"Well, hello, kiddies~"
Not expecting to enter the club room and find Azazel seated at her desk, a frown marred Rias's face as she asked, "Governor-General Azazel? What are you doing here...?" while making way for Vahn, Koneko, and Xenovia to enter after her.
"Alright, let's not get too riled up," hummed Azazel, leaning his cheek onto the knuckles of his right hand as he revealed, "After a lengthy discussion with Michael and your wise and powerful older brother, it was determined that I would become the Advisor of the ORC. To make a long story short, I'm here to keep various factions in check while utilizing my knowledge of Sacred Gears to strengthen your forces. Furthermore..."
Looking at Vahn, Azazel's smile broadened as he appended, "I have been tasked to help you develop and understand your powers. You don't have to accept my help or divulge your secrets to me if you don't want to, but the general consensus among the leaders is that you would benefit from the guidance of someone experienced with humans, supernatural entities, magical items, and extra-dimensional planes and phenomenon."
"Is this really necessary...?" questioned Vahn, sporting a slight frown as he contended, "I'm not saying I can't use guidance, and it's true that we could benefit from having our strength increased, but taking on the role of our Advisor without consulting us feels like an overstep and an invasion of our privacy..."
"Right. I see what you're saying," conceded Azazel, nodding. "But my role as your Advisor is just a pretense. I won't be assigning you responsibilities or ordering you around. Just think of me as an extra brain you can pick or bounce ideas off. You and your crimson-haired fiancee here still have the final say in all matters concerning the ORC directly."
"Then I would appreciate it if you got out of my seat," said Rias, adopting a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Yes, ma'am~" hummed Azazel, closing his eyes, shaking his head, and raising his hands in mock surrender before getting up from Rias's desk and performing short-range teleportation to relocate to the leftmost sofa, sitting with his right ankle resting atop his left knee.
With Rias moving to her desk, followed closely by Akeno, Vahn sat on the sofa opposite Azazel with Koneko and Xenovia sitting on each side of him, his gaze drawn to the former Angel's left arm as he tilted his head slightly and asked, "Were you not able to heal your arm...?"
"I could have, but I saw it as an opportunity to replace it with something a little more versatile~" hummed Azazel, raising his left hand and rotating it at high speeds before separating the fingers at the joints, causing them to wriggle dexterously before snapping back. It had additional functions, but since Vahn didn't seem particularly impressed by the display, he linked his fingers atop his abdomen and started, "So, regarding your idea of hosting Rating Games in a virtual setting..."
Though it wasn't how he planned to spend the morning, Vahn entertained Azazel's questions and even entrusted him with a pair of VR headsets to disassemble and experiment with. He was more than a little surprised to learn that the headsets could interface with the internet and interpret data from books to reproduce and even combine elements from numerous fictions into a unified setting, but that was nothing compared to the excitement he felt upon learning there was a Creative mode, allowing users to construct worlds, create characters, and script plots of their own for others to experience...
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[July 24th]
With Summer break officially beginning the previous afternoon, Vahn found himself onboard an extremely luxurious train that moved through the sky rather than along tracks. The interior was ten meters across with an off-white ceiling and blue felt carpets, and in place of traditional train seating, it had large, walled-off, u-shaped booths that encircled glossy wooden coffee tables. The walls were a mix of smooth wood paneling and a diamond-patterned crimson velvet lined with brass, periodically broken by large viewports that provided a view of the nebulous, purple, blue, and pink Dimensional Gap outside.
Since the journey between the human world and the Gremory Dukedom took two hours, following a brief stop at the Principality of Sitri, Vahn was sitting in a corner of the train compartment where a television was set up with an assortment of beanbags. Koneko, as usual, was seated in his lap, allowing him to relax with his hands folded atop her stomach as she, Asia, and Xenovia played a game called Marino Party 9. They had invited him to play, but since Asia and Xenovia couldn't bring themselves to take action against or sabotage him, he decided to rescind his participation after the first game, allowing them to compete for the right to sit on his lap.
While Vahn was enjoying seeing the three girls compete as if their lives were on the line, Issei and Kiba were seated a short distance behind them, doing their best to get the cross-dressing dhampir boy, Gasper, to open up to them. Following the summit, Sirzechs had ordered that the seal on Gasper's room be removed so that he could train to control his time-freezing Sacred Gear. Issei, who had initially gotten excited by the prospect of having a cute new female kouhai, had been put in charge of Gasper's resocialization, but based on how the androgynous dhampir was seated in a cardboard box with a paper bag over his head like a helmet, it would be a while before he overcame his anthropophobia(fear of people).
"Excellent! I have attained victory...!" exclaimed Xenovia, shifting forward onto her knees and striking a pose with her hands raised and face angled at the ceiling like she was basking in rays of salvation.
"Grr...I'll win the next one..." grumbled Koneko, her cat-like ears twitching as she reluctantly parted with Vahn's lap, making way for Xenovia's plump and pliant bottom. A decade of dedicated training had given her the most toned butt among all the girls Vahn associated with, so while he enjoyed having any woman sitting on his lap, Xenovia's weight, combined with her butt's springiness, was especially pleasant.
"Oh? I think I understand why you lost..." remarked Xenovia, her cheeks flushing as Vahn linked her fingers atop her abdomen and guided her to recline against him. That was the extent of what he did, but it was enough to make focusing on the game nigh impossible.
"Stop stalling..." said Koneko, forcing Xenovia to pick her character quickly so they could begin a new game. Once the game was underway, Xenovia did her best to lock in, sitting forward and wearing an expression like she was preparing to engage a powerful foe, but the change in position made it even harder to focus as it caused a certain part of Vahn to press against her most tender region. He also shifted his hands to her waist to support her, so by the end of the twenty-minute round, which resulted in Koneko's victory, her face was flushed, her body drenched with sweat, and parts of her uniform had become slightly transparent.
"Pervert spotted..." muttered Koneko, staring at Xenovia from the corner of her half-lidded eyes.
"Don't be absurd..." responded Xenovia, closing her eyes and asserting, "I'm only like this because it's my Lor—because it's Vahn's lap I'm sitting on. My response is completely natural..."
"Good for you," said Koneko, maintaining her judgmental expression as she added, "Now, move..."
Closing her eyes and exhaling a faint snort, Xenovia rose to her feet with Vahn's help, her long, fair, and toned legs notably shaky as she stated, "I will sit out the next round..." while heading in the direction of the women's bathroom.
"Moouuu...I don't want to play this game anymore..." pouted Asia, puffing her cheeks. She didn't say it aloud, but she felt that Koneko was cheating by utilizing her Nekoshou transformation to enhance her senses, allowing her to roll precisely what she needed at a high rate.
"Now, now...no need to get upset..." said Vahn, picking the freshly seated Koneko up and shifting her to straddle his left knee before gently patting his right, causing Asia's expression to light up as she happily planted her small but rapidly developing bottom atop it. From there, Vahn closed his eyes, cupped and caressed their respective abdomens, and allowed the tension in his body to drain as he faintly muttered, "Let's all get along..." in a soothing tone.
Exchanging glances with one another, Koneko and Asia eventually nodded before turning sideways and leaning against Vahn with their hands resting on his chest, borrowing his shoulders as they, too, closed their eyes. Issei noticed this when he got up to grab drinks from the cabin's self-serve bar, but since he had resolved not to envy or compare himself to Vahn, he just shook his head, smiled, and shifted his thoughts to their forthcoming stint in the virtual world and corridor. Vahn had honored his request by creating a mature version of Dragon Ball that incorporated several other anime in a multiversal setting, so Issei had high hopes for the future, especially since he was being allowed to self-insert as the protagonist of his favorite guilty pleasure anime, Toraburu...
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[The train will be passing through the dimensional barrier shortly. Please ensure that you are seated to ensure your safety. I repeat. The train will be passing through the dimensional barrier shortly. All passengers should be seated to ensure their safety.]
Prompted by the synthetic female voice over the train's intercom, Koneko, Asia, and Xenovia separated from Vahn, allowing him to get up and brush himself off before they moved as one to the booth where Rias and Akeno had been playing chess and chatting.
"Welcome back, you three, Vahn," said Rias, adopting a broad smile as she scooched over and patted the space beside her, encouraging Vahn to sit and Akeno to reposition herself so he was nestled between them, leaving Koneko, Asia, and Xenovia no choice but to sit around them.
"Did the four of you have fun cuddling without us~?" hummed Akeno, resting her right hand on Vahn's left thigh and gently caressing it as she stared at him with slightly narrowed eyes. To her surprise, Vahn returned the favor, resting his left hand on her warm and exposed thigh, the edge of his palm and pinky nestled against the fabric of her skirt and panties as he held her gaze and asserted, "You should join us next time..."
"But of course..." responded Akeno, her smile gaining a sultry undertone as she licked her lips and drew her face closer. This compelled Rias to roll her eyes, sit back, and cross her arms, but she waited until after they had shared a kiss before stating, "Things will probably be a little chaotic when we first arrive. You should—"
Interrupting Rias's words, Vahn turned to stare at her with a glimmer of longing in his shimmering aquamarine eyes, causing hers to widen before she smiled, uncrossed her arms, and leaned forward, presenting her lips for him to kiss. In the process, he sneakily grabbed her left hand, linking his fingers through hers to prevent her from crossing her arms once they were done. He liked how doing so emphasized her breasts, but as it also made her appear closed off, Vahn much preferred holding her hand when they were seated next to one another.
"As I was saying..." hummed Rias, her voice low and husky as she licked her lips and slowly pulled away to explain how her parents had a habit of celebrating her return in excess. The previous year, they had prepared a seven-thousand-person procession, fireworks, and a three-week festival, so since she was returning home with a fiance, she expected them to pull all the stops to welcome him. Hearing this made Vahn a little nervous, but since Rias would be next to him the entire time, he was confident he could stand proudly and make a good impression...
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