After all the cooking, eating, and chatting sessions were finished, Jun finally rose from his seat, then looked at Akeno who was still sitting while holding her teacup.
"Well then, I'll take my leave," he said with a smile.
He didn't want to stay too long in the house of a woman living alone—especially when he was still underage. There were boundaries of propriety he needed to maintain to avoid misunderstandings.
Akeno looked slightly surprised, then gave a soft smile. "Alright, be careful on your way home. Oh, and… next week we can't practice, okay, Jun-kun~"
Jun turned. "Eh? Why?"
Akeno played with her fingers for a moment, her expression awkward but sweet. "Well… I need to pick up something somewhere."
"Hm? Want me to accompany you?" Jun offered casually. To him, it was a simple favor; he didn't mind at all.
Akeno smiled wider, like a flower blooming a little brighter. "If it's not too much trouble~"
"Of course," Jun replied, raising one hand. "Compared to you teaching me how to cook, this is nothing."
Akeno tilted her head with a subtly teasing gaze. "Is that the only reason?"
"What else?" Jun chuckled softly. "This is important knowledge for someone living alone. Cooking is… crucial."
"Hm~ is that so." Akeno looked at him as if she was keeping something to herself. "In that case… I'll be looking forward to it, Jun-kun."
Jun simply nodded, not noticing anything behind Akeno's smile that seemed a little warmer than usual. After saying goodbye once more, he began descending the long shrine staircase, accompanied by the evening breeze slowly turning into night.
However, something had been bothering him since earlier.
A feeling… of being watched.
Every time he looked over his shoulder, there was always a red silhouette—faint, quick, and disappearing as if it had never existed. Jun had no idea that it was Rias Gremory spying on him in the least subtle way imaginable.
"Hmph… peeking from earlier," he muttered quietly while casually turning his body to glance at the treeline.
No response, of course.
But he felt someone hurriedly hiding, like a child caught stealing cookies.
Jun snickered softly and continued walking. 'Teasing her a little… doesn't hurt, right?'
...
I returned to the cabin without being detected by Rias's familiar—and honestly, it felt pretty satisfying. A little playful, a little personal amusement. To throw it off, I took a detour to the park restroom, closed the door, then used Shadow Step while putting on the special mask I wore whenever I wanted to disappear from the world.
Rias's familiar—a typical Gremory demon bat—was probably flying in circles right now with a panicked expression in bat form. I did feel a bit sorry, but… well, I'm not planning to reveal myself fully to the supernatural world just yet.
My principle is simple: I want a peaceful life.
If I step out too soon—whether I'm discovered by Rias, Akeno, Sona, or anyone from the devil faction—many things will start moving faster than I want. And honestly, this world… is not friendly to someone without enough power.
So for now, hiding a little is fine.
When I arrived at the cabin, I immediately lay down on the thin mattress that was starting to feel like home. Maw, currently in mini-slime mode, crawled onto my chest before rolling to the side of the pillow.
"Tomorrow… back to routine, yeah," I murmured while removing the mask and pulling the blanket.
Only the quiet forest and the whispering wind.
"Well… this is peaceful enough." I closed my eyes.
And whether from exhaustion or from Maw's small warmth, I fell asleep almost instantly.
...
Lunch break at Kuoh Academy was usually the moment when most students left the classroom to eat or relax in the courtyard. But for two certain girls—Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima—it was instead time for work.
In the wide and elegant ORC Clubroom, they sat across from a dark red wooden desk, surrounded by the scent of tea and stacks of documents. Though from outside they looked like two popular students managing club activities, the truth was far more… devilish.
Literally.
Rias, the heiress of the Gremory Clan, was reviewing a neat bundle of reports. Meanwhile, Akeno stood beside her, preparing tea with her usual gentle smile. A smile that could soothe anyone—except perhaps someone who knew what her job actually was.
Besides managing a territory on Earth, high–class devils like Rias also operated a… "service business."
A service that would sound extremely illicit if explained without context.
Not strange trades. Not high-level blood contracts either.
More like… fulfilling human requests—whether for help, luck, petty revenge, or even just a mystical atmosphere—and in exchange, they were paid with negative energy generated by human emotions.
The concept was simple:
Humans want something → summon a devil → devil grants it → devil is paid with the emotional energy produced by that human.
A supernatural emotional barter system.
Rias placed one file down and let out a small sigh.
Lunch break at Kuoh Academy was usually the moment when most students left the classroom to eat or relax in the courtyard. But for two certain girls—Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima—it was instead time for work.
In the wide and elegant ORC Clubroom, they sat across from a dark red wooden desk, surrounded by the scent of tea and stacks of documents. Though from outside they looked like two popular students managing club activities, the truth was far more… devilish.
Literally.
Rias, the heiress of the Gremory Clan, was reviewing a neat bundle of reports. Meanwhile, Akeno stood beside her, preparing tea with her usual gentle smile. A smile that could soothe anyone—except perhaps someone who knew what her job actually was.
Besides managing a territory on Earth, high–class devils like Rias also operated a… "service business."
A service that would sound extremely illicit if explained without context.
Not strange trades. Not high-level blood contracts either.
More like… fulfilling human requests—whether for help, luck, petty revenge, or even just a mystical atmosphere—and in exchange, they were paid with negative energy generated by human emotions.
The concept was simple:
Humans want something → summon a devil → devil grants it → devil is paid with the emotional energy produced by that human.
A supernatural version of emotional bartering.
Rias placed the last file onto the desk and let out a relieved breath. "Finally, it's done."
Akeno, who was pouring warm tea into her club president's cup, smiled softly. "Good work, Buccho-san~"
"Yes, thank you," Rias replied while stretching her shoulders. "Akeno…"
Her tone shifted slightly. There was a topic she had been holding back for a while. When Akeno set down the teapot and sat on the sofa across from her, Rias leaned forward.
"Well then, Akeno," she said seriously.
Akeno raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Are you… very interested in the human named Jun Mizushino?"
Akeno gave a faint smile, the kind of expression she often used whenever Rias entered her "curious mode." "Ara~ Buccho. Why do you seem so eager to know about that?"
"Because… isn't it strange? You know we're devils. Our life span can reach thousands of years. Meanwhile humans… a hundred, if lucky." Rias crossed her arms, looking not angry, just confused. "So… why?"
Akeno tilted her head. "Rias… doesn't that sound rude? As if you're belittling my feelings?"
"Eh! That's not what I meant!" Rias panicked a little, her cheeks turning red. "Of course I'm curious! My Queen and my friend is suddenly interested and approaching a man aggressively!? As a friend, I'm just… well, concerned!"
Akeno chuckled softly, covering her lips with her fingertip. "Ahem… in that case, I forgive you~" she said. "But yes, the reason is simple. Jun… is different from most men I've met."
Rias nodded, still skeptical but willing to listen. "You said he's around… his twenties?"
"Mhm." Akeno placed her cup down, then looked out the window, as if remembering something pleasant. "I first saw him in the city park, in the late afternoon. He was sitting under a plum tree… as if meditating."
"Hoo…" Rias looked genuinely intrigued now. "A human meditating in the park? That's rare."
"Exactly." Akeno continued with a gentle voice.
"In the next few days, I saw him again. Sometimes he picnicked alone, sometimes he played with passing children. He even fished once at the small river near the park. Somehow… he gave off the impression of someone who had been living there for a long time, like a natural part of the environment."
Rias leaned forward. "Then you spoke with him?"
Akeno gave a small smile. "Yes. At that time, my groceries fell. Jun picked them up before I could even move. The way he looked at me… wasn't the gaze of a man trying to flirt with a beautiful woman. More like… someone who understood loneliness, and recognized it in me."
Rias fell silent.
Akeno rarely spoke this honestly.
"He spoke politely and gently," Akeno continued. "Not belittling, but not exaggerating either. As if we had both gone through similar suffering… without needing to explain it."
Rias folded her arms again, suppressing the mischievous smile creeping up. "I see. And the following days, you two interacted more often?"
Akeno nodded, her cheeks slightly red. "Mhm. And… somehow… I found myself becoming more attracted to him."
The room fell silent for a moment.
Then—
"Fufufu~ don't look at me like that, Rias. I was also once a human… half of me."
Rias didn't say another word, and she also decided not to share her opinion about Jun.
'It seems I need to judge for myself whether that man is worthy of Akeno or not,' thought Rias, protective of her friend's happiness.
//--//
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