(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Settling into something of a routine, but also still doing fun stuff~

-x-X-x-

Things fall into something of a routine in the days following Amadeus’ impromptu recruitment of his first peerage members. Initially, he’s a little worried that Serafall was just lulling them into a false sense of security and the New Satan Government was going to come down on their heads at any moment.

While he trusted Grayfia to be able to protect him from a Super Devil like Lucrezah Lucifer long enough for them to maybe be able to escape, the same couldn’t be said about Huntrix. If Serafall had decided to press the issue, Amadeus would have had to either go down swinging or leave the girls behind and neither option was very palatable to him.

Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. Serafall was in fact keeping up her end of the bargain so far, seemingly hiding his survival as well as Rumi, Zoey, and Mira’s reincarnations. And sure, maybe it was for her own selfish benefit in the end, but he still couldn’t help but be a little grateful… and more than a little happy with things.

Thanks to Rumi, he and Grayfia could spend hours in the empty, barren Demon World that Gwi-Ma used to rule, training and sparring with each other nonstop as much as they wanted. Through that, Amadeus was able to increase his strength in a brand new way on top of making deals with humans, which he was also still doing from time to time when someone found one of the original flyers.

Meanwhile, the Huntrix Girls were eager to train as well. They were supposed to be on some sort of vacation, but apparently they didn’t mind spending part of that vacation learning to use their newfound Devil physicalities and what not.

Amadeus had trounced Zoey and Mira pretty hard that first night... both of them seemed to have something to prove even though they only had two Pawns apiece to Rumi’s Rook.

Of course, there was also the flirting… so much flirting. Amadeus had been firm about his desire to give the girls time to explore their feelings for him before jumping into anything too intimate with any of them. Even if he had Grayfia’s explicit blessing (and extremely verbose approval), he still didn’t want to feel like he was taking advantage of anyone.

… Sometimes though, it felt a little bit like the girls were taking advantage of him. They liked to hug him at random intervals, which Amadeus didn’t mind, especially because they liked to hug each other just as much. But they also asked for more kisses and every time he wound up kissing one of them, he found himself kissing all of them.

Look, he wasn’t some virgin who would get flustered just from kissing a beautiful woman. He and Grayfia had a very active sex life. But Rumi, Zoey, and Mira were all just... well, he was very aware of the power he held over all of them.

They just didn’t seem to care though, and more recently Zoey had even taken to dressing like Grayfia as the youngest member of Huntrix proved that she wasn’t joking around about her desire to learn to be a maid from the other woman. She looked quite nice in the maid uniform, and Grayfia had been giving her serious lessons, seeming intent on turning Zoey into the perfect maid.

It was all both a little overwhelming… and surprisingly idyllic. Everything was going really well, even regarding Huntrix’s eventual portrayal in Serafall’s ‘TV show’, which Amadeus had to have explained to him.

Bobby was handling the coordination for that last Amadeus had been told, and so far so good on that front. The only hang-up was that Serafall had put forth the idea through her ‘producers’ that maybe Amadeus should also be in the show playing the role of a masked villain.

… But Grayfia had shot that down, saying it was just a bad idea all around to risk him being seen by the wrong people, even if they DID do a good enough job of concealing his identity.

Truth be told, Amadeus was still wrapping his head around the whole concept of a ‘TV show’ in the first place, so he was fine following Grayfia’s lead. Especially when she explained that Serafall’s show was watching by tens of millions of people in both the Underworld AND on Earth.

Amadeus was still a patron of the arts above all else though. Even as he got stronger by way of sparring with Grayfia and accepting deals, even as he in turn trained Rumi, Zoey, and Mira to help them all get stronger as well… he wanted to enjoy more of Earth’s modern artistic pursuits.

It was great listening to Huntrix’s music… and there was even human inventions that let him listen to their songs without them having to be physically present to perform them too. However, through those same human inventions, Amadeus got a taste of other music out there as well… and he realized that the sheer breadth of humanity in this new era meant that there were many, MANY more artists than there were before.

This was sort of something he’d already known from how his initial deal making before meeting Zoey had taken him all over the human world, but still… knowing was one thing, experiencing it firsthand was something else entirely.

And that was why they were all out tonight attending a concert together. Rumi, Zoey, and Mira were all ‘incognito’ in their own ways, wearing disguises to hide their true identities because otherwise they assured him they would be mobbed by fans.

Meanwhile, Amadeus himself was wearing something of a disguise himself, a ball cap and a face mask. Not because they were afraid he’d be recognized, but because they assured him that he was much too attractive and would get bothered by strangers even if he wasn’t seen as some famous celebrity. Amadeus didn’t want that, so he was happy to follow the girls’ advice.

Finally… there was Grayfia. For the first time since Amadeus had woken up in this new time, Grayfia Lucifuge… was not wearing her maid uniform. And honestly? He suspected it was the first time in five hundred years that she’d worn anything but that maid uniform, judging by how uneasy she looked.

Still, she was wearing a nice top and skirt combo all the same, with her silver hair normally in twin braids done up in a single braid this time. She’d be matching with Rumi if the other woman wasn’t wearing a hoodie that completely hid her own massive braid from view.

The five of them make their way into the stadium after getting through the lines and Amadeus had to admit… the concept of a ‘concert’ has definitely changed in the past five hundred years. Back in his day, concerts were quiet, dignified affairs attended by a small, selective audience of only the wealthiest, most influential nobility.

… He much preferred this, all things considered. After all, there were so many more people getting to enjoy the art on display! Tens of thousands of humans who were all here to celebrate the musicians who would be playing tonight on the large stage that is in turn dwarfed by the massive stadium surrounding it! It was… amazing!

That said…

“Hey uh, who are we here to see perform again?”

The girls all give him what he hopes are fondly exasperated looks. They’ve definitely already told him before, but he was so excited and then so overwhelmed that whatever they said flew right over his head. He’s paying attention now though! For sure!

“It’s K/DA, Amadeus. They’re basically the closest thing we have to rivals at this point.”

Zoey nods along with Rumi’s explanation from under her cute yellow bucket hat.

“They’re really good! And they go all out with their special effects too!”

Mira scoffs, rolling her eyes as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“I mean, they do the best they can with what they have, sure. They don’t have anything on us though. We killed actual demons at all of our shows. They just have a demon singer in their performances.”

Those sound like fighting words to Amadeus, but Rumi and Zoey just nod along in easy agreement, so maybe Mira is just saying what’s obviously true? Though that last part…

“If one of this is a demon, why didn’t you ever go after them?”

His curious words are met by a giggle from Zoey.

“No silly! Evelynn isn’t a demon-demon… she’s a human playing pretend at being a demon. She’s also super smoking hot along with being K/DA’s visual. So Mira is of course forced to hate her with every fiber of her being because you know, they’re basically at odds with each other.”

Mira scoffs again.

“I don’t hate her, Zo. I barely even think about her.”

The look that Zoey makes at that makes it clear she’s not buying it. But Rumi, perhaps sensing a brewing conflict if the younger woman decides to needle Mira, cuts in before that can happen.

“Hey, let’s get moving yeah? We’ve got exclusive VIP backstage passes, so we might as well use them and see if we can say hi before the show. And please be on your best behavior, girls!”

Ah yes, Amadeus had already had this explained to him as well. A combination of a lot of money spent as well as their own positions as extremely famous musicians meant that Huntrix hadn’t just gotten tickets to the show… they were due to be treated like royalty and pampered by the venue’s staff. And of course, he and Grayfia were included in that by association.

Together, all five of them move deeper into the stadium, with Rumi leading the way. As they get away from the more crowded areas, her stride becomes more confident as well and she stops hunching quite so much… no longer hiding her true self.

Finally, they arrive at a hallway with a big burly dude in black standing guard in front of a very flimsy looking rope that doesn’t seem like it would keep out anyone. But maybe that was the human man’s job.

“Hold on. Can’t go through here.”

He holds up a hand to stop them, but Rumi is already lifting up her badge in response. When Zoey and Mira do the same thing, Amadeus shrugs and follows suit alongside Grayfia. The man peers closely at each of their badges for a long moment and then peers at them… but he doesn’t seem to realize who Huntrix are at any point.

Finally, he just nods and pulls open the rope.

“Alright, go on through. Don’t make any trouble though.”

And just like that, they’re allowed into the back. Amadeus hums, making sure that he sticks close to Rumi and the others but also unabashedly looking around. He hadn’t gotten that many chances to get a peek behind the curtain back in the day… he’d been young and as much as he loved art in all of its forms, art or rather the artists who created it didn’t always love him back. He only had his allowance from Lord Lucifuge to go off of back then, after all…

Just as he’s about to start asking questions about all of the things he’s seeing, however, a commotion up ahead cuts him off on top of stopping all of them in their tracks.

“H-Hey… l-let go!”

Looking down the hall past Rumi, Zoey, and Mira, he sees something of a scuffle going on from the look of things. A man in a suit is menacing a young blonde woman… with twitching fox ears atop her head. He has her by the wrist and is leaning towards her, pushing her back against a wall as his snarled words echo down the hall towards them.

“Shut up. You’ll listen to me and you’ll listen good, bitch. Especially if you don’t want-!”

“HEY! Get your hands off of her!”

It’s no surprise to Amadeus when Rumi’s enraged voice echoes through the hall, cutting off the man as she races forward. Truth be told, he’d been about to do something himself… so when Rumi, Zoey, and Mira all lunge to put a stop to things, he’s all too happy to go after them and back them up.

The man in the suit pulls away like he’s just been burned, his head whipping around to stare at them. At first he’s snarling angrily still…

“Who the fuck-?”

But then he cuts himself off, his face going blank as they all come to a skidding halt mere feet away from him. If he were still holding onto the young woman with the fox ears, then Amadeus doesn’t doubt that Huntrix would have matched physical with physical… but since the man let go, they hold off.

“Huntrix. What are you doing back here?”

Rumi sneers as she flicks her badge up into the guy’s face.

“Our hoobae made sure we had all-access. Good that they did too. Ahri, are you okay?”

The other woman, now named Ahri, blinks and straightens up before nodding hurriedly.

“I-I’m fine Rumi… it’s fine.”

But Rumi isn’t having it. She narrows her eyes, looking between the man and Ahri suspiciously before finally settling her gaze on the man in the suit.

“And who are you supposed to be, exactly? Are you with the venue? Who do you work for?”

 The man in the suit stares back for a long moment before scoffing and throwing a hand in the air dismissively before turning and walking away. Rumi’s eyes widen in outrage.

“Hey! I wasn’t done talking to you!”

But when she takes a step forward, Ahri comes off of the wall with lightning speed and puts an arm out, cutting off Rumi’s advance.

“Stop! Rumi, really… just let it go. It’s nothing.”

Then, the blonde plasters the fakest smile Amadeus has ever seen on her face, her eyes flicking across the five of them and only lingering for half a second on him before moving on.

“Its good to see you ladies… but the show is starting soon. We’ll talk later, alright?”

With that, she hurries off as well, leaving the five of them standing there a bit lost. But Huntrix definitely isn’t happy, with Zoey and Mira looking just as outraged as Rumi.

“I can’t believe that jackass would put his hands on Ahri like that…”

“Yeah! And after she’d already put on all the parts of her costume too… what if he’d damaged those prosthetic ears of hers!”

Wait, what? Amadeus blinks as Rumi and Mira nod along with Zoey’s words. Then, he shares a glance with Grayfia. What he sees from the woman confirms his own suspicions as she nods slightly. She saw the same thing he did.

Those fox ears Ahri was sporting atop her head… were decidedly not prosthetic.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Remember to Vote, leave a Like, and let me know what you think!