As evening approached seven o'clock, the girls—having just finished dinner at the Kuoh Academy cafeteria—strolled back to the old school building.
"Ah—another busy day," Rias said with a small sigh. "By the way, Asia, did you get enough to eat just now?"
"Th-Thank you for asking—I'm quite full," the blonde nun replied, her gentle smile as demure as ever, following close behind Rias and Akeno.
She really had eaten a lot this evening—enough for a feast by her own standard. In her past life at the Church, dinners were plain unless it was Christmas or some special occasion.
Fish or meat was seen as sinful indulgence. But for her, a bowl of chashu ramen plus a side of tempura was a rare and marvelous treat.
"Still… I thought you might be upset, Rias-san," she added softly, her expression turning shy.
"Upset? Why would I be?" Rias paused at the foot of the stairs, glancing back with surprise.
Asia immediately shook her head. "I didn't mean it like that… it's just, you did so much for me—finding me a place to stay, arranging my enrollment—and I… well, I feel like I'm imposing too much…"
"Eh—don't worry about it. We said we'd give you time to think it over; no way we'd go back on our word," Rias said with a gentle shrug.
"When I was younger, I used to think the more servants I had, the better. But the more I saw, the more I realized that turning someone into your servant is just forcibly changing their race into a Devil. If someone's going to betray you, they'll do it whether they're a servant or not. And if someone's never going to betray you, they'll stand by you in a crisis, even with no contract at all."
As she spoke, a soft, almost wistful expression flickered across her face—
Until Asia—quite innocently—blurted out the next line:
"Like Bokue-san, right?"
"WHA—?! B-Bokue? Why bring him up out of nowhere? That's completely unrelated!"
Pink tinged Rias's cheeks as she sputtered in fluster.
"Ahem—anyway, that's just the way it is. And though your Sacred Gear is special, it's not like we'd forcibly take it from you."
She coughed once, regaining composure. "We Gremory Devils aren't that unreasonable…"
"Speaking of Sacred Gears—" Asia murmured, pressing her index finger to her lips, "Bokue-san doesn't have one, right?"
Rias tilted her head. "Huh? He did mention once that he 'Has' a Gear, but he's not fond of using it. I guess we've never actually seen him pull it out."
She paused, then remembered something. "Oh—almost forgot the important news: the school just sent me the notice—your enrollment is approved. You'll be in the same class as Bokue, so once you officially start—"
"Really? That's wonderful!"
Asia's face lit up at the prospect of sharing classes with Bokue. She raised her fists in a small cheer. "That means from now on, I can see Bokue-san not only after class, but at lunch too—that's so great—"
"Ah—unfortunately, not tomorrow," Rias cut in.
"Eh? Why not?"
"Because tomorrow and the day after that are the weekend. No classes. You'll have to wait for Monday to see him."
"Awww…" Asia deflated in disappointment.
With that, Rias tossed them a casual remark as she headed up the stairs:
"Alright, that's it for now. I'm going to my room. Akeno, Koneko, Asia—if you want the bath first, go ahead."
❁❁❁❁
Scene Shift: Rias's Bedroom
"Phew—done."
Rias sat at her desk by the window, capping her pen after writing the final line in her notebook. She stretched both arms high above her head, arching her back.
She'd just finished today's journal entry.
Scanning over the pages, each day's record was brief, so a single page often covered multiple dates.
— April 25: Bokue said he picked up something "amazing" on yesterday's mission—turned out to be just a severed finger. It looked super gross, apparently some super-important cursed item from the Jujutsu Association. We were in the middle of our club meeting when someone came to drag him off. Wonder how that turned out… Sheesh, can't you stop picking up weird random stuff?
— April 26: Bokue—why does the craziest stuff keep happening to him? This morning, he ran into a nun while leaving his house—and after school, got into a fight with Fallen Angels, dragging us to a church to rescue that same nun. So basically, he's got a tracking device on that poor girl or something?!
…Though I have to say, him charging in to save me if I'm ever in danger was kind of cool.
— April 27: Akeno's acting strange these past two days—she's suddenly picking a fight over who sits next to Bokue, even saying she "likes him." Meanwhile, Bokue is just letting her lean on him in front of everyone. Weren't those two never that close before…?
Day after day, different names came and went in her diary—but one name always remained. And the more Rias read, the more it sounded like the daily ramblings of a girl in love.
Feeling her cheeks warm, she gave a small 'hmph', pressing the backs of her cooler hands to her face in an attempt to calm down.
❁❁❁❁
At that moment, a runic formation appeared on the floor behind her, glowing red with a gentle magical hum.
"Huh?"
Noticing that energy swirl, Rias quickly snapped her journal shut and spun in her chair. A mature-looking maid figure came into focus inside the scarlet teleportation circle—a woman wearing a uniform reminiscent of a certain "Perfect and Elegant Head Maid."
Rias blinked, murmuring in surprise:
"Grayfia… Onee-sama."
"Good evening, Lady Rias."
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