Author's Note: Well, it´s time to laugh again, finally! We'll have a few chapters of character development for the rest of the heroes and perhaps even one introducing the final members of the Children, but once that is done…it's time for the first clash between the Imperial Teigu users and the threat that has waited for almost a millennia to rise against the Empire. Lets enjoy ourselves before that dark hour comes.
Chapter 26: Dating is a whole new battlefield.
Tatsumi and Esdeath sat at the opposing sides of the table in their living room, staring at each other in complete silence. It had been almost half an hour since they had started their date, and quite frankly, things weren't going as smoothly as they each hoped or even feared. In fact, things weren't going at all.
"So…"-Tatsumi said as he rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of something.
"Yes?"-Esdeath answered with a hint of excitement on her voice and a quick sparkle in her eyes, breaking the illusion of her usual serious and icy persona, as she hoped Tatsumi was about to make the first move…and spare her the indignity of admitting she had no idea what to do at all.
"Eh, no, its nothing…"-Tatsumi backed down as he blushed for a second as he saw Esdeath's split second cheerful reaction on her face.
"Oh…"-Esdeath replied with a hint of disappointment on her face.
"This isn't good…I need to do something before I lose the initiative!"-Both Tatsumi and Esdeath thought as they winced over the agonizing silence extending again.
"Want to go for a walk?"-Tatsumi blurted out of the blue, cursing himself for just saying the first thing he could think of.
"A walk would be nice. It's the start of autumn, and I like the colder weather."-Esdeath replied as she and Tatsumi got up and walked outside.
They both walked down the street side by side for a few blocks before realizing they were suddenly on opposing sidewalks, and quickly regrouped.
"That was beyond embarrassing! I'm a great general of the Empire and I'm acting like some straight out of basic training grunt on his first day on the battlefield!"-Esdeath thought as they kept walking.-"I need to do something to take the lead on this...duel before the worst happens!"
Tatsumi actually stopped breathing as he felt the sudden pressure on his hand, and suddenly realized Esdeath was now holding it as they walked.
"I…I'm sorry, I should had asked you if you wanted to hold hands as we walked"-Tatsumi said, trying to avoid Esdeath's gaze.
"It's okay. I just felt….cold"-Esdeath replied in a hushed tone, dodging Tatsumi's non focused gaze as well.
"Cold? You are the master of Ice and were born in the frozen northlands and you used that excuse? Could you be any more obvious? You couldn't reveal your strategy any clearer!"-Esdeath's inner voice (which, for a split second, she hoped was actually her Teigu's, as that would be easier to understand) screamed.
"Oh. I thought you didn't get cold at all, given you powers. I guess that's kind of cute, when you think about it"-Tatsumi said, smiling a bit.
Esdeath looked at him like she had suddenly realized she had both found a weakness on her opponent's defense while at the same time receiving a deathly blow to her own.
"Just remember what Kaskade said. Loving him should make me stronger, not weaker…but then why I feel like I'm about to faint any second now?"-Esdeath thought.
"Is everyone staring at us? I mean, I am walking down the streets holding the hand of the most feared and powerful woman in the Empire. Please, whatever god is out there, give me a helping hand!"-Tatsumi yelled as he looked up at the sky.
It was just then that both he and Esdeath crashed with something as they reached the corner, since they both were completely absorbed in their inner thoughts.
"Ow…are you okay?"-Tatsumi asked as he opened his eyes…and then realized Esdeath had fallen on his lap as they had both lost their balance together, and her face was now mere inches from his own.
"Yes..I…you…protected me"-Esdeath said as they stared at each other, their faces starting to blush in perfect timing with each other's.
"Oh my…I hope we didn't interrupt anything."-A familiar voice said in front of them.
Both Esdeath and Tatsumi got to their feet instantly, only to find themselves staring at the Leader of the Path of Peace. He was smiling gently like he always did, and behind his robes, a group of at least six children of various ages peeked at the surprised couple.
"Oh. Your holiness, I'm so sorry!"-Tatsumi said as he bowed his head a bit.
"It's okay. You and the General are not hurt, and neither are the children or I. I should be apologizing for interrupting your date, I believe"-The Leader smiled as he apologized.
"We were just walking, Your Holiness."-Esdeath said, somehow managing to regain her usual composure.
"WHOA! It's really her!"-A small voice yelped from behind the Leader's back, revealing a small female child with dark red hair clad in a silver coat, who was quickly joined by another girl of the same age, who had dark blue hair and was clad in a purple dress, and a smaller blonde female girl whose small stature meant she had to stare straight up to look at the couple.
"Then that's him! That's Tatsumi!"-A voice from the other side of the Leader's back gasped, revealing a small male kid with black hair, a slightly shorter one with fair red hair that bordered on pink, and a third kid who was taller than the other two, with a mane of black hair that rand down his back and slightly tanned skin that gave him a wilder look.
Tatsumi and Esdeath stared in disbelief at the children gathered in front of them, looking at them with awe and respect. They did not fail to notice that the girls were standing in front of Esdeath, while the boys did the same in front of Tatsumi.
"That's General Esdeath! She killed that creep Honest and all the bad nobles!"-The blue haired girl said as she stared.
"They say she can wipe out a whole army by herself! She's the strongest general in the whole Empire!"-The red haired girl said in awe.
"She's so pretty. She looks like an angel…"-The blonde girl said staring at Esdeath as in a trance.
Esdeath looked at the three girls as if they were the most dangerous things she had seen in her life. She quickly turned to Tatsumi for help, only to realize he was going through the same harrowing experience.
"That's Tatsumi! He looks exactly like in the drawing from the newspaper I have back at the orphanage!"-The pink haired kid yelled in excitement.
"You mean my drawing that you stole! Just like you stole that drawing Sister Agnes did for me of Incursio's armor form!"-The black haired kid interrupted as he pushed the other one,which lead to both bickering with each other.
"What kind of metal is your armor made of? Is it steel? Iron? Is it heavy? Does it smell like danger beast inside of the armor?"-The wild looking kid asked as he stared straight at Tatsumi with a somewhat rude look on his face.
"Well, I…"-Tatsumi begin to try to answer.
"Children, you should behave in front of such respectful authority figures…"-The Leader said as he smiled, completely unaware of the children's ignoring of him.
"I bet she can kick his butt with one arm behind her back!"-The red haired girl said.
"Are you crazy? He wears an armor made of a tyrant! That's a freaking dragon! Dragons beat anything!-The pink haired boy retorted.
"So? General Esdeath can create anything she wants out of ice! Incursio doesn't have a chance against her!"-The blue haired girl replied.
"Ice? Have you seen the Spear Incursio wields? Ice doesn't stand a chance against that!-The wild looking kid snarled.
"I think she is way cuter than him. That counts as being superior, right? Also her Ice is magical stupid!"-the blonde girl asked, which rather than derailing the debate, only further kindled it until it became an all out brawl at which Esdeath, Tatsumi and the Leader stared in disbelief, along with several other citizens…particularly because the girls seemed to be winning, almost as if it was an usual occurrence.
Minutes later…
"Now, what do we say to the General and her fiancée?"-The Leader said as the slightly worn kids were lined up in front of Esdeath and Tatsumi.
"Sorry, Miss General Esdeath! Sorry Mr. Tatsumi!"-Both the girls and boys said in unison as they bowed the heads.
"It's okay, really. No harm done"-Tatsumi said.
"I must admit it was a rather…interesting display of scale warfare."-Esdeath added.
"Leader?"-The blonde haired girl said as she tugged on the Leader's robes.
"Yes, my child?"-The Leader asked with a smile.
"What does "fiancée" mean? Is it like a special soldier?"-The girl asked.
"It means he is her husband, you knucklehead!"-The black haired kid interrupted.
"Don't call her a knuckle head! And "Fiancee" means they are engaged, you idiot!"-The red haired girl snarled.
"I thought "engaged" was like, a military term or something like that…"-The wilder looking kid said with surprise on his voice.
"Wait, does that mean she is gonna have a baby? Because an older girl in my village got engaged, and seven months later, Boom! Baby!"-the blue haired girl said.
"No way! My mom told me it takes nine months for a baby to arrive! You are so full of it!"-The black haired taller boy snapped.
"I hope the general's baby is a girl, so she will be as pretty as her mommy"-The blond small girl said as she stared at Esdeath.
"A girl would be totally weak! Is gonna be a boy with ice dragon powers!"-The Pink haired boy retorted, leading to another brawling argument.
Tatsumi and Esdeath both suddenly became extremely aware that they were not only in public together, but that they were still holding each other hands.
"Children! Stop this nonsense! You are being rude! And rude children don't get ice cream!"-The Leader said in a playing tone, causing all the children to fall back in line instantly.
"Well, once again I must apologize. I hope these little ones didn't offend you. We'll be taking our leave now"-The Leader said as the kids ran ahead of him motivated by the promise of ice cream, so he took a small bow and disappeared behind the street corner.
Tatsumi and Esdeath just stared at the empty street corner, still reeling from the whole encounter, when the Leader's head suddenly appeared from behind the corner.
"Oh, I forgot. I don't have a solid feeling on the matter, but my money is on a girl as well. That little one is quite the seer, if you ask me."-The leader said as he smiled and disappeared from view.
Esdeath and Tatsumi just stared with a blank look, as the wind whistled through the empty street.
"Tatsumi? There is something I need to tell you."-Esdeath said in a low voice.
"Yes?"-Tatsumi said.
"Actually, there is something else I like besides, battles, being the strongest and you."-Esdeath said as she looked at him.
"Really? What is it?"-Tatsumi asked.
"I like Ice Cream."-Esdeath said as she blushed in embarrassment.
"You do?"-Tatsumi blinked in disbelief.
"Yes. It's cold AND sweet. What's not to like about it?"-Esdeath asked.
"Actually, I've never had it in my life."-Tatsumi said.
Esdeath looked at him as if he had admitted to some absolute atrocity.
"You cannot be serious. How come you've never had any before?"-Esdeath asked in disbelief.
"Well, back at my village, dessert options weren't exactly fancy or served cold."-Tatsumi replied.
"Well, you are going to taste it today! Seriously, never having ice cream? That's absolutely disgusting!"-Esdeath huffed as she dragged Tatsumi by the arm, a decided look on her face.
"Wait, what if those kids and the Leader are there?"-Tatsumi asked as he was dragged down.
"I don't care! Actually, I do care a bit. I had never seen children fight before, and I must admit their…reasons for going to war were quite reasonable. The important thing is that we are having Ice Cream today even if I have to make it myself!"-Esdeath said as she dragged Tatsumi down the street, so resolved on her objective that she never turned her head around.
If she had, she would have seen that Tatsumi was smiling.
Next Chapter: The Children recruit the final members, using the dead and undead ghosts of the past of both Jaegers and Night Raid. Then a routine patrol mission leads to a member of the Jaegers and a member of Night Raid to confront the sins of the past and find common ground together.