The Occult Research Club room was quiet, the moon casting long shadows through the tall windows. Tonight, it wasn't a gathering of Rias Gremory's peerage; it was a private summit between the three most powerful young women in Kuoh Academy. And the sole topic of their discussion was Rin Takakura.
Sona Sitri, her hands steepled before her, initiated the meeting. Her life was a whirlwind of Student Council duties and managing her own peerage, which afforded her more time for detached reflection than her two counterparts. It was in those quiet moments of reviewing paperwork that the anomaly had struck her.
"Rias, Akeno," she began, her voice calm and measured, "have you ever considered the nature of our feelings for Takakura-kun?"
Akeno smiled. "Of course, Sona-chan. He's charming and handsome. It's only natural we'd fall for him~"
"That's not what I mean," Sona pressed, her gaze serious. "I'm talking about the speed. The intensity. The fact that all three of us, independently, fell completely in love with him at first sight. Statistically, it's an improbability. It feels... unnatural."
Akeno's smile faltered slightly. Rias, however, looked almost offended. "What are you suggesting, Sona? That our feelings aren't genuine? Rin is a special person. It's not surprising he would have such an effect."
Her response was defensive, emotional, and utterly biased. Sona knew it instantly. Rias and Akeno had already crossed a line with Rin, one she had yet to approach. Their love for him wasn't just a crush; it was a deeply ingrained part of them now, blinding them to any rational suspicion. Ironically, their defensive posture only strengthened Sona's initial hypothesis. They can't see it because they're too deep in it. So, my suspicion might be correct.
But then, her own feelings for Rin swelled in her chest—the memory of his smile, the warmth she felt in his presence. The thought of doubting him, of treating him like some kind of manipulator, felt like a betrayal. Her logic warred with her heart, and her heart, amplified by Rin's system, won a decisive victory. She sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Perhaps you're right. Perhaps he is simply that extraordinary."
Akeno, sensing the tension had passed, leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial, teasing whisper. "Speaking of falling for him, Sona-chan... have you and Rin-kun finally... become one?"
Sona's face erupted in a deep blush. "N-No! Of course not! We've only shared a few lunches..."
The surprise on both Rias's and Akeno's faces was genuine and impossible to miss. Sona's mind, sharp as ever, seized on their reaction. "Why do you look so surprised?" she asked, a new suspicion dawning. "Akeno, don't tell me you and him have…"
Akeno giggled, a blush dusting her own cheeks. "We have," she admitted without shame. "Several times, in fact. It's wonderful."
Sona's gaze snapped to Rias, who looked away for a second before meeting her eyes with a quiet, firm nod. "Me as well."
The revelation struck Sona like a physical blow. She was the only one. The only one Rin hadn't touched. An icy tendril of insecurity wrapped around her heart. Does he not like me as much? Am I not as desirable as them? She immediately quashed the thought. Rin wasn't like that. The fault didn't lie with him. It lay with her. She looked at Rias and Akeno, at their confidence, their allure. They were magnets of sensuality. She had been too passive, too hesitant.
A new resolve, hard as diamond, formed within her. That changes tomorrow. I will show him how I feel. I will give myself to him. Sona Sitri might be shy in matters of the heart, but once her mind was made up, her determination was absolute.
The three of them continued to talk about Rin late into the night. Their conversation shifted from simple crushes to something deeper, more reverent. In their eyes, Rin became an absolute being, the center of their universe. They would give anything for him, abandon anything for him. As long as they had him, nothing else mattered. As their devotion soared, their affection stats in Rin's unseen system pushed to their absolute maximum. Yet, a shared, unspoken understanding settled over them: they would have to compress these overwhelming feelings, to present a semblance of normalcy. They couldn't risk scaring him away, couldn't risk being abandoned by the man who had become their everything.
Miles away, in the quiet solitude of his mansion, Rin Takakura drifted off to sleep, his mind full of plans for the next day.
In an instant, his eyes opened.
The ceiling was plain wood. The air smelled of herbs. He was lying on a simple cot. He looked around, a slow smile spreading across his face as he confirmed his surroundings.
He was back in the clinic. Back in the world of Tensura.