Today was the day. This was it.

Friday had come, and the school day has begun in earnest, whether anyone was ready for it or not.

And apparently, Mio was ready.

Her infectious smile, which proceeded to split apart her face and brighten up the area which she just so happened to be at, both; befuddled her fellow students as well as and cracked smiles out of them.

Drifting -skipping really- into the gated confines of Kuoh Academy, the red-head's unrepentant attitude would have been disgustingly excited were it not for a single blip in the back of her mind.

A single fact that was, frankly, beginning to worry her.

For the past few days, Naruto had simply...disappeared. Every morning. Going off to parts unknown without either; informing anyone of his whereabouts or about what he was doing.

Thankfully, he has always showed up later on in the day without fail so far, so it hasn't really been a problem yet.

A part of her seriously wondered about what he could possibly be doing every morning, even if she didn't verbalize it.

But, then again, she probably didn't have much to worry about.

After all, if this dinner went off without a hitch, then she would be able to understand that infuriating blond enough to hazard a guess.

Hopefully.

Head in the clouds, Mio obviously wasn't paying attention to her surroundings at all, which was what allowed her to completely ignore the strange looks that she had been receiving on her way inside the building.

But her internal dialogue would finally be cut short when a familiar voice called out to her. "Ah. Good morning, Mio-san."

Pink eyes focusing; they slid to her right as she halted in front of the stairway that led upstairs, her genial attitude leaking to her tone. "Morning, Kiba-san! How are you doing?"

As expected, Kiba Yuuto was smiling softly as he casually walked up to her from the other side of the hall, carrying his own carrier bag. "Alright, thanks for asking. But you seem to be doing better, hm?"

Only just then noticing the upward tilt at the edge of her lips after he pointed out, the red-head tried to school her expression, but only managed to mitigate it. Somewhat. "I guess you could say that."

"Buchou has been pretty excited about something recently, though I haven't really figured out what." the knight raised a brow, feigning understanding. "I think I might have found the source of that."

Playing along, the half-devil shrugged. "Personally, I thought it was as obvious as the sun in the sky."

"Oh, I'm sure." Yuuto glanced away with a grimace. "Akeno-san told me about our king's...'activism'."

"So that's what they call it now..." the hybrid murmured, shaking her head.

"Sounds like you had it rough. Sorry about that."

"Nah, you have nothing to apologize about." Mio waved his concerns away, voice dry. "Rias-sempai is Rias-sempai after all."

The blond coughed, not sure whether that was a compliment or an insult.

Pink eyes slid away from the reincarnated devil for a moment to glance at something behind him, darting back to him with a minor sense of urgency. "Um...I don't usually hang around you that often, but is that normal?"

Blinking, the knight swiveled about and grimaced at what he saw. "Pretty much, unfortunately."

Behind the bishōnen, a gaggle of teenaged girls was slowly forming, blatantly making their presence known as they gossiped about the boy that they kept sending furtive glances towards.

Namely, the so-called 'prince' of Kuoh Academy; Kiba Yuuto.

Sighing in a way that implied that this was a common occurrence, the popular young man faced the red-head once more. "Last thing; do you know where your brother is?"

Mio perked a bit. "Naruto? Well, sorry to say, he's probably not going to show up until at least the third period of school. He's been going off doing who-knows-what every morning for a few days now."

"I see. A shame." Yuuto scratched his cheek a bit sullenly. "I was wondering whether I could ask him for a few tips on getting stronger. Guess I'll just have to wait."

The hybrid's features remained stagnant for a second, taking a moment to compute what was just said, before recognizing what exactly gave her pause.

"You didn't train with us before Diodora came around, right?"

Wincing, it seems that she managed to get it in one. "...I'm a little embarrassed to train with you guys after what happened. But I don't want to fall behind, so..."

Mio had to roll her eyes. "Quit being dramatic, no one's holding what happened against you."

"I know. I know." he waved his hands in front of him, perfectly contrite. "I just won't feel satisfied until I earned everyone's good graces is all. So getting stronger in...unique ways seems to be a good starting point."

Frowning, Mio had to give him that one.

Her blond did give out advice that inevitably produced something...'unique'.

Whether it be a new technique or a strange way of training.

She easily recalled the two things that she worked on while her brother was away in Kyoto, both of which were derived from his advice to her.

One with her physical body, the other with her magical abilities.

They both produced results, even if the magical part was especially weird.

Her insightful thoughts were interrupted then, by a clap in the shoulder by a blond who's charming smile was looking particularly strained right then.

"I should go." he said, eyes haunted. "I can tell that my fans are barely keeping themselves at bay now."

Wow. That sounded like that came from personal experience.

Moving at a sudden brisk pace, the bishōnen stiffly aimed to reach his first class of the day, doing his best to ignore the flood of hormonal teenagers trailing behind him as a crowd.

Meanwhile, Mio was practically forced to press herself against the wall so as to not get in the way of the mob, secretly sympathizing with her acquaintance's plight.

"...Shitty handsome blonds taking all of the girls...!"

"Yeah! Fuck every blond on the planet! Except for the bishoujos, we can keep them!"

The red-head sighed lowly when she overheard two out of the three of the infamous 'Perverted Trio', fully expecting to another unneeded comment from its final member.

"Huh? Oh...yeah. Definitely."

"Gah! Issei, what the fuck!? Your hate should be all-encompassing, not so damn lackluster!"

"Eh, don't worry about it, Motohama. Issei has mellowed out a lot after Asia showed up."

"Oh, right. Issei's popular now...you've changed so much, you traitor."

Somehow, she could hear the much stronger pervert's offended, yet vindicated grin. "Oh, my bad. I forgot that you guys don't know what it's like to hang out with a cute girl, you're right, I should be more careful with what I say from now on. Just so I don't hurt either of your feelings."

All she heard after that was the grunts and groans of two boys attempting to strangle the third, which seemed to be going poorly.

Not even bothering to turn around to look, Mio chuckled and began to take her first steps up the stairs, taking a quick glance at the clock that was up on the wall before it left her sight.

She couldn't wait until the school day was over.

"Are you ok, Buchou?"

Rias pretended to be deaf, focusing intently upon the lecture in front of her, leaving the woman next to her as an invisible specter to her senses.

"Ara...Buchou is moping again."

The Gremory twitched, but retained her feigned unawareness still, which was actually quite impressive, all things considered.

"Oh come now, are you still upset over what happened yesterday? To be frank, I believe that I saved Naruto-kun from humoring your manga obsession, you know?"

But even the king had her limits, and that low blow irritated her enough to practically erase the pen held within her fingers from existence.

Such power her queen of trolling held over her.

"...I'm going to let that one go." the red-head breathed, scowling. "Now drop it."

"Sorry, sorry." Akeno didn't sound too sorry. "I didn't try and spark a conversation just to make fun, actually I wanted to ask you a quick question."

Rias was almost afraid to ask. "...What?"

Leaning forward, the other member of the 'Two Great Ladies' of Kuoh Academy eyed her friend conspiratorially. "Are you also planning on checking out Mio-chan's date?"

The king finally rotated her head towards her friend's direction, looking almost offended. "What, is that a trick question? Of course I'm going to check out Mio-chan's date! Why, this is a momentous occasion for her! My kohai's first time, ostensibly!"

Taking a moment to scratch her cheek, the ravenette had to wonder whether her best friend realized that her kohai had technically gotten a date faster than she had.

How would she pull off the 'mature older woman' vibe with her now?

Deciding to leave Rias with her delusions, Akeno got right into the important matter at hand. "So, are we going to tell Naruto-kun?"

Shooting a bland look at the use of the word 'we', the high-class devil rolled her shoulders. "I'm sure that Mio-chan has told him already, so I doubt there's any need to go out of our way to tell him."

A dainty hand was placed upon the queen's lips, disguising her smile. "Imagine if Naruto-kun didn't know though, can you imagine?"

"I imagine that he'd want to interrogate Mio-chan's poor date." Rias pulled her collar, not wishing such a fate on anyone.

That poor boy would be pranked to oblivion.

"Besides." the red-head felt her lips tug, just a fraction. "I want to see if this guy is worth Mio-chan's time."

Akeno could definitely agree to that.

"Welp, I'm late again."

Naruto couldn't have sounded less interested if he tried as he made his comment.

He could have proclaimed himself to be the saddest of pandas, and he probably would have sounded more upset.

It seemed that his already lackluster interest in education had degraded beyond even that low bar. Really, it had reached a point where he was pretty much humoring certain people by showing up.

Training was a bit more important to him.

...That being said, he already did his best to skip classes, so that wasn't exactly an excuse or anything.

Cracking his jaw open in a yawn, the shinobi entered the school grounds with blurry vision, ignoring the obnoxious school bell in the process.

If nothing else, keeping the Student Council off his back was still a thing, so-

"There you are, Uzumaki!"

Speak of the devil.

Taking one last step before halting in front of the actual high school entrance, cerulean orbs took one look at the person standing in his way and groaned. "...What do you want so early in the morning, Saji-san?"

"It isn't early in the morning!" Saji; the sole male of the student council, countered. "And do you have any idea how long I've been going around the school, looking for you!?"

The shinobi blinked. "...How am I supposed to know that?"

"That was-" the Sitri pawn groaned, frustrated. "...Rhetorical. You know what, never mind. Just come with me for a second."

He spun around and began walking inside, his words becoming muffled as he extracted his phone from his pocket. "C'mon, Kaichou sent me to grab you. I'm sure that you'll want to see this anyway."

Interest piqued, the blond allowed himself to be led inside, not sensing anything wrong in the man's tone to indicate that he was being led into a trap.

One always had to be vigilant around the Student Council, especially as one that didn't always...adhere to the school's rules.

After a few minutes of walking through the halls of Kuoh Academy, the duo eventually made their way to their supposed destination. Which happened to be an empty classroom on the third floor.

Taking a moment to knock on the door in order to announce their presence, the pawn eventually went ahead and opened the door for the both of them, revealing a room as barren as Naruto expected.

Literally, it was a small and empty room that was just big enough to accommodate roughly ten people comfortably, bereft of nothing but a table in its center and a chair.

Which was occupied by the Student Council President.

Shit.

"The Shinobi Historical Society." the ravenette tested out the club name, sounding it out as an experiment. "Hmm...it works, Rias did you a favor in giving you the name, and in informing me of it."

The shinobi cracked a tight smile. "Good morning, Sona-kaichou. Did you set this up just for little old me?"

"Don't flatter yourself." was the dry reply, the young woman crossing her legs as she continued. "This is a necessary procedure so that there isn't any confusion for your new...'club'."

Ah. She was still sore about that, huh? "Alright, and this procedure is...?"

"An introduction to your new club headquarters." Sona stood up, arm gesturing at the entirety of the room. "This area is to be where you meet up for club activities, as well as engage in said activities...reasonably."

"Reasonably?"

"As in; without being too loud and disruptive to the people around you." the Sitri heiress clarified.

A simple request, really.

"Eh...doesn't sound too reasonable to me." the shinobi met her gaze uneasily, looking doubtful.

Saji turned to his king, expressing his own doubts. "Looks like the delinquent refuses to listen, Kaichou."

"I'm sorry, what? Are you asking for another bucket to be glued onto your head?"

"...Lets not be hasty."

Violet eyes flickered in-between both males, lamenting the idea that she had to actually explain why causing trouble was inherently unreasonable.

For goodness sake...what kind of life has he led to have even thought otherwise?

Even as she stewed in those thoughts though, the first hints of an upward twitch appeared at the edge of her lips. Her mood lightening at the thought of what was about to happen in a few seconds.

"Well..." she started, earning the attention of the delinquent blond away from the other teen he was practically browbeating. "To be perfectly honest, I doubt that I could convince you of what 'reasonable' was, so I suppose that I'll let someone else handle that impossible task."

A golden eyebrow was raised. "What the hell are you-?"

"Naruto."

Said spiky-haired youth froze, eyes becoming large and comically blank in comparison to his usual blue orbs as a familiar voice rang out behind him, acting like the sound of a cracking whip.

Slowly craning his neck to see a girl with narrowed yellow eyes and light blue hair regard him with crossed arms, the shinobi responded appropriately. "...Good morning, Yuki. How are you this fine morning?"

All he received as an answer was the incessant sound of a foot tapping the floor, bringing a creeping feeling of foreboding to the whiskered teen.

Something which wasn't helped when she opened her mouth. "Naruto...why haven't you been at class?"

"Uh-"

"I have been lenient, and have backed off from forcing you to partake in our tutoring sessions because of how emotionally battered you were following our return from Kyoto. And here you are, skipping your classes entirely."

"But I-"

"Not only that, but now you're here, inspecting the new club room when you should be at class, for no reason." Yuki exhaled lowly, gaze critical. "It seems that I have been too lenient."

"N-No! Wait! Please! My freedom!"

"It's gone. It's never coming back."

"Nooooo!"

Saji was wincing, becoming increasingly sympathetic as the human girl continued to pummel the other blond verbally, even if -in his opinion- he did totally deserve it.

But still, how did she even know that Uzumaki was even here-?

"Well, it looks like my revenge is complete."

The pawn turned around, eyes wide, jaw dropping at the sight of his king holding her cellphone loftily in the palm of her hand.

Did she-?

"Come now, Saji." Sona smiled, entirely satisfied with the sight in front of her. "You didn't really think that I'd like Uzumaki get away with what he did, did you?"

"R-Right." the reincarnated devil muttered, turning away with a shaky smile. "Of course."

He forgot how dangerous this woman could be.

Well...he supposed he at least figured out why she told him to text her as soon as he found the blond teen.

"Now, come. We have to make up all of the work that you have missed for the past week." Yuki was dragging a flailing blond as she walked out the door, ignoring his pleas all the while.

All Saji was able to see after that was the kicking of Naruto's feet as he rounded the door's corner. And all he was able to hear was the slowly fading begging and cajoling as they went further and further away.

"Welp." Sona spoke up, a noticeable spring in her step. "Let's get back to work, Saji. We still have to induct the clubs that have entered the Ball Tournament."

He definitely had to remember to keep his beautiful king happy with him...

Maria was glaring.

In her mind, she felt like she had a good reason to be glaring at the objects on the tiled floor.

Holding a broom with one hand, and a dust pan with the other, the succubus had just cause to regard the dust bunnies below her with a less than high esteem.

The damned things just refused to get inside the dust pan, if anything, they managed to go everywhere besides the place she wanted them to go.

Whether it be over, under, or around the dust pan.

What was up with that?

Grunting, the succubus promptly slammed the dust pan and broom on top of the garbage can, denting it in her annoyance and impatience.

Her annoyance for the present, and her impatience for the future.

When Mio-sama let her down in the middle of the night after tying her up again, whilst thankful, her timing of said action had given her pause. Piquing her curiosity.

Spoilers; you should never really pique the interest of a succubus with a penchant for photographing your embarrassing moments, lest you find something unsavory of yours on the internet.

Still, the red-head's timing had her wondering; why was she even awake at such a late hour?

There might have been a simpler explanation for her late night movements, but the guardian of the younger girl felt her pervy senses tingling, evoking a sense that her charge was hiding something juicy.

And oh boy...did it ever turn out to be just that!

With nothing but a crack through the red-head's door, the silverette spied a fretful teenaged girl staring at herself through a full-length mirror, with a dress in front of her body, overlapping her mirrored form.

Right before she carefully placing it on top of a chair's backrest, swiping it down for any loose wrinkles as if scared to make it anything less than perfect.

It was easily the most adorable thing she had ever seen.

Which was why she was keeping herself on standby, clearing up her schedule so that she could move out with her video camera at a moment's notice.

Besides, Naruto-sama told her not to stick around the house much during the evening anyway, for whatever reason.

Maybe he was giving her a weird directive because he was cranky in the morning?

Whatever the reason, the blond couldn't be too upset if she got into a bit of mischief, now could he?

He was just following directions after all.

Just thinking about the latter half of her day brought forth a delirious grin, looking forward to the future.

"Where are they!?"

Xenovia grunted, too busy chomping down on a pancake-like food called an 'okonomiyaki', savoring the mix of flavors that assaulted her taste buds. As well as the loss of her hunger pangs.

That being said, her munching was just as much an avoidance as it was a need to bring in much needed nutrients to her body. Since her partner wasn't exactly wrong to be frustrated by their lack of success.

There were just no clues of the missing holy sword fragments anywhere, no matter where or how long they looked.

And after that debacle at the local academy, they were understandably wary of going near that bastion of devilhood any time soon.

So they were now stuck, with no goal in sight, or even a viable path to take.

Beside the short-haired exorcist, her twin-tailed counterpart was visibly pouting at her now, annoyed at her friend's lackluster response to their predicament.

Taking her time to leisurely finish off her tasty meal, and allowing herself to bask in the glow of her thoroughly satisfied stomach, Xenovia finally turned to face Irina. "Don't pout, Irina. We may be rudderless for now, but I have faith that God will shepherd us towards the right direction, as long as we keep our faith."

Violet eyes lit up, regaining it's luster as she clasped her hands in prayer. "Oh! You're right, Xenovia! I was being foolish! As long as we retain our faith, God will definitely show us the way forward, so there's no need to be a worrywart, right? Oh, forgive me God, for I have doubted you!"

Xenovia nodded sharply, truly believing this line of thinking. They just needed to be patient.

The glow that the chestnut-haired woman had obtained when she began praying died away after a bit, leaving the duo in a comfortable silence, simply relaxing for that period of time before they moved again.

Irina broke that silence. "Hey...Xenovia, if it's alright with you, could we make a small detour?"

Breaking out of the pleasant atmosphere that was created, the bluenette glanced at her. "Hm?"

"W-Well..." the exorcist grabbed one of her twin-tails, fiddling with it. "You see, I had this friend back in the day, I may have mentioned him before, but I wanted to check if he still lived in this town. And since we're not doing anything right now..."

"Oh, right." the more serious of the pair planted her fist onto her palm in realization. "You did mention something like that before, I almost forgot."

Scrunching her face in thought, the young exorcist considered her friend's request, feeling her violet gaze figuratively burn holes through her skull. Such was her ally's determination to see her childhood friend.

Recognizing this, Xenovia rolled her eyes and threw her arms up into the air. "Fine, fine! It's not like we're really doing much anyway, so making a pit stop isn't a problem I suppose."

Who knew? Maybe this guy might have a clue about where the lost pieces of Excalibur were.

Naruto rubbed his fingers against the smooth and dry surface of the piece of paper he held in his clutches, groaning loudly at the sensation that grated against him.

"Naruto. Groaning about it won't help your position, might as well get started."

Raising his head, the shinobi groaned out in protest once more, if only to act like a pitiful last token of resistance.

But the hero wasn't having any of it. "Come on, we have a lot of things to cover, since you've been off gallivanting and doing who-knows-what for an entire week. If you're even going to pass the incoming final exams, we have to hustle."

Glum, the spiky-haired youth clicked his tongue as he began to glare at the series of questions that she, literally, must have made on the spot. "What are you so worried about? They are a ways away, and I could probably just find the answers to the damned things to-"

Naruto was jolted from completing his sentence when a finger tapped onto the flat top of the wooden desks they were leaning over just a little...harder than usual, courtesy from a silent Yuki. It's sound somehow drowning out his ramblings.

All this from person that, frankly, prided herself on keeping herself under control.

Drawing his gaze towards her warily, feeling like he may have gone too far this time around, his fear was only amplified when he saw her form tremble and her bangs shade her eyes from his view.

"...This may be a joke to you, Naruto. Focusing on school, that is." she spoke quietly, enunciating her words carefully as a single digit drummed against the desk, it's constant sound drowning out all else in the empty classroom. "But it's vital, you know that, right?"

"Well, ya see-"

"No." she was stressing her words now, her finger's movement was rising in tempo now. "If you want to live a life without danger, if you want to live outside the realm of the supernatural, if you want to have a normal life...then-"

Her finger finally placed too much pressure onto the wooden surface of the desk, acknowledged by the small structure thanks to the visible dent she had unknowingly left upon it.

"-it's necessary." she finished, jerking her neck up so that she could meet his sapphire eyes, her own pupils shaky and just a tad glassy.

All of which didn't detract from the genuine belief that she held in her statement.

Which, altogether, just served to confuse Naruto even more. "...Are you ok, Yuki?"

Lips thinning, the hero closed her eyes shut and centered herself for a second or two, slinking her arms back to her side and away from the innocent desk.

She stayed like that for a moment before glancing away. "...Naruto, do you want a peaceful life when you're older?"

Quirking an eyebrow, the shinobi crossed his arms. "Well...I guess that would depend on how the world looks like when I'm older, wouldn't it?"

Yuki nodded, raising her head again to meet his steady regard. "Peace, right? An admirable, if ambitious, goal for yourself. But, at the very least, you would want to have the option to back away from a life of fighting, wouldn't you?"

Naruto went quiet at that, considering the idea, forehead crinkling.

A time of his life that had nothing to do with conflict. Away from the constant fighting.

A period of time that excluded not just the vicious battles of his ninja career, but the mental and psychological ones that dotted his youth.

A time that could look just like the lives of the ordinary students from Kuoh Academy, where the most pressing of concerns revolved around teenaged hormones and part-time jobs.

He thought about it, all of it, and blinked. "That...actually doesn't sound so bad."

As soon as he made this statement, he felt his hands get cupped together by a smaller pair of hands, gripping him with surprising strength.

"Then you do understand..." the hero's eyes were soft, but quickly hardened thereafter. "Then please, do me a favor, Naruto. Even if you don't like it, even if it's annoying, I want you to actually go to school. To attend class."

Now Naruto was giving her an odd look, sounding a bit unnerved by this point. "Yuki, is there something wrong?"

She went silent, the barest twitch of her cheek indicating her restraint in speaking.

"Hey. Hey." the young man was officially leery now. "Come on, if you want to tell me what's going on, then I've got a spare ear, ya know?"

"No." Yuki's shoulder-length hair shifted a bit when she shook her head. "It isn't a big deal. There just seems to be a bit of a...misunderstanding back at the Hero Tribe HQ. I'm not sure what's going on, but it should be cleared up soon."

The blond became more alert the more he heard, leaning closer to her with narrowed eyes. "What the hell do you mean by 'should' be cleared up?"

"...It's a bit complicated." the young woman admitted eventually. "But I received an...interesting message last night from the higher ups, in regards to my status in Kuoh Town. Now there's a group coming by apparently, and I'm hoping that I could speak with them to resolve this clear misunderstanding. That's all."

Honestly speaking, the hero had no reason to believe that this newest development was anything permanent, since this role was given to her from the Great Hero himself. She earnestly had no reason to believe that this directive was rescinded, at least not without being informed about such a thing beforehand.

Even if her adopted father was still trying to...come to terms with the fact that his son by blood was still kicking, he still would've spoke to her about something like this.

Right?

Doing her utmost to ignore the nagging pit in her stomach, the bluenette chanced a look at the silent blond in front of her, seeking to study his reaction.

As expected, there was a prominent frown marring his features, pulling at his lips. "I...see. Well, if that's the case, then do you need some-?"

"No." Yuki knew her friend well enough to foresee his desire to help her, and definitely appreciated the sentiment if the warmth spreading across her chest was to be believed. "Like I said, I'm sure that this was just a misunderstanding. And bringing you along might make things more...complicated, what with your penchant for chaos."

Naruto flinched. "Uh...well...you're not wrong, I guess."

"I'm not, I assure you." the shadow that clouded over her expression evaporated, replaced by a genuine smile. "That being said; I'm grateful for your concern, truly. I'll solve this, and if I feel like I need some help...well, I'll know who to turn to."

"Good." the shinobi nodded firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. "As long as you understand that."

Fiddling with her skirt as she glanced downwards, she breathed out her next words quietly. "...I already understood that."

The ends of the young man's lips twitched upwards minutely, a hint of bashfulness leaking into his almost-smile.

"Alright..." with that, Naruto smoothly stood up from his seat, grinning at his introspective friend. "I better get moving, I gotta meet someone in a bit for some-"

"Hold it."

The whiskered teen paused mid-action, grin frozen in place as he cursed internally. So sure that he was being discreet about his escape.

Yuki was looking at him again, pinning him down with a blank stare, and pointed her index finger at the unoccupied chair that he has recently left. "Nice try."

Bowing his head in defeat, the shinobi slinked back into his seat, glumly glaring at the series of papers in front of him.

So focused was he in his spiteful state, that he almost didn't notice his friend move up beside him, her own seat in tow.

"Here; I'll study alongside you." Yuki nudged right up next to him, not at all fazed with the complete lack of personal space between the two.

Naruto, for his part, couldn't help but be self-conscious about it, but didn't say a word. Of which, had nothing to do with the fact that he liked the waft that entered his nose from being close to her.

Honest.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

Blue eyes turned to meet yellow, his grumpy temperament melting away under the genuine care in those eyes of hers. So much so that she cracked a smile out of him. "Yeah...let's."

Koneko was waiting.

Waiting at the exact spot where, just the other day, her head had fallen and broken apart a piece of the roof's cement floor when she fell unconscious.

Apparently, her foolish sempai had been too slow to catch her when she knocked herself out while standing, if he was to be believed at the very least.

Sometimes she wondered though, after all, it was well known to her that the older teen could be a bully.

Even if he swore up and down that that wasn't the case.

Regardless, while she has yet to learn how to use the technique that the older teen was teaching her, she has still managed to make great strides in her training.

She has actually formed the illusions by this point, even if they came out as haphazard messes that defied the human anatomy. She had never seen joints twist around like pretzels literally before...until then.

And apparently, she had done quite a bit better than her sempai's first clone, much to his obvious chagrin.

Armed with this sense of growing accomplishment, the young devil was planning on keeping up this pace that she has made for herself.

To that end, she continued to wait on the roof, mentally going over everything that she has learned, seeking new ways towards her goal while her free period ticked on by.

At least, right until she heard the door leading to the roof creak open behind her.

"Oh boy…that took longer than I thought it would…" a familiar voice remarked to himself, barely under his breath. "Oh good, I found ya."

Koneko turned on her heel, a nearly unnoticeable twitch reaching the ends of her lips. "…Ready?"

"To get back to training? Yeah, I guess." the blond didn't seem like he was in such a hurry to continue though, if the tired sigh was something to go off of. "Just give me a minute…Kiba pretty much ran me over with his words a second ago."

Hazel pools within the whites of the rook's eyes lit up at the mention of the formerly AWOL knight. "…What did he want?"

"Eh…" the shinobi airily waved away her interest. "Nothing really, he just asked me for a few tips in regard to his own training regimen. Apparently he's been a little too embarrassed to show up at the underground 'gym' at the same time as you guys."

The imperceptible twitch in the teenaged girl's cheek gave away her feelings on the matter. "…Shouldn't have to feel that way."

"I agree, but you know how he could be sometimes. For now, let's just give him his free space, eh?"

Koneko's stoic features didn't give anything away this time, even as she stayed silent about the suggestion, up until she met his eyes again. "Fine. Let's do this."

"Eager, are we?" the blond teased summarily, rolling his shoulders. "Not that that's a bad thing. That being said; let's not get too excited here. I'm only a clone here."

Eyebrows as white as snow inched higher up the loli's forehead. "…Where are you then?"

"The boss is currently getting his brain stuffed with all manners of shit, and will probably malfunction in about an hour." the clone remarked with a straight face. He wasn't kidding, he was dead serious.

Which was why the younger teen didn't deign to react to his words, choosing to simply get the show on the road, already aware of his…quirks.

If anything, she was getting used to him.

…Maybe that wasn't a good thing though.

The final bell of the day was ringing loudly, allowing anyone within a large radius to hear the iconic sound that marked the end of the school day.

Its range was impressive enough to reach even the fallen angel in the sky, a feat which Raynare was grateful for.

Hanging in the air with her twin wings folded and her arms crossed, the ravenette eyed the slow outpour of students that were leaving the premises critically, moving from head-to-head.

She would keep switching until she found a set of hair that stood out like a splash of orange paint on a white canvas.

Specifically, a head full of spiky golden hair, which could have only belonged to the most eccentric of individuals. Or so she was beginning to believe.

She was told by the part-time genius and part-time fool that she was living with to wait for him in Kuoh Academy after the school day was over, probably so that their little plan could go off without a hitch.

And she could definitely see the logic in this, seeing as exorcists were generally trained well enough to have attributes beyond normal human capabilities.

If she trailed after Freed immediately after he escaped, there was a chance that he'd notice her high in the sky, ruining her chance to find his master's hidden base. A possibility that neither of the conspirators wanted to risk.

So she waited, and would follow the personification of chaos until he gave her the go-ahead and the directions.

There was no way that she was going to sabotage herself after getting so close to the goal. Even if it grinded on her to know that her ticket to that secret base was probably getting ready to move soon.

She just needed to be patient, even if she didn't have much of that to begin with.

Her violet gaze snapped back down towards the school below, seeing a familiar flash of red running out of the building at top speed, like a madman. Or a madwoman, in this case.

Raynare was slightly curious about what could have possibly gotten over Naruse Mio, but quickly let go of her nascent curiosity in favor of closing her eyes in acquiescence. Already accepting the fact that she was going to wait a while for the blond to emerge.

She literally laid herself down on the air with her wings idly flapping to keep her afloat, keeping her senses open even as she relaxed, hoping that the sole human that she genuinely respected wouldn't take too long.

Emerald eyes peered inside the room where the mournful moans were coming from, just to check in one last time and make sure that the source of the noises wasn't actually bleeding out.

…

Alright, he was good.

The amnesiac hero rolled his shoulders as he began to walk away from the pitiful scene, not too surprised to see that nothing had changed since he had accidentally passed by it.

Even after he has gotten a tour around the school thanks to his childhood friend, he still managed to get lost in the massive high school.

The scarred youth frowned at the concept, a friend that he had during his childhood, which he couldn't recall for the life of him. At all.

It bothered him in some intrinsic way, to genuinely trust the word of someone that he wanted to trust, but whom he still considered to be a stranger. It was as if it was against what he was taught, if that made sense.

Still, he couldn't lie and say that the life that he led after waking up with nothing but fragmented memories was not…interesting, to say the least.

He was introduced to new people with quirky personalities, has forged a competitive streak with that perverted dragon guy, and was taken into the institution known as 'high school'.

If nothing else, Basara has been living a pretty fascinating life, as far as he could remember at least.

And now, he was meeting even more people, who seemed to be interested in him due to his sudden appearance in the middle of the school semester, as well as his close association with several notable students in the school.

As far as he could tell, this was the most relaxed environment that he has ever been a part of.

The amnesiac liked it, and he was pretty sure that he didn't like too many things.

He had the feeling that, while he was normally lax, he probably rarely had the chance to actually be relaxed. So it was a little understandable that when he had the opportunity to wind down, that he'd take it, even if a part of him rebelled at the idea.

So it was in this state that he had gotten repeatedly lost, and had eventually walked past the new torture room that Yuki had co-opted for her own use.

Initially, while he had instinctively winced in sympathy to the mop of golden spiky hair, he had thought nothing more of it.

At least until he ran into a certain red-head, who had immediately asked whether he had seen said mop of golden spiky hair anywhere, and seemed a tad too delighted to hear of his fate.

Now curious, he went to check to see if the guy was going to die or something, and was pleased to see that one of his new acquaintances was going to live to see another day.

Whatever was going on, and he was sure there was something going on, all he needed to know was whether everyone was going to come out alright by the end of it.

If something happened to these people who had let him live this nice life…then he wasn't sure what he'd do…

Mio was in a bit of a rush.

She had a limited time frame given to her so that she could get ready for her date, which would probably start as soon as Naruto actually got out of school. Thanks to Yuki.

While she pitied the blond, she was well aware that he was slacking in his schoolwork, so it was bound to come back to bite him in the ass eventually.

Mio may as well take advantage of the situation and prepare herself for the battle ahead.

In the end, this proved to be an unexpected boon, and he had to thank the new guy for giving her this vital piece of info. He was definitely going to fit right in to this ragtag group of theirs in her opinion.

Pink eyes lit up when she saw her home quickly come into view, becoming larger and larger in her field of vision, until she stepped in front of the front door and quickly unlocked the locks to get inside.

With practiced ease, she smoothly slipped inside and close the door behind her, giving a quick greeting to the surprised succubus that was in the middle of dusting the off the countertops before she disappeared into her room.

Taking a calming breath, the young woman divested herself of her school bag and took a gander at herself through her full length mirror.

She smiled at herself, sliding across the room towards the chair where her clothes were neatly folded upon, feeling the comfortable texture as she thumbed the fabric.

Mio owed her sempai big time for this, that was for sure.

"Ok, I suppose that we can finish up for now."

"Thank you!" Naruto cried out, lying back onto the seat's backrest as he stretched his arms out. "That was…more brutal than I remembered it to be."

"At least you've caught up with yesterday's workload." Yuki remarked without a hint of sympathy, peering at him through her long lashes. "You might not fail this semester at this rate."

"Always looking at the bright side, eh?" the shinobi collected the books and papers scattered across the table, organizing it so that his friend could get torture devices away from him as soon as possible.

He didn't want to read or even see a book ever again, if he were honest.

The hero smiled faintly before she slid her gaze towards the opened classroom door. "It seems to be pretty quiet outside…"

"Of course it is." the shinobi grumbled, raising the stack of papers and books and offering it to her with a distasteful expression. "The school day ended already, and everyone probably went back home by now."

He paused then, raising his head to look at the ceiling, wondering whether his clone was still working with Koneko on the roof, where they ostensibly were.

Probably, since he still felt the slight tingling sensations of chakra being used, even if it was pretty faint.

"Really?" Yuki sounded genuinely surprised. "Time flies when you're spending time helping your friends, hm?"

"Sure. Let's go with that." was the blond's bland reply. "Got anything planned for today?"

Taking the stack out of her friend's hands before he dropped it out of principle, the young woman considered his query for a good second or two. "Not necessarily. I'm planning on keeping my days open until this mess at HQ is resolved, I don't want to leave it to chance. You?"

"Eh." Naruto moved at a snail's pace as he walked out of the room. "You could say that. I'm gonna meet up with Mio for dinner for some quality family bonding time, or something like that. Though we haven't exactly pinned down a time yet, so I should be getting home soon so that we could figure that out."

Mid-sentence, Yuki went rigid as she listened, smoothly relaxing her tensed muscles as she fell into lockstep with her sole friend. Not including her resurfaced childhood friend. "I see…so it's like a date, then?"

Naruto gave her an odd look, closing the door behind them when they left the classroom. "Huh? Of course not, a date is with someone you like, right?"

Both of the students continued to walk down the empty hallway towards the entrance, the hero glancing at her companion with a degree of confusion. "Do you not like her?"

"Wait, what? No! Not like that!" the shinobi waved his hands in front of his face rapidly in an effort to dissuade her of her notion. "You only date when you…ya know, really like someone!"

"…Do you not like Mio?"

"Of course I do, just not in that way."

"What other way is there?"

Naruto opened his mouth, slammed it shut, and crossed his arm with a pursed lip.

"Uhh…well, that's-" he was actually kind of stumped by the question.

What other way was there exactly?

He supposed that his attempts at getting a date with Sakura-chan could be considered to be that kind of 'like', but his feelings in regards to his teammate seemed to be…less compelling after all of this time.

But outside of that, what else could be considered the right kind of 'like'?

"If you're not sure, try and figure that out while you're out with Mio then." Yuki suggested, sliding her gaze towards her friend's profile. "Maybe you'll be able to figure out what kinds of feeling are necessary for a date."

She rubbed her hands against her skirt in a quick motion, dispelling the bit of nervousness that spring up just then. "…Then…maybe…we could try it out?"

Naruto turned to the hero, blinking. "What? Go out for a meal? Eh…sure, why not I guess?"

The ends of the young woman's lips twisted upwards, her disposition lighting up like a small star, somehow making her neutral words seem more lively. "I see."

Unnoticeably, even to her, there was an extra spring to her step from then onward.

Meanwhile, the shinobi felt sweat trail down from his forehead, his skin glistening a bit in the low light.

He didn't even want to entertain the idea, let alone actually compare and contrast the glaring issue that he had just noticed.

"C-Could it be…?" he whispered under his breath, his cheek twitching. "That I'm actually as bad as Yuki, socially…?"

Just the sheer thought of it created a storm cloud over his head, depressing him.

As they left the school grounds, they would both receive stares thanks to their diametrically different attitudes in comparison to the other. Not that they cared.

Maria was ready to move.

Her charge had returned back home a while ago, and had just recently left the house with her new dress, a bit of a nervous wreck.

She still seemed excited though.

Which worked just fine for her, since that provided her with plenty of chances to capture Mio-sama's embarrassed face.

Now all she really had to do was wait for the man of the hour to arrive and-

"Oi! I'm home! You here, Mio!?"

Speak of the devil. "Hey there, Naruto-sama! Sorry, you just missed Mio-sama, she left a little while ago."

Naruto walked inside and closed the door behind him, looking disgruntled. "Damn. Any idea where she went?"

"I think that she went out towards the commercial district for your time together, Naruto-sama." the succubus offered playfully, planting her hand on her small hips. "What took you so long anyway? Mio-sama got here nearly two hours ago. It's…what? Almost five-thirty now?"

"Seriously?" the blond whipped out his phone, checking the time. "Damn. Yuki outdid herself this time."

"Did she now? I guess she aims to please, eh?"

"…No."

"Hm?"

A glower was pointedly aimed at her. "I know you. Just…no. It isn't like that."

Maria giggled. "If you say so~ Now try and change into something nice for your cute sister, otherwise I'll have to sneak into your bed tonight and steal your underwear!"

Naruto grimaced visibly at the idea. "I was gonna do that anyway, so please don't get any strange ideas."

"No promises!"

A roll of the eye later, and the shinobi was grumbling as he retreated into his room, intent on changing into something more comfortable, at the very least.

He doubted the silverette was serious when she claimed that Mio had changed into a nice dress, after all, why would she? They were just gonna get a bite to eat, that was all.

Shrugging loosely, the blond entered his private domain and started stripping, prepared to look at least a little presentable.

If only to get the loli off of his case.

Said loli was grinning from ear-to-ear, fingering the video recorder in her gothic skirt pocket, waiting for the memorable event to begin.

"Don't look so glum, Irina. I'm sure you'll see your childhood friend before we leave Japan."

The chestnut-haired exorcist returned her friend's encouragement with a grateful smile. "Yeah, I hope so. Honestly, I completely forgot that we went to Issei-kun's house while school was still on."

"That explains why we haven't seen much of those devils around either." Xenovia remarked, nodding reasonably at the idea. They weren't exactly in know about how the public education school system worked, seeing to their rather…unique backgrounds.

Both girls were casually walking back towards the commercial district after they visited one Hyoudou Issei's home, with nothing more than a reunion with his parents to show for it.

Of course, Irina was happy to see them again, but…

"Geez!" the twin-tailed girl blew her cheeks out in a pout.

Her partner just shrugged airily, eyeing the marked increase of people walking the streets around them as they neared the area of the town where all of the markets and restaurants laid.

Scanning through the crowds, she made sure to keep an eye out for the telltale signs of a trained fighter amongst the normal civilians in this inconspicuous town.

Even after these past few days of fruitless searches for the stolen Excalibur fragment, she refused to give up in her mission, or even to relax.

As her training dictated, she had to remain vigilant, at all times.

Now if only Irina would follow suit…

"Hey, Xenovia…isn't that guy familiar?"

Ironically, that split moment of thought distracted her enough to miss the young man that her compatriot pointed out, much to her embarrassment.

That feeling dissipated as soon as she zeroed in on him, easily recognizing his features. How could she forget after all? "He is, Irina. He is."

She didn't say another word afterwards, instead, Xenovia briskly walked into the rising crowd, doing her best not to lose sight of the individual that she had yet to truly thank for his help a few days back.

It wasn't too hard though, even if he was traversing through the crowd like an expert. What with his golden spiky hair, which happened to act like a beacon amongst the crowd.

"Eh? Eh? Wait! Where are you going, Xenovia!? Are you chasing after that guy!? Actually, now that I look at him again, I'm pretty sure that he looks just like that guy the other day-"

The blue-haired exorcist ignored her partner for a moment, aware that she was following her as she chased after the set of golden hair that was getting more and more distant.

"Ah-!"

A grunt later, Xenovia was forced to blink as a man accidentally pushed his elbow against her in his rush, offering a hasty apology as he continued his run.

Cracking her eyes open, she scanned the crowd; seeking the locks that stood out like she herself did amongst this Japanese population.

She scowled when she couldn't find any trace of it. She lost him.

Damn it.

"…Soooo." Irina let her words hang for a second. "He was important, right?"

Her partner groaned beside her.

"Look! There she is!"

"Ara, I'm aware, Buchou. She looks good."

"Of course she does!" the voice sounded a bit offended at first, before it switched to blatant pride. "I helped her choose it after all, and you know that I don't mess around with this sort of thing."

"No, you certainly don't." Akeno chose to humor her.

Both; Rias and Akeno were hanging around the commercial district for a relaxing day out, and were generally having a good time, even if they were occasionally interrupted by groups of horny boys.

And the occasional flirty girl every now and then.

Outside of those incidents, they were able to enjoy their time as teenaged girls, a rare occasion where they could wind down by hanging around in cafés and bookstores.

Now? They ran into the person where they were hoping to run into.

Mio-chan was minutely smoothing out her skirt, obviously trying to get rid of her excess nervous energy as she waited for her date at the transitional area between the residential area and markets within Kuoh Town.

Rias already made sure that the dress that the younger red-head was wearing was perfect for her, but she still had to admire her friend's look.

Mio was wearing an emerald-colored dress with a light flower pattern emblazoned on it, a style which contrasted nicely to her vibrant red hair and pink irises.

The dress extended right above her knees, leaving bare just enough legs to be a bit daring without coming off as too desperate, and the straps which held her clothes up hanged off of her thin biceps, allowing for her to show off a little bit of cleavage.

To top it off, due to cooler weather, she was wearing a light white sweater that had the dual effect of; warming her up, and stylizing her look even further.

All in all, Rias was impressed on how well Mio turned out in this older dress of hers, especially since it was actually a short summer dress for the high-class devil.

Whichever it was; whether Rias was too tall, or Mio was too short, the dress turned out more tasteful than it was originally intended.

And she swore that her kohai's date had better appreciate the effort that she put into this, or she might just-

"Buchou, look!" Akeno piped up, eyes widening from behind the crates they were hiding behind.

Rias pushed her sunglasses down her nose so that she could get a clearer picture on her kohai, seeing her body stiffen and her lips twist into a wide smile.

The high-class devil followed her line of sight, squinting to see what she saw through the small crowd, excited to see the man that captured a maiden's heart.

What she saw threw her off, her mind stuttering to a halt at the visage that pierced through the crowd and waved openly.

"That's…!" her queen breathed beside her, seeing the familiar young man.

There was no mistaking the blond spiky hair, the tanned skin, the cool blue eyes, or those whisker marks.

"Naruto!?" Rias murmured vehemently, craning her head over the crates they were hiding behind, her brown wool beret sliding off of her long crimson hair. So dumbfounded that she didn't even care about how stupid she looked.

Or the weird looks they were getting for that matter.

"Rias…" the ravenette started slowly, blinking rapidly at the scene before her, watching the blond gape at his sibling, before making a comment.

Whatever he said, it made the young woman beam.

"No. He can't be Mio-chan's date." the crimson-haired princess shook her head softly. "He must've found out about it somehow. Maybe he's trying to sabotage it?"

It was definitely a possibility, if one considered his overprotective nature, but she still couldn't shake the sinking feeling in her stomach as she watched the pair join hands and walk inside the commercial area.

They looked like a couple. They looked like a couple.

Both devils watched the siblings walk past their hiding spot, so within their own little world that they didn't notice them.

Watching them go up until they completely left their field of view, Rias jumped a bit when Akeno smoothly stood back up and grinned at her. "Well, we've seen who's Mio-chan's date is, let's get going."

"Wha-?" Rias was flabbergasted as she shot back up on her feet. "Wait, so we're just going to ignore this!? Akeno, those two are brother and sister! Even if they're not actually blood-related, that's still…that's still-!"

"Wrong?" the queen offered easily. She didn't sound too perturbed when she said it either.

"Yes!" the red-head hissed, unable to believe that she was even having this conversation.

Akeno inclined her head, peering up at her king through her long lashes as her pink lips formed a challenging smirk. "And I, for one, will relish in stealing him away from such a…forbidden relationship."

Rias flushed crimson, sputtering. "You…you!"

Shrugging, completely at ease with the unforeseen change, the other half of the famous 'Great Ladies' of Kuoh Academy sauntered away, garnering more than a few appreciative looks from some bystanders.

The Gremory heiress watched her go, grinding her teeth as she reigned in her infamous temper. Was there no one around her that was sane!?

Taking a moment for some deep breaths, Rias snapped her focus back towards where the two young adults were venturing further into their 'date', her features hardening.

She had to follow them, just to be sure that those two weren't doing something incredibly stupid.

And, silently, in her heart of hearts, to reassure her rapidly beating heart that she didn't just make a big mistake in helping her kohai out.

Naruto glanced at Mio through the side of his eye, a bit of sweat trailing down his forehead.

He had no idea how he should be acting right now.

When he followed Maria's directions and came to the commercial district, he was not expecting to see his sister dressed as she was. It seemed that the succubus' words in regards to his imouto's state of dress.

He hated it when she was right.

Still, he couldn't lie and claim that he wasn't left temporarily breathless at the sight of his sister, whom had definitely cleaned up nicely, and that honestly worried him a bit.

After he recovered enough to work his brain again, he waved at the younger teenager and complimented her looks, as he felt like he should. Not that it was in any way a lie.

The blinding smile that stretched from ear-to-ear made his earlier discomfort worth it.

Afterwards, Mio convinced him that they should hold hands in order to stay together, what with the crowd and all. And then went on their way to find something to do.

In the end, they never planned for anything for this event, which meant that they had to wing it.

Though, if he were honest, he suspected that neither of them really had a problem with this.

So there they were, walking hand-in-hand through the streets, ostensibly checking around for a nice restaurant to dine in.

Well, it turned out that only one of them was really looking for a restaurant. "Hey, Naruto? Are you familiar with this district?"

Hm? Small talk? Well…it wasn't a bad idea; they could kill some time as he looked around. "Not really, I don't usually hang around here dattebayo. I don't really know what we could eat around here off the top of my head. Sorry."

Unknown to him, she didn't exactly look too disappointed with that fact. "Hey, no worries! We didn't really plan this out or anything, so it's not like I expected anything mind-blowing."

Squeezing her brother's hand a bit, Mio smiled at him fondly through the side of her eye. "So…since no one is around, do you mind if we make a quick stop? I saw something online that I'd like to check."

"Hoh?" the shinobi met his family member's gaze, interested. "Is there something that you're hiding from everyone else?"

The red-head did nothing but offer an enigmatic smile, tugging at Naruto's hand to veer him away once they reached an intersection.

"…What are they doing?"

It was an honest question that Raynare muttered to herself, gaze shifting upon the numerous actors that were trailing a certain blond and his sister, feeling embarrassed on their behalf.

Is this what they called 'being embarrassed by just watching'?

If so, she wanted nothing to do with it, since their activities, at least when looked at from above, were just plain stupid.

The Gremory princess was following them from the ground, using her sunglasses and her fashionable beret to hide her identity, even if her long crimson hair acted like a blaring siren that cried out 'Rias Gremory!'.

A loli was hoping from building to building wielding some sort of device with a sloppy grin, looking as if she was about to squeal any second now, a bit of drool leaking from the edges of her lips as she occasionally giggled.

Finally, there were the subjects which had gained such scrutiny in the first place, both of whom seemed to be blissfully unaware of their stalkers.

Taking a glance at the animated teenagers that were jogging through the streets; one of which had the widest and most carefree of smiles in the world, and the other who was looking extraordinarily indulgent, she had to glance away. Clicking her tongue in disgust.

"Whatever." she dismissed, closing her eyes shut as she lackadaisically floated above the clouds, waiting for the signal to get the real evening to get started.

Unknown to her, if she had continued to pay attention towards the happenings down below, the fallen angel might have found another group that ended up stalking the pair later on.

"…What the hell is this?"

"Hm? This? Isn't it obvious?"

"Not really…"

Mio grinned at him then, eyes lighting up at the perfect opportunity presented to her. "Alright then, while I'm also new to this kind of place, I know enough to show you around for once."

Still clinging onto his hand, the shinobi was limply dragged inside the strange place they found themselves in, his eyes taking in the sights.

Within the building's walls were machines as far as the eye could see, it's screens displaying strange things that he had never seen before.

They weren't television shows; that was for sure, the strange sticks and buttons on the machines belayed that notion neatly.

More than that, there were quite a lot of people animatedly using these machines, sometimes in groups where loud chanting and cheers rang out every now and again.

Naruto's eyes lit up in recognition. "Mio, are we in a casino!?"

If that was the case, then this would be a perfect chance for him to reinforce his finances. He was looking a little low.

Then again…his bed was a little more comfy now that he had spent so much money.

Thinking on it, he should probably find a better spot for all of his somewhat-legally acquired yen.

Craning her neck to look at the blond behind her with a confounded look, the devil hybrid had to seriously wonder what kind of life he led to know what a casino was when he didn't even know what this was.

Pink eyes sharpened in determination at the prospect of finding out.

"Not quite." Mio eventually replied, digging her hand into her small dress pockets to fetch her wallet.

Refusing to elaborate further, the younger teen placed money into one of the machines which, for whatever reason, didn't have a screen like the other ones.

Naruto frowned when the machine took her money, spitting out coins in return. "Are you sure this isn't a casino?"

"I'm sure." the red-head inspected the coins she had before scanning the series of machines, grinning when she spotted a specific one. "Come on, let's try that one."

Naruto followed her gaze, raising a brow at the name emblazoned dramatically on the side of the machine. "The hell is a 'Mario Kart'?"

"Not sure!" the hybrid piped without shame. "I'm new to this kind of stuff too, so I'm excited to see what it's about!"

Mio was definitely excited, that was for sure. After trying her sempai's video game console, Mio found herself engrossed in the virtual reality that the machine presented, so she found herself curious...

So she ventured to try one of these arcades, with her blond in tow, if only to get him to give it a try.

Nudging him a bit, the young woman moved into one of the seats and input some coins; patting the seat beside her once she was ready.

Glancing at the machine doubtfully, but complied with insistent patting on his chosen seat, plopping down as the red-head pushed coins into his own 'Mario Kart'.

Inspecting the controls for a few moments, especially the steering wheel and the colorful buttons, the blond just gave in with a shrug.

What was the harm in trying this thing out?

"Wait! Wait! What is that annoying sound? What is that red-!? Gah! A red shell!? What the fuck!?"

Naruto jammed his foot onto the pedal, his fingers digging into the rubber of the steering wheel as he saw his character; some sort of green dinosaur, tumble as a red turtle shell smashed into him.

He was trying really hard not to break this machine right now.

Who in their right mind would play this thing!? It was frustrating as all-!

"Wha-? No. No! That fucking princess! She threw that, right!? She's about to-!"

The grandiose letters that spelled the word 'Finish' occupied the center of his screen, announcing the end of the race as a list of the players involved scrolled down to reveal who was in what place.

As was typical, the blond found himself in last place, in no small part thanks to that damned red shell thrown by that damned pink princess.

"Oh! I managed to get seventh place!"

Naruto felt like he was having whiplash after he snapped his head to the side to gape at his sister. "Wait, so that means that that was you!? You threw that red shell!?"

Mio blinked, and then opened her mouth with an expression that displayed her surprise. "Oh…so that was you?"

"Bastard!" the shinobi was incensed now! "I demand a rematch on a different game dattebayo!"

"Nani!?"

"Ha! I won again!"

Naruto's cheeks twitched viciously, his rising blood pressure forcing him to take a deep breath lest he smash the machines.

Why couldn't he beat her in these arcade games of hers!?

First it was Mario Kart, then it was some sort of dance-off game, and then it was this Street Fighter game.

Ever since that dancing game they had somehow garnered some attention from the other patrons, probably due to his exacerbated grunts at losing time and time again. His competitive nature getting the better of him as he challenged his sister again and again.

He had to wipe that borderline smug smile off of her face, as was his duty as her older brother.

The shinobi failed in that duty utterly, and was so frustrated with his failures that he had basically dragged Mio to another game.

Now? The blond was glaring at the screen as his character with the white gi jumped over the low kick given by Mio's avatar, prepared to quickly jam the jab button to begin his newest combo.

But before he could time his attack just right and whittle down the fighter's health a bit more, he saw the background darken and a blue energy begin to concentrate on the enemy avatar.

He hastily punched the jab attack button as Mio's fighter; a Tenten lookalike, swiftly moved forward to attack, some weird blue afterimages following her movements.

His character summarily smashed around with the ensuing combo, forcing him to watch whatever little health his character had left whittle down to nothing.

The machine's following declaration of a KO only cemented his latest defeat, much to his eternal humiliation. He could practically sense the borderline concieted look that she was throwing at him.

Not that he could really blame her. He couldn't remember the last time he was bested so completely before.

"This is bullshit." he growled lowly, crossing his arms as he leaned back into his chair, ignoring the cheers going off behind him.

"Oh come on, don't be like that." the young woman patted his back soothingly, her tinkling laughter making him twitch. "If you want, we can take a break from this-?"

"Let's do that." Naruto cut in, looking at her seriously. "My pride can't take much more of this."

Mio smiled teasingly. "You got it, but I can't lie and say that it wasn't nice to beat you at something for once. Come on, let's check the food stands. I'm pretty hungry."

Not seeing anything wrong with this, the blond took the red-head's hand and pulled her with him as he veered away from the crowd that they had inadvertently made, neither of them aware of the pair of eyes that were unerringly focused upon them.

Rias sighed for what must have been the umpteenth time, decidedly annoyed with her own behavior as well as the overall behavior of the two individuals she was following.

She felt stupid right about now, to be frank.

The Gremory heiress was very much concerned about her kohai's 'date', a feeling that was magnified by several leagues once she saw the boy she was helping her seduce.

So she followed them, watched them, and studied them. All of this so that she could intervene at just the right moment to stop the two of them from making a very big mistake.

But now that she had watched them…she wasn't sure if she had anything to worry about anymore.

They haven't really done anything that seemed too outlandish, if anything; this seemed like a friendly time between siblings.

Thus; Rias was relieved, but was also irritated with herself for letting this outing get to her like this.

This looked harmless by any stretch of the imagination.

Pushing off of the arcade machine that she was hiding behind, the young woman tried to retain her dignity by backing off. Using the chance to leave now that she had the chance.

Taking another glance at the two teens that were moving towards the other end of the building, she felt her features tighten once again, a coil in her belly becoming tauter the longer she watched them.

The crimson-haired woman had a clue of why, buy she felt that the answer was one conclusion that she didn't want to reach. It would bring in more problems than it would solve.

Hesitating only minutely, Rias turned on the spot and began her trek out of the building, doing her utmost not to look back.

She was resolute in this, even if the idea of what those two could possibly do alone tasted like bile in her throat.

Rias trusted them that much was true, but they were still teenagers; and teenagers were prone to doing stupid things. And the idea of them doing said stupid things did an excellent job in raising her blood pressure.

With another sigh, she recalled how Mio-chan smirked victoriously as she won another game against the blond in Mario Kart, laughing at the half-hearted glare he shot at her.

And the crimson-haired princess couldn't help but see herself in that same exact spot, laughing at the petulant look that crossed the young man's features, before she slid her hand inbetween his and squeezed in reassurance right as she leaned in to-

Oh dear.

Oh dear.

Rias shuffled out a tad faster now, praying –ironically- that her disguise would mask her steaming cheeks.

She had some things to think about, and staying where she was only made 'thinking' in general more difficult a concept.

Mio took a moment to appreciate the situation she was in.

The red-head was in an arcade, sitting in the restaurant portion of said arcade, and was wearing a pretty decent dress for the occasion.

Put bluntly; she was overdressed for the occasion, and the strange looks she sometimes received proved that.

And yet, for all of the preparation she set into looking just right for this date, they haven't really done more than have some simple fun. This far more casual than she thought this could be.

She couldn't find any fault in that, to the contrary actually. The hybrid preferred it.

Turning towards her date, she found her lips twisting upwards fondly at his almost clinical interest in the gooey cheese that was slipping off of his western-styled pizza.

"Is it supposed to be like this?" Naruto questioned her, pinching the cheese and pulling it, eyes going wide as it stretched like rubber.

"Yeah. Smells a little funky, but it's good. Try it." she prompted, raising her own pizza and chomping on the tip without reserve.

Following her lead after a brief pause, Naruto plucked the melted cheese off of the food and popped it into his mouth, chewing it experimentally.

He blinked, a series of emotions flittering through his blue orbs, before settling onto glee. "Hey! This is pretty good! I mean, not as good as ramen, but pretty high up there!"

Digging in with gusto now, the young man inhaled the tasty junk food, savoring the mix of flavors that touched his taste buds.

Mio stopped eating to stare at the spectacle in front of her, marveling at the sight that she should've been used to by now. "You've really never had pizza before now?"

"Uh-uh." the blond managed to speak despite stuffing his face. "Only ever had food that I was used to back at the village. I'm a bit of a picky guy dattebayo."

The red-head jolted a bit, her eyes widening before she forced her features to smooth out into a mask of neutrality, not wishing to push too hard. "So…I guess that the village you lived in was pretty isolated, huh?"

About to take another bite into the pizza, the shinobi's teeth froze right before they were about to make contact, the light of recognition flashing through his irises.

Placing his food down, the young man met his sister's gaze steadily, staying quiet for a moment. "Now that I think about it, I've never talked about my village, huh?"

Mio shifted in her seat, lowering her head so that she may peek up through her bangs. "Not really…and…you know, I'm kinda curious. Especially ever since-"

"Ever since that time you went into my room without asking?" was the shinobi's dry reminder, crossing his arms.

"Well, yeah."

Arms still crossed, the young man leaned back into his seat, not saying a word as he studied the teen on the other side of the table. A rare serious tint in his silent regard.

Mio couldn't help but squirm a bit under his stare, unnerved, yet unwilling to stand down. Not this time.

She recalled how he asked of her to be patient with him before he told her anything about his past back when she checked his room in what felt like a lifetime ago. Remembered how she acquiesced, for his sake.

This time around she wasn't going to back down quite as easily.

Naruto must've seen her growing resolve, which stood in sharp contrast to her occasional nervous twitch, because he sighed folded his arms over the table. "…Alright. I guess you've been patient enough, huh?"

Mouth dry, the devil hybrid almost couldn't believe what she just heard. "…Are you sure? I don't want you to force yourself…"

"Nah, it's fine." waving away her concerns, the shinobi huffed. "The time feels right anyway, since everyone seems to be curious about my time before Kuoh recently, for whatever reason."

Squinting at this piece of information, unaware of this factoid, Mio took in stride afterwards and shrugged. "Maybe we just care?"

"Maybe." cerulean eyes lit up in amusement, and then narrowed a bit. "That being said, I don't want to go into specifics too much. That's not gonna change."

"Fine." while learning everything about this incredible man in front of her would be preferable, she wouldn't risk learning anything about him for…well…anything, frankly.

Nodding, the whiskered teen took a second to check his surroundings, finding it suitably isolated, and then took a breath. "…Alright, I guess I should give an overview, or something?"

Licking dry lips, the red-head nodded, unconsciously leaning in.

"…I guess, to start with; I was born on the tenth of October in my home village, where children are trained at an early age to harness the power that I use to this day." Naruto began, eyes glazing over as memories flashed him by. "My childhood wasn't…easy, to say the least."

Ignoring the marginal widening of his listener's eyes, he continued. "I was a little prankster, always doing as much as I could to get everyone's attention in the village, even their complete derision. As I'm sure you can tell; I wasn't very popular with the average villager."

Mio's face tightened, taking in every piece of information, storing it to go through later. Choosing to connect the dots later in order to listen now.

"Because of the lack of…respect the villagers showed me, I would dedicate my life to make them see me as one of their own. To prove myself to them, no matter what." the shinobi sounded wistful, staring ahead at things that only he could see. "No matter how hard the task."

For the first time since he started his story, his attention snapped back into the present, a wry grin being formed upon his lips. "To be honest with ya, I've been through things that I had no right to get through in one piece. I think I'm pretty badass for even being here dattebayo!"

He chuckled after that, meaning for that little tidbit to serve as a bit of light self-deprecating humor.

But the suddenly dry mouth that Mio had could've informed anyone about her opinion about his 'joke'.

She didn't necessarily want to think about it then and there, but this little bit just couldn't be ignored.

For all intents and purposes, Naruto had just expressed that he has been through things that should've taken him down. Something that, by itself, would've been alarming to hear at best.

But the simple fact that he said that as a teenager…could've only meant that he faced extreme violence as nothing more than a child. A child.

"You…" the younger teen shook her head at a snail's pace. "Just…how…how can you say something like that so casually?"

What child ever had to prove themselves to their community? What child ever faced such violence as to be 'lucky' to even be alright as a teenager?

It was mind boggling. No, actually it was downright infuriating.

"…Circumstances." Naruto replied solemnly, setting his sights on the hybrid. "Sometimes you can't do shit about your circumstances, so all you can do is deal with it. I'm sure that you, of all people, get that, right?"

Taking a deep breath, images of an easier time dancing in her head, the daughter of the Original Lucifer turned away. Uncomfortable. "…I guess."

She went quiet after that, in her own little world as she contemplated all she heard so far.

Meanwhile, the blond leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms behind his head. "Well, it wasn't all bad."

Raising her head, Mio frowned, waiting.

With a new genial air, the whiskered teen smirked. "I found people like you, right? I found people who accepted me, and to me; that's what's important."

Mio flushed turning away again, grumbling. "How can you say something so cheesy with a straight face?"

Naruto's smirk grew wider, giving her a knowing look. "You should know why, Mio."

She did. She did know.

He told her a while ago, in the middle of a forest owned by her fellow red-head after she followed him out of curiosity.

Her sibling called them; precious people, and counted her as someone that deserved such a distinction, having no shame in saying as such.

Just recalling it made her feel lightheaded and brought a smile to her face.

She knew that he held such people in the highest regard, but now she was a little curious about what he defined as 'precious'. "Hey, Naruto? What exactly did you mean by 'precious people' back then? Like…am I family to you? A friend? What exactly?"

Eyelids fluttering, the blond cupped his chin in thought. "Ah, I suppose I didn't clarify that, did I? Well…I suppose that, for me, a precious person is someone I am emotionally attached to. A friend, really. And I consider my friends to be my family, since I didn't really have one to begin with."

Mio released her breath, clenching her fists. "You once called me that; a precious person, so what am I to you, exactly?"

"A friend, of course! Which just so happens to technically be my adopted family." the shinobi didn't hesitate in his characterization, not seeing anything wrong with it.

Mio felt a little differently. "…And is that all you see me as?"

For the first time in this conversation, her brother faltered a bit. "Uh, well…what else is there?"

Slipping out of her seat, the young woman grabbed her seat and began walking at a steady gait around the table. "I mean, surely there are people that you consider precious that aren't in those categories?"

"Are there?" Naruto sounded out, doubtful, not really minding the fact that the red-head was dragging her seat around the table towards him. "I mean, what's more important than family dattebayo?"

Reaching a spot by his side, the half-devil sat on the seat that was a little too close to him for comfort, her gaze unwaveringly upon him. "…Haven't you loved anyone before?"

The ends of the shinobi's lips twisted downwards. "Loved? I mean, I loved my friends, so-"

"No. Not that kind of love; I mean the love between a man and a woman."

Whatever words Naruto could've given her died before they came out.

He was about to mention a pink-haired teammate of his as proof that, yes, he has loved someone before. Who hasn't after all?

But thinking about it, was those emotions that kind of feeling? Was it really?

He cared for her, he knew that well enough. But it suddenly felt…premature to call that love of all things.

"So you haven't?"

Naruto jolted a bit, taken aback when he veered his attention back onto his sister. His –adopted- sister.

Mio was leaning closer to him now, pink eyes wide, shimmering with something underneath those pink orbs. "Naruto…I want to know; is brother and sister the only thing we can be? The best our relationship can go?"

Now officially uncomfortable, blue eyes found the décor of the floor interesting all of a sudden. "Ok, I don't know what's going on, but from my experience; a family relationship is the best thing we could hope for in our relationship with one another. So there's no need to-"

"We can still be family." Mio's cheeks were red now, face inching closer to him, breathless. "But maybe there's something…better than friendship."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't. But I'm willing to find out."

"And how exactly are you going to-?"

Naruto's words were cut off when he finally turned away from the table, finding Mio's face so close that he could easily bump noses with her.

Hell, he actually considered it for a split second.

"L-" the young woman faltered now, her words caught in her throat as she tried to stifle the extreme heat she was exerting. Though, she eventually managed to stutter out her last words. "Let's figure that out; if there's…more. Together."

The shinobi's breath quickened a bit, saying nothing as he stared at the pink eyes that were inching closer, throat dry at the implication. "Well…that's-

Licking dry lips, Mio offered a small smile. "Scared?"

This time their noses were touching. "…Actually, a bit, yeah."

"Good." she murmured, swallowing her doubts and hardening her resolve. "I am too."

The hybrid surged forward, and she jolted a bit from the electricity that coursed through her following her actions.

It was the mildest of touches, the slightest of brushes, but it happened. She had just done it.

Her lips were lightly pressed against another pair, earning a jerk from her blond fool as he inhaled, unable to believe or comprehend her audacity.

Not that she wasn't about to die from embarrassment or shame or anything, and her heart rate was definitely beating a rate that was generally considered unhealthy.

But, oddly enough, or not so oddly enough, she didn't care. Not now, not with the pleasant tingle that ran down her spine.

And especially not when Naruto recovered from his shock and leaned closer, tentatively brushing against her lips just a bit-

"Hold it!"

The magic died.

Naruto yelped and scrambled away as if he was caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, snapping his gaze towards the source of the voice with the intent on explaining away what had just happened.

His words died before he could even begin to formulate them. "Y-You…!"

Mio was nowhere near so kind, as her underlying shyness and embarrassment was quickly being overturned by self-righteous anger. "…Who the hell are you?"

Xenovia grabbed Irina's arm and, with a quick jerk, dragged her into the side of the small store that they were about to pass, cupping her partner's mouth before she could yelp.

The exorcist didn't say a word, she only narrowed her eyes at the sight of the long crimson hair that was trailing past them, head down, in her own little world.

There was no way that either of them could forget that incredibly distinct hair anytime soon.

"That's…Gremory-san!" the chestnut-haired warrior gasped after pulling her friend's hand away from her mouth. "What's she doing here?"

"I don't know." dark yellow eyes slid towards the building that the devil was walking out of when she spotted her, suspicious. "She came from that building, whatever it is."

"Ohhh…" the other woman looked at it in wonder. "It looks like a funhouse!"

"Funhouse?"

"I don't remember what it was actually called, since it's been so long since I've lived in Japan." Irina admitted, studying the building and the lights that were flaring inside. "But I remember wanting to try it with Issei-kun, and that everyone who went inside said it was fun. So that's just kinda how I remember it."

"I see." the bluenette nodded reasonably, understanding the logic. "Then let's check this funhouse for a second, just to see what Gremory-san is up to. After that; we keep looking for that boy from before."

"Right!"

Walking up to the funhouse entrance, both women openly gaped at the flashing lights and loud noises that were coming from the numerous machines laid about haphazardly.

The general chaos of the building's interior was only amplified by the groups of young adults that were congregating in large and small groups, their conversations lapping over the noises coming from the many devices in the large room.

It was quite the sight, and Irina was wholeheartedly taking it all in, in awe of it all.

She was pretty sure that it wasn't like this when she was a kid!

Xenovia, on the other hand, had recovered her bearings enough to focus on her task and check the area, seeing if there was anything that could have possibly interested a devil of such high-standing.

At first, outside of the generally loose morals that were sometimes in display due to some drunken groups of young adults, there didn't seem to be anything too suspicious. Which was why she moved to open her mouth to call her partner, ready to announce her findings.

Right until her dark yellow pupils made contact with a shock of golden spikes.

She recognized those spikes anywhere, even in the din of the darkened funhouse of debauchery.

As soon as she noticed that boy's unique hairstyle though, she noticed something else that stood out just as much.

A flash of red, near crimson really, made the young Church-aligned warrior tense in recognition.

It wasn't the Gremory girl, it was someone else. Someone that looked similar to her, yes, but also felt similar to that woman as well.

Thanks to her training as an agent of the Church, Xenovia was somewhat skilled in telling the difference between humans and devils. This was only the case if she was alerted to their presence, however.

And she was currently very alert. If this woman wasn't a devil, then she was, at the very least, around them very often.

Taking in the scene that the two young adults were in made the teen with shoulder-length hair narrow her dark yellow eyes, newly suspicious.

Why was that Gremory devil in this building in the first place? Surely a devil of her stature didn't go anywhere unless it was to her benefit…right?

It was in that moment of thought that she saw the red-head move her seat next to the blond, leaning closer to him as she whispered something with a red face.

Something clicked in Xenovia's head when she registered the dazed look in the blond's cerulean eyes.

"She must be trying to control him…!" she whispered vehemently, her fingers digging into the cold surface of the machine she was hiding behind.

Seeing the woman lean ever closer to the man who aided them when they were near starvation when he didn't have to, all while aware that this woman didn't have the best of intentions brought forth feelings of righteous anger.

While this man obviously wasn't a Christian like she was, he helped her in her hour of need, even if he was a bit resistant to it.

Such generosity, even from a non-believer, could not be allowed to go unrewarded.

Striding forward with intent, Xenovia moved across the building and moved into the small restaurant portion of the 'funhouse', hands clenching into fists when lips met.

Slamming her hand against the flat end of the table they were on, Xenovia barked. "Hold it!"

As if a spell was broken, the spiky-haired youth that she personally owed jumped away from the –possible- devil, breathless and shaken.

His eyes snapped to her, looking far more vulnerable than she figured someone as confident as him could be. "Y-You…!"

The suspected devil on the other hand, changed from an innocent fifteen-year old girl into a very, very angry woman in an extremely short time. "…Who the hell are you?"

"Someone that will not let you have your way." the exorcist retorted, glaring at the other woman openly. "I know what you're doing to him, and I won't let you have your way."

"What the hell are you talking about!?" the girl growled, her flushed features full of repressed anger. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're butting in our date. So if you can leave, that'd be really appreciated."

The human woman didn't say a word right up until she saddled closer to the table, specifically; to the suspected devil. "Not until you leave him alone, devil."

Inhaling sharply, the other woman visibly gaped at her now. "H-How did you-?"

Smirking in triumph at this correct presumption, Xenovia leaned even closer to the devil, placing her hand onto her shoulder as she spoke to her quietly. "I don't know what you're up to, devil, but whatever it is; it stops now."

"I'm not-" Mio jerked away from the hand, trying to shake away from the unknown woman's grip. "-doing anything like that! Let go of me and leave us alone!"

"Hey!" Naruto finally cut in, alarmed by the physical altercation that was brewing right in front of his face. "Look, I don't know how you two know each other, but I need you two to calm down! And you…wait, I know you, right? Why the hell are you-?"

The shinobi's words flew right over both; Mio's and Xenovia's heads, busy with one another as the red-head grunted once she sharply pulled away from the blue-haired menace.

Refusing to let go, if out of sheer stubbornness, the exorcist felt her balance slip at the abrupt movement, resulting in her hips slamming into the edge of the table.

As a result, the table was literally pushed over to its side, spilling its contents onto the floor and anyone that was in its way.

In this case; all over Mio.

Feeling the shock of something cold splash over her, the hybrid gasped as she took a couple of shaky steps back from the topped table, shivering.

At first, she shivered out of abject shock.

That shock evaporated quickly when she gazed upon her ruined clothes, sticky thanks to the soda that was now all over it.

Naruto also stared; quiet, before rounding viciously onto the newcomer. "What the hell is your problem!?"

Even Xenovia looked a little taken aback by the scene.

Growling at her silence, the shinobi was about to start a tirade at her. He may have been frustrated by his sister's actions, but this woman, even if she was familiar to him, still had no right to talk to his family like that.

"…you."

Hearing the quiet voice brought a chill down Naruto's spine; partially because of who it was coming from, and partially because there was something genuinely…malefic in her tone's undertone.

Turning as one, the two teens watched the red-head warily, her visage blocked by her bangs as her form shook in mute rage, looking for all the world like she was a ticking time bomb that was about to explode.

Oh, how right that observation turned out to be.

Everything about the situation around her had rightly angered the red-head, pushing her buttons so successfully that she couldn't even see straight let alone think properly.

But it was more than the humiliation. More than the rude behavior.

It was the timing.

More than anything else in a while, the hybrid was looking forward to this date of theirs. Looking forward to see more of the man that she trusted so readily.

Eager to have a fun time with him. Just the two of them.

And more; so much more.

That first tantalizing taste of what could be; something that she didn't even know she desired right up until she was leaning closer to the blond.

All of which was cruelly stripped away by this random bitch.

Perhaps it was the culmination of all of the stress she had managed to accumulate, as well as all of the private fears she was nursing…

But something, deep inside, something primal just sort of…took control.

This explained why the blond among them looked like he was stepping on eggshells as he shuffled closer to her. "Mio…"

"…dare you…"

Xenovia suddenly felt glad that she had access to her Excalibur piece, as she was intensely aware of the build-up of power coming from the devil.

And then, Mio screamed. "How dare you!"

It was as if a wave of energy had followed after her scream, bodily slamming against Naruto as he gasped, forcing him to stick his feet to the ground using his chakra.

Or, at least, to attempt to.

To his astonishment and confusion, instead of sticking to the ground as he normally would, he found himself...adrift. Floating. Bereft of all weight. Something that's never happened before, even if he was a little slow to react this time around.

It wasn't just him either, all around him, everything and anything had suddenly lost its grounding, floating in the middle of the air as if they were in a simulation in outer space.

And the source of this phenomenon was not too hard to find.

Standing in a limp fashion, Mio's eyes were wide open as she blankly gazed upon the world in front of her, the laws of physics being disobeyed blatantly without repercussions.

Despite such incredible sights being available to her, her expression didn't move away from her default blank look. It was as if she wasn't even aware of what she was looking at.

A conclusion that the shinobi reached after getting one clear look at his sister's face. "M-Mio? Are you ok?"

Silence and a blank look that wasn't even aimed at him was all he received.

"Mio!?"

A twitch of the lip, barely a response, really.

It was enough.

The aura that surrounded the hybrid; some sort of ethereal blazing outline that emerged following her scream, collapsed. Fracturing into nothing as soon as she gasped.

With its departure, Mio fell.

Everything else around them fell right along with her.

Cries of astonishment and fear echoed across the establishment, disoriented due to the strange phenomenom that affected everyone inside.

Screams about earthquakes and the like were bandied about, using conventional knowledge to explain the impossible.

Naruto didn't have time for that, too busy as he was catching his family member before she slammed head-first into the ground.

Carefully propping the young woman using his forearm, blue eyes peered down on her peaceful looks, wondering what the hell had just happened then.

Then he turned to the cause of this mini disaster and glared at her, words biting. "I suggest you leave now. While you still can."

Xenovia visibly straightened her back, but didn't say a word, glancing away. Chastised.

"…Yes." she eventually conceded, turning on her heel to leave the way she came with her cloak billowing about her.

Watching her leave for a few more seconds, Naruto turned all of his attention onto Mio, combing some stray bangs away. Wondering why she did what she did.

He wasn't just thinking about the whole 'defy physics' part.

"Naruto-sama!"

Brows raising, the shinobi tilted his head to see a familiar face running up to them, somehow not surprised to her at all. "Were you following us?"

"Y-Yeah, sorry." Maria sheepishly apologized, before focusing on her unconscious charge. "What happened? What set Mio-sama off?"

"This happened before?"

"Yeah. Once. When Mio-sama watched her adopted parents get killed."

Sympathy bled from blue irises, leading into a hollow sigh. "…I see. Well, I guess that means that this dinner of ours will have to be cancelled for now, huh? Care to take her home for me, Maria?"

"Sure." the succubus smiled slightly, before frowning. "What about you, Naruto-sama?"

"Well…" his frown deepened. "Originally, I was going to use this time to have fun with Mio, but since the rest of my day is free; I may as well get that Underworld problem over with now that I've got free time. Besides, I think Mio needs some space as it is 'ttebayo."

"Ohhh, gotcha. Alrighty then, I'll just take Mio-sama back home with me then!" Maria, for some reason, felt it necessary to announce her intentions loudly.

Somehow, the blond wasn't particularly surprised.

"Oh, by the way, Naruto-sama?"

Eyeing her as she made her way out, Maria grinned cheekily at him, as if she was sharing partaking in an inside joke between the two of them.

"…Nice job reaching first base, player~"

Naruto choked on air as the succubus ran out with her charge in tow, cackling up a storm, ignoring all of the looks she gathered from the rest of the civilians that were recovering from the 'earthquake'.

Grumbling at this low blow, Naruto also made his way out, wondering how the hell that damned loli managed to follow them without his knowhow.

…Actually, maybe that wasn't so hard…

It didn't help that that damned Maria had the ability to smother her energy signal though, since it only made it that much harder to sense her.

Off on the distance, he marginally felt the usage of demonic energy, barely. Something that assured the blond that the silverette had just probably used a transportation circle to get back home faster.

Now outside, Naruto felt something click in the back of his head at the thought, making him squint.

…There was something about that idea that gave him pause.

It was as if he saw something like that before and-

Naruto froze, the idea of Maria's ability to cloak her power being linked to…something far less benign.

Didn't…someone else have a power similar to that?

Didn't someone else have the ability to cloak their energy? Right up until they used demonic energy?

Unbidden, the haunting words spoken to him by a certain fallen angel came roaring back to him, questioning him. Wondering what he knew about Maria.

Whether he knew her at all.

The shinobi shook his head, the implications of such a link giving him a lump in his throat that refused to be ignored.

Thankfully, something else came along that gave him some reprieve.

Snapping his head into the air, he felt something…familiar.

Intimately familiar.

"Well…it took that bastard long enough to move." the shinobi murmured under his breath, moving to the side of the road so that he could grab an item, any item.

He chose a plank that was sticking out of one of the stalls.

Grabbing it firmly, he gandered a look around to make sure no one was looking, and then chucked it into the sky. Aiming at something specific.

Waiting for something to happen, the young man turned back towards the direction he knew his home was. Mio's home was.

Maria's home was.

He trusted her. She was trustworthy, he knew that.

But damn did he ever have some questions for her.

"What's with you and your penchant for throwing things at me while I'm in the air?"

Naruto grinned at the irate voice, turning his head just enough to glance at the cross woman that was standing on the ceiling of the building he was next to, glaring down at him.

Hm. He could see her panties from this angle.

Better not tell her that. "How else am I supposed to get you down here?"

Raynare flattened her lips together, obtaining an expression that made it look like she just swallowed a lemon. "...Whatever, there's no arguing with you anyway. So, where is he?"

Naruto jabbed a finger at the general direction. "Go that way, my clone is following Freed right now, and that's the way that they're heading. You should cross paths with my clone if you hurry."

He felt that using a clone was the best way to track the looney priest, mostly because he knew that the clone could talk sense into the fallen angel above him if she did something…regrettable.

So he had a clone henge into a common household object and wait for Freed to escape, following him and alerting Naruto by releasing his chakra as soon as he got a general idea of where he was heading.

Now? Now they could get that guy; Kokabiel, and his hidden location, all while the real him dealt with whatever was going on in the Underworld.

As soon as he got back? He'd raid the damned place, and probably drag his sorry ass to the fallen's sorry excuse of a leader.

Two birds, one stone. Just how he liked it.

Raynare also looked pleased with the turn of events. "Thanks for the tip, I'll be seeing you later then. Try not to get another dinner date until I get back though, would you?"

"It wasn't a-" the shinobi grunted, realizing arguing such a thing after what had happened was a lost cause. "…Whatever, what does it matter to you, anyway?"

The fallen smirked a bit, almost roguish in appearance now. "Because I might treat you for this after this is over."

Blinking, Naruto watched the woman with raven wings soar into the air, moving beyond the clouds to find his clone.

"…Did she just ask me out to dinner?"

"What the heck happened in there, Xenovia!?"

Xenovia wish she knew the answer to her apoplectic partner's query, but truthfully, she had no idea. Not a single clue.

One minute she was sure that she was foiling a devil's plan for the kind man that helped the Church duo in a pinch, the next?

Pandemonium.

Even worse, she was pretty sure that that man hated her now…a prospect that was made even worse when she realized that she failed to save him from that devil's claws.

How infuriating.

"I'm not sure." she readily admitted. "But let's move on past that for now, we can deal with that later. For now, let's refocus our effort onto finding the Excalibur fragments."

"And how are we gonna do that?" it wasn't a sarcastic statement, it was a genuine question. Irina was just that kind of person. "We don't have a clue where they are! Not one!"

"I know…" the blue-haired warrior raised her head to look at the sky, frustration lacing her tone. "But we have no other choice. This is our duty, and we have to do what we can for our Lord. We simply have to keep our faith-"

Xenovia paused, dark yellow eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"…I think our faith has been rewarded, Irina."

"Eh?" the twin-tail haired teen followed her friend's lead, gasping at what she saw.

Both exorcists had their natural abilities heightened beyond the realms of normal human beings, thanks to their training in the Church. Mostly so that they may deal with the supernatural.

And it was a good thing for them, since their beyond normal eyes was what allowed them to see something flying high above the clouds, something far bigger than normal birds.

Something that had black wings.

"We're moving, Irina!"

"Right!"

Freed was on a roll.

He had waited for that pretty boy prick and his bitches to clear out before he finished off the last strands that were holding him together, thanks to that little tidbit he heard about them all clearing out earlier today.

What idiot told their prisoner that they were gonna be unsupervised!? The priest still got a kick outta that! A blond dipshit that turned out to be all brawns and no brains?

Hilarious!

Now that the exiled priest had created a decent amount of space between himself and his captor's home, he now had the chance to wind down from the stressful environment he was in.

And what was the best way to wind down while on the run for a man such as himself? Why, by butchering random heathens of course!

Too bad that the streets he was passing by were mostly residential, and it seemed that almost everyone was outside hanging with friends and family due to the weekend.

If he could just get one kill then he could wait for later to get more bloody teddy bears…made out of human flesh.

Insane red eyes trained ahead, in his peripheries, he noticed movement coming from the edge of the building he was about to pass.

Someone was coming, and whoever it was, they had no idea that he was coming.

A sick grin split his face at the unpleasant surprise that was about to be sprung, not unpleasant for him mind you.

Taking a step into the crosswalk was a young frail-looking man, boy really, with jet black hair and wide blue eyes, all while wearing an unassuming black uniform.

A person most people would miss in a crowd.

A person that most people wouldn't even notice was missing.

Perfect.

The boy turned to him, his wide smile belying the idea that he had any idea of what was about to happen to him.

Freed was sure that he was about to speak, maybe to ask him a question? Or maybe he was about to engage him for small talk?

It didn't matter, since the blade of light that had just been materialized from his hilt had stopped the teenager cold, slicing right through his throat in a gory display.

Eyes widening, the boy cupped the gaping cut in his throat with his hands, vainly trying to stop the blood spurting out like a hose.

He failed in his endeavor, falling over, motionless, with that smile still present as the last thing he would ever do.

Freed was satisfied with that kill, and was very hopeful that he'd get to do something similar to that blond fuck later.

Now that sounded like something he could jack off too!

"Shit, shit, shit!"

Naruto was careless.

Or, rather, his clone was careless.

The blond copy was given the task to follow the insane priest to his boss' secret lair, and to give out a signal to the original so that Raynare could join him in his hunt.

That being said, when he gained a rough idea of where the other man was heading to, he slowed down and pulsed out his chakra, giving the boss the signal.

He didn't get an answer, probably because the boss assumed that he; as his clone, would be well aware that he didn't fuck around with things like this.

Too bad he didn't think of that at the time, so he slowed down and continued to pulse out his chakra, just in case the boss missed it the first time.

That lull in the chase allowed Freed to gain some distance.

Which was why the clone was gazing down upon the fallen body of an innocent teenager, slain by the insane priest for simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

With blood pooling around him, the copy vowed to make sure that this boy's death wasn't in vain-

「Owwie…that hurt. Did someone get the number of that car?」

'Naruto' snapped his head down onto the talking corpse, watching him -it?- rise up, scratching the back of his head airily.

"W-What-!?" the clone squeaked, shuffling back, pointing a shaky finger at the boy that was very much alive. "How the hell are you-!?"

The boy looked at him, tilting his head in wonder, mouth opening to make an 'o'. 「Ah! It's the main character!」

"Hah!?"

Ignoring the blond's befuddled look, the scrawny youth pushed himself up onto the balls of his feet, wiping away the blood that soaked his uniform red. 「Aw man, and I just washed this, oh well, I suppose that this is to be expected when meeting the ever-unfortunate Naruto-kun.」

"…Are you off-handedly insulting me?"

Wide blue eyes finally faced narrowed blue eyes, only widening even further.

「What's wrong, Naruto-kun? You look like you've seen a ghost.」

'Naruto' stared at him, slowly panning his attention from the boy that was alive and well, onto the pool of blood that he left behind, and back again. "Gee, I wonder why. Also, how do you know my name?"

「Ah, yes!」 the strange boy popped his fist onto his palm. 「Naruto-kun…this may sound crazy, but I am your friend's son from the future, here to warn you about two androids that will appear in three years' time to kill you! Please believe me!」

The amount of effort and life given to his words almost made the clone consider his words. Almost. "That's bullshit."

「Ehhh? That's weird…」 the raven-haired teen looked genuinely shocked. 「That line always works in Shonen Jump…it always starts a new storyline too…」

"Alright." the shinobi wasn't amused. "I'm in a bit of a hurry, so if you're done being a loon, I'm just gonna be on my way…"

「Ah, wait, Naruto-kun! I'm sorry! I played around too much!」 the mysterious youth scratched the back f his head sheepishly. 「It's just…I've heard so much about you, Naruto-kun. So it's nice to see you in person, and I got a little carried away. That's all.」

The clone's gaze softened a bit, but still studied him through a critical eye. "…Alright then, how do you know me?"

The boy smiled then, his friendly curvature of the lips seeming a bit…enigmatic. 「Through Medaka-chan, of course. Let's just say that there is quite a few people in that faction that have…quite the interest in you.」

Watching the blond's eyes widen, then narrow, he could easily see where his next query would lie. 「As for me? Well, let's just say that I'm more interested in seeing what makes you tick, Naruto-kun. Unlike my older brother.」

"Older brother?"

Somehow the wide and innocent blue eyes of the scrawny teen managed to become downright pure in his concern. 「I; Kumagawa Yuki, and here to warn you about the evil that my twin brother; Kumagawa Misogi, represents! Trust me! He's bad news! He's someone that would hurt anyone and everyone just to see if he can! He's no good and rotten to the core! Whatever you do, Naruto-kun, you mustn't entertain his delusions!」

'Naruto' started at the boy that apparently had the same first name as his female hero friend, blinking slowly as he compartmentalized the information he had just heard.

He felt like this guy wasn't necessarily lying…and yet…he felt like he shouldn't take this guy's words at face value.

It was times like these that seriously made the shinobi wonder how he attracted all of the weird people. Only made worse when he factored in how strange this guy sounded.

「I see that you don't believe me, Naruto-kun. That's fine! I expected as much!」 Kumagawa puffed his chest up, the glint of determination lighting in his innocent eyes. 「To prove my trustworthiness, I'll join you in whatever quest you're on and help! Basically; you'll get another heterosexual life partner to help you slay the demon lord…without needing to help me with any personal problems to boot! Now come! Let's do Shonen Jump stuff!」

The clone watched Kumagawa charge ahead, running after the insane exorcist that, he was pretty sure, killed him before.

…Why did this shit happen to him?

AN: That's a wrap! Ok, now we get to the good stuff next chapter. Personally don't have much to say about this chapter, except that strong feelings are definitely beginning to crisscross here and there, and is probably going to cause quite the bit of friction between certain people.

Who knows? Maybe someone might try to use such friction to their advantage? :3

Ah, well, story aside, I have another Reading story for those who are interested; 'To Understand Our Legacy' is the story name, and I personally found it very enjoyable. So check it out if you just don't have enough of this fic as it is. (Idk how that's possible but... *Shrug*)

Alrighty, I think that's it for now. Cya all next time, hope this met everyone's expectations! :D

-RekkingPride