A/N: I do not own High School DXD, author's note at the end of the chapter.
CHAPTER THREE: I'M IN THE OCCULT CLUB
'UUUUGH.' Caleb felt like shit. His head hurt, his chest hurt. He felt sick, and what the hell was with his bed? It was so uncomfortable. At least his pillow felt nice. It was soft and smooth... Until he notices a gap in his pillow. Wait a minute, why is there a gap in my pillow? To groggy to open his eyes, he opts to roll to the other side of his bed and grab another pillow.
He rolls...and falls to the ground.
Caleb shoots up, propping himself on his elbows. 'What the? Aagh!' Caleb falls flat back onto the floor, pain spiking throughout his body.
'Careful now, you're still injured.' A cheery voice says; A voice that has been imprinted in Caleb's memory forever. Akeno! Caleb backs up and raises his left hand.
'Sacred Ge-oof!' A punch to the head stops him short. Caleb looks up to see Koneko standing above him, sucking on a lollipop. 'You're awake.' She blankly states.
'Yeah? No shit.'
'Ah! Hide-kun! You're finally awake.' Caleb looks over to Kiba, who walks in the room with a tray of tea in his hands. Fucking traitor.
'Oh, I should tell president that he's awake now, you two look after him for now, alright?' Kiba and Koneko nod, sit down on the couch adjacent to Caleb, and eat as if they were all friends.
Caleb remains on the ground, and looks at his clothes. Surprisingly, they were his casuals, which consisted of a yellow shirt-which was on the sofa, his upper body instead covered in bandages-and his shorts. He was even wearing his sneakers!
'You broke into my apartment?' He says, dumbfoundedly. Koneko looked up from the pastry she was eating. 'Technically, we took your keys off of you and entered your apartment through the front door.' She says calmly, Kiba smiling in agreement. Caleb kept silent, and stayed in his spot on the floor.
'Why'd you guys help me?' He finally asks. Kiba looks at him and smiles. 'You risked your life for your friend. It just so happened that Issei was Rias-san's newest servant. And for that she was thankful.'
'What? When did that happen?' He says. 'Wait! It has something to do with that Yuuma chick, doesn't it?' Issei was a devil. Something that Caleb would never have known. But the strange ongoings explain it perfectly. Kiba and Koneko eye Caleb with concern.
'You can't sense other devils Hide-kun?' The trio turns to see Akeno re-entering the room, this time with Rias in tow. Caleb shrugs.
'I can't tell anything apart.' He says honestly, they would've figured it out in the long run, no need to keep it hidden. Rias nods in understanding. 'No wonder you didn't do anything while you were around Yuuto.'
'Yeah, I thought he was my friend.' Caleb says with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Akeno sits on the couch nearest to Caleb, while Rias takes a seat on the swivel chair by a desk. 'By the way, where's Issei?' He asks, maintaining his spot on the floor.
'He's in class, completely healed, which leads me to wonder why you haven't healed up yet. A devil of your caliber should have healed up faster than Issei.' Rias states as-a-matter-of-factly. Caleb lifts his hands, motioning that he didn't know 'Side effect?'
'Either way Hide-kun, you're in a pretty weird predicament, don't you think?' Akeno says brightly. Caleb isn't all too happy.
'Which predicament? Me being a half-breed or me being surrounded by people who were trying to kill me a few days ago?' He snarks back. He decides he's been there long enough and gets up, grabbing his shirt and buttoning it up. Before he can head towards the door, Akeno gets in front of him, and motions for him to sit down, an uncharacteristically serious look on her face. Caleb obliges, knowing he was in no position to argue. Rias looks to Kiba.
'Yuuto, would you kindly fetch Issei, and bring him here? The rest of you guys, please step out for a while.' She says, Akeno and the others get up and leave, leaving Rias and Caleb to chat. She looks over to Caleb.
'Hide, what's your real name?' She asks quaintly, Caleb sighs, opting to get things over with. 'Tamada Caleb.' Rias seems surprised at his answer. 'Your mother didn't give you her last name, then?'
'It's my dad's. She said it was to protect me.'
'It would cause trouble if you took an upper-class devil's last name... No one else knows you're...' She waves her hand around, implying about Caleb's status.
'Just you, congratulations.'
'Have you encountered devils or fallen angels before this?'
'Once, I killed it.'
'What was 'it'?' Rias asks, aiming to specify if he had killed a devil.
'It was a fallen angel, and I gotta tell you, they talk like they're still God's wonderful servants, even after they got kicked out.' Caleb wasn't fond of fallen angels. They were snotty and arrogant, at least from what he had seen.
'So you're not on their side?' Rias asks.
'I'm on my side. Full devils hunted my parents down, what's to say they won't kill me, too?' Caleb remarks, he didn't hate devils like he did fallen angels, but he didn't trust them either.
'We didn't kill you.' Rias quips at Caleb. 'You would have if i didn't tell you I was a half-breed.' Caleb snaps back.
'Touché' Caleb rolls his eyes. Rias looks at him intently. 'This place is crawling with fallen angels and devils alike, unlike your former home up North.' Caleb narrows his eyes at Rias, wondering how she could know that fact about him. She would have had to have taken a look at his file to know that. Rias notices his stare, and fishes out a file from her desk. She pulled my file. GREAT.
'Yes, I pulled your file. My father is involved with the school, so it wasn't very hard.' Caleb's mouth forms a thin line, clearly upset about the invasion of his privacy.
'Ouma Hideki, 16, grew up in an orphanage in Northern Japan. Has shown advance academic prowess from an early age; was given a scholarship through Akano group of companies. Took up football and baseball, moved up the ranks of the respective varsity teams. A year after entering high school, was transferred to Kuoh Academy to fulfill the terms of his scholarship grant-'
'Congratulations! You know, you know everything in my file. It's my life; I don't think you'd have to repeat that to me.' Caleb snaps at Rias, who frowns at his response, but nonetheless continuing.
'I don't think you know everything yet. It didn't make any sense to me until I found out that you couldn't tell apart devils from humans.' Caleb tries to hide the surprise in his eyes, but Rias can see through it. He wanted to know what she had found out. She allows herself a sly smile. She was in his head.
'Akano Senju taking you under his wing was no coincidence, acting as a father figure to you, and transferring you here. He meant for you to transfer here, he orchestrated you taking a part time job in his company, and he was probably counting on us meeting.' Caleb was getting a run for his money. He was thinking about all the possible explanations as to what the hell Rias was talking about. He opted to shut himself up and let her continue.
'Akano Senju is a devil. He knew your mother, and coincidentally, my father. It seems they were the real reason you haven't been killed yet.'
Aaah, shit. I know where this is going...
'I guess it's safe to say that you're in debt to the Gremory family. My father and Akano-san kept your secret and waited for the right time to finally let you into the world.' Rias kept her face composed. Caleb kept his jaw clenched. More questions kept popping up in his head.
'And your father told you all of this, just like that?'
'I had to pry it out of him. He didn't really have a choice, though. It was to be expected that you'd start causing a ruckus, other devils here have already taken notice of you.'
'Well, shit.' Rias eyes Caleb, unimpressed with his choice of words. The latter not showing the slightest interest. 'So what does that mean for me?'
'They see you as a fallen angel, not a devil. Your mother was the last of her family. She was considered as an 'elite of the elites'. Then she mated with a fallen angel and bore a child to him. The older devils see you as an impurity. Once the other devils here find out about you, you'll have to see how they react.' Caleb rubs his hands in his face, groaning. What the hell was he pushed into? 'So, what now? What are you gonna do with me?' He asks finally. He already knew that Rias had something planned for him the moment he woke up in that room. Rias gets up from her desk and walks over to Caleb.
'For now, you'll be under the care of the Occult Research club. Any problems regarding your...status will have to go through me first.'
'Great'
'I'm serious, Caleb. I've already spoken to Akano-san and my father about this.' She says, looking Caleb directly in the eye with the latter frowning, but nodding in acknowledgement. 'I owe your father-technically-and Akano-san my life. If they say I should stick with you, then I stick to you, whether I want to be or not.' Rias smiles at this and returns to her desk, Caleb obviously bemused by his predicament.
'So, am I, like, your servant now, too?' Caleb asks, scratching his head, not liking the ring to it. Rias nods, and Caleb sighs in defeat.
'Now, about your Sacred Gear.'
'*Sigh* what a day.' Caleb was now walking back to his apartment, the night already in full bloom. He'd have to talk to Akano as soon as he got home.
By the time Rias had let everyone else back in the room. She and Caleb had discussed anything and everything they had to settle. From everything he needed to know about devils, angels etc., to his temporary ranking as one of Rias' chess pieces. For now, he was a rook. After all of that, she had explained about the Sacred Gear and contracts. Something that both Caleb and Issei had to learn about. Issei had gone on ahead with his first contract, while Rias instructed Caleb to go home and get some rest; after all, she wouldn't be able to help him heal.
'When she mentioned healing, I felt a bad tingling sensation on my neck. Wonder what that was about?' He says idly, while gingerly walking. He still felt pain in a few places, but his body had started healing faster than it usually did. Caleb silently felt thankful.
But the silence was short-lived. Caleb dodged fast enough as an attack that had come from behind, again then jumping out of the way of a streak of fire. Caleb fell flat on his bum, still not a hundred percent. Two figures emerge from the shadows. Caleb starts to get up from the ground, At least they're devils. But seriously...
'How many times in one week!?'He shouts. A voice replies. 'Ah, so we're not the first to have attempted to eliminate you. This will be a good fight, then. '
'President?' Caleb says, dumbfounded. The Student Council President Sona Sitri, and her VP Tsubaki Shinra stood before him, with very unfriendly looks in their eye. He quickly waves his hands in surrender.
'President! You've got it wrong! I'm a devil, I swear! I serve the Gre-oof!' Caleb doesn't have time to finish as another person kicks him in the gut. Great, they brought others, too. He hits a wall, back first. Rias had told him about the Sitri family, and their high status in the Underworld. He had to play defensive for now.
He blocks the next hit intended for him, grabbing the attacker's leg and using the momentum to throw them away from him. 'I serve the Gremory House!' He says as two other people double team him throwing him into another wall. Caleb hits his head. Hard. He was sure some of his healed bones just broke again.
'Prove it, then. Summon Rias Gremory.' She challenges, fully expecting Caleb to be lying. Then, in an instant, Caleb's luck turns around. A magic circle appears between Sona and Caleb. A concerned Rias Gremory appears.
'*Sigh* I'm sorry, Caleb. I should've had someone accompany you home.' She says, walking towards Caleb and dusting him off. 'I'll help you myself after this, okay?' She says, giving him a genuine smile. Caleb narrows his eyes suspiciously at her, unsure if Rias was playing him. She wasn't that warm to him a few hours ago. What gives?
'Now then, Sona.' She says as she faces Sona. 'This man is one of the new servants of the Gremory Household. Caleb Tamada.' She states proudly. Caleb looks on, intrigued at Rias' sudden beaming, something was up.
'He's a fallen angel-'
'He's half.' Sona's eyes widen. Caught off guard by what Rias had said. The latter, taking it as a sign, continues.
'You should've at least listened to him when he said he served my household. My father has been protecting his identity for a long time now.'
'Then he's..'
'Yes, he is.' Okay, Caleb was lost. What were they talking about? (A/N: Fun fact, I wrote this a while back, and now I'm lost on what they were talking about, too.)
'And you'd protect him, if needed, with your life?' Sona asks. Meanwhile, Caleb is still lost on whatever those two were talking about. From what? Rias looks over to him, then back to Sona.
'He's now my servant, neither my father nor anyone else influenced that decision, and I would do my best to protect him, as a real member of the Gremory Household.' She states firmly. Caleb had to admit, he was impressed by what Rias had said. Maybe a little bit touched, but he wouldn't say that. Instead, he smiles in gratitude.
Sona seemed to have been convinced by what Rias had said, as she nods and wishes her good luck. She and her crew summon a magic circle and disappear, telling Rias that they would have to discuss the subject the following day.
'Thanks for helping me back there.' Caleb tells Rias as they head to his apartment. Caleb had one arm draped over Rias, who was now helping him walk home.
'Don't mention it; I am your master, after all.' She says, once again beaming, although Caleb was slightly cringing at Rias being his master.
'By the way what was that about, the 'protecting me from something'?' Whatever it was about, Caleb would not find out that night. Rias simply shook her head and asked him if his head was alright. To which he replied, 'Hell no.'
'Still though, what you said back there, I really appreciate it.' Rias smiles at him, about to speak again before Caleb stops her.
'Wait, let me finish. You showed me that you had no qualms taking me in as your servant. In return, I swear I'll follow your orders, I'll stay loyal to you, and I'd have no qualms fighting for you. Like how a true servant should.' Caleb looks away after saying it. A little embarrassed, that was way too cheesy and chivalrous for him to say.
Rias simply smiles at him.
'Thank you, Caleb.' The latter lets a few moments pass before speaking.
'Terms and conditions may apply.' Rias keeps her face in a smile, but Caleb could sense hostility. It wasn't until she drops him that he realizes.
'Oof!'
'Your legs are fine, you can walk by yourself.'
END CHAPTER THREE
A/N: So here we are, chapter three. Honestly, I didn't think this story would do very well, and the positive feedback surprised me a lot. Thank you guys for the reviews and follows, as always, leave any comments and or criticisms in the reviews. Kai out!
A/N: UPDATE 7/1/15. I AM SO SORRY I COULD NOT UPLOAD THIS THREE (?) WEEKS AGO. We lost internet for a few weeks, and I just got it back today. Good news is that I can upload chapters again, and also my Tokyo ghoul story might get uploaded next week. Again, so sorry for the late upload.
