"Ah, fuck." - Denotes normal speech.

'Ah, fuck.' - Denotes thought.

"So...should I tell Rias you're busy?" - Denotes speech for powerful beings.

"Gonna punch Issei in the balls." - Denotes thought for powerful beings.


[Boost!] - Denotes techniques or attacks or Sacred Gear names.

The walk to Kuoh had been incredibly uneventful, the only interesting event being a second year with spiky brown hair running past him while muttering about tits. Guess they lived in the same direction. Ah, well. Not his problem. Gazing up at the main school building, he sighed and rolled his shoulders. Just one year here, shouldn't be too bad. He'd lived the first 17 years of his life with relatively little issue in school, he just had to last one more.

'What's the worst that could happen?' He thought to himself. Boy, was that a loaded question. As soon as he stepped forward, he felt a chill run down his spine. Something dangerous was watching him. But as soon as he felt it, it had left. Shrugging, he entered inside. There were more important things to worry about as soon as that happened however, as a gaggle of girls were blocking the path to his closest class. They seemed to be speaking to someone in the middle of the little crowd, causing the boy to roll his eyes and raise his voice. A popular girl, great.

"Could you please step out of the way? I need to speak to the teacher in this classroom urgently." Instantly, 10 girls swivelled to stare him in the eyes. Their expressions were either incredulous or some mild form of upset. They began to clamor at him, something about 'being rude' and 'knowing his place'. Very annoying. They hadn't even explained why they wouldn't move. But as soon as Azrael was about to ask again, a lovely, melodious voice rang out that sank into the depth of his soul. A voice he feared on an almost primal level.

"Oh, leave him be. He has a right to this hallway like everyone else." As the girls shuffled aside, the shuddering blonde stepped forward, wanting to leave this situation as soon as possible and just go. As he passed the crowd, Azrael couldn't help but turn to look at the girl the voice belonged to. Long, crimson hair. A frankly ridiculous figure, and a regal bearing. She seemed like a quintessential popular girl, and that kind smile on her face almost lured him into lowering his guard. But her eyes...they were gleaming with a dangerous emotion. The feeling of predation. And he seemed to be the prey. But what ends would this go to? The boy didn't want to find out, and so stepped into the class and slammed the door behind him. The crowd left a few minutes later, to his relief.

The rest of the hour was a blur, Azrael rushing to every class he had and doing his best to collect any required material. As he winded down and went to take a piss, he heard the morning bell ring. Dammit. Finishing his bathroom break, he rushed up the stairs to the third floor, panting as he stood against the wall of his homeroom class. His homeroom teacher, a small black-haired young woman named Ms. Ako, told him to wait inside as she welcomed the returning students from last year back. Folding his arms, he simply waited for a while until he heard his cue. Looking up at the door, he grunted. Class 3-C, huh? Should be interesting, at least!

"Now, perceptive students may have noticed I left the door open. That's because we actually have a new student this year!"

Time to shine. Grabbing his bookbag and holding at his side, Azrael entered and gave a large smile to the entire room. The creeping dread he'd felt earlier must have just been a thing from that one girl. But then as Ms. Ako fussed with some papers, his eyes fell on the girl sitting in the middle of the class and his breath caught in his throat. Those eyes. The blue irises that shined with mirth at his worry earlier and continued to do so even now. It was her. The girl. Her smile was just as friendly and normal as before, but still so very untrustworthy. His mind raced. What did this mean? What was her deal? Azrael was consumed by worry about this girl, for some reason. Once the teacher finished her paper clearing and aimless rambling, he snapped back to attention and listened to her speak on his brief circumstances.

"That's enough from me, though! Introduce yourself, please?" Ms. Ako asked sweetly, smiling at Azrael and somewhat calming him. She was a sweet lady. He was sure he'd be fine if she was around. That comfort kind of made him happier too.

"Thank you. My name is Azrael Hendo," That made the girl perk up and focus her gaze harder. Oh boy, "And I moved from Kyoto a few months ago due to some family problems. I hope we can all get along, and I'll do my best to keep up with you!" He bowed, the class clapping politely for him, even her. His sigh of relief faded quickly, though, when the teacher decided on his seat for the next year. Her finger moved from the front down to the middle of the classroom, and across to the leftmost of the three rows. He wasn't so afraid anymore...but he felt...off still.

"You'll sit right there, next to Ms. Gremory." Gremory. That was her last name. "She'll be your partner on the introduction project, in fact!" Ah, fuck.

At Ms. Ako's gesturing, the frightened third year walked over to the oak desk, running his fingers over it as he took a seat, pointedly sitting up and staring straight forward as the tiny teacher began her explanation of the partner project they'd be doing. It'd be a simple presentation on a topic that interested the both of them relating to the overall field of civics, Ms. Ako's topic of study. As he wrote down brief notes, a soft whisper entered his ear.

"I'm not going to eat you, you know.~" He froze. Gremory was speaking to him. Ah, fuck. Why did that feel like it was going to become his catchphrase when dealing with her? "Don't worry, just focus on the presentation. We'll talk in a few minutes." Then what was the- Never mind, he didn't plan on questioning her decisions. She seemed too strange to handle. As the instructions wound down, Azrael took his notes and slipped them in his civics folder, stretching as the other partners began to break apart into their pairs. As soon as that registered in his brain, his view was suddenly engulfed by a flowing red skirt and black uniform dress. Gremory was sitting on his desk and gazing down at him. He was so confused by her at this point that he just blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"Name!" Her brow furrowed in amused confusion at the sudden outburst, turning his face beet red. Clearing his throat, Azrael clarified the statement. "You know my name, but I don't know yours. And since we're partners on this project, I think that's good for a first step!" He said, holding out a hand and grinning at her. Her laugh rang through the air, a perfect, melodious laugh. She reached back and snagged his hand in hers, shaking it firmly.

"Rias. Rias Gremory. Nothing as impressive as 'Azrael', I must say." She giggled, letting go of his hand and stretching her arms in the air. Holy hell, they bounced. Wait, no. Snap out of it, Azrael. She's your project partner, not material for the spank-bank. He shook his head and coughed as she turned her head back down to smile at him. "So, what interests you in civics?"

"Not much, honestly."

"I don't suppose I blame you, but that sort of thing is truly fascinating, you know! For example..."

As they worked(and as Rias explained some of the more complex concepts about their topic to him), he got to know a small bit about her. She was Club President of the school's Occult Research Club, a group of students really interested in the supernatural and things like that. At Azrael's initial confusion, she snickered. Most people didn't expect a girl like her to like those things. She was very down to earth for someone with so many fans, and someone very likable. All his prior reservations about her, as well as that awful feeling her presence gave him, seemed to vanish in face of her confident, mature nature mixing with his indifferent, lax one to form a rather great partnership. They'd completed 3/4ths of the project by the end of the period, with Ms. Ako explaining that it'd be due at the end of next period. That gave them plenty of time to finish up. As Rias returned to her seat, the blonde found himself gazing at her curiously. She had such a following of those second-years, and every guy in school was drooling all over her...How'd she stay so chill with all those ego-boosters around her? As those thoughts ran through his mind, Rias caught his staring eyes and winked at him. 'Dammit.' He thought to himself, quickly returning to staring ahead at the board as his blush faded, the next teacher entering to start their next lesson rather quickly.

The rest of the morning was a blur, with various explanations of curriculum being the only things to stick in his incredibly bored brain. When the lunch bell rang, he felt like he'd nearly cry of relief. As he stood and grabbed his bag, he felt a manicured hand grip his wrist. Looking up, Azrael met Rias' eyes and blinked. She was still smiling, but her eyes were serious now. None of the amusement from before…and that terrified him. She dragged him out of the classroom, the whispering of curious girls and jealous boys following them as he was essentially pulled across the hallway by the redhead. Even when he tried to break free, her grip was too strong. Finally arriving at a secluded area, his eyes settled on the other girl sitting there. Her hair was in a very pretty black ponytail, her outfit the same as Rias' with a few color variations. As his acquaintance let him go, he immediately began rubbing his sore wrist.

"Fuck, you have a strong grip. Was that really necessary? I woulda gone with ya if you ask-'' He was cut off as he spoke by the black-haired girl, who stared into his eyes with a deadly seriousness. She was just as terrifying as Rias was earlier. But they seemed to be friends, so maybe the next words out of her mouth wouldn't be ba-

"We want you to join the Occult Research Club."

Ah, fuck.


A/N: And thus concludes Chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed it! Please review, favorite, follow, all that garbage. If you have any suggestions, don't hesitate. I know my writing style, hell even my formatting, could use some work.