Yuuto sure was taking a while in the bath. Hehe, he must really be enjoying himself thinking of me. I like the thought of that, but I would have preferred to have more direct contact during Healing Lovers.

I was getting really anxious since there haven't been much results lately in terms of me unlocking my Bloodline Magic, but this little Healing Lovers with Yuuto really helped me calm down a little.

Now, all I have to do is wait for what Lovers found out and then 'bam' go at it.

… But still, Yuuto sure is taking a while. Maybe I should go there and give him a hand hehe.

"Sorry for the wait, Miyabi."

Oh, Yuuto's finally out. What a shame.

Yuuto had a towel covering his lower body as he sat on the bed. I wanted to tell him to take it off, but I suppose it's fair, since I'm covering myself with the bedsheets.

Anyway, just hurry up already, will you? What do I have to do to unlock my family's Bloodline Magic?

"So? What did the Arcana find out?"

"… The Arcana analyzed your magic circuits and found the main problem. Basically, as expected, it needs something from the Devil Arcana to activate. Until we solve that, no amount of training will unlock your Bloodline Magic."

No way! What do we do now? There's no way that bastard Ibiza will give us anything, much less something from his Arcana.

Is there no way to save Rebecca? Every day that passes is a day she's suffering, and there's nothing I can do about it? Even after I promised Maki…

"The Arcana also found out something else. Apparently, the parts of your magic circuits responsible for your Bloodline Magic have gone through some kind of change. If you keep training like you have been, you should unlock a different Bloodline Magic."

"But will that help save Rebecca and defeat Ibiza?"

Yuuto didn't answer back right away. He was probably asking the Arcana about it. But deep down, I felt like I already knew the answer.

"It's hard to say right now, but it doesn't seem like it. Only the first Bloodline Magic, the one that needs the Devil Arcana, will help with that."

"Then I don't care about the second one. What do we need from the Devil Arcana?"

"I didn't quite get it, but the Arcana told me that, when someone is chosen as a Devil King Candidate, their Arcana will install some of its own magic circuits on them. That's what we need."

Then, we need Ibiza's magic circuits? How are we supposed to get that? Can I beat it out of him?

No good, I'm starting to get anxious again. Maybe I'll never be able to rescue Rebecca. N-no, I can't think like that.

Just thinking about all I heard from Maki, I want to save Rebecca as fast as possible, but I'm so useless I can't even help 1 of my best friends. I can't unlock my Bloodline Magic.

Maybe I can offer myself to Ibiza for Rebecca. Once he lets her free, I'll let him do whatever he wants to me… but I still don't want him to win in the end, so maybe I should kill my-

"Miyabi! Oi, Miyabi!"

I finally came back to reality when Yuuto started shaking me. Ever since the day we visited Maki at the hospital, I've been having those panic attacks every now and again.

There was a little bit of embarrassment over letting Yuuto see me like this, but the fear and anxiety wasn't entirely gone either.

"You were shaking and breathing hard. Are you feeling better now?"

"Y-yup, fit as a fiddle."

"… Liar."

Yuuto suddenly hugged me. I was surprised at first, but then I started feeling calmer, even though my heart was beating much faster.

After a few seconds of silence, Yuuto spoke up again.

"Miyabi's been trying so hard, but it's fine if you take a break and rest. You're not fighting alone, we're also here to help."

"B-but if I don't unlock my Bloodline Magic soon, then who knows what Ibiza will do to Rebecca?"

"We already know what we need for that, there's no point in beating yourself up over something you can do nothing about. I'll talk with Lizel-senpai when I meet her to figure out what we can do. Miyabi can just rest for now and resume your training tomorrow. After all, I'll be counting on you to help me fight him when the time comes."

Heh, what's with that? There's no way I'd let Yuuto fight Ibiza alone. I have to at least break that pretty face for all he has done.

But I have to admit Yuuto managed to calm me down. At least, the panic attack from before was gone.

"Better now?"

"Yeah. But I want Yuuto to do 1 more thing for me."

"What is it?"

"Get rid of that towel and come lay down with me."

Maybe I should have gone take a bath first. Yuuto did wipe me, but then he made me sweaty all over again. But honestly, right now, I don't even wanna leave Yuuto's arms.

It took some convincing, but Yuuto finally took off the towel and laid under the blanket with me.

Part of me wanted to tease Yuuto for before, but another part just wanted to lay down with him. That second part is what won.

It felt so strange. Even though Yuuto's just a human, and only reasonably strong by those standards, his arms felt so strong around me. It made me feel so safe.

My mind felt at ease. I was looking at Yuuto's face. For some reason, his lips caught my attention. I really wanted to kiss him.

But I ended up falling asleep before I noticed it. I must have been really tired.

I dreamt about Maki and Rebecca. But rather than a nightmare, like I've been having these past few days, it was a nice dream that reminded me why we're such good friends, and why I'll never forgive Ibiza.

When I woke up, Yuuto was already dressed and was sitting at the side of the bed, as if he was waiting for me to wake up.

"Oh, hey. Lizel-senpai and Reina are in the bath, they said you could join if you wanted."

"Ah, alright. I'll do that. … And, Yuuto, thanks for before."

"Anytime you need."

I headed into the bathroom. Finally, I'll properly wash off all this sweat.

Like Yuuto said, senpai and Reina were already there. It seems like they haven't noticed me yet, so maybe I'll play around a little bit.

"Kyaaa!"

"Hehehe, lemme check if Reina's been growing properly."

"Miyabi? Please don't get too carried away."

Of course, what I did was that I went behind Reina and 'kyuun' groped her breasts. Even if I don't know how Yuuto feels as a man, I can appreciate the idea of wanting to corrupt such an innocent looking girl.

But, over the last few times I've done Healing Lovers with Reina around, maybe she's not as innocent as she looks.

Oh well, a loli is a loli. And Reina hasn't really grown during the whole time I've known her. Maybe she'll be a loli even as an adult.

"S-senpai, please stop desu."

"Fine, I'm still a bit tired anyway. I'll leave it for the next Healing Lovers."

I left Reina alone and took my spot in 1 of the multiple showers in the Palace's bathroom. I turned the hot water on and let it hit my body.

Aaaah~ the hot water felt so good. Yuuto's place was really nice, but sometimes we need a bit of luxury in our lives. The only thing that would make this better is if Yuuto would come in to help me wash, hehe.

"Miyabi, Yuuto told me about what happened."

"Oh, so he told senpai how he made me go all weak in the knees with his hands?"

"W-waaah!"

"No, not that part. About his mana capacity increase and what the Arcana figured out about your Bloodline Magic."

Yeah, I knew that, just wanted to see what kind of reaction senpai would have. Overall, I'd say it was somewhat disappointing even. But Reina's was pretty good.

Also, Reina, if you think you're behind discreet with your hands, you're not. But it would be rude of me to interrupt so let's tell her after she's finished~

I took the bottle of soap and started putting it on my body. I don't know this brand, but considering it got senpai's seal of approval it's probably nothing short of the best thing around.

"I'll figure out something, so you don't have to worry. Just prepare yourself for when we have to fight."

"And if senpai needs any help like before, please say so desu."

Aah, so Yuuto also told them about my little panic attack? N-now I feel a bit embarrassed. I appreciate the sentiment, but I'll have to get back at Yuuto for this one day.

… But it's good to know I have such good friends. It wouldn't be strange for them to cut me off or tell me to deal with my problems myself, but everyone's trying to help me however they can.

Really… if this keeps up I'm going to cry. Under the excuse of washing off, I closed my eyes and let the water hit my face.

But I still needed something to distract myself. And I knew just the thing.

"Reina, how have you been recently? No problems with your body or anything?"

"Ah, Reina has been fine desu."

"That's good. As soon as we're done with Ibiza, we'll be tackling that. Might as well make use of us going 'vrrom' full throttle."

I don't plan to just take their kindness. Once I'm able to, I'll give back just as much. I'm not really smart, so all I know is that Reina has some kind of problem, so I can't really help think of solutions. But I'll be there to help once we're done with this.

We continued washing ourselves for a little bit still. When we were about to finish, something popped into my head.

I figured now was as good a time as any to ask.

"Say, senpai, you're in love with Yuuto, aren't you?"

It was quite a sudden question, so both senpai and Reina turned to look at me.

But senpai didn't seem embarrassed or anything, she just answered as if I had asked any other question.

"Yes. I haven't commented on it, but I'm not hiding it either. Why do you ask?"

"It's just… I think I'm also in love with him."

When was it that I noticed that? Just now? Before? It's hard to say.

Ever since senpai scouted me to be a part of Lovers' team, I had resigned myself that I'd do lewd things with whoever the Candidate was, and on that note Yuuto was just perfect.

It's not like I would have been fine with just anyone, but I also wasn't against just doing lewd stuff for the sake of pleasure. But with Yuuto… it's become more than that.

Maybe he's been slowly creeping into my heart all this time and I just now realized it. But what matters is that I know I am in love.

"I see. That's good then."

"Eh?"

"Desu?"

Somehow, this wasn't the answer I was expecting. I was about ready to tell senpai that I wouldn't lose to her, but then she just reacted like that.

I was at a loss over what to do? Part of me feels happy senpai didn't declare herself my rival though.

"There would be no logic in us competing over Yuuto or anything like that while the Devil King War is going on. And Yuuto will be the Devil King after that, and then no one will be able to tell him how many wifes he should have."

"That's… somewhat reassuring. H-haha. I really didn't want to have to compete with senpai haha…"

"Fufu, you would lose pretty badly. Even more so when it comes to Yuuto."

Now that I couldn't just accept. But then again, sometimes it feels like senpai has known Yuuto for ages. Maybe they have more history together than I know.

But I just gotta fix that by making history with him from now on. I might be losing now, but I'll catch up to senpai in no time.

"I said that to Miyabi, but it's also valid for you, Reina. And, needless to say, any other Cards that may join us in the future."

"D-desu."

Haha, Reina seemed embarrassed. Maybe she also has feelings for Yuuto? I suppose we'll have to wait and find out. He really is a lady-killer though, but it doesn't seem like he's quite realized it yet.

That being said, we kinda skipped over getting Yuuto to agree to this, didn't we? Oh well, I doubt there would be a man that wouldn't like this arrangement. And if we really end up m-marrying, he'll have to learn that the wife is always right, or wifes I suppose.

We finished our bath and headed out, dressed ourselves and went back to the bedroom, where Yuuto was still waiting.

Before we left for the day, senpai wanted to make sure we were all on the same page, so we had a little impromptu meeting.

"For now, Yuuto and Miyabi do your best to keep training. Of course, make sure to not overexert yourselves, since a fight could start at any moment. I'll try to look into what can be done to unlock Miyabi's Bloodline Magic. Reina also prepare yourself."

"Yes!"

"Alright."

"Reina understands desu."

A nice and simple plan, just the way I like it.

Just you wait, Ibiza. I'll punch your face in for all you've done to my friends.