Author's note:
First of all, I run a crossover server on discord. The code is tfUNmUP. Second, I'm sorry that this took so long to get out; it's actually been in the works since the previous chapter finished.
I appreciate the reception on the last chapter. Hope you guys continue to enjoy my stream-of-consciousness shit-posting.
Though, I've got to say, no one has really nailed down a couple of key elements in this fic yet, which is surprising. I've got other projects that I'm working on, but I'll try not to be so late in updating this story again. (Don't hold your breath though, lmao.)
'Don't be so upset, honey. Love isn't something quick or fast: it burns slow like incense. Given enough time, I'm sure that you'll learn that. You will eventually return Riser's feelings.
And I'm sure that the scent that burns between the two of you will smell wonderful.'
Rias' fingers rolled over and over on the dark-stained desk. Teeth found soft-cheek and chewed; her hand reached for a pin, drumming it in a quick beat against the mahogany surface.
So many years later, yet the words of her mother refused to leave. They were meant to be comforting - she was sure - reassuring in a way. A dry chuckle left her throat as a chill brushed through the room.
Those words were far from comforting.
For the longest time they were a curse. She carried them, shouldered them, just as Atlas shouldered the world, and broke herself over a chance to live a different life - one that she got to choose the direction of. But now, as the warm winds of summer started to blow, things began to change. The more she thought on it, the more she realized - she wouldn't change a thing.
Her eyes drifted, and they locked onto a picture that rested on the otherwise empty desk. It was a portrait of a man she'd studied, observed, researched over the long and sleepless night.
Uzumaki Naruto stared back at her, smile as bright as the midday sun.
A soft sigh passed from uplifted lips. Her mother had been wrong. Love didn't come slow; it didn't burn at a snail's pace like the spice or gum that she compared it to; no, love burned like kerosene tossed upon the very man that her parents wanted her to marry.
No matter how much she hated Riser Phenex, she was grateful in a way. Her mother had not known, but if it hadn't been for her engagement, if it hadn't been for her hopelessness, if it hadn't been for her awful situation - she would've never met Naruto.
Well, she hadn't met him yet, but that would change soon enough.
"Akeno, where is Naruto?" she asked, eyes cutting. "Why hasn't he already arrived?"
"He appears to not have come in today," Akeno said, placing down a tea cup. "He called in sick this morning. He supposedly had things to take care of." She moved to the side, filled the porcelain tea-cup, and stepped back.
Rias' mind - sharp and steady - sought answers. Eyes widened, breathing slowed to a crawl, and her chair flew back as she stood, hands slamming on the desk.
There was only one possible reason for this: he knew.
Naruto Uzumaki had seen them the night prior, and now he waited for them. He was sharp, cunning, maybe even dangerous with his approach - after all, avoiding a summons from a Gremory was nothing short of daring. He was waiting for her, waiting on the moment that she arrived so that he could pounce, and then try and assert some sort of dominance.
'That's right Rias, I've waited so long for this moment. You thought I didn't see you last night, stalking outside of my window like some sort of love-struck teenager - but I did.
And now, you're mine.'
Rias shook and shivered. He played the game so well, enough so that she knew: they were perfect for each other. However, he hadn't accounted on one minute detail, a detail that would be his fall.
She knew that he knew, and she hated losing.
"Akeno, how would you feel about visiting our dear friend and bringing him here?" Rias asked, picking up the tea and sipping from it before placing it back on the coaster. "He thinks that he can get away so easily, and we will prove that mindset wrong."
Yes, he would be hers.
Her queen nodded, lips stretching upwards. The smile was dark, sinister, and it carried promises of pain.
"He has to come back to me alive, Akeno," Rias said, rubbing a finger around the rim of her tea cup. The contents were now cool, and lacked appeal. "Now, that doesn't mean that you can't rough him up a bit if he isn't listening. I want to see him here, in our club-room, by the end of the day."
Akeno's smile faltered slightly, but returned full force. "Whatever you say, president." Her voice was husky and her eyes lidded. "He will be here… and he will still be in one piece."
Rias nodded, the action slow, practiced. It was necessary when dealing with Akeno at times. She loved her queen, of that there was no doubt, but her eccentricities were far from her most appealing quality - to say the least.
"Just don't be too hard on him. I still need him for my plans to go through." She sighed and waved Akeno out. Yes, she needed Naruto for her plans. Her plans to defeat Riser. Her plans for the fallen angels.
Her plans for marriage.
Akeno feared no man, least of all Naruto Uzumaki.
Her king saw him as someone that was cunning, sharp, dangerous. But Akeno saw him for who he really was: a child, a boy who was working for forces that he didn't understand.
He wasn't smart, and he wasn't slick.
No, he was a fool.
Shaking her head, hair tousling back and forth, she moved forward, strides long and pace brisk. Regardless of what Rias thought, Naruto wasn't someone they should trust.
Him having no attachment to the church only cemented that belief.
A lackey for the fallen was dangerous indeed, but a lackey for the fallen that had never held ties to the church? The clouds in the sky were dark and rolling, the pavement and sidewalk similar, but still her eyes squinted as if hit by harsh light.
He wasn't some stray exorcist. He wasn't cast out, or ripped away from that type of life. He chose his path.
He walked down it, alone, nonplussed. To his right lay heaven, to his left hell - yet he chose neither, and instead opted to walk through the forest between. Shadows, cursed and evil, tainted him along that road left untraveled.
After all, it wasn't a road one was meant to walk. To turn away from light on either path wasn't worthy of praise, it wasn't worthy of concern, and it was not something any 'intelligent' man would do.
She turned with the sidewalk, coming upon a short path that lead up to Naruto's shanty. Her usual smile fell, a deep frown taking its place. She might not be human, might never have truly been human, but it was irksome nonetheless. To throw away who you were so callously, and then to fall so low as to work for those monsters.
What was it that Rias found in someone like that?
Akeno sighed, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Rias' thoughts were no one's but her own, and trying to figure them out came like pulling teeth.
So instead of trying, she approached the door, hand coming up and knocking. The sound came heavy, hard, solemn as her knuckles rasped against the wood. It echoed and carried, creating a suspense that was almost palpable.
Knocking was her first mistake.
Something heavy hit the ground. Furniture perhaps? Glass shattered. So did the calm of the early afternoon. When faint curses carried through the entryway, lightning arced to life in her hand. It bit at the air, ripped into it like a rabid dog with torn flesh and warm blood and broken bone it its mouth.
Assumptions were her second.
She took a step backwards and her eyes narrowed. It was a mistake: assuming that he was here, alone. But those crashes didn't sound willing - no, it sounded like protest.
Her off hand flexed and grabbed at the air. Had she been wrong? What if this boy - what if Naruto - hadn't joined with the fallen because of a desire?
What if they forced him?
She didn't think. Her hand outstretched, lightning crackling and flying through the air. The door blew inward. Hinges crumpled.
There wasn't enough air.
She tried to breathe. She coughed, choked, gagged on the dirt and dust and grime that filled her lungs. Head snapping back and forth, she searched for Naruto, looked for him, hoping that he was okay.
Eye-contact was her final mistake.
It wasn't intentional. She'd seen blue, and latched onto the bright color in the otherwise drab setting. He sat there, back against the wall, looking up at her with wide and doey eyes.
Time stopped. Vaguely, Akeno remembered something about a mission. It was a bug bite on the back of her neck: something that was easy to reach, yet it was more annoying to give it attention then it was to just ignore it until it went away.
No, something more important drew her in. As soon as her eyes locked onto him, they refused to break away. His hair was a rat's nest, his face was spotted black and blue, and his clothes were torn. He looked so hurt, so pained - so pathetic.
Akeno's tongue snaked out, running over her lips at a snail's pace. Her eyes lidded as she got a taste: salt of her sweat, dirt on her lip, dust in the breeze -
- fear in the air.
Backed into a corner, he looked weak, defenseless, irresistible. Her heel ground into the crusty carpet of the room, but she wished it was grinding into something else.
She wanted to step on him - bad.
"Akeno? What are you doing here?" he asked, and his voice sounded just as clueless as she thought it would.
Her heel continued its dig. She couldn't handle it - she couldn't handle this! His presence was so… intoxicating. Her nostrils inhaled his scent, breathing it in, basking in it. Her heart fluttered, and so did her eyes.
"Akeno! Stop, you're ruining my carpet!"
The world froze.
She blinked. Her mouth opened, yet her tongue was lead. She searched for the words - scrambled for them in a mad dash - but nothing that she could think of could even come close to what she wanted.
A shiver wracked her frame and her knees knocked. His voice. His hard and harsh and demanding voice called, rooting her to the ground. In that moment, Akeno knew fear, obedience, desire.
She wanted him to step on her - bad.
Her legs gave out.
She couldn't stand the thought of being above this man: her lord, her master, her savior. Her knees struck carpet - the crusty and unwashed filth clinging to her otherwise pristine body - yet even still, she went lower, bowing to the man that she hailed so highly.
The floor was rancid and unclean, but she would remain here - forever if need be. No matter how disgusting, it was unfitting of her to be higher than her exalted.
The floor almost made her puke.
Out of all trials she'd endured, this was the hardest. Her nose stuck to it - literally stuck to it - as she prostrated herself. It was gummy, syrupy, and clung to her like a leach.
"Akeno! What are you doing?" The voice sounded so kind. A hand grasped her shoulder, forcing her upwards. She stared into his eyes. "You don't need to do anything like that for blowing off my door! You're fine, okay?"
He was the god of sincerity.
She swooned. Her heart fluttered and skipped and pounded so fast that it almost jumped out of her chest. Did he see her as an equal? Was he willing to throw away who he was in order to be with her?
No, Akeno knew what he wanted.
She saw it on his face - the way that he looked down at her with his sparkling eyes, the way that he bit down on his lower lip in anticipation, the way that his brow knitted, saying that he had a question to ask, but one that he was afraid to hear the answer of - and she knew what it meant.
He must've wanted them to step on each other - bad.
She reached up, hand brushing against his face. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time for that later, but first I need to take you to Rias." She rose to her feet and carried him with her. "She has some questions that you need to answer."
Akeno wasted no time as she pulled him along by his collar.
She heard grunts behind her. They were choked, pained, and they made her lips twist upwards. She loved it: that sound.
Yes, as soon as Rias was done with him, he would be hers.
All hers.
Rias watched the second hand of the clock move and finished her count to infinity - for the second time.
Her eyes trailed downwards; the doorway remained empty. Truthfully, it wasn't any different from the past twenty-seven times she'd checked.
The count was now at twenty-eight.
Her hands came away from her desk, smoothed her skirt. She was Rias Gremory: next in line for the house of Gremory, high-class devil, and most importantly, future wife of Naruto Uzumaki.
Wrinkles were nothing but unbefitting.
"President, we're back."
Akeno's sing-song voice carried from the hall. Rias heard stumbling and footfalls, followed with a… struggle? She released a sigh as she stood, sitting back down on the desk top. It was, after all, Akeno.
Rias pulled a leg up to her chin, waiting. It was all part of her ploy, of her master plan. She would win Naruto here today - his allegiance, his service, and his body.
Especially his body.
It was an arduous process, but she'd picked out the perfect underwear for her seduction. A hum left her lips as a breeze drifted between her legs.
Yes, the less the better, and what was better than nothing at all?
She wanted to give it more thought, but when a pile of Naruto fell at her feet, her attention sharpened. He glared (more pouted) at Akeno before bringing his attention to her.
The cold color of his eyes made her face burn.
Couches were not supposed to be this comfortable.
Naruto leaned into it; the red material absorbed him. It was soft. Possibly the softest thing he'd ever experienced.
"H-Ha! I've got you right where I want you!"
Naruto's eyes fluttered open. He was sore: his head hurt from the morning explosion, his legs burned from the running last night, and he was covered in bruises - a combination of both events. And to be honest, dealing with Rias Gremory wasn't something he had planned when he'd stayed at home.
Why was her face so red?
He sat up in his seat, propped his head against his arm. He yawned. "Yeah, you've got me here," he began, eyes drifting towards the floor. It was hard to keep them open. "Now what exactly is it that you want?"
Rias smiled, crossed her arms under her chest. "There's no reason to play sly, Naruto, we know that you are working with the Fallen."
The Fallen?
He blinked before looking up. The only falling he'd done today was out of his chair and onto the floor when Akeno had blown his door down. Now that he thought about it, he was still didn't know what exactly happened.
The school bell rang in the distance.
The world became clearer: the birds chirped outside, the trees brushed in the wind, and the light sound of rain hitting the window drew his focus more and more until Rias spoke again.
"Are you even listening to me?" Her voice was clipped, high, shrill with frustration. He should've cared that she was upset, but instead he had to suppress a smile. It wasn't a good idea - it was a terrible idea - yet the wrath of Rias Gremory didn't stop him.
His hand came up and scratched at the little bit of stubble that he hadn't bothered to shave earlier. "Sorry," he said, standing. "I think you've got the wrong guy."
He didn't turn and look as he walked out of the room; his bed called to him, and he planned on answering.
The cool air of the room poured out into the warm hallway, but the temperature of the room dropped twenty degrees.
Rias sat there, eyes wide. Her fists clenched, cracked, trembled under heavy force. She worried her lip, and her mind raced with different scenarios - different possibilities. She was a master of chess, a master of games, so she cursed herself for not even thinking of this.
Defeat lingered on her tongue like raw sage.
Naruto was good. He was damned good. He'd walked into her room, sat down on the couch, played bored, and pretended to not know a goddamn thing even though he knew that she knew that he knew! Her head spun, ached with the thought, but she was too angry to care.
He was a king of his craft: the Fallen were his pawns, the city his board, and she would be damn sure that she was his queen. She'd wanted to lure him in, make him play for her, but he was too cunning - too good.
This should've all gone so differently!
She glanced at the door. His shadow still stood in the frame, looking back at her - smirking. It was if he was waving back at her, saying something like 'better luck next time, babe'. With a final shrug of his shoulders, he was gone, and so was her anger.
Rias stood, walked over to the couch and flopped down. She sank into it. Eyelids growing heavy, she rolled over onto her side and enjoyed the sensation.
His scent had lingered.
It was a passing thought, but one that made her smile - tense muscles relaxing. She enjoyed the smell of his soap: it was a simple mix of lavender and a touch of mint, but it also carried a bit of smoke.
Her head sank into the cushion. Even though he wasn't here, she could pretend. It was all Rias needed.
As sleep started to take hold, her magic called out. Within seconds she was standing, Akeno at her side, and a magic circle formed under her.
Issei was in trouble.
Blood. Blood everywhere.
Naruto coughed, gasped, choked for air. His eyes burned and watered as his nose turned upwards in a silent snarl.
Iron and copper didn't compliment each other.
He was too late - again. Looking down into his arms, soft brown eyes looked back at him. Issei's hand struggled forward, placing itself against his cheek before his eyes dulled.
How?
How was Issei Hyoudou still alive?
Naruto's teeth ground back and forth. He looked up, and even though the blood on his hands was so burning, his own flowed through his veins ice cold - rivers in winter.
That man - with wings dark as night - stared back at him, eyes shining under the bill of his hat. "Well now," he said, adjusting his leather gloves. "This was unexpected."
A smile crept up the man's face, twisting it, contorting it into something recognizable. He tipped his fedora and dusted his trench-coat.
"What do we have here?" He took a step forward and Naruto's heart exploded. The man's was slow, lethargic, and each time boot struck stone a shiver tore up Naruto's spine.
This was it. This was the end.
Tears welled in Naruto's eyes, but he didn't blink. If this was it, he would stare death down and take it like a man. Even as his hand came up - covered in blood - to wipe away the tears, he didn't flinch.
The man only smiled wider.
"Don't cry. I haven't even touched your ass yet."
The world crashed down with a circle of crimson and locks of fire. Naruto coughed, throat raw from the smoke. Looking up, he caught sight of Rias Gremory's butt under her skirt - pantiless.
"Don't worry, Naruto," Rias began, flipping her hair with a wave of her arm.
"I'll take care of this."
This chapter was beta'd by Dadlop3 and AngryOwl. On the off chance that you haven't heard of them, check them out. I'd also like to give mention to InfamousStorm as well. He looked at this chapter a while back (a couple of months ago, now) and he gave me some solid advice on characterization.
Once again, gotta pimp out the discord. The code is tfUNmUP. Feel free to come and join us.