"Where is that damn HikiNEET and this Yamyam girl?"

"Her name is Yunyun. She might be a bother, but at least get her name right." Megumin replied and sat down on the pavement with a sour expression.

The constant grumblings about Kazuma and her misremembering of Yunyun's name had been amusing to Megumin and Darkness at some point, but as everything the goddess did, Aqua rode this shtick until the last bit of entertainment had been quenched.

It wasn't that the two couldn't understand the feelings of the archpriest. The presence of Yunyun annoyed them to no end. Kazuma spent most of his time in the last few days with the new girl, teaching her weird stuff that they couldn't comprehend and didn't care to find out. On the rare occasion when he wasn't around Yunyun, Kazuma only spoke about her in an almost obsessive manner.

All of his attention was dedicated to her and they considered themselves too proud to ask for their turn.

This meant no more quests, bar hopping and explosion worsened the mood even further to the point each of them perfected the art of staring daggers at the intruder. A skill they reached full mastery in when Kazuma invited the crimson demon to join their party on the trip to continue her training on the road.

So the three girls of the party waited at the stables for the caravan to Alcanretia on the dawn of day five since their lives reached complete Yunyun saturation, with no sign of Kazuma or his little pet project.

"You don't think they changed their mind about the trip?" Darkness asked with worry, which suddenly turned into a blush. "But getting stood up like a worthless peon would be typical for a person as vile and trashy as Kazuma!"

Aqua and Megumin watched the excited breathing of their crusader with caution and inched away to not be associated with her by passersby. Megumin turned enough to see the target of their ire approaching in combination with something that made her blood boil.

The reason for the outbreak was a simple change of clothes.

For some reason, Yunyun was wearing Kazuma's green tracksuit.

"WHY ARE YOU WEARING HIS CLOTHES, YOU HARLOT!?"

The small archwizard pounced her fellow crimson demon with the rage of an actual demon, up to the point she resorted to her nails and teeth to cause damage on Yunyun's cranium.

"I'm sorry! Kazu said it was part of my training!"

"Do you gullible idiot really think this nonsense will amount to anything?" Her rant stopped short. "Kazu? Since when do you have pet names, you homewrecker?"

A strong hand plucked Megumin from Yuyun like an overripe fruit. "Since I thought it would make teaching Yunyun less difficult by putting her more at ease."

While Kazuma had acclimated to his new power pretty well, the rest of his party were still often alienated how he could pull off casual feats of strength. You could think Megumin didn't weigh more than a kitten through how effortlessly he held the flailing girl by the scruff of her neck.

"Let me go!" Megumin kept kicking and screaming with no visual effect on Kazuma. She was carried to their carriage and placed her on his lap as he sat down. His grip around her midriff was firm yet gentle, accommodating as much as possible to make the seating comfortable for Megumin. Her struggling eventually stopped when it proved to be useless and she sank into him in similar fashion to a comfy couch.

"Good girl." He took off her hat and pet her head.

The indignity of being treated this way was offset from the level of snugness she felt. After dozens of piggyback rides back from their explosion walks, Kazuma knew how to handle the girl to make it an enjoyable experience. He knew exactly where to grab and what to avoid in any situation. Through trial and error, Kazuma Satou had become the leading Megumin expert.

"Oi Megumin! We are supposed to be angry with him!" Aqua entered the carriage and tried to pull the girl of Kazuma, only to get repelled with vehemence. "Darkness, Megumin hissed at me!"

Yunyun chose the seat next to Kazuma as if it was the most natural thing in the world. If watched closely, you could even see their shoulders and arms touching, a monstrous feat for the shy and introverted girl.

Some of their training already bore fruit.

The caravan started minutes later with Kazuma, Megumin and Yunyun on one side of the carriage, and Aqua taking the seats on the other side with sudden proximity of her rival instantly shifted the mood of Megumin back to hostile. Eyes as cold as ice stared at Yunyun with disdain and made her back away in fright. This had the effect of Kazuma taking away his hand from Megumin's head and pulling Yunyun close to join them.

With a girl on his lap and one arm around the other, the young teenager felt like the king of the world. "Be nice, we are all friends here."

The other arm preventing Megumin from escaping changed position to continue the earlier head pat. His attention towards her mollified the archwizard into tolerating the existence of Yunyun and she once again leaned into Kazuma.

"Fine, I allow it for now." Megumin said with a yawn. It took only a few minutes for her to get drowsy and finally fall asleep under the slight rocking of the carriage.

"She can be really cute." Yunyun watched the serene sleeping face of her rival with a smile until she realized how similar her situation was with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. "Uhm Kazuma, you are really close."

"Does it bother you?" Kazuma was getting tired as well, the lack of sleep from teaching and planning Yunyun's curriculum blindsiding him out of nowhere.

"No, it's fine!"

He shifted his hold to her waist, closing the last inch of space between them and put her head on his shoulder. "It's a long ride, so might as well take a nap."

"S… Sure!"

The two followed Megumin into dreamland soon after, which left Aqua and Darkness out of the loop. The former sat in a fetal position on her seat with a haunted expression.

"This isn't right… My NEET isn't popular…It's not how it is supposed to be…"

Darkness acted much more composed with a determined expression. "I understand your frustration. I'm feeling quite anxious about this development myself, but all we can do is stay vigilant and wait for an opportunity."

"An opportunity for what?"

"…"

The expression of the goddess turned grim, lips pressed into a thin line.

"You too?"


KONOSUBA!


The caravan traveled without issue and made camp for the night in an open field. Kazuma and his party sat around a small cauldron over a fire and waited for their evening meal to be done. The enticing aroma of potato stew once again affirmed his decision for maxing out the cooking skill.

A nice prepared meal trumped dry rations every time.

During their wait, he went through his inventory and equipped a newly acquired item. A black crystal ball with the size of a human head appeared in his hands and he mustered the curious bauble with reverence.

"What is that?" Megumin asked with Aqua and Darkness paying close attention.

From the mildly interested expression of Yunyun, the party deduced she already knew what purpose this item served and it was an infuriating fact for each of them.

"A gift from a good friend." Kazuma answered and meant it more than anything in his life.

It turned out, Devil-chan didn't leave without leaving something for him behind. A small token of appreciation on his nightdesk with a short scribbled note.

"Keep in touch kid"

The large crystal in his hand represented the hell equivalent of a TV. It tapped into your head and replayed your memories and thoughts in a viewable fashion. One point of their contract had been his approval to gain access into Kazuma's vast knowledge of pop culture to expand her movie collection and branch out into anime. He had seen thousands of hours of entertainment, which could be watched with this magic item by a mere thought.

Invaluable in more ways than one.

"Oh, are you watching the story about angsty teenagers fighting in big robots again?"

"You need to be way more specific than that, Yunyun." Kazuma took a small handkerchief and polished the smooth surface of his treasure. "And no, I just felt like checking if it's still in top condition. We used it almost frequently in the past days."

"Oh, I see…"

"You want to watch another mushy romcom anime, don't you?"

Yunyun blushed and twiddled with her fingers. "Only if it isn't too much trouble. I know you have to hold the crystal to change episodes."

The mood inescapably turned sour again among three girls after getting reminded how familiar the air between Kazuma and Yunyun had become. They had the distinctive interaction of kindred spirits, hitting it off far better than you would expect from an antisocial shut-in and a notorious loner.

Enough to make Megumin snap again. "Why are you so nice to her?!"

"Because she deserves it and don't you act as if I ever did something horrible to you."

"You stole my panties!"

"Ok, one minor offense caused by my unfamiliarity with the Steal skill after you asked to demonstrate it. What else?" Kazuma said challengingly and Megumin had nothing to reply. Kazuma acted perverted and scummy sometimes, but never really to any of them. "What about you Darkness? Anything to add?"

Darkness kept silent. If anything else, she wished he would focus his perverted tendencies more towards her. The crusader knew for a fact that a savage beast was slumbering deep inside their party leader, ready to be awakened and indulge in every degeneracy imaginable.

Kazuma recognized her train of thought as clear as day on her drooling face and sighed in defeat."Let's be perfectly clear, I'm staying with you because I want to, not because I have to at this point. Despite all the stupid shit you pull on a daily basis, I still consider you my friends. So why wouldn't I help Yunyun when she asked for it?"

"Kazuma…"

"I need to stretch my legs. Save some of the food for me… or don't…"

Their party leader put the crystal ball back in his inventory and walked away. The remaining girls watched his retreating form until they lost line of sight when he turned left after a horse carriage. Darkness begann ladling their meal into bowls and passed them around.

She stopped short at the fourth bowl.

"Where's Aqua?"


KONOSUBA!


Kazuma stood on a small plateau and overlooked the large field below with a pensive stare.

Things were supposed to get less complicated with more power. Kazuma Satou had always wanted to be in a position where he wasn't dependent on others. With the powers given by his demonic angel, he could do whatever came to his mind and almost nobody would be able to stop him.

And so far, he came up blank for what to do with them.

He had money, security and freedom, but no real ambition beyond living a carefree life. The daily grind of a fledgling adventurer had kept his mind away from useless thoughts like purpose and seeking fulfillment. And when confronted with it, Kazuma noticed the internal friction rise in their party.

So Yunyun came at a perfect time for a distraction.

Occupied with her problems, he didn't have to confront his own.

"Oi, HikiNEET!"

Against his better judgement, Kazuma was glad to see Aqua. The goddess had the uncanny ability to entangle him in her whirlpool of stupidity and keep him on his toes. It was a safe bet to assume whatever she wanted would be at least insignificant to the situation at hand.

"Which one of us do you like best?"

Don't let it be said life couldn't hit you out of left field. Her question had numerous implications, every single one more devastating than the next. But most of all stumped him that the truth enchantment couldn't force an answer, because he couldn't give one.

Not even narrowing it down by process of elimination.

"Still undecided? That won't do!" She was right in his face, poking his nose with her finger. "I'm a goddess and won't tolerate playing second fiddle to anyone! You're my useless HikiNEET!"

The mixed signals from this goddess were unreal. Either she was messing with him, or this was the weirdest confession he had ever heard. Her answer came promptly with a wet sensation on Kazuma's lips and the inside of his mouth.

Interestingly enough, the kiss of a goddess wasn't more harmful to a devil than a spicy tingling on the tongue and tasted like brandied strawberries.

"Tomorrow we reach Alcanretia, my town and seat of power, where we will settle this matter once and for all!"