Naruto was sitting on a tree branch… On the bottom, specifically.
Chakra kept his butt glued in position while his spiky blond hair hung down, along with the hood of the orange sweatshirt he was wearing. Naruto breathed in, drawing air up through his nose, before slowly letting it out.
It smelled like nature.
"I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself."
Kuroka's voice came from a thin window of fog about the size of a laptop screen. On it, Kuroka's face was visible in HD, her bright yellow eyes looking intently at her master.
Naruto cracked his eyes open. "I like it here! The natural energy feels so pure!"
Down in the Underworld, it was like the environment itself wanted to take control of his mind. There was this constant urge to lash out; to kill; to cause havoc.
He'd mastered it, of course. It was just one more challenge, the same as the risk of turning to stone. Still…
It was nice not to have to worry about that. The human world's energy felt refreshing. It felt like home.
"At least you're enjoying your trip," Kuroka said. "Ravel would like you to know that you should have brought her, and your mother would like you to know that you weren't ALLOWED to bring her, even if she begged. Bafeel would like you to bring back a bag of bread; she's heard that humans make it better. Shirone wants to hear stories when you get back. And finally, I would like you to come home safely. No matter what."
Kuroka looked seriously at him, and Naruto couldn't help laughing a little bit.
"I don't think the Gremory Heir is going to assassinate me in her own territory!" he said. "I know Sona and I don't get along too well, but I'm pretty sure that's too far for her, too!"
"They couldn't kill you if they wanted to," Kuroka said. "I know how strong you are, Naruto. Better than anyone. But it's a big world up there. There are all kinds of monsters that exist within it… Momma still hasn't heard from her youkai friends. Multiple High Class Devils have gone missing in the last few weeks, or reported being attacked. Just be careful. Please?"
"You know me…" Naruto trailed off, having meant it as a reassurance, but realizing partway through that she DID know him, which meant that wouldn't reassure her at all! Instead, he said: "I'll watch out, Kuruoka. Wish you could be here."
"So do I," Kuroka muttered. "Why did they add that ridiculous stipulation?"
The prearranged meeting between Naruto and Rias, his mysterious fiance, had specified that the invitation was for Naruto alone; his peerage wasn't invited.
"I promise, I'll be back before you know it," Naruto said. "Talk to you later."
Kuroka squinted at him, trying to understand if he'd REALLY be as careful as he was saying. Finally, she sighed.
"We will be talking later. Tonight," she said. "Goodbye."
She blew him a kiss and ended her spell, causing the mist to disperse. Naruto looked down the hill, studying the upside down view he had of a colonial looking school building.
"No more stalling I guess," he sighed.
Naruto dropped to the ground, flipping in the process. He landed on his feet with his hands in his pockets.
He hoped this wouldn't go too terribly.
The marriage arrangement had been drawn up in the first place because the two families were close friends. Zeoticus Gremory was the best friend of Naruto's dad. They got drunk at some point and decided to marry their kids to each other, linking the two families by blood.
If the families hadn't got along so well, it probably would've fallen apart by now. Rias fought tooth and nail to get it canceled. She didn't even want to meet with Naruto, who was perfectly happy with that. He agreed with her that this was stupid. He told his parents as much. It never got him anywhere. Eventually, Naruto's indifference and Rias's best efforts had both been worn down, resulting in this meeting.
There was nothing he could do but trudge to the meeting place, crossing his fingers that the day wouldn't end up being awful.
Rias Gremory's peerage didn't operate out of the school's main building. Instead, their base was located on the rim of Kuoh Academy's property, inside a refurbished building that used to act as a dormitory. Given how unbelievably thorough the directions he'd received telling him where to go were, Naruto had a suspicion that Sona Sitri had a hand in writing them. Naruto knew that she and Rias were close friends, and only she would spend so much time on something that didn't matter.
Seriously, the letter he'd received was seven paragraphs long, detailing everything from the time he should be there, to the right paths to take, to insignificant stuff, like telling him the history of the building!
Still, as much of a pain as it had been to read all of that, it meant Naruto knew for sure he was in the right place as he walked up to the front door. There was a knocker, which he grabbed and used, sending thudding sounds resounding through the building beyond.
The door opened almost immediately. As fast as the door opened, the one who opened it stepped back, almost fleeing. Naruto stared at the girl who stood there; she stared back at him with red eyes.
"You are Naruto Phenex, I presume?" she asked.
"That's me," Naruto said.
The girl curtsied, which required her to balance the open umbrella she'd been using against her shoulder. Her dress was a deep red, the color of blood, which matched her eyes. She had white hair and skin that was just as pale. Even as she greeted him, Naruto saw her looking down at the floor, checking exactly how far sunlight had penetrated.
"I am Elmenhilde, a Rook of the Gremory peerage. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said. "My master is waiting right this way."
Vampire, Naruto thought as he followed Elmenhilde. He'd never actually met one before, but he was sure, that's what she HAD to be. She was pale enough, plus those eyes…
And who else would use an umbrella inside?
Some people would keep such a conclusion to themselves. Naruto had never been that kind of guy.
"You're a vampire, aren't ya?" he asked.
"I am indeed," Elmenhilde said without looking back. "I came to Miss Gremory on a mission. It has not gone quite as I predicted, but I'm not unhappy with the nature of my work so far."
Elmenhilde opened a door in front of them, gesturing Naruto to go through without entering herself.
"Miss Gremory awaits you," she said.
Naruto walked inside, with Elmenhilde shutting the door behind him.
So far, the blinds had been drawn over every window Naruto had passed, no doubt to prevent Elmenhilde from having any accidents. This room wasn't like that. The windows were thrown back, letting in a generous amount of light, illuminating a swanky sitting room with couches, a stately piano, paintings of all sorts of famous devils (a few Naruto recognized), and a coffee table.
On either side of this table were armchairs. The one further away from Naruto was taken by who Naruto immediately recognized as Sirzechs Gremory's sister even though they'd never met before. There was no mistaking that hair.
She had her cheek propped on her fist and her legs crossed, thick milky thighs extending out of the Kuoh Academy uniform skirt. Her socks went up to her calves and huge breasts bulged out in her uniform. Naruto made sure not to look long, since she was already scowling. Her eyes were a bluish green, staring him down without blinking.
There was another girl in the room as well, looming behind Rias. She had flowing black hair tied with an orange ribbon. She was just as stacked as Rias in the body department. Her tits might've even been bigger than those of her master. She wore dark socks that went slightly past her knees.
Curiously, even though she looked quite serious, she was looking at her master, not at Naruto himself.
"Sit," Rias said.
Naruto took the seat he was meant to, positioned opposite Rias on the other side of the coffee table.
"You've got a nice place!" he said. "I bet it's way more comfortable than Sona's base. Where did she set up, in the library—"
"I have no interest in marrying you," Rias said.
Straight to business, then.
Naruto leaned back in his seat, sighing while rubbing his eyes.
"It's not like I asked for this," he said.
"Maybe not, but you can call it off," Rias said.
Naruto lowered his hands. "Why do you think that?"
"Well, because… Obviously you can, since…" Rias couldn't find an answer.
"It would be really convenient if I had that kind of option," Naruto said. "I don't have anything against you, but I like making my own choices. I don't want to get married because I was told to do it any more than you do. Trust me, I've shared ALL my thoughts with my parents, and the answer I got was simple. Grow up and do it."
Rias squinted at him. Gradually, she sighed, and it was like all the air went out of her body. She sagged down, no longer looking intimidating at all, and hung her head.
"This would be much easier if I could just hate you," she said. "Why do you have to be a decent guy?"
"Dunno. I was born this way, I guess," Naruto smiled.
"You really can't get rid of it?"
"I've already asked," Naruto said. "My dad told me I didn't know what I was doing. He said when I got older, I'd learn how important it is to be a duke, and I'd regret canceling the engagement for the rest of my life. Then he talked about how I could still experience young love, if that's what I was worried about, because harems are expected of all prominent devils. And he started talking about how he had one back in the day… I REALLY didn't need to hear that!"
Rias giggled. "My dad told me that as well. Well, he told me to grow up. He didn't say anything about his harem. I guess you might actually have it worse."
"Tell me about it," Naruto said. "I've been asking to go to the human world for YEARS, but my mom kept telling me it was too dangerous. When they finally let me, it was only so I could come and meet you! So I've got an offer."
"Oh?" Rias asked.
"Well, you live here, right? You already know the human world. If visiting you is the only way for me to see it, I'll take what I can get," Naruto said. "Let's blow off this engagement talk. Show me around Kuoh! This might be the one chance I get…"
The dark haired girl behind Rias turned around and walked out of the room without a word. As Naruto and Rias's conversation progressed, the girl's face had become less serious, a smile growing, until right now when she left. Rias didn't even notice her departure.
"You know nothing about Japan?" Rias asked. There was something intense in her voice as she asked.
"Nothing except what I saw when I traveled here," Naruto said.
Rias leaned forward and planted her hands on the table so fast that her breasts bounced wildly within the confines of her shirt.
"Japan is the BEST!" she said. "And you have the best guide anyone could ask for. I'm something of an expert on this kind of thing…"
LINE BREAK
"Ish sho good!" Naruto said.
After proclaiming as much, he slurped up the rest of the noodles, swallowing the freshest ramen he'd had since reincarnating.
Rias had taken him to a restaurant located just off of a pretty park, which was ringed with streetlights and full of residents out enjoying their day. He and Rias were sitting outside, just off the sidewalk with the sun heating their backs. Rias had a bowl of ramen of her own, but hadn't picked up her chopsticks yet, watching Naruto eat.
"Ramen is a time honored part of Japanese cuisine," she said. "The saltiness of the broth combines with the balancing effects of the noodles, making for a perfect balance. This restaurant is the best in Kuoh Town, mostly on account of— Are you done already!?"
Naruto was waving to get the waiter's attention, his bowl completely empty. When the young man came closer, Naruto said, "Let me get ten more of the miso pork ramen!"
"Ten… sir?" asked the befuddled waiter.
"Yeah!" Naruto said.
The waiter lingered a few more seconds, giving Naruto a chance to change his mind, before thinking of the tip this would entail and wandering away.
"You CAN eat all that, can't you?" Rias asked.
Naruto looked seriously at her.
"When it comes to Ramen, you should never doubt me," Naruto said.
Rias shook her head, digging into her own meal. As she ate and Naruto waited for his new order, he asked questions and she answered them all, talking about human fashion trends, various technologies, laws, and cultural customs.
Kuoh Academy students would wander by occasionally, and all of them recognized Rias. Many pointed and whispered at the two of them. When Naruto asked about this, she smiled.
"I'm a bit of a celebrity," Rias said, sounding mischievous. "I believe I've been voted the number one most popular girl in the school."
"Humans have votes for that kind of thing?" Naruto asked.
"Some do," Rias said, shrugging, which rippled her bust.
The waiter then arrived carrying so many bowls of ramen on a tray that he took ten seconds to make each step.
Naruto still ate every last drop.
LINE BREAK
Naruto leaned forward, peering through the glass in front of him in a dark room. Beyond the glass was a stack of various stuffed animals, along with a claw built into the ceiling of the machine.
"They're cute, aren't they?"
Naruto looked to the side, finding that Rias had leaned forward the same way he was. She wasn't looking at him, smiling as she stared at the stuffed animals, light from the machine shining in her eyes.
"These kinds of games are common in human arcades," Rias said. "There are a few in the Underworld as well, but those operate with magic. Here they're entirely electronic."
She lowered her voice, speaking confidentially.
"I think that humans have cuter prizes," she whispered to Naruto, as if it was their own secret. "Like that one."
Rias tapped her nail on the glass, pointing out a plushy that was roughly 35 centimeters tall shaped like a red fox.
Grinning at her, Naruto grabbed the machine's joystick, moving it side to side.
"Let's walk out of here with a trophy then!" he said, grinning; though his smile turned to a frown when nothing happened, no matter how he moved the joystick. "Hey, why's it not working? It's broken!"
"Hmhm… Hmhm… Haha!"
Naruto looked over as Rias started to laugh. "You have to put in money!" she said. "Here. It's called a 100 Yen coin. You put one in the slot here, and then the machine turns on like this…"
LINE BREAK
Two hours later, Naruto and Rias sat side by side on a park bench not far from a children's playground. Both had ice creams in their hands. Sitting next to Rias was the fox plush she'd first complimented, while Naruto was holding a keychain up in the light of the sunset, staring as it swung back and forth in the wind. On it was the face of a small white cat.
"I didn't ask before, but what is that for?" Rias asked. "You didn't even know what it was when you first saw it, but you spent over an hour trying to win it."
"I didn't know it would take that long," Naruto muttered, embarrassed. "It's for one of my Knights. She was sad she couldn't come today. I figured I should get her something."
Rias stopped eating, lowering her ice cream cone.
"I'm sorry you couldn't bring her," Rias said. "I let Sona draft the invitation, since she knew you better. She insisted on that stipulation. I'm not sure why… Other than that she insisted "that one" shouldn't come anywhere near our school?"
"Ah…" Naruto said. "I think I know the problem then."
Rias looked too curious for him not to tell the story.
"Sona came to my sister and I's fifteenth birthday party," Naruto said. "You know what she's like. She's got such a serious personality… Well, my Bishop is kind of the opposite. She's a little bit of a prankster. So she might've changed Sona's invitation before it was sent."
"Oh no," Rias said.
"Everyone else got normal letters in the mail. But Sona got one that said it was a costume party, because my sister Ravel was really into princesses. That part wasn't a lie, but the costume party part wasn't true at all. Because of what she's like, there's nothing Sona hates more than breaking a rule, and the invitation had a very strict dress code…"
"Oh no," Rias said, grinning.
"So the day arrives, and Sona shows up last. Her invitation had the wrong time, too, just thirty minutes later than the ones everyone else got, so that she'd be the last to arrive. She walks into the room wearing the frilliest pink dress you've ever seen in your life, with a huge poofy bottom that looks straight out of a fairy tail. Sona just looked around, slowly realizing what everyone else was dressed like, before running back out of the room. My Bishop might've gotten away with it, if she wasn't laughing too hard to breathe the whole time. I think she even mailed Sona a glass slipper afterwards, with a whole page of Cinderella jokes written on it."
Rias grabbed his arm.
The sudden skinship took Naruto by surprise, but Rias thought nothing of it, even leaning into his personal space while looking him in the eyes.
"I want pictures," Rias said.
"Sona destroyed them all… Is what Kuroka says, but I'm pretty sure she's holding onto a stash," Naruto said. "If I can bring her next time, I'm sure she'd bring one along."
"Deal," Rias said. "Pick a date. I'll do anything to get my hands on those. And while you're at it, I wouldn't mind hearing more about these servants of yours…"
Naruto and Rias traded stories back and forth about their peerages for at least an hour. Naruto described making a trade for the nekoshou sisters. Rias talked about stumbling onto a dhampir while riding in Europe, reincarnating him as a devil on his last breath. He talked about arranging a place for Bafeel in his peerage, and Rias told the story of how a pureblood vampire had come to her as an emissary, looking to form an alliance, eventually agreeing to join Rias's peerage as a rook. She had more servants than he did, including a human sacred gear user and Akeno, who was already nearly as strong as Rias. Her newest member had just been reincarnated, a boy with a sacred gear who ran afoul of some fallen angels.
Long after they finished their ice creams, all the way until the moon came out and the streetlights flickered on with an electric hum, the two young devils sat outside, sharing stories and jokes.
LINE BREAK
"Bye! See ya next month!" Naruto shouted, waving from the front step of the Occult Research Clubroom.
Rias cocked her head, smiling as she waved back.
"See you next month," she repeated. That was the time they had chosen for Naruto to return, which would be with his servants in tow.
Naruto grinned, putting his hands in his pockets and walking into the woods. Rias watched him leave before finally turning away, the fox plushie hugged beneath her arm.
The second she stepped through the door, she almost ran into Akeno.
"Look at you smiling. And here I was worried I would have to put a search party together," Akeno said.
Rias rolled her eyes. "It isn't THAT late."
Akeno looked at the darkness outside, then back at her master, but didn't disagree out loud.
"So, are you going to tell me how your date went?" Akeno asked.
"It wasn't a DATE, Akeno," Rias said. "We just ate at a cafe. And visited the arcade, where he won a stuffed animal for me… And then we sat together in the park eating ice cream… Where he wiped my face when I spilled some… SHIT!"
Akeno snickered. "Did you really have to say it all out loud to realize?"
"Naruto didn't think of it as a date either! I'm sure he didn't!" Rias said.
"Then he's as dense as you are. A perfect match!" Akeno said. "Honestly, he's quite cute as well. Who knows, in a few months maybe you won't even be trying to find a way out of this."
"Don't even say that," Rias said. "Besides, he's not interested either. You heard him this morning… While you were standing behind me like a prison warden."
Akeno shrugged. "I had to make sure you didn't run away. It was time you at least met him. Aren't you glad you did?"
"I suppose it's nice to put a face to the name," Rias grumbled. "Especially since we know that we're on the same page."
"Yes, the same page," Akeno said, obviously staring at the stuffed animal Rias was holding tightly. "You know, with those birth marks on his face, that toy even looks quite a lot like him. Is that why you won't let go of it?"
"Akeno! I said it's not—"
Rias cut off, stumbling as her back hit the door. Akeno immediately conjured a magic circle, going on the defensive as she narrowly stayed on her feet. A powerful shockwave had just rocked the entire building.
Every window in the clubroom lit up, shining brightly with orange light. After a lag, a deafening shockwave reached their ears. Rias and Akeno met each other's eyes.
Before her Queen could stop her and insist that Rias get to safety, Rias had spun around and pulled the door open. What she saw made her gasp.
Not far from Kuoh Academy, the sky was full of fire. Smoke and flames towered into the sky, along with more explosions, each of which carried a shockwave all the way to where Rias was standing.
There was only one thing Rias could say:
"What on earth!?"
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