Devil Ninja

Dates and Disasters

Ravel nervously allowed Rias, Irina, Koneko, and Akeno to drag her through the mall. Having never been to a human mall before—or even a mall in the underworld—she was taken aback by how many people were present. They filled the hallways, sat along benches, and stuffed themselves into stores.

"W-why are there so many people?" she asked as they walked through the thick crowd.

"Because it's a mall?" Rias said succinctly.

Koneko nodded. "Lots of people go to the mall on Saturdays."

Ravel nodded, but she didn't say anything. Maybe it was her imagination, but their group seemed to be receiving a number of leering gazes. Several men looked her way. The lecherous intent pouring from them made Ravel want to light them on fire.

"Are you okay, Ravel?" Rias asked.

"I don't like the way those people are looking at us," Ravel said.

"Don't worry, Yakitori. If any of those guys come near us, I'll beat the crap out of them." Koneko gave her a thumbs up.

"It doesn't make me feel any better when you call me Yakitori!"

"Is this natural?" Irina asked. Even she seemed disconcerted by the number of teenage boys staring at their group. "I haven't gone to a mall in a long time, so I don't know what it's supposed to be like, but we do seem to be getting a lot of attention."

Rias hummed as she studied their surroundings. "I'd say this is about normal. Men are always gawking at us at school. If you think this is bad, you should have seen what it was like when Naruto and I went to comicon. It was even worse than this."

"I can imagine," Koneko said dryly. "You dressed in skimpy cosplay is bound to attract more trouble than it's worth. How did Naruto take it?"

"Naruto's not the type of person who'd get upset over something like that. Besides, he attracted just as much attention."

Koneko shrugged. "If you say so."

"Uhuhu, you're all so excited," Akeno giggled.

"I think it's so nice that we're all helping Ravel-san look for clothes." Asia clasped her hands in front of her face as if praying.

"Come on." Rias clapped her hands together and smiled. "I know the perfect place to find something cute."

As the one in charge of this operation, which had been officially christened "Operation Find Ravel a Cute Outfit for her Date," Rias directed them to a store that she'd deemed contained appropriate date-wear.

The store they went into was a smaller boutique that focused on fashion for teen girls. Because Ravel was still getting used to reading kanji, she didn't know what the store was called, but it looked like a nice place. Racks filled with shirts and pants lined the store, cute coats and frilly dresses hung from hangers, and various jeans were folded up on shelves.

"Oh, Ms. Rias!" a woman exclaimed in surprised delight. She was a middle-aged woman, but due to her bright smile and sunny disposition, she appeared much younger. "It has been quite a while since I last saw you in my store."

"Hello, Karia," Rias greeted pleasantly. "I see that your daughter isn't working today."

"She's in college now." Karia's smile was that of a proud parent. "You know how some girls are. Do you need help finding anything, or should I stay out of the way this time?"

"I think we'll be fine for now, thank you." Rias placed a hand on Ravel's shoulder. "I'm just helping my friend pick out an outfit for her first date with the boy she likes."