Scarlet 47

Scarlet 47

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Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

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Azazel was brilliant.

Please, don’t say things like that.

“Ha-ha! You’re great, kid!” I poured the man some more alcohol, while we conversed in the park. I was indulging in some soft drinks and chips, while the man was eating some takeout and having some strong liquor. As the host, I was paying for it all, but that was hardly a concern. The man was a goldmine of information and his lessons were worth their weight in gold. “What do you want to hear about next? How to snag a princess, or how to get frisky in a confessional?”

“A princess sounds great.”

“They are, but it’s too bad that there’s so few of them nowadays! But the ones around now are just great!” Azazel laughed, and a wistfulness overtook him. “Ah, the wonders of modern day. The beautiful are just ridiculously pretty now. Back then, they’re just pretty, clean, and maybe perfumed, but now… they’re just flat out amazing! Higher standards, though. You need to up your game if you want them.”

“Understandable.” Society has progressed incredibly over the course of the last few centuries. Naturally, more beautiful people exist now than before, despite standards rising with the advent of cosmetics. Not only that, but good-looking people tend to search out for good-looking people to be with, thus resulting in even-better looking people. Hey, lay off the eugenics. “Still, I’d like to hear more about princesses.”

“Well, in Japan, they’re considered the Oujo-sama. The heiress to a wealthy family with political connections, right?” I nodded, and Azazel stroked his pointed beard thoughtfully. He took a more conservative sip of liquor, before taking a bite of some dried octopus. The question pondered in his mind for a few seconds, before he nodded. “Your best bet here would be to look towards the old families with links to Shrines. Big families that are connected to shrines are your best bet without causing anyone headaches for breaking the secret. Not only that, but Miko outfits are justice, y’know?”

“The fetishized mini-skirt with detached sleeve versions or the traditional?”

“Both.”

“Yes.”

Okay, you perverts might have a point on that one. I guess. Oh, no. You’re corrupting me, too!

Azazel took another sip of liquor before speaking once more. The sun was well past setting and some people passing by the park looked our way. From their eyes, it was a school kid across from a Yakuza-looking fellow both sharing drinks and stories. It must be a strange sight. Well, no. You look a bit like a delinquent, so it might just be normal.

Shut up, Ddraig.

“Hm, but I think you should stick with the Ojou-samas you already have. You’ve got three already, right? The Gremory girl, the Sitri girl, and Himejima.”

I rankled at his words.

“Akeno isn’t an Ojou-sama. She’s the Yamato Nadeshiko.” I insisted on the fact and Azazel graciously tipped his head and acquired after a moment of thought. There’s certainly overlap between the two categories, but they weren’t identical. Certainly not enough to have her count as a third Oujo-sama. “Besides, I’m a Dragon, right? It would be wrong if I didn’t have a human princess of incredible beauty, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. It wouldn’t make sense if you didn’t. That Argento girl doesn’t count. She’s the innocent nun.” Azazel spoke sense, so I readily accepted his words and let go of my petty anger at his earlier statement. He corrected himself and that was all that was necessary. “Huh, I guess you do need a buxom blonde princess… but I can’t think of one to be honest? You’re out of luck, Hyoudou. Unless you’re into NTR.”

“Only if the guy mistreats his significant other.” Liar. “Alright, fine. If I could seduce someone away from someone else, sure. But not if I have to rely on violence or my reputation. It’s gotta be fair on both sides.”

That’s even worse!

“Damn, kid, you’re brutal.”

“What? How’s that brutal!?” I protested as Azazel shook his head and sighed. I felt like I’d been judged and found wanting. “I wouldn’t use my body, my power, or my influence! It’s just a man against another man for a woman’s heart!”

Despicable.

“Way to keep digging your grave, kid. You’re a real villain, you know that?” I threw my hands up in defeat and grumbled. Azazel chuckled lowly and shook his head. A sigh left his lips as he looked at the first sight of falling snow this year. We were just past midterms, so that was early for snow. Odd. I would think that it was because of some sort of magic, but glancing with my senses upward yielded with no magic being found. I guess it really was just early snowfall. “Can’t you have a little mercy for regular men? You know that a regular woman would trip over themselves to get half of what you can offer, right?”

Ah, that.

“I’m not interested in woman after me for my potential and power and money.” I waved that statement aside. “Pass.”

“Great. You have some standards.” Azazel snorted and laughed when I glared at him. What’s with guys and their dislike for men swooping women off their feet? It’s a man’s own fault if they can’t keep their significant other. Says the guy who can literally incinerate anyone who tries to NTR him and has the potential to kill gods. If a guy seduces someone I like away from me… Yeah, what? What are you going to do, if they do it fair and square, huh? Huh? Shut up. I thought so! “That just makes getting a princess harder, you know? Lots of them have fiancés.”

“Does it really count if they’re not married?”

“It totally does!”/It totally does!

I snorted.

“What about a widow with an only son, huh? Are you going to tell me that’s NTR, too?”

“W-well.” Azazel broke a sweat and Ddraig was mysteriously silent. I found myself taken aback. Did… did these guys self-insert in those sorts of doujins? And, they were calling me out for NTR!? “G-give me a second, dammit!”

I plead the fifth.

I’m Japanese now, Ddraig.

All the explosives you use, and your horror slasher antics say otherwise.

Anyway, Azazel seemed to recover and shake his head and got ready to speak to me again, before his cell phone rang and there was suddenly burst of power close to the two of us.

“Issei Hyoudou!” It was… it was what’s his name?

“Oh, it’s… you.” I looked at the guy blazing power my way and waved at him. If I recalled correctly, Azazel was his boss. “What’s up? Just having a drinking meeting with Azazel-san.”

“Just Azazel, Issei. Men like us need to stick together.”

“Azazel, then!”

We toasted, but that just seemed to piss the man off as he stormed towards us and… took a seat at the table.

“If Issei Hyoudou can converse on the same level as you, Azazel, then I can as well!”

Weird way to ask about this sort of thing, but sure.

Ddraig was laughing in the back of my head for some reason, while Azazel looked at V-something with pity.

Was he gay and not interested in women? That’d explain the tall, emo twink look, but I was willing to extend my hand his way. I could just be misunderstanding the situation, after all.

Anyway, I went with the classic first question.

“Alright, then… tits or ass?”

For some reason, that question really pissed the guy off.

…

“Awake already?”

“Yeah. I feel fine, too.”

Azazel helped me up from my sprawled out position in the street. The brief panic that arose amongst humans was already gone thanks to his quick use of magic. Not only that, but he was already healing me of my wounds, which was mostly just a sore jaw and a kink in my back. V-something hit hard, but it wasn’t very precise. Also, he probably decreased my weight, which made me fly away that much faster.

“What’s his problem?” It wasn’t an attempt to kill me. I knew that much. The guy had been really pissed, though. “What’s he got against me? Never met him in my life before, you know?”

Could I have accidentally NTR’d him by being with Rias, Akeno, Sitri, and Argento? I mean, it’s wholly possible. They were all very attractive and he could’ve fallen for any of them somehow.

“I almost want to say that I don’t know, just for a kick, but you’re a pretty swell guy, so I’ll just tell you the truth. Vali’s got a few screws loose and he’s been held together by the fact that he knew someone was out there was his rival for life, which is you.”

I took in the answer, shook some asphalt off my body, and told Azazel what I thought on the matter.

“Sounds gross.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that.”

“Man, why couldn’t my rival be a hot girl?” I found myself muttering. “This would be a lot better if it was a super-powerful, white-haired goth girl trying kick my ass and prove my herself.”

“…Yeah, why not?”

Azazel muttered that in a weird way, but before I could ask, he shook his head and changed the topic.

Weird.

“Anyway, Issei, it was good to meat you. I’ll be punishing the kid for messing up our first meeting, so don’t hold it against him.”

“It’s fine. I was barely hurt.” Ddraig chuckled some more when I said that, and after a few more shakes all the loose rocks fell off of me. “I’ve got nothing against the Grigori. You save my life more than once, anyway. Even if it was Fallen who tried to kill me, I can separate the Grigori from the Fallen.”

“If only everyone else could, that’d be great.” Azazel shook his head before extending a hand my way. In an instant, I found the scrapes, scratches and dirt on my body fading away in an instant. I was clean from head to toe. Hell, I was refreshed even. That spell would be perfect for… Azazel chucked a scroll my way. “Here’s a spell on how to do that. My own personal creation. Enjoy it when you can.”

I gave the man a resolute nod.

If I wasn’t already so loyal to Rias, I would’ve considered being Azazel’s underling.

“Thanks. I’m sworn to Rias, but I’ll listen if you talk to me.”

“Heh, that’s a lot more than I usually get, so I’ll take it.” Azazel gave me another nod, before looking upward and smiling, before moving away. Between blinks, he seemed to cross leagues with singular steps. Still, somehow, his goodbye was as clear as crystal. Like he was right next to me. “See you around. Looks like your girlfriends went out looking for you.”

Show-off.

No sooner was he gone did Rias descend from the darkness above between snowflakes.

“Are you hurt, Ise-kun?” She looked at me with worry, finding nothing wrong, before frowning at the crater in the road beside the park that I had created with my impact. “I felt a surge of power here and then I saw Azazel walking away.”

“It’s just a little misunderstanding. I was talking with Azazel, then things went wrong.” I summarized the situation as straightforwardly as I could without making things boil over. The optics of this situation were important for the peace that everyone was trying to achieve. “Azazel healed me up and promised to make amends. I believe him.”

“If you say so, then that’s fine.” Rias eyed the direction that Azazel went to, before nodding. A second later Akeno descended and proceeded to take my arm and entrap it. Her hair smelled really good—and Rias was now doing the same thing. “Akeno!”

“What? It’s safe now, so I can spend time with Ise-kun, no?” Akeno smiled and leaned against my shoulder some more. That prompted Rias to hold on more tightly and lean too. Ah, I’m in heaven. For perverts. The best kind of Heaven! You’re hopeless, Taylor. No, I just know what I like and honest with myself. “Don’t you want to spend time with me, Ise-kun? Lots and lots and lots of time?”

Akeno whispered those words up into my ear and I shivered with a goofy smile on my face, while Rias pouted and gave me doe eyes.

“Ise-kun, it’s been a while since we spent time alone together.” Her fingers traced across my chest as light as a feather, yet I felt like it was impossible to breathe. It was like her fingers were dancing across my heart. “Don’t you just want to do something? Just the two of us?”

Akeno took Rias’ momentum and made it her own with a single word.

“Don’t you think it’d be more fair if you spent time with both of us, Ise-kun? Shouldn’t you be fair and make Rias share?” Akeno whispered back while Rias blushed a brilliant scarlet and looked my way. Being called out on greedy seemed to be her weakness. It was very cute, but Akeno looked at me with smoldering eyes between her bangs made my knees weak… and strengthened other parts of me. Your heart, right? You mean your heart, right? No comment. “I think you need a reward after a long day, especially with a surprise meeting at the very end.”

I was ready to lose to Akeno’s suggestions when a sudden, loud whistle resounded behind the three of us.

Sitri was right there, furious, and with a whistle in hand.

“I just knew that the three of you were up to something! It’s a school night and important things are happening geopolitically! It is not the time for shameless activities!” Sitri strode forward, took hold of my hand, and pulled me free from Akeno and Rias. I felt cold instantly, until I noticed Sitri blushing up a storm. I smiled as I realized what she was doing and her blush deepened. “I-idiot, what are you smiling at!?”

“Nothing.”

Rias and Akeno soon caught up with bemused smiles of their own.

However, they said nothing, since they knew that doing so would just invite Sitri’s wrath.

So, the four of us, tighter went towards my home for dinner.

Snow was falling, the world was turning, and things were changing.

So many things were changing, in fact, that I was at a loss at what was going to happen next… but I shook my head and moved forward.

No matter what happens ahead, I’ll protect what I have now with all my might.