Chapter 7

  Waking up and returning from Morpheus’s realm, I was greeted by the pain of aching muscles. The light streamed slightly through the half-drawn curtains, and I stretched one of my arms over my head, enjoying the way my joints popped with audible sound. The air in the room was cool, carrying the faint smell of roses and honey.

  I closed my eyes again and snuggled my head deeper into the pillow. The bed was very soft and warm. It felt like a cloud, far too luxurious for the sparse lifestyle I had grown accustomed to growing up in an orphanage and later with Father Jaime.

  …

  The bed?

  …

  The bed!

  My eyes flew open, and I confirmed that indeed I was not sleeping on the couch. It seems I slept in a very nice, wide, and comfortable bed. Looking towards the curtain of crimson hair splattered on my chest, I suddenly realised why I have only been able to stretch one arm and not both. What my sleep-addled brain failed to realise at the time was that my other appendage was being held hostage in a very enviable prison.

  I gulped, and my whole body stiffened. Now properly awake, I could feel all the sensations that were bombarding my senses. The warm, almost hot feeling of soft skin on my arm, the ticklish sensation on my chest, intermittent with soft and hot breath, and the silky feeling of a leg strewn across my thigh. It all came together in a cocktail of sensations. My heart hammered against my ribs.

  I don’t know if it was my elevated heart rate or the sudden jerk motion I must have done when I realised where I was, but the other occupant of the bed started to wake from her sleep as well. She stirred with a slow, feline grace, the bedsheets rustling against her skin as she shifted.

  Rias looked up from her spot on my chest and smiled a sleepy smile. “Good morning.”

  “Don’t 'good morning' me. Why am I here?”

  “Because I brought you here. You passed out in the aftermath of the battle. Asia healed your wounds, but you still needed healing. So I healed you.

  I blinked, trying to process the logic through the fog of my morning brain. “This is what passes around as healing?”

  “Yes, skin-to-skin contact is the easiest way to share energy and enable healing. What, don’t you like it?”

  …

  “You did well yesterday." Rias suddenly changed the topic, bringing me back to reality.

  A frown came over my features. Yesterday. The battle in the abandoned church. It all came rushing back to me. A confusing mixture of feelings, I remembered it all. I killed my first man yesterday, and I could not bring myself to feel anything for it. The only thing that stood prominently on my mind was how I enjoyed myself during the battle. The anticipation, the release of power – it all comes back to me now.

  Rias must have seen my expression, because her brow creased lightly, unsure of what I was thinking. She reached out, her fingers hovering just inches from my face, sensing the dark turn my thoughts had taken.

  “What’s wrong?” She asked.

  “Yesterday … I don’t know if I was myself.” I stared at the ceiling, watching the dust motes dance in the morning sun, feeling like a stranger in my own skin.

  “I … I forgot my whole plan, the tactics I have prepared and practised with Kiba … I threw them out of the window the moment the fighting started.”

  “Do not be troubled, Kairos; those things happen. It was your first battle."

  “That’s not it. I knew I would not be perfect, but you must understand, yesterday I was not myself … I was the dragon, the lust for battle, to prove my dominance over my opponent. I felt it all, and I acted on it heedless of what I would have otherwise.”

  “You think the dragon is influencing you?”

  “Draig directly? I doubt it.”

  A rumbling voice of the ancient being took us both out of our conversation. A slight shift of light from the top of the palm on my left hand indicated Draig was speaking from his Sacred Gear directly to us both.

  “WHAT YOU FELT YESTERDAY WAS NOT MY DOING, NOT DIRECTLY."

  …

  “THE SACRED GEAR, MY ETERNAL PRISON, IS BOUND TO YOUR SOUL. YOU MAY NOT BE A DRAGON, BUT WE SHARE A BOND, YOU AND I. IT IS SIMPLY THE WAY IT IS. I ALSO IMAGINE YOU BEING A DEVIL NOW HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT.

  I looked questioningly at Rias, who also looked thoughtful at Draig’s word. After a moment she spoke. “The Red Dragon Emperor is not incorrect. You are a devil now, Kairos. We devils are beings of emotion, lust, joy, pride, and greed; we embody all aspects of the seven sins. I have not heard this parallel between a Sacred Gear and a reincarnated devil before, but there are truly only a few Sacred Gears similar to yours, and reincarnated devils have only been around for a few hundred years. It is possible something like this is happening.”

  Rias paused slightly, clearly thinking on the matter.

  “Divine blood has also been known to drive the progeny of gods into conflict. Whether that is because of the fates, the gods' own designs or something in the blood itself, I cannot say, but there is a reason most demigods are always involved in conflict.”

  I closed my eyes, processing the information.

  “So, I have potentially three aspects of my own being driving me to conflict, influencing me.” The realisation felt like being a passenger in my own body, watching three different drivers fight for the wheel.

  …

  “Fuck that." My brow creased in both frustration and determination. “I am the master of my destiny, no one else. If I decide to kill or to fight, it will be because I willed it, not because I am driven by emotions I cannot control.”

  Rias looked at me with understanding in her eyes. “Agency, something we all crave, is it not?”

  I looked at Rias, and we locked eyes. “Would you not act the same? If presented in the situation? I cannot picture you just accepting meekly the way things are and going on about your life.”

  “No, I suppose not.” There was a vulnerability in Rias’s voice; something resonated with her.

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  We descended into silence again. My thoughts swirling with conflicting emotions. Like I said to Rias, I refused to be influenced by something out of my control, not if I could help it. The idea that the decisions I made were not truly my own rankled me something deep. I turned my thoughts briefly to Draig. The Red Dragon was actually quite a chatty fellow, but he was not known to speak up to others besides me. I would not call him shy; he was ostentatious, to say the least, but with anyone other than his wielders, he was downright laconic.

  What gives? You are usually less chatty with others.

  SHUT UP. YOU NEEDED HELP, AND THE GREGORY DEVIL HAD THE ANSWERS. IT WILL DO YOU GOOD TO SHARE YOUR PROBLEMS WITH OTHERS BESIDES ME.

  Ahh, so you do care.

  …

  I smiled internally. The dragon might act as if all were beneath him, but over the years we have built up quite a rapport. It was good to know that he cared at least. Just then, I was brought out of my internal conversation by the crimson-haired devil who I just realised again was still spread on top of me, completely naked.

  “Brooding doesn’t suit you, Kairos,” she said as she shuffled around a little bit. What was happening to me was debatable; some would call it fortune, while others might properly recognise this for what it was: just a big-ass blue-balling session. Rias’s moving around resulted in something very soft brushing against my lower body. That's something very soft being her leg and my lower body specifically being -!

  “Oh? I thought you complained earlier about our current sleeping arrangement, but it seems not all of you is against it.” Rias said with a smirk, looking up to me from my chest. She propped her head on one of her arms, while the other still held my arm in between the pillowy prison. This caused her body to shift again, eliciting a hiss from me as she brushed her leg against my member again, making it twitch.

  She just smiled again, showing all of her teeth. Unfortunately for her, the bravado she was displaying was severely reduced by the blush on her face and stiffening of her nipples that I could feel on my arm trapped in between her breasts. This drew another twitch from my lower half. This was becoming ridiculous. As mind-blowing as this situation was, all things considered, it was a poisonous gift, amounting to a nicely wrapped blue balling session.

  I took a deep breath, centring my emotions around a singular purpose.

  “You are not a devil, Rias; you are an imp, a G-cup imp.” I quickly untangled myself from her grasp and swiftly grabbed some clothes I saw on the side of the bed, quickly covering my nudity and making a strategic retreat. “If you excuse me, I need to take a shower now.” Preferably a long one.

  Her laugh accompanied me on my way to the door of the room. Just before I touched the handle, Rias called out to me, making me stop but not turn around.

  “I am still your Master Kairos; do turn around. I have something actually important to tell you.”

  With a sigh, I did as she asked, and instead of Rias lying in bed under the blankets, I saw her sprawled on the bed, the bedsheets tossed to the side. Lying on her side, her legs crossed in a way that I did not see anything important, but her arms were spread on the bed, giving me an excellent view of her prodigious chest. Her crimson hair was splayed on the pillows behind her, and she had a lazy smirk on her face.

  “They are J-cups; the distinction is important.”

  …

  “Now, go take that shower; I hope it is a pleasant one.” She smirked, moving slightly, drawing my gaze again to her breasts as they moved around, the pink nipples stiff.

  I gulped and made an about-face. No one would ever accuse me of running to the shower, no sir.

  THAT WAS NICE OF HER.

  What are you on about?

  NEVER MIND

  Just leave me be for a moment; I need to take a shower, and I would like to do it alone.

  HAHA, I LIKE THE WOMAN; SHE HAS GOOD SENSE IN COLOUR.

  She was born like that; she did not choose it.

  JUST SHOWS SHE HAD GOOD SENSE TO BE BORN WITH IT

  You just like it because it’s red …

  Draig’s laughter echoed in my mind.

  One refreshing shower later, I am sitting down at Rias’s dining table. It is a small affair; Rias lives in a single-room studio, not something you would imagine for an heiress of a noble Devil house. It is still much better than what a normal student would have; most people live with their parents at this point, and Rias had a rather large apartment all to herself.

  Taking my eyes off the breakfast, I look towards my new devil master. “What happened yesterday? After I passed out?”

  Rias finished chewing on her food before answering. “Well, Sona Sitri, the other devil king in this city, took the captured Fallen to her sister. Serafall Leviathan is one of the Four Satans; she is in charge of foreign affairs, so the Fallen trespassing on devil territory would be hers to handle.”

  I gave a nod and took a sip of my coffee, humming as I did so. Rias had a very good coffee.

  “Aside from that, the device we found in the basement was sent to Lord Ajuka; he is always interested in gadgets like those.”

  I raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

  “He is the one responsible for the Evil Pieces; my brother always says there are very few people who can compare with Lord Beelzebub when it comes to magical science.”

  Well, that went about as much as I expected, but I suddenly remembered something. “Will it not be a problem that we only managed to get two of the Fallen?”

  “Hmm, it would have been better to get all four, as that would be a more sure way to get all the information we can from them, but unless they surrender straight away, it is not always so easy; battles can be unpredictable, and I would not want my peerage members to endanger themselves just to keep some Fallen alive.”

  “One last question,” I said to Rias, putting down the coffee.

  Rias nodded, seemingly content to keep answering my questions.

  “Where do you get your coffee?”

  She laughed at that, perhaps pleased by the switch to a more light-hearted topic.

  “Ah, that. It is something my sister-in-law recommended to me. There has been a new family of low-class devils who started making these beans in Astaroth clan territory. The she-devil who came up with the plan to grow the beans managed to earn herself a promotion to mid-class devil just because of that. They use a secret way to magically grow the beans." She took a sip herself, savouring the taste by the look on her face. “I can get you some for the new apartment."

  That got my attention. “New apartment?”

  “We did agree to provide for you and Asia,” Rias said with a nod to me. “I have arranged with the family steward to procure for you living arrangements. The Gremory family will also open a bank account for you, both in the human world and in the underworld. The stipend numbers I received for approval are quite generous, so I expect you will be happy for that.”

  “That actually sounds really good. I grew up modestly most of my life; it will be nice to have some spending money.”

  “Just don’t go around buying cars, and you should have no problems.”

  I thanked Rias. Honestly, the speed with which devils moved was impressive. I guess there was not much bureaucracy required when you were one of the principal clans of Hell.

  “What about the apartment?” I asked, curious what kind of place Rias arranged for me.

  “What? Will you miss me?” The crimson-haired devil teased me slightly. Smirking as she did so.

  “Maybe.” I smirked back, two could play his game, and Rias present earlier in the morning required a response. "Certainly, the breakfast has been enjoyable so far.”

  “We had two,” she deadpanned.

  “Yes, what of it?” I asked with a smirk, and Rias just shook her head with a small smile.

  “Well, it might not be as impossible to have breakfast together again; your apartment is in the same building as mine after all.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her, challenging her to say anything to that.

  “I assure you, a coincidence.” Her next sentence was measured and not one I believed one bit.

  I just hummed in response, taking another sip of the coffee.

  Rias pouted at me and decided a change of topic was in order.

  “Anyhow, Akeno actually asked me if Asia could stay with her; I think she has taken a liking to her. Plus, Akeno lives in a large shrine; I think she feels lonely in there, so having Asia there may be good for them both. Asia seems like a sweet girl, but I fear people might take advantage of her; Akeno should straighten her out in that regard.”

  “That’s good?”

  “I wanted to ask you for permission, even though Asia is now part of my peerage and I am her master; you two did come together, a package deal of sorts. So I did want to get your opinion on that.

  “That is nice of you, but I think Asia will be fine with Akeno; you are not wrong about her … let’s just say lack of worldliness. It will do her good to get her bearings with someone who is used to life outside of the church cloister.”

  Rias nodded, looking pleased I agreed with her. We spent a few moments in silence, just enjoying the breakfast, until Rias broke the silence again.

  “I also spoke with Sona; she has outdone herself and managed to get your school paperwork in order during the weekend. Your uniform should be here by midday.” Rias said with a sly smirk.

  The coffee suddenly didn’t taste so good anymore.

  Fuck me.

  AN: This story is being cross posted on AO3, WebNovel, Questionable Questing and Royal Road. Updates will be regular every Saturday at minimum. It is possible I will be able to write faster, if that happens I will post the chapters sooner, but 1 chapter per week is guaranteed.

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