Love
"Vanessaaaa~! Chaaaaarmyyy~! Happy Three Leaf day!"
Finral held out two presents for his squadmates, vibrating with anticipation. "Oh, thank you so much, Finral!" Vanessa said.
"Hehe, so," Finral batted his eyelashes. "What are you two girls giving me in return? Hmm?"
"Hope," Charmy said. "I hope you get a life one of these days."
Vanessa smiled. "I have faith that you'll be able to get a girlfriend one day, Finral."
"D'OH!" It hurt, but Finral shook it off. "Very well, I have 30 more girls to visit, so I'll see you later!" With that, he jumped through a portal, which closed just as Yami stormed into the room. "FINRAL!!! Did you use up all the wrapping paper?" It was too late, Finral was long gone.
"Captain, you need wrapping paper?" Charmy asked. "Finral wrapped 30 presents, so I'm pretty sure he used it all."
Yami sighed. "Great. I guess I'll have to go buy more." Without another word, he grabbed the small package he had prepared, now stuffed in a brown bag, and headed off to find his broom and go to town. He was hoping to avoid the stores today, since they were always packed with people on Three-Leaf day. Just as he feared, he had to push through a large, excited crowd in Kikka. Well, at least I can just go straight to the castle after this, he thought to himself. I can get it over with...
Since that day at the beach, he managed to go on one "date" with that girl, glad to have her all to himself. Unfortunately, before he could ask anything about her romantic interests, she got a call from HQ and had to leave. "I'm very sorry, Yami!" she had told him while scarfing down the rest of her food. It was kind of impressive how quickly she ate. "But duty calls! We can meet up again some other time, alright?" With that, she was gone. Yes, the "chase" was thrilling, but come on! Yami needed a big break... but today could very well provide that.
"Hmm..." He examined some of the wrapping paper that was on sale, not willing to splurge on something trivial like this. She was a simple girl, after all, so she would probably appreciate something simple. She wore a blue bathing suit, so her favorite color is probably blue. Yami picked out a light blue roll of paper, paid for it, then headed out to find a place to sit down. With some difficulty, he started to wrap his box, but then heard a pair of frighteningly familiar voices.
"Oh? So what shabby gift did you pick out, Fuegoleon?"
"That's none of your business, Nozel."
"Well, I'm sure she'll like mine better."
"Perhaps. But I think she'll choose whoever gets there first."
Yami turned to see the two men standing in the middle of the street. A small crowd had formed around them, watching the royals with baited breath. Nozel grit his teeth, his hand clutching a gift bag. "Well, I'll just have to get to her before you, right?"
"Ka, ka! Fuegoleon's not the one you have to worry about, Nozel." They turned to see Jack run past them at full speed, clutching a similar package. They followed his trajectory and realized all at once who he was running at. "No way! She's here right now?!" Nozel exclaimed, pointing at the familiar female, who was walking away from them down the street with a group of her friends.
Yami jumped to his feet, his heart pounding. Of course, all of them had to be in the same place, and of course she had to come out here right into their grasps. But Yami wasn't going to let them pounce... he would get to her first, he was sure of that. Using his magic to reinforce his legs, he took off, blowing past Nozel and Fuegoleon in pursuit of Jack. It wasn't long before they were neck and neck. "Yami! Finally, you showed up!" Jack yelled, scowling. "I'm the faster one, give up!"
"Tch, no way! Not when we're neck and neck!" Yami looked forward at the girl, completely unaware of what was about to happen. Now... I need to get her alone. I'll have to scoop her up and take her somewhere private. Both he and Jack jumped towards her, ready to take their prize.
She blinked, feeling a presence, then turned around and gasped when she saw the two men rocketing towards her. "Yami? Jack? What on earth-"
Just as they were about to grab her, something shot out of an alley and wrapped around her body. She screamed as the briars lifted her out of the way, causing Jack and Yami to tumble right into the ground. "Huh?" Yami looked up to see Charlotte on top of a nearby building, reeling their objective in like a fisherman reels in a prize catch. "Sorry, Yami, and Jack," Charlotte said, smiling a little to herself. "I won't let you men touch her."
"What about us?!"
Charlotte looked around to see a giant, silver eagle and a flaming lion jumping towards her, ridden by Nozel and Fuegoleon. "You two, as well? Fine." She prepared to cast another spell, but a voice cut her off.
"Dehydration magic: Vanishing Vapor!"
Charlotte looked to see the briars wilting around her "prisoner's" body, and the girl dropped back down to the ground. "I don't know what's gotten into you guys, but I'm out of here!" she yelled, turning and taking off towards the castle.
Determination flashed through all five of their eyes.
"Not if I can help it!"
Charlotte started to pursue, but was suddenly stuck in place. "What?!" she looked down to see dark bindings around her. "Yami!!!"
"Sorry, prickly Queen, but five's a crowd," Yami told her before running off after the others.
Fuegoleon was the fastest, quickly catching up. "Leo Palma!" A pair of flaming claws instantly clamped around the girl, halting her movements. He smiled to himself. "There! Your dehydration magic can't do anything against fire, can it?"
"Silver Rain!" Mercury suddenly shot down, driving away the fire and wrapping around her body instead. "Keep her hands off of her, Fuegoleon!" Nozel challenged, running towards her and brandishing his bag.
"Ah! What the Hell is going on!?" she yelled, completely confused.
"Take that!" Jack sliced away the mercury and grabbed her hand before running away. She was barely able to keep up, just going with the flow at this point. "Can you stand here for a moment?" he asked her before letting go and turning to face the others. "If you want to go any further, fight me, ka ka!"
"Bring it on!" Fuegoleon and Nozel readied their Grimoires.
The poor, confused girl stood there, frozen, as the chaos erupted around her. Is this all because of me?! Jeez... She sighed and looked down at the box she was carrying in her hand. At least I didn't drop this... although part of me wishes I did. I don't think I have the courage to give it to them, anyway...
Yami managed to sneak around the fight, running towards her and easily scooping her up with one arm. "Yami! Can you explain what's going on?" she asked as he started to run, unnoticed by the others.
"I'm rescuing you," he told her. "Hold on!"
It wasn't long before they reached the gates of the castle, not stopping until they were safe on the steps. They both sat down to catch their breaths. "Wow... Three Leaf day is pretty exciting, isn't it!" Despite everything that happened, she was laughing, something that amazed Yami. "I wonder what that was all about... I wish they had just told me what was going on instead of fighting!"
Yami cleared his throat. "Yeah... about that..." He gulped and turned towards her, holding out his box. "I... made something for you. Happy Three Leaf day."
Her eyes widened at the sight of the present. "Oh... Yami... you didn't have to."
She stripped off the wrapping to reveal a carefully carved wooden box. She opened it, gasping slightly. "Oh, Yami, these are beautiful!" The box was filled with hand-made fishing lures. "You made these yourself?"
He nodded, averting his eyes. "Yeah... it's an apology for that fishing fiasco last week."
"Fiasco? It was fun, Yami!" He tensed up when he felt her hand come and rest on his arm. Slowly, he looked down into her eyes, his heart clenching painfully once again. Those bright, optimistic eyes.
I don't want her... I need her...
"I was thinking... we should go fishing again sometime. I know a lot of good spots. I mean, only if you want..." He gulped. "And also... what are you going to give me in return?"
They stood there for a moment in tense silence, her eyes flickering slightly. She glanced down at the present she had prepared, resting at her feet.
... what should I do?
A light blush appeared on her cheeks as she looked back up at Yami. "I... I'll give you-"
Suddenly, there was a loud noise from behind them. They whirled around to see a very angry Nozel, Fuegoleon, and Jack running towards them. "Yami! You sneaky bastard! Step away!"
Yami groaned. "Really, right now?!" He pulled away and unsheathed his katana. "Over my dead body!"
He ran forward, charging up a powerful spell. The others were doing the same. A voice was yelling at him to stop, but he couldn't hear it.
All I have to do is surpass my limits... and then she's mine!
Just as he jumped towards the attackers, everything froze. ...huh? He couldn't move, he couldn't see, it was as if time was frozen...
A moment later, he was released, as were the others. They all collapsed into a big pile. "What on earth?!" They sat up, blinking and trying to get their bearings.
"Honestly... when they say pursue a woman, they don't mean you should literally pursue her."
The familiar voice came from the top of the stairs. The four men looked up to see none other than Julius walking down towards them, an annoyed look on his face. Uh oh... we're in trouble, aren't we? they thought all at once. Julius stopped, looking down at his scared advisor. "Are you alright?" His voice was softened a bit.
She nodded quickly. "I-I don't really know what's going on, but I'm terribly sorry, I think this might be my fault-"
"No, it isn't." Julius smiled before looking back down at his captains. "You four... I expected better. It seems to me that you all stopped thinking about her as as a person as soon as you learned that the others were after her as well... at that point, it just became a game, right? And she was the prize?"
Yami and the others glanced at each other sheepishly. It was true... they were all competitive people by nature, and they turned something wholesome into a raging battle. In the process, they reduced the girl into just an objective. Something to win... not something to love.
"...we're sorry," Fuegoleon said, bowing his head.
Julius chuckled. "Don't apologize to me!" He gestured at the girl next to him. "Go on."
The four of them bowed their heads. "Please forgive us."
She blinked slowly, everything finally making sense. "Oh... don't worry. I forgive you." She gave them a comforting smile. "Thank you all for being so nice to me... I hope we can become better friends in the future."
Hope. Friends. The words stung, but they deserved it.
"Now, I'm glad that's settled," Julius said. Yami frowned a little, picking up something strange from the older man's Ki. Wait... no... you have to be joking...
He looked back up to see Julius smiling, satisfied with himself. "I was willing to give you guys a chance, once I learned about your little competition. But it's obvious now that none of you are ready to be in that kind of relationship... the kind she deserves." Yami and the others watched with horror as he turned to look down at the girl, who looked confused again. "That present... that's for me, isn't it?"
Her eyes widened. "Huh? H-How did you know?! Uh, but yeah..." She quickly looked at her feet. "I wasn't sure if I was actually going to give it to you... I didn't know if it was right for me to ask for anything in return."
The sound of Julius's warm laugh made her look up again. "Oh, that's quite alright. You see... it didn't matter if you got me a gift or not. I was planning to give you love either way."
...Is Julius really doing this in front of ALL OF US?! Yami thought to himself. It was actually kind of hilarious, and they probably should have seen this coming a mile away. After all, the person she spent the most time with, the person who gave her this life in the first place, was Julius. He had cast his line long before any of them even knew about her. How were they supposed to catch a fish that was already hooked?
"...Sir, are y-you sure?" She looked completely shocked at the revelation, yet a smile was starting to grow back on her face.
"Of course." She looked down and realized that they were holding hands. "It was hard for me to sit still, knowing that those guys were fighting hard, but something told me that it would end up with way." Julius's eyes twinkled a bit. "We should probably discuss this more in private. I- uh-" Even Julius was blushing a little now. "On the off-chance that you said yes... I prepared some food and wine in my room. So, would you like to-"
"Yes!"
Julius laughed a little at her eager response before looking back at the others. "Now, you four better go find something else to do for the night. Those presents are for her as well, right?"
Begrudgingly, still in disbelief that this was happening, Jack, Fuegoleon, and Nozel handed her their presents. She beamed down at them, obviously on the top of the world right now. "Thank you guys very much! As always... you have my undying faith and hope!"
"...thank you."
"Now, let's leave them, they need to think long and hard about what they've done." Julius started to pull her away, but a booming voice halted the pair. "Hold on, Julius!"
"Uh oh."
Marx was stomping his way over, looking furious. "You've been slacking off all day! This may be a heartwarming moment that everyone expected," Marx looks pointedly into the camera. "But what do you think you're doing here? You're going to go eat, get drunk, and then bump uglies, right?"
Julius winced a little. "Now, Marx, that doesn't sound too good when you put it like that-"
"Well, you're not doing any of that until that stack of paperwork is done!" Marx started to usher the two of them away. "And you..." he pointed at his coworker. "For distracting him... you're going to help him, alright?"
"What?! Actually, that doesn't sound so bad-"
"With me chaperoning."
"Awww."
Yami, Jack, Fuegoleon, and Nozel watched as the trio disappeared inside. "Well... I don't envy them." Time for a cigarette.
Fuegoleon sighed heavily. "I suppose... he's right, though. We didn't deserve her."
"...I hate to admit it, but even I messed this up," Nozel added.
"Ka ka... this was more trouble than it was worth," Jack snidely said.
"Wait! What-" They looked around to see Charlotte running up. She skidded to a stop at the sight of their faces. "Where is she?"
Yami let out a long breath. "None of us had a chance. Let's leave it at that."
Charlotte looked disappointed, glancing down at her present. "Well... if I can't give this to her..." She suddenly flushed pink, squeezing her eyes shut. "Here, Yami! I would rather give it to you than have it go to waste!" She held the present out to him.
Yami raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? I thought you hated me?"
"NO! I mean- er... you're a loyal comrade. I have no reason to not give you a gift."
"If you say so." Yami took the present. "What do ya want in return?"
Charlotte agonized over the decision for a few seconds. "...faith."
"Fine. I have faith in you as my comrade."
"Ka ka, Yami, you're the dumbest guy I know," Jack smirked, turning to walk away with the other two. "Come on... let's go get drunk and forget about this."
Yami nodded, quickly following. Charlotte was close behind.
And so ended another Three-Leaf day, more eventful than most years ended up being. Who knew that one person could cause so much trouble among the prestigious Magic Knight's captains? If nothing else, Yami had been taught a valuable lesson, even if Julius had to come cuck them all in order to teach them. Well, it didn't matter, anyway. Romance was the last thing on his mind now. Yami had a feeling he would have his hands full in a month... the Magic Knights Exam was coming up soon, after all.