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By the time the two finished their tender moment and took a shower, emerging from the hotel, it was already past 5:30 p.m. In this season, as spring was ending and early summer was approaching, the daylight hours were not yet as long as in midsummer. As the sun fully sank below the horizon and the tone of the blue sky deepened, the streetlights along the student street illuminated one after another.
By this time, even the students participating in club activities had mostly gone home. If the two of them were to walk brazenly through the main gate now, they would inevitably be stopped and questioned by the gatekeeper.
However, this was not a challenge for either Hanakain Reiji or Rias.
Yet—
"Stop right there! What's going on with you two? Are you students of our Kuoh Academy? Show me your student IDs!"
"Hmm... one is a second-year, one is a third-year. What were you doing out so late?"
"What, dinner? You're sure you were just out for dinner, right? Then sign the register in the form, and you can go in."
By the guard post at the school gate, Hanakain Reiji quickly signed his name on the form handed to him by the security guard and handed it back, then shrugged at the red-haired girl beside him.
"Alright, let's go in."
"Mhm."
With few words exchanged, Rias clasped her hands behind her back in a very maidenly pose. Hearing his words, she nodded with a gentle smile. The two walked into the school side-by-side.
After walking about ten meters, passing the stone monument of Kuoh Academy at the front of the central avenue, Rias, who had been trying hard to maintain a dignified composure the whole way, leaned in and nudged the young man's arm with her shoulder.
"Reiji, help me."
"Oh..."
Hanakain Reiji would naturally not refuse such a small request. He very naturally took Rias's extended hand. Their fingers intertwined, making the girl's already gentle expression intensify with a touch of scarlet.
"If you're really too tired, wouldn't it be easier to just teleport back?" Hanakain Reiji said with a hint of helplessness. Although Rias, as a High-Class Devil, had vigorous vitality and strong regenerative power, allowing her to quickly repair the "damage" caused by losing her virginity, her physical exhaustion couldn't recover that fast. She couldn't compare to a perfectly balanced warrior like him, who could virtually sustain infinite stamina. She was clearly so tired her legs were weak, yet she insisted on walking all the way back. Honestly...
"How can I do that?" Rias pouted slightly in defiance. She then tightened her grip on his interlocked fingers, as if afraid the young man would slip away. "Teleportation is fast, but it lacks the feeling of strolling back slowly like this. Or are you already tired of being with me, Reiji?" As she spoke, she turned her face to gaze intently at the young man beside her with her emerald green eyes.
Hanakain Reiji "..." The conversation had suddenly changed its flavor. One second, she was talking about using the teleportation circle due to physical discomfort; the next second, the topic had been derailed into being tired of being together and "blah blah." It was quite sudden, a test thrown at him without warning.
"Alright, I'm just kidding!" Seeing Hanakain Reiji remain silent for two seconds, Rias burst out laughing, waving her other hand. "Well, although walking back is tiring, I still prefer to enjoy this process rather than arriving instantly with the teleportation circle. After all, once you drop me off at the old school building, you'll have to go home, won't you?"
"...Ah." Hanakain Reiji was slightly taken aback. That was true. It was late now, and after dropping Rias off at her dorm, he would have to use his instantaneous return method to get home, or Kuroka would definitely cause a fuss if he was late.
"Oh, wait, actually, that reminds me of another solution." As if inspired by her own unintentional words, Rias blinked, and a small light bulb seemed to flash above her head. "We could do this: I remember you said you live alone, Reiji, so if you just moved into the school, you wouldn't have to go back, would you? Akeno and Asia would definitely be very happy about that too."
"That... probably won't work." Hanakain Reiji's lips twitched slightly, a subtle stiffness in his voice. Fortunately, he quickly thought of a perfect excuse. "I have a lot of things at home. If I moved everything here, there probably wouldn't be enough space in the room, and leaving all those large items at home would be a waste." Besides, while he did say he lived alone, the other occupant of the house was not human—she was a Nekomata. If he agreed to move out of the house, Kuroka would likely charge over that very night and clash with Rias.
"Is that so? That's a shame." Without bothering to conceal her look of disappointment, Rias closed the distance between them and leaned her head gently against the young man's shoulder. "But alternatively, we could—"
Her voice drew out slightly, and a look of yearning came over the red-haired girl's face. She looked as if she had just thought of something.
"Could what?" Seeing her stop suddenly, Hanakain Reiji asked curiously.
But Rias, recovering herself, merely shook her head, a smile both expectant and slightly mysterious appearing on her lips. "Nothing, just a small idea I had. Don't worry about it."
"..."
When you say that, it only makes it harder not to worry. Hanakain Reiji thought to himself.
The road from the school gate to the old school building wasn't short, but it wasn't too long either. A few minutes later, as the previously distant outline of the old school building gradually came into view, the two stopped simultaneously.
"I won't go in," Hanakain Reiji said.
"Mhm." Rias nodded softly in response.
At this point, they had to part. If she were truly honest, there was definitely a reluctance to leave him, but she had told Akeno she was just going for a "stroll" before she left. Returning with Reiji now would be somewhat indefensible. Although, eventually, both her relationship with Reiji and the situation with the Phoenix family would have to be revealed, at least not today.
"Then this is where we part. Reiji, you should go home. See you tomorrow."
Saying this, Rias stepped forward, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a kiss on the young man's lips. Perhaps afraid of being caught in the act, Rias pulled back after two or three seconds, her face flushed, controlling the time so the kiss was between a peck and a long kiss.
"Remember to text me when you get home."
I feel like Rias has become much more proactive since we established our relationship, almost a little assertive.
"Okay..."
However, just as Hanakain Reiji was about to agree, Rias suddenly took another step forward, stood on her tiptoes again, and planted another forceful kiss right on the young man's lips.
"...That's for tonight, since you have to go home and we can't meet. I'm taking that in advance." The red-haired girl, whose face was flushed again, offered a rationale that was both unreasonable and confident.
But what she failed to notice was that just a few seconds earlier, the curtain on the second floor of the old school building, which should have been tightly closed, had been quietly pulled aside a tiny bit.
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