Devils just don't come from the hell beneath us
They are around us, walking amongst us
Disguised as humans.
They come to us as a friend, a lover or an ally
Some with good intentions and some with bad
But they will always have ulterior motives
They are devils after all
"So, ero-jiji, does that mean all the devils are bad."
"Depends how you see it brat because not every devil's ulterior motives are dangerous to others. For some they are self-satisfaction which is harmless to others, so nothing is wrong with that."
He wanted to say something more but a big hand, full of warmth, started to ruffle his hair.
𖦹𖦹𖦹
Haruto opened his eyes slowly, his eyes slightly watered. With a sigh, he caught his tear with his thumb before it could fall off.
"Either it is about them or something that I don't want to remember." Haruto thought tiredly as he was pointlessly looking at the plain white ceiling of the room.
"Another bad dream?"
Haruto groaned as he looked beside him. Sitting on the other couch was Kurama, one of the very few people who knew everything about him. He was looking through quite a lot of papers at a very fast pace. And in front of him, a lot of books were laying around, all about weapons and machinery.
"How far has it been analyzed?" Haruto asked as he got up and started to stretch.
"This so-called weapon you have on your mind, Haruto, is something very dangerous. Just the mention of it could spark a war and you, my friend," Kurama looked at Haruto, the usual mirth in his eyes was missing, "Will be in the middle of that chaos."
"I am not creating this to start a war but to end one if someone else creates it. And we both know who I am talking about." Haruto narrowed his eyes.
"A weapon of mass destruction of this level cannot end a war but only fuel it." Kurama shook his head and went back to examine the papers.
Haruto didn't reply, he just stood there silently for a few minutes before heading toward his bedroom.
"You should go meet her, it has been a few days already," Kurama said without looking at him as his eyes were focused on the papers.
Haruto stopped just for a second. With a sigh and slumped shoulder, he continued on his way.
𖦹𖦹𖦹
"Come in," Rias spoke up when she heard the door knocks.
The door opened to reveal Haruto and Akeno.
Haruto entered the room slowly and looked around, this was the first time he visited the Occult Research Club room which took the entire old school building. He whistled as he couldn't help but admire the club room. It was huge and luxurious but at the same time, it had the warmth of a home. Just one glance at the room would tell anyone that all the club members did not just only exercise discipline but also they greatly looked after one another.
Haruto's admiration stopped when he saw Rias wearing casual clothing. And he had to admit she looked quite beautiful in that purple sundress, which was really complimenting her crimson hair. With a small grin, he motioned the chair in front of him. Seeing Rias nodding her head, he sat down.
"The class is going to start soon you know." Haruto chuckled.
"Ara, ara, I never thought you would be talking about attendance seriously." Akeno giggled as she started to prepare tea.
Haruto quirked an eyebrow but before he could retort, Rias spoke, "There are lots of things I wanted to ask you but you didn't come for a few days."
Haruto looked at Rias for some time, he could clearly see from her gestures and attire that she was not going to let him go until she would get every answer to her questions. With a small sigh, he replied, "I assumed you needed time to sort out your thoughts."
Rias gave a wry smile, "How considerate of you."
Akeno served tea to Haruto first and was surprised by the way Haruto drank the tea. Instead of drinking it directly and quickly, he enjoyed the aroma of the tea first. Then he took a small sip to savor the taste. It was quite astonishing since all of them were used to seeing him gobbling up food like a starved monster. And if it was ramen…
Haruto's face softened as he looked at Akeno, "This really is quite delicious, Akeno-chan."
"Thank you, Haruto-kun." Akeno quickly served Rias who missed the small blush Akeno's face sported since her eyes were focused on Haruto.
"I didn't think you knew such elegance, considering your usual behavior," Rias asked surprised.
"There are lots of things about me you don't know, my dear Rias-chan." Haruto chuckled as he delicately took another sip, "So why not we start? You called me here for that reason, didn't you?"
Rias blushed seeing she got sidetracked.
After coming from that supposed date, according to Rias, the Crimson-haired princess told Akeno everything, except for the fact that she might have a crush on the exiled king. But the sadist Miko caught on it soon, though she decided not to talk about it then. Although Akeno advised Rias to inform Sona, Rias didn't want to... not yet. She wanted to talk to Haruto first to clear up a few things and to get some answers before telling anyone else.
She wanted to be the first to know everything about him, hence the current meeting.
"Fine then Haruto-kun," Haruto grinned slightly at the way Rias addressed him, "I don't want to pry too much but there are two questions that are bugging me the most."
"First how did I get my hands on the evil pieces as you have to get them directly from Ajuka and," Haruto smirked widely seeing the surprised look on Rias's face, "the second would be, how I can use the pieces as I am not a full-blooded devil, right?"
The shock was gone quickly for Rias as she pouted, making Haruto chuckle and Akeno to smile. But she didn't say anything indicating that Haruto was right.
"Don't be angry, Rias-chan, I am just a bit good at reading people." Before Rias could retort, Haruto continued, "Now regarding your first questions, the evil pieces I used belonged to my mother since she never used hers. And as for the second question I like to keep that secret for now." Haruto answered.
Rias's calculative eyes met Haruto's amusing ones, and the stare went down for a few seconds. Finally, Rias conceded, "You really are one mysterious person."
Haruto chuckled hearing that, "I will take that as a compliment."
"Then can you at least tell me where you have been all this time?" Rias asked, "Why show up now of all time?"
"Here and there." Seeing Rias groaning, Haruto smiled, "You have to understand Rias that because of my not-so-good childhood I have trust issues. Just because I am not telling you now doesn't mean I will not tell you ever. You just have to give me some time. And I already told you what my aim is but let me clarify it more, Rias-chan."
Haruto turned his head and looked out of the window. Even though his eyes were shadowed by his hair, both girls could see the saddened expression, "I told you, didn't I? I want justice for my parents but right now I am nothing but an exiled king. In order to achieve my goal, I need to make my place in the devil faction."
Haruto looked back at Rias, his eyes sharp, "I have strength Rias but I have neither direction nor knowledge about the current Devil faction. So that is what I ask of you."
Haruto leaned forward and looked at Rias straight in the eye, "And in return, I will lend you my powers."
"Ara ara. How boisterous of you, Haruto-kun?" It was Akeno who spoke up.
After serving tea, Akeno went and stood beside Rias. From the sideline, she was silently watching the conversation between the two kings. Akeno knew that her king was smart and sharp but most of their close friends knew that the sadist Miko was smarter and sharper. Rias would become an open book, too easy to see through and too easy to lead around if she would become emotional which could be easily achieved if the other party knew what to do. But unlike Rias, Akeno had better control of her emotions and she knew how to make people go at her pace without them knowing.
And Akeno could see that Haruto was like her, maybe better. From the start, Rias didn't have any control over their conversation. But from the gesture, it was clear to Akeno that Haruto wasn't lying or emotionally cornering her. It was more like Haruto was slowly pushing Rias to the place where he wanted her to be. And that's why Akeno knew that she had to break Haruto's control over Rias, it was her duty as a queen, "You need to show us your and your peerage members's strength Haruto-kun so that we can see if you are truly strong like you say or not, or are you going to evade this too?"
Haruto looked at Akeno who held her gaze, and a second later he broke into a grin, "You have a great Queen, Rias-chan."
Akeno didn't show any outer emotion but inwardly she was surprised. That sentence clearly told her that she was right about Haruto and he knew what Akeno was trying to do.
Unable to catch the little internal skirmish between Haruto and Akeno, Rias just looked at both of them. But before she could ask, Haruto answered, "I don't mind showing you my strength and regarding my peerage members, I only have a handful of them but I can guarantee you that each of them can take all of your members alone."
Now that was something Rias couldn't set aside. She growled, "Are you telling me that my comrades are weak?"
"They lack experience."
The reply hit both Akeno and Rias in the face.
"I saw what you do from time to time. You go and exterminate stray devils with your peerages. Rias-chan, teaming up against a single stray devil who is too insane to think clearly will not give your members much experience." Haruto leaned back in the chair before continuing, "I admit that my comrades and I have no experience regarding rating game matches. But I can assure you that they had their fair share of real fights."
"Ara, and what is a real fight?" Akeno interrupted again.
Rias would have gotten annoyed if it wasn't for that sudden sharp look Haruto got when he heard the question, "My dear ladies, a real fight is when you duel against an opponent of equal or higher caliber; when you knowingly go against all odds; when you are thrown into a battlefield without proper planning or equipment;"
With each pause, Haruto's expression was taking a darker turn, "When," Then suddenly he stopped.
The silence in the room that followed after felt quite deafening.
A few seconds passed by, after that with a sigh and much calmer expression, Haruto finally continued, "A real fight is considered as a deadly battle, not a harmless game."
It took a few seconds for Rias and Akeno to understand what Haruto was pointing at, "The rating game."
The rating game, it was created after the introduction of the Evil Pieces. It was a competition between two Devils who had their own peerage members as a means to measure their strength, wits, and prowess which would ultimately reflect their social standing in the underworld. And because of this, quite soon it became so famous that the top ranked devils in rating games were considered as celebrities.
And for this reason, rules were implanted for safety and security. Slowly it became a competition tournament to earn nothing but fame and glory.
Suddenly Rias was filled with hope, "maybe,"
But before she could go any further, Yuuto entered who was supporting a wounded Issei with Koneko behind them.
Haruto didn't turn to look at newcomers. He closed his eyes and released a long breath through his mouth, "I think you better take care of that."
And with that, their conversation abruptly ended.