The group stepped out of the portal as it slowly closed in the middle of Unit Six's living room. The violet light faded, and the reed bird feathers vanished one by one, leaving them standing again in the quiet of the headquarters.
"Mhm?"
Their return was immediately noticed by Sahara, who was still curled up on the sofa in the exact same position as when they'd left.
She opened one eye just long enough to confirm that the figures emerging were her own teammates. Satisfied with that, she closed it again without a single word, and her breathing evened out within seconds.
Naoki stared at her with a mixture of bewilderment and reluctant admiration.
*(Is Sahara secretly a koala? Or maybe she has hibernating animal in her bloodline somewhere? She really does love her sleep. Doesn't she get dizzy sleeping that much?)*
His gaze lingered over the curve of her figure on the sofa, the slender waist arching just so, the full swell of her hips pressing into the cushion, her hair a pleasant mess that somehow only added to her appeal.
*(Since she loves sleeping so much, she probably wouldn't mind if I "slept with" her too someday, right?)*
That train of thought derailed the instant something far more immediate pulled his attention away. Tenka suddenly wrapped both arms around his, pulling close with a grip firm enough that Naoki could feel every bit of warmth and softness pressing against him.
The plush pressure of her chest against his arm was, without question, the most effective distraction imaginable. Every thought of Sahara evaporated on the spot, replaced entirely by the awareness of Tenka's body leaning into his.
"Tenka." Naoki turned to look at her. "That visit to Unit Seven was over in under fifteen minutes. Why did you ask me to take two full days off training?"
Tenka looked up at him with an indulgent smile that could have softened steel, her pretty eyes curving into crescents, her lips forming a perfect arc. A smile she showed only to him.
"I want us to go on a date, Naoki-kun. We've only had one proper date, and I want to feel that again."
Faced with that side of her, the warm, unguarded side of a woman who usually carried herself with such composure, Naoki found he had absolutely no ground to stand on. He still had one question, though.
"I understand, but why two days?"
Tenka's gaze drifted briefly toward Yachiho, who had just dropped herself onto the sofa across the room.
"Because tomorrow is your date with Yachiho." She answered, as casually as if she were commenting on the weather.
"Eh?"
Yachiho jolted upright, the relaxed posture she'd barely settled into gone in an instant. Her name had been pulled into this intimate conversation without a moment's warning, and she was completely unprepared for it.
The awkwardness was immediate. Her hands went to the hem of her floral lace skirt, fingers fidgeting with the fabric, her eyes drifting to every corner of the room except where Tenka and Naoki were standing.
Technically speaking, she was nothing more than an assigned "kept woman," tasked by her grandmother with securing her superior's boyfriend's bloodline for the sake of the Azuma family line. Her status was ambiguous, her position complicated, and now that same superior was scheduling a date on her behalf?
Sensing the discomfort, Tenka smiled in a way that was meant to put her at ease.
"I've said it before, haven't I? I don't mind Naoki-kun having other women, Yachiho. I'm quite open-minded about this."
Yachiho exhaled, a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Even if the concept of a "harem" had already been discussed in the abstract, watching it be arranged so matter-of-factly right in front of her was a different experience entirely.
"Don't misunderstand." She said, turning her face away, though the faint color in her cheeks gave her away. Her twin tails swayed with the movement. "I have no interest in deepening any emotional bond with him. Bearing his child for the Azuma family is more than sufficient as far as I'm concerned."
"No, that won't do."
Tenka shook her head without hesitation. She had no patience for the idea of anyone treating themselves as nothing more than a means to an end.
"I am a fair person, Yachiho. Tomorrow, you and Naoki-kun will go on a proper date like a normal couple. No objections. This is an official order from the Captain."
Yachiho muttered under her breath, just barely audible. "This is a genuine abuse of power... ordering your Vice-Captain to go on a date with your own boyfriend..."
But she didn't say no. Not really.
And if she were honest with herself, buried somewhere beneath the pride and the protests, there was something else. Curiosity. What would it actually feel like, going on a normal date with Naoki?
Her thoughts began to drift. She found herself wondering what to wear. Maybe the blue dress? Or the white one with the ribbon? No, that was too conspicuous. Perhaps the...
She gave her head a firm shake, catching herself.
*(What am I thinking? This is a mission. Just a mission.)*
"Come on, Naoki-kun!"
With a smile warm enough to soften anyone's resistance, Tenka activated her Peach Blessing, «Ame-no-Mitori», once more.
*BUZZ!*
The deep violet light returned, tearing through space and time. The air shuddered, white feathers drifted down, and a new portal split open before them.
Naoki felt a gentle tug on his arm as Tenka pulled him toward it. He shook his head to himself with a quiet smile.
*(Of course. All that care she put into her outfit today, the deliberate choice of casual clothes that somehow looked entirely planned, it wasn't just for Kyouka's benefit. The whole visit to Unit Seven was a cover. This was the real destination all along. She had this date planned from the very beginning, probably since last night. This woman is truly something.)*
He stepped into the portal, leaving behind a quiet headquarters where Yachiho still sat motionless on the sofa, and Sahara slept on without a care in the world.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
They arrived just as the amusement park's gates were opening for the day. The morning was still fresh, the air clean, and the world had only just begun to stir.
Naoki blinked, adjusting to the shift in light. Before him rose a grand entrance gate styled in classic European architecture, painted in cheerful pastel tones. Colorful balloons floated above the entryway, and from somewhere deeper inside came the faint, bright sound of carousel music drifting on the breeze.
The morning air greeted them, carrying the scent of popcorn, spun sugar, and something that felt very much like freedom. A world away from the dry, oppressive atmosphere of the Mato.
The date began at a headband stand filled with character accessories, cat ears, rabbit ears, bear ears, and figures from anime Naoki couldn't quite place. Without a word of warning, Tenka plucked a pair of black cat ears from the display and placed them on Naoki's head.
"Oh, that suits you perfectly!" she said, clapping her hands together.
Naoki accepted his fate with the cat ears on his head.
Tenka then selected a pair of white rabbit ears for herself.
"Those suit you too." Naoki said, and he meant it.
Tenka's smile widened. She reached for his hand, lacing their fingers together, and drew him into the park. They walked side by side down the main path, which was still quiet at this hour. A few other visitors were scattered about, mostly young couples like them and families with small children running ahead of their parents.
They moved through a world that was only just waking up. The sun still mild, the stalls just beginning to open, happiness feeling simple and uncomplicated.
The first ride they tried was the towering roller coaster. The steel structure loomed overhead, its track twisting in every direction. The echoes of screams from the previous group still hung in the air.
As the car plunged from the summit in a freefall, the wind screaming around them, Tenka didn't shriek or clutch the safety bar in panic. She laughed, fully and freely, her hair flying wild in the rush of air. Her hand held Naoki's firmly, not out of fear, but because she wanted to share the moment with him.
The surge of adrenaline brought a natural flush to her cheeks, and her eyes were bright and alive as the car slowed to a stop.
"Again!"
They rode the roller coaster three times in a row before Tenka declared herself satisfied.
As the morning eased toward noon, the pace grew quieter. The sun climbed higher and more visitors filled the park. They tried their hand at several skill games, throwing balls at targets, shooting, fishing plastic ducks out of a tank.
Tenka became fixated on winning the large bear sitting at the very top of the prize shelf at the ball-throwing stand. It was a soft brown bear with a red ribbon at its neck, watching over the booth like a small, round sovereign.
"One more!" she said, a note of frustration creeping in after her fifth throw missed.
After a few more misses and Tenka's lips pressing into a determined little pout, Naoki stepped in.
"Let me try."
He took his stance, steadied himself, and aimed. First ball, wide. Second ball, the edge. Third ball, dead center.
The winning chime sounded. The bear dropped into the prize slot.
Tenka hugged it to her chest with an expression of pure joy, glowing like a child who had just unwrapped the best birthday present imaginable. She pressed her cheek against the bear's soft fur, then turned to look at Naoki with eyes full of warmth.
"Naoki-kun is amazing!"
While they waited in line for ice cream as the morning sun began to feel genuinely warm, Tenka leaned her head against his shoulder. The big bear was tucked under one arm, her other hand keeping its hold on his. Their scoops, strawberry for her and vanilla for him, melted slowly in the heat, and neither of them cared.
They also wandered into the haunted house, a crumbling Gothic-style building with peeling paint and eerie music seeping through its walls.
Rather than being frightened, Tenka used the cover of darkness as an excuse to press closer to his arm. Every time a fake ghost lurched out at them, she didn't scream, she giggled. And in the darker stretches of corridor, she leaned up and murmured soft things directly into Naoki's ear, words that made his heart stutter harder than it ever had the first time he'd faced a Shuuki.
"I like this. Dark. Quiet. Just the two of us."
The centerpiece of their afternoon was the carousel. A ride usually meant for children, but something about it felt entirely different when shared between two people who were something more.
Seated on a painted wooden horse rising and falling slowly to the sound of sweet, old-fashioned music, Tenka looked at Naoki with an expression so gentle it was almost impossible to look directly at, soft as cotton, warm as a blanket in the dead of winter. The horses beside them rose and fell in their slow rhythm, but Tenka's eyes never left his.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Night had settled fully over the park, transforming every ride into a sea of glittering neon light. Small bulbs blinked at every corner, the great Ferris wheel turned with thousands of points of light, and the shimmer of all those colors lay reflected across the surface of the artificial lake.
To close out the day, Naoki and Tenka took their seats in a gondola on the iconic Ferris wheel. The small, colorful cabins turned slowly upward into the dark of the night sky, carrying couples toward the place where the world below looked small and the two of them felt large.
In the narrow, quiet gondola, the only sound was the faint mechanical hum of the wheel turning. Tenka sat close beside Naoki, their fingers woven together, her grip asking nothing of him except that he stay.
She rested her tired and contented head on his shoulder and looked out over the city spread below them in light. From this height, the tall buildings looked like toys, the streetlights like strings of pearls, and the people moving far beneath them like busy little ants caught up in their own small worlds.
"Naoki-kun." Tenka whispered, her voice lively but with something deep and tender underneath it. "Today was truly wonderful. I almost forgot that we're soldiers who risk our lives in the Mato every day. Thank you for letting me just be an ordinary woman for a while."
Naoki tightened his hold, feeling the warmth of her palm, soft but steady. He dipped his head and pressed a kiss to the top of hers, catching the faint scent of her shampoo.
"I enjoyed it too, Tenka. Sometimes we need a reason to remember what we're actually protecting." His gaze moved out over the city below. "This ordinary life. People who can laugh and play and fall in love without living in fear of the Shuuki. This is what we're protecting."
The gondola reached the very top of the wheel. For a brief moment, they stopped, suspended between the sky and the earth below. Tenka lifted her head and looked up at him, her eyes catching the light of the city.
"Kiss me." She whispered softly.
And Naoki did.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
After the Ferris wheel came to a stop and they stepped out of their gondola, the two of them walked slowly toward the park's exit as the crowds thinned around them. Most visitors had already gone, leaving only a few stray couples and the cleaning staff beginning their quiet rounds.
In a secluded corner, Tenka opened her portal once more.
In an instant, the warm night air of the city gave way to the cool, silent atmosphere of Unit Six's headquarters deep in the Mato.
They headed straight for the bedroom without much need for words. None were necessary. Their bodies already knew the way.
Dinner had already been taken care of, a romantic meal at the park's restaurant, seafood pasta for Tenka, steak for Naoki, and a shared tiramisu to finish. But the adrenaline of a full day spent together had left behind a lingering warmth, an energy that still needed somewhere to go.
The moment the door was locked, their matching couple pajamas went on. They didn't stay on for long. The garments were only a brief obstacle before ending up on the floor.
On the soft bed, the mood shifted into something heated. The mingled scent of perfume and warmth, heavy breathing, and the unhurried rhythm of desire.
Tenka, filled to the brim with happiness and wanting to give Naoki everything in return for the beautiful day he had given her, leaned up and whispered something unexpected directly into his ear. Her face was deeply flushed, but her eyes were completely sincere.
She was offering him something she never had before.
The rest of that night was unlike anything that had come before it, more intense, more consuming. Sounds that carried well beyond the bedroom door drifted into the quiet corridors of the headquarters, sighs and murmurs and the soft cadence of intimacy.
Inevitably, those sounds reached the other rooms.
In her own room, Sahara, half-asleep as always, heard them drifting through the wall. Her eyes opened, heavy-lidded, and it took only a moment for understanding to settle over her. She exhaled with the resigned acceptance of someone who had made peace with the world, then let her hand slip beneath the covers. If sleep wasn't coming, she might as well find some other way to pass the time.
In the room beyond that, Yachiho lay on her bed in pale blue silk pajamas, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. She could hear everything she wasn't supposed to hear, and the warmth rising in her cheeks had nothing to do with embarrassment alone.
Unlike Sahara's lazy, half-conscious surrender, Yachiho was entirely awake. Her hand moved slowly, and her mind drifted to Naoki, to his hands, to his touch, to what tomorrow held. She had already climbed that particular staircase with him. She knew exactly what that joining felt like, the overwhelming, irreducible reality of it. And lying here now, listening, her body responded in ways she had no interest in resisting.
That night, across three separate rooms, three women were bound together by the same man, each in her own way, each carrying her own feelings.
And in the room at the center of it all, Naoki moved on, unaware that just beyond his door, his harem was quietly taking shape all on its own.
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