2 days later
Part 1 – Kuoh, 09:15 a.m.
The winter sun hung low and pale over Kuoh Town, painting the streets in soft gold. Issei Hyoudou walked down the main shopping avenue with six girls orbiting him like the most dangerous constellation in the underworld.
Left side:
Rias Gremory in a cream coat and crimson scarf, arm looped possessively through his.
Akeno Himejima in a black turtleneck dress, violet eyes sparkling with mischief every time she "accidentally" brushed against him.
Sona Shitori, glasses glinting, pretending to read a tourist pamphlet while secretly making sure no one stepped out of line.
Right side:
Raynare in a leather jacket and miniskirt, wings hidden but the smirk very much visible.
Kalawarner in thigh-high boots and a cropped sweater, deliberately walking so her hip bumped Issei's every third step.
Mittelt in a gothic-lolita coat, twirling a parasol and humming innocently while plotting maximum chaos.
They had declared today "Official Kuoh Date Day: No Devils, No Angels, No World-Ending Crises."
Rias had even threatened Sirzechs with "I will tell Grayfia you tried to spy" if he sent observers.
First stop: the brand-new cat café that had opened near the station.
Koneko had texted Issei a single photo of a Scottish Fold wearing a tiny crown and the message "come or I will cry." That was enough.
Inside, the girls descended on the cats like a coordinated military operation.
Raynare immediately claimed a black tomcat that looked exactly like her personality.
Kalawarner ended up with three kittens asleep on her chest (she refused to move for twenty minutes).
Mittelt tried to bribe a calico with strawberry Pocky and got gently bitten for her troubles.
Rias and Akeno competed over who could get the most cats to sit on Issei's lap at once.
Sona sat primly in the corner with a single dignified British Shorthair on her knee, pretending she was above it all while secretly taking 400 photos.
Issei, buried under six cats and six girlfriends, decided this was the best morning of his life.
Part 2 – Kuoh Shopping Street, 11:30 a.m.
Next was the arcade.
Raynare and Kalawarner dragged him to the rhythm games and proceeded to annihilate every high score while trash-talking each other in Enochian.
Mittelt discovered the claw machines and spent ¥8,000 trying to win a giant Cinnamoroll. She failed thirty-seven times, then threatened the machine with holy spears until Issei won it for her in one try.
Rias challenged him to air hockey and lost on purpose just to watch him celebrate like an idiot.
Akeno "accidentally" shocked the dance machine with a tiny spark of lightning so she could lean against Issei while it rebooted.
Sona beat everyone at the strategy puzzle games and looked smug for the rest of the day.
Lunch was okonomiyaki at the old couple's stall that had known Issei since primary school.
The old lady took one look at the six goddesses surrounding him, patted his cheek, and said, "You grew up well, kid."
Issei almost cried into his cabbage.
Part 3 – Kuoh Park, 2:20 p.m.
Afternoon found them sprawled on picnic blankets under the gingko trees, leaves falling like golden rain.
Rias fed him pieces of tamagoyaki with her chopsticks and pretended it was perfectly normal for the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess to baby-bird her boyfriend in public.
Akeno took selfies with everyone, then secretly set the one of Issei asleep on Rias's lap as her phone wallpaper.
Raynare and Kalawarner started an impromptu wing-hidden sparring match that ended with both of them tangled in the picnic blanket laughing.
Mittelt climbed a tree and refused to come down until Issei promised her ice-cream.
Sona read a book titled "101 Ways to Embarrass Your King" and occasionally looked up to make sure no one had started a war.
At one point all six leaned against him in a pile, heads on his shoulders or chest, and Issei realized this—this ordinary, ridiculous, perfect day—was what he had been fighting for all along.
Part 4 – Kyoto, Same Day, 3:00 p.m.
Meanwhile, three hundred kilometers away…
Yasaka's private garden was a sea of red maples and floating foxfire orbs.
Kunou sat on the engawa steps in a tiny yukata, kicking her feet, watching her mother pour tea with the serene grace of an empress who had definitely not spent the last two nights being claimed by a teenage dragon.
"Mama," Kunou asked suddenly, ears twitching, "why is your tummy making that glowy thing again?"
Yasaka's hand drifted to the gentle swell beneath her obi—barely noticeable yet, but the golden youki aura around it was unmistakable. She smiled, soft and secret and just a little smug.
"Because, little kit," she said, tapping Kunou's nose, "in a few months you're going to have a baby brother or sister to play with."
Kunou's eyes went perfectly round. Her nine tails exploded into a fluffy halo.
"REALLY?! I get to be a big sister?!"
She launched herself at Yasaka, hugging her middle with careful arms. "I'm gonna teach them foxfire! And how to fly! And how to beat up bad guys like Onii-chan does!"
Yasaka laughed, the sound like temple bells and summer thunder. "Yes, and you'll be the best big sister in all the realms."
She rested a hand on the swell again, feeling the tiny spark of draconic-youki life fluttering inside.
"Your father," she murmured so only the wind could hear, "is going to have a lot of explaining to do when he visits next."
Part 5 – Underworld, Lucifer Family Estate, 4:00 p.m.
Far beneath the earth, in the oldest and most opulent wing of the Lucifer ancestral castle…
Luke (Lucifer) and Lila (Lilith) stood before the four current Great Satans in the grand throne hall.
Sirzechs Gremory, Serafall Leviathan, Ajuka Beelzebub, and Falbium Asmodeus sat on their respective seats, expressions ranging from wary (Sirzechs) to sparkling curiosity (Serafall) to calculating interest (Ajuka) to half-asleep (Falbium).
Luke was dressed in an immaculate black suit with crimson accents, silver hair tied back, the original Lucifer crest glowing faintly on his chest.
Lila wore a gothic-lolita dress in blood red and black, twin-tails swaying, eyes shining with ancient mischief.
Luke spoke first, voice calm but carrying the weight of ten thousand years.
"We are not here to overthrow you by force. That would be… crude."
He gestured, and the air shimmered—every devil in the room felt the sudden, overwhelming pressure of the original bloodline asserting itself.
"We are simply reclaiming what was always ours. The title of Lucifer and Lilith. The right to sit at the head of the table."
Lila twirled, smiling sweetly. "You four have done an excellent job babysitting Hell while we were… away. But playtime is over."
Sirzechs leaned forward, crimson eyes narrowing. "And if we refuse?"
Luke's smile was gentle and terrifying. "Then we will be forced to remind the underworld why the original Four Great Satans were feared as gods."
Serafall tilted her head, stars in her eyes. "Sooo cool~! Can I still keep my magical girl show?"
Ajuka pushed up his glasses, already calculating. "The political ramifications are… fascinating."
Falbium yawned. "As long as I can keep napping, I don't care who's in charge."
Sirzechs sighed, rubbing his temples. "Rias is going to kill me."
Luke inclined his head. "Effective immediately, the Devil hierarchy is restructured. The Four Great Satans will continue to govern day-to-day affairs under the direct authority of the original Lucifer and Lilith. Opposition will be… educated."
Lila clapped her hands. "And we're throwing a coronation party! Everyone's invited! There will be cake shaped like dragons!"
Somewhere far above, in Kuoh Park, Issei sneezed into his ice-cream.
Raynare raised an eyebrow. "Someone's talking about you, pervert."
Issei laughed, completely unaware that Hell had just quietly changed owners while he was licking melon-flavored shaved ice off Rias's fingers.
The day ended with fireworks—literal ones, because Akeno insisted—and six happy, exhausted girlfriends dragging their dragon home under a sky full of stars.
In Kyoto, a nine-tailed empress fell asleep smiling, one hand on her belly, dreaming of tiny fox-dragon children.
In the Underworld, two primordial devils toasted with ancient wine, the throne of Hell finally warm again after ten thousand years.
And in Kuoh, Issei Hyoudou—surrounded by the girls he loved, belly full of okonomiyaki and ice-cream—thought to himself:
Best. Day. Ever.