Wrought Iron Devil: Gate of Blades

Old Wound

"Riser Phenex retired. Rias Gremory is victorious."

Relief washed over you as the world had gone white, dispelling the spears. And then it tilted as you began to collapse. Was it surprising? You used reinforcement magic to quickly move along the battlefield, called upon several swords including the married blades, used an A ranked Broken Phantasm, activated Rho Aias and called upon the spears of Diarmuid. Of course you'd collapse from exhaustion. That is, if one did not catch you.

"We won! Thank you (Y/n)!" Rias had said when she embraced you in the real ORC Club room post match.

"You're welcome, President." You said, barely on your feet because of her. No sooner had she let go that someone else hugged you.

"Way to skewer the winged beast, sweetie." Akeno said in your ear. "You look worn out. Do you need some rest?"

You weakly nodded. Akeno gently guided you to one of the sofa's. And then when you laid down, you found out what was the pillow. It was her lap. And she was running her fingers through your hair. Both sensations proved to be very soothing.

"Consider this an award for winning." Akeno said to you, bearing a genuinely warm smile.

"Just doing my job." You said hoarsely.

"And an excellent job at that." An older male voice said. It was far too mature for Issei or Kiba.

Your eyes noticed the presence. Standing there was a young male in his twenties with long red hair and blue eyes. The same as Rias. Standing next to him was Grayfia.

Akeno started to move you to sit up before this person held up a hand.

"No need, Akeno." He said. "Young (F/n) has earned his rest."

"Brother, what are you doing here?" Rias said coldly. She was tending to Issei, noticeably holding his hand.

"To congratulate my little sister on winning her first Rating Game of course." Rias' brother smiled innocently. "And as per agreement, the engagement is off."

You felt some relief with that news. That meant one of the primary goals was complete.

"You're free to marry with whom you please." Her brother continued. He looked to where Issei lay. "And you seem to be on top of things as usual."

Rias flared red at what he was referring to.

"Sirzechs, I believe we must meet with the Phenex family to discuss the repercussions." Grayfia interjected.

"Of course." Sirzechs nodded. "I'll be seeing you, Rias."

With a flash of a teleportation circle, the pair were gone.

Timeskip

That was a few weeks ago. The significant event since then was that Rias decided to move in with Issei. The best identifying reason was that the boy openly said that she was what mattered to him multiple times. Add that to the crush she had clearly developed for him, this was no surprise. Rias even kissed him at one point, if Akeno was to be believed. She had also become considerably friendlier and cheery towards you. The obvious reason was your part in that series of events.

She was not the only one with a noticeable change in behavior, demonstrated today when you left the house for morning training.

"Good morning (F/n)." Akeno was outside a few minutes earlier than usual today. "How is the cute underclassman today?"

Yeah. Cute was a word.

"Fine, thanks. What about the alluring senior?" You replied back. Akeno smiled, but with a tint of pink.