The water was perfect as he sat back, submerging everything but his head. He watched the majority of the other men scamper off to the earthen barrier separating them from the women. He wondered exactly what they would have done had that amazon of a women not followed her boss. He didn't know if any of the crimson lions were skilled with earth magic or not, or if Sissyleon would even care if the spring was co-ed or not. Yami decide it would probably be the latter, but that the other women would insist on some sort of separation. He was fairly certain the queen of thorns would have insisted anyway, and Noelle would probably pull that bullshit about being royalty. Sissyleon would probably have laughed and then relented and found some way to separate the groups.

Which was perfectly fine by him. Sometimes the stolen glances were made all the more sweet by the measures taken to prevent them.

He chuckled as the line of men made their way to the barrier in order to get a peek.

"Uh, Captain?"

The kid was looking at him in confusion. Honestly, it was the kid's normal state. Yami knew the kid wasn't brainless, but he certainly was dense at times.

"Aren't you...?"

The kid didn't want to even say it. He refused to even go look because of some silly crush he had on the woman who raised him. Yami inhaled deeply on his cigarette and shook his head.

"Sissyleon is going to eat them alive. I think I'll wait until she's occupied."

Yami could see the wheels turning in Asta's head as he worked through the statement. The noise the rest of the men were making near the barrier grew louder. Yami held up three fingers and then silently counted down to zero. When the last finger closed into a fist, screams could be heard from the other side of the barrier and Mereoleona's voice could be heard barking orders above all. She stormed over to the men's side of the pool, completely naked, her body dripping water as she yelled at them. She tried to call Yami out, but the Black Bull's captain was clear on the other side of the pool, as far from the barrier as he could possibly get. Still, she narrowed her eyes at him as she ordered her own squad out of the water for extra training.

"Man, I am so happy I'm not one of them." He muttered, his cigarette dangling from his lip. Asta stared dumbfounded at the retreating men and the curvaceous form of their captain. Yami chuckled at the blush he saw on both of the young men still with him. He figured neither of them had seen a naked woman before. He leaned against the rocky edge of the pool and flicked his cigarette into the distance before sidling over to the barrier. He glanced to the direction where the Lioness had herded her prey, deciding that she would not have been swayed by the arguments of the other women had that earth magic using amazon not been with them. Then he would have had no reason not to look. He lifted himself out of the water and scaled the barrier separating the two halves of the pool. The several women were all quite lovely, but he was only interested in one. As he scanned the water, he did not linger too long on any one until he saw her.

She looked like she had passed out. It was the second time in as many days he had seen her unconscious.

Her golden hair was still tightly coiled around her head, as it had been when they started the journey to this place. Everything else, however, was completely atypical. Her pale skin shone in the moonlight as she lay against the blackened rock. Her minion, the amazon, hovered over her, trying to rouse her. He envied the darker woman's hands as the touched her skin. He wished he could be the one to wake her. He could think of so many things to do to her.

He sighed. No, 'to her' wasn't right, he thought. He wanted her, but he also wanted her to want him. But he knew he would never get what he wanted, and there were so many reasons why.

"Why'd'ya have to go and fall for one like that, huh, Yami?" he muttered to himself.

He remembered the first time he saw her. They were both younger, she a newly minted knight, and he well, he was a little older. He was wearing Azure at the time, a member of the Deer squad, as the Bulls hadn't been established yet. They were on the battlefield, doing their duty to guard the kingdom. She was impressive in battle, cool and collected, the calmest soldier he had ever seen. He remembered being impressed by her magic and her determination to win, but he also remembered her always alone. When the fighting was over, and the army was camping for the night, he remembered her sitting by herself, separated even from the rest of her squad. He had heard she was a man-hater, but to him she looked more like she just didn't like people. But even that made him wonder as she looked more sad than hateful.

And he wondered why a woman with so much strength and beauty would be so sad. He wondered who had hurt her. He heard rumors that she was cursed, but no one knew the details so he didn't put much stock in them. Some of the other young men would try to get close to her, but she always snubbed them. And when anyone offered her help of any sort, she would turn her back on them too.

She had finally regained consciousness, though it looked now to him as if she had simply fallen asleep. The heat from the water had given her skin a healthy glow and her cheeks were pink, almost as pink as they had been the when she had passed out yesterday. He still wondered what the drinking contest between her and Vanessa had been about.

He sighed.

Vanessa was a problem. He had never meant for anything to happen between them, but since that one night when they were both drunk-Vanessa's natural state, but he rarely got that drunk, well, she had been more forward with her advances. He wasn't adverse to playing around, just not with his teammates, not with a subordinate. Would he fuck a tavern wench if she were into it? Sure. It's not like Charlotte would or could ever feel the same way for him, or that she would ever let herself succumb to such base physical desires even if she did. He wasn't about to punish himself waiting around for the ice queen to thaw. Besides, he had made very certain that no one knew how he felt about her. He could not allow himself to be put into a position where he would have to choose between her and his team. His duty was to his team.

He sighed as he stretched his chin out and rested it atop the barrier. Her minion had taken to bathing her now, but she was stiff, uncomfortable with the attention. He was pretty sure that her subordinate-was Sol her name? He couldn't remember-but he was pretty certain she was attracted to Charlotte. As he watched the tall dark skinned woman rubbing down her body, he felt a twinge of jealousy and a swell of desire. He was so focused on her that he nearly fell off of the wall when the Crimson Lioness blocked his view.

"And what are you doing?"

He raised his eyebrow and chewed his lip. He had been caught, in more ways than one.

"Nothing." He said eventually, knowing it was futile.

"See anything you like?"

He swallowed hard. He was scared of only a few things in the world, and he realized, looking into her fiery eyes, that being caught peeping by Mereoleona Vermillion was one of those things. He wasn't afraid of what she might do to him, but rather of what she might piece together.

He was right to be afraid.

"She's really quite beautiful."

He wanted to fight the blush that slightly colored his cheeks. He hoped she would assume it was from the heat. She didn't.

"Want some sake?" She held up a bottle with a wicked grin on her face. He wasn't certain getting drunk with her was a good idea, but damn, did he really want some sake. "Little Miss Rose over there wouldn't drink with me."

"She can't hold her liquor." He said as he took the offered cup.

"Not a surprise. She's too prim for her own good sometimes. The prime example of a pure lady."

He held up the cup in a toast to good health and slammed the warm fluid down his throat. It burned so differently from any other drink and warmed him to the core.

"Good stuff." He placed the cup on the ledge formed by the top of the barrier. He tilted his head in an effort to see around the fiery mane of his drinking partner as she refilled his cup.

"Na-uh." She said, placing the bottle onto the ledge. He picked up the bottle to refill her cup. "Not on my watch." She sipped the warm liquid. He shot the cup once more. He was not in the mood to savor the flavor of the sake, not when the object of his desire, his affection was so close, yet still so distant.

"Doesn't matter, this is as close as I'll ever get to her."

"Prim and proper probably wouldn't go for a quick tumble anyway."

"But you would."

"I'm not prim and proper." She slammed another cup back. "But not with you. I make it a point to never sleep with colleagues. Had my idiot baby brother not gotten himself smacked around though..." She ran her tongue along her lips. "Who knows?"

He poured her another cup and was about to pour one for himself when she snatched the bottle from his hands.

"You know better." She poured his cup.

"Right."