DISCLAIMER

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.

Please support the official release.

Chapter 28: Schooling and Gaming

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

Pxtreon: P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin

So, things have taken a rather interesting turn recently.

After Ophis won through the argument that she still wanted to give it a shot at sex, I thought that this would have lead to multiple encounters. Turns out that it wasn't the case because, due to how her whole clone-scheme worked, Ophis' craving for it was not as extensive and worrisome as I had been expecting. Rather, I would say that she felt more 'comfortable' at the notion that she already did it and that she could do it again if needed without causing any issue in the process.

The real gripe, however, was that she had to now work a plan to solve the Khaos Brigade situation. The solution was actually within reach as Azazel was, reasonably so, quite giddy to cross out that mess once and for all. And his solution to this involved to 'remove those Ophis deemed as salvageable' such as most of the Hero Faction and some of the more moderate elements, while a task force ordained by the three Faction would go into the remnants and end them.

Luckily for me and Kuroka, we had nothing to fear about in terms of being conscripted for the task. That much was out of the window because, strong or not, we were not prepared for that sort of business. Which is why this brings me to regain some peace with himself as the worst that would have come was out of the window.

And what was left for me to face was the upcoming wedding I had planned with Kuroka. The woman was giddy, especially since she had told me she may have gotten pregnant recently. The notion almost had me spill the news to the four winds if not for the fact that... It was too early. I knew already that this stage of the pregnancy was quite delicate and stress was not acceptable.

So, for now, that was a secret. I was still excited, and Ophis, despite her perplexity on the topic as she had confirmed that was the case, had been quite supportive of this too. I am quite sure it was because she imagined cat that were humans, babies that would have been receptive to headpats and purred at those.

Now, everything there was alright in that regard, if not for a single unusual circumstance that left me quite perplexed. Xenovia and Irina wanted to get enrolled to Kuoh Academy. Their reasoning was that it was 'odd' for two high-school age girls to not be going to any school and it was awkward to explain anyone asking why that was the case.

Truth be told, I could tell that the real motivation was different and I quickly ruled it out as the two just being curious about school. After all, their education stopped roughly around middle-school age, so they had to catch up just a little bit to get superior education out of this. I had to make a call back 'home' and Griselda Quarta agreed it was best for them to take a 'deeper infiltration' approach.

That meant I had to also bring it up to both the Headmaster of Kuoh Academy and the two girls that were in charge of the 'supernatural business' in that regard. Getting a meeting from the two was simple, getting them to accept this notion was a bit more complicated than I would have liked.

Before jumping on the problem, I noticed that Ruruko got accepted in Sona's peerage. She was quite informal during our meeting, but I found it endearing. Chill girl, she was going far as far as I could tell.

The issue wasn't Sona as I had thought, as the bespectacled girl found my reasoning on having both Irina and Xenovia enrolled, both as a chance to further foster closer relations between factions and provide a more stable and interconnected status quo, quite acceptable in her view.

The same didn't extend to Rias. And it wasn't because of something objective- oh no, it was a bit more frustrating than that.

"I want you to do something for my peerage before I accept this. Something that makes this potential new burden reasonably acceptable."

I frowned, these words really not sitting well with me, but I had to agree this could not bode well for Kiba. The guy may be happy to know that those that hard given him a hellish childhood were dead, but he still held a deep hate for the Excalibur pieces, both girls being wielders of one each.

So, as much as I could have pushed that back, the redhead knew she had a bit of leverage. Just a bit however, as Sona didn't look that pleased in being disrupted like that. I had a feeling that's not something Rias had brought up to her before this meeting and this was going to severely cripple any stupid request and hopefully give me something that wasn't awkward or lewd.

"And what favor do you wish to ask from me?"

Her smile was frustrating, but it was also adorable. "I want you to help a peerage member to overcome his phobias and be able to be more extroverted."

...Oh. I didn't... I kind of forgot that was a thing.

Still, rather than let this piece of cipher push more questions out of me, I just cut through the chase.

"The Vladi kid?"

Rias' eyes widened a fraction, while Akeno looked genuinely shocked by this. Which made me frown.

"Did you think Grigori would have not known that the wielder of Forbidden Balor View was in your peerage?" I inquired sarcastically, causing Rias to bow her head and sport a sheepish expression.

"I did," She admitted curtly. "But still, I require you to help him break through his current restraints and be more outgoing."

I scratched the back of my head, thinking a bit on this matter. It was... not impossible. The real gripe was a matter of trust: Vladi had been abused as a kid for shit that he is not responsible for in a direct way and the fact that Japan has a rather narrow-minded view on masculinity meant that he had a few good reasons to develop severe agoraphobia, or fear of crowds.

He was a cross-dresser, yes, but he was put through that sort of habit through some severe issues which made him find the experience better than what being a normal boy meant in his early life. I wouldn't go as far to say that his habit is wrong, but I had seen and heard many times, both in the series and by those commenting on this details outside of it that he was either trying to stray from masculinity itself or other deeper situations that just fall flat within the character's development.

I knew one thing and one thing alone- Gasper was just a kid that got it rough from the very moment he was born, he had a shitty and abusive childhood and, like anyone with common sense, went for that one outlet that not only made him feel comfortable but also gave him a degree of social protection. The habit came from someone that was kind to him and offered him protection, Valerie being quite childish in this regard but nonetheless covering for him way more than any other vampires around him.

Considering the non-canon future goes that he ends up retaining a more boyish fashion, I was keen to go through the simplest reason why he still kept doing this: he found the girl-only clothes to be more comfortable than masculine ones, like girls would tend to also wear masculine clothes because it's comfy.

It was baffling to just feel this irked by the notion, but I had no qualms in the issue and just took it without letting any cheeky clues on what I was going to find in Gasper stop me from going through the task. Not a simple task, however, due to how distrustful the boy was. Proof of this being that he immediately hid inside his cardboard box without even saying hi or greeting Rias before she left for her chores. I was alone with the dhampir almost instantly and... It was time to address the elephant in the room.

Or rather, the femboy vampire in the cardboard box.

Akeno had to praise Rias' plan in giving them both a chance to try and seduce John.

It was a bit improvised admittedly, but it was something that Rias had been hoped as a situation to happen. John was best-equipped to help Gasper and it was the sort of favor that demanded a lot of time which had to be spread in more than a few weeks of work. That much meant they had plenty of occasions to get something out of it. Even a few small steps would be seen as victory since the man was so walled against them, thus refraining any chance of piercing through into his heart.

A pity, really, he was a nice guy even though he seemed to hold it close to a few people and his girlfriend. It was also another pet-peeve for Akeno, having nothing on who this woman was and how she managed to scoring a healthy relationship with that man. They didn't know what was her name, her legitimate workplace or even how she looked like.

Still, ignoring that circumstance, Akeno also had an excuse to check on John from time to time. She would bring a tray with some nice tea and cookies, snacks that Gasper liked, and check if they wanted any. When the girl moved for this first attempt, she was surprised to see that Gasper was already out of the box and... speaking quite animatedly.

The two were engrossed in a portable console, eyes glued to the game that John was playing and, at times, either failing or winning over. Gasper was somewhat 'coaching' him in that regard, the Dhampir quite cheerful about it but suddenly going quiet as he realized that Akeno was in the room.

"I brought some tea and cookies."

"Thanks," John replied distractedly, quite focused on the game while Vladi, had his gaze aimed at her.

At first, it was just nervousness and then, as she went on to put the tray down and try to catch some attention through the window-cleavage she had on her shirt, the half-Fallen Angel realized that Gasper's eyes were now showing an unusual amount of irritation that literally screeched at her to 'go away'. Not just that, but his mannerism showed that too as he pressed protectively against John, head leaning on his arm while giving her that flat look.

Akeno left without haste, but did shudder at that unexpected development she was sure Rias wasn't going to like at all considering that was where their plans lied on.

I have a feeling Gasper may not allow us to flirt with his new friend...

AN

To throw some worries away, Gasper is more of a jealous and possessive lil' bro than a love interest. He is still going to get stuck in some interesting situations, but not be going for something deeper with John. Headpats and compliments are what he is after. Then he will get himself a love interest but that's... well, an expected option for him.

Also, there's the recent Pxtreon-Exclusive (for a month) new story called 'Guide to be The Very Best' which is a Pokemon Semi-SI where Ash gets himself a 'Pokemon coach' living his mind rent-free.