A/N: What can I say? I'm a sucker for classic fanfic tropes. *shrug* What will Yami and Charlotte do? ;)
"There's only one bed," Yami and Charlotte shared the same thought. Yami had expected this, so he remained mostly unfazed. He set Charlotte's bag down on the dresser situated against the wall opposite the bed, and headed to the balcony with the excuse of checking out their escape options.
Charlotte was left to her own devices and internally debated whether or not she should bail from the mission.
The captain of the Black Bulls sensed the chaos in Charlotte's ki. She was a woman, after all. Sometimes, he forgot this basic fact because she had always regarded him as an equal. He liked that about Charlotte. Although she was born to a family adjacent to royalty, she never treated him any differently, unlike the other Magic Knight captains.
"Don't worry, Prickly Queen, I'll take the couch."
She sighed in relief, although her anxiety has not been fully extinguished. After all, she still had to share a room with Yami. Charlotte's mind raced with many thoughts.
Still, Charlotte forced herself to move forward. "Pushing my mental limits is also a valid form of training," she thought.
It was only mid-afternoon, so the pair figured they should get started on their assignment and worry about their sleeping arrangements later.
Yami and Charlotte made their way to the small town, and observed the people present as they strolled along the boardwalk. Nothing appeared out of order: there were plenty of stalls selling food along the streets, many children ran amuck the small groups of people sunbathing on the warm sand of the coast; the palm trees swayed ever so slightly along to the faint whisper of wind that blew.
It was truly a perfect day.
Yami quickly realized by the surrounding people's ki that a few have started to look at them, or more specifically, Charlotte.
Her blonde hair reflected the sun just enough that it seemed like she had a halo illuminating her face. Her eyes reflected the cerulean vastness of the ocean, and the faintest trace of a smile played on her rosy lips.
Even though she was dressed plainly, it was undeniable that Charlotte was beautiful. Yami felt an odd mixture of pride and envy. Before his brain knew what was happening, he had removed the straw hat he'd been wearing from his head and plopped it on hers to conceal her face.
He couldn't stop them from looking at her, but at least, he could limit how much they could see. He felt a strange sense of victory, though from what, he was unsure.
Charlotte felt his rough hand place a hat over her head. She looked up through the frayed brim of the straw hat, to see an unimpressed Yami scowling at the distance.
"I heard the sun is bad for your skin," he said, then cleared his throat. "You should probably cover up."
Charlotte was about to protest, when she felt heat rise from her cheeks. Was she imagining things, or was Yami... jealous?
"No, it couldn't be," she shrugged off the thought.
Still, she gloated at the possibility of Yami getting jealous of people eyeing her, although mostly grateful that he had found a way to lessen the unwanted amount of attention they'd been getting.
They had spent a good few hours surveying the area for any signs of Spade Kingdom soldiers to no avail, when Yami's stomach began to grumble.
"Guess I should eat something," he said. Yami had been eyeing the restaurant selling spicy crab along the pier.
"Did you want to eat there?" she offered.
He briefly considered it, but he denied it immediately after, chalking it up to a lack of funds due to budget cuts by the Wizard King in an effort to quickly rebuild the kingdom.
She laughed. This caught Yami extremely off-guard and quickly assumed something was wrong with her. She scowled at the thought, then returned to a neutral, albeit softer, expression.
"I can pay," she said, "For the hat, I mean."
Yami wouldn't refuse such an offer. Charlotte was exponentially richer than him after all, since she was born to nobility. Yami's masculinity was too secure to be bothered by such a trivial thing.
"Your orders," and with a flourish, the waiter had set their dishes so elegantly upon the wooden table they shared. Charlotte thanked the moustachioed man, then reached her hand towards the salt shaker. Yami's rough, calloused hand reached for the same, and his fingers brushed against Charlotte's supple fingers.
An electric shock ran through Charlotte's entire body after feeling Yami's hand on hers. She wanted to run and hide from her feelings for Yami intensifying from that simple touch, but she fought the urge and won.
Yami winced as he assumed that their cover would soon be blown and prepared himself to run after the Prickly Queen. He thought Charlotte would be running away, screaming her head off and acting like his hand was covered in filth like the last time, but was taken aback by Charlotte's mere "Oops."
They surprisingly had a nice meal together, which they spent quietly. Yami devoured his share of the meal, and Charlotte marvelled at the speed at which he finished his plate of food.
The sun had already set when they stepped out of the restaurant. The sky had transitioned from its fuchsia and golden hues into a dark velvet sky stitched with diamonds of stars. The moon lorded itself over the sky, enhancing the glow of Yami's mysterious, grey eyes.
Charlotte found herself staring just a bit too intently then immediately looked away just before Yami had noticed.
The day had been full of these glances that teetered between curiosity and something else.
They silently made their way back to the inn, anxiety padding each step that Charlotte took, again realizing that they must share a room.
She pushed these thoughts aside as best as she could. There was nothing she could do, nothing that wouldn't jeopardize the mission at hand, anyway.
Charlotte swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, and forged ahead.
Upon turning the handle of their room's door knob, she felt the exhaustion from today, as well as her sleepless night yesterday, come together and drop a weight on her shoulders. She yawned, forgetting for a moment that Yami was even there.
"She's kinda cute," Yami admitted, "Especially when she's not nagging me."
Charlotte did her best to fight against the overwhelming tiredness that suddenly hit her as she entered the room, but she was very much losing this battle.
However, Yami sensed an ominous ki in in the distance.
He turned towards the forest that lay a few kilometres away beyond the inn. He peered in the darkness, unable to see with his eyes what this presence was.
Charlotte immediately sensed danger as well. She had sensed powerful mana in the same direction that Yami was looking at, when they both saw a hooded figure flicker between the shadows of the trees.
In an instance, both this figure's ki and mana had dissipated into the night air.
Yami broke the silence, "I guess we're not getting any sleep tonight."
