Haruto could hear the sounds of the dishes being cleaned. It made him smile softly.
Not only would Asia cook the food for both of them but she would also do the cleaning and almost every other household chores. Haruto did say that it was not necessary but Asia insisted, saying that was the least she could do. But what's more surprising was, the house looked a bit more colorful and livelier. Maybe it was just his imagination?
Asia took it quite well, her being reincarnated as a devil. For her, it was a second chance she received and she wanted to use this chance to do things that she was deprived of.
With the help of Rias and Sona, Asia was admitted into Kuoh academy as Namikaze Asia, Haruto's sister. Although the gentle nun was shy, innocent and inexperienced in socializing, she became quite popular. And for the Occult Research Club, it was just for Rias and her peerage members but Rias was willing to make an exception for the Namikaze siblings. The only thing Haruto didn't like was Asia becoming close friends with Issei.
Haruto relaxed on the sofa and sighed again. When he saw her almost dying, he needed to save her. But as the days were going by, he wasn't sure if that was the right choice. Yes, she was bringing a bright change to his life, slowly but he could see it, feel it. But the problem was what lied ahead. Every one of his other peerages knew full well and were preparing for it. But Asia wasn't the type suitable for something like that. Even with all that, a part of him was satisfied.
The scene in front of him was just a very small piece of the picture he used to see. The picture that was forever lost. But maybe, just maybe …
His thinking got interrupted by the doorbell. Both of the Namikaze siblings were surprised by that. Haruto was the first to collect himself as he smiled at Asia, "I will get that."
He went and opened the door, "Rias?" He had to admit he was a bit surprised to see the crimson princess, "It is quite late, you know?"
"Yes but I need to talk to you." Haruto could feel something was wrong. He moved away from the door and motioned her to come in.
"We just had a long day because of the familiar hunting, you could have told me then." Haruto closed the door and took Rias to the living room.
"It is kinda personal," Rias replied not looking at Haruto though.
"Rias-buchou," Asia smiled as she came from the kitchen to greet her.
"Asia, if you are done cleaning can you go to your room? Take Raikou with you if you want." Asia looked at Haruto and then at Rias. Nodding her head, she took Haruto's familiar and went upstairs. From the looks of it, Raikou couldn't be happier.
"I still can't believe that you got the Raikou as a familiar." Rias smiled as she sat down.
Haruto looked at Rias and asked directly, "What's wrong Rias?"
Rias smiled sadly, after their conversation a few days ago, Haruto stopped using suffix with her name as if he stopped pretending to be a flirt with her. She wouldn't admit that out loud but she kinda missed that.
"I would like to borrow your strength."
Haruto wasn't expecting this. Yes, he did say that he would lend his strength to Rias but he didn't know it would be this soon. Haruto grinned wolfishly making Rias blush, "So soon? What happened?"
Rias closed her eyes and sighed, "I am engaged."
Haruto blinked. Whatever reason he thought of, this certainly wasn't it, "I thought being engaged would make a girl happy? Is your fiancé a douchebag or something?"
"I don't think any sane girl would want to marry him," Rias replied coldly.
"Ouch. So you want me to have a fight with him?" Haruto asked.
"I was thinking of a rating game, you could use him as your stepping stone to enter the devil's society." Rias pointed out.
Haruto looked at Rias blankly for few seconds before saying, "You really hate his guts, don't you?"
"Will you help me or no?" Even though Rias looked calm, Haruto could see she was scared and tensed.
"I don't mind helping, but is he really that strong that you don't want to fight him yourself." Rias relaxed after hearing Haruto's reply. She took few deep breaths to compose herself before answering his question, "I have full confidence on my comrades but like you pointed out, they are inexperienced whereas Riser participated in ten rating matches. Also, there is the fact that he has full peerage members."
"So not only he outnumbers you but he is also experienced in rating game." Haruto had an amusing look on his face but Rias could see it wasn't aimed at her.
"So what would be our backstory?" Haruto asked suddenly.
"Excuse me?" Rias blinked.
Haruto sighed and shook his head, "You and I," He pointed at Rias first with his index finger and then at him, "have to come up with a story as to why I am fighting for you. I believe your family members know your disinterest in this arranged marriage?"
"Yes they do, and how did you know it is an arranged marriage?" Rias asked, a bit surprised.
"If it was a love marriage, instead of trying to humiliate him in front of everyone you would have tried to fix him. Now as for the story, we have to come up with something solid. A small slip from either of us could get both of us into trouble." Haruto explained.
"So what do you suggest?" Rias asked. She was willing to put her future in Haruto's hands because she knew Haruto was strong, and it became crystal clear the previous day.
Rias finally told Sona about Haruto, albeit not everything. Sona wasn't happy at first but she reluctantly agreed Rias's reasons for not telling her earlier. She was also not quite comfortable when she learned about Haruto's deal with Rias, something Akeno wholeheartedly agreed. But then, Sona suggested an idea which all of them agreed on. It was a match, more like a test to see how powerful Haruto truly was.
So that was why they were here now, at the backside of their school. Rias and Sona would sometimes come here for simple sparring against each other or to train their peerages. The place was quite spacious and any damage can be fixed by their magic. Also, a magic barrier was surrounding the place making sure no one else would unwantedly venture here. A perfect place for them.
"So let me get this straight, I am having the special privilege to spank *cough* I mean to personally take care of the top four beauties of our academy? I am honored." Haruto tried but he couldn't keep his smile down.
"Ara ara someone is acting quite naughty." Akeno smiled and if Haruto was honest it sent shivers down his spine because it was a smile that promised to introduce him to a great deal of pain and humiliation, "It seems our little delinquent needs to be educated."
The first match was Akeno and Tsubaki versus Haruto. They wanted the fight to be one by one but Haruto said it would take too long so offered them to come at him all at once. They refuted the idea but at the end agreed on two on one. The girls still had their doubts.
Tsubaki and Akeno both took their stances while Haruto was grinning broadly at them.
"Begin," Sona shouted and her mouth didn't close after that as she stared dumbly at the scene in front of her.
Haruto was beside their queens holding that unique broadsword of his that Rias saw before. And the shocking part was that Tsubaki's head was inside the circle close to the top and Akeno's neck was mere millimeters away from the semi-circular one nearer the handle. They didn't see him move, heck they didn't even see where the bloody hell the sword came from.
Haruto put his mouth near Akeno's ear and said in a real gentle voice, "Who needed to be educated again, Akeno-chan?"
Now it was Akeno who felt shivers running down her spine and somehow she found it arousing, very arousing.
"M-Match is o-over." Sona stuttered.
The sword disappeared but both queens still couldn't believe what just happened. They were beaten in less than a second. They were still trying to process just what exactly happened. But one thing both queen mutually agreed on, they should have listened to Haruto's suggestion.
Because the match was over before it even began.
"Guess now it's our turn," Rias spoke up and Sona nodded.
Rias and Sona went to one side while Haruto lazily went to his. Both of the heiresses looked at each other and nodded.
Akeno looked at the contestants as she took the role of the mediator, though she was still shaken. Seeing that everyone was ready, she shouted, "Begin."
Immediately Rias and Sona released a burst of energy at their front and at the same time they jumped back. The moment their feet touched the ground they already prepared their spells, but,
"Checkmate."
Haruto spoke from behind them. He was holding yet another unique looking weapon which consisted of a giant axe and a hammer, linked end-to-end by a thick chain. The axe and the hammer were inches apart from Sona and Rias's head, respectively.
"Did you really think that I will use the same tactic?" Haruto sighed as his weapon disappeared.
Sona and Rias thought that Haruto was going to attack them somewhere from the front so they released the burst of energy to slow him down or for him to back off. The second part of their plan was that using that short span of time Sona would have used her magic to cast a water barrier around them while Rias would have tried to hit Haruto with hers. But all these plans didn't help them at all. Their queens couldn't survive the first second and they couldn't reach the second. But unlike their queens, they weren't demotivated. No, rather …
"We want a rematch," Sona asked and both hers and Rias's eyes were burning with determination.
"Maybe sometime later." His answer made Rias pout and Sona to adjust her glass which looked quite intimidating.