AN: I am on a roll with my writing, as of late! I'm sorry I haven't been giving much love to this couple, but I've been out of muse juice for these two. But! I am am back and happily so. Thank you for everyone who's reviewed what I've written so far. It makes my day to know that so many people have enjoyed the stories. :)

Summary: For better or worse, Kazuma is her knight in shining armor but only when he feels like it.

Warnings: Nothing really except I've introduced an OC, just for plot purposes. :)

Fairytale Ending

Unknown Fact: Catherine McDonald had an older brother.

It was a well-hidden truth that was revealed one day in the midst of another one of Catherine and Ayano's battles, the blonde-haired female failing yet again in her quest to win over Enraiha and the title as the greatest Enjutsushi users for her clan. With Metatron in ashes at her feet and her other spirits comparably weaker, she ran about dodging the distinctively offensive attacks of her opponent, the only ones the other girl was truly capable of. Perhaps one day both of them would overcome that greatest weakness and learn to incorporate some much-needed strategy into their plan of attack.

But this was a battle of pride and love (even if Ayano denied it with everything she had). Things as trivial as foresight and cleverness were thrown to the wayside, making way for frontal blows and brute force. Off to the side, an amused Kazuma and exasperated Ren watched, used to the ensuing arguments and yet completely amazed by them as well. One would think that the months of tenuous truce would lead to some sort of acceptance of the other girl, a mutual understanding of sorts between them. Obviously that wasn't what happened.

Dusting herself off and narrowly dodging a blast of fire, Catherine panted, ready to launch a counter. But she was just a second too slow, as Ayano charged forward with Enraiha, ready to deliver the final strike. Crouching and putting her hands up defensively, the other girl could only wait for it to come when she sees the glint of the blade ready to strike her.

But surprisingly enough, it didn't.

"I see your time here has been for naught, Cathy." Picking her head up, big blue eyes met eerily similar ones, as a frown marred a face familiar to her own. She let out a yelp, as she scrambled to her feet and fixed her dress and hair, feeling shabby in front of the newcomer. It was only her dignity that held her expression in check as she noticed a stunned Ayano eyeing her weapon, stopped in mid-air by the stranger's hand. Covered by the licking of flames, the older man had prevented her rather embarrassing defeat with nothing but a flick of his wrist. It was enough to leave her livid.

"Mama and Papa said never to step into another person's fight without permission, David!" she cried out, hands balled at her sides and death in her glare. It did nothing to him, as he dropped his arm and walked before her, causing the feisty woman to shrink.

"They also tell us to know our limits. Obviously yours are much greater than either one of us had estimated." It was a chilling response, as his dirty blond hair shone in the yellow of the Japanese sun. If she had a tail, Catherine had no doubt it would be between her legs in shame. Her brother was right, always had been, not to mention he was immensely more powerful than her. And now that he had arrived, she'd be cast back into his shadow on top of her loss to the Kannagi girl.

Covering up her embarrassment, Catherine doled out her words with a nonchalant flick of her wrist. "Why are you even here, Brother? I was the one sent to defeat the next leader of the Kannagi clan."

"I'm here to relieve you of that duty. From this little exhibition, I suppose I can see why." His eyes went to Ayano, who stiffened at his sudden notice of her and raised the tip of her sword, preparing to charge in case he made the next move. But he waved his hand about, dismissing the idea of a duel completely. Not only was it a surprise to Ayano but to his sister as well, whose eyes widened at the unusual action. Her brother was always one to do battle, regardless if it was for pride or family, and despite his rather cool demeanor, his fires burned hotter and moved quicker than any other user she knew. Even her parents feared him on occasion, his genius well known in the western hemisphere.

Setting his sights on his prey, David crossed the distance to meet the pink-colored girl, who still had Enraiha raised in attack, as he stood before her with a calculated gleam in his eye. But slowly the look morphed into something infinitely more charming, perhaps even warm, that even Ayano had to admit that the older man was handsome. He extended his hand for her, a silent move to trust him. But it was his words that stunned him more than his pretty face or penchant for peace.

"Kannagi Ayano, please allow me the pleasure of your company this Saturday night."

"What?!" Two familiar female voices yelled, Catherine glaring between her brother and the soon-to-be soushu with distrust and growing rage. Said girl was pointing at herself, confusion written all over her feminine features, slowly turning the color of her locks. In the background, a lazy Kazuma was being prodded and poked at by his little brother, tugging at his jacket and demanding he defend Ayano's honor.

"If she can't even handle this much, then she's gonna be a useless leader," he replied evenly, watching with eyes at half-mast and a vaguely uninterested visage. A frown marred Ren's face, as he watched the blonde foreigner bow over the high school girl's hand, requesting in slightly accented Japanese that she clear her schedule for him.

Stuttering out a response that was neither yes nor no, David seemed to take it as all the encouragement he needed, stating that he'd pick her up at eight o'clock sharp. By the time Ayano had gathered her senses, the man was already leaving, dragging a protesting Catherine in his wake. And somehow, her dumbfounded expression said so much more than her exclamation of "what the hell just happened?!"

Contrary to every belief she had prior to the date, Ayano could honestly say she was having a good time. David was everything his sister was not: naturally charming, easy to speak to and genuinely genial. And that was saying something, considering how on-guard she was for the entirety of it, watching his every gesture as if he might take a chance with her back turned and fire at her in public. In the car, at dinner, during their walk through the park, the pink-haired girl did everything within her power to get him to reveal his true intentions. Whether it was prodding at him with veiled questions or outright asking, she was slowly discovering and accepting that he wasn't out to get her, at least not tonight.

"I'm here to scope out the competition, is all," he replied with a shrug, as he paid for the snack that Ayano had been eyeing since the cart first rolled into view. As she took hers with a small blush of thanks, it grew darker as he gave her a wink, one of an effortless flirt. She knew because she was well acquainted with another one. "It helps that my competition is quite cute herself."

"'Cute'?" She couldn't quite help the scoff, though her pride was fluffed by his compliment. "I've been called a lot of things, but cute? That's usually said sarcastically when it's directed at me."

In the dim light of the moon, his eyes shone like dark sapphires, an almost teasing element about them. "Then perhaps you're not talking with the right people. You are very cute, Ayano."

"Yeah, sure." But even as she waved off the well meaning words, the heiress felt her heart skip a beat, the attention unfamiliar and somehow much sweeter than she thought they'd be. While she might be hot-tempered and more than a little impulsive, she couldn't deny that his kindness was appreciated, even if it was just a means to get through her defenses. After getting to know him over the last few hours, she had a distinct feeling that David McDonald didn't say things if he didn't mean them, even if they were directed at the enemy.

The night was still young when he dropped her off but her father had strictly set up a curfew, one she was sort of upset about now that her rather pleasant evening was coming to an end. Walking her to the large gates of her family's compound, the gold-haired man took her hand and bowed over it once more, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles and earning a sputtering protest from his companion.

"Thank you for agreeing to go out with me tonight, Ayano. I'm sure you were quite conflicted about all of it, but I had a wonderful time." There was some brutal honesty there, in his voice and words and gaze, as he kept her fingers within his hold and smiled softly at the other fire user. And even though the well-trained part of her was yelling for her to know better, she couldn't say she regretted going out with him either.

"Me too," she replied in kind, squeezing his hand one last time before pulling away shyly. She'd never been given much attention from boys and certainly not from handsome strangers who were also acquainted with her secret, magic-riddled life. It was all getting to be a little too much for the tomboy, as she looked up at David with a small, courteous smile. In the back of her mind, reality was telling her it was time to wake up from this little dream before something came along to ruin the otherwise ideal night.

As she stepped away from his form, a hand caught her shoulder, causing her spine to stiffen at his touch. Moving to ask him what was wrong, she was taken aback by David's other hand on her cheek, cupping the side of her face as his eyes softened at her. When he leaned down to close the distance between them, it took a moment for Ayano to process that he was going to kiss her, steal her lips as if he had the right to. Inside her, her blood boiled at his presumptuousness, as she snarled at him and summoned Enraiha into her hand.

She found that it was unnecessary.

Without so much as a warning, David was sent sprawling back, landing gracefully while being thrown but fell to his knees at the sheer force of the attack. The control demonstrated belonged to that of a master, as she hadn't even sensed the slightest change in her balance, only the fluttering of her hair as a tornado rushed at her escort. Only one man in the world was capable of such precision.

Turning back to the small bridge, she saw him there, hands stuffed into his pockets as he came up the walkway. Her lips unfurled a murmur of his name, but she bit the inside of her cheek when she caught herself saying it. No need to inflate that ego of his any more than necessary.

"I see my job as your bodyguard is never done, is it, Ayano?" the older man teased, coming to stand beside her with the playful smirk he never went without. As her cheeks heated, she couldn't be sure whether it was from relief, anger or embarrassment. In the end, it didn't really matter, did it?

"Oi, Kazuma, you could've seriously hurt David or me! Don't go around blasting people with wind just because you can," she reprimanded, flipping her long hair over her shoulder in annoyance. The sarcastic lift of his eyebrow didn't escape her, as her eyes narrowed at the taunting gleam in his eye.

"A lecture from the queen of recklessness herself? I never thought I'd see the day," he chuckled, lifting his hand to ruffle her bangs in an unabashedly amused fashion. "Next you're gonna be telling me how to get a girl to go out with me."

"Well for one thing, you certainly don't mess up her hair," Ayano chided, following Kazuma as he started towards the entrance. She fell in step beside him, frowning up at the gleeful look on his face, as he half-listened without any intention of taking her seriously. "And second, you don't need help with that one. If anything, we should be hiding the women away from you, you womanizer."

When he laughed afterwards, Ayano couldn't completely appreciate what was so funny, or the fact that she'd stroked his masculine ego on accident. Clasping her chin in his fingers, he smiled down at her roguishly, his face lighting up while getting her heart into overdrive. And although his words weren't wholly sincere, the way he spoke them were more than enough to have her nearly tripping over her feet.

"Why would I need any of those women when I've got you?"

Too busy trying to blast him into oblivion, Ayano didn't notice how she'd completely forgotten about her date, the gates firmly locking him out and keeping Kazuma and her safely within. But the Wind Contractor was very aware of the turn of events, as he led his charge on a merry chase down towards the main house, more than happy to distract her thoughts from the Enjutsushi who thought he could take a liberty or two from his partner. After all, it was nothing if not his duty as a knight in shining armor to protect the princess from the dragon, right? But so long as Ayano was the princess, he didn't think playing the villain would be such a bad idea either.

AN: Well, how was it? I've actually got another chapter lined up, but I'll have to wait and post it because I'm splitting the next few parts into interconnected one-shots. I even have a summary for it. :)

Next Chapter: Reunion. Sequel to Bedtime. After years apart, Ayano has grown up and matured, slowly extracting Kazuma from her life. But the only thing she's done is prolong the inevitable heartbreak.

Please review if you enjoyed. Makes my day a little brighter. :)

Thanks for reading, everyone~ Until next time!