Chapter 38: Rias Switches to Cute Wifey Mode (Patreon)

By the time the two finished their tender moments, showered, and left the hotel, it was already past 5:30 PM.

In this season where late spring transitioned into early summer, the daylight hours weren't yet as long as in midsummer. As the setting sun dipped completely below the horizon, the blue sky deepened in hue, and the streetlights along the student street flickered on one by one.

At this hour, even students participating in club activities at school had mostly gone home. If the two of them were to walk brazenly through the main gate now, they would definitely be stopped and questioned thoroughly by the gate guard.

Fortunately, this wasn't much of a problem for either Hanakain Fubuki or Rias.

But—

"Hold it! What's with you two? Are you students from our Kuoh Academy? Show me your student IDs!"

"Hmm... one second-year, one third-year. What were you doing out so late?"

"What, eating? Are you sure you were just eating? Okay, sign the register here, then you can go in."

Beside the guard booth at the school gate, Hanakain Fubuki quickly signed his name on the form handed over by the guard uncle, passed it back, and then shrugged at the red-haired girl beside him.

"Alright, let's go in."

"Mhm."

Without much verbal exchange, Rias clasped her hands behind her back in a very girlish pose and nodded with a gentle smile upon hearing his words.

The two walked into the school side-by-side.

After walking about ten meters or so, upon passing the Kuoh Academy stone monument at the front of the central path, Rias, who had been striving to maintain a dignified posture the whole way, leaned closer, brushing the boy's arm with her shoulder.

"Fubuki, give me a hand."

"Oh..."

Naturally, Hanakain Fubuki wouldn't refuse such a small request. He very naturally took the hand Rias offered.

Their fingers intertwined, adding a touch more blush to the girl's already gentle, watery-eyed expression.

"If you really have no strength, you could have just used a teleportation circle to go back," Hanakain Fubuki said, sounding a bit helpless.

Although Rias, as a high-class devil, possessed vigorous life force and superior recovery, allowing her to quickly mend the 'damage' from losing her virginity, her physical stamina couldn't possibly recover that fast. She was incomparable to him, a perfect hexagon warrior capable of near-infinite combat endurance.

She was clearly so tired her legs were weak, yet she insisted on walking all the way back like this. Really...

"How could I do that?" Rias pouted, slightly indignant. Then, as if afraid the boy would pull away, she tightened her grip on their intertwined fingers. "A teleport circle is quick, but you lose the feeling of this slow, leisurely walk back. Or are you saying you're already tired of being with me, Fubuki?"

As she spoke, she turned her face, fixing her turquoise eyes intently on the boy beside her.

Hanakain Fubuki: "..."

The conversation instantly changed flavor. One second they were talking about using a teleport circle for physical discomfort, the next second the topic veered directly to being tired of being together, blah blah blah. It was quite sudden, putting him on the spot without any warning.

"Alright, I'm just kidding!" Seeing Hanakain Fubuki remain silent for two seconds, Rias burst out laughing with a "pfft," waving her other hand. "Well, walking back like this is indeed a bit tiring, but compared to arriving instantly with a teleport circle, I'd rather savor this process. After all, once you drop me off at the old school building, you have to go back, right Fubuki?"

"...Ah." Hanakain Fubuki paused slightly.

That was true. It was getting late, after all. After escorting Rias back to her dorm, he'd have to use lightspeed return to get home quickly; otherwise, if he got home late, Kuroka would definitely throw a fit.

"Huh, actually, saying that suddenly gives me another idea." As if inspired by her own casual remark, Rias blinked, a small lightbulb seeming to appear above her head. "We could do this: I remember you said you live alone, Fubuki. So, if you just moved into the school too, then you wouldn't have to go back, right? Akeno and Asia would definitely be happy about it too."

"That... probably won't work." Hanakain Fubuki's mouth twitched slightly, a barely perceptible stiffness entering his tone. Fortunately, he quickly thought of a perfect excuse. "I have quite a lot of stuff at home. If I were to move here, the room probably wouldn't fit everything. Leaving so many large items at home would be a waste."

Besides, although he had said he lived alone, the problem was that the other resident wasn't exactly human, but a Nekomata. If he agreed to move out of his house to live here, Kuroka would likely charge over that very night and go ballistic on Rias.

"Is that so? What a shame." Not bothering to hide the disappointment on her face, Rias closed the distance between them, leaning her head gently on the boy's shoulder. "But maybe we could also—"

Her voice trailed off suggestively, a somewhat wistful look appearing on the red-haired girl's face, who knew what she was thinking about.

"Could also?" Seeing the sentence suddenly cut off, Hanakain Fubuki asked curiously.

But Rias, snapping back to reality, just shook her head, a smile playing on her lips—part anticipation, part subtle mystery.

"It's nothing, just a small little idea. Don't worry about it."

"..." Now that you've said that, it's hard not to worry about it, Hanakain Fubuki thought.

The path from the school gate to the old school building wasn't short, but it wasn't excessively long either.

A few minutes later, as the old school building, previously just a distant silhouette, gradually came into close view, the two stopped walking in unspoken agreement.

"I won't go in then," Hanakain Fubuki said.

"Mhm." Rias nodded softly in acknowledgment.

Parting here definitely brought a hint of reluctance, but she had indeed told Akeno she was just going out alone to "clear her head." Returning together with Fubuki now would be somewhat hard to explain. Although ultimately, both her relationship with Fubuki and the situation with the Phenex family would have to be revealed, but... at least not today.

"Let's stop here then. You head back, Fubuki. See you tomorrow."

With that, Rias turned, stepped forward, leaned in, and rose onto her tiptoes to kiss the boy's lips.

Perhaps afraid of being seen, Rias pulled back after two or three seconds, her face flushed, keeping the kiss somewhere between a dragonfly's touch on water and a long embrace.

"Message me when you get home."

It really feels like Rias has become much more assertive after establishing the relationship, Fubuki mused. She even feels slightly dominant.

"Okay..."

However, just as Hanakain Fubuki was about to agree, Rias suddenly stepped forward again, rose onto her tiptoes, aimed for the boy's lips, and kissed him forcefully once more.

"...This is for tonight. Since you're going back and we can't meet, consider this an advance."

The red-haired girl, cheeks flushed crimson again, released him and offered this explanation, acting bold despite not having a strong argument.

But what she didn't notice was that, just a few seconds earlier, the curtain of a second-floor window in the old school building, which should have been tightly closed, had been quietly pulled aside just a crack.