DxD: The Kyubi Jinchūriki

Defeating Riser would prove Rias was the more powerful devil, thus her opinion would trump Riser's in the mind of the devil community. It was the best option.

The prospects of that occurring were at an all time low though. Riser was older and more experienced than her.

He had an entire peerage, fifteen members. She had four total, one of which is useless currently. Including the kings, it was sixteen to four. Numbers don't decide a match, but they sure do help.

And the numbers are currently against her. She doesn't even want to acknowledge that Riser is immortal at this point.

No matter how she thinks about it, her chance of winning the match is 0%. No strategy she can come up with, no training they can do, no forbidden spell she could learn, nothing can alter that 0%. She needs more peerage members to simply have the smallest chance of success.

She was also running out of time. Riser was not known for his patience. Since she's had her Evil Piece set for over two years now, it was only a matter of time.

Riser was going to run out of patience. He'd then pressure his father, who would pressure her father, who would then pressure her to have the marriage occur. Her brother had recently warned her Riser was tired of waiting.

He was starting to complain to his father. She had maybe six months before she ran out of time, but more likely just two or three months. That was an incredibly small window to work with.

She had thought Issei was the opportunity she was looking for. His sacred gear was so powerful that it could only be a Longinus, one of the thirteen most powerful sacred gears in the world.

A weapon that can kill a god. The idea of such a person going to her school had practically been fate in Rias' mind. Not that Issei's assistance alone would have been enough to guarantee a victory over Riser.

Longinus may be powerful, but they don't start out that way. Their wielders needs unlock such power. They need time, experience, training. It had still been enough to give Rias hope that she could beat Riser though.

If Issei could gain even basic control over his Longinus, her chance of defeating Riser rose to 5%. 5% is abysmally low still, but Rias would take it over 0%.

And even that small chance had now sunk through her grasp. Sona had stolen even that chance from her. Rias wanted to scream, rant, beat Sona to a pulp with her hands. She couldn't though.

Sona had done nothing wrong. She was simply a scapegoat for Rias to blame for her own failure. She finally grumbled out, "Being patient and waiting seems to have come to bite me in the ass."

Akeno somehow managed to hear, and couldn't help but ask, "Why did we wait? I mean, we've known about Issei for half a year. Why did you order us to wait?"

Rias looked nervous and embarrassed. She hesitantly explained, "I figured the fallen angels in the town would eventually identify Issei as a Longinus holder as well. They would no doubt try to eliminate him. I figured I could resurrect him then."

Akeno's eyebrows raised before she replied in a sly, but slightly disbelieving, voice, "Ara Ara. Was Buchou being manipulative? Planning to use someone's death as a way to ensure their loyalty?"

Rias' head shot up and she quickly retorted, "No. That isn't what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" Akeno immediately asked, confused by her king's unusually flustered behavior. She was also slightly glad Rias hadn't been trying to manipulate Issei.

Rias had secured her entire current peerage by saving their lives, herself included. If she showed she was willing to let prospective peerage candidates walk to their deaths in order to gain their loyalty, it would cast a ray of suspicion on how she gained any of them.

Rias once again showed clear hesitation in answering. After a few seconds of stammering, she looked away as she whispered while blushing heavily, "It would have been awkward."

Akeno blinked, having caught her words. She just didn't understand them. She quickly asked, "What do you mean?"

Rias very clearly gathered up her courage before clarifying while blushing more than Akeno had ever seen, "It would have been awkward to explain to Issei about everything.

All of you already knew about the supernatural before joining my peerage. I didn't really know how to explain to someone completely ignorant. So I figured the shock of finding out about fallen angels and being reincarnated would make it easier."

Akeno just gaped. After nearly a minute just sitting there in disbelief, she managed to say softly, "So the reason we waited for six months, the reason we lost a Longinus user…is because you thought it would be awkward to explain the supernatural to him."

"…Yes."

"…Idiot."

"I know."

"Like seriously. You are an idiot."

"I know."

"Like the most idiotic thing you have ever done."

"I know!"

"You might have just made the biggest, and most idiotic, mistake of your entire life!"

"I know, okay!" Rias screamed, tears now gathering in her eyes. She then spun to look out the window, turning her back to Akeno.

That quickly stopped any anger Akeno might have been feeling.

Anything she was feeling, Rias was probably feeling twice as bad. This mistake might very well force Rias to marry Riser, who is well known for treating his peerage like a harem.

Akeno would have to follow Rias in such a case, but Riser would have no right to touch her. Rias was not so lucky. She'd be his wife.

Akeno couldn't help herself from sighing though. The pure imbecilic quality of Rias' reason to not approach Issei earlier was just too much.

Rias was outgoing, had no shame, was friendly, and charming. To find she had been nervous about explaining the supernatural to Issei was something Akeno hadn't ever even considered.

Thinking on it, she can see a bit why. Rias, and the entire Gremory family, consider their peerage to be their family.