Chapter 4: Pest Control

It was nighttime at the abandoned church on the edge of Kuoh. Moonlight shining through the multicolored lancet windows, lighting the dilapidated interior that showed rows of pews, a wooden altar with a broken stone cross and tall, rusted metal candelabras behind it.

Sitting on one of said pews was a young girl with blonde hair in twintails topped with a large black bow and blue eyes. She was wearing a Gothic Lolita attire, which consisted of a black Lolita dress with white frills, a large black bow on the front, and a green jewel embedded on the collar, white thigh-high socks, and black shoes.

She had a bored expression on her face while propping her head up with her hand and kicking her legs. "I'm so sick of this! I've been stuck inside this rundown church ever since we've been sent to this town. Couldn't we have at least found a better place to stay than this dump?" she thought incredulously.

The sound of the church doors opening broke her out of her mental complaining and looked to see that Kalawarner had entered. The woman went inside the building after closing the double doors. She also noticed the younger girl sitting at the front row of pews and let out a groan of frustration.

"So Kalawarner, are you sure that you took care of that human that Big Sis Raynare told you about? The 'potential problem' or whatever?" the girl asked, her arms crossed and placed on the back of the pew with her chin on top of them.

Kalawarner glared at the girl as she approached her. "Of course I did, Mittelt. I told everyone that after I did it." she curtly answered. Mittelt's mouth stretched into a smirk at her response.

"Well, that's not what I heard~" the blonde Fallen Angel sang out.

"What are you talking about? I watched him die."

"Then you should've made sure that he was dead." a new voice spoke. It came from the wooden altar as a figure seemingly began to rise up behind it.

Emerging from the door was a middle-aged looking man with short black hair covered by a black fedora and dark bue eyes peering through his bangs. His attire consisted of a pale gray trench coat over a white dress shirt with a matching ascot, black pants and shoes, and a pair of black gloves.

Kalawarner's glare grew sharper at the sight of the male Fallen Angel. "I pierced his heart with a light spear! There's no way he survived, Dohnaseek!"

"Well, I just received word about that same human walking around out in town. And not only that, it seems that he's been in contact with the Devils." Dohnaseek took out a picture and handed it over to Kalawarner.

The mature Fallen Angel took the photo in her hands, turned it over and saw the image. Her eyes then shot open to see that the very human she had killed not too long ago was still alive! She gripped the photo tightly, crumpling it in her palm.

"That's impossible!" Kalawarner denied, balling her hands into fists until her knuckles turned white.

"Hahaha! That's just pathetic! Maybe your age is affecting your memory." Mittelt laughed at Kalawarner's frustration.

"Shut up, you little bitch!"

"Ooh! I'm so scared! What's an old cow like you gonna do about it?"

"Enough!" Dohnaseek shouted, silencing the Fallen women and resigned to Kalawarner staring daggers at Mittelt while the younger-looking Fallen returned the look with a victorious smile.

"If you think you can do better Mittelt, then why don't you kill him yourself?" Dohnaseek suggested.

Mittelt then showed some contemplation on Dohnaseek's offer. "Well, normally I hate cleaning up after other people's messes." She then shifted her eyes back to Kalawarner. "But I guess I can make an exception. Just to show her..." she thumbed over to Kalawarner. "how a real Fallen Angel gets their job done."

"THAT'S IT, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Kalawarner's temper finally snapped at the blonde Fallen Angel and made a yellow light spear in her right hand, ready to strike down the instigating girl.

"I said that's enough, Kalawarner!" Dohnaseek commanded the irate woman. "You don't want me to report this to Lord Azazel, do you?" The lingering threat wasn't lost on Kalawarner as she, with great reluctance, dismissed her light spear.

With no other options, she then stomped away in frustration from the other two and descended down the hidden passage next to the altar. What she didn't notice was Dohnaseek watching her walk away, staring at her backside as she left.

"Why don't you put your eyeballs back in your head, perv?" Mittelt suddenly said, bringing Dohnaseek out of his depraved stupor.

"Just get out there, find that human and kill him." Dohnaseek ordered.

"Yeah, yeah." Mittelt waved off. "I can't wait to see the look on that bitch Kalawarner's face when I show her up with killing that stupid human!" With that, the blonde Fallen Angel went out the church doors and flew into the night sky, leaving Dohnaseek alone in the former holy place.

'These bitches are so annoying. Between Raynare's swooning for Azazel, Kalawarner's insubordination and Mittelt's immaturity, this mission is becoming one huge headache.' Dohnaseek thought while he massaged his forehead. After sighing out his irritation, he laughed under his breath.

'Well, I can suck it up until this job's done. Then they'll be sucking me off.' That was the last thought in Dohnaseek's mind as he made his way back into the passage under the altar.

XXXXX

Sean soon arrived at the Academy. He didn't see head or toe of the ORC and felt both relieved and on edge at this. Relieved that they weren't trying to ask him to join them right after his denial from yesterday and on edge at what they have planned for him in trying to do so. They may have accepted his denial, but that didn't mean they would stop altogether.

'I hate feeling like this. Looking over my shoulder just to see if they're following me. I feel like I'm back in the States.'

'Steel your nerves. Don't let your paranoia get the best of you.' Heimdall said.

'Yes, just try to calm yourself.' Yama added, trying to help alleviate his host's tension.

'OK, OK.'

'And if Yama's breathing techniques don't work, you could always ask Akeno for another session. Who knows? By the end, you might even be happier for it.' Izanagi suggested, only for Izanami to chop her husband's throat.

'Two things: One, you know what I'm going to say, so I won't repeat it. And two, that joke was just terrible.' she listed off while her husband was coughing in reflex.

'Though, it would be pretty difficult to avoid them since that Hyoudou boy is now a Devil himself.' Chronos pointed out.

Sean sighed in irritation. 'Yeah, that's true. And knowing him, he'll do whatever Rias tells him.'

'It shouldn't matter if he tries anything or not. All you have to do is keep declining her offers; the only way she can force you to join is if she kills you first.' Thoth mentioned.

'Yeah, that makes me feel a whole lot better.' Sean thought sarcastically.

'You'll be fine, Sean. As long as I have a say, no one is going to take you from us.' Morrigan ensured her host.

Sean smiled at Morrigan's words. 'Thanks, Morrigan.'

'Don't mention it, Sean. Now we should talk about getting you together with Akeno.' she changed the subject.

Sean ended the conversation and cut the connection as he entered his home classroom and sat in his seat as he waited for class to start.

XXXXX

It was the middle of the school day as Sean went outside during lunch to get some fresh air and try to clear his head from all this Devil business. Issei tried to get him to see that Rias wasn't like what he thought she was. Sean tried to see from his point of view, but then stopped when he thought that he was most likely too busy ogling her to notice some kind of character flaw. Sean sat against a tree with shade covering most of his body. Sean let out a huge sigh as he took out his lunch.

'Still thinking about those Devils?' Morrigan asked.

'Yeah. I would ask if it was that obvious, but it doesn't get any more obvious when you're all in my head.' Sean replied while taking his first bite.

'Maybe you should head straight home after school.' Thoth suggested.

'Yeah, I was planning to, Thoth.' Sean said, taking a swig of the soda that accompanied his meal.

'Just be careful.' Heimdall warned. 'You never know where or when those Devils may be. They might end up following you home. Not to mention the Fallen Angels.'

Sean got a tick mark as the Norse God's warnings only added on the worries his host already had. 'Thank you very much, Heimdall. As if I didn't have enough to fret over.'

'He was just stating the risks.' Chronos defended. 'Ignoring the situation around you will only make things worse.'

'I'm not ignoring anything, Chronos.' Sean told the Greek god. 'I'm just trying take at least a few minutes to not stress out over it. My nerves are frayed enough as is.'

Sean cut off the link to the gods as he tried to calm down from his increased anxiety. This wasn't how he wanted the rest of his life to go on. He just wanted to graduate from school and try to live a normal life. Now, he had to watch his back every five seconds to make sure that no one was either following or ambushing him.

At that, he even started to consider taking Rias up on her offer. But that thought was immediately shot down, as Sean remembered why he did so in the first place. His life was his own and no one else's.

Sean opened his backpack and took out the manga that he was in the middle of reading. A supernatural story about a teenager that becomes an agent of death in order to protect his family and ends up involved in the afterlife's own problems. The premise of the manga made Sean think about his own situation. Specifically, what would happen if he became known to the supernatural world. Besides the Devils trying to get him into their peerages, he also thought about the other factions and what they would do if they found him.

But soon after, Sean simply put those worries in the back of his mind and focused more on the reading material he held in his hands.

XXXXX

The bell rang from the school building, indicating the end of the lunch period. Sean looked up from his manga and quietly groaned at the interruption of his reading time. He closed the book, packed it into his backpack and stood up from his seat on the ground.

"I'm glad to see that I found you awake this time." a voice said. Sean faced the source and saw, unsurprisingly, Souna Shitori.

"Well, I don't always sleep when I'm outside."

"Good to know." Souna responded. Sean brushed the dirt off his pants and started to walk back towards the school building. Hearing footsteps behind him, Sean looked back and rolled his eyes as he noticed that the Student Council President was following him.

"Harris, while I have you, I was wondering if you had reconsidered my offer to you." Souna spoke.

"No, I haven't." Souna noted his dismissive demeanor, wanting to end the conversation as soon as it began. Even with that, she decided to press the subject.

"Perhaps you should. You might find your academy life more enjoyable."

"I already have enough on my plate to worry about crap like clubs or whatever else you had in mind."

"Is that so? Then, do you mind telling me what's so important for you to not even think about doing such a thing?"

"Actually, yeah. I do mind." Sean sped up his pace, leaving Souna behind and went on his way back to class.

Souna quietly sighed in irritation. She had dealt with troublesome people before, but Sean Harris was even worse than any of them. No matter how hard she tried, he just wouldn't listen to anything she said, even if it was to help him with his school life. However, her talk with him wasn't a total loss as she had a ulterior motive involving the American.

'She was right. It is tremendous.' Souna thought as she was impressed at the American and disappointed in herself for not noticing it before.

A few hours later, the academy bell rang, indicating the end of the school day. All of the students were packing their things into their backpacks while some were talking with each other as they did so. Issei and the other two perverts were doing the same, only their particular subject was more predictable than the others. Sean, on the other hand, had already gathered his things and left the room.

'Seriously, don't those idiots talk about anything else besides porn?' Sean thought in annoyance as he headed for the academy's exit.

'Not even Izanagi talks about it this much.' Thoth mentioned.

'Well, it's never not interesting.' Izanagi defended. 'Though, I'd rather be a part of it than watch it.'

'Is that right?' Izanami asked with a faux sweet tone as he tugged on her husband's cheek, making him shed waterfall tears of pain.

Sean rolled his eyes at the Shinto couple's usual fighting as he began to pack his school supplies into his backpack. He couldn't wait to get home to relax and decompress a bit before having to go to work at the manga café.

But his thoughts were interrupted by the bombardment of clamoring girls and praising boys. Sean brought his attention out of his thoughts and saw that Akeno was walking down the hallway as well, only she was heading towards Sean.

"Himejima! You look so pretty today!"

"Is there anything we can help you with?"

"She's so hot!"

"Himejima! Please go out with me!"

Akeno, meanwhile, simply strode down the hallway and approached Sean. Everyone else saw them together and soon, the gossip started emerging.

From the girls:

"Himejima and Harris?"

"Do you think they're going out?!"

"Oh, they look so good together!"

And from the guys:

"It can't be true!"

"How dare he steal Himejima away!"

"Damn that foreign bastard and his good looks!"

Sean groaned at everyone jumping to conclusions without even understanding the circumstances. Then again, it's not like they would actually know why Akeno was here.

'She must be here to talk about the payment I owe her.'

'For your massage~' Morrigan said in a sing-song tone. Sean's brow furrowed at the Celtic goddess's teasing before turning his attention to the third-year.

"Hey, Akeno." Sean greeted.

"Hello, Harris. It's good to see you after our time together yesterday." Akeno replied with her usual smile. Everyone in the hallway gasped in shock and their whispering began more fervent.

Sean raised an eyebrow at Akeno's indiscretion of their "time together". He didn't think that she would actually say anything about it in front of others. Then again, after her rubbing his body while making the offer for the massage and in a public area, he probably should've expected something like this.

"Would you like to take a walk with me?" Akeno asked, gesturing towards the end of the hall. Sean shrugged in response and they both strolled through the droves of students, shoulder-to-shoulder.

As the Devil and human accompanied each other, the gossip was refueled by the sight before them. They may have been whispering, but to Sean, they may as well been screaming.

'Man, their gossip is just as annoying as the Perverted Trio's crap.'

'That's how the famous are treated by the more common folk.' Heimdall said.

'I don't know why they would. When you get right down to it, the famous are still people. Doesn't matter what they've done or whatever.'

'Well, in their eyes, you're just as famous as Akeno is.' Izanagi added. 'To them, they see the "American Gentleman" walking with one of the "Great Ladies".'

Sean just ignored the other students and kept walking with Akeno. Shortly after, they left the main hall of the academy and ventured outside into the grounds. Without the gawking and gossip of the other students, they were now able to speak freely.

"I take it that this is about the payment for yesterday?" Sean asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Akeno nodded. "That's right."

'C'mon, Sean!' Izanagi complained. 'Don't be so formal! Try actually talking to her. Make a joke or something!' Sean mentally grumbled at the Shinto god's demands, but decided to take his advice.

"OK. A deal's a deal, after all." he shrugged. "Just don't get your hopes up about getting my soul. That's off-limits."

"Ufufu~ Don't worry." Akeno giggled. "Devils don't demand souls from humans anymore. We strive for fairer payments."

"I know. I was just messing with you."

"Oh? I never pictured you as a jokester."

"What can I say? I like messing with people; it's funny." Sean smiled a bit as he said that.

"That's something we can agree on. I always get a few laughs in when I tease Miss President about some things." Akeno reciprocated the smile, not that she ever stopped smiling to begin with.

'Very nice, Sean!' Morrigan cheered. 'You even have something in common with her. This will definitely improve your chances!'

After the momentary conversation, Sean cleared his throat. "Anyway, we're getting off-track here. So how much do I owe you?"

Akeno placed a finger on her chin in a contemplative manner. "Well, normally I charge ten times the normal rate of massages." Sean quirked an eyebrow in surprise at her response. Akeno simply waved her hand in a placating motion. "Don't worry, Harris. That rate is usually for my recurring clients. Most of which are high-ranking businessmen. For you though, I'm willing to negotiate."

"How kind of you." Sean stated. They talked about an appropriate payment for him to give Akeno.

This went on for a while, the range of prices went from a few thousand yen to Akeno's usual pay rate. When she proposed it, Sean was a little taken back from her offer, but she quickly dismissed it as a joke. Akeno snickered at Sean's reaction while the human couldn't help but let out a little chuckle of his own. Eventually, they agreed on the price. Sean pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and opened it. He rummaged inside, took out the proper amount and handed it to Akeno

"And with this, our deal is complete." Akeno said as she took the bills from Sean.

"Yeah. Good times, all around." Sean quickly muttered, pocketing his wallet. He pulled out his phone to check the time and noticed that he only had one hour before his shift at the manga café.

"Shit! I gotta get going." Sean cursed at his lack of time and quickly turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and faced Akeno once more.

"I almost forgot to say this, but thanks Akeno." he told the Devil in gratitude.

"You're welcome." Akeno accepted graciously. "And if you ever need another session, I'd be happy to help you relax~"

Sean tried to fight a smile off his face as he shook his head. "I'll keep that in mind." And with that, he left Akeno's presence and exited the Academy grounds.

Akeno just stood where she was as she watched Sean walk away from her. Her opinion of the human was a bit more positive than her first impression. She noticed how he was staring at her when they first met. She knew that she was beautiful, but she wasn't really interested in boys.

But after making her offer to massage him, she thought that he was a bit cute in how he would try to keep his composure against her teasing. Honestly, if Sean ever did decide to join Rias's peerage, she wouldn't mind. If so, then she would have plenty of opportunities to find out how much it would take to break down that tough front of his.

"Akeno?" a voice rang in the Devil's ears. This was possible because of a magic transceiver that was so small, no one could see it in her ear.

"Yes, Miss President?" she replied.

"Did you manage to make contact with Sean Harris?" Rias asked her.

"Yes, ma'am. He managed to pay for my services and he just left the grounds."

"Good work, Akeno. I'll have my familiar keep an eye on him. Please return to the clubhouse."

"Right away." Rias's voice faded and Akeno followed her order.

XXXXX

Back with Sean, he was dressed in his work attire and walking down the sidewalk toward the manga café. After paying Akeno, he tried to put the feeling of unease out of his mind, with no luck.

After he returned home, the American had the sense that someone or something was watching him. Then, it turned out that his apprehension was justified. Morrigan told him that there was an energy following him and it felt the same as the cosplaying bat maid that gave him the summoning flyer. Though the source was much smaller and seemed to be coming from above him.

He could only assumed that the familiar was able to fly, given how the energy was moving very quickly through the air to avoid detection whenever he stopped and looked around. In the end, he decided to ignore it and simply kept walking.

Eventually, Sean made it to the manga café. There were a few people already inside, looking through the café's inventory, getting a drink at the bar or going through to the individual booths in the back.

While Sean went through the lobby, he saw Keiichi manning the information desk. The new employee was being hugged by a girl, who was currently suffocating him with her ample breasts and hanging from his head. She had soft blonde hair with a side ponytail tied with a yellow ribbon and light pink eyes. She wore a pale blue, short-sleeved blouse with a blue string around the collar, tied in a bow. She also had blue skirt with blue-white striped thigh-high socks and white tennis shoes. This was Kururu Hiiragi, the daughter of the owner of the manga café.

She dropped off of Keiichi and saw Sean approaching the info desk. "Sean! Hi!" she chirped, waving at the American.

Sean couldn't help but smile at her energetic greeting. "Hey Kururu. Haven't seen you around here in a while."

When Sean first started here, Kururu took a bit of a liking to him. But that was mostly because of her curiosity of his homeland. Whenever she visited, Kururu would ask anything that came to her mind about it. At first, Sean was frustrated by her overexuberant and inquisitive personality. But he decided to indulge her without bringing up any subjects that he wasn't comfortable talking about. Kururu caught some hints of his discomfort when she brought them up and chose to let them go, to Sean's relief. Eventually, Sean grew accustomed to her and it was a pleasant surprise to see her when she visited.

Kururu returned the smile. "Well, I thought I'd drop by since it's been so long. But I never thought I'd see Keiichi again!"

Sean was a little surprised at this piece of knowledge. "Oh, so you two know each other?"

Keiichi nodded. "Yes. We met when we were both regulars here, but my studies at my old university kept me from seeing her." He then looked over Kururu once more.

"Well, I'm sure you want to catch up Keiichi and he wants to clock out. So I'm gonna go ahead and take my shift." Sean said, going to the computer to start his work day.

"Thanks, Sean! See you later!" Kururu told him as she took Keiichi's hand and dragged him out of the café with her.

Sean snickered and shook his head at the scene while he began his shift. He took a stack of manga from the return pile and started placing them back on the shelves. All the while, his thoughts drifted to the familiar that followed him all the way to the cafe. As soon as he went inside, it flew away. Most likely to return to its master and tell them about his location. And if he had to guess, it was Rias's familiar.

He groaned in irritation at the thought of her showing up at his place of work, making some sort of offer to sway him into joining her peerage. But Sean wouldn't budge on his answer for anything.

'So, how long until she gets here, Chronos?"

The time god was silent at his host's question for a short while before answering. 'One hour, ten minutes and thirty-seven seconds.'

'Really? I figured she would drop everything to get here as soon as she knew where I was.'

'Devils do have other responsibilities to attend to. They might crave power, but there are other things that keep them busy.' Thoth replied.

'Well, at least I'll be able to enjoy some time in peace before she gets here.' Sean then focused back to his work.

After setting all the manga back in their proper places, he went upstairs to clean up the private booths. He never liked that part of the job; he always dreaded the kind of messes the patrons left behind in there.

So he decided to just get it over with, like peeling off a bandage. Unsurprisingly, most of them were total pig sties. Empty soda bottles, cups, chip bags, etc. littered all inside them. There were a few of them that were a bit more tidy, but still needed cleaning.

'I swear, it's like cleaning up after toddlers.' Sean complained.

After taking out the garbage, he took the mop and bucket to clean the floors. The American placed the wet floors signs out around the area and did his next chore.

He let out of large sigh of relief as he finally finished the job and went back downstairs. Washing his hands out, he then helped out at the information desk. Informing customers about the specific genres of manga they were looking for, allowing them access to the privacy booths, or anything else they needed.

'She's here.' Morrigan informed Sean.

'Fantastic.' he replied flatly.

After the mention, Sean looked over to see that Rias had indeed entered the café. The redhead was looking around the place, seemingly admiring the manga on display. The human furrowed his brow and rubbed the bridge of his nose, annoyed at her presence.

'Why did she think that this would be a good time for a recruitment pitch?' Sean thought in aggravation.

'Most likely, she's using a public setting to prevent you from making a scene.' Thoth deduced.

'Well, I'm not gonna risk losing my job just because I don't want to join her peerage. So I suppose she isn't wrong." Finishing that thought, Rias approached the information desk.

"You took longer to get here than I thought." Sean commented.

"Oh? You were expecting me?" Rias replied.

"Not so hard to imagine, considering that you were having me followed."

"So you noticed." Rias was disappointed that her familiar wasn't more discreet to evade Sean's detection. That lessened her chances of getting him to accept her offer. She needed to be more careful on how to proceed from here.

"I have to say, I didn't think you would be employed in a place like this." Rias mentioned as she gestured all around the café. Sean wasn't amused by the Devil beating around the bush like she was.

"If you're going to call me a weeb, then you can leave. I've heard it all before back in America." Sean curtly dismissed the redhead.

"Not at all." Rias shook her head. "In fact, I didn't think that we would have something in common." Sean raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You actually like manga?"

"Yes, I have quite the collection at home." Rias brought up, hands on her hips with pride. Sean only sweatdropped at her declaration. He enjoyed reading manga too, but he wouldn't really say it like she did.

"Anyway, is there anything I can help you with?" Sean strenuously asked. As much as he didn't want to deal with her right now, she was still a customer and he had to treat her like any other patron.

Rias placed a finger on her chin. "Hmm... I've never actually been in a manga café before. Could you tell me what you have here?"

Sean cleared his throat as he began the rundown of the café's accommodations. "Well, you've already noticed the drink bar on your way in. Upstairs, there are the open seats and public booths, complete with PCs connected to the building's Wi-Fi for streaming or online gaming. And then there are the privacy booths that you can use. However, if you do plan on staying, you'll need a membership card. You can actually sign up for one right now, with a proper photo ID, of course."

Rias smiled at Sean's informative explanation. "That sounds nice. I think I'd like a membership." She took out her ID and gave it to Sean.

The human forced a smile on his face as he took the ID. "Yes, right away, ma'am."

Typing away on the keyboard in front of him, Sean put in Rias's information for the setup of her membership card. With each tap of the key, he felt like his chances of solitude were dropping like a stone. Every line of information, like an inch deeper into its grave. But Sean had no choice but to comply with the customer's request. A few minutes later, the physical card was made. Rias Gremory was now a member of the Freedom Manga Café.

"Damn it." Sean mentally grumbled. Though he held back his true thoughts, he kept his smile, even if it was becoming increasingly strained as he handed Rias the membership card and her ID.

"There you go, ma'am." Sean said through his teeth. "Would you like a room?"

Rias smiled at his courteous attitude. She noticed his tone, but chose to keep that observation to herself. "Yes, I'd like a private booth, please."

"Very well. Allow me to show you to them." Sean gave a small bow before he came out of the information desk area and guided Rias up the stairs.

They both climbed the stairs to the second floor where the public seats were held. Rias saw a door that led to the public seating room. Through the window, she caught a brief glimpse of a couple of people that were on the computers provided in their own stalls, either playing games or watching videos.

The Devil past the door and continued to follow Sean up the stairs to the third floor. She saw that Sean was stopped by a blue-haired girl that wore a similar outfit to Sean's work attire.

"Hey Sean." she greeted him in her usual monotonous tone.

"Hey Rei." Sean replied. "Just showing a new member to the private booths upstairs."

Rei nodded. With that the two workers parted ways with Sean and Rias going up and Rei heading down.

Sean and Rias entered the private booth area. Most of the booth doors were open, signaling their availability. The American stepped forward and gestured toward the booths to Rias. "Here we are. Just pick a booth with an open door and don't disturb any other customers here."

"Very well, then. Thank you for showing me to the booths." Rias expressed her gratitude and went inside an empty booth.

Sean left the Devil in the room and headed back to the first floor. However, halfway down the stairwell, the human leaned back against the wall, rubbing his temples in an attempt to ease his migraine that plagued him the whole time he was dealing with Rias.

"Why?" Sean said aloud. "Why couldn't I just kick her to the curb? Now, she's gonna be coming around here, bugging the shit out of me with her fucking peerage offers!"

"Sean, calm down." Heimdall told his host within his mind.

"'Calm down'? 'Calm down'? How can I calm down?! I got Rias as a customer in my place of work now! And the worst part is that I can't throw her out for no reason without losing my job!" Sean irately argued, his voice getting louder as he spoke.

"And whining about it isn't going to help! So be quiet before someone hears you!" Izanami screeched. Sean covered his ears from the volume of the Shinto goddess's voice while he did his calming breathing technique until his anger dissipated.

"OK, I'm good." Sean told himself.

"Good." Izanami responded. "And one last thing. DON'T YOU EVER USE THAT KIND OF LANGUAGE WHEN IT'S JUST US AGAIN!" Sean gripped his head in pain from the goddess's shrill yelling.

"Alright, alright!" he said, trying to quell her ire while massaging his temples again. "Well, my migraine's back."

XXXXX

"Attention, customers. Freedom Manga Café is now closed. Please return all manga, turn off all computers, and exit the building. Thank you and we hope you'll come back soon!" Sean announced to the customers through the intercom at the information desk.

Everyone from the upper floors started coming into the first floor lobby, some placing the manga they took with them in the return box and others simply leaving out the door with Rei organizing them by name and genre for shelving. And among the departing customers was Rias, placing the manga she picked out during her stay.

"This was very nice." Rias remarked with a smile. "I'll have to make some time to come back."

Sean inwardly grimaced from the Devil's words. During her time here, Rias was as high-maintenance as Sean thought she would be. She would ask for drinks, non-snack foods, even for different manga to be brought to her booth. And all the while, Sean had to put up with it all, even though he had to stop whatever he was doing at the time just to help her.

"Well then, enjoy the rest of your night!" Sean told the redhead. Rias walked out of the lobby, afterward, Sean heaved an exasperated sigh.

"Finally!" Sean exclaimed raggedly. "I thought she'd never leave."

"You know her?" Rei asked, keeping her eyes on the manga she was arranging.

"Not really, I just know of her. We go to the same school together and I only met her once. But I just knew that I wouldn't like her after I did."

"Ah. Sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, well, what can you do?" Sean shrugged as he went towards Rei to take the manga she sorted out and place them back into the original spots.

"She really needs to do things herself around here." Sean groaned as he lifted one of his legs to relieve some of the soreness he felt. "I mean, seriously! She walks down a few flights of stairs just to tell us to bring her stuff that she could've gotten herself? That's just ridiculous!" he grumbled.

Once he was done with that, Sean went to sweep up the lobby while Rei restocked the fountain drink machine at the bar. He started to feel at ease again since Rias had left the café, like everything was back to normal. But he wouldn't hold his breath on that front with the thought of the redheaded Devil finding some other opportunity to meet up with him.

His tension slowly came back to him as he recalled Rias's parting words. The thought of her coming back here on a regular basis kept his migraine going strong. He needed to nip this problem in the bud ASAP.

Finally finishing up his closing time tasks, Sean clocked out and started heading out of the café. "Alright, I'm going, Rei. See ya!" His blue-haired co-worker said nothing, only gave him a nod and a short wave in farewell.

The American left the café with his earbuds on, listening to music on his phone. Ironically, he started listening to "To Be Alone" by Five Finger Death Punch. The loud guitar intro pounded through his ears, hoping that the noise could make him drown out his frustration he had from his work day.

"It would be nice, if I was alone right now." Sean commented on the song's lyrics. Halfway through the song, the feeling of being watched he had before work came back with a vengeance.

He stopped right where he was and stood there. Pushing the button on his earbud, the music paused. Sean took out his earbuds and stuck them in his pocket for the conversation he would soon have with the intrusive redhead that couldn't seem to take a hint. He surveyed his surroundings and found that there were no other people around.

"Looks like I can set things straight right now." Sean prepared himself by summoning his Infinity Gauntlet.

Meanwhile, Rias was hiding around a corner, out of sight while her familiar perched itself on a roof's edge, keeping its eye on the stationary human. She was a bit confused in why he stopped walking suddenly. She thought it was most likely that he sensed her or her familiar's presence.

"Oh well, I guess now's a good a time as-" her thoughts were interrupted when she felt her body lock up unnaturally.

Although her body was now immobile, she was able to quickly ascertain the cause: Sean, holding out his left Gauntlet-clad hand, clenched tightly into a fist. She also noticed that one of the gems, specifically the yellow one, was shining brightly. The Devil tried to break free from her sudden stasis, but found that she could barely wiggle, let alone struggle against Sean's trap.

Suddenly, Sean pulled his fist back sharply, which caused her body to follow his action. Her body lurched forward against her will, quickly closing the distance between her and the human. However, Rias stopped as instantly as she flew, right on the edge of her personal space.

Sean unclenched his hand and rested it at his side, lifting the paralysis on Rias and giving her mobility back. After getting back her ability to move, she straightened out her uniform after the abrupt pull toward the human.

"That was rude!" Rias admonished Sean.

"And sneaking around from behind me is polite?" Sean retorted.

Rias pouted at him calling her out. She felt a hint of shame from that, though it came from more of getting caught rather than the act itself. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when Sean held up his hand.

"Don't. I already know what you're gonna say, but right now, you're gonna listen." he started as he lowered his hand. "I told you that I'm not interested in joining your peerage. Bottom line, end of story, period. And now, you show up at my work place just to make the same offer, only to get the same answer: no." Sean took a breath from his long-winded rant.

"But I can-" Rias tried to get a word in, but Sean suddenly pinched his left index finger and thumb against the side of her lips. The Reality Stone glowed as Rias felt something poked out from cheek. Sean then slid his hand across Rias's mouth and she felt her lips tighten against each other.

Sean brought his hand back while the red gem lost its shine. Rias tried to speak again, but her mouth refused to open at her behest. Bewildered, she felt lips for the cause, only to feel something rough and cold in their place. The out of place feeling caused her to feel uneasy as she used her magic to summon a makeup compact. She opened it up to use its built-in mirror to see that her lips were replaced by a zipper!

Rias let out horrified screams from the bizarre change to her face, although they were muffled by the zipper. She began to move erratically in shock while Sean couldn't help but chuckle at her situation for a short while. After a minute or so, Sean's laughter died down and caught his breath before clearing his throat.

"Hey." Sean called out to Rias, but was drowned out by her wails.

"Hey! Calm down and focus!" he repeated, clapping his hands at the frightened Devil. She heard his voice over her hysterical yet muffled screaming while Sean waited for her panic attack subsided, although it took a little longer that his own laughing fit.

"As I was saying, as an employee, I can't force you out of the café for no reason." Sean began. "That being said, you keep that peerage bullshit at the door when you show up, got it?" he finished with a stern tone, poking her shoulder.

The entire situation was so strange to Rias and not just from her current zipper-lips. Before going to the manga café, she racked her brains to try and persuade Sean into changing his mind.

After sending her familiar to scout him, he didn't seem to be much of a social person. So she thought she had to try and ease him into the conversation, but he didn't even give her a chance to say her piece. Because of that, she was quite surprised when he had accepted an offer from Akeno to massage his worn body, even if she didn't manage to forge a contract with him. But she decided to leave that part to Akeno.

Right now though, seeing how adamant Sean was about her offers in general, she just nodded in defeat.

"Alright then." Sean sighed out.

He raised his Gauntlet and the Reality Stone shined again. The poking sensation came back to Rias's other cheek and Sean pinched his fingers on that side. He moved his hand back across her lips and brought his hand back down. Rias opened her makeup compact again and saw that the zipper had vanished with her lips returning back to normal. She felt them a little bit to reassure herself of their presence while Sean simply took his leave.

He took out his earbuds again and played some more music as he came up to a corner into an alleyway, but stopped then paused the music and faced the Devil once more.

"And one last thing," he started. "we might be employees, but we're not your servants. You can get things yourself, especially when you go all the way down to the first floor just to tell us what you want. We might provide customer service, but we have other responsibilities too."

After that, Rias watched as he left and went to follow him when a bright blue glow emanated from the path. She turned the corner herself to find that Sean had simply vanished.

Sighing in dejection, Rias just summoned a transportation circle at her feet and disappeared from the empty street.

XXXXX

Finally! I finally finished the revision of Chapter 4! I know it's been a long time coming, but my family and full-time job are very demanding!

When it's all said and done, I don't have the energy or motivation to keep writing. Normally, I just fall right asleep and wake up the next day just to start the cycle all over again. I hardly have time for breaks when I need them.

And speaking of breaks, I need to take one before starting the next revision.

I also want to thank SlashFan2018 for beta-reading and his input on the story as a whole.

One last thing, an artist I think I mentioned before, GeneratorRex20, is making his own revisions on the gods in the Infinity Gauntlet. His art is on Wattpad and DeviantArt under "Art for Infinity DxD". For now, he's revised Heimdall and Morrigan. He's working on Thoth as you read. Be sure to look it up and support them as much as you do this story!

So you all know what to do!

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See you all next time!