March 21, 1:35 pm,

"Yes, I know what I've done. You can shut up now."

Phillip stared into the interrogation room that was hidden away in a closed-off part of the school. There, Yuna Sato sat straight as she answered whatever questions Himeko could come up with. After a week full of questions, one would think Schicksal had reached the limits of their curiosity, but the organization as a whole felt the need to be thorough about the situation.

Which was also the reason why Phillip had Otto breathing down his neck.

~ Now, now, I'm not trying to be confrontational. ~

Phillip felt the man had no room to state this, hiding back in his office and communicating through a hologram. However, Otto did have every reason to be cautious of Phillip's new ward, as it now resided in the main training facility of his warriors.

"I'm not one of your warriors," Phillip stated plainly, laced with mild annoyance. "And you couldn't force me off even if you wanted."

~ I have no intent in suspending you from St. Freya, but you must admit that your actions and their consequences could be quite disastrous. ~

"That's for me to learn and for you to bear witness," Phillip said, and, with a wave of his hand, the holographic panel before him dispersed. He watched the interrogation until, after five more minutes of endless questions, Himeko finally left the room.

Phillip followed after her and met her in the blue hallway connecting the observation room with others. "Is there an expected end to this?"

Himeko shrugged at this as she dipped her hand into the crevice of her breasts and pulled out a canteen. After taking a swig of the drink, she answered. "We're to keep her isolated from the students and keep an eye on her. If everything goes well, the kid should be given the all-clear by the end of the month."

"Do you really have to keep her contained for such a long period?" Phillip asked, leaning his side into the corner of the hallway and observation room.

Himeko shot him a raised brow and smirk. "What, got a crush on her or something?" She backed off when she noticed Phillip's glare and took another swing of her drink. "If we keep getting good behavior from the brat, she'll leave early, but that means she needs to be on good behavior constantly. The eggheads don't want to lose another test subject."

"Tell them, from me, to fuck off," Phillip pushed off from his corner and began walking down the hallway towards the exit. "I'm going home. Take her back to her dorm for me, would ya?"

Himeko waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. Just make sure Kiana doesn't break something when you get there. She wasn't happy you brought home a girl, ya know."

"So I've heard."

1:55 pm, back at the dorm,

"So, is she getting the boot?"

It wasn't five seconds after Phillip opened the apartment door that Kiana rushed him and popped this question. The entire week that Yuna sat in interrogation, Kiana had been so irritated at Phillip's attention on the situation that she seemed to gain instant disapproval of the girl's enrollment. Add the fact that Yuna was supposedly getting the same lessons as Mei in channeling Honkai energy, and that left Kiana nothing less than livid about anything involving the lavender-haired girl.

"There's no chance for that happening, Kiana," Phillip stated, ducking past the girl to head towards the living room, prompting Kiana to follow him. "She's either a valuable asset or a ticking time bomb. Once they know for certain, we'll know more."

"I hope they get rid of her."

"Can I ask why you don't like her?"

Kiana crossed her arms and pouted. "She's from Senba High! She could have been one of those bullies that hurt Mei-senpai!"

Phillip shook his head at the statement. "I never saw her among those bullies. Either she was completely passive about it, which earns a passive reaction, or she never participated and never knew Mei from the beginning."

"I still don't trust her."

"You don't have to," Phillip said, peering into the kitchen. He frowned upon noticing Mei's absence, as the girl would busy herself cooking lunches for the group. "Where's Mei?"

Kiana jerked her head back towards the door. "She went to go train, and said she wanted to practice something you taught her." Phillip nodded at this and moved to leave, but Kiana quickly stepped into his path. "Mei didn't make lunches before she left, though."

"Are you expecting me to make lunch for you?"

Kiana seemed rather affronted by the question. "No! I mean, maybe later, but that's not what I mean!" She walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and pulled out a container. Kiana then returned to Phillip and presented him with the container with a bow. "I made some for everyone, so here's yours."

Phillip was glad Kiana decided to bow at him so she couldn't see the heavy flinch that crossed his face. When Rita left them to their own devices, Phillip reinstalled the system he had made prior to her interference. This led to the entire apartment learning a dreadful secret: Kiana and Himeko were not adept in the fine art of cooking. Himeko had the Rise problem of making everything far too spicy for no reason, while Kiana butchered everything she made, no matter how simple. After two weeks, the only ones allowed in the kitchen for mealtimes were Bronya, Mei, and Phillip.

This, however, wasn't enough for Phillip to call them off entirely. He made it his mission to rectify the two's incapability and get them to a point where they could create at least decent food. This came with mixed results, as Himeko made improvements after several sessions, but Kiana made no progress in her rush to make something. Several times he wanted to stop, but Kiana's insistence on repaying them for making delicious food made him continue.

Knowing the girl had yet to get any food right as of yet, Phillip gulped down his nervousness and took the container. "Right. I'll eat it later, but I need to go find Mei and help her out."

Kiana jumped up from her bow and nodded enthusiastically. "Right! Tell me how it was when you come back."

He wouldn't. The stench the box gave alerted him that so much as a sample taste would knock him out if not immediately put him into a coma. He wasn't willing to alert her of that, however, so he simply nodded in return. This gave Kiana all she needed to book it to the television to start playing games. With the pressure suddenly off of him, Phillip let go of the breath he was holding and made for the door. Once he was outside of the apartment, he gave a heavy sigh.

"Why do I put myself in these situations?"

2:15 pm, Gymnasium,

Phillip pushed the gymnasium's glass doors open and immediately spotted Mei, standing in her training uniform in the middle of the room while surrounded by sliced training dummies. She was panting rather excessively as she held her silver blade before herself. It didn't take Mei long, however, to notice his presence, turning to him a minute after he leaned against the nearby wall.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mei said, swinging her blade once in empty air before sheathing it. "I was planning on waiting for you, but I wanted to try and see how well I've improved."

Phillip held out a hand to silence her explanation. "I understand. How is it going thus far?"

Mei gave a deep sigh at this. "I can't tell. It contradicts Hokushin-Itto-Ryu in that I need to focus on pure strength instead of attacking pressure points, so I can't get a strong analysis on it." Phillip frowned and pushed off the wall to walk over to her. He would have started talking once he was next to her, but Mei took a breath and almost retched in response. "Oh dear, what is that smell?"

Phillip flinched once more and pulled out Kiana's container, which he stuffed into his coat pocket. "Kiana tried to make... something. Do you want to try it?"

Mei stared at the box wearily for a full minute before she responded. "Um, I think our health would be at risk if we did that."

"Same," Phillip agreed, stuffing the box back into his pocket. "So, do you want to pick up from where we left off?"

Mei's face grew faintly red at the suggestion but nodded her head regardless. She pulled her sword back out and returned to the stance she had a second ago. Phillip scanned her over, looking for any faults in her position. Finding none, he went around and moved all the training dummies back so the two could have enough space. Once Phillip was done, he stood a foot away in front of Mei, summoned his tanto, and pointed it at Mei.

"Alright, show me what you got."

After a brief segment of sparring,

"Alright, I think I've seen enough."

Phillip resealed his tanto with a wave of his hand as he cleared the little distance between him and Mei. Mei quickly sheathed her sword and looked down at him, awaiting the boy's appraisal.

"You've adapted well, but keep working on it," Phillip stated calmly, earning a small smile from the heiress. "I've used this technique on larger-than-human targets – and it's effective, can't deny that – but Honkai beasts are different from being just that. Learn what you can and then fine-tune the technique for them." Mei gave a quick nod in confirmation of this. "Good. Go ahead and head back. Kiana is probably waiting for something to eat by now."

Mei nodded and moved to head toward the locker room to change back into her school outfit. When she was a foot away from the entrance, however, Mei stopped and looked back at Phillip. "Is she doing well?"

Phillip knew immediately who Mei was talking about, as she also invested in Yuki's position, and nodded. "Yuki's fine. Things are going well for her, so she should be free soon." Noting a frown gracing Mei's face, Phillip shot her his own smile. "She doesn't blame you; you know. She barely seems to know you, just the nickname and the allegations."

Mei seemed slightly appreciative of this revelation, as she nodded with a brighter mood than before and entered the locker room. Once she had left the scene, Phillip took to one of the benches against the outer wall, leaned back against said wall, and gave a sigh.

"Trouble in paradise?"

Phillip shook his head at the attempt at teasing Gabriel shot him. 'Please. I'm overseeing Yuna's interrogations, training Mei to perfect her swordplay for Honkai Beasts, and tutoring Kiana. I'm losing time for my own training, even if you predicted that outcome beforehand.'

"Well, I did," Gabriel admitted offhandedly. "If these events are affecting you negatively, then you can summon someone to help out."

'Yeah, I'm not summoning Guy or Lee here. Sorry to say, but their methods, while propelling me ahead of schedule no doubt, would also leave me in the hospital for a couple more months.'

"They weren't my suggestion, nor do I wish to see them." Phillip felt the angel shudder upon making this statement. "No, my suggestion is someone a little closer to home for you."

'Okay?' Phillip didn't know who the angel was suggesting but rolled up his sleeve to go along with the plan. Leveling his right palm over the bottom of his left wrist, a plume of smoke erupted from the seal there, and a scroll appeared in his hand. With a single movement, he unfurled the scroll and rolled it across the floor. Inside was a multitude of names and seals beneath those names.

'Okay, who am I looking for?'

"Go to the middle."

Phillip did so and almost immediately noticed exactly what person Gabriel meant to summon. His heart simultaneously jumped into his throat and sank to the pit of his stomach. His instinct told him to roll the scroll up and seal it back, insistent to find another way to accomplish his goal. However, his yearning guided his legs to finish the journey, and knelt down in front of the name.

'...Do I have to?'

"It will be a nice little reunion. After all, it has been quite a while since the two of you spoke together."

Phillip tried his hardest to calm his nerves and stretched his hand out to touch the seal below the name given. A flood of divine energy surged down his arm, and smoke quickly filled the room once it reached his hand. A few moments later, the smoke began to recede, and a figure was seen in the middle of it all.

It was a 17-year-old female with fair skin and blonde hair tied into two buns at either side of her head. She wore a sky-blue shirt that was cut along the midriff, showing a black mech underneath it that clung to her curves, and a matching skirt that fluttered as she stood to her 5'6ft height. A moment later, her eyes opened to show a blue similar to her uniform that stared down at Phillip.

Phillip swallowed hard and shifted his gaze off to the side as his hand moved to cover the back of his neck. "H-Hey there, Bub-"

He wasn't given any time to react when the girl rushed forward and slammed her fist against his cheek.

Meanwhile, back in the main church of the school,

A rumble shook the entire campus, causing Theresa to drop her freshly made drink onto the bright-red carpet of her office.

"My bitter melon juice!" Theresa cried out in dismay, gripping her head as she stared down at the now-stained carpet. After a few minutes of complaining about her loss, she stormed over to the window and looked out to find the perpetrator. "Where's that brat?! He's the only thing capable of doing this and not setting off the alarm!"

After spending several minutes scanning over the campus grounds, Theresa ditched the window and took to her desk. As soon as she sat down, a holographic keyboard appeared on the desk with three levitating screens along with it. A couple of key clicks later, and she was connected to the person she needed.

"Himeko-"

"Yeah, I felt it. I'm heading over to the gymnasium, the place the eggheads say to be the source. "

"Gotcha," Theresa stated before jumping down from her chair and heading to her closet. With a quick motion, she threw the doors open and grabbed the necessary tool to handle the sudden situation.

"Let's put this brat down."

Back with Phillip,

On one hand, Phillip was glad to see his first love since they parted ways a couple of dimensions prior to this. She was training in a place where she could get to a point where she would be better prepared against the disaster Gabriel predicted. So, seeing her again was a good thing for him.

On the other hand, he kind of wished the greeting was a little more than a straight punch that launched him through a couple of buildings. Though, given what Phillip has been doing the last couple of months, he wasn't that surprised.

As Phillip came to a stop abruptly after crashing into his third building, he pulled himself from the crater made by the impact and landed on the ground with a thud. He raised his head just in time to notice the girl was already in front of him and ready to launch another punch at him. Reacting quickly, Phillip grabbed the fist and tossed her away from him with an overhead throw. He launched himself after her, cupped his hands together, and slammed them in her back to send her careening to the ground.

'Well, this has been going well,' Phillip thought grumbly.

"Well, be happy she's limiting her strength to allow you some hits."

Phillip flinched at this, allowing the girl to appear behind him with blinding speed and knocking him down to the ground below in a single punch. The Earth shook once more with the impact as well as sending a massive cloud of dust into the air. As Phillip recovered from the blow, the girl landed softly a couple of feet behind him and waited for him.

"You must like taking a pounding. Would you happen to be a masochist?"

'Shut it.' Phillip slammed his palm against the ground and pushed himself to a standing position. He didn't waste time in going into position for the eight gates, simply forcing his chakra through the gates until the third one was released. With his new power, he cleared the distance between him and the girl within a second and launched a punch at her. She managed to block it just in time but was still sent flying back. As she flew to the northern half of the island, Phillip chased after her and landed a flying roundhouse kick to the girl when she stopped suddenly in midair. He would have continued with the battle, but the girl recovered quickly a flew back at him for a headbutt. He stumbled for a bit and began losing altitude but managed to punch the girl away as he began his descent.

Upon landing, Phillip looked in the direction where the girl was launched but found himself defending against a powerful headbutt aimed at his chest. As he was dragged back by the blow, Phillip lost his footing and slid across the ground on his back. Once they came to a stop after ten minutes of sliding, Phillip and the girl locked eyes and... shared a small smile with each other.

"Having fun with Gabriel's little task, Bubbles?"

"Yep," Bubbles said as she snuggled into his chest. "He wanted me to fight you so you could practice something, but I don't wanna anymore."

"Fair enough," Phillip muttered as he ran a hand through her hair. "How's training with the Time Patrol?"

"It's fine," Bubbles muttered with a hum, not moving from her obviously comfortable position. "Mr. Picky is too stern sometimes, but he's really nice under all that green."

Phillip chuckled lightly at the nickname given to his first instructor. "Well, so long as you're learning. You'll be a lot stronger because of it."

"Yeah, but you seemed to get weaker," Bubbles said as she twisted her body so she could stare up at him. "Did Gabby put some nerfs on you?"

"Yeah, well-"

"Excuse me!" Phillip and Bubbles looked to their side to find one Theresa Apocalypse, Judah on her back and hands on her hips, staring down at them with an enraged expression. Phillip let out a sigh, hoping the response to the fight earlier would have taken longer, but dragged himself to a standing position once Bubbles got off him and went to greet the interrupter. As he reached his full height, he noticed Himeko coming from his other side with a wide smirk. When she stopped, she leaned to one side and placed a hand on her hip.

"So, I see you found another little girlfriend," Himeko said without losing her smirk. "Should I tell-" Phillip was quick to cover Himeko's mouth, sending a glance over to Bubbles in hopes she didn't hear. Luckily, she seemed too preoccupied with her current company to pay them any attention.

"Could you not?" Phillip hissed back, slowly retracting his hand and shifting into a more comfortable position to not draw attention. "She'll be unbearable if she hears about them."

Himeko's smirk quickly disappeared as a disappointed look crossed her face. "So, you've been leading Mei and Kiana on while cheating on that girl."

"If only it was that simple," Phillip replied flatly. "Just... do me the favor of not introducing-"

"So, when were you gonna tell me about them?"

The oddly cheery voice made Phillip feel anything but. As he turned to face the ever-smiling face of Bubbles, all he felt was the sinking of his heart into his stomach while a hand found itself on his neck.

"Well... you see..."

"You're doing it again, aren't you?" The shift from a cherry smile to a knowing one only made Phillip even more embarrassed. "I know you're not a fan of what Gabriel plans, but I already told you that I'm fine with it."

"That doesn't make it right."

"Yeah, I know," Bubbles said cheerily to this before she reached out to grab his hand. "Now, come on! I want to see the new girls!" She then dragged him away at breakneck speeds towards the general area of Himeko's apartment, a location she apparently pulled out of Theresa. Himeko watched with a bemused expression until Theresa walked up to her, exasperated.

"Energetic, isn't she?"

"Exhausting, you mean." Theresa heaved a massive sigh. "She acts almost like Kiana, but, at least she seems to listen when someone talks before doing something."

"Fair enough," Himeko stated as she pulled out her canteen and took a drink. She then held it out to Theresa, who glared harshly at the item before Himeko retracted the offer and stuffed it away. "So, think the girls are gonna react badly to this?"

"That's not even something to discuss," Theresa said as she turned to watch the fleeing couple. "You've seen how badly Kiana reacted to Yuna, and Mei might be fine with Kiana, but she's been off for a while now. A push might topple that tower."

Himeko gave a "hmmm" in response to this before tilting slightly to hover just above Theresa's ear. "If everything goes well, who's your bet on getting Phillip first?"

Theresa snorted at this. "Kiana, obviously."

"Eh, I'd say Mei's got this one, actually."

Theresa's stance slacked slightly at this and rounded to the major with a raised brow. "Mei is acting too passive if she is trying to earn his attention. Kiana is doing a much better job at that."

Himeko shook her head at this. "Sorry, but Kiana's too active in her pursuit. Guys don't like girls chasing them: they prefer the chase. Mei's good at presenting, which is why she's been getting more attention."

"Explain, then, why all your dates end so horribly."

"Hey, it's not my fault my job keeps calling me in!"

3:30 pm, in Soukai City

Gathering Mei was a simple ordeal, as she stood shell-shocked inside the gymnasium upon noticing half the building had disappeared. Gabriel made an appearance to sort it out, and Bubbles dragged both Phillip and Mei off to collect Kiana. It was also a quick journey, as Kiana and Bronya were running toward their location after the explosive force a few minutes ago. With everyone together, Bubbles enacted her plan and dragged everyone into the city for a day on the town.

Immediately upon reaching Soukai City, the groups became extremely apparent: Bubbles pulled Mei and Kiana with her to go around and explore while Phillip was left behind with Bronya. Phillip watched the three eldest girls dance between the various stores with a critical eye, expecting some kind of explosion to come from them, especially from Kiana. He knew she was still rather unhappy with Yuri taking refuge at the school, so he suspected Bubble's appearance was set to tip her over.

There were two conflicting pieces of his mind on the matter. On one hand, this was a good thing that Kiana and Mei might end their infatuation with him, as their current situation wasn't something he wanted to occur. Having 3 girls he knew for a fact liked him was pushing his moral boundaries, but 5 was going too far. Maybe seeing Bubbles might stop them from pursuing their involvement in this relationship.

On the other hand, Phillip admitted to himself that his feelings for the two have evolved well past that of friendship. He was still reserved in calling it love, but there was something there that yearned for both their protection and admiration. It was something he was trying hard to conceal from them and, mostly, from himself but he knew well to disregard it. As Phillip watched the group of girls, he couldn't help but hope whatever happened wouldn't harm their friendship, at the very least.

"You're worried about something."

Phillip jumped when Bronya spoke up, the older boy turning to her in surprise despite knowing she had been there for a while now. She also watched the other group with a monotonous stare but shifted to look at Phillip after a couple of seconds passed.

"From Bronya's observation, neither Mei nor Kiana Idiotka seemed deterred. They seem to deem it a potential mine for your behavioral traits."

Phillip, his nerves now calm, turned away from the younger girl to face them. "What makes you so sure that's the case? Maybe they're fishing for excuses to explode on me later."

Bronya stared at him with a flat expression for roughly four minutes before responding. "Mei-neesama feels you're still too reserved with her. Kiana Idiotka purely wants your attention, which was the reason for her sudden competitiveness toward Yuna Sato. With this... Bubbles person, they see a chance to earn your favor more than a need to fight her."

Phillip flinched at the rather blunt observation, knowing that both statements were correct even if he didn't mean them. Rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, he continued his watchful gaze with far less intensity than before. As he searched through his mind to find a means of paying back the accidental problems he caused, another voice made itself known.

"If you want to clear the air, all you have to do is go talk to them. Staying back here is just going to stoke your fears more."

'Thank you for your noteworthy advice,' Phillip replied grumpily and sarcastically. 'Because this was absolutely a situation I was prepared to deal with it. I should have just summoned Guy!'

"There are about three reasons as to why you shouldn't have," Gabriel stated. "And almost all of them can be summarized as 'Guy wasn't the one you needed'. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm needed somewhere else." With that, Gabriel left just as abruptly as he arrived.

Phillip was far less pleased with the conversation but admitted to himself the angel, once again, had a point in both parts of the conversation. Guy would have been able to build him physically, but it was his stress levels and emotional state that needed fine-tuning. Bringing someone along that could help him relax was necessary, and Guy was too energetic in training to be helpful in those aspects.

It also wouldn't do to simply wait for Kiana to explode on him, which was bound to happen due to her early mood. So, Phillip told Bronya that he would be back and headed off towards the clothing store Bubbles dragged the girls in. Upon entering, he immediately spotted Bubble browsing through some dresses on the right side of the store while Kiana and Mei were nowhere to be seen.

Phillip made for her, giving a quick "Hey," as he got closer. Not a second after he opened his mouth, 3 different dresses were shoved into his arms by Bubbles, who didn't give him a second look before diving into the clothes once more.

Phillip wasn't too surprised by the quick dismissal of his appearance and resigned himself to being Bubble's pack mule for the time being. After several minutes of walking around the shop and Bubbles putting more and more clothing into his arms, Bubbles finally brought him to the counter to buy the clothing (all her money was transferred into the correct currency for Soukai, thanks to Gabriel). She sat down outside the store at a green bench along the building with Phillip, whose arms were covered with clothing bags.

"So," she started, rounding to Phillip with a rather large smirk on her face. "Decided to join us?"

"Gabriel convinced me before he left," Phillip admitted freely as he placed the bags down on the bench beside Bubbles before moving to her other side to lean against the building. "Sorry."

"You really need to stop saying that word," Bubble replied, her smirk disappearing into a pout. "You know that I agreed to Gabriel's idea, so the ones you need to speak to are the two we left in the changing room."

Phillip let out a deep sigh at this. "It still doesn't feel right. Either I'm cheating on you or leading everyone else on."

"Yeah, and you feel that way because you're a good person." Phillip looked at Bubbles with a raised brow, who simply responded with a wide smile. "Both Gabriel and I know that, but I can't keep you company all the way through your journey. That's why I allowed it, and it's what you agreed to as well."

Phillip looked back down at the ground with a small scowl on his face as he kicked a nearby pebble. Said pebble went flying passed the buildings and quickly reached exit velocity, soon exiting the atmosphere of the planet and beginning its tumble through outer space.

Bubbles let out her own sigh and turned to the bags beside her. She reached into her shirt and pulled a case from her chest. She opened it quickly, pulled out a small capsule with a press switch on the top, pressed said switch, and tossed it at the bags. In a puff of smoke, the bags all disappeared, leaving only the small capsule from before. With more room to breathe, Bubbles scooted over and patted where she once was to entice Phillip to sit down.

Phillip took the invitation readily, perfectly happy to sit down beside her. Once seated, however, Bubbles reached over, grabbed his shoulders, and tried to pull him towards her. This time, he did put up some resistance from her intent, but soon found himself lying face-up on her lap. He stared up at her with a slightly annoyed look while she grinned down at him.

"I can already tell you like them," Bubbles stated plainly, causing Phillip to break eye contact with a small blush. "You wouldn't have put up with Kiana and how she acts if you didn't. Mei seems absolutely infatuated with you, so you shouldn't ignore it for too long."

"And you're fine with it?" Phillip had to ask. "You don't have any feelings towards this?"

This managed to wipe the smile from Bubbles' face as she looked down at him with a slight frown. "I wouldn't say I'm perfectly fine with it. The first time I heard about it, I was still angry with them. But I think Gabriel has good reasons for it, so please don't neglect them."

Phillip sighed deeply at this. "Okay, I'll put that to rest for now. Sorry."

"If you're really sorry, then you can do me a favor."

Phillip closed his eyes, already knowing the request. "You want me to sing." He didn't need to look up to know she was smiling widely again.

Meanwhile, in the women's changing room,

"What do you think about her?"

This was a question dropped by Kiana as she and Mei changed out of the new outfits they'd gotten and back into their school uniforms. Mei paused the process just in time to ponder about the new intruder coming into the dorm. After a couple of minutes, she spoke her mind.

"It's... weird. To know he was in a relationship prior to meeting us makes how he acted before a lot more understandable, however."

"Yeah, and we got a guy who knows what he's doing," Kiana stated gleefully as she finished putting her uniform back on. "And, if the rest of the girls are as cute as the Bubbles chick, I'm not complaining."

Mei sighed deeply and shook her head, knowing this was a classic "Kiana" move. On her side of things, she couldn't help but feel that she was trespassing into something she shouldn't have been. She liked Phillip, that was for certain, but if he's currently in a relationship already, maybe it was best to stay out.

This line of thought was quickly interrupted when Kiana wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, you heard the girl: he's still free to go for. So, come on, why not?"

"Weren't you having issues with the idea of him getting interested in Sato-san?"

Kiana blushed brilliantly upon being called out and gave a chuckle as she rubbed the back of her neck. "W-Well, this is kinda different, though. I mean, a new girl that he doesn't even know that well over this one who he's known for a lot longer."

"Maybe it would be best to speak to Phillip-kun directly," Mei stated, finally putting the rest of her clothes back on and collecting the bags that contained her clothes. "Perhaps he'll tell us why he didn't tell us earlier."

"Yeah, maybe." Kiana was quicker in collecting her items, gathering her bags that lay on the other end of the white bench in the middle of the women's changing room. She returned to Mei as the older girl moved towards the door. "Though, he's more than likely already head over heels for us. He's just too shy to admit it."

Mei didn't seem as enthused with it but didn't impart this knowledge to her companion, simply leading the charge toward the reception desk to check out. A couple of payments later, mostly on Mei's side, and two exited the clothing store. Mei turned her head back to where Bronya was, expecting Phillip to be there, but was stopped upon hearing the sweet ending notes of a song filling the air. She turned around and found a content Bubbles, leaning against the back of the bench with her eyes closed, and an equally peaceful Phillip lying down with his head on her lap.

As the final notes ended, Bubbles opened her eyes and noticed the two new guests, one embarrassed by entering the scene while the other was just shocked. She smiled and waved them over; the shaking pulling Phillip from his peace and dragging his attention to the other girls. He quickly sat up and off Bubbles, a bright blush on his face. Bubbles simply giggled as he stood up and retreated to Bronya, leaving the three to talk to themselves once more. Mei opened her mouth to try and converse with the older woman, but Kiana blurted out the reason for her shock.

"He can sing?!"

4:30 pm, at Himeko's dorm,

"Yeah, that's right."

The group returned to the dorm soon after, Kiana and Mei putting away their clothes before lounging around in the living room with Bubbles. Bronya took to the television to play some games, while Phillip and Himeko met up in the kitchen to discuss the coming introduction of the four with an actual Valkyrie classroom. During this time, Kiana had gotten interested in how long the other dimension hopper would be here, which was a quick answer.

"Only a week?" Kiana questioned, a pout showing on her face. "That sucks. I wanted to get to know you a little better than that."

Mei didn't miss a beat and reached over to pinch Kiana's ear from the chair she had taken. As Kiana was stretched over the couch arm and whimpered at the pain, Mei made her own thoughts known. "It does seem strange to bring you here only for you to return to... your other dimension so soon."

Bubbles shrugged, not too upset at the situation. "Gabriel said I needed to support Phillip through a mental stall. He says it will take a week, and he's never wrong in his timing."

Mei didn't continue the conversation immediately, instead deciding to watch Kiana as she slipped down to the floor and challenged Bronya to a gaming contest. After a few minutes of the two duking it out in the game, Mei shifted seats to the Kiana abandoned and rounded back to Bubbles.

"What reason does Gabriel-san have to force this on Phillip-kun?"

Bubbles' grin disappeared quickly and looked over her shoulder into the kitchen to see if Phillip was listening. Upon seeing him too involved in his conversation with Himeko, Bubbles' attention moved to Mei with a serious expression.

"Mei-chan, there are sides of Phillip I hope you never see," Bubbles said quietly, but no less serious than before. "I wasn't a part of all his travels, only two in fact, but Gabriel gave me enough to get by. When Phillip doesn't have someone, he gets... complicated." Mei flinched at this but remained quiet as Bubbles continued. "So, I agreed to what Gabriel suggested, and here we are."

"What kind of 'complicated' are we talking about?"

"As in 'wiped civilizations away due to bad decisions' kinds of complicated," Bubbles admitted in an even lower volume. "That's why I want you and Kiana to keep him grounded, stay with him. If that means you fall in love with him in the end, then that's fine."

"I...," Mei stumbled with the words she wanted to say. Her confusion about the situation made it hard enough to speak, and this confession didn't make it any easier. After a couple of minutes of collecting herself, she managed to express her concerns. "I don't want to intrude on your relationship with Phillip-kun."

Bubbles only giggled at this. "Don't worry about that. I don't mind, and while Phillip won't admit it, he has a big heart." Bubbles looked back into the kitchen and found Phillip and Himeko still locked in conversation. "Though, that's also an issue at times. A big heart doesn't always mean it's full of love."

Mei wasn't comforted by these words, now feeling even more conflicted than before. She spent several long minutes silently watching Kiana and Bronya, as two different feelings waged war within her. Bubbles settled back into her seat during this time, not expecting Mei to respond then, but sat back up when Mei spoke again.

"I...I'll try. I can't promise everything, but I'll try."

Bubbles smiled at this and reached over to pull Mei into a hug. "That's all I'm asking for. Thank you."

Mei accepted the hug reluctantly, the conflicting feelings still there but quieter with her choice made. Soon, the two separated and Bubbles abandoned the couch to join as a third person in the Kiana-vs-Bronya battles. With a sigh, Mei leaned back onto the couch and hoped that the future would end up much more straightforward.

With Himeko and Phillip,

"What do you mean he isn't here?"

"Just as I said," Phillip stated directly, ignoring the glass of red wine Himeko poured him when the group returned. "Gabriel took off, either to deal with something Bubbles had in her mind, or something management asked of him."

Himeko hummed in response before she snatched the glass of wine and downed it. As she swung back up, Himeko continued. "So, what does that entail?"

"For management, it's usually some outerversal or boundless being trying to escape their dimension that the lower angels don't want to deal with because they're, and I quote, 'weak and boring.' If it's Bubbles, some beings are unhappy that Gabriel can wipe them out instantly by appearing in his actual form."

"...Uh huh." Himeko didn't look at all convinced of this, pouring another glass with a few glances into the living room. "So, why does your other girlfriend have to leave so soon?"

"Dimensional integrity. If a place has-" Phillip stopped himself, realizing way too late that they've careened far too off their initial conversation. "Let's pause that for now and return to the first subject: Yuna. You said she might get out early to attend the next Valkyrie class."

"'Might' is the key word here," Himeko admitted as she took a drink. "They're still being sticklers on the matter, but due to lowering Honkai levels and good behavior, the eggheads suggest they'll let her out soon."

"Great." Phillip could feel the incoming shitstorm Kiana would give him about the matter from his sudden and growing headache. "Gotta love scientists being absolutely inconsistent."

Himeko raised her glass in mock cheers at this. "Trust me; it gets worse long before it gets better. So, when does Gab get back?"

"Hard to say, really," Phillip said, eyeing the large bottle of wine with the temptation of dropping his restriction to take a swig. Steeling himself, he continued. "Technically, he never left. All Gabriel did was collect most of himself across the Creation Realm where he needs to be."

"...How does that work?"

"A complex structure, I assure you."

Himeko jumped at the sudden voice, her knee colliding with the table and almost sending the wine to crash against the floor had Phillip not grabbed the bottle and glasses.

"Nice catch," Gabriel complimented. "Make sure not to drink any, though. You're too young."

"I've killed hundreds of thousands of people, fought more wars than a normal human could possibly do, and lived four times the oldest human has reached."

"Your body is still 18."

Phillip mumbled "nag" several times as he took the glasses to the sink to be cleaned later. He then corked the wine bottle and slumped into his chair across from a rather dumbfounded Himeko.

"What the heck are you?"

"Tired," Phillip responded, sounding precisely what the word meant. "I'm old and tired."

Himeko paused for a good while before she reached into her uniform and pulled out her flask. Phillip shook his head at this, causing Himeko to retract the action and dropped her arm to rest the canteen on the table.

"So, what's next on the agenda?"

Phillip let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. As he peered into the living room to watch the girls continue their gaming session, only one thing crossed his mind.

"I just hope things get easier to deal with."

Welcome back to the story.

I'm going to admit, there's no excuse for why this took so long to get out. I simply kept getting distracted by things, and the story kept slipping from my mind.

This chapter was supposed to both continue from the last chapter and introduce something that will be included later on.

So, I'm sorry it took so long, but I hope you all enjoy the chapter. I'll see you in the next one