Author note: - The Red Eyed Queen just hit 130 followers and 91 favorites with 5,190 views and I am truly grateful to the people who are following along the story.
This is going to be a small chapter thought don't worry as the next chapter is the longest chapter I have written to this point filled history and backstory about the Orimura clan so stay tuned.
Now for my responses to the reviews
Readinglover3:- Nice chapter. I don't think I've read a story of Grayfia having a peerage before. I've only read stories where Grayfia is mentioned as Sirzech's queen and wife. I look forward to seeing how Akane does with Grayfia and their interactions together. I also look forward to seeing how Akane and Serafall do with each other. Handling a major sis-con must be taxing.
Response :- Thanks for leaving a review mate I truly appreciate it and yes even I have not read a story with Grayfia having her own Peerage. I am also not sure that the fact that she owns a prototype set is canon or fandom idea. Still its canon here in my story so don't worry about it. As for her interaction with Grayfia, after the next chapter you won't see her at least until the Riser arc and Serafall is even later so stay tuned.
sona queen of ic: - Please do the pair Akane and Grayfia
Response :- [Maniacal laughter]
Anyways guys if you like the chapter please leave a favorite and a follow as well as give me your thoughts on the chapters in a review I will truly appreciate it
Also a big Thanks to my Beta's = Polkxe, Echoes19
Chapter-6
Orimura Shrine
Evening
The Orimura family shrine was a typical example of a Shinto shrine, designed not to stand out in comparison to any other shrine of its time. The first gate of the shrine stood at the foothills near Kuoh Cemetery and the second gate just near the top of the hill, both connected via rock steps. After the second gate, there were still a few flights of stairs left which served as this shrine's Worshipper's path guarded by the stone lion-dog statues situated at each side of the stairs.
The shrine compound was similar in size to the sports grounds of Kuoh Academy; the whole compound was surrounded by the sacred fence with the hall of worship right at its end followed by the main sanctuary.
The center grounds of the shrine were currently illuminated by a bright crimson teleportation seal in the shape of a rose. After a couple of seconds, Rias stepped forth out of her seal to the sight of her queen waiting for her.
"I see you didn't have time to change your clothes." Akeno's voice greeted her.
"The thing with the police took more time than I expected, and their air conditioner was busted, I'm drenched with sweat." She sighed as she replied to her queen who was currently dressed in her shrine maiden uniform with a broom in her hands. She chuckled slightly, the sight of Akeno in her shrine maiden garb always brought a smile to her face. It was not the look itself but rather the fact that the uniform really gave her friend an aura of innocence, her friend that was a literal devil, and on top of that a devil with a rather… unabashed disposition.
She knew Akeno did this to try and connect with her late mother in some way. It was the reason why she agreed to her queen's request to live at the shrine grounds and it was why she asked her brother to buy the shrine for her.
"Well, we still have some time left. Why don't you go inside and freshen up while I finish sweeping?"
"Yeah, I'll do that." She told her friend and headed towards the monk house on the right side of the hall of worship, it was where Akeno was currently living. It was a two storey building with a backyard garden that stretched all the way to the stone fence- wall surrounding the compound grounds.
The house always seemed a little off to her, it was a generational house it should have felt more… lived in, yet it was very Spartan, no decorations, no personalization or any trace of previous inhabitants, even the leftover furniture was painfully bland. At first, she thought her posh upbringing was making her think that way but even Kiba and Akeno gave the same remarks as her, with Koneko adding that the whole house lacked a family smell.
It made the Orimura's look suspicious to her even before Akane Orimura returned to Kuoh. For a family that predated the first hut building where Kuoh was now, there was little to no information available on them. The family was very private and didn't mingle with the rest of the populace aside from the time they came to visit the shrine or during the festivals.
"At least now I know for sure that they were a supernatural family," Rias thought to herself as she entered the shower with her school clothes now getting a much-needed wash inside the washing machine. Despite the pleasant feeling of warm water on her skin her thoughts wandered towards darker matters.
"Looks like Issei is my only hope left now. How the hell did I get into this point in my life where my entire future lies in the hands of a perverted human who won the sacred gear lottery?" Rias thought bitterly ,"Though from the luck I'm having with strong sacred gears I'll be happy enough if he can control his powers so my brother doesn't have to come and lock him up like Gasper."
By the time she got out, Akeno was done cleaning and was waiting for her with a cup of tea ready at the porch of the house, which had a beautiful view of the Koi pond. With her was an unexpected guest.
"Grayfia? What are you doing here? Oh no no-no-no… please tell me mother and father didn't move the dates closer?" She asked Grayfia, dreading her answer.
"What?" Grayfia replied in a confused manner, caught off guard by Rias' comment, "No I am not here for that reason.", "Well not today anyway." She thought to herself as she had been hearing the rumor about dates of Rias' engagement being moved earlier. Though she thought it best she didn't mention that, fearing that Rias might do something stupid.
"I need to question Ms. Orimura about the stray she fought last night." Grayfia's response prompted Rias to let out the breath she was holding in.
"Oh, then you have come to the right place, Akane should be arriving here any moment now." She replied with a nervous laugh.
"I know, your rook informed me about that when I went to your house." Grayfia replied taking a sip of her tea.
"So, what did Lord Beelzebub say? Why didn't we get any warning about the strays?" She asked, sitting down.
"I didn't attend the meeting Rias, so I don't know much about what was said. I think it would be best if you call your brother later to get the whole story." Her brother's Queen recommended.
"Yes, of course, but in the meantime, what do you think I should do? The thought of a stray demon running around my territory undetected is not a pleasant one." Kuoh was her home, her territory, her responsibility. The thought of not being able to protect everyone living in her territory made her stomach churn. If there was anyone who could give insight into dealing with a situation she now found herself in, it was her brother's queen.
"Don't roam around at night for starters, travel via summoning seals. If you're out doing contracts, always carry a Trigger bond with you and If you find a stray demon, run, don't bother fighting them and call backup immediately."
"How about we just give our familiars some Trigger bonds and tell them to patrol the area?" Her queen suggested. Yes, Akeno's idea could work but…
"I highly doubt you have enough familiars to patrol the entire area. Though it's not a bad idea Akeno." Grayfia complimented her friend, "I think it would be best if you hire the services of Sona's Beastmaster."
"Kiyome huh… Yeah, I think that would work." She muttered to herself ,"I'll talk to Sona about this tomorrow." It was a good idea, perhaps a little bit more of collaboration with her fellow king is called for in light of recent events.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, she remembered she still hadn't asked Grayfia about Akane's potential recruitment. Though she did not know whether she should ask her about it, "Hey Grayfia, did my brother ask you to take Akane in as your Queen?" She asked rather timidly not knowing how Grayfia might feel about this topic.
"He did." Grayfia replied with steel in her voice which made the hair at the back of her neck stand up.
"And are you going to do it?" She asked carefully.
"I will think about it." Grayfia replied "He did give me a month to decide so I am not in a rush. Until then you two are not allowed to tell Orimura about this." She added.
Arisaka Hotel
Being the only four-star hotel in Kuoh Arisaka tended to get crowded during the evening as its restaurants served as a perfect destination for hotel guests and residents of Kuoh. A young woman with cherry red hair entered the hotel through its main entrance after she and her luggage got through the checking process without any problems, she moved towards the reception area, navigating through a crowd of people seemingly waiting for something.
"Welcome to the Arisaka Hotel. What can I do you miss?" The receptionist inquired.
"Yes, I have a room booked here under the name of Aoi Nagisa." She replied.
"Just a moment miss, let me look through the records." The receptionist told her before he started to look through his computer.
"Yes miss, we do have a room under Aoi Nagisa, room 344." He replied as he gave her the key card to the room, "Please enjoy your stay." He said to before bowing.
"Thank you, I'm sure I will." Nagisa replied before moving toward the lifts.
"I have the keys to my room. How are things at your front Shizuma?" She asked her fellow clone through the radio.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. No signs of the rogue Exorcists that mistress mentioned. They are just shopping for clothes, it looks deceptively mundane." Her fellow clone replied, she could hear distinct… clanking noises? coming through the speaker.
"Everything alright? What is that noise? "She asked while entering the lift.
"Ohh, It's just the sound of the clothes hangers. Seriously?" Her growl came through the radio after another loud clank noise, "Who the fuck uses plastic hangers?" Shizuma growled out.
"Everybody, they're cheap." She replied in humor.
"They also make too much noise." Shizuma countered before taking a sigh, "Regardless, did you bring all the equipment we needed?"
"First of all, the fact that you get mad at the material used in clothes hangers is super weird, I just wanted you to know that. Second, yes, I have the spy seals ready, also, Azazel was kind enough to provide us two pairs of his special glasses. Mistress gave me one and kept the other for herself." She replied as the lift reached the floor where her room was.
"Noted, good, I have slipped an envelope containing the spare key cards of room 345 and room 346 to your room. Get to work immediately, I don't know if we will get this good of an opportunity again."
"Roger, roger." She replied smiling while she used the key card to open the door of her room. Entering she found the envelope Shizuma's been talking about lying on the floor.
"Got the envelope. Give me the quick rundown of the security of this floor." She asked as she dropped her luggage and started to take off her boots.
"The surveillance of the entire floor has been divided between two security cameras that can see who is entering and going out of the rooms. I suggest using the EMP's on both the cameras but don't go above 5% percent setting as it would knock out the lights of the entire floor and you would be locked out of their rooms." Shizuma explained.
"Roger." She acknowledged quickly picking out the card containing the EMPs and taking two of them out. The supernatural generally don't have to worry about getting in and out of secured human owned areas. It moves through the realm of Purgatorio and bypasses all mundane traps and surveillance methods with ease.
But this gets complicated when someone supernatural is involved. When you are inside the Purgatorio you are undetectable but when you enter or leave, it tends to leave traces behind, traces that don't go away for a while and most supernaturals can pick up those traces without much hassle. Thus making the method of infiltration with the Purgatorio null against any supernatural.
EMPs like the ones in her hand are not generally issued by the Exorcists as most of their operations don't require them, but someone like them who tend to take the stealthier approach, this equipment is a must-have. Of course, these methods aren't perfect if someone skilled is monitoring the surveillance grid they would know instantly that something is wrong. They would have to count on the mediocrity of Arisaka's security.
Without wasting any time, she got out of her room, checked if she was the only person left in the corridor, and threw the EMPs at the cameras separately. With the cameras now out of the way she quickly moves toward Room 345 and thanks to the key card provided to her by Shizuma, enters the room immediately.
She already knew what would be the best hiding spot in the room where she can place the spy seal. She had the option to either stick them under the bed or behind the portrait or the clock. In the end, deciding the stick them under the bed, as you can check the portrait or clocks but nobody bothers to check the underside of the bed while they're in a hotel. After she was done
she moved on to room 346.
"The seals have been placed." She informed Shizuma over the radio as she got out of Room 346 and moved towards her room.
"Good because they are done shopping. If anything happens I will inform you. In the meantime, set up the equipment." Shizuma informed her.
"Roger." She replied.
The Orimura shrine
"Well, she is… late" She said looking at her wristwatch with a nervous smile, Grayfia was sitting silently at the steps of the main shrine looking steadily at the main entrance in silence.
"Orimura-san is not helping out her chances by pulling this." She thought to herself, if she had kept her and Akeno waiting they really wouldn't have minded much but keeping someone waiting is not a thing you do to the strongest queen of the Underworld. "Though ,I guess I really can't blame her, she didn't know that her future master might just pop by."
A strong gust of wind carrying some leaves drew her attention as it started to move in a circular motion forming a small tornado. When it eventually dissipated it revealed Akane standing where the center of the tornado was.
"Cool, erm informative as well… yeah… that answers at least some of my questions" She thought to herself, she'd seen Tsubaki do something similar on several occasions. Unfortunately, Sona was rather strict when it came to divulging information on her peerage's abilities. She, of course, knew the what but didn't know the how. All she knew about this ability is that it was chakra based. She probably wouldn't even think about asking about something like that, she was much more interested in what abilities Akane's blood granted her.
"Though I guess our questions have to wait." She thought while looking at Grayfia. Her brother's Queen needed some answers from Orimura-san as well. Much more important than hers at the moment. Grayfia was looking at Akane with steely eyes, she gave up years ago with trying to read the strongest Queen's expressions.
"Rias, would you kindly introduce me to your guest here." Akane asked her and was shaking her out of her musings, she looked at Akane who was looking mildly amused and intrigued about Grayfia. She could reckon a guess to what Akane found so funny, a stranger sitting at the stairs to your house giving off an aura like she owned the place and demanded your attention. Humor in absurdity really.
"Of course. Akane, this Grayfia Lucifuge she has a few questions regarding the stray you fought last night that she needs to ask you." Rias Introduced her.
"Ah, so you are the Strongest queen huh? If I knew I was meeting a living legend, I would have dressed accordingly." Akane replied with a chuckle while she looked at Grayfia as if she was measuring her up. "Well I had hoped that I had given the entirety of the information regarding the stray I fought last night to Rias, but if you still need to ask me questions you are very much welcome to do so. But please join me for a walk while I check something out at the shrine, I'll be happy to answer your questions on the way." she said,
Grayfia just nodded to Akane and got up from her position at the stairs to make way for Akane.