Dalton was sitting on the coach when Maya came home. It had been a week since he last saw her, the last time was when she rescued him from the potion brewer. She looked tired, dragging her feet and suitcase, her cloak and skin was covered in sweat and dirt.

When Dalton waved to her, she radiated like the sun.

“Dalton.” She spread her arms ready to be embraced.

He came in for the embrace, pulling her in a big hug. She was just a head shorter than him, and her body seemed so tiny, and frail compared to his own. Yet, she was a Star Witch.

One of the eight strong, terrible, and frightening witches that could destroy worlds if they so desired.

“Welcome home.” He took her cloak when they separated. “The bath is ready for you. It’s at perfect temperature. When you’re done, dinner will be ready.”

“Oh, what’s for dinner?” Her eyes sparkled in anticipation.

“I made some napolitan,” he said as he folded her cloak. “I’ll heat it up, just take a bath.”

“That sounds great,” she said.

Dalton watched as she beelined her way to the bathroom. He took a moment to gather himself. She was the same Maya, it did not matter whether she was a Star Witch or a regular woman. She was the same. After a moment of just staring at where she had been, he took her suitcase and emptied the clothes into the closet washing machine. The clothes were caked in dirt and a dark stain. He brought the stain to his nose, taking a careful sniff.

It wasn’t blood and that’s all that mattered to him.

When Maya came out of the bathroom, he was in the kitchen. She dressed in a tank top and short pants, her blue hair in a ponytail. She rummaged through the fridge and pulled out a bottle of strawberry milk, her favorite.

A small smirk formed on Dalton’s face, and she noticed.

“What?”

“You look so mature, but you always drink strawberry milk after a bath.”

She smiled, pressing the bottle against her face. “There is nothing better than having something sweet and cold after a bath.”

“You’re about to eat something salty.” Dalton turned off the stove and plated the pasta.

She opened the milk and lifted her head as she drained all the contents. She slammed the bottle on the kitchen counter, and she blew out a satisfied sigh.

“Here you go.”

He placed her plate on the table and sat across from her.

But she didn’t sit at her seat. Instead, she embraced him from behind. The aroma of lilies tickled his nose. Her voice came out in a whisper.

“Don’t move.”

He felt something cold press against the back of his neck. Dalton immediately turned to see Maya holding a crystal. She rounded the table to her seat and pocketed the crystal in her shorts.

“Hurray.” She clapped. “Napolitana!”

His heart thrummed against his chest’s wall, and he took a moment to gather himself. Maya didn’t seem too bothered at her actions and was vigorously chewing a mouthful of pasta.

Dalton cleared his throat. She looked at him, holding up a finger as she swallowed. Her face was stained orange from the pasta.

“Yes?”

“Maya.” Dalton started his gaze stayed on her mouth. “…Wipe your mouth.”

“Oh.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin.

He started again. “Maya.”

“What?” She gave him a weird look. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Dalton hesitated for a moment, feeling that these words may as well change their relationship dynamic. But it had to be said. “I remember you’re a Star Witch. I remember how you destroyed that potion brewer’s den.”

“I see.” She continued eating without pause. “And?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She finished, putting down her fork, and wiping her mouth. “I made a promise not to tell you.”

“A promise?” Fear trickled up his spine. “Was it with my father?”

“No, it was you,” she said.

That confused Dalton even further. “I told you?”

“That doesn’t really matter. What matters is, I don’t need to hide it from you anymore,” she said with a smile.

Before he could ask more, she held up a finger to him. She gave a knowing smile. “I know you have a lot of questions, Dalton, I do. But these things take time. I can’t answer all of them, but I can say that I do love you, and I love spending time with you. Is that not enough for you?”

“You could be with anyone else.” Those words came out of Dalton in a whisper.

“But I chose to be with you. I’ve never been interested in any other man than you.”

Dalton snorted at that. “Come on, that can’t be true. I’m sure you have a history.”

“Nope, it is true.” She leveled her gaze. “I swear it.”

Those eyes…were not lying. She was telling the truth. But the answer did not liberate him, it tied to him like an anchor and drowned him with more questions. For a brief moment, he was no longer in the room, but a dark place where there were twelve giant pillars of ice.

One of them cracked.

He came back to his home when she placed a cold hand on his cheek. He stood up, and his chair clattered behind him.

“What was that?” He looked around.

Maya looked concerned.

“What was what, Dalton?”

“That room. Twelve pillars of ice,” he said. “I…”

Dalton blinked. He was no longer sure why he was fired up. “I don’t remember.” He looked around and saw her fingers tightly gripping the crystal. The crystal had been in her pocket, but it also had not been so dark.

“What’s that?”

“Oh this.” She held up the crystal. There was a fissure going through it. “This is a ghost I sealed. It looks like I need to freeze it faster.”

“A ghost?” Dalton said. “Is that what you were doing when you hugged me?”

“Well, this is a ghost that I sealed from my job. It’s a specter that has lived centuries in a house, cursing the bloodline of a family she hated.” She explained and took out a lightly colored blue crystal. “The ghost you had is this one. He wasn’t too strong and told me that you killed him.”

Dalton froze at that. “Ki-killed?” Was it Satoshi?

“Yes, those were his words. He says he has decided to haunt you because you killed him.”

“That’s not true! It wasn’t my fault! He needs to haunt the man responsible!”

Maya frowned at the crystal. “He assures me you were the one at fault, and you shouldn’t blame another man for your mistakes.”

“I swear, I didn’t-”

“You don’t need to explain it to me.” Maya shrugged. “Things happen. Especially working at the Bureau as it is right now, I would be surprised if you didn’t accidentally kill someone.”

Dalton stopped right there. “Does the Bureau have that bad of a reputation?”

She listed the problems on her fingers. “Yes, it’s the worst. Lots of corruption. Lots of problems. The Transportation Department apparently has a baby fighting ring. The Director killed the previous Director and isekaing him as a magical girl. Ah, also I recently heard that a man named Malcolm bought an orphanage.”

“Stop right there.” Dalton held up a hand. “I can believe the baby fighting ring, and the murder of the last Director, but there is no way Malcolm gave money to help an orphanage.”

“Dalton. You didn’t let me finish. All the things I’ve listed are bad things,” Maya said. “Malcolm bought an orphanage and then kicked out all the orphans and used the building to open a brothel. He also hired some of the orphans as well.”

“What kind of monster is he!” Dalton screamed.

“Well, I did destroy his favorite brothel.” She shrugged.

“But what he is doing now is clearly worse than a regular brothel.”

“Are you asking me to destroy another brother, Dalton?” She looked conflicted. “I don’t think I should. If we follow the line of thinking, I am afraid he will probably buy a maternity ward and sign up all the pregnant women for his new brothel.”

“Stop it! That’s so dark! How can you even think of that?”

“Because I’ve seen it happen,” she said proudly.

“That’s even worse!”

“Hmm is that so?” She nodded to the crystal. “Your friend said that he prefers pregnant women because they have bigger boobs.”

His evaluation of Satoshi went further down.

“We’re absolutely not friends. Friends don’t haunt friends.” Dalton felt like he should flip the table.

“It’s alright, Dalton’s fetish is-”

“Don’t tell him anything!” Dalton moved to snatch the crystal, but Maya easily pulled it out of his reach.

She gave him a devilish smile. “Maybe I should tell him.”

“Please don’t.” Dalton’s face felt like it was on fire.

“So cute.” She put the crystal down, her gaze resolute. “But cuteness isn’t going to stop me. For that, you’ll need to stake your claim on a game.”

She motioned to the television and game console. “Beat me in Guilty Cog and I shall not say anything to your ghost friend.”

“That’s not really a big motivation for me,” Dalton said. “If I win, you’ll have to wear a maid outfit!”

“You just revealed your fetish.” Maya pointed out, and then smiled with the radiance of a thousand suns. “But alright! If I lose, I will wear a maid outfit for the whole week. But if I win, you will wear a butler’s outfit for a week.”

Dalton threw up his head laughing at the heavens. “I have trained since you left. You won’t beat me.”

“You think I haven’t been training when I’m away.” Her eyes glinted as she brought out her CircleSoft Swap from her suitcase. “I have been practicing and rose my level up. I’ve reached the tenth tower.”

Dalton clicked his tongue. He was still on the eighth tower. “Doesn’t matter, I will win!”