"You expect us to go along with this Red Dragon? We've allowed you such comfort, such power and you have remained a useful asset, one that continues to be a great boon. To now give us this? How is that in the best interests of our clan?"

Coming back from the Red Light District of Las Vegas, Issei gave them the offer, cooler heads did not prevail. For a moment, Issei would have thought that going at this alone was an option, one that he was considering above all else. 

“I expect you to see the reasoning behind this plan, one that would not only give you guys the much-needed influence in the East but bring you into a standard, a better one than the one you had months ago, Sirzechs. This, the business I have given your clan with ease is something that was offered to me.”

Issei’s eyes narrowed, making sure that they knew. The Yakuza would associate with him either way, him bringing this to their attention was a favour, one that extended to the city of Las Vegas, he was here at the direction of Ivy.

It was not Riasora who brought him here and him being placed under her control was something he needed to discuss with the woman, at some point in time. 

“It was made very clear when we received the message Issei but you are under our protection, you work under our direct-”

A fist slamming on the table was what brought the attention on the seething red dragon. His former good-natured smile was one that usually settled tensions in the room, his blank face with furrowing brows brought a different reaction. 

Looks directed in his direction, certain men placing hands over the waistband of their trousers. The once-feared clan of the Gremory’s feared him? A single man with no intentions of ever-ascending what was beyond him, but they were not making this easy. He wanted to make sure that they got the message.

The red dragon shook his head, they were disgraceful, after all, he had done for them? Sacrificing his personal reputation? They wished to pay him back like this, nodding his head, the dragon stood to his feet, giving Rias and Sirzechs a smirk. 

“I have given you many things, I have made sure that the words of your clan were respected. I have made sure that the Asian Clan, Himejima respected the words you laid out for me but here you are trying to say that I work under your directive? It was me and my name that brought you the fighting arenas, It was I that brought you, Akeno’s arms and prostitution that is certainly making the Red Light District bustle….”

The Red Dragon didn’t stop there, he was not ready to let this go. Was he meant to be here? Maybe he needed to calm his head but these guys, for all of their assumed power, did not realize who gifted it to them. It was not something they earned, It was something that was fought for, with blood, with money, with plays, with family. 

“You two sit there, comfortably, because you are under a power which cannot be touched. Do not think that Ivy doesn’t know of the work I’ve done, throughout the cities, my name is becoming known. I am a man who makes deals and who acts on them without any kind of pause. I know what I wish to do, can you say the same at all? I doubt it.”

Rias and her brother soon started to stand, only stopping once they saw the associates of their clan stand by Issei’s side, Grayfia and Kiba being among the noticeable ones. It was almost clear that the two stood by the Dragon’s side closer than that of a usual friendship, both siblings arched an eyebrow, wondering what was going on there. 

“These people by my side know the truth, they know that what I’ve done for you, is by our hands. If working under your directive means that business must be ignored like this, then we, will not be working under your directive any longer…”

“Kiba, after all our time together? What we’ve fought in, the wars, the friends we have made, the love we have in this family, you’d give it up for Issei!?”

Kiba gave Rias a small glance, a single corner of his lips ticked up in a sad smile. He bowed his head, stating that her statement was very much true. Issei had shown them the business they could have and the friendships that could be made, it was all that he wished for, peace and to make money. 

“Rias, if this clan does not adapt, it will perish and that is something we have seen with Issei teaching us this. We want to be at peace, Issei promises to Settle the East and West, it all starts with this single move in helping Aogiri, how is that not the correct stance on this?”

Grayfia delivered the cool statement, her eyes meeting Sirzechs above all as she placed a hand on Issei’s shoulder. Directing him out, they would no longer be welcome here, it was going to be predictable of the Gremory’s after all.

That was until a snort escaped from a single old man still sitting down in his chair, he sat at the head of the table, someone who Issei never took notice of during these meetings. He was always quiet, observing, like him most of the time. 

“Father, what is it?”

“This red dragon, he sure has a way about him. Either you accept the deal, one that increases the betting for Las Vegas, giving us a nice little increased income, especially with the Asian Clans backing. The other option is you letting Issei Hyoudou walk out of here, driving us away the Himejima backing, as well as the fighting income we’ve recently got. So, son of mine, you have a choice to make, one that impacts your leadership from here forward.”

Old man Gremory, better known as Garou Gremory, Double G, one of the more ruthless Asian Clan leaders in his time. He was not someone to cross, considering the sway he still held in the Gremory Clan. The old man currently gave his son a look, one that said he would support him either way…

“The business of this family...it stops here. Issei Hyoudou, you may leave, remember that this desertion will be paid back, eventually.”

It was the calm tone from Sirzechs that stirred Issei’s mind, bowing his head, the Red Dragon continued his work as he wondered what was going to come next, that could not be it, they all knew that. 

Issei sat in the Hotel Lux, one of the few that he could have come too, people loved having him here. Los Angeles was one of the few places he would have gone too but now with Las Vegas being a hotspot, he wished to be here when the reps from the East came, it would be simple and easy. 

The new head of his own faction as one of his friends out in New York would call it was trying to calm himself down, he had declared himself his own man. In the terms of working for his own and the interests of Ivy as well, which is all that mattered in the end, a few of the people trying to calm him down did their best, but this was certainly something out there. 

Issei sighed to himself, taking an Oreo and chucking it in his mouth, barely restraining himself as he noticed the looks he was getting, it was for help, something that he never offered right now until someone threw something at him….

“You know, just because you throw something, it does not mean I’m going to simply….say the plan, right?”

“So there is a plan, huh?”

“There is the slight beginning of one, and it all starts with the simple strategy of the Horse Races…”

And this is where the silence got to Issei because he knew they were now looking at him like he was crazy. As if he didn’t know that Philadelphia’s resident criminals were running the races, even, the looks he got were of fear, for him!

“Remind me, never ever start a plan like that, you guys are acting as I told you we were going to kill the president, calm down and relax, this is how the best plans start, eh?”

“To make some money, most people will be scattered around the country. It’s a great distraction, one for us to rob a bank, one that allows us to bring some money into our pockets.”

It was here that Grayfia even gave him a look, wondering how this was to work, and why the fuck would people being out of the way to be a good time to rob a bank? It was one of his lesser ideas that needed to be explained….

“And how would that help? It wouldn’t change the guards, the needs for blueprints, safecrackers, a getaway driver, and a shit ton of bribe money for the feds...think on it man.”

The dragon nodded, for one moment, he was thinking of doing something with the guns that he had secured with Akeno, only to then gain a grin on his lips.

“What about gun-running? The shipments from Akeno are due in about a week, from there, we'd get a suitable number of guns, ammo and the works. We build up a number of contacts, in fact, I’m sure a number of the small-time Asian clans out here would be vying for some weaponry, we’d be cornering a market…”

And these were the looks he wanted, he had their attention now. It would work, whilst cutting in the Himejima clan, possibly giving them a little more sway back home or to start something new here, a new kind of power that would cover the Asian Clans out West, maybe Issei had to settle the west before even thinking about the East. 

“It’s something that a lot of organizations haven’t done since the Fallen Angels, even then, they limited it to the Columbians and Latinos, they were very specific with what they dealt with. There was also a weird guy with White long hair, Michael. I think his name was, he had a hand in the gunrunning business as well.”

Humming, no one else had anything else to say, the gunrunning side of things seemed a lot more viable right now, considering the business they would soon find themselves involved in for the future of their new faction, it would be a long walk before they even reached the status of Gremory. 

“Where do we begin?”

“I say we get some distributors and from there, as I said, we corner the market….”

It was that grin which would lead them into the future, one thing, the fact that Issei’s smirk sent confidence instead of fear was certainly something new. 

“Then let’s get started, Dragon”