"I've said it countless times, Grayfia. I will not marry Riser!"

"Ojou-sama, it was something your father and Lord Phoenix agreed upon."

Gremory crossed her arms stubbornly while shooting a hate-filled glare at Phenex, who just gave a cocky smile in return "I don't care if it's what they decided. I refuse to marry him."

After that declaration, Phenex started to yap about the reasons on why the marriage between them is important before Gremory gave her innocent and somewhat selfish reason, similar to the canon timeline. I mostly drown them out, especially when they started to shout at each other, since such a speech hardly matters to me.

"It seems I have no choice." Lucifuge started with a sigh, which led the two [Kings] to give her a silent questioning look, before looking at the redhead "Erica-sama said to give you a chance to get out of the engagement, should you still be against it."

"Nee-sama?"

"Hai. In the event you're still against the wedding, you'd be permitted to play a [Rating Game] against Riser-sama." This caused Gremory's eyes to widen, shocked that she has to play a game, which she isn't old enough in her society's view, for her life "Should you win, you'd be able to go on without the wedding, no more pushing from either family. However, if you lose, the wedding will continue regardless."

Rather than the look of relief or determination, Gremory had an angry look "In other words Otou-sama and the others decided to have a game as a last resort if I was to decline, right? ...Just how far are they intending to interfere with my life to feel satisfied!"

...I'm really considering to give back the money to Himejima after hearing that line. It pisses me off to hear kids complaining about their parent's being unfair and shit, but the spoiled brats are the worse of the bunch. They live a life full of luxury, their parent's are (with a few exceptions) always there to shower them with love, and yet they have they have the balls to complain about their parents being unfair when things don't go their way?

It's one of the reasons why I hate and can't understand spoiled brats like her... Why do they complain about things when they (again, with a few exceptions) have an easy and great life?

"Then why don't just give up the title to another relative or just kill yourself..."

"Did you say something, Kōjiro-kun?" I heard Kiba asked from my left, and I didn't need to look at her to know that she's staring at me with a curious expression on her face.

"Nothing important."

"Then Ojou-sama, you are saying you would also decline to participate in the game?" Lucifuge asked the redhead.

Gremory shook her head "No, I won't since this is a chance. Alright then. Let's settle this with a game, Riser."

Phenex smirked "Hee, so you're accepting it. I don't mind. But I'm already a matured Devil and I have already participated in the official game. Right now I have won most of the games. Even so, you still want to play, Rias?"

"I will. I will blow you away, Riser!" Gremory declared determinedly.

"Fine. If you win, do whatever you like. But if I win, you will marry me immediately." The two High-Class Devils glared at each another.

"Understood. I, Grayfia, have confirmed both sides opinion." The [Strongest Queen] declared before looking at the two soon to be wed "I will be in charge of the game between the two households. Is that okay?"

[Yeah.] Both [Kings] replied at the same time, probably the first and only time that they would ever agree on something.

Lucifuge bowed her head "Understood. I will inform the two House heads then." Was all she said before she disappeared with a magic circle.

Phenex looked at the others before smirking "Hey, Rias. Would the ones here be your servants?"

"And so what if the others are my servants?"

Phenex burst into laughter "Then this match will be a laugh. Only your [Queen], the [Priestess of Thunder] can fight on par with my adorable servants." Phenex then snapped his fingers, causing the magic-circle on the ground to glow. An emblem that I assumed to be that of the house of Phenex appeared. The figures began to rise from the circle, revealing 15 women with each and everyone dressed in rather fetishistic cosplays for certain types "Well, these are my cute servants."

I looked over them to jog my memory about them, with the only name coming up to my mind is Ravel Phenex when my eyes landed on a blonde girl with curly twin-tails. If I remember correctly, she's the Tsundere and Issei Hyōdō's manager in canon... Now that reminds, I wonder how are my younger half-sisters doing? It's been 4 years since I last saw them with-

"Hey! Why is that human ignoring my cute servants?" I blinked before turning to see Phenex scowling at me while the girls behind him frown at being ignored... If they can't take the hint, then I'll be blunt towards them.

"I have no reason to look any further at them, after realising something about them."

[What?] It wasn't just Phenex who asked that but Gremory as well while everyone else is looking at me in confusion, making me sigh at them.

"I'll admit and I'm being truthful to my words, only Gremory and Himejiman-san can deal with your servants for now and even then, they would struggle against them." I saw the hurtful looks from the two that I didn't call out while Phenex and his girls smirked at my words... How easy for them to dance in my tune, arrogant beings "...Then how about you let them train for two weeks before the match?"

[Huh?] This time, everyone else in the room said the same thing at the same time.

"Think about it, you should let them gather their strength and give them a fighting chance since it is their first [Rating Game]. It would look bad in your image if you fought a bunch of newbies since it'll make you look like someone that likes to pick on the weak." I started off, which made Phenex think about my words while I noticed Himejima smiling a bit towards me, no doubt realising my plan... Well, be prepared for a big surprise, my dear contractor "Also, two weeks of preparation will give them hope that they'll win if they train very hard... But if you crush them, their efforts and their hope, showing them that all they did was delaying the inevitable, your fiancé will submit to you once she realised that she doesn't stand a chance against you, your team and your power."

"What the hell are you saying, Kōjiro-kun!?" Gremory demand, making me turn towards her to see an angry and betrayed expression on her face, which is mirrored by her peerage in their own way "Why are you siding with a bastard like him!?"

"The answer is simple, Gremory. I hate you." I admitted without any hesitation in my voice, which took everyone by surprise while the redhead looked like she was just stabbed in the heart "If 'love at first sight' exists then 'hate at first sight' should exist as well... And the moment that I first saw you, I just knew that we will never be in good terms." I then held up five fingers "I was right about my assumption, and here are five reasons why:

1) You've been annoying me into joining your peerage in order to fight against your fiancé, even possibly staging my death so I would be forced into your group with Raynare. After all, you've been spying on me through Kiba and Tōjō even before I interacted with Raynare. And don't give me that horseshit about keeping me safe, because I'm fully capable in defending myself.

2) You've broken our deal of leaving me alone if I won our bet by forcing me to join your club when I have nothing to do here, besides homework or reading light novels. The only reason why you would drag me into a club where I have nothing to do in its activities is that you wanted to know me better, so you can change my mind and make me join you peerage out of my free will.

3) I might not be there to see you, but my housemates informed me that you've trespassed into my home last night, without informing me beforehand and when I didn't even want you to enter. I would let it slide if you're a very close friend of mine, but you're not even close to being called a fake friend... And you even had the guts try and seduce me so that you can get out of your engagement by losing your 'innocence' when I don't even have the smallest hint of lust towards you." I then jabbed a thumb towards Phenex "I only need a few hints to figure out why you were there last night."

"Risa-sama..." A young and slightly haughty voice called out the redhead with a tone of disappointment "I know that you're willing to do nearly anything just get out of your engagement with Nii-sama, but I didn't expect that you're willing to give your first-time towards such a lowly human."

"4) I absolutely hate rich spoiled brats like you." I continued on before person speaking or anyone else could say anything in response "Rich people like you, who complain about your parents not letting your way when they've given you nearly anything that orphans, homeless children and even middle-class, broken or not, families would kill to have. It pisses me off to no end that people like you exist, having real reasom to be hear other then complain when things don't revolve around you.

And 5) You hardly consider what I thought about things and just when on what you feel and think... Which is nearly everything that you've done until now: Putting me into this club when I'm supposed to be in the Student Council. Getting in my way when I was on a hunt. Breaking into my house without informing me and if Himejima didn't inform me of this beforehand, you could have used me against your fiancé. And If there's one thing that I hate in an equal level to spoiled rich brats, that would be getting dragged into some bullshit that doesn't matter to me without my consent."

I let out a sigh in order to calm myself down, preventing myself from going further and dragging the speech even further.

"If siding with Phenex here, despite our very horrible first impressions with each other, means no longer having to see you, than I'll take it." I explained without looking away from the red head's wide eyes before pointing my right thumb towards Phenex's peerage "Besides, I'm pretty sure that even if you and your team trained for two weeks, it wouldn't be enough to gain power that would let you win against this number, who are no doubt experience with [Rating Games]."

"...I see." Gremory said with a sad smile on her face before looking down at her feet in order to cast a shadow over her eyes "I didn't expect that my actions would cause you to hate me so much, Kōjiro-kun."

"...So Rias, do you accept this bastard's suggestion for two weeks of training?" Phenex said with a serious expression on his face, rather than his smug smirk that he had earlier... So this is the honourable Phenex from the LN, rather than the totally arrogant Yakitori from the anime, but with more hostility towards guys that are in the same room as his fiancé, that's not in her peerage "A [Rating Game] isn't something simple that you can win with only your feelings. If you can't use your servant's power to the fullest, then you will lose immediately. So it's not weird for you to train with your servants for your first [Rating Game]. No matter how much potential you have, no matter how much power you have, I have seen Devils who lost without using their power to the fullest countless times."

"..." Gremory just kept quiet and listened carefully to what Phenex had to say, who put his palm to the ground and it started to glow before a magic circle was formed around him and his girls.

"Two weeks. If it's you, then you should be able to improve your servants." Phenex said with a smirk on his face, back to his cocky self and completely convinced that my idea will come true... Which isn't too far from the truth. Gremory maybe a hard nut to crack, but that doesn't mean she can't be broken (into his sex slave) if he tried hard enough "The next time we meet will be at the match."

After he said that, Phenex and his servants disappeared in the magic circle.

"...There, I gave you two weeks to prepare for the [Rating Game]." I said with a slight sigh before turning towards the group, who are looking at me in confusion with the exception of Gremory, that I've 'betrayed' "So, when is training vacation going to start?"

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Kiba asked, voicing the question that's going through their (minus Himejima) minds.

"I asked for his help, in order to prepare for this encounter with Riser-san." Kiba, Tōjō and especially Gremory turned towards Himejima with shocked expressions on their faces when the Yamato Nadeshiko revealed our deal.

"Then that means...!" Gremory gasped, looking at her best friend with wide eyes before turning towards me, but this time with a hint of hope.

"The speech to Phenex was nothing more but a way to get time to train you g-girls... A small part of it, that is." I said, resisting the urge to say 'greenhorns', before turning towards Gremory with a stone cold stare to crush her the hope "I wasn't lying about the reasons why I hate you, Gremory. While I might keep what I feel towards others a secret, I will never lie about them."

"..." Once again, Gremory looked down but this time in disappointment... She probably hoped that my words about hating her were lies, that my entire speech was made up in order to help her against Phenex. Well too bad, since not everyone likes you.

"...Kōjiro-kun." I glanced at Himejima when she called out my name "You promised me that you would tell us our... Flaws, and how to improve from them."

"...I only remember the part that I'm supposed insulting all of you, but whatever floats your boat." I shrugged my shoulders before moving away to sit on a chair that conveniently was placed where I can look at them "I won't sugar coat anything, all of you have problems... And I'll start with Kiba." My gazed locked with the [Knight], who gulped nervously "You're soft, and I'm not talking about personality. Your endurance to pain is shit, a weakness that most [Knights] possess and turns you into fragile speedsters because a single hit can be the end of you. A perfect example to use is that time when I knocked you out with a single punch." Kiba narrowed eyes before looking down in thought, thinking about that 'fight' and how she was defeated so quickly "You should also work on your physical strength since there will be times when you'll be facing an enemy that you can't defeat just by giving him shallow cuts. If you don't work on it, you'll just end up swinging around a very thin iron bat that can cut others."

"I see..." Kiba muttered quietly before nodding "While it goes against my usual fighting style, I'll try to do what you asked for training."

"Now to Tōjō and Himejima." I started, causing the two hybrids to tense and no doubt be confused on why I called them out at the same time "You two will be the biggest players in this group, the most important ones that will tip the scale of the up-coming [Rating Game] to your favour... But that's only possible if you accept what you are since birth."

"H-How did you..." Himejima stuttered with a shell-shocked expression, while Tōjō was looking at me like she just saw her worst nightmare come to life.

"You two might be Devils, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't notice that you're a Fallen Angel and Tōjō is a Nekoshō." I explained before pointing at Himejima "And while I might not be that knowledgeable when it comes the supernatural, I know about the incident involving the Grigori's Baraqiel of the Holy Lightning and the Himejima Clan. And considering that you hold the Himejima name, I put two and two together." I let my words sink in her head, which she reacted by lowering her head to cast a shadow over her eyes with her bangs, before continuing on "...So now you understand why I called you two the most important ones. Light Magic, Holy Lightning, Tōki and Senjutsu, especially the former two, will be very valuable in this upcoming battle."

"...No." Himejima began in a low tone after a few seconds of silence before glaring at me with a heated look in her eyes... She didn't react violently as I thought she would do like in canon, which is rather impressive to say the least considering her horrible past "I refuse-"

"So you're grudge is more important than victory?" I cut off the hybrid with a simple question, silencing her "This makes me question your loyalty to your [King], especially since you're her [Queen]."

"Of course we what to win for Buchou!" Tōjō declared, glaring at me with her pupils becoming slits like a cats "But like Akeno-senpai... I don't want to use my abilities as a Nekoshō. I-"

"Does this have to do with the whole thing about Kuroka, the SS-Class Stray Devil, going mad from using Senjutsu and killing her master, which eventually caused the near extinction of the Nekomate/Nekoshō race by the hands of the Devils?" I asked, cutting her off and causing the young Nekoshō to stiffen from the Kuroka name "The near extinction of a race isn't exactly hidden knowledge." I said offhandedly, which isn't that all farfetched "...Then let me ask you another question, how exactly can an expert go mad from using an ability that they're so good at?"

"I..."

"That's enough, Kōjiro-kun." Gremory said, and I don't need to look at her to know that the redhead is glaring at me with righteous fury "I might let you help them with harsh criticism like what you did to Yumi, but I will not stand by and let you torment my family with your mind games!"

"That's rich, coming from the one that doesn't help them with their demons." I narrowed my eyes at her, unamused by her hypocrisy. To me, helping others in a harsh manner is better than not helping at all, since a problem will never leave unless you face it head on "I might be a bastard that wouldn't give two shits towards most people and their feelings, but I have a good grasp on psychology and it's obvious that those two have serious issues." I took a quick glance at the hybrids before focusing once again focusing on Gremory "...And based on their reactions and words, I can clearly see that you did nothing to help them. Now I'm curious if you have a thing for taking in mentally scared people."

"One more word against them and I'll-"

"And you'll what? Bore me to death?" I retorted sarcastically before turning back to the now glaring hybrids, ignoring the fuming Gremory that also glaring at me "Anyways, back to 'harsh criticism'. If you two refuse to accept your blood, then you all have a 10% chance of winning the game, and that's if you're all lucky enough that Phenex and his team took it easy on you." I didn't bother to hide what I thought about their chances against Phenex "As for a training list... Tōjō, you need to work on your speed and agility."

"...I don't see-"

"Yes, you're already durable thanks to the enhancement from the [Rook] piece but there are times that there's an attack that you can't tank, so the best thing to do is dodge it as fast as you can." I interrupted the Nekoshō, already expecting her to make a comment about my little training plan "Let's use that moment when I knocked you out with a swift and powerful kick that you didn't saw and couldn't dodge it. Even if you saw it coming and put your guard up, I would simply make my kick stronger in order to break your defence, ending the same result but with both of your arms possible broken."

"..." She didn't responded to my words, having nothing in mind in order to counter my logic.

"As for you, Himejima." I then turned towards the strongest piece in Gremory's board who was no longer glaring at me, but I can tell that she's not very happy with my 'assistance' towards her teammates "You use magic more than bare fists or weapons, right? You need to make use of the other trait of the [Queen] piece, the physical enhancements. It's honestly stupid that you're only focusing on the magic side when you can make use of all benefits, and there's a reason why the [Queen] is supposed to be the strongest of a peerage." I spoke a general fact about her position, but that doesn't mean it's always true to some "Try to have at least a decent amount of CQC experience because it might save your life in a battle to the death."

"I would gladly do your training course then use the powers from my 'heritage'." The Yamato Nadeshiko replied with a smile, but I can clearly tell that it's fake thanks to the venomous tone she used when she said 'heritage'... After all, it's not easy to forget the person that you hate the most when someone just had to remind you of them "Would you like a demonstration of my combat capabilities? I promise to be 'gentle' as possible, ufufufu~"

"I'll take that offer up once the training schedule is set." I replied with a smirk, finding her challenge to be amusing, before shaking my head and then turned my gaze towards Gremory "You'll actually have the same type of training that Himejima will have since your body doesn't look like the physically trained type, and I already told ."

"You're not wrong about that part, Kōjiro-kun..." Gremory muttered, crossing her arms while looking down with a frown on her face "I've hardly got myself into a CQC situation."

"Because you let your peerage do the manual labour for you, before taking the last hit to get the glory, just like sneaky players that wait for the right moment in some Raid Boss event from an MMORPG." Looking at you, WoW "If that's the case then you need to work your ass off a lot harder than your peerage, being the most important piece of your field. If not, then you'll be nothing more but a liability to your team."

"Yes, I'm aware of that fact. So..." Gremory began to move closer to where I am before she did something unexpected:

She bowed.

"Please, help us win!"

"...Would you look at that, you actually swallowed your pride and beg for help." I said with a hint of surprise (ignoring the glares from her servants) since I hardly remember her ever doing such a thing before, both here and in canon "But I'm going to be honest, I can't say for sure that training all of you for two weeks for being enough for certain victory." I said without any hesitation, looking at the group before my eyes landed on the hybrids "Victory is only assured if you make full use of your advantages and not letting the enemy have time to think of countermeasures to them."

"...Then let's make a bet." Himejima glare at me sofen as she said that, turning to the kind of glare where someone is daring A to do penalty game, which caused everyone other than myself to turn towards her with wide eyes. I simply watched on with bored eyes, having seen this before, but I feel like not interrupting her moment right now "If we win without Koneko-chan and I without having to use the abilities from our own blood, then you'll have to give us each an apology that fills in a full an A4 page, back-to-back."

"...Ho?" Was all I could say at first because of how unexpected her penalty. The penalty is pretty normal, but the surprising part is from who made the penalty "You're not going with the 'If you lose, you'll have to join us!' penalty that your [King] used before?"

"I'm not my best friend, so I don't have any reason to do such a thing." I couldn't help but give a small smile towards her words, a bit glad she's not always thinking of supporting Gremory and actually be a bit selfish... That goes to show that she's still her own self.

"Then If I was proven right by your group winning with either Himejima using Light Magic and Holy Lightning or Senjutsu and Tōki from Tōjō, or you guys lose against Phenex, I want..." I trailed off, letting my win conditions sink into their head and adding even more pressure to them, before a casual smirk formed over my face as I thought of the punishments for the hybrids "Tōjō to behave like an open pervert towards both sex and Himejime to behave like a tsundere delinquent towards everyone for 2 weeks."

[...What?]

"Since you're giving me a rather silly penalty for each of you if I lose, I thought that it's only fair that I should do the same." I didn't bother to hide what I thought about their penalty, having no reason to do so "I mean, writing an apology letter back-to-back in an A4 paper isn't really new to me. It's no different from the essay that I did a long time ago that requires me to cover three pages, back-to-back, about our solar system." I ignored the shocked expressions on their faces, before my smirk turned mischievously towards the hybrids "As for my penalties towards you two, I wanted see both of you behaving on the complete opposite of your usual behaviors."

[...]

I stood up from my sit while glancing at everyone in "If that's all, then I'll be going now." I turned around and made my way out of the clubroom. When I reached the door, I stopped before looking at Himejima, who is still shocked and speechless, specifically "Call me when your group has made a decision for when and where will training start." Was all I said before getting out of the room.