DAWN BRINGER
Chapter VII: Exercise Really Does Hurt.
x~X~x
It was like they hadn't even left as they were stood in the exact same place of the ORC room. The only way anyone would be able to tell that they were in a different dimension was taking a look outside and seeing the blood red sky with dark grey clouds with what looked to be an aurora blanketing itself over the entire sky.
Naruto, Rias and Akeno were all doing just that, they were leaning against the same window Rias loved so much and used the elevated vantage point to survey the landscape for anything that was different and the multiple ways they could approach the situation.
"As you can see, the battleground is a perfect replica of the Kuoh Academy campus." Grayfia stated.
Rias pulled her eyes away from the campus and let them land on her sister-in-law, "Doesn't this give Riser a huge disadvantage?" She asked.
"Maybe, however I talked to Riser-sama and he allowed the battleground to be as such. He said it didn't matter what the terrain was, he was still going to win." Grayfia informed her husband's sister. Rias wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and went along with it. "With that said, I shall be leaving now. For what it's worth Rias, good luck." Grayfia said, giving her parting words.
Rias saw her sister-in-law genuinely give her luck, it was rare for Grayfia to break her no nonsense persona when performing her duties as the Head Maid of the Gremory household and [Queen] of her brother. She loved this side of her as she felt like they were really sisters when she did, "Thank you, Onee-sama."
Grayfia gave the young woman a small smile before drifting her gaze to Naruto and just stared at him. It was he needed to know what she wanted to say and while he didn't need her to tell him, he apricated the gesture his old teacher what conveying, 'Protect her and win this thing.'
Flashing her a smile to show he got the message, she nodded in return before disappearing the same way they came here.
"Hello and welcome to the Rating Game between the peerages of Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex for the fate of the marriage contract between the two. My name is Sona Sitri, next head of the Sitri household I will be your announcer for the duration of this match. I am joined by my [Queen], Tsubaki Shinra." Sona bellowed over the magical speaker system that was intertwined within the very fabric of this pocket dimension.
"Good morning." Tsubaki greeted.
Rias smiled, hearing the voice of her longest friend. While they had seen each other this morning when Sona came by the ORC to wish Rias good luck as well as greet Naruto after not seeing him since he left to train.
The meeting couldn't last long as Sona had to get ready for the job she was doing at the minute, however before she left she made sure to get a promise from Naruto that the two would have a game of chess. He was the only one apart from Rias who could give her a challenge in her intelligence.
"Rias Gremory's base will be the ORC room within the old school building while Riser Phenex's base will be the Principal's office within the main building. This match will have standard Rating Game rules so these areas will allow [Pawns] to promote of their own accord. Now the match will commence in five minutes so the two [Kings] can relay their plans to their respective peerages." Sona said.
Rias heard her friend and walked up to her desk, she reached down to her top draw and opened it. Pulling out a couple of pieces of paper, she laid them out over the top of the desk. "Gather round." Rias ordered and doing as their [King] asked they gathered around the desk, "Now this is the plan…"
x~X~x
Grayfia appeared next to her husband, who was sat in a chair and focused on the image of Rias going over her plan with her peerage.
"Do you notice something different with Rias-tan?" Sirzechs asked.
"No Sirzechs-sama, what do you mean?" Grayfia replied in her monotone voice.
Sirzechs pulled away from the broadcast to look at his wife, "You don't have to be formal here Grayfia, no one else is around and I want to watch this Rating Game with my wife, not the Head Maid."
Grayfia just stood there, not breaking her stare on her husband. Taking a minute to think it over, she eventually came to a conclusion. She relaxed her shoulder and let out a breath after just one movement the persona of the women completely changed, instead of the air of strictness and order she usually gave off this side of Grayfia left of an aura of lovingness and compassion.
Sirzechs smiled when he saw the change in his wife, while he loved every bit of his wife as that's what made her, her. This side was the side that was the mother to Millicas and his loving wife that wasn't pressured by the social stigma that being the Strongest Queen gave her.
Offering his hand, Grayfia took it and allowed him to lead her into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaning her head in his strong shoulder, "So, what do you mean about something being different with Rias-chan?" Grayfia asked, but this time in a voice that held emotion.
"I don't know but look at her." He replied, gesturing to the broadcast to which Grayfia looked and couldn't see anything wrong but kept looking.
It took about a minute but she finally noticed something, "She isn't talking to Naruto."
As if he got hit in the face by the obvious, he finally saw what was right in front of his face. "That's it. Were they like that when you were there?" He asked.
Grayfia recalled the memories from earlier, however now she has a new fresh set of eyes she noticed that Naruto and Rias never stood side by side, they always had someone between them and they never directly talked to one and other either.
"Now that you mention it, no they didn't." Grayfia said in realization.
Sirzechs adopted his thinking face, "I wonder what happened."
"I have no idea, let's just hope they don't let this effect their performance in the match." Grayfia hoped.
"Yes, but knowing Naruto even if he and Rias had a fight, he knows how much this means to her and won't jeopardise it for her. Speaking of the match, how has the training trip helped them?"
"For a fortnight, their power has increased impressively. I'll be honest, it's not a guarantee that they will win. But even if they don't, they will take a good number of Riser's peerage down with them. All in all I think they have a good shot." Grayfia said, giving her opinion.
"That's all I needed to know. I trust your judgement, let's just hope they achieve this and my parents finally see that Rias' happiness is important too." Sirzechs said.
"Well your father has always been a bit head strong, remember when you first brought me home." Grayfia said, with a small laugh.
"Oh yeah, he had his peerage guard the mansion and had the Maou Guard on call just in case you went on a rampage." Sirzechs laughed, remembering the time.
"And what Venelana-sama said to me that day will always send chills down my spine, I have never been so scared. However, it did give me some tips on what I can say to warn any girl who dares to take my sweet Millicas away from me." Grayfia said, gaining a dark tone and dangerous glint in her eye towards the end.
Sirzechs let out a nervous chuckle at his wife, this side of her put their son on a pedestal that no one would dare go near, not even him. 'Maou, help the poor girl who falls in love with Millicas. I thought I was supposed to be the over protective one in this parenthood.' He thought.
The two would have continued their conversation but Sona came over the broadcast once again, "The five minutes are up the match will commence in 5… 4… 3…"
x~X~x
"2… 1… Let the Rating Game begin." Sona called as a horn filled the air and could be heard for miles around.
"Ok, you all have your assignments." Rias said, reaching into her pocket to pull out some earpieces and laid them on the desk, "Each of you take an earpiece so we can keep in contact." She ordered while putting her own in her ear.
Each member took an earpiece and copied Rias by putting them in their ear and turning them on. Bringing her fist down on the table, Rias got their attention, "Now let's do this." She egged on and got the response she wanted from her friends with a "Yeah."
Each member set off to do the task they were assigned and left the ORC room with the exception of Rias and Asia. It was a group decision that they would stay back as everyone agreed that it wasn't a good idea for Rias to be out the entire time as this was their first Rating Game so they didn't know what to expect and one mistake could mean defeat, so she would come out later.
They decided for Asia to kept back as she was the resident healer of the peerage so it wouldn't be a good idea for her to be near all the fights and run the risk of her being hurt or retired before she is needed. It was also well known that Asia is a pacifist and won't fight unless it is absolutely needed so she is the final ditch to protect Rias if the plan doesn't go the way they planned.
Rias walked back to her chair and collapsed down into it, the pressure of the Rating Game was finally hitting her. This was her last effort to stop the engagement so it had to go as planned, when she thought about what she would do when this was over and they won it was Naruto who came to mind. But that made it worse, she knew she was acting like a child by not talking to him after what happened last night but she just couldn't let that be her priority at the moment.
Shaking her head of the thought, she surveyed the map that was sprawled out on the desk. She took a quick look up to Asia she saw her stood awkwardly waiting for something, "Asia, could you pass me the chess pieces from that board please?" She asked kindly.
Asia nodded, "H-hai!" She shouted with a bow before quickly moving to the chess board to scope up the chess pieces. She scuttled back to put desk and placed them down, "What are you going to use them for?"
"To visualise where everyone is. You can sit down Asia, just relax for now." Rias answered, flashing the girl a smile before looking down not seeing the young blonde take a seat on of the couches. Rias began putting the pieces on the map, starting with the Red King and a Red Pawn on the part of the map that represented the old-school building.
She continued to place red pieces down with a Red Knight representing Kiba being placed in the field area of the campus, a Red Bishop and the Red Queen just outside which were Naruto and Akeno respectively and finally another Red Pawn and a Red Rook for Issei and Koneko that were positioned in the gym.
Once she was done she brought her hand up to her ear piece, "Issei, Koneko come in. Have you reached the gym yet?"
There was just static on the other end for a few second before Issei's whispered voice came back through, "Yeah, we got here about half a minute ago."
"Why are you whispering?" Naruto voice asked.
"Some of Riser's peerage are here." Issei replied.
"Can you tell which ones?" Rias asked.
"Ile, Nel, Mira and Xuelan." Koneko answered after a few moments.
Rias nodded, taking in the information. She grabbed three White Pawns and one White Rook to represent those four.
"Issei, Koneko you have permission to engage. Commence part one of the plan." Rias ordered.
x~X~x
"Hai." The [Pawn] and [Rook] whispered from behind the curtain of the stage.
"Come on out we know you're here!" One of the small twins, Ile.
Issei and Koneko looked to each other and nodded. They stepped out, into the view of the four enemies. Issei saw the four but he noticed that Ile and Nel were carrying a duffle bag each. 'What could be in those?' He thought.
"I can't sense any power coming from them." Ddraig grizzled voice boomed in his head.
'Ok.'
"Issei, I'll take the [Rook]." Koneko claimed as she pulled on black fingerless fighter gloves with pink paw prints on the upper palms.
"Which one's the [Rook]?" Issei asked, pushing magic into his hand causing the legendary [Boosted Gear] to manifest.
[Boost!] Ddraig's roared from the green jewel in the centre of the gauntlet.
"The one in the blue qipao." Koneko answered.
Issei looked to said girl and was side tracked by the perverted side of his brain. That qipao didn't hide much, he could only hope that during this fight the straps would slip and he could get a glorious view of those voluptuous melons.
[Boost!]
"Issei pull it together!" Ddraig shouted at the perv, pulling him from the two huge distractions.
He had just enough time to collapse to the floor to dodge out of the way of the blaring blades of two chainsaws, "What the hell!?" He shouted and followed the blades to the two twins.
Deciding it wasn't a good idea for him to be laid on the ground, he spun around and kicked the twins back to a safe distance. Using the spin, he jumped back to his feet.
He heard the sound of fire coming from somewhere and took a quick look to see Koneko dodging a volley of fire enhanced kicks. Before one sliced upwards and destroyed part of the front of her school uniform, exposing her pink and white stripped undergarments.
He wanted to help but was hit in the stomach by the Bo, Mira was carrying and sent hurdling back into the concrete wall and onto the floor.
Groaning, he looked up to see the twins again, smiling with chainsaw overhead. He scurried out of the way but he knew it wouldn't be long as he saw Mira coming straight for him and Ile and Nel were on his ass with chainsaws. In that moment, an idea flashed in his head. He kept going, barely dodging the swing of the chainsaws, if it were a weapon that was silent then he was sure his back would have been littered with cuts but the revving of the engine gave him a good indication where they were. The closest they came to getting him was Nel slicing the back of his blazer.
But he wasn't focused on that as Mira was a few feet in front of him and he hoped she did what he expected her to do. He was relieved when she thrusted the Bo out in front of her again but he was ready for it this time and at the last second shifted himself to the left and continued.
Mira was shocked at the movement, from what she had heard of this guy he was nothing but a perv who was useless however here he was dodging her.
He didn't give her much time to think as he grabbed the Bo with both hands and anchored himself to the floor. He transferred his momentum to his arms and lifted Mira off the ground. He pulled her along and swung her around, the next part of his plan was more luck than anything else as he swung Mira around behind him like a bat and it just turned out that an awestruck Ile and Nel were the perfect distance away to be slammed in the side by Mira and flung away when Issei let go. They all landed a few feet away in a heap.
Issei stood, amazed that the plan worked.
[Boost!]
"Good plan." Ddraig praised.
Issei gave a shy laugh, "It was a spur of the moment thing."
Koneko on the other hand was still dodging the kick of Xuelan, "Are you even going to attack?" The Chinese girl taunted, extending a kick straight to the loli's midsection.
Koneko was sick of dodging the girl, so she stood her ground and as the kick came straight for her she tapped into the strength the [Rook] piece granted her and caught the kick before it connected.
Xuelan was shocked that she caught it but couldn't do anything as she watched Koneko pull her into herself and straight into an enhanced punch to her face. Her face exploded in pain as she rocketed through the air, however the sensation of the air passing her didn't last long before she was slammed into the wooden floor.
Slowly bringing herself onto her elbows she asked, "Who are you?"
Koneko stared at the fellow [Rook], "Koneko Toujou, suck it." She greeted and insulted the qipao dressed girl at the same time.
Not wanting to let her opponent regain her strength, Koneko jumped into the air and thrust her fist out as she came down straight on Xuelan, sending a wave a ground under the wood and all the dirt to be brought up.
Issei wasn't as smart and had gotten into a situation where the three [Pawns] had gotten angry that he bested them so were going all out on him. Issei was waiting for an opening for him to use his new move but they just weren't letting up.
That was until the wave of ground hit them and finally the three lost their balance for a moment, pushing them into the air and it gave Issei the chance he needed.
[Boost!] [Explosion!]
Issei burst out in a red fire and felt a huge surge of power. He didn't want to waste this chance so he took off in a burst of speed. He quickly on top of Ile and Nel, quickly he hit Ile on the shoulder while continuing past to slap Nel on her rear. At both points of contact a small magic crimson circle appeared. He hadn't forgotten Mira as he turned in mid-air to hit her in the small of the back.
As soon as he finished his work he landed on the floor with the three [Pawns] landed behind him. They looked each other over and saw nothing as the magic circles Issei gave them, disappeared. Seeing nothing Ile and Nel laughed, "What was that meant to be?"
"I bet he just wanted a feel of my little ass?" Nel taunted
"Never mind that, get him. If we don't Riser-sama will be pissed." Mira reprimanded.
Ile and Nel nodded, however before they were going to take off Issei laughed.
"I did do something." He said, outstretching his gauntleted hand. "Time to showcase my new move." With that he summoned his Devil wing before making a stupid pose and snapping his fingers. "Time to get naked!"
With the snap of this fingers the magic circles reappeared on the girls bodies before surrounding them in light. In a split moment all of their clothes were torn to shreds letting the perv and everyone who was watching the broadcast see their naked bodies.
The three screamed in embarrassment as they tried to cover their breasts, or budding breasts in the case of the twins, and pussies as best they could with just their hands. They all collapsed onto the floor, using that to hide a bit of their shame to the sound of Issei laughing. He then went on a monologue about his pervertedness while the three hurdled insults at him as it was the only thing they could do.
He was so into himself he didn't hear Naruto groan over the radio.
x~X~x
Naruto and Akeno were floating in mid-air as she giggled at the blonde.
"I swear if that move wasn't as effective to women as it is I would have hurt him so bad." Naruto groaned, embarrassed to be in the same peerage as him.
Hearing him complain just caused the buxom dark haired girl to giggle more, "Now, now Naruto-kun. Issei did a good job."
He let out a sigh before looking at his childhood friend, she had changed out of her school uniform and in a Miko priest outfit that if he was honest with himself made her look even more beautiful. He shook his head of the thought, he didn't have time to admire the beauty of his friend, "You're too forgiving Akeno."
"What can I say? Women are such complicated creatures." She fired back.
"Naruto, Akeno are you in position?" Rias voice came over the radio.
Akeno was the one who answered, "Hai, we are above the gym."
"Good. Now Issei and Koneko get out of there." Rias ordered getting a two "Ok"s from the other end.
They waited for the two to come out and Naruto was pleasantly surprised when he saw Issei flying out of one of the windows and heading straight for him. He could only guess the perv said the wrong thing to Koneko and she threw him out.
He caught him, let him get his bearings before letting go to fall to the ground where Koneko caught him as she ran out.
He looked up to Akeno, "Ready?"
"Ara, ara all this destruction we will cause." She moaned out as a blush brushed on her face and she became hot.
Naruto sighed at this new side of Akeno, he just didn't know how to figure that woman out. She was right, they are complicated creatures. He raised his arms into the air and saw Akeno do the same but with one while the other she was using to suck her finger.
"Earo Bomu!" He shouted, as air collected and compressed above his palms. It grew bigger and bigger until it was about twenty feet in radius.
He looked over to Akeno and saw she was ready when a huge yellow magic circle appeared in the air above the gym. He noticed it was sparking which let Naruto know she was using her lightning. He saw she was too out of it to get any sort of communication from her so he threw the Earo Bomu straight down to the gym.
At the same time Akeno released her magic and a huge bombardment of lightning heading straight to the ground. Both the spells hit the gym at the exact same time and sent pieces of the gym flying all across the campus in a huge explosion.
If he had to be honest the combination of their two attacks was a bit of over kill but this was a battle and there was no holding back in this.
"Three of Lord Risers [Pawns] and one of his [Rooks] has been eliminated." Sona said over the broadcast.
As the deafening roar of the explosion died down the air around him was filled with the sounds of a girl moaning. He instantly recognized the moans and turned to see Akeno groping herself while sucking on the same finger she was sucking on before the attack.
He couldn't believe she was playing with her breasts in public, "Akeno! Concentrate we still have work to do!" He shouted.
"Ara, ara. Naruto-sama, it makes me hot when you command me like that." Akeno moaned.
Naruto knew he wasn't getting anywhere with the [Queen], so he decided to check in, "Part one of the plan is a success. The gym is gone and four of his pieces with it." He said over the earpieces.
"That's good, but we need to keep going. Riser still has us out numbered. Kiba has three of them caught in the illusions near the athletic fields. Issei, I want you to go and back him up." Rias ordered.
"Yes ma'am." Issei replied before taking off in the direction Kiba was in.
"Akeno is in her world again and will need to recharge after an attack like that." Naruto commented.
"Understood, Akeno come back to base for the time being." Rias adapted.
It took a few seconds but Akeno finally broke herself free from the world she was in and took off back to the old school building.
"Finally Naruto and Koneko, I want you two to continue forward to the main school building." Rias ordered.
Naruto dropped down next to the white haired girl and saw the condition she was in, once she saw he was looking her over she covered herself, "What are you looking at?"
"Oh sorry." He said, reaching his arm to the side of him and spatial rift to a pocket dimension. He reached in and looked to be rummaging around for a few seconds before pulling his arm back out. This time he was holding a copy of Koneko's uniform, "Here." He said, offering it to her.
She looked at it for a few moments before taking it, "Why do you have this?" She asked, laced with a threat if he said the wrong answer.
Naruto shook his hands defensively, "Wow, wow. I asked Rias for copies of all of our uniforms just in case something like this happened. This match is being broadcast, do you want everyone to see your cute underwear?" Naruto asked.
Koneko blushed at the compliment her underwear was cute but pushed it down quickly, "I suppose not but how can I get changed with people watching."
"I'll put a barrier up that'll block you from view."
"Thanks."
Naruto nodded and put the barrier around Koneko, taking away her features but leaving a blurred silhouette as if she were behind a plane of frosted glass. Turning around to give the loli her privacy, he didn't see the silhouette of Koneko strip off her clothes and put the new ones on.
"Finished." She said, knocking on the barrier.
Naruto turned back around and dispelled the barrier to reveal a fully dressed Koneko, "That better?" He asked with a smile.
Koneko looked down at her clothes before looking back to Naruto, "Yeah, thanks."
"Oh, two words. I must be in your good books." He teased.
Koneko wasn't amused by the blonde's sense of comedy and turned to the main school building and started walking, "Come on lets go."
Naruto smiled at the young girls antics and walked with her.
x~X~x
Rias was sat at her desk and moved the four pieces that represented the recently retired pieces off the map. She moved the Red Pawn of Issei to where the Red Knight that was Kiba was along with three of the White Pawns. She put the Red Queen with the Red King and Red Pawn that were Akeno, her and Asia and finally the Red Bishop of Naruto and Red Rook of Koneko to the middle of the map, halfway between her and Riser.
The symbolism of Naruto being between her and Riser, protecting her and pushing him back made a warm sense of calm invade her chest and memories of the night before coming back with her in his arms and their lips locked together. He was her metaphorical knight, protecting her from the fire breather.
"I'm so glad." She said, not realizing she said it out loud.
"Glad about what?" Asia asked with her innocent mind.
Rias quickly realized what happened and tried to bring herself back, "Oh... I'm just glad the plan is working and stage one has a success." She said, not very believably but lucky Asia was so innocent that she believed it and gave a smile that lit up the room.
"I am too. We will win, President." Asia said.
"Thank you Asia." Rias said, happy she had friends that were so willing to help her and back her in this time of need.
x~X~x
End of Chapter VII
TBC in Chapter VIII
x~X~x
Translations -
Earo Bomu – Air Bomb
x~X~x
Authors Notes – Hey guys, I hoped you enjoyed the seventh chapter. So the Rating Game has got off to a good start, well I think it did. My action scenes may not be good so I'm using this chapter to see how my action scenes turn out so could you let me know what you thought so I know if I need to work on them for the next chapter.
Also, I was on the wiki page for Sona Sitri and I saw that she was attracted to people who were on her level intelligence wise or more intelligent. It got me thinking do you guys want me to put Sona in Naruto's harem.
There is a poll on my bio, I have put it up but it may not be seen yet, so please decide if you want her or not and depending on the result she will either be in or out. I will also take into account if your answer is in a review as well.
Thank you to everyone who has Favorited, Followed and especially those who Reviewed. The positive feedback is amazing. Please continue as that's what keeps this hobby going for me as it makes me feel good that you are enjoying it.
