Ashmia's POV

"Now slowly raise your leg and put your foot on the inside of your thigh. Good. Very good. Now slowly raise your arms and breathe. Relax."

Easy for her to say. I, along with a bunch of other 20-25 year-old's, were doing the tree pose in a small clearing in the forest. At least, we were attempting to. As soon as some raised their arms, they toppled over. I, miraculously, was balanced.

I tried my best to look at my older sister, Missy, out of the corner of my eye. She seemed to be doing okay. I looked over at my brother-in-law, Allador. He raised his arms, then toppled over like the rest of them. He bumped into one person, then the next, then the next until it created a domino effect. I giggled.

"What's so funny?" he snapped, immediately straightening up and putting his hands on his hips.

"Your balance is so...unbalanced," I replied not even caring in the least that I was a bit wobbly too.

"Oh yeah, hm?" he said. Before I knew it, Allador poked me. Hard enough to send me toppling into Missy, creating the domino effect on the other half of the class.

The yoga teacher examined this happening and sighed, "I suppose we shall take a short break. Refreshments are available on the tables behind you."

I stood up and brushed the dirt off my pants, then helped Missy up. I turned to Allador, "Well, at least I lasted longer than you did."

He rolled his eyes, "If you had 'good balance,' you wouldn't have toppled over."

"Oh shut up twinkletoes."

Missy giggled and stepped in between the two of us, "Alright you guys. Enough fighting. I think we could all use a water break."

We made our way to the table. I grabbed a cup, then got the water ladle and scooped up some water into the cup.

I had decided two months earlier to sign up for a yoga class to help de-stressify me. I had just gotten married in the spring, but my husband had to leave on an archeological dig in the Connous area of Iria to uncover ancient artifacts of Irinid. He was constantly on the move in different parts of Iria, meaning that his next letter to me is usually unexpected. I missed him a lot, so I took this class to take my mind off things...and sort of dragged Missy and Allador into the equation.

I took a long gulp of my water, then stared at the cup. Finally I looked up and said, "How's the kids?"

"Troublesome," said Allador as was his response whenever asked.

Missy rolled her eyes, then said, "They are not 'troublesome,' they're little warriors with a lot of energy. Yes they're all fine. Tempestrus is spending an awful lot of time with Kenomi."

"Statement of the century," I muttered.

Missy and Allador already had four kids. The oldest one was adopted and his name is Tempestrus. We call him Temp for short. His hair, eyes, ears, and henna on his cheeks look exactly like Kenomi's, which is no wonder they spend so much time together. The second oldest is Mary. She is there first biological daughter and her hair is blond and she has no henna on her cheeks. She seems to have an unhealthy obsession of being next to her big brother and despises anyone who gets too close. Kenomi and Mary clash heads often. Kayitarke or Kay for short is their first biological son with black hair, who desperately wants to become Erinn's greatest magician/alchemist. I send him all kinds of books including magic and alchemy. And so far...he's been doing pretty good. Star is their last child and she has blond hair like Mary. However, she also hates Mary and is her complete opposite.

I hate playing favorites, but out of all of them, Kay had to be my favorite. He's always admired his 'Auntie' and he thinks I'm a great warrior. But he was constantly making me run everywhere, even if I'm wearing heels for the day, he still makes me run. The kid was only 12, but had a pretty good build. Kay says that humans become too dependent on steeds to go somewhere which is why running was a good thing. I beg to differ.

"You're terrible at yoga," said Allador sipping his water.

"You are too. In fact, you're even worse."

He smirked and brushed his red bangs to the side, "I'm just saying, you were really struggling during all those poses."

"The struggle makes you strong," I countered.

Missy sighed and sat down. Just like how Kenomi and Mary clashed heads, I did too with Allador. Only ours is more deadly. One of us, it's different every time, drops the bomb that really hurts us.

"So, you're struggling to stay strong while your husband abandons you?"

Ouch, a knife through the heart.

I swallowed hard past the growing lump in my throat and turned away, "He didn't abandon me. He would never. He loves me."

I desperately hoped Allador didn't hear the quiver in my voice. Along with myself, Allador couldn't stand my husband either. It was no wonder he was so eager to leave.

Missy stood up and punched Allador in the arm, "Hey! Don't be a jerk! She can't help it if he actually worked to make a living. Now apologize!"

Allador sighed, "I'm so sorry for hurting your feelings," he said in a monotone voice indicating he truly wasn't sorry; he meant what he said.

I swallowed hard again. Suddenly, my sorrow turned to anger. How dare he think that he could expose my one true weakness and get away with it.

So I turned around and doused him with the remainder of my water, "No hard feelings, bro," I said in a bitter voice.

I then placed my cup down and stalked to the clearing where people were already starting to warm up. The yoga teacher called us back and the rest abandoned their cups and took their spot.

"Alright everyone. Why don't we take another try at that tree pose?"

This time, I made sure to stay far away from Allador.


Yokkaichi's POV

I looked around at the faces surrounding me. To think they were all part of this guild known as Kittyknights. I still thought the name was kind of silly, and I'm sure a lot of others did too, but no one dared to even try and say that to our guild leader's face. Who just so happened to be Aunt Jenny. She had sent out letters to the guild members calling for meeting and was now sitting on the throne she ordered for herself. Next to her sat her on-and-off boyfriend Stealthy, who looked like he desperately wanted to get out of here.

Once the guild members stopped coming, Jenny stood up and raised one finger to the ceiling. Immediately, a hush fell over the room. She smirked and sat back down, crossing her legs.

"I have a very important and brilliant idea/announcement."

A murmur rippled throughout the room before Aunt Jenny continued, "Some of you might not know this, but I have found myself in debt once again."

A roar went up from the room this time. Mom sat back in her chair and rolled her eyes, "Why am I not surprised."

"Huh?" I asked her.

She turned to me, "Oh Yokka, you don't know? Jenny is always getting into gambling or betting debts. She panics, then she remembers she has the guild to back her up with whatever crazy idea she has to repay it."

"And we, have almost always had to participate in it. For the sake of raising you, she laid off the gambling for a while. But my guess is that you're all grown up, so she sees no reason to hold back anymore."

Whether or not that was true, I wasn't sure. All I know, is that whatever the plan, I had a feeling I wasn't going to like it.

"Shut up!" yelled Aunt Jenny. The room fell silent again.

She cleared her throat before continuing, "I at first thought that I could repay them by myself. But then I realized that I owed quite a sum of money to some other people and when totaled together, is beyond even the money in my pocket and bank account. So..." she paused for dramatic effect, "I've decided to open up a cafe!"

No one moved. No one talked or breathed. It was so silent, we could've heard a pin drop.

Jenny sighed then stood up, "I see you're not taking the news well. You might think I'm crazy, but let me tell you! It's not just an ordinary cafe, it's a cosplay cafe! We'll attract twice the male populace to our little shop!" Aunt Jenny's hand shot up, then pointed at me, "And our first volunteers are you three!"

"Fat chance!" yelled mom standing up, "I'm not exposing my body in a stupid cosplay cafe just so you can repay your debt!"

"Oh yes you are!" yelled Jenny back, "'Cuz if you don't..." Aunt Jenny pounced on me and held me against her again, "I'll have her instead pay back my debt."

"Wha-?!" I said.

The color drained from my mom's face. So much that she looked like a ghost. I didn't realize how bad this was until it hit me: she was going to use my body to help repay her debt. No way!

"Fine," said mom, "I'll do it. But I'm not going to be a waitress."

"You have to. My waitresses have to be all women. It's what attracts them even more."

Oh dear Nao.

"Aside from you and Yokkaichi, Manzana over there is also gonna be a waitress. Along with your other daughters: Odehima, Kenomi, and Joy."

"What if they refuse?" asked mom narrowing her eyes.

"Then tell them what I just told you."

Mom sighed and rubbed at her temples. A sign that she knew she was beat. Jenny 1. Mom 0.

"Oh also," she said holding on even tighter to my waist, "I'm gonna have to borrow money from the guild bank. We have about 50 million gold saved up in there. It's the perfect amount for me to buy the cosplay outfits."

"Yeah okay," said Stealthy finally speaking, "Can the second-in-command get a chance to speak?"

"Permission granted!" said Aunt Jenny, "My love," she added blowing him a kiss.

He rolled his eyes before saying, "Where are you going to hold the cosplay cafe exactly?"

"Ah! The glory of charity work! The Bean Rua Club has agreed to let us hold service hours during the day. From noon to 6 p.m. Yokkaichi and Kenomi can come to work after school. The rest must be there from starting time to ending time."

"We have jobs you know nee-san," said dad.

"Then tell them you won't be to work in a month or so. It's a family crisis!"

"I'd hardly call this a crisis," replied dad.

Aunt Jenny stuck her tongue out at him, then said, "It's settled. We start tomorrow!" She then bowed, making me bow with her, "Now get outta here ya wacko's!"

I tried to pull off Aunt Jenny's hand, but she held on tighter and whispered in my ear, "Oh no you don't."

She then squeezed my breasts...again.

"Gah!" I screamed.

"Get off her dammit!" yelled mom pulling Aunt Jenny back.

Great. A cosplay cafe. Things couldn't possibly get any worse.


This past Halloween, I set out a bowl of candy for the trick-or-treaters. About an hour later, someone rings our doorbell, I go outside, and find not only all the candy gone, but our bowl was stolen too. Guess we got tricked this year :P

Good thing we didn't have decorations. My friend said her decorations AND the candy and candy bowl got stolen. What is with today's youth anyway?