One does not wake up from madness. One is forced awake from it. You are forced awake with clarity, and forced to look at yourself, and your reality for what it/you is.
It's been a week since my recovery, and boy am I happy to get off of that bed. Knowing it's good for you doesn't help. Going from someone that was active almost all day to a week long couch potato, is mind numbingly boring like you wouldn't believe.
Then there's also the fact that Lilia would come from time to time, and it's increasingly difficult to look her in the eye.
Once the facade of fiction got removed from my eyes, and I was forced to look at Lilia as a person, like really look at her, certain thoughts I didn't think I would think of started appearing in my head. It was awkward.
I couldn't help it.
Although I thought I was looking at her as a person, I've been unconsciously looking at her as a 2d waifu(3d?), and all my looks and actions have been through that facade. Now though, now I am interacting with a beautiful maroon haired woman. A very real beautiful maroon haired woman.
It actually helped that Zenith entered mother hen mode, if it wasn't for her doting, the room might have been filled with uncomfortable silence.
Still though, that stew… it was perhaps a little 'too,' nutritional.
Now I am free. Free to explore. Free to roam. Free to get the fuck out of here.
Now if only I was allowed to do some magic now.
"How about that one?"
"Dog."
"And that one?"
"Cow," I answered.
We've been cloud watching for an hour now. That only leaves 4 more hours to go.
On top of placing a magic ban on me, I also have a training ban. So no swordsmanship.
Can't even sneak out since everyone has their eyes on me.
Not that I would. I learned my lesson, I'll enjoy this little vacation while I can. But yeah, no magic, plus no swordsmanship means I suddenly have several hours worth of free time to go through. We already went through our standard lessons, geography/mathematics. The rest is just, well… this.
Make of that what you will.
"Your turn, how about that one?" She asked.
It looks like a kitten.
"Roxy."
"Liar," Roxy replies. "This was a stupid Idea," she mutters.
"This was your idea."
"Yeah, well… shut up…" she vented. "What the hell did people do before magic?"
"Work?"
Probably fuck like rabbits. Those who can't do; DO!
…I'll see myself out…
We tried wasting time away by doing some chores around the village. That only saved us an hour, hence the cloud watching. Now we are…
We are bored out of our god-damned mind.
So yeah, this is my life now, at least for the next two weeks.
Lucky me…
Two weeks of forced vacation.
It's painful.
Beautiful peaceful scenery, with nothing to do. Have you ever had to wait five minutes in absolute silence? Now try doing that a thousand times.
In any case, it really is a beautiful scenery though, and their are worst places to vacation. The grass, the wind, everything here is so relaxing. I might be bored, but… it's a good kind of bored. The cool ground below me, the gentle touch of the sun, even the flowers… the scent carries.
I swear I can smell my mother's garden from here.
Life is… serene. I am at peace.
Roxy taught me a valuable lesson outside of the paid ones. That is the importance of slowing down, and stopping to smell the roses… lilies, if you want, and rest. It's therapeutic.
If it wasn't for her, I'd end up in an early grave.
I would have recovered from my little anemic incident, learned nothing, and kept going at it. Fighting the world and my body, until I couldn't fight no more. A dangerous mindset to have. I would have trained most of my life, pulling a Goku, and dying from it.
Now that I think about it…
Goku might have been powerful, but he was… well… an alien. One of his arcs was even about exposing his alien mindset, and showing how alien he could actually be focusing solely on fighting, and the love his family second, showing how he probably doesn't love in the same way a human does. Fight first, family later; that's the type of mindset a Saiyan has.
I almost lost my humanity.
Thank you sensei. I owe you one.
"So bored. Hey, Sensei… out of curiosity what did you do when you were growing up?"
I wonder what kind of person she is.
Being more of an Eris fanboy, I don't really remember much about her backstory.
"Hagwa?! What d-does it matter w-what I did when I grew up. Just go out and have fun with some of the village kids."
"I'd rather hang out with you!" I said as Roxy sensei hid her face into her hat.
Seriously, have you met children? They're annoying! During one of my walks when I was coming back from training, before Roxy came, I decided to give it a go.
…it's not worth it.
I was thoroughly annoyed.
All they did was throw rocks far away, in some bizarre pitching contest, play tag, and play-fight against the demon(me).
Needless to say, I'm a little ahead of the curve when it comes to athletics. They didn't stand a chance. Overall it wasn't a fun experience. Doesn't help that there was a sore loser among their group, Ava or Vega-something.
Whatever nameless npc begone!
"Actually… Sensei, seriously, what did you do when you were bored as a kid? Sensei's a demon right, so she grew up in the demon continent, what was that like?"
"I don't think that it's that interesting…"
"Do you want to stare at the clouds some more?" mostly rhetorical, of course you don't.
Please tell me you don't.
"There's not much to tell…" she then went off, on a tangent about her hometown and the area around it. It was rather dull. Rather than someone talking about their home, it felt more like she was giving a geography lesson.
Her homeland is basically a desert, with very few plants growing around them, and relying mostly on trade, and magic to get through the day.
Yes, yes very interesting, but I wasn't looking for a geography lesson.
"Sensei, what about your friends?"
She flinched at my question.
Oh. I see.
You're one of those whose best friend is their shadow weren't you?
Well, not like I'm one to talk.
Jokes at her expense aside, I am actually genuinely curious about her background. Years of living in this world has made me lose a thing or two about the cha-PEOPLE's back story.
Yeah… people…
I've gotta get used to the habit of identifying them as people. Don't want to spiral back into… well, whatever I was spiraling down into.
I feel like I should take my time to learn a little about the person teaching me in this world. After all, I have all the time in the world now. Might as well put it to good use.
But yeah, in all seriousness, I know next to nothing about her except for her having a loli mother and a shota father. Being a bit of a closet pervert(hallway pervert?), and… being talented in magic, water magic specifically.
The most I remember about her species is that they age normally until puberty, when their age stills or slows to a standstill, giving their species an appearance of young kids to young teen.
If I remember correctly… their 'elder,' looked like a teen between 16 and 18. Meaning once they start puberty if they age, it is one year for every twenty.
"...friends…" she pauses, breaking me out of my musings.
"Was sensei a problem child?" I genuinely asked.
"I don't want to hear that from you!"
"But NO. I wasn't a problem child, but I did have my own problems. I'm from the Migurd race, we have a few similarities amongst our people, like the color of our hair, or the fact that we don't age past our teens, as well as the common characteristics of the demon race like long lifespan, and high mana reserves. One of the things that make the Migurd race unique though is it's telepathy."
"Ooooh," that's right. I almost forgot about that, the Migurd race has the ability of telepathy, that's why-
Oops…
"...an ability I don't have," she confesses.
That's right. That's why she ran away from home in the first place.
Well, damn. I just brought up old wounds, but if I stop now, I'll just make things worse than how we started.
"Sensei had her own troubles, huh."
She nods in confirmation.
"Wanna talk about it?" A ladies man I am not, maybe I should ask Paul advice on how to talk to girls.
Or not. Let's go with not.
"Do you really wanna hear my life story?"
It's supposed to be a negative question, but yeah I do.
"Why not? We have all the time in the world? Um, unless I'm being too insensitive… we can talk about something else, like… had any students before me?"
"..."
"It was quiet…" she finally starts opening up to me, talking about her life in the village. It was like a dam was released. Roxy is quiet for the most part, and keeps her sentences short, but…
"...then there was this one time, when a bunch of kids just laughed among themselves, and just threw me pitying looks, like I care! If you're going to laugh at me, say something!"
It'd be hard to believe it if you were to see her right now though.
"The girls were playing with their dolls their moms made, and when I asked to play, they just looked at each other, and one of them actually snickered, before saying I wouldn't fit in. Who would want to fit in with you anyway?!"
Honestly, she was just venting.
"Did they think I didn't understand them? I'm not blind… morons!"
Conclusion; she had a hard time in her village where everyone talks with telepathy whenever she was involved. She always felt like people were silently judging her, some probably were, the other half was probably her imagination.
Combine that with pitying looks, it left for a very uncomfortable environment. It didn't help that for any adult that would talk to her in words, there were two adults that would look at her, and 'think,' a poor thing.
"...still, though I wonder how my parents are doing?"
But in the end she does still miss them.
Taciturn, but not heartless.
As enlightening as that talk was, the mood is getting sour, which was the opposite of my intention. How do I get back on track?
"So sensei didn't have any fun times back home?"
"I ran away from home pretty early in my life, whatever fun I had in the demon continent wasn't 'home,' but rather when I was adventuring, then I became a student very after."
"So senseis been studying all her life… so studious,"
"Magic is fun…"
True.
"But we're not allowed to use magic right now…"
"..when I was adventuring Bradykant gave me rides on her horse before we parted ways."
Horseback riding, hmm… too bad I don't know how to do that. Is that even safe for a child to do?
As I was thinking that a wind came by, and flew a leaf onto my face.
Hmm… That's a thought.
"Sensei, wanna try out shield surfing?"
Why ride a horse, when you can ride the winds.
"Shield what?"
/
"Jeronimo!" I screamed as I sled down a hill. Using a barrel lid, I couldn't find a shield, so I dived sliding down a hill.
"Haha, alright your turn." Shield surfing, got the idea of a zelda game, never really got down to doing it in this world, because of my own complications.
It's sad how I almost missed out on a lot of fun activities, because I'm too busy working.
All work and no play make Rudy a dull boy…
Luckily I can correct that now. I don't have my main sources of entertainment from my old life; manga/anime/novels(kind of do, but not good ones), but shield sledding is something too entertaining to not try.
"J-J-Jeronimooo," Roxy yells out, and follows suit. She goes down the hill and, "Uwaah!" Loses her balance, and trips. And rolls. And rolls some more…
Talk about a barrel roll.
Under her own momentum she continues to roll down the hill tumbling towards me.
"A for effort, F on the landing. Wanna do it again?"
"That wasn't as fun as you'd said it be."
"Well I did say shield sledding, not shield falling."
She gives me an annoyed look.
"Now, now don't be like that. I still got some more ideas."
"I hate you."
"I know you mean love~" I teased.
Deciding to put a little spice on things we decided to add some magic into the mix, hers not mine, I'm still banned after all, and kept at it.
Roxy's sense of balance is crap, but her use of wind magic, plus me behind the steering wheel, did open up some fun possibilities for the future. Needless to say, it was quite enjoyable.
"Haha. See fun right."
"Hah… hah…"
"Sensei?"
"Again. We're doing it again." She looks at me with a dangerous look in her eye.
"Eh?"
I think I just woke up something within her.
What followed was a series of shield surfing, although by the end of it I felt we just invented windsurfing.
Still fun though.
/
"Roxy, how do you get a girl's attention?" As we were walking back to our home down the trail I dropped a random question upon Roxy.
"Pff, w-what?! Ahem," she coughed into her fist. "I don't know. W=why do you ask?" She stumbled a little before gathering herself.
"Well… I've been thinking about girls lately," not technically a lie. "And there's one in particular I kind of… like… like a lot, and I wanted her to a… like me, a bit too… sooo… Roxy's a girl, and…" I let the unspoken question trailed off.
"How observant of you," she stated flatly.
"Yeah… tips?"
"I really think your father would be best at these kinds of things," she continued walking down the path, with me on her trail. "Why don't you ask him? Besides, I don't see you talking to others, who do you like?"
"...I talk to others," I weakly defend myself.
"No you don't." She glances at me. "Do I know her?"
"Yes…"
"Is she older than you?"
"Yes…"
"...does she wear a maid outfit?"
"..."
"Don't look at me like that. It's obvious you have a crush on her, you follow her everywhere, and always on her beck and call. It's cute. Like a puppy."
"What do you mean it's obvious?!"
That's news to me! Until recently I was mostly just playing around, lightly flirting, and complimenting is not lo-LIKE! It's not like. Obviously.
"Heeh~ I've been thinking this for a while," she bends down looking at me in the face, before smirking at me.
That's only cute when Zenith does it!
"But Rudy is quite weak against offensive attacks huh."
"Huh, what are you talking about?"
Weak to offensive attacks? I take offense to that!
"Well~," she pulls on one of my cheeks. "Rudy is good at pranking and teasing, but when it comes the other way around…"
Stop that, I'll bite you, you know.
"Rudy gets all cute and defensive. Hehe, Rudy is all bark, but no bite," she finally lets go of my cheek.
"HAAA?! What are you talking about? Bite, I'll show you bite!"
"Pff. Sure sure, oh, is that Lilia?"
"Like hell I'd fall for such an obvious-"
Clack. Clack. Something crashes behind me.
I swiftly turn my head to see the source of the sound, noticing a couple rocks on the ground.
"Ha ha! Yep all cool," she captures me in a hug from behind, and starts patting me dotingly. "So cute, so cool~ a true lady killer," she continues teasingly patting me while whispering such things.
"Y-you, I'll-"
"You'll?"
"..."
I turn my head awkwardly to the side, a blush on my face.
Don't think you know me. If it weren't for plot contrivances, like the world ending, I'd totally lewd you loli. Yeah, I totally would. I'm not shy at all! You're shy! Yeah!
"Cute," she says, still petting me.
Alright, that's it, you want to play, we'll play.
I push her away, and point to her. "That's enough y-you voyageur!"
There, take that.
"..."
"..."
"...we… we agreed never to talk about that!"
"Agreed? What's that mean? I must have missed that lesson."
"But you know what voyageur means!?" she starts blushing. Hard to tell from embarrassment or anger. Probably both.
"Heh~ Does my cute, beautiful sensei have trouble with how I'm addressing her," I closed the distance once more, hugging her tightly. My courage renewed.
"What's wrong sensei? Is my cute beloved sensei weak to compliments? Does my… 'bite,'" I emphasize the word to really get under her skin, "bother you? Does sensei not know how melodious her voice is, how beautiful her hair is," I lean as close as I can to her ear.
There is a slight height difference.
"Is my sweet sensei weak to this kind of thing? This disciple still doesn't know how to talk to girls, so there's no way my words would affect sensei. He he."
Her face can only be described as red at this point.
"Roxy's embarrassed face? How cu-"
Oh, wait, that's a frown.
I'm not gonna die right? Death by tsundere.
Alright, time to make an escape, almost home anyway.
Turning my head I decide to 'calmly' walk away.
Not retreating. Not one bit.
And with an extra pep in my step, I 'walk' away.
"Hugwah-"
Before being hooked backwards by a staff by the neck and dragged back to her.
"What a rude disciple, you should be punished," she turns me around, now glaring.
"Sensei, I'm recovering, remember…"
She then continues to place both fists across my temple, and mercilessly rubbing her knuckles on opposite sides of my skull.
Child abuse!
"I'm sorry," I find an opportunity, and make a break towards the fence of my house.
"Hehe. It's my win sensei." Don't even know what I'm playing at, at this point, but I'm pretty sure I'm the victor.
"Is that so?" She points her staff, a glow coming beneath her, and a wind spell blasts blooms below my feet, sending me back into her arms. Roxy smirks at me for a moment, before her face changes to something more dreamy.
Her face gets closer towards mine, and then…
Then… she turns my neck forcefully with her wrist and places a chaste kiss on my neck.
"Were you expecting something else, disciple?" She whispered in my ear as she stepped away with a devilish look on her face.
I don't know what kind of face I'm making, but I can feel the blood flowing to it.
We walk silently to the door.
I feel like I'm losing something. I don't like it…
"You know, I tease," I try one last form of attack, "but I don't lie," I turn to face her.
We're now at the house's entrance. Getting close to her I lean into her ear, and 'accidentally', touch it, as I gently whisper into it, "Roxy sensei really is cute~"
I win.
Turning around I slam the door and briskly enter. I go up the stairs, enter my room, and…
"Waaaaah…" proceed to yell into my pillow.
…I think I won? Should I have stood around to see her blush?
Nope! Couldn't get away with it, seeing as my own face feels super hot right now.
What the hell was all that?! Where the hell was all that machismo in my previous life? I think I just used up all my manly points at the get go! Maybe they stockpiled from my previous life? Ah… I wanna die, wanna die…
Knock. Knock. As I'm getting over my sudden bout of boldness.
"Master Rudeus, I'm coming in," Lilia entered the room.
Ah… I'm not sure how to deal with her right now. I've been more or less avoiding her, and have been trying to figure out how to approach her now ever since my feelings for her have been pushed to the forefront, but… I still don't know what to do.
It's like I'm going through my first love all over again.
…which I technically am.
"Dinner will be ready in a short while," she said in her calm tone. "If you have any dirty clothes with you I'll take them from you right now."
"Ah… yeah… I'll just… take these off." I then proceeded to give her the grass stained clothes on my person, before putting on a fresh set, and preparing to follow her down for dinner.
Screw it… I can do this. I'm on a roll today! If it's right now, I can do it. Here I go.
"Lilia!"
Why did I yell?!
"Yes?"
"I likeyou, please gooutwithme?!"
"..."
W-what the hell was that?!
Lilia stands before me, calm as ever, looking at me, her face giving nothing away.
Where'd all the planning go? Where all my machismo go? Did I really use up all my manly points?! Ah… I wanna die…
/
Outside the house, a loli was repeatedly bashing her head with her staff.
"Roxy?! What are you doing?" A concerned Zenith questioned when she found the source of the drumming in her garden.
"I DON'T KNOW?!"
Master Rudeus, can you repeat yourself?"
"A-ahem, would you like to go somewhere with me?"
"Where?"
"To our training pond. I don't actually know how to swim, so I've been wondering if you could… you know… teach me?"
"...I'll think about it…"
/
I did it! I got a date out of Lilia, had a vague idea of how I wanted it to go, and everything.
So, of course nothing went according to plan.
The results were mixed. I think she was just waiting for me to give up, and forget as she stalled for a few days, but I have two weeks of free time, and was very eager for those lessons. For obvious reasons.
I went through a lot of effort figuring out what exactly the 'date,' activity would be, considering we're in a medieval type society, my options were limited. In the end I decided to go with the swimming approach, a two birds one stone approach, as swimming was something I didn't learn in my past life, and would be useful to know.
A well thought out plan If I say so myself, so of course it didn't go to plan.
"There you go Rudy! One, two, one two… You're swimming like a pro, isn't that right Zenith?" Paul praises.
"Good job Rudy! Come here, swim to mama," Zenith says.
Riiight, well this happened. Maybe the gods of romantic comedy are actually a thing, because this happened. Their dicks.
And so my one on one date became a family outing; joy…
Anyways, after trying for a few days to convince Roxy to teach me how to swim. Lilia, 'accidentally,' let it slip that she was bringing me to the old training grounds, the one's I used before Roxy's arrival, and ofcourse that brought my parents attention.
And one thing leads to another, and so Paul decided that this was a good time for some family bonding, deciding on his own to schedule a group date for the whole family, Roxy and Lilia included.
And now we're here.
"Let's go swimming!" Paul said back then. He's wearing a plain bathing suit all things considered. Khaki designed, and with his chest out in the open.
"There you go Rudy," Zenith says as she hugs me close to her chest in the water. A brilliant smile on her face, and a flower ornament, purple, in her hair, with a pearl like design braided around it, giving it the image of a coral ornament on her.
A mermaid?
As usual she is a voluptuous woman, but this time her figure stands out more as she's only wearing a swimsuit. A light piece, two piece purple colored, orchid colored? Type of swimsuit that presses tightly against her figure, accentuating her curves, and pressing against me.
They're soft, and feel like they're sucking me in.
I-it's not my fault they're pressing onto me.
Still though, my private one on one time was invaded by these interlopers.
I turn my head to the side and stare at Lilia off by the bedside, without her apron, but still very much in uniform.
Yeah, there was one little problem… She doesn't own a swimsuit. Of course she doesn't.
All that time trying to convince Lilia to come on over, and it was pointless from the beginning. I suppose swimming in her underwear is a step too far, but damn, so many days wasted.
Sidenote; Roxy did have a swimsuit at the ready. Adventurer's gotta be prepared I suppose?
But what are you doing all over there by your lonesome?
Staring off in the distance I can see Roxy's figure as she's busy making friends with her shadow.
"Momma… air. I'm gonna swim over to Roxy," I yell from her breast as I lightly push myself away.
"Sure~ go on- wah!"
Splash.
"Let me in on the fun too!" Splashes in an energetic Paul.
"Honey~" splash.
"Dear~" splash. The Raijus are enjoying themselves. They continue a splash fight back and forth, as I float there between them.
Such a cliche… I'm not envious, not at all…
"Alright, sweetie go on to Roxy and play for a bit," Zenith turns around sending me off, as Paul dives under the water, and-
"Kya! Paul!" She shoots her hands in the water, losing her floating momentum for a moment. As a laughing Paul comes out of the water shortly after.
"Not in front of Rudy!" She yells.
Ok, that's my que to leave. I'd rather not have any more heads up displays of their affection. I've had a front row view during my first year of my life, and have no intention of repeating that.
"Bye mama, bye papa." I swam off to Roxy.
"How about now?" I hear a voice behind me.
"Should I hit you?"
At least hold off while I'm in front of you. The water is clean, I have a vague idea of what you did underwater, you idiot.
"Sensei!" I swim out to Roxy.
Save me from these idiots.
My sensei in question is wearing a two piece as well, but much more conservative. Rather than a swimsuit that shows off her figure, it's a frilly light-blue two piece, with a petal-like pattern, and a third piece if you count the white bottom underneath. I'm not peeking, she's just easily exposed.
Looking at her figure, my mothers, and then my own and Paul's, and I can't help but feel a disparity in fashion between men's and womens. Why are their swimsuits so advanced when compared to everything else?
Their so…
I guess it's true what they say fashion evolves based on sex appeal.
"You sure are energetic, it's hard to believe you were bedridden workaholic a couple weeks ago," she stated.
"That's the past, let's enjoy the present."
"I hope you don't forget your studies. I'd hate it if you went from one extreme to the other."
"No problem no problem. Soooo, wanna play?" I asked.
Main mission was a failure, but I might as well find some enjoyment where I can. I'm going back to my training schedule, if a bit more restrained now, and this will be the last day for quite a while where I can just let loose.
"Hmph, not particularly," she twiddled with her braided hair.
"Really~ cause I think we can do some fun things with a surfboard."
"We don't have a surfboard."
"But we do have a barrel lid."
"Let's go," she gave an immediate and curt response.
/
Riding the waves sure is fun.
"Sensei!"
"Rudy?"
"Faster?" I asked.
"Faster!" Roxy then proceeds to use wind magic to quite literally set sail, and now her and I are surfing across this pond.
"Hey," I say in a low voice as I'm hugging her tightly from behind, "you mind if I use a little water magic?"
"You really shouldn't…"
"The ban ends tomorrow anyway."
Roxy seems to be mulling it over, we're losing speed because of her distracted focus.
"It'll be fun~"
"FIne, but keep it hidden from your parents."
Don't I always.
"Got it. Trace on," I then control my breathing and concentrate once more. Using water magic I raise some waves up and down, in combination with Roxy's wind, as we skid across the pond.
It really is a blast.
"Oy, that looks fun. Let us in on that too!" Paul yelled out from the sidelines.
What followed was a fun afternoon where we decided to surf on the pond's surface. Me and Roxy, Me and Zenith, Zenith and Paul, and Paul and me. Mixing and dipping, we all cut loose, and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly frolicking like a family in a waterpark. Overall… fun. Not the way I intended it to go, but it'll make a pleasant memory regardless.
The eye candy helps too.
Didn't even notice the sun setting.
Wondering where Lilia was during those times, I looked off to my side from time to time, to see what she was doing, and, to my disappointment, she was simply dipping her toes in the water.
"You know, you don't need a swimsuit for something like this, wanna go for a ride?" I offered.
"That's quite alright master Rudeus, I am fine." She reassured me.
Although, I noticed her look inside her own blouse when she thought I wasn't looking.
I wonder…
All good things must come to an end.
After we were all done playing, parents included, and started packing up; Roxy taking back her board, Paul and Zenith taking their clothes, and gear respectively. I thought to get to the bottom of this.
Let's investigate.
I made a move towards Lilia, grabbing her by the hand, and pulling her off to the side. "Shh," I shush her with the hand symbol. No idea if this translates to this world, but she complies regardless, and lets me lead her away.
"Dad, mom!" I yell out from far away. "I dropped one of Roxy's text books, over there, I'm gonna borrow Lilia to carry it for me," there's so many holes with what I just said, but I really couldn't think of anything under pressure, and just needed a believable excuse to be alone with Lilia without any interruptions.
I gotta get better at thinking under pressure.
"Hmm? Yeah sure. See you back at home," Paul answers, not looking in my direction.
Thank you for believing my bullshit. Although it helps he's distracted by Zenith's butt.
I wait patiently 'till we're alone, before talking to Lilia. "So… anything you want to get off your chest?"
"I'm not sure what you're talking about, Rudy?"
"I see," well, I kind of figured she'd say that. "In advance, I apologize for what I am about to do, you can hit me if I'm wrong," I point my hand to the pond, and force the mana to raise the water.
"Rudy?"
I now have a small wave at my disposal, and so with a wave of my hand I threw it onto Lilia. Sure hope i'm not wrong. I Make sure to be careful enough so as not to throw it too hard to actually hurt her, but just enough to get her wet. Very, very wet.
"Uwaah!" she screams in surprise after receiving a very large splash attack.
Rudeus used Splash, it's super effective.
"R-Rudy?! W-what was that about?" Lilia skittishly replied after recovering, sprawled on the floor leaning back on her hands.
Just kidding, splash is never effective.
"I thought so," staring at Lilia's chest I can see the faint outline of a bikini beneath it. Her outfit is black so it's hard to make out, but I threw enough water at her that I can see the indentation of something beneath.
I reach towards her chest, Lilia being befuddled by my sudden movements doesn't move, and in one breath proceed to open her blouse. Their lay her chest bare open for me to see. Her Black swimsuit covering her chest.
Slap.
Followed by a slap immediately after. Lilia slapped me in the face. Hard.
"Ow… Alright, I know I was literally asking for it, but ow." I wince in pain.
Lilia is looking at me with a look of betrayal. It is not a look that I enjoy.
"Sorry," I nursed my cheek. "I'm a very blunt person, and this seemed like the most effective way of talking about your… swimsuit, and why you're hiding it."
She still looks a bit miffed.
"I'm really sorry," I repeat myself just to be sure.
"Sigh. Fine," she adjust herself, moving to a sitting position, "I already know Rudy long enough to know that he isn't 'THAT,' kind of person, and does stupid thing out of nowhere-"
"I prefer eccentric."
"STUPID, things out of nowhere. So what 'grand' idea does Rudy have now?"
I can taste the sarcasm.
"Not an idea, just a question; why are you hiding your swimsuit? You missed out on alot today."
She narrowed her eyes at me, before looking away and sighing, "Is that really all, for such a little thing Rudeus would make such a big deal?"
"I beg to differ, your swimsuit really is a big deal-" crap I let my inner thoughts escape my mouth.
Calm down Rudeus! Your hormones aren't even active yet, how are you going to handle the future if you can't even handle things of this level.
"...right. Regardless, it's of no importance. Not worth talking about, if that is all let's go home," she starts getting up, and places her hand on her blouse opening.
"And yet it was important enough to hide it," I quipped. "By the way, now that your clothes are wet, it would probably be best to let them dry don't you think?" I move on to the side, and cut off a branch to hang her clothes, and start a small bonfire to warm them up.
I sit by the fire and wait.
"..."
She sighs, but ultimately surrenders, and comes to the fire, and starts stripping.
Being forceful every once in a while isn't half bad.
I think as the resident kuudere Milf starts taking off her clothes before me. I know she said I'm not THAT type of guy (whatever that is), but I kind of wish I was right now.
She takes off her clothes, unbuttoning the buttons down from where I left off, and let the clothes fall. There she stood before me, a little wet, well a lot wet, but pretty much alright, she picked up her clothes, and began to bring them to the hanger, before I took them from her hand.
Seeing as she is only wet because of me, might as well take responsibility. I hang the clothes and then we sit by the fire.
"What would you have done if you were wrong?" The silence is broken by her question.
"...there was always that possibility. I'd probably get down on my hands and knees and beg your forgiveness until you accepted, or confess to my parents, so they could punish me appropriately, but I was confident that you were wearing something, although…" I looked at her bottom half.
"I didn't expect for the bottom to be so risque," I say as I look closely at her choice of swimsuit. It's a black two piece swimsuit, three piece if you count a business-like collar piece with a star design on her neck, but it's the bottom half that's throwing out my concentration. It's a string piece.
I… really want to see the back.
"I w-wasn't planning on wearing it today, there's a frilly piece to go with it," she blushed as she covered her bottom, noticing my stare "I left it in my quarters though."
"Wow." I enjoyed the sight. "Ah-right sorry… it looks really nice on you."
"...Thank you," she sits down by the fire sitting opposite of me, a small blush present on her face.
What were we talking about? RIght-
"But really it looks good on you. I thought you said you didn't have a swimsuit, but you even wore it here. You clearly wanted to swim so what gives?"
"...I wasn't lying when I said I didn't have a swimsuit. I ordered one the day you asked, it arrived just yesterday, but still I couldn't swim."
"Why not? You clearly wanted to, and before you say you didn't I know-"
"I can't swim."
"What? You can't swim?" Had to make sure I heard that correctly.
"Like… really?"
"Yes, master."
Well, talk about an exercise in futility.
"...wanna learn? Mom and Dad said I'm a natural," I offered.
"You misunderstand, young master. I can not swim. Specifically; it hurts to. At least for long periods of time," her hand traces her leg.
"I can float in place, but extraneous activities aggravate my… handicap." She made a small smile. "I don't really think I'm the best person to teach it," she then went on explaining how she literally can not swim. Her leg injury gets aggravated by the constant paddling. For a small amount of time it's negligible, but for long periods, unknown.
She honestly didn't know how long she could stay afloat in the water, as she didn't even want to try it. Simply aware of her own limits she doesn't even try so as not to injure/embarrass herself.
It would be unbecoming to teach a student something you can not do. Or atleast, that's her thinking.
"So you're not even sure, if you can or cannot swim, and just assuming?"
"It's a fair judgment, based on the situation Rudy," she justified. "You've sparre with me, remember."
I get it, but I don't like it. That defeatist mentality kinda pisses me off.
"There's also Lady Zenith and master Paul. specifically miss Zenith. Madame doesn't have many moments with the young master, I thought that this would be a good opportunity for you two to bond. Your mother was quite happy today."
Ah, that.
Well, there are many reasons, but in the end it's actually quite simple; I just can't. Zenith and Paul are a little dense, but not oblivious. It helps that Paul focuses mostly on training, rather than my personality, but I feel that if I stayed with Zenith long enough, she would know that something is up. I can play a kid for a short while, but I might slip in my act from time to time. As long as it's not often I should be able to get away with it, but I don't think I could pull such an act for long periods of time.
Lilia is an exception, as she knows I'm not normal, I know that she knows, and she knows that I know that she knows. So I'm free to be myself around her. Not the same for Zenith.
"As for Paul… I'd be uncomfortable under his stares…"
"I can kind of understand that," I said, and get a leer for what it's worth. Yeah, had that coming. "But, you still want to swim don't you?"
"..."
Lilia nods her head silently. "Even I want to let loose every once in a while," she mumbled into her lap, as she hugged her knees tightly to her chest.
"I see. Alright, that's all I needed to hear. Let's let loose," I say more to myself than anything else. I walk over to her, before bowing down and looking at her at eye level. "Let me show you something amazing."
Walking away from her I decide to break my magic ban.
It's showtime.
"Ladies and-" the ladies and gentleman speech doesn't work for a crowd of one does it. "Well… just Lady, sit down and let the show begin."
Alright here goes nothing I suppose. "Trace on," jumping into the water I paddle until I am a small distance from the shore.
I raise my hand, and raise the water along with it. "Water ball," I make a water ball, before proceeding to split apart, then I give it momentum, and let it spin, it goes in a circle around me. Using its own momentum, and my own body as an anchor it's now going in circles. "Water ball…" I repeat again… again, and again, until I have five water balls spinning around me. "Wind rise," I hit the water balls in sequences making for short splashes.
Now that the shock part is over with, it is time for the awe.
I keep creating water balls again, and again. My hands moving, conducting them, moving them as I will. Spinning them around me again, and again. Paddling in place I am the center of this storm. I'm floating on a bubble, I let my will whirl, and my bubbles spin with me.
A whirlpool of bubbles. Dazzling in the twilight, as I dance a bubble too overhead, creating an array of mirrors. An array of water.
"Icy wind."
And then I give them form.
Using all the moisture that I've kicked into the air, I now start using it to form figures. I made a butterfly. A star. A flower. Anything simple, and easy to make, while subtly freezing them for a moment when I release the shape onto the air. With all the moisture I've kicked up, the setting sun sets up just enough light to bounce off the ice shards I've made. It's not quite an ice sculpture, but it's impressive in its own right.
Or at least I hope it is. Didn't have time to rehearse this, so have no idea if the light is hitting the intended angles. Should have done this under a full moon, rather than a sunset.
But I keep going regardless.
Throwing my arms out I am a conductor, and water is my instrument, and so I keep playing… until the show ends.
…trace off…
I stop.
"Whew," breathing out in relief, I turned towards her, and wondered what her reaction is
She is silent, staring at me with open eyes, and a little, I'd like to think at a loss for words.
Why thank you~
Noticing my stare she starts to clap slowly .
"Thank you, thank you," I'm a bit tired, but not exhausted, just enough for one little thing. I walk around the bonfire, and reach down my hand to her, "Do you trust me?"
She reaches for my hand tentatively, "...yes," and lets me lead her to the pond..
We paddle and continue to drift, until we're back in the center.
Splash. I splashed her a bit. "You can let loose now Lilia. I'm controlling the water with your legs, I'll be the water beneath you. How does it feel?"
"Like I'm floating on air."
"Yep, so how about a game of marco polo?"
"Marco?" Right, right, other world old references.
"Exactly."
/
What follows was a series of blind tag, aka marco polo, where a Maid is trying to find a young boy in the middle of a lake with her eyes closed.
Funny thing, with her eyes closed she didn't notice the smile on her face.
A beautiful redhead smiling at me splashing water as she doggy paddles here and there.
"Got you," she caught me.
"You got me," I wrap my hands around her.
Honestly, this is more tiring than I thought I'd be, controlling the water constantly, but the prize was worth it.
"You're beautiful Lilia," as we float there in the middle of the pond with the sun now fully set, I say such things. "...in your swimsuit that is…" I let the moment pause, just enough for her to know the hidden meaning.
The original plan was to get closer to Lilia, have her fall for me, and even if I failed I would have gotten close to her enough that I could convince her to pursue someone that cares for her in body and heart. I would be sad, back then, with the second option, but I could do it.
Now though… Now I don't want to fail.
Gotta take it calmly, don't want to scare her off.
Flick.
She flicks me in the forehead, before lightly chuckling into her hands. "Say such things when you're older Rudy," she smiles.
Not the intended result, but you can't go wrong with a smile.
Yeah… she got me.
/
Roxy [POV]
Eh? This is…
I am currently at the lakeside, as I look over… something.
Rudy, and the maid are hugging in the middle of the pond.
As Miss Zenith was preparing the evening meal, I was preparing the books for the night lessons upstairs wondering where Rudy was. I asked his parents, and they said that he left a book back at the pond.
…except the books are all home with me.
Going back to the pond, the sun had just set, and my student seemed to be trying to court his own maid.
…she doesn't seem to be too against it.
"Ahem," I coughed into my hand.
"Roxy?" My disciple and the maid turned their heads to see me at the bedside. She pushed herself off my disciple's grasp and started floating a hand's reach away.
"Your night lessons will start soon. I heard you left a book here, funny… all your books are back at home," I spoke to my disciple as the maid silently drifted back to the bedside, to a bonfire.
"Are they? My mistake. Must have lost my mind with all the fun I was having."
And what fun were you having, disciple?
"Anyways, let's go. Any longer and your parents will worry. Children shouldn't be out at night,"
"Sure~" my disciple got out of the water nonchalantly, and made for his clothes. Where the maid was already changing. Putting back her maid uniform over her…
What a scandalous swimsuit…
A short moment later, and they were both dressed accordingly. We walked home along the way my disciple entered into casual banter about the day's proceedings, not a bit embarrassed of how I caught him in a lie, or his earlier entanglement with the maid.
It's alright, it's alright. He's just a child.
Such a monologue went through my head until we entered the home. It's not like… it's not like it's mutual right?
Turning my head to the maid in question, she was walking a steady distance behind us, until we entered the building.
As Rudy enters the home I let out some thoughts, "Rudy has quite a crush on you doesn't he," I say as I stand by the door not going in yet.
"Yes, it would appear so," came an eloquent reply.
"You seemed to be having fun."
"...Rudy is a very charming child."
That's true. Still though…
"I hope you're careful when addressing his feelings. I don't think his parents would quite like it if he's heartbroken by the maid."
"Rest assured, Miss Roxy, I will respond to Rudeus' feelings appropriately, and when the time comes, I will respectfully, and kindly turn him down."
"I see…" Perhaps it's not mutual.
Although the image still lingers; of her smiling face while embracing my student in the middle of nowhere. Followed by a more insidious thought she once heard rumors of in the past.
Tales of how young maids would sometimes try to seduce young masters, in the hopes that they would make them their wife or concubine.
No, no no no, there's no way she's that kind of woman. That disciple of mine is putting weird thoughts into my head.
"Miss Roxy?"
In my turmoil I failed to notice that I've been blocking the door for a while.
"Ah, sorry. Got lost in thought. But thank you for your understanding. Zenith has prepared dinner for us today, I'll send Rudy down shortly," I open the door and make my way to my student's bedroom where the night lessons will soon begin, and hopefully rest for a bit.
Ahhh, my head. Only my disciple could give me such a headache during a vacation.
After a day's worth of excitement, I couldn't wait to get back to regular magic lessons.
Still though, better a disciple that worries the head than one that worries the heart.
And it's only been a year, hopefully the upcoming year will be peaceful…
Right?
I'll be almost five in a couple months.
Life's been good, the threat that is Hitogami still exists, but I'm no longer working myself into an early grave because of it. Nor am I worrying about my own existence. I have fully come to terms with what my lifes is, and making it my own.
Training with father on the yard during mornings, practicing with Roxy in the afternoons, ending with some night lessons, and ending the day with a slightly, and only slightly, fatigue body, having a good night's rest.
I can even take days off when things become too much, in fact I'm encouraged to do so, but overall life has been quite carefree that I have no need to do so
Swing. Clash.
…mostly…
Right now I'm sparring with Paul.
Lately our sparring sessions have gotten… 'intense.'
Intersecting blades, me and Paul are going through the motions as we strike wood on wood. Practice sword vs practice sword.
…I only wish he wasn't so competitive.
Strike.
"Ow," I'm struck on the shoulder.
"That's six deaths, four more and we'll call it a day," Paul voiced.
Yeah… Like a video game, Paul gives me '10 lives' while we're sparring and after leaving the '10th deathblow,' can I rest.
Consequently I can also rest after giving him one deathblow, but… that's a work in progress for the time being…
Can't I hit you? Please let me hit you! It would do wonders for my self confidence I mean. Don't you know… a father should let themselves get hit to boost their sons confidence. Right? Right?! Now just let me give you one!
How did I get stuck in this situation?
Thinking back to a few minutes ago, I was showing off to Roxy, my improvements on reinforcement magic(fake toki), and how I'll be surpassing swordsmen soon.
How I'll be a real powerhouse as a mage with some sword ability.
I did not notice Paul behind me.
He disagreed, and I'm not known for backing down. Sooo… here I am.
Clash. Clash. We struck swords once more again, and again, once from the left, another from the right.
It's heavy. Alright, time to up the difficulty.
"Trace on," I cast reinforcement. A green glimmering effect washes over my body, as the spell and toki interact. The reinforcement technique I developed has come along the way, rather than the Fate version I was going for, I got something closer along the lines of a forcefield, similar to that of Rwby.
It can only last around five minutes for now, but that's more than enough.
The glow dissipates, but its effects linger.
Oh yeah, I have Toki now.
I made all the effort to make a magical equivalent, because Toki was so hard to bring out, but I inexplicably ended up doing it anyway.
How? Uh-huh…
One day I just got hit by Paul over the shoulder, swung my stick in frustration, and in a moment of frustration, my vision went white my body felt like I was on fire, and in one powerful thrust…
Bam… it came out.
A 'that,' feeling came over me, similar to my reinforcement, but different, and I've been trying to replicate it since. I can more or less do it. I can activate my toki, a small piece of it, but… it's thin. It might as well be non-existent. It is an instinctual thing, so I have very little control over it, except for activating it.
In any case, it's a nice defense buff, when using it in combination with my reinforcement spell I actually have some semblance of a defense, so I'm not gonna say no to it.
That, and I grow green when hit.
Paul smirked at my invocation.
RIght… that…
Paul being the competitive pops he is, the moment he sees the green glow on me, decides to take it up a notch. All of a sudden the strikes get heavier, and his movements become faster.
That or he just likes showing off. Either way these spars get considerably more difficult.
Don't know if he's trying to strengthen my Toki skill or what not, but I need to give my body a little boost here and there to keep up.
His body starts zooming about.
Clash. Our swords collide, he hits my blade and my hand is forced upwards. I make some distance stepping backwards, reinforcing the step to get as much distance as possible.
Swoosh. Seconds later a swing comes at me, and I dodge. Can't afford to clash blades, I'll lose my balance, and 'die.'
Swing. Dodge. Swing. Dodge. Swing. Dodge. He's literally running circles around me. I can only see his figure for a moment, before I almost lose sight of it.
Clash. Dammit, we crossed blades. My sword arm is swung to the left, he comes from the right. He swings horizontally. I try to step off, only to get hit at the leg. I hobbled of into a retreat, and-
Strike. Strike. Strike. Strike. Break.
I didn't see the swings, but I sure felt them.
Four strikes land on my body as well as three glows, as well as what sounds like glass breaking. That is the sound of my reinforcement spell shattering.
I've been mercilessly beaten. Once in the head, two over the heart, and one in the stomach. My body shimmering green under the last strike, means the spell is over, as well as my stamina.
"My win again Rudy. I think you're lasting longer," he complimented? With a shit eating smirk on his face.
Please let me hit you.
"God dammit. Maybe if I-no that wouldn't work, sigh, couldn't you take it easy on me?" I asked
"I am taking it easy on you~"
"Riiight… that's why you were running circles around me?"
"That's why you were casting magic?"
"...I'm just leveling the playing field," I contended.
I'm four dammit! Almost five!
"Heh~ Rudy's so serious," he throws his arm over my shoulder. "Don't worry there's always next time."
That's true.
"But I doubt it." He stated. A grin on his face.
Honesty just explode…
Manipulating my use of mana, I freeze the moisture over Paul's back, and condense it, making an ice cube. Before letting it fall down his shirt.
"Eeep!" he yelled, a feminine scream coming out of him.
How cute. Now bye.
Releasing myself from his grip, I dashed my way to Roxy's sweet embrace.
Who the hell wants to smell like sweat anyway?!
/
"My muscles are sore," I'm groaning in an open field.
The ban might have been lifted, but I'm still not allowed to use healing magic on myself. Something about a relapse.
I can perform it on others, just not myself. If necessary I am to look for Zenith, or ask Roxy to help me out, but I'm not allowed to spam it like in the past.
No more magic therapy.
"Sure you don't want me to heal you?" Roxy asked.
"Yep, have to build up a pain tolerance somehow."
That and after my sickness fiasco, I have to take into account that magic isn't just an extra ingredient, but something imperative to the human body. Unnecessary healing might do more harm than good. The endorphins alone…
I was lucky my body didn't go through withdrawals. It's just a theory, but not worth finding out.
I am now messing around with Roxy(read: playing), one of life's few pleasures, along with a few other things such as helping Lilia out , helping out villagers, with grape stomping.
It is surprisingly fun.
Oh! And of course god-damned magic!
Have I ever told you how amazing magic is?
You're a wizard Rudy!
It's the best, and so comes my favorite weekend activity before I was so Rudy-ly interrupted earlier. I snap my fingers.
Magic practice, not study, practice, a.k.a: Let's see if we can make that fictional technique real.
After recovering from a mana exhaustion fever, my control has been skyrocketing. Earth, water, fire, wind, I can control the elements with ease. Well… within reason, I'm not summoning a typhoon anytime soon.
Wait a minute…
I stand up, and walk a few steps away from Roxy, earning some space.
"Earth," I stomped the ground. Rock burst from the ground.
"Water," I whipped my hands out, and water whips flow out.
"Fire," I turned them into fist and thrust to the sides, fire balls going in those directions.
"Wind," I performed a jumping roundhouse kick, and let the winds spin and carry me on the way down.
"I'm the avatar…"
"What are you doing Rudy?" A sweet voice called from behind me.
"Studying?" Playing.
"Is that so," says a floating Roxy, with her hands at the side. Doing her best Iron man impression, she has her hands at the side, creating a perpetual wind, keeping her up.
She's working on some flight magic we developed.
It took me a while to remember the concepts of lift, and drag, but we've developed an early draft for flight magic. Well we say that, but it's basically just gliding, lift-offs, and floating.
We're basically just jumping really high at this point.
There is another problem though.
I can see them.
She's wearing a skirt… I can totally see the underneath.
I don't know how I'll breach the topic, but I gotta tell her about it before she leaves and starts flashing the rest of the continent.
Alright, time for a magical experiment to revive a weeaboos dream, a.k.a: Rasengan!
Why?
Because it's the goddamn Rasengan. If you are reborn in a magical universe, and you're not trying to recreate the Rasengan, you surely aren't living!
I mean… come on… Rasengan.
If you come from the real world, and then find yourself in a world of fantasy, well why not fulfill a fantasy?
"Trace on," taking out my hand I imagine the winds swirling around, and then start, "Wind blast," I need some momentum to get it going and, then…
"Rasengan!"
"Nice wind blast," Roxy complimented. As she floated back to the ground.
Thank god she's not in the air anymore. Do you have any idea how distracting you are?
Ignoring flashing sensei, my control has really gone up and beyond what is normal.
The time before my sickness I was training every day, but was unable to see the results as whatever process my body was going through while exhausted, left me unable to see the results. I was always working with half a tank.
Thanks to it though, my dream to perform a Rasengan is still a possibility.
At the moment it's just advanced air compression. I've essentially made an air cannon, the low tech ones that throw t-shirts.
Hurray, I can now start my dream of lifting skirts in another world! As if!
"Well, at least it's visible now, so that's something."
The fact that I can see it means that I am gathering quite a bit of mana into that wind, so that's a plus. It's not the pure concentration of mana I want it to be, but I'll get there.
"Wouldn't that just make it easier for your enemies to judge?"
Oy, shut up sensei! Who told you to bring logic into this.
I glared at my teacher. "...can't you let me have one victory. Trust me, it will be great once I figured out all the kinks."
"Speaking of fixing kinks. Good job on the reinforcement, it's come a long way," she praised. "Although…" she puts a finger to her bottom lip. "Whatever happened to that other spell? Analysis, I believe. I felt that one had potential."
"Ah, I still practice it, just not around sensei."
She gives me a frown. "You're not sneaking in extra training are you."
"Don't look at me like that. I'm sure you would have noticed if I was pushing myself to my limits."
"That's true. Wait, so you have made progress?"
"Kind of, here," I reach out for her hand. "May I?"
She gives me her hand understanding my intent.
I put a finger on her palm releasing my energy into it. "Sensei's a mage so she can feel it right? My energy going through your hand. I can see sensei closely, her bones, her muscles. For example… here." I trace my finger up to her shoulder, and push a bit.
I say see, but it's more like echo location, or maybe it's an x-ray?
Regardless, I've gotten quite good at seeing someone's insides.
Sounds more gruesome than it is. It is completely safe, not dark magic, nope not at all. Definitely falls under healing. Probably.
"Mmh," a moan escaped her lips.
"Your muscles are a bit in a knot under the armpits. You've been pushing yourself flying sensei," I say with closed eyes, concentrating on the feel of my mana.
"I-I see," she says. "This will be very useful for healing-wait a minute! How exactly have you been training this magic if you haven't practiced it around me?"
Ah… oops?
An awkward silence came between us, as she gave me a cold look. I could feel the atmosphere literally cooling. I noticed her staff glowing as well.
Oy! What are you doing? I'm innocent, stop that.
"Like I said… if I were doing something like working myself to the bone you would know."
"But you weren't telling me you were still practicing it," she reiterated.
"..."
"I'll tell your mom."
"...massages…" I confess.
"...who?" she questioned.
"Lilia…"
"You're still at it," she puts a hand to her forehead as she shakes her head in disbelief. "I thought you'd have given up. Didn't she say, and I quote; 'Master Rudeus should pursue woman closer his age.'"
"She said I would be happier pursuing someone my age, not that I should pursue someone else. Besides, it's strictly medical. It's for medical reasons."
"Yes, yes. I remember, you showed me once. Didn't know you were still at it."
"Well, you can't argue with the results. Besides, I'm not the only one that's having romance troubles, am I."
"What do you mean?" She questioned.
"You know what I mean. I've been wanting to ask for a while, but who's the kid that's been stalking you lately?"
That's right, lately sensei has had a hoodie wearing kid following her around.
In fact…
"I can see them off in the distance right now," I peer into the distance.
Right now, I can very easily see the kid. Well at least I don't have to worry about them being a peeping tom if they're that far away. I doubt they could have seen Sensei's panties.
Probably.
"So, who is it?"
"I don't know," she said.
"You haven't asked?"
"Everytime I go to them they start running away."
So… definitely a child…
"...good luck?" I offered.
She gave me an impassive look, "why do I feel you're thinking something unnecessary?"
"Just your imagination. The magic is affecting your head, sooo… wanna catch them? We both know you can catch them if you want to," not difficult.
Sensei has flight magic afterall.
Hop magic?
"What do you want me to do, kidnap them, and ask them?" she retorted. "If he has something to say he'll say it. If not, then not. I have no time to entertain children."
"Hello there!" I waved at her.
"You don't count."
"I'm hurt!"
"You know what I mean!" She huffed, getting to her feet, and bending slightly at her break in character. "You're as much a child as I am."
"So I'm childish."
Her staff starts glowing, as she looks at me silently.
"I'll quit now," I sat down contently.
I'm playful, not evil.
"Good," she said, lowering her staff, and going back to watch me quietly. "What even is a rasengan supposed to be in any case?"
"Plot armor!"
She looks at me with dead eyes.
"I'm kidding… Please don't look at me like that. That hurts. Anyway, it's supposed to be my trump card. My…" I put a hand on my chin as I thought about how to explain it to her "...no chant, immediate use, advanced level magic, the size of my hand, and to be used for direct contact."
"...you're going to be a scary mage aren't you Rudeus?"
"I prefer eccentric~" I said, a small smile on my face. "Now then," I turned my side to her, as I steady my breathing and concentrated on the feeling of 'feeling' mana in my hands. "Rasengan, Rasengan, Rasenga…" I repeated my attempts at building that spiraling ball.
I will succeed, believe it!
Rather than a spherical ball of doom, it's more of a silvery wisp that blasts wind.
"...rasengan…"
Hmm, sensei's also giving it a shot.
"Harder than it looks right?" I said, not bothering to glance at her to check if I was right.
"Indeed, I still don't see the application for this. A conventional wind blast uses up less energy. Why would you even want to fight in the forefront anyway? Long range attacks are safer."
"Just trust me on this."
"I trust that you are too stubborn to change your mind now," she says, before redoubling her own efforts, and hovering once more.
Who's the stubborn one?
I'll have you eating your words soon enough sensei. Well, at least I have her here. Two heads are better than one.
Wait a minute… two heads?
"Hmm, why not?" I said to myself. "Hey sensei, can I have some help please?"
Walking off to her side, I pulled on her skirt gently, and brought her down to earth. I then went off on an explanation on what I wanted done. I wanted to cheat.
Swimming in my chuunibyou tendencies, I forgot that a certain character that I am mimicking technically cheated to bring it out.
Two people really are better than one.
"So, all I have to do is put in my magical energy?"
"Yep," I answered.
I gave her a short, but specific explanation of what I needed. She has more magical energy than me, so she's gonna be the tank, and I'm gonna be the driver, and 'steer,' this wheel. Putting our energies togethers, she is my shadow clone, the wind beneath my wings, and I'm the storm.
"Alright… if you say so, let's go…" closing her eyes, I can feel a cool feeling between my hands, as the illusory feeling of mana is felt between my hands.
I mimic her efforts.
"..."
Breath in… breath out… try to get in sync with each other as much as possible, and…
""Rasengan,"" we yell out simultaneously.
Roxy's energy rushes out of her like a dam hitting its release, and I struggle to give it form, concentrating on molding it.
Burst! It explodes on us.
An air bubble pops between us, and sends us flying.
"Well… success?" she questioned.
It definitely had more oomph.
"Yeah… probably…" I turned to look at my sensei for a moment. "Ha ha ha…" Before bursting into a fit of laughter.
Can't say what's particularly funny… I just felt like laughing at this moment.
"...ha ha…" a small chuckle comes from Roxy as well.
Success?
Well… who cares…
/
That was yesterday.
As fun as a method would be to spam the Rasengan together. I still have to find time to practice it alone.
It's not like she's always going to be around, so I have to see what I can do by myself.
"Rasengan," I threw a whispery wind to a tree by my lonesome. It scabs some of the wood's surface, but overall the tree is just fine.
Still have to keep it a secret though.
My family is still paranoid about me overworking myself.
Technically this might count as pushing myself a bit, buuuuut… come on… Rasengan!
I gotta hit while the iron is hot! Having a little better feel of what the Rasengan is supposed to be after partnering up with Roxy, I'm doing some private practice out in the forest.
As long as you don't stray too deep into it you don't need to worry about any monsters, and I have plenty of privacy. So everything is good, no soul around, and can practice in peace.
"Gasp-"
…Is what I would like to say.
"He's here…"
I didn't notice him because he was hiding behind a tree in the distance.
But I see him now. Roxy's little stalker.
"Well, this is new. I wonder what he wants."
Usually he sticks to just following Roxy, but it seems he's following me today. This is a change of pace. Normally when she and I split off, like yesterday, he usually follows her before going home, or wherever it is he does.
This would be the first time he's followed me.
"So this is what it feels like to be famous," I say to myself. "Hmmm… I should buy a hat. Now then," I look at Roxy's fan. "I guess I'll ignore it… I have better things to do. Rasengan," I chant. The winds gather, and silvery specks appear within the ball, giving it an appearance, if only barely. A hollow oppaloid shape takes shape.
Pop. It breaks. Like a bubble.
It's hard to concentrate, when I know I have an audience.
"You know what, screw it. I can have some fun after I've done some work, sooo~" I peek back at the hooded figure hiding in the trees, "let's have some fun~"
Well, since he's gonna screw around with me, let's screw back.
/
"Hey there, fancy running into you here," I pop right next to them.
"Eep!" he yelled?
Oy, that was a pretty feminine scream. Are you a girl?
Taking a look at our little guest, I look over their appearance closely for the first time. They are wearing a hoodie jacket, a size or two too big for them, shorts, and a plain white cotton shirt, common for this era. They're around my height, that would make them around my age, 4-6, seven if they're short, and… kind of feminine.
A… girl?
Always looking at us from afar this is the first time I'm seeing them this close.
It's standard for girls of this era to wear skirts, so the possibility that they were a girl escaped me.
…sooo… not a pervert? Unless… Yuri?
Whoosh.
Regardless she dashed away from me. Most likely a she.
Now, now, you be like that, we're barely getting to know each other. Operation cat and mouse is a go!
Pervert, or awkward fan, whatever, I'm still going to chase you.
I jumped, and used some wind magic to carry me over the trees, easily over her head, and land in front of her once again.
"Hello again~ Did you meet my twin brother, he's about yay high-"
"Eee!"
She screams again and starts dashing away from me.
"..."
Okay… once more.
"Wow, we really gotta stop meeting like-" I repeat my game of hopscotch.
Only for her to run past me again.
…am I being ignored?
Kudos to her.
"…"
"Alright," I drop down before her again. "I get there's being shy, but at least," she runs off.
Really?! You stalk me and my sensei, get in between my magic training, and you're just going to ignore me?
"...at least banter with me dammit," I grumbled.
My witty banter means nothing if you don't banter back. We do speak the same language, don't we?
We continue our little game of tag for a bit. Her running around in the forest, and me hoping up and around again and again. At this point it's just a matter of principle. I will not be ignored.
Still though… the girl has a set of lungs on her.
Ironically, if she had built the courage to run past me, rather than turning tail and running away from me, we'd probably be out of this forest by now. Instead we've been running in circles.
Back and forth, back and forth, back…
It repeats until…
"Hah… hah…" She hits her limit. Breathing hard leaning against a tree, her hands resting against it, she's gathering her breath.
"You're done. Alright, let's talk I just-" I reach my hand towards her while I was talking, and grab her collar, before having my hand slap away.
She/he is trembling a little.
…I'm annoyed…
"Alright, fanboy," I rub the back of my hand.
She slapped me. Roxy's little stalker actually slapped me.
"Mind telling me why you've been following me and Roxy for so long? You're an admirer? Wannabe student? Disgruntled lover?" I quipped, "Devil from her homeland? Or-"
They flinched.
"...well… that's something. Who are you?"
A little nervous, but standing firm, their leaning against the tree not saying anything. They don't look like they want to talk.
"Why have you been following sensei? What are your intentions?"
"..."
"Alright, I lift them up by the collar, "here's how we're going to do things little pervert, you are going to talk, or…" I will a wind beneath us, "you're going to fly. Choose."
They kick their legs in mid-air.
Don't underestimate my kid physique. You're light as a feather.
"...I… ed… alk to…" she mumbled something. I couldn't make it out.
"Well, speak up. I can't hear you!" I brought them down to the ground.
"...I just wanted to talk to her…" she said.
"And you're following me, because…"
"...I was hoping you could introduce me to her."
Ah… wait… talk? Sooo… not a pervert?
I let go.
"Talk?"
She nods her head.
"Really?"
"...really…" she whispered.
"...and that's it?"
She nods her head vehemently.
"Well… if that's it… I guess she wouldn't mind, but you gotta show me your face," I cross my hands in contemplation.
"No!" She grabs her hood holding it down.
Really?! You want me to do you a favor and you're not going to show me your face?! This is why kids are sooo-
"Ok, you're really starting to piss me off, when you ask for favors. The least you could do is show someone your face," I reach for her hood once more.
Slap.
Only for my hand to be slapped away again…
Why is slapping me a thing?!
"What's the big deal you're going to have to show your face eventually," I reach for her once more, and tug angrily at her hood, she struggles against my grip, but I'm being quite forceful, and won't be denied at the moment. A moment later her hood is flipped, revealing her face.
…her face… the face of a young girl… a young girl… with green hair.
She is…
I stare at her intently, lost in her features for a moment.
Looking at me nervously, her face is clear as day as I see her clearly for the first time. She has green hair, clear red eyes, elfish ears, and a very young face… a face that is looking at me with a little bit of fear.
Oh…
Seeing me staring at the top of her head in particular, she puts her hands to the top of her hair, pushing it down, and turning to leave, "I-I-I'm sorry for bothering you."
She runs past me with tears in her eyes.
Because of my bewilderment she escapes my grasp easily, leaving only her coat behind, still in my hand.
"I promise to stay away from you from now on!" Her voice carries in the distance.
I think about taking chase… but I'm not sure if I should…
After all… that was the heroine.
"That was Slyphy," I muttered.
It seems I just met one of the main heroines, and… proceeded to bully her. That leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
I am what I should do.
…
"She left her coat." Still in a daze I look at the coat in my hand.
"…"
"I think I played enough…"
I could use a warm bath.