Seated far, far in the back of the Grand Hall that held the victory celebration, Sirzechs Lucifer sat with his close family while his sister's Peerage was not far away at an adjacent table. The center of attention, however, was Rias Gremory and her Pawn Hyoudou Issei, who sat awfully close to one another for such a formal occasion.
Kiba, Koneko and Akeno seemed nonplussed with the affection Rias was displaying for her Pawn, but it was to be expected after the ordeal the two had just faced head on.
When Sirzechs noticed Grayfia appearing through the crowd with his guests following behind her, he almost visibly brightened up.
The color of his suit, however, is what was drawing eyes to him. The coffin pins merely reaffirmed the image he gave. Death was known to wear a trench coat of that same shade during the Great War, and it was almost as if he were teasing the Devils with the reappearance of the rich color.
He looked like he wasn't a man to trifle with lightly, and it solidified Sirzechs plans for the night.
The two females that followed behind him were not quite his height, the purple haired female to his left only reaching his shoulders while the blond on his right wasn't much taller. Each wore black dresses and had coffin motifs on their body to signify their loyalty to Death.
It was appropriate that such a symbol was becoming renown in the Underworld, as the results of the Rating Game between Riser Phenex and his little sister were broadcasted live all across the city of Lilith and beyond.
It was that train of thought that brought Sirzechs from his seated position to formally greet the being they called Death.
"I see that you clean up very well, Lord Death." Sirzechs idly complimented when Haruto was finally within speaking distance. "I thank you very much for attending this night's wonderful festivities on behalf of not only myself, but my dear sister and her Peerage as well."
"No problem… Lady Lucifer. It is good to be here." Haruto was quick to understand that such a formal occasion required him to play politics for a moment, something he was normally loathe to do in any fashion. He was better at killing than he was at dealing with foolishness, but he supposed the setting required a certain level of refinement that he most certainly possessed. Mitsuru had beaten it into him on more than one occasion when the two spent time together.
"Where are my manners tonight, forgive me," Sirzechs quickly broke the silence before beconning to his maid that had returned to his side after delivering Haruto and his two guests to him. "This is my Queen and head maid, Grayfia Lucifuge."
She nodded politely to Haruto, and he returned the gesture.
"My father Zioticus Gremory, Lord of the Gremory clan, and my wonderful mother Venelana Gremory, Matriarch of the Gremory clan." Sirzechs continued with introductions, and Haruto greeted the two figures the same way he greeted Grayfia. Neither seemed to mind his lack of vocal greeting, as they nodded graciously back.
Haruto supposed it was his turn to respond, and indicated to Bennia. "This is Bennia, my… Head Servant, and Asia Argento, my…" Haruto trailed off and looked at the girl, unsure of how he should address her.
"Co-Head Servant." Asia eventually filled in and nodded her head as if reaffirming her decision. He couldn't refute her statement in the current gathering, but vowed to speak with her on the subject. Haruto wanted to make sure she knew that professing such things could potentially keep her from Heaven.
Sirzechs noticed the hesitation but chose not to comment, nor did any other present. The lull in conversation was eventually broken when Sirzechs asked Haruto to take a walk with him for a moment, and the two excused themselves from the gathering soon after.
Bennia and Asia easily settled into casual conversation and tales of splendor as Issei began to regale them his tales of heroism and debauchery.
"Don't take anything Azazel says seriously."
"Yeah, I kind of figured as much about… hundreds of years ago." Sirzechs stated easily enough, though Haruto felt it prudent that he couldn't take Sirzechs any more seriously.
He refrained from such comments when the leader of the Devil faction spun to face him with a quickness with a firm expression on his face.
"I want to thank you, Haruto."
"I did not do a thing worthy of thanks." Haruto replied easily enough, trying to wave away anything the man might be trying to say, but Sirzechs continued with his speech anyway.
"You can try and blow it off all you want, but you have no idea how grateful I am for helping me correct a grave mistake I made so long ago. When I saw what Issei did to Riser…" He trailed off for a moment, a lost look in his eyes, "It was the most beautiful thing I could have imagined. Every comment he would make about my beloved sister, and the wonderful kids that make up her Peerage… It made my damn blood boil."
Sirzechs shoulders were almost trembling in rage as he thought about the entire situation, but managed to calm himself before continuing, "But Issei declared to the Underworld that you took him under your wing and trained him personally to keep Rias from the arrangement between myself and the Phenex family. He said, and I quote, 'I have seen Death, and Death has seen me. He taught me to truly appreciate the choices one makes in life, to think before speaking and acting! He taught me compassion and patience, and above that, he taught me enough to screw up your punk ass, so put on your 3D glasses, bitch, because it's coming right at you!'"
"Wow. He really is that dumb? I told him not to say that." Haruto admitted while rubbing the bridge of his nose, already dreading the rest of the conversation.
"I thought it was the greatest thing anyone has ever said at a Rating Game ever." Sirzechs defended his sister's Pawn, "And besides, he did it with an attack he claimed you helped him create. A God, someone who has been worshiped since ancient times, came to the aid of my sister, and you helped her forge her own path to victory. The outcome…"
Sirzechs trailed off, a troubled look appearing on his face for a moment before vanishing, "Regardless, it is both my wish, and my sisters, to reward you for your hand in her victory."
"My reward is knowing your sister can make her own choice and that her Peerage will not end up under the control of Riser. They told me what type of person he was, and imagining Koneko, or any of the others under his control… It made me sick." Haruto stated after thinking over his response, feeling yet another headache coming on. He knew Sirzechs wouldn't take no for an answer, but perhaps telling the man that he already had a reward would change his mind.
It didn't.
"You know I can't accept no for an answer. You know why I can't accept no for an answer, either." Sirzechs stated in all seriousness, his good humor draining away at hearing the denial.
"I do not affiliate myself with the Grigori, despite what Azazel has stated I assure you. I do not want to upset the balance." Haruto stated with a pained expression on his face, "I am not Death. I am just Haruto. Just. Haruto. I did not want to be involved in ANY of this."
"And yet you are, now. There is no going back from this, you know. When Issei announced that he learned from you, he let the entire Underworld know you were alive. I am sure you know just what kind of threat certain beings lurking around here can be…" Sirzechs fired back, his voice gaining a bit of heat to it, "Are you going to sit here and deny your identity when so many of us have seen who you truly are?"
"But none of you know who I truly am, it seems." Haruto idly noted while shifting his weight to his right foot, feeling the tension in the air escalating to a point that he felt Sirzechs was actually going to lash out at him.
"Then I want you to look at this, 'Haruto', and I want you to explain to me what you see." Sirzechs ground out while removing what looked to be an ancient, papyrus envelope of sorts.
Haruto gently took the offered object, and at the behest of Sirzechs, opened it up and removed the small picture painted on high quality canvas material, hardened by starch.
His eyes widened, and he felt his mouth go dry.
There, sitting upon the shores of Acheron in the Land of the Dead, Haruto and the woman in black faced one another with smiles on their faces. The painting was so life-like that it made his heart ache, yet he couldn't explain it. He had no words to express his thoughts, as jumbled as they were, and the sinking feeling that had been present in his stomach the entire night grew fifty fold.