Marisa quickly leaped up, moving herself off of Keine and putting her hat back on, Keine pulling her dress back up, both blushing, and laughing nervously. Wriggle's mouth was wide open, Rumia's head was tilted, confused, Tewi was smirking contently, and Mystia's eyes were covered by a pale and blushing Rinnosuke.
"Ohohoho, I believe we've caught the witch and sensei at a bad time. I declare our quest to get these two together a success…" Tewi commented dryly. "Next time, you'd best not attempt it in the open…"
"Shut up, you, da ze. Anyway….why're you all here?" Marisa asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, right….well, I believe we've found Nausicca's den." Tewi said. "We were lookin' for you two all day...jeez, if we'd known what was going on, we wouldn't've bothered until tomorrow, but…"
"Oi, stop it, Inaba…" Marisa sighed.
"Well, I'm frankly just glad we didn't walk in on you any later…"
"I'll make rabbit stew if I hear one more word, da ze!"
"Usa."
"RABBIT STEW IS TONIGHT'S MIDNIGHT SNACK, COME HERE, YOU—"
Keine quickly held onto Marisa's dress to keep her from attacking the rabbit.
"You've found Nausicca's den? W-Where is it….and why were you going there, you could have gotten killed!" Keine frowned, looking down at Mystia, Rumia, and Wriggle, who hung their heads.
"S-Sorry, sensei…" Wriggle said.
"…Wanted to find Cirno…" Tewi sighed. "I 'spose I did, in a way…"
"Sensei, are you going to fight Nausicca?" Rumia asked, just as Keine attempted to float up, but it was only a jump.
"S-She transformed into Marisa, so….I suppose it's up to Marisa now." Keine sighed.
"Oi, I have to be the hero again, da ze?" Marisa smirked.
"Yes, you do, dear…" Keine smiled weakly.
"Then I'd best get a good reward from my princess." Marisa crossed her arms, but pulled Keine closer and hugged her tightly. Keine blushed, but muttered just loud enough for only Marisa to hear "Yeah, yeah, you will…" Marisa grinned wider, standing with a determined look on her face. "Alright, lead me to the den. I'll exterminate this pest and get your nine-ball back for ya."
Wriggle, Rumia, and Mystia nodded, running off, Mystia dragging Rinnosuke behind as Marisa chuckled, Tewi staying behind and muttering "She's not a nine-ball…" before dashing after. Marisa extended a hand to Keine, following after, the witch and the teacher holding hands.
"I meant it about the reward, too. It'd best be good, da ze." Marisa dryly commented during the walk over.
"…Mmn, picking up before we were interrupted be good enough?" Keine smiled.
"Ooh, that's good enough a reward, plus rescuing you again is good, too." Marisa sighed contently. Keine shook her head.
"It'd best be good enough, I'll kill you if it's not…"
"Touchy, touchy, ze."
"W-Well….don't toy with me, Kirisame…"
"But touchy Keine-chan is cute Keine-chan…"
"I don't see how…"
"Then again, all the time Keine-chan is cute Keine-chan." Marisa kissed Keine on the cheek lightly, Keine rolled her eyes, but smiled.
Mystia looked back, then clinged tighter to Rinnosuke, which got quite a good laugh out of Marisa.
"Love is blooming in all the wrong places, da ze…" She smirked, Rinnosuke twitching and walking faster, which caused her to laugh even harder. "Oh, god….too much, da ze, too much."
"You shouldn't tease, it's a innocent crush…" Keine sighed.
"Nah, nah, it's cute." Marisa shrugged, then started on a random topic. "Oi, remember that one night when I wandered into the village, drunk, and ended up collapsing in your arms?"
"Yes. You caused havoc and mayhem with everyone and called Akyu 'Suika's bitch', which made her cry. Had to reassure her for an hour or so…"
"Hahahaha….whoo, boy, da ze….that was too fun. Plus the fact that you let me snuggle you for most of the night and then took me home….ah, I was content…." Marisa sighed. "I remember one thing the most about that."
"Which was?"
"The stars seemed more beautiful than usual that night."
Keine smiled, seeing something far off in the distance. "…Bit more, then you'll have to swoop in and save the day." She commented.
"Right, then. Too bad I lost Mimi-chan….she'd be so excited to see this fight, vengeful little thing that she was, da ze. Have a feeling Nitori took her….hmph, I should get her back." Marisa pouted.
"That might be a bit hostile."
"Well, she took my pet missile!"
"….A pet missile."
"She didn't have anything dangerous in her."
"I shouldn't be surprised but I am."
"Tch…." Marisa smirked, but then looked up at the stars, regaining her peaceful smile, not worrying about what was to happen soon. "…Hey, you know when I fell for you?"
"Mmm? When?"
"It was….still when I was dating Alice, actually. Our third meeting, ze."
"….Way back then?"
"Yes. It was cute, how you decided that you had a bit of 'regret for your actions' and how you apologized…and you know what I decided?"
"Mmm?"
"Well, the only person who could attack someone not once, but twice, and then walk over, offer to make tea, and still knew when to call me out when I stepped over the line….wow. 'Course, hid it to you and myself with trying to stay away and mostly being an insulting jackass until the beginning of this incident, but…" Marisa smiled. "Didn't work."
"All the better for me, then…" Keine smiled. "….If you enter that cave and never come back, in the afterlife, you're getting a lot of pain…"
"I'll be back, da ze, don't worry, Keine-chan, I've got a plan…" Marisa grinned, winking, but slowly taking on a serious face. "I want you to stay outside the cave, and if I call for you, dive in. It's probably only got our transformations that're powerful enough and practiced with, so it'll not be too much of a chore if we work together. Got it?"
Keine nodded.
The cave seemed to loom over, the darkness inside….unknowing.
And Keine could only hope that Marisa's plan worked.