Akeno Himejima wasn't sure what her feelings for Ethan were. She initially approached him with a goal, but discovered he was an interesting person.
He was a bit of a womanizer, but surprisingly, not in an overtly repulsive way.
During one ambiguous encounter, she nearly followed the mood and foolishly gave up her body. After that, she became more cautious. Coupled with Ethan's focus on increasing his power and pursuing other girls, their relationship hadn't progressed.
Following this recent incident, it goes without saying that the affection of everyone in the Occult Research Club for Ethan had increased a level, and Akeno Himejima was no exception.
Had Grayfia not later mentioned that Dual Cultivation required sufficient power, the servants, including Akeno, would have intended to try it themselves before Rias even opened her mouth.
Sighing softly, Akeno Himejima adjusted her mindset. Regardless, the outcome was good.
As for her relationship with Ethan... she decided to let nature take its course.
After some commotion, it was nearly time for class. Rias let out a lazy yawn and said, "We'll discuss the Three Factions Conference after school... everyone go to class. I'll rest a bit more. It was a tough night."
Yuma Amano's trio were much more experienced than Rias and didn't react much, though the looks they gave Ethan became even more fervent.
The reactions of the inexperienced girls were more interesting.
Akeno Himejima narrowed her eyes and gave a dangerous smile. "Oh my, oh my... that won't do, President. You can't lead by example and skip class~"
Koneko Toujou's small face turned red, and she whispered softly, "H-E-N-T-A-I..."
The most innocent and naive Asia cupped her small face, looking at Rias with envy and admiration. "Ah, President... you're so bold."
Yuto Kiba, however, looked down at her own flat body with sadness, then cast a melancholy look at Ethan.
Ethan felt a chill down his spine under her sorrowful gaze.
He quickly peeled the clinging Mittelt off him. "President, I'm going to class first. After being away for so many days, I kind of miss my classmates."
With that, he bolted.
Looking at Ethan's somewhat flustered figure, Yuto Kiba sighed in disappointment, but she knew she couldn't blame Ethan. Her current body looked exactly like the stereotypical handsome blonde boy.
Anyone who wasn't gay would likely have the same reaction as Ethan.
"It's alright, Yuto. When you fully master your power and return to being Yuko, Akira will probably be more eager than you are."
Rias half-jokingly comforted Yuto Kiba, then continued, "Everyone go to class. We'll meet again after school."
"Yes~" × N
Before leaving, Akeno Himejima deliberately turned back and said, "President, you have to go too."
"Yes, yes." Rias said dismissively.
"Only one 'Yes' is enough."
"Yessss—"
Rias was quite resigned to Akeno Himejima's occasional mischievous and dark humor.
After Ethan woke up, the atmosphere in the club instantly lightened. The group chatted playfully for a while and happily went to class together.
When Ethan appeared in the classroom, the second-year Class A immediately burst into an uproar. A swarm of female classmates, all of whom had been intimately involved with him, surrounded him.
"Akira, where have you been all this time?"
"Akira, are you free tonight?"
"Akira-kun, here are the notes from the past few days. I took them all for you."
"Akira..."
Excluding Takamine and her mother and daughter, essentially no one else knew that Ethan had been unconscious all this time.
Telling them would not have helped and only caused more trouble.
So, the official explanation was that Ethan was away on business. With the cooperation of the Takamine mother and daughter, even if the other girls had doubts, they couldn't say anything.
Furthermore, most of the girls at Kuoh Academy knew of Rias's extraordinary status. Some of those close to Ethan, like the Hamasaki Reina gyaru trio, also knew that Ethan was apparently Rias's subordinate.
It was thanks to this excuse Rias provided that Ethan found it much easier to deal with the enthusiastic girls.
"What could I have been doing? Just out on an errand, but the location was a bit far, so it took a while."
"Where? Sorry, the President said it's confidential, so I can't say."
"Yes, yes, don't worry. I'll make up for this downtime with you all. Come on, give me a kiss first."
Surrounded by so many seductive beauties, Ethan's tender heart, which had been startled by Yuto Kiba, was instantly healed.
Girls rotated around him one after another, leaving his handsome, delicate face covered in various lipstick marks.
This extravagant scene, while making the remaining few girls shy, made them secretly curious about Ethan's charisma. Why were these classmates, who were all attractive in looks and figure, so infatuated with him?
It wasn't until the class bell rang that Ethan managed to escape the girls' encirclement. He returned to his seat, wiping the lipstick marks from his face under the white-haired LOLI's disgusted gaze.
A moment later, the blue-haired mature beauty, wearing a black skirt suit and sheer black stockings, walked into the classroom.
"Stand. Bow."
"Sit. Open your books to..."
Looking at Kalawarner, who increasingly resembled a teacher, Ethan obediently opened his textbook, though his mind had already wandered elsewhere.
Next time, I should get Kalawarner to do it just like this... yes, with the same teacher-like attitude...
As if sensing Ethan's impure thoughts, Kalawarner slightly glanced at him with her beautiful eyes and said, "Uesugi-kun, you read the next paragraph."
"Huh?" Ethan instinctively stood up.
Before he could speak further, the blue-haired mature beauty put on a stern face and said, "'Huh' what? Zoning out first thing in the morning. Go stand by the door."
Glancing at the group of giggling beauties below, Ethan shrugged and obediently walked to the door for his punishment.
However, as he passed the blue-haired mature beauty, he said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Kalawarner, I hope you keep this attitude tonight."
Kalawarner's fair face flushed. She pretended not to hear Ethan's words, walked to the other side of the podium, and said, "Alright, everyone continue reading."
Aside from being intentionally teased by Kalawarner, Ethan's day was relatively calm.
During the break, he also used his fully charged phone to send a group message to the other girls not attending Kuoh Academy.
Although he wasn't involved in the organization's affairs, he was its nominal leader.
The girls in the organization had gathered because of him. If he didn't show up for a long time, it was hard to say what might happen.
After school, Ethan politely declined the advances of the many desirous beauties and was dragged to the club room, his arms held tightly by Koneko Toujou and Mittelt on either side.
"Koneko, Mittelt, I'm not going to run away. Is this really necessary..."
"Yes. Akira is very H-E-N-T-A-I. If we don't watch you, you'll disappear," the white-haired LOLI said with a poker face.
Mittelt laughed happily beside her. "That's right, that's right. I haven't done it with Akira for a long time either. We can't let those useless... ahem, those guys get to him first."
Yuma Amano's trio had been 'reformed' for nearly half a year, but after being Fallen Angels for so long, some habits and attitudes hadn't changed yet.
They generally didn't pay any attention to ordinary people or those with weak power.
Ethan didn't want to force them to change their views, nor was it necessary. The contempt for the weak was common, even among ordinary people—otherwise, bullying wouldn't exist.
As long as they didn't attack their own people, a little cheekiness was fine.
In fact, aside from Mittelt's occasional slip of the tongue, the other two had no such issue.
"Mittelt, you were just 'sneaking snacks' a few days ago."
Koneko Toujou ruthlessly exposed Mittelt's lie. "You three were secretly getting intimate every day while Akira was unconscious. Don't think we don't know."
"Oh my, oh my, were we discovered~"
"Don't copy Akeno-senpai's verbal tic," the white-haired LOLI deadpanned.
"We helped him bathe..."
Mittelt reverted to her true nature, acting tsundere. "What's wrong with collecting a little payment?"
Seeing that the white-haired LOLI was about to say more, she quickly changed the subject. "By the way, Akira, why aren't you surprised after hearing that?"
"Hearing what?"
"Why, the fact that we were secretly getting intimate while you were unconscious."
Ethan pressed her fluffy blonde little head and said helplessly, "Didn't you just admit to 'sneaking snacks' yourself..."