Luck + Love = Mine!

Takara stopped at a crosswalk and finally let Tatsuya go. All along the way, Tatsuya struggled to tear away from the dragon princess. Despite her young and little appearance, her superhuman strength was proof that she was a creature not of this world. Tatsuya rubbed his hand and could feel that it was slowly becoming numb from the tight grasp it was caught in.

“Why did you have to be so rough?” he asked her with a frown.

“I didn’t expect someone called the Dragonborn to be this whiny and weak,” replied Takara harshly. “But then again, you are nothing more than a plebeian, so I guess it makes sense that you are unfamiliar with true strength.”

“What does true strength even have to do with this?” asked Tatsuya in a more aggressive tone. Takara simply turned away from him with her hands across her chest. “Hey, what did you do to the girls?” he asked her seriously.

“Just took a little bit of their luck,” answered Takara. “They’re all fine. They just succumbed to a little nap because I raised their exhaustion levels with a little probability manipulation.”

“What do you mean by probability?” inquired Tatsuya.

“Geez, I should’ve known that a plebeian such as yourself could never understand sophisticated matters,” said Takara with a smug and condescending smile. “The entire universe is ruled by chance. It is through chance that various causes and effects happen. These chains of cause and effect events is what shapes what one could call destiny. It is by this principle that everything in the universe is affected by chance, no matter how small, that we Lindworms derive our power. In conclusion, I simply manipulated the probability of them overexerting themselves into exhaustion after that last run to a very high level and caused them to take their little nap. Is that sufficient for your plebeian mind to understand? Though I’m sure you have no clue at all what I mean. You should stick to your plebeian textbooks about common things like arithmetic and literacy.”

“I-I-I understood all of it!” argued Tatsuya, though it was true that he was still a little confused by the explanation. But he understood it enough to at least have an idea of how it works. “Anyway,” he said, changing the subject, “why did you drag me all the way out here by myself? What’s your deal?”

“You’ve done enough to poison the princess’ sophisticated purity with your commoner’s disease,” said Takara. “I’m doing a very noble deed by sacrificing myself to be near you so that I can eradicate the disease at its source. That being said, I accept your identity as the Dragonborn and acknowledge you as a hero, but you are still nevertheless a plebeian who should learn his place and not infect royalty with your commoner’s disease!”

Tatsuya had about enough of the Lindworm princess’ incessant nagging and superiority complex. “I’m leaving,” he said, walking away.

“Where do you think you’re going?” shouted Takara.

“Far away from you,” Tatsuya told her. He then held up his hand and said, “See ya…maybe.”

“Get back here!” demanded Takara, “I order you to come back!” It wasn’t long before Tatsuya disappeared around the corner. Takara suddenly felt afraid. She didn’t know why, but being left alone by herself instilled into her a fear of dread. But it wasn’t the feeling of being alone that bothered her…it was the feeling of being ignored. Being alone by herself is normally not a problem, but the feeling of being ignored is what she wanted to avoid. Ever since coming here to the human realm, she felt as if she was kicked to the curb and forced to become a side character in some messed-up movie.

She abhorred the Dragonborn’s blatant disrespect and belittlement of her status upon their initial encounter, which began her growing hatred of him. And when she finally reunited with a very close childhood friend, she was horrified to learn that the very person she hated had stolen her friend away. Later on, her presence was completely ignored by the other princesses in the household, despite their warm welcome; instead, they focused all of the attention on the Dragonborn. She despised the way he was receiving all that unnecessary attention like some star-studded celebrity. His status as a hero gave him no right to act the way he did.

The final straw, however, was seeing how he was able to charm the princesses with his little nice-guy act and how genuine it all was. It irked her, it pained her, it destroyed her to learn that he was a sincere man who treated each of the girls greatly. She didn’t care anymore about being ignored by the princesses. Her focus had now shifted to the Dragonborn and the way he presented himself as a noble and chivalrous being with an obviously pure and righteous heart. And she hated him for it; she wanted to destroy that image of his. The careful attention and focus he gave each of them, the kind smile and laughter he shared with them, the sincerity behind each of his words and gestures…it pained her to no end! But why? He was nothing but a plebeian, right? So why is it that she’s feeling this way? Why is it that she cares so much about it? If the princesses all wanted to fall in love with a lowborn, then why should she care? All this time, what did she really want?

“Hey, little girl, are you alone?” came a voice from behind her. Takara turned around to see three delinquents in front of her. They wore dirty looks on their faces. “Say, are you a middle-school kid?” asked the one in the middle, the same one from before.

“Why don’t you spend some time with us big bros? We can show you a very good time,” said the one on the left.

“I don’t have time to spend with you louts,” Takara told them with a scowl. “Leave now, you plebeians!”

“You know, I’ve heard that a lot of middle-schoolers were maturing pretty quickly, heh heh” said the one on the right.

“You’re right about them being mature for their age,” said the one in the middle with a smirk. “But let’s see if its more than just her attitude that matured.”

“Hey, bro, if you look at her though, it looks like she’s the opposite,” said the one on the left. “She’s still got a flat board.”

That comment struck a nerve in Takara. She was prepared to sock this delinquent in the nuts with one punch.

“Enough, boys, can’t you see that we’re scaring her? Let’s just show her a good time,” said the one in the middle. He then reached out to grab Takara.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” she shouted out with fearful eyes. The delinquent held tightly onto Takara’s arm and the trio laughed triumphantly to themselves for their capture. “Let me go!” ordered Takara.

“Come on, little girl, let’s go have some fun,” said the middle guy disgustingly.

“Excuse me,” came a voice from behind the delinquent with a finger tap.

“Eh? What the hell do you want?” spat the delinquent, turning around.

Takara couldn’t believe who it was that came to her rescue. There, standing in front of the delinquent with a polite smile on his face, was none other than Tatsuya. She somehow felt a little relieved seeing him here.

“I’m sorry, but could you please let her go?” he asked the delinquent politely.

“Who do you think you are? We found her first!” said the delinquent.

“Are you her dad or something?” insulted the one on the left with a smirk.

“How about we teach you a lesson for messing with us?” suggested the right one happily.

“Be my guest,” said Tatsuya. His face then turned serious as he said, “But let me warn you, I don’t know how to hold back.”

“Why you little bastard,” insulted the middle one with a scowl. He let go of Takara and clenched his fists. "Don't think that we'll let you off easy for making fun of us!"

“Also,” added Tatsuya, “I’m not her father or anything of the sort. I’m just a simple plebeian.”

Takara couldn’t believe the words she just heard exit out of his lips. It made her heart ache a little bit and a large hole appear in her stomach. She felt like she had just been fed a bitter-tasting medicine that didn’t help ease the pain at all.

The middle delinquent threw a punch straight for Tatsuya’s face. “No!” quickly screamed Takara. However, she quickly found out that her commentary was unnecessary. Tatsuya stopped the delinquent’s punch with his own hand and tightly gripped it, causing the delinquent to arch his back in pain. Tatsuya then forcefully pushed the delinquent's arm back, sending him backwards onto the ground. The delinquent went down with a groan and was immediately knocked out.

“Big bro!” yelled out the one on the left. He turned to face Tatsuya and brought his arm up ready to lay down a punch.

Tatsuya simply unleashed a focused punch straight for the delinquent’s stomach and sent him flying backwards into the ground. The last delinquent, after seeing how quickly and easily his two friends were taken out, wore a very terrified expression on his face. In a desperate attempt, he rushed up to Tatsuya with a poor stance, allowing Tatsuya to effortlessly take him down with a simple elbow jab to the chest.

Takara was amazed and speechless to see how efficiently Tatsuya took care of the delinquents. But what amazed her even more was his decision to come back to her aid despite his determination to leave her alone. In spite of the argument they had and their obvious conflicting temperaments, he still chose to act as the hero he is and arrived to help her in her time of need. Was this perhaps why the other princesses were so captivated by him? Was it this sincerity, righteousness, and compassion that he encapsulated that won their attention and love?

After finishing his job, Tatsuya turned to look at her with a serious gaze. Takara flinched upon seeing just how intense his eyes were. She cleared her throat and regained her composure. “T-T-Thank you,” she told him with her eyes closed to avert his gaze.

“Uh-huh,” replied Tatsuya coldly.

His response shook Takara. She could feel the coldness of the statement and it made her feel sick. “L-Listen, I want to apologize for earlier,” she told him.

“It’s fine,” Tatsuya told her in a more lighter tone. In an even kinder tone, he added, “As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters.” Takara turned and saw Tatsuya wearing a very warm smile. Seeing that made her heart race a bit. “Besides,” continued Tatsuya, his smiling turning into a smirk, “it looks like the mighty and powerful Lindworm princess isn’t so mighty and powerful after all. She still needs a hero to come save her from a couple of thugs.”

What little respect she had built up for him suddenly disappeared. “Who said that I needed your help?!” she yelled at him. “I didn’t even call for you anyway, you came here out of your own volition! And I was startled by how forceful they were, and with me being in a place I wasn’t familiar with also made it harder for me to process everything clearly! Otherwise, I would’ve crushed them easily without anybody’s help! Especially that of a lowly plebeian!”

“Yeah, yeah, I believe you,” said Tatsuya quickly in a sincere but easily-mistaken-for-condescending tone.

“I don’t need the acceptance of a plebeian like you!” shouted Takara defiantly. Suddenly, a very scary sound caught her ears and Takara felt her body seizing up in terror. It was a sound that she had hoped to have never encountered. ‘I-It can’t be!’ she thought in terror.

‘Meow!’ came the sound from behind her.

Takara slowly turned around and saw her worst fear strutting down the street to her right. It was a skinny orange tabby cat and it walked on the sidewalk without a care in the world. Takara immediately jumped behind Tatsuya and used him as a shield. Her body was shaking intently and sweat dripped profusely down her entire body and face.

“Whoa, you okay?” Tatsuya asked her.

“I-I-I’m f-f-f-fine,” she stuttered fearfully.

“What’s the mater?” he asked her. The cat approached Tatsuya and rubbed against his leg. Tatsuya bent down to pick it up. Takara noticed this and gripped tightly onto his shirt, burying her face into his back. Tatsuya brought the cat up and said, “Well, hey there little guy. Are you a street cat?” The cat leaned forward and rubbed against Tatsuya’s face with its own, purring loudly to show its affection. Tatsuya giggled and said, “Well, aren’t you an affectionate one.” He then turned around and presented the cat for Takara to see. “Look here, it’s pretty cute,” he told her innocently.

Takara took one look at the cat and immediately let out a terrified scream before turning around and running away for her life. Tatsuya was dumbfounded to see her act like this. He quickly put down the cat and ran after her. Her terrified scream and expression worried him. ‘What was that?’ he wondered.

He eventually came to an unfamiliar part of town with wooden and metal buildings. “Hey, Takara! Are you here?!” he called out to her. There was no response. He carefully explored the area and peeked inside the paneless windows of the abandoned buildings but was unsuccessful in his search. When it seemed that a good ten minutes had passed, he turned around to try and search for the dragon princess somewhere else. That’s when the sound of clattering metal caught his ear.

Tatsuya turned to the source of the sound and peeked inside the paneless window of a nearby building. He looked down and found Takara sitting across from him with her knees brought up to her chin; she rubbed her head with a pained expression on her face. A bunch of thin metal pipes rolled down on the ground in front of her. Tatsuya jumped through the window and approached her slowly and thoughtfully.

Takara noticed Tatsuya coming up to her and hid her face. She had tears collected in the corners of her eyes, half from fear and the other half from pain. Her body trembled with terror. She was now no different than a scared little girl.

“Are you okay?” Tatsuya asked her softly. Takara didn’t answer back. “It’s okay, I’m here alone,” he reassured her. Takara slowly raised up her head halfway so that only her eyes were visible. “Are you perhaps afraid of cats?” he asked her. Hearing those words exit out of his mouth made Takara recede back into her shell. “It’s okay if you are,” Tatsuya told her kindly. Takara looked up at him and slowly nodded her head. “But you know what? I guess even the mighty and powerful princess of the Lindworm tribe is scared of cats,” he added jokingly.

Takara quickly took offense to that comment and immediately retaliated with, “The mighty and powerful princess of the Lindworm tribe is not scared of anything! Cats are just…they’re just demons, that’s all.”

“Right, right,” said Tatsuya understandingly with a nod of his head. He reached out his hand and said, “Here.”

Takara looked up at him and was stunned to see the kind smile he wore. She suddenly felt her heart flutter again. And then a realization hit her. Though it was true that initially she felt jealous of all the attention that Tatsuya was receiving, once she was exposed to the Dragonborn’s true personality: his generous undivided attention that he gave to each of the girls, his kind and sincere disposition, his ability to speak genuinely from the heart—her jealousy had unknowingly shifted towards the other princesses. Seeing how they were each treated with care and kindness made her body feel numb and cold. It was like being left alone out in the cold winter. Now, she understands why she was feeling that way. She had always been alone and cold, and she was in desperate need of warmth. And seeing the warmth he gave to each of the princesses made her all the more colder inside. She was jealous of the attention and warmth that the other princesses were receiving from him. But being the proud person she is, she was blinded to this fact and believed that she needed to pull Tatsuya away from them in fear of turning them into a commoner like him. Little did she know that subconsciously, she wanted to drive a stake through their relationship because she was envious of them. Little did she know that the real subconscious reason why she took Tatsuya away from them was because she wanted have his warmth all to herself.

The Lindworm princess turned her face away from his gaze and gave him her hand. Tatsuya brought her up back to her feet. “Are you okay now?” he asked her kindly.

“O-Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?” she replied arrogantly. “You really think that the great and mighty princess of the Lindworm tribe can be stopped by some trivial matter such as this? Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

‘Guess I shouldn’t have asked,’ groaned Tatsuya. “W-Well, should we go home now?” he asked her.

“Hmph, have it your way,” said Takara. With her head held up high, she pridefully took a few steps forward and then slipped on one of the metal pipes from before. She fell backwards and Tatsuya quickly reacted by leaning forward to grab her hand. They both crashed into a pile of boxes behind them.

“Are you okay?” asked Tatsuya, getting up on his hands and knees. He then found himself in a very compromising situation—the crash forced the duo into a very unflattering pose with Tatsuya crouching above Takara as the princess laid on the ground on her back in a pretty much helpless state.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” asked Takara with daggers for eyes.

“S-S-Sorry!” apologized Tatsuya, quickly getting off of her.

The sound of a machine turning on behind them drew their attention. Suddenly, a bright menacing red glow came from within the pile of boxes, sending chills down the duo’s spines as they became frozen in fear. The pile of boxes surrounding the menacing red glow was immediately strewn to the sides like cardboard confetti as the source of the glow revealed itself. Standing before Tatsuya and Takara was a human…at least it looked very much like one. It had brown hair and eyes, an upturned nose, thin red lips, and was clad in a business suit and tie. Despite its looks, however, Tatsuya could sense that this thing before them was not what it seems.

“What the hell is that?” wondered Tatsuya out loud.

Takara, unaware (or more like didn’t care) of the danger the quasi-human possessed, arrogantly took a step forward and said, “Hey, you! What is your business here? You better know well than to not answer the great and powerful princess of the Lindworm tribe!” The quasi-human didn’t answer back at all. This rude act made Takara’s skin crawl. “Hey, I’m talking to you! You better be humbled that a person of my elite status would even choose to talk to a plebeian such as yourself!”

“Oi, Takara, I don’t think this is a good idea,” warned Tatsuya.

“I didn’t ask you,” snapped Takara sharply. She turned back to the quasi-humanoid and said, “Now, answer me, plebeian! Otherwise, you shall know the wrath of the mighty and great princess of the supreme and awesome Lindworm tribe!”

‘Supreme and awesome?’ thought Tatsuya skeptically to himself.

The quasi-human silently raised its hand and replied with an attack: it shot out a powerful beam of energy that whizzed past Takara and missed her only by a hair. This instant act of aggression and near death experience greatly terrorized the Lindworm princess and brought her to her knees in fear. However, the quasi-human didn’t stop there. It moved forward towards Takara with its arm still poised to release another blast.

Tatsuya immediately moved in between Takara and the quasi-human. That last attack he witnessed confirmed his suspicions that the quasi-human wasn’t human after all. The quasi-human, undeterred by the presence of a new challenger, shot out another beam of energy. Tatsuya quickly drew his sword and deflected the blast. “Are you okay?” he asked the Lindworm princess.

Takara looked up at Tatsuya with terrified eyes and slowly nodded her head. ‘What is he doing?’ she wondered to herself. ‘This is just like when he defended me from those three delinquents. What does he hope to get out of this?’

“I’m glad that you’re safe,” he told her with a relieved smile.

Aika woke up and found herself lying on the sidewalk. The other princesses and Mika were also here with her, waking up from their slumber too. “Just what happened?” she wondered out loud.

“Ah!” gasped Shurai. “Tatsu-kun is gone! And so is Taka-chan!”

“Seriously?!” exclaimed Sunaji.

“This is just like episode 57 of the Super Ninja Force Sentai Rangers when the evil Lord Auros sent one of his minions to infiltrate the heroes' headquarters in hopes to split them apart,” said Shurai with a serious tone. “Taka-chan has disrupted our connection with Tatsu-kun and split us apart. It’s all part of Lord Auros’ master plan!”

“Um, I think you’re being mistaken,” said Aika with a small awkward laugh.

“Maybe we should start regulating her TV time,” suggested Arashi coolly.

“Anyway, Darling is gone and we need to find him and the Lindworm princess,” announced Aika.

“We don’t even know where they’ve gone,” pointed out Arashi.

“Oh, I pray that My Love is alright,” said Kanjomizu with her hands in prayer.

“How do you suggest we approach this matter?” asked Sunaji.

A familiar voice from nearby caught their attention. “Ai-chan!” called Nekoyashi.

The princesses and Mika all turned toward the source. “Koneko!” called back Aika, happy to see her friend over the break.

Nekoyashi and Torahime were standing across the street carrying bags filled with groceries. They walked over to meet the princesses, though Torahime didn’t seem all that happy about it and just went along with her friend’s whim. Nekoyashi and Aika immediately engaged in a friendly embrace between two very close friends.

“Say, what are you guys doing here, nyan?” asked Nekoyashi.

“Darling is gone and we’re trying to find him,” explained Aika.

“An agent of Lord Auros has appeared to disrupt our relationship! The world is in danger!” added Shurai in a matter-of-factly fashion.

“You can ignore that,” said Aika.

“What?!” quickly interrupted Torahime. She processed the words in her mind and came upon a very biased conclusion. “Where is Owatatsumi Tetsuya? We need to find him now!” she declared.

“That’s actually what we’re trying to do,” said Aika.

“We must defeat him before he does any more harm to the world!” quickly announced Torahime. “I knew that he was evil! Despite playing the part of a hero and saving the human realm from danger, I knew that he was hiding something. And now, he has finally shown his true colors!” She gripped her fist tightly and concluded, with a determined frown on her face, “I must kill the Dragonborn now! It is my duty and I must carry it out!” Without another word, she turned and ran down the sidewalk with no actual destination in mind.

“Um…should we stop her?” asked Aika with an awkward smile.

“Yeah,” replied Nekoyashi slowly with her own awkward smile.

Meanwhile, Tatsuya and the quasi-human engaged in a very intense standoff. Both parties didn’t move a single muscle and waited for the other to make the first move. Tatsuya had his sword held up in a classic knight-in-shining-armor stance. The quasi-human had its arms to its side and stood still like a robot awaiting its next command.

Takara had her eyes glued on the quasi-human for a while now. There was something about it that seemed really familiar to her. ‘What else looks humanoid and can shoot powerful beams from its limbs?’ she wondered anxiously to herself. After giving it some more thought, it finally came to her. “That’s a homunculus!” she told Tatsuya. “It’s an artificial being made with magic. It is also known as a mini-golem.”

“Mini golem?” repeated Tatsuya to himself. “What’s the difference?” he asked the Lindworm princess.

“Golems are creatures that are created by magically bestowing life onto some unliving matter using seals,” explained Takara. “Homunculus are creatures that are created using an artificial soul. The soul is an alchemically produced object that can harness magic in order to artificially create life.”

“So you’re saying that the only way to defeat is to take out its soul, right?” clarified Tatsuya.

“Yes,” replied Takara confidently.

“With that being said, how am I supposed to know where the souls is located?” muttered Tatsuya.

The homunculus raised its left hand and prepared to shoot out another beam of energy. Tatsuya had already seen through its plan and rushed forward to cut the homunculus off before it could fire. He swung his sword and sliced through the mini-golem’s left arm. However, it appears that having one of its limbs cleanly severed didn’t bother it at all. The homunculus kicked Tatsuya with its right leg and forced the Dragonborn backwards.

Tatsuya groaned in pain and landed on his back. The homunculus used its only remaining limb to shoot another beam of energy. By this time, Tatsuya had got back onto his feet and quickly reflected it with the side of his blade. He then quickly dashed forward and sliced off the other arm. The homunculus stumbled backwards from the force of the attack. It turned slightly to the left in its stumble and Tatsuya could catch a glimpse a glowing orb from the side of its body. He could only assume that the object, which appeared to be acting similarly to a human heart, is the homunculus’ soul. Tatsuya took his opponent’s stumbling to his advantage and rushed forward with his sword poised to his left. He came into contact with the homunculus and swung his sword horizontally through its body with the edge of the blade aimed specifically for the soul.

A sound like shattering glass reverberated through the room as Gram destroyed the homunculus’ soul. The creature suddenly stopped moving and fell to its knees like a deactivated robot. Tatsuya, breathing hard from the battle, began to walk back to where Takara was. He reached her location when a very bright glow from behind him caught his attention form the corner of his eye. He quickly glanced back and caught a glimpse of the homunculus’ body glowing intensely like a machine on the verge of self-destructing. His instincts kicked in and he quickly grabbed Takara without a word and threw her out of the building. He then jumped out of the building himself as a very loud and huge explosion the size of an exploding sedan happened behind him.

Takara was speechless and in awe over what had just happened. Tatsuya’s quick thinking took her by surprise and it didn’t at all process in her mind until the very moment the explosion occurred. His selfless sacrifice in throwing her out first also shook her to the core, more out of awe than in fear. The way he saved her without a word was something that she had only ever heard of in stories and plays, but to actually experience it in real life made her heart race and excited each and every nerve in her body. She sat on the ground and noticed just how intense and grim Tatsuya’s eyes were as he looked back at the blazing building. They were filled with a mixture of complex emotions, ranging from uneasiness and disbelief to confidence and relief. He noticed her gaze from the corner of his eyes and flashed her a smile. Takara couldn’t help but blush.

‘Wait, wait, wait, what is this feeling that I’m experiencing right now?’ she thought anxiously to herself. Her face grew hot and red and she could feel her heart racing a hundred miles a minute. As she looked at the Dragonborn, she found herself drawn to his eyes and heroic expression. ‘Why am I feeling like this?’ she wondered. ‘Is this what they call gratitude? Well, I am grateful, but it feels like it's something completely different. Could it be happiness? I feel like I’m getting closer. Love? Is this what they mean by love?’ Upon realizing what she had just said, Takara quickly shook her head with a very flustered expression on her face. ‘No, no, no, no, no, no! It can’t be!’ she told herself. ‘How can I fall in love with a plebeian like him? This cannot be love! Yeah, it’s not love at all! Never in a million years will I fall in love with a plebeian such as him!’

“Takara,” said Tatsuya.

“Yes?” she yelped in surprise.

Tatsuya turned to her with a sincere smile and said, “Thanks for the information on the enemy. Because of you, we were able to defeat it.”

“O-O-Of course!” she yelled back at him. She then composed herself and wore a very haughty smile. “It’s only a fact that an elite such as myself should possess such knowledge. This is a testament to my elitism! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Tatsuya put his hand on top of Takara’s head and petted it. Takara’s body immediately seized up upon feeling his comforting hands caressing her head. It brought back memories of being comforted and soothed by her parents when she was younger. “Let’s go home,” he told her kindly.

Takara’s face quickly became red again and she lowered her head to hide it from him. “R-Right,” she replied back. She could feel her heart speeding up like a car with the acceleration pedal pushed all the way down. ‘Just what is this feeling in my heart?’ she stressed to herself. ‘Could I actually be falling for this plebeian? Am I in love with him? Is this what love is?! Does this mean that I have been charmed by him?!’ She quickly glanced up at Tatsuya and immediately felt her entire body growing hot and her entire cardiovascular system going into overdrive. It appears she has her answer.

Tatsuya and Takara walked back together to the street they came from. All along the way, Takara had her face turned to avoid Tatsuya’s gaze. They had reached the halfway point when a dark shadow jumped out of nowhere and struck Tatsuya straight in the jaw. He fell to the ground and could feel his left jaw ringing in pain. Upon looking up to see who his assailant was, he almost jumped back with a yelp.

“Owatatsumi Tetsuya,” said Torahime with a deadly gleam in her eyes. “I always knew the day would come when you finally reveal your true self to destroy the human realm. And now, I’ve caught you red-handed. Prepare to die!” She had her katana in her right hand and prepared to swing it and slice Tatsuya’s head off.

Before the blade could touch the skin of Tatsuya’s neck, another two seconds and Tatsuya would’ve literally lost his head, Takara snapped her fingers and Torahime suddenly tripped on herself and fell forwards. She crashed into Tatsuya and her katana fell onto the ground beside her. She shook off the daze and quickly looked around for Tatsuya. “Where did you escape to, Owatatsumi Tetsuya?!” she yelled.

“Dmff hmff,” replied a very close muffled voice.

Torahime took a look around again and couldn’t see as to where the Dragonborn could’ve escaped to. She glanced down and her body immediately stiffened upon realizing that her enemy was actually closer to her than she thought…a little too close. Below her, Tatsuya had his face buried in her chest. His face was of a very light flustered color and there was fear present in his eyes. Torahime couldn’t believe that she was caught yet again in another embarrassing situation with the Dragonborn. She could feel his hot breath seeping through her shirt and brushing against her skin. Her face became redder than a strawberry and her mind left her on her own. She quickly pushed herself off of him and stood up stiffly.

Tatsuya could finally catch a breath and he picked himself off the ground. His face was still a light rosy color and he avoided eye contact with the dragon slayer. He just couldn’t believe his luck.

“Ah, Owatatsumi-kun!” called out Nekoyashi.

“Darling!” joined in Aika.

Nekoyashi, Mika, and the princesses joined Tatsuya, Takara, and Torahime at the same location. Aika and Mika were quick to attack Tatsuya and drown him in very tight and unescapable embraces. Nekoyashi attended to her friend and took quick notice of the latter’s current emotional state.

“Are you okay, Himeko?” asked Nekoyashi. “You look like you’ve just saw something you shouldn’t have, nyan. Did something happen between you and Owatatsumi-kun?”

“Nothing happened at all?!” shouted Torahime and Tatsuya in unison.

“Are you okay, Tatsu-kun?” Shurai asked the Dragonborn. “Did Taka-chan do something bad to you?”

“No, I’m fine,” he answered her with a reassuring smile.

Shurai turned to Takara and asked, “Taka-chan, why did you do that? Are you perhaps a minion sent by Lord Auros to disrupt our bond so that he can take us out and rule the world?”

‘I wonder if I should stop letting her watch anime,’ thought Tatsuya to himself with a small smile. ‘It’s never been a problem before, but I think it’s starting to get a little out of hand. Then again, all she ever does is eat her snacks and watch TV.’

“Shacchan, I never expected you to be one to come up with such a commoner way of thinking,” said Takara. “An elite such as myself will never stoop so low as to disturb the strong bonds you have built together,” she confidently lied with a very haughty expression.

“Nyan! Is this person the one who stole Owatatsumi-kun away, nyan?” asked Nekoyashi with a smile.

“She’s the dark agent sent by Lord Auros to infiltrate our home,” agreed Shurai with a nod.

“I told you that I will ne—,” said Takara angrily. She quickly stopped herself as her eyes fell on Nekoyashi. Nekoyashi’s cat-like appearance: her cat ears hairstyle, her top canine sticking out of her mouth, her default cat-like smile, and her slim and limber body, startled Takara and immediately sent her into shock. The Lindworm princess quickly hid behind Tatsuya.

“Ara? Is she okay, nyan?” wondered Nekoyashi innocently. Takara flinched upon hearing the dragon slayer’s verbal tic.

“Let’s go, Koneko,” said Torahime, who had by now recovered from the situation prior. She flashed Tatsuya a scowl from the corner of her eyes. “We need to return home to cook dinner,” Torahime told her friend. Without another word, she took her leave.

Nekoyashi quickly followed closely behind her friend and turned to wave goodbye to the group. “See ya later, now!” she told them happily.

Once they were gone, Takara stepped out from behind her shield. “Why were you hiding?” Aika asked her curiously.

Shurai automatically knew the answer to that question and was about to answer when Takara quickly said, “It doesn’t matter! An elite like myself have no time for trivial matters. What’s past is past.”

“Taka-chan, why did you take Tatsu-kun away?” Shurai asked her friend.

Takara’s face turned a bright red color and her head steamed in embarrassment. “T-T-That’s not an easy thing to admit,” she answered candidly in a quiet voice with a frown. Her eyes darted to the left as she added, “It’s no fair that all of you get to have his attention to yourselves.”

“Eh? But weren’t you the one who said that you were an elite who couldn’t care less for a plebeian?” brought up Arashi with a sly smile.

“That’s of no consequence!” fired back Takara. “As I said before, as an elite, I do not busy myself with trivial matters such as that.” She then smiled arrogantly and said, “Now, I have news for you all! As of now, Owatatsumi Tatsuya is mine!”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Shurai with a tilt of her head.

“Owatatsumi Tatsuya is now my property and mine alone! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” answered Takara.

“It’s just like you Lindworms to take from others to satisfy your own greed,” spat Sunaji harshly.

“You can’t do that, Taka-chan,” Shurai told her friend.

“Of course I can! I can do whatever I want!” argued Takara like a spoiled child, flailing her arms wildly to make her point.

“Tatsu-kun can’t be yours,” said Shurai, “because he is already ours. Remember? I told you that I was his fiancé.”

That statement sent a shiver down Takara’s body. It was true that her friend had already laid claim to the Dragonborn. How can she truly make Tatsuya’s hers and satisfy her newfound love for him when her friend had already beaten her to the punch?

“But that’s not all,” added Shurai.

“We’re all his fiancés,” concluded Aika with a smile.

“Eh?” uttered Takara like an idiot. The other princesses all nodded their heads to confirm that the last statement was true. “Eh?!” exclaimed Takara loudly.

“We all shared a kiss with him to seal the deal,” said Aika, twisting her body about like a lovesick schoolgirl.

The shock hit Takara like a bus going at full speed. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this really how far she is compared to the other princesses? The shock quickly transformed into anger and her body shook. Having her pride sullied by this troubling realization really irked her and she hated it. The feeling made her skin crawl and her entire being nauseous. Determined to cure herself of this blight, she came up with a very ingenious plan and smiled to herself.

Takara snapped her fingers and Tatsuya suddenly tripped over himself and leaned forward. He was caught by Takara and saved by an action that made his heart jump. His lips connected with the Lindworm princess’ and the two shared a kiss. Takara then pushed Tatsuya back onto his feet and turned to face the other princesses with a very satisfied and smug smile. “There!” she told them. The other princesses were speechless and could only watch the entire scene unfold with dropped jaws and wide eyes. “Now, Owatatsumi Tatsuya and I are fiancés too!” announced Takara. “I am now on the same level as the rest of you! Don’t think that I will forever be behind you all! Witness my ingenuity and dedication for love! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” She turned back to Tatsuya and winked at him. “I’ll be in your care now, Boyfriend.”

Tatsuya’s face was redder than a pepper. That kiss surprised him and he was still processing it in his mind. He then released a sigh and smiled. ‘Looks like I got another troublemaker on my hands,’ he thought to himself amusingly. He knew by now that things will only get crazier from here. And he was ready for whatever may come. After all, this was only normal for a hero like him.