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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
High School DxD, New, BorN, Hero and other products related to the DxD Series are all owned by Ichiei Ishibumi, Miyama-Zero, Fujimi Shobo and TNK.
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Chapter 52: An Interview with a Red Devil
This wasn't going to work.
The moment I stepped out the magical circle created by Sirzechs and got a full sight over the newly-rebuilt Gremory mansion, I knew that this situation was going to be result in some major annoyances.
The discussion yesterday burn through the whole day, leaving me in a sour state. The leader of the Satans did stress a lot how this wasn't an attempt to get Rias out of the rightful punishment, his duties and the strong support from the Bael Clan for the house arrest to unfold fully were good deterrents from even trying.
It was something similar to an intervention, something driven by the behavior the heiress of the Gremory Clan gained after she was confined to her home after the Diodora's case by order of the Bael Clan.
It wasn't something that much serious. She was still taking care of herself and she wasn't showing any rude or dangerous behavior with the other occupants of the mansion.
The very issue was presented by… how she decided to spend the days without school and peerage.
For a good twenty hours of her normal day, Rias Gremory keep quiet in her own room all alone. The remaining four hours were divided between eating together with the family and making use of the bathroom when she needed it.
Her fashion 'suffered' a change too, the girl ditching the Kuoh Academy's uniform a week after the beginning of her punishment. Instead of the recognizable clothes, she opted for something… efficient and that offered some comfort.
A gray-white themed tracksuit. It might appear like a… not-so-terrible situation, but then I realized something by Sirzechs' vague responses as to how she managed to spend so much time inside her room.
Rias had a computer. A fully-operational, custom-made Gaming PC that was gifted to her by her brother for her fifteen's birthday.
It was a detail that, while the man was eager to quick and try to get it forgotten by adding other stuff like childhood tales and all, gave me an idea as to how I was supposed to deal with the girl.
I had to look away several times as the elder brother of the heiress went ahead to describe how her 'transformation' unfolded as I found the narration terribly… familiar.
While I had long learned to be very active with my life, adding meaningful projects that pushed me beyond my limits and gave me the chance to grow more and more, there was a time in my old life where I was stuck to a strange situation.
I was doing fine, economically and health-wise, as there was plenty of work while staying at home.
The days were filled by a lazy pace that involved the correction and the production of detailed essays that would then be sent to scientific academies to expand and improve the available libraries.
It was all about History, nothing that would truly have major importance in normal discussions but still had some grip over intellectuals all around.
The cheap apartment was nice, not too big nor it was too small for my personal needs.
It was a… pleasant life.
I couldn't find within myself to consider it the best possible, knowing full-well that I was stuck to that point.
I wasn't given chances of improving my life conditions, the lack of substantially-paid jobs making it difficult if not impossible trying to advance to a higher lifestyle.
Then I was self-inserted… somehow. There wasn't much that I could do to find the culprit of my presence in this world but… I felt like the solution was getting closer.
It was just a feeling, nothing concrete for me to say it was for sure that I had made some progress over the matter, but the more I explored the nature of the connection I had over this world (because somehow I had one I was completely unaware of), the more I got closer to a name.
Shifting my attention back to Rias, I was sure that a similar situation was happening to her. Instead of fiercely opposing the fate forced upon her, the redhead knew that the predicament she had to deal wasn't the same level of dealing with an arranged marriage.
Thus the girl decided to adapt about this new development, change for the sake of 'capitalizing' over the precarious fate in front of her.
One would praise the idea of dealing with the issue this way, but sadly there was a small mistake over the 'path' she was taking.
Said mistake was presented by the main emotion that drove this whole reaction. She was afraid, she was panicking and… she needed to avoid the 'unpleasant' wall that she had to face from now on.
And so the mansion became another wall, an artificial safe barrier to keep the harsh truth away from her eyes. One would call it delusional, but that was actually a good half-assed attempt.
Not only she 'ignored' the problem as said problem was impossible to face, but she was also coping in a moderate way with the new restrictions imposed to her life.
It was good for now as she seemed to have preserved most of her original behavior, only getting a little 'sheltered' over the subject and the possibility of walking around the mansion.
I know that refusing to help wouldn't have warranted any bad implications, Sirzechs showing some objective point of view in saying that I was entitled of 'walking away' from the matter as it wasn't something inherently caused by me.
…
Then Grayfia decided to share a few words with me in private. I was already tired from dealing with her husband, but the maid took a completely different approach from him as the main issues brought to the matter hit way closer home.
Her part of the discussion wasn't centered around Rias, possibly because everything that was meant to be said was already given by the Leader of the Satans. Her words dig deep by bringing in the state the girl's parents and even Sirzechs were.
Zeoticus and Venelana were good at hiding that the attitude their daughter had adopted did leave them very helpless in providing her some support, but the silver-haired maid did spot that while also dealing with the foul mood her husband had recently developed with this case.
As much as the 'siscon' bit regarding the redhead was regarded more as a comical bit for the Canon, it would be wrong to say that the man wasn't suffering from bringing the hammer down on his sister.
He was subsequently drained emotionally, very detached from some of the amusing bits that had lastly happened, something I did notice during the dinner but not enough to question it when I did.
And if the strong emotional barrage coming from the woman wasn't enough, I was left defenseless in dealing with the last few words.
"I know that this is an affair within the Gremory Clan and you, as an outsider, shouldn't be forced to intervene about, but when I was taken in by Lord and Lady Gremory, I was treated as part of the family without hesitation." Grayfia commented softly.
"I was a stranger, a former enemy, and yet I was treated with the utmost respect and warmth. And… while you have to reason to oblige this request, I will ask for your help not as the head-maid of the Gremory Clan, but as Rias' and your big sister." Her lips twitched sadly and then she bowed, her eyes closed.
"Please… do help my husband and the Gremory Clan."
There wasn't much to refuse at that point, the woman accepting the quick embrace I offered much to her relief. But the planned 'quick hug' turned in several more minutes, silence ruling for that period of time before I gave a full response.
"I… I will do it."
With most of the younger people by my house already going to classes, I was glad that Kuroka accepted 'babysitting' the ones that were stuck at home.
Kunou was slightly annoyed at being asked to not come with me, but showed a brave face in saying that she wouldn't mind it too much.
After that I was promptly taken at the Gremory Mansion, servants already there and waiting for the couple with child to arrive by the entrance, giving some surprised look at my unexpected presence before bowing once more and addressing me as 'Lord Hoitsu'.
At this point, knowing that it was a mere formality of the job, I decided to not fight off this new situation and was then escorted once more inside the mansion.
Differently from the previous times, the path taken wasn't the one that led to the living room. We went upstairs, taking some turns over the hallways before settling in front of a curious door.
A medium-sized wood-made tag with light-red letters was titled 'Rias', proving that the room was the heiress'.
I took just a few steps forward and stopped to knock. The three simple knocks didn't get a reaction from within the room and, after just a moment, I decided to try and listen for any sound that could prove that there was someone in there.
Nothing human, just the annoying fizzling of… a computer's fan.
I sighed, glancing back at the couple and nodding. "I'm going in then..."
I didn't linger my sight over them enough to gauge their reactions, opening the door and entering inside, ending up to close it behind me.
Darkness took my sight away as the room was cast to the shadows, the light was dim and it was mostly coming from the noisy machine a… certain redhead was using. Blue-eyes staring fixed at the screen as… Rias continued to move troops all over the map.
Frowning, I got closer and… froze in surprise at what I quickly recognized as… Total War Shogun 2?
Rias Gremory was taken by the good mood that followed the umpteenth victory against the troops deployed by the Ashigaka Shogun.
Starting as the Oda clan proved to be an entertaining but proving experience as the crucial placement of the faction was something that left her free to pick numerous paths.
Expanding a little in the north, just enough to have a powerful economic base, her descent upon Kyoto was intense. Becoming the greatest 'threat' in Japan, all factions banded together against the Oda and tried to besiege it.
Fools! Her armies were there to conquer Heaven its- ouch!
Even thinking of that cursed place was enough to give her a minor headache, but now victory was just a turn away from her, the glorious Devil Queen of the Crimson Hell!
But just as she sighed and pulled away from the monitor, waiting for the loading screen of the next turn to finish, the redhead froze as she felt someone watching her.
She tensed mid-stretch, blue eyes widening but not diverting from the screen as her sense was enchanted magically. Her mind grew panicky as she did end up perceiving something in the room with her, someone familiar but also not.
The girl was sure that she had seen something like this but… where and when exactly she saw this before was eluding her.
A blink, she needed to elaborate a proper plan to deal with the intruder. What if it was a dangerous monster or a lecherous fiend? Both scenarios terrible indeed after a month spent in her own blissful peace.
She was rusty in terms of magical prowess, but… her Power of Destruction should be more than enough.
Slowly, Rias relaxed as a smile fell on her face. Yes, she was going to roast this threat without hesitation and… and then resume her fictional war campaign to conquer feudal Japan.
Mind set on such a devious plan, she spun her chair and prepared to blast to kingdom come the poor fool invading her domain and- she froze at the calm expression placed on one Hoitsu Sakakibara's face.
"Booh!"
A brief shriek left her lips, the following jump making her chair turn as she fell on the floor butt first and… stared in shock at the presence of the young man in front of her.
The human blinked, a little smile as he sat relaxed in one of the few chairs present in the room, his face illuminated by the soft light coming from the monitor of her computer.
"W-What are you doing here!?" The Gremory demanded, her voice failing to bring the anger needed to make it a serious reaction as she wanted, ending up giving an irritated squeak.
"I was invited here." He replied curtly, his eyes darting to the screen. "You are close to win the campaign. What difficulty are you playing?"
"I-I- Why should I tell you?" She huffed in annoyance. "You should be entering rooms without their owners' permission."
"Didn't stop you from making trips to Issei's room, I do reckon." He poked back with a sharp topic, causing the girl to flinch momentarily before her fury resumed.
"Y-You shouldn't do that to girls-"
"Look, we can go through some ideological crap about men and women, but in the end I'm not here to deal with any wit-measuring diatribe." He sighed tiredly after interrupting the redhead. "How is the Internet treating you?"
"A powerful but unforgiving tool." She mused quietly and quickly at the question. "I didn't know I could do so much with it- A-Also what are you doing here?"
What could the bane of her existence be doing here? Why now and… why there of all places?
Her heaven, tainted by the presence of that boy. How unfair could life get after so much had already happened to her?
"As I said, I'm visiting for… good reasons." He replied placidly, resting his head on the chair.
"Rias, this is an intervention."
…
"Nope." The redhead replied under her breath, her attention moving to her chair as she got it up and proceeded to bring it back close to her gaming setup. "I'm not doing this-"
"People are getting worried-"
"Don't care." She interjected quietly, setting her gaze back to the monitor. "I'm busy with… important stuff."
"Roleplaying yourself as the grand Fool of Owari, I bet." He sighed and turned to the monitor once more. "But seriously, this isn't healthy-"
"I'm showering just as I usually do, I don't get too cold and I am there for breakfast, lunch and dinner." She replied swiftly. "I think there is nothing wrong in deciding to spend some time alone to think about… everything that happened."
Hoitsu blinked much to her chagrin. "You've been thinking about it? May I ask then what conclusion did you come up with?"
Rias blinked. Should she seriously tell him? Until now he had shown a civil attitude and… maybe it would be bad to speak about this to someone else.
She really missed Akeno…
"I know that… you aren't the one to blame." The girl began quietly. "At least not to a major degree, I still think you could have put some words and-"
"Technically, I would have settled up with you apologizing to both Issei, Asia and me, sign a Magical contract to never try to meddle with Asia or me, and maybe if you got a hundred power-spanks from your mother."
She tensed, paling a little. "Y-You are crazy! I couldn't face more than twenty power-spanks from mom and..."
Rias blinked. "Actually, that would have been… lighter than what I'm dealing with." The girl admitted, then she shook her head and sighed. "Still, the decision was passed by the Bael clan with the agreement of a majority of the other Pillars."
"People wanted a scapegoat and you were an easy target." The boy pressed on with her explanation. "It could be considered leniency that you were given house arrest rather than prison time."
She flinched. "It's still impressive that… the Underworld is so barbaric regarding punishment."
"Laws hardly changed since the Old Satans' rule. While reform happened in some sections of Hell, Zekram wouldn't allow the power within his clan to be divided to others." He continued to say much to the redhead's agreement.
"A pity that there isn't much to do about it." The girl confessed with genuine honesty. "Removing the restrictions limiting us from expanding the families with new blood… it would boost the Underworld's manpower."
"Like it happened with Grigori." Her blue eyes returned back to him. "Azazel wasn't just being kind with those shunned by Hell and the big H above, the troops deployed by Grigori are a little more than the combined forces of Angels and Devils."
She shuddered a little. "T-That much?"
"It isn't a close secret." The boy replied. "Grigori was that much big during the Great War, that is why it received the worst from the other two factions. The two smaller fishes wanted to deal with the biggest one first."
"And they lost-"
"Like everyone else." I interrupted the little smug remark. "How much do you know about what is happening outside the mansion?"
Rias blinked at the sudden question, frowning suspiciously. "Very little. Why? Did something important happen back in Kuoh?"
He shrugged. "Nothing much. Did you know that Big G is dead?"
…
"B-Beg your pardon but… with Big G you meant… the leader of Heaven?" She had to have heard wrong. There was no chance that the Maker died… how did He even die?
"Yep. He's been dead since the end of the Great War. Dunno how did he exactly die but-"
"How do you even know that?!" The redhead's confusion was rising with the calm tone in Hoitsu's voice. "W-Why aren't you even shocked by the news?"
"I think everyone knew, deep down, that He was dead." He replied sarcastically, gaining a serious glare from the Gremory. "O-Okay, I was told beforehand the big revelation. Yes, some moron decided to spoiler this detail to the world and… things are getting crazy."
She shouldn't be asking, she shouldn't be digging further in that insane rabbit hole but…
Her curiosity! She was starving for someone to talk to!
"W-What kind of crazy things?" The girl asked meekly.
He hummed quietly and then… nodded. "Tokyo was attacked. A mixed group of monsters, loyalists of the Old Satans' heirs and the madman known as Rizevim Lucifer threw a massive assault that saw most of the city destroyed."
…
"WHAT?!" The girl jumped off her chair and started to tug at his shirt. "How- Why- YOU!"
To say this massive news without flinching was just… annoying and infuriating.
She let out an exasperated groan and softly headbutted his chest. "You.. are possibly the most insane being I've ever met."
"Once you see Rizevim you will be reconsidering this statement." He replied with a small smile. "Alas I think I will be going now since it's getting a little late and I've stuff to do back home."
Rias backed away with a frown. "You what? We barely did anything and I want to know more-"
"This might be the first visit of many." He interrupted, promising extra time for later. "The objective for this situation is that you need to get out from your room and wander a little more. I don't know how you are going to spend your time, but you need to get out of there and get some more social contact."
"It's not that bad." She replied stubbornly with a frown. "I-I'm fine-"
"We are shrouded by darkness, I can smell that while you showered you didn't get the tracksuit cleaned and… do I have to check your browser history-"
"T-That's unwarranted! I- We both know that it's a must once or twice in a while."
…What? It wasn't like it wasn't normal for a girl her age!
"Get out, change the tracksuit until this one is clean." He ordered with a tired tone. "Go play Monopoly, paint walls or just blast things around with the Power of Destruction, you can't pull a hermit life like this."
He stood up from his chair and turned towards the door. "Also before I forget this one, you should call Sona and speak a little with her and… please, do ask her about the 'uniform situation'."
The door closed behind him and leaving her alone in the room once more, lots of thoughts left for her to pick up and properly address in good time.
Yet, despite the encouraging words and the good suggestions he left for Rias to explore, the redhead's attention was mostly taken by just a small detail of his last speech.
What the heck was the 'uniform situation'?!
AN
Small steps, nothing too rushed and… Rias will possibly be back?
A pseudo-Gamer, a Memester in the making, the Gremory will show 'new powers' once she is fully restored to the cast. Will it be fun, will it be cringey?
Only time will tell!
Also quick reminder for those wondering 'what happened to the Omega Foundation?': Another chapter of fluff and I will resume the more serious stuff. The insanity about Azrael has just unfolded and I will be taking inspiration from Jojo to draft a 'sidestory' of sort inside this very plotline. The main protagonist? An OC that isn't an OC, but absolutely not an Insert of any kind.
You better look out to whom you should trust in these trying times…
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