By the time the Gremory Devils were transported to their home base of the arena, Izuku and Asia gained confused expressions when they checked their surroundings.
"What the..?" Izuku wasn't sure what to think of the situation. "We're still in the club room. Did something mess up?"
"Your attention, please."
The group stopped and listened when they heard Grayfia's voice from what sounds like an intercom.
"Welcome, Everyone. My name is Grayfia Lucifuge, and I'm the maid for the House of Gremory, and Queen of Sirzechs-sama."
While Grayfia was speaking in the intercom, Sona, Tsubaki, and the newly accompanied Ibara can be seen sitting at the table of the Student Council, watching the Gremory Devils.
"I will be your referee during tonight's Rating Game. To create the battlefield you'll be competing in, I took suggestions from both Rias-sama and Riser-sama. You may recognize this place as it's an exact replica of UA High, an educational institution in the Human world that harbors those who want an education and also to be a title which is known as a hero"
Izuku and Asia widen their eyes at this information.
"Wait, what?"
"Take a look outside, Izu."
Heeding Rias' words, Izuku and Asia move towards a window and open its doors. What they saw next surprised them further.
Instead of the familiar blue or black colors, there was now a deformed bright green sky.
"Holy Hell!" Izuku exclaimed, praising how amazing the texture of the sky was in his mind.
"This is an alternate space," explained Kiba. "It may not look like it, but trust me, we're not in school anymore."
Izuku and Asia stared on at the sky in amusement after taking in Kiba's information.
"Well, at least we know we're in the game."
"Each team has been given an area that will serve as their home base. Rias Gremory-sama, your team will be in the Occult Research club headquarters in the old school building."
~At the real Student Council Building~
"Tsubaki, show me Phenex."
"Yes, Kaichou."
With a twirl of her finger, Tsubaki displayed the screen where it captured Riser and his servants' home base.
In the screen, Riser can be seen sitting on a chair with his feet propped on the desk. On his right, his Queen, Yubelluna was cuddled up against him, smiling suggestively while Riser was fondling her left breast, making her blush.
While Ibara was disgusted with the man, she was intrigued to see some of his servants rolling their eyes at his actions, especially the servant with blonde hair and a pink dress. Then out of the right corner of her eye, she noticed that Tsubaki wasn't paying attention to them. She was actually keeping her eyes on the screen that displayed the Gremory team. Or more specifically, the camera that had Izuku on it.
Seeing that made Ibara quietly snicker to herself while having a wide grin on her face.
'Oh my~ it seems Izuku-San is really gonna have a very interesting life'
She thought while hiding her smile with her hand.
"Riser-sama's home base will be located in the principal's office in the new school building. In order for Pawns to promote, they must make their way to the home base of the opposing team. Good luck to all."
~Gremory team base~
"Alright, so how are we going to do this?" Izuku asks the group while holding gripping the hilt of a sword Kiba let him borrow with his left hand. "We can't just charge in there like raging berserkers."
"You're right, we can't," agreed Kiba. "Odds are, Riser's gonna want to move his Pawns into our territory right away, so we need to keep enough players nearby to make sure that doesn't happen."
Izuku nods his head at him.
"Yeah. I agree."
Izuku then felt his hoodie being tugged at and looked to see that it was Koneko.
"What's up."
In response, Koneko presented him with a small pink orb in her two fingers.
"Uh... Thanks?" he says unsure, after taking the orb from her.
"These will help us communicate during the battle," Rias explains before placing her communicator orb in her left ear.
"Oh!" Izuku understood. "That's kinda clever."
The rest of the Devils went ahead and put their communicators in their ears. After do so, they hear a loud noise.
*GONG!*
"Alright, Devils. Let the game begin!"
It was at this moment that everyone, minus Asia, has put on their battle faces.
~Riser's home base~
"Those failures don't deserve to stand on the same field as us!" Riser says to his servants. "Show no mercy! Break their spirits! Shatter their pride, and force them into submission!"
Riser then narrows his eyes angrily.
"Especially to that Pawn brat who dares to mock me!"
~Rias' home base~
The Gremory Devils were now looking at a map of UA High, planning a strategy to win the game.
"The enemy base is just across the way," Rias says to the group. "Cutting through the school grounds might be quick, but it's not an option."
"They'll see us coming a mile away," Koneko added.
"Correct," agreed Rias. "And we might as well be sitting ducks."
Izuku decides to give his opinion on the matter,"Perhaps if we go through the track field and sneak in the back, then we might have the element of surprise on our side."
"That's the most obvious entry point available," replied Rias with narrowed eyes at the map. "And Riser knows this." She points to the area of the map that says "Clubhouse". "My guess is, he'll station a group of Knights or Rooks with strong mobility right behind the athletic clubhouse."
'...Ok UA has a ton of places for students to join any sort of club...I wonder what's the principal like?'
"That doesn't leave us with many options then, does it?" Akeno asks her.
"Doesn't seem that way," Kiba agreed.
While the group was thinking, Izuku studied the map very closely until he could think of a clever strategy. It took him a few seconds to get what he hopes was to be a good idea.
"Oi, why don't we secure the gymnasium first?"
Everyone turned to Izuku's direction when they heard him make that suggestion. After he got their attention, he points his finger towards the gymnasium area of the map and looks there with a serious expression.
"Not only is it adjacent to the enemy's home base, but it's not too far from us. Chances are, it'll serve as a diversion to the Phenex birds."
Akeno bent forward towards the map to get a look at the gymnasium.
"Now that you've mentioned it, the gymnasium's basically in the center of the battlefield. Whoever gets to it first, is gonna have a leg up for sure."
"Good call, you two," Rias says to Izuku and Akeno. "Given the options we have, that's our best chance." She then turns to her Rook. "Koneko-chan, do you think you can handle getting into the gym and locking it down?"
Koneko nods in affirmative.
Izuku then feels Asia cling onto his right arm, making him turn his head towards her to see if she's alright.
"All of this talk about fighting is starting to scare me," Asia tells him.
"Don't worry," Izuku assures her with a smile. "We've got Rias to help. All we need to do is trust her, and our comrades, and we'll be fine."
Asia looks up to Izuku and smiles at him.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Everyone then turns to Rias as she stands up from her chair.
"To do that, we need to secure our defensive perimeter. Kiba and Koneko, get out there and set some traps in the woods, asap."
"Got it."
"Cool."
Koneko then sets her hands in front of her with her palms facing towards the ceiling.
"Let's go, Shiro."
Upon her command, her white cat, Shiro, appeared before her hands and crawled its way to the top of Koneko's head.
"Nyan!"
"Well, wish us luck, guys," Kiba says to them before the two head towards the exit of the club room.
"Nyan! Nyan!"
"Huh?"
Everyone's attention was now brought to Koneko's familiar, who was meowing at Izuku while swiping its paw up and down towards him.
Izuku blinked in confusion as why the cat was behaving like this. But he started to realize the reason when he saw Koneko approach him while looking away with a ghost of a blush.
"You don't have to tell me, Koneko-senpai," Izuku tells her. "I think I know what Shiro wants."
With with a smile, Izuku closes his eyes and bends his body forward towards the cat. After he did that, he can feel Shiro's nose grind on his face while hearing the cat purr.
"""Aww~! So cute~!"""
Ok this made Izuku blush a bit when he heard Rias, Akeno, and Asia coo at Shiro nuzzling his face. He turns his head towards them with his eyes twitching a bit and furrowed eyebrows while making sure to pet Shiro on the head.
"Come on, you guys! Now's not the time for that!"
After appeasing the cat, Koneko went ahead with Kiba to set up the traps. Once Rias calmed down from loving the sight of a cat nuzzling her Pawn, she sets her serious stare on her Queen.
"Akeno, next we'll need your expertise. When they're done setting up the traps, your illusion magic is going to come in handy, so be prepared."
Akeno bows to her master in response.
"I'll be waiting for the signal on that."
Akeno then heads out of the club room to get in position, leaving only Rias, Izuku, and Asia left in the room.
"So, what about me and Asia?" Izuku asks Rias in curiosity. "Is there anything we can do?"
Rias sets her sights towards the two.
"Asia, you're my healing support, so in order to keep you safe, you need to stay close to the base. If we lose you, we're going to be in big trouble out there."
"Okay."
Rias then makes her way towards a sofa and sits down on it.
"Izu, come here."
"Eh?" Izuku wasn't quite sure what she meant by that. "What do you need?"
His question was answered when he saw her pat on her lap with a smile.
"I want you to put your head on my lap."
While Asia was surprised at the order Rias gave her Pawn, Izuku however, stared at her with a beady-eyed deadpan and furrowed eyebrows.
Seeing this made Rias giggle.
"Now what's with the face, silly?"
"Oh, don't mind me," Izuku says in a mocked tone, his beady eyes still intact with a small red tick mark on his forehead. "I'm just a random fella who's still trying to figure out the logic of a healing procedure, that I will not go into details on in case there are kiddy Devils watching, how a peck on the forehead gives me additional stamina and is now trying to figure out how a lap pillow will help me out in this Rating Game. Don't pay any attention to ME!"
Rias lets out another giggle while covering her mouth with her hand.
"Come on, Izu. Quit complaining and rest your head on my lap."
Not having a choice, Izuku sighs in defeat and sits on the sofa next to Rias. He then lies his head down to his right side on Rias' lap, ready for however this is going to go.
Though he had to admit, the lap pillow did feel nice and surprisingly comfortable to him, he still wasn't sure why Rias would give him a lap pillow.
At that moment, Izuku started feeling a surge of power flowing within him...this power made him look up at Rias as she looked at him with a smile on her face,"What's wrong Izu-kun?" Rias asks him with him seeing a memory of both him and her as kids...both laughing, having fun...and then..."You seem to be having a mix of emotions."
Izuku's eyes widen he hears his master talk to him. Seeing the teasing smile on her face, he then closes his eyes as he sighed while crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Like I said, don't mind me! I'm still trying to figure out what benefit I get out of this!"
Rias laughs at Izuku's pouting face.
"Oh, Izu. You're so silly sometimes."
While Rias was giving Izuku a lap pillow, Asia looked on at the scene with a jealous stare and a cute pout on her lips.
~Student Council room~
"Oh my this is too much, Buchou giving Izu-kun a power-up via a lap pillow! That is really amazing!"
Sona sweat drops at the former nun when she sees her laughing at the scene that was presented in the TV screen that showed the club room.
'I'm not sure if I should feel bad for Midoriya-san to deal with this certain girl in her life, or not.' She thought while thinking over that time where she was beaten by Izuku...it made her wonder about something.
Meanwhile, Tsubaki looked on at the scene between Rias and Izuku with a conflicted expression on her face. She then looked down towards her lap and blushes a light shade of red.
'Maybe I can do that too...'
After staying in this position for two minutes, Izuku blinks when he felt Rias' hand remove itself.
"Izu."
Izuku looks up towards Rias when he heard her call to him.
"I casted a little spell on you. It's time to unlock it."
"Eh?" Izuku was confused when she said that. "What do you mean?"
Outside in the woods of UA High, Koneko's Familiar planted another of the many traps she and Kiba were to plant. After Shiro did her job, she hopped back onto Koneko's head, making her nod to Kiba.
"Right, onto the next one."
After seeing the two set up the traps necessary, Akeno summoned her Familiar on her left hand and sent it towards the sky.
"Alright, off you go."
After her Familiar hopped off of her palm, the creature splits itself into six of them, two of each color, pink, green, and blue. The six then flew off towards their destinations to set up some illusion spells.
"So... What exactly did you do to me during that lap pillow?" Izuku asks Rias, now sitting on the couch properly after removing his head from her lap.
"When you became my foot soldier, I told you I used all eight of my Pawn pieces to reincarnate you."
"Yeah, you told me that before. What about it?"
"Well, what I didn't tell you was how much power you received. If I had unleashed everything all at once, your body wouldn't have been able to take it, so I casted a spell to keep that power at bay. Because of the spell, your abilities come to you in small manageable stages. What I just did was release another portion of your power."
"Okay..." Izuku says, still unsure. "Does that explain this weird feeling I'm having right now?"
Rias gives Izuku a smile with eyes of reassurance.
"This is just the beginning of what you can do, Izu. But in order for your body to be able to handle your Boosted Gear, on top of the full extent of your power, I had to make sure you were strong enough to handle them."
Izuku simply looks on with a surprise look on his his, as did Asia, who turned around from the two.
"Oh! There I was, being jealous when all along, Rias was just helping him! Dear God, please forgive me for being so stupid and letting my awful jealousy get the best of me!"
*ZAP!*
"OW!"
Rias giggles at Asia while Izuku sweat drops at her, Izuku then feels Rias place a hand on his shoulder, getting his attention.
"Do your best out there. Don't go easy on them just because their girls."
Izuku simply rolled his eyes at her, "Rose, let me remind you I fought a girl before, You don't have to remind me that. Plus these hands are Rate E for Gender Equality"
Rias lets out a giggle at his response.
"I can't wait to see what you do out there. I just know you're going to make me proud."
"Rias, do you copy?"
Hearing Akeno's voice in her communicator, Rias places her hand on her left ear.
"I hear you loud and clear, Akeno."
"We're ready when you are. Just say the word."
After hearing this, Rias stands up from the sofa while keeping her hand on her communicator.
"Alright guys, here's the game plan."
~Student council room~
"The Gremory team might be about to make their first move," Tsubaki said to Sona and Ibara while watching the screens.
"With as many pieces as she's missing, Rias won't be able to protect her home base and launch a full assault," Sona added.
"Because of that, she'll have to force her way in with tertiary attacks."
Sona and Tsubaki turn their attention towards Ibara, who was looking at the Gremory team with a stern gaze which hasn't been shown in a while.
"What say you, Shiozaki?" Sona asks her, wanting her opinion on the matter.
Breathing a small breath, she shifts her eyes towards the Sitri Devils.
"They should be able to pull off whatever they're up to just fine, but that's just me being too hopeful for the Gremorys." a smirk then forms from her lips, surprising Sona and Tsubaki. "If anything, I'm waiting to see how Izuku-san does, after all of that training he's done, I'm sure he'll be full of surprises."
Sona blinks at Ibara's opinion. She then narrows her eyes back on the screens with her arms folded in front of her.
"We'll have to see how it goes."