Swappy: Tadaima! It's been two months I guess? Sorry about this late update once more...I'm having some up and downs, but know that I won't drop this story without its ending! I might (repeat, I might), update (a little) slower than before, but it will keep going on.

That said, thank you all for reading my story, I'm truly glad to see some of you enjoy it, it helps me to write more and more, and think about better plots!

Anyway, here chapter 37! Enjoy with cookies!

(I wish I could draw manga so I would have done a doujinshi...man, I find it hard to convey correctly the exact images on my mind in words, sorry about the lack of details!)

" Put me down! Where are you going! "

Emiko slowed her pace when she heard her princess talked, and stopped when she walked out of the school building. She then let the blond-hair girl down to stand on her feet.

Megumi was searching for her eyes before speaking, but her former bodyguard kept avoiding her face with a slight blush.

" Am I ugly to look at? " the foreigner asked with a fake sad tone.

" T-that's…that's not it… " the dark-hair girl replied with nervous as she closed her eyes.

" You're beautiful. " she said quietly.

" Why do you keep avoiding my face then? " the smaller girl questioned as she held her love's hands.

Emiko sighed but she let her took her hands. She wasn't really holding them back however she let herself enjoyed the skin contact with her princess' soft hands.

She opened her eyes to glance at her briefly.

I love you

And closed them back as if she wanted to forget what she read in her green eyes.

" I won't... I have to go now, but I would like you to stay here. I need to talk to you. I'll be back in one hour. " the teacher told her as she tried to remove her hands.

But the veiled woman held them back stronger.

" Are you asking me to go on a date with you? " Megumi smiled softly and her words finally made Emiko's eyes to look into hers.

" …Okay. "

' Our last one. ' the blue-eyed girl kept the end of her sentence in her mind.

She smiled back weakly before walking away, and this time, Megumi let her go.

' Because at the end of the day…your love will turn into hatred. '

Megumi tilted her head to this answer, nevertheless she knew this girl by heart, and knew she wouldn't agree lightly with her if she wasn't serious about it.

" I will wait for you! " the princess shouted to her date as she waved her hand.

The taller girl waved back 'thank you' without turning back to face her.

" I will always wait for you…my love. " the princess whispered to herself.

In the classroom, the girls were still frozen in shock.

" Um…my deepest apologies Setsuna-dono. We doubted about your sincere love towards Konoka-dono while it was perfectly shown by your years of guarding devotion that you will always be faithful to your princess and- "

" Yes yes! Um, please raise your head, it's fine, I forgive you. " Setsuna cut her sentence before her ninja classmate went on more embarrassing things.

" Kaede, why are you apologizing to Secchan? " Konoka asked from behind. She was wondering what was wrong with them since Megumi pointed out before being kidnapped.

" K-kono-chan! " the swordwoman stood up from her chair.

" It because we thought she cheating on- mmh! " again, Ku Fei had her mouth shut up and been crashed down.

" I beg you pardon? " the brown-hair girl's eyes widened.

" No! I never cheated on you! I promise! " Setsuna said as she squeezed her chinese classmate harder on the ground.

' Itaiiii! My neck aru! Sorry Setsuna… ' Ku Fei told her with her rolling painful tears.

Konoka turned into blank. She never thought once she would hear this word from her shy and faithful knight. Even though she knew deep in her heart there must be a reason that led to this subject, that it couldn't be possibly true, but the simple word was somehow hurtful to take.

Cheat on

She remembered she felt the same pain few days ago.

" We went home...a girl wanted to take us somewhere… "

The cheerful eyes from this morning turned into the sad ones she had yesterday night.

Cheat on

" -I saw you looking at someone else. "

" I saw you looking at her…while you told me you'd only look at me. "

Konoka's eyes widened more at the recall of those sentences.

...

" Don't die! Please! "

Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

" Please…I was just beginning to like you… "

Heavy breathes were blowing against her wet face.

" I want to know more about you… "

Her hands reached for the pale face below hers.

" You look just like- "

cough cough

Blood leaked out from the dried lips she was touching with her finger.

And she bent her head to reach them.

' -the love of my life. '

...

" Kono-chan? "

The princess regained her senses and noticed she was unconsciously caressing her own lips with her fingers.

" D-don't be that shocked! You know I will never be unfaithful to you! It was all Emiko's fault! I swear! " Setsuna approached her to hold her lover by her shoulders.

" Y-yes…I know… " Konoka smiled weakly.

' I know…it's all your fault. '

She raised her arms to hug her dark-hair girlfriend.

But the flashback came back to her mind as the feeling of it awoke the sensation on her lips.

Her body wouldn't move. She couldn't hug her lover.

However, Setsuna did. She hugged her tight and put a hand on the back of the chocolate-brown head to caress it.

" How can you be so naive? Don't you know how deep and strong my love for you is? " the knight snuggled her head in her princess' neck.

" Listen…can you feel how my heart beats for you? " she whispered so Konoka was the only one who could hear her words.

" I'm in love with one girl. You. "

And she kissed her on her cheek.

" Aaawww! So cute! " the class exclaimed, breaking their moment.

" Asakura! I hope you took photos of this moment! " the cheer-leader groups shouted with joy.

" Photos? Am I some kind of amateur? You totally have to RECORD this! " the journalist girl yelled back, showing her lastest new with multi-functions camera of the year.

" Huh! You- " the samurai girl tried to walk away to destroy the object but she was held back.

" Don't. Let them do whatever they want and hold me more, please Secchan? "

What could the hanyou do? In front of such cute to death puppy eyes...

So she did what her princess asked, with all the tenderness she could give.

Asuna was watching the couple from her seat. She heard what her roommate just said, and it started to really worry her, because she knew Konoka, she was never that demanding. Not in public, not when she knew how shy her girlfriend was. So why did she keep asking for Setsuna more than usual?

' They're always stuck together, but there is something strange in Konoka's behavior…as if she needed to be reassured…but from what? ' the red-hair girl thought with serious eyes.

" My, are you jealous of them Asuna-san? " the class-rep teased her as she noticed her very rare serious glare.

" Eh? Me, jealous? About what? " the monkey girl asked innocently as she didn't quite understand since she was thinking hard.

" Of their love of course! Your love still hasn't blossomed yet with Takahata- "

" Kyaah! Shut up you stupid shotacon! " Asuna jumped on her lap to pull her blond hair back with her hands.

" Oh, they started a fight again! " the girls exclaimed again, and started to bet like usual.

At the back of the room, a small kid began to be pissed off by the situation.

" Ahh! I'm so fed up with this class! I don't understand why I had to graduate with these stupid girls while I'm curse to be like a child! Keh! Damn you Nagi!...Let's go Chachamaru! " the vampire opened the door to leave as her robot followed.

" Because you wanted to watch Negi-sensei growing day by day. " Chachamaru replied to her previous question.

" W-wah! What! W-when did I ever say this! " Evangeline turned back to hold her servant's collar as her face turned burning red from embarrassment.

" Five years ago when you were drunk. It's recorded in my datas- "

" -Delete all you dumb robot! "

When Setsuna and Konoka succeeded to stop the fight between Asuna and the class-rep, the bodyguard had to go to the meeting at the dean's office. To ease Asuna's anger, her roommate suggested to do some shopping in the center (and mostly because Konoka hasn't find a present for her Secchan yet). They all three agreed to meet up at the coffee place where they went last time.

' Sigh…What happened to Kono-chan for real? She's been acting so fragile since yesterday. She knew from the start that I was madly in love with her and all I did in my life was protecting her. So how could she believe one second that I could even be capable of cheating on her? I know she wouldn't have doubted before… And that rosted crow… ' the half demon closed her eyes with a frown as she walked to the office direction.

" Oh! " a familiar voice spoke.

Setsuna stopped and kept her eyes closed. She didn't need to open them to see who it was since she already knew as she couldn't sense the presence.

" Yo! Setsuna, I owe you an explanation. Wait for me after the meeting. Iyaaa…I'm so sorry about earlier- "

Clack

" Eh? " Emiko held a smile on her face…along with a sweat.

" Shinmei ryuu ougi… "

" Wait! You can't be serious! We're in front of the dean's office! " the blue-eyes girl shouted at her relative. Despite what she said, she knew perfectly that she needed to run to the nearest window of the corridor.

" Zankusen ! " the half-demon threw her attack at her beloved nee-sama's spot.

But Emiko managed to jump before the stroke hit her.

" I said I'm sorry already! " she cried out as she was landed on the outside ground.

BROUMMMM

...

[Inside the office]

" What's that sound? " Takahata said as he looked at the door.

" The Cloud began to make their move! " another man said, throwing every teacher into panic.

However one girl kept her calm and frowned slightly.

" No, it isn't the enemy. The Onime sisters are training. I think they forgot about the meeting, I'll go get them. " Mana told the Head-master before leaving.

' Onime sisters? ' everyone thought as Konoka's grand-father nodded at the girl.

As soon as she closed the door, Mana opened her demon eye (too) with an evil glare.

' These stupid birds! You're gonna pay high for my cover! '

...

After Mana managed to find them, and shot at their feet like crazy while they were fighting "My next shots are aiming for your heads. Stop fooling around and come with me right now. " and after the coolest lady charged them "All your money belongs to me now." and startling to death both girls as they realized their own demon eyes weren't the scariest (because Mana killed them in an instant glare since the two relatives kept arguing all the way and so she dragged their bodies to the office), the meeting could eventually begin.

" The last report said that a hundred soldiers of the Cloud are currently encircling the Academy in about five miles away. It is confirmed that there are no demons. Nevertheless, we can suppose magic users, even some magister magi are participating. The main bodyguard of princess Megumi is a magic researcher whose main goal is to find the way to activate the World Tree. However he hasn't find it yet, and is still working on the Tree every night around 1am until the first patrol begins. As for the horsemen, they are being vigilant to show any suspicious behavior, and kept staying inside their host rooms. Only princess Megumi seemed to act freely and obediently as she went to greet the classes this morning like we asked her. That is all for now. " a woman who seemed to be a secretary spoke to everyone's attention.

" Good work Akaza-san. " the head-master thanked the woman before standing up from his chair to walk towards the window and massaging his left shoulder.

" Sir, if I may suggest, we should go fight the soldiers since we know their locations and they don't know that we are aware of their presence. If we attack by surprise, I'm sure it would be easy for us to win- " another male teacher expressed himself.

" -It won't be easy. There are actually demons with them. I killed two of them two days ago, at the small isolate island. " Emiko cut his sentence.

" What! How is that possible! "

Panic started to spread in the room. Questions were flying from mouth to mouth.

' Two days ago?! When I left for the mission… ' Setsuna looked at Emiko who was avoiding her stare.

" Quiet! Emiko-kun, please report correctly. " the dean turned back to face his people.

" Yes Sir. Two days ago, I was attacked while I was patrolling around during night. The two demons were wearing the horsemen's cap, but like I told you before Sir, I know them very well. I need to talk to them to see if it was the purpose of the demons to trick us, or if they aren't really the horsemen who are here to guard the princess. " Emiko stepped back after she finished her report.

The dean kept watching this beautiful demon with clear blue eyes. After all this time, this girl never stopped keeping her word to take any of his orders and being honest to him, even though she could use him to reach what she really wanted, revenge.

The man with the long white beard just understood something.

" …their country is full of kind and generous people. "

"…if we let him believe we hooked and eyed, this would be our chance to dethrone him without bringing another war. "

In his eyes, only three persons were standing before him. Not that he thought the others were useless or pointless, but even in this situation, he couldn't make decisions by himself. He needed smart and pure eyes to seek for the best advices, and thus make the best choices for everyone.

' These three are the most reliable and trustable. ' the old man thought as his eyes turned to Negi.

' He is the most wise and pure. His decisions will lead us to less loss, and less battles. ' the young mage smiled to him.

Then he turned his eyes to Emiko.

' She is the most loyal and knows everything on the other side. Her decisions will be the best for our sake. '

And finally, his eyes moved slight left, to look at her soon-to-be daughter-in-law.

' In the worst case, if a war occurs, in her hands is where the most powerful mage, and my grand-daughter will be safe. If we have to fight once more in a bloody battle, I know Setsuna-kun is the best protection for my family. ' the latter smiled lightly to the dean, showing in her eyes all the determination she had to protect the princess of Mahora.

The old man returned to his seat.

" Everyone, my intentions are not only to fight away the soldiers. I know how strong we are to do it without any trouble. We need to put an end at the King of the Cloud's plan, that is to say, controlling the World Tree. I will seal it permanently for a moment, until we can have true evidences that they are here to attack us. The fact that they are only surrounding us without showing any harms, is not enough to prove their real aim. We will wait and watch them. They can't stay here definitively. When they will notice that the magic researcher won't fulfill his aim after a long period, then they will understand that we knew about their doings. Only then, when they will move first, we will be able to gather evidences. "

" Sir, I understand very well the need to not start another war, but what if the demons who attacked were sent by the Cloud? Even though we can't prove it, can we be assaulted silently without blaming the real enemy? What if they sent an army of demons- " the same male teacher who spoke before talked once again.

" Takemiya-kun…I know you hold a grudge against the Cloud…but that is exactly the reason why we shouldn't rely on your decisions, because your mind is leading by hatred. If we do what you said, then we will just begin another war without settling the real problem. Either we win or the Cloud win, if the King of the Cloud doesn't give up on the World Tree, then there will be wars forever between our two countries. The main purpose of this cold war, is to show to their people by whom they really are leaded. Then, they will fix their problems on their own. They are the same as us: longing for peace. That's why, Emiko-kun… " the Head-master stopped as he was rubbing his white long beard.

" Yes Sir? " the onime demon stepped forward.

" You will check for the horsemen, and will stay by the princess Megumi's side. If anything has to get worse, we will at least have a hostage, a reason to stop the battle and do the negotiations. The most priority is to avoid another war, does everbody understand? " the old dean opened his eyes shut again any objection.

All the teachers nodded quietly, except Setsuna who was quietly startled by the dean's word.

Hostage

The hanyou glanced at her relative to see how she was: impassive and calm.

" Good. Everyone has to keep doing what they were until now, and pretend everything is fine. The only difference is that we are staying vigilant, and daily patrol are mandatory from now on. I count on you all. Dismissed. "

" Emiko! I thought you asked me to wait for you! " Setsuna ran to reach her big sister's side in the middle of the corridor.

It was true, her relative didn't forget. She did say it because she needed to explain herself for putting her into an awkward position with her classmates, but after what she heard at the end of the meeting, her mind was somewhere else. Despite this, the history teacher turned back to face her student.

" I'm sorry, but it will have to wait for tomorrow. " she was about to walk away when she felt a hand grab her right arm.

" Emiko! I need to talk now! What happened when I left? Who did you fight? Why don't you tell me anything! You know I'm worried about you like you are for me! Can you just stop with the lies and silence? I don't want any of that anymore! No more secrets, tell me the truth! " Setsuna said angrily as she tightened her grip on her arm.

The image of her crying Kono-chan crossed her mind.

The taller dark-hair girl looked right into her eyes.

Blue melted into dark glowing.

Emiko softly took Setsuna's grabbing hand into hers, and held it dearly.

" My sweet angel…I promise you, tomorrow, I will make my entire day free so we can talk about all you want. But because I have something really important to do today, I can't speak with you now. I'm sorry… " Emiko took her other hand to pat Setsuna's head.

" Will you forgive me this time? " Emiko smiled sadly.

' I can't take anymore today, mostly dealing with you. Please… ' the beautiful nee-sama felt her heart raced faster.

The little dark-hair girl looked up to watch her blue eyes and saw she kept smiling.

She had to.

" You're always treating me like a child, you're always leaving me behind and tossing me away when you want… " Setsuna began to frown as Emiko began to lose her smile.

" I'm fed up with you… " the cursed demon put down the patting hand roughly as she retrieved her hand held in Emiko's one in a brutal way.

" Truth to be told, you never cared about me, because you do like you want, you run away when you want, you lie when you want- "

Slap!

" Setsuna! "

The half-demon felt a pain on her left cheek.

" What is wrong with you today! Since this morning! Why are you so angry at me?! This isn't just about the ninja and the kung-fu girl issue, I know you're really angry at me, to the point that you're willing to talk to me without any respect! You even punched me while I just wanted to give a small kiss! You attacked me seriously outside! See the cuts on my arm! And now you allow yourself to insult me! "

' This pain…is different. '

Setsuna was lost. She was touching her red cheek which just got hit.

" I told you, and promise you I will talk to you tomorrow, so why are you sulking? Can't you be a little bit patient? I'm not doing like I want, because if I do, I would just keep silent and lie. I don't run away like I want because if I could, I would have left with the woman I love, and I don't lie like I want, because if I really was, I wouldn't do what I'm about to do with Megumi now and you tomorrow! "

' It doesn't really hurt but…the pain, reached my soul and my heart. '

The smaller girl looked back into the blue eyes, and lost every word before such authority. All she could say was what she really felt.

" I'm sorry... "

' She's scolding me…like my mother would. '

Emiko also stared back, trying to find anything she could read in this silly girl's mind.

' Am I being too childish? '

" I will answer all your questions tomorrow, is that okay with you? " the taller dark-hair girl asked once more with a severe expression.

" Yes… "

' Am I really wrong to doubt? Because I'm also drawn to you, I'm also fond of you…

I want to be like you. '

Emiko finally drew a smile on her face, and patted her favorite dark-hair head again.

" Good. I'm probably gonna be at the lady vampire's house. Come to me whenever you want, understood? Don't wait til the end of the day, or else you won't have many time to get all your answer, since it seems like you have a lot to ask and tell me. " the demon said as she walked away from her traumatized sweet angel.

' Did you hit me to say you won't? Even if she will? '

Setsuna watched Emiko's back moving further away.

' Did you want to slap my fears away? Showing me that even if she fell for you…

You won't… '

" Kono-chan… " Setsuna whispered as she looked at her left hand which was resting on her left red cheek.

" She was hanging out with Emiko-san. "

The memories of today.

The dear smile they shared when they eyes met in class.

" Ah, hey, what's up Konoka? " Emiko turned back and smiled at her.

The odd closeness.

" It's okay, at least I'm the only one for now… " the princess whispered as she took the patting hand on her head in hers to hold it gently.

" Please be careful- "

Her princess' tearful eyes...

" Don't ever leave me... "

Her shuddering voice resonated in Setsuna's head.

" I just understood…what happened to you, Kono-chan... "

' You will never steal her from me, right? '