AN: Sorry for the extra week of no upload, I was busy playing Pe*sona 5, great game. More stuff at the bottom, enjoy!

"I get it! I'm sorry for what I did! Now please let me go!"

I had successfully managed to escape the pissed off horde of adventurers. Unfortunately I needed time to recover from using up my mana reserves, refilling them entirely, and using it all up in such a short period of time. That much strain on my mana flow tired me out immensely, I needed rest and I needed it now.

Unfortunately Darkness has been waiting for me to get back and has ambushed me in my room, oh and she was PISSED.

I was on the ground, cornered and exhausted out of my mind. I won't be able to do anything like last time.

Darkness started approaching me, anger and annoyance written all over her face.

"W-woah there Darkness! Hold it right there! Don't come any closer!" I stammered out.

She ignored me completely and quickened her pace.

Aqua was observing this from her futon. "Looks like you too have some things that need to be straightened out. Oi Kazuma! I'll go rinse all this sweat off! Have fun!" With a skip and hop she exited my room.

"Oi! Get back here you damn traitor!"

"Now, what should I do with you? I wonder what punishment would suit a cowardly man like you?" She cracked her knuckles and inched closer to me. "Hmmm, I can't decide on one, how about we try ALL of them? Wouldn't you agree Kazuma?"

"C-Calm down Darkness! L-Lets talk a-about this!"

She ignored my pleads for mercy and grabbed me by the ear.

"-I-I'm s-sorry! No! Not there! AGH!-"

"I don't know why you're all mopey about me taking a bath." Aqua said, taking a bite out of some bacon.

Me and Aqua were now having breakfast, courtesy of noblemen and their exquisite gift baskets.

"I'm not pissed about that! I'm pissed about you abandoning me! Darkness was really pissed with me and you didn't help me out at all!"

"What are you talking about! I totally helped you, I even healed you! If it weren't for me your hand still would've been broken! Stop whining and be grateful that you had a Goddess cater to your wounds." She took another chomp of her bacon, dropping some crumbs onto her lap.

Who would be grateful for this Goddess?!

"If Lady Eris were here she would've stood up and defended me from that brute! She would've saved me first, then gone take a bath." Aqua dropped her fork and let it fall to the floor with an audible clink!

I exhaled a sigh of sadness. "I won't be able to visit her anymore because I'm stuck babysitting this troublesome Goddess. Hopefully she doesn't get too lonely up there…"

Ever since I marked Eris' room for one of my teleport locations, I took the responsibility of visiting her on a daily basis, I didn't want Big-Boss to get too lonely.

"Assistant-kun, I know being famous is a new experience for all of you, but… can you please stop using my room as a hangout spot?" Eris sat across from me, a small frown being present on her face.

She wasn't a fan at first.

"I didn't come here to escape the paparazzi. I came here to see you! I just don't want you to get lonely up here and alone. So I came here to give you some company, *cough* and to give myself some breathing room.

Eris' smile returned, the same smile that always captivated me. "O-Oh okay then. I'm usually fine by just spyi- ah! Sooo how are things hold?"

As I visited her more and more often, our conversations would grow longer and livelier, every moment was full of laughter.

"I haven't really been able to go down and play in that world ever since you defeated the Demon King. *Sigh* I had to do a lot of paperwork up here regarding his death. Things like 'how many years has he stayed in control?' 'How many deaths were of his doing?' 'Calculate and predict how many years of peace are expected based on the data presented.' Eris shivered.

She smiled at me. "Thanks Kazuma-san for visiting me so often. I really appreciate the talks we've had so far, they've really helped keep me sane. Hey Assistant-kun, I think I have something you might enjoy…" She snapped her fingers.

Apparently Eris was a fan of video games in Japan as she would start setting up video games from well known franchises along with some snacks in preparation of my arrival. She would set up a console and link it up to a flat screen TV she had laying around. She even unearthed an old couch we can sit on, all while eating whatever snack she prepared that day.

"Rematch! You keep picking the RNG based characters and abusing your broken luck to win! You damn cheater! Fight me with honor!"

"And here I thought you were good at this game, Assistant-kun." She playfully teased. "Now a deal is a deal, you lost and now you have to pay the consequences."

"Huh!? No fair! Fight me with a different character, you coward!"

"Now-now Assistant-kun, stop whining and man up! You lost and we made a deal! Hurry up and get changed, I'll go get the camera."

"Hell no!"

"Fine then, you leave me no choice…" She snapped her fingers and a bright light engulfed me. I patted my body all around, thankfully I was still clothed but there was one small issue, these aren't my clothes!

"Say cheese!" I quickly turned away from her. I was faced with a smug looking Eris on the other side with a polaroid camera in hand.

She tricked me!

*Snap!*

"…"

I refuse to think about that experience any longer. To think that I had the chance to keep a picture of Eris in a provocative bunny suit.

I looked down on my plate of breakfast which was now empty. Looks like I've eaten all of it while I was daydreaming. I looked up and saw Aqua's pouty face staring straight at me, only a couple inches away.

"What are you looking at?"

"20 minutes." She said.

"What?"

"20 whole minutes." She started glaring at me. "20 whole minutes you've been daydreaming about my Kohai. Meanwhile you have the Senpai right in front of you!"

"What about it? It was a pleasant daydream."

"Are you saying that you prefer the Kohai over the superior, awesomer, and sexier Senpai?" She struck a pose.

"Yes." I answered in record time without a single hint of doubt in my voice.

"You apostate!" She cried, she started shaking me with enough force to snap me in half.

"Staaaaph it! I'm gonna thwoow up!-URH!"

"Clean this mess up dammit!"

"No! Why don't you get my crappy Kohai to help you instead!? I'm sure she'll be happy to lend you a hand! Who knows, maybe you guys can hang out afterwards?!" She angrily pouted and turned away.

I sighed. "Look, you know I can't do that. Especially if that means leaving you alone for more than 10 minutes. Just…can you please clean this up? I need to check on Megumin and Darkness. I'll give you a reward if you do so."

"…fine." She grabbed a nearby towel and started cleaning up my breakfast.

That should keep her busy for now. Now where the hell is Megumin?

I made my way to the living room.

She's usually practicing a new pose or some other chunni related thing around this time.

"W-Wait!"

Hmm?

I stopped in my tracks and went to the where the commotion was happening.

Darkness at the front door, trying to calm down the ongoing assault of multiple very desperate Noblemen.

Oh yeah, I forgot they were still here.

"Please M'lady! Give me a chance! If you do I will prove to you my worthiness of being the husband of such an outstanding woman!" One top hatted bastard said.

"I've arrived Lady Dustiness and I've brought a gift as well!" A well suited noble came forth and shoved his way through the crowd. He got down on one knee and presented a fabulously decorated wine bottle to Darkness.

A bead of sweat appeared on her. "O-Oh thank you. I'll just put this with the rest." Darkness gently placed the bottle in a corner where multiple similar looking bottles were stored.

Darkness noticed me and hurriedly went to my side. A couple of gasps can be heard from the noblemen outside.

"Kazuma-Kazuma…" She whispered. "Do something about them! I've been trying to do so for the past half an hour. They just won't budge!" She grabbed my hand, even more gasps could be heard. "If you try anything funny I won't hesitate to break it again." She sweetly smiled at me. Seeing this, the nobles started whispering.

"…do you think..?"

"…It can't be..!"

"…I'm…not…surprised…hero...Belzerg..!"

Various noblemen were getting the wrong idea!

With Darkness still holding onto my hand, I approached them and I did the most logical thing.

I quickly got on my knees. "RUN LADS'!" I pointed at the shocked Darkness. "T-This thing has drained me of all my money! Every last drop, gone…my will to live…GONE!" My voice rang out in pure anguish, a few tears dropping to the ground.

"Run while you still can! She's drained me of my wealth and that's the only thing she'll be draining, I'm still a virgin! She used that voluptuous body of hers to suck me dry of all my worth! We even sleep in different rooms! How do you all think she's one of the wealthiest noble families? Hard work? Honesty? Kindness? She's never even heard of them!" Darkness let out a squeal but otherwise stayed silent, watching on with rosy cheeks.

"The kind and noble Lalatina you all know…it's all an act and you've all fallen for it! Just look at what you all have brought! Look at all of those expensive wine bottles in that depressing corner!" The nobles let out a gasp and started discussing within themselves.

"A lie?"

"The Hero drained of his riches?"

"Can it really be?"

"It all makes sense now…"

"Those cries! Pure suffering!"

"I'm kinda into it."

"…"

"I haven't even seen her naked in all the time we've 'dated'!"

"Nevermind…"

"Once again, get out of here men! She's drained me of all my worth and now she needs more money! That's why you're all here and you've fallen into her trap! Book it! Skedaddle!" The nobleman looked at each other and then at me.

"W-Well I forgot I have a very important meeting I must attend! Farewell!"

"O-Oh! I've been summoned by the Royal Capital! I must go at once!"

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

A plethora of more half-assed excuses were given and by the next minute they were all gone, all that was left behind were the exquisite gifts and the now trampled ground that was our front lawn.

I got up from my spot on the floor and looked at Darkness, her face was a tinge of red and her mouth agape. "Happy?"

"Y-Y-You…" She stuttered out, her gaze glued to the empty doorway.

She slowly turned towards me. "Y-Y-You I-I-" She mumbled.

"Just spit it out already!"

"You IDIOT!" She grabbed me once more. "Why did you do that!?" She yelled at me, her face red from anger..?

"What are you talking about!? If I didn't do that they'll still be here!"

"Why didn't you find another method! You ruined my reputation and my family's name too! Those nobles are going to report back to their families and those rumors will be the talk of the century!"

"What are you so pissed about? Didn't you say that you don't give a crap about your family name? I thought you would've enjoyed the treatment they'll be giving you." I reasoned.

Darkness' expression soured. "I admit… I wouldn't mind if they were talking about me like that… but now I can't allow that."

Eh?

"I gained new territory to manage over, specifically the Demon King's territory, and with territory comes power. My family's gained a lot of power and influence after his defeat, especially seeing how I'm apart of the 'Hero''s party. I need to keep good ties between other families, as well as keep my reputation pure, that is my noble duty that goes beyond basic desires." She brought a hand up to her chest.

"Although…maybe I could enjoy this…" Her pervy smirk returned. "N-No! I'll have to stop those chatty nobles from spreading rumors! Oh! And you're helping me too Kazuma, it is your fault after all!" She reached out to me.

"No thanks." I swatted her hand away. "I already did what you asked me to, this is your problem now, not mine." Darkness reached once more. "You better start going after them, I don't think you have much time. I'm out of mana so I can't use teleport and I'm tired as all hell, I'll just slow you down."

Darkness backed off. "Ugh- fine you win this time." She headed towards the gate and broke into a sprint. "We'll settle this when I get back!"

And with that, Darkness was gone and I was left alone.

That was surprisingly easy.

I looked down at the pile of bottles and grabbed one.

Holy shit! They spent money on this!? 500,000 eris for a single bottle of wine!? How many of these are here!? There's gotta be like 50 here!

"Oh! Good morning Kazuma-san! I didn't expect you to be up so early." A wild Yunyun has suddenly appeared.

"Oh hey Yunyun, what're you doing here? Another duel with Megumin?" I inspected the wine bottle.

"Yup! She actually invited me herself! Can you believe that?" She excitedly bounced up and down, her hands clapping in joy.

"That's good to hear…hey can you help me something?" I opened the wine bottle.

"Oh? What do you need? Is something wrong?"

"Nah, nothing like that. I just need you to teleport these wine bottles away once I say so." I pointed at the pile of bottles in the depression corner.

"Oh- okay! Just say when!"

I started chugging the wine bottle in my hand.

"Mph! Gah!" I forcefully swallowed the wine.

"This tastes like ass! They actually spent money on this crap!?" I walked outside and dumped out the rest of the wine in the garden.

Yunyun watched me with concern. "A-Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, you can teleport the rest of them away now."

"Umm okay…teleport!"

The bottles disappeared in an instant, leaving behind no evidence of their existence.

"Thanks Yunyun, you're a big help."

"No problem! Anything for the friend of my rival!"

This girl can be weird sometimes.

With the issue solved I returned to my search of the explosive loli. I looked back and noticed Yunyun stopped outside of the entrance, patiently waiting, contemplating whether or not to come in or not. I couldn't help but feel bad for her.

"You coming?"

Almost instantly Yunyun's expression lightened up and her cheerful smile returned.

"Do you mean it? Can I actually come inside? Megumin almost never invites me inside, we usually have our duel outside."

"Oh- yeah, you can come inside whenever you want, you don't have to ask." Yunyun made little squeals of happiness.

"Thank you so much Kazuma-san!" Her smile intensified and the sad Yunyun was no more.

She quickly caught up to me. "Y'know Yunyun."

"Hmm?"

"You should really come by more often, your visits aren't just limited to duels y'know? I don't really mind your visits, if anything I enjoy the extra company, they help keep me sane."

Yunyun's eyes glimmered with a red shine. "Really? Do you really mean it? I get to visit whenever I want and I don't have to ask? You won't say no and laugh at me for believing you?" A small frown replaced her joyful smile.

"Huh? No I won't, even I'm not that cruel. You can drop by anytime, we'll be happy to have you over for dinner. Oh! And don't listen to Megumin when she starts teasing you, just remember that you can cast more than one spell a day."

Yunyun giggled, her eyes reaching their peak intensity. "Thank you Kazuma-san, I'll be sure to drop by lots! Maybe I can arrange a sleepover with all the girls? Oh! What about a girls night out? What abou-"

Hold on. Did she say sleepover? Girls…hehe. Maybe I can finally experience the joy of crashing a girls only sleepover, something that I missed chance of doing back in Japan.

I couldn't stop myself from deviously grinning.

"Hey Yunyun, you said something about a sleepover right?"

"A night out- oh! Yeah! I was thinking about having a sleepover with Megumin and the others!" She excitedly said.

"Any chance I can join you girls?"

"I-I don't know." Yunyun stuttered, not expecting me to hit her with a fastball. "I was kinda hoping that'll be an all girls type of thing…but don't worry! We can hang out some other time instead!"

Guess I'm crashing the party. I wonder if I can get Eris to help, she does have a devious side..!

I'm sensing we'll have a lot of fun in the near future.

"Well if it isn't Yunyun, my lowly rival!"

Looks like we've arrived at our destination.

"Megumin! We'll settle our long awaited score today!" Yunyun cheerfully said.

"Hold on Yunyun, I know that you're a loner and all, but what are you doing in here? We have our duels outside. Did Kazu-trash invite you in without my permission?"

"W-Wha- I'm sorr-" Yunyun panicked.

"What do you mean your permission!? This is my damn mansion and I know I didn't give you a say on anything! And would you stop with the tsundere act and treat our guest with respect."

"I'm not taking a talking-to from Crap-uma!"

"Cut it out with the name calling already!"

Yunyun observed our bickering, debating whether or not this was her doing or not.

Megumin looked at Yunyun and then back at me, a sly smirk forming on her face.

"Oi Yunyun, change of plans! Instead of our duel taking place outside the mansion, I decided that it's best we have our duels in the Crimson Demon Village instead."

"Huh- I don't mind having our duels back home but why would you want to back?"

"Fufu~ I'm glad you asked my dear rival! This duel will be the duel to settle things once and for all! This is a once in a life time battle and I want the rest of the village to witness such a glorious event!"

"R-Really..?"

"Yes! We would have the greatest battle ever in Crimson Demon history!"

"I-I don't know…"

"If you manage to defeat me you'll be extremely popular with the rest of the Crimson Demons and maybe make some friends."

Megumin sealed the deal. "O-Okay!" Yunyun beamed.

"Unfortunately we won't be able to have such a glorious battle at this moment since I have no way of using my magic." Megumin pointed at me. "This pervert violated me and stripped me of my magical power!"

"Oh shut up! You're making it seem way worse."

"Stripped you of your- what do you mean Megumin?"

"Do you see this obnoxious choker I'm wearing?"

"That cute thing? I just thought you were trying to be more girly." Yunyun said, taking some time to actually look closely at it.

"That's not it! I'm already very lady-like!"

"No you're not." I responded.

"You're not one to talk yourself Scum-zuma, seeing as you yourself are lacking in the manly department." Megumin looked at me, specifically at my crotch. I can feel my face starting to heat up with each passing second.

I swiftly covered myself. "Oi! Don't be a hypocrite you damn perv! We already have the 'perverse girl' role booked by Darkness and the 'flat chested girl" taken by Chris! Pick a role and stick with it damn it!"

"Hrk-"

We exchanged eye piercing glares.

Yunyun gasped and broke the silence. "Oh it is! Kazuma-san, how did you get your hands on red manatite? Especially on this special choker."

"I'm not saying where I got it because Megumin over here might do something stupid and end up back in jail. All you gotta know is that Megumin is banned from using explosions for the next month and that choker is a precaution in case she gets any funny ideas. We're not going on any quests either so we won't be needing any explosive power. That thing is impossible to get off and I'm the only one who knows how to get rid of it."

"That's what you think! You see Trash-zuma, I've had a lot of time to think of a plan last night and I just so happen to know who created this stupid choker." She mischievously smiled, letting out a prideful laugh.

"Bullshit! You're bluffing!" I narrowed my eyes at her.

There's no way.

"C'mon Yunyun, we're going back home! Teleport us!"

"I-I don't think that'll work-"

Megumin grabbed her arm. "Just do it already!" She interrupted.

"It-" Yunyun tried to reason.

"JUST DO IT ALREADY!" Megumin demanded.

"F-Fine! Teleport!"

A bright light engulfed both girls. Once the light died down, there was an interesting sight to behold.

Megumin striking a pose with her eyes closed in victory, smiling and chuckling to herself. Yunyun was nowhere to be seen. Megumin had a thin red veil around her, the red manatite on her neck shining a bright scarlet.

"Fufufu~ Kazuma never anticipated the genius of the foremost member of the Crimson Demon Clan!" She proudly claimed. "Come now Yunyun, let's pay a visit to my old man."

She began walking blindly towards me, humming smugly. "Oof!" She ended up bumping into me. "What kind of tree is this hard? Usually they're all soft around here." She nuzzled her face into my chest. "Huh!-"

Megumin finally opened her eyes and looked up at me, her face quickly switching from a smug smile to a bashful and blushing one. "Ka-Kazuma!?" She quickly jumped away with cat-like agility and started checking her surroundings.

"Huh? Why am I still in the mansion?! And where's Yunyun!?" She panicked.

"Looks she's the only one who teleported." I answered.

"T-That traitor! How dare she abandon me!" She angrily yelled.

There's no way she hasn't picked up on it…

"Oi, did you already forget?"

Megumin broke from her rage induced confusion and then stopped to look at me. "A-Ah, how foolish of me to forget such a thing! But you'll see! I'll get this damn choker off and make you pay!" She declared.

"Have fun-"

"Meow?"

A black fur-ball rounded the corner and walked into the living room.

"Oh, hey Chomosuke, how was your nap? Did my familiar sleep well?" Megumin went to pet the feline, unfortunately for her Chomusuke quickly dodged her hand.

"HISSS!" Chomusuke hissed at Megumin with a hostile stance. Megumin was shocked and tried to reach towards her again. "HISSS!" Only to be met with the same results.

"C-C-Chomusuke! What's gotten into you!?" Megumin asked, once again reaching for the hostile feline, getting the same results once more.

Chomusuke turned away from Megumin with its head held high in pride. The sassy cat pranced away in style and went right to me.

"Purrrr~" The cat started nuzzling against my leg, emitting purrs of pure comfort and joy.

"H-Huh!?" Megumin watched in awe as the once hostile creature was turned into a docile and sweet cat in such a short amount of time. And by me out of all people.

"Hey there girl, do you wanna go on my head?" I asked.

"Maow!" Chomusuke excitedly responded, jumping up and down while clawing at my pants.

"Good girl." I picked up the furball and scratched under her chin, she purred and nuzzled against my hand affectionately. I placed her on head and I felt her dig her tiny paws in my hair. She once again purred out of delight once she had gotten comfortable. Chomusuke let out a small yawn and once again fell asleep, this time on my head.

Megumin silenty watched the events unfold and was now giving me a death glare. "W-What d-did y-you-DO TO MY FAMILIAR!?" She angrily shouted.

I put both my hands up as a means of surrendering. "N-Nothing! I swear!"

"What do you mean NOTHING?! LOOK AT HER!" She gestured towards the snoozing cat, resting peacefully on my head, occasionally emitting purrs of comfort.

"What about it?"

"She is MY familiar! Not yours!"

"Well it looks like she prefers me over you now." I reached and started rubbing Chomosuke's head. Soft purrs can be heard coming from her.

"Give her back now!" Megumin made an attempt to grab Chomusuke but I backed out of her range in time.

"Meow..?" Chomusuke woke up from all the noise.

"Sorry that all the ruckus woke you up girl." I pet the sleepy feline once more and she purred happily.

"H-Hey!" Megumin shouted.

"Shhhh! If you excuse me, I'm going to take a nap with MY familiar in my room. Please don't disturb us Megumin." I shot her a sly smirk.

"B-B-But-" Megumin stood there shocked, her eyes glistening with a faint red glow.

"Oh! That reminds me, can you tell Aqua to fix the toilet again? It's been making weird noises again. Thanks and goodnight!"

"Maow!" Chomosuke added on.

"B-But it's the evening…"

Third-Person POV:

Aqua's Room:

"I assume you all know why I called a meeting?" A peeved Aqua asked, her attire being soaked with nothing but sweat, a headband keeping her hair from suffering the same fate.

It seems like she had tried to fix the toilet but had ultimately failed in the end.

"We have to do something about Kazuma, he's been acting out of line as of lately." A maiden soaked in sweat said. Some of her gold hair sticking to her forehead.

It seems she wasn't a big fan of being forced to sprint all across town tracking down some talkative nobles. —Scratch that, she did somewhat enjoy it but she's gonna keep that to herself.

"Agreed! Not only did he steal my magical powers, he also stole my familiar! I can't let that trash take her away! Not after all we've been through!" A small girl practically declared war against her lover, the reward? The love of a small jet black cat. It looks like she's not going to give up that easily.

"It looks like we're all in agreement to punishing that NEET! Good! Now pay attention! I got a plan that'll make him regret what he's done!" The Goddess let out a small giggle, already convinced of her plan's success.

"Right!" Both girls nodded their heads and lent an ear.

"Aqua? Did you come up with this plan by yourself?" A baffled Darkness asked, a little confused on how Aqua out of all people formed a plan that didn't lead to tragedy for everyone.

"I like this plan…but how are we going to get him out of his room without waking him up?" Megumin chipped in with her own critique.

"I already thought about that!" Aqua pulled out a small vial of a transparent purple liquid from out of her pocket.

"You see, I graciously bought this from a merchant yesterday on my way to the Guild. He said it was a sleeping vial and I just so happened to need one for Emperor Zell's night terrors. You can see where I'm going with this right?" Aqua dangled the vial right in front of everyone.

"Yes! We break into his room and we pin him down onto the floor! We then force feed him the vile all the while he struggles with his greatest strength but ultimately accepts his fate!" Darkness suggested, her face growing more flush with each passing second.

"Umm- that might be a little too far Darkness, I don't want to hurt him, just teach him a lesson." Megumin quickly turned down that option.

"So what do you suggest we do? I don't mind hurting the NEET a teeny bit."

"Erm- we still haven't eaten dinner so why don't we just spike his food with it? He won't know a thing that way! Plus we'll have way more time to prepare!"

"Ugh- fine…" Aqua relented.

"Is that fine with you Darkness?" The red mage looked towards her only to find her holding her hands up to her cheeks and massaging them.

"-Huh? Oh! Yes I'm fine with that method too…" She looks like she was too caught up in her own little fantasy to pay attention.

"Great, now let's get going! -Oh?! Megumin what happened to your cheek?" Aqua went to go cater to Megumin.

"Oh this?" Megumin massaged her injury. "Chomosuke scratched me last night when I tried to cuddle with her."

"That damn devil! How dare she scratch you! Here I'll heal you!"

"Thanks Aqua but it won't w-"

"Heal!"

*Clink!*

Click!*

*Thump!*

"-ork..?"

The 'impossible' to remove choker unlatched from Megumin's neck and fell to the ground. Megumin lay still in silence, shocked in the way things turned out.

"How!?" She finally broke the silence. Megumin quickly rushed to Aqua. "What did you do?! That choker was supposed to be impossible to remove! Not even magic would work! How did you get it off!?" Megumin looked to Aqua for answers.

"Umm- I think my godly powers just overwhelmed the thing so it just unlatched itself. Oops-" Aqua reasoned.

"Aqua! Aqua! Let's add blowing up the cafe to the revenge plan!" Megumin eagerly said. "I didn't get to blow up anything yesterday so I'm itching to finally let one out!"

"Er- Maybe not let's not blow up a cafe in Axel Megumin, we don't want to injure anyone in the blast radius." Darkness quickly shot her down.

"Don't be such a wet blanket Darkness! Hey Megumin, instead of blowing up the cafe, let's just blow up all of Kazuma's stuff! That'll really teach him not to try and take away all of our prized possessions."

"…Fine! As long as we keep the explosion at its bare minimum strength and no more above it. Other than those conditions, I'm fine with the plan." Darkness said.

"W-What! …Fine I too agree to this plan, even if I must limit my true power…" Megumin lied, she was looking forward to letting off a fully powered explosion with no limitations.

"Just this once hehe…" She thought to herself.

"Good! It seems we're all in favor of this plan! Darkness you go call in that favor I asked about, Megumin you go prepare dinner with whatever those dumb nobles brought, and I'll go do some extra serious things!" Aqua urged.

"-Wait!" Darkness yelled out.

"What's up Darkness? Something the matter?" Megumin asked.

"Yes, something is the matter. Megumin, you're going to have to wear that choker again so as to not raise suspicions from Kazuma. If he notices something is wrong he'll definitely catch on, we can't underestimate him no matter what! We can just have Aqua remove it again when we execute our plan."

"H-Huh!? …Okay…" Megumin was about to fight for her right to cast explosion but decided to just relent for now.

"Now that we have that settled! I hereby call this meeting to a close! Nature's Beauty!"

"-Gah! Aqua you're getting the floor wet! AH! Not my clothes too…"

"Mmmm~ Mmm! Ahhh~" Kazuma chugged down the food Megumin prepared with an orange fizzy neroid.

"You made this Megumin?! This is so gwood!" He said, taking another bite of his dish.

"This is sooo goood! Megumin is definitely wife material!"

"Yup! Is it to your liking?" Megumin answered, very proud of her genius cooking.

"Hell yeah it is! Everything about it is top tier! You should cook more often! I love it so much!"

"R-Really?" Megumin reddened up a bit.

"I-I don't mind cooking for him if it makes him happy… Maybe I should do stuff like this more often…" Megumin couldn't help but smile, hearing Kazuma's sincere and genuine appreciation. She really loved it whenever Kazuma would say things like these with pure joy.

"*yawn* I'm pretty tired, even with the nap I took… Hey Megumin, do you mind if you save me some of your food for breakfast tomorrow? Can you ask Aqua to do the dishes tonight? She can sleep in her own room tonight, I already cleared any contraband from it." Kazuma stood up from his seat and started walking towards the baths.

Once Kazuma reached the doorway he stopped. "Hey Megumin…"

"Hmm?" Megumin was already stashing a dish away for Kazuma, happy to hear the side she loves so much.

"I'm sorry for all the crap I made you put up with, the choker and the stuff with Chomosuke. Truth be told, I was just extremely stressed and pissed off about everything that happened and I didn't act with a clear mind. What I did was really scummy, even for me. We're going to get that choker off of you tomorrow and I'm going to find a way for you to cast explosions in peace. As for Chomusuke, I'll have a little talk with that fur-ball. Goodnight Megumin." And with that, Kazuma left to take a bath.

Megumin was shocked. Was this really the same snarky and spiteful Kazuma from just this evening? Shame and regret hit her like one of her own explosions.

"Was I really going to 'teach' Kazuma a lesson..?" She was suddenly getting second thoughts about the whole plan.

"Now that we're all here, let's get this show started!" Aqua jumped up from her seat. "Power-Up!" She buffed Darkness. "Alright Darkness, this is the last thing you got to do so get moving!"

Darkness gave a thumbs up and exited the room.

"Wai-" Megumin reached out to Aqua.

"Heal!" But was cut off.

*Click!* *Thump!*

The choker once again unlatched and fell to the floor.

"All you needed to do was feed Kazuma the sleep vial. Now, I'll be taking this off your han- um, neck?" Aqua grabbed the choker off the ground and headed out the room towards Kazuma's room

Megumin was left alone.

"…I don't know how I should feel about this…"

AN: Yo, thanks for reading, feedback is greatly appreciated. This is where chapter 1 was originally supposed to end so anything past this point is going to ramp up in crazy, look forward to that. Don't be afraid to leave any ideas you want to see, I want to experiment with writing more. Until next time! :)