I Sealed Sukuna’s Finger#405+406: You Absolutely Can't Let Rias Know, That Night, Gasper Grew Up

From evening until late into the night—nearly three hours passed before the castle's second-floor bath finally returned to calm.

Just as when they'd started, Bokue Keikain sat brazenly on the pool's edge steps. Venelana and Grayfia, completely spent, leaned softly against his left and right shoulders respectively.

The bathwater before them had turned completely cloudy white, bearing no trace of its original color.

"Really now... our Bokue is so reckless, always going at it without any restraint..."

The beautiful woman raised her flushed face slightly, pressing her finger—pink down to the fingertips—against the youth's chest, drawing lazy circles. Her voice, softer and sweeter than usual, dripped like honey.

"When you think about it, Auntie's still young. What if one day luck runs out and you give Rias a little... you know? What would we do then? Hmm?"

"Then we could finally come clean to Rias."

Bokue showed the same casual confidence Venelana had displayed earlier when she'd talked about confessing.

"Wasn't it Auntie who said we can't hide this forever? That we should tell Rias sooner rather than later?"

"That... that was just talk..."

Not expecting her own words to boomerang back, Venelana blushed and poked his chest with slightly more force.

Though calling it "force" was generous—it was more like pouting, not even leaving a faint nail mark.

"Even setting aside my situation, what about Grayfia? Our dear Grayfia isn't married yet. If she ends up with a baby first, won't that be hard to explain?"

"..."

As Venelana spoke, the silver-haired maid leaning against Bokue's other side raised her head. Her blue-gray eyes, brimming with barely contained emotion, showed an unusual forced calm.

It was clearly feigned composure.

After all, she understood her relationship with the youth wasn't exactly easy to make public—especially now that Venelana showed hesitation about revealing their affair with Bokue.

When something starts in shadows, no matter how naturally it develops afterward, those involved find it hard to bring into the light.

Because there's no guarantee someone won't work backward from the current situation to uncover the beginning, exposing things better left hidden.

"Then just confess everything. That way nothing's 'hard to explain.'"

Bokue didn't see the problem.

"Besides, we've already decided Grayfia's coming to Itogami Island to live. We'll have plenty of opportunities together—Rias and the others will find out eventually."

"And if an 'accident' happens before they find out, then we'll just confess Auntie's involvement too."

Oh my~

This surprised not just Grayfia but even Venelana.

She'd spoken about confessing to Rias mostly in jest, but Bokue's tone left no doubt—he was completely serious.

He genuinely planned to tell Rias everything.

"What if Rias gets really angry when she finds out?"

Venelana seemed determined to challenge him, pressing further.

Grayfia also looked over curiously.

"Then I have my ways."

Bokue shrugged.

He'd discovered this method today while helping Asagi "relieve stress."

Theoretically, pulling someone out of a negative emotional state required either distraction or release.

Distraction meant finding something fun to do. Release had more options—screaming, crying, whatever worked.

Given that, the best solution was simple: pick them up and give them a thorough workout.

Just like this afternoon—by the end, Asagi had forgotten all about stress and negative emotions. Her mind went completely blank. No more jealousy, no more self-pity. Her entire mental state entered absolute relaxation, floating in pink bubbles of bliss.

The only downside was potentially leaving someone very full.

But those were minor details.

"Hmm~ Since you put it that way, our Bokue certainly seems confident."

Venelana lightly scratched his throat.

"Fine then. Since you've said all that, Auntie can safely entrust Grayfia-chan to you. Remember to handle Rias's emotions properly when the time comes. If you make Rias-chan sad, Auntie won't forgive you."

"Got it. More importantly, what about you, Auntie?"

Bokue gave a gentle underwater pat, making the beautiful woman shudder as her face flushed deeper.

"Ngh... really, bullying Auntie even now..."

"But don't worry. Auntie will handle her own affairs. Before you arrived, I was discussing this with Grayfia-chan. It was somewhat troublesome originally, but with you here, no problem."

"Troublesome?"

Bokue raised an eyebrow.

Venelana hummed softly: "It's complicated to explain. Let's go to Auntie's bedroom first. I'll show you and you'll understand."

"Oh..."

Bokue responded.

As his words fell, the three vanished from the bath.

Scene shift to the castle's third-floor master bedroom. When Bokue reappeared, Venelana and Grayfia in his arms were now wrapped in towels, absorbing the bathwater to prevent dripping.

"Here they are."

Back in her room, Venelana hooked one arm around the youth's neck while pointing at two identical full-length mirrors against the wall.

"These are Auntie's special preparations. Two mirrors—when you go back, take one and put it in your room. That way, whenever Auntie wants, she can teleport directly to you through the mirror."

"But there's one problem—"

"What problem?"

Bokue paused.

He roughly understood the mirrors' function—basically directional portals. Enter here, exit there.

What could be the problem?

"Well... these mirrors have a rather unsavory reputation in the Underworld. If someone who knows sees them, it might cause misunderstandings."

Venelana smiled slightly, rising to kiss the youth again.

"So make sure to hide it in your bedroom. You absolutely can't let Rias see it~"

<><><><><><><><>

Scene shift—

The sky above Itogami Island had turned completely dark.

In his apartment, Kuroka sprawled across the sofa in the same kimono she'd worn at dinner. One arm propped up her chin while the other stretched forward holding her phone, wrist bent at ninety degrees to angle the screen toward herself. Her pale legs kicked idly in the air behind her—the picture of someone who'd been bored for far too long.

The next second, golden light flashed through the living room air as the youth appeared carrying multiple packages. Kuroka's cat ears immediately perked up, twitching alertly. She tossed her phone aside, pushed herself up from the sofa with both hands.

"Mmm~ Bokue, you're finally back! Big sis waited so long she almost fell asleep on the sofa, nya."

Though she complained, Kuroka moved quickly—rolling off the sofa in one smooth motion, bare feet padding across the floor in quick steps to reach him. Then she leaped up like an oversized caterpillar, wrapping herself around him face-first.

And immediately started sniffing all over Bokue.

"Mm-hmm, just as I thought. Even though you showered, that rich lady's scent is still obvious. And... oh, this seems to be that silver-haired head maid's perfume. Never thought you'd conquer even that cold-looking head maid, Bokue. Wonder what Rias would think if she knew about all this, hehehe... can't wait to see..."

"Kuroka, hold on a second..."

Bokue couldn't move at all with her wrapped around him.

His left hand held a box containing a TV, his right held a gaming console box, and tucked under his elbow was the space mirror Venelana had given him before he left.

In this state, he couldn't free his hands to pry Kuroka off, forced to stand still like a cat tree while the cat-eared girl rubbed against him.

At least Kuroka didn't shed...

"Hm? What's this?"

After pawing at him for about half a minute, thoroughly investigating every corner, she finally noticed the mirror tucked under his arm.

Though you couldn't tell it was a mirror just from looking—Venelana had wrapped it in cloth before he left. Combined with the full-length mirror's elongated shape, it looked like a wrapped surfboard at first glance.

"It's a mirror Lady Venelana gave us," Bokue answered honestly.

"A mirror?"

Kuroka wasn't so easily fooled. The cat-eared girl raised an eyebrow.

"Sure it's for 'us' and not just for you, Bokue? And why would she give us a mirror? Is it a proper mirror?"

"She said we can travel between the two realms anytime through this mirror..."

"Hmph, I knew it!"

As if she'd expected exactly this, the cat-eared girl snorted coldly.

"A space mirror—essential equipment for affairs and stealing lovers. Like anyone in the demon world doesn't know what this thing is for... I was wondering why Lady Venelana would suddenly think to give us a mirror. This is clearly for herself!"

Bokue: "..."

Well, he'd wondered if its reputation was really that notorious. Apparently he'd underestimated.

If even Kuroka knew, then it really was quite infamous.

"Alright, alright, let me put these things down first."

Bokue urged Kuroka to get off him while looking around the apartment.

"By the way, where's Ravel?"

"Back in her room."

Kuroka reluctantly unwrapped herself, feet touching the ground as she glanced toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

"She went back after dinner. After all, you weren't here, and she and I don't have much to talk about... Oh right, Rias came by after you left. Said we should come over for a bath now that they've moved in."

"Now?"

Bokue instinctively checked the clock.

He'd finished dinner around seven, and it was already past ten.

"They've definitely finished already, but we could still try."

Unlike her usual attitude, Kuroka eagerly encouraged him this time.

Bokue didn't think much of it, just gestured with the items in his hands.

"Sure, let's go. But let me put these down first."

❁❁❁❁

Meanwhile, in the old school building's first floor, all the lights were off except for one in the hallway connecting the entrance to the stairs.

The white-haired cat girl in children's pajamas stood at the empty storage room door at the hallway's end, knocking gently.

"Gasper, we're all going upstairs. I added water and firewood to the bath, so you can come out and bathe whenever you're ready."

"..."

No response came.

But that was enough.

Having sufficient experience communicating with the extremely shy vampire, Koneko left after speaking, turning off the hallway light before heading upstairs to her room.

One minute passed...

Two minutes passed...

Three minutes passed...

After about five minutes, the storage room door finally cracked open slightly. After confirming no one was outside, it opened fully.

Then... out crawled a cardboard box slightly larger than the daytime version.

If you listened closely, you could hear a muttering inside.

"Clothes... check. Game console... check. And the waterproof case too, or it'll be ruined if it falls in the water..."

After confirming everything once more, satisfied nothing was forgotten, the box on the floor began moving, slowly inching toward the bathroom, leaving faint shuffling sounds as cardboard scraped against wooden floors.

The scene looked exactly like stealth gameplay from Metal Gear.

But when Gasper finally reached the bathroom door, extending a pale, delicate hand through a hole cut in the cardboard to slide it open, the light from inside made the vampire hiding in the box squint.