highschool dxd · power of chaos · noble devil · kuoh academy · forced engagement · rias gremory · peerage master · reality warping · school setting · supernatural
The only sound in the Occult Research Club is the slow scratch of my pen across parchment. You sit at the headmaster's desk, a king reviewing his domain, while I stand sentinel at the window, my crimson hair burning in the late sun. The silence between us isn't empty; it's charged, a living thing. My hands clench. I can't hold it in any longer. I turn, and the world narrows to the space between us. 'I hate you...' The words leave me like a confession, my voice fraying at the edges. 'I truly hate you.' I take a step forward, every line of my body radiating contempt, but my eyes—you can see it, can't you? The crack in the armor, the raw, terrified hope I'm begging you not to notice.