章 116: Chapter 116: Arrogant
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A month ago, and yet I'm just finding out about this very big problem now. At the very last moment possible. How am I suppose to take that? I knew something was wrong, and yet you still chose to keep it secret from me. It is also pretty clear that the only reason you told me now is because you had no choice."
"T-That's…not…" Rias stuttered out, unsure of really how to respond.
"That's what I thought," Naruto remarked with a disappointed sigh at her difficulty in giving him an answer.
Rias didn't know how to respond. Finally she just whispered, "You're right. I should have told you. I just…didn't want to." Rias paused for several moments before asking, "Are you still willing to come running if I have a problem?"
"Of course, Rias-chan," Naruto replied immediately, no hesitation whatsoever. Giving Rias a grin, he told her honestly, "You'll find out it will take a lot more than this to send me running. I'll pout and whine for a while, but I'm not the kind of guy whose loyalty is so weak as to allow something like this affect him."
Rias gave a small, happy smile at his answer as she told him, "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I really appreciate your help."
Putting his arms behind his head, Naruto commented thoughtfully, "Still wish you would have told me sooner. Yeah, we've been training, but it was without any real purpose. If we knew earlier we could have properly prepared and come up with a plan, you know."
"That's exactly why I didn't tell you, Naruto-kun," Rias declared. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she finally explained to the confused Naruto, "I didn't want anymore reminders of Riser than I already did. I've long known about my engagement to Riser, and I thought about it all the time. Way more than I wish I did. Akeno, Yuuto, and Koneko all knew as well. Every time I go home, I have to deal with my parents trying to convince me to agree to the marriage. It feels like everywhere I go, the signs were always right in my face. You, Asia, and Raynare not knowing…it was a breath of fresh air. I knew if I told you though, you'd constantly work to handle it. You're just the type of guy that plows straight ahead, facing every problem head on. It's admirable, no doubt about that, but I didn't want to spend every hour of every day worrying about this."
Naruto just listened as Rias gave a sigh and continued, "You guys being ignorant of Riser meant that I had a distraction from it all. It might have been a foolish desire, but…I didn't want what little normality I had in my life come to an end. My engagement to Riser has already upset my life more than enough."
Naruto scratched the back of his head and admitted, "I guess that makes sense. Still going to pout and whine about not being told, but you are human…okay, you're actually a devil, but what I mean is that everyone deserves to be selfish sometimes."
"Human nature, huh?" Rias commented with slight amusement before adding, "Should probably be called devil nature. Devils are inherently more selfish than humans."
"I still call bullshit on that. I haven't felt jack diddly squat since becoming a devil. Devils aren't innately more selfish than other beings.
If anything that is either a cultural tradition dating back to the original Maou's, who were rather evil, or an excuse to allow devils to behave how they wish," Naruto immediately argued.
Rias just shook her head as she chuckled. Patting Naruto's head, she told him, "Of course you wouldn't notice a difference, Naruto-kun. You're special like that."
"That sounds like both a compliment and an insult," Naruto murmured with a suspicious look on his face.
"I don't know what you mean," Rias claimed, a mischievous smile on her face.
Naruto stared at her in suspicion for several seconds before chuckles burst from his mouth.
Deciding to just accept what she said, Naruto laid back while putting his arms behind his head. With the abrupt end to their weird tangent, silence ensued.
Naruto really hated his empathy sometimes. Despite Rias' words, Naruto couldn't help but be slightly hurt.
Naruto genuinely valued things like trust, comrades, and friends to a near absurd degree.
To have a comrade and friend withhold something important from him stung. He couldn't help but wonder if it spoke of a lack of trust.
Unfortunately, Naruto had always been empathetic. He was just able to understand other people very well.
So Naruto understood to a certain degree why Rias would hide her engagement to Riser from him, and nothing stopped anger and indignation like empathizing with the person you want to be mad at.
Oh, he still had some righteous anger inside of him, but now it was just a bunch of hot air. He'd work it out with a tough training session, and maybe a prank against Rias.
Just one though…He'll have to make it a good one to make up. What to do? So many options.
Deciding to think on that later, Naruto decided to move on. Turning his head towards Rias, Naruto questioned, "So what happened after I left? When is the Rating Game?"
"Not a whole lot happened after you left. You sort of ruined the atmosphere by saying all that stuff and then leaving. No one really knew what to do.
Grayfia said she'd get information. Riser did give us ten days to train though," Rias informed Naruto calmly.
"Really?" Naruto asked in surprise before reluctantly confessing, "Not what I'd have expected from him. Being generous and all."
Rias immediately corrected him, "Oh, it wasn't him being generous. It's basically a backhanded way of saying that nothing we can do in ten days will make a difference."
"Yep, there's the arrogance I expected," Naruto commented with a sagely nod.
"Riser is nothing if not arrogant," Rias stated bluntly before regretfully continuing, "His confidence isn't completely unfounded though. When it comes to Rating Games, there is no devil clan among the pillar families better suited than the Phenex."
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