46 A Noble Battle

Arata had a lost look on his face as he was dragged into the store. Akari had a look of pure seriousness on her face. Arata had never seen the Class Rep this focused and zoned in before. As they entered, there was a line of people standing inside, clearly waiting for Akari to arrive. A young woman stepped forward and greeted Akari.

"Young Master Akari. Welcome to our store. We have cleared the store today, as you have requested. Me and my assistants shall do our best to help you achieve your 'mission'."

Akari nodded and went straight to business as she gestured to Arata.

"This is my General, Arata Sato, heir to the Sato Clan. I need a strong set of armor for me that will deliver a strong punch and a battle suit for my General so that he can throw his support in the battle when needed but also causes the opposition to think twice before approaching."

The young woman was slightly stunned at the introduction of Arata, but she didn't show it as she listened to Akari's instructions. Arata could tell that she was used to this weird behaviour from Akari. She called over one of her assistants.

"We have chosen a few sets of 'armor' for you to try out. Young Leah will guide you to the 'armory' to try them on."

The young girl seemed to be a couple years older than Akari and Arata, 13 or maybe 14 years old. She had two pigtails in her hair and made a serious looking face, which looked more cute than intimidating with her features. She lifted her hand and saluted Akari.

"Lieutenant Leah, reporting for duty, sir."

Arata silently groaned.

'Great. Another weird one."

Akari grinned at the young girl saluting.

"Very good, Lieutenant. Show me the equipment."

"Sir, yes sir!"

Leah turned and militantly walked away, with Akari marching behind her. Arata watched in confusion as the two girls walked away, leaving him standing by himself, utterly lost. The young woman approached Arata after Akari was out of earshot.

"I apologize, Young Master Arata. Young Master Akari dislikes these events, but being the daughter of the Angel of Light, she is expected to attend. But there are many that wish to take advantage of her and her status. So to keep herself entertained and on her guard, she views these events like battles."

Arata was still confused. The young woman chuckled softly at Arata's confused face.

"I see she hasn't told you anything."

Arata shook his head.

"She woke me up, dragged me here and said she needed help with a battle. But from what you are saying, this isn't really a battle."

The young woman replied.

"In a sense. It isn't what you would normally classify as a 'battle', but it is in a different sense. There are occasionally fights that occur at these events, but it is mainly a battle of a different kind."

Arata gave the young woman a droll stare.

"Can you just tell me what this event is?"

The young woman giggled softly.

"I apologize, Young Master Arata. From what I know, tonight is a formal ball hosted by the Ise Clan. I must say that I was quite surprised to hear that you were from the Sato Clan as the Sato Clan normally do not attend these kind of events."

Arata's stomach dropped. He felt a sick feeling in his gut. A formal ball? With other pretentious nobles? Arata really didn't want to go. His Father avoided these events like the plague, and he had the status and the reputation to decline the events most of the time, only attending when he absolutely needed to. Being hidden for so long, Arata was never invited as no one knew he existed. But after attending the Royal Institute, he had been sent invites from multiple noble families and clans. He had spent the past two weeks avoiding their invites.

And now, Akari had dragged him into one. He really didn't want to go. But he had said that he would help. He felt extremely conflicted as he didn't want to go back on his word, but he also really didn't want to go. He sighed as he looked at the young woman. She could see the defeat in his eyes.

"So what do I need to do?"

She grinned and bowed.

"Thank you for helping Young Master Akari. We all care for her deeply and are extremely grateful for your aid."

Arata felt touched at the care she showed towards Akari. Arata made a decision. He disliked doing things. The ideal world for him involved 24/7 naps. But he also disliked doing things half assed. It was either all or nothing. So if he was going to do this, he would do all he could to support Akari in any way she needed. He threw aside his pride as he saluted at the young woman.

"General Arata Sato, reporting for duty."

2 hours later, Arata was collapsed on the couch by the changing room, or the 'armory'. He had tried over 50 different outfits and finally got a break for him to sit down and rest. He was completely drained and didn't want to move.

'I take it back. I give up. I should just sneak out and go back to my room.'

The young woman, whom he learned was called Maia, entered with 3 suits.

"Commander Akari has given her approval of these three 'battle suits'. She sent orders for you to choose from the three which you find the best."

Arata was too tired to try so he just shouted an answer so he could continue resting.

"The black one."

"They are all black, General."

He exaggeratedly sighed. Maia had thought the heir to the Sato Clan would be pretentious, cold and uncaring. But she was happily surprised to see that he was down to earth and wasn't arrogant at all. He had an arrogant air to him when he entered, but that quickly disappeared as the real Arata was revealed. Maia understood the politics of nobles, so she understood that the arrogance was an act, and the young boy sprawled out on the couch was the true Arata.

Arata slowly got up and walked over to Maia. She displayed the three suits, all of which he had tried on before. He pointed at one of them.

"This one was more comfortable than the other two. Let's go with this one."

She nodded and put on a serious voice.

"Yes sir, General Arata."

Arata gave her a droll stare. She chuckled as she put the other suits away and left the one Arata chose on a rack by the mirror. Arata went back to the couch and closed his eyes. Just as he was about to fall asleep, Akari entered the room and woke him up.

"Rise and shine, General. We have our armor and equipment, now we need to organize our tactics and strategy. Back to base!"

Akari turned and walked out. Arata sighed as he got up and followed her back to the carriage. When Akari saw the drained face of Arata when he came in the carriage, she couldn't help but laugh. Although she felt a little bad about putting him through this, she really needed his help this time. It was also partly his fault that this was happening. She decided that he needed to know everything so he could help her properly. She knew how smart he was and figured his input could be helpful.

"As Sergeant Maia probably informed you, tonight's big battle is a formal ball. Although the event itself is boring, those that are attending are selfish demons with impure motives."

Akari had a cold and angry demeanor as she spoke. Arata nodded as a grim look covered his face as well.

"I understand, Commander. Many of these demons have tried to breach my Clan after they found out about my existence."

They looked at each other with a mutual understanding, kindred spirits. Akari then pointed at Arata.

"You know this is all your fault, right?"

Arata was caught off guard.

"My fault? What's my fault?"

"After the nobles and other clans learnt about you, they began pestering my Father even more. They all feel threatened that you are in the picture now and they are increasing their efforts to gain favor with me and my Father before you and Lord Azrail make a move."

Arata didn't know that this was the case. Obviously, he knew that many nobles would want their families connected to the Ise and Sato Clan. And a political marriage is the best way to do this. Akari had been affected by this all her life, while Arata was luckily hidden from the public. But now that he was revealed, he received an explosion of offers over the past two weeks. And the efforts of the nobles increased towards Akari to gain her approval before Arata did.

Arata understood that by attending this event with Akari, he could not only help keep the greedy nobles away from her, which he had to agree was partly his fault, but he could also decline the advances of families wanting to get close to him as well. This really was an important battle. Arata stared seriously at Akari.

"So, what's the plan?"

The Ise Clan's main hall was decorated beautifully. It was a pure white hall with elegant silver decorations. Delicious food lined up the tables in the room. The Angel of Light was naturally sitting in the position of honor in the middle of the table. Nobles were sitting and eating, chatting with each other. Many approached Akimitsu, speaking politely and doing their best to gain favor. They offered gifts and spoke pretty words. Akimitsu graciously accepted the nobles, the epitome of grace and elegance. His words and actions were well received by everyone, raising other's impression of him.

Scattered throughout the hall were the children of the nobles. There were young boys and girls inside. Most of the girls were standing by the walls, talking happily with each other. The young boys stood in small groups, looking at the other groups of noble kids with a competitive look in their eyes. They held themselves high, looking down at those around them, all believing that they were special, an air of self importance could be felt throughout the hall. They were gathered in groups here and there, each group with a clear leader amongst them, clearly a noble's son of higher rank and status. As everyone spoke and ate, a member of the Ise Clan made an announcement at the door.

"Introducing, the daughter of the Angel of Light, Lord Akimitsu Ise, and Heir to the Ise Clan, Young Master Akari Ise."

Akari walked in slowly, grace exuding from her. Those that were attending were completely stunned by her beauty as she seemed to be glowing. She wore a beautiful white and silver dress that was incredibly detailed. An intricate pattern went down the side of her dress, the white and silver fabric dancing around each other.

She came to a stop in the centre of the open doors, looking out to all that were attending as she politely curtsied to the guests.

"Greetings to those who came. I apologize for my late arrival."

The young nobles were in awe as they looked at the beautiful Akari. They were all clear on the purpose of the ball and what their mission was. They were about to approach her, when the Clan member spoke again.

"Accompanying Young Master Akari, is a special guest. Introducing, the son of the Angel of Death, Lord Azrail Sato, and Heir to the Sato Clan, Young Master Arata Sato."

The hearts of the nobles at the tables dropped as they heard this. Although he seemed to be indifferent, the corner of Akimitsu's lips rose in a small smirk. Arata walked out slowly, a powerful and oppressive aura coming from him. He wore an intricate black and silver suit, the patterns were similar to Akari's dress. He came and stood beside Akari and bowed politely.

"Greetings to the families and Clan's in attendance. Please excuse my intrusion."

The nobles stared in despair at the two heir's standing side by side, they looked so good together that it sickened them. Their worst nightmare had come true as Arata and Akari were standing side by side, clearly comfortable with each other.

How were their children supposed to beat them?