I'm sorry this first new chapter is so short. I feel this better describes the character Kal is and how her squad is actually protective and encouraging of her at the same time. Yami is still the only one so far to have an inkling of who she actually is. For now~

"Kaalll," Vanessa whines, reaching for the dark haired girl and pulling her onto the couch with her. Her face flushes as Vanessa lays her head in her lap. "Hiii.."

"Vanessa, you're drunk again," she sighs, smiling regardless as the witch hiccups and laughs. "Shouldn't you lay off the booze? In case you get a mission?"

"Naahhhh," she replies, waving her hand in the girl's face before letting it fall back down. "We rarely get assigned anything! Besides, my mission in life is to drink!"

"I think you should reevaluate your life's mission," Kallsi sighs, shaking her head before Vanessa huffs and sits back up. "What? There's gotta be more than just drinking. Can't we go to a beach or something? Is there not a mission for us to do anything fun like that?"

A fucking month.

Kallsi has been with the Black Bulls for a month now. Most days are spent exploring the ever changing layout of the hideout, nights spent trying to make sure Vanessa doesn't go into liver failure from the constant drinking. If she's too bored, she'll spar with Luck and Magna. Belzeb is content watching them and providing commentary to Kallsi in her thoughts, but she feels like she's going insane.

"You really want a mission?" Finral asks, surprised as he looks up from easing his hair into the seemingly effortless signature he sports. "We're usually the last to get them."

"I mean, yeah, I know that, but like! We're magic knights too! We deserve chances to show our skills off!" she groans, leaning back against the couch with her head hanging over the back of it.

"You can show your skills off to me again!" Luck says, having appeared out of nowhere to hover over her with his broad manic smile. "We're tied! Let's fix that with a battle to the death!"

"I'm still recuperating from our last fight. You really like aiming for trees and walls," she remarks duly, frowning as her lower back spasms in agreement. He bounces off without another word, going to bug Magna, who immediately starts yelling. "This sucks," she adds, slumping forward. "I thought magic knights were always busy!"

"Most of it is just training," Charmy says between bites, parked happily at her table and munching away at her roast turducken. "You get used to it eventually!"

'They're right, Kal. Maybe you should just learn to relax…it's a much different pace than what we're used to.'

I know, Bel. Fuck. I just hate sitting here.

'Vanessa is opening another bottle.'

"Damnit, Vanessa, I think you've had enough tonight," Kallsi groans, taking the new bottle from her friend. The pink haired woman lets out a soft whine, pouting as she replaces the cork in the top and sets it on the table. "You're gonna give yourself some kind of liver disease or something. Go sleep it off."

"You should really learn to listen to your superiors," she replies, poking Kallsi's cheek and twisting her finger into the skin. Kallsi swipes her hand away and stands up, shaking her head. "Where ya going?"

"On a walk or something-"

"Oi, Kal!" Yami yells, coming down the stairs. She perks up, her eyes brightening as she turns to face him. "Got a mission for ya."

"Oh thank gods," she breathes. "What is it, Captain?"

"Head into town with Finral and pick up the stuff on this list," he tells her, dropping a folded paper in her hands. Her shoulders slump as she unfolds it and sees the basic household supplies list. "What? You were whinin' for a mission. This gives ya something to do."

"Yes sir," she sighs, refolding the list and looking at Finral. He's grinning like a boy who just got a puppy, and her stomach twists. Please tell me he didn't orchestrate this. "This isn't anything," she warns him as he makes a portal into the city.

"Of course. I wouldn't ever dare to call it that unless you wanted to as well," he assures, gesturing to the portal with his hand. "After you!"

"Good luck," Vanessa yells, waving at them before reaching for the wine bottle. Yami grunts and takes Finral's old seat, scratching his head as they leave. The portal shuts behind the two of them, the captain groaning softly as he leans back.

"She sure is a handful," Vanessa remarks, sipping her booze. "But you knew that taking her on."

"Trust me, you don't have to remind me," Yami sighs. "Julius'll have to give me a pay raise to keep dealin' with her."

"Does that mean more money for me to spend on Marie?" Gauche says, perking up from his corner table.

"Or more food allowance?" Charmy says, her mouth full of whatever concoction she had moved onto now.

"Could just actually send her on a mission," Vanessa suggests, draping her arm over the back of the couch. "Instead of having her run errands. She's gonna start demanding it eventually."

"Maybe," he grunts. "Let's just stick with these errands for a while still."

If Nacht is right, she's one of those missing royal kids from Spade. Having her out and about is a bad idea and attracts unwanted attention. Fuckin' hell.

"Kal, this way," Finral calls, waving to get the girl's attention away from a stall with new clothes. She purses her lips to the side as she feels her personal coin purse, gauging if she wants the new clothes. "Kal, we have to hurry up or the captain-" He stops, seeing her eyeing the garments. "We get paid this weekend. You can pick them up then if you want," he tells her, trying to be encouraging. "There's a really pretty hair pin I saw a few stalls back if you really want something. Little cheaper so you don't have to worry about your money lasting."

"It's fine. I don't really need it," she assures, cracking a small smile before rubbing her neck and looking at the irritated vendor. "I'm sorry for wasting your time. Have a wonderful day."

They walk away from the stall, Finral going through the list and mumbling under his breath what they still need. Kallsi stretches her arms above her head, leaning either to either side as she yawns before folding them behind her and closing her eyes.

"How much more stuff do we need?" she asks, sidestepping a child running past her. "I know Yami gave us a long list, but most of it we got at other stalls already."

"Yeah, we just need a few more things. Some stuff for Charmy apparently. Her vegetable garden is having a pest problem so she wants to make a weird pesticide for them."

"That makes sense," she sighs. "Hey, do you guys always get last for missions, or does it go based on merit?"

"We get missions just as much as everyone else," Finral assures, glancing at her. "Ours just tend to be lower ranked so we can't cause as much damage. Gauche destroyed a village a year or so back and uh, since then, we kinda have been on the low priority mission list. We'll get one from the Wizard King eventually."

"I hope so. You guys don't get bored sitting around doing nothing all day?"

"I guess it is different from living at the church with kids, huh?" he says with a small laugh. "It does get kinda boring, but you get used to it after a while. Luck and Magna are the ones that keep things interesting a lot of the time."

"Alright," she relents, sighing. "Maybe I'll train more with them when I get back."

"Sounds like a plan," he agrees, grinning. "I'm planning a mixer this weekend too, if you-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll dislocate your shoulder again."