Freelance DxD

Life 52: Back to the Vacation

When she woke up, Lucina felt an immediate sense of confusion come over her. She was used to waking up after Soren each morning, considering he woke up on the dot at 5 o'clock every morning no matter the situation or how long he'd stayed up. Probably helped he was a hyper somniac so his frequent naps meant he didn't need a ton of sleep all at once. And she was used to often waking up with him not being in the bed. It was his usual habit to get up and start making something to eat of course… but considering this was a vacation and the previous night, well to say Lucina had been expecting something different in this case was a given.

"Soren? Are you just outside of the tent?" Lucina sat up, the plus sheet of the bed in the conjured tent falling off her nude body as she looked around, brushing her messy morning hair to the side. Considering the tent didn't have much in it besides the bed, where else could he have gone. "Weird… his presence isn't around either. Hmmm… I was expecting him to wake me up by playing with me so we could do more before we had to head back…"

With a pouty expression on her face, Lucina threw her sun dress back on and stepped out of the tent… nobody was there on the marble white beach, and she didn't see foot prints leading from the tent either.

"Weird…" Lucina then sighed as she folded her arms. "If I had to hazard a guess his odd disappearance might have to do with those fox girls. Eh… Soren's a big boy, he can handle himself. I'm sure he'll be back in time for breakfast if Astra doesn't hunt his cute face down first."

Lucina couldn't help but feel giddy again as she looked at the ring on her finger, her feet prodding the ground a bit as she shuffled and giggled about.


"… this is not how I wanted my morning to go."

Looking more than a little peeved and grumpy this morning, Soren had woken to finding himself tied up to a wooden post in the main yard of the temple grounds… and with three kitsunes of various expressions in front of him. Mizukume with a face of glee, Yuki staring at him in cold anger… and Taiga asleep in a sunny spot.

"Well this is just comeuppance for yesterday." Yuki said, clicking her tongue. "Did we seriously have to… he still smells like his woman. Taiga! Why did you take so freaking long with it huh?! We should've done this last night!"

"Nyaaaumm… but Taiga didn't want to interrupt." Taiga mewled awake and rolled over, her eyes staying closed. "That dragon girl was so happy, it'd be rude if I did that. So I took a nap while I waited. Soren your girlfriend is louuuud. Taiga's ears hurt a bit."

"I will take that as a compliment to my skill in bed." Soren said, not a hint of shame in his voice. "So can I go now? There's a fallen angel with a Lust Vice I know and if I had to guess she's probably none too happy she's getting… what'd it be for girls… clam jammed? I dunno, let's go with that."

"Danna-sama how rude! Your blushing bride is here and yet you're talking about other women?" Soren looked immediately annoyed as Mizukume grabbed him, not looking a bit amused as she nuzzled her face to his. "It's been too long!"

"Again, what happens in SERAPH stays in SERAPH… frankly I kinda wanna forget what happened there to begin with because it makes some of the shit I've been through recently look tame by comparison." The thing was, Soren was actually freed from his bonds at the moment. He just didn't want any fuss in the morning so he chose to instead play along… even if he had to put up with Mizukume's unwanted affections for the time being. "Maybe I can find out why exactly they started this shit to begin with… I mean sure it could just be the normal routine but you never know when Vitch is involved."

"Tch." Yuki suddenly flinched, and Soren got a snide smirk on. That girl hated her "Vitch" nickname with such a passion even just thinking it around her was enough to get something out of the fox girl. "Mizukume stop being clingy, right now the dragon boy's our enemy. I don't care about what you think with the SERAPH incident."

"Peh, you're no fun." Mizukume side, keeping her arms around Soren's neck. "This is a tropical island, we're supposed to be having fun… even if we are here because we made Zelretch mad."

"How has Old Man Zel been doing since I last saw him?" Soren said, finding the change of topic good to use. "It's been what… a year now? Last time I saw him I remember being dropped into some weird island where a tiny bird girl put me through some kinda frickin' Iron Chef thing…"

"KYAAAHHHH! STOP-STOP! No no no no! We are NOT talking about that demon bird and her hell-on-earth excuse for a cooking camp!" Mizukume shot up as she started screaming, crossing her arms and making a buzzer sound. "Foul play Danna-sama, it's not allowed!"

"Was it seriously that bad?"

"YEEES! Please stop reminding me of it!"

"Okay okay sheesh, sorry… now as for what I asked?"

"Haagh… that wild old man from who knows where or when is as usual." Yuki answered, a new fan opened in one hand. "Looking for… students and keeping the Mages off his back whenever he does show up. Last I heard he'd taken in that girl you know from Fuyuki."

"… she'll be fine. Maybe." Soren muttered, adjusting his hands behind him a bit. "So… aside from the kinda obvious reason I can assume, why the hell did you lot even have that portal to begin with?"

"Do you seriously want to know?" Yuki asked, Mizukume twiddling her fingers.

"I would like to yes."

"Ugh… Mizukume, you tell him."

"Alright!" Mizukume said, clearing her throat… and suddenly producing cards with illustrations on them. "So you see, we three beautiful fox sisters were sent to this island for… reasons after we, well… one of those stupid magic sticks of the old mans may or may not be in intensive care for the rest of the month. Once we got here we set up shop at this temple because might as well, I am the best foxy shrine maiden around! Taiga of course was all for the cooking and she wanted to get a supply of meat since the island doesn't have much animals to catch. So in a burst of manic energy she wound up building the portal, only due to factors we had no idea where it linked to. Taiga opened it and a swarm of demonic boars came pouring out! While they did achieve the goal Taiga wanted they went wild and stormed to the other side of the island. That was when that darn empress showed up with her stupid wind up dolls and wiped them up. Sure for a bit it was fine and Yuki and I even went to thank her for mopping up Taiga's mess… but ohhh that egotistical shorty was in a mood and mocked us for not "controlling our pets"! Obviously you can understand I simply couldn't let that slight go by!"

"… no comment."

"So we hatched a plan! With the portal on our side, we would do just what the empress demeaned us for not doing! We would summon an army of demonic boars and send them against her! Teach her a lesson in some humility!"

"Taiga just wanted piggy meat!" Taiga whined, then going right back to napping.

"Ahem, thank you for the input Taiga." Mizukume cleared her throat and got right back into stride as she swapped the card for the next one. "All went to plan for a while! We amassed our forces and attacked… and she countered right back with hers. To make a week long story short let us just say things spiraled out of control for a while as we started warring… then you came along and wrecked the portal!"

"Yeah that sounds about normal." Soren murmured, rolling his shoulders.

"After cooling down frankly I'm somewhat glad the thing is gone." Yuki said, Mizukume nodding. "Those boars are such a headache… we're gonna have to spend time hunting the rest of them down. Tch, this is what happens when you give into your pettiness sister!"

"Hmph, I hold no regret over my actions!" Mizukume said, folding her arms, then her fox ears went flat. "But yes now we need to sweep up the strays. Thankfully I have my shikigami on that job, but they can be problematic even for my cute paper dolls."

"Alright, well, this has been very enlightening but, as I said yesterday, I'm here on vacation and would like to enjoy it. Good luck on the boar hunting." With a small twist, the snapped ropes around him finally fell, Soren standing up and rubbing his wrists off, Mizukume and Yuki staring at him in surprise. "Enjoy the rest of your time here, and maybe we'll run into each other on another job, later!"

"W-Wait! You couldn't at least help a bit?" Mizukume said, Soren looking back at her with a flat look.

"The boars are your problem. You sisters are strong enough. So why… oh she's here." As if he'd been timing this exactly, a shape came crashing down from the sky above. Astra, all four of her wings out and looking outright maddened to insanity, though maybe somewhat put off to comedic points by the fact her hair had not at all been taken care of (yet still had the artificial roses in it), and she was wearing scant but one of Soren's shirts and cropped night shorts, not even having bothered with shoes. "Mornin' sweetie."

"Hahahahaaa, morning indeed!" Astra said, a wild sound to her voice as she glared at the fox girls. "You know, I'm always fine with waiting when it comes to Luci y'know? She and I are basically sisters, and now can both say we're engaged to the same dorky, cute ass, fun as hell dragon prince we oh so adore! What I do not like, is knowing that some mangy foxes made me WAIT MORE because of shit I did not see coming because I'm so addled!"

"Uwah! This girl's scary!" Mizukume yelped, her tail bristling. "And what's with that freaking scythe huh?!"

"This is too much for just being the damn morning." Yuki grumbled.

"Damn right!" Astra snapped, her grip on her scythe knuckle-whitingly tight. Soren had to guess she was doing so to keep herself under control… that and the five small, wired control knobs strapped to one of her thighs. "So, just a word of advice okay cuties? Don't fuck with a Fallen Angel high on her freaking Lust Vice! Because I do quite like my hot as hell fiancé keeping that in check for me when it comes up! Are we clear?!"

"Crystal! Please just stop screaming for crying out loud!" Mizukume yelled, waving an arm. "Ehehehe, we can reconvene later Danna-sama! Come on Yuki, let's go boar hunting!"

"I agree." Yuki said.

"Alright well-WHOA!" Soren didn't even get to make the quip before Astra grabbed him and flew off. Even when she was pressing his face right between her chest, he more just sighed in annoyance. "Astra I can fly myself you know!"

"Ahhhh… I can't wait dammit!" Astra said, looking at Soren with clear lust on her face, to which he sighed again. "I know I know! But it's too much! Just do… something! I don't care! Play with my boobs or at least max out the toys I'm using! I'm gonna go crazy if I have to wait any longer!"

"You can be so high maintenance at times…. It's cute but still." Soren reached down and moved the knobs a bit, Astra letting out a yelp as she grabbed him tighter. "I can't quite do the former when I'm like this either!"

"Please… stay quiet… any more and…" Astra bit her lip. "I don't know what I'll do if I lose control!"

"Well first off lemme fly dammit! And just hold off until we're back at the hotel for crying out loud." Having to pry himself free, Soren was surrounded by a silver aura and started floating in the air himself, Astra still holding tight to him as they continued along, though she'd given up control and was burying her face in his neck. "Seriously you've never been this bad before…. It's gotta do with that section doesn't it?"

"I… may have gone investigating while writing down… advice for Xenovia." Astra admitted, between licking at Soren's neck and pecking at him. "How much longerrr?"

"Just hold out for a minute. We're going fast enough to clear the island in half the time as it is!" Soren muttered, then stopping. "What was that about advice for Xenovia?"

"Later! Just… get us there now!" By now Astra's body was moving to, Soren giving a chuckle mixed with a sigh.

"Alright alright… hold on tight!"

"I already am!"


"It's only six in the morning and this is where we've wound up." Unable to stop himself from quipping, Soren sighed as he leaned back a but more on the headboard of the large bed in the hotel suites master bedroom. The moment he and Astra had gotten back and into the room, with no time to actually greet anybody else, a few things had happened in rapid succession: One, Astra pulled out all five of the vibrator beads she'd had in her, and they lost power instantly. Two, Soren didn't get much time for anything before she'd pushed him to the bed, thrown off their clothes, and mounted his waist within seconds. And three, how slow Astra was taking it.

"I mean not like we haven't done slow sex before." Soren thought, giving a small chuckle. "And frankly there's little we HAVEN'T done… but she's going WAY slower than usual… that and my hands actually hurt a bit from how hard she's holding them."

"Hah… hahhh… mhmmm…" Astra's breathing was heavy and labored as her hips slowly rocked back and forth, the fallen angel not even daring to move up from her firmly planted position on Soren's manhood. Her fingers were so tightly woven into Soren's their hands had gone white. It was like Astra was doing everything she could to go slow. "Haahhh… Soren~."

"You okay? It looks like this is kinda hard for you right now." Soren said, Astra shaking her head. "Y'sure?"

"Y-Yeah… I just.. need to take it slow… ahhh! It feels… way too intense even like this!" Astra leaned her head on Soren's shoulder as her body shuddered, her warm breath washing across his neck. "Ahhh… fuck it feels too good! AH! S-Soren, d-don't move! It'll just… ahhhaaa! It's too good! I can't I can't!"

"Yeah… definitely unusual." Soren bit his own lip as Astra started spasming on him, her back arching in as she downright howled in pleasure, her voice cracking into such a high pitch he was glad the room didn't have windows. When she finally seemed to calm down with her body falling onto his, Soren glanced down to her right shoulder as he patted her head. Astra's Vice Mark was located on her right shoulder blade, the mark being shaped like a rose. The more aroused she was, the more the rose would bloom and the "vines" would move out… and right now the mark was downright covering an entire quarter of her back. "So can I say that going near that side of this island was a bad idea now?"

"Whatever… just kiss me right now." Astra breathed heavily, Soren shaking his head but complying, the fallen Angel pressing into him and forcing the kiss deeper, staying like that with him for a while before separating. "Mhmmm… you're not very fair Soren. You never vocalize when you cum too… but I can always feel it when you do. Ahhh… it's not fair your body's so hot."

"I am a demi-dragon." Soren remarked, Astra yipping as one of his hands went to her chest. "So I'm guessing we're gonna be here till lunch huh? Ah… geez you're getting way too tight right now! … feels too damn good though."

"Ahehehehe… I love it when you say stuff like that." Astra kissed Soren again, and as she did she started moving, Soren willfully giving into her mood and wrapping his arms around her hips, which while still barely rocking were moving more than before.

"Well at least she's calmed down a bit." Soren thought, his eyes opening as a thought crossed his mind while Astra went to kissing at his neck and chest. "Hmm… should I give it to her now? I mean might be a bad idea but… ah screw it. She'll be passed out till the evening when we're done here most likely."

"So, hey, Astra?"

"Hmm?"

"So, you obviously know I gave Lucina a ring last night yeah?" Soren just got a nod in reply, Astra too engaged in what she was doing to be verbal. "Welll… I know we saw it come but your old man did kinda just spring the whole betrothal thing on us… but I thought, well… lemme just… let go of my hands for a second."

"Meh." Astra didn't bother and did as told, just getting to running her hands along Soren's vague musculature as he reached over, and she mewled as he pulled her up. "Heyyyy!"

"Just hold on for a second alright?" Soren said, Astra blinking when she saw him slide something onto her finger: A silver ring with a ruby laid into the band. "I decided I should at least do this much y'know? If we're engaged might as well have something to show for it right? Uh… Astra? You okay you're face is… whoa?! What the hell is… why are you tightening up so much?!"

Astra didn't reply as she just crashed her mouth onto Soren's, holding him tight as she pulled herself and him down to the side, her legs wrapping around Soren tightly. He didn't even need to do much as Astra's body started moving on itself, she was downright yelling into the kiss as her body spasmed again. It was maybe a solid minute later before Astra finally stopped moving and separated, both breathing heavily from the lack of air they'd had… good thing they had utterly inhuman lung capacities.

"Ehehee~, you came too~!" Astra cooed as her forehead pressed against Soren's, the black haired young man showing a blush of his own as he panted, managing to sit back up, Astra letting out a whimsical noise as he did. "Ahahaheee!"

"Fuck… that was actually really good… surprising but good." Soren muttered, putting a hand to his head. And he went from trying to recover to looking utterly bewildered as Astra's entire body suddenly glowed red for a few moments, the girl letting out another pleasured keen… and then from her back, rather than the four wings he was used to, six black as night, raven feathered wings sprouted from Astra's back, tightly extended out as she then gave a sigh. "What… the… fuck?"

"Huh? What is… oh… holy shit I promoted?!" Astra, now definitely much calmer, got off Soren's hip and looked back, her smile wide as she saw the two new wings. "Hahaha! Holy cow! Who knew you could promote like that?! That's awesome!"

"Glad you're taking that well. I am totally confused." Soren muttered, Astra chuckling as she sat next to him, her wings vanishing. He also noticed as she moved, Astra's mark hadn't changed size, but had become more detailed, like a stylish tattoo now.

"It's just how Vice's work darling. We indulge them enough and we can promote class! Hehehe, that officially ups me from Cherub to Archangel!" Astra pumped a fist, then putting a hand down to her crotch region. "You also hit that spot I was trying to massage earlier… hmhm, I'm lucky you're well endowed in the guy way."

"Well good to know you've calmed down." Soren said, Astra shaking her head. "Well I didn't mean calmed down like that."

"Of course I'm not." Astra said, poking Soren on the nose. "Now I'm just thinking straight. Though uh… I'm kinda surprised too. I didn't think I'd ever get that bad with my Vice. Ehehehe, sorry!"

"Well… I guess it's fine in the end." Soren muttered, Astra chuckling, then looking at the ring now on her finger. "So?"

"I love it! Thanks. A ruby huh? Hehe, perfectly fitting for me." Astra lowered her arm and then straddled Soren again, chuckling as she flicked her hair a bit. "So? I know you're definitely not done. I wanna pop my Archangel cherry!"

"Well how can I say no to that cute face?" Soren mused, snickering as Astra's rear wiggled in that usual tic she was ready to go, grabbing at her as they kissed again. "This time, I'm leading."

"That's fair." Astra said, nodding as she moved back. "Hehehe, these next few hours are gonna be fun!"


"Shit… she's just gotten even more exhausting now! Hehehe… fun." Soren chuckled to himself as he was downing a way too sugared up cup of coffee, sighing as he downed it. "And to think it's only 11 in the morning… today's started off in one hell of a way."

"Hahaha, if you think that was enough, we've still got daylight to burn!" Anwen came sliding in and crashed onto a chair, Soren humming as he downed more of the coffee. "Come on dude, we still have to burn the beach! I'm still amped after all the food I got to eat yesterday so there's calories to burn. So let's go surfing, you and me!"

"I mean sounds fun but I kinda don't know how." Soren said, Anwen gaining a smug look. "I half lied. I at least know the basics, but I feel like indulging Anwen a bit. I'm in a good mood right now so why not? Besides surfing sounds fun."

"Ahh don't worry Boss, I'll teach ya' what I know! I learned fast, and of course you will too!" Anwen slapped Soren on the shoulder, the teenager just rolling his eyes in amusement. "Let this girl and her partner show you what we mean!"

"Partner huh?" Soren mused, hearing Bahamut laughing in his head. "Haha, alright then, I'll take you up on that one."

"Hehehe, ya' won't regret it! Besides uh… I think you need to help you cool off after, well… the past five hours." Anwen said, Soren looking to the side as he downed more of his coffee loudly slurping it to avoid having to say anything.

"Let's hit the beach then!"


"See what'd I tell ya'? Not so hard once you're up eh?"

"I'm pretty sure with all the fighting I'd do a good sense of balance would be natural."

Anwen laughed at the snide remark as she angled herself down on the wave to get ahead of Soren, the boy raising his arm against the spray she kicked up from the turn. Despite the fact the surf was supposed to be relatively calm at this time, the wave they were riding was quite large… Soren, not a fool in the slightest when it came to detecting magical items, was able to tell it had something to do with that board of Anwen's.

"Because since when is a normal surfboard glittering gold and has am bands on the underside of it? That thing ain't normal… and did she call it Prydwen earlier? I swear she did." Soren thought, smirking a bit as Anwen whooped as she cut down the wave and back up, jumping the crest before coming back down, Soren cutting away to when she tried to spray him again.

"Nope! My turn!" Soren angled the board back down, Anwen yelping when she got hit by a large spray, Soren chuckling as he pulled away.

"Ahhhh! Get back here!" Anwen shouted, pushing forward to chase after Soren, though as she swung to push she shit… something. She didn't see what, it was actually too fast to really see. "What the… did something jump out? Eh, whatever."

And while Soren and Anwen continued chasing each other on the incoming wave, the beach was a much calmer situation than the two playing around with each other like they were. Xenovia was reclining under an umbrella and reading through a notebook a rose stamp on the cover, looking like she was intensely studying the contents within it. Nearby too Xenovia, Lucina and Anwen were themselves reclining, choosing to sunbathe. Kuroka was just catnapping as per usual when it was warm out, though at least this time she'd chosen some measure of swim wear for the day.

"Ahhh… it always feels nice to relax under the warm sun." Lucina said, Jeanne chuckling as she saw the cat like smile on Lucina's face.

"And I thought Kuroka was the only cat-like person in the group." Jeanne said, Lucina just chuckling as she then rolled over. "It's nice to be able to relax like this for a while."

"Yeah… though after this it'll probably be back into the fire." Lucina said, humming when she saw her phone go off, plucking it up and checking the message. "Oh hey it's Asia! Wonder what they've been up to now, let's see… oh, they're in the Underworld? For training too huh? Hmm… a rating game against President is it? Hahaha, sounds like the Gremory group is going to be busy."

"Hmm? I guess something like that's a good change of pace for them too. Still fighting but sounds a lot tamer than, well… Kokabiel and the Khaos Brigade." Jeanne stretched her arms out and sat up, Lucina nodding as she put her phone back onto the table near them. "Hmm, Anwen and Soren are really going at it on that wave."

"YAHOOOO!" Anwen's hollering carried all the way over as the wave finally came crashing down, Anwen shooting out from the spray and Soren not far after her, the two hopping off the boards and coming back onto the beach, both absolutely drenched head to toe. "Hahaha! I win!"

"Pretty sure it's that board of yours." Soren said, pulling his bangs back, Anwen flashing him a v-sign before running off while shouting about hitting the showers. Soren unhooked his ankle from the tie on the board and stuck it into the sand, laying down on the other reclining chair near Xenovia, turning his head as he saw what she was looking at while he dried his hair. "What you going over there? It's not summer homework is it?"

"Well it is notes, but not for school work." Xenovia said, tapping the rose mark on the cover, Soren leaning over. "Astra made them."

"So that's what she was… talking about… the hell?" Soren raised a brow as he scanned over the page Xenovia was reading at the moment, his face more than a little bewildered "This is like one of those freaking guide books about dating… only with one particular target in mind. This whole thing has notes in it?!"

"Astra said she had a lot to put down in general." Xenovia said, Soren leaning back as he covered his eyes with an arm.

"She really doesn't do anything by half… though I guess she's also like Azazel that way." Soren muttered, moving his arm and looking over to Xenovia, who glanced back at him. "I feel like I don't need to guess do I? This has to do with that time doesn't it? You're not still gonna be on about that are you?"

"Don't worry, I understand your desire to wait. Having given it more thought of my own I actually believe you to be right. I suppose I was still reeling from things and rushing ahead too quickly." Xenovia said, clapping the book shut, surprisingly having a calm smile on her face as she looked over at Soren. "Right now, I've decided I'll pursue the same thing as you: Making this world peaceful so the next generation won't have to suffer what we have."

"Well since we're immortals it also means there's plenty of time… of course the obvious problem is the sheer damn number of people who wanna throw things into chaos for one reason or another. A naïve person would say to try and talk them down. A cynic, me, would say cut the middle man and just kill 'em before the flower blooms." Soren then gave a laugh, thought it wasn't sarcastic. "Some mindset for a person with such a ridiculously lofty idea in mind huh?"

"I believe you're just a pragmatist. There is warrant to mercy, but if one doesn't want it then there isn't a reason to give it to them, is there?" Xenovia said, Soren nodding, taking the towel off his head.

"And if you DO show mercy and they squander it, cut them down on the spot the moment they do. That one time is all you need to know when a person will never change their ways no matter how much you spare them." Soren sighed again as he opened his eyes, his expression flat as now Xenovia had decided to straddle him, the girl checking the notes again. "What does that segment say that warrants this kind of action eh?"

"I'm just trying to find out how this position works." Xenovia shifted a bit, Soren slapping a hand to his forehead. "Hmm? Like this? Then lower down and…"

"Okay maybe hold it!" Soren snapped, moving Xenovia off him the second contact was made, the blue haired girl tilting her head. "So remember time and place? An open beach is not such a place!"

"Some things would beg to differ!" Lucina called out.

"We were in a tent!"

"It counts!"

"Uuwaaahhh… all this talk about those things is too much." Jeanne covered her face to try and hide the blush that, Lucina patting Jeanne on the shoulder.

"You'll be used to it."

"Nyaaaa! What's with all the noise? Can't a girl take a cat nap in the summer sun?" Kuroka mewled in complaint, the others breaking out in laughter at the muttering of the nekomata before she flopped back to sleep in an instant. "Too hot… don't have the energy to complain."

"Heyyy! I'm up and rearin' to go everyone!" Astra came flying down, chuckling as she gave a v-sign, and right on cue at the same time Anwen came back. "Hehe, surprise? I bet you all expected me to be out till tonight didn't you?"

"Pretty much yes." Said everyone at once, Astra flinching a bit at the absolute deadpan manner they did so.

"Uwaahhh… come on guys I know Soren's fierce but I'm no slouch in stamina myself! Especially thanks to this!" With a fling of her arm, Astra produced her now numbering in six wings, the others giving surprised and awed gasps, Astra chuckling as she put a hand to her chest. "Ta dah! Thanks to our favorite dragon prince and the most recent boost from my Vice, I've gotten an upgrade from Cherub Class to Archangel Class!"

"It's so damn weird you get strong because of sex." Anwen muttered, Astra giving an all too proud chuckle. "Don't act proud about it dammit!"

"It's just how we Fallen Angels are though." Astra said, clearly in "ojou mode" now that she'd been calmed down from her Vice. "Don't worry, I'm sure that once you, Xenovia, and Jeanne find out what your Vices are, we'll start finding out ways to help you guys grow quickly too. That's our best bonus, our Vices let us grow exponentially!"

"Huh… so Astra's hit a new level too huh?" Lucina murmured, a hand going to a shoulder. "Hmmm… and I still don't have any idea how to get my Balance Breaker out. Ugh, it's vexing."

"Hey come on, don't stress too much." Lucina almost jumped when Soren popped up next to her, and he chuckled at the reaction. "Well that was cute."

"You need to stop just popping up like that!" Lucina whined, flailing her arms a bit, Soren snickering. "Seriously, how do you keep doing that all the time?"

"I guess it's a talent." Soren mused, yelping when Xenovia suddenly put herself onto his back. "Hey!"

"Is it fine if we go on a date tonight?" Maybe it was just that Xenovia was being way too direct, but that statement didn't feel that surprise… just horribly off the topic. "What?"

"No it's just… Xenovia you're bad at reading moods." Soren said, giving a sigh. "But yeah sure why not. We are on vacation, so not like anything… never mind, I am gonna shut up because I refuse to fall for that narrative trap!"

"You know sometimes they say just thinking it is enough to jinx things." Kuroka quipped, Soren knocking her on the head.

"You're gonna end up jinxing it in that case!" Soren snapped.

"Heyyyy! Boss! Quit flirtin' around and c'mon! We ain't done racin' yet!" Anwen shouted, waving her arm as she stood in the waves.

"Well then maybe don't run off to the showers after one round!" Soren said, standing up and grabbing the board he'd gotten, Anwen scoffing.

"It was for victory! Now c'mon, bet I'll beat you again!"

"Oh ho ho really? How about this then? Best of five! Winner gets to ask the loser to do any one thing before we leave!"

"Hehehe, I like that. You're on!"

With both giving battle yells as they paddled out, a collective sigh went across the rest of the group.

"Well they're both fight nuts, I guess they gotta get that excess energy out some how." Lucina mused, Astra scoffing.

"Puh-lease. Soren's got plenty of ways, and we're two of 'em!" Astra said, Lucina standing up and smacking her on the back of the head. "Ow!"

"You flip between modes too quickly." Lucina said, then folding her arms. "But there has to be something… some trigger I'm missing for some reason. I swear… I'm gonna find out how to unlock my Balance Breaker before this trip is over! I know it's a vacation, but that's going to be my goal for the rest of it!" Lucina then sucked in a breath and threw her arms out. "Look out world, this girl ain't gonna be ditched that easily!"

"… I feel lost for some reason." Astra folded her arms and hummed, then shrugged. "Alright gals, since Soren and Anwen are doin' their thing, who's up for some fun of our own? Who's up for water games!?"

With cheers following her out, and with the group making their merry way in all of this, it was another of those times to just relax and not focus on anything else at the time. Watching the fun the group was having, that same hat wearing young man was watching from a perch on a tree branch, lowering a book in his hands as a leg swung about.

"Ah the summer time of youth. Such a thing, even moreso for those who's youth runs for long times. Pffhahaha! Look at me now, I sound like an old man!" The young man laughed as he adjusted his hat, humming again as the air rumbled with something only those paing the closest of attention to the shifts in ambient energies would feel. "Huh, there it is again. Aiyiyi. That conflict from before really must have stirred something up… whatever, not my issue now is it? Hmm, now where are those food stalls that kind man mentioned? I'm quite curious about that cuisine he spoke of. Seemed to be a connoisseur… ah, and there I go, off on a tangent again. Mellia was right, I need to reign in that habit of mine."

The young man chuckled again as he trotted off, and the Siegreich group none the wiser about the mysterious watcher keeping his eye on them.


A/N

Man I have just been on a ROLL for some reason. Like seriously I've just been busting things out as of late, but hell yeah it's fun. That and doing more original stuff is good practice since I've got a thing of my own planned and in store some time down the line, hehehe. Though this is also a character focused volume and less plot, but they those are fun too.