Chapter 8.1: Escape

"Damn it, school always has to ruin something interesting," Akito said to himself while running. Finally slowing down as they reached the school entrance, Satoshi announced. "Hey, Akito, I'm going to split ways here." He spotted Rikka at school after missing two days. He then rushed towards her. Akito watched on and didn't talk. He saw both his friends at the gate. His senses twitched as he felt a jolt of negative emotions from them. "What's wrong?" He asked the pair. But they seemed to avert his question, as usual, which caused him to question himself. "Am I the problem?" He said as he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. Yui finally caught his attention. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked, smiling. "Hmm," said Akito with a red face. "Good, Well, do you guys wanna check out the new window in our room?" Asked Yui as she took off running in the direction of the clubroom, leaving them with no choice.

"Oh my sweet dango, it's shiny!" Yui screamed in excitement at the pair while pointing at the window. "Wow, yeah." Said Akito while mesmerized. Kazuto angrily told the two, "will you guys be normal for once? It's a window, for god's sake." Irritated by his dumb friends, Kazuto walked over and pulled one of the few books put on the newly built bookshelf. Taking a seat, he uttered to the two, "will you guys quit smudging your faces all over the new window. Just come take a seat." Disappointed, he started reading the book "Energy Forces Within the Observable Universe." Intrigued by something inside of the book, he gestured to Akito to come over and take a look. "Hey, come here." Said Kazuto while he had his attention hooked on the text. "What?" Asked Akito as he slowly walked over to Kazuto. Pointing to a text Akito read. "Energy is the essence of life. It can neither be destroyed nor created. Many energetic forces exist within this universe and many beyond it. For example, Dark, light, and natural energy are all of the same, but of different types and uses." Confused, Akito looked over to Kazuto, "what does it mean?" He asked.

"What it means is that you use energy, well, dark energy, and your rage feeds it. In the Book of Prophecy. The one that God of Love left behind as his words and will for this world. Article three of page 136 states that the Dark Lord created dark energy and dark magic. Emphasizing that the Devil, Satan, was the creator and distributor of this type of energy. So, in essence, you may be a Devil." Said Satoshi calmly, causing the entire room to go quiet and the two people behind the door to stand still and silent from fear. Rikka and Satoshi stood there quietly, not a single word uttered. Finally, Rikka slammed the door shut and walked away. "Hey, Rikka, what's wrong?" Asked Satoshi as he tried to catch up to her. "don't talk to me." She coldly replied.

Annoyed, Satoshi thought to himself. "This is the first time I see her in a while. What a surprise that she, out of her free will, came to the club room." Walking inside of the club room, Satoshi felt a dark aura emanating from his brother. "What's wrong? What happened?" He asked. "I'm a devil?" uttered Akito in confusion. "Kazuto, quit it," said Yui as she walked over to Akito's side. "I'm going outside," said Akito slowly while spacing out. "Why?" Asked Satoshi, but to no reply, he heard the door close behind. Finally, wanting to understand the situation, he stopped Yui from following Akito "Leave him be, Yui-san." He then asked the two for an explanation.

Walking alone through the school, Akito seemed sad but also blank. No expression was demonstrated on his face as if the news had nothing of meaning to him. "Why can't I feel anything?" He said to himself before he caught sight of the person in front of him. "Rin-Kun, what's wrong?" asked a short person with red hair. She looked into his eyes and smiled. While expressionless, Akito realized it was no other than his crush, Rias, but it almost felt like nothing to him.

Nevertheless, it didn't faze him. His reply was short and blank. "Oh, Norio-san? I'm fine, thank you." He then walked past her. But was met by a blockade from her, and another question soon followed. "Anything bothering you?"

All while she thought to herself what had become of Akito, "is he okay? He seems distant." She said inside of her head. She started analyzing the situation, but nothing came to her, so she decided to bombard Akito with questions, but followed by mind tricks enabling her to get him to speak.

"Hey, why not take a seat on that bench." she proposed to Akito while gesturing towards it. "Uh, I think I will pass," stated Akito, but he was cut short as his sleeve pulled him. "Hey, Norio-san, what are you doing?" He openly asked. "This way, this way." Rias kept on insisting. Finally, Rias got him to follow her over the bench with massive strength. She forced Akito to sit. "Go ahead, please." She said as she sat next to him with a big smile on her face. "Go ahead?"

Uttered back the confused Akito. His question got answered by enthusiasm, fueled by intimidation from Rias, "yes, please. Tell me what's wrong." She said as she directly stared into his eyes. Akito, confused and emotionless, questioned her motives, "eh, what's up with her?" He said as he began grasping his current situation. His adrenaline shot up as he kept on staring at Rias. "Her face, so round, yet so dazzling. Her smile, so fake, yet so comforting. Her eyes, so calming, yet so forceful, like the waves of an angry sea. Her hair, such perfection, yet such a fearful color." He said to himself as the situation grew more awkward by the silences. Akito, blushing, caused Rias to blush and ask him, "uh, what's wrong, Rin-Kun?" Her question drove him to look away and down to the ground while replying to her. "It's nothing, really. Why do you take such interest in me anyway?" He asked as he calmed himself down enough to look at her finally. Blushing, Rias had a difficult time speaking, causing silence to roam in the air. She finally opened her mouth and uttered. "Because I have been watching you ever since we were little." She softly spoke while she rested her lower lip on her index finger.

Akito blushing, started thinking and running through ideas, "wait, she watches me? Like a stalker or what?" He said in his mind. "Wait, wait. No way. I'm dreaming, right?" The little voice inside his head kept on trembling, trying to find an answer. He grew more flustered. "I'm sorry, I need to go!" He said to Rias nervously. He stood up, implying to leave, but felt a slight tuck on his sleeve. "Huh?" he said as he looked down at his arm. Rias was holding on to his hand, "please stay!" She said with her eyes closed.

"Damn it. She's so cute. What am I suppose to do?" He nervously smiled and sat back down, "My heart, it's about to explode. Her hands are soft and warm." He said with a perverted intention. Then, hearing a faint voice, he looked up to her. "Please, tell me what's wrong." She softly spoke as she kept her head down, pulling her hands away from him and sitting back up. She looked out and down. "I don't even know you like that." He said to himself while mustering up the courage to ask her an important question. "I have a question for you first." He uttered slowly. "What is it?" Replied Rias.

"On that night, was it really you?" He said as he slowly looked up to her again. "Yeah, I was there. Moreover, I became caught up in that first attack at school. It happened so quickly, it freaked me out, but I watched on from the window, praying for your safety. It almost felt unreal, and from that day, I have grown even more interested in you, so I followed you, memorized your schedule, and would always be there at the park. Watching you try so hard to lose weight and discover more about yourself sprouted this seed of encouragement for me to speak to you." She deliberately told the truth to Aktio. "You were there." He said slowly to himself while spacing out.

"I'm totally not gonna get the chance with her now." He said to himself in disappointment. His thoughts were, however, closed short. Rias spoke once again, "I will always watch over you because I have always been interested in you, Akito." She said with a soft smile.

Akito's mind started racing, creating a picture inside of his head, resembling that of the present situation with Rias. A girl, smiling, said the exact words to him and had a different hair color. With her, he felt safe and at ease, almost as if anything was possible. He felt a warm sensation emitting from his hand. Looking down, he saw that they were holding hands and that she was wearing a ring. "Who is she? Damn, what beautiful golden hair!" He said to himself as he was forcefully knocked back to reality by Rias. Shaking him violently, Rias, blushing, shouted, "Please say something! It's embarrassing." But their warm conversation came to a halt, the bell rang, indicating the start of the first period, "really?" said Rias inside her head with disappointment. "Norio-san, this is embarrassing, but let's go to class together." Said Akito bluntly, which rattled Rias and caused her to reply with, "Okay." There and now started their rough and embarrassing morning.

In the classroom, Akito would, from time to time, look over to Rias and check for any negative emotions. Scared that he might become hated by his long-time crush, Akito sighed in relief and continued his studies for the remainder of the day, with the feeling of awkwardness never leaving his guts. "What a day." He said to himself.

After school, Rias and Akito never spoke and rushed out of the classroom, both their hearts fluttering they huffed in disappointment. Arriving at the entrance gate, the three waited for him. "You behaved differently today." Asked Satoshi from the get-go, "Yeah, not a word all day." Added on Yui. "Are you okay, Akito?" Asked Kazuto. "I don't know. Today's been a mess. Learning the possibility of me being a Devil scares me to my core." He said as he placed his hands behind his head. "True, but also a low chance, but perhaps the fact. Although, we shouldn't keep on wasting time on what-ifs. We need to figure out their next step of action. For now, you two, be extra careful, okay?" Stated Kazuto calmly. "Mhm, please be careful. Aktio, keep checking for negative emotions." Said Yui as she smiled at him, causing him to fluster and reply, "of course."

A car horn was going off in the distance, catching the attention of the four. It was Yui's dad, seemingly looking to catch her attention, "sorry, I need to go before he embarrasses me more." She apologized to the group as she took off. "Well, I need to get going too. Make sure to work out today. Later." Said Kazuto as he started walking away. "Later," replied Akito. On their walk home, Akito asked his brother about his current situation with Rikka, but nothing came out of his brother's mouth, which urged him to squeeze in both of his cheeks.

"Hey, I said what's up with you and Rikka." He said. "Nothing, let go, pig!" Screamed Satoshi as he tried removing Akito's hands away from his face. "If you tell me, I will tell you something important about Rikka." He said with a brilliant tone. But their brotherly conversation came to a halt as a sudden presence was picked up by the two. "What is this feeling?" Akito spoke to himself. "It's getting closer. It's so heavy." He said as he looked into the sky. Five figures stood above them, shedding a massive amount of dark energy, sending a chilling sensation down Akito's spine.

The five figures began descending at a rapid rate, prompting Akito to jump over to his brother's side and get him out of harm's way. Their impact caused a small crater to open in the ground, their faces covered by black cloth, they altogether spoke. "We are The Tourte Devil's."