Chapter 41
Raynare has had an interesting few days.
Or, at least, an annoying few days, to an extent.
Back at the Grigori institution that she was stationed in the Underworld, she had lived a life where everything was regimented by Azazel-sama, a predictable timetable to everything.
It wasn't necessarily bad, and it was kind of necessary in order to bring out whatever her de-facto guardian was trying to coax out of her.
A task that, if she were honest, he was too successful with.
Regardless, even before she began to serve directly under Azazel-sama, she had always been somewhat...regimented.
Yet, the moment that she stepped out of the Underworld, the moment that she had entered Kuoh Town, was the same moment that the order that was her life was completely obliterated.
...For the second time.
It ground against her, the thought of unforseen circumstances, the unknown.
So, obviously, from the time where Gremory's knightattacked her, to the time where she took part in a large discussion about the numerous events that plagued the supernatural residents of Kuoh Town, everything grinded on her.
One day to actually have a normal day without some random event throwing her off her feet would be appreciated, thank you very much.
She didn't want to end up like the supernatural residents of Kuoh Town, where they acted with borderline nonchalance to the unpredictable.
The 'unpredictable', in that case, being the young man that was partially responsible for her life's topsy-turvy trajectory.
Which was part of the reason why she left that grouping early, so that she could take some time to absorb everything and get away from the stifling atmosphere of the overrepresented devils.
Say what you will, but she couldn't be thoroughly comfortable with the idea of being surrounded by devils, even if they were nominally allies.
It would take a bit of time to get used to them.
So when the fallen angel returned to the house that she was staying in, she went to get some rest after she did some cleaning, feeling a little awkward sleeping there without doing some work to contribute.
But when she woke up...
"Mmph! Mmmmm! Mmmmrgh!"
She woke up to the sight of a strangely familiar man with priestly clothing and insane red eyes, screaming his head off and struggling against the bonds that held him down.
As well as the ball gag that was no doubt preventing him from yelling the obscenities that he so wanted to give voice to.
Though why someone would use a ball gag instead of a piece of cloth was beyond her.
Remaining still on the reclining chair that she has taken as her makeshift bed until she took in this, once again, completely out-of-left-field situation, she came to a realization.
It seemed that by the end of this, she'd be forced to adapt like the resident devils.
Damn it, that was a depressing thought.
Getting up from her 'bed', the young woman studied the man closely, scowl deepening as she could swear that she has seen him before.
Perhaps she was having trouble because of how thoroughly trashed he looked?
Ignoring the severe burns he was sporting, as well as his frayed clothing, his face looked like it was recently used as someone's punching bag.
Black and blue all over, with his cheeks puffed up like some sort of horrific chipmunk, the man that was practicing bondage was unrecognizable to a normal human, so she was probably fighting a losing battle in trying to remember him.
Shrugging her shoulders, she stretched her limbs in place in order to get the kinks out of her joints, then walked off to find the only one who could answer her questions.
She couldn't find him.
All she found was the small form of the silver-haired girl that claimed to be Mio's guardian, busy cleaning up some dishes in the kitchen.
"Good morning!" the silverette chirped, aware of her presence without having to turn away from the sink.
Raynare raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. "Morning. Hey, do you know that you have a brutalized man tied up in your living room?"
Maria finally turned away from the sink, eyes wide. "...Oh yeah, we do, don't we?"
She then chuckled nervously, scratching her cheek. "Oops...I guess I forgot to give you a warning about that, didn't I? I hope it wasn't too surprising."
It was. She really could have used that warning.
Not that she verbalized her disgruntlement or anything. "And...he's there because...?"
"Not sure." was her reply, accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders. "Naruto-sama dragged him into the house sometime last night, all tied up. He never explained where that weird guy came from when I talked to him this morning...so I'm as clueless as you."
The fallen sighed, pushing her bangs back in frustration. "And where is Naruto right now...?"
"In school." Maria claimed as if it was obvious. "He went with Mio-sama after he woke up and had breakfast."
Oh, is that where he went? Well then, she could easily-
...
"He goes to school?" Raynare had to make doubly sure that she heard that right. "Naruto goes to school?"
There was no mistaking the incredulity in the young woman's voice, unable to reconcile with the fact that the tirelessly energetic blond would willingly go to an institution of learning.
It just didn't fit with what she knew about him.
"Yeah...apparently he was tricked into going to Kuoh Academy, but he hasn't tried to get out of there yet." Maria admitted, going back to continue with the dishes. "It's kinda weird, but then again, knowing him, he might've forgotten about that. Who knows with him?"
Yeah, the silverette really couldn't tell anyone why the blond does what he does, just that he does it.
She'd like to figure out how his head worked someday though.
...As well as how to make him blush like a pre-pubescent boy.
She hadn't forgotten about that, it had much to do with her pride as a succubus after all.
Well...kinda.
She mostly just wanted to see his adorably red face.
"Ok..." Raynare was beginning to look more than a little exasperated with the situation. "Fine, then I'll just go to this school of his to ask him myself. There's just...something about that guy that..."
She halted there, shaking her head in frustration at the identity of the tied up man, something ringing at the back of her head when she looked at him.
And she hated the feeling of not knowing something that she should.
"E-Eh? You're going over there? Right now?" Maria stuttered, her memories harking back to the last time that she went to Kuoh Academy for a friendly visit.
If she remembered correctly, that was the day that an apple and a frog fought to the death.
She was understandably skittish about going back there, especially when one considered the fact that Mio-sama didn't want her there at all.
The fallen was undeterred though. "Yeah, I'm going. You don't have to come along, I know the way there."
Even as she made her intention known, the supernatural woman was already moving past the small girl to make her way out of the house, determined for some answers.
Maria watched her go, wide eyed, wavering.
She broke quickly. "Wait!"
Raynare stopped her forward gait and twisted her head to look at the silver-haired girl, wondering what she wanted.
She wouldn't get the chance to ask, as Maria had already ripped her apron off and ran off to the entrance that the fallen had entered through initially, disappearing to the next room.
A violet gaze was left with nothing to focus on as it stared at the kitchen entrance, their owner left confused.
At first anyway.
Raynare quickly caught an inkling of what the smaller female was up to however, when she heard a distinctly muffled 'Guh!' emerge from the living room.
This suspicion was somewhat confirmed when Maria trotted back in, all smiles, completely ignoring the bit of blood staining her cheek.
"Had to knock him out, just in case he tried anything weird while we are gone." she reasoned, wiping the blood of off her face. "So I hit him. Hard."
The other female in the room quirked an eyebrow. "How hard?"
"As in; 'I have no idea whether he's going to get up today' hard."
Raynare nodded, her dark satisfaction revealed due to her crooked smirk. "Good. Lead the way."
She could grow to like these people yet.
Sona blew out some air once again, holding her head up with her right hand as she massaged her forehead.
Another headache was rolling in.
Although she had recently skipped school not once, but twice, in order to deal with serious issues that affected the peace and stability of Kuoh Town...it seemed that her position as student council president refused to be curtailed.
Case in point; there was literally a huge stack of paperwork on her desk to fill out, ranging from requests for more club funding to questions about the Ball Tournament.
...
Oh, that's right, the Ball Tournament.
She forgot about that little schoolwide event...
Prior to Uzumaki-san's adventure to Kyoto, as well as before the school became vandalized by a frog and a...what was it...?
A 'Bapple', if she remembered correctly.
Yes. Before the school became vandalized due to the efforts of 'Gama-tan' and 'Bapple', she was in the middle of going through the paperwork that would allow for this club spanning event to occur.
She was forced to move that work to the side however, for obvious reasons.
Thankfully, the date for the event was never announced, so as long as she got to work immediately, she should be able to revive this school event.
More than anything else...she genuinely did want the students of Kuoh Academy to enjoy their high school lives, so working a little harder than usual wasn't going to be much of a bother for her.
At least the funds were secured prior to the series of debacles that forced her attention away from her work, all that really needed to be done now was to finalize the date with the faculty and coordinate which clubs would participate.
All she needed to do now was get started on the paperwork, which shouldn't take too long as long as there were no distractions-
"Yo, Sona-kaichou!"
And, of course, the king of distractions would barge into her office right at that moment.
Sona cautiously raised her head from her work to look at the duo that entered the student council room, lips thinning as she met with the dancing blue eyes of a troublemaker.
"Uzumaki-san." her queen thankfully intervened. "Kaichou is currently in the middle of catching up on her work, unfortunately she doesn't have the time to be speaking to you right now. Perhaps you could come back later?"
Her statement was perfectly concise as to explain the situation without being outright insulting, giving an air of finality to her words while dangling the possibility of a second meeting later.
Really, most people would have taken the hint.
"Eh...this is pretty important though. Sorry, this can't wait dattebayo."
Too bad the blond wasn't like most people.
Before Sona could irritably tell the whiskered boy that she really was too busy to deal with his usual shenanigans, she noticed someone pop up from behind said male.
A shock of red hair gave her a clue as to who it was.
"Mio-san." the Sitri heiress called out, raising a brow when the mop of hair flinched from behind the troublemaker. "What are you doing here?"
Indeed, Naruse Mio slowly peeked out of her hiding spot behind Naruto, allowing herself to be fully visible to the high-class devil.
Shuffling nervously in place, the red-head waved at her. "H-Hey. Good morning, kaichou."
"...I hope that you're not skipping class like your older sibling, Mio-san." Sona frowned, hoping that the young woman wasn't following her brother's footsteps in his lackluster performance as a student.
The half-devil glanced away from her, biting her bottom lip. "Well..."
"She is." Naruto cut in dryly, earning a sputtered reaction from his sister. "But she wants to keep me out of trouble today, apparently."
Seeing the dubious look that was passed between the kingand queen of the Sitri group, Mio recovered enough to explain herself. "W-Well, Naruto's professors are probably really annoyed with him because of how many classes he's skipped, right? So I just thought that, at least for his first day back, that someone could keep him out of trouble...you know?"
The shinobi in question glanced at the red-head, expression dry, clearly not seeing the need for her to tag along.
A sentiment that Sona seemed to agree with, if her dull eyes were to be believed.
Before she could even begin to voice such an opinion though, the blond in the room saw fit to speak again.
"Ok, yeah, this conversation is cool and all, but I really,really do need to talk to you about something, Sona-kaichou!" Naruto declared, forcing their talk to go back to where he needed it to be.
The Sitri devil could only blow out some air, feeling her headache throb harder.
So much so that she was ready to punt the issue of the blond to someone else.
"Considering how busy I am, wouldn't it be better for you to go speak to Rias about whatever...'problem' you're having?" the devil tried to push the young man to her erstwhile rival, internally thanking her for her sacrifice in the name of the greater good.
Her sacrifice would be remembered.
"I tried that already."
Damn it.
"She was in the middle of class when I found her, and when I got her attention by knocking...well, she shooed me away." he continued, idly remembering how the red-head waved him away with a panicked expression on her face, strangely flushed.
Her reaction to his presence was a little rude though, and all he really did was grab everyone in the classroom's attention by knocking loudly.
What was she so embarrassed for exactly?
Shrugging it off, he took in the dull look that the student council president was giving him.
"...What?"
Sona shook her head, apologizing to her friend in her head for trying to pawn the blond off to her. "Nothing...really. But what exactly is so important that you have to interrupt my work for?"
Naruto didn't verbally respond to her query.
Rather, he dug his hand into his pants pocket to pull out a slip of paper and held it out in front of him, so that everyone in the room could see it.
He then channeled just a bit of chakra into it.
Sona stared at the piece of paper, puzzled. "What are you-?"
*Clang*
Her words died in her throat the moment that a wicked looking sword popped out of the paper in the blond's hand, clattering on the floor of her office.
More alarming than the fact that a sword just popped out of a piece of paper however, was the aura that it released.
An aura that immediately raised her hackles and made her skin crawl, instinctively making her shy away from the weapon.
One that she recognized as poisonous for her and any of her kind.
A holy aura.
Which meant that that was a holy sword.
"This..." Naruto drawled. "Is what I needed to talk to you and Rias about."
As soon as he made that statement though, the youth quickly huffed, his features belaying his newly displeased state of mind.
"But I'm positive that I could've gotten Rias' attention earlier if a certain sadist actually told her about what happened last night." the shinobi complained, crossing his arms as he completely missed the overall reaction of the holy sword's entrance.
Even Mio's reaction, who's hybrid status helped lessen her instinctual fear of the sword, was obviously negative, if the constant chills down her spine was to be believed.
Thankfully, everyone of devil blood within the room soon pulled themselves together to calm themselves down.
Which was why Sona took a deep breath, prepared to actually question why the young man had something so dangerous with him in the first place.
Yet, alas.
She forgot that she had sent Saji out to make photocopies of the entry forms that the clubs would need to fill out in order to join the Ball Tournament.
And, to her dismay, the Secratery of the student council chose that moment to walk through the door, a large stack of papers held close to his chest.
As soon as he did so, the aura of holiness that emanated from the downed sword immediately locked his body into place, throwing his balance thoroughly off it's kilter.
And with that balance came the stack of papers.
Papers were thrown up into the air, making the office snow paper as the forms slowly descended into a haphazard mess on the floor.
Naruto and Mio looked on with interest as all the forms drifted back down to earth.
Saji cursed under his breath.
Tsubaki sighed.
Sona slowly took off her glasses and massaged her temples.
A student council president's job was never done.
"Ara ara, you seem to be somewhat disgruntled, Buchou. Did our kohai's little stunt throw you off that much?"
Rias really didn't want to answer that question.
It was early in the school day, the first relatively normal day since the highway of problems that bombarded them during the past few days.
Honestly, she was looking forward to simply going to class and enjoying the stability that high school life provided.
It went without saying that she would continue to utilize the training center underneath the old school building, but enjoying the lax atmosphere was definitely something she wanted to savor.
The first clue that this day may not go her way however, came as soon as her queen informed her that she had subdued a man wearing clothing befitting of a priest with Naruto, and that he had secured a weapon that she thought she should see.
While slightly disturbed by this piece of news, she quickly determined that she could look at the weapon as soon as classes were done for the day.
Naruto, obviously, had other ideas.
It happened during her second period class, where the young devil was focused on jotting down notes, as a capable student should.
Until she heard the loud rapping of someone knocking on glass.
Knocked out of her state of concentration, the young woman hesitantly turned to look at the source of the noise.
She didn't look at the door to the classroom however.
No...she looked at the window.
The window that just so happened to be placed on the third floor of the Academy building.
Through that window, she met the annoyed blue gaze of a boy that completely lacked common sense.
She may or may not have squeaked out like a little girl at his surprise appearance.
Maybe.
So class eventually ended, with her fellow students still in an uproar at seeing someone push their face on the third story window.
And Rias was now storming her way towards the student council room, her pleasantly smiling queen trailing behind her.
She was going to see this damn weapon. Then she was going to pull the blond's ear off for scaring her half to death.
Reaching the doorway that led to her fellow high-class devil's office, Rias pushed the door open, striding in with a firm resolve.
A resolve that nearly broke as soon as she took her first step.
The sheer weight of poisonous light halted her unstoppable march forward, leaving her frozen at the door frame.
A fact that someone obviously didn't appreciate.
"Rias!" she heard Sona hiss, her alarm obvious. "Close that door right now!"
A bit dazed, the devil hesitated in enacting that order, leaving Akeno to close the door behind her instead, already prepared for the sickening feeling of overwhelming light.
As soon as Rias did recover though, she had to take a moment to blink at the sight that was presented before her.
Naruto and Mio were present first of all, flanking the student council president as they were peering over her shoulder as her fingers worked on her laptop's keyboard, glaring at the screen.
Tsubaki and Saji, on the other hand, were busy picking up papers that were strewn across the floor.
At least, that's what they were doing, until they focused their attention onto the two who barged into the room.
More eye-catching than the occupants though, was the singular object that occupied the middle of the room.
Held in a sphere of water that was kept suspended above the floor, no doubt thanks to Sona's power, a jagged sword was kept safe from everyone's bodies.
A blade that was, without a doubt, the source of the alarm bells that were going off in Rias' head.
Impatiently almost, the Sitri heiress waved them in, beckoning them to her.
The duo couldn't help but notice the wary look that she had sent the suspended blade.
With an air of caution, Rias indeed moved to join the group huddled around her friend's laptop, making sure to give the weapon a wide berth.
"Akeno..." she whispered. "Is that the...?"
Akeno merely nodded, expression turning serious.
The Sitri heiress' next words didn't help her deteriorating good mood. "Unfortunately, if my research is correct, then your fear is rather valid, Rias."
Not saying another word, the young woman leaned in to gleam at what everyone was looking at, her heart falling like a stone.
"Overwhelming holy aura, incredible durability, unable to be wielded by any random swordsman off the streets, and an ability to significantly enhance the speed of it's user. Those are the perimeters that Nar...I mean, Uzumaki-san told me." Sona explained, the light catching the lens of her glasses. "And only one blade...or should I say...blade fragment, could fit all of those categories."
No one there needed to go further than that.
"So...it's really here then." Mio started slowly, raising her head to regard the dangerous weapon. "Then...does that mean that...?"
"It could." Sona allowed, biting her bottom lip, considering the possibility. "At the very least, Kokabiel has a minor presence in Kuoh Town still, but I wouldn't go far enough to say that he's still here."
"Yes..." Rias spoke softly, glancing at the sword fragment that held so many had implications for all of them. "Perhaps we should try and contact the Underworld again, if only so that we could keep the Maous on notice with what's going on..."
At the mention of the leaders of the Underworld, the Sitri heiress' eyes narrowed. "I agree with the belief that we should try and reach the Underworld again, but involving the Maous? If anything, they could make the situation even more volatile, and you know it."
Gnashing her jaw, the red-head quickly retracted her idea, recognizing her fellow devil's point.
A point that she herself had noted before, but that she had allowed to slip from her mind due to her fatigue.
There had to be something else they could do...
"Buchou, Kaichou." Akeno intervened, butting in a bit. "Before you continue on with this discussion, it would, perhaps, be prudent to keep the holy sword out of sight and out of mind for now, hm?"
And she was very much correct.
Just having the fragment of the legendary blade would be considered to be damning evidence to anyone looking for it.
Like a pair of exorcists for example.
Not to mention that having it around Yuuto was not exactly the best of ideas, all things considered.
Agreeing to the plan, Naruto resealed the blade without uttering a word, slipping it back onto his pocket.
Watching the blond utilize his extraordinarily useful ability, Sona forged on with their previous talk, seeking to bring it to a close. "I think that, in light of this incident, we should keep everyone on alert for any suspicious activity. But beyond that, informing the Maous won't be necessary unless we have absolute confirmation that Kokabiel is in the area."
She closed her violet eyes then, looking tired. "...I don't wish to start a war. Not if I can help it."
Rias nodded at that, she was pretty sure that that was the last thing anyone wanted.
The room fell into an introspective silence, allowing the occupants to quietly consider their situation.
A few of them didn't bother to do so.
"...I'm not sure what's going on right now." Saji admitted readily, before pointedly looking at the stack of paper he has collected. "But, for now, we should just focus on getting these to the clubs around school, right?"
Bless the young man's simplistic mind.
"I like this idea." Naruto proclaimed, having made no secret of his opinion about needlessly worrying about things.
Beside him, Mio leaned closer to the student council secretary, peering at the stacks of paper. "What's that say? A...'Ball Tournament'?"
Thankful for the switch to a far more pleasant topic, the Sitri heiress answered. "It's an event that's meant to pit the various clubs across the school against each other through a sport that uses a ball. Tennis, football, baseball, and others like it are all fair game."
The red-head's eyes shined with enthusiasm as her elder explained what the tournament was, relishing in the thought of participating in something so unbelievably normal and mundane.
It sounded like a fun time that was just waiting to happen!
Naruto looked interested himself. "Oooh! That sounds like a great idea! I definitely wanna join this thing dattebayo!"
"Yeah!" his imouto cheered with equal intensity, raising her fist in the air.
Chuckling at their dual excitement, Akeno smiled. "Yep! It's definitely a nice change of pace from everything. All thanks to our indulgent student council president."
Said student elect coughed into her hand, just a little embarrassed.
Unfortunately, someone had to bring both siblings back to reality. "That being said; unless you're part of a club, you can't participate in the tournament...which means you two can't join."
Obviously, this brought a negative reaction from both younger teens.
For the most part anyway.
Naruto quickly switched from his obviously vexed disposition to a more considering one, thinking about something.
Mio on the other hand...
"Huh...? Oh...but there's no way that we could join a club in such short notice." she complained, disappointed.
It was by that point that the blond close to her nudged her, stopping her from continuing and getting her to look at him curiously.
His enigmatic smile was his only response.
"No worries." he assured, ignoring the suspicious looks he was receiving from both high-class devils. "We may have missed our chance this time, but maybe we could join in and have fun in the next event, eh?"
Mio stared at him owlishly.
Akeno grinned, expecting something outrageous.
Rias and Sona shared looks, expecting trouble.
"He's totally up to something." Saji grumbled from under his breath, saying out loud what everyone else was thinking.
Without warning, an eraser slammed into the blond's forehead, knocking him off of his feet and onto his ass, leaving an irritated red mark there.
The Sitri heiress slowly panned her head to regard her desk, noting the disappearance of her eraser that was placed near her pencil holder.
Then she turned to the blond that looked about as innocent as a new borne baby.
Yeah, right.
"Agh! Damn you, you blond delinquent!" the student council secretary cursed, glaring daggers at his suspect.
Still looking like a proverbial angel, the shinobi tilted his head in a confused manner. "Huh? What are you talking about? I would never hurt you, Saji! You're a member of the super student council, right? It's practically my duty as a scrub to have some respect for you guys."
Anyone with eyes could clearly see the light sarcasm that glinted in his eyes.
Before anyone could call it out though, the young man caught his sister's hand and made his way out, grinning like a fox while he ignored her sputtered protests.
"I'll see you guys later!" he chirped with that same foxy look, his eyes closed as he shut the door behind him.
Rias mutely watched this all play out, dull blue-green locked on the shut door, tapping her finger on her friend's desk.
"He's up to something." she declared the obvious. "And it probably has something to do with the Ball Tournament."
"I think so too, Rias." her queen chirped with a beatific smile. "Isn't it exciting?"
A grimace made it's way to the Gremory heiress' lips.
Considering how she was probably going to have to deal with the fallout of the blond's schemes...she'd say no.
But then again, even she had to admit that there was something...attractive about this spontaneous element in her normal high school life.
That being said, she was never going to admit as such to her queen. Ever.
By this point, Sona cleared her throat to gather everyone's attention. "Ignoring the troublemaker's exit for a moment...have you decided whether the Occult Research Club would take part in the Ball Tournament?"
As the young devil said this, her eyes sharpened imperceptibly, waiting for an answer.
A confident smirk was what she received. "Sona...you know perfectly well that I can't let the Student Council reign supreme completely uncontested without a challenge, don't you?"
The red-head received a smaller, yet rarer smirk in return. "I'm looking forward to it."
If one were to look at the two high-class devils now, they'd see the sparks lighting up in-between them in their rivalry, chuckling darkly in challenge.
Akeno and Tsubaki both shared looks with one another, amused and dry looks respectively.
Their kings were at it again.
"H-Hey! What's going on, Naruto!?" Mio cried out, stammering just a bit as she was dragged through Kuoh Academy's hallways.
She had a perfectly legitimate reason to be frazzled though!
How would a normal person react when their part-time delinquent and part-time warrior of a sibling drags you out of a conversation without any explanation?
Like she was, at least that's how she felt.
...Well, the feeling of Naruto's calloused hand tightly holding her own didn't do much to soothe her nerves either.
She couldn't ponder her own feelings any further however, thanks to the sudden stop that the blond had enacted.
Stuffing her face into the young man's back, the half-devil took a step back as she sniffed, glaring at him even when he couldn't see her.
Willing him to turn around without a word, the shinobi eventually complied and turned on the spot, apologetic. "Heh, sorry about that, but I had to get out of there quickly so that I could tell you what's going on."
The half-devil tapped her foot on the tiled floor, unimpressed. "Tell me what exactly?"
"I'm glad you asked!" the shinobi proclaimed with a fox-like grin, making his audience more wary no doubt. "We, as in; you and me, are gonna make a new club!"
Mio blinked minutely, processing and computing this information, before it finally clicked.
"We are?"
"We are."
"How?"
"By finding and forc- er...I meant 'persuading'. Yeah. Persuading others to join."
"You let your true intentions slip for a second there."
"...No I didn't."
Deadpanning, Mio poked his chest. "Naruto. We're not going to force people to join a club, ok? No blackmailing or arm twisting."
Taking a step back, the blond clicked his tongue, irritated. "Tch. Fine. Then we'll just do things the boring way and ask random students. And since the bell is about to go off, that means that we'll get our chance in a sec..."
Turning on the spot, he finished his unanimous declaration. "We'll split up and muster as many people as we can for our club! Let's do this!"
The young man was obviously ready to roll, as he bent down to a crouch in order to sprint to the stairs that numerous students would no doubt flood in a few moments.
He wouldn't really get the chance though.
"W-Wait!"
Naruto nearly slammed face-first into the pavement when Mio glomped his waist, stopping him short and ruining his balance.
Swinging his arms wildly in a futile attempt to right himself, the teen tipped over and crashed his chin onto the floor, rattling his jaw.
Needing a moment to grit his teeth to make them quit their shaking, the blond finally addressed his persistent hanger on. "...Yes, Mio?"
Peeking through red locks, her pink eyes wavered. "Don't...uh, let's not split up, ok? So that we don't lose each other in the rush to class and all?"
Naruto, with merely a tilt of the head, locked his eyes with her's, giving her the feeling that he was seeing through her, peeling away her uncertainty through those pools of azure...
"Alright then!" he chirped, breaking their locked gaze and nodding readily. "We'll do that then. You ready to go now?"
Mio's eyes fluttered, a smile blossoming at his easy acceptance, thankful that he didn't look deeper. "Yeah! Definitely!"
And she was. Without a doubt.
Whenever she was with him, she always felt like she was ready for anything.
His presence strengthened her like nothing else could.
And she was drawing on that feeling of security now.
She had to.
It was the only thing that kept her anxiety away.
As soon as the bells rang, students, who were already in the midst of gathering their things, escaped from their respective classrooms to leisurely make their way to their next class.
All while making sure to chat it up with friends along the way, of course.
Yuki wasn't one of those students, choosing to focus first and foremost on gathering the necessary materials that she needed for her next class and making it there in time.
She had quite a bit of work to catch up on, since she was absent from her classes for almost an entire school week.
More than that...she had no illusions about the likelihood of a certain classmate of hers attending class was.
Which meant that she, in reality, was probably going to have to show the stubborn blond what he missed instead of their teacher.
And she had no intention of giving him false information.
Nodding to herself in determination, the young woman navigated through the gaggle of lively students, expertly ducking under a bag of school supplies that one of the rowdier students lobbed to his friend.
Hearing the muffled cry of; 'Hey!' brought a small smile to the girl with light blue hair.
So did hearing the squeals of a group of teenaged girls discussing what one of their member's crush said to them during class.
Or the constant one-upmanship that a trio of fit teenaged boys were undergoing with one another, leading to rambunctious laughter among those that heard them.
It was all so chaotic.
Yet...so peaceful.
A strange, yet fitting dichotomy.
It was nice, seeing something so thoroughly normal and mundane.
Seeing it helped remind her that such a thing could so very easily be taken for granted...
Taking a deep breath, Yuki stepped forward again after stopping for a moment, her heightened mood infectious.
"Oiiiii! Yuki!"
And it only improved from there, thanks to the shout that rose above the conundrum around her.
Through the crowd in front of her, she saw a familiar head of spiky golden hair rush towards her, bobbing above the numerous sets of heads that covered his visage from her.
But she knew who called her.
Only one person could so thoroughly fit in, and yet, stand out at the same time.
"Naruto." she answered, her smile growing an inch wider when he finally pushed through everyone to reach her.
The blond student that she was already planning to see in her next class grinned cheekily as he shimmied up next to her, nudging her playfully. "Yo. What's with you? You're in a good mood and it's scaring me, ya know?"
"Is it that obvious?" the hero asked, more to herself than anyone, before lightly shaking her head. "Well...just look around you, Naruto. Isn't it nice? Watching and taking part in this environment?"
"What? Uh...are you taking about the lack of explosions everywhere?"
"That's one of them." Yuki replied dryly, her small smile growing a little more knowingly. "But I'm sure that you appreciate this peace too...even if it's happening at a school."
The shinobi scratched his cheek, swiveling his head away from her stubbornly. "I dunno what you're talking about..."
Really, considering his headstrong nature, she shouldn't expect him to admit that something that he commonly complained about actually had any positives to it.
Which was definitely highlighted by an exasperated sigh that rang out behind him.
"Really...you can't just be honest, can you?" Mio wondered, looking more vexed by his behavior than actually irritated, before shooting an apologetic smile at the other girl. "Sorry if he's troubling you, Yuki."
Ignoring the betrayed expression that flitted across the blond's face, Yuki answered with a polite nod. "Good morning, Mio. And you don't have to worry about your brother, he's not troubling me at all."
"Yeah!" the shinobi cried out, throwing a triumphant grin at the red-head that scooted up next to him. "I ain't causing trouble! You should have more faith in me, like Yuki here."
"Oh please..." the half-devil snorted, deadpanning. "Yuki has a super high tolerance of your antics...I don't really know why. Please stop abusing your friend's kindness."
"I'm not! I'm totally innocent dattebayo!"
"You say that...but didn't you literally just harass a random student earlier to join your little-?"
Naruto swiftly cupped her mouth with the palm of his hand, shutting her up before she could spill the beans.
Nervously, the blond turned back to the hero while he ignored the unperturbed stare that Mio was drilling into his skull, gauging her reaction.
What he got wasn't exactly what he was expecting.
A low chuckle rumbled in her throat, making the young woman look like a completely regular student as her yellow eyes shined.
Looking every bit like the teenager that she actually was.
Naruto beamed at this, infinitely preferring to see her like this instead of her borderline stoic persona that she took on in dangerous situations.
Or, for that matter, that side of her that was ridiculously obstinate in getting her way.
It gave him that nice and warm feeling in his heart, seeing her relax and act her age.
They should really treasure these moments more often.
...Speaking of which.
"Hey, Yuki."
The hero snapped away from the dwindling mass of students in the hallway, laying all of her attention upon him. "Yes?"
Beside him, Mio sighed via body language, since it was impossible to do so in the usual way with the borderline delinquent's hand stopping her.
Here came the pitch...
Nervously rubbing the back of his head, a habit that he had to knock himself out of, he made the pitch that his companion was expecting. "Care to join a club with me?"
Yuki blinked, staring at him, looking lost in how she should respond.
Then she gave him the only response that she could have possibly given as her brain grasped the concept that he was verbalizing.
"...Excuse me?"
"Woah...look at her..."
"I know, right? She's definitely daring, that's for sure."
"Psht. Desperate is probably the better word."
She should've expected these comments, should've known they were coming.
Honestly though, she tended to forget about the God of the Bible's least impressive creation, especially in light of recent events.
Azazel-sama consistently drilled her to be mindful of her surroundings, even with a race that she discounted on principle.
A habit that she has gained through the influence of her flesh and blood no doubt.
And one that she needed to break out of.
She has literally seen her own mother underestimate a human being, only to see her arrogance come back to haunt her with a beat down.
There was no need for time to repeat itself with her offspring.
...
All that being said...
"Kaa-chan! Kaa-chan! Why is that lady wearing so little clothing?"
"...Um...well...-Hey! Why don't we get some yakisoba for lunch today?"
A mother that just so happened to be passing by tried to steer her innocent daughter's focus away from the fallen angel, shooting the supernatural being a dirty look as a parting shot.
Raynare felt a vein bulge on her forehead.
...Why did humans have to be so annoying?
"...Huh. Strange. I'm getting a weird sense of deja vu."
Beside the annoyed supernatural being, her small silver-haired companion made such a comment, looking almost comically perturbed.
Maria shrugged her shoulders, chalking up the feeling as just a coincidence as she grinned at the ravenette next to her. "So? How's it feel to be around the ordinary again?"
Raynare dourly looked ahead, declining to answer.
Pouting, the loli tried again. "Oh, come on. There's no need to be sad! I'm sure that no one really means what they're saying about your clothes."
"...I'm not sad. Just annoyed is all." the fallen retorted bluntly, scowling at the other female's assumption.
Her scowl only got deeper when she saw the victorious grin spreading across Maria's face, only just figuring out that she got a kick out of riling people up.
That belief was only solidified when she heard her poor attempt at hiding her giggles.
So poorly hidden that she began to wiggle a little while walking, earning more than a few strange looks from the regular people around them.
Her mood souring further, Raynare was just about ready to scold the silverette.
Until she noticed something poking out of her gothic-style dress, probably thanks to her excitement.
Feeling only a little vindictive, the young woman quickly punted her foot onto the lower backside of her acquaintance's body, eliciting an 'Eep!' out of her.
Spinning on the spot, Maria gave her a petulant glare whilst rubbing the area right above her bottom.
Raynare could only shrug, a self-satisfied smirk tugging at her lips. "What? Your tail was threatening to pop out. Had to stop it somehow, right?"
The loli didn't look particularly soothed by this logic, judging by her flaring nostrils.
So instead of arguing, Maria just huffed and flicked her head away, keeping her nose in the air as she walked.
Grinning gamely, the fallen followed, assuming that they were getting close to Kuoh Academy grounds now, still ignoring the looks she was getting from the humans around her.
As a fallen angel, it wasn't exactly strange for a woman to wear a corset out in the open.
...Hell, it wasn't even that uncommon for some men to do it.
So she really wished that they'd quit staring now.
But seeing as they weren't going to stop anytime soon, the angel with two pairs of black wings decided to focus on something else to distract herself with.
And her focus just so happened to land on the 'little girl's' lower back.
Or, to be specific, on her hidden tail, and what it's existence entailed.
She could already feel her curiosity soar, and feel her interest pique.
Which was exactly how she was able to ask what she was about to ask so abruptly.
"Hey, how did someone like you get involved in all of this?"
Maria stamped her foot lightly to stop and twist about, facing the fallen angel, her features plainly curious. "What do you mean 'someone like me'?"
Raynare rolled her shoulders in a facsimile of a shrug, walking beside the smaller female since she stopped to look at her. "I just didn't think that your people would let you stay around in this dimension. Wouldn't they want you to stay close to the Maous or something?"
It was a minor shift.
The succubus, who up until now held her heart in her sleeve, suddenly became more...
...Guarded.
The crinkles next to her eyes deepened and the edges of her mouth tightened, just a bit.
It was hardly noticeable, really.
But, then again, when you're the technical apprentice of someone like Azazel, you tend to catch onto some things.
There were a few times her life depended on it.
"...I...I don't really know what you're talking about!" Maria suddenly shouted out, looking more than a little panicky as she unnecessarily raised her voice.
Well, she obviously wasn't too good at lying under pressure.
Which did nothing except increase her interest even more, making her pupils glint like a predator.
Now this was interesting...
"Oh! Look! We're almost at Kuoh Academy!" Maria proclaimed, jabbing her digit ahead as a sprawling group of buildings became visible to their gaze.
Shifting her focus to those buildings, the fallen angel gracefully let herself be distracted, thinking about her companion's strange reaction.
As well as how to respond to it.
...She supposed that she had more questions to ask Naruto than she initially thought.
"You want to make a club...? You?"
Naruto's lips curved, his sharp canines visible to his friend's line of sight. "Is it that out of character?"
Yuki didn't deign to actually answer that question, only opting to give him a level stare, yellow eyes unblinking.
Even with the blond's nearly limitless confidence, the young man was clearly feeling the weight of the expectant stare that was being lodged at him, making him squirm.
...Only a bit though.
He refused to admit that he squirmed more than a little.
"...Mow dat I hink ahot it..." Mio mumbled out, her words hard to understand thanks to the hand still covering her mouth.
Predictably, the shinobi couldn't help but needle her about it. "Heh...sorry. It's kinda hard to understand you right now, maybe you should again? Or, better yet, try to-"
He didn't get to finish his sentence, since he was too busy whipping his hand back, gawking at the red-head that had a wide grin plastered on her face.
Expression switching from wide-eyed surprise to disgust, the young man waved his hand around in the air, trying to get rid of the saliva that coated his palm.
Satisfied, Mio repeated herself. "Now that I think about it, it does seem a little suspicious, doesn't it? But don't worry, Yuki, he's not making a club so that he could enjoy school life, or anything like that."
Not in the least affected by the completely typical back-and-forth between the duo, the hero quirked an eyebrow in interest. "Oh? Then why does he want to make one exactly?"
The half-devil expected such a question, as well as the other female's suspicion in regards to such an...out-of-left-field request.
This was the guy that had the unnatural ability to make messes out of the littlest of things; to create chaos from nothing.
Was that his special ability? To thoroughly mess with someone else's perfectly good day?
"...I feel like you're thinking about something incredibly rude about me right now." Naruto accused dourly, still occupied with getting rid of the spit on his hand.
Mio simply gave him a beatific smile. "Nope."
"See? Now I know you are..." he retorted dryly.
Taken aback, the younger teen placed her hands on her hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that whenever you try and be cute, you give yourself away. Duh."
"I wasn't trying to-!" the red-head stopped. Breathed. Turned back to Yuki. "He's totally up to no good."
"Oi!"
Yuki looked at both teens, idly noting that the bell was ringing as she sighed. "...Naruto. Are you up to no good?"
Both; Naruto and Mio, stared at her with stupefied expressions, unable to believe that she'd let someone like the blond give her an answer.
Hell, if anything, said blond was even more surprised than she was!
So the shinobi, blinking, decided to give her an honest answer.
"Absolutely."
Mio twitched.
Yuki nodded reasonably.
But the spiky-haired troublemaker wasn't quite done. "...That being said, this time around..."
His lips spread apart, flashing sharp canines as he exhibited a wickedly mischievous grin, blue eyes dancing with barely held anticipation.
"I'm planning for something that we'll all enjoy dattebayo."
The resident half-devil tried to keep her suspicious disposition, she really did.
But whatever magic that he just pulled to make such an expression temporarily made her catch her breath, forcing her to turn away lest she embarrass herself.
Yuki, for her part...
"Ok. I'll do it."
...Was totally convinced.
Seeing the whiskered teen light up with glee, the hero made sure to add one more thing before he got carried away.
"On one condition."
Naruto's glee fell flat, his features becoming vaguely huffy.
He still held hope though. "Alright...what is it?"
Yuki, always taciturn and reserved, tilted her head towards the floor, the faintest dusting of pink staining her cheeks.
"...Can you come by my house tomorrow, so that we can decide a name for it? I'd like to name it." she spoke quietly, her head angled downwards, her bangs covering her eyes as she fidgeted slightly.
Naruto blinked, never seeing the young woman look so...small before.
But if all she wanted was to have a say in the name of the club...then that was simple enough of a condition to fulfill for her help.
Beside him, Mio was scrunching her brows together in consternation. "Er...Naruto? I don't think-"
"Deal!" Naruto agreed readily, flashing a thumbs up.
Yuki raised her head, her small smile gracing her features. "Tomorrow morning then. Before class?"
With a mock salute, the blond accepted the given time, grinning from ear-to-ear.
Glancing at a nearby clock that was suspended high on the wall next to them, the human female took in the time and turned back to the blond with that same smile. "I need to get to class...so...see you later?"
Despite the fact that they literally just made a set time to meet up, the young woman almost seemed to be unsure whether or not he would actually show up.
She almost seemed as nervous as one of those schoolgirls that was going to ask their crush out on a date.
The ludicrous idea of Yuki acting like a schoolgirl nearly made him scoff rudely, unable to take the idea seriously.
Regardless, the shinobi would ease her nerves. "Yeah...see ya later."
Satisfied with that answer, Yuki spun on her heel and jogged to her next class, her short light blue hair bouncing as she moved further and further away from him.
Watching her go, the young man pumped his fist in triumph, eager that he was finally getting the numbers necessary for his new club to form.
He would definitely make this Tournament a hell of a lot more interesting, or his name wasn't Uzumaki Naruto!
Seeking to share his excitement, the blond twisted his body to face his imouto, his lips parting to speak-
And those words died before they even left his throat, along with his jubilant expression.
Mio, instead of sharing his excitement, dourly glared out the window, a prevalent scowl messing up her pretty face.
Er...
"I-Is something wrong, Mio?"
No response.
Hesitantly, the shinobi tried again. "Well...uh...I'm not sure what's got you down, but if you need to talk to me, you can do that, ya know? Don't hesitate to-"
"You're a jerk."
Naruto was very quickly left without a voice to utilize, trying to formulate some kind of response as his suddenly moody family member refused to look him in the eye.
What the hell did he do!?
As the blond began to rattle his head on how he should fix this crisis, the source of his worries was crossing her arms, clenching her teeth in frustration.
Frustration that wasn't even aimed at the young man behind her. Not really.
If anything, it was aimed solely at herself.
She knew that she was a bit...'sensitive' with the blond, no matter what she claimed verbally.
Or rather, she was sensitive with who he interacted with.
While she liked and trusted Yuki, she just couldn't quite help but be irritated when the two of them met up privately, going out and conversing or doing who-knew-what.
And her disgruntled response to their meet-ups were only getting worse, if her declining mood was any indication.
She didn't want to lash out, but it was seriously beginning to get harder to suppress these feelings.
It wasn't fair to Naruto if she allowed her self-control to slip, but she couldn't help it...
She was...selfish, she could admit. As she very much didn't like the idea of the blond's attention being so thoroughly dominated by someone else.
This was her family now, and she knew that some part of her, deep inside, felt insecure with keeping it together.
That was all that was motivating her bad attitude; her phobia of her new family disconnecting, that was all.
That was all.
"...Hey, Mio?" she heard Naruto call out, pressing his hand against her shoulder from behind, nudging her a bit.
He sounded worried.
Sighing lowly, the red-head wondered whether she should go to class and cool her head, if only so that she wouldn't worry him some more.
Ah...
Right.
That wasn't an option.
The half-devil wanted to, but it wasn't an option for her right now.
Because...
"It's all your fault!"
Words that haunted her whenever her thoughts were inevitably drawn back to that battle.
"How would he look at you...?"
Goosebumps racked her body, the image of a dying man lurching forward, his flaming body melting and falling apart as he rasped his poison.
She shivered again, trying to quell the rising fear that was beginning to clog up her throat-
"Mio?"
His voice was like a lifeboat for her drowning self, giving her the chance to drag herself out of her fit, calming her down.
His presence soothed her, kept the words away.
Mio had to be near him, until she was confident that her sanity wasn't in stake.
...Hopefully that would be soon.
She finally turned around, swallowing her misgivings in order to give him some kind of reassurance.
It would be hollow, but at least it would be something.
That was until, in the midst of turning, something caught her attention.
A shock of silver.
"What the hell!?"
A growl unintentionally left her throat as she snapped her attention back out the window, locking onto the 'silver' with a frightening intensity.
What she saw removed the cloud that had descended upon her, but simultaneously made her irritable all over again.
Just for entirely different reasons this time.
Shuffling next to her, Naruto followed her line of sight, deadpanning at what his crystal-blue found.
Mio didn't even bother to wait for his exasperated comment, she just twisted her body on the spot and began storming down the hallway to reach the stairs, feeling a vein throb on her forehead.
When she got down to the courtyard...she was obviously going to have to go all disciplinarian on a certain non-student.
...Again.
"This is it; Kuoh Academy!"
Even if there was no introduction given to the large western-style buildings that confronted them, the fallen angel would have already made the connection.
Still, Maria being Maria, wanted to give a dramatic introduction to the institution of learning.
Which was why Raynare was casually ignoring her, choosing to skim over the series of buildings, studying them.
If nothing else, it was a pleasant sight to behold.
But, of course, she wasn't here to sight-see. "Do you know where he is?"
The succubus, who was in the midst of another flourish, halted mid-action to answer. "Eh...all I'm sure about is that he's in the center building somewhere."
Warily sizing up said center building, the angel with black wings sighed. There was no way that they'd find him quickly at all if they were walking around blind.
And they weren't even technically supposed to even be on school grounds, she was sure.
Especially if the students looked at her like the regular civilians outside did.
"Heh. I know what you're thinking."
Violet eyes swiveled onto purple ones, looking about as dry as the Sahara Desert itself. "Do you?"
"Yep!" Maria declared, her confidence strangely firm. "Because, thanks to my personal experience, I can definitely guarantee that Naruto-sama will find us in within...oh...I'd give it five minutes?"
She frowned at that piece of information, a suspicion gnawing at her because of it. "...And why exactly would Naruto seek you out within such a small time frame?"
The silverette tilted her head to the side, scratching the back of her head with a chuckle.
"Probably because...I came here because I was bored. When I was told specifically not to."
Ah.
So...she was in trouble then.
That explained it.
...
"Wait..." Raynare scrunched her face, catching onto something.
"Maria!"
But, unfortunately for her, it would have to wait since a -very- irate scream echoed from across the courtyard.
Beaming, Maria waved at the origin of the scream.
She either completely ignored the scream and the accompanied high voltage glare, or was completely oblivious to it.
Whichever the case, Naruse Mio stormed up to the two of them with a heavy scowl, looking like she may actually try and blow someone up. "Maria...do you remember what happened the last time you came here?"
The succubus hummed, tapping her chin with an air of playfulness, pissing off her charge even more. "Eh...I don't really remember to be honest."
Trudging up from behind the red-head, Naruto arched a brow as he noticed his imouto's face twitch in excess anger, before turning to the fallen with a grin. "Mornin'. What brings you here of all places, Raynare?"
Raynare, who was watching both of the half-devils' bickering become increasingly charged, turned to the blond with a blank look. "...Well, I was going to come and find you so that I could ask you about that tied up man in your house...but then..."
She waved her hand in the direction of the continuously bickering family members, just in time for her to see the red-head grind her fists against the loli's cheeks as a malefic aura overtook her. "...Your crazy family happened."
If the shinobi's grin could grow any wider, it would split his face apart.
She didn't know why she expected anything else from him.
Just as quickly as that grin grew though, it was wiped away almost as fast. "Wait. A tied up man?"
His eyes widened, his mouth forming a perfect 'o' as slammed his fist onto the palm of his hand.
"I completely forgot about that guy!" he exclaimed.
The fallen angel face-palmed, groaning.
Part of her wanted to just stay there, marveling how he could forget about the guy that he probably personally beat to a pulp, or the fact that he was left tied up in his own home.
But, if nothing else, she has gotten some experience with dealing with eccentric personalities. "...Right. Anyway; do you know who that guy is? At all?"
"Not really." came the casual reply, Naruto's blue eyes turning to spare a glance at his imouto, who was busy verbally lashing at her guardian, before returning back to the fallen. "All I really know about him is that he's insane, he seems to have a habit of talking to himself, is kill-happy, and that he has...well...'had' a pretty badass sword."
Raynare's lips thinned, a spark of familiarity lighting in her head at this description, painting a picture of an individual that she'd prefer to never hear of again.
But she had to be sure. "Is there anything else? Anything that stands out?"
Scratching the crown of his head, the blond hummed in deep thought, scouring through his limited memories of the man when he was actually conscious.
He quickly hit the jackpot when one specific memory spoke out to him.
"He liked to say 'shitty' a lot."
Bingo.
Raynare's shoulders sagged, trying and failing to stop the tired sigh from leaving her lips.
Of all of the people she has known...it just had to be that freak, didn't it?
She didn't even care about the 'badass' sword he had, she just wanted to know why the hell he was still in Kuoh Town.
...Just thinking about the man that she had known as Freed Sellzen was giving her a headache...
Taking a moment to rub her temples with her fingers in order to nurse her headache, the blond that she was speaking to took a moment to size her up, a certain...something glinting in his pools of blue.
Yet it wasn't until said young man made his request verbally that Raynare actually noticed that glint. "Hey, you wanna help me out with something?"
The fallen paused in her ministrations to look up at her acquaintance, instantly becoming wary once she looked into his eyes. "...Depends."
Her feeling of uneasiness was not soothed when he seemed to outright sparkle in eagerness.
"...Can you join my team in the Ball Tournament?" he asked of her, clasping his hands together, like a prayer.
Everyone around him turned to him, taken aback by his request which seemed to have defied all reason and good sense.
Mio, who was in the midst of stretching the succubus' cheeks painfully, nearly let go when her grip slackened in her shock.
Maria for her part, with teary eyes, turned her head as much as she could towards the blond, giving him a look that resembled that of a kicked puppy.
Sparing them a look, the shinobi amended his statement. "And Maria too, if she wants to."
Now the red-head among them finally lost her grip against her guardian's cheeks, a chance that Maria seized without hesitation by falling backwards and rolling away frantically from her.
"I accept!" the silverette declared while rolling away like a ball, finishing her roll by ending up in a shrub nearby in the school's small garden.
Clicking her tongue, Mio glared at the shrub that Maria was hiding in, annoyed that she escaped from her clutches.
It was only after she tried to will the shrub to cough up her troublesome guardian with her gaze alone that she turned to Naruto. "You do realize that that's impossible, right?"
His response was about as typical as she could have expected. "There's no such thing as 'impossible' dattebayo!"
Raynare crossed her arms under her bust, unamused. "Oh? So you're telling me that I can just join this..."
She stopped there without warning, lips tightening.
Seeing the fallen flex her jaw, looking for the name to describe what the blond invited her to, Mio decided to help her out. "...School event?"
The raven-haired woman inclined her head towards her. "Yes. That. How exactly can an outsider just waltz in and join this...school event?"
Naruto raised his nose in the air, his confidence not diminishing at all under this line of questioning. "Heh...look at you. Doubting my ability to get you in on the action! Shouldn't you realize by now that I wouldn't make this kind of request if I didn't have something to back it up first?"
Mio paled a bit, recognizing that he wasn't bluffing in his words.
He really wouldn't make such a request if he didn't already have a way for that request to actually come to fruition.
And, looking at the fallen angel, she must have understood that too.
"You're up to something again. Something big." she declared with nary a doubt.
"Yep!" he affirmed positively, his features fox-like when his smile grew so wide as to turn into slits. "Come on! This is gonna be super fun! I promise! Besides, I bet that you never actually joined something like this before, right?"
Raynare wrinkled her nose. "Excuse me?"
For the first time in this conversation, the blond's confidence was cracked, leaving a bit of uncertainty in it's wake. "Uhh...sorry, but I thought that you never joined something like an organized festival before. My bad."
"Wh-" the fallen took a step back, scandalized. "Why would you think that!?"
Naruto shrugged helplessly, displaying a sheepish grin. "Eh...well...that's because you sounded kind of...uncertain about what this Ball Tournament actually was. So...I just guessed that you never did something like that before, ya know?"
Her silence following his explanation spoke volumes, at least to Mio, who was watching the two of them, uncomfortable by the void of quiet.
It seemed that she wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable with it.
"W-Well, ya know...facing others in a tournament for fun and without any high stakes seemed pretty cool to me...I'm sure that you know about that though." he apologetically murmured, staring at the floor awkwardly.
Once more, he didn't receive any response, prompting him to continue babbling without any clear direction.
"Yeah, I know, a stupid assumption. It's just...something that I wanted everyone to enjoy, ya know? Something normal and mundane, where we can just be young. For once in our crazy lives. I mean- that'd be nice, right?"
Pink eyes aimed at the young man that was unintentionally letting his true thoughts filter through, without any of the usual hubris that usually protected his intentions.
Was this how he truly felt? What he truly wanted?
Looking back, the blond didn't try too hard to invite regular students in his little 'club' of his...no, instead, he focused specifically on those who were involved in the supernatural.
Those who were involved in the tidal wave of trouble that rocked all of them just two days ago.
Feeling her breath hitch in her throat, a stray fear entered her mind.
...Did he know?
Did he sense the anxiety that she built up whenever he wasn't near? Did he notice her strange behavior that she exhibited recently?
Because she couldn't deal with it yet. Not yet.
She needed time, just a little bit...just a little...
"Fine."
To her gratitude, her rising apprehension cooled down when the incredibly unbelievable prospect of what she had just heard had entered her ears.
It was so surprising that even the babbling youth beside her fell quiet in wonder, unable to quite believe what he's heard himself. "...Really? Seriously?"
Raynare turned away from both pairs of incredulous eyes, cheeks heating up. "...What? Can't I change my mind about things? This Tournament, as you're making it out to be sounds...interesting. Taking a break from our hectic lives...that's an appealing concept."
Understatements abounded.
Their lives were pretty insane.
She chuckled then, quietly and bitterly. "Who knows? Since I'll probably be returning to the Underworld soon enough, this may be my last chance to do something 'normal'. When will I ever have such an opportunity like this again?"
And, indeed, this would be her first time doing something 'normal'.
Despite her claims earlier, she...really hasn't done something like this before, since her life was consumed with everything besides the mundane.
Her prior silence wasn't of incredulity of a stupid assumption.
It was of surprise that he was correct, even when she didn't want to admit it.
"So...you're really gonna...?" Naruto started, lips bending upwards with widening eyes.
"Yeah..." Raynare admitted with a huff. "You'd better not be lying about this Tournament of yours, Naruto. I want to have a good time."
The blond was practically hopping in place, such was his excitement at the prospect of his plans coming into fruition. "You won't regret this! Promise! Without a doubt!"
A wry chuckle unintentionally left the fallen angel without her permission, shaking her head at his obvious excitement.
It was almost frustrating how easily this guy could draw a chuckle out of her.
Mio, who was watching said blond 'whooping', was inclined to agree with her.
For practically everyone, the fallen angel was either rude or just incredibly snarky, preventing most from really talking to her without sometimes getting put-off by her attitude.
Yet, in regards to anyone that was connected to him, her demeanor became more...softer.
"...My, it seems Mio-sama has more 'rivals' than I thought."
So spoke up the bush beside her, sounding contemplative.
It was kind of impressive for a shrub, honestly.
"Puh! I see her game. Trying to act all stubborn and hardheaded when she's actually just putty! She's playing hard-to-get! Don't let her get away with it, Mio-sama!" the shrub declared unilaterally, urging the fifteen-year old to take action.
And maybe if she had more energy to spare, she would do something, but, as it stood...
Well. She didn't.
As a matter of fact, the red-head didn't even bother to look at the talking bush next to her, only managing to stop the tired look that nearly overtook her features.
Sometimes she wondered about the life she led...
Argento Asia never really liked fighting.
Never had, really, as fighting anyone for any reason always left someone hurt.
For as long as she could remember, she never liked the idea of anyone getting hurt.
And yet...
"Come on! Don't let up! Keep coming at me with all you've got!"
"Yes...!"
...She didn't mind this too much.
The nun winced slightly of course, when the spiky-haired boy's opponent was sent flat on her back after getting her legs scooped out from under her. But didn't do much else.
Once upon a time, she would have been horrified of the concept; of friends harming each other, even if it was a consensual affair.
But outside of her latest wince, the human girl only really took a mental note as to where either of the combatants were getting cuts and bruises on their bodies.
...Well, combatant, really.
The fight seemed to be a bit one-sided.
"Huh... really is giving it her all, isn't she, Buchou?"
"Indeed. As a matter of fact, I'm kind of hoping that she manages to knock that arrogant head of his. Just once."
Asia also didn't respond negatively to Yuuto and Rias' comments in regards to the training session in front of them, it was their way of having fun she knew.
Or letting off steam.
Both really.
"Yeesh...that blond bastard really isn't holding back too many punches here, huh?" her beloved perverted boy muttered beside her, scowling at the mismatch. "I kinda wanna join in and even the odds here. Either way; kick his ass, Koneko-chan!"
Koneko grunted as she blocked the kick that impacted against her crossed arms, sliding her feet against the ground, releasing a *screech* from the harsh friction.
Through the momentum she has obtained, she had hoped that she would gain some distance in-between them, seeking a moment to consider her options.
The fist that whipped past her right cheek told her that that option wasn't available unfortunately.
To the rook's eyes, her opponent's fists were barely visible to her, fading in and out of her sight, blurring, giving her the barest of time frames to properly block whatever was threw at her.
Even then, the blows that rained against her began to leave rather nasty bruises in their wake, forcing a hefty wince out of her.
Her momentum was slowly diminishing as another fist rocked against her crossed arms, this time managing to break them apart from each other, leaving the younger girl wide open to a single punch straight to the stomach.
Coughing harshly, a fist embedded itself into her and nearly made her bend like a pretzel, the angle of the blow leading her spread feet to dig itself into the ground, finally killing all of her momentum.
Naruto was bent in front of her now, his fist making the snow-haired girl bend over as she coughed, her features shadowed from him thanks to her bangs.
Figuring that she was done, the blond moved to straighten himself, retracting his arm in order to give his assessment.
Blue eyes crinkled however, when he tried to take back his arm.
"I..."
The shinobi regarded the shorter form in front of him, hazel eyes regarding him with the tiniest of smiles gracing her features.
"...I've got you." Koneko declared, clutching the captive fist with both of her own, keeping him in place.
Quirking a golden eyebrow, the blond didn't verbally respond.
No, all he did was raise his other fist up, preparing to knock down the devil into the ground without remorse.
Koneko didn't respond verbally to this latest threat either, and instead raised her foot and ruthlessly brought it down to the ground.
No. Through the ground.
Naruto frowned as his foothold from under him became unstable, the eruption of earth forcing him to back up lest he find himself in a bad spot.
That being said, feeling the younger girl clutch his arm even tighter and jerk it back to her gave him the idea that she wasn't going to let him go without a fight.
She had him where she wanted him; unable to move.
Too bad she was a hundred years too early to try and outmaneuver him.
Pushing off from the ground, the blond allowed the younger girl to pull him back to her, watching as she raised her unoccupied hand and balled it into a fist.
Before it could release it's deadly payload, Naruto thrust his legs out, squarely slamming them into Koneko's chest, knocking the air right out of her in the process.
Using her like a springboard, the blond then somersaulted away from her, landing softly on a piece of the floor that wasn't destroyed and immediately hopped back into the air, soaring over the wheezing devil as she tried to get off of her back.
As soon as she brought oxygen into her lungs again, the young girl tucked herself up and rolled to the side, barely avoiding an axe kick that blew apart the ground that she was once resting on.
Getting out of the roll into a crouched position, the young rook locked her gaze onto the cloud of dust, looking for the familiar shock of gold.
Her ear twitched.
Spinning on her heel, Koneko swung her right foot around in a sure-to-hit strike.
That very foot stopped mere inches from it's intended target.
"Hoh...? You heard me coming, eh? Those ears of yours are ridiculously sensitive, ya know that?" Naruto asked rhetorically, his good cheer not diminishing as his right hand clasped his opponent's right ankle.
The smaller girl, stuck in an awkward position, responded blandly as if there was nothing amiss. "...Yeah. I can't see you...but I can hear you."
She paused there, reconsidering.
"...Most of the time. When you give me time to."
The shinobi grinned ferally. "Let's keep going. I'm gonna take this up a notch, alright?"
Hazel eyes blinked.
That probably wasn't good-
"Ah."
Koneko couldn't ponder her friend's words any more than that, since the blond's grip on her ankle was tightened...
"Ah."
Then, with only a bit of exertion, he swung around her body over his shoulder and flung her into the air spinning, sending her world in a tizzy.
Even when she spread out her bat-like wings in an attempt to regain her bearing, she knew that she wouldn't be able to right herself before the knee that would come to lodge itself into her body arrived.
She was expecting it, along with a quip of 'You're not fast enough~' from the prankster.
Yet, with her wings aiding her, she was able to plop her feet onto the wall that she was initially swung at, hanging sideways like some sort of ninja.
Raising her head, she looked up to find out why exactly her sempai didn't take advantage of the situation, not sure whether to be thankful for the reprieve or cautious.
What she saw was a waving blond, beckoning her to him.
Nodding from her spot on the wall, she righted herself and began to float down to meet with her sempai.
Muscles loosened up as she fell back to the ground, letting her shoulders slump as soon as she was absolutely sure...
Sure that their practice was done, that is.
"Alright!" declared the blond with a clap, grinning like the idiot that he sometimes acted like. "That was much better than how you were in Rias' summer home, Koneko-san! You've obviously been practicing on improving what you've got; your strength and basic senses, and bringing them to new levels. That's always a good thing to aim for, at least to me."
She nodded, vividly remembering the strength and endurance training that she subjected herself to prior to the entire debacle with the knight's disappearance.
Looked like it paid off for her in the end.
Though, a part of her couldn't help but wonder about his words, seeing as their difference in power seemed to be roughly similar to how they fought last time...
It just didn't feel like she has gotten anywhere, really.
Naruto must have seen such an expression on her face though, since he patted her on the shoulder. "Hey now, I know how it feels when you don't think that you're getting as strong as you need to...but don't worry, you're getting there. And in the end, it'll be worth it."
His kohai met his eyes, hazel joining with cerulean, then flicked away from them. "...Yes."
Blue stayed on her, silent, disengaging as soon as he figured out that she had nothing more to say.
Roughly about a fourth of a kilometer away, their audience watched the blond pat the younger girl in a comforting manner, not at all aware of what was transpiring between them.