High School DxD: Apocalypse

Testing, testing. One, two.

The Occult Research Club's interior always stunned Bell with how nice it looked. It was like a small cathedral, with all the Victorian-like architecture and designs. That lent credence to the overall spaciousness, with every step feeling more and more like walking on air than ground.

The awe of it all wasn't enough to take his attention away from his goal. It was quite early in the morning, and on a weekend no more. To put it bluntly, it would be a miracle for more "normal" people to be awake at the crack of dawn.

With that in mind, Bell did the impossible as he took a step to those beautiful, wooden doors. In order to be granted access, he gave the good ole, 'the shave and a haircut, two bits". That wasn't necessary but it always gave it away that it was him on the other side.

Fluttering of bat wings could be heard, and the is door is opened by a more unfamiliar face. A brown-haired woman, with hair shaped like a bat in a red dress greets him with a smile and a bow, which Bell quickly returns in tow.

In the middle of the room, Rias is playing a game of chess, her opponent being the ever-vigilant Student Council President, Sona. While he's been more acquainted with her crimson haired counterpart, Bell knew Sona quite well. Whenever she got the chance, she asked him to join her Peerage as her pawn, an offer Bell almost always took before his sensibility kicks in and forces him to deny her. That being said, she did find use in having him clean up around the school and take care of some more physical work.

"Hi there, Ms. President." Rias and Sona quickly spins around to see Bell slowly scooting over to the two girls. Sona just returns to the game, but Rias gives a smile and a wave before returning to the game.

Bell waits for them to finish the game, but his patience start to run thin pretty soon, and he pops back in. "Uhm, Ms. President? I need to talk about something.."

"Hold on there, Bell. I'm in the middle of a good round." She says, moving her knight to the appropriate position, hoping Sona doesn't notice. However, her train of though would be shortly interrupted when Bell slowly pokes at shoulder. Rias quickly spins around, looking agitated at her club member.

"What! What is it?" She's a lot more agitated at Bell's insistence, something he didn't quite see from her much. He almost shrunk down to the size of an ant from the sterness. But nevertheless, Bell still mustered to strength to spout out,

"It's about my lineage... or what I am exactly... you see—"

"You're a demon, yes, yes. I already know." Rias calms down a bit, clearly more interested in getting back to her chess board more than continuing the conversation. However, Bell was more stunned at the fact that she was treating this like a casual event more than a grand reveal. How long had she know? Ever since he'd joined the occult research club, any mention of what he was always blanketed with, "I don't know." It's what his sister told him to share since Demons don't exactly have good press with Devils or the like. He'd had to make sure not tell any Devil what he was. Except for Issei a few days ago. While he was slow to the guess, it didn't take much for Bell to finally realize what was going on. At the fault of his own incompetence and a mixture of inexperience, the 'secret' had been let out, and now, the consequences of his poorly planned out actions were soon to befall him.

"Are you going to... kick me out of the club?" Bell timidly asks, and to her shock, Rias looks befuddled at what Bell was possibly suggesting.

"What do you mean? I'm not going to kick you out. You're welcome to stay in the club if you feel like it."

"B-But... Demons and Devils don't get along and—" His voice is quickly drowned out by the sudden accompanying noise of Sona's voice, like a cold river forming into a stream, making the room feel even colder than usual.