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9: Pain

"Aah!"

An obscene cry of pleasure echoed in the darkness and tainted the serenity of the beautiful room.

"Do you love me?"

A small whisper followed the cry.

"Y-Yes."

Another whisper, one a little more delicate than the previous one, answered the question.

"Then look at me."

Two pairs of dull blue eyes gazed at each other and dilated as tears and love flickered inside them.

"You are beautiful, Rias."

The rough yet warm hands of the boy traveled to the scarlet cheeks of the girl and caressed them gently, making sure not to ruin their beauty in the process. They were soft and delicate, unlike anything he'd ever touched. Every time he touched them, he felt like he was going to scratch them.

"Thank you, Naruto."

The girl responded, her voice emanating nothing but love and devotion.

"Sometimes, I still can't believe that you are real."

His hand left the warmth of her cheeks and moved down toward her plump rose lips. They were incredible. The plumpness, the curvature at which they rested, and the color that doused them—everything about them was amazing. It was like they were created for nothing but to be kissed and ravaged.

"I'm real, Naruto," Rias' lips curled upward, forming a smile that could have lit up the night sky outside. "And I'm not going anywhere," her breaths paused for a moment as she adjusted herself on his lap, making it easier for him to explore her insides. "I will stay with you, till the end." She whispered, biting her plump lips as Naruto began to increase his pace.

"Really?"

Naruto's eyes wandered off to her chest, gazing at the marvels of flesh that were jostling there.

Her breasts.

They were one of the most striking features of her that one could see from far away. Those enormous mounds of flesh were beautiful and otherworldly. Covered with a remarkable patch of pink, they were like a delicious, juicy berry, waiting to be devoured and sucked dry by a starving individual like him.

"Yes."

His eyes glanced back at her face, and he couldn't help but flash her a smile when he saw a flustered look there. She was so beautiful.

"Even more than your husband?"

He placed his hand under her chin as he drew her lips closer to his. Although he already knew the answer to that question, he still wanted to hear it from her mouth.

"Y-Yes."

Naruto closed the distance between them and placed his cold lips on her warm ones.

For a moment, neither of the two said or did anything before Naruto finally tilted his head a little to peek over Rias' shoulder.

"You are paying attention, right?"

He whispered into the darkness of the room as he placed a hand on Rias' back, slowly inching towards her wide, naked, and heavy hips.

"I'm going to make her mine."

An arrogant smile bloomed on his face.

-xXx-

"Riser!"

As they finally managed to escape the unbearable confinement of their dreams, a pair of sharp blue eyes snapped open in shock. "Hah!" Riser exclaimed, struggling to breathe after what he had just witnessed in his dreams. Was it true? He wondered because he couldn't tell if it was. Everything in it felt so real to him that he thought it was happening right in front of him. That boy was looking at him as if he were mocking him and his entire existence. If that wasn't enough, he was also abusing his wife in the same way he always wanted to but couldn't.

"Riser!"

Riser growled and looked around to find the source of the voice, only to come face to face with his childhood friend Damien Phenex. "Damien…" He murmured, his curious gaze fixed on the black-haired boy. "What are you doing here?" His question was met with an incredulous look from the boy.

"What do you mean by that, Riser?" Damien was taken aback by what he was hearing. Had his friend forgotten why they were here? He hoped not, or he'd never be able to see him in the same light again. "Aren't we going to catch those two scumbags in the act?" His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw Riser shift his gaze away from him instead of responding.

"Ahh, yes." If the grating of his teeth wasn't enough, the way Riser was fuming probably let Damien know how angry he was at the time, because the boy soon took a step back in fear. "How could I have forgotten about them?" His lips curled up to form a vicious smirk, something that would have sent shivers down anyone's spine.

"Those two annoying pests..."

In his life, Riser had barely ever seen defeat; it was not in his blood to be defeated. He was from Phenex House, a clan that boasted of having one of the most powerful individuals in the entire Underworld. They were Phenex, beings so powerful that even their own kind, the devils, feared them. Everything about them, about him was something that could instill fear in anyone's heart. Their tears, their control over fire, and their immortality made them invincible.

'Invincible.'

Yet a pair consisting of a fragile girl and a weak human had done something to their house that no one else could even dream of doing. They had tarnished both his name and the name of his family. Those two have turned his house into a topic of mockery and shame. Now, people have not only stopped fearing them but have also started questioning their power.

"Rias…"

That girl was the catalyst for everything that happened. She was the reason he was here, in this cursed human world, looking for her so he could exact the deserved punishment on her, specifically her body. Because of her fragile mind, he and his family had to face so much shame in their world, a place he used to simply ignore. Aside from a few weak devils, it was a barren wasteland, but now it felt like a prison, a place he desperately wanted to escape but couldn't.

'It was all because of her.'

As he began to think about her and what she was likely doing at the time, fire shimmered within his eyes. He was certain she was having a good time with her lover based on what he had seen while following her from afar.

"Naruto."

That was his name, or at least what Rias called him. That boy was a thorn in his side. He embodied everything Riser despised about humans: kindness, weakness, and deception. Riser had witnessed how he spoke to his wife, and, to be honest, he despised it. Also, the way Rias acted around him, all while blushing and smiling, made his heart ache with rage and hatred. Nobody else deserved to elicit a smile and blush from her other than him. But someone was, and that irritated him, especially since it was a human doing it rather than someone powerful who at least had a chance against him.

"Yes. Those two, and we're going to catch them today, so prepare yourself, my friend!'

Riser was unmoved by Damien's enthusiasm or the excited smile on his narrow face.

According to him, everything was now pointless. That boy, that mere human, had most likely already tainted his wife with his unworthy mouth and body. Rias was no longer useful to him other than as a tool for his depravity and a medium to restore his family's reputation. That was all she was to him right now. Her innocence had vanished, her mind had become free, and her heart now belonged to someone else. Except for her outer body, he had no control over any part of her body.

"I'll be ready in a minute. Please allow me a minute or two."

"Of course, Riser."

The irritation in his eyes and heart increased as the door to his room closed. It was depressing; everything about this situation was depressing. He wished to escape it and return to a time when everything was going according to plan, a time when Rias belonged to him and only him. He could recall how happy he had been during their engagement. It was one of the most memorable moments of his life because it was the culmination of years of planning and patience on his part.

"At that moment, she became mine, just mine."

No one else was in her mind at that moment but him. He was all she could think of, and he didn't give a damn if it was in a good way or a bad way. For him, the fact that she was thinking about him and how he was going to ravage her after years of waiting was all that mattered.

"She was flawless."

It was what he had thought when he first saw her during that meeting between their fathers. He knew she was the one for him the moment his gaze fell on her. She embodied everything he desired in a woman. Even at that age, her lips were plump, her face was lovely, and her body was so voluptuous that it made his mouth water. She was the perfect slut, worthy of the title of his wife.

"However, she had other plans."

Riser knew he was being a fool when he let her spend the rest of the school year in Kuoh after their engagement, but what else could he have done? She asked him to do so with the most seductive expression on her face and promised him a lifetime of fun. There was no way he was going to refuse her when she herself was giving her body to him. If he hadn't succumbed to her charms that day, he might have been the one pounding her today instead of that human.

"Aghh!"

Just thinking about that person made his blood boil to unimaginable levels because with the thought of him came the ideas of what he must be doing to his wife behind the closed quarters of their wooden room.

Was he looking her in the eyes while kissing her?

Was his name all that was dancing on the lips of his wife while she was being ravaged by him?

Or was he smelling the exotic aroma of her hair and yanking them all while whispering sweet nothings to her?

Riser couldn't tell and didn't want to think about it. It was heartbreaking because he had never been in a situation like this before. He'd never been defeated so thoroughly, especially by a human. That boy had ruined his nights without even knowing who he was or what he was capable of. It was as if fate was playing a dirty game with him, one in which he had no desire to participate.

"I'm going to kill you, Naruto!"

His lips trembled with anger as he grasped his hair tightly. If he wasn't sure before, then Riser was completely sure now. That boy, Naruto, was going to die a painful death. He will make sure that he does; otherwise, his heart would never forgive him for making it go through so much pain and sadness for nothing.

"Your blood will quench the thirst of my heart."

Finally, a small smile appeared on his parched lips.

-oOo-

Illusion.

It was what Rias would call everything that had transpired around her in the past few weeks. Everything felt like a dream to her, from her visiting that mountain that night and meeting Naruto to him attempting to rob her and allowing her to join him on his last trip. There was no way something like this was happening to her, especially since she was facing no major obstacles while going through it. In her short yet sad existence, Rias had not found a sliver of happiness without encountering a substantial challenge. She was convinced that someone was tricking her and manipulating her mind to create this ludicrous illusion around her.

Otherwise, why would a person like Naruto allow her to hang out with him, especially on a trip that was so important to him and his very existence. This journey, a trip to eat that specific kind of ramen that they were trying to complete, was the final voyage of his life, something that a person would never let anyone ruin at any cost. Yet he allowed her to join him without even asking anything about her.

Naruto was not interested in her past, unlike others who she had met before. For him, she was Rias, a girl whom he had met accidentally on that mountain—nothing more, nothing less. Although he might act like it, she was sure he wasn't interested in her money either. The only thing he was interested in was her presence around him. He adored it; she could sense that without him saying a word about it. Whenever she was around him, she could see sparks of joy and peace in his eyes, something that she was sure never existed in them when she first met him.

"Naruto…

Her heart fluttered as she thought about him. There it was again—that strange feeling that grew inside her heart whenever she thought about him. Even the mere mention of his name was enough to elicit that reaction.

"Is he still sleeping?"

Darkness and light blurred her vision as she wandered her eyes over to the corner of their beautiful room, where the source of her happiness was sleeping, looking calm and beautiful as ever. Her eyes dilated with joy as she gazed at his face. Unlike the usual stoic expression that covers it throughout the day when they travel, his face was enveloped in a peaceful expression at that moment.

"Hehe."

Rias liked it and was willing to go to any length to see more of it when he was awake and traveling with her. She wanted him to be as happy as she was on this trip. Their journey was going to end sooner or later, but she still yearned to see a genuine smile on his face that was aimed at her, a smile filled with nothing but admiration for her.

"Are you a dream, huh Naruto?"

At that moment, she couldn't help but smile at herself. Her mind was losing its sanity, and her heart was nearing exhaustion. After all, it had been beating at an unusually fast rate for the past few days. Rias had no idea what was happening to her, but she was not going to complain. She was enjoying it. This new sensation she was experiencing was delightful, and she wanted to enjoy it to the fullest.

"Or are you a reality?"

Her feet began to stride towards her companion's bed, one at a time, hoping to catch a glimpse of his face up close. Even though she knew it was wrong, her heart refused to stop her. If being scolded by him for a moment meant Rias could see him sleeping, she was prepared to be scolded by him for the rest of her life.

"What exactly are you, Naruto?"

Red doused her cheeks in an instant. As her bluish-green eyes landed on his face, emotions began to run wild within her heart.

"Please tell me, Naruto."

Her slender fingers rose high in the air, reaching for his cheeks, yearning to feel the warmth of his skin. They'd felt it before, that warmth, and it was incredible. There were few things that could compare to the joy that his warmth instilled in her heart whenever he touched her. Rias wanted to feel it again.

"Because if you're a dream," She almost touched his cheek with her fingers but refrained at the last moment, not wanting to disturb his peaceful slumber. "Then I don't want this dream to ever come to an end." Her lips curled up, and her smile widened slightly. The expression of peace on his face was so mesmerizing that she couldn't describe it in words, even if she tried. There were no words she could have used to describe how beautiful that moment was to her.

"At the end of this journey, I will die."

But it was all going to come to an end for her. The source of her happiness would vanish as quickly as he had entered her life, and she would be alone, just like in the past. Rias could enjoy his presence all she wanted, but deep down, she knew it was pointless. Naruto was like a fleeting reality that was on the verge of disintegrating itself into thousands of memories that would haunt her dreams for years to come.

The promise of her dying alongside him was also deceptive, and she was well aware of that. She was a coward who couldn't even face the smallest of problems that had plagued her life, unlike him, who had the courage to confront people even if they were more powerful than him. She was a failure, and Naruto was going to notice it whether he liked it or not. Even if she did fulfill her promise, there was no guarantee that her family would not use their power to resurrect her body to fulfill their own wishes.

"Soon, you will leave me too, Naruto."

There was no escape for her. It was her fate to witness the death of the only person, other than her family, who had shown her kindness. His death was unavoidable, as was the tragic life that awaited her at the conclusion of their journey. At the end, Rias would revert to that lifeless object, born solely to please that monster, and there was nothing she could do about it. It was her fate, just as Naruto's was his death.

"However, unlike others who had left me alone," She bit her lower lip, trying to keep the silent sobs from escaping her mouth. "I'm not going to hate you, Naruto." Her hands trembled, pleading to hold his hands in their grasp so that they could feel his warmth again. "In fact," Rias tried to smile at him, but the sadness inside her heart was too much for her lips to form a smile, even a fake one. "I'm going to miss you." A single tear streamed down her lovely face and landed on Naruto's cheeks, staining his serene expression with the color of her sorrow.

"I'm going to miss you a lot, Naruto."

"Why are you crying?"

Rias' eyes shot wide open when his muffled voice entered her ears. Glancing down, she gasped when she saw him with his eyes open, looking at her with a puzzled expression and a stain of tears on his face. "I—I," she tried to respond, thinking of an excuse to avoid the embarrassment of telling the truth, but her mind couldn't come up with one at the time. It was too shocked and worried about the possibility of him hearing everything she had said up to this point.

"Did you sleep at all, Rias?"

Her body froze when his hand made contact with her face, wiping the stains of tears from it. As soon as he touched her, something inside her erupted and painted her cheeks with a shameful shade of red.

"Your eyes are red, and there are tears all over your face."

Rias didn't know what was happening but hearing the concern in his voice was making her want to cry more and melt into his warm touch. She wanted to tell him everything about her, from the secret of her being a devil to the circumstances that would prevent her from dying with him. But a single glance at his face cut her off before she could say anything.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

The way he phrased that sentence and the small smile that quickly followed made her realize that if she told him everything, she would ruin everything. His trust, smile, and kindness would all be taken away from her in an instant, and she couldn't let that happen. They were the source of her joy, and without them, she would die once more.

"Yes." So, she did what she thought was the right thing to do at the time.

She lied to him once more.

"I see. That explains everything."

Rias despised it. She despised lying to him, but it was necessary to protect him from the perils of her world. Riser was still following them; she could feel his energy on her clothes, and she was certain that once he realized they had left town, he would start following them again. That's why she had to keep lying to Naruto because the thought of him dying at the fingers of that monster terrified her. She'd rather be that man's toy for the rest of her life than see Naruto die because of him.

"Anyway, everything is clear now."

Her lips curled up on their own when he smiled at her, probably proud of his cleaning of her face. It was moments like this that were going to haunt her when he would eventually leave her and their world all together. Within a span of a few weeks, he had shown her so much compassion and admiration that she couldn't even believe that he was real. He was someone her brother frequently mentioned in motivational speeches, but she never expected to see him in person.

"You also need to stop crying so much, you know?"

She blinked at him, obviously perplexed by what she had just heard. How was she supposed to stop crying when her entire life was about to be ruined once again? There was no way she could do that. Tears were her constant companion; they had stayed with her when no one else could and would continue to do so in the future, unlike Naruto.

"It's not good for your mental health."

For a brief moment, Rias' heart ached as she heard his words. They were excruciating to listen to because they reminded her of what she was about to lose in a matter of weeks. Someone who had done nothing but made her feel like a person worthy of kindness and had shown her how good people can be when they show kindness to each other, and in their case, they had gone beyond that too.

"Ok."

Her eyes softened as he withdrew his hands from her face, leaving a strange feeling in her heart. It was so amazing that he could elicit such a reaction from her with a mere touch, and all she could do was just stare at him like an idiot. Everything about him was so contagious that sometimes Rias felt like he was the devil, and she was a normal human.

"Nice. Let's get ready for breakfast then. I'm sure the chefs in that restaurant prepare—"

"We won't be going to any restaurants today." Rias' cheeks flushed due to embarrassment when he looked at her, his eyes wide in surprise. "I mean, I'm tired of eating outside, Naruto." This time, she wasn't lying. Rias had grown tired of the food they had been eating for the past few weeks. Although delicious and convenient, it lacked the flavor and feel of a home-cooked meal.

"What are we going to eat then?"

Rias smiled at him, forgetting her sorrows and concerns for the time being. They could wait because she wanted to enjoy her time with Naruto, or what was left of it. She was certain that if she didn't, she would live to regret it for the rest of her life. "I'll make something for us," she said, taking a few steps back to inspect the small kitchen attached to their large room. She was glad she chose this inn over the others. It had everything she desired, particularly a kitchen.

"Wait, seriously?"

Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. "Y-yes." She mumbled, finding it difficult to look him in the eyes right now.

"Cool!"

Rias gasped when she heard the genuine excitement in his voice. It was her first time seeing him this excited about something, and she won't lie, she loved it. The expression he had on his face was beautiful, as it had no traces of deception in it like his usual stoic expression. It was genuine, one that could brighten anyone's day in an instant.

'I don't want this to ever end.'

-oOo-

Tears.

They were one of the few things that Naruto didn't like seeing on anyone's face, barring a few horrible people. No one deserved the pain they brought to heart or the marks of sadness that they left behind. They were not only dreadful to look at but were also a physical manifestation of one's deteriorating mental health. Sure, one could argue that people shed tears of joy as well, but according to Naruto, those types of tears were rare.

He himself had shed tears of joy in the post on a couple of occasions, but when someone cried as frequently as Rias does, it was no longer a trivial matter but a concerning one. Rias was not well mentally; he had known that from the very beginning, but now her condition had deteriorated further than ever before. She seemed to be losing herself in the valley of her grief and fears. Naruto might try to ignore it, but he knew he couldn't do that for long. He was not that type of person. His heart refused to see anyone in the condition that Rias was in.

"She should be enjoying her life."

As soon as he said that, shame filled his heart when he realized how hypocritical he was being at that moment. He was hoping for someone to forget about their grief and the past, while he himself had not even tried to do it once during this trip. During their entire journey till now, he had been nothing but a cold shell of his former self in front of her. Unlike him, who couldn't even dare say a single thing about himself to anyone, Rias had actually tried discussing her life with him, but he had refused her every single time.

'Fear.'

It was the reason he had been so cold to her all along. Naruto was afraid that if he talked to her more, she would become attached to him, and he was well aware of what had happened to people who had become attached to him in the past. It never ended well for them. Even though he could argue that they were both going to die in the end, he still refused to get close to her. His eyes wouldn't be able to bear the sight of someone close to him dying again, especially after what had happened to his friends and Hinata. That would be too much for him to handle, especially since Rias had been so kind and warm to him.

"She is amazing."

A small smile appeared on his lips as he looked at her, his eyes twinkling with delight as they saw her at work in the kitchen. She didn't deserve what was about to happen to her. Rias deserved happiness, not a journey to her untimely death with a boy she barely knew anything about. His lips curled up when he saw her peeking at him, probably trying to see if he was still awake or not.

"Can't this end with me dying alone?"

There must be a way to do that. Naruto was willing to fight fate once more if that meant she could have a happy ending. He wished to see her have one where she would find someone who would love her and make her smile instead of cry. Since the moment he had seen her smile during that rain, his mind hadn't stopped thinking of ways to elicit more of them from her. They were stunning to look at, so stunning that he could only think of a few things that could compete with them in terms of beauty.

"Naruto?"

His eyes dilated a little with confusion when she called him. "Yes?" He didn't waste any time responding because he didn't want to keep her waiting.

"Ramen or egg rice?"

Naruto had to hold back a sob when she looked at him with those excited eyes of hers. They were full of life now, in contrast to the state they were in a while ago. It was as if she was a completely different person at the time, and he couldn't help but feel bad because it was so rare to see her like this. "Egg rice." He answered and looked away from her, hoping to hide the liquid that was shining in his eyes. She didn't have to see it; it would do nothing but ruin her mood again.

"Really? I thought you liked ramen!"

The smile on his face faltered for a moment, but he composed himself quickly before looking back at her. "I do, but right now I'm craving egg rice." He was well aware that she wanted to eat rice; otherwise, she wouldn't have even inquired about preparing ramen. It was her favorite dish now, or it had become one after he forced her to eat it for weeks with him. Initially, she told him that she didn't like it that much, but as she traveled with him more, she realized how delicious the dish was. Soon, all she wanted to eat was ramen, and he admired that attitude of hers.

"Ahh…"

Naruto smiled when he saw her relax and continue her cooking. She was giving it her all, he could see that just by looking at the amount of seriousness she had on her face. He had no doubt that she was doing this to impress him with her cooking, just like he had done a few weeks ago. "Hehe," he chuckled, recalling the expression she had on her face at that time. She was so amazed by his cooking that she dubbed him a prodigy, which generated a few laughs from him as well.

"I think someone is watching us, Naruto."

The smile on his face turned into a frown as he realized he had totally forgotten the source of her fears. Her stalker, he was the reason she was being so anxious and sad these days. She had been sobbing endlessly because of that man at random times, even while he carried her on his back as she slept. Rias had never cried while being carried on his back, not even when they had started their trip. Sure, she had whimpered and whispered some names during her sleep, but she had never cried as she had a few hours before in that forest. That man was messing up her mind, and based on the way she was reacting, Naruto could only assume that the man was no one else but her husband.

"She is scared of him."

Naruto didn't need to be close to her to know that fact. The ring on her finger was sufficient for him to understand that Rias despised and feared her husband. A married woman like her would never join a stranger on his trip unless she either wanted to die or run away from the problems of her life. In Rias' instance, her husband was the source of all of her miseries. Although Naruto didn't know the individual, he didn't need to in order to realize that he was a menace to her life, someone who had damaged her to the point that even the slightest mention of his name or whiff of his odor could instantly ruin her mood.

"Monster."

That was what Naruto called such people. They were the true monsters of the world—those who only cared about themselves. Rias' husband was one of those people. That man was the bane of her existence, the destroyer of her joy. He had shaped Rias into the person she was now, a girl so desperate for attention and kindness that she would accompany a stranger to earn them. Otherwise, Naruto was sure Rias was an amazing individual. She had shown signs of being one from the moment he met her.

"I'll deal with that monster."

In his life, he had dealt with countless heinous individuals, so one more was nothing to Naruto. That man could turn out to be a god of this world, and he would still finish him, no matter what he had to do for it. If ruining that man's existence for all eternity was all that was required of him to see her smile like a normal person again, Naruto was ready to do it in the blink of an eye, without hesitation.

"I'm sure you'll follow us here."

His hands gripped the edges of the wooden table as his eyes glowed with an ominous shade of gold. "And I want you to." His voice cracked a little, anger surging out of it like an untamed river. "Because I want to meet you," The table began to shake under the pressure of his power.

"So that I can show you what real pain actually feels like."

-END-