Occult Research Club.
"You have another Bishop? And they're sealed?" Kousuke asked with a raised brow, though he didn't move from Akeno's comfortable lap while she gently ruffled his hair. After their eventful date, Akeno had been especially eager to spoil him. Of course, this kind of development was warmly welcomed by him.
"Yes. I had no choice, they're too powerful," Rias replied with a sigh. She was suddenly reminded of her unfortunate Bishop. She feared they might have grown too used to the darkness. But now, with a human of unknown depths of power lounging so casually before her, maybe he could help. That was her thought.
"Mmh, I'm rather curious about this powerful Bishop. What exactly makes them dangerous?"
"It's their Sacred Gear. They can stop time."
"Wow! What a perverted Sacred Gear. Thank the person upstairs it didn't fall into the wrong hands~" Kousuke muttered, clasping his hands together in a mock prayer, until his eyes landed on a certain someone and smirked.
"Hey!"
"I didn't say anything," Kousuke replied, feigning innocence.
"You were looking at me when you said it!" Issei snapped, but the room simply broke into laughter.
"You're just too self-conscious. Anyway, about this Bishop... What exactly are they? I don't think it's okay for normal people to be holed up in darkness for too long."
"Oh, they're fine. They actually love darkness since they're a dhampir," Rias said.
"Dhampir? As in, half-vampire?"
Rias nodded.
"Now that's new." He said with whistling.
He had seen vampires in the Other World, but they were nothing like what he imagined—ugly, pathetic, and stripped of humanity in exchange for strength. Even so, they would crumble into stone the moment sunlight touched them.
They were only frightening when people had no information about them. In the end, they were treated like goblins by the Hero and his party. Hunted to extinction. Even the so-called Vampire Lord begged for mercy, but no redemption for those who forsake their humanity.
"How nostalgic," Kousuke muttered before finally pulling himself up from Akeno's lap, standing up and started stretching. "Since you've told me this much, you might as well lead me the way."
"It was too obvious, huh..." Rias said with a wry smile. She stood from the couch, and the others followed. Issei, walking beside her, looked just as curious. This was the first time he'd heard about this mysterious Bishop. Since they were a dhampir, they were probably good-looking too.
They left the clubroom and headed downstairs to the basement level, where they stopped in front of a thick door covered in chains and multiple locks. But under his special vision, Kousuke could see it also bore several powerful magical seals invisible to the naked eye.
"Heeh... Not bad," he said, admiring the intricate spellwork like a man appreciating abstract art. But the moment his fingers touched the door, the entire floor shook, and the seals shattered before everyone's stunned eyes.
"Ah."
Kousuke blinked. He hadn't expected the seals to be so fragile thay it crumbled under his touch. Without hesitation, he put his surprise at the back of his mind and broke the chain alongside the lock with brute strength.
"The lock... shouldn't break that easily..." Rias muttered. After all, it was her brother, the Satan himself, who had created the seal. It was supposed to only unlock with her permission. That was one of the strict conditions, or so she thought.
Kousuke turned to her, looking a bit disappointed. "Whoever designed those seals scammed you. Anyone powerful enough could brute-force through it."
"..."
Rias could feel the corner of her mouth twitching. She knew Kousuke possessed unimaginable strength, but surpassing her brother's magic so casually... 'How scary,' she thought, a flicker of envy surfacing as she glanced toward Akeno.
Kousuke twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. And then everyone froze. Everyone except him.
In that split second, he felt the wave of mysterious power surge across the room. But because his strength vastly exceeded the effect, he remained unaffected—while everyone else stood suspended in time like statues.
He looks at their frozen figures for a moment before closing the door behind him and stepped inside the room alone. It was a mess. Clothes, books, and anime posters lay scattered across the floor. But no person was in sight, until he felt a small presence beneath the bed.
'So when their emotions spike, the Sacred Gear activates automatically,' Kousuke thought as he approached the bed. Just as he was closing in, he heard a soft shriek. He was planning to greet the mysterious Bishop properly, but that adorable reaction triggered something mischievous inside him.
"Now then, shall we see who's the little trickster hiding under the bed?" he murmured playfully, loud enough for the Bishop to hear. He placed his hand on the bed, and with a thought, it vanished into his inventory.
A petite figure was suddenly exposed.
"Wha—"
"Hello there, little dhampir," Kousuke said with a sly grin. His eyes fell on platinum-blonde hair and red eyes with a golden hue at the center. The Bishop's gaze glowed with residual power, still emotionally influenced by their Sacred Gear.
"H-How can you move?!"
It was a soft, trembling voice, but perfectly clear to his ears. Kousuke watched in amusement as the Bishop scrambled and dove behind the couch in fear. It was clear they had developed severe agoraphobia after so long in isolation.
He returned the bed from his inventory, placing it back where it was before, then calmly sat on it. "Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm a friend of Rias, you remembered your Master right?"
"Y-You are?" Gasper peeked out, then quickly ducked back down when their eyes met.
"Mm. I'm Kousuke Igarashi. You can call me Kousuke. How about you? Tell me your name."
"...Gasper, but... you don't smell like a devil?"
The dhampir looked confused, their nose tell them that the person in front of them are undoubtedly a human. However, how could a human move freely under the effect of their Sacred Gear?
"Yeah, I'm just a normal human, see?" he said, gesturing to himself. "But that's not important. Tell me, Gasper… are you having trouble controlling your Sacred Gear?"
"...Yes."
"Do you know why?"
"...No."
Kousuke smiled. That confirmed his theory. At first, he'd considered sealing the Sacred Gear, but changed his mind. His eyes drifted to the open laptop on the floor. It was playing a slice-of-life anime, showing a scene of a highschool girl who looks cold but in reality, she wants to be-friend people. But people keeps their distance, thinking they are too 'beneath' her.
"I can help you, Gasper."
"...R-Really?!"
"Yup. It's honestly not that difficult. But first, can you look me in the eyes? Just for a bit. Come on, I know you can do it." Kousuke said encouragingly.
Gasper hesitated. That was his greatest fear, but if it was just for a moment... Slowly, the platinum-blonde head peeked out from behind the couch.
When their eyes met and Gasper froze in shock. Because at the end of his vision was something unexpected. It was another Gasper.
"...Surprised?"
What greeted him wasn't Kousuke's face but an eerie, perfect reflection of his own, except there was a sly smirk.