Chapter 41: A little chat days before the battle
Rias slowly opened her eyes, staring at a ceiling that looked a bit unfamiliar. She blinked once, twice, until she smiled a bit wryly.
"It's true... we came back yesterday...", Rias sighed and didn't feel good about waking up in her empty and unwarm bed. It's not like they had sex with Harry anymore, in fact, they had only done it a second time after what happened on Shirohige's ship. The rest of the days they just slept, talked, and took comfort in each other's presence.
"How annoying is this...", Rias muttered as she got up and started getting dressed for the school day.
"Going to school after fighting in a war and going on a little pirate adventure, it really feels annoying," Rias made a small face before leaving her room to have breakfast.
. . .
"Eh?... So Kaichou is also from the Devil race!", Issei exclaimed in surprise and entered into a small argument with Saji, causing a small annoyance for Sona. But, that small annoyance increased a little more when she saw that Rias was not paying attention to her.
"Rias..."
"Mm?", Rias muttered while looking at her phone, browsing the group's shop.
Sona's eyebrow moved slightly: "I had come to introduce myself to your new pawn. And also to tell you that I'm taking Saji to the Forest of Familiars"
"Oh... yeah... right"
"Is that all?", Sona frowned. "I thought that since you had a new pawn, you would want to go too"
"No point," Rias replied. "Issei has just started his duties as a devil. He's not responsible enough to have a familiar yet. You can go if you want to, I won't fight for it."
"What's a familiar?" Issei asked curiously.
"Monsters or supernatural beings that are linked to someone. In a simpler way, the weaker and less intelligent ones can be considered a pokemon that you give orders to. The stronger and smarter ones are more complicated, like a dragon for example."
"I see..." Issei nodded seriously, receiving a look of disbelief from Sona for having understood such a ridiculous explanation. Familiars were more than just that.
"Rias... aren't you worried about your Rating Game against Riser?"
"Eh?..." Rias was now genuinely surprised. "Why would I be worried about a chicken that knows nothing but spit flames?"
Sona was really perplexed by her friend's way of acting, she could only sigh before retreating. She didn't know what her friend was thinking, since a little while ago, she had become completely unreadable to Sona, so she couldn't draw any conclusions from her way of speaking, expressions or anything.
Rias blinked several times as Issei was kneeling in front of him with the girls of the Kendo club behind him. He had just gone out for a little walk around the school and found his pawn being discovered while spying.
She couldn't help but laugh out loud, surprising all the girls and Issei.
"Sorry.. He~He~... Sorry, girls. I'll take care of disciplining Issei, after all he is part of my club"
They all looked at each other with a little doubt before nodding and leaving the place.
"Let's go, Issei"
"Y-Yes, Buchou...", Issei said before standing up and walking next to her.
"Tell me... Why do you spy so much? I've met men even more perverted than you, Issei. But, none of them spied more than you. But I think you just don't spy because you're a pervert."
"Uh...", Issei scratched his head, embarrassed. But, he felt like he could trust Rias, so he decided to speak up.
"Honestly, I've never had any confidence in myself. Be it studying, looks, sports, or anything. My grandfather... who passed away, was the one who always talked to me about... well, you know, women, breasts and all that. In fact, even now I'm surprised that my grandmother married him."
"If you know it's no good... why do you do it?"
"I won't deny that I'm perverted, I mean, I love breasts. But... also... well...", Issei stumbled a bit as he spoke as his cheeks turned a bit red.
"Maybe... I don't have much confidence in myself. I've never really believed that I can accomplish anything."
"Oh...", Rias looked at him in surprise. "Mmm... So... you do this because you really think that you have no chance with girls and that this is the only way to get close to one?"
"I... Well... I don't really know," Issei answered unsure, having had a hard time admitting to himself on the subject of his self-confidence.
"Do you want me to give you some advice, Issei?"
"Mm? What could it be?"
"You need to become more confident. And I don't exactly mean studies and stuff. Although it is important and, depending on the woman, it would help in some things. But, most would be interested in someone who is willing to go to hell for her."
"In the end, it doesn't matter if you're perverted. After all, in the intimacy and privacy of a couple, both can become perverted by wanting to feel the other. But, you have to prove that you're trustworthy so that that special person can trust you."
"At the same time, you can't forget that honesty is just as important. Without honesty, there can be no trust. I don't know your parents, Issei, but I don't think anyone in your life has asked you to be the best at everything!"
"I'm not the best at everything... in fact, far from it, I fail at many things."
"In this world... no race is perfect, Issei. Even the gods, who many seem to believe are perfect, aren't," Rias smiled and pointed her finger at Issei, standing in front of him.
"One hour of study a day, one hour of training, one hour of reflection on what you've done in your life. For someone who is changing like you, that is enough to improve yourself little by little, day by day."
"That helped me, especially reflecting on how I was before and what I am now. If you want to change, you need to admit that you have flaws. Some try to change, but they don't admit that some things are flaws and therefore they can't change."
Issei looked at the ground, surprised as he thought.
"Accepting that you have flaws... and admitting that they really are...", Issei thought a little about his past from today and grimaced.
"Thank you very much, senpai," Issei smiled before bowing.
"He~He... Don't worry, you are part of my family, of course I will help you!"
. . .
"Rias hasn't trained at all?" Sirzechs asked doubtfully, looking straight into the eyes of his wife and queen, Grayfia.
"No… she has simply done her jobs as a club and queen of her peerage, but she hasn't trained at all."
Sirzechs frowned slightly. He had asked his wife to keep an eye on Rias a while ago, but she didn't do it every day. The last time he had checked on her and seen her training was a while ago, right after teaching Koneko Senjutsu. Therefore, they knew that Koneko had gained confidence and started using her latent powers, but not that Rias knew how to use Senjutsu or an estimate of her actual power.
"Her battle is coming up and she…" Sirzechs sighed a little before shaking his head.
Sirzechs closed his eyes and began to think about various things. But, as the days passed, he grew more and more impatient. She had many plans in her head, and it's not that any of them would harm her sister, but she was included in them.
Thus, the days came and went until the day of the Rating Game arrived. But, there was a big surprise that shocked everyone. Rias Gremory had decided to broadcast the battle to the entire underworld through DevilTube. At this moment, the start of the battle was being broadcast live on her channel.
But, as if that weren't enough, Rias stood in the middle of the imitated space of Kuoh Academy. She was standing in the middle of the courtyard with a spear on her shoulder, waiting for the arrival of her opponents without fear or hesitation in her eyes.
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