Hello kids, another chapter for you. I hope you enjoy, but before we get to the actual story a couple real quick things I need to mention. The first of course is answering one of the questions from the reviews. Just one of them today, but then we'll move on.
Q: (From Guest) To clarify Naruto is mentally 15, but physically 16 due to Gasper's Sacred Gear. A: Sorta, it's not super accurate to be able to tell exactly how old he is rn. Lets just say that while training with Gasper he was accidentally aged by the boy's gear and the closest he could return him to is within a year of his actual age. This leads to not really benign able to tell a difference with Naruto but horrifying poor Gasper as it was more luck than anything that he could return Naruto to that close to his original age.
Another note, this is a bit of a slower chapter. We are moving into a new arc so don't expect too much to happen here. That being said of course there are some important things that happen here for more than one character so it's just as important as the more fun and flashy chapters.
Now last note before we move on I'm inviting you folks down to the Goat Server on Discord hosted by AizenTheGoat from here on Fanfiction. Come check it out, banter with myself and several other active writers from Fanfiction and some other folks as well. You can find the link here → /KzpC7TVy
Arc: Games
Chapter 7: Fire Hazard
The groan of annoyance from the blond rook as he cleaned up the chemistry lab was music to Sona's ears. Really, she would think one of Rias' captains would carry themselves with a better degree of respect and dignity than Naruto did. Maybe she should take over his punishments for her rival and start laying down the law with the boy.
"Stop having power fantasies over my rook Sona." Rias growled as she glared at the other girl over the chess board.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sona replied as she turned her attention back to the board and moved one of the pieces. Coincidentally the rook piece.
"Oh please, ever since he hit that growth spurt you started doing those little moments where you stare at him for a bit before your eyes get all glazed over and you start imagining weird things. Then you try and make him do some weird task for you and claim it's a punishment for one of his pranks." Rias argued as she folded her hands in front of her face and focused on the board.
Sona simply 'tsked' at her rival's suggestion before they both fell into silence continuing their game.
"I'm right here. They know I can hear them. What the hell?" Naruto said with a twitching eyebrow and mild blush as he continued to clean up the Chemistry lab from his most recent prank.
What could he say, Mrs. Hagetaka reminded him of a mix of Orochimaru and the old man who always complained in the apartment below of Naruto being too loud. The fact that she reminded him of two old men from back home and not women made it all that much easier to rain his own unique style of revenge on her classroom whenever he felt the urge. He felt the urge a lot too.
"I wouldn't presume to-" Sona began a few moments after the pair of chess players had fallen to silence from their earlier conversation. Neither acknowledged Naruto's presence as they continued their game.
"Oh, here we go." Rias said with a roll of her eyes and a shake of the head. This got a scowl from Sona before she began speaking again.
"I wouldn't presume to know better in handling your peerage Rias, however I have to say you have quite the unruly group. It doesn't help your image back in the Underworld and you should know that image, is everything for our people." Sona adjusted her glasses as she spoke in a haughty tone.
"Power is everything for our people, Sona. You should know that. I mean that's why I'm ahead of you and you keep staring after my poor rook." Rias rubbed it into the other devil's face causing a faint blush to flare onto her cheeks and her eyes to narrow into a glare.
"I'm done." Naruto called out hoping to avoid a childish fight. He wanted to go home, he'd been at school all day and hadn't even gotten to train the pawns after school because Sona insisted she supervise him cleaning up his mess in Mrs. Hagetaka's room without magic or clones.
Of course once Sona insisted she personally watch over him, Rias had grown suspicious or perhaps simply jealous of the idea and butted in claiming that as the one responsible for Naruto it was up to her to monitor him and not Sona.
"Excellent, if that will be all Sona, I'll be conceding the game to you. Naruto and I have other things to do today before we turn in." Rias said. Emphasizing 'we' when telling her what she had planned for later.
'She's not a graceful winner at all.' Naruto thought with a small sweatdrop as he watched his king not so subtly rub Sona's nose in the power of their peerage.
'Not the peerage moron, in you. The red-headed harlot is only as powerful as she is because of you and your training of the rest of the peerage. In fact I doubt she would have most of her servants if not for your meddling. Not surprising after all being as you are a kyuubi and seeing the superiority of even one as pathetic as you is natural for-" Kyuubi rambled along before being cut off by Naruto suppressing his connection to the Bijuu within.
Following Rias as they teleported back to the clubrom Naruto let out a sigh at the familiar comfortable room that made up the inner clubroom. Without missing a beat he dropped himself into the nearest couch getting a scowl from Koneko as she was bounced slightly by the impact
The scowl worsened when Naruto reached out to attempt taking one of her snacks. Rather than hit him or anything though, the smaller girl simply moved across the furniture to the far side of the couch and out of his reach.
"Ugh, everyone is so rude to me today." Naruto moaned, getting rolled eyes and annoyed glances from the others.
"No, the annoying one is the 'little boy' who can't stop disrupting Mrs. Hagetaka's class every five minutes and has me watching over him after school like some kind of babysitter." Rias growled.
"No-one made you come. I mean you act like I'm going to do something to Sona if the two of us are alone." Naruto argued as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
Rias and Akeno exchanged looks, Rias exasperated and Akeno, surprisingly understanding.
'It's not you that they're worried about trying something.' Koneko silently remarked in her head as she pretended to hesitate sharing her treats with Naruto.
"Naruto I know you get bored easily but why can't you act more mature like you normally do with club related items? School is import-" Rias began only to stop at the deadpan stare Naruto and Koneko gave her and the amused glance from Akeno.
"What?" She asked.
"Rias, we're all going to live longer than this building will be standing. We're going to live so long that everything we 'learn' here will be useless and everything we are 'learning' here is already obsolete to the standards of the underworld anyway. This is seriously just a playground for you and Sona." Naruto said slowly, a bit shocked that Rias seemed to believe otherwise.
"That's not fair, learning from a human school especially one as prestigious as this one can prepare us for life. Tell him Akeno." Rias said, getting a little embarrassed as the pawns were now giving her confused looks from Naruto's logic.
"Naruto-kun you should know better than to tease Rias-sama about such things. I mean if you aren't careful you might destroy the image she's constructed for our dear little pawns. What would they think if they knew the real reason behind her coming for all this was to binge anime and try and copy her favorite shows in a real life japanese high school.?" Akeno asked, getting a slight sadistic glint in her eyes when Rias' face blushed crimson and tears welled in her eyes.
Rias normally had a thick skin for most things, but from certain people, like her peerage, even teasing could easily pass a line for her. Without missing a beat, Rias teleported away and the room fell to awkward silence for a moment as Akeno blinked in surprise.
"That was a bit too much Akeno. You really take things too far sometimes." Naruto lightly scolded. He felt bad for bringing it up at all. He should have let Rias go on with her playtime, whether the slightly delusional mind of his king realized that's what it was wasn't really necessary.
All of the Gremory household was weird after all.
Not really noticing Akeno's pained look Naruto turned to the others in the room. "Alright since Rias is already gone I figure we are pretty much done for the day. You three need to make sure you handle that contract tonight. If I have to come behind you and clean up your mess again I'm going to show you what it feels like to be my training dummies. Kiba's already on his own job but Katase and Murayam, he wants both of you to meet him at the training room at seven for an hour workout. He'll bring some take out I guess so just go get any schoolwork done and start warming up before he gets here. Koneko you already know where you need to be so lastly Asia you and Aika are going to go continue working on some shielding spells in the forest just outside of town."
The peerage started heading to do as asked. Akeno, having shaken off the bit of guilt from earlier, smiled at the sight. Naruto really had come a long way. She had no doubt that soon he'd be leading his own peerage. The thought was bittersweet. Even as a king of his own peerage, Naruto would still be Rias' rook unless he exchanged one of his rook pieces for his freedom, however it would no doubt mean his time with all of them would diminish. It already felt like they rarely saw one another outside of training or these meetings and there was always the rest of the peerage there taking that time up.
Akeno glanced after the blonde bishop as she followed Aika out of the room and felt a small pang of jealousy swell in her chest. It was drowned out by a dozen other emotions that thinking of her situation and relationship with the younger rook dredged up.
"I guess I'll go talk to Rias. See you tomorrow Akeno." Naruto said as he began forming the transportation circle to follow after Rias.
"Right, actually I was thinking perhaps I could stay the night at your place tonight?" She asked. It had been a fair amount of time since she had slept beside the rook, he gave off a comforting warmth in bed so she slept with him nearly as much as Rias.
"Uh okay, well the spare room should be available, Asia's been mostly staying in my bed with me and Rias. I think she's still suffering from those nightmares but is just to embarrassed to admit it." Naruto said before waving goodbye as he disappeared in a flash of red.
The beautiful girl frowned at Naruto's words. He wasn't usually that dense when it came to the feelings of other members of the peerage but since Asia came along Naruto had taken to her like glue. She had noticed Rias had grown more demanding of his time as a result and even Koneko seemed to be trying her best to make it clear she had some claim to the blond kitsune.
It was odd to her. How quickly Asia seemed to take all of Naruto's attention. Akeno teased Rias quite often about her obvious attraction toward the boy, but really Akeno was the same way as her king, yet with the addition of the new bishop to their lives, it felt almost like she had no time with Naruto any longer and was being left in the dust.
'What makes you catch his eyes little Asia?' Akeno wondered as she began going on her way to complete her own contract for the night.
Naruto appeared in Rias' apartment and frowned slightly when he found his king, not upset in the slightest, instead laughing openly at one of her favorite shows while reclining comfortably on a sizeable mound of plush toys.
'How is it she can make me wish for a stuck up snob for a king? I'm supposed to be the childish one.' He thought as he circled the room-sized bed.
"Rias?" Naruto called out to her, causing her to look his way and smile.
"Meeting over with?" She said cheekily.
The rook stared at her blankly waiting for some explanation that told him what was going on. After simply staring at her only seemed to grow the small grin she had he couldn't help but share it a little bit.
"As far as pranks it lacks structure." He commented finally before dropping into the plushies beside her getting a round of laughter.
"Of course, I wouldn't want to infringe on your art." She said as she turned back to the screen.
The couple was silent for a while as they watched the show Rias had put on. Naruto didn't quite get the draw on the romantic shows or most of the slice of life types shows that Rias typically enjoyed. He preferred the comedies or the action packed shows.
"You made Akeno feel pretty bad earlier I think." Naruto mentioned finally broaching the topic he had wanted to talk about. Well truly he had expected to have to cheer her up but clearly she wasn't as upset about what Akeno said as she seemed.
"Good, that was what I was aiming for. She needs to learn limits, I might have thick enough skin and know her well enough not to be bothered by her taunting but she needs to learn when she's going over a line." Rias said with a somewhat serious look as she kept her eyes focused on the tv.
"She really got to you, huh?" Naruto asked. Rias sent him a look before rolling her eyes and sighing.
"A little honestly. It felt like you were all calling em out for being childish. I wasn't thrilled about that." The red-head responded.
"Rias, you are childish." Naruto said bluntly, getting her to scrunch up her eyebrows at what he said. "You're weird. We're all weird too. They all call us misfits for reasons." Naruto said with a slightly obnoxious teasing voice.
Rias sighed that was true. They called her peerage misfits, mistakes, and accidents more often than not. She liked to think a lot of that came from jealousy. Though part probably came from pillar families looking down on her peerage as weak since they hadn't proven their strength in a rating game yet and Raiser was pulling no punches in trying to run her name through the mud to force her into the betrothal all that much sooner, and likely with more control handed over to him than would be ordinary.
Raising her eyes to meet with Naruto's blue once again after he bumped shoulders with her Naruto gave her a reassuring smile. "I gotta say I like that you're weird though. Can you imagine any of us trying to live with a king like one of those other stuck up nobles?"
"They'd whip you every day for insubordination." Rias replied with a chuckle.
"I'd say they'd do the same for Akeno but we both know that she'd enjoy it too much for a real punishment." Naruto joked though Rias only joined in halfheartedly.
The pair slipped back into silence as they continued watching the show for a few moments. Well Rias pretended to watch the show but her eyes were focused more on her young rook. She had truly lucked out with him becoming a part of her peerage. He had transformed their group into a contender for strongest of their generation. Somehow he had become like the heart of her little family over the last few years and just made it all the better.
That being said he came with plenty of his own issues as well. Beyond all the pranks, and teasing, and messes she had to clean up behind the whirlwind that was Naruto Uzumaki, there was the growing bonds he had with herself and the other girls of her peerage. Her first instinct as a devil, and as a devil primarily driven by greed especially, Rias, was to try and hoard him for herself.
That wouldn't fly sadly. She harped on it nearly as much as Naruto did. Her peerage was a family and as much as it killed her a bit to even entertain the idea, Rias knew that Naruto's spot as the sort of glue for their family made it to where he couldn't be hoarded by one single member.
The last few weeks had seen Naruto and Asia make very quick and very intimate progress with their relationship. Rias had realized she needed to keep an eye out for the bishop because as much as she acted the ….no actually she really was a pure innocent girl with no amount of malice in her heart. The king still needed to keep a close eye on Asia. Her ridiculously compassionate personality and tendency toward close personal connections only exposed her newly enhanced sense to Naruto's enhanced appeal. It didn't help that Naruto wasn't just a powerful devil which drew female devils easily but also a kitsune yokai. A literal being of fertility.
The reverse was true as well. For male devils it was far harder to resist the temptation to mate than for a woman. Largely for the survival of the species long ago. Naruto was already possessive and protective. Devil puberty really was a bit of a pain in the ass for both boys and girls. That wasn't the real issue here though.
No, the actual problem seemed stupid and childish to Rias' sensible mind. She knew, however, that when it came to her peerage, sensible wasn't really a term suited to them. In the case of Naruto, he and Asia had spent a lot of extra time together now, and Rias was selfish enough that she had barged into that dynamic like a bull in a china shop. Even Koneko, in her own unique way, had kept a grasp on Naruto during the new inclusion of a romantic rival.
It didn't bother Rias too terribly. No doubt she'd always be a bit jealous of others taking time with her servants that she wanted them to devote strictly to herself. She knew she was a bit greedy so that didn't make it easier.
In the end though, Rias cared more about her peerage being happy than her own greedy desires. She knew over the last couple of weeks Akeno seemed to have grown more and more tense. Her teasing was starting to take a sharper and less controlled bent to it. Only a couple of months ago and the peerage had more or less consisted of Herself, Akeno, Koneko, Kiba, and Naruto. Technically Gasper too but he was separated from the rest of the group.
Koneko and Kiba largely did their own things and Naruto was a rather socially needy person. Not annoyingly, he just needed interaction on a consistent basis to stay happy and healthy. Akeno and Rias were both the same way and for a while they were all extremely close. Now in such a short span things had begun to rapidly change and Rias had no doubt that Akeno was beginning to feel the drift as she spent less time with Naruto, and in fact with Rias as well.
Resolving herself to act as the conduit for the two of them to repair things before it actually became any kind of issue, Rias began her usual scheming. Of which Naruto was far too aware of. Sadly, for Naruto, while Rias was terrible at hiding the fact that she was planning something, that didn't necessarily mean he could easily figure what it was exactly she was planning.
'The two of them can go on a contract together tomorrow or something. For now though Akeno will have to wait. Naruto and I aren't moving from this spot for hours.' Rias thought contentedly.
"Uh, Rias, I need to go pee." Naruto quietly said from beside her, causing her to pout. Not even five minutes into her 'hours' of time she intended to spend scrapped up together with her rook.
Tsubaki glanced at her king once again in mild exasperation. Over the last three years, and the last few months in particular Sona had become more and more interested in her rivalry with her old childhood friend.
It had become very clear that Rias was progressing personally and with her peerage than Sona herself was. Something that some devils, especially the more envious ones like Sona, might find unacceptable. Thankfully Rias was not just Sona's rival but also her friend so Tsubaki doubted her master planned anything to harm the Gremory heiress.
That being said, Sona truly was envious of Rias' current position in the underworld. Not so much the negative aspects of course. However, unlike most of those devils that spread nasty rumors about Rias and her peerage members, Sona and her own followers directly interacted with their sister peerage and Sona could see the truth. Rias Gremory was in the early stages of becoming a powerhouse for the underworld and her peerage was exactly the same. It was because of two specific things as well.
The first, and lesser was her peerage and more specifically her queen Akeno himejima. Akeno filled the role of queen almost perfectly. Understandably so having been trained by the strongest queen herselt.
The second and far more important was the inclusion of Rias' ace. Naruto Uzumaki was someone that Sona had gradually wished more and more had ended up in her own peerage. Beyond a few...behavioural issues, it was clear Naruto was powerful and had been part of the root cause for Rias to whip herself and the rest of her peerage into shape.
Had it not been for Naruto, Sona suspected that the Gremory peerage would be nowhere near their current level, and Rias would probably be still sitting on her ass and waiting for skilled peerage members to fall into her lap.
With the growth they had experienced, Sona had realized she needed to get a better understanding of Naruto before Rias completely outpaced her. She refused to be outdone and if that meant she had to spend time with the brash, friendly, and eager rook then so be it.
The next day after classes Naruto was slightly disappointed to be unable to harass the new blood once again for training though Koneko, Kiba, and Rias promised they'd keep the pawns on track.
While he was a bit disappointed with not being able to train with the rest of the peerage it was outweighed rather easily by the happiness he got from the chance to spend some time with Akeno on a job. While he had yet to truly pick up on the effect having little time with one another was having on his friend, he knew it had been some time since just the two of them had spent alone time together.
Using this contract as an opportunity Naruto planned to rectify that and spend the evening with the queen once they had all their work done. That was the plan at least. Over the last hour he had realized something was very wrong with his partner though. She was acting strangely.
Normally Akeno was playful and flirtatious, but today Naruto hadn't seen the slightest hint of the queen's normal personality. She still carried herself with her normal elegant nature and typical sweet smile. However Naruto had barely gotten a full conversation from her since they had decided to walk from the academy to their client's apartment.
He was beginning to grow frustrated with the situation in all honesty. More so that he felt he couldn't outright call her out on her behaviour because all things considered she was friendly and polite still. Even though she felt closed off to him she acted openly.
Naruto was far better at dealing with emotions properly as well as with reading others since he left his old world behind. Sadly that didn't mean he was perfect. Beyond knowing that something was wrong and that he likely had some cause in it, he had little idea of what could be causing the situation.
Over the last three years Naruto had attempted to move away from his naive and blunt self when dealing with others, especially those he considered his precious people. In the end though, with little other options that he could see, the boy came to the conclusion that his tried and true blunt methodology had its uses. At least it would be better than stewing in awkward silence beside one of the people he considered most important to him among his friends.
"Akeno," He began. Hesitating only slightly as he searched for the proper words to ask what was on his mind. "Why are you so closed off today?"
The ravenette blinked in mild surprise at the question. She knew she had stopped her normal flirting with Naruto but she felt she was otherwise continuing on with her normal behaviour. The thought that he could be referring to her flirting came to her but it simply agitated the confused feelings for the rook. She knew what she wanted from him, but she had started trying to suppress those desires as he had made it clear he wanted something else. After all, Asia Argento was about as far from Akeno Himejima in personality as it came.
"I'm not being closed off Naruto-kun. I haven't been rude or harsh to you in the slightest." She said with a smile, though she looked away from the boy too quickly for him to get a good read on her actual emotions.
Naruto sighed. He could tell she knew exactly what he meant and was choosing to ignore it. He had really hoped today would be relaxing but he forgot that he didn't really get to do that when it came to his loved ones. They were all so complicated.
Before Naruto could try and press further with Akeno however, the door to the apartment opened and an elderly woman, only slightly taller than Koneko greeted them from behind comically thick glasses.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Nakodo." Both teen devils greeted warmly. The smile on the old woman's face brightened greatly at the sight of the two of them.
"Oh Naruto-kun and Akeno-chan, wonderful. You're just on time like usual. Come in, come in!" The old woman said, waving them into the apartment and leading them to the small dining room table.
Ai Nakodo had been using Rias peerage for contracts since they had come to Kuoh roughly three years ago. It was simple things for the most part. Usually chores like washing dishes or helping in the small rooftop garden were among the main tasks she summoned them for, though Naruto and the others suspected she tended to make up tasks just to have some time to spend with another person.
None of them really minded, Mrs. Nakodo was an especially sweet old woman. Settling Naruto and Akeno at her table she gave them both freshly brewed tea before sitting down herself for her usual time spent catching up prior to giving them their task.
"So how are you two today sweethearts?" The old woman began.
Keeping up their usual friendly tones and polite interaction Naruto and Akeno responded pleasantly in return before asking her the same and soon the trio was off on a bout of small talk. Mrs. Nakodo fishing for stories about their school life or the new members of their little club.
So they chatted, the conversation gradually shifting more and more toward Naruto and Akeno specifically. The old woman caught the slight tension between the two quite easily, she had raised three teenagers herself and was grandmother to three times as many of course. She knew the tells of romantic issues brewing, likely before even the children themselves did.
Deciding to get started, Ai set Akeno to cleaning up the kitchen as she led Naruto up to the roof to work on the garden. Since first meeting him, Ai had become especially fond of Naruto. It was hard not to with his cheerful and friendly demeanor. She knew the other members of his little group likely were swept up in the same charm that brightened her own day.
While she did adore the young man for that attitude it wasn't truly what appealed to her most about the young man. It was more the fact that he reminded her so much of her late husband. Arashi and Naruto would have been two peas in a pod. They looked nothing alike of course but the man seemed to fill up a room all by himself the moment he walked in. It was what had drawn Ai to him as a teenager. She saw the same thing being repeated among their little group of devils as well.
Now Ai Nakodo and Arashi Nakodo had been using contracts with the Gremory family for decades by this point. Before even any of these children were born. Of course the former holder of Ai and Arashi's contract had been Venelena Gremory. Such a kind and sweet woman. Ai had been quite jealous of her for a time, she put nearly all others to shame. That was beside the point though. It was through Venelena, and their eventual friendship that Ai had learned all that she could about the society of devils that was so willing to do odd chores for what appeared to be only small amounts of pay.
Of course, Ai eventually learned that Venelena had only personally seen to the contracts with the Nakodo family because she enjoyed the little family immeasurably. That thought warmed the old woman's heart.
Through Venelena Ai had learned that devils and humans weren't all that different when it really came down to it. Sure devils were magical beings and far hardier and more powerful than most humans could even imagine, but when it came to the things that Mrs. Nakodo felt that it truly mattered, they were nearly the same. Except for one fact. Intensity. Not by choice but by simple nature devils would always be a far more extreme race than humans. Their emotions, their bodies, their desires were stronger in every sense of the word. The fact that devils had come to a point to where they could control such urges and desires at all was surprising.
That led to the current situation. Ai had known all of Rias peerage, or at least those actively going on contracts for three years. She had also heard about them from Venelena beforehand. Since Naruto's introduction to the group the Gremory Matriarch had told her of the changes in her daughter and her servants. Ai had witnessed it too. While they perhaps weren't far enough along to openly admit their feelings to one another the old grandmother could recognize the fact each and everyone of them knew what they wanted from the others but were simply too guarded or fearful to admit it.
Naruto was in a bit of a predicament. Had Ai not known about certain standards among the devil populace thanks to her old friend she might try and hammer the idea of picking one of the girls around him into his head. If only to save the others heartache in the long run. However she had learned things from Venelena about devil society that made that completely unnecessary.
The current situation in the underworld was heavily skewed. Not only were they a race on the verge of being considered endangered, but for every singular male devil there were seven or more females. It created a truly unique situation where harems were the norm. Not that they weren't common among the powerful prior to this issue arising, according to Venelena. Devils afterall were beings of desire and power. Therefore those with more power were objects of desire.
This led to Ai's current self-appointed role. Well, partially self appointed, a meeting with Venelena and her lovely daughter in law a couple of years ago had set her up for this task just as much as her own natural instincts of a grandmother to interfere with young love.
Ai even knew from Rias' mother of the unwanted betrothal to a young devil from another clan for Rias herself. Not that the old woman expected that to last long having seen the way both devil women grew sour at the mere thought of Rias being forced into an unhappy marriage.
Mrs. Nakodo knew precisely what her role to play was in regard to the youngsters that she often found helping around her home.
"Alright Naruto-kun like usual I want you to weed my little garden plots up here. It's been a little while since it's been done and those new members of your club were…" Ai hated to say something rude about the boys, they really had tried after all but they were far too easily distracted and it seemed that one fo the other new club members, Aika, had gotten all three wrapped around her finger quite easily. The fact remained though she doubted she would have those boys weeding her precious garden again. At least not as long as she wanted to keep her actual plants and flowers from being yanked out root and stem.
"Of course granny." Naruto replied cheerfully making a small group of clones to get to work. Around the few in the know, it was perfectly fine to reveal some abilities.
"Hmm, leave your clones to do that Naruto-kun, I think I want someone to sit and chat with for a while. My children and grandchildren are too busy to visit as often as I'd like." She said as she slowly lowered herself into a wicker chair kept up here so she could enjoy her evenings in the sun.
Naruto frowned slightly at the thought of Mrs. Nakodo's children ignoring her. He followed her to the handful of seats along the wall, thinking of visiting her children and reminding them of their responsibility to their mother only for the old woman to tap his arm and bring him back to the present.
"Easy there hot-head, they aren't neglecting me. They call everyday to check on me and come as often as they can. They are just hardworking people with their own lives too." She admonished getting a sheepish nod from the blond.
"Now, I didn't pull you aside to talk about my children, as much as I love to brag about them." Ai said, chuckling as she got comfortable. Naruto of course looked a little confused.
"Naruto, did you know that when i first started using contracts with the Gremory clan, my husband was still alive?" She asked. Naruto just stared at her waiting for her to continue. It was obviously a rhetorical question. Naruto had never even met Mr. Nakodo, and even now was struggling to recall the man's name and what he could remember of his appearance from one of the photographs in the living room downstairs.
"Believe it or not we started using the contracts as a way to help our marriage." She continued this time, truly catching the boy off guard. The thought of someone summoning him to try and give them couple's counseling was a little worrisome. That was honestly beyond his skillset.
Ai's laughter at his expression brought him back down to the conversation at hand.
"We used it in the hopes of having someone to babysit our children and do the housework we normally would so that we could try and spend time together just the two of us. We needed to return to going on dates to recapture the reason we fell in love with one another, because have no doubts Arashi and I truly loved one another." The old woman said while a soft reminiscing smile slipped into place across her features.
Sadly Naruto wasn't sure where this conversation was really going. He was happy to listen to the woman talk if that was really what she wanted but by this point he could tell she was trying to explain something to him beyond simply telling her life story.
"Mrs. Nakodo. What are you trying to tell me?" He asked. Again, it seemed blunt was more his style of handling a problem that fell outside his comfort zone.
The woman chuckled quietly at that. "Just like Arashi, the loveable fool that he was. You are far too earnest to be a typical devil Naruto-kun. I have no doubt you can be down right devious but when it comes to subtleties of the heart you are like any normal teenage boy. All but clueless."
Naruto simply rose an eyebrow at that while frowning. He knew he wasn't the best at reading others emotions but he definitely felt that he was above average in such things.
"That's not fair actually. You are far more attuned to the intents and desires of others than my Arashi was. I wonder if it's because you are a devil or just because of a natural skill you have. That doesn't change the fact that I think you focus too much on the issues right in front of your face and not those that are just below the surface." She lectured him, causing the frown on Naruto's face to only deepen.
"No offense but this isn't really helping to understand what you're getting at granny." He huffed out, more than a little unhappy with being lectured. It never was something he took to all that well.
"I'm getting there. Youth, always so impatient. You know life isn't a race you should learn to embrace it like an experience and not try and rush through it like a race. Even if you live a million years it will feel like no time at all if you are always hurrying along." Nakodo reprimanded the boy getting a groan in response.
"Mrs. Nakodo, stay on topic if you want to lecture me, you know? It's kind of hard to keep track if you start trying to give me more than one life lesson at a time." He joked, getting a soft chuckle from the old woman.
"Right, right. Of course, but still keep that in mind. You literally have all the time in the world so don't rush ahead so much." She said, getting him to nod before continuing on. "Now as I was trying to explain you need to look deeper into what your close ones are feeling. Tell me, since that new girl, Asia-chan joined your little club have you been spending all your time with her? Have you made sure to enjoy some activities with your other 'friends' since she came along. I heard she is even living with you."
Naruto mentally noted the emphasis she placed on friends when she spoke, his mind focused more heavily on coming to the defense of Asia from some kind of slight from the old woman. Scrunching up his face he opened his mouth to do just that when a soft wrinkly hand clamped over it and kept him silent.
"Don't misunderstand boy, I'm not reprimanding you for spending time with little Asia. In fact I think you're the best thing for her at the moment. What I'm trying to tell you is that you have more than just Asia around you right?" Her words calmed him back down as he got a thoughtful expression.
Pushing the small hand off his mouth Naruto sighed out. "I already know granny. I planned on taking Akeno out to spend time together after we finished up here with you after all."
"Hmm. I see, the issue still remains though." She said while nodding along to her own words.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"What I mean, child, is that you are still not doing what I told you. Tell me I'm not the only one that noticed Akeno's change in attitude today. She was as friendly and polite as always but talking to her was like talking to a door. Sure, it's a very nice and pretty door, but one that was closed and not giving anything of substance back. Do you want to know why?" Ai asked.
Naruto again blinked at that thought. Mrs. Nakodo was hitting the nail on the head. Akeno was closing herself off in her own fashion. He just hadn't really known what to do with it. At least Ai hopefully could give him an idea of what to do in regards to it. Afterall she was probably the most knowledgeable human on devil kind that he knew of. It was kind of odd really. It seemed like Venelena had been prepping both Ai and her late husband to become a part of her peerage but for whatever reason had changed her mind. He'd have to figure that out another time. Right now his mind was more focused on how to fix whatever he broke with Akeno.
"Guessing by that confused look on your face you aren't sure. I can tell you understand some of what i'm telling you so that's a positive note at least." She said with a small grin.
"Naruto, what is it you feel when you think of the girls in the peerage with you? Do you care for them? Are they your friends, or is it possible you want them as more?" She asked him.
Naruto knew the answer immediately. He was a bit surprised by his own thoughts, but he realized he had never directly asked himself the question. What did he want from them?
"More. I want more from them." He said quietly, as if making a breakthrough.
"Tch, of course you do boy, you're a teenager and they are beautiful and interesting young women. If you were human, or weaker like those little pawns your king picked up, I'd push you to pick one of the girls and let the others down gently so you wouldn't hurt them worse, and maybe even could stay friends." Ai commented.
Naruto chewed at his lip in thought. The idea of picking one from the four girls he had come to see as so important to him felt...painful. It hurt in his chest to not take all of them as his own. They should be his, he wanted all of them and not having them felt wrong. Unnatural.
"Listen to me and calm down. There's no need to stress over the situation. You're a devil. You want them as more than friends, and they are all clearly interested in you to some degree so now all you must do is woo them. You're a devil, like I said, I know you forget important details when you get worked up, but name a single powerful devil outside your satans that doesn't possess a harem."
Narrowing his eyes in thought Naruto sucked air through his teeth before answeriing the woman. Sadly it wasn't in line with what Mrs. Nakodo was hoping to talk about.
"Why is it you are so knowledgeable on the underworld? Actually why are you so concerned with us specifically it's like-" Naruto started his line of questioning getting a raised hand from old woman stopping him.
"It's almost like I was being groomed to join Lady Gremory's peerage, hmm? My husband and I both were, though in the end we decided against it." She said with a soft voice, reminiscing silently once again as long passed moments with her husband and friend passed through her mind's eye.
"So why not take it? She only has a few pieces if I recall correctly. All her pawns are still available, same for her queen too. If she offered you a spot why not take it. It'd be like regaining your youth for thousands of years." He said confused by her logic.
"When you eventually have little ones of your own you'll understand." She said with a gentle smile. "Now back on topic. Do you know what you want now?"
At his nod she continued. "Good, and you know it's open to you?" She asked, getting a slightly more hesitant nod this time.
"So, then stop waiting around. Make it clear to them. They know what they want so they're waiting on you. Start with that one down there. She thinks you have chosen the other girls you're around and aren't even interested in her. As silly of an idea as that is she needs you to spend a little one on one time with her. Not as friends. Just make it clear you want to take her on a date." Ai had finished lecturing and was instructing by this point the nods coming from the boy all she needed to continue.
"Well then, I'm off for the kitchen to check on Akeno's progress. I want you and your clones to finish up here and move those summer time knick knacks into the shed and replace them with the little fall statues." She didn't wait for a response simply standing and heading downstairs as Naruto chuckled at the bossy little woman.
"Pushy old hag. Thanks." He said quietly as he joined his clones at work.
As for Mrs. Nakodo, her work was sadly only half finished. Still, she at least expected Akeno to catch on quicker. She had no doubt that the young queen would be the best choice to achieve just what Venelena wanted from her. It would be good to finally repay that old debt for helping her and Arashi conceive their beautiful children.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs Ai glanced in and smiled slightly at the quick work Akeno was making of the chores in the house. Fitting that she had been trained in her duties by Grayfia. The woman had the mindset of a servant practically ingrained into her very being and had passed at least some of that along to Akeno. Then again, from what Ai had gathered about the girl over the last few years she was naturally inclined toward such a role herself. To a degree anyway.
At the moment Akeno was busy humming to herself as she dusted off the rarely used shelves in the dining room that held a small collection of glassware that was likely several years older than herself. It was nice to put the thoughts of her fellow peerage members and a handful of them in particular out of her mind and focus on a task at hand.
"Silly girl." An old voice called out causing her to turn and see her client pouring a pair of glasses of tea for herself and Akeno. After gaining the devil's attention she motioned for the younger woman to join her at the table and the pair sat down.
For a brief time they were quiet, both enjoying the tea and pondering their own line of thoughts. Akeno simply wondered what kind of story Mrs. Nakodo planned to tell. She expected something to do with her children or grandchildren, or maybe some sort of 'adventure' she got into when she was Akeno's age. The term using the loosest meaning possible as Akeno really didn't regard normal human 'adventures' as really fitting the title.
In contrast, Ai was wondering at the best way to put Akeno on the right track. The girl was the linchpin in what her king's mother had planned for the young devils she had all but claimed as children. That of course meant that Venelena was relying on Ai making one thing very clear to Akeno. She had a specific role to play for both Rias and herself in relation to Naruto.
Taking a moment longer to step back and think about the path of her own thoughts Ai nearly laughed at the feeling of absurdity to it all. When she was young never did she imagine herself in such a position. Playing matchmaker to a bunch of little child devils in repaying a debt to a devil she had come to love like any close friend. The thought of taking Venelena's offer and being restored to her young self and spending her remained eternity simply living alongside her friends was as tempting as ever. That simply wasn't what she truly desired however.
"Akeno-chan, you know as excellent as you are at shutting off your true feelings they still show to an old grandma like me plain as day." Nakodo began.
Akeno smiled sadly, figuring that of those she knew in the human world, only Ai and a small collection of others would be able to notice. Her friends did, but they couldn't tell anything beyond that she was upset about something and in time she expected everything would work out fine.
"It won't. Not without you doing your part." The old woman said plainly before taking another sip of her tea. Akeno narrowed her eyes at the thought of the older woman actually being a witch of some kind and reading her thoughts before the woman's words really settled in.
"What do you mean Nakodo-san?" Akeno asked.
"I mean that without you noone in that little club of yours will end up as happy as they ought to. I know what you're thinking about love, I raised two daughters and six granddaughters, at least three of them were so similar to you that you could have been sisters. You're an open book to old Ai." The grandmother continued on.
"I'm sure you have plenty of experience with this sort of thing for human girls Nakodo-san but with us it's a bit different. Besides, my troubles that you're worrying yourself over are nothing really. I'm just working to stay on track to fulfill my role for Rias' peerage. You know enough about our society to understand my spot in it." Akeno said, thought the glint of sadness in her eyes felt like a dagger in the chest for the old woman.
"I doubt that. I very much doubt that. You Akeno are derailing yourself from what is expected of you completely. You're just fooling yourself into thinking it's the right path." Ai argued.
"No, I'm a queen it's my duty to support Rias and the others of the peerage in whatever they want and are trying to achieve. Plus it really does make me happy when I help them get what they want." The girl said with a smile, an honest smile this time.
"Oh, no doubt about that. You are an excellent queen, but while most queens from down there would be expected to do just that, what makes you think Rias' little club is supposed to be anything like the rest? Venelena told me all of you kids are misfits. Don't act like that's a bad thing. If less than half the stories that woman has told me about the 'proper peerages' is true then it's all the better if you are nothing like them." She said with confidence. Akeno even giggled lightly at the bobbing head of the old woman as she agreed with herself. The tiny old lady looked like one of those bobbleheads from a tourist shop.
"Now, tell me girl, what is it you really want?" Ai asked. She was a little surprised that using the same tactic with Akeno that she did with the blond upstairs was likely to work best.
"I just told you. I want to support Rias and the others and help them to-" Akeno began before the loud drawn out sigh from the old woman silenced her.
"Why do young girls have such a hard time being honest with themselves?" She began. "I suppose I shouldn't really complain, no doubt I was the same at your age. Still, since you are so adamant about pretending let me clarify something for you."
Ai leaned forward like she was going to share a secret causing Akeno to blink owlishly before leaning in as well.
"He hasn't put you aside." Akeno pulled back with a puzzled look on her face.
"Oh don't give me that confused stare silly girl. That's what is the root of this issue. You think to yourself that you have to prop up Naruto and the others, especially Rias because you want to put them before your own interest, but the trick to that is you are just harming them and yourself. I mean really, you devils are surrounded by the obvious answer to your teenage angst and you still can't get it through your heads to just come out with it and get it over with. Teenagers. Puberty makes them stupid across all races."
Akeno stared with mild incredulity as the tiny woman ranted on about how teenagers remained as obnoxious as they did forty years ago. The thoughts about what she said finally clicking into place at what she meant. It wasn't hard for Akeno to also piece together that someone was putting the old bag up to it as well. Maybe not this situation specifically but involving herself with the peerage as a whole. She vowed then and there to look into that, but for now she needed to focus on the conversation at hand.
"Nakodo-san, I appreciate what you're trying to do. It's just I'm not exactly what the others would likely find appealing, especially naruto after some recent issues he's had. I'd be happy to be pulled along with them if they want me but for now I just want to make sure Rias gets what she wants and an obstacle in her way is removed. That's all that can fit on my plate at the moment I think." Akeno said with a sort of sad smile once again on her face.
Ai stared at the girls for a time. Taken aback by her words. Here she was trying to explain to her that what she really wanted and needed was to pursue the relationship with both Naruto and Rias that they both knew she wanted only for something else to be snagging on her moving forward. Some kind of issue that went beyond simply feeling put aside.
"Akeno, what exactly is it that makes you feel so inferior to the other girls around you? If anything I'd expect you would struggle more with feeling superior to them, I mean don't you look in the mirror-" Nakodo stopped there noticing the mildest of finches from the raven haired beauty.
"I see. I can't say I know what it is exactly that has you so sure you aren't worthy of love, but I can assure you of this. If you work, not to distance yourself and prop naruto and Rias up, but instead embrace the both of them, you will find whatever it is that is bothering you probably means nothing at all to the two of them." With that Ai finished her talk and stood placing the empty classes into the sink to be cleaned just as Naruto joined them from upstairs.
The next few moments were a bit of a blur for Akeno. Really, Nakodo's final comments to her had caused her to turn inward in thought and run on autopilot for the rest of the time spent with the old woman. It wasn't till they had reached the street outside that she snapped out of it and noticed Naruto's bashful look sent her way. He had asked her something but she couldn't recall the slightest bit of it.
"What did you say Naruto-kun?" She asked.
"Making me ask again." Naruto laughed roughly. "I want to take you out on a date Akeno. Like a real, trying to see if we want to be a couple or something kind of date, not just our normal grabbing a bite to eat or curling up on the couch and watching movies type thing. An actual date-date."
"Oh." She replied, causing Naruto to frown slightly. His mind suddenly questioned on if he had read the girl completely wrong and that Mrs. Nakodo's advice was going to backfire somehow.
"What about Asia...or Rias?" Akeno asked.
"What about them?" Naruto simply asked back.
"Well I just thought you had an interest in Rias and the way you've acted with Asia after all that happened it seemed like you were becoming a couple."
"Oh, well….see that's where things take a weird turn. Or at least they would, but it was recently hammered home to me that things are a bit different for devils than for other races. Something about being creatures of desire, so I need to know what I desire and pursue it." Naruto said a little sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck.
How exactly was he supposed to woo the girls he was interested in if his starting conversation piece for asking them on a date was always going to be 'Yes, I want to be with you but also all these other girls too.' He imagined that wasn't going to go over well. However instead of the mocking laughter or offended gasp, or worse yet the angered blast of lightning, all he got was a slightly confused look.
"Oh." Akeno said plainly blinking a couple of moments before a familiar sultry smile curled onto her face. Like a switch was flipped and the old Akeno came rushing back Naruto suddenly found himself with his left arm securely wrapped up between the queen's breasts.
"Are you saying you desire me, Naruto-kun?" She whispered into his ear. Close enough that her warm breath tickled at his neck.
Initially caught off guard, Naruto was happy to have the girl back to her usually flirty self.
"No doubt. So? Do you want to go out or not?" He asked with a smirk, getting a giggle from Akeno as his reply before she released him and let out a sigh, beginning him back down to earth.
"I'd love to but first I need to talk about something with you." She said trying her best to not show how worried at the thought of her lineage bothering him.
"Of course."
"Alright, lets go to the shrine then. I'll explain there and afterward, if you still want we can go out." Akeno responded.
At his nodded they both prepared a transportation circle, however before they could finish, a summons from Rias interrupted their plans.
"Well, maybe that's a sign." Akeno said bitterly.
"No, just a raincheck. Come on she's still signalling like crazy for us." Naruto said as he changed the destination of his spell and stepped through.
"Right." Akeno reassured herself before doing the same. They'd put it off for now, but she had made her decision to share her burden with the rook when they next could. Whatever the result good or bad, she would live with it, but her mind easily focused on the hopeful outcomes.
ORC Clubroom
Next Day
Whatever good mood Naruto was beginning to enjoy the night before when he and Akeno had planned to head to her shrine and talk had long since passed. Last night Rias had summoned him and Akeno back to the clubroom early due to the arrival of Grayfia. Normally that was cause for him to be in an even better mood. Grayfia was, of course, one of the two mother figures he had gained since coming to this new world and he was almost always happy to see her. Emphasis on almost.
Her position as queen of the maou Lucifer made Grayfia often the bearer of bad news. Including to her own family and friends. Not a job Naruto envied. Especially not in this situation when the one she was delivering news to was her own little sister. The fact that it was news regarding her engagement to an especially prideful devil who had gone out of his way to try and smear her name through the mud just worsened the situation.
As they had feared following the situation with the fallen and the witches not long ago Raiser Phenex had taken advantage and campaigned hard for Rias to not only be married to him sooner than originally planned but to have him placed as guardian over her peerage so as to 'guide' her in properly managing a peerage.
It wasn't completely unheard of for a spouse to be made guardian over their significant other's peerage. There were plenty of ailments unique to devils that robbed them of their senses and minds. There had even been a couple of instances of a peerage being so terribly mishandled by their king that it was felt that another stepping in to manage for them without some sort of handicap being present was acceptable. The thought of how badly those devils must have treated their peerage members when legally they could be treated almost as terribly as their king wanted, told all that needed to be told about why they needed a guardian.
This however was unheard of for a devil to gain guardianship over their betrothed's peerage before they had even married. So Raiser had managed to push up the wedding. The fact that the coming meeting to discuss terms felt more like a wartime negotiation said plenty about how well received this course of events was.
As Naruto and Akeno stood flanking Rias at her desk and Grayfia stood beside the door the rest of the peerage slowly trickled in, confused by the tense atmosphere and the fact that Grayfia was there. Naruto had to motion for Asia to take a seat with the others when she went to approach the three 'captains' of the group. She looked slightly put out by that but did as he wanted.
The depressed look on Rias' face, coupled with the slightly annoyed twitching of Akeno and cold anger in Naruto's eyes explained quite a lot about whatever was going on for the group before any of their leaders had even opened their mouths. Still they had no real idea about what had made them so upset.
"President-" Issei began before Naruto held up his hand quieting the pawn.
After some time, with Naruto glancing awkwardly to Rias since he expected her to start explaining, Grayfia finally broke the silence stepping into the center of the room.
"Lady Rias, perhaps you'd like for me to explain the situation to your peerage. It's only a matter of time before the meeting now." The grey haired maid offered.
"No, no. It's my responsibility." Rias said as she stood. "I've just been wishing for a few more months at least."
Grayfia sent her a nod along with a pitying look.
"Alright everyone. It's time I come clean about something that the three of us have kept hidden from the rest of you. Even you two, Koneko and Kiba, only knew part of what was going on. The truth is-" Rias began explaining only for a seal to appear on the floor and the temperature in the room to skyrocket as a plume of fire burst up from it.
"He's early." Rias said with a scowl.
"Always coming when he isn't wanted." Naruto grumbled quietly getting an amused glance from both the king and queen.
As the flames dissipated the form of a young man began to appear. Tall and lean, he could have passed for Naruto's older brother in Issei's opinion. Unlike Naruto who was more often than not a friendly and playful guy, this person seemed to exude arrogance with his every breath. As if he considered everything he had ever encountered to be below his own worth.
"Ah, the human world. If it wasn't for something so worthwhile I'd prefer not coming here at all. Really it has such a filthy mix in the air. All the humans dirtying it up no doubt." The man said, not even bothering to introduce himself, expecting them to know precisely who he was.
That of course meant that the pawns' first reactions was to attempt to spring into action, well they would have if they hadn't noticed the senior members of the peerage simply scowled at him.
Kiba and Koneko both seemed especially annoyed. They had of course known of the betrothal, but had been under the assumption that they wouldn't have to worry about Rasier sniffing around for a few more months if not years. The fact that he was here at all only meant one thing for them.
"Oh my, Rias, even here in the human world you are dazzling. Now let's hurry along and get the venue tour out of the way. No doubt you'll find it acceptable, it's the traditional Phenex ceremony complex so it's perfect for a Phenex wedding." The blond said with cheer.
"Wait...what?" All of the pawns chorused.
"Raiser you already know I have no intention to marry you. This meeting is a formality and nothing more. When you accept my challenge and I defeat you that will be the end of it." Rias said resolutely with her senior pieces circling around her to offer their support.
"Hold on, I'm still stuck on the marriage part, can someone explain what the hell is going on here?" Matsuda shouted while grabbing at his head.
Raiser blinked in surprise before sneering down at the pawns of Rias' peerage. He could tell they were all formerly human and while the fact that they were devils now helped their position slightly in his eyes, the fact that they were talking during this meeting in what he felt was out of place for them agitated him. Still, he had best play nice for a while longer, he supposed. After all, there would be plenty of time to teach them their places once he had broken their king. No doubt their defiant natures came from her.
"I'm honestly offended you haven't told your servants about me. To think I've been talking about you so much lately to anyone that would listen too." Raiser said with faux pain.
Naruto clenched his teeth at the devil, essentially rubbing their noses in his actions in the underworld. As if they needed the reminder of Raiser's actions.
"I didn't feel a need to talk about you all that much since soon enough you'll be nothing but an afterthought." Rias replied, turning her head away from him.
"How fiery, you really are perfect as my bride." Raiser said while Grayfia turned to the pawns who still looked confused thought they were growing gradually more angry alongside their seniors.
"This is Lord Raiser Phenex, third son of the Phenex household and fiance of Lady Rias." Grayfia explained with her well known stoic tone.
"What? Fiance?" Several of the pawns asked.
"We really don't have time for this nonsense darling. Come along now." Raiser pressured as he grabbed hold of Rias' hand and pressed his body closely against her. Rias was having none of his advances however and shoved him away, scowling up at him.
"I've already made my position plenty clear, Raiser. We're never getting married. Get it through your flame addled mind!"
"That's enough, now-" Raiser snarled ashe snatched hold of Rias' arm pulling her back toward him only to come up short as Naruto and Akeno suddenly filled the gap between himself and his bride-to-be. Akeno's hand's sparking with electricity and the steel of one of Naruto's knives digging into his neck.
The pawns were shocked by the sudden moves. The murderous looks on Naruto and Akeno's faces served to disturb them as well. The sudden change in temperature caused everyone to freeze in place though. Dropping fast and far enough for their breath to be seen in the air, the strongest queen easily grabbed the attention of the younger devils in the room.
"That is enough. Naruto, Akeno, the two of you should know better than to react so violently, I personally taught you better and your actions reflect on me." Grayfia spoke clearly but emotionlessly. Despite that the reprimand in her words was enough to cause both Naruto and Akeno to flinch and back away from the conflict they nearly jumped into.
"As for you Lord Raiser, I suggest you refrain from placing unwanted hands on Lady Rias in the future or I'll remove them myself." She threatened the young Phenex lord. Whether she meant to remove his hand's from Rias' body or his own was left to his imagination.
"Of course. I overstepped myself." Raiser quickly backed down from Grayfia's threatening presence. The tension dissipated somewhat Grayfia withdrew her power letting the room slowly return to it's normal temperature.
"Since it's clear that Lady Rias is unhappy with this betrothal, it remains within her rights to challenge through a rating game. Normally this would not be an issue as both parties would be considered mature devils by this point." Grayfia seemed to pointedly remark toward Raiser, though the man simply smiled arrogantly.
"Despite the unique circumstances, Lady Rias and her peerage will be given the full rights afforded any other devil of mature status in the underworld and given right to challenge Lord Raiser to a rating game. Despite Lady Rias technically being two years younger than maturity." Raiser looked unhappy about that. With his attempt at skirting by with minimal effort not paying out as he had wished. The look was brief however as he was still confident he could win any rating game between the two of them.
"Is that what you want Rias?" Raiser asked, obnoxious sneer and arrogant aura firmly back in place.
"Of course, how else will I pop that ego. I Rias Gremory challenge Raiser Phenex to a rating game to the end result deciding the dissolution of our betrothal agreement." Rias confidently said glaring straight into the older man's eyes.
"I Raiser Phenex accept." He replied and there was a small flash of red and yellow light as the two devils were bound to their agreement on their honor as pillar scions.
"In two weeks I expect you to lose with some dignity Rias, but if you want to beg for mercy on your knees you'll at least save yourself some time from having to kneel down at my command." With that last parting shot, the Phenex disappeared in a burst of flames and the peerage was alone once again with the head maid of house Lucifer.
For a while the peerage as a whole stared down at the spot where Raiser had disappeared from. Thoughts running through their heads faster than they could process at the moment until they recomposed themselves. One by one the group returned to their sense and heaved out sighs at the release of tension.
Rias, dropped heavily into her seat as Naruto and Akeno caught up with Grayfia who seemed to have exchanged her perfectly stoic facade for the slightest of smiles as she interacted with the peerage of her sister-in-law.
"Two weeks?" Issei mumbled.
While the senior peerage members seemed to slide right off the topic of dealing with this Raiser character and into catching up with their big sister figure the newer pieces were more than a little frantic.
"We can't train worth anything in two weeks." Katase said with no small amount of worry in her tone.
As the six pawns and singular bishop devolved into mumbling and pacing the others simply watched for a moment before Rias took mercy on her poor servants and grabbed their attention with a sharp whistle.
"You all are worrying far too much. This is a big deal, and I doubt I need to tell you now that this is the actual rating game we have been preparing you for, but like I just said, you have been preparing for it. You just didn't know it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but we expected to have a few more years before this became an issue. I'd hoped to train you all up to mid-class devils by then and have a full peerage as well. We're closer than my worst fears but still, I don't plan to waste these next two weeks. I want you to go home and tell your families you are going on school trips for the next few weeks. We'll make up something with the academy so that it looks like the club had a trip somewhere while we train and participate in the game itself." Rias took command and the pawns quickly snapped to do as they were told when she finished speaking.
The young king couldn't help but blush at the proud look from Grayfia and smiles from Naruto and Akeno.
"Wow, Rias, I didn't expect such a commanding presence from you. Oh you really have me going now." Akeno teased leaning against her best friend and getting a playful shove in reply.
"She's right Rias, you've come a long way. Your brother and parents will be proud of you when they see you win the rating game." Grayfia said without a hint of doubt, causing the red head to blush brightly.
Naruto simply laughed at the bright red blush as he began making up a list of items to pack for their little training trip. The next couple of weeks he planned to intensify things and it seemed like it was about time for him to have a meeting with an old acquaintance that he normally did his best to ignore.
Alright that is chapter 7. Hope you enjoyed. As you can no doubt see this was a much slower chapter action wise than we had recently. No worries as it will pick up quickly, as the training will be coming next chapter.
For those of you who are especially curious and confused I will be revealing a partial version of the relationship list here. Don't wanna know till they reach true dating level then don't read past here. That being said, these are those that should be obvious by this point and will be receiving more build up in the sooner chapters coming up.
Naruto-(Harem) Rias, Akeno, Asia, Koneko
Aika-(Harem) Issei, Matsuda, Motohama, Katase, Murayama
Yeah a sort of reverse harem. Crazy stuff lel.