A Simple Shop Owner

Chapter 1

 his story isn't well-written from a story-telling or grammatical standpoint. Its passable, I suppose, but not great. In retrospect, there's a whole lot I would have changed. I know the popularity of the story would make you think otherwise but honestly I chalk that up to luck. If you'r reading this story for the first time, temper your expectations.

Thank you and I hope you find some entertainment from reading this story.

Rias Gremory prided herself on many things within her admittedly short life. She was born to the Gremory family, one of the last remaining pillars that made up Devil society. The Gremory family was known for their kindness towards each other and their peerage. That brought up another thing she was proud of, her peerage. Ever since she had acquired her first piece, her queen, it had been slowly growing. She managed to gain a knight with a very powerful sacred gear, a rook who was a former Nekoshou and a Dhampir who had the power over time. Yes, she took a large amount of pride in her peerage members and her ability to connect with each of them. The relationships between herself and them were extremely close, with each of them pledging their loyalty to her at some point in their lives. It was because of this closeness that Rias felt that she knew each of her member's emotions rather well. Though recently, something or rather someone had been testing that closeness.

Koneko Toujou was someone who rarely expressed her emotions. Due to her past and the trouble she had gone through in her life, she had become somewhat reclusive and rather callous towards others. It was only with her closest friends that the young girl dared to express even the tiniest amount of emotion. And when she did, it was usual in the form of a snarky remark spoken with a dull tone. But recently, that habit seemed to be getting even worse. The girl would spend shorter amounts of time in the club room where Rias's peerage would meet. When she would show up, she wouldn't even accept any treats offered by Akeno, Rias's queen. She would just sit on the couch and stare off into space with an emotionless expression on her face. At first Rias, had simply played it off as Koneko simply being Koneko, but that thought was slowly wiped from her mind after several weeks of this behavior. She had originally held off on sending her familiar to shadow the girl. She had felt that it may have been an invasion of Koneko's privacy, but now, the resolve that had once fueled that decision was quickly fading.

Rias released a sigh while running a hand through her scarlet hair. By her side stood at attention was her buxom dark haired queen. The girl was sending worried glances down at her King as the redhead sat in the rays of the afternoon sun.

"This has been going on for several weeks Rias-chan. She hasn't laid a finger on a single sweet I've tried to give her. This has been going on for far too long. I think it's time we get to the bottom of this." Akeno spoke with clear amount of worry in her voice. Rias sighed to herself once again as she let her best friend's words sink in. She knew that Akeno was right but she was still against the idea of spying on one of her peerage members. It was breach of privacy that she was sure would anger her rook if she ever found out. But her growing concern for the girl was outweighing Rias's worry of angering her.

"You're right." Rias huffed before placing her hands on the table in front of her. Slowly a crimson, circular symbol appeared on the surface of the desk. The symbol began to glow an eerie red before a flash of light emitted from it, forcing Rias and Akeno to look away. When they finally able to open their eyes, they turned and saw the creature Rias had summoned.

The best way to describe the creature was as a miniature bat. It's face was very human like as its small wings kept it afloat. It's eyes locked with Rias's before it suddenly took off towards the girl. The redheaded girl had a gentle smile on her face as the small bat perched itself on her shoulder and begin to gently rub its head against her cheek.