Waking little by little from a deep sleep, the first thing Genichi felt wasn't clarity or refreshment.
It was a heavy, warm, soft pressure.
Something was weighing down on his chest and abdomen, making his breathing slightly tight.
He instinctively tried to move, only to realize his arms also seemed pinned by something, leaving him unable to shift.
He forced his dry eyes open.
Thin morning light slipped through a gap in the curtains, casting a few hazy beams into the room.
Genichi lowered his gaze.
Then his whole body locked up.
A spill of crimson hair, like the most luxurious silk, was spread across his chest and the side of his neck. A few strands brushed his chin, leaving a faint itch.
A subtle, elegant fragrance rose from it, gentle and maddeningly enticing.
His eyes moved lower, past that heart-stopping curtain of hair, and he saw a face at arm's length, delicate enough to look like a work of art.
Long lashes shadowed closed lids. A straight nose. Lips slightly parted, soft with sleep.
Rias Gremory.
His nominal master, the Gremory heir, a high-class pure-blood devil, was curled up on top of him like a cat hoarding warmth.
One of her arms was even draped across his chest, her hand resting unconsciously on his shoulder.
And most importantly, neither of them was wearing anything.
Genichi's mind snapped fully awake.
The pajamas he remembered putting on before bed were simply gone.
The cool air on his bare skin, and the sharper, undeniable sensation of Rias's warmth against him, wiped his thoughts clean into blank white.
What was going on?
Why was Rias in his room?
And why like this, intimate to the point of defenselessness?
Before he could untangle the mess in his head, his body reacted faster than his mind.
A teenage male body, faced with this kind of skin-to-skin closeness and the sweet scent of a woman, answered with the most primitive, most brutally honest response.
Genichi went rigid.
And as if she sensed his tension and the sudden acceleration of his heartbeat, Rias stirred in her sleep.
She let out a soft, blurry hum. The hand on his shoulder slid down, settling against his chest instead, fingertips tracing his skin without intention.
At the same time, she shifted to find a more comfortable position. Her thigh brushed his waist.
That single friction was a spark to dry tinder.
The sharper stimulation nearly tore a sound from his throat. His blood surged, hot and immediate, rushing toward one place with a ruthless certainty.
His reason screamed at him to stop this now.
No.
Absolutely not.
No matter what tangled feelings he had toward Rias, the fact remained that she was his nominal master, a pure-blood devil with unfathomable power. Any line crossed, any hint of offense, could trigger consequences he couldn't predict.
Besides, this situation was obviously abnormal. Genichi didn't believe he had some kind of love-at-first-sight charm.
Reason crushed the body's rising heat.
Genichi drew a slow breath, forcing down the pounding in his chest and the dangerous response below it.
His movements were extremely gentle, but unshakably firm. He braced an arm against Rias's shoulder and slowly, steadily pushed her off him.
Rias either hadn't been sleeping deeply, or his motion finally pulled her from sleep.
She rose with the movement and ended up sitting on the bed in a neat, tucked posture.
She still looked half-asleep. She lifted a hand and rubbed at her bleary eyes, crimson hair slightly tangled and draped over her shoulders.
The morning light softened her in a faint halo.
She blinked, green eyes focusing as they settled on Genichi, who had already swung himself out of bed and was standing at the bedside with his back to her.
"Morning, Genichi."
Her voice was a little husky with sleep, which only made it sound more languid, more intimate. Her tone was so natural it was as if sharing a bed were the most ordinary thing in the world.
With his back still turned, Genichi swept his eyes over himself.
As expected, not a stitch of clothing.
He forced himself steady, went to the wardrobe, grabbed a clean shirt and a pair of trousers, and pulled them on at top speed.
The cold fabric against his skin tamped down some of the turbulence.
Only then did he turn back to face her.
His expression had returned to its usual calm, but deep in his eyes there was still a ripple he was struggling to hold down.
"Morning, Rias-buchou."
His voice stayed level. "May I ask why you're in my room? And why… like this?"
His gaze flicked toward her uncovered body. The implication was obvious.
Rias seemed fully awake now.
She lifted a hand, casually adjusting a strap that had slipped, then smoothed her hair with the same effortless grace. There was no embarrassment, no panic at all.
She looked at Genichi with a half-smile that wasn't quite a smile. A hint of mischief and entitlement flashed in her green eyes.
"To raise your strength, and help you master your Sacred Gear as soon as possible."
The bluntness of the answer made Genichi blink.
"What?"
He couldn't see how those two things connected.
Sharing a bed, and mastering a Sacred Gear?
"The power of devils, especially the bond between a master and their servant."
Rias explained unhurriedly, like she was stating common sense. "Close contact lets the master's aura of demonic power soak into the servant's body and soul more naturally. It helps you grasp the essence of devil power, and it can even speed up your synchronization with your Sacred Gear."
She paused, her gaze meaningfully sliding to his left hand.
The reason sounded like it had some logic to it.
But Genichi's doubts didn't vanish.
This method was far too intimate, far too over the line.
And was Rias really doing it for something as simple as improving her servant's strength?
As if she could read the suspicion in his eyes, Rias suddenly let out a small laugh and rose from the bed.
Bare feet sank into the soft carpet as she walked up to him, tilting her head slightly to look up at his face.
Morning light danced along the perfect line of her profile.
"But you don't have to worry."
Her voice dropped a little, carrying a strange note of reassurance, and something that felt like a declaration. "I've only ever done this with you."
Only you.
The words landed like a stone dropped into still water, sending complicated ripples through Genichi's chest.
Rias's special treatment left him off-balance, a little stunned in a way he didn't want to admit.
He watched her in silence.
Her gaze was frank, with a faint, unquestionable pressure behind it, like she was saying: accept it. That's all.
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