Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD.

Correcting Misconceptions

'I'll give him credit. When he doesn't want to be found, Issei can be hard to track down.' Rias Gremory had scoured the old schoolhouse searching for her favorite servant, Issei Hyoudou. Several times she had been certain she had cornered him only for her Pawn to have given her the slip. It would be admirable if it wasn't so utterly frustrating. Finally after an hour she had him in one of the few rooms with only one entrance and no windows to flee out of. "Issei, we really need to talk."

Issei Hyoudou had just finished hanging the last new shelf needed for the haunted house the ORC was creating for the School Festival. Hearing Rias' voice he visibly tensed much like the few times he had done something he knew would anger her. "Not really, Buchou. I already explained that I understood how things would go." His heart was breaking as he muttered those words, but he put everything he had into not letting his voice crack, "You don't need to explain it all to me."

Rias' heart clenched painfully in that moment, she could feel Issei's heart breaking under his own misconceptions as if it were her own. She wiped away a tear as she steeled herself for what she had to do. It had never crossed her mind that Issei was unaware of her feelings. She had assumed it was obvious. It certainly was to everyone else, even their enemies. It wasn't until she spoke his fears that Rias realized Issei had been damaged by Raynare on a far deeper level than just his physical death.

"Well, what you understand and what is reality are two vastly different things, Issei," Rias decided to be as blunt as possible, "I will never bring home another man because I have been besotted with you since the beginning. Maou help me it's only grown since then. Do you think I just let any man touch my breasts? No, it's just you."

Issei's head whipped around so fast that Rias feared he might give him whiplash. "But…"

"No, I listened to you and now you will listen to me, Issei. I love you," Rias cut him off before he could continue. "I want to spend the rest of our very long lives together. I want to get married to you. I want to carry our children. It's all I've dreamed about since I reincarnated you even before I realized it. Maou, that night I tried to seduce you to stop my wedding to Riser, it wasn't about losing my virginity. Arranged marriages like that care little about purity. It was about carrying your child. I was ready to be the mother to your children even then. When I pictured having children, I could only see a little Issei with crimson hair or a little girl with your kind eyes. So no other man could have done. I knew if I had your child, the Phenex family would break the contract. My own would have insisted I marry you... which I wouldn't have fought against even back then."

Rias paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. She hadn't meant to admit that. That night she had used a number of spells that would have nearly guaranteed a child of they had made love. She wouldn't be able to cast them again for at least a millennium, so she would just have to make do with the normal chances of conception. 'That just means we'll have to make love as often as possible.'

"As for your dream, I was only jealous because I didn't think you wanted me in your harem," Rias sighed softly. "Which I now know is silly, but then it was a legitimate fear I had. I was terrified that you didn't love me like you do the others." Rias wiped away another tear. "Now I know you just had no inkling of my feelings and were too afraid to express your own to me. I can see now you are still skeptical and if I could kill Raynare over again for creating that doubt, I would. I hate that she managed to make you think that you aren't lovable. But since I can't just kill her again, I will have to just spend our very long lives proving to you that yes, I am deeply in love with you. And I am not so greedy that I will keep you to myself. If my Issei wants to he a Harem King, I will do everything I can to be his favorite wife."

Issei at this point could only smile as he gazed into Rias' eyes. All his doubts and fears were being shattered by the woman he arguably loved the most. He might be overly protective of Asia. He might enjoy flirting with Akeno. He might love cuddling Koneko. It was hard not to be flattered by Xenovia's constant attempts to have his child. He even loved having Irina back in his life. However, he loved Rias just a smidge more than the rest of them. She was the one who could shatter his heart or heal it with just a word.

"Now, you will immediately stop calling me Buchou outside of official meetings," Rias said with a grin, "The love of my life should call me by my name."

"Alright, Rias."

A smiling Rias pulled Issei in for a for a loving, but very passionate kiss.