A/N: I was admittedly inspired by @SeenDaBean, @Jam1911 and @misakoko7 for making this type of story. So we all have seen stories where it's a reader character that joins CiRCLE, right? Well I was hoping for something a little different this time. Why not everyone's favorite Devil Hunter?
Don't worry, there's gonna be some action involved. It isn't DMC without our badass demon slayer doing what he does best now is it?
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Any referenced franchise, songs or art used belong to their respective creators.
Japan, also known as the Land of the Rising Sun. A place with many events and happenings going on along with creating and being known for some of the best food in the house such as sushi, ramen among other things. Truly a beautiful place to live indeed.
As of recently, it's been an era of rising entertainment. From the famous Love Live! and school idols to girls forming a band, they're starting to get well known across the country. People of all ages frequently listen to their music and unfortunately, there's always that forbidden side of each fandom where they frequently butt heads over if school idols or band girls are better. Let's not get into that and just move on.
"Thank you, come again!" A girl with brown hair and similar eye color calls out to a group of customers leaving the cafe. She sighs slowly and looks at the clock.
"Wonder if the others are gonna be here soon." Thankfully, with her extracurricular activities she's allowed to leave anytime. She just needs to make sure that she's keeping up with all of her assignments and such.
She's supposed to talk to her band about practice and planning and such. How to expand their name and improve upon their next song, the usual. Now if only a certain bread lover can actually bother to get up and not make a pit stop at Yamabuki Bakery...
It's been about nearly two and a half hours since she started working, beginning about 8:00 in the morning where there's more people getting their daily dose of coffee and cakes. Even now people frequently come in and out of the cafe, more often than not satisfied with the food that's brought here. The job is no doubt rather difficult at times, but it's all par for the course. This is her family's cafe after all and it would be foolish leaving them to dry.
The bell rings once more, signifying someone opening the door. In comes a girl with black hair with a red stripe wearing a black leather jacket.
"Hey, Tsugu." The newcomer greets the waitress. The brown haired girl smiles upon seeing a familiar face.
"Hi, Ran! Table for one?" She nods her head as she leads her childhood friend into one of the tables.
(Ran POV)
Honestly, it felt nice just staying here. Despite the rather busy atmosphere of the cafe, it gave her a sense of familiarity and security. After all, this is one of the major places they hung out in when she met Tsugumi along with the others. As crazy as they are, she wouldn't hesitate to give them a helping hand when they need it.
The smell of coffee beans, soft murmur of the people talking along with the sight of one of her childhood friends brings back a slew of good memories indeed.
"We still on for band practice today, Ran?" Tsugu asks after giving a customer their designated food. Doing this for years has allowed her to multi-task.
"Yeah. We gotta work on this one song. There's this part that I may need some refining." Admits the black haired girl.
"Sounds good. I'll make sure Moca doesn't oversleep again." Ran gives her a small sheepish smile at that.
"Even after knowing her this long, I still don't get why she needs that much sleep to be honest."
"It's what makes her who she is. Who are we to deny it?" Ran couldn't disagree. She at least gave it her all when it comes to the band and that's all it matters. Even if it takes a lot of effort to get her out of bed. Usually having to either dangle some bread in front of her face or put one dangerously close to her mouth. Somehow that always wakes her up.
Snapping her out of her musings was the sound of the bell being rung, signifying someone coming through the door.
"Welco-" She heard Tsugumi say, only for her words to stop. Ran raises an eyebrow to see what's up, only for her to freeze in place upon seeing who she was looking at.
The person's clothing consisted of a red detailed short sleeved crimson coat with western and Italian features.
His hair is not to different from the color of snow itself much like a certain bushido loving keyboard idol. His eyes are akin to that of sapphires and holding an arctic gaze to it, making his facial expression relaxed, yet holding an icy feel to it.
Clothing consists of red pants that are covered by leather motorcycle chaps. He wears black boots and gloves that exposes the index fingers and knuckles on both hands and his pants are wrapped by black belt with a silver demonic skull. Overall, he wasn't too far off from a cowboy. A flamboyant looking cowboy but one nonetheless.
What's especially ridiculous is his height. The person standing before her towers over a lot of people his age, being over six feet and making him look down at her shorter form.
A small part of her felt admittedly intimidated just looking at his face. He carries himself in such a relaxed manner, yet far from unguarded is his posture. The aura he seems to emanate feel different compared to the boys around her age, not helping is his choice of clothing, which seem to fit him rather well, contrasting the light color of his hair and the dark theme of his clothes. A style not too far from her own.
"He's got an odd sense of style, yet it fits him." Admits Ran mentally. The clothes he's wearing makes him look like he's about to go into a rodeo. She really couldn't complain though, the color inexplicably suits him very well.
Tsugu also couldn't help but feel a little flustered herself seeing such a man before her. Of course, as a worker in a cafe she's had to talk to a few boys around her age that wanted to get a seat, yet looking at this person in front of her is making her feel kind of embarrassed and self conscious.
"U-um, sorry about that sir!" She stammers out, refusing to look at the white haired teen in his arctic blue eyes. The red coated teen merely shrugs it off, though a small smirk graced his lips, making her cheeks heat up a little more.
"Don't bother with the formalities. Got a table for one?" He asks her offhandedly, his voice somewhat deep and smooth.
"Yes, do you want it outside or inside?" The white haired teen ponders the question for a second.
"Inside's fine enough. Just close to the window please." Nodding her head, she leads him to a table fit for two people, with a vacant chair in front of him.
"This is the smallest table we can give right now. Are you okay with that?"
"It's cool. Thanks." Nodding her head in satisfaction, she then steps back from the mysterious stranger in front of her.
"Oh, wow..." Were the only thoughts that went through her head. He's honestly quite the unexpected in all the customers she's seen in all her time working here. Nevertheless, he's still a customer so as embarrassing as it feels to actually talk to the guy, she needed to as it's her job.
Several minutes pass as the brown haired girl continued to take orders from other customers, with the red coated enigma merely chilling in his seat, holding out a small booklet and a pencil in which he scribbles. With the immense amount of customers rolling up, it took awhile before she was able to get to the white haired teen, that feeling of self consciousness rising once more.
"Hi, I'm Tsugumi and I'll be your waitress for today! What can I get you?" His answer came not a moment too son.
"I'll take some of your best pancakes and a mug hot chocolate." He requests, taking his eyes off whatever he's drawing to look at the girl, making her cheeks heat up again. Nodding her head, she takes his menu.
"I'll be right back with your order!" She then goes to the back to tell the people to make said pancakes and chocolate.
Ran wordlessly looks at the stranger in red. Despite not doing much, he was able to turn her friend into a flustered mess.
Inexplicably, she wants to come up there to his table and try to get to know him better. Her eyes are following his every move and he seems to be chill enough with his eyes conveying a lack of interest around his surroundings.
"Is he a cosplayer? No, that's ridiculous. Don't know one costume that looks like that." Dealing with one of her bandmate's sister has given her what those types are like. Most are quick to show their true personality and/or mostly given a flair for the dramatic. If anything, he would be most likely spouting off about his hidden power about to burst out or something along those lines.
Inevitably, some of the patrons of the cafe are taking notice of the man clad in red, murmuring amongst themselves and mostly questioning the nature of his outfit. Regardless if the person in question heard it or not, he didn't really seem to give much of a damn as he's busy doing his own thing.
Ran could feel her face heating up slightly just looking at his face. She's had her fair experience meeting boys, but they were mostly fans just wanting her autograph and had rather generic hairstyles and hair colors. They were nothing special, really. Average looking at that.
True, there's someone among them that also has white hair, but she's a cheery, if odd, fellow who thinks everything is connected to the way of the samurai.
"Here's your order!" Tsugumi comes back with a mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream along with a stack of pancakes with maple syrup and butter. The teen in red just nods his head in thanks. Ran notices how her usually relaxed demeanor around customers is more tense than usual and any attempts of eye contact fail as she couldn't even look at him in the eye.
The red-clad person then cranes his head and the momentarily meet eye contact, sapphire meeting a pair of rubies. Ran felt her cheeks heat up even more and she immediately looks away on instinct. Little did she know, a small smirk graces the lad's lips.
"I don't even know the guy!" Ran mentally chastises herself. True, the red-coated person's mere arrival in this establishment already caused people to turn heads and whisper amongst themselves, yet already eyes are on him.
She could feel her cheeks heating up just trying to stare at his direction. Despite her embarrassment though, she felt it hard to tear her eyes away from the sight of him. Her shyness was also mixed in with intrigue.
Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Ran once again cranes her neck to see the red-coated person looking at her. His expression wasn't anything friendly nor was it hostile, just looking at her blankly.
His eyes look as if they're as cold as the arctic ice itself, a pair of sapphire orbs staring into her. She could feel herself getting drawn in by its color, as if the cold waters of the sea surrounded her being. She didn't feel cold whatsoever, merely curious as to how can someone such as him can cause someone like her into a flustered mess.
Ran feels a tap on her right shoulder and sees Tsugumi holding a plate of dark chocolate flavored crepes. She looked a bit worried with her hazing out.
"Are you okay?" The waitress asks with concern in her voice. Wordlessly, Ran nods her head.
"He's quite the looker isn't he?" Tsugu asks her, her cheeks turning as red as his coat.
"Why should I care?" The waitress merely gives her a teasing grin.
"I saw you staring at him just now. Even our fearless leader's swept up off her feet~" Ran buries her face in her hands embarrassedly, making Tsugumi chuckle with amusement. She drops off Ran's food to her table and takes off.
"Though I wish he'd look at me too." Tsugumi thinks with a small pout. She caught wind of how the person in the red coat shoots glances at Ran. She felt a twinge of envy for some reason. Despite knowing next to nothing, even she couldn't help but be drawn to that aloof act of his.
Having to deal with various people over the years as a waitress has given her a bit of an idea as to what type of customer she's going to handle. She couldn't really get a bead in this case.
Even with what little experience she and Ran both have talking to boys, it's still not something they're used to. Now they have to deal with this guy. Someone who made her and her leader into a flustered mess without having to do much.
The one in the red coat eats the pancakes slowly, indulging himself in the taste of the food. Though his outward expression didn't show it, the food was exemplary, along with the hot chocolate. Hey, pizza's fun to eat and all but eating other stuff wouldn't really hurt either.
"How's the food?" The white haired person's eyes darts to his waitress, a small blush visible on her face.
"Can see why this place is a hit. Feels kinda homely even with the crowd." He admits to her. Indeed, the smell of coffee being burnt reminds him of times when one of his partners brews up a cup. Coincidentally, the brand is the same one judging from the scent.
"I'm glad you like it!" The white haired person merely looks away and out into the crowd in front of him. His facial expression shifts slightly just looking at the sight of families hanging around and high schoolers hanging with their friends.
"So that's what it looks like." He thinks to himself. Must be nice just not having to worry about anything except homework. To have normal problems. Looking at the reflection of the glass in front of him, he cranes his head to see the brown haired girl still rooted in the same spot.
"Don't you have another customer to serve?" He asks the waitress. Blinking for a brief second and her blush returning full force, she apologizes and takes her leave. The white-haired lad just lazily resumes eating the food in front of him while looking out the streets.
He takes small sips of his drink, tasting the sweet and somewhat bitter taste of chocolate in his mouth. Ran could still hear some mutters about the red-coated person, yet he paid no heed to their words. If anything, his eyes conveyed that of utter boredom, with the only thing keeping him moving is finishing his food.
Seeing how nothing special is about to happen anytime soon, Ran finishes her plate of food soon enough. Surprisingly, they were still warm.
The one in the red coat's timing was impeccable as Tsugumi came around.
"I'll take the check." He then fishes out his wallet and hands her a huge stack of bills as a tip along with a credit card. The waitress' eyes widens when counting the amount.
"T-this is quite a lot for a tip." Mumbles the brown haired girl.
"It's cool, I got more than that." He replies nonchalantly. Seeing as how he was more than ready to part with that much cash, Tsugumi slowly goes back to a register to get him processed and checked out, which didn't take long to do honestly.
The brown haired girl then gives him his credit card, allowing him to take his leave of the establishment. Brushing off his coat, he could see Ran briefly stare at his face, eyes making contact once again.
Smirking, the white-haired lad winks at her which causes her to tense and shyly look away before he's walking out the door with his hands in his pockets. Touching the sides of her face, Ran found her cheeks ten times warmer than they were before.
"Idiot!" Rages the black-haired girl. She actually didn't think that such a simple response could elicit something like this out of her. Her face is so red that steam could be coming out of her ears to further highlight her embarrassment.
"Why didn't he wink at me?" Tsugumi pouts cutely with her cheeks puffed up. She saw what he did and just how badly it turned Ran's face into a steaming tomato. She normally has it together most of the time and the boys they talk do couldn't even elicit such responses from her, yet a mere wink turned her into an utterly flustered mess. Not that she's any different either, in all honesty.
"The great Moca-chan has arrived!" A voice that sounds like someone who's in need of a nap voices out from the entrance door, which are opened. Ran and Tsugumi look for the source of the noise and see some familiar faces.
"Ah, Tsugu! Working hard I see!" Replies the maroon haired one.
"Hi, Tomoe! Ran's here too!" Tsugu points at the black haired girl sitting on the table.
"Tsugu! Give me some of that cake!" The pink-haired girl hugs her excitedly, making Tsugumi chuckle in amusement.
The one who introduced herself slinks over to her friend and sees her face to be slightly red.
"Oh~ Ran's face is a little red over here? Did something happen~" Moca asks in that lazy tone of hers.
"Nothing happened." Moca wasn't convinced.
"Ran, you're not very good at lying, you know~" The blond girl gives Ran one of her classic smug looks, smiling at her.
"What, a boy came in here or something?" Tomoe jokes, chuckling a little bit until Ran's face burns brighter and Tsugumi's face turns into a small shade of red herself. Something that didn't go unnoticed by the group.
"EH?!" The drummer didn't expect her to actually become even more embarrassed than before, burying her face underneath the palm of her hands to hide her embarassment.
"Whoa, how'd he look like?" Himari asks curiously.
"He's about over six feet, white hair, blue eyes and red coat. He looked pretty jaw-dropping." Admits Tsugumi. Moca's grin widens when seeing her slightly blushing face.
"How's he like?" Tomoe asks.
"Rather quiet and didn't talk to me unless it's about the order." Admits the brown haired girl. She then adds this.
"He actually winked at her before he left." Moca, Himari and Tomoe's eyes widen and Ran's face turns even more red.
"EH?!!!"
"Ohoho~ So our lead vocalist and guitarist has gotten the attention of a guy~" Moca's grin grows much wider, to her dismay.
"I wonder how he looked like though." Himari ponders.
"Ehehe...His outfit's kinda weird."
"What, is he wearing a clown outfit?" Tsugumi shakes her head.
"You'll just have to see."
(Some Day Later...)
Ah, yes the taste of fries, burgers and fast food. To anyone that goes to the local McDonalds, Popeyes, Wendy's or any other place one would prefer, when it comes to getting a quick yet delectable bite, fast food is the way to go no matter the occasion. No matter where you are and what country and time it's in, it's never too late to get the Kentucky fried chicken or an iconic Big Mac.
Predictably, the fast food joint in question gave off a lively vibe in contrast to the serene atmosphere of Hazawa Cafe. A lot of people are either going through the drive-thru to pick up their food or waiting in line until they get upfront. It's kinda like going to Costco on a Monday.
"Here's your order of fries!" A blue-haired girl with purple eyes brings an order of the salty goodness to the customer in question, who wordlessly takes it but not before dropping off some cash as a tip.
The moment the customer retreats back to the designated table they went to in the first place was the moment the blue-haired girl lets out a sigh of relief. Even after performing in front of a crowd and dealing with this job she still has her fair share of problems when it comes to dealing with a sea of people.
"Kanon-chan!" A voice calls out behind her. The person in question is a girl around the same age as her with pastel pink shoulder length hair and eyes of the same color along with using the same work uniform.
"Aya-chan!" The blue haired girl calls out in surprise.
"How you feeling?." The pinkette replies while simultaneously packaging a couple hamburgers and giving them to one of the people working on the drive-thru.
"I'm getting used to the crowd somewhat." Kanon replies somewhat shyly. Aya chuckles at her friend's shyness. She knows the feeling of dealing with such a crowd. Even after dealing with them constantly, her minds tends to lock up a lot.
"You'll do fine. At least you aren't fainting." Kanon wordlessly nods her head. One of the perks of having a leader whose energy borders on crazy: It allows one to take them out of their comfort zone and face new challenges.
"Any band practice today?" Aya shakes her head.
"No, Chisato-chan's got a rehearsal and Eve-chan's got kendo practice. What about you?" Kanon ponders the question while grabbing the order of another customer and putting it upfront where it's waiting to be taken. The receipt's also in front of the bag along with the name and order number.
"Kokoro-chan's got another crazy idea about making the world smile."
"I don't know how you can put up with her. Then again, I've got Hina-chan." Sighs the pink-haired girl.
"You get used to it in time." Just then, someone from the back calls Aya's name.
"Hold on, Kanon-chan." Nodding her head, the pinkette goes to the back to pick up some more potatoes to put in the fryer.
The process was the same as usual. Kanon took the orders of anyone that went into her line and waiting for them to be finished so that she can put it upfront. Predictably, the crowd around the area's a little bit on the huge side especially since it's a weekend after all. It's common for young and old folks to spend their time here.
Fortunately, her break is about to come within a matter of minutes and she can take a brief respite against facing those sea of people.
Kanon could hear the faint sound of a motorcycle's engine coming near and then suddenly stopping. Even among the combined voices of people talking, its engines could be heard.
Not a moment too soon, the blue-haired girl sees the doors open once more.
"Welcome to-" The moment Kanon saw the person that came in, her mind suddenly stops working. That shy feeling whenever she enters a large crowd or performs into a band comes back in full force.
Someone came into the front door looking over six feet in height. His hair's the color of snow itself. His eyes are as deep blue as sapphires yet his eyes hold an arctic gaze to them that can make lesser men tremble.
He's wearing red pants with two black belts wrapped around his right thigh along with another belt to hold up said pants along with black boots. His coat has an upturned collar and short sleeves with black cuffs. Underneath he wears a black long sleeve with a red vest and black gloves that cover his hands, despite the weather not being ideal as it seems to be getting warmer.
His outfit makes him stand out amongst the crowd of students wearing school uniforms and adults donning business outfits. Hell, his height alone already makes him taller than most of the patrons in this fast food establishment.
The teen's hands are within his pants pockets, slowly walking down towards her with a look of cold nonchalance, his face not smiling nor frowning yet his sapphire eyes occasionally taking glances at his surroundings.
Kanon suddenly felt self-conscious upon just looking at him. The first time she felt when Kokoro dragged her into performing...that feeling just multiplied.
She wanted to look away from his face, yet found herself unable to and as if in a trance just stares at the red-clad teen in front of her. A blush adorns her cheeks and her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest.
"I don't get it. I've talked to boys before." Kanon wonders to herself. It's inevitable considering the nature of her job, so why is it that she feels embarrassed just staring at this guy in front of her?
Kanon fidgets in place, lightly putting her fingers together while still busy staring at the guy in question. It's kind of ridiculous. Sure she isn't exactly someone who frequently talks to boys because of her going to a school full of girls and all, but even she couldn't deny how flustered she feels. Embarrassed as she was, she can't find herself to tear away from his taller form. How could one person give this kind of effect on her? Someone who she just met?
Her purple eyes then trail over to his arms, chest and legs. Despite his clothes somewhat hiding his physique, she can tell he's rather muscular and has the sudden urge to grab his arm and feel him up.
"Kanon-chan! Kanon-chan!" She couldn't even hear Aya called out to her until the pink haired girl comes besides her.
"What's the big ide-" Her words suddenly stop when she finds what she's looking at the male with a red coat and sapphire orbs along with white hair. Like Kanon, Aya's mind went on a bit of a troubleshoot as her eyes more or less look up the customer up and down.
"So handsome..." Were her only thoughts just staring at him. With her being an idol and all, she's talked to boys, but they were either fans of hers or utter creeps and most of them are wearing some sort of school uniform and had brown/black hair.
Her heart also feels like it's about to jump out of embarrassment, shyness and excitement. In all her time of being an idol she didn't expect someone of his caliber to grace her with his presence. Hell, more often than not she's charming her fans with how cute she is.
Now she knows how it feels to be on the other side.
Like Kanon, a blush adores her cheeks and with every moment of looking at him, her flustered feelings grew ever higher.
The teen in question picks his orders and drinks on the menu above, ignoring the stares of the two girls in front of him and some of the fast food patrons making comments about his choice of clothing.
"U-um..." Aya tries to talk, but her mind's still in the process of rebooting. Kanon couldn't even form a word herself unless "Fuee" counts as such.
"Extra cheese on the pizza but no olives." His words fell on deaf ears as both Aya and Kanon were busy looking at him with their curiosity getting the better of them along with a light blush adorning their faces and busy getting lost looking at his face.
The red-clad person waves a hand in front of their face but that didn't seem to work out. He snaps his fingers, then claps his hands. Nothing seems to be working at the moment.
"Okay, as flattering as this is I really want my food." He thinks to himself. As if to answer his prayers, a loud beeping sound came from the back which snaps the girls out of their trance. Kanon was about to get it until one of the employees working at the back took out the fries out of the fryer and put them on a plate.
Just then, the blush on their faces become an even brighter shade of red as they realized what they've been doing the past minute.
"I-I'm so sorry! I-I've never seen anyone l-like you and I thought you were handsome-" Aya slaps a hand on her mouth and averts her eyes from the white haired teen's taller form.
"Fuee..." Kanon squeaks out, pushing her index fingers together shyly and looking down on the floor. Good thing there aren't any customers behind him.
He couldn't help but smirk in amusement. Those two are so cute.
"It's cool. If it's any consolation you guys aren't exactly first timers." Was his mere reply.
"Of course not! Do you look at yourself in the mirror?" Aya replies in her head. His distinct appearance alone is bound to turn a few his way.
"Don't worry I'm not mad. Though it's pretty cute when you're blushing like that." Admits the white haired teen with his iconic smirk. Aya puts a strand of hair behind her ear, unable to look at him in the eye. Kanon puffs her cheeks at the pink haired girl.
"A-anyway what can we get you?" The blue haired girl asks the customer in front of them, although the blush from their faces hasn't removed, merely reduced.
"Couple slices of pizza with everything on it. Minus the olives. Oh, and a Coke." He takes out his wallet and slides his credit card towards the girls. After pressing some buttons, the girls processed his order and gives him back his card.
"Okay! We'll call you when your food's ready!" He nods his head and sits by on one of the nearest booths.
"Fuee..." Kanon squeaks out cutely. All Aya could do was give her friend a pat on the shoulder in an attempt to console her.
"Just who is he though?" Ponders the pink haired girl. For someone whose appearance along had gotten the attention of almost everyone within the joint. Some of the people start to whisper about him. How odd that not even a cosplayer could actually get that much attention. Hell, not even a certain purple haired drummer can have people glancing his way with her attempts to be cool.
As if to interrupt her thought, more people came into the joint. About five people around the same age if a bit somewhat older comes to the front desk. The moment their eyes laid upon Aya and Kanon, their eyes had a mischievous glint within them.
Some of the people begin to look nervous and even skittish, yet none of them made any moves to leave out of fear of any consequences that might happen. Only the white haired teen wearing the red coat stayed calm and didn't even move from his position.
"H-hello. Can I take your order?" Aya asks, albeit a little nervous and unnerved. Even after having to deal with some rather unsavory people with the attention of being an idol and all, it still doesn't make it less annoying having to deal with such people.
"Aya Maruyama and Kanon Matsubara of Pastel*Palettes and Hello Happy World. A pair of cuties indeed." The leader replies with a grin on his face. In contrast to the one in the red coat, this one seemed more predatory.
"It seems a divine being has blessed us with the presence of these two angels." Unbeknownst to anyone, the white haired teen's face twitches slightly while Aya and Kanon look even more uncomfortable.
"A pleasure to meet you, m'lady." Bows one of the leader's men, who is wearing a fedora for a reason. Aya and Kanon just cringe at the sight.
"Why don't you go ditch this place and-" The sound of Kanon calling out an order interrupts their flirting.
"Order #5!" On cue, the one with the white hair gets up from his booth and casually walks over to the pickup section. Despite the potential signs of danger happening, he showed no signs of apprehension or fear.
If anything, he looked downright bored.
The five men grit their teeth in annoyance for having their flirtations interrupted by this upstart. Aya and Kanon could do nothing but look in worry.
"Hey, red!" He merely ignores the leader and goes on his way back to his seat until the leader walks toward him and roughly grabs his shoulder. He wordlessly turns his head and sees the leader looking all pissed at him. Despite that, his face still hasn't changed from its bored expression. Aya and Kanon just widen their eyes in fear.
"You know, it's rude to interrupt when we're flirting with these lovely ladies right?" His response was a mere shrug of his shoulders.
"Now I don't like the way you look, pretty boy, You see, you're potentially robbing us of any girls to pick up. It's not fair, ya know?" His eyes merely looks at the person grabbing his shoulder.
"Should I buy you and your friends a bottle of water? You all look like you haven't had a drink in days. Especially Mr. Neckbeard over here." The red-coated man points at the one wearing a fedora, who looks just as angry as their leader. Aya and Kanon just blink in surprise that the red-coated lad actually talked back to them while some of the patrons stifled their snickers.
"Excuse me! I've been getting a lot of requests to meet on Tinder and I've dated six girls for the past month." The men around them cheered for the fedora wearing dude, but the person they're harassing didn't look the least bit impressed.
"Oh, really? I'm guessing they haven't seen an actual picture of you looking like you eat nothing but Cheez Whiz and whipped cream." He then cranes his neck to the leader.
"Then again, if this is how you and your men act on dates, no wonder why girls act like you've all got herpes." Predictably, the leader got mad and tried to punch him, only for it to be caught, stopping its trajectory while holding his tray on the other hand.
The white haired teen boredly looks at the leader. He then applies more pressure on his left wrist, causing the person to emit a loud girlish scream from his mouth.
He cried in pain as he can feel his hand digging into his bones. The mere pressure of squeezing his hand is causing his pain receptors to flare up. Aya and Kanon just watch as the red-clad teen just roughly throws the guy to the wall near the doors, literally throwing him off his feet.
The white haired teen just looks expectantly at the rest of the group, as if he was expecting them to try and jump him. Needless to say, his answer came in the form of two of the men charging in and trying to hit the one clad in crimson, yet he dodges those moves just by moving his upper body while holding his tray at the same time.
Said white haired dude follows up with a knee to the face then kicking his gut, making the guy yelp in pain and clutch his stomach tightly.
"Die!" The remaining three men then charge at the same with with one of them coming from behind, trying to surround the one person they're trying to teach a lesson. He trips one of the men, causing him to faceplant on the floor.
Holding the tray that contained his food onto his other hand, he catches a jab then roughly yanks the person in and sending them reeling to the wall with a left hook. Said white haired person then roughly shoves Neckbeard to one of his recovering comrades, who were slowly recovering only to epically fail. Eventually, he then finds himself surrounded by all five men, who were grinning evilly.
"Ok, hotshot. You've had your fun taking one of us on, but can you fend off against five people at once?!" The leader then pulls out a knife out of his pocket, making the nearby patrons along with Aya and Kanon gasp in horror.
Normally, most people would try and run away from a situation like this or start begging for mercy. The leader was hoping that the prospect of being surrounded would scare him a little bit. Instead, the white haired lad merely rolls his eyes in annoyance and breathes loudly through his nose.
"Get him!" All five people charge at once. They expected him to try and curl up into a ball and start begging for mercy and praise how badass and tough they are. Yeah...nope.
The red-clad teen throws his tray in the air, then connects a right hook on one of the men. He backhands Neckbeard onto the wall near the exit, slamming into it face first and making some of the patrons wince.
Stunning two more attackers, he harshly headbutts them together, making them scream in pain. He then kicks one of them on his back and sends him flying to a wall. A punch to the gut made him gasp for air before he too joined his comrades within the land of dreams.
The leader's arm was then broken by a brutal karate chop, but his screams were cut short by a punch to his solar plexus followed with an uppercut that gave the leader some airtime, yet he grabs him by the leg and slams him down on the floor, allowing him to bounce up slightly from the impact and making him cough out spit.
Seeing his minions were about to get up, he then grabs the leader by the head and slides him down the floor, effectively hitting all three people at the same time.
The tray and the food he threw in the air were now starting to be affected by gravity, and started to fall...onto the red-coated person's hand. Setting them down on his table, he gives Neckbeard a rather bored facial expression.
"Buddy, lose the damn fedora. You ain't fooling anyone by looking like Jabba the Hutt's cousin and drooling over every cute girl that walks by." Neckbeard then grits his teeth, then pulls something out of his pocket that made everyone gasp.
"Oh shit, he's got a gun!!" One of the patrons shrieked. Almost everyone tried their best to take cover and even the worker moved out of the counter to try to be safe from his fire.
"How about we make a deal, pretty boy! If you leave right now and maybe let me take one of those cuties over there, I'll consider letting you live." To prove his point, he aims his pistol towards the white haired teen, who remains unfazed by the threat, instead looking outright disappointed.
"Ya know, I'm surprised you haven't died of dehydration yet. Have any of you even seen a girl that's not in an anime?." Alas, his voice fell on deaf ears.
"One..two...three..." Rolling his eyes, the red-clad teen slowly walks forward.
"Screw it, time to-" His words were cut short when the white haired person closed the gap between him and Neckbeard in a matter of milliseconds then presses his palm on his face and pushes it towards the nearest wall, effectively knocking him out. He then slumps down, unable to get up.
Understandably, no one said a word. All were too shocked at what just happened to even process the events that recently transpired right now.
Eventually, the person near him start to clap. Then more people begin to join in, effectively adding on to the cheer of having such people taken care of. Most of the patrons were literally yelling in delight and clapping for the red-coated person in question. They all effectively applauded him for his bravery. Even Aya and Kanon start to clap themselves.
It all died down eventually, then the patrons resume doing their daily activities and talking amongst themselves once more.
"Whoa, who is he?" Aya ponders to herself. She just saw someone take on five guys, not to mention how two of them were armed with weapons. His facial expression remained similar throughout the ordeal, never showing any signs of fear or hesitation. If anything, he looked like this is a daily occurence to him.
"That was awesome." Admits Kanon. The pink haired girl could just nod her head. Just then, the white-haired lad roughly picks up the unconscious Neckbeard along with the rest of his retinue, carrying them all effectively without the weight slowing him down one bit. Aya and Kanon could just do nothing but drop their jaws at his insane display of strength.
The sight of their savior carrying all the thugs out made them cheer even more as he roughly drops them near the restaurant and takes out a paper and pen from his pocket, writing something on said paper and plastering it on one of the unconscious bodies. He then makes his way back to the counter, where Aya and Kanon couldn't help but feel even more nervous now.
"Sorry about the mess, ladies." He replies offhandedly.
"I-it's okay. You've actually helped us a lot." Kanon replies softly. He then takes out a wad of bills from his pants pocket and tosses it to Aya, who barely caught it.
"Wait, you've already paid for your food." She tells him, baffled.
"Consider that a tip for your service. Least you're nicer compared to the last guy that gave me pizza."
"O-oh don't worry-"
"It's cool, don't fret over the amount. Though can you give me a box and plastic please?" Kanon was already on it, going from the staff area and coming out holding said items.
Aya then fishes something out of her pocket and puts it in the bag. He merely raises an eyebrow, but the pink haired girl just gives him a cute wink and a smile with her face still sporting that adorable blush.
"Thanks." He then puts his pizza within the box and secures it to make sure it doesn't fall or open. Aya then comes out to the other side holding some equipment to clean to try and clean up the mess, only for her clumsiness to kick in which would've made her fall...
Until the white haired teen grabs a hold of her to make sure she doesn't fall. Aya expected to hit the cold hard ground yet instead seeing a shade of red. Looking up, she saw Dante holding his arm around her shorter form to keep her from falling. Their faces are inches from one another, with pastel pink eyes looking at a pair of deep blue.
Realizing the position she's in, her face turns red and she tries to back away yet was about to lose her balance once more until he gently hold her by her shoulders.
"I-I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me-" A gloved hand touches Aya's lips, making her face blush even brighter.
"Aren't you a cute little klutz." He gives her a small smirk, yet his arctic eyes showed a hint of concern. The pink haired girl could feel herself getting even more embarrassed while Kanon pouts cutely at her.
"I-I-I" Aya could feel herself overheating at this very moment before shaking her head and cools down. He merely sighs and runs a hand through his hair. The pink haired girl shyly looks at him then averts her gaze once more.
"As fun as this was, I gotta be off.." The white haired teen then takes off and exits the area himself, though with some of the people, including Aya and Kanon watching him go.
"Oh, we forgot to ask for his name!" Realizes the blue haired girl. Aya could feel the apprehension within her disappear as soon as he left. Not because she was scared, but rather just being around someone like him made her feel conscious.
"No fair! Making Kanon and I act so embarrassed!" She cutely pouts and mentally groans within her mind.
"I'll call the police and tell them what happened here." Aya nods her head at the suggestion of her friend. With the tension disappearing, she goes back to cleaning up the floors.
(Different POV)
"That was something." He thinks to himself. It's been about a month or two since he and his twin bro were fooling around/severing the roots of a certain tree grown from human blood. His older bro always looked out for him since they were kids, and it's only fair if he has to do the same. Even if he goes a little off his rocker. Twice, although the second time it was inflicted by him. Wherever he is, Red Grave doesn't exist in the map.
Within a nearby store, he takes a good look at himself. His hair became white as snow once more, becoming smooth and his face is devoid of any signs of aging. No wrinkles, facial hair nothing of the sort upon coming here. Despite his ridiculous height of 6'4, he estimates his age to be around fifteen or sixteen years. He smirks. Looks good to be young again.
His phone rings. Taking out the smartphone out of his jacket pocket, he presses it on his right ear.
"Devil May Cry."
"Am I speaking to the one called Dante?" The person on the other side voices out in a laid-back manner.
"You've read the fine print, haven't you?" Deadpans the white-haired lad.
"Of course, of course. I was hoping to employ your services for a...supernatural case." He raises his eyebrow at this.
"Back to work so soon after my last case?" He honestly wasn't complaining though. Money is money.
"Alrighty, let's hear it."
"Excellent. Clients have told me about your expertise in killing these...demons, I believe they're called?" Turns out that whatever plane of existence he ended up in, seems he has to clean up the mess of his old man once more.
"Yep yep. Lemme guess, there's a group of them that wants to be gone."
"Correct, my boy. It's within an abandoned area. I'll send you the coordinates. Do this and you'll find yourself swimming in a little more cash." A grin makes its way to Dante's face.
"Deal." Laughter could be heard on the other side.
"Excellent! The location will be sent soon enough." Said client then hangs up. Sure enough, the coordinates were sent to his phone shortly. Dante couldn't resist the excitement the coursed through him.
(Meanwhile...)
"Well, I knew he'd take the bait." Grins a man in his twenties with a black beard and hair but with golden bangs. He wears a maroon V-neck maroon long-coat along with gray pants and brown shoes.
He's heard the rumors. A person no older than fifteen or sixteen years of age wearing a crimson coat and a white hair. His appearance alone made it easy to pin him as something different. However, he felt something within that boy.
A power similar to that of the denizens of the underworld itself. Yet it felt more...raw. It wasn't like the current generation, but one compared to the past. It felt akin to a volcano preparing to erupt, yet far from reaching its breaking point. Not to mention how poses himself as a sell sword to taking out these demons.
It's odd. Those demons came around the same time as the crimson-clad teen. However, it's far too early to draw conclusions.
He snaps his fingers, and a young woman with violet eyes and black hair appear out from the shadows.
"Follow Dante and see what he can do." Nodding her head, she disappears. He couldn't help but grin. Things are about to get interesting.
(With Dante...)
"Glad it's not another warehouse for damn once." Dante says to himself. The coordinates lead him to an abandoned area of the city. Not a single soul in sight.
An abandoned street filled with nothing more than broken street lamps and other things. Debris and dust lay on the ground, only to be caught by the wind.
Dante walks in the middle of the street with his hands in his pockets. Despite the eerie feeling of the environment he's in, not a single ounce of fear is wracking within his body.
Before he could go any further however, they rose. Within a pool of crimson vigor they rose from the very depths of the earth itself, materializing within a matter of seconds. Many of those pools rose from the ground, effectively coating the street in front of him in blood. Eventually they begin to slowly disappear and replace the pools of blood with the gray concrete. Some of them are floating in midair as well.
Creatures of all various sizes appear. From the Hell Prides to the Empusa they've appeared in front of Dante looking for not only a snack but also a debt to pay.
"Son of Sparda. Even in here, you've arrived." One of the demons growl at him.
"Your blood will be ours to feast on, son of the traitor!"
"Tonight, we-" Its words got interrupted in the form of a bullet whizzing through his head, instantly killing the demon.
In Dante's hands are a pair of pistols, one black and the other white. A pair of customized M1911s with the words, "For Tony Redgrave, by .45 Art Warks" engraved on it.
"Yeah, yeah I've heard it all before. Now all of you line up." Like a zombie horde, all of them charge towards Dante with the intent to kill. His face morphs into a cocky grin.
"Let's rock!!!"
Dante slowly walks forward, shooting every nearby demon in the head with pinpoint accuracy. With every bullet that passes through them, they immediately fall down, dead. One of the demons wielding a scythe tries to slash at him, only for it to be blocked by Ebony with Ivory and peppering the attacker with a hail of bullets. Backflipping and his head facing the sky, he shoots any demon that was hovering in the air, falling down and disintegrating almost instantly.
One of the floating demons named Baphomet tried to shoot him with a hail of ice, except his seemingly disappears at the last second and appears in front of said demon. Before it could react, both the twin pistols made short work of the poor demon whose screams were immediately silenced.
Without even looking up, he points Ebony towards the sky and shoots upwards. A few seconds later, some bat-like demons end up falling, disintegrating in the process.
Using the shield of a Proto Angelo as a foothold, he boosts himself upwards and shoots another Baphomet, stunning it for a brief moment before using it as a footstool once more and jumping upwards, creating a platform to launch himself higher.
"Coward! Come face us, halfling!" Dante's response is to grin even more widely. Reaching the peak of his jump, he lets gravity take over and allow his descent. Predictably, some of the enemies that can fly try to reach to his level in an attempt to take him on.
With both twin pistols still on hand and falling headfirst into the ground, Dante switches to accurately shoots the weak spots of any demon trying to come close to him. Spinning like a top, he showers the sky with a hail of bullets , covering every possible weak spot and effectively shredding every single demon that try to come close to him. A few Green Empusa and some Sargasso effectively got caught up in the rain of fire along with some more Baphomets who tried to shit him with the same hail of ice.
Within his vision Dante saw a red streak teleporting across the field of battle. Whenever it approaches the Son of Sparda, it instead disappears in an attempt to fake him out.
Sensing danger behind him, be raises his twin pistols and blocks a sneak attack. The source of said attack came from a red demon who can spawn blades from its arms, appropriately named Fury. Before it could teleport, Dante aims and shoots, but it was able to slash the bullet, only for one of them to go through its gut.
Dante then brandishes a skull-shaped backplate with wing sheathes extended outward.
Dante reaches behind him and throws a sword imbued with demonic energy, impaling the poor Fury. Before it could try and recover, Dante takes out four more, one impaling the demon in each arm and leg. It screeches in pain as it falls down to the ground. Brandishing several more, Dante threw them at some of the fliers and takes out a few more, leaving them floating in the air.
The moment he touches the ground and landing feet first, a group of Hell Prides immediately go on the offensive and attack him. The Fury also seems to have recovered as well, charging towards the Son of Sparda. Clapping his hands, the swords that were impaled on the demons exploded, causing them to instantly disintegrate. The group of Hell Prides that tried to attack them ended up getting pinned to the ground via Lucifer's swords and eventually explodes, taking them out as well.
Yawning in boredom, a demon wielding a pair of scissors try to get him from behind, only to be forced on the defensive by the blast of a double-barrel shotgun.
Teleporting in front, he balances himself upon the weapon of the Death Scissors, but it got a load of buckshot right on its face before it could even react. Twirling the shotgun like a nunchuck, he switches to his beloved twin pistols just in time to react to the swing of a scythe, in which he slides under. Taking aim, he fills the attacker with bullet holes and throws a couple demonic imbued swords courtesy of Lucifer.
"Son of Sparda!!!" A loud roar shakes throughout the area. Dante could feel the ground shaking yet he kept himself upright, never falling down. What came into view is a demon that looks like an orangutan. A very large one at that.
"Hmm, this one's bigger compared to the one I fought in the past." Ponders the mercenary. Looks to be like about the size of one of the earlier demon bosses Nero fought within the invasion of Red Grave City thanks to that tree.
The demon skids into a stop in front of Dante and bares its teeth towards the half-demon.
"It seems that even in this realm of existence you come. Good, it's a pleasure to eliminate the remnants of-" Demonic-imbued swords stuck to his arms and chest, which then exploded not a moment too soon, stunning the orangutan demon for a moment.
"Wow, I've heard that line over a thousand times already." Deadpans the red-clad teen with the most bored expression he could muster. In retaliation, the demon lunges towards Dante and punches him, effectively flattening the ground and creating a point of impact...
Until the person who's in the receiving end is holding up the demon's fist with merely one hand and with a cocky smirk on his face. Despite his smaller size, he effectively pushes back the larger demon. Sighing through his nose, his nonchalant grin shows itself.
"Seems old enemies are coming back to kill me again, ain't that a surprise." He then sees the horde of demons that he fought recently and in the past. Baphomets, Hell Prides, Marionettes...
"Demons working together, huh? Nice to know you've got a show of camaraderie."
"The Demon World hunts for you and your brother, half-spawn. It's only fair we put aside our grudges for now." The orangutan demon explains.
"Least you're making this fun for me. Now then..." Dante summons a motorcycle forged from demonic metal.
"IT'S SHOWTIME!!!!"
Grinning like a madman, Dante revs up his bike and charges forward. The orangutan demon beats its chest like a gorilla and roars in kind, with lesser demons backing him up. The moment they met contact, Dante immediately plowed through about 20 lesser demons before the larger demon tries to attack him with its fists. Bad idea, as Dante immediately rides up through its arm.
Sensing danger, the orangutan demon tries to shake it off, but the motorcycle stayed put, reaching right into its chest. Dante then separates the motorcycle into a pair of saws and plunges them through its hairy chest, making it howl in pain and drawing blood. A Baphomet demon launches some ice at Dante, who recombines the saws into a bike and drives up the Orangutan's chest and shoves the back wheel onto its face, making it cry in pain and tip over.
Jumping off the larger demon, he shoots some of the fliers with Ebony and Ivory before teleporting in mid air and slamming the pair of saws that is Cavaliere to the ground. Revving up both of the saws, Dante spins like a top, effectively sweeping away any poor demon that tried to kill him. Only a timely teleportation was he saved from the blade of a Fury, which unfortunately got its face shredded to death.
A blast of wind forces him to dodge sideways, getting some of the demons caught up in the attack. Seeing the lesser demons between him and the orangutan demon, he runs toward the larger demon, pointing Ebony and Ivory at any nearby demon that tries to kill him. Thanks to his own demonic energy creating the bullets, reloading is something he never needed to do. Shooting one of the larger demon's eyes, it roars in pain from the impact of the bullets.
"Die, weak half-spawn!" The orangutan demon pries off a piece of concrete from the ground and throws it at Dante, who leaps over the large debris. It then attempted to do this several more times, in which the red-themed half-demon slides under, backflips and even uses them as a foothold to get up to the top.
Using his motorcycle, he revs toward the larger monster, who tries to desperately fend him off and was able to stop his momentum and actually slug him to a nearby abandoned building, in which he finds himself within an abandoned work office.
Enduring worse hits, Dante was able to get up in a matter of seconds, although shards of glass are embedded within the Son of Sparda. Even though they were embedded into his skin, his clothes didn't seem to suffer from any kind of damage.
The demon then charges towards Dante and tries to take out the building he's on, but he jumps down the last second. Not letting up on the fervor, it tries to attack Dante once more until its arm was no longer a part of its body.
In hand is a sword whose hilt consists of a dragon biting the blade and the wings acting as its guard.
Blue lighting seem to arc off the blade of the sword, the weapon obeying its master.
Dante charges forward, blinding the orangutan demon with a hail of bullets from his twin pistols and switching to Lucifer and throws about ten swords, most landing at its damaged chest and two of them landing into each of its eyes, making the poor sod yell in pain.
He then uses Alastor to sever its leg, forcing it to kneel. Dante then severs its other arm and leg before jabbing the claymore onto the demon's face. Pouring his demonic energy, lighting shoots from the blade, shocking the poor demon and frying it alive from the inside before it went faint, disintegrating once more.
A small sigh escapes his lips. Even though he took out the so called "boss" of this mission, lesser demons seem to rise from the ground once more. More lesser demons arise from the earth itself, replacing the numbers it lost.
In front of Dante is an army of demons of all sizes and shapes. Some can fly, shoot fire or whatever, but they're all working in one goal: To take his life.
Normally, the sight of demons ranging nearly over one hundred fifty would make most people crap their pants. The idea of being outnumbered would discourage most people.
Instead, the Son of Sparda's grin got wider. He could still feel the thrill of the fight. The danger of when his healing factor isn't enough to sustain him. The thrill of mowing down those that tried to make an attempt at his life. It's a thrill he felt since they continually hunted him for dead and sure as hell won't disappear anytime soon.
They all charge Dante in a Zerg rush, all of them voicing their intent to kill the half human/demon in front of him. The Son of Sparda breaks out into a dash and jumps upward, raising Alastor high in the air.
"It's about to get crazy!"