Downtown Lot City…
Hiroshi neared Rodger's house, the ship girls on his trail. He just wanted to get away from them. They were annoying and reminded the man that he didn't get in much action. Probably because of his job. Ayu attempted to sleep in his room with the claim of "guarding the section leader" but he bashed that idea down. First, that wasn't in the protocol, so more than likely, Maho tricked her. Fraternization. Second, the man brought his laptop and purchased the hotel's expensive wi-fi pass just so he could finally beat—watch off-brand shows. Maybe play a few web games to pass time.
He stopped in front of a ramen shop to look at the girls. Despite walking for miles—the military way—they didn't sweat, pant, or complain. Ayu continued to be cheerful, initiating conversation, oohing and ahing at the things around, and got on Hiroshi's nerves. He invited the no-fucks-given vibe back into him, but it ignored his request.
What really creeped him out was that Ayu's cheerfulness was genuine and not faked, not hiding anything. She was even humming some anime Y-Pop song.
Maho, stoic, simply stared back at Hiroshi, face blank, unintimidated by the towering man. The short young women were either eighteen or nineteen years old, the required minimums to serve the nation. Somehow they gave off an inner vibe of seeing maybe half as much of what Hiroshi had seen. Maybe they'd seen more, being a hidden division until recently, when the supposed barrier between human and supernatural shattered.
"Don't embarrass me," he said.
"No worries, section leader, sir!" Ayu and Maho said, saluting. The man looked at them skeptically then continued toward the house.
"Rodger's a no-nonsense type of guy," Hiroshi said. "Like me, but ten-times harder. Don't fuck this up."
When he knocked on the apartment door, the ship girls gathered behind him. He turned to them. "Stand in attent—"
The sound of the door opening caught his attention.
"Can I help you?" a beefy man said. He was dressed in pants and a shirt that matched the colors of his old unit: black and red. The marine ball cap on his head topped off the look. Somehow, the word jarhead came to mind for Hiroshi.
"We're from Unit Eighty-six," Hiroshi began. "Do you mind giving us a moment to talk with you? It's very important."
Rodger glanced over the crew.
"Come on in. Seeing those two out in broad daylight could only mean one thing."
Ayu smiled, saluting.
"Danger."
**
Clyde's house…
With Dreaming of You, one of her favorite romance novels in hand, Melody recited some lines from it, while making exaggerated poses. The moment grasped her heart, made her imagination run wild. She replaced the prince with Clyde, the damsel with herself. And the passionate kiss approached like the anticipation of delicious food. Romantic music blossomed in her head, adding joy to the young woman's heart, only to be cut short when she noticed Airi and Alice standing in her doorway. The blush started and grew redder and redder as the two women continued to stare at the redhead blankly. Alice even reminded her of Yuki in kuudere mode.
The duo simultaneously took two steps backward and closed the door.
"It's not what it looks like," Melody tried to explain, but it was too late. The girls ran off. "Why does this always happen to me?"
Later that morning…
[Your relationship with Ming has increased to Friend level 2.]
As Clyde and Ming left the new restaurant on thirtieth street, the young man found himself looking at her with more respect. Getting to know her and vice versa turned out better than he expected. The young man wasn't sure why he expected Melody's bad luck for some reason. She surprisingly didn't bring up any about her powers, the supernatural, or romance, though she blushed a lot. He pretended not to notice Kiko and Ruri trailing them. The disguises were poor and obvious, and Ruri's drooling toward the meat-selling vendors gave the ploy away instantly. To give credit to them, he didn't expect the trope.
After parting ways with Ming, the young man decided to either craft or train before the meeting that afternoon. Halfway down the hall, he heard voices coming from Harumi's room, the door closed.
"Harder," Harumi said.
"I'm trying," Sazuki said.
"Try harder—come on, but your back into it," Harumi said. "Whoa—I'm going to break—"
Clyde's eyes widened as he tiptoed to the door—the door that he thought was closed. Leaning on it too hard, it swung wide open to reveal Sazuki attempting to button up Harumi's recently bought dress—he could tell by the obvious sales tag on it. The pink-haired girl's huge breasts just wasn't having it. They all awkwardly stared at each other. Sazuki's face reddened—she was in a bra and panties, her dress sitting on the bed.
"Ah," Clyde said, smiling sadly. He took two steps backward and closed the door. A second later it burst open, but he already took off before Sazuki could retaliate.
"Next time, knock you perv!" Sazuki shouted after him.
That afternoon, Team Stone once again met in the boardroom. Ashard, Airi, and Undine were there too, non-team members willing to contribute to the situation.
"Let's make the vote simple," Alice said. "If you're a hard-charging, blood thirsty moron, raise your hand. If you actually want to take some time to come up with a working strategy to beating an entire legion of Blood Hand, then keep your hand down."
Clyde and the others hid behind blank stares. He was standing this time, arms folded, waiting. No one raised their hand.
"Well, there you have it," Clyde said. "Let's start planning."
Natalia whacked the young man on the head with a paper fan.
"Don't try to act as if you knew this was going to happen all along, pervy-nii."
Ironically, he did. He sure as hell planned to vote against patrolling that night, although for other reasons.
Undine pinched Yusuke's cheek and whispered something that caused the ninja to blush. She smirked.
"I smell sex," Matsume said offhandedly. Clyde decided to just let that one go without a reaction. Because the hellhound waited for it.
And so they planned until the early evening. They also goofed off, talked about professors, which eventually led to everyone finishing up homework. Chika helped a few who needed it—super impossible questions appeared every now and then to challenge the top-scoring students.
That reminded the young man that a three-way tie generated no reward. He remembered the extra-credit question that he couldn't answer. Then he looked at both Chika and Alice. They didn't know it either… Intriguing. Especially for Chika, who studied more than anyone. Maybe she did answer the short-essay question and got it wrong. He wouldn't dare ask.
After the non-housemates left, Clyde found himself on the third floor's balcony, staring down. Melody was sitting at the table, reading. The young man at first considered talking with her, but decided in the end just to enjoy the peacefulness of the night. The prompt still surprised him.
[Quest completed: wait for Melody to come to you.]
Despite his hopes of her opening up, they didn't speak, just took in the mild autumn night air.
That's why it surprised him when he turned around to see the redhead standing there. And her eyes were filled with determination.
"I…I— love."
The door burst open, Natalia and Ashard rushing in.
"We've got a problem," Ashard said, oblivious to the blushing state of Melody in a nightgown. Melody who steeled herself. She seemed to snapped to herself when the fairy continued. "The Blood Hand spawned some monsters—you can see them attacking some civilians right now on the news."
"Son-of-a-fucking-bitch," Clyde said. "And here I thought that maybe there was some hope to reason with the fallen angel. Natalia, call Team Stone."
"Already did," she said. "Maybe I should take Tear's place."
A paper fan came out of nowhere, whacking the loli on the head.
"Ow!" Natalia said, holding her head.
The succubus joined them, dressed in a black nightdress. If it weren't for the situation at hand, she probably would've oozed sex and longing at Clyde.
"I suppose it's time for that planning we did earlier to come in handy, without the extra time to increase power levels," Tear said.
"Not necessarily," Clyde said. "We'll need to clean up the monsters."
"What a pain in the ass," Alice said, joining them at the balcony.
"Let's go. Complaining about it won't do us any good. Be prepared to fight a fallen angel," Clyde said.
Downtown Lot City…
Hiroshi neared Rodger's house, the ship girls on his trail. He just wanted to get away from them. They were annoying and reminded the man that he didn't get in much action. Probably because of his job. Ayu attempted to sleep in his room with the claim of "guarding the section leader" but he bashed that idea down. First, that wasn't in the protocol, so more than likely, Maho tricked her. Fraternization. Second, the man brought his laptop and purchased the hotel's expensive wi-fi pass just so he could finally beat—watch off-brand shows. Maybe play a few web games to pass time.
He stopped in front of a ramen shop to look at the girls. Despite walking for miles—the military way—they didn't sweat, pant, or complain. Ayu continued to be cheerful, initiating conversation, oohing and ahing at the things around, and got on Hiroshi's nerves. He invited the no-fucks-given vibe back into him, but it ignored his request.
What really creeped him out was that Ayu's cheerfulness was genuine and not faked, not hiding anything. She was even humming some anime Y-Pop song.
Maho, stoic, simply stared back at Hiroshi, face blank, unintimidated by the towering man. The short young women were either eighteen or nineteen years old, the required minimums to serve the nation. Somehow they gave off an inner vibe of seeing maybe half as much of what Hiroshi had seen. Maybe they'd seen more, being a hidden division until recently, when the supposed barrier between human and supernatural shattered.
"Don't embarrass me," he said.
"No worries, section leader, sir!" Ayu and Maho said, saluting. The man looked at them skeptically then continued toward the house.
"Rodger's a no-nonsense type of guy," Hiroshi said. "Like me, but ten-times harder. Don't fuck this up."
When he knocked on the apartment door, the ship girls gathered behind him. He turned to them. "Stand in attent—"
The sound of the door opening caught his attention.
"Can I help you?" a beefy man said. He was dressed in pants and a shirt that matched the colors of his old unit: black and red. The marine ball cap on his head topped off the look. Somehow, the word jarhead came to mind for Hiroshi.
"We're from Unit Eighty-six," Hiroshi began. "Do you mind giving us a moment to talk with you? It's very important."
Rodger glanced over the crew.
"Come on in. Seeing those two out in broad daylight could only mean one thing."
Ayu smiled, saluting.
"Danger."
**
Clyde's house…
With Dreaming of You, one of her favorite romance novels in hand, Melody recited some lines from it, while making exaggerated poses. The moment grasped her heart, made her imagination run wild. She replaced the prince with Clyde, the damsel with herself. And the passionate kiss approached like the anticipation of delicious food. Romantic music blossomed in her head, adding joy to the young woman's heart, only to be cut short when she noticed Airi and Alice standing in her doorway. The blush started and grew redder and redder as the two women continued to stare at the redhead blankly. Alice even reminded her of Yuki in kuudere mode.
The duo simultaneously took two steps backward and closed the door.
"It's not what it looks like," Melody tried to explain, but it was too late. The girls ran off. "Why does this always happen to me?"
Later that morning…
[Your relationship with Ming has increased to Friend level 2.]
As Clyde and Ming left the new restaurant on thirtieth street, the young man found himself looking at her with more respect. Getting to know her and vice versa turned out better than he expected. The young man wasn't sure why he expected Melody's bad luck for some reason. She surprisingly didn't bring up any about her powers, the supernatural, or romance, though she blushed a lot. He pretended not to notice Kiko and Ruri trailing them. The disguises were poor and obvious, and Ruri's drooling toward the meat-selling vendors gave the ploy away instantly. To give credit to them, he didn't expect the trope.
After parting ways with Ming, the young man decided to either craft or train before the meeting that afternoon. Halfway down the hall, he heard voices coming from Harumi's room, the door closed.
"Harder," Harumi said.
"I'm trying," Sazuki said.
"Try harder—come on, but your back into it," Harumi said. "Whoa—I'm going to break—"
Clyde's eyes widened as he tiptoed to the door—the door that he thought was closed. Leaning on it too hard, it swung wide open to reveal Sazuki attempting to button up Harumi's recently bought dress—he could tell by the obvious sales tag on it. The pink-haired girl's huge breasts just wasn't having it. They all awkwardly stared at each other. Sazuki's face reddened—she was in a bra and panties, her dress sitting on the bed.
"Ah," Clyde said, smiling sadly. He took two steps backward and closed the door. A second later it burst open, but he already took off before Sazuki could retaliate.
"Next time, knock you perv!" Sazuki shouted after him.
That afternoon, Team Stone once again met in the boardroom. Ashard, Airi, and Undine were there too, non-team members willing to contribute to the situation.
"Let's make the vote simple," Alice said. "If you're a hard-charging, blood thirsty moron, raise your hand. If you actually want to take some time to come up with a working strategy to beating an entire legion of Blood Hand, then keep your hand down."
Clyde and the others hid behind blank stares. He was standing this time, arms folded, waiting. No one raised their hand.
"Well, there you have it," Clyde said. "Let's start planning."
Natalia whacked the young man on the head with a paper fan.
"Don't try to act as if you knew this was going to happen all along, pervy-nii."
Ironically, he did. He sure as hell planned to vote against patrolling that night, although for other reasons.
Undine pinched Yusuke's cheek and whispered something that caused the ninja to blush. She smirked.
"I smell sex," Matsume said offhandedly. Clyde decided to just let that one go without a reaction. Because the hellhound waited for it.
And so they planned until the early evening. They also goofed off, talked about professors, which eventually led to everyone finishing up homework. Chika helped a few who needed it—super impossible questions appeared every now and then to challenge the top-scoring students.
That reminded the young man that a three-way tie generated no reward. He remembered the extra-credit question that he couldn't answer. Then he looked at both Chika and Alice. They didn't know it either… Intriguing. Especially for Chika, who studied more than anyone. Maybe she did answer the short-essay question and got it wrong. He wouldn't dare ask.
After the non-housemates left, Clyde found himself on the third floor's balcony, staring down. Melody was sitting at the table, reading. The young man at first considered talking with her, but decided in the end just to enjoy the peacefulness of the night. The prompt still surprised him.
[Quest completed: wait for Melody to come to you.]
Despite his hopes of her opening up, they didn't speak, just took in the mild autumn night air.
That's why it surprised him when he turned around to see the redhead standing there. And her eyes were filled with determination.
"I…I— love."
The door burst open, Natalia and Ashard rushing in.
"We've got a problem," Ashard said, oblivious to the blushing state of Melody in a nightgown. Melody who steeled herself. She seemed to snapped to herself when the fairy continued. "The Blood Hand spawned some monsters—you can see them attacking some civilians right now on the news."
"Son-of-a-fucking-bitch," Clyde said. "And here I thought that maybe there was some hope to reason with the fallen angel. Natalia, call Team Stone."
"Already did," she said. "Maybe I should take Tear's place."
A paper fan came out of nowhere, whacking the loli on the head.
"Ow!" Natalia said, holding her head.
The succubus joined them, dressed in a black nightdress. If it weren't for the situation at hand, she probably would've oozed sex and longing at Clyde.
"I suppose it's time for that planning we did earlier to come in handy, without the extra time to increase power levels," Tear said.
"Not necessarily," Clyde said. "We'll need to clean up the monsters."
"What a pain in the ass," Alice said, joining them at the balcony.
"Let's go. Complaining about it won't do us any good. Be prepared to fight a fallen angel," Clyde said.
