Chapter 39: Recap time!
Lights shone brilliantly, illuminating the well-waxed wooden stage as the crowd restlessly waited for the show to begin.
Murmurs and excited whispers echoed across the sizable auditorium, letting anyone with ears know that everyone's anticipation was building as time crawled by.
So the second that those lights dimmed a bit, the subdued uproar immediately subsided, the silence conspiring to reinforce that breathlessness that everyone was experiencing.
It was about to begin...
For long tense seconds, everyone waited, looking for even the most insignificant change to signify the main host's entrance.
*Plop plop plop*
Then, piercing through that tense blanket that took all sound away, was the sounds of childish steps being taken, obnoxiously becoming known to all as exaggerated anime-like footsteps.
In mere moments later, a small figure emerged from the left side of the stage, their features illuminated by the bright spotlights above.
That figure; being Uzumaki Naruto, in chibi form.
As to why he was like that...?
He had no clue, but he wasn't questioning it.
He liked the sounds that his footsteps made too much to question it.
A roar of approval exited the throats of the crowd facing the stage, quickly recognizing the figure that entered their sight despite his diminutive size, rejoicing in his presence.
Naruto himself, caught off-guard by the crowd's reaction to his appearance, waved awkwardly at all of them, a little overwhelmed by their deafening approval.
Slowly but surely however, the spiky-haired blond began to grin more confidently, taking in and basking in the crowd's love as his blue eyes shone brightly.
He continued to wave at everyone frantically as the uproar steadily began to die down, giving the blond a chance to actually hear himself think, much to his silent happiness.
As soon as they calmed down enough to not make his ears ring, the chibi version of the shinobi finally spoke.
"Yo, everyone! Uh...it's been a while for everyone, I'm sure, at least I think it has, I'm not too sure." he began, frowning as he tried to articulate what he was trying to say properly. "...I'll be honest, I don't know why I look like this, why I sound like I sucked in an entire room of helium, or why I feel like I should be telling you lot what I'm about to tell you."
He paused there, scrunching his eyebrows together in deep thought.
"...It is helium, right?" he wondered to himself, trying to remember one of those lessons that he had not entirely slept through, before forcing himself back on topic. "Anyway! I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I do know one thing."
A toothy smirk stretched across the chibi's face as he closed his eyes, taking in the visage of a fox, especially with his tiny stature.
"...I get to set the record straight for everyone about the story of Konohagakure's legendary Hokage!" he practically squealed, pumping his fist in excitement. "With this, no one can deny my badass...-ness. Yeah, this is my debut to the hall of fame, no doubt!"
It took a bit for Naruto to bring his ego back down from the stratosphere, but once he did, he cleared his throat and brought out a switch from his pocket, pressing it without hesitation as he turned to face the crowd.
Behind him, a giant screen began to descend from the ceiling, occupying the entire backstage so that everyone could see what he was about to show.
Absent-mindedly, Naruto pressed his thumb onto the switch again, activating the slideshow that was prepped for his professionally made...speech.
Er...presentation?
No, wait; autobiography!
Whatever the hell he was doing, he was about to start it right when the screen activated, showing an image of a non-chibi Uzumaki Naruto casually walking down the streets of Kuoh Town, glancing around, taking in the sights.
"Alright, as I'm sure most of you guys remember; my name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I accidentally managed to get myself trapped in this weird world of angels, devils, and other supernatural beings in one of the worst possible times. Seriously, my luck is shit, if it wasn't obvious to everyone here dattebayo." he complained sourly, crossing his arms. "Like, yeah, touching strange things in general isn't a good idea, but..."
The shinobi trailed off, realizing how stupid he sounded, before awkwardly forcing the conversation forward. "Anyway, as I tried to find my footing in this world, I would meet a bunch of people that just so happened to be involved with the supernatural. From humans with hero complexes, to devils with a habit of convincing people to join her side. A bunch of interesting characters they all were, that's for sure."
A click later, and the screen shifted towards it's next slide, depicting three portraits side-by-side.
From left-to-right; was a young woman with long crimson hair and confident blue-green eyes, a young woman with short light-blue hair and unyielding yellow eyes, and a young woman with long vibrant red hair that were partially tied into pigtails which framed her slightly timid yet determined pink irises.
Those three portraits were of...
"Gremory Rias, Nonaka Yuki, and Naruse Mio." Naruto introduced each of the females, jerking his head to turn everyone's attention to the screen, before scowling a bit. "Wait...right, they say it as 'Rias Gremory' instead...man, that's weird to say."
Shaking his head at how weird some people are by introducing themselves to others by telling them their first names, he continued. "So...yeah, those three up there are the main players of the groups that I met after I traveled around Japan and landed myself in Kuoh Town, all of whom would become my trusted comrades in a short time. They are all pretty dependable, even if I have to bail them out a lot."
By this point, the chibi was scratching the back of his head with a cocky smile, somehow being shy while brimming with overconfidence. "As a matter of fact, since I save their butts so many times, one can even say that they're my underlings!"
This confession elicited interested 'ooohs' and 'ahhs' from the audience, having never heard of this fact prior to this moment.
It turned out that there was a reason for that.
"...Really? So we were underlings, huh?" a voice drawled out slowly, quickly making the blond on stage go rigid. "I had no idea."
"Yeah, I had no idea either!" another voice piped up, very familiar to everyone on stage. "I guess that it's true what they say; everyone's got their own version of certain happenings, eh?"
Even as the two voices were cutting into the shinobi's presentation, that teenaged male was already cursing under his breathe with his colorful language, caught in his bit of...exaggeration.
Not that he'd admit.
"...You girls too, huh?" Naruto questioned grumpily, his blue eyes reflecting off of the two female's pink and purple pairs.
Just entering the stage in full view of the audience, were the chibified versions of Naruse Mio and Naruse Maria, who were both giving their family member mixed looks of amusement and exasperation.
Mio, displaying more exasperation compared to Maria's obviously amused expression, shrugged her shoulder. "Yeah, we've got no idea why we've been...'chibied'. Or, for that matter, why you're in front of a bunch of people on a stage..."
The red-head trailed off from there, her left eye twitching as she watched her brother begin to snicker quietly to himself, covering his mouth with his hand as he tried to hold it in.
Naruto, beginning to double-over, jabbed a finger at her with mirth lighting up his eyes. "...You sound so damn squeaky."
Mio's face flared up in embarrassment, giving her a slight stutter in her already high-pitched voice thanks to her chibified form. "Y-You sound as ridiculous as I do! So you have no room to talk!"
A smirk adorned the blond's features as he regarded her. "I don't sound nearly as bad as you though."
"What are you talking about!?" the half-devil countered, huffing as her cheeks slowly returned to their natural tint. "You sound like a chipmunk that has just learned how to talk!"
Naruto blinked, surprised. "...No, I don't."
"Yeah, you kinda do. Shocking, isn't it?"
"...Nah, you're jacking my chain, aren't you? There's just no way that I sound that bad dattebayo."
As the two continued on with that completely irrelevant topic, Maria quietly and swiftly grabbed the switch out of the shinobi's hand while he was occupied, co-opting it so that she could take over from there.
She had to set the record straight after all.
"Ok...I don't know where Naruto-sama left off, so I'm just gonna start where Mio-sama and I first met him, if that's alright with everyone?" the chibi girl with the gothic lolita dress questioned the audience rhetorically, before activating the switch for the screen behind her.
The screen, predictably, changed slides to reveal a still image of a certain blond teen charging in to battle against a small horde of grotesque monsters, twisted up by their own demonic energy, as they surrounded the daughter of the Original Lucifer and her guardian.
"Alright, for those who forgot; Mio-sama and I were on the run from those that had a grudge with the Original Lucifer, as well as from stray devils thanks to Mio-sama's inherited power, which she couldn't control. As stray devils that have completely succumbed to their demonic energy become monsters that seek power, usually by eating things. Sucks, right?" the succubus explained, elucidating on their background to their situation during that time.
"So, it was inevitable that we were gonna get ourselves in a situation where we had no way out eventually, and we found ourselves in just that situation in a forest near Kuoh Town. And it was bad, really bad, so bad that...back then, I wasn't sure that we'd get out of that fight alive."
She paused there, sparing a moment to glance at the bickering siblings next to her, smiling softly as the raged on with their completely pointless disagreement, basking in it.
Then she turned around, all smiles, her bright purple eyes glinting in the spotlight.
"Then, like some kind of maniac, Naruto-sama came in and saved us all!" Maria exclaimed, vividly remembering the moment herself. "He just swooped in from the forest and took down every single stray devil, one-by-one, and took us in during our time of need. Giving us a home when we had none."
The succubus tilted her head downwards, trying to stop the growing smile that etching itself on her face, a little embarrassed, taking a bit of time to get her face straight again so that she could continue.
Thinking back on what happened hit her more than she expected.
So, unwilling to let herself get caught in that feeling of genuine gratitude, she decided to wreck it in her typical Maria-fashion.
"When Naruto-sama took us in, we would get dragged into the many unfortunate happenings that our blond hero here got involved in, giving us both quite the eventful month or so." she concluded, a mischievous glint entering her bright irises. "But does anyone here know why exactly Naruto-sama let us crash in his home?"
Murmurs started to bubble up from the crowd of people that were listening to the loli onstage, confused in nature to be sure, as no one there had any real idea.
Very few noticed the mischievous glint that entered her eyes, or the cheshire smile for that matter.
"Well..." Maria started slowly, that air of impish amusement becoming obvious. "It's because I offered my body to Naruto-sama of course."
Hearing gasps ring out from her audience, her smile grew more impish as she went on. "Yes! And not only did he accept my offer, but he actively feasted on my body every night afterwards while Mio-sama slept, touching me in ways that still make me squeal right now-!"
Maria suddenly cut herself off, the feeling of a hand grabbing the crown of her head preventing her from continuing her tale.
Especially as that grip grew tighter.
"...Oi...what the hell are you doing?" a certain ninja growled behind her, his grip on her skull getting ever more oppressive.
Ah...
"N-Now, wait a second, Naruto-sama. Don't jump into any hasty conclusions now..." the succubus sputtered out, eyes wide.
And her eyes only grew wider in nervousness when the chibified form of her charge came around and leaned over her shoulder to look at her in the face, her expression eerily stoic.
"...Maria." Mio drawled, a threat implicit in her tone. "Do you mind repeating what you've just told the crowd to us? We are just dying to hear what you have to say."
"...You emphasized 'dying' a lot there, Mio-sama..."
"Don't worry about the small stuff so much."
"...I'm very worried, Mio-sama...about a lot of things right now."
"Am I one of those things, Maria?" Mio asked, a way-too-friendly smile gracing her features.
Maria shuffled awkwardly, biting her lip. "Uhh..."
Right behind her, Naruto was giving the silver-haired a more and more sympathetic look the longer that she was interrogated by the red-head, recognizing that she was about to get punished.
Honestly, while well deserved, he still had to pity her a bit.
"...My, my, aren't we having fun out here?"
The trio that were causing a ruckus onstage were jerked from their squabble, recognizing the voice that cut into their...'conversation'.
"Ah...you guys too, huh?" the shinobi sighed, revolving on the spot to face the small group that entered the scene.
Meeting his gaze was the blue-green eyes that characterized Rias Gremory so much, crossing her arms as she checked her surroundings, faintly wary.
Behind her, all present and accounted for, was her Peerage.
"Ara ara, it seems that while we were out looking for everyone, our kohai were here enjoying themselves. How naughty of them!" Akeno mock complained, smiling at the huff that came out of Naruto's lips.
"Hey, despite what it may look like, we were actually in the middle of some pretty serious business dattebayo." the shinobi protested, a petulant pout adorning his face.
"Of course, whatever you say foxy-kun." the sadistic girl soothed, giggling softly all the while.
Ignoring the two for a moment, Issei walked past them to look at what his king was talking about, blinking rapidly at the large group of people watching them.
"Uh...who the hell are those people?" he asked the obvious question, sweat-dropping at the strange sight.
"...Troubling." Koneko muttered out, the tiniest of frowns marring her features as she stared at the audience that was...staring at all of them.
"That's one way to fairly describe the situation, I think." Yuuto noted wryly, weighing in on the unique situation that they've found themselves, yet again.
By this point, no one should really be surprised.
"Yes! Exactly! All of this very troubling! Super troubling!" the succubus interjected with a high voice, wiggling out of Mio's grasp to face the group, using this conversation as a chance to get out of trouble.
The red-head immediately reaffirmed her grip on the silverette's scalp, clutching on as she glowered at the smaller figure. "Oh no you don't, you won't be getting away that easily."
Rias quirked an eyebrow at the scene, but didn't comment, opting to look at Naruto instead. "So, any idea what's going on?"
"Nope." he remarked bluntly. "We're about as clueless as you, but we had the weird inclination to give out our life stories as if we were a collection of old relics that wanted to tell everyone about our 'glory days'. At least until my imouto here decided to argue about something stupid with me..."
"Hey!" Mio protested hotly, taking offense. "You do sound like a chipmunk!"
"No, I don't!"
"Yeah, you do!"
"Damn it Mio! For the last time, I don't-!"
Rias said nothing as the two siblings revived their argument from before, disturbed by how unbelievably petty it was.
"So that's what we were hearing when we got closer to the stage..." Yuuto realized quietly beside her, watching them go in fascination.
Koneko nodded. "...Were really loud."
"Aren't they? But then again, that's what makes them so cute I think." Maria input, her voice giddy.
The rook swiveled her head slowly to look beside her, seeing the succubus make her observation right next to her, somehow managing an escape from her charge's hold.
How and when the hell did she manage to escape...?
"Should we stop them, Buchou?" Akeno questioned her friend, genuinely wondering if they should intervene.
If they let them continue, they might have to stay there for a while, longer than they'd all like.
The Gremory heiress didn't respond at first, tapping her chin idly as she considered their next option.
It took a moment, but she managed to land on a solid next step.
And that step very much involved the chibified version of her hand being aimed at the screen that depicted what the group onstage managed to go over with the audience.
As well as, literally, opening fire on it.
Naruto and Mio snapped their heads to the backstage, gaping as they watched the Power of Destruction outright obliterate the screen that they were using.
"Eh...? EHHH!? What the hell!? WHY!?" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes comically turning into white circles as his jaw dropped.
"R-Rias-sempai..." Mio muttered with a sweat-drop sliding down from her forehead, unable to believe what she has just witnessed.
It wasn't just them either, as the entire room had gone quiet just so that they could look at the high-class devil, her display simply too attention grabbing to deny.
Something that she underestimated in her haste to get rid of the screen, making her somewhat uncomfortable at the hard stares.
"...Ara, you really do have a way with getting everyone's attention, don't you Buchou?" Akeno teased lightly, unable to stop the smile from splitting her face when she noticed how uncomfortable her friend was feeling.
"Be quiet." she hissed without real rancor, before facing the dual incredulous looks from the siblings, ignoring all else. "Naruto, Mio-chan, don't you think that you two are acting a little too cavalierly about this? Explaining your life stories to a bunch of strangers...doesn't that seem at least a little odd to either of you!?"
Both; Naruto and Mio blinked, sharing looks with one another, before refocusing back on the devil with long crimson hair.
""Not really."" they both answered simultaneously.
Rias swiftly concluded that they were both either both stupid, or both thoroughly brainwashed.
"Besides." Naruto continued, shrugging his shoulders. "It's nice to talk about this shit and recollect, ya know? As a matter of fact, we were just on the part where I saved Mio and Maria, until that damn loli fucked it up of course-"
"Wait, so you guys only just reached that part?" Issei questioned in disbelief. "But you guys came into this weird place about the same time as us, right? What the hell is taking so long?"
"People interrupting me." the shinobi snidely retorted, giving the perverted boy the stink eye.
"...We kinda are taking a while though." Maria commented quietly, before shutting up when the blond's glare turned towards her.
"Look...just let us finish going through memory lane for a bit so that we could bask in the shit we've done, then we'll focus on getting out of this weird place. What's the harm in it dattebayo?" Naruto suggested after a moment of contemplation, providing a compromise.
"Everyone will become aware of the supernatural entities that live side-by-side with them?" Rias remarked sarcastically, crossing her arms under her bust. "Or a host of other problems that could arrive from people knowing your life story?"
Naruto paused, considering that point.
Then he turned around to face the crowd, blue eyes sparkling.
"Anyway! After I saved Mio and Maria from a whole pack of stray devils, I would take them back home so that they could rest up, out of the kindness of my heart of course! But that would accidentally piss off another good future friend of mine at the time..." the shinobi expanded, following up where the succubus from before left off.
Rias' eyebrow twitched.
He completely ignored her.
"Ufufu...our naughty foxy-kun really just wants to have fun, no matter what, hm?" Akeno observed, grinning from ear-to-ear as she studied her king's expression.
To her endless amusement, she very much glowered at her, not exactly enthused.
As soon as the sadistic girl had had her fill of fun though, she leaned closer to her king, a conspiratorial air surrounding her as she spoke to her ear.
Hearing what she had to say her eyes widened, before narrowing with a glint of something.
Mio watched with interest as the Gremory group would, essentially, huddle up and plan for whatever it was that they were planning, curious.
"-Which is how Yuki and I fought for the first time." Naruto continued on, completely ignoring the conspiring group behind him. "Where she and I...well, more her, would try and fight to the death. As for me, I wanted to make sure that this group that she was a part of wouldn't come after me later..."
The shinobi suddenly began to trail off, scowling visibly as someone grabbed the hem of his school uniform.
He was about to turn around and question who the hell was grabbing his shirt, a bit annoyed, until he heard the person speak.
"...Sorry."
Eh?
The blond couldn't question the person responsible unfortunately, as that very person would literally hook their arms under his own, pulling him close...
Then would bend their backs parallel to the ground, literally throwing him into the air and sending his head smashing into the ground.
Naruto stared forward blankly, his head stuck to the wooden floor and his legs dangling in the air uselessly.
He could only say one thing really.
"...Ehhhh!?"
"...Troublemaker secured, Buchou." Koneko affirmed right behind the blond, securing him in place with her arms holding it's grip under his own correctly.
Mio gaped at this, a sweat-drop forming on the crown of her head.
T-That was...
"A suplex! That was a suuuuplex!" Maria screamed, her eyes shining. "Naruto-sama has been captured and subdued! He is now an official 'M'! An 'M' I say!"
The daughter of the Original Lucifer shook her head wearily by this point, having no idea what was going on anymore.
Was she literally the only one with common sense around here?
Meanwhile, Rias pumped her fist at her rook's success, quickly taking advantage of the situation by walking up to the front of the stage, facing the crowd.
She took a deep breathe, regarding the crowd steadily as she brought an open hand out, bringing her other hand to point at her thumb finger.
"Naruto fought Yuki-san, met me and my Peerage, and we would all become allies after he rejected my invitation to become a devil. Forming the basis of the 'Kuoh Pact', where we would help improve our relations with one another by helping each other when we needed it." she claimed, moving her finger to her index as the thumb clenched to the fist.
The shinobi's eyes widened at his uncomfortable position, realizing what was going on, beginning to wiggle out of Koneko's grip.
She held strong, determined to hold on.
"Afterwards, apparently Naruto would get mixed up with fallen angels that were under the control of a veteran of the Great War between the three Christian factions while he helped me recruit Issei. Which would spiral out of control and lead to a confrontation in a abandoned church, which he won with Yuki-san's help." the red-head steadily went on, knocking her index out of the way to move onto her middle finger.
Now Naruto, much to Koneko's chagrin, really began to wrestle his way out, making it more and more difficult to hold onto him.
"Damn it...! You're trying to finish my story by summarizing everything!" he wailed, glaring at the devil. "Why would you try and ruin my fun time!?"
Rias ignored him entirely, determined to finish this quickly. "Mio-chan and Maria-san would learn about Naruto's activities outside the home, we would all go on a training trip in my summer getaway, and when I was called away by Grayfia to discuss about some...personal problems, everyone left in my summer home would get attacked by a hostile devil. Of which, thankfully, would be repulsed by Naruto's and Issei's efforts."
Just as she brought down her middle finger to move to her ring finger, the high-class devil had to seriously focus on her task when she saw her rook roll next to her, literally sent rolling by the teen that she was supposed to hold onto, leaving her in a daze.
"Ara ara...sorry foxy-kun, but I can't let you reach Buchou!"
"Ugh...damn it, this is gonna hurt. I can feel it...!"
"Holding back Naruto-san will definitely be one of the tougher things that we've done in a while."
Hearing Akeno, Issei, and Yuuto all do their part in keeping the blond back, the Gremory heiress pushed forward, doing her best to ignore the lightning and sounds of combat raging behind her.
But she hesitated slightly, remembering vividly what happened next.
From her Peerage's return to the summer home, besides Issei who stayed behind.
To the confusion wrought by Riser Phenex's visit, and his subsequent humiliation.
Her personal talk with the blond...
Blue-green eyes blinked, introspective, ignoring the arc of lightning that literally shot past her head, as well as the pawn that was sent soaring into the ceiling of the auditorium.
Focus...she had to focus...
"...Then Naruto helped get me out of my arranged marriage, which eventually forced us to attend a party that was meant to smooth over the upper classes' ire over my cancelled wedding. Which, in turn, was ruined by Riser's attempt at revenge for his humiliating defeat."
Feeling her back grow very, very warm thanks to the vicious embers being used behind her spurred her to hurry up, idly realizing that Mio probably entered the fray too.
"Damn it, Naruto! Calm down, this isn't that big of a deal! And stand still already, would ya!?"
"Fuck that noise!"
Yeah, she definitely joined in the fun behind her.
"As a result of that fight, my onii-sama would have a talk with our well-known troublemaker over there, and spur him to go to Kyoto for some reason. For what reason, I'm not sure...oh, and he also made a very, very, very reckless speech too." she finished lamely, already hearing the sounds of conflict begin to die down, making her tense up in preparation for-
"Oi." the shinobi bit out, clasping his hand onto her shoulder, feeling his blue eyes bore into the back of her skull. "Ya done yet?"
The chibified Rias sighed, turning around in faint dread to see what has happened to behind her back, mentally prepping herself for the carnage.
What she saw definitely warranted her preparation.
Ignoring the gaping hole that definitely did not exist on the auditorium floor in the beginning, there was also the fact that the blond teenager in front of her was reaching out to her while dragging every single member of her Peerage with him, including Mio-chan and Maria-san.
Everyone there were literally all doing their part to pull him away from her by grabbing some part of him and pulling backwards.
Everyone except Akeno of course, who was hanging low above the tug-of-war, smirking at the scene, enjoying it immensely.
Wanting to give her queen a death glare for her continued enjoyment of their suffering, she faced the blond in front of her with a quirked eyebrow. "...Not quite, do you mind waiting a little bit?"
"Oh? You want me to wait a bit? Maybe you should of thought about that before you got everyone to dog pile me." the shinobi dryly retorted, before raising his only hand that was not getting dragged backwards by everyone behind him. "Now tag me already, let me finish this."
Blue-green eyes regarded the hand coolly, as if wondering about it.
Then she raised her own hand, sighing in defeat.
Seeing this, the shinobi's lips widened in glee, eagerly moving his hand to tag with her with the absolute confidence that characterized him to begin with.
That was, until another hand, almost lazily, intercepted his own and tapped her hand before he got the chance to.
Shocked by this, he glanced upwards, seeing the sadistic glint in a pair of violet eyes that was floating right above him.
The spotlight, once focused on the stage, was now aimed slightly above the stage, focused on the female above their heads, something he didn't miss for an instant.
Though he did manage to miss the red-head's triumphant smile.
"Foxy-kun went to Kyoto, returned from Kyoto, fought someone when he got back, and then met up with us again. The end." Akeno finished with a flourish, bowing to the crowd a wide smirk.
...
...
...
"OIIIIIII! What the hell!? Short! Waaay too short!" Naruto roared out, protesting at the top of his lungs. "You literally cut away all of the juicy details damn it!"
"I know." Akeno replied with a beatific smile, way too happy as far as the blond was concerned.
The shinobi opened his mouth to answer, then slammed it shut, his lips quivering faintly as he glanced downwards.
"...You all suck." he grumbled, saying nothing more as he relaxed his muscles.
The group that was desperately holding him back until that point collectively let loose a sigh of relief, with a few of them plopping their butts onto the floor to let themselves recover a bit.
"C-Can we go now?" Mio questioned softly, taking in small gulps of air as she wiped away the light sheen of sweat across her face. "We can go now, right?"
"Hopefully." Yuuto replied, taking a look around. "If we figure out how to that is."
Ah, right.
They actually needed to figure that out, didn't they?
"Look at the bright side, Mio-sama!" Maria chirped, getting up from her seated position, stretching her limbs. "At least we've got each other, right?"
The red-head shrugged noncommittally, not really knowing how to answer that.
Frowning at the lack of an answer, she turned to the person to her right, hoping to get a more positive response-
"...Pervert." Koneko grumbled softly, eyeing the succubus closely as she turned to her.
Maria deflated extraordinarily quickly after that.
"Alright, alright, everyone calm down now." Rias intervened, walking to them, ignoring the despondent shinobi that was still in the same position as before. "Let's get moving, shall we?"
As if responding to her words, the spotlight that has been shining on them since the start dimmed a little, signalling the end of this little show.
Which prompted an interesting question from one among their group.
"...Hey...who's manning that spotlight anyway?" Issei asked out loud, cupping his chin with his hand, staring at the dimming light.
Frowns and shared looks were sent around, and then all eyes turned to the spotlight at the other side of the stadium, question marks appearing right above their heads.
As soon as the spotlight's lights dimmed to a fraction of what it used to be, they were able to see that there were two people manning the device behind the scenes, barely though.
That being said, those two figures looked somewhat familiar...
"...Wait, is that...Yuki-san over there?" Yuuto asked, squinting as he saw a chibi girl with light blue hair poke her head out of the small opening for the spotlight, waving at them.
"I...I think it is." Rias agreed slowly, unable to quite believe that the resident hero of Kuoh Academy was manning the spotlight.
What was she even doing there in the first place?
"Does she want us to go over there? She's waving at us..." Akeno wondered aloud, cupping her face as she examined the waving teenaged girl. "Wait, who's there with her? That other person looks like...?"
"Asia!" Issei exclaimed, brown eyes bulging comically. "Why the hell is she over there!?"
"Who knows?" Mio responded rhetorically, not surprised by this point. "Why not I guess?"
"Ok, it's obvious that we need to regroup and find a way out before we lose our sanity." Rias intervened curtly, recognizing the tell-tale signs of her kohai's annoyance beginning to set in. "First step; getting off the stage, right?"
Murmurs of agreement echoed across the small stage as everyone began to file out of the battered area, no one among them having a better idea at that point, all while ignoring the fact that the spotlight's dimmed light was still following them as a group.
But the group-wide march was halted when one of their numbers stopped in their tracks, perking up at something.
Before anyone could even ask, that rook piped up in very slight concern.
"...There are more people..." Koneko stated, very sure of this, turning her hazel eyes towards the backstage.
"I think that that's our cue to leave, Buchou." Yuuto commented, ready to rush off stage any moment now.
The Gremory heiress couldn't have agreed more, gesturing for everyone to get off stage now as she waved her hand towards the large curtains hanging above.
With pinpoint accuracy, the ropes holding the curtains in place were obliterated thanks to the red-head's power, allowing them to cascade down and cover the entire stage from the audience's view.
Good thing too, as mere moments later, a rising commotion entered the ears of everyone in the audience, letting them know that interesting events were going down right beyond that curtain.
"Not you too Sona...!"
"Why do I look so ridiculous!? Where the hell are we!?"
"Riser, I need you to calm down for a moment..."
"Has anyone seen any food around here...? I was at least hoping that this strange place might have some interesting food to eat..."
"...How have I been dragged into this situation...? I just wanted to deliver a message and go back to the Underworld for crying out loud. Yet now I'm surrounded by idiots."
"Hey! I might be an idiot, but I'm still a member of the Student Council!"
"Please quiet down, Saji."
"Riiaaaa-TAAAAN!"
"Guh...! Onii-sama!?"
Many among the audience heard as much as felt the chaos unfold behind the curtains, the arguments and supernatural powers that were being unleashed managing to entertain them no doubt.
But it seemed that everyone there had forgotten one thing.
Well, except the hero that was manning the spotlight on the other side of the auditorium, who was aiming it at the downtrodden figure that was left behind by the supernatural group.
Uzumaki Naruto barely responded to the attention that was being drawn to him, his irises depicting the soulless quality of them.
He was obviously still sore about the fact that he wouldn't be finishing going over his story through his own terms.
Still, when he noticed that the random audience slowly shifted their attention away from the backstage to himself, he figured that it was time to step up to the unspoken challenge given to him.
Bringing the flat of his hands out, the young man cleared the dust that were inhabiting his pants as he forced his leg muscles to push himself up, standing to face the crowd with his dull eyes.
The young man stared at the crowd for a few heartbeats, not really looking at them.
More like looking through them.
But the moment passed, leaving the young man to sigh, lackadaisically crossing his arms to cushion the back of his head, an airy expression on his face.
"Alright...yeah, this ended about as explosively as I expected it too." the chibi shinobi admitted, at ease with the situation. "But, hell, that's pretty standard by this point, ain't it?"
Naruto twisted his body to look at the curtains, the smallest of smiles reaching his lips. "To be honest, I wouldn't really have it any other way. They're a crazy lot, but that's just how they are, ya know?"
He laughed then, blue eyes bright. "They remind me a lot of my friends back home actually, so the antics that sometimes erupt here...they're kinda...soothing in a way. You all kinda get what I'm saying? That's why I want to make sure that I can keep having fun with everyone, regardless of what comes our way."
Without a hint of hesitation, the blond would salute the audience, winking playfully as he backed up to the curtain, raising it's hem to go inside. "And I hope that everyone here also gets to have fun watching dattebayo!"
Ducking inside the curtain and descending into the chaos backstage, Uzumaki Naruto gleefully charged into swath of people trying to make sense of what was going on, barreling into it and completely obliterating their efforts.
An act that, in retrospect, neatly characterized his presence in their world.
But quite a few of them, even if they didn't admit it, wouldn't have it any other way.