Hope
The next week or so went by without any major events. However, everyone had a goal in their mind: to win the heart of their crush on Three-Leaf day. Included among that group, it turns out, was every Magic Knights Squad captain. No one was prepared for the conflict that was to erupt.
"Well, that's it for our meeting! Please check out the evaluation report that's in those folders, there's plenty of suggestions for all of you!" Julius clapped his hands together as he stood up. The Captains were all gathered there for a meeting, about a week after the evaluations. "Remember, the new member exam is in just a month. Use this time to strengthen your positions! Or, er-" He sent a not-so-subtle glance at Yami. "Use it as a... fresh start!"
Fresh start? This geezer really has the nerve to lecture us after he was 15 minutes late to the meeting? However, Yami knew he probably deserved it, after the debacle last week. He still felt bad about what happened to the Evaluator he was entrusted with, but all he could do now was take her advice to heart and make his squad better... somehow. He did ask Julius about her right before the meeting truly began. "Oh, yeah, she's fine! She had quite the hangover the next day, but she's been out and about ever since."
"Alright, who wants to go get a drink? One of the rich boys is paying," Yami said, standing up after Julius left.
"Ka ka! Yami, you're such a freeloader," Jack hissed with his usual wide smirk. "To be expected of a foreigner."
"Hey, you'll be taking advantage of it too, commoner."
"Silence! We will be paying for our own drinks, and no one else's," Nozel snapped, standing up and flipping his feathered cloak dramatically.
With that, the nine of them headed down to their usual spot, a bar in the castle down. Everyone ordered drinks and started to lounge around, as they were the only ones in the bar at this time of night. However, after a few drinks, Yami started to notice that something was up with William, the Captain of the Golden Dawn. "Yo, masked weirdo, what's the matter? You look all gloomy." He snickered as an idea came to him. "I got it! Your evaluation was bad, right?"
William narrowed his eyes, but gulped nervously. "No... in fact, my evaluation was perfect."
"Eh?" Now Jack was interested, too. "What's the matter then? Ooh, I have an idea~" He giggled, already a little tipsy. "You have a crush on someone, right?"
"Huh? No! No way." However, they could all tell the man was bright red, even with the mask on. "Well, I mean- i-it's none of your businesses."
Nozel and Fuegoleon turned to look at him, concerned that the usually cool-headed man was getting flustered. "Oh? Have you finally found a Lady Vangeance?"
William didn't respond, just stared at his drink silently.
"Eh. Whatever." Yami took another sip before glancing around at everyone. Fuegoleon and Nozel were sitting by the bar, which was being tended by the usual old man. Gueldre was oddly silent tonight, but had a satisfied look on his face. Charlotte, Rill, and Dorothy were sitting together at a table. Dorothy was asleep, Rill was furiously drawing something in a sketchbook, and Charlotte kept stealing glances at Yami. Huh... their minds are all miles away, Yami thought to himself. For some reason, his mind drifted to the memory of that Evaluator's smiling face, and felt his heart start to clench again. I want to see her again... but in the meantime, I feel the need to talk about her to someone. He cleared his throat. "So... what did you guys think of that Evaluator?"
As soon as the sentence passed his lips, Yami felt everyone's Ki tense up. What the Hell? Did they all get bad evaluations?
"She was... interesting." Fuegoleon was the first to speak. "She assisted us on a mission. Her magic is actually quite powerful. It's not hard to see why she stands beside the Wizard King."
"... I thought the same," Nozel suddenly said. Yami raised an eyebrow. Nozel was actually complimenting someone? "She was very confident in her job."
"She was a delight, yes," Charlotte said quietly. "I wish she would join my squad."
"Oh! That Evaluator! She was wonderful!" Everyone jumped out of their skins as Dorothy's eyes suddenly popped open and she jumped out of her seat.
"Ah! What in the Hell, you can talk?" Yami and Jack chorused together.
Dorothy giggled and gave them a peace sign. "Uh huh! That girl was so sweet! Kirsch loved her, too. She's very cute... me and her are kindred spirits. In fact..." Dorothy giggled again, a light blush on her cheeks. "I'm thinking of getting her a present for Three Leaf Day."
All at once, the remaining 8 captains jumped to their feet.
"NO! You can't!"
Everyone regretted the instinctual reaction as soon as it happened. They froze and looked around at each other, realization dawning simultaneously.
"Whoa, whoa, why did we all get so defensive all the sudden?" Yami asked, pointing around accusingly. "Don't tell me..." He suddenly started laughing. "Do we all want to give the same person a gift on Three Leaf Day?!"
"Tch." Nozel scowled. "As if I would ever give a gift to someone so many ranks below me..." However, his blush betrayed him.
"Wait! That can't be true, William also stood up," Fuegoleon exclaimed. "William, don't you already like someone?"
William winced. "I... I do... and that someone is her."
"I can't believe this! All you disgusting men, lusting over such an innocent girl!" Charlotte suddenly shouted, glaring at them all.
"Ka ka, Charlotte likes her too?" Jack asked, crossing his arms. "I'll slice you to bits if you touch her!"
"Say, Charlotte, I didn't know you liked girls?" Yami asked, slightly disappointed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised..."
Charlotte flushed pink. "I-I like men, too, you know!"
"Oh? What man do you like?"
"T-t-t-that's none of your business!"
"Wahh!" Rill suddenly started crying. "She was so beautiful and picturesque... I've been drawing her ever since!" He flipped his sketchbook around to reveal a photorealistic drawing of the girl. He captured her cuteness perfectly.
"Well, if we all like her, she'll just have to choose which one of us to return Love to on Three Leaf day, right?" Fuegoleon proposed. Yami laughed. "What? Yami, is this really a laughing matter?"
"Sure is! None of you losers stand a chance against me!" he told them brashly.
"Ah, ah, ah... don't be so sure about that." They all looked over at Gueldre, who chuckled. "You see... I'm four steps ahead of you." The large, ham-like man smirked. "I took her on a date."
"WHAT?!?!?"
"How dare you! I was planning to ask soon!" Fuegoleon roared like a lion.
"You can't possibly... she deserves Royalty, not New Money like you!" Nozel added, not even trying to hide it anymore.
"I told you, she and I are kindred spirits, she's going in my dream world and never coming out," Dorothy threatened.
"Whoa, hold on, tell us about this so called date Ham-man," Yami asked, picking up that he wasn't telling the whole truth.
Gueldre gulped. "Well... you see..." He fiddled with his fingers. "Well, it wasn't so much a date as it was a discussion about the evaluation... hehe... BUT!" He held up a finger before anyone could butt in. "It was over dinner! So it counts as a date!"
Everyone stared at him for a moment, quickly realizing that he wasn't a threat. "As I was saying-" Yami turned to the others. "None of you stand a chance against me. Me and that girl... we have a connection."
"Hey! Didn't you hear what I said?" Gueldre was standing his ground. "She deserves a guy like me!"
"Oh yeah? Personally, I think she deserves a little better than Gueldre Poizot Micropenis."
Gueldre and everyone else's mouths fell open at Yami's insult. "Y-y-you heathen!" Gueldre bellowed, balling up his fists. "You have no proof! And anyway, don't talk smack about that unless you've got an even bigger-"
"Gueldre, please." Gueldre felt a hand on his shoulder and looked down to see William gazing solemnly up at him. "Please don't take that road. That's not a battle you can win."
Everyone gasped at his words. "Ooh! William?!" Dorothy asked, looking concerned. "Wait, how do you know how big Yami's-"
"We were on the same squad back in the day," William cut in before she could go any farther.
Yami nodded, amused. "Yep... The Grey Deer base had some killer baths. Julius said it was great for squad bonding. That's why I had one installed at the Black Bulls base."
"The Grey Deer? Ka ka!" Jack pointed at the two of them. "That's right... you were on the same squad, and Julius was your captain? So, you took baths with him? So, you saw his..." His voice trailed off when he saw how both Yami and William were looking at him. He had never seen Yami look so grim before. Jeez... did I just unlock some sort of tragic memory?
~ Yami and William's tragic memory~
"Yami, you were right, this really is a nice bath." William smiled to himself as he sunk down to his shoulders.
"Of course I was right." Yami looked over at the younger man. They were still both relatively new to the squad. "Say, aren't you going to take that mask off?"
William frowned and shook his head. "No... I'd rather not."
Yami shrugged but chuckled. "Come on... you can't be that ugly."
The other members in the bath laughed at the joke, and William even smiled along with them. "That depends on who you ask."
Even more laughter. Then, there was a voice. "You guys sound like you're having fun! Is there room for one more?"
Yami recognized the voice and looked over at the source. "Captain! Yes, join us."
Julius grinned and gave him a thumbs up before dropping his towel. He stepped down one step into the bath but paused when he realized everyone was staring at him. "...what?"
Yami gulped. "Uh, nothing." William was staring down at the water's surface.
Julius was genuinely confused. "Hmm? Am I bleeding somewhere?"
"No, no, just- er- you should get in the water."
"Ah, right! There's nothing like a good bath."
~ end flashback ~
"ANYWAY, you don't want to finish that sentence," Yami finally finished. "I stand by what I said... none of you stand a chance."
Fuegoleon scowled and clenched his fist resolutely. "That sounds like a challenge..."
"I won't let either of you beat me. I won't allow shame to befall the house of Silva," Nozel added.
"Wah... I'm too young for her anyway," Rill said, more afraid of the large men around him.
"I-I won't let her heart be stolen by a man!" Charlotte demanded.
"..." Gueldre had given up after being humiliated.
"Ke ke! I'll show you freaks what a casanova I really am!" Jack challenged.
Dorothy sighed. "This is getting boring now that you're all involved... I'd rather just sleep."
"...She's obviously got many admirers," William said sadly. "Very well... I'll leave her to one of you." He obviously wasn't happy about it, but hey, what's a man gonna do about it?
"That's it then, the challenge has begun!" Yami announced dramtically. "Three-Leaf day is in a week... a week to win that girl's heart!"
"Ah, if I could cut in real quick-" They all turned in surprise to see the speaker: the elderly bartender. He laughed nervously. "I'm just an old man, but don't you think you're jumping into this way too quickly? I mean..." he chuckled. "Most of you have only met her once, right? Yet, it sounds like you're all in love. How is she supposed to reciprocate feelings for people she doesn't spend time with?"
Yami narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Hmm? Haven't you ever heard of love at first sight, you geezer?"
"Geezer?! Ah, and yes of course... just something to keep in mind." His eyes twinkled as he turned away to keep drying dishes.
"He has a point!" Fuegoleon said. "She's not a magic knight, and she works mostly in the castle. If we don't act quickly, she'll forget about us, or worse, catch the eye of one of the Wizard King's other advisors. We need to take her on dates... that way she'll fall for us, too!"
"I guess..." Yami pointed at them accusingly. "I'll be the first!"
"Oh yeah?"
"I'd like to see you try."
"Ka ka! I'll be the first to take her out!"
And just like that, the four men ran off to start writing letters and arrange a "date." The others staggered home soon after.
As Charlotte walked home, she couldn't help but smile to herself. I'm a step ahead of them now... she's already coming over for tea tomorrow.