The Protagonist System

267 Putting Things Right

Surprisingly, Miki didn't wake up while Koneko and I talked. I checked my mother and she was only tired and wasn't suffering from anything, which was a relief. Well, I did have her up late last night and she thought she was dreaming, so she needed a few more hours of sleep to make up for it.

While I was touching her, I gave her a basic upgrade package and watched as her looks changed and she looked a decade younger. That was going to be useful for her, considering she was pregnant with my child. Of course, it was my very first child, so they were going to be special as a half-devil.

With that important task done, I produced an expanded bag for Koneko and she gave me a disbelieving look when I told her to pack away all of the cakes. I chuckled and motioned for her to get to work, so she took her time and carefully put each of the cakes inside of it.

I told her they would remain fresh and would never go bad, thanks to stasis charms, and the stabilization charm would stop them from falling off the shelves and racks. Koneko's bright smile and swishing tail let me know she was really happy about that.

I let her work and went to the bathroom to have a shower. I dressed in the school uniform, since it was a school day, and I went to my own room and knocked. “You're going to be late for school.”

Two grumbling voices responded with a curse and a warning to leave them alone. I chuckled and went downstairs to the kitchen. It was nostalgic to be back here after so much time had passed and the memories were right there for me to access.

I was grateful that my perk allowed me to not be overwhelmed about this whole situation. I still felt emotional about it; but, it wasn't debilitating like it had been for the ones that thought they had lost me forever when I died.

I had a lot of work to do to make it up to them, for scaring them like that, and I started by making waffles for breakfast. Everything was better with waffles. I put on a frilly apron and a chef's hat, just to make myself look a little silly, and began cooking.

As I was going all out with my cooking skills, several shuffling feet came down the stairs. I intentionally stayed facing the stovetop and didn't look over at them, letting them sit at the table without giving myself away.

“I'm not really hungry.” Rias said, her voice sad. “Just toast for me.”

“I'm good with just orange juice.” Akeno said, her voice flat.

I ignored them and made up two large plates, darted to the refrigerator and poured large glasses of milk and orange juice, and turned around and placed the glasses on their sides and then added the two plates of food in front of them.

“I said I'm not hung...” Rias started to say as she lifted her head from staring at the table. She froze when she saw me and her mouth fell open.

“You need to keep up your strength with the growing life inside of you.” I said with a smile.

“ISSEI!” Rias yelled and jumped up from the table and hugged me. “You're alive, you're alive.”

“I came back as soon as I could.” I said and she kept muttering the same thing, over and over.

“You came back?” Akeno asked, her voice soft and barely above a whisper.

“After I blew up from magic overload...” I started to say.

“So, you did die.” Akeno interrupted.

“I did.” I admitted and they both looked sad. “I was reincarnated in another world after that, though. I lived there for a while and then I was forcibly shunted into another when I was sentenced to die, and I lived there for a while and used a portal to go to another world...”

Akeno and Rias listened as I told them about how many worlds I had been to and how long I had been away from them. Like Koneko, they asked if I was really Issei, and I gave them the same explanation. I was more than the sum of my memories and then told them something only they would know, like me offering to eat Akeno out and giving Rias a baby without having sex with her.

“You're pregnant?!?” Akeno gasped and jumped to her feet. My mentioning it before had been missed, apparently.

Rias blushed and ducked her head into my chest as she held me.

“Oh, sorry about that. I thought you told her already.” I said and Rias shook her head. I looked at Akeno and smiled. “It was the quickest way to get her out of her marriage contract and also not break the virginity and no sex clauses.”

“How did you know about them?” Akeno asked and then frowned. “Wait a minute.”

I gave her nod and waited for her to think about what she actually wanted to ask.

“Why aren't you pretending nothing happened and you're still the original Issei? None of us would have questioned it.” Akeno said, getting to the heart of the matter.

“Like I told Serafall, there's no need for deceit when it comes to family matters.” I said.

Akeno's face showed several different emotions before settling on embarrassment and she blushed. I gave Rias a brief kiss on the cheek and sat her at the table, then motioned for Akeno to sit as well. They both started to eat and let out pleased sounds at the tastes the waffles, fresh fruit, and whipped cream gave them.

I went back to the stove and made more waffles and set them up for later. I put one for Miki aside and made one with a double helping for a certain cat-girl that I could feel had finally finished putting her cakes away. I held the plate out to her and she let out a soft purr and sat between Rias and Akeno to scarf down the delicious meal.

It wasn't until I wrote a note for my mom, and I had already stored the nice box that Raynare's head had been delivered in, when we finally managed to leave the house. Both Rias and Akeno sucked in sharp breaths when they realized something.

“What did you mean when you said you told Serafall?” Rias asked and Akeno nodded.

“I want to argue it's a family matter for the Sitri Clan, except I literally just told you I won't deceive you.” I said with a smile and then explained what happened. I didn't go into details, since they weren't necessary, and told them I brought her from a dimension where Sona was the one that died.

Akeno, Rias, and Koneko exchanged worried looks and didn't comment. Their thoughts, on the other hand, were full of how dangerous an angry Serafall was and they resolved to never do or say anything that might be seen as an attack on Sona.

We walked to the school and they stayed silent, which was kind of a surprise, since I figured they would be trying to pump me for details about all of my adventures. Maybe it was more than a little overwhelming for them? I did just come back from the dead and brought Serafall with me.

The thing was, it was only my devil friends, my mother, and the leaders of the three factions that knew I had died. When we neared the school gate and Sona greeted Rias, Akeno, and Koneko, the Sitri heiress glared at me. That was the only odd reaction. No one else had any clue that I had been gone at all and it was kind of refreshing.

I had been a little worried I wouldn't fit in after everything I've been through and I slid right back into my life like I hadn't been gone for decades. My powers and perks were the best.

I kissed Koneko goodbye, since we didn't have any classes together. She smiled at me and walked off towards her locker to grab her school things. I turned to Rias and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, then did the same to Akeno. The brunette blushed and looked conflicted for a moment, then she leaned in and kissed my cheek back.

“We'll see you after school at the Occult Research Club.” Akeno said and took Rias by the hand and walked away.

I went to my own class and several of the girls greeted me with smiles on their faces. The teacher entered the room behind me and sat at her desk, giving me a pointed look. I took the hint and sat at my desk to wait for the bell to ring. I thought about talking to the Kendo Club girls to make sure they knew I wasn't going to return to my perverted ways and mentally shrugged.

Actions always spoke louder than words and the modifications I had made to the school before I died had made the whole place more secure for everyone and not just for the girls. It stopped anyone from perving on them, so they seemed to be a lot more confident and sure of themselves.

It was funny, because it only took a single morning for them to realize how the recent changes to the reinforced walls and windows protected them, and that made them happier than me apologizing to them had. I had to hold in my laugh at their thoughts and how their minds kept going back to me and how much I had changed.

They considered me as viable boyfriend material and that was a huge difference from how they had viewed me before. I wasn't going to do or say anything to change that, either. I had worked hard to redeem myself in their eyes and I was sure that if I wasn't dating Koneko that they would have asked me out already.

The first class was math and I tried to not show off, even if I had decades of learning and also had telepathy. If necessary, I could pluck what I needed from anyone, including the teacher. I didn't need to do that, of course. I could have taught the class if I wanted and I sat back and let everyone else in the class keep the teacher occupied by answering her questions.

English was next and I blew through it and did all the homework for it and for math. I wrote it out the long way and was about to pass the essay in, then saw the teacher's face. She looked surprised and I realized I hadn't been as careful about not showing off as I thought I had been.

“It's not due until next week.” She said and took the papers from me. Her eyes roamed over the sheets and her eyebrows rose. “You were bored in both classes, weren't you?”

“Not really.” I said and didn't explain that I was thinking about the upcoming events, like Riser's appearance and confrontation with Rias, which was going to be much different than it should have been, especially with the condition Rias was in and also still being a virgin.

Miss Yamanaka looked like she didn't believe me and there was no real point in trying to convince her. She put my papers aside and motioned for me to take my seat again. I returned to it and sat down, giving the girls near me a knowing smile. They all noticed I had finished the assigned homework and were giving me pointed looks.

The next class started and it was history. After learning about many different histories, I spent the majority of the class comparing them to the other Japanese histories I knew about. Some were similar and others were significantly different, like the one I learned about when I was Izuku in My Hero Academia.

When the teacher decided to assign a creative writing assignment and to write about what would have happened with the country if some event in the past had happened differently, I had it done by the time the lunch bell rang. All of the girls were now staring at me for completing the assignment so quickly and the teacher gave me a blank look when I walked up to her desk.

“You were ready for this, too?” She asked and accepted the report.

“Not really. I was kind of writing it in my head as you talked about the lesson and it just worked out that when you assigned it, I just had to write it down.” I explained and she sighed.

“I suppose I shouldn't complain that your studies have improved significantly since you... ahem... changed your ways.” Miss Yamanaka said and her face went a little red.

“I did gain a lot of extra time after giving up trying to catch such pretty girls in compromising positions, just so I could admire how beautiful they are.” I admitted.

Several of the girls let out surprised sounds behind me. Apparently, they had stayed behind to listen to what I had to say and maybe catch a look at what I had written as an alternate history.

“You better head to the cafeteria.” The teacher said and tried to not let me see her disappointment that I had stopped trying to sneak a peek at her.

I gave her a smile and intentionally let her see me glance down at her sweater-covered chest. I then winked at her, seeing her blush, and walked away. Some women just needed to know someone desired them, even if they knew nothing would ever come of it.

I grabbed a good mix of food, even if I didn't need to buy anything with all the food I had in my inventory, and I sat down at one of the side tables to watch most of the cafeteria. Not surprisingly, most of the girls in my class sat nearby, even the Kendo Club girls, and they kept sending me searching looks.

Yuuto Kiba sat down across from me and a bunch of the girls in the cafeteria let out sad sounds. I chuckled at that reaction and Yuuto had a sad smile on his face.

“I guess I'm a safe haven for the Prince of Kuoh?” I asked and he nodded before he started eating. “You know, you could start acting like I used to and the girls would be turned right off and will give you a wide berth.”

Yuuto looked surprised and then he laughed with a huge smile on his face. The girls watching and listening made happy sounds, both for seeing him smile like that and for hearing him laugh.

“Thanks, Issei. I needed that.” Yuuto said and dug into his food with enthusiasm.

I did as well and we ate in silence as we listened the the conversations around us. Neither of us were surprised that they were about us, even the ones that thought we were making eyes at each other and our repressed romantic feelings for each other were keeping us apart for the good of all the girls in the school.

I gave Yuuto a significant look after hearing that and he looked a little embarrassed, so I reached over and took his hand as if he was a girl. He let out a squeak of surprise and jerked his hand back, then his face flushed red. I had a hard time not laughing my ass off as the entire cafeteria started talking about the firm rejection he had just given me.

Yuuto looked really embarrassed now and hastily stood with his tray in his hands, then he sighed at feeding even more material to the school's rumor mill. He turned and walked away from my table and I wasn't sure if what just happened would give the girls more hope he was available or less because they thought he was gay. Or both. Sometimes girls were weird like that.

I finished my own meal and brought the tray to the counter, dumped the garbage into the trashcan, and left the cafeteria. I had tried to not show a sad face and failed on purpose, because I was playing into the whole scene of rejection for laughs. The talking increased as the door closed and I let out the laugh I was holding in.

“That was mean.” Koneko said and hugged me.

“For me or for Yuuto?” I asked and picked her up to kiss her.

“For his fan club.” Koneko responded and I laughed.

“I think it's a 50 / 50 shot if they are happier or sadder. It all depends on if they believed the act or not.” I said and carried her down the hallway. “Did you eat yet or were you waiting for me?”

“Ate.” Koneko said and nuzzled my neck. “Cake, too.”

“Good.” I said and brought her outside to sit down on a bench in the courtyard under a large tree. “I forgot to ask if you were going to be busy for lunch and I didn't feel you nearby when the bell rang.”

Koneko settled down on my lap and kept nuzzling my neck as I hugged her. “Ran errand for Rias.”

“You don't have to tell me about it. I know you don't share things like that when they aren't important.” I said.

She let out a happy hum as I grew hard for her and she licked my neck and lightly bit it.

“Dearest, we don't have much time before the bell. If you keep doing that...” I tried to tell her she was becoming irresistible and she took out the clothes wand I had made for her. “Here?”

“Hmm.” Koneko said and waved the wand at me, making my clothes disappear and giving me a bathing suit-like unitard that left nothing to the imagination. “My Rod of Justice.”

I obscured us from sight and sound and Koneko slid off of my lap, slid the skintight cloth aside, and rested her face against my distinct hardness. She rubbed it like the cat she was, to claim it and mark it as hers, then she took it into her mouth and deepthroated me without trouble.

“Ohhhhh!” I moaned for her and she smiled around me. I was soon unloading myself down her throat and she took it all without a twitch or a complaint. She used the wand on herself and she wore a matching suit, then she slid it aside at the crotch and sat down on me, fully claiming me with her body.

We both ignored the bell when it rang and stayed there in front of the school to have fun.