With a turbulent November behind us, we headed into December and the last month of second term at school.
In other words, it was time for second term’s closing act—final exams.
…W-well, in the end, I managed. Somehow…
Once my results came in, my two negative influences—Matsuda and Motohama—approached with sneaky grins.
“How was it? The big test?” Matsuda asked.
I breathed a despondent sigh. “Who cares…? Fine. Average. I did pretty good in Japanese, though.”
My test results were a bit above average.
All that last-minute cramming, staying up all night to study with Rias and the others, had really paid off. If not for that, I would have been dead in the water.
Matsuda’s and Motohama’s scores, it seemed, weren’t wildly different than mine.
“Yeah. Well, you know. This is just the way it is,” Matsuda deflected.
“It’s better than flunking, so I’ll take it,” Motohama added.
As for me…I was too busy sorting through potential mage partners to study, and then there was that trip to Romania. Though to be honest, I wasn’t sure I would have fared much better even with more time.
I was lucky to have so many friends willing to help me cram. The other Occult Research Club members were in the same boat as me, but they were way smarter. I was kind of jealous.
At that moment, I overheard the girls chattering at the edge of the classroom.
“Hmm? What’s up with them?” I wondered out loud.
Asia must have seen me looking, as she came running over.
“Issei!” she called. “Xenovia’s done something amazing!”
“Guess what?” Irina added. “She scored above ninety in every subject!”
…Wh-whoa. A score in the nineties was seriously impressive! And to think she pulled it off despite having to take time away from study to go overseas! It looked like she even nailed a perfect score in some subjects!
…People tended to think of her as a knucklehead because of her dependence on brute power, but she was leagues ahead of me… She just tended to get a little too amped up in battle, that was all.
“I just wanted to see how far I could push myself,” she said without putting on any airs. “My lowest score was in Japanese, like I figured it would be.”
Curious, I asked Asia for Xenovia’s score, and it turned out it was around the same as mine… Huh?! I thought I did well on the test, especially in Japanese, so I was blown away! I mean, Japanese was my native language, and here I was being beaten even there!
“Mine was a little lower than Xenovia’s and Asia’s,” Irina admitted shyly.
She could say that, but her scores were still in the eighties! She was way smarter than me! And Asia had been maintaining averages in the high eighties since the second semester midterms!
…Hold on. So I was the Occult Research Club’s underachiever…?!
While I was reeling from that shock, the bespectacled Kiryuu approached.
“It would be a tragedy if your kids took after their dad.”
Where did that come from?! Don’t go talking about children all of a sudden!
The Church Trio, however, took it all in stride.
“Not at all. With a good education and the right environment, anything’s possible,” Xenovia said.
“Yes, that’s right!” Asia added.
“Love is what children need most!” Irina noted.
Seriously, you three! You don’t need to respond to her! She’s just spouting nonsense!
Now everyone in class was fixing me with weird looks!
“Damn you, traitor!”
“Get ready to face the music from Asia’s most die-hard fans!”
Matsuda and Motohama fixed me with jealous looks and threw punches my way! Ow! What the heck?!
While those two clowns were busy perfecting their wrestling moves, Xenovia gave a firm nod. “This has given me a huge boost. I knew I should’ve taken the tests seriously.”
…She had been acting pretty strange lately. She wasn’t just taking her studies more seriously, she was also chatting with Rias and Chairwoman Sona in private.
On top of that, she was skipping club activities from time to time to help out with the student council. It wasn’t like she was fed up with the Occult Research Club or that she felt more at home with the Sitri Familia, but she kept going on and on about having some sort of newfound goal…
And in order to achieve that goal, she was going all out with her studies and extracurricular activities.
…What exactly was she aiming for? When I asked, she insisted it was still a secret.
It seemed only Rias, Akeno, Irina, and Chairwoman Sona were in the loop. I tried asking them, but they insisted they couldn’t talk about it without Xenovia’s permission. Whatever it was, Rias was mighty pleased about it.
I could probably pester Asia and Irina to share what they knew, but I didn’t want to go that far. I didn’t really mind waiting for Xenovia to fill me in when she was ready.
“So, Issei,” Matsuda said, no doubt feeling better after venting his anger on me. “What are your plans for winter break?”
“Right!” Motohama added. “It’s about time we checked in with each other.”
…Winter break. Now that our final exams were out of the way, it was almost time for the end-of-year vacation.
“So what’s the deal? Are you going anywhere?” Motohama asked.
“Er, sorry,” I apologized awkwardly. “I’d love to hang out, but apparently the Occult Research Club has some activities planned. I can’t commit to anything until I’ve checked my schedule with Rias.”
I also had my demon work to think about, and I was part of the new Team DxD as well. We had to be ready to respond if Qlippoth decided to make a move. Yes, the Occult Research Club bore a heavy responsibility.
“Even on New Year’s Eve and the first three days of the new year?” Matsuda prodded.
For the last New Year’s Day, the three of us had prayed to all find girlfriends this year… Well, in my case, it kind of came true.
“…Right. I guess I’ll probably be free, but I can’t say for sure just yet.” I nodded vaguely, scratching the back of my head.
I might be part of a counter-terrorism team, but I hoped I could at least take off New Year’s… But did demons even celebrate the first three days of the new year?
Motohama let out a sigh. “You seem very busy lately. You barely have any time to kick back and have fun on your days off.”
Like he said, I was busy training most weekends and holidays… If I didn’t make good use of my time, I wouldn’t be ready for the next battle.
That meant, however, that I was probably something of a difficult friend for these two.
We could have easily drifted apart, but they still considered me their buddy. I really appreciated that.
Matsuda struck a pose like he was pressing a camera shutter with his finger. “Maybe I should join the Photography Club? I might just make it in time for next year’s competition!”
He was really into photography. Heck, if he joined a club, it might even help improve his grades.
“Anyway, did you hear the rumor? About Rossweisse spending more time in the library?” Motohama asked as if suddenly remembering.
…Rossweisse had been seen in the library? That was odd. Then again, she had been acting weird lately.
“Yeah, I’ve heard!” Matsuda chimed in. “So apparently, she was seen sighing while reading some books… Um, Bible stuff. Anything you can fill us in on, Issei?”
…Bible stuff? Well, as demons, we did have a connection with the Bible. Still, Rossweisse may have come from a Norse background, but she was a smart woman. She should have already read the Bible, both the Old and New Testament.
So was she researching it…? Was she trying to get a better understanding of demons—or the Biblical God? Or was she looking for something in its teachings, history, or prophecies?
“I don’t know,” I said, scratching my head.
Come to think of it, I was surprised a demon could even touch a Bible. Maybe she was using some kind of protection spell? I mean, she did have a technique that let her wield a Holy Sword for brief periods. Still, talk about reckless.
Was this related to her request in the shared bathroom the other day…?
“I figured you’d know since you’re in the Occult Research Club…,” Matsuda said. “Anyway, a bunch of Rossweisse fans are pretty worried, so see if you can work it out with the other club members.”
“Right. Got it.”
I would be happy to help her if I could… But would she confide in us…? Sure, we had each other’s backs in battle, but she had never come to us about personal problems before.
While I was busy racking my brains, Motohama adjusted his glasses and shot a probing look at me. “Speaking of the Occult Research Club, who’s going to be president next year? You’d better sort it out soon or Rias won’t be able to hang up her hat.”
…
It took me a moment to process what he was saying… Right. It was that time of year. Some clubs had already picked new leaders ahead of second term. In fact, one guy in my class had already stepped up as president of his own club.
…In other words, it was time for a generational change at the Occult Research Club.
A new prez? But who? No one came to mind.
With whatever was troubling Rossweisse, and the end of the year just around the corner, I couldn’t help but feel like something was brewing.