A/N: As I promised earlier in "Fox, Maid, and Swallow", my next update would be this chapter. So, in a surprise for you guys and to myself (Mostly myself!), here it is! Finished and Ret-2-Go! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Azure Striker Gunvolt nor Gal*Gun. They both belong to Inti Creates.

When Gunvolt began to regain consciousness, the first thing he noticed was not that he was face first on the ground, nor was it the fact that his septimal energy felt… agitated somehow… It was the pounding in his head. A headache comparable to the after effects of when he had taken a certain magnesis-controlling adept's punches head on in the past.

"Ugh… What the heck hit me..?" The blond adept muttered, pushing himself up to his knees and then to his feet… Only to waver and tumble forward as the world seemingly began to spin. "Guh… Wha…?" He managed to get out as nausea began to assault him and his senses seemingly scrambled.

Meanwhile, Ekoro looked on in genuine concern. While she was only an apprentice, she was still an Angel, leaving her with a sense of empathy that bordered on outright telepathy. And what she was picking up from Gunvolt was definitely not a normal reaction to being hit with an Angel Arrow… Charged or not.

"H-Hey, are you going to be alright..?" Ekoro half-wanted to kick herself for asking that, knowing how likely it was to be a stupid question, but she needed to make sure. After all, this was something she'd need to report to the Goddess.

After what felt like an eternity-but was roughly a minute in reality-Gunvolt finally felt as though he could get back to his feet and answer. So, with cautious yet shaky steps, the blonde Adept got to his feet once more, stabilizing himself by leaning against the nearby sign and taking a few deep breaths to settle his nerves.

"Y-yeah… I think…" He began, pushing away from the sign and taking one more deep breath once he was back fully on his feet, "What the hell was that..?" And there was the question that Ekoro had been admittedly waiting for.

"Ah, yes! Ahem… You see, the Angel Academy 3rd Year has a final exam in which the Goddess chooses a human, and helps them become a lot more attractive." At this point, Gunvolt felt a slight twitch of his eyebrow. While he wasn't vain by any stretch, there was a small part of him that was slightly irritated by how that was phrased. Regardless, he let the girl continue.

"Since I was assigned to you, I was supposed to shoot you with a love arrow… but…" Now Gunvolt had to suppress a groan. Of course there was a "but'...

"... A demon interrupted me, and instead of the normal arrows, you got hit by a super powerful Charged Shot!" At this point, Gunvolt could've sworn he heard someone in the distance yell "Oh no, not a charge shot!", but decided to not pay them any heed. Instead, he opted to ask the more pressing question…

"And just how powerful is a charge shot?" Something told the blond adept that only a headache awaited him with the answer.

"Erm… It's roughly equal to 32 normal arrows…" Yup. There was that headache.

"Okay, putting aside how definitively bad that sounds, what exactly does this mean?" Not for the first time in his life, Gunvolt was thankful for Asimov's lessons on how to gather intel before acting.

"Well, right now, you're overflowing with an aura of fascination!" Ekoro began, gesturing with her arms for added effect. If not for his desire to learn more about the situation at hand, Gunvolt would've actually found the sight of it somewhat cute. "Any girl you cross paths with will assuredly fall madly in love with you!"

… What.

"I'm sorry, but run that by me again? I could've sworn I just heard something ripped straight out of one of those Eroge that Merak plays." Gunvolt replied, finally allowing his inner snarker surface a bit there, while simultaneously remembering the games that Merak had somehow convinced him to play for the sake of discussion.

While it hadn't been a bad experience, per say… Ouka catching them in the middle of said discussion had been a painful misconception to correct. Especially when they had just been discussing their favorite female character archetypes...

"I said, any girl you cross paths with will fall madly in love with you! And once a confession is accepted, you and your significant other will receive an Angel's Blessing right then and there! But, uhm…" Oh, there was that headache returning with a vengeance…

"What now…?" He groaned out, already dreading what the blunette before him was going to say.

"... Because of the fact you were hit with a charge shot… All of your opportunities to find love in life have been packed into a single day. And once the power of the arrow runs out by sunset...You'll end up living a life entirely devoid of love of any kind. Friendly, Familial, Romantic… None of it!" The concern in Ekoro's voice would've touched Gunvolt's heart if it hadn't been her fault that he was in this situation to begin with.

"So, let me get this straight… I got chosen by some goddess to be made more attractive and get a better chance at finding love today?" He began.

"Yes."

"And you screwed it up by hitting me with a charged shot, which is equal to hitting me with 32 arrows instead of one?"

"Uuu… That's right…"

"And now, I have to find love today, or I'll never experience love for the rest of my life?"

"Correct."

A beat, before Gunvolt did the only thing he could think of doing right then:

He facepalmed.

"... I can't even tell if I should curse here, considering what I could tell Acura…" Let it be known that even Gunvolt could feel a bit spiteful from time to time.

"You shouldn't fear too much, though!" The angel pressed on, in spite of Gunvolt's obvious disdain with the situation. "I, the Elite Apprentice Angel Ekoro, will help you get through today and find your one true love!" The disbelieving look she received from the blonde adept actually caused her to deflate a bit. "W-what?"

"Pardon my lack of faith, but you are the reason I'm in this mess to begin with." He began, before a new, decidedly female voice cut in.

"Hold it right there blondie!" Gunvolt blinked in surprise as he turned to face the owner of this new voice. It was a young woman around his age with light green eyes, straight black hair and a decent build. However, what really made her stand out was the pink nurse's uniform she was wearing, and the guitar case strapped to her back. A confident smile played on her lips as she stared the blonde adept down, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

"You're that one adept some circles talk about… Gunvolt, right?" At his cautiously hesitant nod, her smile grew a bit. "Great! This may seem sudden, but… Would you be my boyfriend?" The girl asked, causing Gunvolt to stare blankly for a moment, before shooting a dirty look back to Ekoro.

"Mou… No fair, Suzu-chan. I spotted him first, so I should get to ask him that!" This new voice belonged to a full-figured young woman with short, wavy brown hair and violet eyes. Compared to her friend, her outfit was a bit more normal for the streets, consisting of a green jersey, a white shirt underneath, and a pair of jean shorts that hugged her hips quite nicely.

"Erm… I feel this would be a bad time to mention that girls drawn in by the power of the arrows will relentlessly pursue you and try to get you to return their feelings… Am I right on that front?" Ekoro asked timidly, earning a sigh from Gunvolt.

"Would've been nice to know sooner. So, just what can I do to avoid that? I don't think they're capable of withstanding my usual means of subduing pursuers…" Ekoro blinked in confusion at that, not quite catching on to what the blonde meant, before refocusing on the situation at hand.

"That's actually really easy, Gunvolt-sama! You should be able to see their weak points now, since the arrows have boosted your sight ability!" Gunvolt blinked in surprise as he noticed that he could actually see some kind of indicators on the two girls' bodies… Though he blushed faintly at where those indicators were…

"Alright, so what do I do with these weak points?" He asked, not realizing the can of worms he was opening as the two girls before him focused on arguing with one another over who would 'get him'.

"You'll need to shoot them with the Pheromone Shot! Just look them in the eyes, take aim, and then shoot, shoot, shoot!" Ekoro answered, seemingly getting worked up over this development.

"Kh… That's a skeevy name for an attack, but if it's my only option…!" Gunvolt really didn't feel comfortable with what he was about to do, but… He focused his mind on the two girls before him, and…

"HYAN!"

"PYAU!"

"My, Gunvolt-sama, I didn't expect you to be so efficient with your shooting… Nor for it to be so potent..." Ekoro began as she hovered at the adept's side as he made a swift retreat from the scene, leaving the two girls on the ground, panting with dazed expressions on their faces.

"Ekoro, was it?" Gunvolt began, getting a nod of affirmation from the angel, "Let me ask you this: what exactly did the Pheromone Shot do to them just now?" He asked, his face a bright shade of red from the spectacle he had witnessed from the two after shooting them.

"That's quite simple! You filled them with ecstasy!" At THAT, Gunvolt stumbled in his stride and began to sputter in indignation.

"I WHAT?!" At that point, Ekoro could've sworn that Gunvolt had achieved a full-body blush.

"Y-yeah… You subdued them by filling them with ecstacy. You didn't realize from their reactions?"

At that question, Gunvolt admittedly felt a bit silly. It was kind of the obvious conclusion to have drawn. Especially after what he had seen after shooting the girls…

"So, Gunvolt-sama… Do you have anyone special in mind for who to confess to?" Ekoro asked as her companion regained his composure, an innocent expression on her face that was only betrayed by the prying curiosity agleam in her eyes.

"Actually… Not really. My life hasn't really allowed me to think about those kinds of things until just recently, and…" A pause as the blonde looked down, a melancholic smile crossing his features. "I'm sure they don't remember me now, anyways…"

"Huh? Who're 'they'?" The angel found herself asking, earning a surprising light chuckle from the blonde.

"Back before I was taken in and my life became what it is today… I had two childhood friends. They were sisters, and the three of us were inseparable." Gunvolt began, a distant look in his eyes. "They were like family to me, and looking back… I could honestly see myself growing to love them if it hadn't been for that day..." At this point, Gunvolt trailed off, and it didn't seem like he was going to elaborate further.

Ekoro raised an eyebrow and was about to press for more information on what the blonde meant, when an explosion in the distance cut her off. Gunvolt's attention immediately snapped in the direction the explosion came from, before he took off running at a speed that Ekoro was momentarily shocked by, before she struggled to catch up.

"Wait up, Gunvolt-sama!" She cried out, flying as fast as she could to catch up to the lightning adept.

The sight that greeted the pair at the source of the explosion was an unsavory one: Two girls-one taller with long flowing black hair going down to her waist and blue eyes, and the other shorter with short black hair, red eyes, and an oni mask worn to one side of her head-were struggling against a trio of adepts-if the twisting vines, roaring flames, and icicle spears hovering about around them were any indication as to their status.

"W-what the heck?! Has this become a battle series all of a sudden?!" Ekoro exclaimed in shock, stunned by the sight of mere mortals wielding such powers. Gunvolt barely shot her a glance as he produced his signature tag gun from within the jersey he had worn for his jog.

"Earlier, Ekoro… You were confused by what I meant about how I usually subdued hostiles, right?" He began, showing his natural observational skill and idly taking note that these adepts were quite familiar: The same group that had tried to assault Ouka back when Cyan was still around… And by the looks of things, they were once more hopped up on "Boost Drug".

At Ekoro's nod, Gunvolt allowed himself a bit of a sigh before bracing himself. 'Gotta' make this quick… A prolonged battle risks those girls getting hurt in the crossfire.' With that thought in mind, Gunvolt took aim and fired a quick volley of three darts, taking the three adepts by surprise and tagging them each.

"This is what I meant, Ekoro." Gunvolt continued, before jumping up-higher than any normal human should, the angel noted-and allowing his septimal power surge forth and generate a sphere of pure electricity around his body… With three bolts lashing out and striking the rogue adepts.

The shockwaves generated by Gunvolt's raw septimal energy being unleashed and striking against the passive defenses of the three adepts were enough to force Ekoro to struggle to stay in place, all while marvelling at the sight that was unfolding before her.

'This… This can't be right! Humans shouldn't be able to wield powers like this!' However, as much as she tried to rationalize things… There was no denying what she was seeing firsthand.

"Guh?! What the hell?!" One of the rogue adepts-the one controlling the flames-began, snarling as he looked around, before finally looking up… Just in time for Gunvolt's shoe to plant firmly on his face for the blonde to spring off. "Gah, dammit! Get this prick!"

The ice user was the first to respond, launching a barrage of icicle spears at the blonde, who let the first one just barely graze by him and give him just enough chance to push off and spin out of the way of the second and third. Quickly closing the distance between them, Gunvolt proceeded to sweep the thug off his feet with a low kick, before 'catching him' with a volleyball-sized sphere of lightning and a quick call of "Tei Ryu Gyoku!"

Needless to say, the poor sap didn't last long before falling unconscious from the electric shock.

"Look out!" The taller of the two girls cried out, watching on as the plant-controlling adept commanded the two vines to constrict into a spear-like formation and impale Gunvolt.

… Or at least try, for the very moment the spear touched Gunvolt's back, he vanished in a haze of sparks that were strangely shaped like feathers before he reappeared atop the vines, one hand held out as his septimal power surged to an even greater level than before.

"Sacred sword agleam, Barbarous and bathed in blue, Cleaving right from wrong! Spark Calibur!" Swinging the hand outward, a large blade made of pure lightning lashed forward, striking the plant-controller dead on and knocking him out in one go.

At this point, the flame-controlling adept had shaken off his dizziness from being used as a springboard, and was absolutely furious. As evidenced by the fire around him going from a moderate blaze to a raging inferno.

"That's it! EVERYONE DIES!" He roared, before forcing the flames to coalesce into countless fireballs in the air around him, each primed and ready to strike everyone and everything in sight. Alas, it was not to be, as the blonde was two steps ahead.

"Bolts of rebellion, A thunderous voice in his heart, Speaks of one true law! Voltic Chain!" With his incantation finished, Gunvolt watched calmly as numerous chains born from his septimal power erupted from the ground around him, piercing and dissipating each and every fireball in rapid succession… Before one final chain emerged and swiftly wrapped around the last standing thug and shocked him into unconsciousness.

Ekoro just hovered in place, gobsmacked by the spectacle that had just concluded before her very eyes. 'Perhaps… This may not be as simple a test as I thought it would be…' She thought idly, still trying to regain her bearings and sense of the situation at hand.

The two girls-on the other hand-were now incredibly wary… While they were saved from the seemingly hopeless situation they had been in, they also had no idea what their rescuer's motives were. So, when he began to approach, the taller one's response was somewhat understandable…

"Stay back, and keep your hands where we can see them!" She demanded, pointing her uzi at the blonde's head, forcing him to stop in his tracks and hold his hands up as instructed.

Unsurprisingly, this wasn't the first time an abrupt rescue turned out like this. And Gunvolt knew it wouldn't be the last. That didn't make it any less exasperating, however. Yet he knew that doing anything other than what was said would just make the situation worse.

"O-Onee-chan…" The shorter one began, looking to her apparent sister in concern. "Shouldn't we be more thankful that we were saved..?" She asked. A sentiment that actually touched Gunvolt a bit.

The older sister hesitated for a moment upon hearing her sibling speak up, before sighing and lowering her uzi. "You're right…" She began, before looking to Gunvolt sheepishly. "Sorry about that… Things have been pretty rough for us since we got to this city, so we've been a bit on edge. That encounter just now didn't help matters any." She explained, earning a nod of understanding from the blonde.

"I can understand. Those three tend to cause trouble around here, and I thought they had learned their lesson the last time I was around. Apparently, I was wrong." Gunvolt replied, but before anything further could be said, Ekoro hovered over to the trio, her gaze fixated on the adept of the three.

"That was amazing, GV-sama!" She began, stars in her eyes as she looked at Gunvolt in admiration. "I'm still not sure how you humans were able to do things like that, because I thought only angels and demons could control the elements and nature like that, but still! You were like a real hero, GV-sama!"

At that kind of praise Gunvolt couldn't help but feel a bit sheepish, but the two sisters froze upon seeing the angel-as well as hearing what she addressed the blonde as… And the elder of the two couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Wait. Did… Did that angel just call you GV..?" There was a clear trepidation in her voice as she spoke, almost afraid of what the answer would be. The younger of the two immediately caught on, however, and before anyone could stop her… She moved behind Gunvolt and swiftly tugged the white tie out of his braid and began to arrange his hair into a different style.

Gunvolt and Ekoro were both confused, but once the younger sister finished… It took everything the siblings had to not cling onto the blonde out of joy. Joy for not just finding a familiar face, but also joy for finding the childhood friend they had missed so dearly.

"Yeah..?" Gunvolt answered hesitantly, confused by Ekoro's decision to start calling him by his nickname, as well as the sudden change in how his hair was styled. He knew something was up, but he couldn't place his finger on what… Nor why the two sisters seemed oddly familiar.

"GV… It's us. Shinobu and Maya Kamizono… Your childhood friends." The now identified Shinobu stated, placing one hand over her heart and giving the blonde a warm smile, while Maya instantly latched onto GV in a hug.

"Y-You're kidding… Shinobu-chan..? Maya-chan..?"

Ekoro merely watched from the sidelines, mildly surprised that she could be seen, but more interested in the scene that was unfolding before her.

'Maybe this isn't as hopeless a case as I thought earlier…'

A/N: Yup. Yuuuup. I went there. Enjoy the cliffhanger, and until next time!

Next Update: Burning Through The Ages