Taller and even more filled out than she had been, Kuroka appeared from a tendril of fog. She watched as the place where she had been was blown away, reduced to a crater in the earth.
She whipped her head up seconds later, just in time to catch a shape descending toward her. Kuroka threw her hands out and sent a wave of noxious purple mist at the blond descending toward her.
He fell straight into the fog. Immediately, he looked queasy. When he landed, he collapsed onto all fours. A tiny flicker was Kuroka's only warning to get away.
She couldn't teleport. No time. Instead, she brought up a hasty defensive barrier as the copy of her master turned into a fiery explosion. Her barrier was shattered, though it reduced the initial impact. Kuroka was thrown back, her tails and kimono flapping in the wind.
Like a real cat, Kuroka landed on her feet. Red magic circles appeared in front of either of her hands, and she brought them together in front of her.
Water shot out of one magic circle, while the other one created a stream of lightning. The two beams spiraled around each other in a corkscrew shape before combining, creating a highly charged water blast.
Her attack was met by fire. The flames were fanned by intense gusts of wind, creating an inferno large enough to envelop Castle Phenex. It ate through Kuroka's magic, swallowing the powerful combination spells she had mustered, and sped toward her. Kuroka's strongest defenses were no match for it, and there was no time to teleport.
Knowing that she had no way to defend, Kuroka stood and watched it come toward her, not closing her eyes.
Right before it could hit her, the flames evaporated into nothing, spitting out a grinning Naruto, his body and face fully transformed thanks to puberty.
Unlike his brothers, he'd never been able to dress formally, especially for sparring. He had to be forced into suits to wear one, preferring to dress like he currently was, with a mesh shirt and an open orange jacket over it. He wore black pants and sandals, insisting he only felt comfortable when he could move his toes. Footwear never stopped him from moving fast when he had to.
Naruto landed deftly in front of Kuroka, softly planting his fist on her forehead in a mock punch.
"Got ya!" Naruto said.
Kuroka shook her head, holding her hands up.
"I miss the days when these sessions ended with you trussed up in front of me," she said. "We keep having to travel further for these spars, too."
Naruto looked around, gazing upon their surroundings. What started as a dense forest in the foothills of an uninhabited mountain range had turned into a massive cleared patch. Roughly the width of ten Tokyo Domes, fires could still be seen burning in places, along with the assorted residue of Kuroka's many Youjutsu attacks.
Fortunately, the Underworld was full of uninhabited land, and the Phenex Clan's territory was no exception. With Kuroka's magic, they could teleport off grid and cut loose without damaging anything important.
"Well I definitely don't miss getting tied up," Naruto said. "You were a cruel winner!"
Kuroka suddenly looked far too innocent. "I don't know what you mean, nyah?"
She only added that tick when she was trying to be cute. Which usually meant she was trying to get away with something. Naruto had no interest in letting that fly.
"In fact… I remember you tickling me while I was helpless. Kind of like this!"
Naruto jumped forward, pouncing onto Kuroka, taking her to the ground. He grinned as he ran his fingers along her neck, collarbones, and exposed shoulders, tickling her ferociously.
"Stop, nyah! Stop!" Kuroka laughed.
Naruto didn't listen, and Kuroka's "pleas" for mercy kept going, until she made a sharp and high pitched noise. "Nnh!"
Naruto stopped, something about the noise making him draw up short. He suddenly became aware of where his hands had ended up. Progressively going lower from her neck had left him teasing Kuroka's cleavage. On the left side, her kimono had slid down far enough that her nipple was sticking out.
Naruto hopped off, allowing Kuroka to sit up and fix her outfit. For a second, they were both silent.
"Sorry," Naruto said.
"You should be," Kuroka said. "Sorry for yourself, that is. I'll remember this. And when your guard is down, I will be exacting the most ticklish revenge ever felt!"
Naruto grinned, happy that she wasn't holding a grudge, but there was another awkward silence immediately after. Those lulls had been getting more common recently between the two of them. Naruto wanted to fix it, but he couldn't pin down the cause.
"Shall we head back?" Kuroka suggested.
"Yeah. It should be lunch time," Naruto said. "And your mom is cooking!"
The Phenex Clan employed chefs that were respected throughout the entire Underworld… but somehow one ex-statue Cat Mom could cook better than any of them.
When Naruto and Kuroka burst into the dining room, having teleported back and sprinted through the whole house to sate their appetites, they found Shirone and Fujimai both in aprons bringing out plates of fish katsu.
Shirone had kept her short hair and maintained her petite build. Her apron was slightly too big, which she knew when she bought it, choosing one size up so she'd "grow into it" but that growing hadn't happened yet.
Fujimai's apron, on the other hand, was slightly too small, but only because of how she was shaped. Kuorka had a voluptuous build, yet Fujimai was even thicker from head to toe, with hips as wide as a river and breasts that showed their outline straight through her apron. She smiled when she saw Naruto and Kuroka arrive, but still scolded them gently.
"I know you haven't washed your hands. No eating after sparring until you do," she said.
"And don't even think of talking back to her," Lady Phenex said, arriving for lunch. She shared a smile with Fujimai—her Queen.
Kuroka and Shirone's mother was a skilled practitioner of both youjutsu and senjutsu. Frankly, Naruto suspected she was even stronger than her elder daughter, Kuroka, who was a prodigy within the Underworld.
But she was gentle by nature, preferring chores to spells and bearing a deep hatred for causing harm to others. In Lady Phenex she found a kindred spirit, and Naruto's mother hadn't hesitated to accept Fujimai into her peerage, using her Queen Piece no less.
It was the perfect arrangement in many ways. The women became fast friends, perhaps even best friends, with Fujimai more than happy to be Lady Phenex's attendant. It was in her nature to enjoy serving others. Unlike her abusive husband, Lady Phenex treated her with the respect she deserved.
It also let Fujimai stay close to her daughters. She gave Kuroka pointers on how to further master her skills, while most of her time was spent teaching Shirone the delicacies of Senjutsu. In her spare time, Fujimai sometimes showed her younger daughter how to cook as well. Those days were looked forward to by anyone who got the chance to eat her food.
When Naruto and Kuroka sprinted back into the room with clean hands, another girl appeared on their heels. Tall and dressed in an immaculate grey suit with twintails covering her butt, Bafeel Furcas gasped.
"My apologies! I was working in the garden and left you with the burden of setting the table!" she said.
Naruto's second knight was the third member to join his peerage, and the latest addition. It had only been two years since she entered his service. She was a bit weird, talking in an old fashioned way sometimes, but Naruto knew she had a good heart. Bafeel was almost as obsessed with doing chores as Fujimai, but she didn't do them because she enjoyed them. It was part of the code of chivalry Bafeel chose to live by. Naruto asked her to explain it once. She talked for so long about virtue, honesty, forthrightness, and a million other qualities that his head was spinning by the end.
He chose to accept that it was important to her and not try too hard to define what it was.
Ravel was the last to join them. She came into the room led by her nose, and launched herself into the open seat next to Naruto.
"You stink," his sister informed him.
"I can't help it, we were training!" Naruto said.
Naruto glanced past him at Kuroka, who was sitting on the other side. Kuroka smiled and waved. Ravel gave her a grudging nod before she turned away.
Unbeknownst to Naruto at the time, Ravel had her eye on one of her bishops for herself. When she learned that Kuroka had taken both, she burst into tears, never quite forgiving the curvy cat girl. It was an entirely one sided frustration, but Ravel knew how to hold a grudge.
Despite having complained about Naruto's sweaty smell, Ravel covertly started to sniff the air, taking deep whiffs when it seemed like he wasn't paying attention.
"Mmmm… It's as incredible as ever, Fujimai!" Naruto said, giving the yokai a big thumbs up. "The best thing I've ever tasted!"
Fujimai touched both her cheeks, tilting her head. "You're too kind, Naruto."
"I must concur with his judgement," Bafeel said.
"You're the best, Momma," Kuroka said.
"Ara," Fujimai said, swooning with embarrassment.
"Alright, everyone," Lady Phenex said. "Let's give her a bit of space. Fujimai can't eat if you make her self-conscious."
The yokai wiggled in her seat a while longer before she finally calmed down enough to raise her fork.
The meal was delicious and eaten in good company. Though Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that it was awfully quiet. Riven and Ruval had lived on their own for as long as Naruto could remember. Lord Phenex was often away from home during the day and sometimes overnight, attending to his duties as a Marquis. More recent was Riser moving out, taking his peerage with him.
Naruto's youngest brother might've been a little rough around the edges, but he always made the room feel like there was a party in it. Part of that was because he already had a full peerage that went damn near everywhere with him.
In Riser's words, it was now time for him to strike out and make a name for himself. Ruval was the heir, Riven was a respected researcher, and Naruto had a marriage prospect waiting for him! Naruto couldn't exactly point out that he never agreed to some contract his parents drew up, since Riser never paid attention to that, always insisting he'd marry into the Gremory family soon enough. Riser had no such luxury, so his goal was to climb the rankings in Rating Games.
He'd already fought more of them than any other devil his age. Riser had competed in twelve matches, winning eight and losing four. Two of his losses were rumored to be political, surrendering to houses that House Phenex was allied with. The record was still enough to make him a hot up and comer in the Rating Game scene.
Naruto hoped it worked out for him. He just wished Riser's victory celebration after every match didn't include French kissing every single member of his all-female peerage in front of the whole crowd. It made being a Phenex embarrassing!
Kuroka nudged Naruto's foot under the table. She had eaten three katsu already, clearing the plates with her tongue, so he jealously slid his plate further from her and blocked it with his arms, thinking she was asking to share.
Instead, Kuroka said: "The day is coming up, right? Your first trip to the human world?"
Naruto didn't know whether to grin or grimace. "Yeah…"
"I thought you'd be thrilled," Kuroka said. "You've been talking about wanting to see it for years."
"Of course I want to see humans!" Naruto said. "If it was just that, I'd be pumped."
"He's pouting because his fiance will be there," Ravel said, who had overheard everything.
Lady Phenex turned aside from her conversation with Fujimai. "Are you talking about Naruto's visit to Kuoh? It will be the first time he and Rias have met. Isn't it exciting, thinking about meeting your wife?"
"Fiance," Naruto said. "For now."
Lady Phenex acted as if he meant it because she'd be his wife soon enough, but wasn't currently. He didn't know if she knew what his comment really meant—that he wanted no part of any political marriage, no matter how much big bro Riser talked about how great being a duke would be for Naruto's life.
"Make sure you travel carefully," Fujimai said, frowning. "I've heard worrying things from the yokai community. Even my friends in the East Yokai Faction have stopped responding to my letters. From what I hear, there's been a change in leadership."
"It'll be fine." Naruto flexed, planting a hand on his bicep. "Because I'm super strong, Fujimai!"
Lady Phenex shot a concentrated beam of fire from her finger. "No son of mine is going anywhere acting so overconfident! The world is bigger and scarier than you know!"
Naruto watched the fire come toward him, felt it hit his skin, but didn't feel anything more than a brief moment of warmth. He still flinched and acted like it hurt.
"Okay, okay, Mom! I get it!" he said, rubbing the spot.
Lady Phenex might've known, deep down, that she couldn't really discipline him anymore, but Naruto didn't want her to think that way. As strong as he was, she was the more knowledgeable one. He valued her advice and didn't want to rub her nose in the fact that her youngest son was already stronger than her.
Only Kuroka, his sparring partner, knew the whole truth. She kept her mouth shut. While watching Naruto, she leaned her cheek on her hand. A ponderous look faded, exchanged for steely resolve.
Naruto finished his meal in peace, laughing with those he loved who loved him in return.
LINE BREAK
Naruto lay in bed, dressed in only his boxers. As a Phenex his body naturally ran hot, so he always slept as cool as possible, stripped down almost naked and often laying on top of his blankets. His hands were behind his head and his legs were kicked out. Wind blew in from the open window, shifting the blinds and caressing his body.
As he got older, Naruto's room became purely his own again. The arrangement with Kuroka was temporary, lasting only a few months. Part of the reason it ended had to do with Ravel and Shirone both complaining that it wasn't fair only Kuorka got to do it. Ultimately, each of Naruto's peerage members got their own rooms.
So it was a total surprise when Naruto's door opened.
The guest entered quickly and shut the door behind her. There was no light except what was coming in through the window from the sky's artificial moon.
When she passed through the window's light, Naruto caught a glimpse of black cat ears, yellow eyes, and a huge expanse of pale skin.
In fact, unless his eyes deceived him, Kuroka was naked with the sole exception of a skimpy pair of panties. He hadn't even known she OWNED underwear. She never seemed to wear it any other time.
His bed compressed as he leapt onto it next to him, uncaring about the extensive skin to skin contact they were sharing. "Kuroka?" Naruto asked. "What are you doing?"
"Shhhh." Kuroka put a finger to his lips, then slid it along his chest down to his crotch, squeezing his bulge, eliminating any lingering doubts Naruto harbored about what she was here for. He could feel her nipples stabbing against his arm, making his bulge grow quickly under Kuroka's hand.
"You're going to get married, Naruto," she whispered into his ear. "As your first servant, it's my duty to prepare my master thoroughly. Even for his duties as a husband. Relax, Naruto, and let me show you the wonders of a woman's body…"
He answered her with his body, sliding his arm around his Bishop's shoulders, pulling her close to start the night of passion.
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