Prior to the beginning of the series, Irina had known Issei from their childhood and has had a crush on him since then. She does care for Issei a great deal because even when Issei was reincarnated as a Devil and had changed into a pervert, she still loved him no matter what, though she never expressed these feelings. It wasn't until Volume 10, where she tearfully talks about Issei's kindness and hard work to the children in the audience so they could encourage Issei on his match against Sairaorg, that she expresses her feelings of love for him. In Volume 9, she was incited to mate with Issei by Xenovia in order to help strengthen Heaven's forces, nearly turning into a Fallen Angel in the process after Issei accidentally landed his face on her breast and groping it, causing her to have "im