Author's Notes I: No, I'm not dead. I've just been extremely busy for the last two months. Thank you for the PMs, I appreciate it. One thing before you read this chapter, kindly go back to Chapter 6 and read the last scene (Raynare's POV). Yes, that one. The action might be the same, but the tone and purpose behind it has been fixed. And, surprisingly, it seems to be in line with her canon counterpart –along with a few added twists from yours truly. Also I realized something. This story is, without a doubt, fluff.

I do not own Naruto or High School DxD. If I did I'd be looking down on everyone.

xXxXx-ADM-xXxXx

Patience was never her forte. Had it been, she would've been soaring in the skies above with wings as white and rich as snow, with eyes so green that even the finest emeralds scowled at her with envy, with light hair fluttering like a drape of gold.

She sighed, recalling each and every glorious detail about those days. An unfathomable number and considerably more laments heaped up on them. Whenever she saw her ugly reflection in a mirror, the Fallen would be reminded of who she used to be and all she lost.

Lady Gabriel spoiling her and she cherished the Seraph for it. To Raynare, the female Seraph was more like a mother than a sister as everyone else viewed her. When she was a child, Gabriel would take her to her most loved spot and tell tales of the old age. Of an era when Yahweh appeared more as opposed to staying cooped up in the Seventh layer. She, nonetheless, was more than content with her life on the Third. Skies studded with stars, the perpetual blue surface beneath, and fluffy clouds languidly, gliding around. She would laugh and fly with her brothers and sisters.

Truly, Heaven was worthy of its name, and one could not fully appreciate her Father's skill as an artist unless they saw the divine realm with their own eyes. Only a fool would forsake it.

That thought started her road to downfall. Curiosity made her delve deep about Lucifer, or Helel as he was known in the old days —the most beautiful angel her Father ever created. What made God's favorite son turn his back on Paradise? Was humankind so repulsive that the once shining Seraph turned into the begetter of all Devils?

With time, she wound up understanding Lucifer's actions. Slowly the Archangel's hatred started to make sense. The angels were light, man was mud. Humankind's contentions drew her wrath as well, and before she knew it, sins poisoned her mind. Endlessly it developed, her voice ended up louder, her questions significantly bolder.

"Lord Michael, I still don't understand. Just . . . Just what makes them so special?"

The Archangel would tell her that Father knew best, that He understood all.

"Why does Father love them more than us?"

Lady Gabriel spoke of their freewill, how they would all choose the greater good over the darkness that lurked in them.

"Why should we care about them?"

Metatron, the Voice of God, reasoned how Father saw them as children. Little ones the angels would guide.

The more she heard about their potential to become better, the more her disdain grew. With each day they became more irksome. An abortion, a completely good monkey wasted with the gift of freedom. Then one day, Raynare spoke her mind. She made her view all too clear.

"Lord Helel was right about them. They are but spiteful beasts, filled only with imperfections. Father was wrong, and so are all of you."

If only she knew how those words would cause Michael to shake his head in sadness, Raphael to frown with disappointment and Uriel, her brother, marked her with the profaned flames —her fall assured with the last action. The Fallen remembered those flames, how they snarled as they removed her divinity and felt God's blessing abandoning her. However, none of that hurt compared to when she saw Gabriel crying for her, when Metatron somehow held her back —the latter also affected by the judgment bestowed.

She remembered how the ground beneath her cracked, how her majestic wings became dark as raven feathers, how her hair became black as a sinner's heart. Her eyes were now a rotting shade of amethyst, washed in the deepest, forgotten abyss and hardly worth a second glance. Raynare didn't remember how long she fell, but for her it was nothing less than an eternity. Deep into the pigsty she fell, the one they called Earth.

"What's wrong?" she looked at Kalawarner, snapping out of her greatest nightmare. Her comrade's hair was dull brown. Both had used magic to disguise themselves, Raynare herself looked younger and more innocent. There was no need to take chances with the Devils, hiding their true forms worked better under certain circumstances.

"Nothing." Raynare lied. Her phony, dark colored eyes focused on the FIDS. All the more on Flight 174, she'd need to hold up one more hour before it landed. Under normal circumstances she didn't need to come here to get the new member, but this wild card needed to be watched - extra carefully - and the Devils in Kuoh weren't the only people she was wary about.

"Raynare."

She shook her head; all her lies were useless when it came to Kalawarner. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Home," the Fallen said. "I was thinking about home."

"You know you shouldn't let it bother you this much, even after all these years," Kala consoled her. "It's been a long time since that day."

Every word her friend said was true. But Raynare still felt bitter, she had every damn right to feel that way. Clenching her fist, she stood up. "I'm going to get some coffee. This guy hasn't arrived and he's already causing me a headache."

"Lord Kokabiel said he was the best they had at the moment."

The Cadre assured her this would work. Sneaking into a church, stealing a broken blade fragment, kidnapping other nuns for reasons she was yet to know. The Fallen had done it all in hopes of gaining a gift, something she was told that could heal anything.

"He did," Raynare concluded, placing her faith - whatever little of it remained - in the Fallen who promised her the one thing she wanted more than anything. "Do you want something as well?"

"I'll pass," Kalawarner replied. Raynare nodded before walking away, she ignored the lecherous looks every worthless human gave her —like every other day.

After her small journey ended, she reached the small stall and ordered an espresso. At least humans did something right. Much to her relief the barista came back quickly with a filled cup. She cast a small spell on him, nothing too major. Paying humans was something she would not do. As she prepared to go back, a man stood beside her and ordered mocha. The runner of the shop smiled and went back to fetch just that as she found herself unable to move.

Raynare knew that voice all too well. It wasn't as heartless as she remembered; there was a hint of mercy in it. The Fallen calmed herself down, she was under a disguise and to the world she was a different person right now. Regardless, she needed to leave and had no intention of standing this close to him.

"Wait."

She froze in fear as she found him staring at her. What did he want with her? Did he follow her? Was he planning to kill her and Kala? Raynare needed to get away, to warn Kala and stop him before he-

"You didn't pay," he pointed out, the voice calm compared to her inner terror, "For the coffee." She focused on his words and played along, for now.

"Right," she smiled, faking a warm smile. The blond didn't say anything further, and Raynare begrudgingly paid for her drink. A part of her died as she handed over the money to the baboon. "I forgot." She continued, trying to act normal. He shook his head disapprovingly. Raynare, now a bit calmer, started to walk away and grasped for straws —thinking of ways how get out of this mess. She could follow him, and-

"Don't cross my path again." The words rung in her ears, the harsh, wintery tone of his voice made her tremble. "I will end your existence, Raynare." She stood still for a moment, hearing how his footsteps were moving away from her and sneaked a glance at the blond. He walked lazily, without a care into the crowd.

Walking back in a daze, a thousand thoughts thrashed about in her head. Raynare had bumped into someone along, ignoring whatever gibberish the fool said. Taking the empty seat beside Kala, who hadn't noticed her inner turmoil, the Fallen realized her hands had been shaking. His touch still tainted her, the only human to do so. Yet she had pictured him when she was…

"Raynare," Kala shook her shoulder as she nearly dropped her cup. "What the heck is wrong with you? You're sweating."

Wiping off the small sheen on her forehead, the Fallen sighed a bit. Her eyes looked around, just to be sure. He wasn't here. "Nothing."

"What do you mean, 'nothing'?" her friend persisted, "You look like you saw a ghost."

'He is a ghost,' Raynare concluded in her mind. He had truly disappeared; it was almost as if a specter had returned and warned her of paths better not taken. "I just…I thought I saw that guy. The one who-"

"Where?"

"It wasn't him," Raynare lied. She didn't want Kala fighting him under any circumstances, her friend would die. Of that there was no doubt. "It was someone else."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," the Fallen said before drinking. It was warm and soothing and relaxing. "Let's just… Let's just focus on waiting for this guy."

Kalawarner didn't pry further and she was glad. Raynare simply focused on the screen, occasionally glancing. He'd invaded her thoughts once more. She'd seen him more recently in a dream, bloody and scary with a bloodier smile on his face. It didn't fit for some reason. The blond was cruel, not ruthless from what she surmised. He appeared in her other dreams too; she blamed the wine and that one time thing she did in the Church for that notion.

'Focus Raynare,' she chastised herself. 'Soon, it'll arrive. And, you'll get what you want.'

xXxXx-ADM-xXxXx

Ichiraku's of Kuoh Town was, in his eyes, a poor imitation of the original.

While his store was without a doubt the premier ramen shop in this place, it was far from the most popular place in town. He couldn't account for people's bad tastes in culinary, so Naruto simply accepted that perhaps ramen was not the greatest food. An opinion most agreed with. He had no problems with that.

That said he was mentally exhausted. Sundays were supposed to be his off-days, when the customers were lesser in numbers and the entire day would smoothly pass by. It was the status quo. However, he'd been overworking today, tired of making excess money and running out of supplies –save his personal stash, one that was brought in from the airport specifically. The reason behind such an increase in paying customers was clear too.

"There you go. Enjoy." Her voice grew sweeter with every word. The men, more accurately high-school teens with hungry stomach and hungrier eyes, blushed. They leered back and forth from the bowl of ramen to Akeno who wore an apron over a black, full sleeved shirt and beige pants. She was wearing that accursed hat too, she looked better in it than he did. Then again Akeno looked good in anything.

He sighed as the customers he gave three bowls to muttered a non-cordial 'Thanks' to him. They must've forgotten he owned the place. So far, the day had been going less murky than he thought it would. As he turned around several gasps resounded within the room. Akeno was standing close to him, a bit too close. Her face inches away from her, violet eyes refusing to look away from his blue ones.

"What?" Naruto said, he was used to it at this point. She'd do this often and he would try his best not to react. It was a game, unfortunately Akeno won more times than he gave her credit for, she was getting bolder and…more attractive every day. Try as he might, it was impossible to deny that.

"We're running out of supplies, I don't think the stuff we have will last for the day." Akeno finished, crossing her arms and smiling contently. "Looks like I was right, we did sell out before 4'O clock."

Naruto Uzumaki actually forgot about that small bit. He didn't think she was popular to the point there would be lines outside his small shop. "I know. You don't have to point it out." She giggled in victory.

"You really should've thought this through, Naruto-kun," she wagged her finger a bit. He rolled his eyes, his go-to reaction when it came to her. The customers were still staring at him with flabbergasted expressions.

"Your food's getting cold," Naruto said bringing them back to the world as he got out of the shop and stood outside his store. There were still lots of boys standing outside his shop. "We're closing down for lunch," he paused, "And the rest of the day."

Immediately, at least twenty-five people started crying. Twenty growled in anger, ten cursed him, and five…stood in front of him with their arms crossed while glaring at him. He blinked twice to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, he wasn't. Naruto figured they were from a different school, and looked more like roughnecks and less like students.

"Hey," one of them said, the kid had bleached blonde hair. "Aren't you that Blonde Devil of Kuoh we keep hearing about?"

Naruto chuckled hearing that. He was a Devil. The irony was not lost on him. This was just precious. "Is that another famous nickname I'm not aware of?"

"He thinks he's funny," a short one came up this time. "Why I oughta-" was all he could say before Naruto narrowed his eyes at him and his group.

He slowly exerted pressure on them, one of light bloodlust. Other 'businessmen' had appeared trying to offer him protection. They didn't come back after a small dose of his murderous intent. Much to his surprise everyone outside the shop felt his hostility, he could smell the fear on them and Naruto grasped the shoulder of the first person who talked –the ringleader.

"What's your name?"

"I-It's-"

"It doesn't matter what your name is," Naruto cut in. "Now, I'm trying to run a shop here and clearly you guys aren't ramen lovers, had you been I'd have seen you before. I know why exactly you're here. Unfortunately my store is low on supply. Do you understand what I'm saying?" His grip tightened, the boy buckled under the pressure and the blond was taken aback.

This was all it took?

"Y-Yeah." The bleached one said. "We get it, Boss."

"I'm not your Boss," the ones who called him that weren't people, and he would never - ever - be the boss of some delinquent high school wannabes. "Now leave, before I kick you." Soon enough the line was cleared and he turned to go back to his shop.

Only Akeno was outside and giving him that look again. Her cheeks were red, eyes lidded and a smile all too seductive to ignore. The way she walked forward, her arms hugged around her upper frame and Naruto noticed how her…big things were squished together added to the sway of her naturally wide hips making him uncomfortable. Well, down there at least.

"One day, my fellow apprentice." A white-haired man with a lecherous smile and a more lecherous mind counseled him. "One day you will see the light."

"Why the hell can't you teach me something important?"

"Ass and tiddies are important, you fool!"

"Oh my," he felt her poke his chest, bringing him back to reality. "I didn't know you would hurt a person like that for little old me."

"I didn't hurt him." It was true. His definition of 'hurt' was very different, Naruto was sure Akeno was saying this just to keep her sultry tone up. He wasn't complaining.

"I felt it," Akeno rubbed small circles on his chest, softly and methodically. "The way you made them fear for their lives, how you'd tear them apart, break their limbs, and-"

"Okay, you need to calm down," Naruto cut her off. Sadists had a one directional mind. His clone spying on Rias' group last night had given him enough evidence. Akeno was a super sadist. "Why are you outside anyway?"

"Oh the customers were done with their share."

"They finished that quickly?" he asked, taking the nod she gave with a pinch of salt.

"See for yourself," she walked, intentionally adding an extra sway. It was hard not to look away. True to her words the place was empty as he saw the last of the boys leave with gutted expressions. As if they had lost all purpose in life.

"You weren't kidding," he put up the closed sign outside the door and closed it.

"So," Akeno started, taking a seat for herself. "What do we do now?"

"It is lunchtime," Naruto looked at the clock. "We might as well have it now."

"I'll get to work then."

"No," Naruto said, she was surprised at his sudden denial. "I sort of made lunch, since you'd be helping her I thought-"

"How it soothes my heart to see you warming up to me, Naruto-kun," Akeno sighed contently, cupping her cheek. Sadly she was right.

"Don't push your luck." Naruto then proceeded to head out of the store. "Wait here."

"What did you cook?"

"It's not ramen."

"That's fine with me, but…" Akeno got up. "We are not having lunch here."

"Excuse you?"

"You heard me."

"Woman," Naruto sighed a bit. "If you're not going to have lunch in a small restaurant, what other place do you have in mind?"

"Well…"

xXxXx-ADM-xXxXx

Akeno sighed contently as she finished her lunch. Naruto was more talented than she initially gave him credit for, however he wasn't in the same class as her —not many were.

They were both in his apartment, after she demanded that they eat upstairs. He didn't budge at first. However, Akeno made it clear that she would not eat at the shop. When asked 'why', the Himejima answered she had her reasons. That said she was making the most of her glass of squeezed orange, the citrusy taste made her tongue shiver.

"Where did you buy this from?" she asked and, unsurprisingly, got no answer. Naruto had his earphones on as he was caught up with writing something into his scrapbook. Akeno pondered what made him focus so intensely and, stealthily, strolled around to see what it was. He wasn't writing anything, the dark deco sketch made it horrifically clear.

A landscape filled with grey, darker blotches scattered around as the broken remnant of a waterfall ceased to exist. There was a sun, or maybe it was the moon, in the sky that appeared to be seeping into the earth, bleeding into it. Amidst this horrible portrait, she could vaguely make out two people in it. One lying in a dark puddle as the other was slouched over, his clench hands buried in the ground and nine disfigured great shadows loomed over them.

"Do you need something?" Naruto's voice forced her to look away. A sense of cruelty was present in it. The two faces of the people were scratched out, yet the anguish they had was vivid. Darkness was descending, light was dying, despair was blooming.

"That's quite the detailed sketch you have," Akeno commented. She noticed how his blue eyes lingered on the two figures, distastefully looking down on the one hunched over. "I never knew you were this good."

"I'm not," Naruto replied putting the book down. "It's a habit I picked up from one of my friends."

"Friends?" This was news to Akeno. Naruto had friends? Plural? "You-"

"Don't ask," she was cut off. Naruto didn't seem that comfortable about it. "I did have friends. They all moved on, I'm the only one here."

"Oh," Akeno thought they left Kuoh Town. It wasn't uncommon; lots of people left this seemingly perfect place each year. "Well, don't worry," she assured him with a smile. "I'll fill that spot for them."

Akeno was still standing beside his chair when Naruto looked up at her and the way he looked at her in that moment, as if he was weighing her words –seeking the honesty in them. The Himejima still wasn't used to how his blue eyed gaze made her feel so bothered. She was becoming lost. Something inside her stirred and she drew closer to his face. Her breathing became heavier, heart raced and nerves jolted. Before Akeno could close the small gap, he suddenly looked away and leaned on the desk, drumming his fingers awkwardly, and she took a moment to recompose herself.

'What was that?' she thought, putting a hand on her chest to calm herself down. Her cheeks were still flaring hot. Akeno realized how close she was to actually kissing him. Over the last week, she confirmed something to herself. She, Akeno Himejima, had a major crush on Naruto Uzumaki.

There was a time when she considered such a thing silly, and childish. But the more she thought about it, she realized how true it was. It was strange too. She crushed on a person who was about as loquacious as a wall. He was also introverted, mysterious, and of course, hid pain in his eyes. Akeno was no stranger to pain, knew it all too well. That small bit he drew was enough proof, and she wanted to help him. Alas, Naruto was stubborn –almost as much as her.

"That's enough about me," Naruto spoke, running a hand through his hair.

"You hardly told me anything."

"You learned that I had friends. Did you know that beforehand?"

"Touché," Akeno admitted. She knew other things about him, things that she didn't want to know, but couldn't resist. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I thought we were past that point."

"Naruto-kun," Akeno took up a seat close to him. "How did you…how did you end up owning this place?"

For a moment the blond seemed lost. Only a moment, then Naruto sighed. "I was an orphan."

"I know, you told me that before."

"I've been at Cleria Memorial for as long as I could remember," Naruto continued, pausing for a bit. Akeno could tell it was hard for him, what happened later on in life.

"It's okay if you don't want to share. I was barging in."

He chuckled a bit, "As if you didn't barge into my personal space before." She smiled. At least he wasn't using that blank tone of his. "Anyways, I was at the orphanage 'till I was seven. Then one day, old Sister Aria comes in with this bright stupid smile of hers."

Akeno nodded at his words, noting how he talked about the nun at the orphanage. Almost as if he was fond of her.

"'You've been adopted, Ruto,' she told me," Naruto looked nostalgic. "My uh, parents then brought me here. Ichiraku's wasn't around back then and there used to be small bookshop downstairs. Uzumaki's it was called."

"Where are they now?" she asked, knowing full well what the answer was. It explained his behavior perfectly.

His eyes narrowed in guilt and shame and sadness. "They died. Car crash."

"I'm sorry."

A thick air of silence settled down, it was unsettling and awkward. Akeno felt a twinge in her heart when Naruto's frown deepened. He looked like an older man in that moment. As if he was a man who had lost his entire world. And losing loved ones, they hurt so much more than people realized.

"It's okay," he finally spoke after some time passed. "It's not your fault. You didn't even know me back then. But, I know one thing for certain. I'm responsible for their deaths."

"Naruto-kun."

"I really wanted to go see a stupid movie that day," he shook his head. "I should've known back then that all those happy days, those flawless moments would be gone. It was my fault, all of it. Sometimes, I really do wish I wasn't born at all."

Akeno placed her hand over his. She nearly gasped when she saw how hollow his eyes were, twin dark pools of blue staring back at her. It was duller than it had been before.

"Sorry about that," Naruto looked away. "It's been a long time and even now it gets to me."

"It's okay. I shouldn't have pressured you into talking about it." Akeno reached for his hand again, Naruto didn't resist. She softly caressed his hand, it was more relaxed now. "I'm really sorry." Then to her surprise and inner joy, she felt him clasping her hand. She…she didn't know what to do.

"Like I said before," Naruto gazing at her. "It's not your fault. Also, I should be saying thank you."

"F-For what?" Akeno had the decency to blush. She never stuttered. This was just embarrassing. The Queen would have to make Naruto suffer later.

"You know already." The blond said and both stayed like that. This was a new side to him. Then he slowly let go of her hand, and Akeno frowned a bit. His hands were exceptionally warm. "That's enough woe is me for the day. So…what's your story?"

"Mine?" Akeno, again, was shocked at his forwardness. Well, she couldn't exactly call it that, considering it took two years to get to this stage.

"How did you meet Rias?" Naruto asked. The blond had been talking more with the ORC members. Issei was, surprisingly, the most eager of them. Probably had something to do with Naruto's published works, the blond of course liked dressing him down. He found the Sacred Gear wielder amusing. Rias' sudden approach to talking with him was the most surprising. All over a simple Mortal Kombat match.

"How I met Rias, huh," Akeno's mind wandered back to that night. How could she ever forget?

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked, she was a bit glad at his small concern.

"Naruto-kun," she began. "There are a few things about me I hate. If I could go back and change them, I would. However I will tell you this." Akeno paused to take a sigh, remembering it all. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Rias."

xXxXx-ADM-xXxXx

Japan was beautiful.

Everything about it was fantastic, just as Souji had told her. She'd even seen those pretty cherry blossoms. To top it all off, her father's Bishop, Agrippa, bought her a puppy. Right now it was nighttime and she was wandering the streets of Morioh. The town while not too big had its fair share of memorable places.

To the young ten-year old girl this was more amazing than watching her brother fool around with that dog costume on. Her sister-in-law didn't like it that much, but Rias was sure that deep down Grayfia liked it. She had to, she was his wife. As Rias kept enjoying her chocolate mint ice-cream, her puppy - Cerby - started getting crazy all of a sudden. She grew a bit scared as it jumped out of her hold and started barking.

"Cerby, come back here." The crimson haired girl chased after her little cute puppy. She heard Agrippa following her, telling her to slow down. Rias didn't want to lose that puppy! It was her only one! Soon enough she found herself running to a very dark place.

The walls were closing in, the lights here were dimmer, and…there was a bad smell in the air. Rias felt herself retch a bit, despite that she continued running after Cerby. The stench increased with every step, the alley grew darker and Rias began to feel a bit scared. Had it not been for Agrippa following closely behind her she would've been frozen in fear. Cerby was barking louder than ever.

She turned the corner and she felt a bile building up in her throat. Cerby was standing near a young girl, around her age. The girl had black hair and was lying on the ground, there was blood everywhere and she heard several more footsteps. There were a bunch of people walking around, all of them wearing that cloth they called kimono or something. One of them was shouting something at Cerby. There was a knife in that person's hand, it was coated with a red liquid and Rias, without thinking ran forward.

"Stop!" Rias yelled loudly. She stood in front of all those…white clothed people with their swords and knives. They all had black hair like the injured girl. The girl was bleeding badly and breathing heavily, making strange groggy noises while coughing.

"Little girl, move. Only one needs to die tonight," one of them said, stepping closer. However, Agrippa now stood with her and Rias felt braver. Cerby was there too, growling at them.

"Threatening Lord Lucifer's sister are we, priests?" Agrippa said showing his wings to them. "Lady Rias, if you could please check on the young lady. I suppose that's what you came to do."

She didn't need to be told twice as she rushed towards the young girl. Rias had never seen…a body like that. Small holes dug deep into her body, blood lazily gushed out, and the girl's eyes were getting dimmer. The young Gremory heard shouting behind her, something about 'tainted blood' and 'rotten seeds' –all the more making her angry. This small girl was dying and they were arguing…

Something inside Rias snapped. Her fists clenched tightly, her young wings unfurled and black wisps of small energy cracked in her hands. All became quiet when the noise emanating from her hands grew louder. Tears welled in her eyes from rage, anger at what they had done to the girl. A bark from Cerby made the demonic power in her hands flicker before disappearing. The girl was looking at her.

"What's your name?"

The girl coughed, blood leaked out of her mouth and her hand twitched. Rias held it with her own, it was cold, too cold.

"Don't worry, you'll be alright," Rias assured her, tightly grasping her hold. "I promise."

They were crying, both of them. The shouting was ceasing and Agrippa finally came back.

"Lady Rias, we're going to be taking her with us," he told her.

"Can we help her?"

"Yes."

"See?" Rias spoke with vigor, tears still forming. "We're going to help you…"

"Her name is Akeno," Agrippa said, forming the Gremory sigil underneath them.

"Right," Rias looked at the young girl with a fire in her eyes. "Don't worry, Akeno. Everything will be alright."

The crimson haired teen awoke with a jolt, naked as the day she was born and rubbed her eyes. She'd slept in apparently, if the clock wasn't lying. Rias yawned cutely, moaning at having to get out of bed. Last night was eventful; after taking care of the Stray Devil the young Gremory heiress decided to get some extra training done –montage style.

Sadly the idea of listening to music and training distracted her more, before this it used to work seamlessly. Ever since she got 'rekt' by one blond deviant aka Naruto Uzumaki, she had taken his words into consideration. Taking down the Stray Devil also served as revelation. Her Peerage, strong as it was, still lacked one very essential necessity: experience.

Hunting down rogues and two-winged Fallen Angels were of the norm, something the redhead was sure she could pull off without too much of a problem. Facing someone stronger, someone who was psychologically manipulative and physically superior…that would be a real hurdle. Sadly, the person Rias wanted to stay away from, at all costs, had what she didn't. The blond scum of the underworld had that in heaps. With that in mind Rias overworked herself last night, despite Akeno telling her not to do so. Her gift, the Power of Destruction was versatile in nature and she didn't want to be known just as the younger sister of Lord Lucifer. No, her goal was far beyond that.

'I haven't had that dream in a while,' Rias thought as she entered the shower. The warm water eased her fatigue, caressing her skin and serving as a balm to relieve her. 'Weird. Today's supposed to be her "date" with Naruto.'

The redhead snickered, thinking of how Akeno was probably doing something to tease the blond. While he didn't get riled up like normal hormonal driven teens of his age, Naruto Uzumaki was human –more so than she thought. He cracked jokes (very cynical ones), liked to dish out sarcasm when he felt like it, and had this natural gift of annoying her without trying. Rias had tried several times to get the upper hand in a conversation, sadly only Akeno could pull it off. She would one day. The Gremory would pay him back for the humiliating loss he dished out.

After getting out, and dressing up in her home clothes which mostly consisted of shorts and a tank top that really did not hide her bountiful chest, Rias sipped on a cup of coffee and sighed. The fatigue was all but gone and she felt better, stronger even.

"Mhmm~" she smiled childishly, enjoying the perfect brew. The sun was shining brightly, the skies were majestically blue, and the leaves flying about lazily indicated a fine breeze. It was perfect this day.

Much to her chagrin, her phone rang up and Rias grumbled a bit, pouting. One would've gushed at how cute the Great Lady of Kuoh looked in that moment. It was Akeno and she picked it up.

"Hello," Rias grumbled. Slightly put off her little moment was ruined.

"Rias, why haven't you picked up?"

"I was sleeping, trained too much last night," Rias said before taking another sip. The beverage was far too good to ignore.

"I told you not to overdo it. I should've been there."

"No," Rias countered. "You're supposed to be at Naruto's place, I for one am not letting the opportunity of knowing that blond might get annoyed pass by."

"You two are like children sometimes."

"Hey, he starts it every single time." It was true. Naruto would always say something that triggered her and when she would argue, he would calmly tear down her case. Then he'd smirk for a moment, just to add salt to the wound. "You are there, right?"

"Yes, I'm still at his place," she heard Akeno reply. There was strange tone in her voice. Maybe her Queen was hiding something. "Rias we have a problem."

"Did Naruto do something stupid?" Rias asked, worried about her friend.

"No, it's not him."

"Then what's the problem?" Was this a prank call?

"It's a…Catholic problem."

xXxXx-ADM-xXxXx

Author's Notes II: And done. With that little thing at the end we've officially reached the beginning of the Twilight Arc. Like I said before, this story is mostly character driven and relies on interaction rather than plot-devices being randomly thrown around. That's kind of why I emphasize on each of the main characters' thoughts so much. Don't worry there will be fights, this is a shonen-esque fic after all. Just less emphasis on how big Nards' warrior dick is.

That said, make sure to review and let me know what you think. If there are mistakes, please point them out. I'll be glad to see them, means you guys are paying a lot of attention to the stuff I write, makes me smile a bit. I know the writing was a bit weaker than the last three chapters and I blame myself for it. Haven't had enough practice in a while. Come to think of it…I don't have a writing style. Shit. Take care, peeps.