New Clothes...New Challenger?

Adam took Leila into Unicloth, a trendy store for young fashion.

Originally based in Asia, its affordable pricing, comfortable, varied fits, and on site tailoring made it take America by storm as well.

It was the go to store for anyone on a college budget to try and look cool, and Adam's entire wardrobe was practically sponsored by it.

As expected of a Saturday afternoon, the store was packed with young people, many of them couples. Just like with the bus ride, almost everyone stopped to give Adam and Leila a glance, lingering on Leila's looks, though now that his body and face had started to change, some women did look at Adam too.

These women, Leila glared at, emitting an oppressively heavy bloodlust that immediately sent anyone looking Adam's way turning and speed walking away for their lives.

Most of the time, though, Leila was nervous.

"Why do they all stare at us?" said Leila as she held Adam's hand tight. She flitted her gaze around, wary and tense. "I-I thought I had made myself as human looking as possible."

Adam squeezed Leila's hand, comforting her. He picked up on why she was worried based on what she had told him so far.

Leila had mentioned before that she had never received kindness from a human before because either she fed on degenerates or humans hunted her, with the two activities probably being highly correlated.

She was probably afraid of being seen in the open and potentially hunted.

Regardless, it was understandable why she had such a low opinion of humans and why she was so wary of them.

"Don't worry, Leila," said Adam. "There's nobody out here that wants to hurt you or hunt you here. They're just looking at you to admire how good you look. Just like how I am now."

Leila looked up to see Adam smiling down at her, and her face flushed for a moment before she huddled up to Adam's side. "W-well, as long as my husband is here to protect me, I shouldn't have anything to worry about that."

"You've got that right," said Adam. He was absolutely willing right now to fight anyone that hurt Leila, and functionally speaking, protecting her was protecting himself too, because the two of them were bound together literally by the heart.

If she died, he died.

Leila snuggled her face into Adam's shoulder in a blissful moment before her eyes flashed open, fierce and wide. "But I have magical energy now too. If any silly little church hunter or mage ever tries to interrupt us, to break apart this wonderful thing known as a 'date', then I will make sure that not even their ashes will remain."

Adam felt pinprick sensations prickling all over his skin as Leila's magical energy fluxed in a hazy red aura around her. Though this aura was invisible to the ordinary human's eyes, it still caused several people nearby to involuntarily shiver and turn away as they instinctively sensed their deaths.

Adam nodded at her, reminded that Leila could defend herself plenty too.

"Let's take our minds off all that and enjoy the date," said Adam as he squeezed Leila's hand, and she did a little jump of excitement, still blushing at the fact that they were performing the perverted act of hand holding.

"O-of course, my dear," said Leila. "How could I have forgotten that we were on this thing, this 'date'. Mhm, I do like it. This 'date'. We must do more of it."

"If we're going to be together forever, then we have all the time in the world for all the dates in the world," said Adam.

Leila cuddled into Adam's shoulder and smiled contentedly. "Mhm. The human world is starting to look far more amusing than I thought it was. Even when we are to be king and queen of Hell, we should make time to visit."

"Of course," said Adam, starting to wonder what it actually meant to become a king of Hell. Hell seemed to operate off of a typical monarchy based system considering Leila was a princess and her mother was a queen, but how did succession go?

Would it be as easy as Leila was making it out to be?

Regardless, these questions were for the future. In the here and now, there was only the sacred ritual of the date, one that Adam had never, ever been able to grasp before.

"So," said Adam as he passed an aisle of summer dresses. It was late April, so they were starting to come into season. "What do you like?"

Adam made sure to always ask Leila what she liked. It was not a question she heard often, and it always made her pause, making her think and wonder what she truly did want. Like this, he hoped to get her to better understand herself because if she knew what she loved, what she truly loved, then it was easier for Adam to communicate with her and do things she liked and loved too.

"What do I like…?" said Leila as she cocked her head wonderingly, contemplating. "I do not know. Truthfully, I do not see a point to these things known as 'clothes'."

"Then is everybody is basically naked in Hell?" asked Adam. "There must be some kind of standard of fashion there."

Leila shook her head. "Hmm. There is garb in Hell. Garb inspired by you humans, in fact. 'Suits' as they are called. Dresses, too.

But these are all reserved for royalty - symbols of power - and beyond these, there are no other types of clothes.

All of this-,"

Leila motioned around her, to the dizzying amount of options. "Does not exist. And for a demon of Lust such as myself, it seems pointless to garb myself if I am to bare my body to you anyway."

"Hmm," said Adam. "Just like food, it looks like we're going to be starting from the basics on this one too. Speaking of, haven't you spent a lot of time in the modern world? You seem so unfamiliar with everything though."

"I have spent two years in the Overworld, yes," said Leila. "But only in hiding. In wildernesses or pockets of deep nature. I only ever intruded into human settlements when I required essence, using my hypnosis to draw men to the wilderness.

That way, I could dispose of their bodies without notice."

"I see." Adam nodded. That explained why Leila knew so little of the modern world and why she felt so comfortable being around so many people. "Here, let me ask you a question: you do still make clothing out of that darkness you can conjure up.

What's the point of that?"

"Mother told me that humans like when not all is laid bare from the beginning," said Leila. "But she also said that men are simple creatures, so the less that is worn, the better."

Adam shook his head. "Your mother underestimates men. Or rather, she does not truly understand them."

Leila blinked and looked at Adam with wide, questioning eyes. Evidently, it was the first time anyone had questioned her mother. "H-how? You know of something that mother, the Queen of Lust, does not?"

"Well, to be more specific, your mother underestimates men of culture," said Adam. "True, wearing almost nothing will get the blood rushing. That's one type of appeal. A very obvious approach, but many times, way too heavy handed."

Adam raised a lecturing finger, nodding mostly to himself. "But there's also an appeal from a woman who knows how to dress to their strengths.

And boosting that appeal only makes it even better when it's time to take the clothes off."

"Really!?" said Leila. "You know of a way to enhance my charm? In a way that not even mother knows? Through these drab little things known as 'clothes?' What manner of magic is this?"

Adam cracked his knuckles and smiled, looking Leila up and down with a smile, analyzing her figure to optimize the best outfit for her.

Leila shivered and hugged herself as she saw Adam's intense stare. "Oh, my darling, if you look at me like that, I don't know what I'll do."

"Don't worry, Leila, you won't have to do anything. I'll be the one to do you-,"

==

"Ahh~ I hate this!" said Leila from her fitting room. "I don't get it. Why can I not strip down here? Why must I go into those 'fitting rooms' where my darling cannot gaze at my bare body? Human customs do confuse me sometimes."

Adam sighed as he recalled just minutes prior, he had to stop Leila from stripping right then and there in public.

Still, he wondered how the clothes he had picked out for her would look.

She was relatively tall for a girl, standing at around five foot eight (173 cm), and her proportions were on the longer side.

Longer legs with curvy hips and a thin waist that lent her well to practically any look. She was not too curvy up top, and her face was definitely more on the 'pretty' side than the cute side.

Just based on her body type and looks, she would match either a 'sexy' or 'cool' outfit the best.

As a result, Adam picked out the first outfit with the word feeling of 'cool' in mind.

The fitting room door opened, and Leila slowly stepped out.

"..." Leila shyly clasped her hands together and turned to Adam. "How does it look to you, my dear?"

Leila was dressed with a white dress shirt buttoned down enough to just barely show the curvature of her breasts. She wore a grey woolen cardigan over it and tucked the shirt into slim fitting blue pants that did a perfect job of showing off her nicely shaped legs and butt.

This outfit was a little more on the formal side, something a professional woman in her mid to late twenties might wear to an outing, and it definitely did suit her.

Leila squirmed in shy happiness as she saw Adam inspecting her body, her hands rubbing together as her cheeks flushed.

"You would look good in anything," said Adam. He put a hand to his chin, thoroughly analyzing with all the brainpower of a devoted philosopher. At the same time, he felt something was a little off. "But what I'm trying to get at is the perfect outfit to bring out the best in you.

And for that, just one set of clothes isn't going to be enough."

==

Leila came out of the dressing room a second time. This time, she was dressed in black leather pants with a white crop top that showed her midriff. She wore a black leather jacket on top and a cap on her head.

This was streetwear style focused on showing off a 'sexy and strong' image, and Leila certainly looked the part.

Leila rubbed her hands shyly together. "How about now?"

"Again, you look amazing," said Adam, but he knew something was a bit off. He realized then that it was in the contrast between how shyly she acted in front of him and how she looked. "That's it!"

Adam put his hands on Leila's shoulders in a eureka moment.

"H-huh?" said Leila as her eyes widened and a blush formed in her pale cheeks. "What is it, darling? Can-can you not control yourself anymore? Oh, I can certainly do as you wish here, but-,"

"No, it's not that, I've figured out what's going to work for you," said Adam. He excitedly picked up another set of clothes. "Here-,"

==

This time, Leila came out in a high waisted, knee length black plaid skirt with brown ankle boots. She wore an oversized white sweater for her top, long enough that the ends of the sweater could easily spill over her hands.

When when she stepped in front of Adam, shyly putting her cloth covered hands to her face in the absolute perfect image of cuteness, he knew this was right.

Clothes that had the image of 'cuteness' and 'innocence' matched with a face and body that were undeniably 'sexy'. A complementing contrast that not many could easily pull off, the fabled 'gap moe', but Leila could do it perfectly.

"This it is," said Adam. "You look sexy and strong, but you act cute. That contrast is a rare type of charm that not many people can pull off, but you can, and these clothes only bring out that incredible gap.

Let's get this, Leila."

"Okay, darling!" said Leila as she rushed into Adam's arms, hugging him tight and breathing in his smell. "I spent so much time in that accursed 'fitting room' that I began to miss your scent."

As she hungrily breathed his scent in, her grasp over her human form started to slip, and she drew her hands out of her sweater sleeves and clutched tightly at his back. Her claws slipped out, tearing into Adam's shirt.

"O-oh, no!" said Leila as she drew herself back. "I ruined my darling's prized clothes, the tools of his charm magic!"

"Don't sweat it. This shirt was destined for the trash soon anyway, considering how much bigger I've gotten," said Adam.

"How about this-," said Leila. "I will pick clothes for you. Garments that will be fitting for you when we are properly wed and you take a throne in Hell."

With that, Leila held out her hand, shyly looking away, non-verbally asking Adam to take it. Adam smiled and took her hand, and she smiled too, practically skipping in happiness as she led Adam away.

"You've got something picked out for me?" asked Adam with surprise. He did not realize that there was anything in this store that could match something a demon from Hell wore.

"Mhm" said Leila. "It is no proper wear of Hell, knitted from the agony of damned souls and the flesh of flayed beasts, but it will work. Oh, to think we will one day be properly wed and dance atop the river of the dead: it fills me with so much joy!"

With their wedding ceremony flashing in her eyes, Leila was now the one to grip Adam's hand tight and lead him about.

==

This time, it was Adam that came out of the fitting room, and surprisingly, he looked pretty…normal?

He was dressed in a black two-piece suit. Black trousers with a black suit jacket. He kind of looked like he was ready for a funeral were it not for the dark purple dress shirt underneath his coat.

"This…is what they wear in Hell?" said Adam. "I know you said they wore suits, but I didn't think it would be this literal."

"Yes," nodded Leila. "I hear it was the wear of humans, too, but the royalty of Hell, in dealing with humans for centuries, have taken a liking to it. That purple is not quite right, but it is meant to represent royalty, which, as my beloved, you are."

"Huh, interesting," said Adam. It definitely did not look bad. In fact, it looked pretty good, his newly muscled frame filling out the elegant outfit nicely in a subtle mixture of power and class. "I like it. I like it a lot. You have good taste, Leila."

Leila's face grew red as she drew her sweatered hands together. "Y-you really think so?"

Adam smiled and kissed her forehead. "Yes," he said before he checked his phone for the time, not noticing that Leila had turned red enough that her true, blood red skin showed momentarily, drawing double-take looks from onlookers before she caught herself and calmed herself down to her typical princess poise.

It was five in the afternoon.

About time to leave, so he took her hand to pay off their clothes and get out of there.

There was just one more spot Adam wanted to take her on in their date.

==

Rockhold City may have been a bustling town with a large college full of younger people, but as far as locations went, it was quite remote.

It was surrounded by vast expanses of nature reserve forest to the point where outside the city, it would take hours of driving before any real further signs of civilization showed up.

The nature and the city coexisted, too, and Rockhold was famous for having lengthy nature trails running straight through it.

Swathes of forest, rocky hills, gorges, and waterfalls were peppered all throughout the city, and there were plenty of incredible outdoors date spots to choose from.

One of them was called the Meadow.

It was the highest point of a huge, sloping hill covered in grasses and flowers. It was the highest point in the city, high enough that one could see past the forests and look down on the rest of the city, watching how tiny the buildings looked and how the street and house lights all fused together into countless colorful little sparkles.

Catching a sunset here was a particularly beautiful moment that many in Adam's college had said was a must-do thing with a girlfriend before graduating, otherwise one would have failed the college experience.

Now, as Adam and Leila sat on the grassy meadow top with the sun setting in the sky, he held himself back from loosing a single tear.

He had thought he could never come to the Meadow with a girlfriend, but here he was. He had come so far in so short a time, but though he was happy for himself, he was even happier that Leila was enjoying the moment too.

Leila stretched her legs out in front of her as she licked a cone of soft serve ice cream that Adam had picked up at the bottom of the Meadow where a lone old man named Joe served ice cream from his truck to couples that went up.

Oddly, though, Adam saw nobody around them despite the fact that on a weekend afternoon like this, the Meadow should have been packed. The only company around them was a couple of crows hopping about, maybe looking for crumbs to pick up.

"Sweet," said Leila with a close eyed smile as she took in the taste of her ice cream. "But not as sweet as my darling's kisses."

Adam sat beside Leila, holding her hand in the grass, and he took this cue to move in, planting another kiss on Leila's forehead. Her eyes instantly opened up as her blush returned.

"O-oh, darling, don't surprise me like that," she said.

"Sorry about that," said Adam.

"N-no, I still like it. Don't be sorry," said Leila.

Adam smiled and squeezed her hand, and she blushed even brighter.

"How was today?" said Adam.

"Wonderful!" said Leila. "I loved every moment of it! This precious little thing known as the 'date'. H-how about you, my darling? Was today alright for you? Was I…was I enough?"

Adam was about to answer, but then a woman's voice, one resonating with an inhuman ring, spoke out.

"That is the wrong question. The question should be this: is he enough for you?"

Leila went on immediate alert, standing straight up as her fangs grew, her eyes turned red, and her horns started to grow. Though Adam noticed she still held the ice cream cone in her hand like a valuable treasure.

Adam stood up too, the hairs on his neck standing on end as he sensed pressure. He had heard of projected killing intent before, especially in anime tropes where characters flexed their anger at people, but this was the first time he had ever felt it directed against him.

It felt as if someone was hovering a searing hot chunk of metal in front of his skin, just enough to make him feel the danger of it burning him, but just far enough away that it was not directly hurting him.

Regardless, it made Adam alert, and, strangely, he felt no fear, just a willingness to fight for himself and Leila if it came down to it. His combat instincts, or rather, his instincts as a demon were kicking in.