Demon Among Devils

Chapter 1: "......."

But then again, if she did, he probably wouldn't have fallen for her, and her, him.

He still remembered that bumpy, lonely ride on the back of her motor scooter, as odd a trip as the request that led to it. She had plied him with questions, and it was halfway through their journey that he divined its true purpose. He had answered to the best of his ability, and still the trip back had been awkward. He had succeeded though, realizing it at first when the Persona he could summon from the Empress Arcana grew stronger, and then a week later when Mitsuru cornered him in a classroom and kissed him.

It was that scene alone that played in his mind over and over again when he saw Rias, and the image pained him; dangling the one thing in front of him that he desired most, yet was unable to attain. So he avoided Rias, going so far as turning away when she approached or slipping outside into the hallway when they were in the same room. The memories were still too raw, too painful, and he did not like having them.

Unfortunately, his efforts at evasion did not go unnoticed. He was not like the other boys, who immediately went wide-eyed and became tongue-tied when the school beauty gave them a look. In the times he could not avoid her, he would at least give her a polite nod of acknowledgment, and focus on whatever he had been doing before. That apparently set him out from the rest, though it did not surprise him. It had been much the same with Yukari and Mitsuru at Gekkoukan High.

The frequent slips he gave her when the redhead came to talk to him could not be misconstrued as anything else but avoiding her. Still, Rias had not given up, and the more he avoided her the more she persisted in finding him. In the few months he had arrived at this school, it had almost become a game to them, with him hiding and her seeking. It was a game that required patience, and he was confident that he could win for he had patience in ample supply. That, and from the recent sour looks she would send him after spending a lunchtime of searching only to discover he had been in his homeroom all along, told him he was close to victory.

He regretted he could not at least be friends with her. She just resembled Mitsuru in too many ways for him to even consider the possibility.

~Issei Hyoudou~

He did not consider Issei Hyoudou a friend, though from the way the perverted boy treated him it was clear Issei considered him one. He had tried to make himself scarce but like Rias, the boy would seek him out. Unlike Rias though, Issei could actually find him, and long were the hours he suffered as he was regaled with tales of harems, women, and womanly body parts. It seemed that was all Issei could talk about, and he had a sneaking suspicion the boy had not a clue about what a real relationship was like.

He had experience with Mitsuru, and an inkling of what would have happened if he had tried the harem route when he announced his relationship to the rest of SEES. From the way Fuuka suddenly excused herself and the fact that Yukari would not speak with him for the next three days spoke volumes of how badly he had missed the signs. He had been so focused on strengthening the bonds of their Arcana that he had not noticed the inevitable feelings that arose as a result.

He had felt like an ass afterwards too.

He apologized, of course, and Fuuka at least had been fast to forgive. She required him merely to taste some of her cooking, and he had survived that only with some mild food poisoning. He considered that a victory compared to some of her more… exotic dishes. Yukari had not been so lenient. He had suspected she had liked him from the very start, but either had not the opportunity or courage to tell him. Ever since that day the girl had been noticeably distant to Mitsuru, and though Yukari had always made sure that it would never affect her combat performance, the awkwardness between the two still lingered.