Seeing this scene, Rias was completely speechless.
She had thought something X-rated was going on in there, but it was just a massage?
True, Rod was only wearing a pair of shorts, and Akeno was wrapped in nothing but a bath towel that exposed a good portion of her "mountains," but to Rias, a devil, this was child's play.
As long as nothing had gone inside, it didn't count!
"Rias, you're here too."
Akeno had already noticed the changing expressions on Rias's face and extended her hand, beckoning her over.
"What are you standing there for? Aren't you going to help?"
"I can't quite manage on my own. Rias, why don't you come over and work on Rod's lower half?"
"Lower... half?"
Rias's eyes involuntarily drifted downward.
That... that wouldn't be appropriate, would it?
But she quickly realized that Akeno meant his legs, not that area.
Though she was a High-class Devil, her gratitude toward Rod prevented her from putting on airs. Besides, she had studied quite a few massage techniques from books during her academy days, and today seemed like the perfect chance to put them to use, a small way to repay Rod for all his help thus far.
Soon after, the other girls changed into their swimsuits one by one and made their way into the hot spring area.
As a parade of beautiful women with varying figures walked past him, Rod narrowed his eyes slightly.
By now, Akeno had finished with the massage and had Rod sit on a stool while she lathered his back with body wash.
Seeing Rod's expression, she deliberately leaned close to his ear and breathed softly, "It seems Rod-sama really enjoys seeing girls in swimsuits?"
"In that case, why not take a look at mine too?"
With that, Akeno stepped in front of Rod and let her bath towel fall away, leaving her clad in a very, very revealing set of stringy lace.
"Hiss..."
Perhaps the temperature in the hot spring area had dropped slightly, because Rod sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening.
Seeing this, Akeno closed the distance between them and knelt down, picking up a washcloth to begin carefully scrubbing his front.
"Actually, I had a feeling a scene like this might happen someday, so I prepared several sets of swimsuits in advance. It's quite comfortable wearing this, you know, not too stifling."
"Indeed, girls should dress lightly. It's good for physical and mental health."
Rod silently wondered at how skilled Akeno was at this sort of thing. But since their relationship had only just begun to develop, Rod told himself he'd only take one look, and proceeded to stare unblinkingly at Akeno.
Channeling his professional dedication to not missing a single clue during an operation, he observed Akeno carefully for quite some time before finally spotting a thin piece of string nestled between her curves.
Seeing this, Rod couldn't help but lament Akeno's troubled past, she didn't even have money to buy proper clothes.
"I knew Rod-sama would understand me."
Akeno puffed out her chest with pride.
Rod's eyes grew even wider.
Just then, whether by accident or design, Akeno's foot suddenly slipped, and she pitched forward, landing squarely on Rod and instinctively wrapping him in a big embrace.
Since Rod was sitting down, being tackled like this meant his entire face was buried deep within Mount Fuji, making it difficult to breathe.
And because Akeno was flustered, her arms tightened around Rod's head, making it hard for him to break free. Trapped like a drowning man, Rod could only thrash his head about desperately, trying to get air.
Sensing something amiss, Akeno's face flushed bright red.
Her slip had genuinely been an accident.
But she hadn't expected Rod to be bolder than she'd imagined, rubbing his face all over her in front of everyone!
Now, even if she wanted to pull away, she couldn't, because Rod had her locked in place. Worse still, his movements had caused the thin string to snap, and the pressure from his restless head sent waves of sensation through Akeno's body, leaving her heart aflutter.
Even with others nearby, Akeno felt herself losing control.
Rias was dumbfounded.
Should she intervene or not?
But suddenly, Kuroka's shout shattered the intimate atmosphere.
"Huh?! Xenovia and Irina's wings are flickering!"
At those words, Akeno instantly calmed down.
Rod, too, gave the girl a moment to catch her breath.
As much as he loved his cherries, he wasn't about to eat them in front of an audience.
Turning his attention to the Church duo, he noticed that both Xenovia and Irina Shidou's wings were flickering like broken lightbulbs.
Seeing this, Rod realized what had happened, their earlier display had likely triggered some... particular thoughts in the two girls' minds.
That was the thing about Angels: even the slightest impure thought could trigger the system to flag their faith as contaminated. Let it accumulate too much, and they'd fall and become Fallen Angels.
Fortunately, Xenovia and Irina quickly closed their eyes and prayed fervently to the heavens. Several minutes passed before their wings finally stopped flickering.
"Phew... that was close. I nearly fell from grace just now. Good thing my conviction is strong!"
Xenovia wiped the sweat from her brow.
"As expected, Lady Gabriel's teaching was right, staying close to Rod strengthens our faith!"
"But that's enough for today. I feel like if we push it much further, I really will fall."
Irina said, still shaken.
Then, in unison, the two girls turned to Rod and declared, "Rod, once we've recovered, you can use the same method to train us again! We want to see if your lewd behavior can truly affect our faith!"
Hearing this, Rod let out a dismissive sneer.
This was nothing.
The scene suddenly gave Rod an idea, something straight out of a certain training trope.
If he were a bit more twisted, and used something like this to test Xenovia and Irina's faith... they'd be totally screwed, wouldn't they?
The mixed bath session ended quickly, and nothing particularly special happened between Rod and Akeno with everyone else around.
However, Akeno deliberately lingered until the very end, giving Rod an ambiguous smile as she left.
Rod didn't understand at first, but soon enough, it clicked.
...
Late at night.
After everyone else had gone to sleep, a figure quietly appeared in Akeno's room.
Since he hadn't made any effort to conceal himself, the light-sleeping Akeno soon sensed someone approaching.
By the pale moonlight, the girl could make out the visitor's silhouette, it was Rod.
"Rod-sama, what brings you here at this hour?"
Akeno asked, puzzled.
"Didn't you invite me?"
Rod blinked, confused.
"Huh?"
Akeno was at a loss. Had she said something like that?
"Should I leave, then?"
Rod grinned wryly. Wasn't that how these things usually went?
He was pretty sure their relationship had progressed enough by now.
Had he misread things somewhere?
"Um... then maybe you should stay."
Akeno hesitated for a moment before saying.