused trouble, and Riser didn't abuse her hospitality by taking advantage of her or groping her.

When the official meeting was over, Grayfia stepped away from the wall where she had stood the whole time. “It has come to the attention of both families that Heiress Gremory has an objection to the pairing of herself to the third son of the Phenex Family.”

Rias made a very loud scoffing sound and Akeno put a hand on her arm to stop her from ranting. To everyone's surprise, it worked.

“I'm not too sure Riser is as open to the pairing as most people believe, either.” John interjected before either Riser or Ravel could speak.

“How would you know that?” Rias asked, angrily.

“I'm not an idiot and neither is Riser.” John said and Riser looked very pleased by that. “I know I would be reluctant to spend any time with someone that was so openly hostile towards me for something most Devils do.”

Only Rias and her peerage gave me confused looks.

“Having an actual harem where both the man and the women he brings into his bed are in happy and loving relationships.” John clarified.

“I want that!” Issei exclaimed.

No one said that wasn't helping, even if it was.

“How long have you been pestered about this contract?” John asked.

“For far too long.” Both Riser and Rias said at the same time.

“Unlike my fiance, I adhere to familial obligations and won't back out of a contract that was signed in good faith by my father.” Riser said.

Rias almost leapt to her feet and only stopped because Akeno grabbed onto her arm and stopped her. “How dare you accuse...”

“He didn't accuse you of anything, Miss Gremory. He merely stated the truth.” John interrupted and received a supportive nod from Grayfia, which was a huge endorsement, considering the circumstances. “You have never had any intention of willingly entering into a marriage with the Tertiary Heir of the Phenex Family.”

Rias glared at John and couldn't refute it or defend herself, since what he said was completely true.

“Since this situation is dire on both your parts, would you be open to a suggestion to save face and keep the public's respect for both of your families?” John asked and saw Grayfia give him another supporting nod.

The whole room fell silent as Rias looked surly and Riser looked conflicted, then they both nodded.

“I propose you participate in a Ratings Game Special Exhibition Match against each other.” John said into the silence.

Not surprisingly, objections came from both sides. Riser because he could easily beat Rias and her piddly little Peerage and Rias because of the same thing. She wouldn't have a chance against his full sixteen member Peerage while she only had five members, including her.

John held up a hand and both sides quieted. “I know it's completely one-sided, which is why I proposed a special match. I will let Rias borrow enough members from my own Peerage to put up a good fight.”

Complete silence filled the room for several seconds as they all stared at John.

“YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PEERAGE?” They all yelled as one, their voices filled with disbelief.

John laughed and that seemed to diffuse the whole situation. “I obviously don't have a Queen yet.” He said and pointedly looked at Ravel, whom blushed at the compliment. “But, I do have a Bishop, a Knight, a Rook, and a host of Pawns.”

“Prove it!” Rias exclaimed. “I won't bet my future or my virtue on just your word!”

John nodded and waved a hand behind him where the teleportation circle was. It lit up and everyone in the room gasped when an 8 foot tall Arachne, a half giant spider and the upper part of a woman, formed. A muscular woman wearing head to toe leather armor appeared and she carried a katana. Next was a tall man wearing robes and he had a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Lastly, a group of half-lizard women formed and their scales and hair were various colors. They all looked deadly with armored claws for hands and legs and their teeth looked like they could bite through anything.

“Let me introduce you.” John said and walked over to the Arachne. “This lovely and deadly specimen is Rachnara, my Rook. She is a masochist and loves tying people up in her steel strong webs and punishing them.”

Both Akeno and Yubelluna couldn't stop their slight moans. The Arachne's large chest heaved as she silently laughed and rubbed her razor sharp hands together. She was happy to have some new pets to try out her knot-tying skills on.

“The fully armored woman beside her is Ravager, my Knight. She is so skilled with a sword that she can gut you before you can blink.” John said and it was Yuuto that made an odd sound this time. “Beside them is my Bishop and magic user, The-Man-Who-Conquered.” John said and pat the shoulder of the man. “Only those that earn his respect, and his wife, can call him by his name.”

“Then what do we call him?” Someone asked.

“Bishop is fine. It's why I'm here, after all.” Bishop said and a few of the girls nodded.

John gave his shoulder a squeeze and a warm smile, then he went to the group of lizard-women. “Last, but not least, are these beautiful deadly creatures. They are as cold-blooded as their lizard natures and will tear you apart if they get their reinforced claws into you.”

Rias was almost drooling as she looked at them. “What... what are their names?”

“For this, they are simply color-coded. Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange, Purple, White, and Black.” John said and pet each of them on the head. They all growled at him and gave him very pointed looks that were full of sex and murder. Again, it was Akeno and Yubelluna that made soft moan sounds.

“I would offer to trade my two catgirls for the spider woman if I didn't know you would laugh and refuse on pure principle.” Riser said with a crooked smile.

“Ha! You're right, my friend. We both know when we have something more valuable to us than the next fancy thing that comes along.” John said and Riser nodded. “Cherish what you have, not what you want, and you will always be happy.”

Riser glanced at his sister and grinned when he looked back to John. “If only you had a cute Bishop, I might have considered an equal trade.”

“RISER!” Ravel yelled and then blushed, mostly because she wouldn't have minded.

Both Riser and John laughed at successfully teasing her.

“I believe we have an accord.” Grayfia said and nodded to Riser and then nodded to Rias. “A week from now, a Special Exhibition Ratings Game will be held to determine who marries whom.”

“It's going to be spectacular.” John said and his Peerage members nodded.

“If you let Ravel take a picture or two, the viewership should skyrocket.” Riser said, which was a very smart move on his part. It was also a huge revelation for Rias to swallow, because he really was smart. Was he was still a jerk to her? Yes, he was. But, she started it and he only showed her what she wanted to see anyway. Why would be bother treating her nicely if she never did the same for him?

Rachnara preened as Ravel used her cellphone and took glamour shots of her and the lizard-women. Bishop allowed one picture, as did Ravager. Both would let their skills show what they could do. After that, Riser and most of his Peerage left after a small gift from Rachnara. Grayfia gave John an odd look, then she nodded to Rias and disappeared as well.

Ravel walked over to John and boldly took his hand, blushed, and stood proud. John gave her a kiss on the cheek before gathering his Peerage and disappearing back to his home. Rias and her Peerage fell quiet as they sat there and stared at the floor where the teleportation circle was.

“Did all of that just happen?” Issei asked into the silence.

Only Akeno made a noise as she softly moaned and hugged the bundle of sticky knotted 'rope' that Rachnara had given her. Her mind was alight with the possibilities, because there were so many things she could do with such a treasure.

*

I let out a huge and very loud sigh of relief after apparating from the meeting to arrive home. Ravel gave me a startled look and I couldn't help but laugh. My Peerage spread out and some went to the kitchen to eat, some went to their rooms, and a few went into the basement to workout.

“That was very close to a disaster after the official meeting when Grayfia brought up the marriage.” I said and Ravel nodded. “I'm glad Riser went with my suggestion.”

Ravel motioned to the couch and I sat her down and then sat beside her. “You know he's going to show off, now that he has a valid opponent to fight against.”

“I hope so, since I was going to suggest he do exactly that.” I said and she looked curious. “It lets him showcase the skills and abilities of the girls he's recruited and also lets him graciously toss the match near the end to show that he doesn't want Rias to corrupt his perfect harem.”

Ravel looked incredulous for a moment, then she looked thoughtful.

“I need to rely on you to give him that advice. Tell him to pull nearly all the stops as he shows how dangerous he and his Peerage can be and then he can bow out graciously when the rest of his Peerage is removed.”

Ravel put a hand on my arm again and rubbed it. “You're not telling Rias about that, are you?”

“No, she can't fake an emotion if her life depended on it. She will be genuinely fighting for her freedom and only Riser will know that he has complete control of the situation.”

Ravel looked pleased to hear that. “You're betting on him being magnanimous.”

I shook my head. “You heard him after I said what I said. He's not looking forward to spending the next ten thousand years married to someone that hates his guts, any more than you are happy to stand aside and let his life be ruined by Rias.”

Ravel frowned. “That bitch has been calling my brother down for years, just because she thinks she's too good for him. His public reputation is laughable because of her and only his friends and family know what he's really like and don't believe all the lies she and her Peerage have spread about him.”

“I was afraid it was a smear campaign she had started to try and gain support for her position, which was why I gave Riser the benefit of the doubt.” I said and smiled at her. “You might have played a small part in it as well.”

“Oh, really?” Ravel asked and slid a little closer to let her hand rub my chest. “Was the nice strong man trying to curry favor with the Phenex Family's only daughter?”

“Maybe.” I hedged and she slid closer.

“You know my family won't approve of a marriage that wasn't political in some way.” Ravel whispered and reached up to put a hand on the back of my neck.

“Is this where I say I'm not dating your family? Or should I say you're not the first girl I've convinced to ignore her normal priorities and drop her panties anyway?” I asked with a smirk.

Ravel giggled. “So crude and proper at the same time.”

“I aim to please.” I said and leaned down to kiss her like she wanted.

Ravel hummed and deepened the kiss as her thoughts flittered between seducing the bad boy or letting him seduce her. Which would let her get away with having some fun without her familial obligations getting in the way?

I broke the kiss and helped ease her thoughts. “I've successfully restored a woman's hymen before.”

Ravel let out a very unladylike growl and shoved me back onto the couch. She wanted to take control and I was going to let her. It would be up to her how far things went and she liked having that kind of power for the first time in her life.

Things turned into more of an anatomy lesson and what could be done to have fun without actual intercourse. A lot of things she asked about were because of what she had seen her brother doing with his Peerage members and she was curious, because no one would explain things to her. She did not want to remain ignorant and I was more than happy to help her.

It was a lot like when Sona and I had explored each other, since she was a very curious girl as well. I doubted I could get Ravel to relax after a date like Sona, though. I couldn't be lucky twice in a row to stumble across her personality quirk at the perfect time and place to allow her to let go completely, even if she was as strongly sexual of a being as any other Devil.

Two hours later, we lounged in my bed and we were both covered in fluids that were not our own. We still didn't have intercourse, even if we came close a few times. Who could have guessed that she had a teasing penetration fantasy as she masturbated about her brother's antics? Riser had definitely shaped his sister's expectations in a lot of ways.

Ravel had a very pleased expression on her face and cuddled my arm to her considerably large chest for her height. “You are surprisingly accommodating, John.”

“Wait a second. I wasn't supposed to let you do whatever the hell you wanted? You should have told me!” I exclaimed with fake shock and she fought to not laugh out loud. “Seriously, though. I had a great time and I spent time fooling around with a delightful girl. We didn't take things too far and your virtue is still intact, despite how many times it was threatened.”

Ravel blushed and looked down at my still erect member and back at my face. “It felt incredibly good to rub myself on you like that. When you flipped me over and rubbed me the other way... well...”

“Yeah, we both came pretty hard after that, didn't we?” I asked and she nodded. “We can do that anytime you want.”

Ravel beamed a smile at me and pulled me in to kiss me. “It might be a while before we can have another date.”

“I know it's going to be at least a week or two. The buildup to the big match and then the recovery and press afterwards.” I said and she nodded. “Make sure to capitalize on it yourself, all right? You're a Phenex and not just a strategist. It's not just Riser that should give everyone a good show.”

Ravel nodded and cuddled my arm again. We stayed there for another half an hour before she had to leave. After separate showers, because the temptation to do more was too great, we went back to the living room and she handed over the case of Phenex Tears.

I slowly touched each of the ten vials and the images I gained in my head showed the percentage of dissolution and the strength of each. I intentionally left the highest tier potion for last and held my breath as my fingers slid over the tiny vial. I let out the sigh I had been holding in when the strength of 100% and dissolution of 0% appeared in my head on the image.

“I'm glad you realize how valuable that is.” Ravel said and her hand rested on mine that still touched the vial. “We won't have another one ready for nearly a month and that's with most of the family working on it and contributing their magical energy.”

I nodded and closed the case. “Thank you, Ravel. This is going to help me immensely.”

Ravel looked up into my eyes and her gaze hardened. “Please do not sell them or give them away, especially to you know who. She doesn't value them like she should, because she thinks we can produce them constantly and are hoarding them to drive the price up.”

I let her see on my face that I wasn't going to pass them out like candy. I had very specific research to conduct with them and wouldn't waste them by essentially throwing them away if I gave them to Rias.

“As proof I won't do that and to thank you...” I paused and pulled another briefcase out from behind the couch to hand to her. “...a small monetary donation for your efforts on my behalf.”

Ravel's slightly shaking hand took the handle of the suitcase. “J-John, you... why...”

“I know it couldn't have been easy to get these so quickly or to convince your family that you weren't doing exactly what you just warned me not to do. Wasting them.” I said and she blushed as she nodded. “Plus, I hope it gives you the same feeling of independence I have. Having your own money and not having to rely on others is really quite freeing.”

“It really is.” Ravel whispered and hugged the briefcase. “When you said I could keep the remainder last time, I... well... I went shopping. It was... buying my own things with my own money and not being gifted things by my parents or siblings because they have money and are indulging me...”

I reached over and cupped the side of her face. “That's it exactly. Just don't let it get to your head. Be smart about it and don't waste it.” I said and flicked my other hand. “Who needs a solid gold choker chain for their neck, anyway?”

Ravel gasped as she saw the thick chain and then her eyes widened at the feeling she gained from the pendant. “Wh-what... what is that?”

“This, my dear, is a magically charged force field. It will activate when you're in danger and will save your life.” I said and placed it around her neck. “Look at that. It's a perfect fit.”

Ravel blushed as my fingers caressed her collarbone. “Thank you, John. It's a lovely gift.”

“You're welcome.” I said and leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the lips. “I sincerely hope you never have to use it.”

Ravel nodded and stepped towards the middle of the living room, cast the teleport spell, and disappeared in a flash of light.

“You're playing a very dangerous game.” Ravager said as she slid out of the shadows.

“I know. It's kind of the main rule here. If you're not playing...” I prompted.

“...you're losing.” Ravager finished.

“Neither of us are strangers to mortal peril, are we?” I asked as I walked over to her.

She lifted her mask to reveal how much she looked like Isabel Rochev. Before I could ask her if we should get to training, she grabbed my hair and pulled me in for a rough kiss. I let out a soft sigh at being reminded how forceful she could be, especially with the modified Miracle serum enhancing her even more.

“Come with me.” Ravager ordered and dragged me to her bedroom and tore my clothes off. Apparently, she had much different training in mind and I didn't mind at all.

*

The week passed before anyone knew it and Rias looked nervous when we all gathered at the Occult Research Club on top of the teleportation marker. I had Eye monitor her training and it was slightly impressive that they worked so hard on their techniques and improving themselves.

I had been sorely tempted to help them train and offer advice, except I didn't know how they fought and would only hinder their progress. I didn't have much experience with how Devils fought and knew nothing about their specialties and fancy moves.

Rias had her family's special magic known as Destruction and it could erase things from reality. I didn't want to be anywhere near that, especially since I had the feeling she could end my eons of existence if she aimed for my head instead of anywhere else on my body. After all this time, I no longer wanted to die. There were too many worlds and universes to visit and experience before I called it quits.

The teleportation circle lit up at the appointed time and we disappeared from there and appeared inside a dimensionally expanded space. My magic sensed it immediately after all the things I had been through, since I had finally attuned it to dimensional travel and gained some measure of control of my power.

“We will commence the ceremonial trading of Evil Pieces.” Grayfia's voice said and we all turned to face her. She was still dressed as a maid, which really threw me off. Why didn't she wear something more appropriate while refereeing a Ratings Game?

Rias stepped forward and entered a small ritual circle and nodded to me. I stepped forward and held out a magical contract that glowed.

“What is that?” Grayfia and several people asked at the same time.

“It is a magically binding contract that enforces Rias Gremory, Heiress of the Gremory Family, One of the 72 Pillars of Devil Society, to trade my people back and not their Piece value after the Special Exhibition Ratings Game.” I said and nearly everyone gasped.

“Don't you trust me?” Rias asked and looked both sad and angry.

“I barely know you. Why would I blindly trust you?” I asked.

“Because I've always kept my word!” Rias almost shouted.

I pointedly looked right at Grayfia and raised my eyebrows as my eyes motioned to where Riser and his Peerage stood.

Grayfia got it immediately. She knew if my pieces performed well, Rias could throw a fit and have her brother, one of the Four Satans that ruled the Underworld, step in and allow her to keep them and compensate me appropriately.

“Heiress Gremory, please read and sign the document.” Grayfia said, to the redheaded girl's surprise.

“Grayfia, it's not necessary. I'll trade back...” Rias said and started to make excuses for several minutes.

Grayfia raised a hand to stop her. “If you have no objection to trading back as soon as the game is over, then signing a document to ensure it, isn't a hardship.”

“I would trade them back after the game!” Rias protested again.

“Set a specific time, then!” I protested right back and she closed her mouth. “After the game could be at any time in the future! You could abuse that and keep my people for years and then trade them back, because it was still after the Exhibition Game!”

Rias blushed at being caught out on her trick before she could pull it off.

“Sign the contract.” Grayfia ordered.

Rias hummed and hawed at being forced to do something she didn't want to do, which seemed to be a theme for her, and she spent ten minutes reading the very simple contract. When she couldn't delay anymore, especially under Grayfia's increasing glare and ire, she signed it and handed it back to me.

“Is this where I tell you that you should have checked for invisible ink?” I asked as I stored the contract.

More gasps came from the people around us.

“What about reading the small print on the back?” Issei asked before I could.

Their reactions were hilarious and I laughed until Grayfia's glare focused on me.

“My apologies, Ice Queen.” I said and bowed my head. “I would never do anything underhanded in front of you.”

Grayfia gave me a very brief smile before her face went blank. She performed the very short spell and Rias handed me four Pawn pieces, a Rook piece, a Knight piece, and a Bishop piece. Red, Green, Black, and White, four of the lizard-women, stepped around the small circle with the Arachne, Ravager, and Bishop to stand with the rest of Rias' Peerage.

“Your breasts are two sizes bigger than Akeno's!” Issei said as he stared up at Rachnara's considerable chest. Then, to everyone's shock except mine, Rachnara skittered around behind him and settled the heavy weight of her breasts on top of Issei's head and hugged his chest with several legs. His moan of pleasure was very loud in the quiet gathering area and a few of the girls blushed.

Of course, both Rias and Akeno looked offended and jealous. How dare someone have a bigger chest than them and tease Issei with it? Rachnara's giggle let everyone know that was why she did it.

“Teams, to your designated spots. You will transfer to the holding areas of your castles and will have twenty minutes to prepare your attack strategies.” Grayfia said and Riser and Rias nodded at her, at each other, and brought their Peerages to the sides of the room. “Good luck and good fighting.”

The room pretty much emptied of everyone except for myself and Grayfia.

“You are playing a very dangerous game.” Grayfia said, echoing what Ravager said to me, so I couldn't help responding in the same way.

“I know. It's kind of the main rule here. If you're not playing...” I prompted and hoped she answered.

“...you're losing.” Grayfia finished with a small smile.

“Neither of us are strangers to mortal peril, are we?” I asked as I walked over to her. “Just so you know, the last woman to say those things to me, took complete control of the situation, tore my clothes off, and ravished me.”

Grayfia's pupils dilated slightly and her mind imagined it actually happening. It was only a small surprise that she was imagining it was me and not anyone else, like her husband. She slowly blinked exactly once as she took a huge breath into her lungs and let it out, which heaved her chest out for me to admire.

I wanted to test the waters after a reaction like that. “I can get any woman pregnant upon command.”

Grayfia gasped and her hand went to her chest over her heart, her eyes went wide, and she stared at me with a look of utter longing on her face. It lasted for about three seconds, then her cold persona reasserted itself and her face went back to showing indifference.

“Is temptation your main sin?” Grayfia as me in a chilly voice.

“No. It's falling for strong independent women too quickly for my own good.” I said and leaned in to kiss her cheek and she didn't stop me. I let my lips linger for a few seconds and then leaned back. “It's quite a shame that my own hard earned personal rules stop me from going after married women or breaking up happy couples.”

Grayfia looked into my eyes and I let her see exactly what she knew she would see. Someone that was crazy enough to make a pass at one of the strongest women in the Underworld and had the balls to actually go through with it. Her small smile made a brief appearance before it was gone and she motioned for me to follow her.

I walked behind her and she brought me to a small private viewing booth where I was alone and she left me to go and officiate the match. I wasn't surprised that I didn't rate high enough to sit with the big mucky-mucks of the ruling class of the Underworld to watch the game, not that I wanted to be around the Four Satans anyway. Playing with fire and courting death were two very different things.

Plus, I kind of expected someone to visit eventually, assuming she could get away from her sister. It would all depend on... the door to my small booth opened and Sona Sitri stood there with an angry look on her face. I had used her excuse note all week to skip school, the dates changed of course, and she apparently figured that out.

“You do realize I don't have your phone number, right?” I asked before she could start ranting.

Sona lost the angry look and sighed a long and exaggerated sigh. “For Lucifer's sake, John.”

I did not laugh at her exasperated expression and waved her into the booth. Sona stepped inside and shut the door behind herself. I cast several spells to lock it and secured it magically before I patted my lap and not the other chair that was beside me. It really was a small booth.

“I know you can change that to a couch.” Sona said and sat on my lap anyway.

“I can't cuddle you as well if I did that.” I said and she blushed a little as she cuddled in.

Sona gave me a pointed look before she leaned down and gave me a tender kiss. She broke that and kissed my cheek, then my ear, and started nibbling on my earlobe. When I grew hard for her, she softly moaned at getting me to react.

“Rias went to a retreat for the week and I thought you went with her.” Sona whispered into my ear.

I barked a laugh and could almost feel Sona's smile as she nuzzled my neck. “I was busy training my Peerage members for today's game. I had no idea what Rias did for her own members or if she ever trained them at all, so I made sure the people she borrowed were going to be enough to win on their own.”

Sona stopped giving me a hickey and lifted her head to look at my face. “She didn't try to get you to train with her?”

“I didn't stick around long enough to ask. Akeno has my number and she never called or messaged, so i figured they had their own things sorted out and I had to prepare on my own.”

Sona frowned and then sighed. “You could have come to me.”

I looked down at her lap and back to her face. “I thought you wanted a bit of time to sort things out without anyone pressuring you.”

“I did. I just... I thought...” Sona took a breath and let it out. “You really are letting me make my own choices.”

“I have no right to dictate anything to you. Yes, we slept together and had some fantastic sex.” I said and she blushed and looked proud. “That doesn't mean I magically own you or that you're locked into something you can't get out of. I've been there and done that and it's not something anyone should ever experience. I'll never do that to anyone or allow them to go through it.”

Sona's eyes widened. “Rias' engagement.”

“Riser's actually.” I corrected and told her that he was just as trapped, only he was resigned to accept his family's position as important and would do as he was told, because it would help his family. This rating game was as much for his own independence as it was for Rias, because it would free them both from their family obligations.

Sona nodded several times while I was talking. When I was done, she kissed me passionately and ordered me to expand the room and add a bed. I did what she wanted and then we had a very quick bout of enthusiastic sex until the 5 minute warning buzzer. We both frantically finished just in time and cuddled under the blanket to watch the start of the match through the enchanted one-way glass.

The funny thing was, as I laid there with a cute bespeckled woman holding me, I was beginning to not like the person I was pretending to be in this world. One aspect was being a player part, even if it was necessary under the circumstances in order to build a harem and fit in. The other aspect was because of the sheer depth and breadth of the problems that plagued this society.

It practically demanded for me to become a murder-hobo.

Yes, yes, I know. Sometimes that is a good thing. This time it would get me and everyone I cared about killed.

All of the Grigori under the Fallen Angel Azazel were traitors in order to become Grigori in the first place, since they all rebelled their original factions to join up, except nearly half of them were traitors to their own cause and were plotting to plunge the world back into eternal war.

The Old Satan Faction that had backed off after the last civil war in Devil Society, also wanted things to go back to the way they were before the Great War that changed everything and removed their political power. They also worked behind the scenes to set up scenarios to cause trouble for the New Satans.

The Angels in Heaven had also dropped the ball and let the Church and all of their affiliates become corrupted and abusive to their own people and everyone else, which meant more and more of their members were becoming excommunicated and going independent or joining the Grigori.

The Shinto religion was also suffering from infighting and their current goddess incarnation was a complete bitch that had been forced to become their token leader after Akeno's mother was murdered to stop her from becoming the de-facto ruler and would have stopped the clan leaders from doing what they wanted.

The Norse Pantheon of gods and goddesses were a complete mess and Odin himself was a lecher that did everything he could to ruin any goodwill the pantheon had with every other pantheon in the world, including Heaven and the Underworld. Even Hades himself from the Greek gods had arranged the murder of Odin's wife to cause as much strife as possible.

Then there were the magic users. Why they gave themselves such restrictions as having to memorize the Arithmancy for each and every spell to cast it, was mind-numbingly stupid. The math was only supposed to be the underlying construction and not necessary to be completely understood to cast it, which Bishop was going to show them during this Exhibition Match.

One of the bigger problems for everyone was the Youkai. They were a group sitting in the wings that were waiting for the opportunity to strike a weak opponent. The problem was, there were several Youkai clans and most of them were murderous for humanity and only their very strong leader, a nine-tailed fox Youkai named Yasaka, kept them in line. Unfortunately, none of the other clan leaders liked her and constantly undermined her and her authority.

Lastly, at least the last that I was informed of, was the Khaos Brigade, formed under the Infinite Dragon god Ophis, except she chose to use the visage of a young teen girl's body to cause trouble for everyone, and it was all because she wanted help getting rid of the other dragon god Big Red and kick him out of the Void gap between dimensions. However, her followers only paid her lip service and used her power for their own ends.

Funnily enough, each and every faction had that same problem. People under them bristled under their leader's rule and wanted things to change, for the worse apparently, because they didn't realize how good they had it without seeing how bad it could become if an all-out brawl actually broke out.

How the hell was I supposed to handle all of that without just murdering them all? I couldn't replace most of them, because they were too powerful to keep under control and would cause the very thing their leaders were trying to prevent in the first place. A second Great War that would plunge the world into utter chaos and destruction.

The ultimate losers if that happened? Mankind. Earth. The very planet they were all fighting over.

“Are you even watching this?” Sona asked me in a whisper.

“No.” I admitted and she turned her head away from the window to stare at me. “I was thinking about everything.”

Sona shook her head. “You'll drive yourself insane if you do that. Trust me. I know.”

I looked into her eyes and touched her mind, only to realize she really did know. Her own thoughts were about everything going on, with the added caveat that Azazel had disappeared and no one knew where he was.

Well, that one was on me. I had killed him and now his second in command was in charge, Shemhazei. Luckily, he was as devoted to peace as Azazel had been and kept a tighter rein on Kokabiel. It staved off an outright rebellion right away and they didn't attack, probably because he hadn't gathered the weapons he needed.

I sighed and leaned in to give her a kiss as a thank you, then nodded at the window. She smiled and leaned against me as she returned to watching the match. I couldn't help but go over what happened, what I did, and what was going on.

“Why haven't you dealt with the Fallen Angels squatting in the abandoned church?” I asked.

“We're not allowed to. I reported it to my sister and she said that as long as they don't do anything against us, we can't remove them.” Sona answered.

It was at this moment I chose to tell her the truth. “Did you know they are trying to murder devil summoners and have murdered sacred gear users?”

Sona let out a sad sigh. “By the time we go to where the temporary dimension barriers form that the Fallen Angels use to attack, they already fled.”

“And you clean up the scene and cover the crime up.” I said and she nodded.

It was one of the flaws in the surveillance net that Eye had around the town. The dimensional barriers don't register on electronics or causes interference, so none of the Fallen Angels out on hunts could be tracked down. Their dates usually ended with a dead body and a sacred gear going back into the Heaven System to be issued to another human.

It was surprisingly easy to find the energy signatures of the light-based weapons that the exorcists use. Both the swords and the guns were like beacons when they were used and Eye could use the drones to help and I could pop in to save the victims before they died.

Thankfully, the Fallen Angels stopped allowing the excommunicated exorcists to leave the safety of the abandoned church at night and on the weekends, which was when humans usually summoned devils for contracts, and the exorcists couldn't hunt them down by looking for the 'evil' energy that gave off.

“The young man I was thinking of recruiting was murdered last week.” Sona said, sadly.

“I'm sorry.” I said and hugged her close. “Do you have any idea what he had?”

“It was something with a draconic trace inside, the same as Issei. It barely registered and Saji had almost no magic, so there was no rush to pursue him. I didn't want to bring him into this conflict too soon, since it's difficult enough to convince people to join for all the benefits without scaring them with the potential drawbacks.” Sona sighed. “Sadly, he was... beheaded. Without an intact body...”

I nodded and fell silent. She couldn't reincarnate him if he was dismembered. I had no problem with people choosing to become Devils, though. Arranging things for them to possibly die and then changing them? That was a huge glaring problem. Rias had that happen several times already, as if she was a vulture and waited for the carrion, and it didn't paint her in a favorable light.

Then again, she did save them from death. It was the part where she didn't step in until then that irked me. What was that old saying? An ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure? That meant a little proactive action could save a lot of cleanup later, like with how I was dealing with the exorcists. I was gathering quite the horde of light weapons, too.

“Ooo, that had to hurt.” Sona whispered.

I pushed my troubling thoughts aside to watch as Rachnara caught a pair of Riser's Pawns in one of her knotted nets and swung them around and slammed them into... and through... a castle wall. They retired from the fight immediately and disappeared in a flash of teleportation.

That was the benefit of having a Ratings Game. No one was ever truly hurt and could voluntarily quit to avoid serious injuries. If they fell unconscious, they automatically retired.

“I meant to stick them to the wall and not that. Sorry, Rias!” Rachnara said and waved back at Rias in her castle. The redhead just looked amused and waved back.

Sona softly laughed at the exchange. “Your people are going easy on Riser's Peerage, aren't they?”

I chose to tell her the truth. “Rachnara could handle them all by herself.”

Sona's head snapped to the side to stare at me.

“So could Ravager.” I said and smiled. “Bishop could take both Riser and Rias at the same time.”

Sona blinked her eyes several times. “You're not kidding.”

“Not even a little bit.” I said and nodded at the enchanted window. “I told Ravager she had to move slow enough to remain seen and I told Bishop to not use the same teleport ability I have.”

Sona caught her breath. “Oh, sweet Lucifer! He could appear behind everyone and knock them out in moments!”

“Which is why he's showing off right now by conjuring a fire phoenix to fight Riser.” I said and Sona's head snapped back to face forward.

Riser's half-maniacal and very amused laughter echoed all over as he fought against his spiritual mirror and formed the same bird-shape with his own flames with him in the center. The battle was fierce and everyone could see how much fun Riser was having and giving everyone a spectacular show.

The cheers from the spectators only made things that much better for his performance. Riser revelled in finally letting go and going all out against someone that could take it, and everyone saw it. The competing flames lit up the entire arena and everyone else stopped fighting to watch him, which drove him to new heights.

“I can actually feel the heat through the dimensional barrier.” Sona said in an awed whisper.

Everyone was going to remember this fight for a very long time.

*

Half an hour. That's how long Riser fought the phoenix with everything he had. His energy started to peter out and the phoenix also flickered and wavered as Bishop staggered on his feet, which turned out to be perfect timing. Just as the phoenix disappeared and Bishop dropped to his knees, Riser dropped from the sky and his wings barely caught him just before he hit the ground.

Riser floated down the rest of the way and landed right in his sister's arms. Ravel kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly. The crowd cheered so loudly that if they had been there in person, it would have been deafening. The pleased smile on Riser's face would become his most popular picture on the Devil-net, which included a few accidental nudes he was also proud of.

After the spectacle of the main fight, the rest of his Peerage surrendered and ran over to their King. He hugged each and every one of them before he stood, with the help of his Queen, and turned to face Rias in her castle.

“Riser Phenex retires from the field.” Riser said, proudly.

The rest of his Peerage stood proudly as well and disappeared in a flash of teleportation. They had all done exceedingly well and had shown what they could really do. There was no shame in retiring when you did your best against a well-prepared opponent. On the other hand, they did resolve to train harder to become stronger and no one could fault them for such a noble goal.

*

Rias did her best to not preen too much under the accolades she received for having such a great battle. Her Queen Akeno had stood toe-to-toe with the Bomb Queen Yubelluna and held her off, lightning magic versus bomb magic, and there was no clear winner because they stopped to watch Riser fight. It was still quite the accomplishment and everyone was fully aware of that.

Koneko was just as expressionless as usual as she was praised for standing off with Riser's best close combat fighter, Xuelan. Unlike the other members of Rias' peerage, she knew she was playing a holding action, because she couldn't beat or overpower the other woman. Her Kung Fu skills were superior and let her counter everything Koneko had tried to win.

Issei had been in boob-gazing heaven, because the fight had caused several wardrobe malfunctions. Breasts had popped out at unexpected times and given him even more reason to fight, even from the women on his own side. He was also sure Rachnara had done hers intentionally to give him the confidence boost he needed to smack down the two chainsaw girls and Riser's other Rook.

Yuuto Kiba was also pleased with his performance. He had held off one of Riser's Knights and distracted a Bishop. He left the other Knight and Riser's sister to Ravager. Rachnara and the four lizard-women handled the remaining Pieces. All in all, it was a great battle.

Grayfia entered the meeting room and waved over Rias, whom looked reluctant and also petulant. She knew she couldn't keep her very successful Peerage as it was. If she had known how powerful her new Pieces were, she would have argued a lot more about signing the contract that forced her to trade them back.

Sona Sitri brought John Hansen into the room and several people greeted them. A lot of them wondered why she had been with him and not her own Peerage. The calculating look on Ravel's face let a few others know that something was going on there.

Grayfia waved John over to the small ritual circle and he produced the contract, which she accepted, and then he held out a nice wooden case that contained Evil Pieces. A sad Rias put her hand on the case and Grayfia performed the ritual to exchange pieces back. After the flash of light, Rias stared as those strong Peerage members walked around her and stood behind John. There was just one problem.

Issei Hyoudou was with them.

Rias opened the case and saw that all eight of her Pawn Pieces were there and she gasped. “You robbed me of my new Pawn!”

A lot of talking and muttering came from the crowd that had witnessed the exchange.

John held up his hands and motioned for quiet. “There are two things I need to say.” He said and everyone fell silent to listen. “First off, Rias didn't bother opening the case and checking to see which Pieces we were trading. It is not my fault she wasn't paying attention.”

A few in the audience nodded and one verbally agreed.

“Second, the contract states that she had to trade my people back and not my Pieces. I could have easily given her any number of pieces in exchange.” John said and that had a lot of the crowd talking.

“Issei isn't one of your people!” Rias interjected.

John smiled at her. “Actually, he is. The real Issei had his soul sucked out weeks ago and this Issei is a magical clone of him.”

Gasps came from all over and Rias looked shocked.

“That's right. The Issei you saved from dying wasn't the real one. I created him.” John said.

“He created us, too.” Rachnara said and pulled Issei into her body and rested her large breasts on top of his head, making the young man blush and put a goofy smile on his face.

“And converted us.” Bishop said and shocked everyone when five sets of pitch-black bat wings came out of his back.

“By Lucifer's Balls! I fought against a ten-wing and our magic matched to a standstill! HAHAHA!” Riser laughed and laughed, which seemed to shake everyone out of their shock. There was a lot of talking now, very loud talking, and Bishop pulled his wings back in. John nodded in thanks for boosting Riser's status so much.

“Now that you all know how good of a deal Rias had, I have something to ask.” John said.

Everyone fell silent again, because whatever it was, they wanted to hear it.

“Issei, do you want to stay as part of Rias' Peerage?” John asked him.

More gasps were heard, some of which were from Rias and her Peerage.

“You know, I think I do. They're nice and they treat me well. No one is mean to me, even though I used to be a huge pervert.” Issei said and then grinned. “Plus, Rias is beautiful and lets me stare at her as much as I want and Akeno likes teasing me by showing off her cleavage. I'm sure I'll get to touch someone's breasts soon!”

“Used to be a pervert? He still is.” Someone whispered into the silence and a small ripple of laughter came from the crowd.

“I think I'd like to try it, too.” Rachnara said and both Rias and Akeno caught their breath. “I can't let one of my toys get away from me, can I?”

Issei blushed and hugged the two spider legs holding him.

“Anyone else?” John asked and the others shook their heads. He turned to Rias and nodded at the case she held. “That's four Pawn Pieces for Issei and one Rook Piece for Rachnara.”

Rias took out the pieces and held them in her hand. “How did you convert Bishop with a single piece?”

“It was a mutation.” John said and more gasps came from the crowd. They were easily surprised, apparently.

Rias nodded and held out the Pieces. Grayfia performed the quick ritual of transference and John accepted the five Pieces and Rachnara picked Issei up and carried him over to behind Rias and stood with the others.

“It was nice doing business with you, Heiress Gremory.” John said and bowed slightly.

Rias bowed her head as well and stepped out of the ritual circle.

To everyone's surprise, Riser stepped forward and into the circle. “I have a Bishop to offer to you, John Hansen, with the permission of my parents.”

John quickly looked over to Ravel and saw her pleased smile. He turned back to Riser and thought about the problem. “I noticed your other Bishop named Mihae did well in the fight. How about an older magical clone of her as your second Bishop to replace Ravel?”

Riser's magic flared and he laughed. “I didn't expect you to offer anything in return, my friend! I was going to go out hunting...”

“I'll save you a lot of trouble if you can wait for a week.” John said and held a hand out to shake. “Mihae gets an older sister and you get a strong Bishop. Is it a deal?”

Riser nodded and shook the offered hand. “Shall we trade pieces until then?”

“Why not? We have the honorable Ice Queen herself to do the transfer right now.” John said and smiled at Grayfia. “With Lady Lucifuge's permission and indulgence, of course.”

Grayfia barely managed to not smile as she nodded acceptance. The transfer took only a few seconds and Riser went back to his Peerage and Ravel walked over to stand with John's.

“With the transfers completed, I call this Special Exhibition Match ended.” Grayfia announced,

Everyone clapped and they all left the meeting room to attend the reception party. Thankfully, it was only a slightly larger crowd of important people than in the meeting room and not piles and piles of fans. Drinks and food were liberally shared and conversation was lively. The topic? John Hansen's excellent Peerage members and Riser's impressive show of force.

At some point during the event, John and his entire Peerage left and no one noticed.

*

Ravel was absolutely amazed when I showed her my basement. The lab area barely registered in her thoughts as she rushed over to the training area and recovery area. She had never seen such extensive equipment before or seen an indoor hot springs or Olympic-sized pool and she examined everything.

My Peerage made themselves at home and cleaned up in the shower area and then went to the hot springs where the others were waiting. Lizard-women loved the external heat and were almost boneless as they relaxed and recovered after the fight and their fellows massaged them. Ravager went into the changing rooms and came out wearing a bathing suit and slipped into the hot water with a sigh.

The best part was they all had fun and looked good on camera doing it. Someone started passing around a waterproof tablet with the recorded fight on it and they all took turns watching it. They saw the things they couldn't while they were occupied and enjoyed it even more. Bishop went to his room to let the girls relax without him there and Gin greeted him loudly.

I chuckled and silenced the room, since they apparently forgot. Or maybe they didn't and wanted us to hear. The thought kept me chuckling as I recreated Riser's Bishop and she gave me a searching look.

“Mihal, Riser needs you to be older and to teach your younger self to better use her magic. I'll boost you with the modified Miracle serum after your treatment and teach you a few things after I copy over some of Bishop's skills to you, too.”

Mihal's searching look changed to a smug one and she nodded. I waved her into the maturation chamber and adjusted the settings to age her up quickly, rather than force her to live out the next 300 years of her life to grow up, since her teenage years were significantly lengthened with her Devil nature extending her lifetime to 10,000 years.

There were more drawbacks to being reincarnated as a Devil at a younger age than just a weakness to holy weapons and being more tired during the day.

“How are you keeping this place a secret?” Ravel asked me when Aika entered the basement.

“Trust.” I said and kissed Aika passionately. “Aika, this is Ravel, my new Bishop.”

Aika snorted. “Riser offloaded you so soon? Who's going to run his matches?”

Ravel looked conflicted about the praise for her and the insult to her brother.

“She means he has to do the work himself or find another brilliant tactician.” I clarified and Ravel blushed. “I suspect his new Bishop might step into the role next month when she comes out as an adult and can spend a few years talking to us and picking Ravel's brain.”

Aika nodded and stripped off, uncaring if Ravel and everyone else could see her, and she slipped into the hot springs with the lizard-women. “I really don't want to be de-aged every time I leave here.”

Ravel gave me a pointed look with a question on her face.

“Every hour of real time that passes, a year passes in here.” I told her. “I've returned Aika to a teenager four times so far.”

“You can manipulate the time component of dimensional space?!?” Ravel asked, shocked.

“On spaces I expand myself, yes.” I corrected and she stared at me. “Before you ask, yes, I can. I'll visit your home and do the same thing to your bedroom.”

Ravel gave me a beaming smile and went into the changing rooms. She came out wearing a towel and gave me another pointed look. I took the hint and snapped my fingers to exchange my expensive suit with a pair of shorts.

“That magic is so handy.” Aika said and all of the women nodded.

“It's a simple switching spell when you get the hang of it. I'll start a class for you all next month when Mihal is out of the oven.” I promised and they all let out happy sounds. I joined Ravel in the hot springs and she let the towel float away and snuggled into my side. She wore bikini bottoms and no top.

“I couldn't find one that fit.” Ravel whispered into my ear.

“I wasn't going to complain.” I said and put an arm around her and kissed her cheek.

We all sat there and relaxed for several minutes without saying anything.

I couldn't resist asking what I asked next. “How long did it take to convince your family?”

“I didn't have to. As soon as they saw Bishop using magic that strong, they wanted me to learn it, too.” Ravel admitted.

“That's going to take more than a few years.” I told her.

“I know.” Ravel said and looked up into my eyes. Even sitting down, she was shorter than I was. “Now that you've shown me this place, I'm sure my parents will be shocked with what I can do the next time I visit the house.”

I chuckled at that. “You're going to be a lot more powerful, too.”

“That's because we do great work.” Panacea said and materialized with Lake. They were holding hands and wore string bikinis.

“The Phenex Tears really brought our research to new heights.” I said and waved for them to join us. “Are you still working on the assimilation problem?”

Ravel gave me a poke on the chest with her finger.

“Some of the clones freak out after being treated and some go kablooie.” I said.

“Kablooie?” Ravel asked, confused.

“Fleshy unstable magic goes boom.” Panacea said and sighed as she settled beside Ravel. “It's nice to finally meet a real Devil.”

“Finally?” Ravel asked her.

Panacea held a hand out for her to shake. “Panacea is the name. Biokinesis is my power.”

Ravel shook the offered hand and Panacea sucked in a sharp breath.

“Don't let go.” I said to Ravel and looked into Panacea's eyes. “Any clues?”

Panacea let me into her mind and I saw what she saw and felt what her power felt. Ravel's flesh and blood was so robust that it was almost too much to sort through.

“We definitely cannot clone her. There's just too much for... and there's the Bishop piece.” Panacea said. “Huh. Look at that. It's actually restricting her power.”

I followed where her power was poking and saw that it was true. The Bishop Piece was kind of lodged into Ravel's biology and stopping her from utilizing her potential.

“This definitely gives us a lot to work with.” I said and Panacea nodded.

“What do you mean?” Ravel asked.

“Remember when I made a comment about not having a Queen and looked at you?” I asked and she nodded. “With a bit of work, Panacea and I should be able to either upgrade your piece to a better one or replace it entirely. With a Phenex Tear on hand, there's no danger of you being harmed by the change.”

Ravel stared at me like I had two heads.

“Hey, it's okay. You were already well on your way to earning your own Peerage. With some help from me and your new friends, we're going to accelerate that progress by a decade or so.”

Ravel blinked her eyes at me a few times and looked around the hot springs. She saw the others all nod and smile at her, so she smiled back and nodded, too. “Thank you. Thank you all.”

“We'll train you up, girl.” Red said and raised a fist for Yellow to slam with her own. The clack of scales was loud in the quiet area. “Then you can kick ass with the best of them.”

“They won't know what hit them, not with us backing you up.” Green said.

“You?” Ravel asked, a little surprised.

“Yeah, us. You don't think John's interested in Ratings Games, are you? He made us to fight and he brought us a Queen to rule us. Of course we're going to help you.” Blue said. “Ravager and Bishop will be replaced, since they only did that one favor for John. We can't have anyone too overpowered in your Peerage right from the start.”

Ravel looked from them to me.

“We have others to experiment with and test.” I said and her eyes widened. “I only brought out the best successes so far, since we didn't have long to work on them.”

“We did the best we could and advanced them as far as their bodies could handle.” Panacea said.

“Which is why she said we did good work. They came out perfect.” I said and the lizard-women blushed.

Red leaned across Panacea and Lake as she stage-whispered. “We're trying to get him to fertilize our eggs.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “We can't handle eight clutches of eggs, even if we do have the nests.”

“That's what he always says.” Yellow responded with a pout.

“And who's going to raise 48 hatchlings and be nannies for them until they're old enough to function on their own?” I asked them and they all pouted and crossed their arms.

“F-f-f-forty eight? FORTY EIGHT?” Ravel yelled. “How in Lucifer's name could you have 48 kids?”

Ravager smirked at her indignation. “He can have kids whenever and with whomever he wants.”

“That's NOT what I meant!” Ravel shouted.

“I know.” Ravager said with a laugh. She stood up and rubbed her belly. “Go ahead, John. Show her.”

I held in my sigh and pointed my finger at her. “Homenum Revelio Gendus.”

Ravager lit up slightly pink and then her belly showed up slightly blue.

“IT'S A BOY!” All of the lizard-women yelled and then cheered.

“It was the price I charged him for allowing myself to be borrowed by another.” Ravager said to me. “That way, even if I was temporarily owned by someone else and had to follow their orders, I was still and always will be John's.”

Ravel stared at her and then stared at me.

“Bishop wanted his wife and she's just as modified and powerful as he is. Rachnara wanted her own Hovel and the choice to mate with someone that would love her for herself, which Issei is totally okay with. The lizard-women wanted the hot springs and eternally hot boulders in their rooms.” I told her.

“You... you...” Ravel looked back at Ravager and blushed.

“All of it was surprisingly easy to grant, not that I would ever refuse anyway.” I said and they all nodded.

“We should have asked for the egg thing instead of the rocks, even if those things are the greatest rocks we've ever seen or experienced.” Blue said and all of the lizard-women nodded several times.

I couldn't resist whispering a secret to Ravel after that. “They're actually asteroids from outer space and could survive reentry through the atmosphere without burning up. They can hold extremely high temperatures practically forever.” I breathed into her ear.

Ravel caught her breath and seemed to faint as she collapsed against me. After a few seconds, she started to lightly kiss my neck. “I need to call my mother.”

“You need to go out into the house to do that. Texting works fine going out.” I told her. “It takes weeks to months getting one back.”

Ravel sat up and gave me a look, then a quick kiss on the lips, and glanced down at her chest. I created a bikini top for her and she slipped it on, nodded at the perfect fit, and climbed out of the water. I snapped my fingers to dry her off and she smiled warmly at me, gathered her clothes and bag, and rushed out of the basement.

“She's totally going to tell her mother you're going to be a daddy.” Panacea said and Lake nodded.

“Considering how few Devil births there are, she might demand you knock her up.” Aika added.

“We've only played around and haven't had intercourse yet.” I responded.

“No, not Ravel. Her mother.” Aika said and everyone giggled evilly.

“She has four children already.” I told them.

“So what?” Aika asked with a knowing smile.

I didn't have a good response to that, so I stayed quiet. Everyone else looked amused.

A month later, Ravel came back in with her face flushed red. It must have been a short 5 minute call. None of us were still in the hot springs after all that time and had moved on to do other things.

“What's the bad news?” Aika asked her before she could speak.

“Um, I'm not sure there is any. It all depends on how you look at things.” Ravel answered.

“Good answer.” I said and walked away from the latest Saiyan experiment. They were definitely coming along well in the conversion process, unlike the Jedi. Whatever universal rules that were being used here, they always made a Jedi accessing the Force go crazy and then explode. I was quite thankful that I hadn't tried to access it myself.

Ravel hugged me and looked up into my eyes. “Mother asked me to bring you to the house tomorrow night.”

“That should be plenty of time to get things started.” I said and Panacea waved from where she was touching Gojen and monitoring how the Rook Piece was altering his body and boosting his already massive Chi reserves. If she didn't watch it closely, it could go out of control and we'd have another boom on our hands.

“Can you really...” Ravel looked at the others working out in the training area. “I won't ask stupid questions anymore.”

Both I and Panacea chuckled at that.

“What?” Ravel asked.

“You won't know if they're stupid if you never ask them.” Panacea said. “Heaven knows my original counterpart asked some really stupid questions.”

Ravel raised her eyebrows at that.

“I'm a magical clone, only I was grown the very long and hard way from actual cells. It was the only way to duplicate my original's power. Surprisingly, the power's source was quite willing and eager to work with someone that wanted to use it to its full extent and had no objections in doing so.”

“Thanks for reminding me about that.” I said and walked back over to her. “Are each of you sharing the same connections or are the different universes and dimensions connecting you to different versions of the same source?”

Panacea gave me a very snarky smile. “Now that is a very smart question.”

I sighed and slapped a hand over my face. “Why do you have to say that so sarcastically every time?”

“Because it's funny.” Lake said from the lounge chair beside the pool.

I grumbled under my breath about sarcastic wenches and checked the machines hooked up to Gojen. “Everything's good on the medical side so far. Biometrics are reading stable with no fluctuations.”

“I think we have another winner.” Panacea said just as the magical programming of the Rook Piece finished running and converting Gojen into a Reincarnated Devil.

I touched him and gained the image for a Saiyan Devil - Rook and nodded. “Image is stable, too.”

“Excellent.” Panacea said and didn't move.

“Why aren't you waking him and letting him up?” Ravel asked as she approached.

“It's the recovery period.” I said and then explained that just because the process had finished successfully, that didn't mean there wouldn't be problems afterwards. “We'll keep monitoring and then declare the experiment officially over. With him as a template, we can bring out a few other people with a similar background.”

Ravel started to nod and then stopped. “Why are you still experimenting?”

“Because we can and it keeps us busy. The mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Panacea said and Ravel nodded. “Also, you need a full Peerage to work with. It's up to you if you want all women to fill the rest of the positions. Or men. Or a mix of both.”

*DING!*

“Mihal is done.” I said and walked over to the maturation chamber as it opened. Th droids helped clean her off and I passed them an appropriate outfit for her. When she was dressed, I helped a tall statuesque woman step out of the changing area.

“This may take some getting used to.” Mihal said and almost teetered on her long shapely legs.

“That's what friends are for.” I said and led her over to where Lake was and sat her down beside the pool. “Girls! Mihal needs some physical therapy!”

A moment later, eight happy lizard-women were there and chatted loudly with her and each other, stripped off their workout clothes, and slipped naked into the pool with a severely blushing and naked Mihal.

“We'll let them get her back into shape and then we'll start working on her, too.” Panacea said with a smile on her face.

“You really are enjoying this, aren't you?” Ravel asked her.

“Of course I am. My power is, too. It likes to be used and I like being useful. I honestly can't describe all of the things that I've learned ever since John created me.” Panacea told her.

Ravel nodded and gave me a pointed look.

“We can get started right away with your training or we can get you used to how things work around here.” I said and she looked thoughtful for a few moments.

“I think I'd like to sleep first.” Ravel said instead of choosing.

I nodded and bid everyone a goodnight, took Ravel's hand, and led her over to my room. It was lavish of course, since there were no real restrictions on living space inside a stadium-sized expanded area. Ravel looked quite happy at the accommodations, too.

Without saying anything, Ravel put her bundle of clothes and her bag on the nightstand beside the king-size bed and took off her bikini top and bottoms. She put them on her clothes and climbed into bed before giving me an expectant look.

I chose to honor her words and stripped off before I climbed in beside her and laid down on my back. I held my arm out and she slid close and cuddled into my side. We drifted off to sleep together almost right away and neither of us tried to do anything sexual. Sleep was more important right now.

Also, since the meeting with her mother wouldn't be until tomorrow night, if we stayed in the expanded space inside the time dilation, then we had about 20 years before we had to face that whole situation. Both Ravel and I could get a lot of things done in that amount of time, including advancing our relationship to any end she wanted us to get to.

*

Ravager's son looked just like her and she was overjoyed, because he was born a Full-blooded Devil. Apparently, the experiments using my own genetic material to make Evil Pieces to convert her and then introducing my powerful sperm to her modified ovum, combined two halves of a whole that no one expected.

Even Panacea was surprised by the result until she touched little Malcolm and let her power flow through the cute little thing. When she pronounced what he was and his perfection, it made all of the girls want their own children with me and advanced Ravel's own desire to finish the experiments on her own Evil Piece.

That was an aspect that made her finally choose to go through with them. Our child would become a pureblood Devil and that had been one of the worries her mother had, besides not knowing who I really was or my abilities. I hadn't decided if I was going to tell her or not, either. It was a lot for anyone to accept, even a long-lived race.

Of course, there was the small fact that if she did get pregnant, we would have to get married to keep the honor of her family intact. She would not be an unwed mother in their current society. It would also establish myself as a legitimate member of a Pillar family and my 'dalliances' would also become legitimate, since they would automatically become consorts.

Not surprisingly, Aika was perfectly fine with that. She also wanted the magical Miracle upgrade and then to be converted into a Bishop. She figured that if she was going to be in with everything, she might as well be in all the way. With her adamantly accepting it, I couldn't refuse, mostly because she was involved because of me.

So, that meant I had even more work to do. It was fun work; but, still work. It was also filled with teaching, training, and a lot of testing the physical limits of our beds. None of us minded that at all.

*

Lady Phenex, her husband Lord Phenex, their three sons, and the entire staff stood in the front yard of their mansion that was more ostentatious than any of them liked; but, appearances had to be maintained. People expected them to flaunt their wealth and so they did. Nothing was gaudy, though.

They were highly respected and their high standards had to be met, which brought them to the upcoming meeting with their daughter's new beau. John Hansen had pretty much come out of nowhere and shocked everyone with what he did, how he did it, and gained a lot of attention. Most of it was good with some odd rumors being spread about him being a fake.

It came from the Fallen Angels and no one paid them any real attention. It was still worrying, though. They couldn't have him sullying their family if he was a mere human. A flash of a teleportation circle caught their attention and all five of them started to smile when they saw Ravel among a large group of people, then they caught their breath when a immense pressure full of power flowed over them.

“Dear, you need more practice reeling that in.” The six foot tall and immaculately dressed man said.

“It's your fault, John.” Ravel said with a pout as she rubbed her slightly bulged belly. “I have to do it every time he kicks or he never settles down.”

All of the Phenex family and their aides, maids, and butlers had their mouths drop open in shock.

“Yes, it's my fault he loves feeling how powerful his mother is.” John said and rolled his eyes.

“It is! You made me this way.” Ravel said with a grin and John laughed.

“Fine, fine. I accept full responsibility.” John said and bent down to kiss her briefly.

“R-R-Ravel?” Lady Phenex asked, her voice shaky.

“Mother!” Ravel gasped and ran over to her mother and hugged her. “It's so nice to see you after so long!”

All of her family stared at her and wondered why she would say such a thing when they had all seen her only yesterday.

“I recognize that look.” Ravel said and Aika giggled, because she was usually the one that had it whenever she left the basement for any reason, like calls and messages on her Devil cellphone, and so much time had passed while she was gone.

“You get used to the time differences eventually.” John said and stepped forward to shake Lord Phenex's hand. “It's nice to formally greet you, sir. Your daughter is a wonderful person and I look forward to spending the rest of eternity with her.”

“Excuse me?” Lord Phenex asked, his eyes wide.

“I asked her to marry me and she graciously accepted.” John said and let the man's hand go and lifted Ravel's hand to show off a massive diamond engagement ring on her finger. “I couldn't let her get away after she made her intentions clear, then things went a certain way after a while... after she was fully ready, of course. I would never push her for more without her acceptance and permission.”

All of their eyes dropped to Ravel's slight belly-bulge and went back to his face.

“A recent development after a lot of conversation, debates, and after a few fights to knock some sense into me, apparently.” John said with a laugh and greeted Lady Phenex next. “It's very nice to meet you, Lady Phenex. I look forward to getting to know you.”

Lady Phenex blinked her eyes at him and didn't know what to say.

John kissed her hand and turned to the eldest brother. He introduced himself and greeted the Ratings Game champion and then did the same to the second brother, whom ran their publicity company. When he reached Riser, he ignored the offered hand and hugged him.

“Mihal has been after me for years to hurry up teaching her and get her to you.” John said and stepped back out of the way. The crowd of people and luminals parted and a very refined woman stepped forward. She wore a very ornate Japanese outfit that was judiciously tailored to give her full movement and yet still looked like a traditional kimono.

Riser was too stunned to say anything and looked like a deer caught in a car's headlights as Mihal glided over to him and her kimono didn't move. It caught everyone's attention and that was the point.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, My King.” Mihal said and did a half-bow and half-curtsy.

No one moved or spoke for several seconds.

John leaned in to whisper loudly. “This is the part where you welcome her and ask her if she wants to become part of your Peerage.”

“YES I DO!” Riser yelled and startled his family, then his sister Ravel started softly laughing. He blushed at his reaction and glared at her, only to have her stick her tongue out at him. He sighed and summoned his remaining Bishop Piece, fumbled it in his fingers, and John caught it before it fell.

“Ah, yes. Let me just fix that for you.” John said and his hand glowed brightly for several seconds. When the glow disappeared, the Phenex family gasped at seeing a mutated piece. “There we go. You'll have no trouble adding someone as strong as her to your Peerage now.”

Riser stared at the piece in his hand and slowly reached for it. John had been tempted to make a loud noise to scare him, and chose not to. Too many shocks were not good for anyone. Riser lifted the piece and kept staring at it, then his eyes left it and his eyes locked onto the woman in front of him.

“M-Mihal, I Riser Phenex, want to welcome you into my Peerage. Will you accept the position as my tactician and possibly more?” Riser asked her. He surprisingly looked nervous and his usual bravado was gone.

Mihal gave him a very warm smile. “My King, I would be honored to accept. Thank you.”

Riser beamed a smile at her and a ritual circle appeared underneath them. He stepped forward and kept eye contact with her as he carefully held the piece to her chest. He did not grope her as he performed the quick ritual to convert her into a member of his Peerage. The knowing smile on Mihal's face let everyone know she knew he wanted to.

“I admire your restraint, My King.” Mihal whispered and leaned in to place a chaste kiss on his lips.

Riser's bright smile changed to a slightly goofy one and he relaxed as his new Bishop walked around him to silently support him from behind.

“Now I can introduce you to my own Peerage!” Ravel exclaimed and her family gasped again.

She laughed at them reacting like that and then introduced everyone. She loved surprising her family because they all thought the people she brought along were John's Peerage and not hers. They would never know how hard she had worked at getting stronger and more powerful and earned her own promotion and ejected the upgraded Queen Piece she used to have inside of her.

The whole group moved inside the mansion after the greeting and quickly became a small reception with so many people there. The other members of the family invited their own Peerages to join the gathering and the party expanded that much more. Everyone talked about everything, including training, fighting methods, and tactics. They all had a great time, too.

When the main part was over and most of them moved off to their respective rooms, after Lady Phenex assigned rooms for Ravel's Peerage, the Phenex family and their guest settled into a more private room to discuss what was going to happen next. Ravel's wedding.

Her father was surprisingly okay with it and it was Lady Phenex that objected to it, until Ravel told her that it was her choice. She was 43 now and fully capable of making her own decisions and ensuring her family's future. When she explained that her son was going to be a pureblood Devil, even Lady Phenex had to remove her objections to the pairing.

Then came the planning. Ravel loved her mother and wanted her to handle everything, because she knew that as her only daughter, her mother wanted her to have everything be perfect. John wholeheartedly agreed and also handed over a million Devil Dollars to help move things along. All of the Phenex family approved of his offer and warmly welcomed him into the family.

*

I returned to the real world with a glamored Aika and she loved that she didn't have to regress her more mature body back to a teenager. She had become accustomed to how her body felt as a woman and didn't want to keep having to grow back into it. That she was also well past college level courses was a bonus for her schoolwork.

It was now very easy for Aika to complete her work and she didn't struggle anymore. Getting regular sex also kept her relaxed and satisfied. The happy smile on her face kept everyone guessing about what she was up to, too.

At lunch, I made my way to the Student Council office and knocked on the doorframe. It was no surprise that none of the girls turned to look at me. Sona herself had a blank look on her face when she saw me.

“I came personally to deliver something to you, Souna.” I said and walked into the office. No one turned their head to look and only their eyes followed me across the room. I pulled out the large fancy envelope and placed it on Sona's desk, right in front of her.

“I can guess what that is.” Sona said without looking at it.

“Possibly.” I said with a smile. “You see, I knew something about your situation that you didn't.”

“Oh? And what was that?” Sona asked, her face still blank.

“Your sister would never approve of me as a valid companion for you.” I said and her face didn't change. “The part you don't know about is that she would have had me quietly removed to keep me away from asking you to marry me.”

Every girl in the room made sad sounds and Sona lightly blushed.

“So, I had to do things the proper way. Once I'm married, I'll be confirmed as a member of a Pillar family and no one can ever question my right to be among you and your peers.”

“But... you'll be married.” Sona whispered.

“To my first wife, yes. She is carrying one of my children.” I told her and all of the girls gasped. “Inside that envelope is a contract offer between two of the top Pillar families. It's open-ended and can be activated at any time after a particular date next month. Please peruse it at your leisure and let me know of your decision.”

Sona looked shocked when I placed a small black jewellery box down on top of the envelope. “I... I... John, she... she'll still...”

“As a Satan, she can't interfere with her previous family's contractual obligations.” I said and smiled warmly at her growing blush. “Just like Sirzechs couldn't interfere with Rias and Riser's marriage contract to make sure his sister was happy, Serafall can't step in and stop you from being happy, either.”

Sona reached for the box and then pulled her hand back. “She's going to try.”

I leaned down to look into her eyes. “If she does anything openly, she'll be vilified by the very people she is supposed to be representing.”

Sona got it right away. “Her fans.”

I grinned and nodded. “A magical girl who fights for love and justice stepping in to stop both love and justice? It might not destroy her reputation; but, it will tarnish it and make everything she's done before mean a lot less than it should.”

Sona reached a hand up and touched my cheek. “You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?”

I turned my head to kiss her palm. “For years and years.”

Sona nodded and pulled her hand back. “I will look things over when it's time.”

“That's all I can ask. The official invitations for the wedding and reception will be sent out next week.” I said and took out several Bento Boxes from my backpack. I put them on her desk and left the office without saying anything else and ignored the immediate burst of muffled conversation behind the closed door.

It made me smile until I thought about visiting Rias at the ORC. I chose not to, since there was an even chance that she would try to kill me or hug me after finding out I was joining Riser's family and wasn't going to be available to join her Peerage. A teenage girl, no matter the race, could be quite unpredictable.

I went back to the lockers to meet up with Aika and we went to the cafeteria to eat lunch. The stop-off at one of the hidden alcoves for a little fun afterwards made us both feel better before classes that afternoon. Having a sex-friend that liked exploring and having fun, sure made the days pass by quickly.

*

The wedding was almost a state affair, it was that hyped up. The guest list was laughably ridiculous and included everyone the Phenex family knew, had business with, had ties with, or wanted to have ties with. Apparently, the news that Ravel was also pregnant had spread like wildfire and everyone was talking about it.

There were more than a few direct and discreet inquiries about it from several very interested parties, because there hadn't been a natural pureblood Devil birth in almost two decades in the entire Underworld. It was huge news until they met the groom's teenage son from a Reincarnated Devil of his Peerage and he was also a pureblood Devil and his power was nearing High Class Devil at only thirteen. That really had everyone talking.

Most of the guests were in awe of the spectacle and watched as the beautiful daughter of the Phenex family was proudly walked down the aisle by her father. The ceremony was performed using the old rites, which made nearly everyone very happy that they were following respected traditions and not using the human ceremony that a few of the lower class Devils used.

The celebration after the kiss was huge and everyone enjoyed it, even those annoyed at losing the chance to recruit the groom for their own Peerages. Rias had only attended because her entire family had been invited and her sister-in-law, her brother's wife Grayfia, had also dressed in normal clothes for once and not as a maid. It surprised a lot of people to see that, which was why Grayfia did it, and she didn't tell anyone that it was the groom's idea.

Everyone wished the new couple well for their honeymoon, not that they needed it, since Ravel was already pregnant. That made the couple laugh and explain she would have had the baby already, except it was expected for her to carry her son for the full term the traditional way. That really had everyone talking after the couple teleported away and they all wondered what they meant.

*

“When are you going to release the research about what you and John figured out about combining genetic material and ensuring egg fertilization?” Lake asked Panacea as the two of them relaxed in the hot tub.

“Right after we have our own children as proof of concept.” Panacea said without inflection.

Lake started to nod and then her eyes went wide and she stared at her lover.

“So, my dearest love, would you like to have a boy and I'll have a girl? They'll even be fraternal twins.” Panacea said with a smirk.

“I love you.” Lake whispered and pulled her in to kiss her passionately.

A week of relative time later, the both of them were pregnant with their children.

*

When Ravel and I returned from our honeymoon, we received several delayed messages from Sona. There had been several incidents with an excommunicated nun named Asia Argento, the Fallen Angels staying in the abandoned church, and the excommunicated exorcists they employed. Issei was somehow involved and tried to save the nun after her sacred gear was extracted by Raynare.

Rias reincarnated the young woman after she died and executed the Fallen Angels. All four of them.

It almost felt like a physical blow to hear that. Even though I hadn't heard back from Mittelt after all the messages and requests to visit I had sent to her, she had still been the first woman I had opened up to and slept with on this world.

Ravel held me and whispered reassuring words as I fought through my automatic reaction to confront Rias about how stupid she had been to deal out corporeal punishment to members of another faction. I said as much to Ravel and she fully agreed with me, so she sent a discreet message to her mother and Lady Phenex passed it on to both the Fallen Angel Faction and the New Satan of Foreign Affairs.

“That's the most we can do without making the situation worse.” Ravel reassured me.

“I... I know. This is bad enough.” I said and sat down on the couch and she cuddled up to my side. “Tensions are going to rise, even though Rias is a co-ruler here in Kuoh. She overstepped her authority by not reporting it first and giving the Fallen Angels the option to negotiate for their people back.”

Ravel kissed my cheek and then my neck. “You can't kill her or replace her. You know how your magical clones of existing Factions can react badly to their inherent nature on this world.”

I sighed and let her try to distract me with her lips on my earlobe. I really didn't have much of a choice here, since I knew she was right. Unless I was very careful with my thoughts when creating someone here, they almost always came out more aggressive, meaner, and had a thirst to fix what they knew was wrong with the place. That could be very bad, which was why I didn't let the Fallen Angel Leader go.

“I won't try to convince you to not recreate Mittelt, John.” Ravel suddenly said.

“Wh-what?” I asked, surprised.

“You have a tendency to care a little too much for the women you sleep with, even if they aren't as into you as you think they are.” Ravel said with a knowing smile.

I opened my mouth to deny that, then sighed. I really did go out of my way to make them happy when I can, usually to my own detriment and sometimes to their annoyance. My mental promise to myself to give them everything they would ever need, seemed to be a huge character flaw that reared its ugly head occasionally. Mind you, I usually had to be in an actual relationship before I went all out.

“Everyone knows how finicky a Fallen Angel is about their partners, even the... ahem... sluts.” Ravel admitted with a blush and it made me chuckle. “Oh, hush!” She said and lightly slapped my arm. “Just because we're born of sin, that doesn't mean it rules our lives or controls our decisions.”

I nodded. I knew that and I knew that the Fallen Angels were the same way. Just because they fell because of one sin, that didn't mean they indulged in every sin or enjoyed them all equally.

“All we can do is live our lives and hope this mess doesn't splash back over us.” Ravel said, wisely.

I took a deep breath and let it out. “You're right, like always.”

Ravel beamed a smile at me. “I'm so glad I've trained you properly so quickly.”

I barked a laugh and hugged her close to kiss her. “Thank you for making me fell better, Ravel.”

“It's kind of my job now, John.” Ravel said and stood up. “If you're going to convince Sona to accept your proposal, we need to get to work on the bribes for my family and hers.”

I nodded and stood as well. “We can commandeer one of the spare bedrooms to create a new potions lab and a growing area. We'll need a lot of ingredients to make enough for what we decided and it might take a year or two to get them to a good point for harvesting.”

“You're not going to just recreate them?” Ravel asked as I led her from the living room and up the stairs.

“Surprisingly, they come out more potent if I make them the long way. Just like my cooking, even if I create the ingredients, actually cooking and making meals makes it come out that much better.” I told her and I chose the room at the far end of the hallway.

Ravel watched as I expanded the room into another stadium-sized area and then sectioned it off into the various growing areas I would need and their specific conditions for optimal growing. I usually didn't go through this much trouble, since it didn't make that big of a difference.

Only this time I had the feeling that doing it completely from scratch was the right decision. I usually didn't fight my instincts, so the long way was the way to go. The time spent doing all of that also let Ravel let me in on the creation of Phenex Tears and the full process. She had even provided me copies of their equipment and a list of ingredient requirements as a wedding present.

I set aside the sections she needed for her own work and set her up as well. With the both of us working, it was done in only a few weeks and we left the room to let the various ingredients grow. I left a few dozen Naboo farming droids, converted to work with a magic power source, to take care of things for us.

We stepped out of the room and Ravel looked very pleased at creating her own source of Phenex Tears and contributing to her family's wealth and prominence. We both knew they would be very surprised to have more product to sell and it would relieve the pressure that all of her family members felt for not making as much of them as they possibly could.

Sona's family ran the Underworld's hospitals and we both hoped that her receiving a gift of 10,000 minor healing potions, 10,000 pain relief potions, and 10,000 headache potions from the newest member of the Phenex Family, would make her and her family happy enough to welcome us with open arms.

Ravel and I visited the basement and everyone staying there. We were greeted warmly by everyone and also by 48 lizard-women hatchlings and Panacea and Lake's twin children. I had no idea how they had done that without me here and Panacea quickly explained how she worked things out for artificial insemination.

Once she had that process figured out, it was downright easy to harvest my DNA from my son with Ravager. He had enough of my own genetic material in his own DNA to fertilize the lizard-women's eggs without compromising my integrity or inconveniencing me.

I honestly didn't know how to handle that I suddenly had so many pseudo-children that I didn't know about. My son seemed both proud and embarrassed about his role in contributing to the happiness of the lizard-women. Said women were completely unrepentant about the whole thing and were happy to have my children. He was also sleeping with all of them because he said he wasn't going to do things half-assed. 'Like I did' went unsaid and we all heard it anyway.

I kept my face blank and gave Panacea a look that made her nervous, gave Ravel a kiss on the cheek, and walked out. I left the basement and walked across the living room and went out the front door. My phone beeped at me and I ignored it. I cast a notice-me-not charm on myself and flew up into the air.

I didn't mind having so many children. That didn't bother me because I had done it a few times already. Hell, I had restarted a new branch of humanity once, too. It was the fact that I had absolutely no choice in the matter. What really bothered me was that someone I trusted had taken my genetic material and brought 48 new beings into the world without my knowledge or consent.

My eyes went down and I looked at the large town that was a borderline city. My eyes went to the large church that was easily seen from this height and my heart squeezed a little. Would Mittelt have been open to having a child with me? Would she have done what Panacea did and had one without telling me if given the option? I had definitely filled her a lot when we were together.

That thought made me consider what happened. Was it because Panacea was created using my magic and science that let her use my DNA to spread it around? Was that enough to be considered my approval? Why did I still feel violated if that was true?

I hovered there and let my thoughts drift around and couldn't come up with a solution. Was I supposed to become a father to the hatchlings, even if I hadn't been there? Should I step aside and let my son be their father, even though he was technically their half-brother and father at the same time? Did I have any right to make that choice? Either for him or for myself?

My phone beeped again and I sighed and checked it. The first message was from Ravel and asked if I was going to be okay. I texted back that I wasn't. The second message was from Serafall Leviathan and she wanted to meet immediately. Sona's gift wasn't going to be ready for another 30 minutes, so I sent back that I would be willing to meet in 45 minutes at the Kuoh Academy Student Council office.

The choice of location placated the pushy woman and she agreed. I put my phone away and floated there for another 20 minutes and let the world rotate below me. My thoughts rolled around and I just... I didn't want to accept it. I didn't want to deal with how awkward things were going to be if I went back into that situation. So, I chose not to.

I apparated into the upstairs hallway and entered the new room and nodded at the droids because the plants and things were ready and already tended to. I helped the crops be harvested and copied everything, since they were all seemingly magically charged up from the soil and ambient magic of this world.

I worked for ten minutes of real time, or two months relative time, and made all of the potions for Sona and her family. I stored them all, thanked the droids for replanting everything, and left the room. Ravel stood there by the door and she had an expectant look on her face.

“I refuse.” I said and she opened her mouth to speak, so I put a finger on her lips. “No. Just no.”

Ravel sighed and looked sad. “I understand. It's too much so soon.” She said and stepped back. “I'll be visiting with mother for a while, if you don't object.”

“I never will.” I said and kissed her. “Tell your mother I said hello and thank her for me.” I said and didn't bother walking by her or leaving the house normally. I apparated to the school into one of the hidden alcoves and walked down the hallway and knocked on the Student Council office's door.

“Enter.” Sona's calm voice said through the door.

I opened the door and wasn't surprised to see that she had her entire Peerage there to support her. I was only slightly surprised to see that Rias and her Peerage were also there. It let me know that more than the contract was going to be discussed during this meeting.

“Have a seat, Mister Hansen.” Serafall said casually, even though I knew it was an order. There was only one seat unoccupied and it was across from where Sona and Rias sat. Serafall stood off to the side of the desk and would remain standing, probably to ensure she was in a position of authority.

“Subtle.” I said sarcastically and both she and Sona blushed. I sat down on the chair and barely managed to not flop down or show them any more disrespect.

“Before we start, there are a few things I need to clarify about the incident that happened here.” Serafall said.

“You mean the kidnapping and murder of yet another Sacred Gear user in a protected territory and then the brutal elimination of four Fallen Angels without interrogating them to find out if they were involved in Raynare's schemes or how far her plans went up through the Grigori leadership?” I asked and everyone looked embarrassed and guilty.

“Yes, that.” Serafall said, her voice flat. “You need to understand that as the rulers of the territory, Sona and Rias have full authority to mete out justice as they see fit. As soon as they had proof that the Fallen Angels were actively killing people, they were fully within their rights to eliminate them.”

I stared at her for about ten seconds in complete silence, making her and everyone else uncomfortable. “So, none of the other murders, documented assault victims, dead bodies, photos, videos, and evidence that I gathered and submitted to Sona mattered?”

Serafall kept a blank look on her face and didn't respond.

“It wasn't until it came to yet another poor soul that Rias could recruit into her Peerage without giving them a choice and then the benevolent ruler of the territory finally stepped in to deal with all of the Fallen Angels that she assumed were the cause and not just the leader doing it? Is that what you're telling me?” I asked her and I couldn't stop anger from showing on my face.

Serafall opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She knew if she said anything, either yes or no, it would be very bad for both her sister Sona and her co-ruler, Rias. I easily plucked the thought from the front of her mind that it was her orders that stopped Sona and Rias from acting until the Fallen Angels moved against them or their Peerages.

“Is what he said true?” Asia asked into the silence.

“Yes, it is. John never lies. He doesn't have to.” Issei answered.

“The Foreign Affairs Minister can't admit it without admitting everything that happened was her fault and none of this should have happened in the first place.” I added and Serafall sighed. “Are you going to destroy all the evidence and make everyone forget about it?”

“It's the best way to handle this. No one needs to have what happened on their conscience.” Serafall said.

“Especially you.” I said and she frowned. “Will I still be able to negotiate in good faith with Sona after this? We have family business to discuss.”

Sona gasped and blushed, which gained everyone's attention. “I forgot that was scheduled for today.”

“I thought that was why your sister contacted me and wanted to meet so soon. It wasn't until I saw Rias here that I realized she was going to try to strong-arm me into dropping my complaints about the severe mishandling of this territory.”

“That was you?!?” Rias shouted.

“Through Ravel and Lady Phenex, yes.” I told her. “She also informed the leader of the Grigori about what happened.”

Serafall cursed and started to pace.

“You're not going to be covering anything up today, Miss Leviathan.” I said, a bit smugly.

“Do you realize what you've done?” Serafall asked me and stopped pacing as she made a fist.

“Not a clue.” I said and that surprised her. “I also don't care. I'm not at fault and it wasn't anything I did that brought us all here today.”

“You just said you told them!” Rias exclaimed.

I waved a hand and dropped copies of all the physical evidence I had onto Sona's desk. Almost everyone looked away from the piles of photos of the murder scenes while both Sona and Rias looked really embarrassed.

“I didn't have to tell them anything.” I said and looked at Serafall. “Well? What are you going to do, Foreign Affairs Minister?”

Serafall lost the frown and looked at her sister, then back to me. “Despite your legitimacy as a member of a Pillar family, I am blocking your petition for my sister's hand and cancelling the contract negotiations.”

“You are overstepping your authority, Minister.” I reminded her and she glared at me. “You are no longer a member of the Sitri Clan and can't interfere in family business.”

Serafall's glare changed to a knowing look. “My parents adore me and I control all the family's wealth. They won't defy me or let someone as disruptive as you into the family.”

“Even though I can guarantee them a grandchild as soon as the contract is signed?” I asked.

Serafall looked doubtful for a moment, then nodded.

“Then I am rescinding most of the gift I promised Sona for considering the contract.”

Sona gasped. “John! You can't! My family made deals and promises...”

“You can take it up with your sister.” I said and stood. “However, I only said most of my gift.”

The evidence on the desk was pushed aside and onto the floor, making everyone look at it and then look away again. A crate of 50 potions appeared on the desk and another beside it.

“Headache relief.” I said and two more appeared on top of them. “Pain relief.” I said and two more crates appeared. “Minor healing potions.” I patted the crates and the little bottles rattled. “Good luck trying to pull them apart or recreating them. Both the plants and the method are proprietary to myself and no one else will make them.” I didn't say can, because both Bishop and Gin could make them.

Sona looked devastated and her Queen comforted her and patted her back.

Serafall looked angry. “How dare you deny...”

“Right back at you.” I interrupted her and walked over to the door. “Don't worry, the Phenex Family has suddenly decided to release some revolutionary potions on Serafall Leviathan's recommendation. The public needs those potions.”

Serafall's anger fled and her face lost some of its color. She knew as soon as that was announced that she had refused the contract on Sona's and her family's behalf, her standing with her family would be ruined. They would no longer trust her with anything, especially their finances. She had let her obsessive protection and love for her sister blind her and she made another stupid decision.

I walked out of the office and tried to not let it get to me. I made it down the hallway to the hidden alcove and stepped inside. I leaned against the wall and took several deep breaths. That was two women I had been intimate with and was denied being with them. I wasn't sure why it was hitting me harder than it usually did.

Why wasn't I going with the flow and accepting it without protest? I thought I was becoming jaded with relationships and I thought I wasn't going to fight to have them, letting them happen naturally, and here I was arguing about the murder of one lover and financially protesting the denial of another.

The thing was, would I accept Sona's father approaching me on his own to fix things or was what Serafall did enough to sour me on the whole thing? I personally thought so, because no matter what happened, Serafall was her sister. Sona would never give up any member of her family to be with me. We only knew each other for a short while, despite how much we shared with each other.

I took a deep breath and let it out and made a decision. It was rash and probably a mistake, which meant I shouldn't do it. Then again, people were doing things rashly around me and it didn't stop them.

With a mental nod, I apparated out of the school and reappeared next to the abandoned church. I saw the mess that was left and shook my head at them not even cleaning things up. There were no bodies at least, so Rias had disintegrated them. I did a few spells and couldn't find any DNA or anything, so I searched through the whole upstairs and then did a detection spell.

I found the secret entrance to the downstairs and went down into the basement. A few more spells and a lot of searching, netted me some more weapons, modern armor, and black feathers from several of the beds. I wasn't going to do anything with Raynare's DNA if I found it; but, Mittelt's and Kalawarner's would be used to stabilize their magical clones.

I apparated out of there and back to the house. I started to walk down to the basement and remembered I didn't want to be anywhere near that mess and turned around. I claimed another bedroom and made another lab. After I used the DNA analyzer to find the right samples, I discarded the others and used the same process I did for creating Panacea.

I didn't leave the room this time to let the time pass quickly. I stayed right there and made another decision. I set up the creation of a third clone from DNA I had kept for a while. I worked on other things to keep myself occupied for the next six months and went to Mittelt when she was ready to be brought out of the heavily modified accelerated maturation chamber.

I created a copy of her from the last time I had touched the original and immobilized her. She looked completely crazed and I dismissed her before I tried again. This one looked a little calmer and I copied over everything that she was into the grown clone and dismissed the copy. It didn't take long for her to wake up on the medical bio-bed and she gave me very wide eyes when she saw me.

“We have a lot to talk about, Mittelt.” I said and she nodded. So, that's what we did for the next two days until Kalawarner was ready to be de-tanked. I did the same procedure for her, much to Mittelt's surprise, and then the second Fallen Angel woke and her gaze was both calculating and full of admiration.

“There's a lot to go through, Kala. Can you give us that time?” Mittelt asked her.

“Why?” Kalawarner asked.

“Because Azazel won't be ready for another two months or so. He was a hell of a lot older than either of you.” I said and her eyes widened. I pointed beside the medical bio-bed and her eyes widened at seeing a teenager that looked like her boss.

“Isn't he cute?” Mittelt asked and Kalawarner nodded and blushed. “Don't ask. John won't let me have a copy of him at that age, either.”

I chuckled. “I said it wasn't physically possible to copy myself, not that I wouldn't do it.”

“I want a teenage Azazel for myself!” Mittelt and Kalawarner said at the same time.

I laughed and shook my head. “No, I won't make that decision for him. I learned that lesson the hard way just recently. If he wants a couple teenage copies of himself running around, I'll do it.”

Both Mittelt and Kalawarner gave me smouldering looks and then took turns kissing me passionately. When they were done, they both looked pleased at the smile on my face.

“I said he has to choose.” I reminded them.

“Oh, he will. Having two more Fallen Angels will tickle his fancy. That they'll be copies of him will just make it that much better.” Mittelt said and Kalawarner nodded.

“We'll see.” I said and brought Kalawarner over to the lounge area and fed her as we told her everything that was going on. I also told her that the original Mittelt had denied meeting me again before she was killed, so neither she nor her were close to their latest selves or had their most recent memories.

The Fallen Angel was surprisingly okay with that and was grateful to be alive. She was also excessively horny and wanted me to help with that. Since I was married, I took out my Devil cellphone and texted Ravel. She agreed, as long as I made Kalawarner and Mittelt a member of my Peerage. When I showed them that, both readily agreed and then both of them had me right there on the couch.

*

Azazel woke up and felt a little groggy. The last thing he remembered was being really angry that he had fallen into a pig's sty when trying to barge into a new contact's house. He opened his eyes and saw that contact and two of the lowest Fallen Angels in his organization.

“We have a lot to tell you, Lord Azazel.” Mittelt said and then smiled as she flexed her power and six wings popped out of her back. The very proud look on her face was well earned.

Azazel's eyes widened at the huge difference from the last time he saw her, then Kalawarner did the same thing and six wings popped out of her back, too. He smiled warmly at them. “I'm listening.”