Rian glanced at Alice beside him. "Alice… tomorrow, buy this entire apartment building."
"Alright," Alice replied cheerfully. "Should we rebuild it?"
"No need. If we renovate it, Ophis-chan's traces will disappear," Rian said with a faint smile. "Leave it as it is."
"For the other units, rent them out to non-human races," he added. "Seventy percent below the original price."
"Understood. Noted," Alice replied.
A few more steps brought Rian and Alice to the door of his room.
When he opened it, the sight that welcomed them was Ophis and Fear, both leaning against the corner of the room.
Each of them was holding a snack while watching a holographic tab displaying a cartoon with intense concentration.
Several wrappers, empty jars, and scattered rice cracker crumbs littered the carpet, forming a trail like the aftermath of a "snack battle" that had just concluded.
Fear turned quickly, greeting them with a cheerful smile tinged with mild annoyance. "You took forever!"
Ophis said nothing, her eyes fixed on Rian as usual.
Rian let out a soft sigh as he looked at the mess in his room. "Okay… first, why aren't you asleep yet? And second… what happened to my room?"
Fear answered quickly, her cheeks slightly red. "I was waiting for you. So we can sleep together. Because… sometimes I get a little scared when I sleep alone."
Rian didn't need further explanation; he already understood. Fear often dreamed about her past victims, and it happened so frequently that she preferred sleeping beside him.
Besides, they had already slept together more than once since that day.
Rian glanced at her for a moment, while a thought crossed his mind: 'Well… Ophis is the Dragon God of Infinity. She obviously doesn't need sleep. Probably. She'll go home later.'
"Alright, Fear. Let's go to sleep. I haven't slept properly since yesterday," Rian said, running a hand through his hair. "If this keeps up… my skin might get damaged."
"You narcissistic pervert," Fear muttered, turning her face away.
Rian was about to reply, but suddenly his Six Eyes picked up a familiar energy signature. He turned toward the room's exit.
"Hm…? My favorite cat is visiting at this hour?" Rian murmured. "Though… 2 a.m. can't really be called 'night' anymore."
Tok… tok… tok…
A soft knocking echoed through the apartment. Rian immediately stepped out of the room with a light pace, as if he were heading toward a show he'd been waiting for.
Meanwhile, Fear began preparing the futon, though she paused to glance at Ophis, who was once again calmly munching on her snacks.
"Are you going to help… or should I sleep on your head?"
Ophis blinked slowly.
Before leaving, Rian gave a brief instruction. "Fear, I'm going to greet our guest. You and Ophis, clean up the snack wrappers you two left behind."
"I know, you nag," Fear muttered, closing her eyes for a moment.
"Ah, I'll help," Alice added casually. "That way it's done faster."
With a snap of his fingers, the snack wrappers vanished instantly, burned clean by a combination of the Space and Power Stones.
Rian gave a faint smile. "There, that's neat… just like my face."
"Get out before I throw this futon at you," Fear snapped. "Or i curse you!"
Without wasting another second, Rian headed for the apartment's front door to greet Koneko, who was waiting outside.
He unlocked and opened the door, finding Koneko standing there in her usual pajamas, her expression as flat as always.
"Koneko… what's wrong?" Rian asked, tilting his head slightly.
"I want to sleep here," Koneko answered plainly, her tone flat yet firm—typical Koneko, sounding more like a statement than a request.
She glanced into the apartment for a moment, her eyebrow lifting ever so slightly. "I sense chi… two people. They're girls?"
Rian only gave a small smile. "Sharp as always."
Koneko let out a small sigh, then walked inside without waiting for permission.
"Hmph… Rian-senpai, your place is full of strange auras… perfectly fitting for its owner," Koneko muttered, giving him a brief, mildly mocking glance.
Rian simply shrugged, closed the door, locked it, and followed her to the bedroom without further comment.
Once inside, he immediately prepared an extra futon for Koneko. And just like that, in a modest room that was barely big enough for a couple without children, there were now two futons.
The plan was simple: Rian would sleep alone, Alice would stay near his head, while Koneko and Fear—since their bodies were petite—could share a futon. For some reason, those two had grown close rather quickly.
As for Ophis, Rian was fairly certain she would go home once she saw everyone already asleep.
The lights went off, and Rian lay down on his futon. But what happened next was completely unexpected.
Ophis didn't go home.
Instead, she lay down on Rian's right side, while Fear scooted closer on his left and hugged his arm tightly.
And Koneko?
She casually slipped under Rian's blanket and curled up right on top of his stomach, as if it were her personal pillow—even though the futon she was supposed to share with Fear was still perfectly untouched beside them.
She got so comfortable that her body relaxed completely, causing her Nekomata ears and tail to pop out.
Rian stared up at the ceiling, eyes wide open, wearing an expression that was hard to describe.
"This is weird, seriously…" he muttered. "Why do I feel so uneasy…? Two—no, actually four lolis are sleeping with me?"
The words slipped out in a low voice.
No one answered. Koneko was already fast asleep under the blanket, Fear was snoozing with a peaceful smile, and Alice had gone into sleep mode.
Rian glanced to his right. Ophis, who he knew wasn't asleep, stared at him expressionlessly.
"Ophis-chan… you're sleeping here? Not going back?" Rian whispered.
There was a brief silence. Ophis's gaze didn't shift even a millimeter. Then, in her usual calm, flat tone, she answered,
"…I want to sleep together. Is that not allowed?"
"That's not the issue," Rian replied, though he wasn't sure where to even begin explaining.
In the end, he simply sighed, giving up on reasoning with the situation.
"Forget it. Let's just sleep. But remember—" Rian closed his eyes, his voice flat but carrying a hint of humor, "—don't call the FBI. I don't want anyone accusing me of weird things."
There was no reply.
Only silence.
Ophis, on his right side, kept staring at him with that unreadable gaze… before slowly tightening her hold on his arm.
Rian kept his eyes shut, trying to fall asleep… while also doing his best to ignore the fact that he was surrounded by four lolis at an extremely questionable distance—something anyone could easily misunderstand.
(Note: Since I'm following the Season 2 timeline from the anime, technically Koneko shouldn't know Ophis yet. Also, Ophis never really showed up around the main DxD team—aside from that one moment with Gasper.)
***
"Eh, hey… did you hear? They say the new principal is insanely handsome!"
"Seriously? Now I want to see him. Maybe he can become my true sugar daddy. My life's dream: being fully taken care of by a sugar daddy!"
"Your dreams are weird…"
"Tch, handsome men! Truly… cursed creatures!"
"Heh, just having a pretty face and the whole school loses its mind."
"Damn it! I'm jealous!"
One comment after another, rumor after rumor, spread rapidly from mouth to mouth among the students filling Kuoh Academy's hallway.
No one mentioned a name, but everyone was clearly talking about the same person—the new principal.
Amid the noisy chatter, Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory walked side by side.
Their steps were calm, yet the expressions in their eyes and on their faces hinted that they already had a strong suspicion about who was behind all the commotion.
There was only one way to be sure.
And that meant seeing the person directly—someone who was almost certainly in the principal's office at that very moment.
After walking down the academy's hallway buzzing with gossip, Sona and Rias finally arrived at the principal's office door. With steady but cautious steps, Sona pushed it open.
Inside, they were immediately greeted by a familiar figure: Rian.
He sat casually in the plush principal's chair, both feet propped up on the desk as if the office had been his personal domain for years.
"Yo, my two beautiful devils," Rian greeted, raising a hand lazily.
"Welcome~ Did you come to see me on my first day, hmm? How thoughtful of you, I'm genuinely touched."
Sona and Rias exchanged glances, then, as if sharing a silent telepathy, each rubbed her forehead and let out a heavy sigh.
Yet behind those sighs, there was one thing they could not hide: confusion.
How was it possible that Rian, who not long ago had been just a student, now sat comfortably in the principal's chair, complete with an official nameplate on the desk, while not a single student remembered him as a classmate?