Dxd: A demon Among Devils-Chapter 27: []:Issei

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Now that just wasn't fair.

"If you join Buchou's peerage, Arisato-san," Issei said seriously, "we can become more than just friends."

...

Really?

Rias groaned. Akeno giggled. Kiba just looked amused.

"What?" Issei looked around him in confusion.

"I did not know our young pawn rolled that way," Akeno sang, "But who am I to judge? I will be cheering for your love, Hyoudou-kun."

This just made Issei even more confused.

"What love?"

He fought the urge to sigh. For being a pervert, the boy was remarkably pure-minded. And he was not the only one. By his side, Asia looked just as confused.

"I also do not understand, Himejima-san," the former priestess admitted, "Why would Hyoudou-san want to roll that way?"

"Well," the black-haired beauty grinned mischievously, "when a boy loves a boy..."

Rias promptly covered her friend's mouth before a far lewder explanation could come out. But Akeno's suggestion had already done its damage.

Issei looked flabbergasted at the older girl's words.

"I didn't mean that! What I meant was that Arisato-san and I could become rivals!" the pervert hurriedly turned to him when he realized the rest was still smiling at him, "I like boobs! Breasts! I'm sorry Arisato-san, but you don't have any so I can't like you!"

He was not sorry at all. In fact, he was rather glad of that fact.

As Issei continued to protest, he looked to the girl by his side, who seemed like she was concentrating on something particularly interesting.

"Boys... can love boys?" Asia murmured.

He had an inkling of what she was thinking of. He was proven correct when seconds later, the girl's cheeks turned bright red.

"Ah... I just had a very dirty thought," she stole a glance towards him and Issei, "But somehow it was also gave me a good feeling."

He considered lighting Akeno on fire, and then realized that would probably land him in prison. But then again, he could always break out. Personas were useful like that.

When Issei finally calmed down, Rias gave him a hopeful smile.

"Well?"

"Alright!" Akeno clapped before he could say anything, "An all-out attack into Arisato-kun's cold, icy heart!"

He looked around him neutrally. His answer, like the last time, would always be the same.

"No."

"Ah," Rias accepted his decision with commendable grace, "Well, it was worth a try."

"The attack," Akeno nodded gravelly, "was not very effective."

"How can you say no, Arisato-san?" he was not at all surprised that came from Issei, "We need your help! Especially against that Grilled Chicken!"

He turned to the boy, eyebrow raised.

"I am here, aren't I?"

"That's not what I meant!" Issei seemed unusually zealous today, "You can do all these different things but you can't help us? I don't believe that! With your help we can defeat the Grilled Chicken and Buchou won't have to go through with the-"

Rias held up a hand, and Issei fell silent, though his jaw was clenched.

"I am sorry, Arisato-san," the girl said sincerely, "My pawn has spoken of something that concerns me and only my peerage. However, I will not deny that should you lend us your aid, it would make the upcoming fight a lot more even."

He gave her an inquisitive glance.

"It is a Rating Game, then."

"Yes," Rias admitted, "and one I solely need to win."

And therein lay the issue. To help in a Rating Game would mean he would have to become one amongst her peerage, and that meant becoming a devil. And that was something he was not willing to do.

"I do not wish to become a devil," he said at last.

Rias nodded in acceptance, though the boy at her side did not.

"You say that as though it's a bad thing," Issei mumbled.

"No. Not bad," he searched for the words, and finally settled on one, "Undesirable."

"Hmm," Akeno hummed, "it saddens me to think that Arisato-kun thinks we are undesirable."

He did not miss the sudden glint in her eye. Nor the way Asia looked incredibly hurt. Perhaps it was the wrong choice of words.

"I do not wish to sacrifice my humanity," he tried.

"I sacrificed mine," Issei pointed out, "I became a devil to help Buchou and then to protect Argento-san! And that's what you should do for friends! Sacrifice things to protect them!"

A part of him laughed at the declaration. He had made the ultimate sacrifice, when he ascended the Tower to face the ending of creation and died so that humanity would not feel her touch. He had sealed himself in cold stone, became the very gates that prevented Erebus from reaching the dormant Nyx, and had been prepared to spend an eternity shielding mankind from the folly of its own emotions. The meaning of sacrifice was ingrained into the very fiber of his being, and here, now, he was being lectured on it by one who had barely gleaned its surface.

The rest of him accepted that they had no way of knowing what he had done and would not believe it even if he had told them. They would not understand, and he could not blame them for not understanding what they had not seen.

"There are some things you do not understand," he said simply.

"I understand enough," the devil retorted, "And I have a way of making you understand what I mean too."

Did he now?

"A duel, like the one you and Kiba-san had," Issei stared at him challengingly, "And if I win, you have to join Buchou's peerage."

He gazed at the boy impassively. He could admire his determination to help Rias, and his loyalty to those in her peerage, but sometimes that translated into a recklessness not even Junpei had possessed. Still, if Issei wanted a fight, he would give him one, albeit with slight modifications to the terms presented.

"And if I win," he said softly, "you will speak no more of peerages to me. No more requests. No more suggestions. Not a single word."

Rias suddenly looked very worried.

"Deal," Issei snapped before his master could interject.

His lips curled upwards into a small smile. Wonderful. He swiveled on his feet and strode towards the far end of the clearing. When he looked back, it was to see Rias giving the boy an earful, no doubt scolding him for walking into the trap he had set. Issei shrugged her aside, marching determinedly to face him on the opposite side of the field.

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