A/N: Yeah I know it's been a while. Not much I can say here but I hope you guys enjoy it. For my readers here who might also be reading my Naruto story, don't worry it's not abandoned I just kinda hit writers block on it. My beta recommended I write some other things and maybe inspiration will strike.

Chapter 9

Kuroka looked down on Issei's sleeping face fondly, honestly he was so good for her. Just last night she had had to spend an inordinate amount of time convincing him that supernatural creatures were fundamentally different to humans. That it was natural for harems to form for both genders and that Kuroka was completely fine with Issei getting more girls in his bed.

'He's an idiot but he's my idiot.'

Still, that conversation hadn't covered the main thing she wanted to talk about. Kuroka knew Issei was perfectly happy staying human and she loved him too much to try and manipulate him into becoming a Devil just so she could spend more time with him. No the thing she wanted to talk about was children, as a Nekoshou she was going to have a Nekoshou daughter; it was just the way it was and that meant that Kuroka would have a daughter to spend centuries with to remind her of Issei.

The only problem was if Issei was ready for kids, he was in high school and Kuroka knew humans tended to wait until their twenties before seriously trying. Issei stirred before blinking and seeing Kuroka looking down at him,

"Why so serious? Unless my memory is wrong I did manage to get you to seven orgasms before you drifted off."

Kuroka fiddled with the blanket, "Issei what are your thoughts on children?"

With that question the last vestiges of sleep left his face and Issei sat up, "Why? I know you want kids and I'm happy to start a family with you. We've talked about it before."

She kept fiddling with her hands, not meeting his eyes, "It's just its hard for supernatural people to conceive and it could be a few years before we're successful. I just wanted to get as early a start on it as possible."

Issei scratched his head, "Honestly I don't know; the human side of me thinks its way too early but I know you're worried about something. I know you'll be a great mum though so if you want to start seriously trying than I'm on board. Not sure what else we can do though; I don't wear condoms and never pull out."

Kuroka smiled, trust Issei to notice she was worried even if he didn't know the reasons. She ran a hand through his hair, "Well I can use senjutsu on my womb to increase my fertility as well as making it a uh 'easier path' for your swimmers."

Issei wrapped his arms around her, "Than I guess we're going to have a baby pretty soon; we're doing it enough."

Kuroka returned the hug fiercely, damn did she love this man. She forced the part of her mind that was whispering poisonous thoughts about Issei's mortality to one side; she loved Issei and was going value every second of time with him.

xXx

Cao Cao wasn't sure what to expect when Jeanne told everyone that the Red Dragon Emperor would be meeting them but a teenage boy accompanied by his grandfather wasn't it. Oh to be sure he knew what Hyoudou looked like thanks to Diodora's trial but Cao Cao hadn't expected Hyoudou to, well, act his age.

Issei Hyoudou didn't appear to have any ambition other than protecting his loved ones; an admirable goal but so… pedestrian.

Cao Cao cleared his throat, "I admire your morals Hyoudou but don't you think you were meant for more than that? The Hero Faction wants to prove that humanity is just as capable as the supernatural and Jeanne tells me that you don't wish to get involved with that side of things. That mindset is one we all share here, we are closer to you than any Devil or Angel, Fallen or otherwise."

Hyoudou scratched the back of his head, "Well I'm still a bit lost. I know you want to prove the strength of humanity but Jeanne wasn't too clear about your other goals. Maybe you can tell me?"

Cao Cao smiled, "Well it's simple, the God of the Bible gave humanity Sacred Gears; they were supposed to be our equaliser against the supernatural but all that happened is the three factions started plucking our best and brightest for their own ranks.

"It's clear to me that the supernatural are the enemies of mankind and the Hero Faction will defend our people by taking the fight to everyone who thinks they own us just because they happen to have wings!"

Hyoudou nodded before a confused look crossed his face, "Wait that's it? You're just going to fight the three factions? What about the people who don't want to fight? Will you help them or will you make them fight anyway?"

Cao Cao shrugged, "I only want what's best for the people who follow me and in the supernatural world strength is respected so I plan to make them stronger. I can't help every human in the world with a Sacred Gear, there are too many of them and I don't have the resources which is another reason why I want to take the fight to the supernatural; if I can keep their attention on me than they have less time to hunt down more humans to turn into slaves."

Hyoudou shook his head slowly, "I can see your point but if they can't beat you then they will look for people who can which directly leads to the other factions looking for more Sacred Gear users. Anyway, can't you see that all your doing is leading the others into a fight you won't win, there are just too many strong fighters in all three factions to win and your people will either die or get captured and have their Gears extracted.

"You want to help humanity right? I don't think continually fighting is the answer here."

Cao Cao blinked; he could see where Hyoudou was coming from but being defensive wasn't an option. Not fighting was the fastest way to lose a fight and Cao Cao knew that at some point the factions would envy the Hero Faction's power, they would take away the only thing he could call family and Cao Cao would be dead before that happened!

Cao Cao could feel annoyance forming but he kept his voice calm, "I guess we'll have to continue that discussion later; I think we both have thoughts on the matter. However I guess I'll get right to it and formally invite you to our faction. What do you say?"

Hyoudou looked at his grandfather, who shrugged, before turning back to face Cao Cao, "I think you should think about your goals more. Endless fighting isn't living it's just existing. Jeanne told me a little bit about all of you, not a lot but I guess sitting back and simply enjoying life isn't something many of you have done right?

"Maybe if you can find a real purpose for the Hero Faction to strive towards I'll join but until than I have to say no, sorry."

Cao Cao had guessed that would be his answer but he didn't worry. Any second now Heracles would lose his cool and challenge Hyoudou to a fight; it would give Cao Cao a chance to analyse Hyoudou's powers before he challenged Hyoudou to a fight afterwards. Was it fair to fight someone who had just fought? Not really but Cao Cao needed the Red Dragon Emperor on his side and if it came to force then so be it.

That exact series of events unfolded and it was clear that Cao Cao's theory that Heracles wouldn't be much a hurdle for Hyoudou to handle proved to be true. Cao Cao didn't know how but Hyoudou appeared to have an ability to make his body extremely durable; he didn't even bother dodging or blocking Heracles' blows, they just bounced off without effect.

Cao Cao resisted the urge to face palm as Heracles threw caution to the wind and explicitly told Hyoudou how his Sacred Gear: Variant Detonation worked. Explaining things like that was never a good idea and that was illustrated perfectly by Hyoudou now dodging Heracles' attacks with perfect precision, knowing that so much as a touch would result in damage.

Cao Cao could see Heracles getting angrier and angrier and decided to step in before he activated his Balance Breaker,

"Enough! Heracles stand down. Now it seems that Hyoudou wasn't quite pushing himself in that little scuffle but perhaps I can push him into breaking a sweat? What do you say Hyoudou, a friendly spar between you and I?"

Cao Cao smiled as he saw Hyoudou nod before Cao Cao summoned his Sacred Gear.

xXx

"Issei, that spear he just materialised is the True Longinus. It's the strongest Sacred Gear, capable of killing Gods; that's the spear that was used to kill Jesus Christ."

'So what does it do? Buff his speed and strength? Make his attacks more powerful?'

"If my memory is accurate it can fire energy blasts and shield the user from attacks. It's the one the holiest relics around so it's lethal to basically all unholy beings like Devils and vampires. It also acts a little like the Power Pole from that anime Kuroka likes. Let's hope he won't or can't use Balance Breaker otherwise you'll be very hard pressed."

Issei's Observation alerted him to dodge a thrust from Cao Cao's spear and Issei quickly realised that this would be a lot harder than his tussle with Heracles. Not taking any chances, Issei coated his arms with Hardening while lighting his body up with touki before he charged Cao Cao with a punch.

Seeing Cao Cao raise his spear up in preparation to block, Issei chose to lock his arm up with Iron Body, giving his blow more weight and power. Cao Cao clearly hadn't expected the huge amount of force behind the punch and skidded backwards several meters before he could arrest his momentum; Cao Cao learned from the punch though, not trying to block another hit out right since he knew that Issei could physically over power his defences.

As the fight continued, Issei's Observation was the only thing that enabled him to fight on par with Cao Cao. True Cao Cao didn't have the physical strength of Shalba Beelzebub since he was human but Cao Cao didn't waste energy or movement. Cao Cao's focus was intense and with the way he was almost always able to keep his Spear's point aimed at him, Issei quickly realised that Cao Cao was the toughest fight he'd had so far.

Deciding to kick it up a notch, Issei summoned his Boosted Gauntlet; boosting himself an instant later. It was a funny thing to realise so late in his training but Issei had only just made the connection that Boosting also increased the power of his Haki; using so many Boosts while using Scale Mail was probably why he had unlocked his Future Sight so early into his learning Observation.

With just one Boost, his Observation wasn't anywhere near the level of Future Sight but it did sharpen it somewhat; Issei's visual perception got sharper and in his eyes, it almost seemed as if Cao Cao had slowed down a bit.

After a flurry of blows Cao Cao grinned, "It's been a while since I've had this much fun. Let me get a bit more serious."

Nothing really changed, Cao Cao didn't use magic or activate Balance Breaker, no all that happened was a determined glint appeared in his eyes and Issei quickly realised that he'd have to step up his game or lose; a Cao Cao who was actively trying to win was far more dangerous than Shalba.

Issei grit his teeth and activated his Balance Breaker: Scale Mail before charging Cao Cao. At the last possible second he used Shave to appear behind Cao Cao and punched at Cao Cao's back however using a speed Issei didn't know Cao Cao had, he swung his Spear in a circle, deflecting the blow.

In spite of his Observation alerting him to Cao Cao's retaliatory strike Issei was unable to completely avoid the Spear; thankfully it was the butt that made contact with his chest armour.

Cao Cao than leapt backwards giving himself some space, "I think we should probably stop here. It's too hard to fight at this level while holding back; neither of us wants to seriously hurt to other. But, I am curious to see the limits you have. What do you say, shall we collide our attacks and see who wins?"

Issei ignored Ddraig's warnings and grinned, "One final test? Fine by me."

Issei channelled his Armament into his armoured arms before coating his Scale Mail in touki. He positioned his arms in front of his chest, one above the other with palms facing before clenching his fists. Issei smiled,

"Ah, this attack is on where you'll have to come to me I'm afraid."

Cao Cao smirked and lunged forward with a thrust. Timing it just before the Spear made contact Issei cried out, "Rokuogan!"

A bright light filled the abandoned warehouse the Hero Faction had temporarily taken over. Issei could almost feel the Spear edging its way through his attack.

'Rokuogan is my best attack! With the Boosting from Scale Mail and increasing its power with touki, I would've beaten Shalba with just one hit and Cao Cao is meeting it? How strong is the True Longinus?'

Issei refused to lose this contest and focused his thoughts on being unyielding and strong. Unbeknownst to Issei, a small amount of Conqueror's leaked out and hit Cao Cao.

The light faded and the Hero Faction gasped at what they saw; neither attack had gone through, it was a stalemate. That had never happened before, at least to their knowledge; when Cao Cao wanted to hit something he did.

Cao Cao smirked, "Well it seems like I was right; your strength is truly impressive. Your earlier arguments have some merit, I shall think on them and have Jeanne get back to you with my answer. Until next time, Red Dragon Emperor."

Issei chuckled, "Yeah it was fun. I gotta improve my training though. See ya later."

xXx

Kuroka hadn't known what to expect when Shirone had invited her to meet Gremory's other peerage members but this wasn't it. For some reason, the two church girls and Fallen Angel were in the club house and they were all having a calm but heated discussion.

Irina continued to frown at the room in general, "No, I can't let any of you corrupt Issei further! One Devil in his bed is bad enough! Oh Lord, give me the strength to protect my friend's soul from these heathens!"

Gremory's Queen giggled, "Ara Ara, you can't blame us. The supernatural are attracted to power and Issei's strength is so…. Tempting."

The other Fallen, ah what was her name, Raymond? No that was a guy's name, spoke up, "Please, Issei has already sampled a Devil and if you ask me he's ready for experimentation. Besides, Fallen are beings of Sin, primarily Lust."

Blue Church girl spoke up, "No, Issei is a noble soul. I'm sure we can satisfy his needs and have him serve Heaven, so stay away from him Raynare. Issei would make a fine husband I think."

Ah that's right, it was Raynare, oops. Kuroka laughed softly and gained the attention of everyone in the room.

She smirked, "You should know I've already had a similar discussion with Issei. At first he clung to his human ideal of monogamy but once he understood that biologically, the supernatural are completely fine with multiple spouses he was on board. However, as his first lover I get the most control over who gets to join his harem and it's simple; there's only one requirement."

Kuroka trailed off and laughed again seeing their reactions; Irina looked somewhere between happy and annoyed, the Two Fallen looked intrigued, Shirone was plain annoyed and the only boy looked uncomfortable but he had looked that way ever since Issei became the topic of conversation. The best and most interesting one though, had to be Gremory herself; her face was a mixture of hope, resignation and determination.

As the lull in the conversation grew Gremory got impatient, "Well, don't just leave us hanging like that! What's the requirement!?"

Kuroka grinned, "Well, the girl has to be able to beat me in a fight. It could just be my inner cat but I love the idea of a women who could kick my butt needing my permission to get her hands on Issei."

Kuroka leaned back in the couch and smiled, oh this was too much fun. Irina had gotten a determined glint in her eyes. 'Oh she might be able to in a year or two of training.' Kuroka still had no counter to Observation and she also knew that Irina was only now learning Armament and the other Powers that Garp hadn't had time to teach Irina in the past.

The Fallen had thoughtful expressions but Kuroka's focus was on Gremory's face; the redhead's expression had dropped, as if receiving bad news. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

'Did she want to be in Issei's harem that badly? She barely knows him.'

"Hey Gremory, why the long face?"

Gremory blinked and looked at Kuroka, "Well I thought about being one of Issei's girls; maybe by sleeping with him I could convince him to join my Peerage. Not that it matters now, I cant beat you in a fight, I can't even beat…"

Gremory trailed off and Kuroka narrowed her eyes, "Can't beat who? Why is Issei being in your Peerage so important?"

Gremory shrugged half-heartedly, "It's complicated but basically in the future I'm going to be a Rating Game and my freedom will be at stake. That's why I wanted Issei, he's so strong, victory would be almost assured."

Kuroka looked thoughtful, "Your freedom huh? So apart from looking for strong people to recruit what else have to done to prepare for this Rating Game?"

Gremory got an embarrassed look and shuffled her feet, not answering. It was Shirone who answered, "Not a lot to be honest. Sorry President but it's true, you haven't seriously trained in a while, all you really do is complain about Riser."

Kuroka snorted, "So why would anyone, not just Issei, want to join you? You say this Rating Game is important but do nothing about it. How typical of the Pure blood high class. If you had thrown yourself into training yourself and your servants than surely that's better than hoping my boyfriend will take pity on you."

Shirone sat down next to Kuroka, "It's not like that. President just wants what's best for us; we're as close to her as family."

Kuroka sighed in muted frustration, "Fine but Shirone, it's time you learn how to properly use senjutsu. Gremory, I hope you get off your arse and do actually do something about this Rating Game."

xXx

Vali grunted as he destroyed another training dummy. He was getting more frustrated by the day with Azazel's order for him to stay at the Grigori. His rival was out there and was strong enough to slay Shalba Beelzebub! According to the instruments in Azazel's lab, Shalba had managed to gain power equivalent to an Ultimate Class Devil and his rival beat him with just his Balance Breaker! Vali was practically salivating at the thought of how strong Hyoudou's Juggernaut Drive would be.

No, Vali needed to get out. His movements had never been restricted like this. It was time to go scout out his rival with his own eyes and no one was going to stop him, he was the strongest White Dragon Emperor and he bowed to no one!

As Vali flew through the sky above Japan he was forced to stop when a young Gothic girl appeared directly in front of him.

"Albion, you can't kill Ddraig. He, is going to get stronger and then he will help me obtain silence."

Vali scowled, "Ophis, you do realise it is our destiny to fight, to die at each other's hands?"

"What you do after I get silence is your business. Remember what I said otherwise Crom will deal with you."

"You think that will stop me? True I lost my last bout with Crom but I got even stronger because of it. I welcome the chance to fight an opponent of his calibre."

Ophis tilted her head to one side in thought, "What do you want so that you don't kill Ddraig until I've gotten my silence?"

Vali grinned, "A fight with my rival, don't worry I won't kill him but I have to fight him now so I can tell where he stands. If I'm stronger than him currently than my beating him will cause him to train even harder to close the gap. This also helps you since a stronger Red Dragon Emperor is a bigger threat to Great Red."

Ophis blinked for nodding once, "That is acceptable. Remember, don't kill Ddraig."

xXx

Tiamat sat in her office playing Pokémon; she was obviously a Dragon type specialist but was currently raging against whoever decided that Fairy's were a Dragon's weakness.

"This is so stupid! I would burn any Fairy I fought into ashes! This game is broken!"

The student president Sona Sitri looked at her 'teacher' in annoyance, "Tiamat please keep your voice down. I'm currently doing the paperwork that you are supposed to finish."

Tiamat dropped her game on to her desk, waving away Sona's words, "Eh, blame Sirzechs. He said I wouldn't have to worry about that stuff so I'm not. Stop trying so hard, the Devils run this place right? Relax, you should be more like Sera."

Sona twitched in annoyance, "My sister could stand to remember her responsibilities once in a while. She's far too flippant in my opinion."

Tiamat sighed as she leaned back in her chair, "You do know why she's like that right? You were born long after the Civil War finished but Serafall fought on the front lines for basically the entire conflict. The bodies she's buried, the amount of blood she's spilled, it leaves it's mark on a person. Is it so strange to think that a show about a magical girl who uses friendship to win fights without killing would appeal to her? Every Satan has their coping mechanisms but you never connected the dots.

"Add the fact that she's the strongest women in Devil society and there is a gulf between Sera and everyone else. Men are too scared of her and women are jealous of her power and beauty. Why do you think she's so attached to you? Sure a small part of it might actually be attraction, you are beautiful but its mostly because you accept her unconditionally. So before you blow off Serafall's antics again, just try to see things from her perspective."

Sona sat in shock; how could she have been so blind? Sona had always thought herself to be an intelligent person but not once had she ever tried to understand why Serafall acted the way she did. No, all Sona had done was get frustrated at her older sister's immaturity.

Sona took a breath to gather her thoughts, "Thank you for being so honest with me. I guess with her being in my life from the start I never thought to question what she was like earlier. I think I'll go give her call."

Tiamat smiled as Sona left the office before picking up her game. 'Now lets smite some puny Fairies! And can someone tell me why Ice is a weakness? We breathe fire!'

xXx

Issei was walking to school accompanied by Irina and Xenovia. He turned to Irina and said, "Oh I forgot to ask, do you know how Diodora's former Peerage are? They all deserve some happiness now."

Xenovia nodded, "Some of the girls had lost their faith in our Lord and once free from Diodora's control struck out on their own. It's my understanding that those girls were given ample monetary compensation from the Astaroth family.

"The remaining girls were still faithful and taken to Heaven for counselling and a peaceful life. The nun you saved, Asia Argento, is there helping as much as she can. I believe some higher ups in the church objected but Michael put his foot down. He said the girls had suffered enough and deserved to see paradise."

Issei nodded, "That's good but how did you know the specifics? Surely you're not privy to those kinds of details?"

Xenovia smiled, "That's true but my teacher, Griselda Quarta, is the second strongest Exorcist and personally escorted the former Peerage to Heaven. She told me in private and I have to agree with Michael."

Issei turned to his right to face Irina, "And how's your training with Gramps? I bet you wish he had started Armament before you left for London."

Irina pouted, "It's so unfair, you have years of practise with not just Armament but Tempest Kick and Finger Pistol to! How am I expected to catch up now? And I'm not a Conqueror either!"

Issei smirked and was about to tease her when someone stopped in front of him on the sidewalk; it was a teen with silver hair and a hungry look on his face.

"Issei Hyoudou, Red Dragon Emperor my name is Vali and I'm the White Dragon Emperor. Come my rival it is time for us to fight!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: So a lot happened this chapter. What did you guys think? Next chapter should be interesting considering it will kick off with Vali vs Issei. Who do you think is going to come out on top of that one?

How is the characterization going? I'm trying to keep everyone the way they are in canon but considering I haven't read the Light novels, I don't have a clue as to Tiamat's personality. All I can go on there is what the wiki tells me about her.

Let me know your thoughts,

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.