*Tap *Tap
To say Rias was pissed, and was having a bad morning would be an understatement.
She was having the worst morning of her life.
She was groggy. Her pupils felt heavy from the little sleep she'd had last night as she slumped on her desk in the Occult research club. Last night, she had the worst nightmare in the form of her mind conjuring scenes of her unconsented engagement with that pig.
In that dream, she was wearing a white bridal dress, and Riser was standing before her with his gait slightly bent and arm stretched for her to take before all of the devil nobility. His smirk confident and cock as he waited for her to take his hand, as if it were inevitable.
She shook her head, trying to forget the phenix's blurry face, his wide, nasty grin, and his lecherous gaze that raked over her.
That alone was usually enough for her to lurch forward and empty out all last night's stomach content. But tonight, since that dream, she'd had this inexplicable sense of discomfort that twisted her stomach, and shut all possibility of her considering lying back down and closing her eyes.
She tried distracting herself by humming her favourite tune, Counting sheep tills she lost count, leaving her room- which she suddenly found very stifling- to stroll in the summer night's wind, attempted to re-watch the new episodes of her favourite Drag-so ball anime; but all of it failed to ease the sense of helplessness and anxiety that came together at the though of her impending future.
By the time the morning sun peeked through the horizon, she was snorting quintals of Caffeine directly into her system, trying to ease the knot of restlessness churning her stomach.
She prepared for school, positive that the next few hours would ease away this feeling. The class lesson, boring and uninspiring as they were, would help distract her from her repeated failures to find anyone capable of helping her escape her predicament.
But, of course, that would be asking for too much, wouldn't it? After all, the world had an agenda to fulfil.
So as she trudged through the alleys and arrived at the school gates with her peerage in tow, in a rare event of not directly telepoting to school, she was a wreck.
At the gates, she greeted Sona, her ever dutiful friend and stern-faced student council president. But, in return, when Sona didn't directly greet her and instead dragged her aside for a private chat, she realized the world had sworn vengeance on her today.
Alone, Sona informed her that they were about to have a new student transferred over.
At first, she was confused. A new transfer student? Kuoh High has had dozens of transfer students every year. What made this new student special for Sona to exclusively inform her this way?
But then she remembered the transfer windows had already closed last month. And Kuoh High did not accept late applications... unless there were some special circumstances. And by special circumstances, she meant either by her and Sona using their authority as the overseers of this territory to bring someone in, or by the Director using his position.
Her face might've given her thoughts away, as Sona crossed her arms, and answered her unsaid question, "Yes. The director directly approved of his transfer."
Pushing her glasses, she further added, "And no. He did not consult me, and going by your reaction, he didn't ask you either."
"No, he didn't," She'd repeated, her brows furrowed. That was weird. The director, despite his position and administrative powers, never interfered directly. He had always taken a very hands-off approach towards the school affairs since Sona had taken over Student Council duties, opting to let her gain administrative experience.
Which means, for intents and purposes, it was Sona who approved or rejected such applications.
"Why would the director not consult you?" She murmured, her thoughts swirling with the possible reasons for the director's strange behaviour. "Is this transfer student, by any chance, related to the director- or to house Amon, for that matter?" She asked.
"I don't know."
"Hm?"
"I said, I don't know," Sona shrugged, her tone guarded, "He didn't share their file with me."
"What?!" She blurted, "What do you mean 'He didn't share the file'? You're the Student Council president and one of the overseers of this territory. He's liable to share all known details about the frequenters of the headquarters with the overseers. He can't just not share details about someone who could potentially be a spy from the other factions."
"...Yeah, I know that," Sona grunted, a hint of annoyance and caution bleeding in her voice, "But at the same time, He's not an associate of House Sitri. If he doesn't want to reveal, I can't force answers out of him." She let a hint of curiosity seep into her voice and pointed her chin at Rias, "That's why I was wondering if you could use your connection to draw some information."
"...He isn't House Gremory's vassel either," Rias pointed.
"But he does serve House Bael. Given his age, I'm sure he has served your mother." Sona reasoned.
"Doesn't mean I can order him around," She whispered, unwilling but already dialing his number.
"Good morning, Miss Gremory," One ring, and came the soft, aged, and demure voice of the director from the other end, "How may I be of your service?"
"Um, Director, I heard we're having a new student transferred over. Is that true?"
"That is true, indeed."
"Can you tell me something about them?"
"That, I can't, miss Gremory." The Director refused without skipping a beat.
"...Even if I ask as the overseer of this area?"
"Even then." He asserted, his voice taking on a steel despite its natural softness.
"...Is it an order from House Bael?" She pressed cautiously, looking to fish out even a bit of information.
"I cannot say."
"Tch..." She clicked her teeth, looking at Sona for some help, but Sona just shook her head. Rias groaned, her unease growing, "Fine. Keep your secrets to yourself, we'll find them ourselves."
"Ah, you shouldn't bother with that, Lady Rias," The old man laughed from the other side, "He'll be attending school from today onwards."
"You...!" Rias shouted, surprised, "How long have you been keeping the news from us, Mister Amon!"
The director ended the call from his end, cutting her rant mid-way. She fumed, "That old sack of-!"
"So it's a He," Sona murmured, stroking her chin, cutting Rias again. "It looks like Mr. Wilbert is deliberately keeping information from us." She sighed, "And here I thought age might be catching up to him."
"Sona!" Rias yelled indignantly, "Stop cutting me off."
"Hm?" Sona's attention returned to Rias, as she remarked, a little disappointed, Looks like we'll have to see for ourselves who this Enigma is."
"We don't really have any other choice, do we?" Rias grunted, knowing that as the overseers, they'd have to assess this student today or tomorrow.
"If there's nothing else, then I'm leaving. Bye," Rias prepared to leave, acting nonchalant even as the new bit of information dug a deeper hole in her pit of unease.
"Oh, by the way, Rias, you're looking for a talented peerage member, right?" Sona stopped her in her tracks and gave her a hard look.
"..."
"...What are you getting at, Sona?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.
"I am sure you already know that by now."
"...You think this transfer student can be the one I'm looking for?"
"Who knows? But given the circumstances surrounding this, 'Mr. Mysterious, I am willing to bet he's not going to be someone simple." Sona shrugged as she started walking, leaving behind a vague comment, "If I were in your shoes, I'd certainly take my chance."
Rias' heart leaped in her throat. Yes, she had been on a constant lookout for special people whom she could recruit in her peerage. Yes, she had also been extensively looking for someone who could help her break her engagement.
So as Rias returned and regrouped with her peerage, she couldn't help but think that, if what Sona said had even a bit of truth to it, then maybe...maybe today might not end up being so bad.
Back to the present, Akeno shook her head as she saw Rias tapping her feet impatiently, as she waited for Koneko for reconnaissance. She placed the coffee cup beside her and reproached her, "Stop overthinking, Rias. You've already sent Koneko behind this new boy, and have decided to meet him, there's nothing more you can do at this moment."
"I know, Akeno," Rias rose, cradling the cup, "It's just...I don't know, He can be the person I'm looking for all this time."
"I know that," Akeno patted Rias' shoulder, her voice comforting, "I just don't think you should stress too much about meeting him."
"But what if he refused my offer?" She mumbled, a shadow of doubt creeping in her, "What if he said, He has no interest in joining my peerage? What would I do then? In the first place, if he's as capable and well-connected as to keep me and Sona in the dark, and as Sona suggests, what could I even offer him?" She said, her voice breaking, "For all I know, he might be my only way to get out of the hell that awaits me."
"I don't think you need to worry about such a thing, President," Rias' gaze shifted to the far end of the room, where Kiba stood leaning against the wall. He had an earnest expression on his face as he continued, "Yes, it is possible that he may already possess everything you can offer him right now. But it is also true that only a few can hope to match your potential, much less what you could offer when you inevitably become the Duchess Gremory."
"That's true...But what if-"
"President!" The door to the Club flipped open, and Koneko burst in from her little assignment.
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Hello, Hello, dear readers! Stupid author, this side. I wanted to say one thing- uh, scrap that- I wanted to say two things going in:
1. This is my first time writing something, so if you come across any errors, please highlight them, but also, please be a little lenient in doing so. I'd also request that you write down all your criticisms of the work, areas where I could improve overall as a writer.
2. This story will follow canon up to a certain point, beyond which it won't. As I jot the first words, I begin with a vague outline in mind. Except for the characters(including the MC) and rough world setting, events would be completely different, and this story would also contain some OC's(not much, don't worry), who may or may not play an important part in derailing the storyline.
If it's too much for your taste, then I request you don't disappoint yourself and forget about this one.
OK! I've said all I wanted to say. See you in the next chapter when it drops(plz, don't ask me when).