As the sun beats through the window I quickly realize I'm not in my normal sleeping area. A quick look around reveals Akeno's room, and looking down I see her cuddled up against me. I do my best to get out of bed without disturbing her, but a high-pitched whimper renders that a failure. Upon realizing my defeat I lay back down, my hand resting in Akeno's hair as I move it across her head.
"Can you close the blinds? It's too bright in here." I do as she asks and I check the time.
"You may not like this, but you're late for school." Akeno groans and rolls over onto her side.
"Whatever, I'll just skip."
"Let me get you some more water." I leave her room and notice a silhouette near the front door. As I approach I see Rias and open the door.
"Where is she?"
"She's in bed. She's not feeling well so I'm taking care of her." I enter the kitchen and fill a cup with water.
"I know what you two were up to Y/N."
"Is that supposed to bother me?" Rias's eye begins to twitch.
"I understand that a day like that isn't one Akeno would want to participate in, but taking her to a casino and a night of drinking is not an acceptable alternative."
"What is she your fucking dog?" I slam the glass onto the counter. "Say what you want about how she's in your peerage and whatever, but don't act like you know what's best for her." Rias stomps toward me.
"And you do? What would a psychopathic murderer know about anybody's feelings but his own? Don't act as if you took her out to make her feel better because we both know that's a lie."
"Well, what would you have suggested Rias? That she sits and sees a bunch of families being happy while the only one she has left is the person responsible for putting her into that situation? I won't act like I'm a great person but at least I care. She's the only family I have left, and the least I could do was help her. You can think whatever you want about me, but if you have so much as a passive thought against Akeno I will singlehandedly burn you, your family, and your peerage to the fucking ground!"
"Enough!" Akeno walks out of her room with a hand on her head. "Can you two stop yelling please?" I take her the glass of water.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so worked up." Akeno looks over at Rias.
"I'm not going to school today, I feel like death." Rias crosses her arms under her breasts.
"That's fine, but you're still coming to the meeting with my brother after school. As for you Y/N, I need your help with something."
"I don't owe you a thing." Rias walks toward Akeno and me.
"I'm asking a favor, that's it. You're the only person I could think to ask for this." I take a breath and decide to hear her out. "You may not know that I have a second Bishop, and he's been locked away for a time due to being unable to control his power. His Sacred Gear rests in his eyes, and I wondered if you could help since you're the last person on Earth with a Sharingan."
"What's the catch?"
"There's no catch, he needs some guidance. If you could copy his power for a short while and learn how it works then there may be a chance for him. Do this for me and I'll forget all about yesterday."
"You'll need to do better than that," I spit. "I'm not some babysitter that's going to teach someone how to control their power, especially since you're holding something over my head for it."
"Then come up with something you want in return." Rias walks toward the door. "I'll see you two after school, so please make sure she's feeling better by then."
"Whatever you say, princess." Rias leaves and Akeno goes back to her room.
"She's not as bad as you think she is Y/N."
"I don't have a negative opinion of Rias, she just acts bigger than she is." Akeno lays down and I sit beside her. "Do you need anything else?"
"No, I'm just going to go back to sleep." Akeno hides under the covers. "You know, I did have a good time yesterday. Even if we shouldn't have done what we did, I'm still glad we got to spend time together."
"I'm happy to hear it." I rub her shoulder through the blanket. "Sleep well Akeno."
Later That Day
"There you are."
"Can we use my method of teleportation next time? That gave me a headache." I hug Akeno.
"It's because you still don't feel well, but I understand why you feel that way."
"Akeno, could you head over there now? I need to speak with Y/N privately." Akeno bows before leaving with Kiba. Everyone else appears to be already gone, leaving Rias and me in the room alone. "Look, about earlier, I'm sorry."
"We were both wrong, I can accept that. You know how I feel about Akeno, and if there's anything that I can't stand, it's someone trying to control her time when she's with me." Rias smiles and approaches me.
"I understand." She opens her arms. "How about a hug to make it up? Akeno tells me you're a great hugger."
"Sure." I pull Rias toward me and we embrace. "Next time we argue like we should keep it to ourselves, that way nobody feels like they have to pick sides."
"You're right." Rias and I leave the clubroom and head to the other side of the hallway. "Everybody else has contracts lined up for today, so it'll just be you and Gasper."
"That's his name, good to know." We reach the double doors and I see caution tape covering them. With a wave of her hand, Rias releases a seal on the door, causing the tape to disappear. She opens the door and the four of us enter, and I activate my Sharingan in case the Bishop's power comes out.
"Gasper, the seal has been released, you may come out now."
"I don't want to," a high-pitched voice squeaks. "It's scary out there!" Rias walks toward where the voice comes from, but everything freezes in the room aside from me and the Bishop. He peeks his head out and looks at me.
"You're not frozen like everybody else," he says to me.
"No, I'm not." I open my hands and show him that they're empty. "Are you afraid, Gasper?"
"Yeah. Everybody gets mad when I use my power, that's why I was put in here."
"That's a terrible thing to do to such a young boy." I take a step toward Gasper and the nerves take his body over. "I'm not going to hurt you, just calm down and deactivate your Sacred Gear." He does as I ask and the room returns to normal.
"You talked him into calming down," Rias says in awe.
"It takes time, that's all."
"That's the Forbidden Balor View for you. There's a chance of it mutating into a Balance Breaker on its own, which if it's not under control before that time could be disastrous."
"Just trust me Rias, I'll figure this out." She nods and stands next to Kiba and Akeno.
"Okay, I will. Gasper, do your best for Y/N please."
"I will." The other three leave and I sit down on the other side of the room from Gasper.
"Is it truly comfortable having a room to yourself?"
"It's the only place where my eyes haven't caused any problems." I look down to the floor.
"You're afraid of your power because you can't control it. If you ask me, it's more of a mental barrier than a physical one. I'm not sure if it would work, but I'll have to see if Sirzechs can find you a therapist. If you were able to find someone who could listen to your issues and help you figure them out, it may make it easier for you to control your Sacred Gear. If it would make you more comfortable I could be there as well, especially since it can be hard to talk about yourself. That being said, there are still a few things that we could work on while they're gone." I reach into my pocket and pull out a shuriken. "I'm going to toss this up toward the ceiling and you're going to try to catch it. If you end up missing it or it scares you and freezes the room, that's fine, try to get it again the next time."
"Okay!" A few attempts go by and Gasper ends up getting it a few times, and as I analyze it I start to understand how it works. One quick toss to the ceiling and I catch it before Gasper, causing him to look at it confusedly.
"Part of the abilities in my eyes allows me to copy somebody else's power for a little while." The shuriken falls back into my hand. "Keep your eyes locked onto it as much as you can. The more you hone in on a target the easier you'll be able to freeze it. As time goes on it will get easier, but once everything is worked out mentally you'll be able to do it with ease."
"How are you able to do it so easily Y/N?" I toss the shuriken and freeze it with ease.
"I've been using my eyes for years now, and I spent a lot of time fending for myself. My eyes have been used for many things, both good and bad, and they've become the most important part of my body. No matter how strong I am physically, my eyes will always be the part of me that I have to depend on more than anything else." The shuriken lands in my hand again. "I'm also the last of my clan, so I must be able to use them well enough to make them proud."
"What happened to your clan?" The shuriken leaves my hand but Gasper catches it first.
"My dad ended up having to kill almost all of them before I was born. There were only two left after that, and eventually, he and his brother ended up fighting to the death. I was only a year or two old at the time, but my dad ended up losing and was killed. My dad's brother ended up dying at some point, but I'm not sure when and where."
"I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you don't seem very upset about it." Gasper releases the shuriken.
"I never met any of them, I have no reason to be sad. My mother's clan, the same one that Akeno came from, ended up the same as my dad's. The only difference between them was that I was the one who had to take them out, and Akeno and I are the only two left. History repeated itself, but I'm trying to make things better in any way that I can." I push myself off of the ground. "Do you want to go get some food?"
"Sure, but I don't want to go anywhere."
"Just stick with me, you won't have to worry about a thing." Gasper slowly stands up and joins me, and we leave the old school building and head into town to get some dinner.
An Hour Later
"Looks like I win." Gasper looks at the board and sighs.
"I thought I could get you, but I guess not." The door opens behind me and I see Rias entering.
"Hello, boys."
"Perfect timing, you can get the next game." Rias sits down next to Gasper and me.
"Connect Four?"
"It was sitting in a closet. We dusted it off after we got back from getting something to eat." Rias looks at me like I'm crazy.
"You two went to get food together?"
"Yeah, we did. Gasper was terrified the entire time, but he stayed pretty close to me. Everyone thought it was cute that I was taking my skittish little brother out to get some time in the sun." Rias smiles.
"That's wonderful." She stands up and I look up at her. "Gasper, I would love to stay and play, but I need to speak with Y/N before heading home."
"I'll be back tomorrow for sure, don't you worry."
"Okay!" Rias and I leave and she shuts the doors behind us.
"I don't even know what to say."
"Thank you would be a start." She shoves me toward the wall.
"I guess so. Thank you Y/N."
"You're welcome. Next time you talk to your brother you may want to speak with him about getting Gasper some counseling to talk out some of his trauma. I feel like it may be affecting his ability to properly use his Sacred Gear to its maximum potential."
"I'll let him know." Rias puts her arms around me. "I still feel bad about earlier, and I want to make it up to you."
"You don't have to do anything Rias, trust me." She looks into my eyes and I realize that my Sharingan is still active. Before I can do anything about it she reaches a hand up to my cheek.
"Keep this between us, but you're the best thing that's happened to any of us in a long time."
"You're overvaluing me Rias, I'm here to take care of Akeno." She pulls away.
"You always talk about Akeno, never about yourself."
"You're not ready to hear the darkest parts of my life, trust me." I look out of the window and see the moon has fully risen. "I'm going to head home, I'll see you tomorrow." Rias grabs my hand.
"Wait." She pulls me close and plants her lips on mine. My hand clutches the back of her head as I push her against the wall, our tongues battling for dominance. A few seconds go by and I pull away, Rias and I both breathing deeply after our exchange. "Kuroka was right, you're an amazing kisser."
"Be glad that it ended there, I could have traumatized you."
"Whatever you say. I'll see you tomorrow, my Uchiha." I tilt my head.
"Your Uchiha? There are a couple of people who wouldn't be happy to hear you say that." I pull away from Rias. "I'll see you tomorrow." I leave the building and start walking home, the thoughts in my head scrambling as I try to put any real thoughts together, though unsuccessful.
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My favorite part of writing the Gasper section is that I'm able to do it differently almost every time. There are times when it's been similar to other stories I've done, but on the other hand, it's a chance to dig into a character that has issues with himself and his past. I wouldn't say Gasper is one of my favorite characters in DxD, but that's not because he isn't a likable character more than it's just plenty of other characters that are more enjoyable. If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know, and until next time, have a good one.
-Coop