Fabricator: Chapter 12 (Patreon)

The room went quiet after Rias's blurted invitation to join her peerage. Junichiro tossed the Caster Guns out of his hands and into the air. Once he stopped holding them, they began to disintegrate into motes of light, a feature of the bracelets. He studied Rias for a brief time before asking, “Isn't that the method used by devils over the last few centuries to enslave other races?”

Rias instantly looked offended, “I would never enslave someone! My peerage is like my family!”

Junichiro just arched an eyebrow at her, “Perhaps, but can you swear that the same is true for every devil with a peerage? That the majority of devils do not, in fact, enslave people for their own benefit?”

Rias clamped her mouth shut and grimaced at his pointed questions. She knew damned well that she could not deny that. While the Gremory's were known to treat their servants and such as family, they were outliers. What Junichiro had stated was closer to the norm than she wanted to admit. She let out a long sigh and shook her head, “Unfortunately, you are right. Many devils do what you've said. I, however, never would and am asking you to join my peerage. You can refuse, though I hope you wont. It's not like there aren't benefits to joining.”

Deciding to play curious, Junichiro leaned forward to ask, “Such as?”

Rias smiled brightly, practically beaming with happiness, “For starters, a much longer lifespan. As much as ten thousand years. Devils also grow stronger over time, the older you get the stronger you will become. Though you can train to become stronger faster, of course. Once you qualify as a High-Class devil you can even gain your own Evil Pieces and build your own peerage.” As an afterthought she added, “It's not uncommon for male devils to make their peerage into their own harem.”

Junichiro waved his hand dismissively at her last comment. While there were plenty of women he found physically attractive, there were only a few he felt had good personalities that would mesh with his own. Rias was one of them. Otaku love was, after all, the best kind of love.

Speaking of, the only other woman he was currently interested in was Seekvaira Agares. Not only did her clan trait allow her some small control over time but, far more importantly, she was a Gundam otaku. Considering he could build real Gundams with his Sacred Gear... well, she would probably kill to be close to him. Though, her public personality was a bit iffy to him.

“If I did join your peerage, what would you expect of me? I wont take peoples souls and whatnot.”

Rias snorted, “Devils haven't taken souls in a long time. We perform services for people who summon us and receive and appropriate payment in return. Performing such contracts is one way of earning a promotion in devil society. As a member of my peerage I would expect you to fulfill summoning contracts as well as support me in my other endeavors.”

He assumed the main endeavor would be escaping her marriage with Riser Phenex. Someone else with a clan trait he wanted to copy. Junichiro studied Rias while he munched on some of his lunch, giving the impression that he was thinking over the offer. His answer was totally going to be yes, she didn't need to know that yet. Before he could give her the answer she was clearly anticipating, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang.

Junichiro grinned playfully, “Times up! We hope you enjoyed your time with Junichiro today, but it appears that lunch is over. Better luck next time! As the titular Junichiro, I would just like to take the time to thank the wonderful participant of this lunchtime experience, Koneko-chan, and let those at home know that, as always, tune in same time tomorrow!”

With that he climbed to his feet, collected his lunch boxes, and made his way out of the club room. He left behind four very confused devils who weren't entirely sure how to react to the ridiculous way Junichiro had left. Akeno turned to Rias and gave her a cheeky grin, “Well, that wasn't a no.”

----- Line Break -----

The rest of the day went as one would expect. When the last class of the day ended, Junichiro quickly made his way out of the school before any members of either peerage could approach him. He had plans to get to after all! He was half way home when he heard a timid female voice call out, “Uh-um e-excuse me!”

He came to a stop and turned around to look at the young woman standing behind him. It wasn't suspicious at all how there was nowhere she could have come from to get behind him so suddenly. No, not suspicious at all. The young woman was rather pretty with black hair down to her waist, purple eyes, and a fairly decent sized bust. She was wearing a simple school uniform that he wasn't familiar with at all. Which, ya know, also not suspicious, at all.

“Yes?”

The girl looked like the picture perfect example of nervous, “I-I was wondering, i-if you would...” She swallowed and seemed to drag up her courage, “I've seen you come by this way lately and I thought you looked cool! Would you go out with me this weekend?!” She finished with a near shout and bow in his direction.

Junichiro scratched the back of his head, looking the picture perfect example of confused, flattered, and nervous. She wasn't the only excellent actor out today! He cleared his throat, “Uhm, I don't even know your name.”

The girl straightened up and even managed to make herself blush! Junichiro had to give it to her, she was an amazing actress. She seemed to work through her embarrassment as she said, “Yuuma Amano!”

“Well, it's nice to meet you Yuuma Amano-san, I'm Junichiro Arai, and as much as I would feel honored to go on a date with a pretty girl, I'm afraid I don't have very much free time on the weekends. I'm sorry, but I will have to refuse.”

The girl's face very briefly flashed annoyance. If he hadn't specifically been paying such close attention to her reactions, he would have missed it. This was a gamble on his part. The girl in front of him was one of the three female fallen angels hanging out at the abandoned church and spying on the devils. Ostensibly their orders were to find the powerful sacred gear that Azazel had somehow detected awakening in Kuoh. They currently had their eyes on him due to his sudden interest to the devils and his growing magical power.

The fallen were only supposed to watch and observe, originally. He didn't know if it was orders that had been changed or if these three mooks were just plain stupid evil. Raynare, the one in front of him pretending to be Yuuma Amano, planned to invite him out to a date on the weekend and kill his ass after playing with his emotions. A really bitchy thing to do, honestly. Him refusing was not in her calculations and a carefully planned wrench he threw at her to see how she reacted. She would either adapt and push for a date to happen sooner, preferably right now, or she would give up and try to kill him.

He hoped she would adapt and ask for an earlier date. He was prepared to fight her though. Yuuma looked pensive for a moment, as if she was digging for more courage then blurted out in a rush, “Then will you go on a date with me now?!”

Junichiro looked at her for a moment before he nodded, “Sure, I can do that.”

Yuuma beamed a happy smile in his direction while walking up to him with a distinct bounce in her step, “Then, what should we do?”

He offered her his arm while tilting his head to the side as if thinking. Yuuma, Raynare really, wanted to forge a connection and then use that connection as a type of torture before she killed him. It was her M.O. And how she played with her 'toys.' So, he decided to torture her first and, in order to do that, there was only one place he could take her, “We're going to sing karaoke!”

Yuuma looked at him in surprise, “You sing?”

Junichiro nodded his head, “Oh, absolutely!” Terribly, “It's something I really enjoy doing. I'm also sure that it will let us get to know each other much better through song!” Not really, “We'll make beautiful music together!” Innuendo for fun.

Yuuma looked at him in surprise but didn't say anything as he led her to a karaoke den he'd looked up previously. Acting like he went there all the time. The truth was, while he loved many different kinds of music and did like to sing along sometimes, he was tone deaf. He couldn't carry a tone with a bucket. Yowling cats sounded like opera prima dona's compared to him. So on and so forth. In other words, Yuuma would be lucky to leave the soundproof booth without blood leaking from her ears.

----- Line Break -----

Rias Gremory was... concerned. Koneko had just called her and informed her that a fallen angel had made contact with Arai-san and now they seemed to be going on a date. This was bad. She'd immediately summoned her familiar and sent the small bat out to follow and watch Arai-san. She also gave the familiar the job of making sure that Arai-san received one of her summoning pamphlets. She wanted to make sure he had one on him. It was much easier for her to get somewhere when summoned, rather than trying to get there on her own. She could do it, of course, it was just slower.

It didn't help her nerves that Koneko was worried. Rias closer her eyes and connected with her familiar to see through its eyes. She wanted to scream in frustration when Junichiro led the fallen into a karaoke bar. Neither Koneko nor her familiar could follow the pair into the private booth they rented for a couple of hours. Still, he likes to sing? She never would have guessed that.

----- Line Break -----

Junichiro wanted to laugh, oh god did he want to laugh so hard! He was currently butchering a random rock song on the small stage in the karaoke booth. He'd happily volunteered to go first and picked the first song with an interesting title. Then he really went all out. He sang loudly. He sang with enthusiasm. He bounced around in a happy little dance. He sang like a dozen cats being viciously drowned in a burlap sack. It was watching Yuuma try to keep a pleasant smile on her face while he violated her ear drums that had him trying so hard not to laugh in the middle of his song.

For her part, Raynare was doing her best not to kill the human in front of her. Oh, she was so going to viciously murder him with a happy smile later! How dare he do this to her! She'd heard the Heavenly Choir singing! What this pathetic human was happily torturing her with was an evil even she would be loathe to submit her worst enemies to! What she was hearing had to be the greatest evil ever produced by mankind!

Mercifully, the song finally came to an end. She hated herself to her very core as she forced herself to give the pathetic little boy a happy smile and polite clap, “That was so good!”

The smile that he gave her was so genuinely happy that she wanted to stab her own eyes out. No! Her ears! Yes, definitely her ears. It was only as she though of self mutilation that she realized something horrific. He'd rented the booth for two full hours! It had been less than ten minutes so far and that thought alone actually made her want to whimper.

“I think I'll pick another song.”

Raynare looked up and watched with dawning horror as Junichiro started to look through the list of songs, “NO!”

When he looked at her in surprise, she quickly cleared her throat and went on in a more demure manner, “I mean, it's my turn. Let me sing a song.”

She let out a hidden sigh of relief when he handed her the remote to select the song and the microphone. She eagerly accepted both from him and went to pick the longest song she could find. The longer she was singing the better! Her plan was simple. Sing as long as possible before he insists on taking another turn!

Junichiro had to admit, Yuuma had an amazing singing voice. Then again, she was a literal angel at one point so it shouldn't be a surprise that she had the voice of one. Though, choosing a seven minute long love ballad seemed a bit much. If he was a dumbass like Issei, he might think she actually liked him. But no, he knew she was singing such a long song to keep him away from the mic. Just that thought brought a smile to his face. He knew his talents and his singing was an anti-talent. It should be outlawed as a war crime. He could become the best torturer in the afterlife. His singing could make people beg to be flayed alive, slowly. Etc.

When Yuuma finished her song, he could see a brief flash of fear in her eyes. It only got more intense when he excitedly hopped to his feet and held his hand out for the microphone, “My turn!”

----- Line Break -----

Nearly two hours later the pair left the karaoke joint. Junichiro was grinning broadly and had some pep in his step. Even though his singing was absolute shit, he still enjoyed the activity. Yuuma, meanwhile, felt half dead while walking with a serene smile on her face, as if she had accepted her fate and no longer wished to fight to live. Junichiro had broken something fundamental inside of her, she was sure of it. She looked over at him with a strained smile and barely managed to stutter out, “W-what next?”

Junichiro gave her his brightest smile as he offered her his arm, “Lets go get some dinner. I know just the spot!”

It was with a feeling of trepidation that Yuuma linked her arm with his. She couldn't help wondering just what torture would come her way next. She kept her eyes peeled as he lead her through town, he clearly had a destination in mind. As they passed a young woman dressed as a succubus and handing out fliers, the young woman tried to pass one to Junichiro. He took one look at the flier and held his hand up in a stop motion, “No thanks, I don't mess with unknown occult stuff.”

The young woman looked upset while Yuuma looked suspicious. She'd have to be an idiot not to recognize a devil's familiar handing out summoning fliers. Her problem was, she didn't know if it was coincidence or if the devils were on to her. She was just grateful that Junichiro had declined the flier. It meant there would be no interruptions once night fell. If she knew that was the exact same thing Junichiro was thinking, she would have been very worried.

She was only brought out of her thoughts when Junichiro came to a stop and proclaimed, “We have arrived!”

Yuuma looked up and had to fight hard not to let out a deep groan of disappointment. A ramen stand! This fucker had violated her ears with terrible sinnging and now he was going to do the same to her stomach with ramen?! What did she do to deserve this torture?! She was so goddamn sick of eating ramen!

It wasn't something they liked to advertise, but fallen angels needed to eat. They didn't have to eat nearly as much as humans but the loss of their grace when they fell made them require sustenance to survive just like other living beings. She and her companions weren't paid very well since they were such low level members of the Grigori, meaning they practically survived on cup ramen in lean times when money was tight. Times like the last few weeks where most of their money went to feeding their growing army of excommunicated exorcists.

For his part, Junichiro picked the ramen stand for two very important reasons. First and foremost, in his last life he was an American. As such finding a really good ramen place was a pain in the ass. Second, he was one hundred percent aware that all Raynare had to eat for the last two weeks was cheap cup ramen. He was a very evil man.

Pretending he was unaware of her disdain for ramen, he led his 'date' to the stand and hopped on a bar stool, “One tonkatsu please!” He looked at Yuuma and smiled brightly, “Order whatever you want! It's on me.”

Yuuma looked at the menu and let out a small whimper. The stand was small and only offered three types of ramen and ramen only. They didn't even have sides! If she actually knew how long it took Junichiro to find exactly this kind of place, she would have killed him right then and there, risk of exposure be damned! Finally, with another contained whimper, she ordered, “One miso ramen, please.”

The old man working the stall grinned brightly at the attractive couple, though the girl was clearly out of the boys league, “Coming right up!”

Junichiro faced Yuuma with a happy smile, “I just love ramen, don't you?”

Yuuma tried her best to keep her eyebrow from twitching while she gave him a strained smile, “Y-yes, it's lovely.”

He totally ignored her clear discomfort and nodded his head in excitement, “I know! I've been wanting to go out to a ramen place for a little while now. I'd just not given myself a break since school started. Thanks for asking me out today. I needed a nice relaxing afternoon.”

Murder him. Oh, she was going to take her fucking time and kill him as slowly as she could. First, she was going to slowly stab him in his ears, give him just the smallest taste of the torture she endured. After that, she was going to buy a truck load of cheap ramen and force feed it to him until his stomach burst! Once he was begging for the sweet release of death, and only then, would she give it to him!

Outwardly she forced herself to smile, “Y-your welcome.”

She didn't even have to fake her stuttering, she was practically choking on her rage at this point. It only got worse when the ramen arrived and she was forced to eat it. Granted, there was no comparing the flavors and textures of real ramen to the cup stuff, but that was beside the point! It was goddamn noodles in broth still and it just made her want to gag!

Junichiro forced her to sit there and watch as he slowly ate two whole bowls of ramen. Technically, he could eat even more thanks to the nanites in his body helping with digestion. Anything he ate went to either helping his body become a little better, if possible, or into energy stores that gave him an edge in stamina.

Once he paid for the meals, he looked at Yuuma and smiled, “Where would you like to go now?”

Yuuma immediately smiled at him, “Let's go for a walk in the park. I want to work off some of that delicious food.” 'By murdering you in the most painful way possible' was left undaid.

Junichiro offered her his arm and led them toward the park. This was so much fun! He couldn't wait for them to get to the park and reach the climax of their date. Hopefully she would give him the five star review he deserved!