AN: I don't now why but this chapter took forever to make.
Anyway I hope you enjoy it.
****
He looked at them.
And they looked at him.
He closed his eyes and nodded.
Color rushed to his cheeks, a sheepish smile forming. "Y-You really think I'm cute~?" he said in a high-pitched voice.
Akeno smiled. "Fufufu~ just adorable."
Gasper waved his hands frantically. "G-Girl~ STOOOOP!"
He covered his burning face. "You're going to make me blush!"
Rias's eyes narrowed, her gaze locking onto the back of his right hand.
The Gremory family crest stared back at her.
'It can't be…'
Slowly, he lowered his hands, revealing a teasing grin.
Then, in a deep voice, "Just kidding~"
BOOOOOM!
TICK! TOCK!
"Time has stopped! And now…"
'...I FREAK THE FUCK OUT!'
'THIS IS BAD, REALLY FUCKING BAD!!' He threw his hands up to his head, frantically scratching his hair.
Then he stopped and looked dead at them.
'WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING HERE!'
Even though he was caught off guard, he had to move fast.
And so he did the only thing that made sense.
He walked up to them and sidestepped past. "Excuse me, madam."
He began walking backwards, his eyes locked on them, not daring to blink.
Eventually he reached a side door. He opened it and slipped his body in, keeping his head poked out as long as he could.
TICK! TOCK!
Both Rias and Akeno froze in confusion.
The blond boy before them had blinked out of existence.
Kinda like…
Rias's eyes narrowed, a hollow look overtaking them. '...no way...' she thought to herself, trying to reject the reality of the situation.
CREEEEAK!
CLICK!
She turned to look at the door that just closed.
CLICK!
'Did he…just lock it?' Her eyebrow twitched.
'Yep, it's him alright.'
Akeno tilted her head, a finger pressed to her lip as she smiled. "My, Buchou, it seems our guest is a little shy~"
"Akeno..." Rias sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Yes, Buchou~?"
"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but there's a good chance that boy…is Gasper."
Akeno blinked. "Gasper? Are you sure? I don't recall him being quite so..." she smirked, "well you know."
"Just follow my lead, okay?"
Akeno gave her a two-finger salute. "I'm with you all the way."
—
Gasper stood there, hand on his chin. 'That should have bought me some time, but…what now?'
But out of nowhere, he felt something slimy in his hair!
"Huuu…" He raised his hands, pushing something away.
"Neigh!" the horse who was enjoying his hair cried out.
Gasper's eyebrow twitched. "Silver, right now is not the time!"
Silver Bullet, seeing his angry expression, just leaned in for another bite.
Gasper turned his head away violently; his eyes then landed on something.
'hmmmm…that might work.'
KNOCK!
KNOCK!
"Gasper Vladi…" she said in a dangerously low tone. "You have 10 seconds to open this door."
"NO THANK YOU!"
The audacity!
Rias felt a vein throb in her temple. She hadn't been talked to like that since... well, ever.
"..."
"One." she called out,
'Fuck, I got to go!' He rushed to a desk.
"Two."
He opened one of the cabinets.
"Three."
And with the items he got, he began changing.
…
…
…
"..."
BOOOOM!!
The door flew off its hinges, and in the dust, both Akeno and Rias could be seen.
'Where is he?"
SLUUUUURP~
"AH~"
And there he was in the middle of the room, wearing robes like an immortal cultivator. A long white beard reached almost to his feet.
He sat on the floor enjoying green tea. "So... how is it, Sirzechs?"
Sitting across from him was a doll with its own cup of tea. That oddly looked a lot like a certain Devil King.
The "old sage" nodded. "I see. Truly wise."
Rias narrowed her eyes "Gasper… What in the names of the Satans are you doing?"
"HMM!" Gasper began stroking his beard "Gasper, you say? ... Oh! I see you speak of that handsome youth who was just here. Yes, yes, the picture is becoming clear now."
He grabbed a walking stick that was laid right next to him and got up, leaning forward in a hunch.
"You two must be Rize Gramyo and Achron Hymagoma." He was now stroking his beard a lot more ferociously. "Hmmm, yesss, it all makes sense now."
'Achron?'
Akeno gave him a smile she was so going to get him back for that.
"But, If it is Gaspar that you are seeking—"
"Gasper." Rias corrected flatly.
He cleared his throat. " …I'm afraid you will not find him here."
"Oh? He left?" Rias asked, crossing her arms. "Where to?"
Gasper's brow broke into a cold sweat. "Why do you seek such irrelevant information, traveler?"
"So I can bring my servant home." she then put a hand on her chin. "After this, I think some intensive, one-on-one 'etiquette training' is in order. Wouldn't you agree, Akeno?"
"Ufufu~ I agree completely," Akeno said, her smile turning dangerously sweet. "I'd even be happy to help you... re-educate him."
Gasper swallowed hard. 'AHHHH! HELL NAH!!'
"I see… so that foolish student of mine still does not know the immensity between heaven and earth."
He sighed.
"Truly, he has eyes yet cannot see Mount Tai."
He looked directly at them and said, "Then, as his teacher, it is only right that I point you in his direction."
He cleared his throat and then said, "Before he left, he said this to me…"
He looked away from them and stared at the nearest window, gazing directly at the moon.
And with a whisper of a voice, he said, "Far to the west."
He closed his eyes.
"Far across the mighty sea."
"There's a land full of fruit trees… and grassy meadows cover the landscape as far as the eye can see."
"The name of this land…"
"...is called Vinland. "
His hair and beard started to flow majestically in the wind.
"Untouched by man and unseen by gods."
"A land so far that even the flames of war and the hands of slave traders cannot reach you."
A single, genuine tear rolled down his cheek.
He reached toward the moon. "Maybe there I, too, can live a life where I am truly free."
He looked back to them.
He slowly raised his other hand as if asking for them to take it.
"Maybe when I find this land…if I do…will you come…to Vinland with me?"
They stood there in silence for a moment.
Rias's eyes softened.
And once Gasper realized what he was doing, he slowly took his hand back and wiped his eyes. "So that's where he probably is right now, you know?"
Rias said nothing, shadows covering her eyes.
She slowly walked up to him and placed her hands on his cheeks.
"Wow, miss, I am afraid we can—"
"Be quiet for a second."
She reached behind his ears and removed the strings holding his beard up.
And in one swift motion, she wrapped her arms around him tightly.
Huh?
"You've grown…" she whispered.
Gasper stood there stunned, not knowing what to do.
She pulled him in even closer and whispered gently in his ear.
"I'm…so proud of you."
He felt her hand start to caress his hair.
'…I'm sorry… sorry for missing so much.'
Shadows fell on Gasper's face.
Those words…
They meant nothing to him.
Especially when coming from someone like her.
'So why…'
His chest felt tight.
'…why do i want to believe her.'
They stood there for a while, Rias slowly caressing his hair.
Gasper's arms rose slowly, moving toward her waist, but he stopped himself.
Instead, he rested his hands lightly on her shoulders and pushed away gently, creating distance
Rias's arms fell to her sides.
Her smile faltered for just a moment.
He put his hands out. "Alright, enough of this sappy nonsense."
"Sappy nonsense?" she mused as she stepped closer. "What? Are you too grown now to get a hug from me?"
Gasper's eyes narrowed.
He put his hands in his pockets and walked past her without answering.
"It looks like he's going through a phase." Akeno said, and her eyes gained a dangerous light. "Oh, Buchou, maybe we should get him some darker curtains for his room. I hear boys his age need extra shadows for their brooding."
Rias sighed and looked at Akeno. "Don't tease him, Akeno."
"Fufu, sorry, I just couldn't resist."
Gasper looked back and gestured for them to follow him into the main room.
And so they did.
But before Rias left she saw something in the corner of her eye
MUNCH! MUNCH!
It was a horse.
"Ah…"
'So that's why he was asking for so much hay.'
She turned away from the horse and continued on her way.
—
As they watched his back, he suddenly turned to look at them.
Then he vanished!
"Did he just…stop time?" Rias gained a confused look.
On command?
Krrrt-pop... hiss…!
"Was that a record player?" asked Akeno.
Trumpets broke through the silence.
"I guess you wonder where I've been~♫"
"I searched to find the love within ~♫"
"I came back to let you knoooow~♫ Got a thing for you and I can't let go.~♫"
They turned to see where the music was coming from, and they saw Gasper standing right in front of a record player.
Feeling the stares, he turned and looked at them. "It's good, right? One of my favorites, actually."
Seeing their baffled expressions, Gasper gained a confused look.
"Ah shit, that was disrespectful, wasn't it? I should've let you two choose the music, damn…"
He then started walking up to one of the shelves on the wall and pulled out a couple of records.
"So what are you two in the mood for? Some R&B? Maybe some soul? Maybe even some good old Elvis—after all, you can't go wrong with classics."
Akeno raised a brow. "Elvis? What do you know of the king of rock?"
"A decent amount, especially that he was groovy as hell. I mean, don't get me wrong. He wasn't as groovy as MJ, but he was there to pave the way for those that came after." he said with a nostalgic glint in his eyes.
"MJ?"
Hearing that, Gasper's mouth gaped. "... you know, THE King of Pop?"
She shook her head.
He laughed a bit and said, "Ah, good joke, you almost got me. That's like saying that you don't know who Led Zeppelin are."
She just looked at him, he paused. "Wait, are you serious?"
"Ahem!" Rias cleared her throat loudly. "I think we may be going off topic here."
"Right, so why are you two here?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. "It's not like you guys do daily visits or anything."
His eyes widened suddenly as a new thought took hold. "Wait, don't tell me. Is this it? Are we all gonna die?"
Then a gloomy aura overtook him, and he turned around to go back to the room. "Please excuse me… I have to go write my will."
Rias watched him retreat, her hand halfway reached out as if she could catch the gloom before it sucked him back into the other room.
"Gasper, wait! Nobody is dying! We're just here to ask something!"
"Yeah, right. Like, I'd believe that. You could've just sent a note for that." He shot back, his voice muffled by despair. "The only reason you would be here is if... Oh my Hestia, don't tell me you found out about my chicken addiction!"
"What? No! We're here because you haven't been doing your contracts."
He raised a brow "I beg your pardon?"
"You know the ones you do on your computer? So what's your excuse, mister?"
'SHIT! I was supposed to be doing contracts?! But wait, did she say "my computer"?'
"My computer?...Ohhh! My computer!" He then put up a finger. "Give me a second."
He walked up to a corner of the room.
He emerged a moment later, walking back into the light with a sheepish grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.
He held up an object that could only be described as evidence of a crime.
"Well, you see, I broke it," he said, presenting a mangled piece of hardware.
It wasn't just broken; there were no keys, no screen, and no casing. It was literally just a naked motherboard!
Rias blinked in disbelief. "What happened to it?"
Gasper just sighed. "Well, you see, I was practicing my dancing, and then… it kind of fell."
"Your... dancing?" Rias repeated slowly.
Gasper gave her a look that said, 'You don't want to know.'
"It's a long story. But, long story short—"
He hit his head, closed one eye, stuck out his tongue, and said, "I forgot about it. My bad~teehee~."
Rias just stared at him.
Then she took a deep breath.
"Gasper..."
"Yes?"
"You're getting a new computer…. Oh, and you're doing double contracts this month."
His face went pale. "Double?!"
She turned toward the door. "Consider it punishment for making me worry."
"YOU'RE THE DEVIL!" Gasper screamed in despair.
"Fu~…"
She turned back to him with a sheepish smile on her face. "Yes, I am."
←—TO BE CONTINUED—