Chapter 28: Accretion 3
Koneko
I calmly sipped from a cup of tea from my seat on one of the couches, Asia sitting next to me worriedly. Buchou sat on the opposite couch all the way to one side, eyes firm and hands folded in her lap, while Akeno stood hovering just next to her arm rest, ready and waiting to be of service to our [King] when called on. Kiba preferred to stand at attention behind the couch, while Hyoudou was struggling not to fidget beside him.
The silver-haired head maid of the Gremory stood quietly to the side of the room, here to act as a mediator for the coming visit.
Pretty much the only thing keeping Issei still was the aura of authority she radiated when telling him to be on his best behavior, so as to not reflect poorly on Rias. Maid or not, she was the woman who frequently ordered around the strongest Devil in history. Sirzechs being a total sis-con manchild is besides the point– His wife is a scary woman no matter who you are.
The seconds ticked by in a silence that was uncomfortable for most of us as we waited.
Grayfia broke that silence on some unseen signal.
"Riser Phenex-sama is now arriving," the Strongest [Queen] announced.
Not a second later, the open space in the center of the room lit up in a fiery orange light, the Phenex family's magic circle appearing on the floor. With a final burst of yellow-orange flames rising from the circle and engulfing half the room, the magic dissipated, leaving a tall, smirking, blond man standing in its place.
I've never actually met the man, unlike Akeno, so this was my first time seeing him in person. I don't remember if we were ever told how old he was, but he had the looks of someone who would probably be in college by now, so he was probably somewhere around twenty give or take. Just a couple years older than Rias, most likely.
He was wearing a white button-up shirt with the top button undone, and a burgundy blazer left open over it with matching burgundy slacks. He was also surprisingly tall, standing several inches higher than everyone else in the room. Even including Grayfia's maid headdress, he took the top spot.
With the messy, brushed-back parting of his hair, the sleazy-playboy looking outfit, and the arrogant smirk sitting naturally on his features, I instantly could tell that everything about to come out of his mouth was going to be annoying.
"Rias, my love!" The Phenex said, putting on a smile and gesticulating with his hands as he approached her. "And your lovely [Queen, Akeno. It's been much too long since I last saw you both." Akeno curtsied politely.
"Riser." A simple acknowledgment of his presence from Rias, nothing more.
The fake smile twitched at the corner, the only visible sign that the snub got to him. He moved on easily, despite that.
"It's been some years since this Riser last visited the human world." He glanced around the room while placing a hand in his pocket, pretending to take in the decor. "How… quaint, I suppose," Riser said, his disinterested tone making his opinion of the place pretty clear.
"Get to the point, Riser," Buchou said in a no-nonsense tone, lips in a flat line. "Why did you come here? I've made it clear to both you and my parents that I will not marry before I graduate."
He glanced at Grayfia for a split second, as if confirming to himself that she was going to remain a neutral spectator.
"Rias, Rias," Riser began, shaking his head with a simultaneously pitying and sympathetic smile as he stepped forward and sat on the couch beside her. He placed his arm around her shoulders much to her visible annoyance. Hyoudou's teeth were audibly (to me) grinding. "As the heiress of the Gremory, you of all people should already be aware that you must make tough choices for the benefit of your family first and foremost, with the betterment of Devil society coming in a close second." He shook his head again. "Postponing your duties as an heiress for the sake of playing around in the human world will only reflect poorly on you and your family, so why keep on with this charade, pointlessly delaying the inevitable?"
Rias had enough. She slapped his hand off of her shoulder, standing up and turning to face him.
"It seems I haven't made myself clear enough," she said, glaring at him. "I fully intend to do my duty as the Gremory heiress, and lead my family to prosperity in the future, but I refuse to marry for the sake of petty politics and alliances, least of all to you," she declared. "It does not matter what my parents say or do, I have not agreed to that contract, and unless our laws have changed in the last four hundred years, the children of Pillar families are not considered property that can be bartered and traded like cattle."
A look of annoyance finally broke through Riser's calm and arrogant expression.
"Then you are even more of a fool than the other houses will see you as." He sneered up at her as he said it, earning more than a few glares from the rest of us. Even Asia frowned.
"You would see the Gremory lose face and become a laughingstock?" He threw his head back in a derisive laugh. "Is this Riser truly so undesirable to you that you'd make your family-head's word worth less than ashes, for the sake of your own petty comfort? Do not forget, the Gremory ranks more highly than the Phenex, and I am but a third son. Should we wed, it would be you who holds the power, my dear." The blond Pure-Blood chided her, a small but noticeable amount of frustration appearing on his face from his own reminder of his lesser rank.
"I'm well aware of the hierarchy between our families, Riser." Rias had regained her calm, her eyes furrowed narrowly in determination instead of aggression this time. "I'm also aware that any scandal arising for the marriage contract falling through would be because of the Gremory going back on their word one-sidedly."
"Hoh?" Riser sat up in attention, intrigued by my [King]'s choice of words despite himself.
"If it's the Gremory backing out of the deal, my parents look bad for any number of reasons, from being willing to disregard their side of deals with their allies on a child's whim, to being too weak to 'reign in' their heir," Rias explained. "However, if both parties agree to dissolve the contract…"
"... Then it is simply another deal falling through, due to lack of interest or changed desires." Riser finished for her. "While that is true, it is one thing to point it out, and another thing entirely to make it reality." He smirked. "As this Riser has already stated, the Phenex are of lower nobility than the Gremory. We want to tie our houses closer together."
He leaned forward, smirking knowingly at her. "How do you plan on changing this stance of ours, I wonder?"
"Originally, I had planned on using my time on Earth to complete my peerage before doing this, but my parents have forced my hand it seems," Rias huffed. Her blue-green eyes stared Riser down with an intensity that was rare from her. "Riser Phenex, I challenge you to a rating game. If I win, you will agree to refuse our wedding, forcing both our parents to dissolve the contract or risk losing face. If you win…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before letting it out and opening them again with stoic acceptance. "... then I will not fight against it anymore."
I frowned at the expression on her face, but refused to believe it was an option. We would win.
I wouldn't accept any other result for Rias, and I knew the others felt the same.
"And should this Riser refuse your challenge?" Riser asked, his smirk unchanged. "What would you do then?"
"I would continue to refuse," Rias said simply. "It would be a stain against my family and I, yes, but it would be one I could live with. However, being forced to marry you– or anyone else I do not love for that matter– without even attempting to take my freedom? I would regret that choice for a very long time."
Riser nonchalantly pushed himself up into a stand and walked to the open space, turning to face us all once he reached the center. He brought up a hand, and snapped his fingers.
With another flare of light and fire, fifteen people appeared in the space behind him.
"K-kuh, so many! All of them are total babes, and they're with a guy like that?!"
And of course, the first thing Hyoudou focuses on is the fact that they're all women.
My eyes drifted over to the two twin nekomata girls, and they noticed and met my stare. Their gazes blatantly looked over my figure, before they glanced at each other with matching smirks, elbowing each other lightly.
I frowned. Their chests weren't even all that big, and they were more on the lithe side than almost every other girl here, so why the hell were they so smug?
"Surely you must know that your peerage of five stands no chance against my full set?" Riser asked mockingly. "Exceptional though your [Queen] may be, my Yubelluna is not inferior. You are outnumbered more than two-to-one and have never participated in a rating game even once, while I have been in over a dozen. My peerage will crush yours in numbers and experience; are you still so certain of your course, Rias, my love?" He questioned her, totally assured of his own eventual victory.
Despite his attempt to intimidate her into giving up, I could somehow tell that he was utterly invested in her response. I couldn't point out what it was that made me think that, but I did.
Rias glared back at him defiantly, opening her mouth to respond. Riser's smile widened, almost like he wanted her to defy him.
"You shut your mouth!" A male voice shouted instead.
'Uh oh.' I resisted the urge to facepalm. 'I guess he couldn't hold back anymore.'
"How dare you talk down Buchou like that-!" As much as I agreed with the sentiment, it would be better to prove Riser wrong in the rating– "Calling her 'your love' and all that crap when you already have a harem of beautiful women! I treasure her boobs way more than you ever would!" There were tears running down Hyoudou's disgusting face like a waterfall. "I want a harem too, I'm so fucking jealous…" He wiped his face with his arm before suddenly clenching his Boosted Gear-covered fist in front of him with renewed anger, his draconic smell intensifying. "We'll beat your asses if that's what it takes to keep Buchou free, you damn playboy!"
"Hah?!" "Why you-!" "You little brat!"
Unlike me, Rias gave into the urge pressing her palm into her forehead with a sigh and an embarrassed blush, all while the women of Risers peerage squawked in outrage at the disrespect.
And to think, I almost thought he was going to say something I could agree with. I just settled for sneering at him in disgust instead. Akeno, being the chaotic woman that she was, giggled at the interruption like the whole thing had become an amusing show for her entertainment despite the serious stakes.
Riser looked condescendingly down at the [Pawn, smirking. "And who is this insect to be speaking to me in this way?"
"I would suggest you not refer to my family as insects, Riser," Rias declared warningly. "That boy happens to be my newest [Pawn] and the current wielder of [Boosted Gear, Hyoudou Issei," she answered with narrowed eyes, embarrassment forgotten. "While he spoke rudely first, that does not give you the right to throw insults at him while here as my guest."
"Insult? This Riser spoke no insult," he denied, feigning innocence. "I merely spoke the truth as far as I could tell. What else could he be but an insect compared to us, for the [Boosted Gear] wielder to be so weak that even a newborn shines more to my noble senses?" He looked at Hyoudou with a smug smirk. "And you, a harem?" He snorted, throwing an arm around his [Queen]'s shoulder to grope at her chest in front of everyone, to her embarrassed delight. "Unlike this Riser, there is little to be desired from one such as you."
Hyoudou growled. "You bastard-!" he recklessly charged at the Phenex with his arm cocked back, no plan in mind other than to punch the guy.
He barely made it halfway before a blue-haired girl with a staff jumped forward to meet him with a yell, swinging her weapon at his midsection. "How dare you attack Riser-sama?! Know your place!"
[Boost!]
He just barely managed to bring his hand down to block the strike with his gauntlet despite being unprepared, but the force still threw him back towards the wall of the room. The girl followed after him, preparing to thrust her staff at his head the moment his back bounced against the wall.
She didn't get the chance though, because I stepped in between them calmly, stopping the tip of her wooden polearm with the palm of my hand and not giving an inch.
I still had barely any chakra at the moment, but the hour or so that I had to recover gave me at least enough to get up from my seat and get in the way before the girl struck. Even with my features hidden, this much was second nature at this point.
'Slow.' I thought, looking up at her with a small amount of hostility. 'Weak, too.'
It didn't matter if Hyoudou was annoyingly perverted; the moment Rias reincarnated him, he was family. So I would protect him.
I lightly closed my fingers around the staff cap, in case she tried to pull back to try again, even though I got the feeling she wouldn't dare.
Kiba's sword being held against her throat was a pretty good motivator to stay still.
The blade was held in a reverse grip behind him while he stood nearly back to back with the girl, leaving him staring cooly at the rest of Riser's peerage while one of them was at his mercy, with his other hand being poised to grip whatever sword he created next.
"Thanks for the save, you two," Hyoudou grunted out, still catching his breath from the impact.
"Mira!" The nekomata twins simultaneously called out for their peerage member. I glanced their way again, and this time they were looking at me in shock. 'Can they sense that I'm a youkai too?'
"Let her go!"
"You'll regret this!"
While it seemed like most of the rest of his peerage was gearing up to start a fight, Riser himself and his [Queen] Yubelluna seemed to be staying calm, if annoyed. Rias wore a similar expression, while Akeno was smiling with closed eyes as was usual with her.
Just as it seemed the angry women were about to attack, with at least one spell circle beginning to form, everyone froze. A sudden and unignorable chill engulfed the room. It didn't matter that the younger blonde with Riser's eye and hair color manifested wings of fire to keep her fellow peerage members warm, everyone shivered just from the sensation of Grayfia relaxing her hold on her power the slightest bit. It was a creeping discomfort, all encompassing and chilling to the bone, without being outright painful or even physically real.
It was purely mental, the awareness that she could erase all warmth in an instant and there would be nothing we could do to stop her.
"There will be no more fighting for the duration of this visit." Her measured voice spoke with perfect calm. "With tempers running high, a small spat or two are to be expected. However, both parties have shown a willingness to escalate these actions, so I am putting an end to it," The silver-haired maid declared decisively. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Who am I to gainsay the Strongest [Queen, who once challenged Serafall Leviathan for the title of Maou?" Riser said with a wry smile, shrugging uncomfortably despite having expected such an outcome. "If that is the will of Lady Lucifer herself, then it is so." He bowed theatrically as he said it, as if he wasn't just as cowed as the rest of his peerage and just hiding it better.
"Kiba. Koneko." Rias glanced at us, almost completely unphased.
Kiba's sword disappeared in a flash of light and I released Mira's staff, letting the girl cautiously walk slowly back to her group.
The chill in the room disappeared as if it didn't exist in the first place, letting the less stoic of those involved in the room let out shuddering sighs of relief. The only two who were spared the feeling of Grayfia's power were Rias and Asia. The room settled into a slightly awkward standoff for a couple seconds, neither side certain how to get things moving again.
"Wow."
That is, until a familiarly cheerful voice broke the silence, getting everyone to look towards the window with varying levels of surprise. Much to my dismay, my dumbass friend and teacher was sitting sideways on the windowsill, one leg inside the room while the other was propped up on the sill to rest his arm up on his knee.
"That was pretty scary, maid-lady." The whiskered teen was grinning, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was laser-focused on Grayfia. "I think my heart might have even stopped for a moment there!"
I sighed quietly.
'God dammit, Uzumaki. You couldn't have picked a worse time to show up.'
Naruto
A drip of sweat ran down the back of my neck despite the almost chilly aura that had filled the room a moment ago. It was an almost ghostly sensation, just on the edge of my awareness, but not quite in my grasp. The fact that I could even tell it was there for sure was already a step in the right direction, compared to when I was unable to feel anything from Freed or Dohnaseek.
If that maid with the silver braid was someone with a lot less self control, I might have died just now faster than I'd be able to realize.
Climbing up to the second story and peeking in through the window without getting caught was literally child's play for me, but that was as far as I was able to push it for a while. Opening the window enough to sneak inside without alerting everyone would have been super tough without a big enough distraction to grab attention. Unfortunately, I don't know how to read lips, and don't have a sharingan to do it for me, so I had to very slowly and very carefully shift the window the slightest bit upwards, just enough to break the seal and let me catch a bit of what was being said.
I wasn't Koneko, so I could only make out something like one out of every three words, but it was enough to piece together a general idea of what was going on.
I caught on pretty quickly that the blonde dude (I think I heard his name was Riser or something?) was kind of a prick, with how he spoke and the condescending expressions he made. He strutted around like he was hot shit, like how I imagine (Inuzuka) Kiba would be if he was way more arrogant and way less of a dumbass. And tall.
And wore clothes that didn't look like they smell like dog piss.
Moving on.
Some time after Red stood up angrily, the blonde guy got up too, moving to the center of the room and snapping his fingers, giving me a good idea of what the flash of light and fire I'd seen earlier was.
It would be hard not to put two and two together when he summoned his peerage in a burst of flames.
Having seen the basic flash of the Gremory-style teleportation used by Koneko-chan plenty of times… I hated to admit it, but the fire just looked way cooler.
Tensions started rising quickly after Riser did some more talking down on Red and her peerage, with both sides quick to defend their own. I used the quick moment of sudden chaos to slip the window up and get comfortable, ready to make my dramatically mysterious entrance and interrupt the fight, just like my teachers before me back in Konoha had done plenty of times.
The maid took the wind right out of my sails in an instant, taking an utterly relaxed step away from the wall she'd been standing near while pretty much everyone in the room froze in place. I hadn't realized she was someone important until that moment, because everything about her posture made her seem like a regular, if professional, servant.
"Wow."
I should have known better than to open my mouth though, because the woman who was strong enough to cow a room full of Devils with just her casual presence alone, was suddenly staring me in the eyes with her own gaze. My life didn't flash before my eyes or anything, but the tiny hairs on my arms were standing up. The others hadn't seen her react, but I was watching the maid the moment she stepped forward, and could see the brief instant her body tensed on reflex.
I didn't need to glance around the room to see that everyone was staring my way, but no one else was showing signs of feeling her aura anymore, little shifts in posture showing no strain. The woman had the control to single me out and be ready to take me down in a moment's notice if she decided I was a threat, just with the weight of her power. No jutsu, no complex energy manipulation or spell, just pure power and control.
'"Strongest Queen", huh? I can believe it.'
The woman wore a blue and white maid uniform. It consisted of a long blue dress with puffy shoulders, a white apron-thing that also acted as a sort of chest covering, and a blue corset around her waist that held the apron tightly to her curvy body.
"That was pretty scary, maid-lady. I think my heart might have even stopped for a moment there!"
It didn't, and the joking way I said it probably made that fact clear to everyone else too, but it was a close thing. It just took a whole different level of scary to make my heart skip a beat nowadays.
Things like sleeping through my alarm, or Koneko-chan catching on to me when I tell a teensy tiny lie to save my skin. You know, the really terrifying things like that.
"Intruder, you are interrupting the Phenex family's private business," Riser declared, eyeing me briefly. "State your purpose and leave, or this Riser will remove you by force."
"Uzumaki-kun? What are you doing here?" Red's voice called out, the Gremory staring at me in confusion while taking the wind out of Riser's threat, getting an annoyed look from him.
"Rias-sama, you are acquainted with this boy?" The maid asked her before I could answer.
"Yes," she confirmed with a nod. "He's a friend of Koneko's who goes to school with us."
"A human pleb?" Riser scoffed in a dismissive way. Any wariness my entrance caused him was gone the moment he realized I was "just" a human. "You do yourself a disservice associating with trash like that, my love. At least that pathetic excuse of a Red Dragon Emperor may be able to overcome his weakness in a century or so, with proper tutelage and training."
"You wound me so, Red," I ignored the jackass and clutched my chest theatrically, the motion making my jacket sway lightly on my shoulders as I made a fake upset face. "You don't consider me a friend of your own? I thought we had a connection…" I dropped the act and grinned at the maid, throwing a two-finger salute to the real authority in the room. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto; Full-time student, life-timeshinobi, and Koneko's current combat instructor, at your service!"
Riser snorted derisively.
The maid had already relaxed her intensity the moment Red showed she was familiar with me, but her gray eyes took on a… not warmer, but a less cold look as she observed me, shooting a quick glance at my student who was still standing by Issei and Kiba. The woman came to a decision and nodded once, before stepping back to her place by the wall as a mediator.
"I am Grayfia Lucifuge, head maid of the Gremory family and [Queen] of Sirzechs Lucifer-sama," she introduced herself. "Due to Rias-sama's pending issued Rating Game challenge, I will permit your attendance as an indirectly involved third-party," Grayfia declared, settling the matter.
"Tch," the playboy clicked his tongue in annoyance, but he didn't argue.
I stuck my tongue out at the Phenex, getting a twitch of his eye in return.
Koneko-chan was quick to point something out. "You still didn't say why you came here in the first place, Naruto-sensei."
I waved it off. "Blame Himejima. She invited me to come over to deal with some unfinished business."
For some reason, Koneko's lips downturned slightly.
Himejima looked at me like I was a particularly troublesome child. Which was probably fair, to a degree.
"Uzumaki-kun," she said with a sigh, "That invitation was for much later tonight."
Koneko frowned just a tiny bit.
"I know," I deadpanned. "But like hell I was gonna go home, just to come back later tonight anyway. Now I at least get to kill two birds with one stone."
Riser shot me a weirdly offended look, while the girl with blond drill-like pigtails winced.
"Do you even know whose presence you're in, human?" He sneered at me.
'... Did I say something weird?' I thought in confusion, glancing between them. 'I mean, it was already clear he's a jerk, but that was weirdly hostile."
"Riser." Rias spoke up firmly, grabbing the guy's attention off of me. "Let's get back to the matter at hand. No matter what you believe the odds are, I refuse to back down. My answer remains the same," she pointed at him dramatically. "My challenge stands! Let's settle this with a Rating Game!"
"Very well then!" He visibly let his irritation at my presence take a backseat, smirking confidently back at her. "This Riser has heard your wishes and accepts your challenge! We shall finalize the date of the wedding once I have taught you the difference in strength between us."
The maid stepped forward again, speaking up in a neutral and professional tone. "As both parties have confirmed the rating game via a verbal contract, a date for the event and game field setting must be chosen. At the minimum, three days' time must be given to reserve and prepare the field, and to clear the schedules of any family or third-party witnesses." She nodded to Riser. "As the one being challenged, Riser Phenex-sama has first rights to choose a location."
"I will allow my dear fiance to decide the battlefield," Riser announced with a dismissive hand gesture. "She is at a disadvantage in all other ways, it would hardly be sporting of me to add yet another on top of that."
I continued sitting in my spot on the windowsill, watching as they finalized the details of their contest. Rias ended up deciding on the academy as the battlefield, with her team's base being this building we were in, and Riser's being the new school building. I was confused for a moment, before I remembered Koneko mentioning once that rating games take place in an artificial space in a separate dimension. Asia, being very new to being a Devil still, needed to have the concept explained to her when she worried about the school getting damaged.
Which led to the last major detail remaining.
"Just how recently did you acquire this new servant of yours, for her to not even know about something as basic as the rating game space?" Riser asked Rias with his eyebrows raised in confusion, the genuine surprise of the revelation causing him to drop his arrogant tone for a moment.
If I hadn't already experienced him being a jackass, he would have sounded almost like a normal teen about my age. My real age, not the number on my student ID.
I couldn't help but notice that Issei pointedly looked away when Riser spoke up, rubbing his neck with a sheepish look.
I couldn't even blame him for not knowing that about the rating games either. If I remember correctly, I think I heard it mentioned that he got his own crash-course on Devil society the day after Rias reincarnated him, and that she slept in his bed with him to make sure she could explain his new circumstances to him.
But Issei is a major pervert, and Rias sleeps naked according to Koneko.
There was no way he remembered everything she told him after waking up to a sight like that, if she even brought up that random little detail in the first place.
It was almost enough to make a man jealous.
"This will be Asia's fourth full day as a devil," Rias admitted with a shrug. "I thought it prudent to focus more on teaching her what was most immediately relevant to her new life, rather than the things I considered secondary at the time. Even Issei-kun has only been a devil and known of the supernatural for a little more than a week."
"Truly?" He blinked in astonishment, taken aback.
At her nod, Riser made a sound of exasperation, bringing a hand up to press against his forehead. "Hahhhhhh…" He sucked his teeth. "Tch, that makes things annoying… How can I call it an honest contest, if I'm fighting against obvious newborns, who I already outnumber?" He sighed in disappointment. "With only four true combatants on your side, this will be seen less as a necessary lesson, and more as simply bullying the weak. This Riser's image would be tarnished for shaming my soon-to-be wife."
Rias glared daggers into the dude, not that he paid her anger any mind. She opened her mouth.
I cleared my throat before she could say anything, dragging attention back to me with more than one of the chicks in Riser's peerage jumping in surprise, those couple probably having forgotten I was even here.
"If your main issue is those two being too obviously green, isn't the solution really simple then?" I asked rhetorically, an idea to help Red out a bit already coming to mind. "They just need to get strong enough to not be obvious liabilities."
Riser laughed.
"Haha! Surely you jest! My house wishes for this matter to be settled in its entirety, wedding included, within the month. That means this rating game must take place within the first half of the month." Riser looked down on me like he heard a child say something particularly dumb, the bastard. "You believe such an insignificant amount of time as two weeks spent training will be enough to make up that difference?"
I rolled my eyes, scoffing internally.
Two weeks wasn't just enough to get Issei and Asia to the level of 'Not-useless'. If I assumed that Riser was on the same level as Rias, and that Rias's long-time peerage members were as above-the-norm l as I had been led to believe, then two weeks was more than enough.
They'd be strong enough to win.
If Issei's Boosted Gear thing actually worked the way it was explained to me, able to double his base stats over and over again, he could spend the entire two weeks just doing physical conditioning and sparring with Kiba to get used to fighting, and that would be enough to make him a legitimate threat. Forget technique for now, the most useful thing he could do at his level with this amount of time is to maximize his advantages.
Asia, on the other hand, is a medic. She only needs to learn how to evade attackers in order to not get immediately taken out. She was useful to the team just by being there already.
"You aren't all that smart, huh?" I questioned instead, tilting my head.
No need to give the opponent intel when he's making a mistake.
"You-!" Riser visibly held himself back from 'rising' to the bait.
'Heheheh.'
It was kind of impressive how quickly I could get over a dozen people to glare at me like they wanted to murder me with their eyes. Despite being kind of an undeniable prick, at least from what I've seen, he definitely had the loyalty of his peerage.
"Quite the annoying little insect, aren't you?" He said calmly a moment later, eyeing me disdainfully.
Rias spoke up, shooting me a warning look. "Uzumaki-kun, please try not to antagonize him." She focused back on her would-be fiance with an annoyed frown. "Regardless of what you may believe, Riser, Uzumaki-kun has proven to be extremely skilled and experienced. I know my peerage can potentially defeat yours-" Riser chuckled, getting another glare out of the redhead as she continued speaking, "-but if you think we're too weak to be worth fighting, then I guarantee that you can trust his judgement. If you want more of a challenge, two weeks is more than enough to get my peerage up to a level you'll find acceptable," She declared with certainty.
"Truthfully, I was simply wondering if it would be seen as more, or less insulting to place a handicap on my peerage," Riser admitted. "I believe forgoing the single allowed usage of my family's Phoenix Tears would have been suitably honorable, but if you wish for training time instead, who would this Riser be to deny my lovely fiance?" He said with a shrug.
Rias's eyes widened minutely for a split second before her expression returned to her previous calm, if annoyed look.
"It's settled then," she confirmed a little quickly with a firm nod, turning towards the maid. "Grayfia?"
"I shall begin making the arrangements," the silver-haired woman stated with her hands folded in front of her apron, her no-nonsense silver eyes moving to pin both of the high-class devils with her stare. "The rating game between Rias-sama and Riser-sama, to determine their official stances on the Gremory-Phenex marriage alliance, shall be scheduled for the fifteenth of May, fourteen days from now. Further details will be delivered to both parties a week from now, and on the day of the game, an overseer will arrive to escort both peerages to their respective staging grounds and any guests to the viewing box." Grayfia observed the two Kings. "Is there any objection?"
"There is no objection from the Phenex, Lady Lucifuge," Riser said with a deferential tilt of his head.
"None from me, Grayfia." Rias shook her head.
"Then this meeting is concluded," the maid declared, turning her head to look at Riser with clear meaning.
"This is goodbye for now, my dear Rias," Riser said with a smirk, lifting his hand with his fingers held together. "I shall look forward to the next time we meet, two weeks from now."
He snapped his fingers, and he and his peerage were engulfed in flames for a second, disappearing a moment later when the fire died down.
"If you will excuse me." Grayfia gave a curtsy after confirming the Phenex was gone and teleported away herself, leaving the rest of us standing around somewhat awkwardly, staring at each other.
"Soooo… that Riser guy was kind of an asshole, huh?" I tried to break the ice, rubbing the back of my head.
"Right?" Issei agreed instantly. "Fuck that guy! Who the hell does he think he is to talk to Buchou like she belongs to him! We'll beat his ass!"
Rias just walked over to bonelessly flop onto one of the chairs next to Asia's couch with a huff of tired laughter. "I certainly didn't expect you to show up just yet, but I can't say I don't appreciate the assistance you brought."
"T-thank you for your help, Uzumaki-san!" The blond nun stuttered out, despite me not even doing much.
I grinned and gave the girl a thumbs up before setting my feet onto the floor to stand, finally stepping fully into the room with a shrug as I focused back on Red. "Like I said before, blame Himejima. The idiot didn't bother giving me an actual time when she invited me, so I decided to choose my own time."
"Ara ara~, does Uzumaki-kun need to be taught a lesson in polite language?" Himejima said with closed eyes, hiding her smile behind her hand.
I flipped her off with a grin, knowing it was my win based off of the bulging vein at her temple.
"However it happened," Red began with a wry smile, "you're here now, so we can discuss the things we wanted to after a short break to let everyone's nerves settle."
Within the next few minutes, the rest of us all moved towards the seating area while Himejima got started on a fresh batch of tea and cookies, the snacks mostly being for Koneko since she apparently didn't get a chance to eat after our training. Himejima had gone so far as to place one of the two cookie-stacked plates directly on the catgirl's lap, instead of the center table.
When everything was settled, it left me, Koneko-chan, and Himejima sitting on one couch, Kiba, Asia, and Issei sitting on the one across from us, and Red sitting a little ways away behind a big desk that I guessed was her usual spot. She'd gotten up and switched seats to the ultra comfy looking leather chair behind the desk shortly after Himejima went to go make the refreshments.
Asia was sitting between the two other boys with a small but happy smile on her face, while Koneko-chan sat between me and Himejima with her cat features out again. I was leaning back with my arms laying across the back of the couch, as had somehow become the usual for me whenever she sat next to me. Meanwhile, Himejima was leaning slightly forward and into Koneko's space to have a clear line of sight towards her King, who was getting ready to speak.
Koneko seemed a bit more tense and closed off than usual, shoulders hunched and legs pressed tightly together as she mechanically grabbed cookie after cookie off of the plate in her lap. Her ears were folded slightly down, and twitched when I reached over to pluck a cookie of my own from her lap. Himejima seemed to have the same idea at the same time, and leaned even more into Koneko's space to get one too, pressing herself against the much smaller girl.
The nekoshou's shoulders hunched protectively over her plate just a bit further, an annoyed flush on her pouting cheeks.
Red cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, but she was looking specifically at me.
"So, first thing's first; Uzumaki-kun, I would like to hire your help in training my peerage over the next two weeks."
I blinked.
'Huh. That…'
The short notice invite from Akeno, meant to be for after the meeting with Riser.
With how quickly Rias jumped to confirm the two weeks of training time when he mentioned a different possible handicap…
The others were looking at me, waiting for my answer.
… She had to have been planning something like this from the beginning, even if I wasn't supposed to be part of the negotiations in the first place.
'... makes so much more sense now.'
Chapter 29: Accretion 4
Naruto
(Wednesday, May 2nd)
'Immortality, huh?'
I thought about what the Gremory had told me about her fiancé, and exactly why she wanted my help despite her and her senior members being stronger than me already. Because of the Phenex clan's regeneration-based immortality, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for her alone to defeat Riser himself even without his peerage there to support him. He was older and more experienced, and had about the same amount of demonic power as her, while her Power of Destruction used more energy than his regeneration did.
In a one versus one, Riser could stand perfectly still and simply outlast her.
That put his confidence in victory in a different, and actually understandable, light.
Because of this, Rias wasn't planning on training herself during the time she had. Instead, she was going to use every moment she had available to research his peerage's abilities and tactics, and try to plan a way for her own members to get a clean sweep before overwhelming Riser's stamina through sheer numbers and constant attacks. Because Himejima was more of a magician type, Kiba and Koneko were the only ones left who could realistically get Issei up to snuff physically, but both of them could also use the time to improve themselves if they had an instructor more skilled than them.
Regardless of how the training panned out for everyone, the result of the match would be a lot less sure of a thing than I assumed.
It all came down to that regeneration of Riser's, and whatever limits it might have.
I was lying back with my hands behind my head, watching the sunrise from the roof of my apartment building while I waited and thought everything over. I had a duffel bag with enough clothes to last me a week sitting packed beside me, a brand new laptop sat next to it in a computer bag, and all my shinobi gear already on my person.
One of the topics that Akeno and Red had wanted to talk to me about was the matter of payment; not just for if I accepted the offer to help train the others, but also to pay me for my help in capturing the three Fallen women. I wasn't the type of person to turn down money for a job well done, even if I would have did what I did without expecting payment, but the number of zeroes that appeared in my bank account last night would have made me spit out my tea if I'd been drinking it at the time.
I was expecting closer to maybe a few tens of thousands of yen at the most; something like a couple days' work at around minimum wage, given how short and relatively easy the 'job' was.
Instead, my bank account suddenly was a few million* yen fuller. For a single low-tier combat mission, one that I wasn't needed for, and wasn't even actually greenlit in the first place.
Even with the visits to their mansion, it didn't really sink in how rich Red was until I saw the number of zeroes in the transfer statement on my phone. The mansion was just an arbitrarily expensive thing that any rich person could get their hands on, something that was expected of a wealthy family. But the teenage daughter having the freedom and access to casually throw around payouts like that to her friends, that wasn't something I expected for some reason.
Either way, I'd made a beeline for downtown and used a decent chunk of the money to buy the high end laptop for keeping up with my class work remotely, since I'd be out of school for nearly two weeks. Rias had assured me I didn't need to worry about missing classes and that she would get the school to excuse my absences, but I didn't want to fall out of the habit of being a diligent student.
I'd sworn to myself I'd take my new-world education seriously, and I would stand by that promise.
As the sun peeked over the horizon, I figured it was about time to head out and meet up with the others at the mansion. One of the family's servants was going to show up to teleport everyone to a remote property in the mountains owned by the Gremory family. I would probably be earlier than scheduled, but it should be fine.
After hopping my way down the five-story building, I decided in a moment of forgetfulness to poke my head into my apartment one last time, to double check that the window I usually left open for Kuro still was, in case the cat wanted to escape and roam the city.
'Huh,' I thought as I stuck my head into the guest room where I usually found her sleeping, no sign of said cat to be found. 'Guess she already left.'
As I left, closing and locking my front door, I said a mental goodbye to my home of the past year. Koneko had agreed to teleport over for a couple minutes every day to check in on and feed Kuro, but other than those two, the place would be empty until the 15th. It would be the longest length of time since I've arrived in this world that I would be spending away from the apartment. In a way, it felt similar to leaving my apartment back in Konoha to meet up with Team 7 for a mission.
I shook the thoughts out of my head and started moving, duffel over my shoulder and laptop bag in hand.
I probably looked goofy as hell, jogging through the neighborhoods with my luggage, but it was early enough in the morning that I didn't see any more than the occasional car passing and a single person walking their dog. I made it to the meeting place in about twenty minutes, jumping over the mansion's gate and letting myself in through the unlocked front door.
I checked the time on my phone as I plopped down onto one of the plush bench seats to the side of the massive entrance lobby, setting my bags down beside me while I waited.
'Fifteen minutes early, huh?'
I wrote up a text telling Koneko I was here.
A second or two after I hit 'send', I heard a sound come from nearby.
Ding
I looked over, just to see Koneko stepping out of one of the connecting hallways. I was about to call out, but stopped myself when I took in her appearance.
She was wearing a plain white nightgown that went down to her thighs, which her tail was hanging out of to the point of nearly touching the floor. Her ears were drooping forward and she took slow and plodding steps, with one hand holding a steaming mug close to her chest while the other was balled in a fist and rubbing at one of her eyes.
'...Cute.'
Her ear twitched in my direction and she froze, turning her head mechanically to look at me.
Ah, did I say that out loud?
"Yo." I waved with a sheepish grin. "I get that you're not really a morning person, but it looks like you're cutting it a bit close to the clock, huh?"
She darted back out of sight into the hallway she came from, a red flash signaling her teleporting away in the next second. I couldn't help it when the splashes of milk spilled out of the cup in her hurry, and began chuckling at her reaction.
Ten minutes later, and the rest of the Occult Research Club had gathered. It was made easier by the fact that four of them currently lived here either full time or semi-full time. While we were waiting for the last couple of minutes before our ride got here, Kiba, Issei, and Asia were being loudly talkative near the center of the big room, and the two older girls stood off to the side speaking quietly, Red flipping through a stack of papers on a clipboard she was holding.
Koneko was sitting next to me, subtly sniffing the air a few times and glancing around suspiciously, though she did well hiding it.
I poked her shoulder.
"Hey."
She ignored me.
I poked her again. "Watcha doing?" Her ear twitched, but still, she ignored me again, her eyes finally landing on my duffel bag on the floor.
I went to poke at her cheek this time, but her head turned to face me right as I made my move.
I poked her nose by accident, getting her to flinch back reflexively with her eyes crossing to look at my finger.
"Pft."
She glared up at me in a deadpan as I tried to stifle my laughter.
"Stop being annoying," she ordered.
"Fine, fine…" I agreed with a groan, leaning onto the backrest. "I'm just getting bored of sitting here waiting."
I pulled out my phone and checked the time.
5:29 AM
'Just a minute left then, until-'
The number ticked over to 5:30, and the signature red glow of a Gremory magic circle filled the room. When the light died down, it left a skinny man wearing an intricate red robe standing in the center of the room. He had long and wavy hair that was a mixture of black and blond, and a creepy little shallow smile to match the sharply narrow eyes on his face.
"Good morning Oujo-sama, your brother sends his warm regards," the man spoke while giving a slight bow. "Due to the business of her schedule, I am to be your transport today, as Grayfia-sama has instructed."
"Mathers, it's good to see you again." Red nodded at the man as she walked over to greet him. Koneko and I both stood up and began to make our way over as well. "It's been quite a while, and I've gotten new members since we last saw each other, so I believe introductions are in order."
The man faced the rest of the peerage. "Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, master magician and [Bishop] of Sirzechs Lucifer, at your service." He gave a dramatic bow as he spoke. "But most simply call me MacGregor Mathers, or Mathers for short."
'Sirzechs Lucifer?' Wasn't that the name of one of the Maou, or whatever?
Introductions went quick after that, since the [Bishop] of maybe-the-Underworld's-ruler probably had a busy schedule himself, and with a quick teleport that left our group in a forest at the foot of a mountain, the magician parted ways with us after giving a few quiet words of advice to Red.
"Alright," Rias clapped her hands together when he was gone to get everyone's attention. "First thing's first: we're going to hike from here to where we'll be staying, in order to get a measure of Issei-kun and Asia-chan's stamina. After we finish unpacking, we can discuss everyone's training regimes while Akeno makes everyone a light breakfast. Any questions?"
"Nope." Koneko walked past Red, immediately heading up the trail. The sight was kinda hilarious, watching a tiny girl like her carrying a massive backpack twice her size on her shoulders.
The rest of us shook our heads, and Rias turned to Issei.
"Also, you will be carrying the rest of our luggage yourself, to begin your strength and endurance training."
The teen paled, before letting out a big sigh.
"Hai, hai buchou…"
I set my duffle bag down on the bed of the room I'd be staying in for the near future, and walked over to the side of the room where a large desk was to place my new laptop on. I realized with a start that I'd distractedly left the door open when I came in, busy thinking up a training plan for Koneko-chan since she was the only one I knew the full abilities of.
The room itself was as big as my apartment's entire ground floor, and even had its own walk-in bathroom, but I didn't pay much mind to it. Seeing the outside of the building on the approach from the trail and a single glance at the entrance foyer were all I needed to know exactly what to expect the rest of the rooms to look like.
I have practically become numb to the material wealth of devils at this point.
I shrugged.
'Guess I'll just change in the bathroom when I unpack my morning hygiene stuff.'
I ignored the gold-trimmed full-body mirror next to the desk and walked back to the king-sized bed, to start taking out clothes to get changed into.
I reached for the zipper and pulled it to the side–
I blinked.
The abyss blinked back
...
...
"... Huh."
I reached into the pitch black of my bag and grabbed the dark object, lifting it up with both hands until it was eye-level with me.
"-Uzumaki-kun? Akeno-senpai says food's done in a few–" Koneko's approaching voice cut off as she peeked her head around the corner and saw what was up.
Kuro's limp form dangled in my grasp as I held her up by the armpits, both of us turning our heads and blinking at the white-haired girl.
She stared blankly at me. "I thought you were leaving her in Kuoh."
It was more of a statement than a question.
"So did I. Apparently no one told her that."
Koneko deadpanned at my response.
"... Food's almost done," she finally said, immediately turning and walking away.
Kuro and I turned back to each other.
"...Want some food?"
"Nya~"
Koneko
An omelette with a side of white rice was placed in front of me by Akeno-senpai before she moved on, while Kiba was bringing everyone drinks, mostly glasses of orange juice or milk. When everyone was served, they both sat down to join us at the dining room table. Kuro sat on the floor between Uzumaki-kun and I, eating from a bowl of scrambled eggs.
I had to smack the idiot's hand away when he kept trying to sneak some sausage from his plate to her, since the spices and preservatives weren't healthy for cats.
I looked up and noticed Hyoudou still looking around the room in a bit of awe, almost an hour after we'd arrived. Asia just seemed mostly curious, probably having seen her own share of great shows of wealth from her time in the Vatican.
Despite the building being noticeably smaller than our Kuoh mansion, this vacation home in the mountains got a bigger reaction from the two newest members in the peerage when they saw it.
Unlike our home-base in Kuoh which was built with more modern styles being kept in mind and could be mistaken as some sort of event venue, this place had all of the old-school luxury and style of a noble devil's family home in both architecture and decorations, making it look and feel a lot more impressive.
Personally, I didn't like it nearly as much. Too many pieces of decorative furniture that looked impressive, but were just 'meh' to actually sit on, like the real-lion mane lined couch in the other room.
I'd take Uzumaki-kun's worn leather couch over whatever the hell that furry thing was, any day.
"So, what are your thoughts on them, Uzumaki-san?" Buchou asked the blond.
He looked up from his food, fork in hand and whiskered cheeks bulging from the amount of food he'd stuffed in his mouth.
"Esh rery guh! (It's really good!)" He tried saying enthusiastically.
"Swallow first, idiot." I said, sending him a look of disgust, before continuing with my own meal. The Language ability of devils meant we could understand him fine, but it was still gross.
Buchou chuckled in amusement, setting her own fork down without having touched her own food yet. "I'm sure it is, Akeno is very good at cooking. But I meant 'what are your thoughts on Issei and Asia', what do you think would be the best way to train them with the time we have?"
He swallowed his food, nearly choking for a moment, before exhaling in a satisfied sigh.
"Honestly? I'd say pure stat training and sparring for Issei, and speed and evasion training for Asia," he stated with confidence. "Forget any of the technical stuff like spells or technique, those things can be learned later. What they need most right now is to get used to moving and doing in a combat scenario."
He folded his arms and leaned back as he elaborated.
"Issei should do a bunch of weight training for strength and endurance while manipulating his demonic power on the side, broken up by sparring with Kiba, Koneko-chan, and I. Stuff that his Sacred Gear and [Promotion] ability can benefit from. Asia as the healer should be doing things like sprints, obstacle course drills, and practicing her flying, also broken up by sparring, but with a focus on dodging and escaping us instead of fighting back. The most important thing a healer can do on the battlefield is to stay on the battlefield to get the injured front-liners back up and fighting."
I glanced at the two in question to see their reactions. Hyoudou seemed determined to give it his all, despite the small disappointment to hear he wouldn't be learning any magic yet. Asia was much the same, except instead of disappointment, she seemed relieved to hear she wouldn't have to do any actual fighting.
Which wasn't surprising, for a nun that got kicked out of the church for being too nice.
"I can keep helping Koneko-chan like usual... but I don't really know what Kiba's full strength is like, and I have literally no clue what Himejima can do. They should probably focus on figuring out something to immobilize Riser." Uzumaki-kun made a gesture, clasping his hands together with interlocking fingers for emphasis, and Rias looked at him curiously. "Immortals are tough to put down, but in my experience, the first and second steps are usually getting enough intel on them to predict, and then hinder, their movement. Once you get that done, it becomes way easier to finish the job."
This got the attention of everyone, though Asia seemed to not really get the implications.
"Dude, did you just say you've fought someone who was immortal before? More than one, even?" Hyoudou asked incredulously. "What the hell, man?"
I was already at least somewhat aware of the scale of craziness he'd dealt with in the past, like the Bijuu, but Kiba and Buchou only knew the barebones, and Akeno-senpai knew even less.
"Yep!" Uzumaki-kun grinned. "At least three of them. This one guy wouldn't die even when he was decapitated, and could transfer his injuries to anyone he ingested the blood of. One of my best friends led the bastard into a trap and blew his body to pieces, burying the guy alive in a pit he prepared ahead of time." His voice became hard. "The guy was a psycho who went around murdering people by stabbing himself, sacrificing them to some evil god he worshipped," Uzumaki-kun said, his grin turning surprisingly vicious. "Couldn't have happened to a worse piece of shit."
Asia looked vaguely horrified at what she'd heard.
"... Again, what the hell, man? Aren't you younger than me?" Hyoudou looked at him weirdly. "Who the fuck is sending fresh teenagers against immortals?"
Buchou coughed into her fist.
"As… enlightening as that is," she said with a slightly disturbed look, "let's get back on topic. Kiba, why don't you explain your Sacred Gear to Uzumaki-kun? That way we can finish planning everyone's physical training, and get to working on a strategy after that's all set up.
Kiba nodded and put down his utensils, wiping his mouth with a napkin before looking at Uzumaki-kun.
"My Sacred Gear, [Sword Birth, lets me create demonic-aligned swords with different attributes and abilities, such as…"
After breakfast was over everyone changed into exercise clothes to train in. Buchou and Akeno-senpai also changed, despite them not being involved in any of the physical exercises.
Buchou was wearing a tracksuit and matching pants, both a slightly darker red than her hair and trimmed with white. Akeno-senpai went with the standard academy girl's gym uniform, a white t-shirt and form fitting bright blue bloomers. They were sitting off to the side watching, Kuro lying lazily between them and getting her fur stroked by the girls.
"All right!" Uzumaki-kun called out energetically with his hands on his hips. He was wearing a black t-shirt and bright orange track pants that were bound at the ankles with a white cloth wrapping. Unlike everyone else, who was wearing sneakers, he wore a pair of blue open-toed shoes that were almost more like sandals. They looked pretty well-worn, but well taken care of, so I assumed they were footwear from his ninja village.
"First thing's first! Issei, you're going to fight me in pure hand-to-hand, no [Boosted Gear] or [Promotion]. This is so you can get an idea of what it's like fighting an unwinnable battle against a more skilled opponent."
"Right!" Hyoudou exclaimed with a similar energy, a fist held out. "I'll be in your care!" He gave a quick bow from the waist.
"While we're doing that; Kiba, Koneko-chan-"
Naruto-sensei turned to look at us. Kiba, like Buchou, was wearing a tracksuit and track pants, but in all green. Hyoudou, Asia, and I all went the same route as Akeno-senpai, and wore our respective Kuoh Academy gym uniforms. There was a brief moment when we all gathered that the pervert made his usual perverted-monkey noises and faces, but I was starting to get better at ignoring it as just him being himself, and had given a light (for me) smack to the back of his head to get the perv back on track.
If it ended up knocking him to the ground, well… tough.
"-You two will be sparring with each other for the first day, but with a couple extra objectives."
Naruto-sensei held up a finger. "Koneko's first and most important objective is simple; don't get hit." He looked at me knowingly. "You've been a bit better about it in some ways than when I first started teaching you, but you still default to taking certain attacks head-on just because you know you can take them, and the better control of your chakra you've gotten, the more you keep doing it reflexively. It's fine to know the limits of your durability and take advantage of it in a fight, but it's a terrible habit to have, especially when things like magic are involved."
I frowned, but nodded.
There was an unpleasant tightening in my chest, similar to the few times Grayfia had scolded me for something as a kid. I'd made mistakes in training and spars before, and Naruto-sensei was quick to point them out and correct me, but I never felt like it was a personal failing on my part; just a natural process of learning.
This time felt different, like I should have known better.
He must have noticed my discomfort, probably a twitch or something from my traitorous tail, because he smiled reassuringly at me. "Don't worry too much about it. I originally wanted to help you naturally get out of the habit yourself by mixing it up with stuff like the spray bottle, but then this came up. Like I said, it's not a bad thing to do in a real fight, it's just best used only when it's needed." He shrugged. "Red's strategy for the rating game needs as many of you guys to make it to the end as possible, so taking hits you could have dodged is a no-go right now."
I nodded again, my sudden anxiety slowly dying down.
Seeing I was ready to continue, he held up a second finger.
"Your second objective is more just a general goal. You've gotten very good with the chakra sticking technique, so make sure to mix it into your fighting; not just to stick to the ground, but also for grabs and grappling. Stuff like stopping someone from moving with the force of your punches to make distance. Try to work it naturally into your style."
"Mm." I gave one final nod, and Naruto-sensei mirrored the motion, before moving on to Kiba.
"Kiba, your objective will be similar to Koneko's, but in a more strategic way. As a [Knight, you're built for speed, and your Gear is pretty well suited for trap-making. Your goal is to avoid direct head-on confrontations as much as possible, using your Gear to manipulate the environment to your advantage. Sudden tripping hazards, using sword throwing techniques, setting up traps ahead of the fight," He started ticking off fingers again as he listed the possibilities. "Things like that. Make heavy use of the facts that your swords are disposable and you can mess with the battlefield around you on a whim to keep your opponent off of you."
"Hai!" Kiba nodded swiftly, his determination to improve shining through.
Naruto-sensei looked at both of us. "The two of you should take turns; alternate between one of you fighting the way you normally do, and the other fighting under these restrictions. For an extra challenge later on in the day, you can switch up how you're fighting between spars to keep each other on your toes."
He waved us off, turning to the final person in our group of trainees as Kiba and I began walking to a less crowded area of the property to start.
"Lastly, Asia…"
I kept an ear on everything as we reached a secluded area where we wouldn't disturb the others, listening in to everyone's conversations out of habit. Akeno-senpai and Buchou had been talking quietly while observing Naruto-sensei, talking about what sorts of things they would need to get ready for later in the week. Meanwhile, Naruto-sensei described his plan to alternate between fighting Hyoudou and teaching Asia how to move, once he got their individual self-workout routines set up.
"He's surprisingly good at taking charge of things, isn't he?"
My ear flicked forward a little, leaving the others behind as my attention was drawn to Kiba. The [Knight] stepped away, turning to face me with a smile as he backed up to put a gap between us.
"Despite his usual carefree personality, and how quick he's been to jump head first into things since I've met him… somehow, I found myself getting pulled along by his direction just now. Not because I felt like it was expected of me, but because it felt natural to listen to him," Kiba admitted sheepishly. "It's a bit unexpected."
"Nn, not really." I shook my head. Maybe it was just because I spent more time with the other blond and had a better grasp of his character, or the fact that I was already used to following his directions from our lessons. Either way, I disagreed with Kiba's assessment. "Naruto-sensei wanted to become the leader of his village since before he became a ninja."
While we hadn't gotten together for another day of basically playing 'twenty-one questions', there were still plenty of moments while hanging out where we just ended up talking about things in general. It was just two nights ago, after he finished grilling me about the student council thing, that we'd ended up quietly sharing a little bit more about our lives in the darkness of his living room.
"He spent most of his childhood being looked down on by others, so he grew up wanting to prove them wrong," I explained at Kiba's curious look.
It was clear when hearing Uzumaki-kun talk about it, just how much of an impact his experiences had on him and his realization on the nature of his dream
The TV's light reflected dimly off of his eyes as he gazed ahead, the soft smile on his lips shifting the markings on his cheek. I could tell with a glance that he was looking past the screen, at something I couldn't see. A memory. One of a significant event, person, or maybe both.
"Someone once told me, 'You don't become Hokage so that people will acknowledge you… you become Hokage because people acknowledge you.' That person used to be an enemy of mine, but… I really admire him."
"He's worked hard to become someone people want to listen to, even if he's an idiot the rest of the time," I finished.
Kiba's head dipped forward in a nod of acknowledgement. "I'll take your word for it, then," he said, looking at me consideringly. He smiled warmly a moment later.
"What?" I asked, suddenly on guard. Something about his smile set off alarm bells in my head.
"Nothing, nothing." Kiba waved it off with a chuckle. "I'm just happy for you. Befriending Naruto-kun seems to have been good for you."
'He's hiding something…' I narrowed my eyes.
He kept his smile up, though he seemed more amused than anything when I kept watching him suspiciously.
In the end, Kiba widened his stance, pulling one foot back and holding a hand out in preparation to grasp a sword. "Shall we begin?" He asked, forcing me to put my suspicion away for now.
"Mm." I nodded, lowering into my own stance with bent knees. "You won't get a hit on me."
My tail flicked and power surged through my body, flowing just under my skin like a raging river.
He grinned, a blackened, glowing longsword of burning obsidian appearing in his grip.
"Let's test that then, shall we?"
We stood in the grass, staring each other down tensely.
He suddenly blurred towards me, appearing at my side fast enough that I only had time to throw my arm up to block his swing with my [Rook] durability.
Or at least, that would have been the case, if I had been the me of two weeks ago.
I was able to track his approach with perfect clarity. I watched carefully, waiting until he was starting his swing to 'react'.
Sticking a foot to the ground with chakra, I pulled myself down into a duck faster than gravity would allow, and the heat coming off of the demonic blade passed over my head uncomfortably close to my ears. I lunged and thrust my palm forward in an attempt to gut-shot him, twisting my whole body into the motion.
Despite my recent increases in speed, I wasn't fast enough. Even with my chakra, Kiba was still a [Knight].
He pivoted to the side, twisting out of my path to get behind me and strike at my back.
While he was still mid-motion, I followed through with my momentum, kicking off the ground to throw myself forward and out of the way.
The ground beneath me exploded in Kiba's direction in a spray of dirt as I tumbled through the air in an uncontrolled flip, the second swing of his flaming sword missing my ankle by a few centimeters.
While upside down, I twisted myself mid-air and stabbed a hand into the ground to slow down, the contact point forcing my momentum to swing my lower body down.
I kept my head up and eyes peeled as my backwards slide through the dirt slowed, coming to a stop on all fours at the end of a trail of uprooted grass.
Kiba had lifted his off hand, arm held up horizontally to block the dirt spray from getting into his eyes. His sword was held lightly by his side, having reset his posture after the attempt on me.
My reaction times were noticeably faster than his, but he was still easily faster overall. Also, I wasn't used to moving at the speeds I was capable of now, and didn't know how to compensate. My first real attempt at going all out just now, while it had worked in the moment, had thrown me higher than I wanted and directed a lot of the force of my leap in ways I didn't want, sending me into an uncontrolled tumble I'd had to pull myself out of.
He lowered his arm and locked eyes with me, the little smirk on his lips enough to tell me he'd noticed the same things.
I kept my face blank, but my tail swished in agitation as we stared each other down, betraying me again.
'This is gonna be harder than I thought.'