Rias POV
After the rating game those of us that weren't defeated teleport to the hospital to check on everyone else. When we arrive we see Gasper, Issei, Asia, and Xenovia, but Y/N is nowhere to be found. I turn to the nurse and she knows what I'm about to say. "As soon as Mr. L/N woke up he went to go check on the other team and make sure they were all okay."
"So he must be doing okay then?" The nurse looks away.
"Not entirely. His injuries aren't terrible, but I told him he should have stayed and rested to ensure everything would be fine. The attack that sent him here cut him up quite a bit. He wouldn't listen and just got up to check on them. I asked him to stop but he said that he wanted to make sure that they were okay. It was rather admirable I must say. He'll be okay, but whenever he can he needs to lay back down and rest."
"Classic Y/N," Akeno says. I think back to what he told me last night. I check on everyone else and they all seem to have recovered rather quickly. I tell them about how proud of them I am, and each one of them should proud. I ask the nurse where Sona's house is and she points me in the direction of the room they're all in. As I make my way to them I hear Y/N's voice talking to them.
"I'm glad you all are okay. I understand that you may be disappointed in your loss, but take this as a learning experience. You all have a lot more room for growth, and I would be glad to help you all." I stand in the doorway and see Y/N standing in front of all of Sona's house like he was teaching, and they all still look a little disheartened. "Don't give frustration the last word. The beauty of trial and error is that there's hope."
(A/N: Koro Sensei is the greatest. If you haven't seen Assassination Classroom do yourself a favor and watch it.)
"Did you come up with that on your own?" I ask announcing my presence. Everyone looks my way and Y/N comes over to me giving me a hug. "I just wanted to tell you all that it was a very good battle, and I can't wait until the next one." Sona and her house all give me a smile and I look to Y/N. "As for you I've been told you decided to not let yourself recover so you could come talk to them." Everyone's smiles turn to grins and Y/N looks guilty.
"Sorry Rias, but I just wanted to make sure they were all okay." He turns back to Sona's house and tells them goodbye. The nurse comes and tells us that we are free to go and we head back to the Gremory mansion and see everyone. I ask for Y/N and I to get some privacy and we go to his room. "What's going on Rias? You seem worried."
"Of course I am. I know you wanted to check on them, but you should have let yourself recover first." He just smiles and puts his hand on my head.
"I'll be fine Rias, trust me. I'm just glad we won. I told you that's what I wanted. One night of rest and I'll be fit as a fiddle."
"I do trust you Y/N, that's why I'm worried. You just have a tendency to go above and beyond more than you can handle." The two of us move to the balcony and look out to the horizon.
"Rias, I appreciate the thought, but I promise I'm fine. Every time you tell me that it makes my heart hurt knowing that I could cause you grief." He puts his arms around me. "I've been thinking. You said back when we got to the underworld that you wanted to become the champion of the rating game. Anything that I can do to help you achieve that goal I will do. Today was the first step towards that, and I won't stop until you make it."
"Why are you telling me this Y/N?" He gives me a smile.
"I'm just telling you that whatever happens, I will still be here. It could be just the two of us and I won't leave." He gives me a kiss. "I love you Rias Gremory." I feel tears start to hit my eyes.
"Y/N, I love you too. Can you do something for me?" He smiles in anticipation for what I'm about to say. "When we get back from the underworld, let's get a place to stay. Just the two of us. All the girls already live with Issei and Kiba and Gasper have no problems where they are. Consider it a first home for us."
"I think that sounds magnificent. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind staying in the ORC, but it would be nice to truly have a place to call ours. I've been thinking about the future a lot since you brought me back. Things may not work out exactly how I think they will, but I know that if anything happens we can take care of it." The two of us smile at each other and it seems like time is stopping for the two of us, all until Issei comes in and sees us standing there.
"Hey I was told to let you know that dinner is ready. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The two of us laugh and we follow Issei out to the dining room. "Hey Y/N, before we go back home I really do want to spar with you. You've brought it up before and I want to see if I'm stronger than you." The two of them agree to it and the rest of the night carries on.
Y/N POV
The Next Day
After a night of healing with Rias Issei and I meet outside to spar with each other. We both agreed to sneak out early because we didn't have too much time before we head back to the human realm. Issei seems pretty confident, and I'm feeling the same. In terms of raw potential Issei has me beat everyday, but currently I have no idea who is stronger.
"Y/N," he calls to me from across the battlefield. "Don't hold back against me. I want to fight you one on one with us both going all out. You may have saved me when I fought Vali but I'm not the same person as back then. Tannin made sure that I was 100% prepared to fight you." I shake my head and laugh.
"You're not the only one who has gotten stronger since then. I think it's safe to say that the two of us have faced a lot of emotional torment since that night. I'm not going to let it hold me back though. If you want to fight me going all out, then as a warrior it would be disgraceful for me not to give you that respect." Issei really has grown since I met him. Back then the only thing I really knew about him was that he was a pervert, but I've realized that there is a lot more to him than that. Sure he's a pervert, but there is a heart there. I fully understand why all of the other girls like him the way they do. Issei Hyoudou completely understands what he is, and he won't change that for anything. The two of us enter fighting stances and prepare to battle each other.
The two of us dash towards each other and Issei readies his Boosted Gear. He doesn't activate his Balance Breaker and his face stays confident. He boosts as we move towards each other and I ready my defense. One punch could do quite the number to me so I don't want to take it head on. He aims for my cheek but I jump back, bringing some fire into play.
"I saw how you used that against Sirzechs. I'm not going to fall for that Y/N." As true as that may be I'm not so linear. His offense is very potent and it seems like he isn't focused much on blocking. The saving grace of his plan is his speed, which isn't too far behind mine. I turn my flames into a barrier and he tries to lunge through it, allowing me to place a kick to his chest. He slides back but stands unfazed by the attack and I make my move. He's readying himself for flames but I focus more on my physical attacks. Issei jumps my way and it turns into a back and forth of punches.
We trade blows for what seems like a minute, neither one of us giving an inch, but an opening appears for me. His right hand comes and I block it, raising my left leg to kick him in the gut. He falls over but stands quickly again. I jump back preparing to defend, but he laughs.
"Alright that's enough screwing around." Issei enters his Balance Breaker and the gravity of the situation hits me. I'm actually going blow for blow with the Red Dragon Emperor. I get a smirk on my face and Issei notices. "What's so funny Y/N?"
"Nothing. I've just been waiting for this fight and I'm finally having it. Whether I win or lose I've stood toe to toe with both of the Heavenly Dragons." His wings spread and he flies towards me, his speed increasing from the armor. I know my physical attacks won't do much but it seems like I don't have a choice. His fist connects with my cheek and I'm sent flying backwards unable to find my footing. My blood drops from my lips and I wipe it away. Issei keeps coming towards me, and it reminds me of when I attacked Vali. His power is overwhelming and I can't do much to counteract it. Even then I don't want this to end as it's a rare experience to fight the Red Dragon Emperor.
"Feel free to give up whenever you want Y/N." That does it. I dodge his attacks and reach for his leg. When my grip lands on it I swing him around and throw him away from me, allowing myself to catch my breath for a second. A stream of flames exits my hands but Issei keeps up with no worries. A punch to my gut, then my head, then another to my head, the hits keep landing. It seems as if he really isn't holding back. He punches me away and prepares a blast to hit me, but before he can send it off a voice shouts.
"Issei that's enough!" I try to make out who it was, but the damage I've incurred makes it difficult. Looking down I see my clothes completely tattered and bloodied. He was fighting hard and I really enjoyed the fight even though the outcome seemed to be set as soon as we arrived on the field. My vision starts to fade but I try to make my way to my feet. As I do my legs buckle and I hit the ground. Someone comes up to me, and by the red I can see there are a few options.
"Are you alright friend?" I know exactly who it is now. "Asia, if you could please." She runs over and starts healing my wounds.
"Thanks Luci. Never would have expected it to be you." As Asia heals me my vision starts to focus.
"Well this morning was the end of my lockup. I heard fighting and saw you were in quite a bind. Between you and me I think he was trying to kill you."
"That's not true," Asia cries. "Issei may have been upset with Y/N before but he wouldn't have tried to kill him." She finishes healing me and I make my way to my feet.
"I think she's right. He said he was going to fight me all out, and he did." Asia runs over to Issei who is being scolded by Rias. Sirzechs comes and whispers in my ear.
"You were holding back weren't you? I heard you did when we fought, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case this time. You're much stronger than I had thought." I nod my head.
"It was meant to be training, that's it. He shouldn't be punished for that. I underestimated him and this was the result." Issei comes up to me and looks down to the ground.
"I'm sorry Y/N. I went too far." I shake my head and smile at him.
"No need to apologize. I've been healed and that's all that needed to happen. Maybe next time we should have bystanders before we start our bout." He chuckles a little bit and we walk back over to Rias who looks worried. I mouth the words "I'm fine" to her and she nods.
"I was worried when I woke up and you weren't there. I'm glad to see it was just training, but I still don't know if you should have done that the day after the rating game." I don't say anything in response. She's right, and if I try to say anything it won't help my case.
Later That Day
The ORC has arrived back in the human realm and everyone has gone home now besides Rias and I. The two of us make our way to an apartment that Sirzechs and Grayfia got for us and open it up. It isn't a big place only having one bedroom, but considering we sleep together I think it should be fine.
"This is nice," I say. "Very quaint but I really like it." I make my way to the porch and look at the view. The school is really close and it obscures a lot of what we could end up seeing but that's just how it is. We look around and see all of our stuff from the bedroom in the club has been moved in, and the rest of the apartment is furnished as well.
"I like it too Y/N. I'm just glad we have something to ourselves." We look at the kitchen counter and notice quite a stack of money with a note labeled "FOOD" so I suppose that is grocery money courtesy of the Gremory family. "I guess we should stock up."
"It wouldn't hurt," I respond. "It's unfortunate that it will be our first time out in public together. I haven't even gotten to take you on a date in the time we've been together." She grabs my hands and smiles at me.
"Let's make it one then. Grocery shopping, dinner, whatever we want. I don't care if anyone sees us anymore Y/N, and I don't think you do either." We both laugh thinking back to when we were in the underworld.
"We should head out then. Maybe we could do more than just that though. There's a lot of daylight left. Anything specific you want to do princess?" She thinks for a second before answering.
"Food shopping, clothes shopping, dinner, movie. Sound like a plan?" I agree and the two of us head out into Kuoh. It's been a few months since we've been here and I already didn't know the layout of this town well to begin with. Rias and I walk arm in arm and it truly is bliss. We make our way into a market real quick and after an hour we leave with enough food to last us a couple of weeks.
"I take it we'll be going to the mall for clothes?" Rias nods at me. "It'll be nice to see it without having to enter a battle in it. To be fair I fought in the parking garage but you get the idea." She giggles a little bit and I can't help but smile. That laugh could make any man happy I swear. After putting everything up she takes my hand.
"Off we go again Mr. L/N." I shake my head at her reminding me of being at school. It reminds me that when classes start back up the two of us will have to be secretive again, but fortunately we have a place to ourselves now. We make our way back into town and I look around at all of the different places I haven't been.
"Someday we should just walk around town so I can get used to it. There were a lot of side streets when I was staying at Sona's and even then it was easy to get lost."
"That sounds nice, but maybe another time." We keep walking and Rias speaks again. "Remember when we went to Issei's house together?" I nod thinking back to it. That was only the second time I had been around Rias and I was already falling for her then. It was truly a problem but surprisingly everything worked out. The two of us got really lucky in that regard.
"Of course I do, why do you ask?"
"Just thinking about it. It was only a few months ago but it's as if it was only yesterday. So much has changed since then." She has a point. Back then I was a human killing enemies of Lucifer and now I'm a devil in his sister's peerage. "Honest question, if you hadn't met me what do you think your life would be like right now?" We walk into the mall as I answer.
"Ultimately I don't know. There is only one certainty and it's that Serafall and I would be married. I might be a devil in your brother's house but either way I would probably still be doing what I was before I started teaching. If Serafall didn't bring me to open house then we never would have met. What about you?" She ponders my question and responds.
"I would probably be at Issei's house still. There are a lot of things that would be different. I would still have a rook available, I might have lost the rating game, and I definitely would still be a virgin." The two of us laugh heavily.
"Did he never try to make a move on you?" She shakes her head. "That surprises me."
"He was nervous. I'm not worried though." As we walk around the mall I realize the layout of it from the rating game, though instead of people fighting everyone here seems relatively happy. Rias drags me into a random clothing store and starts looking at the racks. "What do you think Y/N?"
"I think you should make your own decision." She rolls her eyes at me. "Whatever you pick I will probably like. You could wear military combat gear and have no makeup on and you would still look amazing."
She looks at me like I'm full of shit. "How about a color preference? Can you do that?" I smirk.
"Black or red. White isn't a bad option but those three are my preference. Not to say anything else is off limits but that's where we'll start." She grabs a bunch of clothes.
"Was that so difficult?" I shake my head and laugh as she leads me back to the fitting room. I take a seat outside and look towards the floor so my gaze isn't caught anywhere else. After a minute Rias comes out wearing a black dress that hugs her body tightly. Every part of her looks fantastic in it.
"Damn," I say out loud. She giggles at me.
"That must be a yes then?"
"There will be a lot of those I'm sure. You might as well turn this into a runway show." She does what I say and comes walking out in a variety of outfits, from shirts and shorts to dresses to skirts as well as everything in between, and she owns every single outfit. We pay for her stuff and I expect us to be leaving but Rias stops me.
"It's your turn now." I look at her confused.
"I really don't need any new clothes Rias." She doesn't listen and drags me into a different clothing store, though this one has men's clothes instead of women's.
"You may not need them, but I want to get you some." I stop her right there.
"I appreciate it, really, but I'd rather pay for them myself. I'm making enough money where I can afford it." She insists and I give in. Sometimes it isn't worth making a mountain out of a molehill. I grab a few shirts and pairs of pants from her suggestions and after a similar experience from what happened earlier we make our way out of the mall into the night.
"Alright Rias how about this, we can take all of this home and I'll cook us something. Anything you want I'll make it happen." A smile hits her lips.
"Seafood sounds amazing. I know we picked some up earlier, but I wouldn't mind going somewhere so you don't have to cook." I take her hand.
"It would be an honor to cook for you my lady." She blushes and I know I've won. Once we arrive at home I get to work on the meal while she sets everything else up. Instead of makeshift romance in public we'll just do it ourselves. As I get everything cooked I see Rias setting the table, and apparently the mood. I turn my head back to the stove shaking my head.
"You're thinking about something Y/N." She comes up next to me.
"Well, it's just funny. I've been on plenty of dates, but this has been the most special one. Instead of paying an obscene amount at some restaurant where the chef probably doesn't care we can do it all at home. I don't mind going out, but if I'm being honest all I desire is being with you. Whether that's here in our new home or on a beach in the middle of nowhere is secondary to me."
"I like that idea Y/N." She puts her arms around me. "Maybe after dinner we can put a movie on and cuddle for the night." I turn her way and kiss the top of her head.
"That sounds lovely, though I don't know a lot about movies. I'll let you pick."
(A/N: I think a little bit of myself trickled in here. I hardly ever watch movies and I always have to deal with "wow you haven't seen this movie what the fuck is wrong with you?" Just had to get that out.)
"Okay Y/N." I finish cooking our meal and prepare two plates. When I take a good look at the table I see candles, roses, and red wine that I didn't know we had. I look over at Rias and she just smiles when I notice it, but I'm not that worried about it. The two of us are at home in a safe place and I think we can be responsible. I turn the lights low and the mood is truly set.
"I like what you did with everything," I tell Rias as she pours us each a glass of wine. We raise them to each other. "To us and the future," I say as we click our glasses together. A small sip is all it takes as the two of us look at each other with stars in our eyes. Anything else happening in the world now has no effect on what is happening here. Tonight is about the two of us, and I couldn't be happier. Rias takes a bite and her face lights up even more.
"I knew you could cook but you outdo yourself every time. This was definitely worth it over going out." I feel my face heat up.
"Let's keep that in mind then." We keep eating and everything just feels right. Once finished all that was there to set the mood is undone. Before I can start the dishes Rias stops me.
"It can wait until tomorrow," she says. She drags me to the couch and sits me down before taking her place next to me. We put our arms around each other and watch the movie she picked out. I'm not paying much attention to it, and honestly I don't believe she is either. "I had fun today Y/N. I know we didn't do much but it was still a nice day. We should do this again really soon." I kiss her on the cheek.
"We really should. I love you Rias, my sweet ruin princess." She kisses me back.
"And I love you Y/N, my hardheaded but lovable prince." We both laugh and get comfortable with each other before drifting off to sleep one the couch.
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There are only a couple more parts of this story coming and it'll be wrapped up. Originally this went a lot differently than how it did, and while I'm happy with the changes I made plot wise, I still don't know how much I could really do from here. I could just follow the main plot but that's not what I want this story to be. I won't ask for suggestions because I already know how I'll be writing the rest of this, so I'll just say thank you for all the support on this story.
-Coop