Akira leaned back in his chair as he finished the last sheet of paper, letting out a long breath.
"Finally… It's over."
Working together, he and Erika had somehow cleared a mountain of documents that should have taken days, no, an entire spring break, in a single day. The result left everyone in the room momentarily speechless.
Shiro was the first to recover. She peeked at the now-empty desk, then asked carefully, "…You're done?"
Erika leaned back in her chair as well, exhaustion written plainly on her face. "Yes. All of it."
Shiro's eyes widened. "I can't believe you finished everything this easily."
Iori let out a small chuckle. "Well, that's our resident supercomputer for you."
Akira waved it off with exaggerated modesty. "Oh, it was a team effort. I didn't do it on my own."
Iori leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "We planned to spend the entire spring break on this. Now that it's finished, we can actually rest and enjoy the break."
Akira placed a hand over his chest and leaned back dramatically. "Now, now… there's no need to tremble in my presence. Nor kneel. I'll graciously allow everyone to enjoy spring break."
Erika immediately smacked him lightly on the arm. "Don't play around."
Shiro giggled softly. "Akira-oniisan is still the same."
Seichirō, who had been silent until now, gave a rare, faint smile. "No. If anything, he's gotten better."
Akira frowned. "Why are you saying it like that? I can't tell if you're praising me or roasting me."
Seichirō replied calmly, with a single word.
"Yes."
Then Erika stood up and stretched, letting out a long breath as the tension finally left her shoulders.
"Anyway… It's too late now."
She turned to Akira, her expression softening. "Sorry, Akira. I wanted to show you around the school today, but… We'll do it tomorrow."
Akira glanced toward the windows, only now realizing how late it had gotten. Still, with the entire spring break freed up thanks to finishing all the work, there was no real rush. He nodded easily.
"That's fine."
Erika then looked toward Shiro. "I'm going to the student bath. Shiro-chan, want to come with me?"
Shiro hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. "I can't. I still have something to take care of with the Laurel Ring."
Akira looked up, puzzled. "Laurel Ring?"
Shiro smiled gently. "It's an organization that works with the chapel here. Kind of like a club."
"Oh, I see," Akira said, nodding. Then, a thought struck him, and he asked telepathically, "Sister, why do we even have a chapel in the school? I know there was one in the anime, but this world has DxD elements, right? And the school is managed by the Sendo family."
Selena's voice answered smoothly in his mind. "Good relations with the heavens we have. It's kind of a peace symbol between us. I'll tell you more later."
Shiro gathered her things and waved cheerfully. "See you tomorrow!"
With that, she turned and left the room, the door closing softly behind her.
Erika gathered her things as well, then turned back toward Akira.
"I'll come find you tomorrow, okay?"
Akira blinked, a little surprised. "You're going back to your dorm?"
"Yeah," Erika replied. "There are a few things I need to take care of."
"I see," Akira said with a small smile. On the surface, he looked calm, but deep down, he wasn't really happy. He wanted her to stay. He wanted her to stay with him all the time. But he also knew it was unreasonable, so he didn't say anything.
Erika smiled gently. "Good night, Akira."
"Good night," he replied.
And just like that, she was gone.
The door closed softly behind her.
Akira remained seated where he was, staring at the space she had occupied only moments ago. He didn't like it. He knew it was unreasonable, but the instant she left, the room felt… empty.
He didn't understand why.
He didn't like the idea of her staying in the dorms. He wanted her to stay in his house. He wanted her to always stay with him.
For a fleeting instant, a terrifying thought crossed his mind.
"It would be better if I locked her up and kept her there…"
His thoughts slammed to a halt.
"Wait, what am I thinking?"
The sudden dark thoughts made him panic.
"This is wrong. I'm starting to become unstable."
He had to do something.
The truth was, Akira wasn't actually losing control. Every human had intrusive thoughts like this about the person they loved; it was completely normal. Normally, people recognized them for what they were: passing, irrational impulses, and didn't dwell on them.
But for Akira, it was different.
He had never thought like this before. Not once in his life.
So when these thoughts suddenly surfaced, he panicked. Everyone else possessed an unconscious emotional limiter, something that filtered, softened, and restrained their impulses. Akira had never needed one before.
Now, with all his emotions crashing down on him at once, he didn't know how to handle them.
So he telepathically called out to Selena for help.
Help me, sister. I don't know what to do.
Selena replied immediately, her voice calm but firm.
Calm down, brother. I'll think of something.
Even as she said that, Selena realized something was wrong. Her brother really was starting to become unstable—and she didn't know what to do either. She had never expected that Akira gaining his emotions would make him this fragile.
It felt like a dam had burst open.
At first, she had thought it would be simple. Open the valve a little, let the emotions flow, then close it when things get too much. But now that the dam was open, she realized she didn't even know where the valve was—only that the pressure was building fast, and the whole structure was on the verge of breaking.
She didn't know how to fix it.
The truth was, Selena didn't know much about love either. She had been in the Nexus Castle since the day she was born. Aside from their parents, her brother, and Erika, she had barely interacted with anyone else. Everything she knew about romance came from anime, novels, and other media Akira had watched over the years.
So even though she understood Akira better than anyone, she didn't understand this.
Back then, she even confidently said to her parents to leave her little brother to her, she would take care of him, but now she is getting stuck on the first step.
Now, there were no parents to ask. No elders to seek advice from. No one they could turn to for guidance.
Then Selena froze.
"…Wait. There is someone."
She then spoke to Akira telepathically.
"Brother, ask Iori for advice. He's a love expert."
Akira paused.
"Him? A love expert?"
Selena replied immediately.
"Did you forget? He has a tragic love story, too."
Akira froze for a moment as the memory surfaced. Right, Iori's past. Because Iori was usually so carefree, joking around as if nothing in the world could weigh him down, Akira had unconsciously pushed that part of him aside.
Akira admitted. "Yeah… he's always like that,so I kinda forgot about that part of his past."
He exhaled slowly.
"Fine. I'll ask him."
Akira lifted his head and looked straight at Iori, his expression uncharacteristically serious.
"Iori," he said, his voice steady, "I want to talk to you about something."
Both Iori and Seichirō looked up at him at the same time.
It was rare to see Akira like this.
Iori blinked once, then leaned back slightly. "Sure," he said. "What is it?"
Akira asked, his voice uncharacteristically serious, "What is love?"
The room went completely silent.
No one moved. No one even breathed.
It was as if someone had just said Za Warudo and time itself had frozen.
Finally, Iori blinked. Once.
"…What?"
Akira frowned slightly and repeated himself, more forcefully this time. "Just tell me. What is love?"
Iori let out a long sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose as if preparing himself for something troublesome. Then he said, in a tone far more serious than his words deserved,
"Akira, love is like a fart."
Akira froze.
"…What?"
Iori continued without missing a beat. "You can't see it with your eyes. It has to come from within. And just like a fart, you shouldn't force it either, if it's not there."
Seichirō, who had been silently observing the exchange, didn't say a word. However, a single thought passed through his mind.
"…It does make sense. But did he really have to use that analogy?"
Akira stared at Iori, utterly stunned. "Don't joke around," he said in an irritated voice. "I'm serious here."
Iori laughed, leaning back in his chair. "I am serious. I answered the question you asked, didn't I?" He shrugged. "If you want actual advice, you'll have to ask something more specific."
Akira paused.
He realized then that Iori was right. The question he'd asked was too broad, too vague. But even so, asking directly, putting his real thoughts into words, felt unbearably embarrassing.
So instead, he decided to do it the long way around.
Akira hesitated for a moment, then said, "I have a friend. A very close friend."
At the exact same time, both Iori and Seichirō had the same thought.
"A friend? A close friend? Who are you lying to?"
Akira continued, his expression perfectly serious. "My friend suddenly fell in love. So he asked me for advice, but I don't know much about these things. That's why I'm asking you."
Iori and Seichirō exchanged a brief glance.
"A friend asking you for love advice, of all things…At least tell a believable lie."
By now, it was obvious to both of them that Akira was talking about himself. Still, neither of them pointed it out.
Instead, Iori leaned back slightly and said, "A friend of Akira is a friend of ours, too. Go on. Tell me what troubles him."
Akira took a deep breath and continued, choosing his words carefully. "You see, my friend… he's known this girl since he was a kid. And then, suddenly, he realized that he loves her."
As he listened, Iori immediately understood what had happened. He was genuinely surprised, but he didn't interrupt, remaining silent and attentive.
Akira went on. "But the problem is… that friend has never really felt anything like this before. So now he's confused. He doesn't know how to love her properly." His voice grew quieter. "He wants to know how to love someone without hurting them. How to make the person he loves happy. And how not to disappoint her… especially since he knows she loves him more."
Iori listened to the end without speaking.
"So, it finally happened," he thought. "Congratulations, my little sister.But those questions… yeah, I'll have to help my little sister out a bit here."
A small smile appeared on Iori's face. "Alright," he said. "I can try giving you some advice. Though my own love life isn't exactly rich or successful."
He paused, then added, "How about I tell you a story instead? A story about a love between a vampire and a human girl."