Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Wind Prince and the Cotton Princess
Hey there readers, just wanted to say that OC suggestions are back up, they'll be up for about three weeks, it'll end on the 17th of February, I ask again that you suggest if you can for the thing I'll be doing in March. With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter. Cya.
"The Underwater Temple?" everyone thought together about what their captain told them.
Kenos walked up. "Um, why does the mission need us to go to this temple exactly?" he asked.
Yami lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth, slowly blowing out smoke. "That's where we'll find a Magic Stone, as for how Julius knows, you could thank your parents,"
The solar mage narrowed his eyes, despite how shaky his relationship was with his parents, more specifically his father, he was still grateful that they were able to help. "I see,"
Yami looked at Kenos with a calm face before turning to everyone. "As I said, we'll be heading to Raquey in four days, so make sure you're prepared,"
Kenos' eyes immediately brightened once he heard those words. "Wait a minute, you said we're going to Raquey, right?"
"Um, yeah, I've said it twice, I'm not saying it a third time," Yami replied plainly.
"Oh yeah, we're going to Raquey!" Finral exclaimed as he pumped his fist into the air.
"Going there would be nice," Noelle added with a short nod.
Asta looked at his squadmates, a confused look on his face. "What's so special about Raquey?"
"It's a really popular beach town, a lot of people visit there because of its incredible climate," Finral replied. "Raquey is one of the kingdom's biggest tourist spots,"
The swordsman nodded before asking another question. "And, um...what exactly is a beach?"
At the sound of those words, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief, mouths gaping open.
Kenos coughed before turning to the magicless mage. "Well, a beach is an enormous body of water that's accompanied by sand beside it, it's a great place to go when it's warm and sunny," he explained.
"Wow, this beach place sounds really cool, I was born and raised in Hage, and there weren't any large bodies of water there," Asta said.
Magna walked over and wrapped his arm around the teen's shoulders. "Same here, I didn't know what a beach was when I first joined, then I got to see one, not as big as Raquey, but it looked awesome nonetheless,"
"And that's not it," Vanessa hummed as she pointed a finger up. "At the beach, we also wear swimsuits which is the traditional attire when going there, boys would just wear shorts while girls wear a bikini,"
"What's a bikini?" Asta asked again with the same confusion as before, some of the guys had to resist their urge to laugh, Noelle on the other hand blushed at the thought of the swordsman seeing her in such an attire.
"Why don't I let you find out for yourself when we go there," Vanessa replied with a sly smile as she walked over to Noelle and Charmy, placing her hands on their shoulders. "C'mon girls, after some time passes, we're heading over to town to go buy some swimsuits,"
"Oh wow, I've never gone swimsuit shopping before, this could be fun," Charmy said with a small smile on her face.
"That's the spirit, what about you, Noelle?"
The water mage did her best to smile. "Yeah, I'm so excited,"
Hours passed as night fell throughout the kingdom, it was silent, with the lights of buildings illuminating the darkness, a good few hundred feet in the air, a chariot and two brooms slowly flew over a town.
"What a day, I can't wait to get back to base," Klaus yawned before looking to his left and right, seeing Yuno and Mimosa on their brooms. "Once we do, I'm getting some sleep,"
Mimosa nodded. "Of course, you were a large factor in our mission's success,"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that, we all did well," Klaus respectfully disagreed.
"No, she's right," Yuno spoke up as he turned to his superior. "Your plan to split up into individual groups and ambush the enemy was pretty good, they most likely would have gotten away otherwise,"
The plant and steel mages gasped, they had never heard Yuno say such a thing to either of them, Klaus pushed up his glasses. "Alright, start talking, who are you and what have you done with the real Yuno?"
The wind mage gave a look of confusion. "Excuse me, I'm the real Yuno,"
Mimosa suspiciously raised a brow. "I don't know, you've never complimented any of us before, and you did it so easily too,"
Bell flew out and landed on Yuno's shoulder. "What are you two talking about, would I be here if that wasn't Yuno?!"
Yuno nodded. "What she said, I guess I'm just in a good mood tonight,"
Mimosa and Klaus looked at each other before shrugging, Klaus spoke up. "I see, to be honest, I would like it if you were always in a good mood, I could get used to this,"
The wind mage turned his head away from his squadmates. "Don't count on it," he whispered.
"AHHHH! NO, DON'T!"
A scream pierced the silence of the night, the three Golden Dawn quickly looked down to see that the source of the noise had come from a large building that was directly below them.
"Forget sleep, somebody needs help, get ready, Yuno, Mimosa!" Klaus exclaimed as the three quickly flew down, the steel mage's chariot disappeared and Yuno and Mimosa dismounted from their brooms as they kicked the door open, grimoires ready for a fight.
But as they looked around, they noticed multiple swimsuits adorning shelves, on the other side of the entrance was a young lady wearing a bikini and a jacket, she was hiding behind a counter.
"A swimsuit store? Where's the enemy?" Klaus asked.
"STOP!" the voice from before exclaimed again, it was coming from behind a door.
"There it is, let's go!" Klaus exclaimed as he ran to the door.
The lady rose up from the counter as she saw him do that. "Wait, don't open that door, there's-," she attempted to warn him, but it was too late as the steel opened the door.
"Don't worry, the Magic Knights are-," Klaus said, but stopped midway as he saw a sight he never thought he would see, Noelle and Vanesa from the Black Bulls were trying on swimsuits, with the former not wearing any clothes, she covered her body as she saw the mage.
"Shit!" Klaus exclaimed as blood shot out of his nose and he fell to the ground.
Mimosa and Yuno walked over to the two, with the latter covering his eyes so as to not peep on the water mage.
Vanessa walked out and closed the door behind her. "Get dressed," she said before turning to the three mages. "What're you doing here?"
"We heard screaming, so we came down here thinking someone was in danger," Mimosa replied.
Vanessa was about to reply before Noelle exclaimed from the other side of the changing room. "That's because someone was trying to get me into a swimsuit that's too small!"
The thread mage chuckled. "What she said, the Black Bulls are going to Raquey, so we're going swimsuit shopping,"
"Raquey, what for?" Mimosa plainly asked.
Vanessa stopped for a second, not wanting to reveal the fact that they were going on a secret mission, she thought of a quick lie. "Oh, you know, just going there for a little vacation, a chance to unwind, we've been working hard lately,"
The plant mage had a small blush on her face. "If the Black Bulls are all heading to the beach, that means Asta will be there too, I bet he would look really good, shirtless, with all those muscles, lucky Noelle," she thought, not noticing she was drooling a bit.
Klaus stood up and took out a handkerchief, wiping the blood coming down his nose. "I see, I sincerely apologize for barging in like that,"
"That's alright, I can't really blame you, Noelle was quite loud," Vanessa responded.
Yuno looked at his superior. "You're getting a nosebleed? Isn't that a bit disturbing, a grown man getting a nosebleed from a teenage girl?"
Klaus looked offended. "Grown man? How old do you think I am?"
Yuno shrugged. "I don't know, 30?"
"I think he looks more like a 25," Mimosa added as she put a hand under her chin.
"I'm only 18!" Klaus exclaimed, prompting looks of shock from the other two Golden Dawn.
"18!" they thought in their heads. "Holy crap," they said.
Vanessa noticed Yuno and walked up to him. "Well hello there, you're kinda cute, I don't know why, but I'm getting a familiar aura coming from you,"
The wind mage noticed the woman wearing nothing but a bikini before turning his head to the side. "Sorry, I'm not into older women,"
"That sounds familiar," Vanessa said, remembering the first thing Kenos ever said to her, she turned around to go check on Noelle.
"What in the world, Yuno?" a voice then said, Yuno turned around to see Charmy not too far away, she had on a blue one-piece swimsuit.
A shade of red touched the cotton mage's cheeks. "It's Yuno, he's watching me with this swimsuit on, it's kind of embarrassing." she thought.
The wind mage walked over to her before extending his palm out. "Hey there, Charmy, how have you been?"
Charmy extended her own palm as they high-fived. "I've been fine, and you?"
"Great,"
"I see," Charmy said as she twiddled her fingers nervously. "Hey, can I ask you...a question?"
"Um, sure," Yuno said.
Charmy turned around. "Tell me, what do you think...of my swimsuit?"
The wind mage scanned the shorter girl. "It looks nice on you, blue is definitely your color," he replied plainly, but that didn't matter, since it still made Charmy's face beet red.
"Oh, thank you very much, that means a lot," she said.
Yuno looked at her as Bell flew out, the wind spirit stared down the cotton mage with a look of curiosity. "Who's she?"
"Oh, hi there, I'm Charmy Pappitson, a friend of Yuno," the cotton mage introduced. "I don't think we've met, but you look strangely familiar,"
"Well, I'm the wind spirit, Sylph, but you can call me Bell, as for whether we've met or not, I don't think so," she said.
"We met right after we beat Catherine, you must have passed out before seeing her," Yuno explained.
"Oh, that explains it, well, it's nice to meet you, Charmy," Bell said.
"Likewise, Bell," Charmy said back before turning to her prince. "So, what are you doing here?"
"My squadmates and I were flying over town when we heard a scream, which led us here, but it turns out it was just Noelle," he replied.
"Oh, that makes sense, she was hella loud,"
Mimosa and Klaus watched from afar as Yuno and Charmy spoke.
"He's talking to her so casually," Mimosa noted.
"I remember her though, she was at the capital with Yuno when the Eye of the Midnight Sun attacked," Klaus answered.
Yuno turned around. "Well, if there's no problem, I'd better be off, cya around," he said, Bell flying behind him.
"Okay, bye," Charmy waved as the three Golden Dawn left the establishment.
The door to the changing room opened, and Noelle walked out, dressed in her normal attire. "I still can't believe Vanessa thought that would fit me," she said to herself before noticing that the Golden Dawn was gone. "Did they leave?"
Charmy nodded as she walked into the changing room and closed the door, five minutes passed before she came out with her normal attire on, the swimsuit in her hand, she walked to the lady at the counter. "I'd like to buy this," she said as she handed the amount of money it cost.
"You chose that one?" Vanessa asked, she too changed back into her clothes and ended up buying the bikini she was wearing earlier.
"Yup, I like it, blue is definitely my color," Charmy replied with a warm smile.
The lady turned to Noelle. "Are you having trouble finding one to your liking?"
"Yes," the water mage replied.
"Then my I suggest buying this," she said, motioning to a bikini encased in glass, it was yellow, but what stuck out was the fact that the chest part of it was adorned in what looked like diamonds. "This is our most expensive pair, you're sure to have all eyes on you, if that's your intention,"
Noelle looked at the swimwear, her cheeks flushed red as she pulled out her sack of money, hoping she wouldn't regret what she was about to do. "I-I'll buy it," she said. "It's a nice color and the diamonds are cute, something truly befitting of royalty, it's not like I want to impress anybody!" she thought in her head as she held it in her grasp, the three girls then left the building and were on their way back to base.
The sun rose over the Golden Dawn as the next day came, the rays of light shone into one room in particular, the room of the wind mage, he lay peacefully on his bed, wearing a dull gold two-piece nightwear. As the sun's light came over his face, he slowly opened his eyes and sat up, turning to his left, he saw a small makeshift bed on his desk, where Bell slept, the spirit was peacefully snoring.
Yuno stood up and walked to his desk. "C'mon Bell, wake up, you don't want to be late for breakfast,"
Bell slowly opened her eyes. "Alright then," she weakly flew up, resting on Yuno's shoulders.
A knock was then heard on the door. "Yuno, are you awake?"
The wind mage recognized the voice as Klaus'. "Yeah, I'm up,"
"Good, hurry up and get dressed, Captain Vangeance wishes to speak with the whole squad before breakfast," the steel mage said.
"Alright then," Yuno said as he grabbed his towel. "I wonder what the captain wants to talk to us about?" he wondered as he went to the shower rooms, coming back some minutes later as he put on his clothes and robe, as well as his grimoire and satchel.
Soon, Yuno found himself, as well as the other members of the Golden Dawn kneeling in front of a tall flight of stairs, at the top of the stairs stood William, and beside him was a shorter man with short brown hair, he was known as Langris Vaude, Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn.
"Good morning, everyone, I hope you've slept well, I'd like to congratulate you on the hard work you've all done, it's thanks to your achievements that the Golden Dawn remains the best squad in the kingdom," William said as the squad cheered.
The captain gently raised a hand, silencing them all instantly. "As such, I wish to reward you all in a special way: you will be granted a day off,"
Everyone gasped, even Yuno looked a bit surprised, Klaus spoke up. "But sir, I've been a part of this squad for some time now, and you've never granted us a day off, is there another special occasion we aren't aware of?" he asked, even though he and others didn't go on missions every single day, they still had to be ready, just in case, but now, they didn't even have to do that.
William kindly shook his head. "No Klaus, nothing like that at all, and if you have anyone to thank, thank the Captain of the Black Bulls, Yami Sukehiro," he replied.
"The Black Bulls!?" everyone exclaimed in surprise, shocked their captain would ever listen to anyone from that squad.
"At the meeting I attended yesterday, Yami said that I should give you a day off so that we could all unwind and catch a break, I told him I'd consider it, so now, I've decided to do it, after all, it's not like you don't deserve one," the captain explained.
The whole Golden Dawn stood up and clover-saluted. "Thank you very much, Captain Vangeance!"
William and Langris saluted back to them, the former spoke up once more. "You're welcome, make sure to enjoy yourselves today, just be ready for tomorrow, because business will resume as usual," he said before walking away, leaving the members to chat amongst themselves.
"This is quite unexpected, I've never had a day off since I came here, I wonder what I should do today?" Klaus asked openly as he turned to Yuno, who was next to him.
Mimosa and Letoile walked over to the two boys, Klaus waved to them. "Hello there ladies, have you decided on what you're going to do?"
"I already know what I'm going to do, see you all around," Letoile replied as she quickly turned and walked away. "The Black Bulls most likely don't have the day off, so I can't go hang out with Luck, that means my first stop is home, I'll spend some time with my mother and see how Hanz is doing," she thought with a small smile.
"Well, I'm just going to stay here at the base, maybe catch up on some reading," Mimosa added with a short yawn. "But first, I'll get some breakfast, then go back to bed,"
Klaus turned to the wind mage. "That just leaves you and me, Yuno," he said, but as he did, the younger mage began walking out of the room. "Wait, you already know where you're going?"
"I do," he replied.
Bell stood on his shoulder as she smiled. "Yes, this day off is the perfect opportunity for that date you owe me,"
Yuno ignored her as he kept walking, exiting the room.
The steel mage watched as his other squadmates began leaving the room, each heading to their own destinations, Klaus balled up his fist and lightly slammed it on his palm. "Alright then, the first thing to do is my daily training, I can't wait to show Asta how much stronger I've become thanks to him, then after that, I suppose I could just take a stroll," he said as he too left the room.
Outside the entrance to Golden Dawn HQ, Yuno stood there with his broom in hand, setting it down, he stood on it as he soared into the sky. "I know exactly what I want to do during this day off," he thought as a small smile touched his face.
"Eat up, everyone, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" Charmy exclaimed as she handed out breakfast to everyone.
"Thanks," Magna said as he stuffed his face with food, once he swallowed it, he turned to the females of the Black Bulls. "So, how'd your swimsuit shopping last night go?"
Noelle turned her face away from the flame mage. "I'd rather not say,"
In total contrast, Charmy had a big smile on her face. "It was incredible,"
Vanessa, however, gave Magna a sly grin. "Why do you wanna know, do you wish you were there, you virgin delinquent?"
"What, no, I was just trying to start a conversation, and don't call me that!" Magna exclaimed.
"Whatever, I'm pretty sure you're all virgins anyways," Yami commented nonchalantly as he walked into the area, flipping a page of his newspaper.
"Good morning, Captain Yami," everyone greeted.
"Morning all, say, have any of you seen Asta, for some odd reason, I didn't wake up to the sound of screaming?" the dark mage asked.
"He and Kenos walked out about a few minutes ago, said they were going to do some training for a few hours," Luck replied.
Charmy held a plate in her hand. "Here captain, something to eat,"
Yami took the plate with one hand. "Thanks, Charmy," he said before sitting down on his chair and taking a bite of bread. "Make sure you all do some training too, our trip to Raquey is in three days, we don't know what threats might come up, but regardless of what it'll be, you all should be prepared,"
"Understood," they all responded before they heard a knock on the door.
"Are Asta and Kenos back already, that was quick," Magna said.
"It can't be them, they live here, why would they need to knock?" Noelle said back.
"Ooh, maybe it's Letoile, perhaps she finally agreed to fight me," Luck ecstatically stated as he ran to the door and opened it wide. "It's about-," he was going to say, but stopped.
The person at the door wasn't Letoile, but Yuno.
Charmy stopped eating once she saw who was at the door. "It's my meal-saving prince!"
"Hey, I remember you, you're that wind guy from the dungeon, you were really strong, say, do you want to have a quick fight?"
"No," Yuno replied as he walked past the lightning mage and looked around, his facial features not showing what he thought of the base.
"Hello there, it's good to see you again," Noelle greeted.
"Likewise, oh, and I'm not sure if you heard, but Klaus apologized for barging in on you last night," Yuno said.
"It's alright, I don't blame him, someone else was responsible," she said, quickly glaring at Vanessa.
Yami looked up to see Yuno. "So, another person from the golden boy's squad is here, what do you want, do you need one of my squad here to accompany you on a mission or something?"
"No, Captain Vangeance gave us the day off, he said you were responsible," the wind mage replied.
"What, he actually took what I said seriously, I was just joking," Yami said with a bit of surprise. "So, did you come here to thank me?"
"No, but I can do that right now," Yuno said as he bowed and said his thanks. "I actually was looking for Asta, I was hoping we could spend my day off together, I haven't seen him since the attack on the capital,"
"Oh, I'm afraid he's not here right now, he and Kenos just left a little while ago to train," Vanessa told him.
"That's alright, I don't mind waiting," Yuno said.
"I wouldn't bet on him coming soon, those two don't come back for a good amount of hours, not to mention we aren't even sure of their exact training spot, so we can't even tell you where they are," Magna said.
"I see, that's unfortunate, when he comes back tell him I stopped by, I'll have to find something else to do," Yuno said as he turned around and started walking towards the door.
"Yuno, wait!" Charmy exclaimed as she jumped from her seat and ran to him.
Yuno turned to face the cotton mage. "Yeah, is something the matter?"
Charmy's cheeks turned red as she replied to his question. "Well, I was just wondering, if Asta can't join you, would you mind...if I took his place?"
Yuno's eyes widened a bit. "You mean that you want to spend the day with me?" he asked as Charmy shyly nodded.
The others watched the interaction between the two, Vanessa raised a brow and gave a knowing grin. "Oh, so that's how it is, and here I thought there was no one more special to her than food,"
"I wouldn't mind bringing you, but I also owe Bell a date," Yuno said as the spirit flew out, he turned to her. "Hey, do you mind if Charmy comes along?"
The spirit held her chin in thought. "Hm, I don't mind, besides, this could be a great chance to get to know each other,"
"Well, that settles it!" Charmy exclaimed as they began walking out.
"Hold it," a voice said, the two turned to see Yami, still on his chair. "I think you're forgetting to ask a certain someone if you can leave,"
"Oh, well, can I go captain?" Charmy asked.
"I don't know, your last day off wasn't even three days ago," Yami began, but then stopped and sighed. "But, since we have that-," he looked up at Yuno. "-mission in a few days, I guess you could go,"
"Thank you so much captain," Charmy said gratefully before turning to the Golden Dawn. "Now, let's get moving, after you,"
The two walked outside, Yuno stood on his broom as it floated a few inches above the ground, he looked at the Black Bull. "Where's your broom?"
"Oh, I don't use one," she replied as she took out her grimoire. "Cotton Magic: Cloud of Wool,"
At her call, a medium-sized cloud of cotton appeared in front of her, she jumped onto it as it floated into the air.
"Oh, you fly with a spell construct like Klaus does," Yuno stated. "I don't mind using my broom though. Let's go," the two then flew into the sky.
"So, where are we headed?" Charmy asked.
"I'm not really sure, got any suggestions?" the wind mage asked back.
"I know, let's go to a nice and quiet place, with a good view of the kingdom," Bell suggested. "Then Yuno and I could spend a few minutes looking lovingly into each other's eyes," her cheeks flushed as she closed her eyes and held her face.
"Uh, no, sorry Bell, but there's no way I'm doing that," Yuno bluntly stated.
"What, no fair!" Bell exclaimed.
Yuno turned to Charmy. "What about you?"
"Why don't we go to the capital, we're bound to find something to do," she suggested.
"Okay, I like that one, you in, Bell?"
"Yeah yeah, count me in,"
The two then increased their speed, ten minutes passed before they landed in the capital, Charmy undid her spell and Yuno held onto his broom.
The cotton mage turned to her partner and focused on his broom. "It must be a hassle to carry that, I think I have a spell for it, Cotton Magic: Shrinking Cloud Containment," he said as a cloud of cotton appeared next to the wind mage. "Put your broom on it,"
Yuno did so, the cloud then covered the broom before shrinking into a puff of cotton and floated onto Yuno's shoulder, Bell rested her head on the cloud. "So comfy," she said.
"Thanks," Yuno added as they started walking, passing by numerous market stands, already open despite the day just beginning.
"Wow, I didn't know the capital was this lively in the morning," Yuno stated, noting all the people passing by, he also took in the smell. "And the food they're selling smells pretty good too," once he finished saying that, his stomach growled.
"Did you not have breakfast?" Charmy asked.
Yuno shook his head. "No, I forgot to get some before leaving my squad base,"
"You should've told me, I could've made you something before we left," Charmy lightly scolded him. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,"
Yuno took note of the passion she had when saying that and lightly smiled. "So, should we stop by one of the food stands to get something to eat?"
"No way, all these food stands just serve appetizers, we need something to really fill your stomach," the cotton mage replied as she started looking around, but then she stopped. "I know the perfect place to go, follow me,"
The two then walked a good distance away, arriving at a large building, they saw staircases on the side and began their ascent to the top. "Why does this place look familiar?" Yuno asked.
"This is the place where we first met, after we beat Catherine," Charmy replied. "There's someone I'd like to see,"
Once they made it to the top, Charmy knocked on the door in front of them. "I'm coming," a voice said from the other side, the door then opened, revealing a familiar face.
"Head chef, it's good to see you again," Charmy respectfully greeted.
"Ah, the two knights who saved us from the witch, it's an honor, please come in," the head chef said as he let the two inside, they quickly noted the smell of many different foods. "What can I do for you?"
"Head chef, my friend Yuno has not had breakfast yet," Charmy replied with a tone of comedic seriousness.
"Hasn't had breakfast?! But that's the most important meal of the day," he said.
"I know, as such, we've come to you, I request that you make him a meal fit for a prince," Charmy said.
"Consider it done, I still owe you for saving us," the head chef said as he turned around. "Follow me, let us head to the kitchen,"
The two followed the man into another, it was empty, without a person in sight, but they could still feel the heat from the furnace and smell the glorious aroma of food as it wafted around the room.
"You two can sit there," the head chef pointed to two chairs in front of a large counter, next to them were an array of ingredients. "I was going to bake some bread today and bring it to the market to sell, so you two can help me make some, and once your loaves are done, you can have them along with some other stuff for breakfast,"
"Thank you very much," the two magic knights said.
"So yuno, have you ever baked bread before?" Charmy asked.
"I haven't, but I'm willing to try," the wind mage replied as he turned to his spirit. "Hey Bell, do you want to join us?"
"Sure, I don't see why not, I've never baked bread either, it could be fun," she replied as she flew down.
"I'm going to see how everyone else is doing," the head chef said as he walked out of the room.
"Okay, start by putting the yeast and sugar in some warm water," Charmy instructed as they all did so, they then moved onto the dry ingredients, once mixed, they added the yeast mixture and began kneading the dough.
"This is a mandatory step, as it's done to work the gluten in the bread, if the dough gets too sticky, you can add more flour," Charmy continued.
Yuno noticed his dough was becoming just that, so he plunged his hand into a bag of flour, and began scattering it around his dough, in an oddly unprofessional manner, resulting in flour landing on his face.
Charmy lightly chuckled as Yuno's face turned into one of slight embarrassment. "Yuno, got flour on your face, here, let me help you," the cotton mage said as she grabbed a nearby damp towel and got close to wipe his face.
Her cheeks turned rosy. "Oh wow, I'm really close to him," she thought nervously as she finished and backed away.
"Thanks," Yuno said, Charmy nodded as they continued.
"Hey look, I'm doing it!" Bell exclaimed cheerfully as she kneaded a rather small lump of dough.
"Okay, once we're done kneading, we have to place the dough into a greased pan," Charmy said as she found two pans, placing her's and Yuno's in respective pans, with Bell's on top of Yuno's, she then put them into the open oven.
"Wow, that was a lot of work," Yuno commented.
"It was, but I'm impressed, Yuno," Charmy said. "Your dough looked so good, and you received only the minimal amount of instructions from me, you're so cool,"
Yuno's eyes widened a bit. "You think I'm...cool?"
Charmy nodded as Bell flew up to him. "She's not the only one, I think it's super cool how you're so strong and stoic,"
Yuno turned his head away from the two. "Look, I'm not as cool as you think,"
Charmy looked a bit concerned. "What do you mean?"
The wind mage's cheeks began to flush red with embarrassment. "Well, for starters, when I was a kid, I...used to cry a lot,"
Charmy and Bell widened their eyes, neither of them could imagine Yuno crying, the former stepped up. "There's nothing wrong with crying, that's perfectly fine, you're human, we show emotions,"
"I don't mind either!" Bell added.
"But it's not just that, when I was young, I was emotionally weak, Asta was always the stronger one between us, he would never give up, no matter what, I looked up to him back then, and even now I still do," Yuno explained. "I wanted to become strong like him, so I shut myself off from how I visually felt, I stopped crying, I made sure not to let my emotions show. What you two call cool, I call trying to be like Asta in my own way,"
The three stood in silence, fifteen minutes passed without anybody saying a single word, just trying not to look each other in the eye, eventually, Charmy broke that silence. "It's alright, if that's how you see yourself, I don't mind, I won't pry into your personal life, but if I could suggest something…," she turned and looked Yuno in the eye, he returned the look as she gave him a warm smile.
"...it wouldn't hurt to let your emotions show sometimes, at least, for the people you trust the most,"
Yuno looked at her and Bell as he did something that genuinely shocked the two of them: there was a big, happy smile on his face. "Sure, I guess I wouldn't mind doing that,"
Charmy and Bell's faces turned beet red. "Holy shit, he's even more handsome when he smiles," they thought together.
The wind mage's face returned to normal as he smelt something. "Is the bread done?"
"Oh, it is, that was fast," Charmy replied as she grabbed some mitts and carried the bread to the counter. "Now all we have to do is let them cool just a bit, warm bread tastes great,"
"I can handle that," Yuno said as he blasted the bread with a low level of wind for about a minute.
"Perfect," Charmy said as all three of them gave a thumbs-up to each other.
The head chef then walked in. "Hey there you two, I see you've finished your bread, those look really good, I think we can start breakfast now," he said before clapping, on cue, other chefs began walking in, each holding dishes and placing them on the counter.
"Wow, eggs, meat, potatoes, fruit, and pastries," Yuno said, looking at everything in front of them.
"And don't forget the butter," the head chef added as he placed it in front of them as well. "It's not right to eat bread without butter,"
"Thank you very much, head chef," the three said.
"No problem, enjoy, we have work to do," the head chef replied as he and the others left the kitchen.
"Let's eat!" Charmy cheered, the two began by taking their bread out of their pans, with a knife they cut a slice and covered it in butter.
Yuno took a bite. "Wow, that tastes great,"
"I know, so good," Bell added.
The three began to dig into the other dishes, half an hour passed before they finished eating their fill.
"Not bad," they said.
"So Yuno, what did you think of breakfast?" Charmy asked.
"It all tasted good, but…," he began to reply. "..I'd like to try your cooking next time,"
Charmy nervously smiled and looked away. "Sure, I would like that too,"
"I would like to try your cooking too," Bell said.
"Why not, you can stop by the Black Bulls base anytime," the cotton mage told her.
Yuno stood up. "Well, we should leave, we have other things to do,"
"Okay," Charmy said as she stood up as well, Bell flew onto Yuno's shoulder, they then left the building.
"What's next?" Yuno asked.
"Let's go over there," Charmy suggested as she pointed at a clothes shop.
The two walked over there and entered, they weren't planning on buying anything, but they did want to try on what they could. Taking off their Magic Knight robes, they tried on an array of shirts, shorts, and hoodies, complimenting each other each time, Bell stood by, watching them.
After that, they went by the stands that sold objects, looking around for something not too expensive to buy, they then came across an array of bracelets that were the same color and design, but different sizes. Charmy and Yuno bought three white and green bracelets for the two of them and Bell.
Hours passed as they did more activities, the sun was close to setting, they were then walking down an open street. "That was so much fun," Charmy said.
"So, what do you want to do next?" Yuno asked.
"Enough of what I want to do, what do you want to do, you haven't suggested anything all day," Charmy said.
"Okay then," Yuno said back as he grabbed the puff of cloud on his shoulder, letting it drop to the ground, it grew and opened up, revealing his broom, he stood on it. "Follow me,"
"Alright," Charmy responded as she formed her cloud and stood on it, the two flew into the sky, she looked at the wind mage. "So, where are we going?"
"We should be there in a few minutes," Yuno replied as they continued flying, a few minutes passed and they landed in an open meadow.
"What is this place?" Charmy asked with a look of awe.
"This is where I train, it's a nice and quiet spot," Yuno replied. "I brought you here because...I want to fight you,"
"Fight?"
"Yeah, back at the attack on the capital, you were able to beat Catherine, but I didn't see it, I've been wondering how strong you are, after all, you are a Magic Knight," Yuno clarified.
"Is that so?" Charmy said as she took her grimoire out. "Sure, bring it on,"
"Nice," Yuno said as he did the same. "Wind Creation Magic: Swift White Hawk!" he exclaimed as the wind construct formed and raced towards his opponent.
Charmy quickly jumped back on her cloud and flew out of the way of the attack, she flew up into the air and jumped off, descending towards Yuno.
"Not bad, now it's my turn, Cotton Creation Magic: Strike of the Sleeping Sheep!" she exclaimed as the sheep formed mid-air, ready to strike.
"An aerial attack? I wasn't expecting that, Wind Magic: Towering Tornado!" Yuno exclaimed as the large tornado appeared, thrusting both Charmy and her sheep into the air.
The sheep was dispelled as Charmy formed another cloud and tried to fly in close.
"Wow, you're really good," Charmy said with a smile.
"So are you, that was a quick recovery you pulled off," Yuno said back, returning the smile.
"Hey Yuno, am I going to get to join the fight?" Bell asked.
"Not at the moment, spirit magic is really strong, but we haven't used it too much, I don't want to hurt her by mistake," Yuno replied.
"Okay," she said, nodding her understanding.
"I need to approach this differently, his attribute is wind, which allows for quick attacks and quick movement, so maybe I should stop him from moving," Charmy thought as she flew towards him as fast as she could, her grimoire flipping through pages. "Here I come!"
"Bring it!" Yuno called, preparing to attack.
"Not so fast, Cotton Binding Magic: Restraining Coils!" Charmy exclaimed as six lines of cotton twisted around Yuno, holding him in place.
"Damn it, I can't move my arms," Yuno noted.
"Sorry if it's a bit uncomfortable, but this won't take long, let's try this again, Cotton Creation Magic: Strike of the Sleeping Sheep!" she exclaimed as the giant sheep appeared once more.
"This is going to hurt," Yuno muttered.
"Make sure to hold back, sheep, I don't want to hurt him too much," Charmy instructed as the sheep reeled its fist back and brought it forward with great speed towards the wind mage.
"Yuno!" Bell exclaimed as she flew in front of him and blew, sending a strong gust of wind at the sheep, however, the sheep still had strength and began to slowly bring its fist forward.
"I won't let you!" the spirit mentally exclaimed as she increased the strength, successfully pushing the sheep back.
"I did it!" Bell exclaimed before she turned and blew at Yuno, pushing him away in order to create distance between him and Charmy.
"Hey!" Yuno exclaimed as he landed on his stomach, the cotton restraints soon disappearing.
"Sorry Yuno, I had to," Bell said.
"It's alright, but that was close, I have to finish this quickly!" Yuno exclaimed as green mana exuded from him.
Charmy looked a little worried. "What is he doing, his mana is growing,"
"This failed during the mission in the dungeon, but it won't fail now, I'll make sure of it!" Yuno exclaimed to himself. "This fight might've been short, Charmy, but I appreciate it, thank you, Wind Creation Magic: Swift White Hawk + Wind Blade Shower!"
At his call, the two different spells formed in front of him, Charmy gasped. "A double spell, I didn't know he could do that," she said as the spell raced towards her, ripping right through her sheep and crashing right next to her, the strong wind that accompanied it blew her away a good amount of feet. The aura around her grimoire disappeared as it dropped to the ground.
The cotton mage slowly got up as Yuno flew over to her. "Damn, you beat me,"
"True, but you were close to winning too, you would've gotten me if it wasn't for Bell," Yuno said.
"No problem," Bell said.
The two looked up into the sky, it was a beautiful shade of orange. "We should head back to our bases," Yuno said. "You know how to get to your base from here?"
"I do," Charmy replied.
Yuno turned around and was about to walk away, but he stopped and turned again, a smile was on his face. "Today was fun, I enjoyed it,"
"Same here...oh, and can you bend down, there's something I want to tell you," Charmy said with a nervous tone at the end.
"Okay," Yuno said as he did so, but was surprised as Charmy gave him a peck on the cheek.
"That's to say thanks for agreeing to take me with you," she said with a blush as she showed her bracelet.
Yuno straightened himself as he and Bell showed their bracelets too. "Your welcome, let's go Bell, we have work tomorrow," he said as he stood on his broom. "Bye, Charmy,"
"Bye, Yuno, Bell," the cotton mage said back as she jumped onto her cloud.
The two then flew in opposite directions, each heading to their own bases, they would never forget this day, and they would always remember how fun it was to spend the day with the other.