Akeno's visit left a strange taste in his mouth. Something mixed with regret that Diodora couldn't quite shake off. He had to go back to his apartment and check if anything had changed, if Rias' Queen had entered or if another member of the peerage did. Just to be safe.

It did very little to get him to calm down. In fact, just thinking about it made Diodora's mind spiral back into what glimpses he managed to steal of Akeno while they talked.

"Damn it…" He covered his face, aware that his hormones were getting the better of him. But not really knowing what to do about it.

His thoughts went back to Olivia, who should be waiting for him at the apartment but… No. It didn't feel right. It'd be monstrous in a way he didn't feel comfortable with.

What to do?

Well, get distracted by something. But what? Diodora shook his head, realizing that he wasn't thinking straight.

He let out a sigh and hardened his features. He started walking with purpose, back to the apartment. He couldn't just stand around in public even if no other devil used this building at the moment. To do so would…

"Hm?" Diodora stopped his line of thinking and turned his head. He didn't know exactly why, but he felt some kind of tug in his mind. Like his subconscious had noticed something and his mind just caught up with it.

He balled his fists. He almost forgot about Yuni, who should still be weak enough to not be a danger. But maybe he underestimated her hardiness.

"I should've let Stain eat you…" Diodora murmured, changing direction to seek whatever made him stop.

He didn't know if that had been Yuni, but in his mind she was already charged with the sin of making him think of her while being pissed off.

From the outside, the apartment complex didn't occupy a lot of ground. Simply being a building of about four floors depending on whether you counted the one that was closed off to the public.

Normal people lived there, but not all of the rooms had owners. Some students with rich parents used the building as a form of abroad hom while they studied in Kuoh, while other people lived there in spite of not looking like people with a lot of money. Perhaps it had to do with Rias' kindness, or perhaps something kind of deal made it work. Regardless, to anyone looking without magical help, this place was a simple apartment complex.

Diodora's apartment had demonic power working in it, so even if people tried to enter it'd be impossible without the key. He didn't particularly care about the size, but the extra rooms came in handy for stashing away potential vic… Potential nuisances away from Rias' sight.

The corridors, however, were up for grabs. Even if Diodora came out of the private-but-technically-public inside hot springs, he wouldn't be protected from the outside.

His mind kept turning the wheel. Suddenly, Yuni became the lesser of his concerns. Anyone could spy from the outside, even if they just arrived. If they knew where to look, the magic that permeated the building would make it one of the prime candidates to look aside from the academy.

He remembered the Khaos Brigade. Akeno had made it so that, for a moment, Diodora lived in a world without that little problem. And so he completely neglected to consider that Shalba or another devil could try to spy on Diodora.

He augmented himself with demonic power, using the stairs to avoid normal people looking at him, and propelled himself downward. Falling on the main floor with a soundless magic circle cushioning his fall.

He tried not to grit his teeth too hard, and went out into the cold night with nothing but his pajamas.

A small figure was running away. Half flying and half running as they couldn't seem to decide what they wanted to do.

Diodora stopped for a moment and heightened his senses. Nothing else seemed out of place, except that the little bastard had used a building to avoid his sight. Not something that bothered him a lot, but something to consider while watching out for potential traps.

This was bait, but Diodora wasn't in a position to just ignore a threat no matter how small.

Diodora kicked the ground, clenching his stomach as he tried to push muscles in the back that didn't exist. Which somehow made him spring bat wings as he ascended using demonic power.

Unlike his shaping of his devil powers, flying didn't come naturally to him. Demonic power coursed through his veins, and permeated everything in his (new) body. He called it forth with the same ease as he breathed, even if he didn't quite know what to do with it most of the time. But springing his wings and flying… Well, he needed a lot of time to practice. Which in part made it so that, when he kicked his plans in motion, he had already spent some time in this world practicing.

Being up there in the air, arms stretched to the sides just like the wings because he didn't trust his equilibrium, felt awkward at best. And it required a lot of concentration to keep up, but it did give him a better look of the city. And he was doing better than his little spy anyway.

He saw them move into the woods, momentarily being out in the open for Diodora to see, and…

Diodora stopped, hovering in place as he processed what he saw.

"Oh? I didn't know I could…" Concentration broken, he fell. He managed to not scream, and caught himself just in time. But he was hyperventilating when he got to the ground.

The little guy was getting away, but Diodora didn't have any hurry anymore.

"Gotta catch my breath…" He put his hand on his chest, taking as much air as he could.

When his heart calmed down, he considered flying again. Only to choose to reinforce his body and spring toward Kuoh Academy.

If he wasn't mistaken…

"Eep!"

Diodora got to the old school building before his little spy, getting just enough time to take a lungful of air before a box with legs and bat wings appeared around the corner. Diodora cringed against the cutesy tone of the panic scream, but didn't say anything about it.

"Wait." He lifted a hand, motioning for the box to stop "Gasper, stop. I wanted to talk to you."

"...!" The box flinched, hovering in the air as its occupant realized his identity had been revealed.

There was no way Diodora would've thought this guy was trying anything funny. But again, his mind hadn't been in the best place for some time already.

"You… How do you know my name?!" The box fell to the ground, allowing the little guy to fully hide within. It started shaking, however. And the ridiculous sight almost made Diodora forget what he wanted.

"I… I'm friends with Rias. Or at least I want to think so." Diodora scratched the back of his head, looking away as he remembered whose body he was possessing.

"T-T-That… The president doesn't talk about me!" The little dhampir replied.

Diodora sighed. At least he wasn't running away anymore.

"Really? Then how did I know you liked sweets and games?" Diodora tilted his head, taking a step forward. This one didn't need a lot of acting, just tenderness and patience.

A lot of patience.

"I…"

"Never mind that. Did you like my gifts? Do you want something different?" Diodora didn't relent, but kept his distance this time around.

The key to getting in someone's life was persistence, after all. Without overwhelming the other. Making one's presence a given…

"I… I liked them…" Gasper sounded more calm, if somewhat shy. Diodora couldn't see his face, so he chose not to push too much.

"I see, I'm glad." He smiled, knowing the dhampir would be able to somehow see his face. This world was ridiculous like that.

"But that! Why are you leaving gifts for me?" The little guy sounded scared. Diodora didn't know what he did to scare him so much, he was simply presenting gifts to the little guy.

"There's actually something I wanted to talk about with you, something really important." Diodora confessed "But I didn't want to impose. I suspected at some point you'd reach out, I just didn't expect it to be so soon."

The box opened partially, revealing a pair of crimson red eyes and a cute face staring directly at Diodora. Chilling, even if the expression looked rather troubled. Did Diodora's body recognize that Gasper could actually eat him?

"But why?" The little guy asked, pouting.

Diodora had to remind himself not to be too forceful.

Think. What do you know about Gasper? What else besides his Sacred Gear and shotacon bait habits?

Diodora opened his mouth, but closed it soon enough.

"I can't tell you. Not here." He placed a finger on top of his lips "It's top secret, you see."

"I… I hope it's nothing bad…" The little boy took a step back. Still half walking and half floating.

How did he do that?

"Ah, fishing for information? Cheeky, cheeky." Diodora smirked "Too bad, I won't tell you a thing. Not now, at least."

"N-No! That's not what I meant!" Gasper panicked again. Diodora actually felt a little bad about fooling him "It's just too weird! Why did you suddenly appear and start giving me stuff?! How did you know what to send?! Why did the others feel something off with out?!"

So that's what made him go out? Diodora supposed anyone would be irked, put that way. Did Gasper think he was being stalked?

Besides that, the others? This dhampir really didn't know how to keep secrets. If Diodora hadn't learned about it from Akeno, Gasper would've ruined the whole operation then and there.

Dangerous. Not in the same way Akeno or Sona were, but in how careless he was.

Diodora's expression hardened.

"I really did ask Rias what to send you. You could ask her, if you cared enough to actually talk to her." He said without thinking, making the little dhampir flinch "But oh, well. Nothing to do about that. What I want to know is why you were spying me?"

"Eh…" Gasper looked away.

"Look at me, Bishop." Diodora pressed a bit harder.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Really?" Diodora frowned a fraction.

"I-I swear!" Gasper covered his face with his little arms.

"So suspicious…"

"I don't know anything! I just overheard!" Gasper yelled, his box shaking even more.

"Eh…" Diodora let out his breath, forcing himself to stay calm.

He had grown annoyed without realizing. Gasper reminded him a little of his brother. That annoying naivety, that feigned innocence… He had a hard time standing it.

"Well, I suppose I can sort of understand." Diodora pinched the bridge of his nose "I guess it's too suspicious if you don't even get a card or something along with the gifts. I understand if you wanted to confirm if I was trouble. Must have taken you a lot of courage."

"Uh…" Gasper kept shaking in his box, unable to look Diodora in the eyes.

The one possessing the devil's body sighed.

"Well, I suppose you have my apologies. I didn't want to scare you or anything." Diodora placed a hand on his chest, moving his head forward a bit "I'm sorry Gasper, I didn't have any ill intentions when I sent you those sweets."

Ridiculous little brat.

"E-Eh… Well, I mean… It's fine! I just didn't think… I thought you were…"

"You wouldn't know what's up since you're so often inside your room." Diodora smiled flawlessly "The others simply want to see their town safe. I'm always busy, so sometimes I do things without thinking. Maybe I rubbed them the wrong way because of something I didn't think about."

"Always busy…?" It seemed that Gasper couldn't grasp all of Diodora's words. Good. He wouldn't be able to overwhelm someone else like that. They'd call his trick immediately.

But the guy that had zero contact with the outside? Diodora could trick him with his eyes closed.

"That's correct. I don't know if you've heard of my circumstances, but let me tell you that my eyes have been opened. I just can't stand still after what happened, and I'll do my best to set things right." Diodora injected as much emotion in his voice as he was able to. He took a few steps, more in tune with the cold side of his mind, and crouched until he was staring at Gasper as he peeked between the folds of the box "Just hang in there. I'll help you."

"Eh?" He sounded surprised. He hadn't even realized Diodora had gotten so close, caught up in the heat of his words "W-W-What do you…?"

Diodora whispered a name. So low not even a devil could've heard him from afar. It made Gasper flinch, opening his eyes so wide that he almost looked like a Chihuahua dog.

Diodora gave him space and smiled.

"Go back inside, Gasper. Stay safe. I'll take care of the rest." Diodora turned around and walked away. He felt refreshed now. Even if he'd need another shower due to the sweat he built up while chasing the dhampir.

Still, his mood had improved. Bullying naive people really did wonders!

"W-Wait!" Gasper cried out "How did you know?! What do you want?!"

Diodora turned his face, still smiling.

"Always busy, remember? I'm good at knowing things. I know a whole lot about different stuff. We can talk, if you're interested. But later on. Right now I wanna go to sleep." Diodora pointed at his face, mood still improving.

Gasper looked about ready to cry. Oh, man. Perhaps he thought Diodora was threatening him?

"Don't worry, Gasper. It's not too late." Diodora raised a fist, giving the dhampir a self-assured smile "We can still save her!"

Gasper's expression became blank.

"Save… Her…? From what? Why?"

"Oh, dear." Diodora scratched the side of his nose "Do you want to know now?"

Gasper didn't look too sure. He looked terrified.

Diodora tried not to make it apparent that he was happy.

"Go back to sleep, Gasper. I'll be waiting for you. Come to me when you're ready." Diodora's face hurt from avoiding smirking.

He expected Gasper to appear closer to the original timeline than this, so Diodora couldn't help getting excited about this encounter.

Who knew? It looked like he'd get access to the Sephiroth Graal sooner than anticipated.