Hi everyone!

Hope you're all doing well! Review responses kick us off as usual!

Penstar1331: Oh, don't worry-I can't let Haruhi have everyone. As for Kasanoda's fate, not everything is revealed here, but it will be quite soon!

MagicQuill42: Good! I wasn't sure how/if I could work in his obliviousness without his "Daddy" delusion coming into play, so I'm very glad to hear you picked up on it!

lillyannp: Yes. Yes they will. And one of our pair may have to face their feelings sooner than the other! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

QueenRainbow: Thank you very much-hope you like this chapter just as much!

tmwillson3: Unfortunately for Kasanoda, his nightmare is just getting started. As for discovering Haruki's true identity...read on!

Rosezelene Ersa: Thank you so much! That really means a lot to hear-a reader finishing a long story in a short amount of time is always a huge compliment. And hearing that I've managed to do justice to the random "chimeric" (love your word choice by the way!) nature of the anime and manga made me unbelievably happy. Please don't apologize for any "breach" of "the happy reader code!" I understand that reviews take time and I am perfectly happy to receive one detailed review on the most recent chapter. So thank you very much for your review! Hope you enjoy future chapters just as much!

Since it's Monday, the reader question is up for a change! I've been playing around with a few ideas for later chapters, mostly for backstory chapters for each of the hosts. I currently have chapters planned dedicated to Kyoya, the twins and Honey. Mori is unfortunately still an enigma, so his backstory chapter may have to be combined with Honey's to flesh it out. But, I'm toying with the idea of also giving Tamaki a backstory chapter, likely involving his mother. So, would you guys be interested in a backstory chapter dedicated to Tamaki? As was the case with Kotoko and Ryoji's arc, I will make sure the chapters don't interfere with the action of the main arc. Any and all opinions are welcome, so send them in!

The Reader Wishlist topic is still...Columbina and the innamorati! What kind of scenes would you like to see play out between these three? Send in your thoughts!

The next update will be on Thursday as usual!

Also, for any Miraculous Ladybug fans, check out my original webcomic The Adventures of Badgergirl and Beaverboy! Search BGandBBAdventures on Deviantart or check the link posted recently to my tumblr!

Now, onto the next chapter-in which a certain gardener ponders making a confession.


Over the next week, Kasanoda's trips to visit his men at their camp became much more frequent. But the bandit-turned-gardener was distracted and it did not escape the notice of his men.

One day, Tetsuya returned from his shift at the bakery with an armful of crackling loaves of bread still warm from the oven. He saw that the flap of Kasanoda's tent was closed.

"Ah, so the young lord is back again?" Tetsuya looked to the small band of men sitting around the campfire.

The other men exchanged an uneasy look. "He is."

"We're fortunate to have him with us so often! Do you know if he's eaten this evening?" Tetsuya started towards his leader's tent, a loaf of bread in hand.

"Tetsuya, I wouldn't bother him," one of the men warned.

"Why?" Tetsuya asked.

"He's been acting very…strange."

"What do you mean?" Tetsuya frowned, rerunning the past few days. Nothing had happened that should have upset Kasanoda.

"He's been mumbling constantly about someone named Haruki," another man explained.

Tetsuya blinked. He recognized that name vaguely. Ah yes—he had heard it while passing through one of the squares in the city. The troupe headed by the king of Alsance had taken on a Haruki Fujimoto. But surely it was just a coincidence. "Do you mean Haruki Fujimoto?"

The other men burst into a clamor at that.

"Yeah! Do you know if the kid ticked the boss off?"

"He's dead meat if he did! I've never heard Kasanoda talk about someone so much!"

"He's gotten under the boss's skin for sure!"

Tetsuya cast a glance at Kasanoda's tent. "Let me see if I can find out more…"

Tetsuya edged over to the tent and slipped the flap open. "Excuse me—young lord?"

But Kasanoda didn't seem to hear him. The bandit-turned-gardener was instead considering a flower. He plucked petals from him, saying, "like" or "love" at each pluck.

Tetsuya watched in a kind of fascinated horror as Kasanoda pulled the last petal and exclaimed, "Love! I knew it! I'm in love with Haruki Fujimoto!"

Before the infatuated young man could turn around, Tetsuya withdrew from the tent. When had this happened? But come to think of it, Tetsuya had seen Kasanoda watching the troupe's performances recently.

"Well…" Tetsuya began. "This Haruki hasn't angered Kasanoda."

"Then what's happened?"

"I wouldn't have expected this…But Haruki is rather feminine for a guy. And he plays a female character exclusively," Tetsuya mused.

"Come on Tetsuya, spit it out! What's going on with the boss?"

Tetsuya took a deep breath, then announced, "He's…in love."

The men's faces froze. Their mouths worked up and down in silence. Until…

"The boss is in love with a dude?" one exclaimed.

"How have we been with him this long and not known this?" another demanded.

"We've failed as followers! Failed!" yet another wailed.

Tetsuya shrugged helplessly as the rest of the camp fell into chaos.

#

"Haruki, if you have a moment—no that sounds too formal," Kasanoda muttered.

The morning after his "realization," the bandit-turned-gardener was still trying to find the right words for his confession to Haruki Fujimoto. He trimmed the ornamental hedges in the Spy's Courtyard absently as he rephrased the question over and over.

"Hey, Haruki, do you have a second? Yeah—that might work…"

"What might work?"

Kasanoda started, chopping a branch far shorter than he needed to. He spun around to face Mei. "Oh, um—it's—it's nothing!"

Mei regarded him suspiciously. "Hmm…if it's nothing, then why are you so jumpy?"

"Er—um—"

Mei folded her arms with a sigh. "Really, what's going on? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

Kasanoda's mouth dropped open slightly as the hedge clippers went limp in his hands. "You'd…you'd do that for me?"

"Of course."

"With…without…judging me or anything?"

Mei nodded. "Yeah. That's what friends are supposed to do for each other, after all."

Kasanoda set the clippers down and rubbed the back of his neck with an embarrassed shrug. "Well, I guess I've just never had anyone put it like that."

"So what's wrong?"

He cast a glance around the courtyard. A few courtiers meandered around despite the lingering chill in the air. "It's sort of personal."

"Ah—in that case, follow me."

Mei led him to another tiny and slightly overgrown courtyard on the eastern side of the castle. The weak winter sun streamed down the stone walls and bathed the place in golden light.

"Wow, I never knew this was here," Kasanoda said as they took their seats on the lone bench.

"Not many people know about it," Mei said. "But Princess Haruhi and I always used to come here to talk if we didn't want to be overheard."

She smoothed her skirts and leveled a serious gaze on Kasanoda. "So, what's the problem?"

"You're probably going to think I'm stupid for worrying like this," Kasanoda started. "But…it's…it's a problem with a girl."

"Okay…"

"I—I haven't known her very long, but she's so understanding. I feel like she really gets me, you know?"

Mei's eyes might have widened just a touch upon hearing that. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Of—of course. Except…I…I think I'm in love with her."

Mei reddened abruptly. "Oh."

With this confession, the words began to spill out of Kasanoda's mouth almost faster than he could keep up. "I don't think I've ever felt this way about anyone, but how am I supposed to know if I'm actually in love wit her? And on top of that, I have no idea how she feels about me. We're good friends and I don't want to spoil that, but I feel like I'm going to explode if I don't tell her how I feel!"

"May I…may I ask the lucky girl's name?" Mei inquired faintly.

"Oh—I didn't even tell you that, did I? Guess that shows how turned around I am…It's Haruki Fujimoto."

Mei went stiff. "Ha…Haruki?"

"It's crazy, right? But ever since I found out she's a girl, I can't get her out of my head," Kasanoda continued.

The lady-in-waiting's hands twisted into her skirts. "Cassanova, you can't be serious. You hardly know her!"

"But what if it's love at first sight?"

"Don't be ridiculous! There's no such thing!" Mei leapt up from the bench, her eyes flashing.

Kasanoda rocked back in his seat, surprised by her vehemence. "Oh, well—"

Mei was already pacing back and forth. "Besides, are you trying to get yourself killed? Didn't you hear Kyoya? Haruki's father is a powerful and over-protective nobleman! Do you think he's just going to let you traipse around with his daughter?"

"I didn't…I didn't think that far," Kasanoda muttered.

"You cannot tell her. It will all end in tears if you do, I promise you."

At that, Kasanoda straightened. "How do you know? Her father might understand!"

"Look, I just know!" Mei cried. "Don't ask me how, I just know!"

With this final outburst, Mei shook her head and hurried out of the courtyard. Kasanoda swayed slightly in the shockwaves of her anger.

A few hours later, he was still puzzling over Mei's reaction as he trimmed the trees in the southern courtyard.

"She seemed awfully upset. And how would she know all of this about Haruki?" he thought as he moved his ladder to trim the trees surrounding the outside of the princess's chambers. Yet as he scaled the ladder, he caught a bit of a conversation floating out from a poorly latched window.

"Haruhi, you can't go out into the city today!"

That was Mei's voice. Unable to fight his curiosity, Kasanoda leaned over to peek through the window.

Mei sat on one of the couches, looking back to the door to Haruhi's bedroom.

"Mei, I have to. The troupe is performing today. They need me there," Haruhi's voice replied.

Kasanoda tried to make this statement make sense. Why would the princess be worried about the troupe? And why was she going into the city in the first place?

But the bedroom door opened and Kasanoda's heart stopped.

Princess Haruhi was wearing her hair pinned up under a very familiar knitted cap. And when she turned to the window, Kasanoda only saw Haruki Fujimoto dressed in a princess's finery.

He let out a croaking gasp and leaned back, forgetting his precarious perch. The ladder tottered. Kasanoda cried out and clung to it. But the action did little to prevent the ladder from crashing down.

Luckily, Kasanoda landed on a dense hedge. As he stared upwards in the aftermath of the terror, one of the windows swung open and Haruhi and Mei's heads popped out.

"Kasanoda!" They cried.

"Don't move—we'll be right down!" Haruhi exclaimed.

Indeed, the two arrived in the courtyard a few moments later.

"Are you hurt?" Haruhi asked.

"I—I don't think so," Kasanoda stammered. He slowly rolled out of the hedge and onto the ground.

"You're so lucky! That could have been awful," Mei said.

"Ye—yeah." But as Kasanoda looked at them, he realized that something was out of place. "Uh…um…Highness…your cap."

Haruhi and Mei's eyes went wide. Haruhi snatched the cap from her head and pulled the pins from her hair before anyone else could see. She offered a mortified smile to Kasanoda. "Thank you."

"No—no problem," Kasanoda replied.

They were soon swarmed by a group of courtiers who had seen the whole incident unfold. When Kasanoda demonstrated that the fall hadn't done any damage, the courtiers let out sighs of relief. Yet in typical fashion, they took this opportunity to chat with the princess. As the courtiers surrounded the princess, Mei came to Kasanoda's side.

"Do you see why I didn't want you to tell her now?"


And the next chapter excerpt is...

Kasanoda snapped out of his nightmares with a gasp. For the entire night, he had dreamed of being chased by two giants, one red-haired and one blonde, that both wore shining gold crowns. Try as he might, he couldn't outrun the wrath of these two royal titans. Any attempt at escape was met with an army of ghostly spirits led by a figure in dark robes and enormous silver eyes.

It seems as if our bandit-turned-gardener has realized the gravity of his situation. But how will he cope with this new reality? Check back Thursday to find out!