It was bright early in the morning. The time was now 6:55 a.m. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining in the sky. The sun shined in the sky as a sign of a brand new day. It was so bright it created a beam through a bedroom window of a mysterious house. Inside the bedroom, there resided a young teenage boy sleeping. That young boy was Richie. A beam of light then landed on Richie's face. His face and eyes squinted at the bright sensation in front of him. The bright light immediately gave him a wakeup call, a sign meaning it is time to get out of bed. Richie's eyes began to open, but the more he opened the brighter the sun got, so he slowly rose up from the bed and began yawning followed by stretching his arm and scratching his back. He then placed his right hand on his forehead to rub on.
"Man, that was some dream I had." Said Richie with a yawn. "I dreamt that I was captured by some crazy chick with white hair and I got shot in the chest. But at least it wasn't real. I wonder what's for breakfast?"
As he was finished stretching he laid his left hand on what it seemed to be a pillow on the bed. However, Richie felt something weird as soon as he rested his left hand. This pillow was round, yet it kinda squishy but kinda firm as well. The mysterious object even a little bump on top as Richie felt it with his thumb. He wondered what could it be? Could it be some sort of a toy? It wouldn't make sense to him because he was getting old for toys and even if he did have one, why would it be in his bed. He rules that out of the water. He then second guess that it could be a balloon. Balloons are round, yet can be squishy and firm when being felt to the touch. Plus, it could be the knot he was feeling. But that wouldn't make sense either. Why would it also be in his bed. Finally, he could not take it any longer. He decides to flip the covers up to see what he was feeling. He throws the cover away from the bed. Under the sheets, revealed a busty redheaded girl just lying beside him. The girl was completely naked from head to toe. No clothes were present and neither was Richie. The crimson haired girl had her eyes open the whole time before giving a slight chuckle at him, meaning she was awake as soon as Richie was awake. Richie's reaction to the first sight if a naked girl sleeping beside him, made him shocked and very surprised. What was she doing in bed beside him? He was so scared that he screamed, but also fell outta bed landing on his back. The girl then got up and proceeded to sit beside the edge of the bed to speak to him.
"What a night. Oh, good morning, how are you today?" The red-haired girl greeted after she yawned and stretched.
Richie got up and rubbed his back from the fall off the bed. He looked at the girl right in front. He could see everything from her. From her head to her breasts to her hips. But as he looked at her he looked at back himself. He noticed right away that he was completely naked as well.
"Gahh! My clothes! I'm naked!" Richie yelped and grabbed the nearest thing he could to cover himself up. He covered his nether regions and picked up the sheet to completely cover himself up, only exposing his face while sitting Indian style. Upon further inspection, he starts to look around the room, but it wasn't his room he was familiar with. "This isn't my room. Where am I?" The red-haired girl could not help but to laugh and giggle.
"What the--she's laughing. Why is she laughing? Oh crap, don't tell me she saw...my." He thought as he gulped. "But wait a sec I'm naked and she's naked. No way! No freaking way. Hell naw! Are you telling me that me and this girl slept in the same bed together. Did she drug me or something? Did we, actually do it? What the hell is going on!? I don't even know anymore!"
"Wow, I thought you'd never wake up." red haired girl said.
"N-Never w-wake up?" He stammered as his face began turning light shade of red seeing the girl naked still. "W-What are you talking about? Wh-who are you? Why am I naked? And you're naked too!"
"Yes, I can see that."
"And you're totally cool with that?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?" She questioned with a smile while crossing her legs.
"Well no...m-maybe. I think it would be best if you'd put some clothes on first. Not saying looking at a naked girl is bad but, it just feels a bit awkward.
The crimson haired girl understands with Richie and does just that. She picked up a pair of her panties ties she laid folded on a computer desk. She then puts then on to make herself half decent, but with her breasts still exposed.
"Is that better?" she says.
"Yeah. A little bit." He replied.
"So, tell me. How does your chest feel? Where you were shot?"
"Where I was shot?"
Richie's mind triggered a flashback. The flashback cuts to a point in time where he actually got shot in the chest by a fallen angel exorcist. He clutched the spot on the right side of his chest where he was shot.
"Wait, how did you know I had that dream? Was I talking in my sleep that loud. Why does my chest feel a bit tingly when you first mentioned it?"
"That's because it wasn't a dream, hon."
"It wasn't?"
She picked up her bra from the desk where her panties and school uniform were placed. The red-haired girl placed each side of her breast with each cup.
"Your body's so amazing. It's miraculous how you recovered overnight, I wasn't even sure you were going to make it."
"Recover from what?" He asked.
"Your wound. You took a nasty blow to the chest, but all you needed was a little more magic for the process to continue. Plus, I need you."
"You need me?"
She attempts to fix her bra to snap the hooks in place. Unfortunately, hooking her own bra was a bit tricky for her to do. She asks Richie if she could help her out.
"Could you help me with this?"
Richie's mouth opened wide. His inner thoughts begin take over his mind. "Richie! This is a once in a lifetime chance! A girl is asking you to put on her bra! My boy, if you don't say yes…"
"Uhhh...yes..a-a-absolutely." he said. Richie stood up from the floor, however he wrapped around the bed sheets over his nether regions like a towel. He then helped snapping in her bra back into place. "So, can I ask you a question?"
"Go right ahead."
"Why am I naked?"
"I already told you. When I revived you, your body was weak from so much blood loss. Your wound wouldn't heal completely so I transferred some of my magic over to you. The only way to do so is if our bodies made full contact with each other. In other words, the process only works if we're both naked."
Richie heard those two final words coming out the girl's sentence. Both and naked. He was in so much disbelief he could not comprehend what happened. A rocking, naked, slim body like hers all up against his bare body. He began to speak up on it.
"So, you're saying that your naked body, touched my naked body and that we…did we?" he says while putting both of his hands on his head, eyes wide open in shocked.
"Calm down, you don't have to fear. We didn't do anything. I promise you. I'm still a virgin." She happily said resting her hand on his shoulder. Richie was relieved to hear that.
"Oh, thank goodness. Uh, I mean. Well, I'm saying that because we didn't do it, not because you're a virgin. Not saying it's a bad thing, because cause I'm a virgin too, so you're not alone here but...DAAHH I'm flustered!" as he dangles his head down over how embarrassing and stupid he said. The girl giggled for a bit about Richie's last sentence. She hugs him from behind. Her breasts were touching on his back. His face turns red the moment he feels them.
"What's with that face? You should embrace this world. Be happy about your new life."
"New life? What do you mean by that? And what did you mean by revived me? Who are you or to put it better, what are you?" Richie asked.
"You sure are a curious one. Aren't you? All will be answered soon today. But, I'll be more than happy to answer your last question. My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Rias Gremory. I am your master and you are currently in one of my servant's house for the time being. Richie, you are declared my servant to your master, which is me, from here on out."
"Servant? Master?" He thought.
*BEEP *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP *BEEP*
The alarm clock goes off at precisely 7:00 p.m. Rias walks over to the clock to hit the snooze button to stop it.
"Oh, that time already?" Rias' said hitting the alarm clock.
"What? What's the matter?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just have to get ready for school, that's all. I'm going to go on ahead to the bathroom and freshen up. As my servant, I'm letting know you know that you will be enrolled in the same school as I am in Kuoh Academy. At least until tomorrow. Oh, if you're wondering where your clothes are, they're on the computer chair to your right. If you need me, I'll be in the bathroom." She pointed.
Richie looks over at the computer chair to notice his clothes were on the computer chair, as well as his black jacket. He walked over and picked up his leather jacket to get a good view from it. The jacket that had a bullet hole from the back was now gone. He was puzzled as to how it all happened.
"This is all getting too weird. How is it that I got shot, end up dead, and suddenly I wound up back alive? Even if she is a devil, this still doesn't make any sense to me. I'm her 'servant' she says. But I do know one thing. Since all this has happened, her bringing me back to life gives me sign. A second chance. To get Aeris' artifacts back where it belongs." he says clutching his jacket. "Those three are gonna pay after what they did to me. But first...I think I better put some clothes on."
Richie grabbed his underwear from the computer chair and proceed to put them on. He then put on his blue jeans, then afterwards his socks and shoes. He feels the outside the outside of his pocket. Both his phone and wallet were still left inside and intact. However, one last thing was missing, his blue shirt.
"My shirt. Where's my shirt?" He says looking under and over the computer desk. He tries to think what happened to his shirt and why it would go missing. He then realized what happened to his shirt. He gave his shirt to Asia during the battle against Freed.
"That's right, I loaned Asia my shirt during that fight. That makes sense, but I still need a shirt."
Richie looks at a closet to his left. He had an idea. He got on top of the bed to opened the closet that was conveniently next to it. Inside, was a broad arrangement of shirts, jackets and pants.
"Whoever sleeps here in this room, I'm sure he wouldn't mind me borrowing one of his shirts. A shame he doesn't have any blue ones in here. Let's see. How about this one." He says picking a solid red shirt from off the hanger before throwing on the red shirt.
The shirt was a perfect fit for him. Smoothing out any wrinkles or such downward. He puts on his black jacket and goes out the bedroom door. He walks downstairs toward the inside of the living room.
"Wow. Whoever's house is this sure did a good job taking care of it." Richie said observing the looks of the good looks of the living room from the bottom of the stairs.
"Richie! Richie!" Rias exclaimed rushing from upstairs in her Kuoh Academy uniform carrying her book bag looking for Richie until she finds him downstairs. "Oh, there you are. Alright, so from this point on you are not allowed to leave this house until Kiba, one of my other servants, comes by to pick you up. He has permission by me and the principal to leave his class early. He'll be here by around 2:30.
"Uh...OK. Don't leave the house once someone that works for you comes by. Gotcha. I can do that." Richie approves.
"Perfect." She says heading out the door. "Since you're going to be inside for while, feel free to eat and drink whatever you like in the fridge. I'll see you later around three. Oh, and Richie, one more thing"
"What is it?"
"Welcome to the club." She winked before exiting the house, closing the door behind her.
"Huh?" What did she mean by that?" He said cocking his head a little to the side. He hears a growling noise with a rumbling sensation in his stomach. He feels the grumbling with his hand letting him know he's hungry. "Oh yeah, that's right. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday. I better make myself useful and make some breakfast. I wonder kind of food they got here?"
Richie enters himself into the kitchen to make himself breakfast. The refrigerator was his main target. Now that he's in Japan, he wonders what kind of food lies beyond that fridge compared to the food and drinks he has back in his home in America. He obviously never had anything sort of Asian cuisine or a snack before. But, Richie wasn't afraid to try anything new. It was just the fact he never had it before. He opens the refrigerator to see a plethora of food as far as the eyes could see. Richie's mouth widened in amazement of how there's so much food.
"So many choices, so much food. I don't know where to start. I guess I'll start basic with eggs, potatoes, bacon." Richie said grabbing the items off from inside the refrigerator, putting them on the kitchen counter. He searched for deeper to see what he could find. Richie had an idea. "I have ham and eggs now. If I could find some green peppers, I could make an omelet."
He searched to find the green peppers. To little surprise he found them sitting inside a plastic box on the refrigerator shelf behind the door.
"Jackpot! Found them and they're minced too!"
He lays the minced green peppers on the kitchen counter next to the eggs and bacon and potatoes. Conveniently enough, he also finds a loaf of sliced bread. The bread slices would be perfect for making toast. Before he could start cooking, he has to find a pan to cook it in. He looks down below the sink cabinets to find them. Fortunately, on the third door on the right of the sink he finds two skillets to cook the omelet and potatoes separately. Next, he goes the top drawer on top of the third door cabinet he luckily finds a fork and knife along with a cheese grater.
"Great, now I'll be able to make hash browns along with my omelet." He says laying the two pans separately under each burner. "Now, all I need is butter and I'm all set. Now the butter should be in the shelf in the fridge."
Richie looks over the fridge one more time. There on the inside shelf he sees the butter hidden behind two jars of jelly.
"Bingo. Now, let's get down to business." He says heating up the pans with butter. "Before I start, I gotta put on some music for motivation. Let's see. Since my phone turned itself from a galaxy to a flip phone, my songs should all be in this phone."
He opens his flip phone up to try at the very least to access the music application. To much succession, he did. He scrolled all the way down from A-Z finding out that all his songs he downloaded in his original world were still there. His situation was very similar back at the arcade when his dollars changed into yen, but the amount was equal compared to both currencies. He scrolled to the song he selected. In fact, it was one of his favorite songs growing up with his dad whenever he or them cooked breakfast. The style of music he picked was a Tejano with a dash of pop. It's in his family bloodline to cook breakfast while listening to Tejano or any sort of Mexican music while cooking breakfast. He believes that it comes from his grandfather that was passed on to his dad, now passed down onto him. The music starts and now he has begun to cook.
*25 Minutes Later*
Breakfast was done. Richie had made a big light fluffy omelet mixed with green peppers, crushed bacon, and crispy hash browns for his side. Before he began to eat, he forgot the most important ingredient to any omelet.
"Ketchup! I forgot the ketchup." He said grabbing the ketchup from back inside the fridge and putting it on the kitchen table. "Alright, omelet, hash brown, orange juice, ketchup. Check, check, check, and check. Finally, I can sit down and eat."
Richie took his plate and his drink toward the kitchen table to sit down and enjoy his omelet and toast. Before he ate, he puts his hands together to pray, so he could bless the food.
"Dear Lord, please bless the food I am about to eat. To help nourish and replenish my energy throughout the day, in Jesus name I pray, Amen. AGHHHH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"
Richie held both hands on the top of his head. Blessing the food after somewhat gave him a very quick and mild, yet painful headache. The sensation of his pain felt like getting a brain freeze after getting whacked in the side of the head. Rubbing his head for relief was the only way he would know how to get rid of that mild pain. Thankfully, the pain alleviated from itself for half a minute. He sighed of relief.
"What a relief that was. Now, to finally eat my breakfast."
Within minutes, Richie devoured the food on his plate like it was nothing. He was known for being a fast eater at both school and home. Sometimes at his school, he would pay more for seconds, should the food be that good. His breakfast did make him full enough until around lunch comes around. He stretched both his arms and legs all the way while still sitting down.
"Mmmhmmm. That was good. The toast probably could've been cooked more but overall still great. Better clean up these dishes, before I do anything else."
Richie went ahead to pick up his plate clean it and the rest of the dishes he used for cooking breakfast in the sink. It would be a shame for him to just leave the unclean dishes left behind and have someone else do it for him. To him, it would be rude and inconsiderate of him to even think of that. As so, he washed every dish and utensil that used for breakfast. The dishes were placed on a rack next to the sink to dry.
"Done." He simply put. With a sigh of relief, he walked over to living room resting flat on his on top of the couch cushions. His body now felt relaxed completely on the comfy sofa. Or so he was, until he felt something hard, poking on the side of his back hip to give him that slight uncomfortable feel. Reaching down with his right hand he discovered a television remote hiding in between the couch cushions.
"A TV remote." He said as pulled it out. "I always wondered what kind of daytime television they have in Japan. Even if it is in another world. Wouldn't hurt try."
Richie turns the TV on with the remote in his hand. Instantaneously within a couple of seconds, the tv turns on. It was showing the weather channel to give updates on current conditions throughout Japan. He watched it for a few moments to see what the weather was going to be like today. The weather lady said it is going to be a fair day today with temperatures in the 70s. Richie turns the TV to the next channel. He finds a channel specifically on game shows. Richie loved watching game shows growing up as a kid. Making his own game show or even pretending to host one from the shows he watches to entertain his mom and dad as child always made both him and his parents smile. As a teenager, he still has a strong heart with good game shows. He still has dreams of hosting his own game show every once in a while. However, watching a Japanese game show compared to the shows he watches in America was a new experience for him. This game show in particular was showing two teams of three contorting themselves to fit through cutouts of shapes for their bodies to match, while the cutouts move faster as the players prepare themselves to fit or else they'll fail and take a dive in the pool. To put in simpler terms, a human version of Tetris. Richie was skeptical at first until he saw how the game show worked. He was laughing up a storm the way those people tried to imitate the shapes.
"HAHAHA!! He knows that she can't pick up her husband from that height. Even if she did, there's no way his big ass was gonna fit in that hole. Oh, this game show is too rich! HAHAHAAA! Wow, who knew Japanese game shows could be so hilarious!" He laughed.
"We'll be right back with another episode of Brain Wall. Part of our 8-hour marathon."
"And their marathoning it! Oh, I am so watching this! It's only 8 hours. Heck, I binge watched Double Dare for 12 hours before. If I can do that, then this is just mere child's play. One episode kept me entertained, so I'm sure that more episodes throughout can't waste my time."
*8 Hours Later*
It was the last episode of Brain Wall before the marathon ended. Richie had sat there on the sofa for more than 7 hours in not moving a muscle. It was final round of the episode. The red team was at two points and the blue team is at zero. Blue only needs three points to win the game. The calls out for the great Wall. A red curtain rises to reveal the final wall. The wall revealed was rainbow colored with holes in shape of a see-see. A triangle shaped fulcrum, a medium rectangle, and a square load. The wall was moving faster. The blue team only had seconds to think.
"C'mon. C'mon. C'mon. You guys got this." He said under teeth on the edge of his seat.
The rainbow wall came in closer and closer until finally all three team members made an attempt to jump into all three holes. Each member went through each hole, down back onto the play zone. They were all safe in the play area. The crowd cheered loudly for victory with them. Confetti fell from the studio ceiling in celebration. The winning team won a substantial cash jackpot. It was the biggest jackpot ever given away in the shows record history.
"Yeah!" Richie yelled standing. Pumping his fist downward to join in on the celebration.
*DING DONG*
He heard a doorbell chime coming from yards behind him. He had reached the remote to turn the TV off and got up to get the door.
"I guess that must be that servant Rias told me about." He assumed.
Richie opens the door. "Hello, can I help y-." His face was frozen when he saw a familiar face.
"Wow, looks like you're doing well. It sure has been a while. I believe we haven't properly introduced ourselves. My name is Kiba Yuuto. Pleased to meet you." He says reaching out his left hand for a handshake. Richie took a good look at his face. He remembered him fighting against Alexavier during the rescue. Richie was a bit nervous at first as his tried to extend his right hand for handshake as well. He met this guy before during the fight and realized that he was allied with Issei at that point. The boy soon calmed himself down upon realization, immediately shaking his hand.
"Um, Richie Louisè. Pleasure to meet you too." he said shaking his hand.
"Excellent. I'm sure Rias has told you that I was coming here to pick you up." Kiba told him.
"Yeah, she said you were taking me to her school."
"We better get going. We don't wanna make Rias worried now do we?"
"Uh, sure. Let's go. I guess." Richie said locking the door before closing it behind him.
And so, Kiba and Richie walked together on the way towards the school where Rias and the others were currently residing, Kuoh Academy. The school itself was only a mere few blocks away from the Hyoudou household. A few moments later they finally arrived to the front gates if the school. Richie could not believe on how huge the school building was right in front of his eyes.
"Woah! So, this is where you and Rias go to school here?"
"Are you impressed?"
"Impressed? Dude, this looks like a small college than a high school. Even we don't have private academies that huge from where I come from. Do you think we have time for a quick tour?
"Class is getting ready to be over soon." He said looking at his watch as it read 2:45 pm. "Hey, why not? I can show you the inside of our school for little bit as we go through. After that, I take you to the new basketball court our school just built, right behind the building. Wanna check it out?"
"You had me at basketball court. Yeah, sure. I totally don't mind." Richie happily said.
"Great! Follow me."
The boys entered past the gates on the way to the inside the school. As they made their way inside, Richie was surprised still to see how huge the school was on the inside compared to the outside.
"Now, there are only four floors in this school. The first floor is for the 1st year students, the second floor for the second-year students, the third for the third year, and the fourth for the fourth year. Are your schools like that?"
"Well yeah, but we don't have dedicated floors for each year of study. We normally just have two floors. Freshmen and sophomores for the first floor and the juniors and seniors for the second."
"I see."
"So, how long have you guys been building your school's basketball court?"
"Since they made the announcement of our academy getting new basketball team?" Kiba replied.
"You guys got your team's already?"
"Not quite. The court we built outside is usually for p.e. classes, for now anyway. We should get new basketball equipment sometime tomorrow in the gymnasium for indoor p.e. and upcoming games. The only thing left for someone to hold tryouts this school year."
"When will that take place?"
"Probably until all the equipment is installed."
"I bet if I were attending this school, I'll be the first one to tryout and make the team before you even know it."
"Here, we arrived the end if the school. C'mon let me show you our new court." Kiba lead Richie outside opening the back-entrance door.
Kiba and Richie were finally outside behind the school. Richie followed Kiba along the way toward the newly built basketball court. The court was built adjacent to the gymnasium. They walked around the left side of the gymnasium until they spotted the new basketball court. In fact, there wasn't just one basketball court, there were only four. Richie took a good look at the new courts. The four courts were identical to each one, having white backboards, orange hoops, and a white net. He could smell the finished yet fresh concrete from a few feet away.
"So, whaddya think." Kiba asked.
"It all looks so great. This is all too cool. It must've take you all weeks to build all this." Richie said.
"Actually, it took us three days."
"Three days? Three days it took to build four identical basketball courts."
"Yep, you should thank our school council president. She's the one that suggested it in the first place."
Suddenly, Kiba's alarm on his wrist watch starts to go off. It was almost 5 minutes before class was over.
"It looks like it's our time we parted ways, but I'll be right back here with the rest of the group. I'm gonna head straight to their classes and tell them how you're doing now. I'm sure they've been dying to know. Anyways, it was nice talking with you. I'll be back, just stay here, okay?"
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." Richie replied waving. Kiba ran all the way back to the school to inform Issei and the other crew about Richie's current condition.
"Issei...Asia...I wonder how are you guys feeling now after all that's happened." He thought slightly rubbing his chest. His chest still had a slight tingly feeling where he was shot. The memory is still haunting him in his mind. The psychotic exorcist shooting him in the chest with one bullet.
"I need something to get this stupid memory out of my head."
He spots an orange basketball sitting beside the goal post of court number one. Picking up the basketball gave him an idea to pass the time.
"Hey, I haven't touched a basketball since I got zapped here into this new world. It sure has been a while since me and Blake practiced for the big game." He sighed, picking up the basketball doing a bit of dribbling. "I just hope Blake, mom, and dad are doing fine without me. Hmmmmm. Do I still got it?
Richie bounces the ball toward the center three-point line. After doing a bit of crossover dribbles, he shoots a jumper from the three-point line. He shoots with a high enough until sinking the basket, succeeding his shot.
"I still got it." He said smiling and nodding with a confident look.
*BELL RINGS*
The time is now 3:00 p.m. All of the students in the classroom have already left for the day. All except for Issei sitting with the rest of the remaining classmates. He was told y Rias to stay put until Kiba comes back.
"Hi, Issei!"
Issei turns around from his desk to hear a sweet, familiar voice. He sees Asia standing beside the doorway with her bookbag.
"Oh, hey Asia."
"How was your class?" she said walking towards him.
"Same old, same old. Did Rias tell you to come here?"
"Yeah, I just got her text as soon as class was over. The only thing left now is just wait for Kiba to show up here too."
Issei sighed soon after with one hand under his chin, still contemplating about yesterday. Asia became concerned about Issei.
"Still worried about Richie?"
"Yeah. Ever since then I barely ate lunch. I couldn't even get a good night's sleep it's that bad. Sleeping in the club room felt kinda eerie. I don't get why I couldn't even go to my own house that night. I haven't heard from Rias since we came in. I tried to ask her but I wasn't sure what to say her, so.I got nervous.
"To be honest Issei, I was kinda scared to ask once about Richie's condition either. But, I'm sure whatever Rias did she knew what she was doing. We faith in her and she has faith in us as well. After all, she brought you and me back to life once, right?" She said putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, yeah! You're right, Asia. I mean this is Rias Gremory were talking about. There's no way she would ever give up on something like that."
"You two seemed pretty confident already." a voice in the background said.
"Kiba!" Issei and Asia said in unison.
"Hey guys. So, do you wanna hear the good news or the good news?"
"Wait. Two good pieces of news? Is it about Richie?" Issei said.
"You two can rest assure that Richie is going to be a-ok."
Asia sighed of relief. "Thank goodness. I'm so glad he's doing fine."
"Yeah. What a relief. Now I can finally rest easy. So, what's that other good news?"
"We're bringing him into our clubroom in a moment so we can discuss on what, why, and how everything has happened on that night. Rias told me to not discuss anything that happened last night until everyone is present there."
"By the way, where is Richie?" Issei asked.
"I brought him here with me to the school so we can walk with him at the clubroom. I'm sure you two wouldn't have a problem with that now do you?"
"No, we wouldn't mind it at all." Asia said.
"Then let's not waste time. Let's go get him. But, where did you last leave him?"
Out of the blue, a huge crowd of students we're cheering in the outside. The sound was crystal clear to all three of them. Asia, Issei, and Kiba rushed toward the windows to see what was the source that was making all that noise. Issei opened the window to find the cause of what made the crowd lively. They're eyes peered toward a semi big crowd over one guy in a red solid shirt laying basketball at the courts. With every shot the guy made, the crowd would cheer even more.
"Richie?" Asia spoke glaring in the distance as she was covering the sun with her hand.
"Does that answer your question?" Kiba inquired.
"C'mon, we better check it out!" Issei added.
All three vacated the classroom in a hurry to figure out what was going on over at the courts. Back outside, Richie was playing basketball by himself, with the crowd surrounding him. The students of Kuoh Academy were amazed by his basketball shots. Richie continues his moves with a series of crossover dribbles before finishing it with a hook shot from the free throw line. The ball falls straight into the hoop as the students applauded and cheered for his good shot. Richie smiles with glee from the crowd's reaction. He then charges from the three-point line until from the base of the hoop he spins an impressive 360 layup. More people cheered even louder finding the moves that he performed was extraordinary to them. Most of the students never seen him before nor even knew who Richie is.
"Who Is that guy?" Katase questioned.
"I don't know, he must be a new transfer. But he looks kinda cute though." Murayama answered.
Richie waves his right hand back in forth to signal the crowd to stand aside. "Alright everybody, stand back! I'm gonna try and make this shot from half-court distance!"
The students were mixed with mummering not sure what will happen on his next shot. They've never seen a half-court shot up close and personal. Only times they seen it were online and on TV. But the more crowd gotten louder, the more people showed up.
"WOOOHOOO! Keep it up kid! You're doing great!" Tomoe shouted.
"What's going on here?" Tsubasa asked.
"Oh hey, Tsubasa. This kid showed up started playing basketball on our new court. He's been making shot after shot without missing one. We don't know if he's transfer student or not, but if he is, we could sure use a guy like him for our new basketball team."
"Yeah, so what if he put a few in. That doesn't make him a player." Saji covetously added.
Richie dribbles the ball all the way from the front of the half court line. He stops to take a deep in and out for a moment. His eyes are heavily focus on both the ball and the hoop. The crowd was now watching him. All eyes were on him. He gets his form in the correct position, aligning in front of the goal before bouncing the ball a few times to get a feel for it. Richie steps just about five or so feet from the court line to have a little more space He embedded the mindset shooting the shot in his mind. The main target was the backboard. Using that backboard to his advantage will increase his chances of making this shot. Eyes on the prize. He takes a slow running start before crossing the line. Richie bended his knees forward for power when pushing off with his legs releasing the ball with his fingers. It was either sink it or dink it. Miss or Make. The ball swirled its way toward the backboard, however it hit the back of the rim instead. It bounced upwards back into the air. The crowd gasped thinking he would miss the shot, but they were about wrong. The ball came back down through the hoop. Richie's shot was a complete success. The crowd exploded in a huge hurrah. Almost loud enough for the school to hear. Richie throws his fist in the air for the accomplishment of that shot. He takes a bow to the left of the crowd and over toward the right, as if he was a pianist ending his recital.
"Thank you, thank you." he said.
"Would that make him a player?" Tsubasa told Saji as she clapped for Richie.
Many of the students began to clammer around for a while after witnessing the shot first hand. However, the views on the at shot were more positive than negative.
"Amazing"
"What an incredible shot from half court!"
"Unbelievable! I'd never seen anything like that up close before."
"This kid is on fire!"
"Not to mention good looking." Aika said with a smirk adjusting her glasses as the sun shined a glare on the lens.
Most of the students we're enjoying the show Richie was giving. Most except two students. One student had a buzzed head with a snarky attitude. The other had brown hair and square shaped glasses with a creepy factor. Those two were not impressed by the way he's attracting all the attention. Not mention, some of the female students were beginning to be fond of Richie. Could it mean sheer jealousy for those two boys? The boy with the buzzed haircut stepped on the free throw line.
"HEY KID!" the buzzed haired boy yelled. "What's it to ya mooching off the ladies like that with you so called "skills?"
Richie turned around to see who was yelling at him. His sees the boy right in front of him. Richie was still at half court distance. The setting felt like an old western call out. His reaction was quite wry.
"I'm sorry, are you talking to me?" Richie replied pointing at himself.
"I'm the only one here aren't I!? You got some nerve showing up at our school thinking you're hot shit or something! So, how about you and me spar in a little one on one match. C'mon, show me what you're made of!" he said taking off his academy jacket.
"You tell him, Matsuda!" Motohama exclaimed.
Richie thought about the idea. "Alright, I accept your challenge. I'm letting you know now, where I come from it's rare that besides my teammates, want to challenge me one on one."
"Oh, this should be fun." Aika pulls out her cell phone to begin recording the face off from within the crowd.
The two individuals were standing right in front of each other in the free throw circle. Richie was facing the goal, bouncing the ball while Matsuda was facing him. Richie was the main offense with Matsuda in the defense.
"I'd like to see you get past me." he taunted.
Richie dribbled a few feet backwards with a slight smirk on his face. He had already figured out a way to get past Matsuda to make the shot.
"Look at him. His core is so weak and his stance is off balance. It's like he barely played basketball or he never even played it in his life." he thought. "OK, I got a little something for ya."
He dribbles forward to Matsuda until getting in a little bit downward to psyche him out. Bouncing the ball side to side, he runs to the left. Matsuda tries to block it, but Richie fakes it and dribbles to the right. Matsuda fell to the ground, with the shot being wide open. Richie charges to the hoop. Instead of doing a basic layup shot, he jumps up from the ground with the ball in his right hand, extending his arm upward at an angle. He nails the shot with a slam dunk. The crowd's witness of that dunk was to them insane. Richie couldn't believe what he just done. He thought he would be unsuccessful at that dunk. They were surprised to see a slam dunk in front of their eyes. Motohama rushed in to try and help Matsuda off from the ground.
"You OK Matsuda?" Motohama asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Somehow, someway I'm gonna get that show-off for making a fool out of me!"
The students paced themselves to Richie, ending up being more surrounded than ever. The crowd wanted to know more about him. Where did he come from? Does he go to Kuoh Academy? If not, what school does he attend. What's his secret? Where and when did he learn all those moves? Clearly, they were very influenced by what they saw. Richie could not fathom all the questions given to him. Issei, Kiba, and Asia finally made their way outside to see the basketball court full of students of the academy. They know Richie was at the court, however him being gathered by people was going to be a slight hunch.
"There, I can see him!" Kiba pointed. "Listen, you two go right ahead. We'll meet you back at the clubroom. I'm sure Rias is wondering where we're at now."
They both nodded their heads in agreement to follow what Kiba told them. With the two gone to the old school building where the clubroom resides, Kiba makes his way to the center of the crowd to have Richie come with him. Kiba steps through the tough crowd before seeing Richie from the back of the head up close. Richie felt a tap on his right shoulder. He turned around to see a familiar face.
"Kiba?" said Richie.
"Surprised? I leave you here for 10 minutes and already you've started to gain attention."
The students were surprised to see Kiba here, as he too was and is the most popular guy in the entire school. Many of the girls were swooned into seeing Kiba, as if they were fangirls cheering for a handsome celebrity.
"Oh my god, it's Kiba!" One girl shouted.
"Kiba, we didn't expect you. You missed a lot here." Another girl said.
"I believe we should get get going. We don't want Rias getting worried about us." Kiba told him.
Richie accepts what Kiba had said. Kiba asked the crowd to disperse for a moment so both of them to get by. However, the students were kinda bummed out after Richie left. At the same time, they were a bit flabbergasted that Kiba knew who Richie is. The moves he executed was quite the after-school performance. In fact, the students still have not had a clue on what or who he was. Not even getting a mention of his name. The fun was over and everyone dispersed to go about their normal separate ways.
Outside, Kiba escorts Richie inside the old school building. Upstairs, Kiba opens the double doors for Richie to allow him inside the main clubroom where they all rest of the club members meet. The lighting and ambiance of the clubroom was only dimmed with candles sitting on each corner of the room. There were ancient miniature statues as well to create a historic feel to it. Two antique style sofas were sitting front of each other between one small table. They see Koneko sitting alone on the first sofa eating a few pieces of chocolate on a plate. Nobody else besides her was present.
"Here we are Richie. Welcome to the clubroom of the occult research club. I'm sure Rias will be here with you shortly." informed Kiba. "Huh."
"What's wrong?" asked Richie.
"I told Issei and Asia to meet us back here, but it doesn't seem that they're here."
"I got a text from Asia earlier. She said they'll both be a little bit later than usual." said Koneko.
"Oh, I see. Thanks, Koneko. Richie, I've believe you met Koneko before. Koneko is a 1st year student in Kuoh Academy."
"Yeah, kinda. From the battle earlier. It's great to meet you once more, K-Koneko." Richie nervously bowed to her.
"I'm quite pleased." She said continuing to eat her chocolate. "So, how are you feeling."
He sat down the opposite in front of her to continue the conversation.
"I'm doing fine. Actually, I'm doing better than I've been in a while now. Just a bit nervous that's all." he chuckled.
Richie's right leg was shaking for a little while. It's a normal tendency for him while he's nervous. Koneko did not say anything afterwards in that conversion. She kept on focusing eating her chocolate into small bites to savor every moment into biting it in an elegant way. Richie looked at her eating the bite size candies.
"Who eats bite size chocolate like that with a small fork? That's some weird way of eating it. She is kinda cute though. Hard to believe she's a first-year freshman. She looks more like an elementary school student if you ask me." he thought.
"You do know it's impolite to stare, right?" implied Koneko.
"Oh, um sorry." he apologized.
From the beyond the walls, Richie could hear water rushing down to the floor. He listened carefully to figure out where it was coming from.
"What's going on? Is that water I hear? It sounds like it's coming from behind. Almost like a shower, even."
"Madame President, your clothes are laid on the rack whenever you're ready to come out."
"Thank you, Akeno." Rias spoked.
"Get the fuck outta here with that! Is that Rias actually taking a shower? What kinda club has their own indoor shower? I don't know if I should find it hot or just plain strange."
"Oh goody, he's finally here." a voice can be heard nearby.
A girl with a long black ponytail had stepped out from a curtain where Rias' shower resided. She turned around to see Richie sitting down.
He stood up to see who she was. He tries to introduce himself, but of course as bad habits go, he started to have the nervous shakes. The girl notices it. She chuckles about his nervousness. He was also surprised to see a girl so stunning standing right in front of him.
"You must be the new rookie around here." she said with a bow. "You shouldn't be nervous about anything at all. Everyone here is oh so nice. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Akeno Himejima, I'm the Vice President of this club. What's your name?"
"Uh, m-my name is R-R-R-Richie Louisè. It's a pleasure meeting you as well." he bowed back shaking while blushing.
"Well Richie, would you like some tea? I've just prepared a fresh warm batch for the upcoming new guy."
"I w-would be very delighted. Thank you." replied Richie sitting back down.
"For the shy type, he is such a cutie." Akeno thought to herself.
Now, the only things left are for Issei and Asia to arrive and for Rias to come out of her shower. The sound of rushing water came to an immediate halt. A sudden indication that Road's shower was just about done. Akeno handed her a drying towel as soon as she heard the shower stop. Rias began to dry as fast as she could to get her meeting started as possible. She went to put on her uniform at last before stepping out of the curtains with her towel to dry her hair. Meanwhile, Akeno stepped out as well with her tray of warm tea, teacups, and for an added bonus, small square shortbread cookies.
"Richie, your tea is ready. I've added some tea biscuits in case you were a bit hungry."
"Oh uh, thank you Akeno." he smiled
"Richie, I'm so glad that you could make it." Rias said drying her hair. "By the way where's Issei and Asia, they should already be here."
The sound of two doors open from behind. It is revealed that it was both Issei and Asia making their way inside. Richie was just about to sip his tea when he heard a very familiar voice.
"Sorry if we're a bit late. I had to use the bathroom at school so Issei had to wait for me." Asia told the club members.
"It's no trouble. You guys are actually right on time." Rias told them.
Richie immediately got up from his seat. He turns around to see two familiar faces.
"Issei? Asia?" spoken Richie.
"Richie!" both said in unison as they paced toward him.
"You okay, buddy? Me and Asia we're getting a bit worried about you."
"Yeah. But I'm just so glad you're alright." Asia said before she started to hug him. Richie felt the embrace as he lightly blushed. Asia let go of her embrace to ask Richie. "How are you feeling today?"
"I feel great. I actually feel better than ever. Like I've had more energy than before. But it feels feels kinda weird and off-putting to me. I really can't describe it.
"You must be feeling a lot better after Rias healed your wounds. How does it feel to be one of us now?" Issei said.
"One of you? Issei, I don't get what you're saying."
"What? Don't tell me you don't remember when…"
"I think it would be best for me to explain this whole situation." Rias interjected as she sat down in her desk.
The rest of the club members, including Richie sat back down. As Vice President, Akeno stood beside Rias, with Koneko sitting next to Kiba and Richie sitting in between Issei and Asia.
"Now that everyone is here, let's start this club, shall we?" Rias spoke. "First and foremost, I would like to officially welcome Richie Louisè into the Occult Research Club.
However, Richie you should note that this club isn't really a real club. It's supposed to look like some ordinary school hobby."
"Okay? So, if this isn't really a club, then what's this place really about?" he asked sipping his tea.
"Alright, since you put it at that, I might as well be upfront with this. Everyone here in this room, including you, is a devil."
As soon as Richie heard that, he began to choke in on his own tea. He swallowed the tea down before coughing a few times to clear his throat"
"Excuse me. Sorry about that." he coughed setting his tea down. "I think I misheard you for a bit. Did you say that I…am a Devil?"
"No, you heard me clear as day. Yes, you are a devil."
Having Rias tell Richie crystal clear that he is now a devil, gave him the most uncomfortable chill behind his back that he has ever had. His eyes were widening of a horrific state. He couldn't believe it. His mom, dad, and his other family members have a history of going to church, learning about the words of God and how devils and amongst other demons are bad. Richie stands up prior to speak.
"I... there's no way that...that's impossible. I...me and my family go to church like twice a month learning about God. Why did it have to be like this? Still, none of this makes any sense to me. How is it that I'm standing alive as a devil?!"
After his exclamatory question, Rias pulls out a photo that not only Richie, but also the other club members might recognize.
"Do you know what this is Richie?"
"Yeah, it's a photo. So, what of it?"
"Look closer."
He takes a deeper look into the photo to get a better detailed view. He remembers the place where he was when that hidden photo was taken. Another closer look, he also sees a girl with silver hair and yellow eyes, sitting in front of him. Upon immediate recognition, he knew who that girl was.
"Alexandria." He said.
"That's right. Everything you've experienced through your so called "date" with her wasn't a dream nor was it an illusion. Alexandria Sellzen is real. Only to play you like a fiddle in an attempt to kill you. Also, the man that shot you in cold blood, he too is a fallen angel. Richie, is something the matter?
"Yeah, I get that part, but why? Why would they do something like that to me?" he said with his hand on his chest.
"For a fallen angel like Alexandria, her goal is to simply wipe you out. But in this case, she manipulated you just so that she and the rest of her family would take away your sacred gear. Then toss you aside like garbage after the job was done. If it wasn't for Issei letting us know before, you would not be here standing with us."
Richie places both hands on his forehead to fathom about it. If Issei and the crew didn't show up or even told him about where he was going, he would have failed the mission. "This is heavy." He said.
"Some would think that devils and beings like them are the same, but there is a difference. Their wish is to serve God but it's too late for them. Their evil emotions have succumbed themselves to the underworld. Currently, they're still at war with us to wipe all of us devils out to gain supremacy in our realm which you call hell. Of course, there's also the more recognizable beings that serve God and to fight for his beliefs in order to exterminate us as well.
"So, when you put that way, you guys are constantly defending yourselves in a handicapped situation. This is some real shit we're talking about. But that still doesn't answer my previous question. How am I still alive?
"Well if you must know, when Freed shot you, your injuries were too severe to sustain. So, severe not even Asia's twilight healing could help it. The bullet hit you in you the right main carotid artery, resulting you in a massive deal of blood loss. Recognize this flier?" Rias said pulling out a small leaflet.
"That flyer. That's the thing I grabbed from some lady that was handing them out when I was wandering around in the streets."
"Just before you died, you summoned me using this flyer."
"Summoned? I do remember saying stuff like, wishing to reverse everything."
"And on that day, you were revived to be my devil servant as the second knight to Rias Gremory, the heir to the Gremory throne. Now, is there anything else you would like to ask?
"Yeah. You mentioned something earlier about a sacred gear? I remember when I was being told about that, but I never quite got that. I always thought that it was some sort of tool that I could use if I'm like being attacked or something. He said thinking about what Aeris told him in the past.
"That's kind of what the gist of what a sacred gear is, but to put more specifically, it's an intense variant of power that has been possessed by a rare few people from generations. In fact, most historical figures who possess sacred gears usually go down in history. But in most cases, sacred gears are sometimes uncontrollable against those who don't. Some often not only become a threat to fallen angels, but for devils too." Kiba pointed.
"He's right. For you see Richie, yours is very special. Do you know anything about the Indigo Dragon Empress?"
Richie was astonished. "Wait...how do you know about Aeris?"
"I figured you already knew about her. She was the one that gave you the sacred gear in the first place. Shortly after when I left for school, I asked Akeno to dig up some more information about your sacred gear. I think she will be the best to explain in better detail. Akeno, if you please?"
"It would be my pleasure." She bows. "From most of the research I've managed to gather in the past eight hours, I can now conclude that Richie has an incredible gift neither me or Rias could even imagine. Right now, you possess the power of the hidden longinus known by only by a small amount of people as the legendary Indigo Dragon Prodigy Gear."
"Prodigy Gear?" Issei was baffled to hear the name of Richie's sacred gear. He starts to question. "So, wait, what's different compared the boosted gear?"
"While your boosted gear is based on leveling up your power for every ten seconds until it reaches its max, his on the other hand is based on both defensive and offensive attacks through ways of unique magic. In other words, since the boosted gear relies on one tactic, the Prodigy Gear merrily relies on two." Akeno adds.
"So... does that mean Richie is powerful than Issei? Added Asia.
"Technically speaking, yes." Akeno concurred. Issei felt a bit down upon hearing that last statement, but eventually perked up slightly when Akeno began her follow up. "But, just because he has two different tactics, that doesn't mean he's powerful yet, Asia."
"That explains why I was so weak after saving Asia." Richie mentioned. "I collapsed moments later. My whole body felt like it wanted to shut itself down."
"You're right on point sweet face." Akeno giggled. "I assumed you must've used your Prodigy Gear before. Since it was your first time using it, your body isn't quite adjusted to it. Also, during my little investigation, this news article just came up from the underworld. It reads: The "formerly guarded" tomb of the legendary Indigo Dragon Empress was recently grave robbed in a matter of two days inside the sacred dragonic cemetery. Two dragonic guards were found dead via throat slash by mysterious bandit(s). A Rumor was once said that the Indigo Dragon Empress withheld three ancient relics inside her final resting place. One amulet, one sword, and one shield. The tomb was completely collapsed in a pile of rubble with the sarcophagus of the Dragon Empress remaining intact and surprisingly undamaged. No eyewitnesses were present on that scene but many people would describe this as devastating. No arrests was made long after the robbery.
"The sword. The amulet!" Richie recalls to the moment Freed and the rest of his family revealed that they were the ones that stole the artifacts. "But I still have the shield." He mentioned looking at his right hand.
"Akeno, did that article mentioned three artifacts that were rumored to be taken?"
"Yes. Why'd you ask?"
"I know who took them."
"Really? Tell us who." She asked.
Before I was sent here in this world, Aeris herself told me that two fallen angels broke inside the tomb to steal both the Welsh Dragon sword and an ever-powerful amulet."
"Hang on. Sent here?" Questioned Issei.
"I'm not from here, because I'm not actually from here. I was summoned. This'll be a little bit difficult for me to explain but...I'm not from this world."
"You're saying that you're what? Some sort of alien?" Issei said.
"Not an alien exactly. I'm human just like you. What I mean to say is that…I was sent here...from a different universe that's greatly like yours. It's just that my world doesn't have devils that actually exist on our world."
The entire club members were in an immediate flabbergasted state, but were also shown with little bit of interest. Rias with a grin was the only one most interested. In her family's history, they've had other people come from other worlds such as pre-existing devils and other creatures, but ordinary human from another world that is identical to hers.
Richie took a deep breath in and out. "I was summoned here to fulfill a duty by Aeris, better known as the Indigo Dragon Empress."
"You're kidding." Kiba gasped. "Please, tell us more."
"Yes Richie, we would really like to know." said Rias. "Why were you summoned here? How did you even get here?"
"Well, I was going to a basketball game on my mom's bike in through severe weather, before all that I was almost been attacked by a bear."
"That must've been terrifying." Asia said. "You poor thing, why would you go through something like that?"
"I asked myself the same question. It was terrifying. I've been practicing for this basketball tournament for so long that I didn't want anything not even severe weather warnings to stop me. Me and my best friend have been practicing for weeks on end. Was it dangerous? Oh yeah it was. Before I was about to be mutilated by a mother bear, I was zapped by lightning until I was sent into this void with nothing but white space. Fortunately, the lightning strike appeared to did no damage on me. I was woken up by a sphere of light. The light turns out to be the spiritual form of Indigo Dragon Empress. She told me to go to this world and recover two of the three ancient artifacts that were taken by a couple of fallen angels.
"Alexandria and Alexavier." Issei said to him.
"Right. And the next thing you know I started going out with this girl, turning out to be Alexandria. She trapped me in her church, then I get killed by her uncle, and somehow I'm brought back to life by Rias." Richie pointed to Rias.
"Was there anything else she told you?" Koneko said.
"Oh, yeah. She told me one more thing before I arrived. Aeris said to find the person who possess the power Red Dragon Emperor. Both he and the user will help guide me to this journey. That "he" is you Issei."
"Me?" Issei pointed to himself.
"Issei, do you remember when you I first met at the arcade? When we shook hands that day, didn't you notice some weird feeling from the both us?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah. I saw a freaky, deeky vision of some sort of dark bluish, purple dragon staring across at me."
"Right, the same thing happened to me. Only this time, I saw a red dragon staring at me as well. Issei, you're the one that can help me restore what's right for Aeris. Listen, me getting brought back to life warrant me a second chance. It taught me that I can just do this alone. I get another shot at bringing back the artifacts they took. And if we're going to do it, we're gonna have to do it right! You are all that I've got to bring back both the sword and the amulet. I dont know about you butbi refuse to have Freed and his family take wasn't theirs in order to gain more power then they already have. You're the only one that can help get back to my world. If the Red Dragon Emperor can't help me, then who else can? So, whaddya say?" Richie stands up to extends his hand in front of Issei for a handshake. Issei looks up to Richie. He sees Richie's face as a somewhat desperate cry for help. Issei nods his head in approval before shaking Richie's right and with his left hand firmly.
"Okay. Your story is pretty believable. With all that information Akeno just gave, there's no doubt you're telling the truth. If your mission is really that important, then I say let's do it. I'll find a way to help you somehow in some way get the artifacts back where it belongs. Let's teach those assholes a thing a two when you mess the wrong empress. Then one day once we end this damn thing, we can find a way to get you back home."
Rias and the rest of the club members happily smiled in the new bond forming between the two.
"Who would've guessed that the school's biggest pervert would be the new kid's only hope?" Koneko said in monotone.
"If I may interrupt this, I have just one question to ask" Kiba interjected. "Issei, back at the church when Richie died, what caused you to transform to go on a rampage like that?"
"Honestly, I don't know. It was so freaking' weird. That boosted frenzy or whatever, I got all upset and mad when Richie died, then the next thing you know all this rage sorta just, y'know, came out. It's like I gained a new power that I had no control over whatsoever. Rias, Akeno, do you two know?"
"That certainly is something." Rias said rubbing her chin. She walks towards Richie with another statement. "We'll have to look at this in greater detail later on, but one thing is for sure. Richie, Issei is not the only one that's gonna help you throughout your mission. We as the household of Gremory are on your side. We'll help you find those artifacts along the way. It wont be easy. Beings like them are always dangerous. Us devils have to stick together on a crucial mission like this. So how about it?
"I could really use the extra help. Thank you, Rias." Richie granted with a bow.
"Outstanding. Since you are new here, we know little information about you and your powers. You'll learn on how to use the Prodigy Gear more extensively the more you spend time here in this world. Richie, if you would, please hold up your right hand."
"Like this?" He says holding his right arm straight up in the air.
"What's she making him do?" Issei thought. "Oh yeah. I remember."
"Good. Now, I need you to close your eyes and concentrate. Focus on the strongest thing that comes to your mind."
"Focus on the strongest thing. Okay, here goes" He says shutting his eyes. He deeply concentrates on thinking about strong beings. At first, he didn't get then but then realized that it was to attempt to bring out the Prodigy Gear. "Focus, focus, focus, focus, focus, focus!" He said to himself.
"That's great! Keep going!" Rias encouraged.
"I've done it before, I can do it again! Think about superheroes like Batman or Superman. Hell, even Goku. I got it! I'll use the image of Goku in my mind to my advantage That should spark something up!"
Richie's face started to turn into a shade of red. Tiny drops of sweat started to drip from the base of his head going downward. "Focus!" he gritted under his teeth until he eventually gave up. He couldn't activate his sacred gear.
"I can't do it. I've done it before. I don't know why but I can't do it." Richie sighed in disappointment.
"It's alright." Rias told him putting one of her hands on his shoulders. "I understand. It's just hard for you, that's all. The time will indeed come when you unlock your Prodigy Gear once more. Now then…since you're officially my new devil servant and as the current second knight of Gremory..."
Black wings suddenly sprang out of Richie's back. The weight shifted downward just a little bit from the reaction. He turns around to his surprise he sees a pair of two large black wings sprouting out from behind him connecting his back. "Gaah, what the heck!" He says before moving his wings on his own for a small bit. "They're real! This is not happening!" muttered himself. Richie turns back around until he saw everyone stood up with their wings sprouted. He fell down landing on his butt. One by one going clockwise all smiled at him. Starting from Koneko, Kiba, Rias, Akeno, Issei, and Asia.
"Isn't this exciting? You're one of us now!" Akeno cheered in a happy mood.
"Welcome to the family. Let's all get along fine. Shall we?" finished Rias with a chuckle.
That definitely took a while. I really wanted to finish this chapter before the new year started. I've jotted down plenty of notes for new chapters, including the climax of the story. It'll be one wild ride, but it's gonna be worthwhile. I'm hyped up for season 4 of DXD. I hope I can get more chapters done or even the entire fic done by season 4 airing in the summer. Thanks for reading. See ya for 2018! Part 2 will be uploaded soon.