The next few days passed in a blur.
Classes resumed like nothing had happened, but beneath the surface, Kuoh was no longer calm. The supernatural factions were whispering. I felt them watching—both allies and enemies. Every time I passed the school courtyard, devils would pause mid-conversation. Even the trees seemed quieter, as if waiting.
Inside the Occult Research Club, it wasn't much different.
Akeno poured tea like always, but her eyes lingered on me longer now. Rias, though—Rias was different. She didn't speak as much. But she *watched*. Every moment, every shift of my energy, she was tracking it. An unspoken question hung in the air between us:
*"What are you becoming?"*
One afternoon, I found myself alone in the clubroom. Rias entered quietly, her heels barely clicking against the floor. She stood near the window where sunlight filtered through the red curtains, casting her hair in flame.
"You've changed," she said.
"I keep killing gods. Kinda hard not to."
She looked at me then, really looked. Not with suspicion. Not with calculation.
With concern.
"I'm not afraid of you," she said softly. "But I am afraid for you."
That surprised me.
"You think I'll lose control?"
"I think... you're carrying too much alone. Even power like yours shouldn't exist in isolation."
I didn't know what to say to that. So I stepped closer, breaking that distance she always maintained like a queen watching from a throne.
"I'm not alone," I said.
And maybe it was foolish, but I let my hand brush hers.
She didn't pull away.
Instead, she smiled—soft and small. Just for a moment.
Then Kiba kicked the door open.
"Emergency," he said. "Multiple signatures—fallen angels, at least five. Headed straight for Kuoh."
Rias's expression snapped back into focus. "Get ready. Akeno, Koneko—defensive formation. Kiba, with me. Alex…"
She paused, then nodded once.
"Unleash only if necessary. We don't want the whole world shaking again."
I smirked.
"No promises."
As we moved out, I felt the storm coming—not just outside, but inside. The balance I was trying to hold… was already tilting.
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