MASS POST WARNING. GO BACK TO CHAPTER 33 IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT. All italics at the beginning and end belong to me. The first can be sung to the tune of 'A Demon's Fate.' I was reading it to myself and it had the same rhythm, so go nuts if you want. When I think about it, though, that song really fits in with the story.

However, the official song for this chapter is "This Love, This Hate" by Hollywood Undead.

Betrayed your whole life

You've been searching for

That flame in her eyes

You can't believe it but

We all paid the price

For our freedom

Show me your faith,

I don't want to be lost forever,

I can't get caught up in games,

Dancing in the flames

Chapter 35: My Guilty Crown

It was early. Far too early for even the birds to be singing. Still, there were two people who happened to be awake. In fact, they had not slept for the entire night. One was perfectly fine with unplugging from the wall and getting up to go. The other was still sluggish and tired from watching an all-night movie marathon. Eight movies was a lot to go through, so it was understandable that Amber was yawning and stretching.

The only downside to that guilty pleasure was that they had promised to meet with the others, today.

But, being a mage did come in handy sometimes.

Amber had bought some pre-brewed potions just for occasions like these. Even if the following night was sleepless, later on she would be out cold, and a dreamless sleep would be very welcome, considering her past of recurring nightmares. Rubbing her eyes, Amber glanced into the mini-fridge where she stored her perishable potion ingredients and reached inside.

There was a whole shelf of vials filled with bubbling red liquid. Why they were bubbling despite being in the refrigerated space was inexplicable, but their use was quite clear.

Amber took a vile lifted it to her head, uncorked it with her thumb, and downed it in one go. The liquid was still bubbling when she drank it, and the combined flavors of molasses, almonds, and cayenne pepper coated her tongue. A few seconds later a bit of steam, but not a considerable amount, spewed from her ears.

As unpleasant and biting as the taste was, she still preferred it to the bitterness coffee.

After that, she went to go wash her face in the bathroom. As she strolled through the door, she was met with Garrett, who was already putting on his jacket. It really was getting chilly these days. Both of them were already missing the warm and sunny shores of southern Cali. Back in Pasadena, it definitely didn't get this cold so early in the year.

Within thirty seconds, Amber had already smeared on a green mud mask on her face, and was getting ready to brush her teeth before showering. Her hair was tied up with a single band to keep it from interfering with her routine.

While the toothbrush was still scrubbing her teeth, she addressed Garrett, who was looking into the mirror, admiring his own features. Of course, he didn't need to shave anymore, so that was a plus. He was merely inspecting his face for any irregularities—something a Persocom had to be careful of from time to time. Synthetic skin was still skin, after all, and skin in general was subject to wear and tear.

"You ready to practice?" said Amber, who, due to the amount of toothpaste in her mouth, was barely understood by her vain partner.

"Sure," Garrett smoothed his hair back, exposing his forehead. "We did promise the beansprout that we'd go." After a moment, though, he decided to keep his fringe the way it previously was, shuddering in disgust at the unfamiliar sight.

With an undignified spit, Amber sent glob of blue liquid down the drain.

"Honestly…"

Garrett turned around, took a glance at her face, and then resumed the inspection of his own features. Baffled by her annoyed expression, he shrugged. "What?"

She jabbed her toothbrush towards him. "That nickname you're trying out? It doesn't suit Min-kun at all." She continued her brushing, assaulting her wisdom teeth with a strange amount of exasperation.

"How could you say that?" joked Garrett while chuckling.

"Becauth I cam," Amber said, the toothbrush distorting her words this time.

Sometimes Garrett had to wonder if she was trying to pick a fight with him this early in the morning. He smoothed out his shirt with his palms, bringing them downwards over the blue and orange striped number.

"Now you're being the difficult one," he said, now flicking his bangs a little to the left before turning away from the mirror entirely. He folded his arms and smiled at his partner. She had already rinsed out her mouth and began washing off her face.

Garrett snapped his fingers. "That reminds me. I know you don't celebrate your birthday, but it is coming up soon."

Taking the hand towel from the nearby rack, she dabbed at her face. She wasn't particularly interested in hearing about her approaching another year towards old age. Even if mages lived longer, it wasn't worth it to chronicle that yearly milestone. In fact, it made her feel silly if anyone remembered the date. Putting that much effort towards a day she couldn't even control was just ridiculous.

"So?"

As he expected such apathy, Garret was undeterred. He had come prepared to combat her objections. "It's always on the night of the gala, so you never really get a party for yourself, right?"

"Do you see me crying about that?" asked Amber coldly. Her face was giving him The Look. If he didn't handle this well, then Garrett was treading in a shaky canoe from now on.

"No, but—," began Garrett, trying to rebut her insensitive reply.

Amber threw the towel into the sink, folding her arms. "Then don't bother caring. I've no need for anything like that." She was going to turn on her heel and leave, but Garrett stopped her by gripping the crook of her elbow.

He held a hand to his forehead, disbelieving how much of a hair-trigger temper this girl could have. "Hold on. Hold on. Geez, you're stubborn." She glared at him, but he ignored the heat of her anger. "Taking into consideration your personal views, I still decided to get you a present: an unbirthday present."

Anger was altogether converted into confusion.

"What."

Garrett let go of her elbow and sighed. "You heard me, oujo-sama."

She scrunched up her face, wondering if there was some sort of equivalent of crack that Persocoms could take. "Yes, I heard you. But to resort to extra old movie references is really something this early in the morning." It wasn't even one of the movies they had seen last night, either.

"Alice in Wonderland was a book before it was a movie," pointed out Garrett, sensing that it was now safe for him to freely joke around.

"Fair enough." Without any further ado, she outstretched her hands to receive whatever he had planned. "Now, where's my unbirthday present?"

"You really like things, don't you?" said Garrett, pushing away her hands.

Shrugging, she remarked lightly, "I can't help it. I am, and always was, a material girl."

Garrett felt a twinge of annoyance spark within his conscious thoughts. "Now who's popping out old references, eh?" intoned the young man wryly.

When he dawdled in presenting her present, Amber wrapped her arms around Garret's neck and then made her legs become like jelly. All of her weight was placed upon his neck, but the Persocom didn't budge a bit.

"Present. Present. Preeeeseeeent."

Much like when she was hungry, if Amber ever got a whiff of a present meant for her, she would turn into a demanding brat until it was safely in her hands.

"Gah, okay!" Holding her wrists, Garrett pried her hands away from his neck and guided her arms back to her sides. "Close your eyes and wait here, okay?"

"HMPH." Despite her stubborn nature, Amber begrudgingly obeyed. She shut her eyes and pouted, standing there with an impatient expression on her little face.

The instant she shut her eyes, Garrett had slipped away to fetch the gift.

"Keep them closed, now!" he ordered, rummaging around in the closet. He had hidden it there because it was the last place she would think to search for anything. Even the things she most likely needed to have, the heiress would never think to look in there. Aside from clothes and shoes, she wouldn't even notice if a full grown monkey started living in that cluttered place.

"Fine!" said Amber, her eyes still squished shut.

After half a minute of rummaging around, Garret pulled out a small, purple box. Naturally, it had anime characters on the sides of it, and the entire package was shrink-wrapped in plastic.

A bout of fanfare suddenly played, which, as Garrett predicted, made Amber's eyes spring back open in surprise. He bounded over, still playing the bouncy tune from his external speakers.

"Now presenting…" Garrett kneeled, holding the box up towards his partner, "…the limited edition boxed manga set of...'Magico'!"

The music concluded, and there was Amber, staring down at Garrett with the curious box, the entire room engulfed in mystified silence.

"Magi—what?" asked the befuddled girl, taking up the box gently and staring at it. Hadn't Garrett had enough of magic lately? That definitely sounded like a fantasy series. It looked fairly old, actually. Even with the shrink-wrap, you could tell that the color of the box had faded slightly. However, due to the contents not being exposed to sunlight or circulating air for who-knows-how-long, the pages of the tankobon volumes inside were probably still in crisp black and white. The box's colors, however, due to the UV rays, was definitely far from pristine.

Garrett was more than delighted to hear her puzzlement. Leaping to his feet, he positively glowed with happiness.

"Ah-HA!" The Persocom bounced where he stood, pumping a fist. "I did it! I finally found an old manga you haven't read."

"Ah-ha indeed," Amber giggled, taking in his glee with a bit of embarrassment. "Thanks."

Garrett stopped his celebration long enough to peer at her, examining her expression. "You're welcome. But that doesn't sound very grateful," he observed. Her voice didn't have the telltale sounds of a total fangirl freakout. By this time she would have been squealing and flailing and hugging the boxed set with overflowing joy.

Though, admittedly, her enthusiasm for such things had not been the same since ComiFest.

"I love it," insisted Amber, forcing a smile. Honestly, she wanted to feel happy about it. Normally she truly would have hugged him around the neck and hung there, kicking her feet and babbling at an incoherent pace.

"You don't sound excited," said Garrett, suddenly realizing what her problem was. Insomnia, self-blame, lack of appetite, apathy towards her passion: all of these were not good signs.

"I'll probably enjoy it more when I read them." She tried to flutter her eyelashes, but the effect wasn't stunning him as she had intended it to. "Thank you, Garrett."

Garrett was thoroughly unconvinced by her acting skills.

"You rascal. Go shower!"

He flicked her in the middle of her forehead, trying not to blush.

"Hauuuuu," complained Amber, rubbing her injury.

…

"The obligatory tournament arc has begun!" shouted a duo of pink-haired girls gleefully. The two Persocoms were running around the courtyard in Kokubunji Manor, giggling and joking around like the scamps they were.

Minoru, after hearing that unusually unified announcement, was giving them a very strange look that was a mixture of confusion and suspicion. "Amu, Sumomo, what on earth are you talking about?" Since his parents had agreed to stay out of his business, they had gone missing. They probably had moved to their Winter residence in Kyoto, but Minoru knew without a doubt that his mother was spying on them, though.

"Uncle Minoru should know!" insisted Sumomo, pointing for emphasis like her mother often did. "Every shounen series has a tournament arc!"

"What have you been teaching her, Minoru?" cried Hideki, looking at the younger man in panic. His newfound daughter was already spouting all of these nerdy things.

"Don't blame me," Minoru aid, bristling. He pointed to the heiress standing off to the side. "It's Amber's fault!"

Amber immediately put up her hands. "Oh, no. Hey, now. Don't blame me, either. Look at this guy over here." She jabbed a thumb at pervy Persocom standing behind her.

Although an arrow of emotional pain stabbed him in the chest when Amber reffered to him as 'this guy', Garrett tried to play it cool.

"Yes, I taught Sumomo all I know. You really need to take your daughter's education seriously, Hideki," Garrett folded his arms and hung his head in mock sadness. "But I thought I told her we were a seinen series!"

A little incensed, Amber put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "But if we have a tournament arc, we're finished as a seinen series, Garrett! Don't you know that?"

Mirroring her stance, Garrett leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. "This isn't a tournament, though! We're training. Training." He gestured towards the playing children who were now engaged with the sentient koi fish in the nearby pond. "I don't know where those two got the idea of a tournament from."

"It's too bad the Takedas couldn't join," mentioned Yuzuki idly, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

It worked, though, because Minoru added: "They have jobs, you know. They can't always take time off to help us."

Hideki said nothing in response to that. He had been able to take off quite a few days lately. It had to do with a certain heiress and a considerable amount of cash, but he wasn't revealing anything about that to his other friends anytime soon.

But then a sudden thought struck Minoru like a lightning bolt. They had a pair of more experienced friends who could help them out, so why not use that to their atvantage? "Yuzuki. If you can, could you send a compressed copy of the recording of our sparring sessions to Mrs. Takeda?"

"Y-yes Min-kun," aid Yuzuki birhgtly, obviously liking the idea. She made a note of it in the back of her mind for later.

"Min-kun?" said Amber, recognizing her little nickname for the young boy. She felt a little confused when someone other than her was using it, let alone Yuzuki. "Wait. Why is Yuzuki addressing you that way?"

"It's none of your business," said Minoru cooly, giving her a sly look that betrayed nothing but smugness and secrecy.

Challenging him with a superior look of her own, Amber let out a short laugh. "Oh, really? Then I'll have to pound it out of you!"

Meanwhile, Garrett was making lewd jokes within his mind and chuckling silently. He snorted once upon hearing that statement and buttoned his lips quickly after that.

"You can try," said Minoru cryptically.

"Oh! Chii knows!" said the Persocom bounding over to join their conversation. "Is this what's called a bet?"

Hideki scratched his cheek. "Chii that's not exactly-,"

"Yes," said Chii, feeling very sure of herself, now. "Chii saw it on the TV! Amber, bet Minoru! If you win, he has to tell you why Yuzuki is acting oddly. If he wins...um, Chii does not know." She shrugged and lifted her hands up to the sides in question.

"She has to do one thing I want," Minoru said immediately, now smiling even wider.

This spelled trouble, for Garrett, though. Through his mental link with her, he said, 'Amber. His Persocoms wear maid outfits most of the time.' Garrett's face wasn't sure if he should smile or frown, and simply held a neutral expression. 'Just imagine the outfit he'll make you wear.'

'I won't lose,' she told Garrett lightly, now turning towards Minoru fully.

"You have a bet!" declared the heiress. "I want you to do one thing I want, also!"

And holding out their hands, they shook on it.

Minoru was busy gathering his gear. All those items they had gotten from the resort had to be tested at some point. Only a fraction of them had been experimented to the full, and of the others he still wanted to try and master. The spell ring had come in handy, but he found that the spells coming from a wooden wand far surpassed that medium, as well as the metal beginner's wand Amber had first given him.

Over the past few months he had ordered some extra items. Spell-proof dragon skin gloves was one of them—to prevent disarming incantations. They also had specially made sticking charms, ones that avoided the mana-proof dragon-hide, but allowed for his wand to remain in his hand, even in high-speed winds. On the other hand, quite literally in fact, gloves weren't the only thing he had in his arsenal.

Amber and Minoru bowed to each other.

They lifted their wands almost in unison.

"Scared, Min-kun?" Amber sprouted a mischievous, daring grin, making sure everyone else heard her.

"You wish," muttered Minoru just as saucily, and just as audibly. His face was stoic, though, and very focused on his opponent.

Spinning on their heels, the two of them suddenly stood back to back, waiting for the signal for the duel to begin.

Before had been a simple mage's duel. However, in this instance of practice, after researching several-hundred years of magical dueling, Minoru had insisted on going through all the rituals of the modern-day version of the sport. Therefore, his three Persocoms were helping out in setting everything up. In inspecting the official rules, Yuki and Anthy seemed especially engrossed, despite still not able to generate spells on their own.

"We are going by the official rules of the Japanese Dueling Association," said Yuki, as Anthy circled the courtyard the third time, sealing the dueling field for the match. They had to draw mana from Minoru to do so, but it was still accomplished. "Our referee will be Yuzuki, who will administer the monitoring charm. "

Yuzuki waved her hands, and a white light engulfed Amber and Minoru for a moment before fading away.

JDA rules dictated that everyone start with a certain number of points, depending on the anticipated length of the duel. Each spell that struck, contingent on power and type, would deduct from these points in varied amounts.

"The field is set," said Yuzuki, raising her checkered flags. "The duel is to one-thousand points." She waved them downwards simultaneously. "Begin!"

Minoru and Amber were still, their fingers gripped around their wands in anticipation. The first move was always the most important. Reflexes played a huge role in that.

To begin with, this playing field was special. The combination of the charms Yuzuki had cast, in addition with the one that Anthy and Yuki created, made a very special field. Any spell damage caused would be registered in points instead of resulting in fatal injury. However, they would feel pain, and if either of them fainted, the match would be over. Even if you had more points and you fainted first, you still lost.

That was how professional duelists played by JDA rules.

A crack of blue lightning erupted from the end of Minoru's wand. Amber had noticed the first, quick movement of his hand, and tried to dodge. But, in this moment she was facing an attack that travelled at the speed of light. Although she was swift, the lightning was faster, and it snagged her directly in the left arm.

Her arm locked up for a moment, but she shook it off. She skipped, almost sahayed, to the left, trying a simple bout of disarming wind. As she assumed, he had prepared for that. Minoru's clothes didn't turn into flower petals, and the wand in his hand stayed put.

Still, Minrou had more tricks than dragon-hide gloves.

There was a flurry of complicated wand-work from his side. Amber matched it with her own set of preparations, doing a flicking motion with her wand.

"Glacial Spear!"

"Tropical Tornado!"

An army of sharpened spears of ice were launched at Amber. A few, four or five, did manage to snag her. She winced at the stabbing pain, but continued her spell. Her points had taken a dip from the damage, but she could still make it up later. A whirlwind of water sprouted from the sky. It was hot and steaming, like a whirlpool of boiling tea. Upon being blocked by the swirling anomaly, many of the spears melted, and lost their momentum. Some still managed to burst through, but she kicked them away.

All in all, the battle dragged on for almost half an hour. Everyone else was simply surprised that the two had such stores of mana to keep up with the spellcasting.

When Amber responded with a hurricane-like wind-based spell, Minoru would counter with a gravity spell to keep himself from flying away. If he tried a water spell, she would freeze it solid. He would try to use the chunks of ice to make a golem, and she would blast it apart with a void-based spell.

This back and forth was exhausting both their mana and their mental faculties. It was only when they each were down to their last twenty-five points, that Yuzuki declared:

"The next blow to last determines the Victor."

Both of them, rushing to react first from this announcement, held out their wands. Each had a triumphant cry of determination as they cast their spells. Two identical bolts of red light shot out at the exact moment.

Minoru tried to dodge. Amber also tried to dodge.

The red lights suddenly arced at odd angles and changed direction.

Thump! Fwump!

Two bodies fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Both are unable to battle!" announced Yuzuki. "It's a draw!"

Why they both had cast a Boxer's Hook Hex, the world will never know.

...

Hideki couldn't possibly try to slice hrough such a shield. He was using an artefact, after all. Assuming that Kojima predicted that Hideki would do that, obviously Dragonfly had factored that probability into his spell and chose one that would block physical attacks. Hideki knew no spells, to Kojima's knowledge, so that was not a factor.

The first blow glanced off the shimmering orb like a child whacking someone's head with a ballon-sword.

Kojima was beyond estatic that it actually worked. However, he had been confident in his ability after trying out some spells with Kotoko these past months. He was wearing his artefact right now. At close-range it seemed to be able to find the enemy's weakest points. Long-range it was good for tracking, but using it in this way was much better suited for battle.

After Hideki lost, Yuzuki suggested that he try his hand at spells to boost his physical stamina. She also advised Kojima not to become overconfident.

...

Kotoko and Chii had had the shortest match to date. It probably had to do with the fact that they were Persocoms, but it really didn't matter. Kotoko had used her artefact to project several holographic copies of herself across the field.

Earlier, when using it to contact Junji, the range had caused the image to become weak and flicker slightly. Here, though, at this much shorter range, she was able to produce full-sized copies. They even had a tiny bit of substance to them.

As for Chii, she used her 'battle bouquet' as Garrett had dubbed it.

Although it had seemed that Kotoko had been successful in facing against Chii for two minutes, the little blond had done an impressive front-flip, while using Kotoko's shoulders as a springboard. While Kotoko reveled in shock at having her true body revealed, Chii landed a direct barrage of magically-powered petals directly to Kotoko's face.

It was an instant win for the little cutie.

Even if the battles left no physical damage, Kotoko could feel the systemic dull ache all throughout her sensors, up to seven hours after the fight.

Chii was given full marks from Yuzuki, and a cautionary message to work on her legwork. Kotoko, on the other hand, was told to consider some more defensive spells and not to rely solely on the usefulness of her artifact.

Several hours later…

"Hold still you two," said Garrett, really relishing the sight. He made sure he would store this memory away for blackmail material later on.

Standing before their friends, Amber and Minoru were squirming, trying to cover their legs in any way possible. Of course, they both were wearing skimpy outfits more suited for anime charaters. Minoru, most notably, was crossdressing again.

Amber was in a micro-miniskirt and a sailorsuit top that bared her midriff. Underneath this she was allowed to wear a onepiece racerback swimsuit that had an extremely deep v-line plunge in the front. The piece de resistance was a pair of fake bunny ears and a fluffy tail to match.

If Meroko saw her, she was sure to get laughed at for the next decade.

Minoru was in a sweet-lolita dress that had an Alice In Wonderland feel, as the color scheme was from Disney's original animated movie. He wore a long dark wig that matched his natural hair color and a big black bow and headband to keep it looking dress, if you could call it that, was light blue and white, and stopped above mid-thigh. However, the cut of the hem was so strategically made that one would think it had been custom-made for Minoru. Of course, the thigh-high stockings were Class A, and were almost dangerously close to his dress' hem.

"How can we?" asked Amber, trying to pull the skirt over her legs to cover them. It turned out to be too short to accomplish this, so she ended up looking extra self-concious.

"This is humiliating, so why bother?" said Minoru grumpily. Amber had no idea if he meant 'why bother covering up' or 'why bother squirming', but either way he would be miserable.

"It ended as a tie," said Garrett happily, "so you only have each other to blame."

It was all true. They had decided on the punishment right after they placed the bet, and now it was coming back to bite them, big time.

"No fair!" Miffed by how much attention these two were getting, Chii barrelled into Amber and Minoru, securing them within her iron grip. The two humans were unable to dislodge themselves. "Chii wants to dress up, too!" squealed the little Persocom, refusing to let go of her friends. They were looking too cute for words, and not hugging them would have been the crime.

Hideki had to explain this in the simplest way he could.

"This is a punishment game, Chii. You don't want to do that."

Chii pouted, hugging the two of them tighter.

"No. Chii wants the game, too. Punish Chii, too!"

"Good luck!" said Garrett, smiling as he laid a hand on Hideki's shoulder.

"W-w-wi-ith what?!" stammered Hideki, glowing red like a firepit full of hot coals.

Kotoko and Kojima couldn't comment. They were too busy rolling on the floor and laughing to say even a single word.

"My, my," sighed Yuzuki, shaking her head.

One hour later…

Garrett stared ahead, not knowing what to think. In front of him appeared to a cute little girl. However, that was altogether deceiving. The person in front of him identified solely as male. For Minoru Kokubunji to swallow his pride and ask him for this favor, Garrett felt disconcerted. Upon first meeting him, Kokubunji seemed to thoroughly hate him. However real or imagined that assumption was, it was exceedingly unusual for Minoru to consult Garrett on anything, much less speak to him alone. There was that time he and Minoru had played against Kojima, but aside from video games, Garrett was at a loss as to what Minoru was going to ask about.

"Please, Garrett, have a seat," said Minoru. His face was impassive as he motioned for the Chobit to sit in the maroon leather wingback chair across fom his desk.

Garrett settled into a comfortable position and tried not to frown. He was highly suspicious right now, but maybe Garrett had right to be? Kokubunji was a peculiar kid, after all.

"What's this about, Kokubunji?" asked the Persocom, trying to sound bored.

Minoru's eyes twinkled once, but the rest of his face was still decidedly neutral. He probably was trying to look past Garrett's nonchalant façade, but even that was debateable.

"As much as I loathe to ask," intoned Minoru, "I need your assistance."

As Garrett had not expected this, he blinked several times. His mouth would have fell open in shock, but he knew better not to be so dramatic.

"Wait." Garrett held up a hand in disbelief. "You want me to help you? The genius who has everything he needs? What could you possibly need help with?"

Looking him square in the face, Minoru said without flinching:

"Women."

"Women?" repeated Garrett, not quite understanding.

"Women," affirmed Minoru.

The cogs and wheels suddenly clicked into place in Garrett's mind. A bolt of pure shock shot through his positronic pathways.

"Woah-whoah." Garrett was now waving both hands from side to side in opposite directions. "Kokubunji, aren't you like, in middle school?"

"Technically, yes," replied Minoru, not skipping a beat.

"Technically?" Garrett rose an eyebrow.

"Yes," Minoru sighed in exasperation, "now will you help me? Or do I have to grovel?"

"As much as I'd like to record that, I'll pass," when he saw Minoru's face fall, Garrett broke into a smile. "Luckily for you, the love doctor is in." He clicked his tounge against his teeth and pointed his index fingers at Minoru playfully.

The boy ran a hand over his face, now utterly mortified by this decision. "...please refrain from saying that in the future."

"No can do, little M," said Garrett, losing all of his earlier anxiety.

Minrou's annoyance grew. He pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair. "And that," he said sharply. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" said Garrett, feigning ignorance.

"The nicknames."

Garrett closed his eyes and gave a lopsided shrug. "For somone asking for advice, you sure have a lot of demands."

Minoru cleared his throat. This exchange was really getting tiring. He needed the advice too badly for this guy to be playing around so much.

Thankfully, the pervy hero got the message loud and clear.

"Well," mused Garrett, " to be frank, who is it?"

"Excuse me?" said Minoru, taken aback. This man had been so candid so quickly that it was a little surprising.

"The 'woman' you need advice about? I need more info about her. Like, for example, is she in your class? How old is she? What does she like to eat? What is her favorite color, flower, and song? Things like that."

"..." Minoru blushed trying to recall all of that. He knew each of those facts about her, but what did that have to do with Garrett giving him advice?

Looking thoughtful, Garrett rubbed his chin in thought. "Come to think of it, Kokubunji, when do you go to school? You always seem to be here, at home."

Thankful that Ravensdale had not asked for the identity of the woman in question, Minoru let out a silent breath and answered his inquiry.

"I've technically finished all of my mandatory schooling. But due to certain laws, it is mandatory for me tol attend. I often sit in on classes at my assigned school over the internet when I get bored. To fill my quota of hours, of course."

"There's such a program?"

Garrett confirmed it with a quick internet search. He was still curious as to why Kokubunji was stuck in middle school after having completed it already.

As a mere second thought, he decided to look into it. It isn't even take as long as he thought it would. There was a lengthy article in an obscure newspaper about a certain string of incidents in a certain series of public and private schools.

It was about Minoru.

He briefly scanned the contents, and as he did, Garrett found himself grinning madly.

"Are you sure that's all?"

Minoru and his poker face were really working together in unison.

"Why ever would you think otherwise?" remarked the young genius.

"I mean," Garrett said this offhandedly, "it's not every day you get banned nationally from attending school in person."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Minoru answered automatically.

Yeah, that poker face was clad in iron. Nothing was breaking it. Garrett was still curious, and decided to pick at that outlying string on the edge of the sweater of what was Minoru's emotions.

"Oh," said the Persocom, looking complacent. "So you didn't blow up a highschool lab when you were only five?"

Rolling his eyes, Minoru scoffed. "What a load of hogwash."

"Yeah, that's crazy," said Garrett, nodding, "because the next year you would never trick your classmates into signing over their inheritances, right?"

"I have my own money, thank you," Minoru said cracking a small smile.

"Well," said Garrett, slapping his knee. "I'm quite sure that the teacher you bit sure had what was coming to hi—,"

"THAT IDIOT DIDN'T KNOW WHAT A LOGARITHM WAS!" burst out Minoru, his face now contorted into one of fury. That event surely seemed more heated than the others, because the young man had leapt out of his seat and slammed the desk so hard that dents formed in the surface. Obviously someone had been working out. Either that or he was constantly reinforcing his body with magic. Or both.

"Like that's an excuse?" quipped Garrett, straining himself trying not to laugh.

"I was only seven," insisted Minoru, seating himself and smoothing out his outfit.

"That's an even worse excuse," the Persocom muttered, looking askance.

"She isn't in my class, she's younger than me but more mature than I ever could be. She doesn't have a favorite dish to eat, but she likes to make fruit salads. Her favorite color is blue, her favorite flower is aloe, and for some reason she likes this old song called Bae Bae by some foreign boyband."

Garrett surprised by the sudden stream of answers, declared "What?" in a flat voice.

"The answers to your questions about the woman I'm interested in," Minoru explained.

After a few seconds of processing, Garrett tilted his head to the side in confusion. "...but didn't you just describe Yuzuki?"

"..." Minoru stared straight ahead, saying nothing.

"Wait. You like Yuzuki?" asked Garrett, his face breaking into a grin more suited to a clown.

"...do you have to sound so surprised?" mumbled Minoru in a small voice, looking down. The bangs of the wig was overshadowing his face. However, although it was obscured by shadow, the skin on his cheeks were aflame with color.

"..."

"..."

No one knew what to say for a while. The two young men simply sat there. Garrett was scrutinizing Minoru with the most amused expression, when he decided to speak up.

Scratching the back of his head, Garrett apologized. "I just don't know how to handle Persocom women. They all seem to have a certain disdain for my tactics."

Then again, most women did not fall for his antics. Even Amber had taken some time to sway. He, admittedly, did come off as somewhat of a playboy, which had a lot to do with it. Though, he was far from that estimate on every count.

When Minoru heard this confession, his embarrassment was shoved out of the way and replaced with scorn.

"You're dead to me," growled Minoru, swiveling his chair in the opposite direction. He refused to look at Garrett right now. All of that preparation had been for absolutely nothing.

"Oh, come on, Kokubunji!"

Waking up in the morning,

I just wanted to see your face

Remember that path we walked upon?

You smiled at me a happy grin

All that pain was purged from within

I stay here and hold you

As long as I want

Waking up this Sunday morning.

A/N: Aside from the silliness, I just started and finished a new manga in one day, so please bear with me! It really touched my heart. The art style reminded me of both the manga 'Soul Eater' and the Korean manhwa 'Witch Hunter', so I decided to start it. To my surprise, it had a similar plot to this fanfiction! Well, the premise is. Sorta. It's called 'Magico', and if you've read it, you'll know what I mean. I was super shocked, but also a little irked, because, as usual, my idea wasn't as original as I believed. I mentioned it in the story, but you might enjoy it yourself.

Also! from this point onward, all the spells will be in are usually in Latin or Greek, but for the sake of being able to understand it, unless they're from series cannon, it will be in English. Though, it should be noted that the ones in English are spells I've made up.