Alrighty, time for the Tact and Forte route which begins halfway through chapter 4 and Arnold plans to know more about Mint in this route.

Fast Food For Thought (Forte Route)

The supply situation had been resolved thanks to me and the angel wing. Speaking of the angel wing, the frames were piloted by five beautiful girls, but there was one that caught my eye a few times since I first met them...Mint Blancmanche. She was the shortest in terms of height, but her personality more than made up for it. She had bunny ears and was telepathic, meaning she could read people's mind but only what's on the front of people's minds. She was also quite elegant yet had potential to be quite childish and she likes to tease a lot of people.

When I first met her, I made the amateur mistake of thinking in front of her, she answered the question I had in mind without me realizing it and ever since then, I've tried my best to not think about what's on the front of my thinking when talking to her. But sometimes, love works in mysterious way and despite her telepathy and height difference, I was somewhat attracted to her. Whenever she smiled, I smiled back and when she looked at me with her golden eyes, I do think if I could become more than just a friend.

Now that I was one with the Angel Wing and morale was being rebuilt, I decided to make this a chance for me to get to know Mint more.

Whilst the resupplying was going on, I checked around the ship and hoped to find Mint. I checked into the lounge but there was a karaoke show going on and Milfie and Ranpha were on stage, singing, although their voices weren't exactly in tune, I had to stifle out a small laughter on the inside. I then checked in the elevator room to find a small shopping scene occurring.

"This is your one-time only special offer on all of our products on today." The supply merchant spoke. "You over there, are you interested?"

He looked at me as I walked in. "Maybe I am and maybe I'm not."

"Well, would you be interested in this trinket, hand-crafted by a former explorer from Planet Rhome?" He offered me a trinket that had a few diamonds around the sides.

"Actually, this is pretty well made...I have a sudden urge to get this." This could be what I need to impress Mint, so I made the purchase and then a fanfare went off.

"Congratulations!" The merchant. "That is the 50th purchase made today, you've won a huge cuddly stuffed panda!" One of the merchants handed it over to me.

"Well...I guess I'm lucky today...although what could I do with this?" I asked myself.

Suddenly, I saw Mint in the corner of my eye who had peeked through the door, she sighed and walked away. I felt sorry for her, I guess she wanted this badly...I know, I'll give this to her when I see her.

I left the elevator room and walked over to the lounge and Mint was there, she was drinking tea but she wasn't smiling. I walked over to her and I placed the stuff panda beside her with a smile. She noticed me and gasped.

"Hi Arnold." Mint said. "Are you giving this to me?"

"Yeah, I think it would be better off if it was yours instead of mine." I replied.

She suddenly smiled. "Awww, thank you so much." She gave me a quick hug. "Oooh, is that something else you bought from the merchant sale?"

"Yeah...I bought this trinket because it looked well made and I thought of you."

Mint looked surprised. "You thought of me?"

"Yeah...but where shall we put the stuffed panda?"

"I know, bring it with you to my room."

"Your room, are you sure you want me in there?"

She giggled. "Now now, Arnold. You were brave to give me these gifts, don't be shy."

I smiled. "Fair point."

I walked with her with the gifts to her room, we were about to go inside.

"Just before we go to my room, what do you imagine my room to be like?" She asked.

I immediately thought of it like a house made of candy, with rock candy, marble cake and lemonade that comes out of a tap.

"Ah, so much imagination on your mind." Mint said. "While a room made of candy would be wonderful, I couldn't live there."

"Well, it was a very good guess on my part." I replied, before realizing what she just did. "Oh...tch, don't just casually use your telepathy."

"Hehe, it has it's practical uses, please come on in."

I walked inside and this was the first time I saw her room, it was elegant yet had room to be feminine and inviting. There were costumes on one side of the room.

"So this is your room? It feels pretty elegant and welcoming." I commented.

"Thank you, please have a seat." Mint replied as she stored the stuff panda by the costumes and placed the trinket on the glass table. "I'll put the kettle on for tea, we can share some candy while we wait."

I sat down as Mint walked over to a mini shelf full of sweets and picked a packet and brought it over. "It's interesting, actually."

"What is?"

I looked at her. "Your room is the first one I've been in."

"Oh I see...Arnold, would you like sugared beans or space tofu with your tea?"

"Sugared beans, please."

Shortly, Mint brought my tea over and I took a sip, it wasn't too hot for me.

"You know, I don't do this often." she said, sitting down opposite to me with her tea. "It's quite a breath of fresh air."

"Same here." I replied. "Hard to think that over a week ago, I was a normal maintenance crew worker and now I'm getting to do this."

"Yeah...you should be quite lucky. I don't invite boys into my room...ever."

"So I'm the first one?"

"Correct...and I'm glad that you're here, because now I can get to sit down and talk with you."

"Well, I'm always willing to listen on what's on your mind...although I said that once before back at that fortune-telling."

Mint giggled. "Ah, you're such a charmer, Arnold. But that's who you are...anyways, I've been wanting to find the time to know more about you." Wait, was she blushing? "But before you joined the angel wing, you were nearly always busy. I once thought I wasn't ever gonna talk to you."

"Really? You've been wanting to speak to me for that long?"

"Yes...I like to say that I like being elegant and I like to keep myself clean and enjoying the peace and quiet whilst drinking tea. But that's just one side of me, I have another side that I don't share unless I have some candy in front of me."

I nodded, paying attention to her.

"When it comes to candy however, doesn't it seem a bit like I'm still a child?"

I shook my head. "Course not, I like candy too, they're cheap and there are many different kinds. So you don't need to worry about that, I'm more than happy to chat with you and share on candy and drink tea."

Mint was happy again. "I'm happy to hear you say that. Until I left my parents, I wasn't able to enjoy candy or fast-food."

"Really..." I sighed.

"What's wrong, Arnold?"

"It's nothing...when you said parents, I wondered if I ever really had parents."

"Oh...forgive me, I didn't mean to bring anything up that might hurt you."

"It's okay, Mint. I've worked hard to be strong mentally and physically, although I'm lacking in the latter, according to Ranpha."

"Well if you ask me, I think you look very good just the way you are."

"Thanks Mint, that really means a lot." I smiled. "So you've never had fast-food before?"

"Actually, I went to a fast-food restaurant once, back on a trip when I was 12." She smiled back. "It was the first time I enjoyed such an open-hearted meal and didn't have to worry about manners, I was very deeply moved."

"I see...even though I haven't seen it for myself, I believe that would be very like you."

"Yeah, very. It was the first time I knew that such exciting food existed in this world. But I'm surprised about you, you've never had fast-food before?"

"Nope...not for as long as I can remember."

"I see...ever since then, I've never had a chance to go out for fast food, even though my longing was intense."

"Couldn't you go with the Angel Wing?"

"We usually are in the base, but that was before we all joined on the Elsior. Besides, it would be a little embarrassing to admit that I'd been out once."

"Well I don't think they would care that much although I don't know the details since I only joined your group a few days ago. Couldn't you just casually say to them that you wanna go out for fast food?"

"Do you think so?"

"Yeah...but I tell you what. If we get any downtime during or after the war with Eonia and we're on a space station or planet, shall we go out for fast food sometime?"

Mint gasped, smiling. "Well Rhome is our current destination, but yes, that would be wonderful! It would make a nice change from the Elsior's cafeteria."

I smiled, feeling a little proud. "Then it's sorted. When we get to Rhome, I'll take you out for fast-food and we can go to all the restaurants you want."

"Oh!"

I looked at her. "What's up?"

Mint blushed again. "You mean...as in a date?"

Now I felt awkward about it, but I did want to take Mint out on a date. "Well...yeah, I think we would have a good time and it would give me a chance to try fast food for the first time.

"I see...well I've told you about myself, mind if I know about you a little more?"

I nodded. "Well aside from my humour and my willing to care for everyone close to me, the furthest back I can remember is my 20th birthday and that was last week."

"Yes, I remember that day. You were with a few crew workers down in the warehouse and you were dancing away after drinking a bit too much."

I blushed in embarrassment. "But that was the only birthday I remember, I don't remember any of the previous ones. Now that I think about it, I can't even remember if I had any other birthday or if I even had one."

"Didn't you say that you didn't know about your parents?"

"Yeah...the only thing I can remember was what Lady Shatyarn told me and that I was transferred from Transbaal Orphanage to the White Moon when I was old enough to start a career in the military. It was also a special request that Lady Shatyarn made which was what got me to where I am now on this ship."

"Well that would explain why you came to the Elsior...now I'm really glad to know you."

"I feel much better in knowing that...and besides, if I hadn't join the Elsior, I wouldn't have to got to meet you and all the other beautiful girls."

Mint giggled. "Oh Arnold, you flatterer."

"It's odd, but I feel better talking to you about it. I feel like I can tell you something and you would understand."

"I feel the same, Arnold." She nodded. "My mind feels much lighter after saying all of this."

"Well, thanks for the tea and candy, I'm glad to have gotten these for free...in some way."

"You're very welcome. It's my way of saying thank you for the stuffed panda and the trinket...I need to have a quick rest, I'll see you again, Arnold."

"Alright, I'll see you again, Mint...I'll remember to keep the fast food idea in my head."

"Thanks...make sure you do that."

We shared a quick hug and I left her room, walking back to mine. I think Mint and I just became close friends...score one point for Arnold Williams!

After several days of fighting with slipping out of two enemy fleets at one point, we safely travelled to the space station of Fargo in Rhome. Tact announced that after the ball, he would be relieved as commander of the Elsior, but we were invited to attend the ball and thinking back to how close I became with the girls since, I decided to kill two birds with one stone...metaphorically speaking.

I stood outside Mint's room when Tact appeared with a bouquet of flowers and he stood outside Forte's room.

"Hey Arnold." He said. "Are you here to ask one of the angels out?"

"Yeah, ten minutes ago, they met me in the lounge and offered to be my date and said that I could only choose one." I replied.

"Well in that case...good luck." He gave me a rose from his bouquet.

"Cheers, Tact." I pushed the button on Mint's door. "Mint, it's me, I have something to give you."

"Oh Arnold." Mint replied. "Please come in."

I walked into Mint's room where she was standing and I pulled out a rose.

"It's kind of you to come all this way...oh, is that rose for me?"

"Yes and I want to give you this for a reason."

"Is it to do with the offer we girls made earlier?"

"Yes it is..." I took her hand and looked into her eyes. "...Mint, I choose you to be my date for the ball."

She blushed. "Thank you very much, Arnold. It'll be a pleasure to be with you for the upcoming night."

I smiled. "Thanks, Mint...but before we do, shall we go to a fashion store now that we're at Fargo?"

"Yes, that would be marvellous. There's a fashion store that would be ideal for what I'd like to wear."

"And as promised, after we've shopped there, we can stop for fast food on the way."

Mint felt happy hearing that. "I'm glad that you remembered that, then we can go now, I'll need you with me of course."

"Then milady, allow me to escort you around Fargo for the day."

"Thank you, mister gentleman, he he he."

I took her hand and we left her room, walking out of the Elsior and into the Fargo city.

"Alright, we should get your dress first and I'll get a suit whilst you're trying dresses on. Are we close?" I asked.

"It is nearby." Mint replied. "I read all the reports beforehand, so I believe I'm fully prepared."

We found the store we were looking for and entered inside, it was indeed classy, quite fitting for Mint.

"Here we are." Mint said. "Arnold, the suits are over there. I hope you pick one that'll impress me."

"I will do my best, as long as your dress impresses me too."

"He he he, then I shall agree to that compromise. I'll try not to take too long."

She was greeted by the store clerk whilst I went over to the suits and after trying out a couple, I picked out one that was ideal for me. When I was done, I went back to Mint, she had made her choice, but she seemed a little down.

"What's wrong, Mint?"

"I had my measurements done so my dress will be ready for the ball, but I should still be growing a little bit in terms of my height." she replied, looking down. "It's a little embarrassing somehow."

"I see...don't worry about it, it's just individual variation in growth. You'll grow sooner or later."

Mint looked at me. "I wonder..."

"I think it's true. If you like, shall we go to a fast food restaurant after we leave?"

"Huh?"

"Didn't we promise to have a tour of the fast food restaurants? Getting something good to eat will feed the mind and body."

"Hehehe." Mint giggled. "That is an interesting logical conclusion."

"Well it was an on the spot idea, just like my battle tactics."

"Well I'm thankful for the encouragement and you for cheering me up." she took my hand. "Okay, let's go to a fast food restaurant."

I smiled. "Indeed, let's begin the second part of our date."

We left the store with the outfits we got and we explored to find a few fast food restaurants down a pathway.

"There's so many of these...which one shall we try first?" I asked.

"I already have a plan." Mint replied. "First we can try the Whopper, then the Tropical Fruit Pies, then the McFish, then the Thunder Cafe's Chicken Tacos and finally Kentaria's teriyaki burger combo."

I blinked. "Woah! We're going to do all that in one day?"

"Of course...it's our first date after all."

"Well...good thing I haven't had anything to eat since the early morning."

"Then you should just as hungry as I am...come on."

We found a fast food store and took a seat together, it was my first time being at one of these places. We ordered our food and began to eat away, my first fast food ever and it was well worth choosing Mint for this. I looked at Mint and she was feeling the same way as I was, it was wonderful to see her so happy and being with me.

"Mmmm." Mint said. "Fast food really does taste different. It's even more delicious than I expected."

"My first time...this is so good." I replied. "Oh, our drink is a share size as well."

"Oh yes...I just noticed that...then shall we drink it together?"

"Yeah, let's see who can finish it first with our straws."

"Oooh, challenge accepted, Arnold."

We each took a straw each and started drinking it, but the food I ate didn't help my chances. I was only able to drink nearly half of it, but Mint carried on and almost finished it before she stopped.

"Whew...looks like I drank more than you did...so technically, I win." Mint said happily.

"You sure did...but it's taking part and enjoying it that counts more." I replied.

"This has been a great day, we should look forward to the ball."

"Way ahead of you on that one, I'll be ready for that night."

"Good, hehe..."

It was the next night, we were at the ball in our chosen outfits. I saw Mint in her dress and she looked absolutely beautiful, like an enchanting princess. I was in my trendy suit and I made myself look good in it.

Tact then arrived and he and Forte went to a casino room whilst the other girls went off to be offered to dance by other people. Mint didn't need one...because I was her dance partner for the evening.

Background Music: Galaxy Angel - Last Dance

Slow music began to play and I looked at Mint, bowing at her. "May I have this dance, my princess?"

She bowed with her dress. "It would be a pleasure, my prince, he he."

I put my left hand around her upper back and held her left hand with my right hand and she had her right hand on my arm. The height difference made it a challenge to be in a dance hold, but we smiled together and danced away to the music. I was starting to believe that Mint could be the one for me, but was I really sure of my feelings and did she feel the same away with me, I hoped to find out soon...

It was the night before we would face the final battle against Eonia and his fleet, we were prepared but I wanted to get my feelings clear before then so I would be focused on the battle ahead. I walked over to Mint's room and hoped she would still be up.

"Mint." I called. "Are you awake?"

"Yes, Arnold." She replied. "Come on in."

I walked into her room and she looked happy to see me. "Welcome, shall we have some tea?"

"No it's okay, I don't mean to come here at this time of the night."

"It's alright, I was in need of a change of pace."

"How so?"

"I've been trying to write a letter to my father, but it's not going well...I've already rewritten it many times."

"I think sometimes it's easier to say what you feel face to face than on a letter."

She nodded. "Yes, I think so too...however, it's not that I can't write well, but...I just can't seem to put my feelings in order."

"I see...are you worried about tomorrow?"

"No, for some reason, I'm not worried at all. Since I'm with you like when you were there for me at the ball, I'm sure everything will be okay."

I wasn't convinced by what she said, I knew that if someone like Milfie or Vanilla were worried, they would tell me straight away. There was also something that Mint was wanting to tell me and it might be to do with her feelings for me. So considering my words carefully and because I wanted to be with Mint after this war was over, I cleared my throat and made my final choice.

"Mint...don't push yourself. When you're uneasy, it's best to frankly say that."

Mint was surprised. "Huh?"

"I can understand on what we'll be facing tomorrow. But even without telepathy, your feelings reached me."

She blushed. "Arnold...honestly, how did you work that out...no matter how I hide my heart, you can see right through me."

"Well now that you mention it, I've gotta confess...I have liked you more than the other angels for a long time. When we had our first date at Fargo, I had the best time with you and when we danced at the ball, it was the best night I ever had. Ever since then, I decided that I want to share my feelings for you."

She blushed a little more. "Um...Arnold...is it okay if I sit with you?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yes, come on over here."

I sat down on a chair and she walked over and sat on my lap.

Background music: Galaxy Angel - A Peaceful Time

"I can't help thinking about tomorrow...when we take off, what if we don't come back?"

I put my arm around her. "It'll be okay. I'll protect you."

"Yes...and I'll fight for your sake, so we can be together." she held my arm with her hands. "Arnold...this is brave of me to say, but I've liked you for a long time too...and now that I know you feel for me and that you'll take care of me, I can be happy with you."

"Mint...I'm so glad to hear that...as long as you're with me, I'll always protect you."

"And I will do the same for you, Arnold...let's sit like this for a little longer."

"For you...as long as you want."

We closed our eyes and sat close together, relieved that I got my feelings out, now Mint and I just had to rest up and face the final battle!

Up next, Tact and Forte's relationship...blossoms like a flower? Whilst Arnold and Mint go on a shopping spree for the perfect lipstick...among other things.