POV: Issei
The old building was silent. Too silent.
Issei climbed the stairs with quick, almost clumsy steps. His backpack kept hitting his back; it annoyed him, got in the way—everything felt in the way. His chest had been burning ever since he heard the rumors in class:
“Rias didn’t come today…”
“They say she had an argument…”
“The club’s atmosphere has been weird lately…”
Issei clenched his teeth. He didn’t need anyone to tell him. He felt it in his soul.
Riser Phenex.
He stopped in front of the Occult Research Club door. Swallowed hard. Knocked lightly.
“R-Rias… are you there?”
Silence.
Asking if she was there was more courtesy than doubt. He knew she and Akeno were inside—since the Rating Game news, neither of them had really left. Missions and club activities had been reduced to a minimum; it almost felt like everything had stopped.
He tried the door. It wasn’t locked… but it wasn’t fully open either. It gave way only a few centimeters, as if something were holding it from the other side.
“President…,” he whispered. “I want to talk.”
Nothing.
Issei took a deep breath and stepped inside anyway.
The room was dim. Akeno wasn’t there. Neither was Koneko. Kiba had left recently.
Only Rias.
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She sat on the red sofa, back straight, hands folded. Like a beautiful, broken statue.
Her aura… was a restrained storm.
“Rias…” Issei took a hesitant step forward. “I….”
She raised a hand without looking at him.
“Issei. Not now.”
His heartbeat spiked.
Not now. Not now. Always not now.
“Rias, I—” he tried again, voice trembling. “Yesterday, when that guy came, I thought—”
“No,” she repeated, firmer. “We’re not talking about yesterday.”
Something hit him inside, like the air being torn out of his lungs.
“Why?” he blurted out. “Why can’t I help you?”
“Because you can’t,” she answered, almost in a whisper.
“But—”
“Issei.” Rias squeezed her eyes shut, as if every word hurt. “I can’t… I can’t see you like this.”
Anger and sadness surged up his throat.
“Like what? Weak? Awkward? Useless?”
Rias’ eyes snapped open.
“Don’t say that.”
“But it’s true!” Issei shouted, raising his voice against her for the first time. “Riser came, talked like everything was already decided, and I— I couldn’t do anything! Nothing, Rias!”
The air changed.
Not an explosion.
Worse.
A hot pulse rolled through the room—clumsy, unstable, like a heartbeat out of rhythm. The walls trembled slightly. The temperature rose by a single degree.
Issei froze, shaking.
“I… I want to help you. I really do. But every time I get closer… you push me away.”
Rias clenched her fists against her skirt.
“Issei… this isn’t your fault. It’s… my burden. My decision. My family.”
“And what am I to you?!” he exploded, desperate.
Rias parted her lips.
But she didn’t answer.
She couldn’t.
The silence struck them both.
Issei took a step back. Then another.
His aura stirred again—guilt, fear, frustration—spreading through the room in invisible waves.
“Issei—” Rias tried.
But he couldn’t hear her anymore. Not clearly. Not with that pain crushing his chest.
He bowed—awkward, stiff—and left quickly, before his voice could break completely.
The door closed behind him.
Rias, alone in the darkness, let her head fall into her hands.
“I’m sorry…,” she whispered. “I can’t drag you down with me. Not you too.”
Her aura trembled—fragile, sad.
The vibration traveled through the building… climbed the walls… reached the magical fields…
And far away, in a quiet hallway, Kaelan Arverth stopped for no apparent reason.
A pulse went through him.
Thm.
Thm.
As if the world itself had cried for a single second.
Kaelan looked around, confused.
“What… was that?”
The Resonance vibrated softly in response.
It wasn’t him. Not this time.
It was Issei. It was Rias. It was the emotional fracture growing inside the school.
And Kaelan… had felt it first.
