Staring at Kokonoe in front of him, Ren Kuroda covered his face with one hand, utterly speechless.
At that moment, he felt a bone-deep exhaustion wash over him. He didn't even know where to begin scolding the little troublemaker.
"…From now on, no more running around the house bare-bottomed. And get back to your own bed. Now."
The moment she heard that, Kokonoe's face flushed bright red. With a small yelp, she dove straight back under Ren's blanket.
This time, no matter how much Ren barked at her, she refused to come out—completely silent, stubbornly burrowed inside like a fox hiding in its den.
With his bed thoroughly occupied, Ren could only sigh and head to Kokonoe's room to make do for the night.
But the moment he stepped inside—
He immediately understood everything.
On the pink, cartoon-patterned bedsheets lay a very suspicious damp patch.
Beside it was a pair of equally suspicious, damp pajama bottoms.
Putting together Kokonoe's earlier behavior with the undeniable evidence in front of him, there was only one possible conclusion—
The little fox had wet the bed.
Well… she was still just a kid.
And it wasn't unheard of for children to have accidents when sleeping in an unfamiliar place for the first time.
But that left Ren in a miserable position.
Waking up in the middle of the night to wash sheets… this was a first in his entire life.
And with his half-demon senses being far too sharp, the lingering smell was downright overwhelming.
By the time he finished cleaning everything, he had barely gotten any rest before it was already time to get up and prepare breakfast.
He had come to this world seeking stronger opponents, hoping to grow through battle—
And somehow, he had ended up living the life of a full-time babysitter.
—
The next morning, Kokonoe woke up and spotted the pink bedsheets hanging outside to dry.
Her face instantly burned with embarrassment.
Thankfully, Ren gave her plenty of dignity—he didn't mention the incident at all, and even promised to keep it a secret.
Kokonoe was so moved she nearly teared up.
But Ren's very next sentence immediately turned her face red again—and this time, she puffed up in anger, declaring she would never forgive him.
Because Ren had casually suggested—
That she start wearing training pants to bed for the time being.
After all, having to wash sheets in the middle of the night was a special kind of torture.
"I haven't wet the bed since before elementary school! It's definitely because your house has bad feng shui!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Ren replied flatly. "I've already put on fresh sheets for you, Miss Mature Kokonoe. Try not to soak those tonight too—there's no more space outside to hang laundry."
—
At Kuoh Academy, Hyoudou Issei had barely stepped into the classroom when he was immediately ambushed by his two best friends—Motohama and Matsuda.
They grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him aside, their eyes gleaming with barely contained curiosity as they bombarded him with questions about last night's "results."
Before heading out on his date, Issei had taken plenty of photos and shown them off to his friends.
After all, what was the point of life if you didn't show off a little?
Especially for someone like him—who had been single his entire life—this was supposed to be his shining moment.
Motohama and Matsuda had been so jealous they couldn't sleep all night.
And now, they were here to ask the most important question of all—
What did it feel like to take that step into adulthood?
But very quickly, they realized something was… off.
Issei's condition was nothing like what they had imagined.
"Hey… hey, Issei… you didn't get dumped, did you?"
"Yeah, seriously—what happened to Amano Yuuma? Don't tell me becoming an adult makes people depressed?"
Ignoring his friends' teasing and speculation, Issei lay slumped over his desk, his face completely devoid of life.
Dumped?
Well… that wasn't entirely wrong.
But how was he supposed to explain that his first love had nearly killed him last night?
Fallen angels. Devils. Sacred Gears. And a ridiculously overpowered high school teacher.
If he hadn't personally confirmed that he could actually summon his so-called Sacred Gear, Issei would have thought the entire thing was just some insane dream.
After being infused with eight Pawn Devil Pieces, when Issei regained consciousness last night, the first thing he saw—
Were two figures he had once only dreamed about.
Rias-senpai.
Akeno-senpai.
At Kuoh Academy, they were the most popular upperclassmen—beautiful, intelligent, and possessing figures that turned heads wherever they went.
Even compared to Amano Yuuma—his supposed first love—Issei had to admit that in both looks and figure, she fell slightly short of these two.
The untouchable idols he had once admired from afar were now right in front of him.
And yet—
Not a single impure thought crossed his mind.
The reason was simple.
He had just nearly died.
And the two beloved senpai standing before him had calmly introduced themselves as—
Devils.
He had just barely survived an encounter with a fallen angel…
And now, two devils had appeared.
And according to everything he thought he knew, both fallen angels and devils belonged to the "evil" side.
Having just experienced a brush with death, it was only natural that Issei's mind was in complete turmoil.
Rias understood that much.
So after confirming that he had regained consciousness, she didn't press him for information about Ren Kuroda.
Nor did she immediately explain his new identity.
Instead, she simply told him to go home and rest—and that they would come see him again the next day.
—
"Attention, attention. Second-year Class B student Hyoudou Issei, please report to the 'Occult Research Club' during your next break period. Repeating—Hyoudou Issei of Class 2-B, please report to the Occult Research Club…"
Just as Issei was still struggling to process everything, the classroom speakers suddenly crackled to life.
The announcement echoed through the room—
And sent a chill straight down his spine.
So it wasn't a dream after all.
Which meant—
The real question now was:
Should he go?
If this had been yesterday, Issei would've been over the moon—rushing straight to the Occult Research Club without a second thought.
But now… he hesitated.
Because Rias-senpai and Akeno-senpai were nothing like he had imagined.
They were devils.
"Issei! What the hell is going on?!" Motohama grabbed his shoulders again, shaking him violently. "Isn't the Occult Research Club run by that insanely popular Rias-senpai?! I heard it's ridiculously hard to get in—why would they specifically call you out?!"
While Issei was still locked in internal conflict, his friend had already spiraled into hysteria.
"Damn it!" Matsuda chimed in, tears streaming down his face as his imagination ran wild. "So your gloomy mood this morning wasn't because you got dumped—you're just struggling to choose between Yuuma-senpai and Rias-senpai, aren't you?!"
He pointed accusingly at Issei.
"You bastard! While we're still worrying about getting a girlfriend, you're already juggling two?!"