The three girls were walking side by side. Zesty suddenly asked Talia. “...Will you accept his proposition?”

Talia waved her hand. “I don’t know. He does seem like a nice person. However, it’s a lot of work teaching someone. But, more importantly. Zesty, are you interested in him?”

“W-W-What, a-are you sa-saying?!” Zesty’s blushing cheeks could be seen on her face. She was flapping her arms in denial. Then, she looked right and left as she twirled a strand of hair.

“...I-It’s not that I like him. It’s just that I find his muscles incredible.”

“So, you have a muscle fetish.” Talia crossed her arms with a blank face. Sanya was also looking at her with an expressionless face.

“! No, it’s not...No, you’re right. I might have a muscle fetish. But, I can’t help it! When I see those well-developed muscles, I think of all the hard work and sweat that the person went through to have them. I think of this as admirable… Is it bad?” Zesty didn’t want to disgust her newly-made friends. However, Talia put her hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. Muscle fetish is nothing compared to things out there. Trust me on this.” Zesty tilted her head in confusion, while Sanya was smiling wryly. Talia had surely seen far worse before.

Zesty didn’t understand, however it seemed they accepted her even after knowing. This brought tears in the corner of her eyes. At this moment, she felt like she could speak of everything with them.

After a few steps, she gathered her courage to speak. “And what about you two. Are you interested in someone in our class?”

Talia and Sanya stopped simultaneity. They looked at each other, then at Zesty. Talia had her cheeks reddening as she was pointing at Sanya, while Sanya had a shy smile when her finger was directed toward Talia.

“...Huh?” Zesty looked at each other alternatively. Talia started to explain.

“Well, we kind of started dating two days ago.”

“...Yeah.” Sanya added in an embarrassed voice.

“Wow…” Zesty could not help but be surprised by this. She had felt that they seemed close to one another, but still…

After walking for a few minutes, they reached an intersection. They had decided to walk together up to this point. Zesty was going one way, while Talia and Sanya were going to Sanya’s house. Zesty was waving at her friends after having said goodbye. She felt her steps light like she was walking on a cloud. ‘...I wonder if mom and dad will be proud if I tell them that I made friends.’

Meanwhile, Sanya and Talia were walking hand holding, fingers intertwined. Sanya was stealing glances at Talia’s profile. She noticed her and asked with a smile. “What is it?”

Sanya thought of how to ask her question. “You looked strange when Akim showed up. Does it have to do with your work as a Protector?”

Talia smiled bitterly in reply. Sanya could feel the grip on her hand tightening. Several seconds passed until she opened her mouth. “This kid looks exactly like a prince from a country that I had to protect. His name was Hyl’t.”

‘...’was’?’ Sanya could tell that something must have happened. Talia continued.

“Prince Hyl’t had a sister that he also cared a lot for. He was hoping to become stronger in order to protect his parents and his sister. We had to protect them from a big group of demons that appeared near the castle town. We were stationed inside and made contact with the royal family. They were clearly not strong enough to take care of all of them. So, we decided to do it instead. When we came back, the Crown had almost been entirely killed. Prince Hyl’t was holding his breathing sister, protecting her from the sword strikes of a demon.”

Sanya felt cold sweats on her back. “We discovered that powerful demons had used dark magic to disguise themselves as normal humans to infiltrate the city. Normally they would have been detected, but we didn’t know that they were able to use such magic. The World Transition had only happened a few centuries ago, so the demons should not have been so strong. However, they were strong enough to hold their grounds against the royal guards and the Crown. After this, there was only one remaining demon. Prince Hyl’t was with his sister when this happened. He tried to finish it, but at some point the demon targeted her. They were already close in regard to strength, so with an additional weakness, the tables turned. In the end, we arrived when the demon gave the blow that took his life.”

Sanya was silent for a moment. She gripped Talia’s hand harder before asking. “...What happened to his sister?”

“We managed to save her. However, as the last member of the royal family, she had to bear all the responsibilities. And this was exactly what prince Hyl’t didn’t wish for. He wanted his sister to live a calm life.”

Talia looked at the sky with a sad and yet happy smile. “After a couple of years, she had taken the throne and married her childhood friend. She is now happy, but the wound of the loss of her family will still be open as long as the demons will live.”

Sanya was silent. She perfectly knew what it was to lose a relative. She understood the pain. After a period of silence, Talia spoke up. “We arrived at your home.”

Sanya raised her head to see the familiar house and the bakery on the side. “Now, I should go. Have a nice da-”

“Wait.” Talia was about to part from Sanya when the girl interrupted her. Talia tilted her head toward her blushing girlfriend.

“Do you want to...come inside?”

--------------------------------------

Sanya was holding two glasses filled with fruit juice. Fluffy Paw walking alongside her with its tail flapping. She entered her room and saw Talia sitting cross-legged on top of the bed reading a book about cats with great interest. “I didn’t know that one of the reasons cats were good pets was because they were natural-born killer.”

Sanya chuckled as she passed one of the glasses to Talia. “Well, they try to catch their prey even if it’s a toy.”

Sanya sat right next to Talia and took a peek at the book. Talia looked at Fluffy Paw that was scratching its claws on the small cat tree attached to the wall. She made her glass float using her telekinesis. She then created a marble made of ice that she placed on the floor. Sanya tilted her head before understanding. Talia grinned as she made the marble roll on the floor. Seeing this, Fluffy Paw’s eyes opened wide.

Its legs bent and its body started to shake. It then jumped down toward the rolling marble. The marble moved away to prevent itself from being caught by the ball of fur. However, the fluffy hunter chased after it! The chaser and the one chased were dashing back and forth inside the room. Even after several seconds of intense running, the fat cat wasn’t giving up. Nimbleness and swiftness were possessing it. Finally, Talia’s eyes sharpened. All of sudden, the ice marble sped up and went outside of the room.

Sanya saw Fluffy Paw dashing out of the room and down the stairs. She giggled when she heard the sounds of the paws hitting the stairsteps. Talia smiled sweetly in her direction before using her telekinesis to place the two glasses on the side of the bed. She then approached Sanya. Sanya blushed in response. She knew Talia’s intention just by seeing her face.

Talia touched her right cheek as their lips melted together. Sanya placed her hand on her hips. The blissful sensation was spreading throughout their bodies. After separating from the kiss, Sanya put her head against Talia’s chest. She closed her eyes with a lovely smile. Meanwhile, Talia had her head on top of Sanya’s. She narrowed her eyes as she smelled the fragrances of fruits coming from her sunny hair. Her arms were circling around her delicate body, bringing it closer.

She felt something hard grazing the surface of her arms, but she immediately understood that it was the hook of Sanya’s bra through her uniform. Her cheeks flushed red. Numerous weird thoughts crossed her mind. Her heart beats became faster as a strange light flashed inside her eyes. Her right hand moved clumsily. It made its way down before finally reaching the soft skin of Sanya’s thigh. When suddenly-

“Talia…”

“! S-Sorry. I-I...Wait, she is asleep.” Talia grabbed Sanya by the shoulders. She could see her happy little sleeping face. She was clearly not aware of what had just happened.

‘...She is too defenseless. If she knew about all the thoughts that I had about her during those 50 years...Oh well.’ Talia gently put Sanya on top of her bed.

‘She looked a bit tired today. I wonder if it’s my fault. All kinds of stuff happened since I came back.’ Talia didn’t know about the conversation that her girlfriend had with Lord the day before, so she could only think of this. What Sanya had seen yesterday was brutal enough to make a normal child have nightmares. So, inside a familiar environment like her room and in the arms of the one that she loved, Sanya had not been able to resist the call of dreamland. Talia lifted her hair and landed a kiss on her forehead.

“Have nice dreams, my princess.”