Disclaimer: I do not own the property of either Hazbin Hotel, or Naruto, both works are owned by Masashi Kishimoto, and Vivienne Medrano respectively.
Chapter 6: Dark Truths
Making his way downstairs into the lobby, he could faintly hear the drumming of bottles bouncing against each other at the back of the bar. The closer he got, the more he could make the silhouetted figure of the local drunk feline cursing the air around him.
"Now where the fuck did I put it?"
Crash!
"Oh that is just beautiful"
Reaching the edge of the bar, Naruto peered over to see Husk hunched over a broken bottle already making its rounds covering the bottom front of the bar with a strong scent of liquor.
"Is everything already Husk?"
"No, everything is not "alright" I can't seem to find my deck of cards, and on top of that, I just broke a good bottle of bourbon" He stated as looked straight up with a look of total contempt.
"I was just asking Husk, no need to chew my head over it" Raising his hands in mock surrender. "If it makes you feel any better, I can try to help you find what you're looking for"
"Yeah, whatever." Not really caring if he helped, or not."They won't be that hard to spot out once you get a glimpse of them"
"What makes them stand out more than your usual deck's" Now a bit curious over the cat's remark.
"Well, for one they still look like your typical playing cards, they're colored black with gold metal tips on all four corners" Getting up from his crouching position, and looked at the human in front of him while leaning back against the back wall of the bar. "And they also happen to be…..alive" Finishing the last word with a low pitch, directing his gaze to his left as if he was embarrassed in letting that part of information out.
"Sorry, can you run that by me one more time, because I think I misheard you?"
"You heard me right" Redirecting his eyes back at the blond, this time fully taking a good look in the shape he was in."Christ, are you alright?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Because you look like shit" Reverting back to his usual self-motor mouth speaking.
"Couldn't sleep much, stayed past two keeping myself busy with some breathing exercises" Sounding as convincing as possible to the large feline. "But, other than that I feel just fine, didn't think you cared enough about my health" Smiling at the thought of Husk caring.
"I don't, I only care about finding my cards. They cost me a whole lot of dough, and I can't play right without them" He stated as he took a quick glance at other plain sets of cards tucked away messily."They're are some of my best in my collection"
"Okay, if I manage to find one, do I have to worry about them biting?" Naruto jokingly said at the thought of playing cards being too dangerous to handle."I don't see how I'll be much of a problem"
"I would suggest taking it a little more seriously, as these little fuckers can't help themselves in scurrying around in tight places like cockroaches"
"You're making it sound as if they can reproduce"
"..."
"Do they?"
"Just cross your fingers if you manage to see one"
"Okay, I'll make sure to keep my eyes peeled for them" With that, he left the cat to his own devices as he proceeded to head towards the kitchen. Though not before being stopped mid-step a few paces away from the bar as he heard Husk call out his name.
"I also forget to mention, make sure to sleep with your mouth close, they mistake it for a cardholder to breed in"
"Wish I didn't have to hear that"
With those bothersome thoughts in his mind, he soon resumed his walk towards the kitchen with a keen eye as he surveyed his surroundings at the off chance of spotting a live playing card roaming around.
The constant noise heard coming from the kitchen could almost drown out the noise of a live orchestra as the busy body of one cycloptic maid made her frequent rounds all over the mess hall making sure that everything was in proper order.
The two other occupants in the room made sure to steer clear of Nifty when she was in this type of mood.
"Hey sweetie, can you pass me the butter"
"Here, just make sure to spread it around evenly, you want the whole pan to be completely covered"
"I know what to do, the dummy is not my first time making eggs"
"Last time you said that you're nearly burned down the kitchen"
Charlie could only grumble with pouted cheeks at the jab but smiled as Vaggie only kidded around. The time spent with her made it easy for her girlfriend to know how she ticked. Cooking seemed to be one of those instances in which both of them would bicker over the little things.
"How many slices of fruit are you gonna cut?"
"So far I managed to cut an even amount," Vaggie said as she placed the fresh cuts onto a bowl next to her." A few pairs of apples, bananas, grapefruits, and some pairs, this would probably be enough to get by for the morning"
"Great! All we need left is for the muffins, and eggs to be ready" Charlie said as she cracked a few eggs over the hot skillet once the smearing of the butter covered the inner rim."
"Alright" Her one-eyed girlfriend confirmed."Am gonna go set up the plates, and utensils outside the dining table" Vaggie said while turning to the short maid checking the timer on the cooking pastries."How much longer for the timer to sound off, Nifty?
"About 5 minutes"
"I start to get the table ready"
Before Charlie could comment on the matter, the sound of the pushing doors made all three females turn their eyes to the doors, and see their human resident walkthrough with a lazy smile on his face.
His attire to say the least was very casual as it only consisted of a white button-up shirt with a few of the buttons on the top left open revealing a bit of his muscular chest, topping it off with faded blue jeans, and white converse.
The clothes that she could provide him seemed to have been paying off, given that the type of attire they found him in was completely destroyed, and Alastor's gentlemen's clothing didn't really suit Naruto's taste as much.
"Morning," Naruto said as he made himself known to the rest of the occupants in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Naruto"
"Hey whiskers"
"Morning!"
Now standing near the edge of a stainless steel counter, he grabbed a few slices of fruit from its platter and dropped a couple in his mouth. "I was hoping to catch you guys here," He said as he chewed his food.
"What for?" Said Vaggie as she stood near the revolving doors.
"Wanted to know when breakfast would be ready" Finishing the last remnants of the fruit before wiping his hands from the sticky juices with a clean napkin. "I was planning to eat back in my room"
"You're not going to join us at the dining table?" Said Nifty a bit despondent at not having him with them.
"Sorry, but it seems that I have to call in a rain check"
"Is there something wrong?" Asked the demon princess who shared a worried look with the short maid.
"Oh, nothing wrong, I just wanted to eat in my room, and spend today's morning by myself" He explained with a small smile, but felt thankful at their candace towards him. "So don't go worrying about me"
The answer seemed sufficient enough as he felt both Charlie, and Nifty calm down a bit, but wished he could say the same about Vaggie who looked on from the sidelines with a doubtful expression.
"Alright, then" Charlie as she went back to stirring the eggs on the heated up pan, once it was ready to crack a few eggs over it. "I'll make sure to set a plate for you once these are done"
"Oh, can you also make another one for Angel, he told me to bring him some food to his room"
"Him too?"
"Yeah, he seems to be feeling about a bit under the weather, and wanted to spend some time in bed to recuperate," He told Charlie while keeping a straight face to avoid saying anything about what occurred last night"
"Is he alright?" Nifty said as she took out the fresh set of muffins from the oven, whose scent overtook the entire kitchen with their sweetness."Is there anything I can do to help, maybe I can spruce up some soup to help him get better"
"No, is nothing too serious, he just woke up feeling a bit drowsy and wanted to stay in bed to rest up," The blond said to the red-haired sprite. "The last thing Angel wants is to have you worry too much over him"
"That'll be the first" Remarked the goth moth in the back whose crossed arms indicated the wary excuse of their resident drug addict in being absent in the morning."Is not the first time Angel was a no-show in being too lazy from getting up from bed"
"Come on Vaggie, aren't you laying it out a bit too thick?" The shinobi said as he was handed a fresh plate of freshly baked bread."Angel may not be perfect when it comes to his timing, but at least he tries to get better"
"I can think of a couple of examples when that prima donna said the same thing, and let me tell you, it gets old real quick"
He wanted to reply to her claim but knew better than to start an argument this early in the day, and the last thing he wanted was to create some tension between the two. So he chose to stay quiet.
It didn't help the matter all that much when Charlie popped out from his side with two plates wrapped with plastic, and two bottles of orange juice.
"Here you go," She said as she handed him the food. "I also took the liberty in packing some fruit on the side, don't want you two to skim out in getting some well-needed nutrition in your diet" Finishing it off with her own trademark smile that could lid up a Christmas tree.
"Thank you, Charlie"
"No problem" Before settling back in cooking another batch for the rest of the guests. "Hopefully Angel starts to feel better in no time"
"I'll make sure to let him know you said that"
Before he left the kitchen he made sure to grab two plastic bottles of water from the fridge, and an extra set of utensils, as he also remembered that Angel wanted to feed Nuggets some food too.
With that, he bid goodbye to the rest and strode off from the mess hall with food on hand.
The walk back went without a hitch as he made sure not to look as inconspicuous in front of the others, as he knew that they would cause a major scene if they found out what had happened to Angel.
Maybe with the exception of Husk, as he really didn't care about people in general, and still kept people at a distance, with the rare instances of reaching out when needing some help.
Point in case, the retrieval mission of sentient-mouth breeding playing cards currently unknown roaming around the hotel.
And for obvious reasons, he did not want Alastor to get a whiff of what he was keeping a secret, as he did not trust the crimson overlord in confiding anything too confidential.
That, and because he found Al to be creepy as hell.
"Greetings, and salutations my dear man "
Speak of the devil (Or the closest he's gotten to meeting one)
Caught deep in his own thoughts he failed to notice once more that sudden appearance of the cannibal fiend standing right in front with his usual sharp tooth grin, and dissecting eyes staring into his own.
Luckily he was able to prevent himself from colliding with Al, as he took a few quick steps back to avoid hitting him.
"Morning, Alastor" Voice deep with confidence, though laced with a bit of caution over having to talk with the overlord. "Is a good thing that you caught my attention, this would have been a bad start to the morning if I spilled this food all over the floor."
"No troubles at all, if any I should be the one thanking you" Smiling widely at the blond, who began to feel unsettled by the joyous mood the red deer was in.
"What for?"
"For giving me that stern lecture the previous day, I may have come off a bit too harshly over our dear benefactor in regards to her grand plan, and wished to put that behind us, and start anew"
Looking at him with a calculated gaze, Naruto sensed that Alastor to a certain extend meant what he said, but also felt something was amiss in how he phrased his wording"
"Yeah, no problem, I guess we almost came close in doing something we might have regretted"
"Most certainly, nonsensical acts of brutish behavior is unbecoming of men such as ourselves, as the true means of dealing with problems between two people must be conducted through civil diplomacy"
"I guess," Naruto said as he stood to give himself a headache over the type of vocab Alastor chose to utilize in his everyday speech. " Sorry to cut this short Al, but I really need to deliver this" Making sure to emphasize what he held in his hands.
"May I ask to whom you may be delivering food to?"
"Angel" He stated with slight reservation as he continued to look at the red dandy.
"Hmmm, I presume that our dear friend may not be joining the rest of us downstairs for breakfast"
"He woke up not feeling well, and asked me to get him some food to eat in his room"
"Why bring two plates then?" Alastor said with narrow eyes as he saw the food in his hands.
"Thought that he may need some company, is not fun to eat by yourself, while sick"
" I imagine it's not"
"You two must have become the best of chums if you're willing to oversee his recovery by being there for him" Walking a few steps closer while spinning his microphone cane without care of striking anything near its radius.
"What can I say, being in Hell really brings out the need of having friends with you at all costs" Keeping still as the overlord made his way past him, never losing the grin plastered across his face.
"Perish the thought" Now a safe distance from the blond, but still close to hear out what he had to say."Everyone down here is without a moral compass, and will not hesitate to backstab you once they see how trustful you are"
"Even Charlie" Voice ringing through the semi-empty hallway.
"..."
Seeing that the overlord kept silent over his remark, Naruto chose to continue with his delivery to Angel, but before he took a step forward, Alastor's voice rang out from the other end of the hall.
"Be sure to tell Angel to steer clear from bad company, I can't imagine how Charlie would feel if her first patient wound up dead on the steps of the hotel, after being dragged through the wringer"
Shocked at how Alastor knew about Angel's current condition, he turned his head back to reply to what he said, only to find an empty space where he was moments ago, with only the sound of creaking pipes on the wall to keep the human company.
"He knew this whole time….." Disturbed in Alastor's awareness of the happenings at the Happy Hotel without the rest catching wind of it.
Deciding not to dwell too much on the matter, as pondering too much on the odd antics of Alastor only meant a headache waiting to happen, he proceeded to Angel's room.
Angel laid in bed staring up at the red wallpaper adorning the ceiling of his room, noticing the small folds littering the entire top section, and how faded in color it looked as if it weren't replaced in ages.
This never really bothered him, as he was a frequent guest in the seediest of dwellings even before he landed in Pendegram City that it soon grew to be a comforting sight for the most part. This didn't mean that he didn't enjoy the finer things in life, it was just that those moments were always short to truly enjoy.
Staring at the rest of his room helped to enforce on how he was feeling as he surveyed the line of make-up kits taking much of the space of his dresser, with mannequin heads containing different color wigs, multiple pairs of footwear lined up on a shoe rack near his closet, with some lazily left out on the post of his bed. Clothing either hung on wire hangers or was thrown half-assedly on either the floor or tucked away in his closet.
The rest were either object of worth such as jewelry, props, or framed pictures of his siblings and that of Cherry hanging out with each other. He made a mental note of needing to pay her a visit, as it had been a few weeks since that last time he spoke with her.
This in itself was as clean as Angel could keep his room, as his interactions with Naruto made for a drastic change to improve on personal hygiene. This meant having all his special toys tucked under his bed away from prying eyes, and not left lying around for anyone to step on.
The hardest decision was to minimize the consumption of his vices on the hotel's premises, as his current sponsor would not allow him to go off the deep in getting too inebriated, or high on his personal stash.
The painkillers that he took earlier when he woke didn't count as they only served to help a little to numb some he was in.
This did not mean that he went fully clean, as he could still partake in his favorite pastime, just not at the hotel. Though at times he had to be careful in removing any traces of drugs from his system, and his room, giving the sharp senses his human friend had.
He could feel Nugget's stomach slowly rising up, and down from his sides as he continued to slumber away, and felt a bit comfortable having him lay next to him. Running his hand slowly on his back, Nuggets response was to give out a couple of low snorts at the soft touch.
His presence helped to serve as an anchor for Angel during the worst of times. He sometimes shuddered at the thoughts on what would've happened if Nuggets weren't there to keep him sane.
Though he started to feel the same when being in the same room with a certain blond shinobi.
Just thinking about him couldn't stop a small smile from forming.
He stopped his silent musings as he heard the sound of the door opening, and turned to see Naruto come in with his hands filled with breakfast, and drinks on hand. The sound of him walking in also served to wake Nuggets up from his sleep.
"Sorry for taking too long, I was held back a bit" Smiling shyly, not wanting to come out as odd, after his encounter with the overlord. "Hope you like some scrambled eggs"
"Trust me, in how am feeling right now, anything would settle well with my stomach" Angel told him as he attempted to get up"
Seeing this, Naruto placed the food next to the nightstand of Angel's bed and took no time in helping raise Angel from bed to be in a sitting position on the edge of the bed.
"Thanks" The spider replied with a wince as he now stood upwards."Hand me some water, my throat is dried as a nun's asshole"
"Right….., here you go" Handing him a plastic bottle.
Now having his thirst taken care of, he was then given a plate of eggs with some freshly cut samples on the side. His bottled water was soon joined by that of an orange drink. Digging deeply into the plate, he didn't have to look up to see Naruto perch himself once more on the chair he was sleeping in, but now placed in front of Angel.
Both stood in silence as they ate their food, with the occasional sips of their drinks, but even with the silence, both acknowledged who would be the first to break the ice on what had happened yesterday.
Knowing that Angel would not be the one to instigate the discussion. It was up to Naruto to lead into the talking.
"How's the food?"
"It's good, nothing too special to write home for" He spoke, while chewing on the food, before taking a sip of juice. "I would have added a bit of salt, and pepper to give it some more added favor"
"I think food tastes as good when you know how much effort the cook gives it" Popping an apple slice in his mouth, and tasting the sweet taste of the fruit."I'll give it a thumbs up"
"I bet you'll give it the same thumbs up if it was half-cooked"
"Hey, now I wouldn't go that far"
"Sure, whatever you say whiskers"
With the eggs now gone on his plate, and leaving some of the fruit uneaten now that he felt full to eat anymore, he placed the half-finished plate on the nightstand, which was soon joined by the blond's own.
"Do you feel comfortable now to talk about what happened"
"..."
"Am not gonna judge, you Angel"
"..."
"I won't think any different think of you"
"That's what they all say," Angel said with barely a whisper.
"Pardon?..."
Now staring at him with an aggravated stare, as if he was talking to someone playing dumb. Angel was in no mood to mince his words.
"You know what I am talking about. People always say that they won't judge, or think different of you, but that's just a bunch of crap they tell themselves to feel better once they walk out of your life without a moment's hesitation"
"..."
"You say that now" Speaking to him with an edge to his voice. "But once you know the real me, you won't feel too inclined to help with my problems"
Seeing this as his turn to respond to Angel's accusation, he took a small huff of air to prepare for his retort.
"Angel, I don't know what I'll think of you unless you start to open up on you ended up having to crawl your way to the hotel with your injuries" Leveling blue hues to Angel's own discolored set."You have to start being honest with me so that I can help you, and not just me, but everyone else here at the hotel, heck that's pretty much what Charlie thrives to do, just help"
"..."
"So please tell me who gave you those wounds"
Closing his eyes as he could feel the weight on his shoulders begin to squeeze down on him for what he was about to regret talking about, he soon relented to open his eyes as he felt Nuggets nuzzling his hand.
Looking down, he spotted Nuggets make eye contact with and saw the poor creature's pitch-black eyes look into his own as if silently conveying him to speak up.
"Oink"
Lifting his head up from Nuggets gaze, he saw Naruto look at him with nothing, but the concern with his hands joined together in his lap. Letting out a deep sigh, he soon began to talk.
"It...was my….boss," He told him with great restraint as the last word muttered quietly, but still loud enough to be heard.
"Your boss?"
"Yeah, he was the one that gave me quite the bruising"
"Why would he do such a thing?
"Because I was late for an appointment, that ended up losing him a lot of money"
"Even so, what right did he have in leaving you in that state"
"Because I messed up when I knew I shouldn't have. It was my mistake on making him angry again"
Eyes widening at the implication of what he just said, felt himself start to grow angry as Angel continued to talk.
"He's told me countless times what would happen if I made him angry. I knew better than to take the risk, but it's been a while since he was this aggressive." Grabbing his shoulders as he shuddered at the thought of him."Someone in my position should you not to fuck up"
"And what position would that be, Angel?"
This got a short laugh from the spider as he could not believe that he still couldn't put two-in-two together. This in turn got Naruto to raise a brow over the random act by Angel.
"Honey, I don't if you've been paying attention to my surroundings. '' Putting an emphasis on the word room as he waved his four arms in all directions. "But this entire room spells out what I am."
"And what is that?"
"A porn star" His voice dripping with sensual feeling, something that did not match the seriousness of the conversation, and his body covered in rolled-up bandages ruining the effect of a clean image.
"..."
"What, not gonna say anything else to the dumb tranny, are you now too good for me to feel any sympathy"
"..."
"You feel disgusted now for having to butter up with some streetwalker, thinking where these hands have been, and what I've used them on"
"..."
"Well, speak up!" His voice came out between a shrill, and a yell. To the effect of having Nuggets stepping a couple of paces back from fear.
"I don't care"
"What" Startled by the direct reply.
"I said that I don't care what you are Angel" Looking deadset into Angel's gaze with utter conviction in them."All I care about is your wellbeing"
"Bullshit"
"Is far from it Angel, it's the truth"
"You're just saying what I want to hear, you don't actually mean it"
"If I never meant what I say, then there wouldn't be any reason for me to still be here with you," He told him while placing his hands on either side of the armrest." The last thing I would ever do is go back on my word, because the moment I do, I would no longer be the person who stays true to himself.
This caught Angel for a loop, as he was shocked at how committed the person in front of him was, laying it out heavily under the grounds that he cared enough for him to be okay.
"Your… lying" Now on the defensive.
"I speak nothing, but the truth Angel"
Closing his eyes tightly, Angel could stop himself from trembling as he felt a torrent of emotions go through him of someone going this far to help. This was different from what Charlie had done up to that point, as Naruto only saw him like him, and not damaged goods.
His knuckles turned pure white as he tightened them over the wave of anger he felt for himself. This stopped as he could feel the weight of someone sitting beside him on the bed, and feeling a hand on his shoulder.
Opening them, he saw Naruto close to him and saw his calm, and serene face aimed at him, without any judgment, or malice in them, only compassion. What he said finally broke the final straw of Angel's outer shell.
"It's not your fault"
With that, Angel could not stop the tears from escaping and began to cry at everything he held inside of him after so many years. Taking matters into his own hands, Naruto took Angel into his own hands by giving him an intimate hug to support Angel.
Something that the addict accepted as he led out his anguish into the chest of the shinobi.
The walk upstairs went uneventful as Charlie, and Vaggie both walked up to check on Angel as they were concerned about their patient and wanted to see if they could help him. Though Vagatha has her own reservation of worrying about Angel, she still cared enough to see if he was doing well.
Though the trek up multiple flights of stairs wasn't the best experience for the two, especially as their room was located a bit farther up.
"We should really start to work on fixing that elevator"
"Is not all that bad, besides it's good to stretch your legs once in a while"
"Not every day, hon, not every day" Sporting a dull expression at the idea of walking up more stairs.
"I'll see if I can look up some names to come down to have a look at it"
"Just don't forget to find one with a reasonable price, and who's dependable"
"I know, Vaggie, it won't be like last time" Sharing a look with her to lessen her doubts.
"I hope not, the last thing we need is to be jibed again, after that fucker left us to dry with his poor excuse of maintenance." Growling at the memory of having been stuck on the elevator for hours, before being let out by her girlfriend.
"Now that we have an extra helping hand, we could increase productivity in fixing more of the Happy Hotel, just imagine having more rooms fully functional to take in more guests" Eyes shining with stars as she pictured the hotel filled with sinners wanting to be redeemed.
"With his cloning technique, the chances of that happening won't be that far off"
"You think so?"
"Only time will tell"
"I can hardly wait"
"But we have to make sure to have him hidden, or at the very least have him in disguise as we don't want the rest of Padergram City to find out that we're keeping a live human among our midst"
"When the time comes to admit more patients, we'll know what to do. Besides, I am still trying to find a means of helping Naruto return back home."
"What about your father, do you think that he'll have something to help with our current situation?"
"As much as I love my father, I really don't want him to know that a human was able to land in Hell, without his knowledge"
"That bad"
"I'll be nothing short of a disaster"
The two eventually ceased their talking as they found themselves at Angel's door, and as if on cue the sound of crying halted them from knocking on the door.
"Is that crying?" Charlie said as she looked at Vaggie with concern in her eyes.
"I think that's Angel" Sounding off with the same concern at the sound of Angel in distress.
"This may be out of character for me, but we need to see what's happening inside" Charlie stated with a serious tone that was a rarity for her.
"You're gonna use that see-through skill"
"The same one"
With a wave of her hand, the faint glow of red-colored mist emitted from her chalked skin hand as it passed over the door, which soon took effect as he became transparent from their side. The moment it did the sight that greeted the two, shocked them at what they saw.
The image of Angel crying profusely was something that they have yet come to witness from the spider, but the image of him having his arms wrapped around Naruto, who was comforting him in return was something that left them speechless.
"Shhhhh….. It's okay, it's okay" Repeated Naruto as he rubbed Angel's back in a circular motion."Just let it all out of your system"
Angel's state of mind was still reeling that attempts to form words were cut short by his cries making them untellable. Though this did not stop him from holding on to the blond, much tighter as if he were a lifeline.
Witnessing such a scene transpiring in front of them felt as though they were intruding on something personal. Charlie, who at this point never saw Angel express such emotion during his tenure with them, made it especially hard for her as it seems that their patient was in more need of help than expected.
Vaggie on her part could see the type of state Angel was in, as she could make out the many wrappings covering his arms, and chest. Some of which contained dry blood staining them, signifying that they were placed recently.
This in all made both worried beyond belief as something had transpired within their watch, and by the looks of it, Angel seemed to be the one who was the most hurt by it all.
"Should we go in?" Asked Vaggie as she continued to watch the scene without breaking contact.
"I don't think that will be such a good idea," She said as she turned to look at Vaggie. "Whatever it is, it looks like I'll be too intrusive of us in interrupting them" Before turning her head back."Besides, by the looks of it, Naruto seems to be handling the situation well. Let's not bother them for now, we'll ask him for the details later"
"..."
"Come on, we shouldn't hover too long outside, they may hear us" With a flick of her wrist she dispelled the transparent window on the door"
"Okay" Replied Vaggie, though she felt a bit conflicted about not acting on the moment to walk in to get the full scope of what happened to Angel, but knew that it wouldn't be the right time for it.
With nothing else to speak of, both decided to retreat to their rooms to see how they should proceed with Angel's situation, and see what they could do to help.
Healing the sound of footsteps echoing away from outside the door, Naruto could tell that it must have belonged to the hotel's helpers.
"I should probably have a chat with them to know more about Angel's situation," He thought as he continued to console the spider in his arms.
The cries lessened a bit, he could feel Angel calm down as the shaking of his body ceased. Looking down at the sinner, he saw his tears staining his white shirt as blotches seeped through the cloth, but that paled in comparison as Angel's face had a long streak of dried tears running down his face.
"Feeling better?"
"Y-yeah…" Coughing a bit from the sore throat he had developed."I kinda needed that"
"That's good… so if you don't mind, can you lessen your arms a bit so I can get up"
Realizing that he still had his upper arms wrapped around his shoulders, he quickly grew a blush that spread all across his face and scurried back on his bed.
"Christ, sorry about didn't mean to have that type of outburst"
"Don't sweat it, sometimes people need a shoulder to lean on to feel better" Getting up from the bed, and took a few steps to lay his back against the wall."Is just the right thing to do"
"Even for someone like me"
"Doesn't matter who, everyone has at least some good inside of them. Though there are exceptions"
"Man, you always know how to lay it out their deep"
"So I've been told" Replying with his casual smile.
Both chuckled at the comment, but as soon as it came, it quickly left as both became quite
"..."
"..."
"So…. Do you still want to talk about the person who hurt you?
Angel's eyes soon became downtrodden from having to talk about him, this made him worry about what would happen if he said anything else to cause Naruto to do something drastic for his sake.
"I...I don't think it may be the best time right now to talk about him, it still hurts just to think about him"
Sighing at the reluctance from Angel from telling him the whole truth, he decided to drop the subject for now, and wait until it was the right time to talk about it.
"That's fine, there's no need to rush these types of things" Looking at him with a dead serious gaze."But I'm not gonna forget about this, and I hope you can tell me more, once you start to feel a little bit laxer to open up"
"But for now, can you just keep me company, I don't feel being alone right now" Grabbing onto Nuggets, and keeping him close to his chest. "Can we just talk about something else"
"Sure thing, if it makes you feel comfortable, we can talk about anything you want"
"Thanks"
"No problem"
Knowing that he wouldn't get much about who hurt Angel, Naruto decided to stay a bit longer and chat with his friend. If he couldn't get what he wanted to hear from him, then he needed to talk to a certain couple to get the facts straight.
Breakfast, to say the least, went without a hitch as the only members to participate where the maid, the current owners, the bartender, and the overlord. Though the mood was somber, it was also quite bland, as two of its more vocal members were missing in action as one was out of commission, and the other wanted to be by himself in his room.
This didn't mean that breakfast did not go without its drama as Alastor kept spewing out his usual rhetoric that annoyed to no end both Husk and Vaggie. The latter of whom began so fed with his talking that she seemed to have wanted to jump out of her chair to throttle the deer demon if it weren't for Charlie keeping her level-headed to prevent a fight from happening.
Husk chose to keep to himself, as he typically did by stuffing his face with the food given to him and taking the occasional sip from his flask with each bite. He refused to participate in any small talk as usual and only replied with low grumbles whenever someone asked him a question.
Looking at it now, Nifty could see that everyone's dynamic with each other really was an odd combination, as the chances of this type of personalities gelling together outside a standard group would not have had the slightest chances of surviving.
Thankfully, them being dead, and in Hell meant having those social norms thrown out the window, as the notion of normal was practically non-existent. Something that Nifty took with stride as being down here meant having a better chance of being herself without having to be judged when she was alive.
But even Hell, Nifty enjoyed being a homemaker as it was one of few joys that she could do that helped her be in a good place, after all this time being dead. Though this did not mean that she didn't have a few regrets when it came to the choices she made when she was alive.
Taking this gig on the behalf of Alastor was the best thing to come along for her these past decades. The change of pace of having to associate with some of the less than favorable characters in the Pride Ring.
Life for her had been not a pleasant one, and the things she did to survive still made her shiver, but that side of her was something she wished never to revisit.
"Rustling"
The sound of clattering pots shook those thoughts out of Nifty's mind as the plates she was in the process of scrubbing halted as she turned her head to the left to see some of the hanging cooking utensils slowly swaying from their hooks.
Putting the plates down the sick to simmer under the water, and removing the gloves off her hands, she made her way towards the pots still clattering. This by itself would not have been strange for Nifty as a slight breeze could have the same effect of making them sway, but the chances of that happening in the kitchen she was in, and the fact that sound that came off from the pots could only have been made if someone or something came into contact with them.
She ruled rats, as she took care of the issue of small rodents once she situated herself at the Hotel, on the day Alastor summoned her here. Other smaller creatures were also non-factors as she made sure to prevent anything other than the guests here being the only ones able to enter her kitchen.
"Then what could have made this sound?" She pondered slowly as her one eye surveyed the area around. "The noise definitely came from here" Still looking around to check for anything out of the ordinary.
"Rustling"
The noise soon started to emit from the cupboards themselves, this alongside the bumping of one of the wooden doors sliding open as if some type of force was pushing against it.
Not taking a risk of letting whatever was causing the ruckus escape, she ran quickly to the cubbies by launching herself over the middle table centered in the mess hall and using a tool to probe towards the top part of the cupboards, where the sound was hailing from.
Opening the cupboard with a fast swinging motion by its handle, what lay behind the door were the remains of half-eaten canned foods. Said packaged goods looked as though they had been gnawed through its container, as shown by the small jagged marks on the objects.
Whatever partook on this meal seemed small enough to crawl through small spaces.
"Whatever it was must be long gone now" She stated to herself as she took a rag from her pocket, and picked up the remains of the chewed cans, and used the cloth to wipe off any food staining the wooden cupboards.
"I'll probably have to ask Charlie for some strong pesticides, and some mouse traps just to be safe"
"Safe from what"
The unmistakable gruff voice was instantly recognizable to Nifty as she turned around to see a familiar sight.
"Hiya!, Husker" Returning to her joyful mood."What brings you here?
"Nothing much just thought to look around, and see what the kitchen was like," He said as he looked around with quizzical eyes as if looking for something obscured. "Maybe get a small bite, while am add it"
"I'll say, you did more drinking than eating"
"Yeah, whatever" Pacing around the kitchen slowly, as his eyes continued to wander all over the place.
"Do you want me to spruce you up something, because I don't mind cooking if you're feeling hungry" Getting up from the cupboard, and walk over to the stove to get it ready if necessary.
"Nah, you don't have to do that, I'll just grab myself something small like some chips, nothing too... much!" The last word was spoken as he abruptly jumped towards the corner end of the kitchen long table only to scowl angrily.
"Damm it!"
"What's wrong, Husk?"
"Nothing is nothing to worry about" Palming his paw on his face as he saw the remains of food droppings of small critters. "Just a missed opportunity"
"A what?" Asked a still confused Nifty."
"Either way, I just lost my appetite, and have to go now" Quickly got up, and made his way out of the kitchen, though not before saying his final piece to the cook. "I think you'll want to clean up the area that I was near in"
"What for?"
"Because something took a nice steaming pile of shit at the far end of the kitchen" And with that, he was gone.
Looking at the spot that Husk talked about, she made her way towards the far end and saw a piece of dung hidden away. By the look of it, it wasn't that long that it was made.
"Need to put some traps as soon as possible"
After a few hours of conversing with Angel, he made sure to leave once he knew that Angel was fit enough to leave alone. The walk to the penthouse suite went without any surprises from lanky overlords, or wandering playing cards as the only thing he had in mind was the troubles his friend was going through.
He knew where he needed to go to get a better grasp of the issue, as both Charlie, and Vaggie knew Angel better than he did. Or at the very least have some sort of idea what type of person Angel was outside the hotel.
This irked him to no end as the chances of him leaving the hotel were really slim as he did not want the rest of Hell to find out that he was staying at the Happy Hotel. The last thing he wanted was to put everyone here in a dire situation.
The good thing was that he was almost done with perfecting his new disguise for the off chance of stepping out outside the boundaries of his temporary home.
Seeing the black-painted door frame of the suite to his benefactors was all he needed to see to quiet down and be prepared for a serious discussion.
Knock, Knock
Walking up to the door, and letting laying a couple of knocks was everything he needed to hear, as the short wait to have it seen open by a familiar face was what he needed to clear his thoughts for the moment.
"How's it going blondie"
"Hey, Vaggie"
"Is there anything that I can help you with?" She stated though she probably knew what he was there for.
"I think you may already have the answer to that"
"I guess there's no reason to beat around the bush for this" Stepping to the side as a signal to enter. "Come on in"
"Thanks"
The moment he entered he was taken back to the immensity of the room, and everything it had in-between. The room itself looked as though it was the size of the lobby as its size could take up triple the space of one of the regular hotel rooms.
Looking around he could spot an array of materials belonging to both women ranging from clothes, shoes, make-up, and other personal objects organized in the order in their shelves, cubbies, and racks.
The bed which is back to the wall on the right side of the room was fitted to be used by royalty as it was king-size in nature adorned by red linen-covered sheets, and white fluff pillows. With the entire bedding being held up by a huge wooden frame carved with stylish designs.
The floor like the rest of the hotel was also carpeted, but with a different color scheme of a lighter shade of red, that matches together with that of the walls. The entryway outside of the balcony was the biggest attraction of the suite as it gave the perfect view of the city.
Though the size of the room didn't end there as it also contained two separate door's one which was the bathroom, and another labeled as Charlie's study.
Noting his silence Vaggie came up beside with a knowing look at the blond's thoughts of the penthouse. "Quite the sight, huh?"
"Yes it is"
"Trust me, I felt the same way once we were able to get this place cleaned up"
"Where's Charlie?"
"She's in her study right now, but I think she's about done for today, just me give a moment to fetch her"
"Okay" Still checking out his surroundings.
Even without looking at what Vaggie was doing, he knew that she was already at the door calling out Charlotte.
"Hey Charlie, you got a moment"
"Yeah, what is it Vaggie?" The muffled voice replied.
"It's Naruto, he came to talk with us"
The loud sound of an object dropping to the floor, and the startled gasp of Charlie was heard clearly, as the moment was joined by the hasting opening of the door to her study room.
"He's here?"
"Yeah, it's right over there by the door" Pointing her thumb in his general direction.
Looking to her left she saw him standing there waving a hand to her, with a smile grin in seeing her this active.
"N...naruto, what brings you here?" She said with a slight tick to the start of her sentence."Is something that matters?"
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she saw Vaggie giving her a serious look. "I think he knows that we were there watching"
"Oh" Realizing the implication of her words.
"He knows"
"Yeah, I do" Coming up to them with a dead-set expression. "I could sense the two of you on the other side of the door"
This caught the two by surprise in how aware he was this entire time.
"And what do you want to talk about?" Asked Charlie, but knew deep down that answer that was coming.
"I want to know who did this do, Angel"
"It won't be pretty Naruto"
"I won't know unless someone starts telling me what I need to know, and right now Angel won't tell me, so that leaves the two of you who'll know more than I could as am cooped up here at the hotel every day"
"Then what are you going to do, if we tell you," Asked Vaggie looking at her fellow brethren with her sole eye."What do you gain from learning the truth about Angel"
"Because I just want to help him, because he's hurting beyond belief, both physically, and mentally."
"..."
"..."
"So please tell me who it was"
Looking at each other for a brief moment, Charlie let out a tired sigh at what was about to be said but knew better than to keep this hidden from someone willing to help Angel at all costs.
"The person you're looking for is a man named Valentino"
"Valentino" Saying the name slowly, finally having a name to go by. "Who is he, another sinner?"
"Even worse than that"
"How bad could he be?"
"He's an overlord, and a strong one at that"
"An overlord," He thought to himself, as Alastor came to mind given the shared title. "What's his connection to Angel"
"To put mildly, Angel's Valentino's property, and above all else he's his pimp" Spoke Charlie as she was careful in not letting out too much of the more gruesome details."And this has not been the first instance in which Angel has come around the hotel looking horrible from the job he takes part in"
The moment those words came out of Vaggie's moment did the atmosphere in the room dropped to deadly silence as a strong aura soon enveloped the blond, to the point of both females in the room stepping back at such intensity.
"Valentino…"
End of Chapter 6:
Sorry for the wait, I got a bit too caught up with school, and that didn't leave me with much time to work on both new chapters for my two stories. The second chapter for Helluva Fox will soon come out in time, as am currently revising the entire chapter to make sure it comes out perfect.
Now with this chapter, Naruto has an idea of what Angel does, and who did this to him, and the next couple of chapters will move up with the relationship between him, and Angel. I will also come out with Naruto hitting the city to better help his friend, as well as including Cherri into the fold to give her a more active role in the story, and build up the romance with Naruto as well.
For those wondering about the cast of Helluva Boss, don't worry they'll get their moment to shine in time.
Until then, thank you for reading.