The old Kuoh Academy building was, for all intents and purposes, the depressed gothic cousin of the main campus. While the rest of the academy boasted clean hallways, updated bulletin boards, and windows that didn't creak like tormented souls, this annex seemed plucked from a discount catalog of haunted castles.
Its facade was all weathered bricks, cloaked in creeping vines that climbed the walls as if desperate to escape the ground itself. The windows were tall and narrow, with ancient stained glass that distorted sunlight into an otherworldly hue.
Inside, on the top floor, was the infamous (or legendary) Occult Research Club. Of course, the name was just a polite cover for "headquarters of aristocratic demons handling supernatural affairs, contracts, and occasionally turning humans into servants." But putting that on the enrollment form might scare off freshmen.
The clubroom exuded the elegance of a European noble's study—if that noble was obsessed with velvet, dark wood, and armchairs that swallowed anyone bold enough to sit in them. A large arched window dominated the wall opposite the door, offering a panoramic view of the school courtyard and the exit gates. And it was there that Rias Gremory stood now.
She was by the window, arms crossed gently over her chest—the classic pose of someone observing, pondering… and perhaps feeling a slight unease she'd never admit aloud.
Her sky-blue eyes followed a figure moving in the courtyard below: Kazuya. He walked with his hands in his pockets, heading away from the main building, passing through the gardens toward the gate.
Rias watched him in silence, as if hoping, by some whim of fate, that he'd look back. But of course, he didn't. He just kept going, crossing the school gate and vanishing into the street, as he had every day for the past week.
Akeno, lounging on the sofa with a teacup in hand, glanced up with a smirk.
"You're really obsessed, Rias."
The club president didn't turn. Her reply came low, almost too soft for her usually assertive personality. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm just… curious."
"Right…" Akeno sang with a teasing lilt. "I know exactly what kind of curiosity you have…"
Akeno took a leisurely sip of her tea, as if savoring not just the flavor but also Rias's subtle discomfort. Her violet eyes gleamed with that mischievous spark that always heralded trouble—or at least a provocation.
"So…" she began, her tone far too sweet to be innocent. "What exactly is so… interesting about him? He's a normal boy. A bit quiet, maybe. More interesting than most guys here, which is practically a miracle in this place. But still…"
"You don't usually stare at 'normals' through the window like a princess locked in a tower, waiting for a peasant to turn into Prince Charming."
Rias let out a sigh—low, slow, almost resigned—but didn't take her eyes off the window.
"He's different."
"Hmm… different like 'hiding a Sacred Gear in his backpack' or different like 'he made me feel something I can't explain, and now my head's spinning more than a complex magic circle I can't decipher'?"
Rias finally turned, and Akeno could see her eyes were slightly narrowed. Not exactly angry. More like someone caught letting their heart speak before their reason.
"It's not about feelings. And he's not carrying any Sacred Gear, at least not that I've sensed."
"You searched the boy, Rias? I'm starting to think this curiosity is more hands-on than you're letting on."
"Don't be crude, Akeno!" she snapped. But there was a faint blush on her cheeks that makeup couldn't hide.
"Then what is it?" Akeno's voice softened now, almost kind. "Does he have some kind of strange energy?"
"No. That's what bothers me." Rias walked to her armchair but didn't sit. She stood, arms still crossed, as if shielding herself from some inevitable conclusion. "Every time he passes by me, my instincts scream."
Akeno raised her eyebrows. "Scream what? 'Threat alert'? 'The crush is here'?"
Rias ignored her. Or tried to.
"I don't know…"
Akeno watched her for a few more seconds and sighed, this time without irony.
"You know, if you want, I can dig deeper into him. I'm good at charming distracted boys."
"No," Rias replied, too quickly. Then, with a bit more calm, "No. Not yet. I… want to see where this goes on its own."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Akeno smiled, but there was something gentler behind it. "Liking not being in control for the first time in a while."
"Maybe," Rias admitted. "Or maybe I'm just getting paranoid."
"Or in love."
"I told you not to be ridiculous, Akeno!"
"You also said it was just curiosity," Akeno countered, turning her gaze back to her tea.
The sound of the door opening broke the quiet that had settled after Akeno's words.
Sona Sitri, student council president and Rias Gremory's occasional rival in all things strategy, control, and demonic ego, entered with her usual ice-queen composure. Beside her, Tsubaki Shinra, her vice-president, walked calmly.
"Are we in time for the round of emotional torture disguised as chess?" Sona asked, the corner of her mouth faintly curved.
"Punctual as ever," Rias replied, already walking to the table in the center of the room where the chessboard gleamed under the late afternoon light. "Let's see if today you can last more than ten moves."
"It's not me who's been distracted lately," Sona shot back with her usual cold calm, sitting across the board.
Akeno and Tsubaki positioned themselves behind their respective leaders like ladies-in-waiting in a historical drama.
The first moves were exchanged in silence. Pieces glided across the board like ghosts trained for war.
"Find anything?" Rias asked finally, feigning disinterest as she advanced a bishop.
Sona let out a long sigh, the kind that usually preceded complicated reports or inevitable defeats. "Yes. But you won't like it."
Rias raised an eyebrow. "Then start with the facts."
"Name: Ryougi Kazuya. Nationality: Japanese. Place of birth: Rome. Apparently, a bureaucratic anomaly no one bothered to fix." She moved a pawn. "Lost his parents in a car accident at eight. Raised by a nun in a convent outside Rome, but one with no ties to the Church, so don't worry…"
Akeno made a surprised face, never imagining Kazuya had been raised by a nun, but now she understood his calmer personality compared to most boys.
"During his teens, he was transferred to Florence, studied in public schools, and as you probably know, he's a die-hard otaku… Spent late nights reading manga in 24-hour cafés. Dreamed of Japan, until about two weeks ago when he got the chance to come here…"
Rias, who until then had maintained a calculated air of boredom, furrowed her brow slightly. "And how did he end up in Kuoh? Exchange program? Some cultural initiative?"
Sona hesitated. One second. Two. Three, before saying:
"…It was Sirzechs."
The piece Rias was about to move froze in midair.
"My brother?" Her voice came out sharper than she intended.
"Yes." Sona crossed her arms. "He personally authorized the transfer. Rewrote parts of the school's exchange system, manipulated documents, and redirected funds from his own pocket to ensure Kazuya was accepted without question."
Akeno blinked, genuinely surprised. "Wow. What kind of connection does a seemingly ordinary boy have with the most powerful Maou of our time?"
Rias slammed the piece down on the board. The sharp sound echoed through the room.
"He's spoiling me again!" she huffed, frustrated. "Why does he have to meddle in everything!? Does he think I can't handle my peerage? Or my own life?!"
"More than that," Sona replied, her voice more acidic than Rias had ever heard. "He's selecting suitors. Disguised. And throwing them in your path. Like you're a child who needs help picking shoes. All I can think is that Sirzechs wants you to reincarnate Kazuya as your servant. Part of your peerage."
Akeno stopped smiling. "That's very specific. And personal."
"He believes Kazuya has potential, which is why he invested so much to bring him here," Sona leaned slightly over the board. "Maybe more than you imagine. And maybe more than we can see."
The game continued in silence.
Rias let out a sigh and spoke in a lower tone than she intended:
"No matter what my brother's planning… If Kazuya has something special, I'll find out myself. This week, we're doing a school project together. A literature assignment. If he's hiding anything, it'll slip out."
"Well, I won't interfere, though I was interested in reincarnating him as my servant. It was your brother who brought him here…" Sona said, calmly pushing a rook to the center of the board. "He could be useful. Maybe not just for your peerage, but also… to get you out of your engagement."
The piece Rias was about to move slipped from her fingers. Her face soured instantly, as if she'd bitten a lemon laced with infernal paperwork.
"Ugh. Don't even remind me."
"That disgusting rooster…"
Sona, however, remained serious.
"Don't push too hard…" she said, her tone neutral. "The last thing we need is him getting offended and turning hostile without us knowing what he's capable of."
Rias let out a tired sigh. "I won't, don't worry. It's just a school project. Nothing magical."
Sona narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything immediately. She just watched Rias like someone evaluating a risky move about to backfire. When she finally spoke, her voice was lower, almost intimate.
"You say that, but I know you. Since we were kids. You don't know how to fake disinterest. And you're getting more impulsive as the engagement date approaches."
Rias opened her mouth to retort but stopped. She just closed her eyes for a second and nodded.
"I know."
The table fell silent for a few moments, except for the faint sound of pieces being moved.
Sona crossed her legs with elegance and spoke, almost as if sharing a secret.
"I… considered lending you part of my peerage. Just for a while. To give you another card to play against the engagement."
Rias's eyes widened, surprised.
"But my parents forbade it." Sona looked away, her expression hardening slightly. "The Sitri family also benefits if the alliance with the Phenex is finalized. And if it looks like I'm interfering… the consequences would be severe."
Rias didn't reply. She didn't need to. She understood. Maybe even expected it.
"Then I'll have to make do with what I have…" she said, turning her eyes back to the board. "Even if what I have is a good-looking boy with strangely unreal eyes and a history full of holes."
Akeno tilted her head with a gentle smile, rarer than her usual sarcasm.
"Well, at least he's good-looking. If it all goes wrong, you can still make him the club mascot."
"Why are you like this?" Rias muttered, exasperated.
Akeno just smiled before saying, "By the way, wasn't today when you arranged to go to his place for that… literature project?"
Rias froze, as if the memory had been forcibly yanked from a forgotten drawer.
"Oh, crap. You're right."
Akeno raised an eyebrow, amused by the sudden, contained panic in her friend's voice.
"You set it for five, right? That gives you…" She glanced at the pocket watch clipped to her uniform with the same precision she'd use to calculate a destructive spell. "Ten minutes, if you want to get there on time without teleporting in a crude way. Which, considering how nervous you get around him, might not be a good idea."
Rias shot up, adjusting her tie in a hurry and grabbing her bag in one swift motion. Her eyes met Akeno's for a moment.
"I don't get nervous around him."
"Of course not," Akeno replied with an innocent smile that fooled no one.
Meanwhile, Sona calmly placed her final piece.
Checkmate.
Rias stared at the board as if it had spat in her face.
"You won?"
"In eleven moves." Sona stood with her usual composure, Tsubaki following. "Good to see I can still beat you when you're distracted by… academic curiosities."
"Don't start."
"Good luck with the boy, Rias," Sona said with a slight nod. "Just don't forget he could be dangerous. Be careful."
"Underestimate me more, Sona. I promise I'll surprise you."
"I hope so." And with that, Sona and Tsubaki left the room with silent steps.
"Rias…"
"No. Don't even start."
"I was just going to say…"
"No."
"Use protection."
The indignant shout was so loud it probably echoed through the entire gothic wing of the building.
"AKENO!"
The priestess laughed, reclining gracefully on the sofa as if she'd just landed a finishing blow on an opponent.
Rias, meanwhile, was red to the roots of her hair. She grabbed her materials, huffing like a storm about to erupt, and stormed out of the room with hard, quick steps. She swiftly left the campus and headed toward Kazuya's place.
The late afternoon sky was painted in shades of orange and purple, as if even the world couldn't decide between light and shadow—a perfect backdrop for a slice-of-life scene with romantic tension, which only made her angrier.
She hated being aware of that kind of thing, grumbling to herself as she rounded the corner by the bookstore and followed the narrow street leading to the three-story building where Kazuya lived.
Ten minutes' walk. Two or one, if she ignored mundane rules and used a bit of her natural speed. But she forced herself to walk. Partly to maintain composure. Partly because she didn't want to admit how anxious she was.
She repeated to herself that she was just going to do a school project, like any student would. Wasn't that what she wanted when she chose to live in Japan? To study like a normal schoolgirl? She clung to that like a mantra, as if it could erase the fact that she'd fixed her hair at least three times since leaving the old school building.
Passing the corner flower shop—a discreet store with hanging pots and the scent of jasmine—Rias had to resist checking her reflection in the window. And she definitely wasn't making sure her uniform was perfectly adjusted or checking for anything in her teeth. Of course not.
It was only when she saw the grayish building with its external iron stairs that she let a sigh escape.
This is it.
The entrance was simple, almost sad—peeling bricks, faded paint worn by time. The kind of place an aristocratic demon would never choose to live in… and yet, it made sense for Kazuya to be there, like a normal human. She'd learned this in a casual conversation a week ago and had Koneko quietly tail him afterward to confirm his "normalcy."
Rias climbed the metal steps to the second floor, stopping in front of door 203.
She raised her hand, hesitated for a second—just long enough to curse herself internally—and knocked three times.
Inside… her heart was beating far too fast.