Returning home, Asia walked ahead while Mitarai made sure to keep her under his gaze.
"You seem quite excited, Asia?"
"Yep! I can't wait for the sports festival!" Asia enthusiastically said.
Not paying attention to her surroundings, Asia fell back as she bumped into someone.
Looking up, she looked in confusion at the young man, who was wearing expensive clothes and his eyes were squinted, with a smile on his face.
"I finally found you again," he said.
Takashi looked at him, remembering him from the young devil's meeting. 'He's dodgy. Everyone knows squinted eyes are a manga villain.'
"You are the one who saved my life, Asia," he said, making Asia cock her head in confusion as she placed her back against Mitarai, who narrowed his eyes at the devil.
A frown crossed Rias' face as she heard about the encounter her Bishop and Pawn had with the most likely dodgy Diodora.
"It's quite a big coincidence; meeting the same devil that Asia saved, who later got her excommunicated," Rias mumbled, sitting at her table desk in contemplation.
'You're telling me,' Mitarai replied, though he didn't voice his opinion out loud. His body just told him that he was in trouble; instincts were usually right.
——
———
"As much as the big house is nice and all, it still makes grocery shopping a pain!! So many supplies to get," Mitarai commented, carrying a bulk of the shopping; he's not a simp, which is just logical for him.
Akeno giggled. "That's true. But it's nice that we get to have some alone time. I'm sure Rias is going to try clinging to you the first moment you walk right in."
"That's because you won at rock-paper-scissors," Mitarai commented.
Both of them stopped as they stumbled upon Odin, Baraqiel, and Rossweisse. The former was leading them to somewhere to 'entertain themselves,' with the latter unfortunately by the Norse God's side.
'At least something good has come from this,' Rossweisse thought, her embarrassed face at having to be by Odin's side turning into one of joy as she saw Mitarai.
Odin chuckled. "Fancy seeing you here, kid. Just on my way to have some fun. Do you want to join?" he posed.
"Are you really the King of the Norse Gods? Between you and Loki, it seems like your bodyguard is the only normal one," Takashi stated, making the busty bodyguard's heart flutter at being praised in a way.
Odin let out a hearty laugh. "You mean the Valkyrie whose age is equivalent to how long she hasn't had a partner!"
The god continued to laugh while Rossweisse's lips were squirming, her flushed face held down in shame at what Odin had said was true. "I-it's not my fault! How could you be so mean, Lord Odin?!"
While the two Norse and Mitarai were in their own atmosphere of talking, Takashi was thoroughly confused by the whole chain of events. Akeno's face softened at seeing her father's disheartened face.
His eyes opened widely when he felt his daughter hug him; seeing her violet eyes look at him with an emotion other than hate pulled at his heartstrings. "Akeno?" he muttered, feeling a confusing mix of emotions.
"Regardless of how many things may have changed, and even if things can't truly return to when I was a kid, I don't hate you anymore. You're not really to blame, even Mother admits she is responsible. But we're too soft to ever blame her for anything."
Emotions came from the eyes as Baraqiel hugged his daughter back, probably a bit too happily, as Akeno joked that he should let her go before he accidentally becomes responsible for hurting her again.
'At least, I can find some relief...'
Just as both groups had finished their little talk, Mitarai's eyes met with Baraqiel's, conflicting in the air.
"Red Dragon Emperor... know that if you make either of them cry, I'll hunt you down until you are less than smithereens. Even if they are against it."
Like a statue, Mitarai's face betrayed no emotion. Only a nod was given. "I'm not planning on anything foolish. They won't be hurt, and I'm making sure they are protected."
Satisfied, the fallen nodded as he went back to the Norse God. Rossweisse smiled with a bow, running up to catch and reprimand her superior.
"Are you okay?" Mitarai asked, seeing Akeno stop and stare a bit longer. "It's fine if you want to talk about it."
Akeno wiped a small tear. "It's okay. Let's continue."
——
———
Back in school…
The Kuoh students were getting overly excited about the new transfer student. As was the case with the sparse male population of students, they immediately went into horny monkey mode at Ingvild's arrival.
'They're already making a big enough deal of it for no reason. Great. This can't get any worse, can it?'
"Mitarai-kun, is it usual for people to be this passionate?" Ingvild asked, hugging his arm into her chest, while there was a great sigh of depression from the perverts at seeing her glued to the harem master, as some called him.
Sports Day rolled around…
While Takashi was tempted to blitz them, he decided to hold back his abilities. Though he still stomped people in every sport he did.
For the 3-legged race, Takashi found himself paired with Asia. "Let's do our best!" Asia said, getting a nod from Mitarai.
Later on, they went back to the clubroom for Rias' message.
"There's going to be Rating Game tournaments between the young devils that we all saw back in the Underworld. Coincidentally, Diodora is your first opponent," Rias announced.
However, later that night…
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Read Early at: [email protected]/Cid_Kun
24 Advanced chapters already published at:[email protected]/Cid_Kun