Summer vacation has started. That meant beaches! Swimsuits! A tan! The chance to go karaoke with your friends while drinking cold boba milk tea. Ice cream on cones or on sticks as you walk the deserted night beach!
Or it would have been for Rias Gremory. Instead she was dealing with a headache a stray devil made in the Town of Kuoh. Stray devils are devils that have left their master and cause chaos around them. There are those strays that don't go crazy or something but they are the exceptions.
The stray devil that had intruded upon her territory was a devil named Viser. She had killed and eaten at least three humans already. Rias had already received the details on the stray and already had a plan to put it down; which would have to wait fill nightfall.
What stressed Rias out was coming up with cover stories for the families and friends of the deceased. They couldn't exactly say "A devil ate up your family members ha ha ha." No, the sudden deaths of the deceased should be given something more natural.
Truck companies shouldn't be always blamed for accidental deaths. Suicide was hard to properly set up (although Rias was getting better at it.) Murder was hard to put on the table unless Rias could give the the case proper
Not to mention she needed to understand the mentality and personality of the person to properly set up how they died. Their lifestyle was another factor to their death.
Did the deceased make enemies at work or in their community? Murder was the go to, although Rias didn't like to use that reason since it would cost money for the people involved and, not to mention, cause more grief and anger. Were they sad and depressed? Suicicde was easy to orchestrate, especially if the person was already suicidal to begin with. Was the deceased a good person? Death by accident was the only viable cause of death that Rias could orchestrate.
Rias sighed as she eyed the Gremory servants gathered in her base, the Occult Research Club. They worked directly under the Gremory Pillar and have been trained to serve since they were children. Most of them have integrated themselves into the community of Kuoh, working as police, lawyers, detectives, and coroners that would help Rias in faking the deaths of the dead. The small minority would be the ones working in the shadows. They would build and reconstructure a dummy body, rewrite video evidence (if there was any), wipe and replace some memories, forge some evidence, and wholly work in the shadows to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Rias closed the files in her hand. She wore a stone cold face, the face of a heiress, as she gave out orders on what to do about the dead and how their deaths should be played out.
Thankfully, one was suicidal and had written their own suicide letters but hid them all in their closet. It was easy to dump a dummy body into the sea, find it, have a Gremory servant as a coroner pronounce them dead, and watch it roll out naturally. What the family does after that was none of Rias' concern unless it directly hurt her or her clients.
The other two were harder to determine, since nothing negative about them stood out. No signs of depression, no stepping on the wrong people's toes. Neither had any bad habits and were both young so death by health reasons was out of the question.
Ah, there were rumors that the new vaccine caused death by heart attack in young males. One of them just got vaccinated a month ago, Rias could use that..
The last could have died by truck. There was a huge uproar online about drunk drivers the other day. This would surely add fuel to the fire.
Rias laid down her preparations and smoothed out complications. Later, rather than sooner, the last of the Gremory servants disappeared into a magic circle to carry out her orders.
Rias collapsed onto her throne, a cushioned Victorian era styled chair that fit the 1800s feel of the room. She looked out. The sun had already set. She had started so early too…
A plate with steaming food was laid in front of her. "My Lady."
Rias smiled. "Thank you, Love."
Issei grinned back in return. "You're welcome. You haven't had lunch yet so I cooked this up."
Rias reached for the spoon but it was stolen away from her by a tentacle. She gave Issei a playful glare.
"I have a better idea," Issei said as he scooped up some rice and pork cutlet. He lightly blew on it and raised it to Rias' lips. Rias opened her mouth. Issei carefully put the spoon in. She closed her lips and let Issei pull out the spoon, leaving only a bit of red sauce and saliva.
Issei pulled a seat as Rias enjoyed her first bite of the delicious meal. Issei continued feeding Rias, perfectly timing his spoons whenever she wanted.
"You know, this reminds me of the first time you fed me like this," Rias said.
"You mean the time when you were so embarrassed to be fed?"
Rias' cheeks were tinged with slight embarrassment. "Yes…"
Issei smirked. "You look cute when you're shy."
"Stop it!" Rias covered her face with her hands.
"I'm serious."
"That's what makes it worse! You're making me feel more embarrassed!"
Issei laughed as Rias curled up in her seat.
"You still have a cute side after all."
"Pfft!" Rias laughed. "What was that supposed to mean? I'm not cute?"
"More like 'mature and sexy' than cute I would say."
"I enjoy being called cute from time to time too, you know."
"I'll keep that in mind, Your Cuteness," Issei raised the spoon. "Come now, say 'ah.' "
Rias relented. She wrapped her slim and cold fingers around Issei's fingers and the spoon and lightly tugged the spoon away from Issei. She scooped up some rice and pork, which was still steaming hot. She carefully raised it.
"What are you gonna do now?" Issei asked. With Rias' mouth full, she couldn't blow on it.
Rias smirked, which made her look more cute than haughty with one side of her cheek swollen with food, and casted a weak frost spell on the food to cool it down.
Issei chuckled to himself. "That's not fair," he said but relented. He opened his mouth and let Rias feed him. Rias smiled in victory.
"You still have a cute side after all," she said with a sly grin.
"It's the perk of living with you. The cuteness is contagious."
"I must have got my cuteness from Irina then."
"I doubt it," Issei said, "You have your own trademark cuteness."
Rias pecked Issei's lips, a chaste kiss. "You know exactly what to say to make my heart flutter."
"What can I say? I am your husband."
"Love you, my dearest."
"I love you too."
The two would finish up the platter of katsudon(in a plate) by feeding each other.
