The IMP van drove down the street, ignoring everything from stop signs to traffic signals, to even pedestrians crossing the street, Blitz didn't care he was just too busy singing along to a horrible death metal song about horses or something. Dante wasn't listening, he was busy smoking a cigarette and staring at the window, finally, the van arrived at his apartment building. Stepping out of the vehicle, Dante headed to the front door but stopped when he heard a car door slam. Turning around he saw Loona walking up the steps toward him, with a smile on her face.
Oh god again? Dante thought to himself as his girlfriend approached, Loona had been spending every night at his place for the past three weeks. Dante liked Loona, he loved being with her but spending all day at work with her as well as all evening and night was starting to get a little grating.
"Shall we?" Loona asked hugging his right arm, forcing a smile Dante opened the front door and led the Hellhound up to his apartment.
Two hours later,
Dante sat at the desk in his room, writing in a black leather notebook, Dante enjoyed keeping a journal. Dante found writing and sketching in it soothing, relaxing even. Suddenly a pair of furry arms wrapped themselves around Dante's shoulders looking up he saw Loona looking down at him.
"Hey why don't you stopped scribbling in that book of yours and we go watch a movie or something?" Loona asked her boyfriend in an affectionate tone.
"No thanks I kinda want to focus on this right now," Dante replied casually, going back to his writing. Not liking his answer Loona reached down and closed the book on Dante.
"Ohh come on don't you want to spend some time with your puppy?" the Hellhound asked in a cute voice; Dante didn't say anything and just reopened the book and went back to writing.
Huffing in frustration Loona got up and left the bedroom, Dante let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
Never have any time to myself lately, he thought with annoyance before going back to his journal.
Dante was pulled out of his writing by the sound of shattering glass, getting up from his desk Dante walked out of his room and headed to his kitchen. Stepping inside he saw two things, the first was a broken bottle and a large puddle of red wine on the floor, and the second thing he saw was Loona leaning against the counter chugging a bottle of wine.
"Loona why is there a broken bottle on the floor?" Dante asked crossing his arms and looking at his girlfriend like an annoyed parent.
"I was getting a drink and the bottle fell out and broke," Loona explained taking another drink, she started to head out of the kitchen, but Dante held up an arm and blocked her path.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, sending her an unhappy look.
"To watch some TV in the living room," Loona stated not sure what was bothering her boyfriend so much.
"Not before you clean up that mess," he explained pointing at the puddle on the floor.
"Me, why do I have to do it?" Loona asked annoyed.
"Because you're the one who let it fall on the floor, so you clean it up," Dante explained sternly, glaring at the hound.
"Come on can't you, do it?" she asked, exacerbated, Dante just pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
This was another thing that bothered him. Loona was a total slob, she was always leaving dirty dishes on the table or counter, leaving trash lying around, or making messes. The worst part is that Loona would never help to clean any of it up, always expecting him to do it.
"Look Loona this isn't your place, Blitz isn't here to clean up your messes when you are here you clean up after yourself!" Dante said his voice filled with anger; Loona rolled her eyes but turned around grabbed some paper towels and began cleaning up the mess.
Smirking Dante turned to head back to his room but stopped when he heard the doorbell ring. Heading to the door Dante opened it and saw an Imp holding a large pizza.
"Large meat-lovers pizza for Loona," the delivery guy said, it was at that moment Loona appeared pushing Dante aside and taking the pizza out of the Imp's hands.
"That'll be 24.85," the guy said holding out his hand, Dante looked at Loona, but she just shrugged.
"Sorry out of cash," she said through a mouthful of pizza, sighing Dante reached into his pocket and gave the guy twenty-five.
"Keep the change," he said, he was about to close the door, but a Damnizon delivery guy showed up and handed him a package. Taking the package Dante looked at it and saw that it was for Loona. Slamming to door in the Damnizon guy's face Dante headed back to the kitchen and saw Loona had already eaten three-fourths of the pizza.
"Loona why are you getting your shit delivered to my place?" Dante asked, holding up the package. Seeing the box Loona immediately snatched it out of his hands.
"Because I'm here most of the time," she said nonchalantly, Dante grimaced.
"Yeah, maybe we should talk about that," Dante said but Loona wasn't listening as she was busy opening the package. Ripping open the box she pulled out what appeared to be a black sheer nightie.
"What is that?" Dante asked looking at the lingerie.
"This is what I blew all my cash on, how does it look" Loona said in a sultry voice holding the nightie up in front of her, Dante gulped and blushed.
Later that night,
Dante lay in bed staring up at the cracked ceiling of his room, Loona snored her arms wrapped around him pulling him into a tight hug. Dante sighed, normally he didn't mind when she snuggled him like this, he thought it was sweet, Rose and Amelia were cuddlers too, but right now he just wanted some space. Carefully moving out of the Hellhound's arms to not wake her, Dante quietly put on some pants, grabbed his notebook out of his desk drawer, and quietly tipped toed out of his apartment. Once out in the halls, Dante headed towards the staircase at the far end of the hall.
Opening the door, Dante climbed up the stairs till he reached the door leading to the roof. Trying the knob Dante saw that it was locked so getting on his knees Dante used one of his talons to pick the lock, once the door opened Dante stepped out onto the roof. Walking over to the edge of the roof Dante sat down, opened up his notebook, and pulled out a pencil.
Now what to draw? He thought to himself as he sifted through his memories until the perfect thought came to mind. Putting pencil to paper, Dante began sketching furiously, he drew and drew until the sun came up, and even then, he kept drawing.
Dante's attention was pulled away from his drawing when he heard a familiar honking, looking down at the road he saw the IMP van waiting in front of his apartment. Getting up Dante closed the book and sealed it. Heading down the stairs he entered his apartment and saw that Loona was still asleep. Sighing Dante shook the Hellhound, and she woke with a sudden start.
"Huh wha, what's happening?" she asked confused, rubbing her eyes.
"Get up the van's here it's time for work," Dante explained, groaning Loona got up and headed for a nearby dresser. Opening it Loona pulled out a black crop top and a pair of black shorts.
When did she start keeping her clothes at my place? Dante thought to himself as he watched Loona get dressed.
Later at the office,
Dante sat on the couch in the office waiting room scrolling through his phone as Loona leaned against him scrolling through hers. It was slow at the moment, Blitz was in his office talking on the phone with a client, Moxxie was polishing a rifle, while Millie sharpened her favorite axe. Dante continued to scroll through Sinstagram looking at posts made by his various friends, one was of Octavia and Marco at a cafe, another was of Vortex at one of Verosika's shows, the last one was of Beelzebub at what looked like a meeting, and she looked bored. Dante scowled, he had no idea why her posts were appearing in his feed, he was about to block her when suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking up from his phone he saw Loona staring at him.
"What's up?" he asked curious as to what his Girlfriend wanted.
"I've been wanting to talk to you about something," she said a shy smile on her face.
"What about?" Dante inquired.
"Well, you know how I've been spending alot of time at your place lately, sleeping there most nights, I have clothes there, and how I get my shit delivered there most of the time?" Loona explained.
"Yeah," Dante replied, trying not to let his discomfort with her statement show.
"I've been wanting to talk to you about that too," Dante stated, Loona's eyes went wide upon hearing his words, and a wide smile spread across her face.
"Wait you have?" she inquired, excitement filling her voice, her tail beginning to wag back and forth.
"Yeah, I think-"
"You want me to move in too!" Loona shouted cutting Dante off and pulling him into a tight hug.
"Wait what?" Dante asked confused this is the opposite of what he wanted to tell her, he wanted to tell her that things were going too fast, and he needed them to slow down, and moving in together was a step too far.
"Aww, you two are just so cute!" Millie cooed hearts in her eyes as she watched the scene unfold. A loud screeching noise was heard from Blitz's office.
"Hey Dante get off your ass and get me a fucking iced coffee!" he shouted through a megaphone.
"Yes sir!" Dante said immediately, pulling himself out of Loona's embrace and headed for the door.
The others saw this and thought it was odd, normally when Blitz told Dante to run errands for him, he would say something like "I'm an assassin Blitz not a fucking intern" and refuse, in which case Moxxie would have to do it. So, the fact that Dante was willing to do some menial tasks for Blitz was strange. Millie noticed this and decided to see what was wrong.
"Hey, Dante how bout I go with ya?" she asked as Dante was about to walk out of the office.
"Uhh sure why not," was Dante's reply, Millie quickly got up and rushed out the door after Dante.
"That was weird," Loona said more to herself than to the Moxxie, who was just as confused as her.
At the coffee shop,
Dante and Millie entered the coffee shop, Dante let out a groan of frustration when he saw how long the line was.
"Is everything alright Hun?" Millie asked, putting her hand on Dante's arm, Dante immediately pulled away.
"Sorry, it's just this line is gonna take forever," Dante explained looking up towards the front of the line and noticing an obnoxious Karen was arguing with the barista.
"That's not what I meant, is everything alright with you and Loona?" Millie inquired her voice taking on a nurturing tone.
"Yeah, everything is great, why do you ask?" Dante asked, not sure what brought this on.
"Well, when Loona said she thought you two should move in together you kinda stormed out of the office, is something wrong?" Millie asked again, Dante looked down at the woman and saw that he was not going to be able to lie his way out of this.
"I don't want her to move in with me," Dante stated bluntly, this statement took Millie aback. The whole time she knew Dante and Loona she saw that they were perfect for each other, they were so happy and loving and cared deeply for each other, and seeing them together was such a treat.
"What why not?" Millie asked, confused as to why Dante wouldn't want to go to the next level with his girlfriend, whom she was certain he would marry one day.
"Because I see her every day at work, I spend eight hours a day with her if she moves in, I'll never get any space or time to myself, I'll have to deal with her twenty-four-seven," Dante explained, Millie was confused, the idea of spending all day and night with the love of your life sounded amazing.
I mean me and Moxxie have that set up we live and work together and everything is going great between us, Millie thought.
"What's wrong with that?" Millie asked, hoping Dante could better explain his reasoning to her.
"I like Loona, but I don't want to be around her all the time I need space and besides you know how she can get," Dante explained, but Millie was still giving him a skeptical look.
"Oh, come on you know how she is how she's lazy, short-tempered, and a bit of a slob, I can deal with that in small doses but if I had to deal with it all the time, I'd probably go nuts," Dante stated, Millie nodded conceding that those where good points.
"Well, why didn't you tell her that," Millie asked putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh, what am I supposed to say, "Hey Loona, I don't want you to move in with me because you're a slop who never cleans up after herself and whines whenever I ask you to help out with anything," you know how sensitive she is if I tell her the truth, she'll try to tear my head off," Dante said pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"You gotta tell her the truth you can't just run from it," Millie replied in a stern motherly tone crossing her arms.
"I know, I know, and I will I just have to find a" Dante was cut off when someone called out from across the cafe.
"Millie is that you?" an obnoxious voice asked, turning around both Imps turned around and saw a shark demon, the kind native to the Greed Ring walking towards them.
The shark had gray skin, and bright blue-green eyes, and his hair was evergreen and styled to stick upward in a swooshing motion. The demon wore a black suit with a skeletal bone design on the arms and chest, he also wore a very smug self-centered expression on his face.
Christ on his Cross this guy looks like a cunt, Dante thought to himself as the shark approached. Looking over at Millie he saw his smaller coworker tense up at the sight of the shark.
"Chazwick, what the fuck are you doing here?" Millie asked glaring at the shark that Dante now knew was named Chazwick.
"Oh, I'm just up here for work, I've been doing well for myself lately," he said in a smug tone, his eyes scanning Millie up and down like she was a piece of meat, Dante saw Millie shudder at the sensation.
"Well, that's great goodbye now," Millie said sternly clearly not interested in catching up with this guy, unfortunately for her the cunt didn't get the hint.
"Yep, I've made my way into Millions, going on to billions, everything is looking up for old Chazwick Thurman," he bragged putting his hands on his hips, Millie just rolled her eyes Dante could see the frustration building behind her eyes.
"My dick has also gotten bigger," he said out of nowhere, Dante cringed, this guy was such a smug ahole, and not only that but he was lying.
No one that is successful brags about their success like that, Dante thought to himself.
"Yep, my cock is twice as large now I mean it was already huge now it's just massive," he explained putting his hands on Millie's shoulders.
"You want to take it for a spin?" Chaz brazenly asked biting his lip and wiggling his eyebrows.
That, however, was the straw that broke the camel's back, as just after saying that Millie proceeded to growl and punch Chaz extremely hard in the stomach. The shark proceeded to clutch his stomach in pain and fell to his knees, Millie then proceeded to storm out of the coffee shop, slamming the door with so much force the glass shattered.
"That… that usually works," Chaz muttered as he got back up on shaky legs. Upon regaining his composure, Chaz checked out Dante and sent him a sleazy smile.
"So, what about you you want to take a ride on my," he didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as Dante swiftly kicked him in the crotch. Chaz proceeded to fall to the floor and rolled around in pain.
Walking away from the shark demon, Dante headed to the counter where he ordered an iced coffee for Blitz, a latte for Loona, a cappuccino for Moxxie, a mocha for Millie, and a Frappuccino for himself.
Back at the office,
Standing in the elevator with the coffee in his hands Dante contemplated what he should say to Loona to explain why he didn't think they should move in together without her getting mad and trying to tear his face off.
Let's see, "We see each other every day at work" No that wouldn't work she doesn't seem to have any qualms about spending too much time together, he thought shaking his head.
Maybe "You're messy and never clean up after yourself" No if I said that she'd tear my throat out, Dante shook the image out of his head.
I know I'll just tell her that we're moving too fast I mean we've been together for less than a year I mean we've been through alot but still, this is too quick, yeah, yeah that can work, Dante thought to himself pleased, as he began going over what he would specifically say he heard a loud crashing sound, the building shook and the light in the elevator flickered.
"The fuck was that?" Dante asked himself as the elevator door opened, stepping out he thought he heard the faint sound of helicopter blades.
Heading to the IMP office he opened the door, stepped inside, and saw the sitting room empty.
"Hey anyone here?" Dante yelled.
"In here babe!" Loona yelled from the conference room, walking to the conference room Dante stepped through the threshold and to his horror saw that nearly half of the left-hand wall was gone.
"What the fuck happened here!?" Dante asked dropping the coffees to the floor, not that he noticed as he was too busy observing the damage done to his workplace.
"Some assholes in a helicopter did that, apparently they never hear of a door," Loona explained glancing up from her phone for a brief moment before going back to Sinstagram.
"Where are the others?" Dante asked, noticing how quiet it was which was pretty unusual for IMP.
"The fucker on the helicopter took them this job is in the Greed Ring or something," Loona said in a disinterested tone.
"Ahh, wait why would they take a job in the Greed Ring our job is to kill people on Earth not in Hell?" Dante asked confused at the sudden shift in policy.
"Don't know don't care, but since they're gone that means we got the rest of the day to ourselves," Loona said putting her phone in her pocket. Getting up from her seat she walked over to Dante and put her arms around his shoulders, as she leaned in to kiss him Dante held up a hand blocking her.
"Not so fast Loona I still think we need to talk about the whole you moving in thing," he said sternly, he didn't want to have this conversation but like Millie said it had to be done.
"Oh, right that so when do you think I should move my stuff in I don't have too much so it should only take me a day to unpack my stuff and-"
"Loona you're not moving in with me," Dante said bluntly cutting off Loona's shpiel. Loona went quiet and sent him a look that was one part confused and two parts hurt, Dante cringed.
God damn those puppy-dog eyes, he thought to himself trying not to look away.
"What, what do you mean of course we're gonna move in together," she said sounding nervous, seeing her upset hurt Dante but he had to stand by this.
"Look Loona I get that you want to take things to the next level, but I don't think that's a good idea right now," he explained calmly hoping to keep her relaxed.
"Bullshit of course it's a good idea!" Loona yelled, glaring down at her boyfriend.
"No, it's not it's going way too fast and honestly we are not ready for that," Dante replied starting to get a little annoyed.
"Fuck that, after all, we've been through, all the late-night talks, all the time we've comforted each other, the time spent treating each other's wounds and injuries, I love you, this isn't too soon personally I feel we should have done this a while ago," Loona stated sternly, Dante hesitated, he thought back to those moments the nights they spent together he had to admit he enjoyed then they were happy memories that he will cherish forever.
Huh maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all, Dante thought for a moment before he remembered the bad times, Loona leaving trash everywhere, Loona breaking stuff and not cleaning up, Loona being overly clingy, Loona being loud and noisy never leaving him a moment's peace.
"No, no Look Loona while I enjoyed those moments, I did but I still feel that this is all too soon alright," he explained taking a deep breath to calm himself down. Suddenly a skeptical look overtook Loona's features.
"Ok, what's going on?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"eh, cosa?" Dante asked not sure what she meant.
"I know you Dante this has more to do than just you feeling the relationship is going too fast, something else is up so what is it?" she asked leaning in close to her boyfriend.
Dante gulped, looking away nervously, suddenly his phone rang pulling it out Dante looked at it and saw it was Blitz. Immediately answering Dante held the phone up to his ear and heard Blitz's gruff voice at the other end.
"Hey Dante, this job requires we spend the night in Greed so can you look after my precious Loonie for me?" he asked his voice taking on the mushy babying tone he always uses when talking about Loona.
"What's that Blitz, you need me to deal with the customers we got while you're on that overnight mission well ok, then," Dante said nervously glancing at Loona.
"What no that's not," Blitz replied confused.
"What you were planning a twenty-four-hour forty percent off sale well ok I'll make the flyer," Dante said before immediately hanging up.
Rushing out of the conference room Dante headed for the supply closet where he found the art supplies and some paper. Sitting down at Loona's desk Dante began writing up the flyer, Loona stepped out of the conference room a moment later and marched over to him.
"Dante, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Loona asked angry that Dante was trying to weasel his way out of the conversation.
"No time to talk got to put up this flyer," Dante said quickly grabbing the finished flyer and rushing out of the building. Loona growled her fur bristling in anger.
One hour later
Miraculously the flyer worked, and IMP had already received twenty clients in less than an hour. Flipping through the list of targets, their names, sex, and locations once he had it all memorized Dante grabbed the Grimoire and opened a portal. Passing through it Dante traveled to Earth leaving behind a very pissed off Loona.
Target one, Des Moines Iowa, USA
The first target Dante had to deal with was a woman who allowed her husband to abuse and mistreat her daughter then when the daughter started fighting back, she threw her out leading her down a life of crime and her eventual death.
The abusive stepfather stepped out of his bedroom in nothing but a filthy wife beater and a pair of equally filthy boxers. Entering the kitchen, the stepfather opened up the fridge and as he looked inside suddenly the fridge door slammed into his head. Groaning in pain the man fell to his knees but before he had a chance to respond the door slammed into his head again, then again, then again. The door kept slamming into his head until it hit him with enough force to crush his skull like a melon splattering blood, bone, and brain matter all over the kitchen.
"Honey is everything alright?" the client's mother asked her husband as she entered the kitchen, she turned on the lights and saw her husband's now headless corpse on the floor.
The woman let out a blood-curdling scream that was swiftly ended as she was slammed into a wall and then kicked in the gut. Her assailant proceeded to lift her and tossed her across the room slamming her into her oven. The woman lay on the floor crying but suddenly she was lifted by her hair and her head was slammed onto one of the stovetops. Looking up she caught a glimpse of her assailant; it was a man of Mediterranean complexion with long wavy black hair and sunglasses.
"Who are you… why are you doing this?" she asked the man sent her a sadistic smile and then leaned down close to her ear.
"Your daughter says hello," he whispered into her ear, pulling away Dante reached down and grabbed one of the nobs on the front of the stove and turned it. There was a click, a whoosh of flame followed by horrific screams.
Target two, Marseille France,
The next target was a skilled art forger who murdered a client who discovered his secret. The forger sat at his desk with a painting of the French countryside leaning against the wall, he held an easel in one hand and a paintbrush in the other. The forger focused so intently on copying the painting that he didn't notice a man walk up behind him with a paintbrush in hand. Grabbing him by the hair Dante yanked his head back and plunged the brush into his throat. The forger gripped his own throat and choked on his blood before falling to the floor, Dante was about to leave but stopped when he saw the painting. Picking it up Dante admired it before he suddenly recognized the work and who painted it.
"maledetto ladro," Dante muttered with scorn spitting on the art forger's corpse before opening a portal and walking through with the painting.
IMP office,
As Dante walked through the portal Loona, who was at her desk, stood up and approached him.
"Are you done are you ready to tell me what all this is really about?" she asked curtly, crossing her arms.
"Nope sorry Loona got a lot of other targets to take down," Dante stated Loona was about to intervene, but Dante just shoved a painting into her hands.
"What's this?" she asked, looking at the painting.
"Oh, it's a painting I made," Dante said opening another portal and walking through to deal with his next target.
"Oh… wait what?" Loona asked looking at the painting.
this was taken from Earth so how could he have painted it? Loona thought to herself confused.
Target three, San Jose California, USA,
The third target was a corrupt Senator who had been blackmailing his opponents and drove the most recent one to suicide. Currently, the Senator was watching a baseball game with his wife and some other associates, realizing that he had to take a piss. The Senator got up and headed for the bathroom. Standing at the urinal the Senator didn't notice one of the baseball players sneaking up behind him with a bat.
WACK!
The Senator fell to his knees clutching his now bleeding head, looking up he saw a man with black hair and olive skin tone. The batter smiled at him before resuming his assault.
WACK
WACK
WACK
WACK
He kept going and going and going until the Senator was just a bloody pulp lying on the bathroom floor. Tossing away the now bloodstained bat, Dante pulled his cap down low and walked out of the bathroom towards the exit.
"Hmph, still got a mean swing, don't I?" he said to himself a smirk on his face.
Target four, Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada,
Jennifer Schmidt and her boyfriend Chad were in bed together, it had taken a while, but she had finally eliminated her worthless husband in a staged home invasion. Her children were with her mother, so she and Chad had all weekend together. As the two made love their attention was drawn to the sound of smashing glass, looking to the left wall they saw a broken window. Then they looked down and saw a pile of broken glass and what looked like a grenade.
"Oh fuck!" was all Jennifer was able to say before the grenade went off, blowing her and her lover to a dozen tiny bits.
Dante stood outside the now burning house watching as wreckage and debris rained down, suddenly something landed in front of him. Picking it up Dante saw it was Jennifer's head with a look of utter shock on her face.
"Bet you wish you hadn't cheated now huh?" Dante asked the head before tossing it aside and heading to the next target.
Kyoto, Kansai Region, Japan,
On a rainy day in Kyoto, Kuro Serizawa sat alone in the Go salon at his usual table. The salon was empty, the only people there were him and Hinata, the owner's niece who ran the sign-in desk. Hinata leaned against the counter looking at herself in a small mirror and carefully applying lipstick. Kuro scowled, he never really liked Hinata, the 100-year-old man found the young woman to be rude and disrespectful. He also dislikes her way of dressing, her lowcut shirts and short skirts, and the brightly colored streaks in her black hair, Kuro shook his head he just couldn't stand kids these days. Kuro was taken out of his thoughts by the sound of the ding of the salon's door opening, looking towards the entrance he saw a young man walk in. The young man wore a Tokyo Giants cap, under which Kuro noticed long dark hair. The man wore a long black coat and a red shirt underneath, the man's eyes were covered by a dark pair of sunglasses, which Kuro found odd since it was cloudy outside. Upon noticing the man Hinata immediately stood up straight and gave the man her full attention.
"Welcome to the Go Salon, admittance is three thousand Yen," she said cheerfully batting her eyelashes at him, Kuro rolled his eyes. The man proceeded to hand Hinata a wad of money and walk into the main room.
The young man proceeded to scan the room but stopped when his eyes fell upon Kuro, walking over the man stopped right in front of Kuro and sent him a smile.
"Mind if we play a game?" he asked politely, Kuro smiled glad to know some kids still had manners.
"Of course, what's your name, young man?" Kuro replied with a smile, the young man bowed and sat across from him.
"Dante," the young man said as he got comfortable.
"Alright Dante let's choose for color," Kuro said opening the stone bowl and reaching inside, but the young man raised his hand in opposition.
"It's fine I'll play black, you can have a Komi of five-and-a-half points," he stated opening his bowl and setting the lid aside.
"Hmm you're a confident one, aren't you?" Kuro asked Dante who just sent him a smug smile.
"Onegaishimastu," Dante said with a bow.
"Onegaishimastu," Kuro said in turn. Reaching into his bowl, Dante pulled out a black stone, holding the stone between his index and middle finger, and placed it down on a point in the lower right-hand corner.
"Hmm you know how to properly hold the stones it's nice to see that young people today can appreciate this game," Kuro said as he picked up a stone and placed it down on the opposite corner.
"I enjoy games especially Go it's one of my favorites," Dante said as he placed a stone right next to Kuro's.
"Hmm, going on the offensive I see," he thought to himself, before placing another stone down near the center.
"Might I ask where did you learn the game, not many people outside of Asia know it and you have the look of a European if you don't mind me asking?" Kuro inquired as Dante put another stone down on the board.
"Not at all, and you're correct I am a native of Italy, but I spent alot of time in China for work so while there I learned how to play," Dante explained.
"Oh, where in China did you stay?" Kuro asked while playing with another stone.
"Macau, but I learned how to play from a pretty lady in Nanjing," Dante said placing a stone near the center.
At the mention of Nanjing Kuro went pale, like Dante he had been to Nanjing back when it was still called Nanking, but he wasn't there for fun or work, he was there as a conqueror. When he was young Kuro served as a soldier in the Imperial Japanese army, he was a part of the force that captured Nanjing and participated in all of the horrid atrocities that were committed there. The things he did while stationed in that city horrified him and fill him with shame, Kuro was pulled from his flashback by the sound of knocking.
"Excuse sir but it's your turn," Dante said gesturing to the board.
"Ohh my apologies," Kuro said before picking up a stone and placing it on the board.
The two continued to play in relative silence from that point on, as they did Dante made several excellent moves that allowed him to capture not just a third of Kuro's stones but also half the territory on the board. Kuro examined the board and saw no way he could make a comeback as he looked it over.
"I resign," he said bowing his head to Dante.
"Good game," Dante replied sorting his pieces and placing them back in his bowl, Kuro did the same.
"You're pretty good how about another game?" Kuro asked as he finished cleaning up.
"No sorry, I'd love to, but I have to get back to work," Dante replied reaching into his coat.
"Oh, really what's your work?" Kuro asked curious as to what kind of job brought an Italian man to Japan.
"Assassin," Dante said pulling out a pistol and holding it to Kuro's head.
"Wha- wait what are you doing?!" Kuro asked terrified as he stared down at the barrel of the gun.
"This is for Nanking," Dante said his voice filled with hatred and rage, pulling the trigger the bullet tore through Kuro's skull and splattered the back wall with blood and brains.
Getting up Dante left the Salon and as he passed the now terrified Hinata, he reached back into his jacket and pulled out another stack of money and tossed it onto the counter.
"Sorry about the mess," he said as he walked out the door.
Back in Hell,
Dante stepped through the portal back into the IMP waiting room where he saw a very annoyed who was standing with her arms crossed and her foot tapping.
"Alright, now that you're done with your little one-day sale can you please tell me why you really don't want me to move in with you?" she asked, sending Dante a frustrated look he just rolled his eyes.
"I told you already there's no other reason, I just feel that we're moving way too fast, ok geez not everything has a deeper meaning to it," Dante explained sounding frustrated, Loona clearly didn't believe him and moved in closer to him.
"Bullshit, there's always more than that when it comes to you, you promised that you would open up more and tell me about yourself and how you feel so tell me what is up?" Loona demanded a low growl emanating from the back of her throat. Dante just smiled grabbing Loona by the back of the head he pulled her into a deep kiss.
Breaking away Dante stared at Loona who had a surprised expression on her face with a blush dusting her face.
"Look Loona how about you sleep on this tonight and if you still think that I'm not being frank with you tomorrow then I will tell you but for right now I think we both need to go home and rest alright?" Dante asked Loona thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"Great see you tomorrow!" Dante shouted happily picking up the painting that was leaning against Loona's desk Dante headed out of the office leaving Loona alone in the office. The Hellhound let out an annoyed sigh and headed down to the IMP van to drive herself home.
Later that night, Blitz's apartment,
Loona lay in bed looking longingly at the ceiling of her room, reaching out to her left she tried to grab out for someone before realizing they weren't there.
"Dammit I hate being alone," Loona said to herself, despite the front she put on in front of others Loona genuinely enjoyed the company of others, and being alone for too long made her feel anxious and worried. It was part of the reason she liked spending time with Dante, she felt less alone when he was around.
"Satan, I hope he changes his mind about not wanting to move in together," Loona her voice tinged with worry.
"What am I saying of course he will, I bet he's just miserable without me there to snuggle with," Loona said to herself looking at a picture of her and Dante cuddling and softly smiling.
Dante's apartment,
Dante stood in his living room looking at the painting that now hung on his east wall.
"This is one of my better works," Dante said to himself proudly as he admired the painting. As he continued to inspect his work Dante was suddenly struck with inspiration.
Rushing to his room he pulled out an easel, some brushes, and several containers of paints out of his closet, setting everything up in his living room Dante quickly removed his jacket put on his smock, and started painting.
The next morning, IMP office,
Dante walked down the hallway to the office, he was feeling quite relaxed this morning, he had spent the whole night painting, normally he couldn't get much painting done as whenever he tried Loona was either being too noisy or demanding his attention over something trivial or for cuddles.
Jesu Cristo she's just like a puppy, Dante thought with a laugh. As he approached the entrance to the office, he hoped that Loona had slept on their conversation from yesterday and wouldn't try to push things. As he rounded the corner into the office the first thing, he saw was Loona sitting atop her desk, arms crossed and sending him a stern look.
Cazzo, he thought to himself defeated.
"You still want an explanation, don't you?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yep," Loona replied giving a curt nod.
"Cazzo," he muttered under his breath, Dante took a deep breath, held it for a moment then released.
"Ok it's because you never clean up after yourself," Dante said gently.
"What, what the fuck are you talking about?" Loona asked raising an eyebrow.
"You're always leaving trash lying around, you leave your dirty dishes around and never put them in the sink or wash them, and remember that broken bottle from the other night, you keep making messes and leave them for me to clean up, and I don't want to deal with that all day every day," Dante explained, Loona just looked at him dumbstruck trying to process what he had just told him. After about a minute or two Loona growled marched up to Dante and yanked him up to her height by the collar of his shirt.
"Bullshit! That is fucking bullshit! You don't want me to move in because I'm too lazy to help you clean that's bull, if you wanted me to clean up my shit you would fucking tell me to so what's really going on and don't you dare fucking lie to me!?" Loona asked her voice filled with anger before dropping Dante to the floor. The Imp swiftly got up and dusted himself off then sent Loona a frigid glare.
"Alright you want the truth I'll tell you, it's because you've gotten really clingy lately!" Dante shouted his hands bunching into fists.
"What! What the fuck are you talking about, how the hell am I clingy?" Loona asked offended by Dante's accusation.
"For the past few weeks, you have not left me alone for a fucking minute, whenever I get back from a job you pull me into a tight hug, and you're constantly texting me and sending me pics while I'm on missions, not only that but you've been spending every night at my place and every time you've been wanting to spend every second by my side, I haven't had a moment to myself in forever," Dante explained his voice filled with annoyance.
"Why is that a problem is it wrong that I want to spend time with you, I love you?" Loona asked clutching her heart with both hands a look of hurt etched on her face. The sight caused Dante to cringe.
"Look Loona it's not that I don't want to spend time with you I do but there have to be boundaries ok I need some time to myself sometimes alright," Dante explained sighing, looking up at the office ceiling.
"I mean da Maria Rose never had a problem understanding-" Dante stopped covering his mouth with his hand in horror at what he had just said. Looking over to his girlfriend Dante saw Loona glaring at him her hands curled into fists a look of anger on her face and Dante thought he could see a tear run down her cheek.
"Ohh fuck Loona I'm sorry I didn't mean to," but before Dante could finish Loona pushed past him and stormed out of the office. Dante watched her leave ashamed of himself.
Suddenly Dante's attention was taken by what sounded like a helicopter, following the sound Dante entered the conference room he saw a helicopter and then saw Blitz who was in nothing but a suit jacket and his underwear, Moxxie who was in a wedding dress, and finally Millie who was wearing her usual outfit.
"Millie thank you for saving me, you're amazing," Moxxie said hugging his wife as the helicopter crashed into the street below.
"Next time just tell me if your dad is a psychopath, I can handle it," Millie stated sending Moxxie a loving smile.
"Well, I'm glad everything ended up ok, good to know we both have daddy issues Moxx," Blitz said ruffling the smaller Imp's hair.
"Also, I got to plow your ex-boyfriend isn't that great, now we all fucked the same guy," Blitz said pulling the two into a big hug.
"Uhh excuse me but could one of you explain to me what the fuck happened to you guys?" Dante asked pointing at the three Imps.
"Ohh right you weren't there, sure I can give you the dirty details… wait where's Loona?" Blitz asked, looking around the room.
"Uhh… she… went home, she's not feeling too well," Dante explained looking away sheepishly, upon hearing that his daughter wasn't feeling good Blitz immediately started to panic.
"What don't worry Loonie sweetie Daddy is coming to help!" Blitz shouted immediately, rushing out of the office. Upon seeing their boss leave Dante, Millie, and Moxxie all looked at each other and then sat down at the conference table.
"Alright where to begin," Moxxie said as he took a deep breath, then let out the breath in a deep sigh.
Ten minutes later,
"So, your dad who is a sociopathic mob boss in the Greed Ring, tried to force you to marry your ex-boyfriend who also happens to be Millie's ex-boyfriend, so Millie had to fight through an army of his thugs to free you and bring you back to Pride, am I getting all of this?" Dante asked his coworkers as they explained the convoluted story to him.
"Yep, that's about right," Moxxie said as he listened to Dante's summary of events.
"Alright so did you kill him?" Moxxie asked crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, Moxxie just shook his head.
"No Chaz is still alive but knowing my dad that's probably not gonna last for long," Moxxie explained rubbing his chin.
"No not this Chaz guy your dad did you murder Crimson?" Dante asked, his voice taking on a serious tone.
"Uh no I let him live," Millie explained.
"What why?!" Dante asked angry, Millie was confused not sure why Dante seemed so interested in her father-in-law's death.
"What's the problem?" Moxxie asked equally as confused as his wife.
"Because I know guys like Crimson and if he's anything like the Mobsters I've met he's not gonna take this lying down he will seek revenge!" Dante explained, Millie's eyes went wide as she realized that Dante was right Crimson was likely to come for her and Moxxie in revenge.
"I'm well aware of that possibility Dante," Moxxie said putting a hand on Millie's shoulder.
"I thank you for your concern, Dante but don't worry if my dad does come after me, I will be ready for it," Moxxie explained his voice filled with certainty. While Millie visibly relaxed at Moxxie's statement Dante wasn't too convinced but chose to let this slide for the moment.
"So did you and Loona talk?" Millie asked, turning to her younger coworker.
"Yes, it didn't go well," Dante stated exacerbated.
Later that night, Blitz's apartment Loona's room,
Loona laid in bed face buried in her pillow, she'd been in her room since she got home, and Blitz had tried to talk to her, he offered everything from food to a shoulder to cry on, but Loona was exhausted and didn't want to talk to anyone right now. The fight Loona had with Dante hurt it showed her that her connection with Dante wasn't as strong as she thought it was, that Dante didn't enjoy her presence as much as she enjoyed his, and the cherry on top Dante liked to compare her to his ex Rose. Loona buried her face deeper into her pillow, closing her eyes Loona hoped to sleep off how shitty she felt.
As she began to drift off to sleep, she was jolted awake by the sound of her phone ringing, grabbing her phone off the nightstand she looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Dante. Hitting ignore Loona put her phone down and tried to go back to sleep but then her phone rang again. Picking the phone back up she saw it was Dante again she hit ignore again only for it to start ringing for a third time.
"Uhgg and he calls me clingy," Loona said to herself in frustration, as she gave in and finally answered the phone.
"What," Loona said coldly not wanting to talk with her boyfriend right now.
"I'm sorry for what happened earlier, what I said was harsh and I shouldn't have said those things," Dante replied his voice filled with regret.
"Are you sorry for calling me clingy or for comparing me to your dead Girlfriend?" Loona asked her words filled with bile, she couldn't see it, but she was certain Dante was cringing on the other line.
"Both I shouldn't have compared you to Rose it was unfair of me to do that, and about calling you clingy that was harsh you're not clingy," Dante answered.
"Your damn right I'm not," Loona said angrily.
"But I still hold to what I said earlier I need my space as much as I enjoy spending time with you I'm not ready to move in together," Dante explained firmly but not harshly, Loona was surprised she didn't think he'd bring this backup, Dante did not like the idea of them living together.
"Fine I get it I'm a pain in the ass and you don't want to deal with the stress," Loona said frustrated falling back onto her bed and looking up at the ceiling.
"Look Loona it's honestly not that you're a pain, remember how I promised I would be more open with you and stop hiding my feelings?" Dante asked.
"Yes," Loona replied sitting back up and giving more attention to the conversation.
"Well, I'm being open with you now, I am not ready to move in yet, maybe in another year or two but not now alright, it's not that I don't love you it's just that… I'm not ready for that step yet," Dante explained Loona didn't detect any lies or deceit from Dante he sounded completely honest.
"Ok I get it, sorry if I pushed too hard again," Loona said with regret.
"It's fine, sorry if I was a dick," Dante replied to her apology.
"Alright if that's all I'm gonna get some sleep I'm exhausted," Loona said through a yawn.
"Yeah, me too," Dante replied with a laugh. Hanging up the phone Loona plugged it into the charger on her nightstand, curled up under her covers, and went to sleep.
Epilogue,
It was 3 AM and Dante sat in bed staring at the painting he painted last night; it was a full-body portrait of Rose standing in a flowering field on a spring day.
"And well that's what happened Rose, I know I know you'd be pissed at me for comparing Loona to you I mean that's just not fair; you can't compare a mere mortal to a goddess like yourself," he explained to the painting before letting out a short laugh.
"Now I know you'd hate it if I considered you a goddess but honestly you kinda were to me at least," Dante said to the painting, staring at it for several moments as if waiting, hoping for it to respond.
When nothing happened, Dante let out a sigh, got up and walked over to his window. Looking out the window he watched as the world went by focusing intently on the city itself, the people walking to and throw through the streets.
"I told Loona that maybe we could try living together in a year or two, but honestly I don't think that's going to happen," he said a hint of sadness coloring his words.
Pulling out his phone he opened an app on his phone that showed a twenty-four-hour feed of the Heaven embassy clock tower in Pentagram City.
"Almost time, then it's all over," he said with dead seriousness.
END,
Another chapter down next chapter will follow the events of Western Energy more closely. There will be plenty of action and you guys will get to see Striker and Dante meet for the first time! Stay tuned and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading!